This house is on fire

[Guest guest]

'Seeing is given twice as much importance as speaking by Brahma. Man has

two eyes, however, only one tongue was created.'

 

In my mailbox I receive different sort of things.

Some of it is friendly talk across a table and some is not.

The last kind are more like letter in the mail and this rises a different

approach also from this reader.

 

It made me remember a book I have about the sixth patriarch, and the way

poetry was used in communication.

 

It was easy to find it on the web.

and when the page appeared on the screen 'This house is on fire' appeared on

the radio.

 

There is a story about Bhikshu Fa Ta and the Dharma Flower Sutra/Lotus Sutra

It is a little bit down the page.

 

As the story makes no sense without knowing the sutra I pasted it below ( I

make no excuse for it being long : )

 

http://www.buddhistdoor.com/resources/sutras/6_Patriarch_Platform/sources/pl

atform_sutra_7.htm

 

 

 

 

The Buddha, wishing to state his meaning once more, spoke in verse form,

saying:

 

Suppose there was a rich man

who had a large house.

This house was very old,

and decayed and dilapidated as well.

The halls, though lofty, were in dangerous condition

beams and rafters were slating and askew,

foundations and steps were crumbling.

Walls were cracked and gaping

and the plaster had fallen off of them.

The roof thatch was in disrepair or missing,

the tips of the eaves had dropped off.

The fences surrounding it were crooked or collapsed

and heaped rubbish was piled all around.

Some five hundred persons

lived in the house.

Kites, owls, hawks, eagles,

crows, magpies, doves, pigeons,

lizards, snakes, vipers, scorpions,

centipedes and millipedes,

newts and ground beetles,

weasels, raccoon dogs, mice, rats,

hordes of evil creatures

scurried this way and that.

Places that stank of excrement

overflowed in streams of filth

where dung beetles and other creatures gathered.

Foxes, wolves and jackals

gnawed and trampled in the filth

or tore apart dead bodies,

scattering bones and flesh about.

Because of this, packs of dogs

came racing to the spot to snatch and tear,

driven by hunger and fear,

searching everywhere for food,

fighting, struggling and seizing,

baring their teeth, snarling and howling.

That house was fearful, frightening,

so altered was its aspect.

In every part of it

there were goblins and trolls,

yakshas and evil spirits

who feed on human flesh

or on poisonous creatures.

The various evil birds and beasts

bore offspring, hatched and nursed them,

each hiding and protecting its young,

but the yakshas outdid one another

in their haste to seize and eat them.

And when they had eaten their fill,

their evil hearts became fiercer than ever;

the sound of their wrangling and contention

was terrifying indeed.

Kumbhanda demons

crouched on clumps of earth

or leaped one or two feet

off the ground,

idling, wandering here and there,

amusing themselves according to their whims.

 

Sometimes they seized a dog by two of its legs

and beat it till it had lost its voice,

or planted their feet on the dog's neck,

terrifying it for their own delight.

Again there were demons

with large tall bodies,

naked in form, black and emaciated

constantly living there,

who would cry out in loud ugly voices,

shouting and demanding food.

There were other demons

whose throats were like needles,

or still other demons

with heads like the head of an ox,

some feeding on human flesh,

others devouring dogs.

Their hair like tangled weeds,

cruel, baleful, ferocious,

driven by hunger and thirst,

they dashed about shrieking and howling.

The yakshas and starving spirits

and the various evil birds and beasts

hungrily pressed forward in all directions,

peering out at the windows.

Such were the perils of this house,

threats and terrors beyond measure.

This house, old and rotting,

belonged to a certain man

and that man had gone nearby

and he had not been out for long

when a fire

suddenly broke out in the house.

In one moment from all four sides

the flames rose up in a mass.

Ridgepoles, beams, rafters, pillars

exploded with a roar, quivering, splitting,

broke in two and came rumbling down

as walls and partitions collapsed.

 

The various demons and spirits

lifted their voices in a great wail,

the hawks, eagles and other birds,

the kumbhanda demons,

were filled with panic and terror,

not knowing how to escape.

