Parable Of The Burning House

The Parable of the Burning House appears in the Lotus Sutra as a story to illustrate the use of upaya, or skillful means and the teachings of the Ekayana, or the One “True” Vehicle. The story begins with a fire breaking out in a house of a wealthy man who has many children (Lotus Sutra). The father tries different ways to get his children out of the house (Lotus Sutra). First he shouts at them to flee the house because it is on fire, but the children do not heed his warning because they are too absorbed in their games (Lotus Sutra). So then the father calls to them and tells them that there are “goat-carts, deer-carts, and ox-carts” outside of the gate where they can come play with them (Lotus Sutra). This time the children, eager to play with

This is one of the main teachings of the Lotus Sutra and is illustrated in this parable through expedient means. Skillful, or expedient means, are ways to guide others to understanding. In the Parable of the Burning House, skillful means are used when the father tells the children there are new toys outside, even when there are not, in order to save them from the burning house, or symbolically to save them from their lives filled with suffering due to their worldly pleasures. This skillful mean employed by the father is used to help the children, or people, gain understanding and realize the One Great Vehicle. At first the children “had no alarm, no fright, and in the end no mind to leave the house” because “they did not understand what the fire was” (Lotus Sutra). This shows how people do not know that they are suffering and what they are missing out on by not following the teachings of the Ekayana. When the children escape the burning house and see the nice, new carts, they realize how better off they are now than before, which shows how Mahayana Buddhism is the better path than Hinayana. At the end of the parable, the children each gained “something he had never had before, something he had originally never expected” (Lotus Sutra). This reflects on how the Buddha’s teachings, especially those included in Lotus Sutra are significant and help followers of Buddhism attain Enlightenment or greater insight in their path towards Enlightenment. The point of the parable was to illustrate that there is only one true vehicle in Buddhism and that the other paths, represented by the smaller carts are not