THE 7 LOTUS SUTRA PARABLES:

1. THE PARABLE OF THE THREE CARTS AND THE BURNING HOUSE
2. THE PARABLE OF THE RICH MAN AND HIS POOR SON
3. The PARABLE of MEDICINAL HERBS
4. THE PARABLE OF THE MAGIC CITY
5. THE PARABLE OF THE GEM IN THE JACKET
6.THE PARABLE OF THE TREASURE IN HIS HAIR
7.THE PARABLE OF THE SKILLFUL DOCTOR AND HIS CHILDREN

1. THE PARABLE OF THE THREE CARTS AND THE BURNING HOUSE

A long time ago, a rich man lived in a village. His wealth was immeasurable. He possessed many paddy fields, houses and servants. His manor was large, but it had only one gate. In that house lived several hundred people. The building was in decay, the fences and walls were falling apart, the bases of the pillars were rotten, and the beams and ridgepoles were tilted and slanted.

All of a sudden, a fire broke out and spread all throughout the manor. In this house lived many children of the rich man. He was very frightened at the great fires and thought, "I am able to get out of the burning house safely, but my children are still inside. They are engrossed in playing. They do not know that the fire is coming towards them. They are not frightened or afraid. They do not realize what fire is."

"This house has only one gate. Worse still, the gate is narrow and small. My children are too young to know this. They are attached to the place where they are playing. They may get burned. I had better tell them of the danger. They must come out quickly, so as not to be burned to death."

"Come out quickly!" He warned them with good words of compassion, but they were too engrossed in playing to hear the words of their father. They did not wish to come out. They ran about happily. They only glanced at their father occasionally. If they and I do not get out at once, we shall be burned. I must save them from this danger with an expedient.

He said to them, "The toys you wish to have are outside the gate. There are sheep-carts, deer-carts and bull-carts. You can play with them. Come out of this burning house at once!"

The children rushed quickly out of the burning house, pushing one another, and as each child strives to be first. The rich man, who saw them had come out safely, was relieved and danced with joy. They said to their father, "Father! Give us the toys! Give us the sheep, deer and bull carts you promised us!"

Then the rich man gave each of them a LARGE WHITE OX-CART of the same size. The cart was tall, wide and deep, adorned with many treasures, and had bells hanging on the four sides. This great man gave one of these carts to each of his children because his wealth was so immeasurable that his various store houses were full of treasures.

The children rode in the large carts, overjoyed as they had never before, experienced riding in carts such as these, and had never expected to receive such a luxurious gift.

2. THE PARABLE OF THE RICH MAN AND HIS POOR SON:

A poor little boy ran away from his father when he was very young. He lived in another country for many years. He wandered about in all directions, seeking food and clothing. Many years later while wandering here and there, he happened to walk towards his home country.

At that time his father stayed in a city in the countryside. He had been vainly looking for his son ever since first ran away. The father was now very rich. He had innumerable treasures. His storehouses were filled with gold, silver, coral, and crystal. He had many servants, carts, cows, and sheep. He dealt with many merchants and customers.

The poor son happened to come to the city where his father was living. The father had been thinking of his son ever since he had first lost him. He thought, "I am old and decrepit. I have many treasures. But I have no son other than the missing one. When I die, my treasures will be scattered and lost. Therefore, I am always yearning for my son."

At that time the poor son happened to stand by the gate of the wealthy man's house. Seeing the rich man, the poor son was frightened and thought, "Is he a king or someone like a king? This is not the place where I can get some work to get food and clothing easily. If I stay here any longer, I shall be forced to work." He tried to run away.

The rich man recognized him at first sight as his son. He was delighted. He immediately dispatched a man standing beside him to quickly bring back the poor son. The messenger ran up to the poor son and caught him. The poor son was frightened and cried, "I have done nothing wrong. Why do you stopped me?" The messenger pulled him by force. The poor son thought, "I have been arrested though I am not guilty. I shall be killed." Becoming more and more frightened, the poor son fainted and fell to the ground.

Seeing all this in the distance, the father said to the messenger, "I do not want him any more. Do not bring him forcibly! Pour cold water on his face to awaken him!" The father said this because he had realized that his son was too base and mean to meet a noble man. He knew that the man was his son, but expediently refrained from telling others that this was his son.

Waking up, the poor son stood up and went to a village of the poor to get food and clothing. The wealthy man dispatched messengers in secret. He said to two men looking worn-out, powerless and virtueless, "Go and gently tell the poor man that he will be employed here for a double day's pay. If he agrees, bring him here and have him work together with you to clear dirt."

The poor son drew his pay in advance and cleared dirt. Seeing him, the father felt great compassion towards him and took off his necklace, his garment and other ornaments. He put on tattered and dirty clothing. He approached the workers and said, "Work hard! Do not be lazy!"

Seeing this poor man working hard, the father told him, "Do not hesitate to take the trays, rice, flour, salt and vinegar - as much as you need! Make yourself comfortable."

Years later, the rich man gave the poor man a name and called him son. The son was glad to be treated kindly, but still thought that he was an humble employee.

