A reading from "Buddhist Scriptures",
selected and translated by Edward Conze,
Penguin Books, 1959, p. 203-211:

[The "Lord", a Spiritual Teacher,
is speaking to Sariputra]

It will be best for me to tell you a parable,
so that this matter might become clearer.
For comparisons often help discerning people
to understand the meaning of what is being taught.

In some village, city, market town, country district,
province, kingdom, or capital
there lived a householder,
old, advanced in years, decrepit,
weak in health and strength,
but rich, wealthy, and well-to-do.

His house was a large one,
both extensive and high,
and it was old, having been built a long time ago.

It was inhabited by many living beings,
some two, three, four, or five hundred.

It had one single door only.

It was thatched with straw,
its terraces had fallen down, its foundations were rotten,
its walls, matting-screens, and plaster were in an advanced state of decay.

Suddenly a great blaze of fire broke out,
and the house starting burning on all sides.
And that man had many young sons,
five, or ten, or twenty,
and he himself got out of the house.

When that man saw his own house ablaze all around
with that great mass of fire, he became afraid and trembled,
his mind became agitated,
and he thought to himself:
"I, it is true, have been competent enough to run out of the door,
and to escape from my burning house, quickly and safely,
without being touched or scorched by that great mass of fire.

But what about my sons, my young boys, my little sons?

There, in this burning house,
they play, sport, and amuse themselves
with all sorts of games.

They do not know that this dwelling is afire,
they do not understand it,
do not perceive it,
pay no attention to it,
and so they feel no agitation.

Though threatened by this great mass of fire,
though in such close contact with so much ill,
they pay no attention to their danger,
and make no efforts to get out."

And this man, being strong,
with powerful arms, further thinks to himself:
"With my strong arms I can easily carry all these little sons of mine
in one bunch against my chest out of that house."

But then he had second thoughts:
"This house has only one single door,
and that is a narrow one;
these boys, thoughtless, fickle, and childlike as they are,
are sure to flutter about all over the place,
and that way they may well come to misfortune and disaster
in this great mass of fire."

So he decided to warn them, and called out:
"Come here, my boys, come out of the house!
It is burning fiercely.
If you do not come soon, you will all be burned in that great mass of fire,
and come to misfortune and disaster!"

But the young boys paid no heed to the words of that man
who had only their welfare at heart.

They did not become agitated,
frightened,
alarmed,
or terrified;
they did not think about their lot,
they did not try to run out.

They could not even appreciate or understand what the word "burning" meant.

Instead, they just ran here and there,
and in their foolishness repeatedly looked out at their father.
Then this man thinks again:
"This house is all ablaze, the great mass of fire is burning it down.
How can I prevent further disaster for myself and my boys?
Perhaps with my skill in means
I can drive these boys out of the house."

And that man knows the dispositions of his boys,
and is aware of their interests.

Now these boys have many toys to play with
-- beautiful, attractive, lovely, pleasing, delightful, and costly toys.

And, knowing the disposition of his boys,
the man said to them:
"Listen, my boys!
Think of your beautiful and wonderful toys,
without which you would be very unhappy!

Think of all the various things you have got,
your bullock-carts, goat-carts, and deer-carts,
which you love so much,
which are so dear, pleasing, and precious to you!

All of them I have put outside the door of the house,
so that you can play with them.

Come here, run out of the house!

To each one of you I will give whatever he wants and asks for.

Come out quickly,
run out so that you can get them!"

Thereupon those boys, when they heard their father speak
of those attractive, lovely, pleasing, and delightful playthings
which they delighted in,
and which were what they wished for and fancied,
quickly ran out of that burning house
with a determined effort and in one great rush,
and they pushed each other out of the way
and showed little consideration for one another,
because each one wanted to get there first.

When that man saw that his boys had escaped,
and were safe and sound,
and knew that there was nothing to fear for them any more,
he took a walk to the village square, and sat down there,
jubilant and rejoicing,
freed from his sorrows, worries, and fears.

But the boys ran up to their father, and said:
"Daddy, give us those various beautiful things to play with,
those bullock-carts, goat-carts, and deer-carts!"

