Hello, everyone. Welcome to this episode of the podcast provided by the Buddhas’ Practice Incorporated of Australia.Today, we continue our study with Volume Three.
1. Shariputra’s Awakening and Reproach
After the Buddha proclaimed the ultimate meaning of the One Buddha Vehicle, the venerable Shariputra was filled with immense joy and expressed his excitement to the Buddha. He confessed that in the past, when he saw the Buddha granting predictions of Buddhahood to other bodhisattvas, his heart was heavy, and he felt he had missed out on the Buddha’s immeasurable wisdom.
However, upon hearing the Buddha say today that all previous teachings were merely skillful means ultimately leading beings to the One Buddha Vehicle, he finally understood. He realized that the arhatship he had attained was also part of the Buddha’s one-vehicle Dharma and that he had never left the path.
2. The Buddha’s Prediction for Shariputra
The Buddha had previously taught and guided Shariputra to aspire to the Buddha-path, but Shariputra had forgotten his original vow and mistakenly believed he had attained ultimate nirvana. Now, by expounding the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha reawakened Shariputra’s memory of his initial vow, allowing his earliest aspiration for supreme enlightenment to align with the current Dharma. The Buddha then predicted that Shariputra would one day become a Buddha named Flower Glow Tathagata.
3. The Profound Meaning of the Parable of the Burning House
In the famous parable, a great patriarch bravely enters his burning house to persuade his children to escape, but they are too absorbed in play to listen.
Knowing the children’s love for toys, the patriarch has an idea. He promises them: “Outside the gate are various rare and wonderful playthings, like a sheep cart, a deer cart, and an ox cart. Hurry out, and I will give you whatever you want!” The children, hearing about the toys they desire, eagerly rush out of the house.
Once the children are safely out, the patriarch gives each of them a single, magnificent great white oxcart instead of the smaller carts he had promised. The children are overjoyed, as this vehicle far surpasses their original expectations.
The deeper meanings of this parable are:
The Great Patriarch: Represents the compassionate Buddha, who has the power to save beings directly but uses skillful means because they are not yet ready to receive the ultimate Dharma.
The Burning House: Represents the Three Realms of existence.
The Children: Represent sentient beings who are immersed in the five desires, blinded by greed and attachment. They are living in suffering but mistake it for happiness.
The Sheep and Deer Carts: Represent the Śrāvaka and Pratyekabuddha vehicles, which are the expedient vehicles the Buddha used to guide beings out of the burning house.
The Great White Oxcart: Represents the Bodhisattva Vehicle, the most supreme vehicle that the Buddha prepares for all sentient beings.
The Seven-Jewelled Great Cart: A metaphor for the Buddha’s One Buddha Vehicle. Although the Buddha initially teaches the three vehicles to guide beings, he ultimately saves them with the great vehicle alone.
All Buddhas use skillful means, teaching the three vehicles from within the context of the one-vehicle Dharma.
4. Conclusion
The root of all suffering is greed, and the source of greed is ignorance. Like a child holding a hot coal without realizing it will burn them, we, too, cling to the five desires and suffer within the burning house of the Three Realms due to our ignorance. If we wish to leave suffering and attain happiness, the first step is to abandon greed and our attachment to the crude objects of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.
May we all receive and practice this teaching and ultimately perfect the path of supreme enlightenment!
Thank you.
