long lost sons

A tale from the Lotus Sutra, written in the 1st century AD in Kashmir, as retold by Amakuki Sesan in his commentary on Hakuin's Song of Meditation, which can be found in A First Zen Reader by Trevor Leggett:

The nobleman's son runs away and becomes a homeless vagrant. In time he forgets that he ever had a home, but one day without thinking he comes to the gate of the lord's house. He has no faintest notion that he was born there, but stands at the gate imporing pity for his wretchedness. The noble sees him from within and recognizes him as his long-lost son even after all these years, but when he calls him to come in, the miserable beggar is frightened and will not. So he first arranges that he be taken in as the humblest servant, and then little by little promoted, until finally he again resumes his name, when the house and all its wealth and treasure become his.

At about the same time, in Israel, Jesus told this story (Luke 15:11-32):

And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

There are so many intriguing similarities and diffferences between these two stories. It is hard to know where to begin. The central difference is that the the son departs from the father through mere immaturity and ignorance in the Lotus Sutra version, whereas in Jesus' parable there is an element of wilfulness. This is carried forward into the story of the return. In the Lotus Sutra version, the son happens upon his father's house by accident, and does not even believe it is his own. In Jesus' parable the son, humbling himself, chooses to return to his father, though he knows he has signed off any right to be welcome there. While the Lotus Sutra son goes through a gradual process of recovering his identity and heritage, in Jesus' parable the son immediately regains his cherished position, even exciting the loyal brother's envy. The Lotus Sutra father appears skillful and discrete, allowing his son not to have to make a huge shift in consciousness to realizing his identity in one fell swoop, but creating an artificial but gradual process whereby he can regain his rightful place. In Jesus' version, the father is overwhelmingly magnanimous, and perhaps because the son never forgot who his father really was, is able to reinstall him immediately. We should not forget, though, that the son in the Jesus version also offered himself as a servant -- the play between being a son and being a servant seems fundamental to the structure. The Lotus Sutra story is one of forgetfulness and re-education. The Jesus' parable is one of willful departure and willful return. Now that we have heard both stories, we can be informed by both ways of seeing ourselves and our path. We do not need to choose between the two stories, but we can be made rich by each of them, and allow them to come into our dreams as they wish.