Thereupon, Sariputra,
that man gives to all his sons,
in his love for his own children,
the finest of all carts, that is to say, ox-carts,
swift as the wind, built of the most precious substances,
with railings all round,
hung with a net-work of small bells,
lofty and high, adorned with rare and wonderful gems,
embellished with jewel wreaths,
decorated with garlands of flowers,
carpeted with cotton mattresses
and woolen coverlets spread over with fine cloth,
both sides padded with red pillows,
yoked to white oxen,
snow-white and fleet of foot,
which were driven along by a multitude of  servants.

To all his boys he gives ox-carts with fluttering banners,
swift as the wind,
all of the same kind,
all of the same sort.

And why?

Because that man is wealthy and very rich,
with an abundance of gold, silver, and treasures stored away,
and he would not think it right
to give second-rate carts to these boys.

"For they all are my own sons,
they are all dear and precious to me.

And since I own all these fine carts,
I should treat all the boys equally,
and not prefer one to the other.

I have so great wealth and such vast possessions
that I could well give such fine carts to all beings,
how much more so to my own sons!"

Meanwhile the boys, amazed and astonished,
have climbed on their fine carts.

What do you think, Sariputra;
could one say of that man
that he spoke falsely when he first held out three kinds of carts to these boys,
and later on gave all of them
the finest kind of vehicle only,
the magnificent kind of vehicle?

Sariputra replied:
"Not so, O Lord!
Not so, O Well-Gone!
That man cannot be charged with speaking falsely,
since it was only a skilful device
by which he managed to get his sons out of that burning building,
and to present them with life.

And it was only because their own bodies were first rescued
that they could later on receive all those toys to play with.

Even if that man had not given any carts at all to the boys,
even then, O Lord,
he could not be charged with falsehood.

It was because he had merely considered how to save the boys
by some skilful device
from that great mass of fire
that he was not guilty of falsehood.

And in addition
he has drawn on his abundant wealth and possessions,
and in his fondness for his sons
and in celebration of their release
he has given them all vehicles of one kind,
that is to say, the finest kind of vehicles.

That man, O Lord, is certainly not guilty of falsehood!"

The Lord thereupon said to the Venerable Sariputra:
Well, said, Sariputra,
well said,
so it is, Sariputra, so it is as you say!

And this is the meaning of the parable I have just told you:

The Tathagata has himself escaped from all dangers,
he is entirely and in all ways set free
from all that smothers other people,
from the darkening and obscuring membrane of ignorance which blinds others,
and from all misfortunes,
perturbations,
calamities,
pain,
and sadness.

The Tathagata is endowed with gnosis,
with the ten Powers,
the four Grounds of self-confidence,
and the eighteen Special dharmas of a Buddha.

As a result of his miraculous powers
he is the world's exceedingly powerful father,
great in his skill in means,
and he has reached the greatest possible perfection
in his cognition and vision;
he is greatly compassionate,
and his mind never wearies of bestowing benefits,
so great is his pity.

He appears in the Triple world,
which is like a generally decayed old house
with an old thatched roof,
and aflame with the fire
of a vast mass of physical and mental suffering.

His purpose is to set free
from greed, hate, and delusion
the beings in the world
who are blinded
by the darkening and obscuring membranes of ignorance,
and who are smothered by birth,
old age,
sickness,
death,
grief,
lamentation,
pain,
sadness,
and despair;
and furthermore
it is his purpose to rouse them
to the highest enlightenment.

When he has appeared in the world,
he sees beings inflamed by the fire
of birth, and so on,
and cooked, scorched, and tormented by it;
and he sees how they have to endure
many kinds of suffering,
from their efforts to acquire property
as well as from the promptings of their sensuous desires.

As a result of what they have sought and acquired in this life
they experience manifold ills in a future life
-- in the hells,
in the animal world,
in the world of Yama;
they suffer such ills
as poverty among gods and men,
association with undesirable things,
deprivation of what they wish for.

And yet, in spite of the fact that they revolve in this mass of ill,
they play,
sport,
and amuse themselves,
they are not frightened,
alarmed,
or terrified,
they do not understand their situation,
they do not think about it,
they are not agitated,
they do not try to escape,
but are quite contented with this Triple world,
which is like a house on fire,
and they run about in it
here and there.

Although hemmed in on all sides by this vast mass of ill
they do not pay any attention to the fact of ill.

Seeing all this, the Tathagata thinks to himself:
"I am indeed the father of these beings.

It is I who must set them free
from this vast mass of ills,
it is I who must give to them
the infinite and inconceivable happiness
of the Buddha-cognition,
which shall be their play,
sport,
and amusement."

