It is just a story, a possibility, perhaps a connection for some of the missing points in the parable found in the Lotus Sutra. We have a single father who is a doctor, many children, a possible reason why there is no mother mentioned, a son who has taken some poison clouding his mind and judgement, a son who returns home, taking the medicine, upon hearing of his ill father and spiritual death. This could be your story or it could be the story of someone you know. There are potentially countless other ways the story could be told, you may even have one of your own. What would your story sound like? Can you write or speak your own story? What is your reaction to the story both the one I shared and now reconsidering the parable in the Lotus Sutra?
People have approached me on occasion saying they feel incapable of teaching people about Buddhism or about the Lotus Sutra specifically. Really all it takes is to learn to tell your story. It doesn’t need to be complex, it doesn’t need to be fancy, it simply needs to be your story as a person who practices the Lotus Sutra. You might be a visual person so your story may not even contain words, it might be pictures, it could be anything as long as your story is in there somewhere. Your story will connect with others in ways technical explanations may not.
Stories are also beyond controversy, you do not need to defend your story, it simply is. Whether another persons accepts it or not is about them and not about you. Your story is important, it is valuable. Learn to tell your story and you will know how to speak to others about Buddhism at a heart to heart level. You can worry about dazzling them with brilliant explanations of complex theories later, for now learn your story.
Stories are a fascinating and interesting entry point into and from a person’s life. The Lotus Sutra on one level is a collection of stories which can seem baffling even intimidating. Sometimes it may be helpful to simply relish the splendor of the story and allow it to connect with your life, your heart, your soul rather than simply your brain. By doing this science has recently discovered that stories actually activate deeper and more complex parts of the brain. Perhaps this is what the sages and wise men of religions of ancient times intuitively understand or perhaps because of stories of old our brains have evolved to relate to stories so deeply. When you hear a story and absorb that story, barriers are overcome that the solely intellectual process stumbles over. Stories bring a teaching to life in ways that make it real and personal.
I do believe that entering the Lotus Sutra through the stories is what the original authors intended. The Lotus Sutra is not a collection of theories laid out in some formulaic order, yet the theories reveal themselves within the context of all of the myriad stories that make up the Lotus Sutra. Perhaps our challenge today in our time is to hear the stories again from a more modern perspective. This is an invitation to make the sutra your own, to possess it in your life and use it to tell your own story.
Before I move away from stories I would like to consider for a moment how easy it is to take poison and how difficult it can be to take the cure. The day on which I write this, a Monday, I spent the morning visiting newly admitted patients in the detox unit. Monday’s are frequently not the best time to visit patients since many have come in over the weekend and are very ill. Today though I had consults to visit seven patients and surprisingly I was able to have conversations with all seven, three of which were very lengthy and deep. One 22 year old patient, a heroin addict, said that he brought himself in and was not forced or coerced to come by anyone. In almost the same breath he said that he was sorry he had done it and didn’t know why he came since he really didn’t want to quit using.
I spent some time with him inviting his exploration into why he felt that way. Simply put, he said it was too much trouble. He said that if he got clean and quit using he would have to face up to the things he had done and it was just too complicated. He admitted that he faces possible jail time for possession with intent to sell, that his family didn’t trust him, and that he had no friends and wasn’t allowed back onto the campus of the college he was attending. Yea, all of that really sucks. Yet in his mind it was easier to continue to get high than it was to unravel all those problems.
We may sit in our safety and security and see no personal connection or identification with this young man, and yet for most I suspect there are or have been instances where avoidance seemed easier than confronting the problem. Sometimes we can continue to avoid, frequently though that has its own consequences. It is easier sometimes to take the poison than to take the medicine. Perhaps this is another story, a real life story, a story not too different from the one in the Lotus Sutra.
