In chapter VII of the Lotus Sutra Shakyamuni Buddha is portrayed as teaching a parable concerning a guide who is leading a vast number of people through an immense but dense forest to the \”Isle of Jewels.\” The journey is very long and extremely difficult. As a result the travelers become despondent. Indeed, they are so despondent that they want to turn back. To prevent this from happening the guide uses magic to create an immense city in which all of the travelers live happy lives. Encouragement is given to any of this magical city\’s residents who, after resting for a while, want to complete the journey to the Isle of Jewels.
This parable is really about the immense length of time and difficulty, involving many rebirths, that are involved in making the journey through many states of suffering to the ultimate state of Buddhahood he is promoting in the Lotus Sutra. Shakyamuni himself is the guide and the magical city is said to be the state attained by Pratyekabuddhas, that is, of those who seek Buddhahood for their own benefit. The ultimate state represented by the Isle of Jewels is that of those who seek Buddhahood for the benefit of others, the Buddha Vehicle or Buddhayana chosen by those who pursue the path of bodhisattvas. Here the Lotus Sutra clearly illustrates how Mahayana Buddhism is presenteed as a higher form of Buddhism because it is deemed to be less self-seeking than Theravada Buddhism.
The journey through the jungle does invite comparisons with the journey made through the wilderness by the people of Israel following the Exodus. Such were the hardships and privations experienced that they continually complained and even asked to be taken back to Egypt. Yahweh\’s miraculous provision of water, manna and quails did sustain the Israelites during their journey. However, this most certainly did not enable them to live happily in the wilderness. Their mumbling and grumbling continued, as did their demand to go back to Egypt.
In the case of the Israelites the destination was not some self-realised state by individuals but settlement in the Promised Land as a community. In similar vein Christians are pilgrims journeying towards the Ultimate Promised Land, a state they will enjoy when God creates a new heavens and a new earth.
Posted September 19, 2010
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