And he further reflects that
"If I,
strong in cognition and magical power,
but without skill in means,
should promise to these beings the cognition and vision of a Tathagata,
his ten Powers
and his four Grounds of self-confidence,
they will never set out
for the sake of these dharmas.

For they are bent on the five kinds of sense-objects,
they are not yet freed
of their fondness for the Triple world,
and they will continue to be burned,
boiled,
scorched,
and tormented
by the fires of birth, and so on.

Before they have run out of the Triple world,
which is like a badly decayed house all in flames,
they cannot possibly understand
what this Buddha-cognition means."

As that man in the parable,
without using the strength of his arms,
induces by his skill in means these boys to get out
of the burning house,
and thereafter gives them the finest,
gives them truly magnificent vehicles;
just so the Tathagata,
without using a Tathagata's Grounds of self-confidence,
Powers and cognition,
employs his skill in means
coupled with deep insight
to drive beings out of the Triple world,
which is like a burning house,
and he holds out three vehicles to them,
i.e. the vehicle of the Disciples,
the vehicle of the Pratyekabuddhas,
and the vehicle of the Bodhisattvas.

And with the help of these three vehicles
he entices beings away from the world,
and he says to them:
"Do not , Venerable Sirs! be satisfied in this Triple world,
which is like a house on fire,
with those ignoble, low and contemptible sight-objects,
sounds, smells, tastes and contacts!

For as long as you delight in this Triple world,
for so long you burn with the thirst
which accompanies the five sense-objects,
you are scorched and tormented by it.

Flee from this Triple world,
reach out for the three vehicles,
i.e. the vehicle of the Disciples,
the vehicle of the Pratyekabuddhas,
the vehicle of the Bodhisattvas.

I give you my word on this point,
I shall give you these three vehicles;
climb on them
so that you may escape from the Triple world!"

And so as to entice them further, he adds:
"These vehicles, my friends, are noble,
lauded by noble men,
and very lovely:
play, sport and amuse yourselves with them,
Venerable Sirs! and that will be a high-class form of amusement for you!

You will then experience the great delight of the cardinal virtues,
the powers,
the limbs of enlightenment,
the trances,
emancipations
and Transic attainments,
and you shall find much happiness and joy!"

And the more intelligent people have faith in the words of the Tathagata,
who is the world's father.

In their faith they apply themselves to the Tathagata's religion,
and make efforts to carry out his advice.

Some of them prefer to hearken to the authoritative voice of a teacher,
and by a thorough understanding of the four holy Truths,
hope to win final Nirvana for themselves.

They are the ones who escape from the Triple world
in the expectation of the vehicle of the Disciples,
and they correspond to the boys
who ran out of the burning building
in the hope of getting the smallest of all the carts,
those drawn by deer.

Others again prefer to strive for a cognition
which brings self-discipline and calm,
owes nothing to a teacher,
and by a thorough understanding of causes and conditions
they hope to win final Nirvana for themselves.

They are the ones who escape from the Triple world
in the expectation of the vehicle of the Pratyekabuddhas,
and they correspond to the boys
who longed for the medium kind of carts,
those drawn by goats.

Others again prefer to strive
for the cognition of the all-knowing,
the cognition which also dispenses with a teacher,
and by a thorough understanding of a Tathagata's cognition,
Powers and Grounds of self-confidence
they hope to win final Nirvana for all beings
-- for the sake of the many,
for the weal,
welfare
and happiness
of a great mass of people,
be they gods or men.

They are those who escape from the Triple world
in the expectation of the great vehicle,
and for that reason they are called "Bodhisattvas,
great beings".

And they correspond to the boys
who longed for the finest carts, for bullock-carts.

Just as, Sariputra,
that man, when he saw that his sons had escaped from the burning house,
when he knew that they were safe and sound,
that they were set free
and that there was nothing to fear for them any more,
and when he considered his own great wealth,
gave them all just one kind of vehicle,
the best kind;
just so, Sariputra,
the Tathagata sees many millions of beings set free from the Triple world,
freed from pain,
fear,
terror,
and calamities.

It is because they escaped
by the door provided by the Tathagata's religion
that they were freed from all pain,
danger,
calamity,
and vexation,
and that they have won the happiness of a Nirvana,
which is, however,
only provisional.

In addition
the Tathagata thinks of his vast and abundant store of cognitions,
Powers,
and Grounds of self-confidence,
and he recollects that all these beings are his own sons,
and so further leads them on to final Nirvana
by the Buddha-vehicle.