The evil beasts and poisonous creatures

hid in their holes and dens,

and the pishacha demons,

who were also living there,

because they had done so little that was good,

were oppressed by the flames

and attacked one another,

drinking blood and gobbling flesh.

The jackals and their like

were already dead by this time

and the larger of the evil beasts

vied in devouring them.

Foul smoke swirled and billowed up,

filling the house on every side.

The centipedes and millipedes,

the poisonous snakes and their kind,

scorched by the flames,

came scurrying out of their lairs,

whereupon the kumbhanda demons

pounced on them and ate them.

In addition, the starving spirits,

the fire raging about their heads,

hungry, thirsty, tormented by the heat,

raced this way and that in terror and confusion.

Such was the state of that house,

truly frightening and fearful;

malicious injury, the havoc of fire-

many ills, not just one, afflicted it.

At this time the owner of the house

was standing outside the gate

when he heard someone say,

"A while ago your various sons,

in order to play their games,

went inside the house.

They are very young and lack understanding

and will be wrapped up in their amusements."

When the rich man heard this,

he rushed in alarm into the burning house,

determined to rescue his sons

and keep them from being burned by the flames.

He urged his sons to heed him,

explaining the many dangers and perils,

the evil spirits and poisonous creatures,

the flames spreading all around,

the multitude of sufferings

that would follow one another without end,

the poisonous snakes, lizards and vipers,

as well as the many yakshas

and kumbhanda demons,

the jackals, foxes and dogs,

hawks, eagles, kites, owls,

ground beetles and similar creatures

driven and tormented by hunger and thirst,

truly things to be feared.

His sons could not stay in such a perilous place,

much less when it was all on fire!

But the sons had no understanding

and although they heard their father's warnings,

they continued engrossed in their amusements,

never ceasing their games.

At that time the rich man

thought to himself:

My sons may behave in this manner,

adding to my grief and anguish.

In this house at present

there is not a single joy,

and yet my sons,

wrapped up in their games,

refuse to heed my instructions

and will be destroyed by the fire!

 

Then it occurred to him

to devise some expedient means,

and he said to his sons,

"I have many kinds

of rare and marvelous toys,

wonderful jeweled carriages,

goat-carts, deer-carts,

carts drawn by big oxen.

They are outside the gate right now

you must come out and see them!

I have fashioned these carts

explicitly for you.

You may enjoy whichever you choose,

play with them as you like!

When the sons heard

this description of the carts,

at once they vied with one another

in dashing out of the house,

till they reached the open ground,

away from all peril and danger.

When the rich man saw that his sons

had escaped from the burning house

and were standing in the crossroads,

he seated himself on a lion seat,

congratulating himself in these words:

"Now I am content and happy.

These sons of mine

have been very difficult to raise.

Ignorant, youthful, without understanding,

they entered that perilous house

with its many poisonous creatures

and its goblins to be feared.

The roaring flames of the great fire

rose up on all four sides,

yet those sons of mine

still clung to their games.

But now I have saved them,

caused them to escape from danger.

 

That is the reason, good people,

I am content and happy."

At that time the sons,

seeing their father comfortably seated,

all went to where he was

and said to him:

"Please give us

the three kinds of jeweled carriages

you promised us earlier.

You said if we came out of the house

you'd give us three kinds of carts

and we could choose whichever we wished.

Now is the time

to give them to us!"

The rich man was very wealthy

and had many storehouses.

With gold, silver, lapis lazuli,

seashells, agate,

and other such precious things

he fashioned large carriages

beautifully adorned and decorated,

with railings running around them

and bells hanging from all sides.

Ropes of gold twisted and twined,

nets of pearls

stretched over the top,

and fringes of golden flowers

hung down everywhere.

Multicolored decorations

wound around and encircled the carriages,

soft silks and gauzes

served for cushions,

with fine felts of most wonderful make

valued at thousands or millions,

gleaming white and pure,

to spread over them.

