Hello, everyone. Welcome to this episode of the podcast provided by the Buddhas’ Practice Incorporated of Australia.
Today, we’ll explore a profoundly important parable from the scriptures and the ultimate meaning it reveals.
1. The Parable of the Great Wealthy Man and His Poor Son: The Long-Lost Buddha-Child
First, let’s revisit the well-known story of a wealthy man and his long-lost son.
The son left home in his youth and wandered for decades, living a poor, hard life, covered in dust and filth. The father, filled with compassion, felt both joy and sorrow when he saw his son. He knew that the son would not immediately believe that he was his father, nor would he dare to reveal the whole truth, for the son would be frightened and flee again.
Therefore, the father employed countless skillful means. He first sent two people, dressed similarly to the poor son, to offer him a job as a dung-remover with double the normal pay.
The son was initially suspicious and asked for the wage to be paid first before he agreed. Seeing this, the father cast off his magnificent robes and put on coarse clothes, took a dung-remover’s tool, and worked alongside his son. He encouraged him, promised to increase his pay, and provided him with everything he needed, but asked him to stay at his home and not go anywhere else.
The son worked in the father’s house for twenty years, still believing he was a lowly person and never daring to have any hope of a better life.
Many years later, when the father saw that his son’s mind had matured and he was no longer self-abasing, he gathered his relatives and the king’s ministers on his deathbed. In front of everyone, he announced, “This is my own son, who left home when he was young. Now, all of my property will be given to him!”
At that moment, the poor son was suddenly enlightened and filled with great joy. He had never imagined that this vast family wealth could truly belong to him. He marveled that he had no such intention or desire, yet all these treasures naturally became his.
2. The Meaning of the Parable
The wealthy man is the Tathagata, or the Buddha; the poor son is us, the Buddha’s disciples.
We are submerged in the heat and suffering of the three realms, ignorant and confused. We only desire to seek out small portions of the Dharma, just like the poor son who was satisfied with a temporary job. The Buddha knows our aspirations are low, so he does not immediately preach the supreme Buddha path. Instead, he uses various skillful means to first allow us to leave the three realms and attain Nirvana. This is the “day’s wage,” which is the attainment of the Arhat fruit. Of course, these small teachings are also contained within the One Buddha Vehicle, for we are, in our very nature, the true children of the Buddha, and the Dharma King’s supreme treasure inherently belongs to us.
3. The Buddha’s Boundless Grace
The Buddha’s grace is vast, boundless, and inconceivable. Even if we were to carry him on our heads, offer him priceless treasures and delicious food, and do so for eons as countless as the grains of sand in the Ganges River, we could never repay it. Why? Because the Buddha possesses great supernatural powers and inconceivable wisdom. For the sake of us beings with low aspirations, he hides his true merits and abilities and uses skillful means to tame our minds, so that he can eventually teach us the wisdom of the Mahayana.
My friends, this story profoundly reveals the Buddha’s compassion and wisdom. He tirelessly and fearlessly uses all sorts of skillful means to guide us from our initial state as “dung-removers” to the great responsibility of inheriting his entire legacy.
Are we now still like the son in the beginning—though we are in the Dharma King’s home, we only wish to be a “hired hand”? Are we ready to accept this supreme treasure and take on the responsibility of propagating the Dharma and benefiting all beings?
May we all believe and understand the Buddha’s deep purpose, awaken the Mahayana mind, practice the Bodhisattva path, and ultimately achieve Supreme Perfect Enlightenment.
Thank you.
