Parables are Expressions of the Buddha's Compassion... One of my favourit parables is the following. It is the famous parable of the skilled physician and his sick children.

In the “Expedient Means”, Shakyamuni says, “I have through various causes and various similes widely expounded my teachings”; the Buddhist scriptures are indeed replete with parable, allegory and metaphor. To enable people to grasp his profound teaching and make it readily accessible, the Buddha explained it using a variety of brilliantly-conceived illustrations and comparisons.

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle said that “the greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor. It is the one thing that cannot be learnt from others; and it is also a sign of genius, since a good metaphor implies an intuitive perception of the similarity in dissimilars.” The Buddha was truly a genius at discourse.

Using common sense illustrations and metaphors to explain things makes it possible to move people’s hearts. When people are moved, they can change their state of life. The Buddha’s parables are an expression of his compassionate desire to try, by any means available, to help people change themselves and become happy. They are also the crystallization of his wisdom.

In the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni’s skill as a master at dialogue is fully displayed. There are in fact a great many parables in the Lotus Sutra. Among these, seven are particularly important: These are known as “the seven parables and similes.” Along with the parable of the excellent physician and his sick children that we are about to study, the seven include: the parable of the three carts and the burning house; the parable of the wealthy man and his poor son; the parable of the three kinds of medicinal herbs and two kinds of trees; the parable of the phantom city and the treasure land; the parable of the gem in the robe; and the parable of the priceless gem in the topknot.

Of these seven parables, only the parable of the excellent physician and his sick children is expounded in the sutra’s essential teaching, or second half. The rest are all contained in the earlier, theoretical teachings.

At this point in “The Life Span of the Thus Come One”, the ultimate teaching of the Buddha’s eternal life has already been expounded. But that is not in itself sufficient. The Buddha’s true objective is to enable people to practice this supreme teaching themselves and come to fully embody its truth.

As the ultimate expedient he employs toward this end, the Buddha appears to enter extinction. The parable of the excellent physician and his sick children expresses “as an expedient means I appear to enter nirvana” in the form of a parable.

The parable of the excellent physician and his sick children also indicates how, at the time of his extinction, the Buddha expounds the Mystic Law to save the people of later ages. Its aim is to help people after the Buddha’s passing in the Latter Day understand that it was for their sake that the Buddha preached the Mystic Law.

The parable begins with the introduction of the principal characters. There is a great physician who possesses brilliant wisdom, and who excels in compounding medicines and curing people’s illnesses. He has many children, who are said to number “ten, twenty, or even a hundred.” Shakyamuni then indicates that the physician goes elsewhere to attend to some matter.

The excellent physician represents Shakyamuni, who attained enlightenment in the remote past. He is a Buddha endowed with infinite wisdom. Compounding medicines symbolizes expounding teachings.

While it seems extraordinary that the physician should have a hundred children, they are meant to represent all people, who are like children to the Buddha.

The physician’s journey is a metaphorical description of how in the past Shakyamuni, following his attainment of Buddhahood in the remote past, left this world for an interval in order to appear in other worlds.

The Buddha is often described as the “king of physicians,” a physician of unparalleled skill. Just as a physician provides appropriate curative methods according to the condition of the patient, the Buddha understands the most appropriate means for curing people of their sufferings. That is why the Buddha is represented as a physician.

There are various kinds of illnesses. Taking cold medicine for a toothache won’t do you any good. Nor will applying eye medicine to treat a stomachache. An excellent physician is one who thoroughly understands the relationships between medicine and disease.

Moreover, the Buddha is not simply an “excellent physician”; he is the “king of physicians.” He understands the wonderful medicine for “curing” fundamental darkness, which is the root cause of all suffering. And this ultimate teaching that the Buddha left behind for all people of future generations is the Mystic Law contained in the depths of the “Life Span” chapter.

The Parable of the Excellent Physician

There was once an excellent and wise physician. He was good at dispensing medicines and curing diseases. He had many children. One day he went to a remote country on business.

After he left home, the children accidentally took some poison. The poison passed in to their bodies, and the sons writhed in agony, rolling on the ground. At that time the father returned home. Some of his children had already lost their senses while others still had not. All of them begged him to cure the poison sickness and said, “We were ignorant. We took poison by mistake. Cure us and give us back our lives!”

Seeing his children suffering so much, he compounded a medicine by pounding and sieving the herbs, and gave it to them, saying, “It has good color, smell and taste. Take it! It will remove the pain at once. You will not suffer any more.”

Those who had not lost their right minds took it at once, and were cured completely. But the rest of them, who had already lost their right minds, did not consent to take the remedy given to them, because they were so perverted that they did not believe that this medicine having a good color and smell had a good taste.

The father thought, “These children are pitiful. They are so poisoned that they are perverted. Although they rejoice at seeing me and asked me to cure them, they do not consent to take this good medicine. Now I will have them take it with an expedient.”

Then he said to them, “Now I am old and decrepit. I shall die soon. I am leaving this medicine here. Take it. Do not be afraid, you will be cured!” Having advised them, he went to a remote country again. Then he sent home a messenger to tell them, “Your father has just died.”

Having heard that their father had passed away leaving them behind, they felt extremely sorry. They thought, “If our father were alive, he would love and protect us. Now he has deserted us and died in a remote country.”

They felt lonely and helpless because they thought that they were parentless and shelterless. Their constant sadness finally caused them to remember what the father had said in his last words, “Take this remedy!” Then they took it and were completely recovered from the poison.

On hearing that they had recovered their health, the father returned home, and showed himself to them.

Namo Amituofo