Sakyamuni Buddha, whose teachings of truth are spread throughout the world, was born as a son of King Śuddhodana, a ruler of a kingdom in India. When he was a young man he renounced his life as a prince and became a monk. After much spiritual training and physical hardships he attained enlightenment and he died after preaching for fifty years. However, in reality, he was the Eternal Buddha of infinite life. He appeared in this world as a mm, trained as a monk and became enlightened to show us that everyone is capable of attaining enlightenment.
In the 16th chapter of the Lotus Sutra, which is composed of 28 chapters, there is a parable of the great physician who was able to diagnose with skill and cure patients of all illnesses. So let us begin:
One day the physician came home from a trip and found his children suffering from the effects of the poison they had taken while they were playing in the pharmacy during their father’s absence. The father immediately prepared an antidote, saying to the children, “Here is a medicine with good color, fragrance, and taste. Take it and it will make you feel better.” The children who believed in the father’s words took the medicine and were freed from their suffering immediately. However, poison had already affected some of the other children so badly that they were out of their minds. They could not believe that the medicine that their father had prepared would do any good and refused to take it.
The thought that something had to be done to bring the children to their senses and thought of a plan. He told the children he was going away on a trip again to a distant land. He said that he was getting old and may even die before he returned. He said that if this should happen he wanted his children to help each other and to get along without him and to remember what he told them about taking his medicine. Sometime later sent a messenger home to tell the children that the father had died during his travel. The children were shocked and full of grief. They suddenly realized how much their father had meant to them and they could no longer depend on his loving guidance. The children who were grief-stricken finally came to their senses. They remembered what their father had told them and took the medicine and recovered from the poisoning.
When the father learned that all of his children recovered completely, he was relieved and came to reveal to the children that he had not died after all. The father and children had a joyous reunion.
The great physician is Sakyamuni Buddha. The suffering children who could not believe in the father’s words are the people of this world suffering from ignorance. The great medicine is most valuable of the teaching of the Buddha, the Lotus Sutra. The great physician, through his assumed death, taught the value of his medicine to his suffering children. The Buddha, through the manifestation of his death, impressed upon us the value of his teaching. With great compassion he showed us the value of his teaching. With great compassion he showed us the way to escape the sufferings of life caused by ignorance through accepting the teachings of the Lotus Sutra. Buddha is eternal. He is forever blessing us with his wisdom and compassion.
Ven. Kenjo Igarashi
July/August 2023