[Suzuki tells a story from the Lotus Sutra where a man finds his house on fire with his kids playing inside so to entice them to come out and save them he has there carts below waiting for them with various treasures inside and led by a deer, a sheep, and a white bull which stand for the vehicles of the sravaka, pratyeka, and bodhisattva.]
Actually, they are different vehicles, but the purpose of providing those vehicles was just to save his children. So we should not say the third one is best, and the second one is second-best and first one is worst. This kind of understanding is was not the point.The people who recited this sutra over many hundreds of years in India, in China, and in Japan, had confidence in the meaning of this parable, which is for the Buddhist, whichever the teaching is, they are the same. But if you attach to some special teaching, it is not our way. --------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-12-24 as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Going through Suzuki lectures and posting anything that can stand on its own. Not looking for zingers or "the best of." I find that following these excerpts daily provides another way to experience Suzuki's teaching. - DC