I have recited all 28 chapters of the Lotus Sutra over 150 times within the last ten years. That means, of course, that I have also recited the famous Parable of the Hidden Jewel, which appears in Chapter 8, over 150 times. Today, I want to share some of my impressions of this parable, especially concerning the words "sharply rebuking him."
Concerning this Parable
Immediately following this paragraph, I will quote from parts of Chapter 8 of the Lotus Sutra, which pertain to this Parable. Here's the link to Chapter 8 in its entirety, should you decide to read all of its 11 pages for reassurance that I have not omitted anything of import: http://nichiren.info/buddhism/lotussutra/text/chap08.html . This link claims Burton Watson as the translator (into English), as does the Soka Gakkai International which published The Lotus Sutra and Its Opening and Closing Sutras in 2009. I mention this, since there are some differences (though minor) between these two translations.
For your convenience, I numbered the lines of text as they appear in the link, but only the verse section. There is a section in prose (also in Chapter 8), which adds some important information - this I inserted between lines 28 and 29. While it was a common practice to offer verse and prose versions of Buddhist teachings, there are noteworthy differences between them. The two blocks of indented lines - 13-28 and 29-36 - comprise the entire parable, while the other numbered lines provide context.
QUOTE [read the two preceding paragraphs before reading this QUOTE]:
1 At that time Ajnata Kaundinya and the others, wishing to state their
2 meaning once more, spoke in verse form, saying:
3 We have heard the sound of this prophecy
4 assuring us of unsurpassed ease and tranquility;
5 we rejoice in gaining what we never had before
6 and make obeisance to the Buddha of measureless wisdom.
7 Now in the presence of the World-Honored One
8 we bewail our faults and errors.
9 Of the Buddha's immeasurable treasure
10 we have gained only a small portion of nirvana,
11 and like ignorant and foolish persons
12 have taken that to be sufficient.
13 We are like the poor and impoverished man
14 who went to the house of a close friend.
15 The house was a very prosperous one
16 and he served many trays of delicacies.
17 The friend took a priceless jewel,
18 sewed it in the lining of the poor man's robe,
19 gave it without a word and then went away,
20 and the man, being asleep, knew nothing of it.
21 After the man had gotten up,
22 he journeyed here and there to other countries,
23 seeking food and clothing to keep himself alive,
24 finding it very difficult to provide for his livelihood.
25 He made do with what little he could get
26 and never hoped for anything finer,
27 unaware that in the lining of his robe
28 he had a priceless jewel.
"World-Honored One, it was like the case of a man who went to the house of a close friend and, having become drunk on wine, lay down to sleep. At that time the friend had to go out on official business. He took a priceless jewel, sewed it in the lining of the man's robe, and left it with him when he went out. The man was asleep drunk and knew nothing about it. When he got up, he set out on a journey to other countries. In order to provide himself with food and clothing he had to search with all his energy and diligence, encountering very great hardship and making do with what little he could come by.
29 Later the close friend who had given him the jewel
30 happened to meet the poor man
31 and after sharply rebuking him,
32 showed him the jewel sewed in the robe.
33 When the poor man saw the jewel
34 his heart was filled with great joy,
35 for he was rich, possessed of wealth and goods
36 sufficient to satisfy the five desires.
37 We are like that man.
38 Through the long night the World-Honored One
39 constantly in his pity teaches and converts us,
40 causing us to plant the seeds of an unsurpassed aspiration.
41 But because we are without wisdom,
42 we are unaware of this, unknowing.
43 Having gained a small portion of nirvana,
44 we are satisfied and seek nothing more.
45 But now the Buddha awakens us,
46 saying 'This is not really extinction,
47 when you have gained the Buddha's unsurpassed wisdom,
48 then that will be true extinction!'
49 Now we have heard from the Buddha
50 these prophecies and descriptions of adornment,
51 and how each in turn will bestow a prophecy on his successor,
52 and in body and mind we are filled with joy.
:UNQUOTE.