There were large white oxen,

sleek, stalwart, of great strength,

handsome in form,

to draw the jeweled carriages,

and numerous grooms and attendants

to accompany and guard them.

These wonderful carriages

the man presented to each of his sons alike.

The sons at that time

danced for joy,

mounting the jeweled carriages,

driving off in all directions,

delighting and amusing themselves

freely and without hindrance.

I say this to you, Shariputra-

I am like this rich man.

I, most venerable of the sages,

am the father of this world

and all living beings

are my children.

But they are deeply attached to worldly pleasures

and lacking in minds of wisdom.

There is no safety in the threefold world;

it is like a burning house,

replete with a multitude of sufferings,

truly to be feared,

constantly beset with the griefs and pains

of birth, old age, sickness and death,

which are like fires

raging fiercely and without cease.

The Thus Come One has already left

the burning house of the threefold world

and dwells in tranquil quietude

in the safety of forest and plain.

But now this threefold world

is all my domain,

and the living beings in it

are all my children.

Now this place

is beset by many pains and trials.

 

I am the only person

who can rescue and protect others,

but though I teach and instruct them,

they do not believe or accept my teachings,

because, tainted by desires,

they are deeply immersed in greed and attachment.

So, I employ an expedient means,

describing to them the three vehicles,

causing all living beings

to understand the pains of the threefold world,

and then I set forth and expound

a way whereby they can escape from the world.

If these children of mine

will only determine in their minds to do so,

they can acquire all the three understandings

and the six transcendental powers,

can become pratyekabuddhas

or bodhisattvas who never regress.

I say to you, Shariputra,

for the sake of living beings

I employ these similes and parables

to preach the single Buddha vehicle.

If you and the others are capable

of believing and accepting my words,

then all of you are certain

to attain the Buddha way.

This vehicle is subtle, wonderful,

foremost in purity;

throughout all worlds

it stands unsurpassed.

The Buddha delights in and approves it,

and all living beings

should praise it,

offer it alms and obeisance.

There are immeasurable thousands of millions

of powers, emancipations,

meditations, wisdoms,

and other attributes of the Buddha.

 

But if the children can obtain this vehicle,

it will allow them

day and night for unnumbered kalpas

to find constant enjoyment,

to join the bodhisattvas

and the multitude of voice-hearers

in mounting this jeweled vehicle

and proceeding directly to the place of practice.

For these reasons,

though one should seek diligently in the ten directions,

he will find no other vehicles

except when the Buddha preaches them as an expedient means.

I tell you, Shariputra,

you and the others

are all my children,

and I am a father to you.

For repeated kalpas

you have burned in the flames of manifold sufferings,

but I will save you all

and cause you to escape from the threefold world.

Although earlier I told you

that you had attained extinction,

that was only the end of birth and death,

it was not true extinction.

Now what is needed

is simply that you acquire Buddha wisdom.

If there are bodhisattvas

here in this assembly,

let them with a single mind

listen to the true Law of the Buddhas.

Though the Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones,

employ expedient means,

the living beings converted by them

are all bodhisattvas.

If there are persons of little wisdom

who are deeply attached to love and desire,

because they are that way,

the Buddha preaches for them the rule of suffering.

 

Then the living beings will be glad in mind,

having gained what they never had before.

The rule of suffering which the Buddha preaches

is true and never varies.

If there are living beings

who do not understand the root of suffering,

who are deeply attached to the causes of suffering

and cannot for a moment put them aside,

because they are that way,

the Buddha uses expedient means to preach the way.

As to the cause of all suffering,

it has its root in greed and desire.

If greed and desire are wiped out,

it will have no place to dwell.

To wipe out all suffering-

this is called the third rule.

For the sake of this rule, the rule of extinction,

one practices the way.

And when one escapes from the bonds of suffering

this is called attaining emancipation.

By what means

can a person attain emancipation?

Separating oneself from falsehood and delusion-

this alone may be called emancipation.

But if a person has not truly

been able to emancipate himself from everything,

then the Buddha will say

he has not achieved true extinction,

because such a person

has not yet gained the unsurpassed way.

