Once upon a time, Gautama Buddha led a large group of apprentices travelling to India. On their way, they saw a pile of bones. Buddha then kneeled in respect before these bones. One of his apprentices, Ananda, was confused of his master’s behavior. He folded his palms and asked the Buddha: “Master, you are the most respected mentor of the three realms, the Kind Father of All Livings. What is the reason of your deep respects to these withered bones?” The Buddha told Ananda: “You may be the top apprentices that have been following me for a long time, but your vision is still not wide enough. This pile of bones may be my parents in one of my incarnations or the ancestor in the past life. For this cause, I kneeled before it.” The Buddha then told him with this lesson: “Now, I ask you to divide this pile of bones into two portions. The bones of a man are white and heavy, and the bones of a woman are black and light.” Reluctant, Ananda asked the Buddha: “Master, I only know that men wear tidy clothes and hats; I can know them to be men as soon as I see them. Women in their lifetime always make themselves up; their dressing can indicate their identity. Now for this pile of bones, how can I tell their differences?” Buddha: “Men mostly have time to enter Sangharama, studied Buddhism disciplines, and observe the Three Jewels; that’s why their bones are white and heavy. As for the worldly women, most of them lack reason and intelligence, and can easily indulge themselves into affection and emotion. They see giving birth and raising children as their destined duty. Every child they give birth, they must breed them with life. Breast milk is transformed from blood, and so a mother’s body will wane. Their bones turn to black after death.” Now Ananda had heard what the Buddha said and felt pain as if his heart was cut by knife. He cried and asked the Buddha: “Master, how could we do to the grace of our mothers in return?” The Buddha told his apprentices: “It is tough for a mother who bears you for ten months. When the infant is in his mother’s body in the first month, they are like the drop on the grass, disappear in a moment. In the fifth month, the infant grow their heads and limbs. In the sixth month, they have six open essence channels of eyes, ears, nose, mouth, tongue, and heart. In the seventh month, the infant grow muscles, bones, and joints. In the eighth month, the infant grow consciousness and intelligence, two pupils, two side caves, two nostrils, a maw, a urethra, and an anal. In the ninth month, the infant can absorb the nutrients of five grains. In the tenth month, the infant has complete organs and limbs, and then they are born. If this is a child with fidelity, the fists will be folded, allowing the mother deliver the child without harm. If it is an impious child, their hands will grab their mother’s organs and kick the mother’s bones at crotch, bringing her pains.” The Buddha continued: “Mothers have another ten graces: the grace of protection in pregnancy, the grace of pain in delivery, the grace of forgiveness of the pain, the grace of swallowing bitterness and giving sweetness to the child, the grace of bearing all impurity for the child, the grace of breeding, foster, and education, the grace of cleanse on the child, the grace of worrying of the unreturned child, the grace of gratitude to the child’s care, and the grace of love to the child until death.” The Buddha’s lectures went on: “I’ve observed many souls, who succeed the personality as the child but become ignorant by the foolishness. They do not miss their parents; they do not respect the parents; they forgive the grace of the parents and object the moral of humanity. They are heartless. They are disobedient. Even if they swallow the searing iron for their parents and have their body burnt to deformity, they cannot pay for the high graces of the parents in return.” Finally, the Buddha told the apprentices: “To truly give thanks to their graces, children must transcribe and print this scripture for their parents. That’s how their grace comes into completion! With one transcription of the scripture, you meet a Buddha. With ten transcriptions of the scripture, you meet ten Buddha. With a hundred transcriptions of the scripture, you meet a hundred of Buddha. With a thousand transcriptions of the scripture, you meet a thousand of Buddha. With ten thousand transcriptions of the scripture, you meet ten thousand Buddha. Those with fidelity and kind heart will be protected under the merciful lights of Buddha due to their efforts in transcribing the scripture. They and their parents who foster them can immediately return to the heaven, enjoy the happiness, and stay away the sufferings in hell.” At this moment, Ananda and other apprentices, along with the Asura, the Garuda, other deities and kings, as well as the chakravarti, were all listening to the lecture of the Buddha. They felt regrets and sorrows, starting to tear. They couldn’t help but have their hair raised. They swore before the Buddha that from this day to eternity, they will rather destroy themselves than disobeying the Buddha’s sacred lecture and object their parents. (Sutra of Filial Piety) The scripture tells the story of how the Buddha saw a pile of bones and, with the opportunity of teaching them how to distinguish bones of men and women, Lectured all souls to be children with fidelity. The Dharma speaks of three aspects of fulfilling fidelity for the parents: One to support their parents, taking care of them and preventing them to live in poverty; Two to honor your ancestry, to be faithful and respected, so that parents could be honored; Three to have upmost fidelity, to guide parents to mercy and to possess firm belief. Although parents might not need further foods and other necessities, children can guide their faithless parents to practice if they put their beliefs in religions. The care in the world only last a moment. Only a “mind” without worries can lead to the ultimate freedom. Share parents with the truth of the Buddha, Make them have joy, or silently transcribe the scripture in the name of the parents, then their bliss and accumulate. What can be greater than such fidelity to pay for the grace of your parents? The Story of Buddha’s Endeavor for His Mother in Trāyastriṃśa. On the seventh day after Gautama Buddha’s birth, Queen Māyā of Sakya, his mother, passed away to Trāyastriṃśa. How can the Queen ascended to the heaven? The reason was that she gave birth to a child that would bring blessings to humanity. She carried such blessing to Trāyastriṃśa. Although his mother enjoyed the heaven, the wise and transcended Buddha understood That allowing parents to enjoy is not enough. Once their enjoyments came to an end, they will eventually fall into the cycle of incarnation. The gratitude would not be fulfilled. Therefore, at the age of eighty, before his parinirvana, the Buddha chanted Kṣitigarbhasūtra to his mother in Trāyastriṃśa Temple. The scripture is also known as the “Sutra of Fidelity” in Buddhism. The Buddha chanted for his mother in the hope of enlightenment in her mind and her ascension beyond the three realms. That was the good cause of his transformation into Buddha.
［Translated by 天成翻譯公司］
Resource
Excerpt from the Internet
The Sutra about the Deep Kindness of Parents and the Difficulty of Repaying It
https://m.xuite.net/blog/hyu5970/twblog/111365096
It was organized by Jhan, heng- cheng (詹杭橙 師兄)
#buddhism #peace #awakening #obedience #No_Rights_Reserved #nocopyright
⭐This Text is in the public domain and has no copyright.
Comments