Still more years passed. After that the father and the son trusted each other. Now the son felt no hesitation in entering the house of his father, but still lodged in his old place.

Now the rich man became ill. After a while the father noticed that his son had become more at ease and peaceful, that he wanted to improve himself, and he felt ashamed of the thought that he was base and mean. As the moment of death for the father drew near, he told his son to call in his relatives, the king, ministers and members of his household. When they were all assembled, he said to them, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is my son, my real son. I am his real father. He ran away from me when I lived in a certain city, and wandered with hardships for more than fifty years. His name is so-and-so. All my treasures are his now."

At that time the poor son was very glad to hear these words of his father. He had the greatest joy that he had ever had. He thought, "I never dreamed of having this store of treasures myself. It has come to me unexpectedly.

3. The PARABLE of MEDICINAL HERBS

There are various trees and grasses including herbs growing in the thickets, forests, mountains, ravines, and valleys. All these plants are different in size, name and form. They are covered with a dark cloud. Rain starts to fall. The small, middle and large roots, stems, branches, leaves of the trees, and grasses are watered. So were tall and short trees, whether they are big, medium, or small in size. All the plants and trees received more or less the same amount of water from the rain of the same cloud, and grow differently according to their species. They produce different flowers and fruits although they grow on the same ground and receive water from the same rain.

4. THE PARABLE OF THE MAGIC CITY (chapter 7)

Once upon a time there was a dangerous, long and bad road. It was so fearful that only one man lived in the vicinity. Now many people wished to pass through this road in order to reach a place of treasures. They were led by a man who was clever, wise, and well informed of the conditions of the dangerous road.

Halfway through their journey, the people got tired of walking and said to the leader, "We are tired out. We are also afraid of the danger on this road. We cannot go a step further. Our destination is still far off. We wish to go back."

The leader, who knew many expedients, thought, "What a pity! They wish to go back without getting great treasures." Having thought this, he expediently made a city appear by magic in the distance. He said to them, "Do not go back! You can stay in that great city, and do anything you like. If you enter that city, you will be peaceful. If you go on afterwards and reach the place of treasures, then you can go home."

Thereupon the worn-out people had great joy. They said, "We have never had such joy as this before. Now we shall be able to get off this bad road and become peaceful." They entered the magic city and felt peaceful.

Seeing that they had already rested and were now relieved from their fatigue, the leader caused the city to disappear and said to them, "Now the place of treasures is near. Let us go further to get the treasures. I made this city by magic in order to enable you to rest."

5. THE PARABLE OF THE GEM IN THE JACKET (chapter 8)

Suppose a poor man visited his old friend. He was treated well with food and drink, and fell asleep.

His friend had to go out on official business, so he fastened a priceless gem inside the garment of the poor friend as a gift to him, and went out. The drunken man did not notice what his friend had given him. After a while he got up and went to another country. He had great difficulty in getting food and clothing. He was satisfied as a homeless man.

Some time later the good friend happened to see his old friend again. He said, "Alas, man! Why have you had such difficulty in obtaining food and clothing? I fastened a priceless gem inside your garment the last time you came to my house. The gem is still there. You have not noticed it! What a fool you are! Trade that gem for what you want! You will not be short of anything you want."

6.THE PARABLE OF THE TREASURE IN HIS HAIR

7.THE PARABLE OF THE SKILLFUL DOCTOR AND HIS CHILDREN

There was once an excellent and wise physician. He was good at dispensing medicines and curing diseases. He had many children. One day he went to a remote country on business.

After he left home, the children accidentally took some poison. The poison passed in to their bodies, and the sons writhed in agony, rolling on the ground. At that time the father returned home. Some of his children had already lost their senses while others still had not. All of them begged him to cure the poison sickness and said, "We were ignorant. We took poison by mistake. Cure us and give us back our lives!"

Seeing his children suffering so much, he compounded a medicine by pounding and sieving the herbs, and gave it to them, saying, "It has good color, smell and taste. Take it! It will remove the pain at once. You will not suffer any more."

Those who had not lost their right minds took it at once, and were cured completely. But the rest of them, who had already lost their right minds, did not consent to take the remedy given to them, because they were so perverted that they did not believe that this medicine having a good color and smell had a good taste.

The father thought, "These children are pitiful. They are so poisoned that they are perverted. Although they rejoice at seeing me and asked me to cure them, they do not consent to take this good medicine. Now I will have them take it with an expedient."

Then he said the them, "Now I am old and decrepit. I shall die soon. I am leaving this medicine here. Take it. Do not be afraid, you will be cured!" Having advised them, he went to a remote country again. Then he sent home a messenger to tell them, "Your father has just died."

Having heard that their father had passed away leaving them behind, they felt extremely sorry. They thought, "If our father were alive, he would love and protect us. Now he has deserted us and died in a remote country."

They felt lonely and helpless because they thought that they were parentless and shelterless. Their constant sadness finally caused them to remember what the father had said in his last words, "Take this remedy!" Then they took it and completely recovered from the poison.

On hearing that they had recovered their health, the father returned home and showed himself to them.

"What do you think of this? Do you think that anyone can accuse this excellent physician of falsehood?" The answer is "No!"