My purpose is not to try

to cause them to reach extinction.

I am the Dharma King,

free to do as I will with the Law.

To bring peace and safety to living beings-

that is the reason I appear in the world.

I say to you, Shariputra,

this Dharma seal of mine

 

I preach because I wish

to bring benefit to the world.

You must not recklessly transmit it

wherever you happen to wander.

If there is someone who hears it,

responds with joy and gratefully accepts it,

you should know that person

is an avivartika.

If there is someone who believes and accepts

the Law of this sutra,

that person has already seen

the Buddhas of the past,

has respectfully offered alms to them

and listened to this Law.

If there is someone who can

believe what you preach

then that person has seen me,

and has also seen you

and the other monks

and the bodhisattvas.

This Lotus Sutra

is preached for those with profound wisdom.

If persons of shallow understanding hear it,

they will be perplexed and fail to comprehend.

As for all the voice-hearers

and pratyekabuddhas,

in this sutra there are things

that are beyond their powers.

Even you, Shariputra,

in the case of this sutra

were able to gain entrance through faith alone.

How much more so, then, the other voice-hearers.

Those other voice-hearers

it is because they have faith in the Buddha's words

that they can comply with this sutra,

not because of any wisdom of their own.

Also, Shariputra,

to persons who are arrogant or lazy

or taken up with views of the self,

do not preach this sutra.

Those with the shallow understandings of ordinary persons,

who are deeply attached to the five desires,

cannot comprehend it when they hear it.

Do not preach it to them.

If a person fails to have faith

but instead slanders this sutra,

immediately he will destroy all the seeds

for becoming a Buddha in this world.

Or perhaps he will scowl with knitted brows

and harbor doubt or perplexity.

Listen and I will tell you

the penalty this person must pay.

Whether the Buddha is in the world

or has already entered extinction,

if this person should slander

a sutra such as this,

or on seeing those who read, recite,

copy and uphold this sutra,

should despise, hate, envy,

or bear grudges against them,

the penalty this person must pay

listen, I will tell you now:

When his life comes to an end

he will enter the Avichi hell,

be confined there for a whole kalpa,

and when the kalpa ends, be born there again.

He will keep repeating this cycle

for a countless number of kalpas.

Though he may emerge from hell,

he will fall into the realm of beasts,

becoming a dog or jackal,

his form lean and scruffy,

dark, discolored, with scabs and sores,

something for men to make sport of.

Or again he will

be hated and despised by men,

constantly plagued by hunger and thirst,

his bones and flesh dried up,

in life undergoing torment and hardship,

in death buried beneath the tiles and stones.

Because he cut off the seeds of Buddhahood

he will suffer this penalty.

If he should become a camel

or be born in the shape of a donkey,

his body will constantly bear heavy burdens

and have the stick or whip laid on it.

He will think only of water and grass

and understand nothing else.

Because he slandered this sutra,

this is the punishment he will incur.

Or he will be born as a jackal

who comes to the village,

body all scabs and sores,

having only one eye,

by the boys

beaten and cuffed,

suffering grief and pain,

sometimes to the point of death.

And after he has died

he will be born again in the body of a serpent,

long and huge in size,

measuring five hundred yojanas,

deaf, witless, without feet,

slithering along on his belly,

with little creatures

biting and feeding on him,

day and night undergoing hardship,

never knowing rest.

Because he slandered this sutra,

this is the punishment he will incur.

If he should become a human being,

his faculties will be blighted and dull,

he will be puny, vile, bent, crippled,

blind, deaf, hunchbacked.

 

The things he says

people will not believe,

the breath from his mouth will be constantly foul,

he will be possessed by devils,

poor and lowly,

ordered around by others,

plagued by many ailments, thin and gaunt,

having no one to turn to.

Though he attached himself to others,

they would never think of him;

though he might gain something,

he would at once lose or forget it.

Though he might practice the art of medicine

and by its methods cure someone's disease,

the person would grow sicker from some other malady

and perhaps in the end would die.