But he does not urge anyone to win a private Nirvana just for himself;
on the contrary,
he leads all those beings to a final Nirvana which is all-embracing,
which is the Tathagata's own Nirvana.

And, Sariputra,
to all the beings who have been set free from the Triple world
the Tathagata gives lovely toys of the same kind,
he gives them the trances,
emancipations
and Transic attainments to play with,
which are noble and conducive to the highest happiness.

And, Sariputra,
just as that man told no falsehood when,
after holding out three kinds of vehicles,
he gave all his boys just one kind of vehicle,
a great vehicle,
built of the most precious substances,
adorned with all kinds of ornaments,
just the best and finest vehicle of all
-- just so the Tathagata also has spoken no falsehood
when, after first, in his skill in means,
holding out the three kinds of vehicles,
afterwards he leads beings to final Nirvana
by the great vehicle alone.

For the Tathagata,
endowed with an abundant store of cognitions,
Powers
and Grounds of self-confidence,
has the capacity to exhibit to all beings
the Dharma which is connected with the cognition of the all-knowing.

It is in this manner that we should understand
how the Tathagata,
with his consummate skill in means,
demonstrates one vehicle only,
i.e.
the great vehicle.


++++++ Glossary+++++++

Arhat -- The highest kind of Saint, who is exempt from further rebirth.

Bodhisattva -- A person who wishes to win full enlightenment, or to become a Buddha.

Dharmas, dharmas -- (1) The one ultimate Reality; (2) an ultimately real event; (3) as reflected in life: righteousness, virtue; (4) as interpreted in the Buddha's teaching: doctrine, Scripture, Truth; (5) object of the sixth sense-organ, i.e. of mind; (6) property; (7) mental state; (8) thing; (9) quality.

gnosis -- Knowledge which, motivated by the desire for emancipation, penetrates to the real nature of things

Grounds of self-confidence (four) -- A Buddha's self-confidence is based n his infallible knowledge that (1) he knows all that is; (2) has extinguished all Outflows; (3) is acquainted with all hindrances to emancipation; and (4) all the means for attaining the extinction of suffering.

Heretical Views (sixty-two) -- A standard list of false views, or groundless opinions, e.g. that the world is eternal, that the self comes to an end, that the Buddha exists after death, etc.

Knowledge, three kinds of: (1) the recollection of former lives; (2) the knowledge of the rise and fall of beings; (3) the knowledge that the Outflows are extinct.

Mara -- The personification of Evil.  The Buddhist "Tempter" whose baits are the sensory pleasures.  Death.  Sometimes identified with the five Skandhas.

Mundane -- Belonging to this world, and out of contact with true reality.

Nirvana -- The ultimate goal of all Buddhist endeavor, the extinction of craving and separate selfhood, a life which has gone beyond death.

Outflows (four) -- (1) sense-desire; (2) desire for becoming; (3) wrong views; (4) ignorance.  Extinction of the outflows constitutes Arhat-ship.

Path -- The straight and direct road to Nirvana.  People can "tread the Path" after they have undergone a conversion or spiritual rebirth which leads to an indifference to worldly things.  Only then can the unconditioned Nirvana become an object of their thoughts and strivings.

Perfections (six) --  The perfection of (1) giving; (2) morality; (3) patience; (4) vigor; (5) meditation; (6) wisdom.

Powers (ten) -- This refers to a Buddha's unique intellectual powers, by which he comprehends what others cannot comprehend.

Pratyekabuddha -- A Buddha who has won enlightenment by himself, but is unable or unwilling to teach others.

Saint -- Those who have won the Path.  The opposite are the "foolish common people".

Skandhas (five)  -- The constituents of the personality: (1) form = body; (2) feelings; (3) perceptions; (4) volitional impulses; (5) consciousness.

Supramundane -- Detached from this world, moving towards contact with true reality.

Supramundane Path -- The movement towards true reality takes place on the Path which can be reached only by those who have transcended the world.

Tathagata -- A title of the Buddha.  "He who has thus come", i.e. as the other Buddhas have come.

Transic concentration -- An attitude based on withdrawal from sense-objects, and concentration on spiritual reality.

Triple world -- (1) the world of sense-desire; (2) the world of form, or fine matter; (3) the formless world.

Yama, world of -- The Underworld