In this paperwork, I am going to reflect on the idea of “expedient devices” as explained in the “Parable of the Burning House” in the Lotus Sutra. According to my stand, this idea creates problems for the tradition as a whole in regard to both unity and continuity.
The parable of the Burning House entails the story of a rich man who is in desperate need of saving his children. The man invents some expedient means that will make it feasible for the children to flee the harm after all other means turn out to be doomed. The rich man promises to give his children wonderful toys; a goat cart, a deer cart, and an ox cart, but there was, only, one carriage pulled by white oxen outside the burning house. His, the rich man, expedient means works fruitfully, but he does not meet the promises that he had made to his children (Reeves, 2008). According to my stand, this parable represents the facet of lying that should not be allowed in any successful society. It is a fact that any relationship build on deceit does not work out in the long run. According to the book, the sutra makes it clear that what seems to be deceitful is not deceitful when the drive and consequences are good as it is the case in the parable of the Burning House (Watson, 1993). It is now clear, from the above reading that a person can, only, be assessed as having, or having not lied after his or her action is completed. We may have a scenario, whereby, a person lied, out of good intention, but the result of his or her action was unfruitful. The person is, therefore, said to have lied, since the results of his or her actions were not good. According to my stand, dishonesty should not be justified especially in the religious institutions. Unity and continuity among our societies can, only, be achieved through honesty and good morals. The idea of promising things that we cannot give will only create more problems for the tradition as a whole, resulting to a hostile society.
References
Reeves, G. (2008). The Lotus sutra: A contemporary transition of a Buddhist classic. Boston:
Wisdom Publications.
Watson, B., & K. (1993).The Lotus Sutra. New York: Columbia University Press.