My Analysis
Line 31: and after sharply rebuking him,
This line warrants the clarification provided by the following prose section, also appearing in Chapter 8:
QUOTE: [source: same link as cited above]:
"Later, the close friend happened to meet him by chance. The friend said, 'How absurd, old fellow! Why should you have to do all this for the sake of food and clothing? In the past I wanted to make certain you would be able to live in ease and satisfy the five desires, and so on such-and-such a day and month and year I took a priceless jewel and sewed it in the lining of your robe. It must still be there now. But you did not know about it, and fretted and wore yourself out trying to provide a living for yourself. What nonsense! Now you must take the jewel and exchange it for goods. Then you can have whatever you wish at all times and never experience poverty or want.'
:UNQUOTE.
For the longest time, I reacted badly to line 31, thinking, "How does this poor man deserve rebuke, for the jewel was hidden in his robe - so how could he even know it was there?" However, the yellowed highlight - "In the past I wanted to make certain" - makes clear that the jewel was hidden but wasn't beyond reasonable detection. After all, the poor man must have washed his robe many times since "such-and-such a...year" had passed since the rich man sewed the jewel into the robe's lining.
The lesson on right mindfulness - one of the Buddha's Eightfold Paths - was far more valuable than the jewel itself. Elsewhere in Chapter 8, it says, "The Buddha is like this friend." If so, then the Buddha would have been far more concerned with teaching a lesson on right mindfulness than on making his poor friend materially wealthy. Hopefully, the poor (now rich) man walks away with the jewel, thinking, "How could I have been so unaware for so long that something [the jewel] was so close to my person? How many times was I vaguely aware of a lump when I sat down and shifted my weight? How many times did I hand-wash my robe and not felt a rock-hard foreign presence?"
The Buddha has the gift of being able to prod people into asking questions of themselves, which is a useful basis for meditation.
Now is a good time to provide a definition of mindfulness:
QUOTE [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness_(Buddhism) :
Mindfulness...is a spiritual or psychological faculty (indriya) that, according to the teaching of the Buddha, is considered to be of great importance in the path to enlightenment. It is one of the seven factors of enlightenment. "Correct" or "right" mindfulness...is the seventh element of the noble eightfold path. ...
Enlightenment (bodhi) is a state of being in which greed, hatred and delusion (Pali: moha) have been overcome, abandoned and are absent from the mind. Mindfulness, which, among other things, is an attentive awareness of the reality of things (especially of the present moment) is an antidote to delusion and is considered as such a 'power' (Pali: bala). This faculty becomes a power in particular when it is coupled with clear comprehension of whatever is taking place.
The Buddha advocated that one should establish mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna) in one's day-to-day life maintaining as much as possible a calm awareness of one's body, feelings, mind, and dhammas.
:UNQUOTE.
In effect, the poor man remained poor since his own lack of right mindfulness denied him awareness of the presence of the jewel in his robe. In order to advance spiritually, one has to maintain (as highlighted above) a calm awareness of one's body... Hopefully, that awareness would extend to include those things closest to one's body.
Then there's the issue of the poor man's state of life. He was poor, lacked right mindfulness, and would drink to the point of having to sleep it off while still in the presence of his good friend. The poor man might well have become rich after cashing in the jewel. But the world is full of stories of poor men who, upon becoming rich, lost everything due to their own character flaws or negative karma, if you will.
The "Buddha" got his friend drunk...
...and presumably had joined him in drinking wine. What to think?
Providing wine and drinking with his poor friend were expedient means (the title of Chapter 2 of the Lotus Sutra) by which the Buddha was able to approach the poor man. As for providing the wine, sometimes one has to acknowledge the importance of a negative element in another's life - and then work with that in order to encourage positive elements. As for the Buddha himself drinking alcohol, there are two possibilities:
- He only appeared to drink, which is plausible since one of the Buddha's supernatural powers is the ability to generate appearances;
- He actually did drink, though what actually entered his body wasn't alcoholic since, according to the Lotus Sutra, "poison shall have no power to harm him," and "all that he eats will become like sweet dew."
Lines 1 and 2
I now restate lines 1 and 2 from above:
1 At that time Ajnata Kaundinya and the others, wishing to state their
2 meaning once more, spoke in verse form, saying:
Just to be clear, Ajnata Kaundinya and the others refers to a total of 500 disciples. What we have here is an example of numerous persons engaging in joining their minds. That's what enabled them to speak in unison, uttering words that hadn't been agreed upon in advance.
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Steven Searle, just another member of the Lotus Sutra's Virtual Samgha
Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com
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