Chapter 5. The Parable of the Medicinal Herbs
the Parable of the Medicinal Herbs
One of the “Seven Parables of the Lotus Sutra” is the Parable of the Medicinal Herbs. In this parable, the Buddha says that his appearance in the world is like a great cloud rising in the sky. It can cause sentient beings who have not yet been delivered to be delivered, those who have not yet been liberated to be liberated, those who have not yet found peace to be settled in peace, and those who have not yet entered Nirvana to enter Nirvana. This is an expedient teaching. Just as he might tell Sravakas, “I can give you peace and happiness.” It is like the rising of a great cloud; when it is about to rain, many people come to hear the Buddha speak. Sentient beings of all six paths come to hear the Dharma, but in the end, when the great rain falls everywhere, it is all the Buddha-Dharma, given to all sentient beings. He uses the medicinal herbs as a metaphor: because all sentient beings have different natures and capacities—some are like grass, some like flowers, and some like trees—they all come to listen. But when the Buddha-Dharma pours down like a great rain, it is actually the One Buddha Vehicle; everything that falls is the Buddha-Dharma. It is only that each sentient being, according to their capacity and nature, is delivered in their own way: a tree is delivered as a tree, grass as grass, and a flower as a flower. You cannot expect a foxtail weed to turn into a peony before it can be delivered. A small blade of grass grows, flowers, and bears fruit in its own way as grass, achieving the fruit of Buddhahood as grass. A flower absorbs this rain and nutrients to flower and bear fruit in its own way. A tree bears fruit in its own way. In truth, the Buddha’s meaning is what is later discussed in the “Universal Gateway Chapter of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva” and the “Chapter of Gadgadasvara Bodhisattva”: “To those who must be delivered by a certain body, he manifests that body and speaks the Dharma for them.”
The Buddha uses skillful means. When I am about to speak the Dharma, it is as if a great cloud has already appeared in the sky; you come to hear the Dharma, and I can bring you peace. Because sentient beings hear something that corresponds to their desires, they come to listen. But what the Buddha pours down is the rain of the Dharma. It is the same Dharma rain, regardless of which vehicle is taught. Every category of sentient being, based on its own nature, flowers and bears fruit within that nature. This is the metaphor of the cloud and rain. However, the Buddha indicates here that the Dharma spoken by the Tathagata ultimately returns to “one form and one flavor.” The “one form” is the true reality of suchness, and the “one flavor” is the Buddha-wisdom that is all-knowing. Ultimately, all these forms are the true reality of suchness—the original form of emptiness.
The “one flavor” means that ultimately the flavor of the Dharma everyone tastes is the One Vehicle Buddha-Dharma, which is Buddha-wisdom.
The Buddha said: “The forms I spoke of initially—the form of liberation, the form of detachment, the form of cessation, and so on— are like the gathering of a great cloud. They can cause unliberated beings to gain liberation, unsettled beings to find peace, and those not yet in Nirvana to enter Nirvana.” All sentient beings come to hear the Dharma because they hear these things. But finally, he explains that the forms of liberation, detachment, and cessation that he spoke of previously ultimately reach “the knowledge of all modes.” These are all the form of emptiness, and they ultimately constitute one form and one flavor. This is still saying that the three vehicles ultimately return to the One Vehicle; it is still elaborating on this principle. Sentient beings absorb the nourishment of the Dharma rain according to their respective natures and begin to find liberation within those natures. Once an Arhat realizes the highest view, he can then practice the Bodhisattva path from the perspective of an Arhat and find liberation there. This is all possible.