If he himself had an illness,

no one would aid or nurse him,

and though he took good medicine,

it would only make his condition worse.

If others should turn against him,

he would find himself plundered and robbed.

His sins would be such

that they would bring unexpected disaster on him.

A sinful person of this sort

will never see the Buddha,

the king of the many sages,

preaching the Law, teaching and converting.

A sinful person of this sort

will constantly be born amid difficulties,

crazed, deaf, confused in mind,

and never will hear the Law.

For countless kalpas

numerous as Ganges sands

he will at birth become deaf and dumb,

his faculties impaired,

will constantly dwell in hell,

strolling in it as though it were a garden,

and the other evil paths of existence

he will look on as his own home.

Camel, donkey, pig, dog-

these will be the forms he will take on.

Because he slandered this sutra,

this is the punishment he will incur.

If he should become a human being,

he will be deaf, blind, dumb.

Poverty, want, all kinds of decay

will be his adornment;

water blisters, diabetes,

scabs, sores, ulcers,

maladies such as these

will be his garments.

His body will always smell bad,

filthy and impure.

Deeply attached to views of self,

he will grow in anger and hatred;

aflame with licentious desires,

he will not spurn even birds or beasts.

Because he slandered this sutra,

this is the punishment he will incur.

I tell you, Shariputra,

if I were to describe the punishments that fall

on persons who slander this sutra,

I could exhaust a kalpa and never come to the end.

For this reason

I expressly say to you,

do not preach this sutra

to persons who are without wisdom.

But if there are those of keen capacities,

wise and understanding,

of much learning and strong memory,

who seek the Buddha way,

then to persons such as this

it is permissible to preach it.

If there are persons who have seen

hundreds and thousands and millions of Buddhas,

have planted many good roots

and are firm and deeply committed in mind,

then to persons such as this

it is permissible to preach it.

If there are persons who are diligent,

constantly cultivating a compassionate mind,

not begrudging life or limb,

then it is permissible to preach it.

If there are persons who are respectful, reverent

with minds set on nothing else,

who separate themselves from common folly

to live alone among mountains and waters,

then to persons such as this

it is permissible to preach it.

Again, Shariputra,

if you see a person

who thrusts aside evil friends

and associates with good companions,

then to a person such as this

it is permissible to preach it.

If you see a son of the Buddha

observing the precepts, clean and spotless

as a pure bright gem,

seeking the Great Vehicle Sutra,

then to a person such as this

it is permissible to preach it.

If a person is without anger,

upright and gentle in nature,

constantly pitying all beings,

respectful and reverent to the Buddhas,

then to a person such as this

it is permissible to preach it.

Again, if a son of the Buddha

in the midst of the great assembly

should with a pure mind

employ various causes and conditions,

similes, parables, and other expressions

to preach the Law in unhindered fashion,

to a person such as this

it is permissible to preach it.

If there are monks who,

for the sake of comprehensive wisdom,

seek the Law in every direction,

pressing palms together, gratefully accepting,

desiring only to accept and embrace

the sutra of the Great Vehicle

and not accepting a single verse

of the other sutras,

to persons such as this

it is permissible to preach it.

If a person, earnest in mind,

seeks this sutra

as though he were seeking the Buddha's relics,

and having gained and gratefully accepted it,

that person shows no intention

of seeking other sutras

and has never once given thought

to the writings of the non-Buddhist doctrines,

to a person such as this

it is permissible to preach it.

I tell you Shariputra,

if I described all the characteristics

of those who seek the Buddha way,

I could exhaust a kalpa and never be done.

Persons of this type

are capable of believing and understanding.

Therefore for them you should preach

the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law.

[Guest guest]

, "Al Larus" <erilarend>

wrote:

>

>

> 'Seeing is given twice as much importance as speaking by Brahma.

Man has

> two eyes, however, only one tongue was created.'

>

><courtesy snip>

 

thank you for the sutra, al. will read the story tomorrow...

 

yosy