The Parable of the Jewel in the Topknot
The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wondrous Dharma,
Chapter 14: Peaceful and Agreeable Practices
There once was a great, incredibly powerful king, known as a holy wheel-rolling king. He tried to govern the petty kingdoms around his domain to establish peace, but the monarchs of these kingdoms refused to submit to his rule. The king sent his armies to battle with the petty kingdoms and subjugated the rulers, who had made their people suffer.
The soldiers, who had achieved great feats in battle, received rewards from the great king according to the degree of their accomplishments. The king praised the soldiers’ performance and rewarded some with houses to live in; others were given farmlands, building lands, villages, or towns; and others garments, jewelry, unusual treasures, golds, silvers, and lapis lazuli; while others people to govern. However, the king had never awarded the crown jewel in his topknot to anyone.
The jewel in the topknot is a singular, supreme treasure in this world. The jewel was so precious that if the king gave it to anyone, the recipient as well as people around him would be amazed and puzzled. Nevertheless, the king was always willing to award it to anyone who had made a glorious achievement beyond comparison.
Commentary
The great holy wheel-rolling king symbolizes the Buddha, and the soldiers who take part in the battles with the petty kingdoms represent us. The petty kingdoms resisting the rule of the great holy roll-wheeling king indicate the excessive earthly desires and illusory thoughts of human beings.
We possess all kinds of earthly desires. The Buddha expounds a teaching appropriate to each of these desires, in order to liberate us from attachments. We make efforts to defeat evils within our hearts through learning and practicing the Dharma, and the Buddha is always encouraging us and trying to make us happy. As the reward for our struggles, we obtain spiritual composure, deliverance from suffering, and other peaceful states of mind, which are symbolized in the story as houses, villages, garments, unusual treasures, and people.
However, Shakyamuni Buddha has not expounded the Lotus Sutra for a long time. The crown jewel in the topknot of the king indicates the Lotus Sutra. The Lotus Sutra is a superior teaching that leads all human beings to the Buddha’s awakening. However, if those who only have shallow understanding of the Buddha’s teachings listen to the Lotus Sutra, they may become confused or come to feel resistant to it. Therefore, Shakyamuni has kept this supreme teaching to himself until we attain the spiritual state capable of accepting the Lotus Sutra properly.
We need to undergo practices to rid ourselves of earthly desires and purify our hearts in order to understand the teaching of the Lotus Sutra, the supreme treasure. As we continue to cultivate our hearts and accumulate good deeds for the benefit of others, we become capable of understanding deeply the true meaning of the Lotus Sutra.
Now, as the Buddha discerned that our hearts have become purified enough to understand the Lotus Sutra, he has finally expounded the supreme teaching for us. The Buddha trusted us and gave us the supreme treasure. Let us receive and accept it with all our hearts and apply ourselves diligently, so that we ourselves will be able to embody its true value.
Editorial supervision by the Chuo Academic
Research Institute
*Commentary is based on Buddhism for Today and The Threefold Lotus Sutra: A Modern Commentary, both by Nikkyo Niwano.