When comparing both the Lotus Sutra and the Zen teachings of Master Lin-Chi one can find for the …show more content…
In the Sutra there are three vehicles. The first vehicle to arrive at Nirvana is to hear the Buddha’s teachings. This essentially means to sit at the teacher’s feet and let him guide you into enlightenment. The second vehicle requires that a person realize enlightenment on their own, through their own respective ideologies. The third vehicle is the path of the Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva intentionally remains in the cycle of rebirth in order to assist others in achieving Nirvana. All three of those vehicles are one vehicle, according to the …show more content…
In Chapter 3 of the Lotus Sutra, there is a parable of a Burning House which goes like so: A wise man returns from his travels to his mansion on fire and his children are trapped inside. He tells them the house is on fire and tells them to come out, but they do not understand what "the house is on fire" means, and they are immersed with their playthings. So the father tells them that he has presents outside like goat carts, deer carts or bullock carts for the various sons. The children then hurry to come out and ask for the carts, but the father does not have them. Instead, he gives each child a far better gift than they could have imagined, drawn by white