Buddhism in China, Korea and Japan - Assignment Example

Buddhism in China, Korea and Japan The Parable of the Burning House’s central theme is that man bears the lot of birth, worry, misery, sickness, oldage, and death, but is simply not aware of all this. Human beings can only come out of the fire that symbolizes misery by following Buddha. The parable is about a father whose three young sons are inside a house on fire. The sons are too indulged in playing with each other to notice the danger posed by the fire. Rather than drawing their attention toward the fear and inculcating fear in them, the father lures his sons out by promising to each of them that if they come out, they would get the sort of cart desired by each of them individually.

The father gives them the same type of cart once they come out of the house. In spite of his deviation in the fulfillment of his promise as he had originally made, his act is considered to be skillful and not deceitful because what he did saved the lives of his sons. The universal motif or theme the parable touches upon is that it is acceptable and not ethically or morally questionable to rationalize or not be entirely truthful about something if it serves a good purpose for the betterment of mankind.

Sometimes, an individual has to make the best choice out of a number of unwanted options. In such circumstances, the individual should look for the greater good and accept to proceed with the option that produces minimal inconvenience and maximal good at the same time.