Vu Lan - The season of nostalgia
Father is always the shining sun
The amount of hardship is not afraid of difficulties
Mother is always a sweet stream
Devoted tolerance never complains.
To be filial to Mother and Father means to respect Buddha. If there is no Buddha in the world, please worship your parents. Skillfully worshiping one's parents is like worshiping a Buddha
In Vietnam, Vu Lan has gone beyond the category of a festival to become a season of the year called "The season of filial piety" - The season of nostalgia. Vu Lan festival according to the Buddhist, is the concept of the day for filial children to recall the birth and upbringing of the parent.
In the level of thankful and gratitude, Buddhism has long cherished and taken filial piety as the first. The compatibility of that spirit has led to the examples of filial piety in the past as well as in the present, shining brightly and leaving their mark with time. The filial piety of the Buddha's children during the Vu Lan festival is an expression of absolute faith in the Buddha's teachings, as well as an expression of compassion to save suffering and the spirit of upward direction. Because only by turning upward, sincerely relying on the Dharma, and with the pure attention of the Sangha, can we remove karma and neutralize all suffering and afflictions.
Merit of borning, a lifetime of gratitude
According to the Buddha's teachings, being a human is a great blessing. Imagine if our parents did not give us the opportunity to be born, if we fell into the womb of some animal, how could we have the status of a human being. Gratitude to parents is vast, immeasurable, and boundless. As children, we must be filial and pay filial piety to our parents. But how can each Buddha's child fully preserve the two words "filial piety"?
The Buddha say: "Being obedient to one's parents is the greatest good karma in a person's life, the best blessing that everyone should do in the world"
We are born into this world, being the children of father and mother is a great incomparable happiness. Since we were born crying, we have been taken care of by our mothers for each piece of food and sleep. The sweet milk containing the mother's loving heart has become "flesh and blood" to nourish my little body. In this life, who can't grow up in the arms of love, hear the sweet lullaby of their mother when they were young, who doesn't fall into a sweet dream with a cool fan from mother's hand every summer noon.
Is there anyone who does not receive a warm "coat" from mother's love from her mother when it is winter, who does not have her mother cook for delicious meals with a country flavor of alluvial rivers, anyone not be scolded by her mother for a few sentences when she coddled and asked for a gift. All those peaceful memories just passed quietly over time, leaving in the hearts of many people extremely deep emotions.
Mother is like that, all her life sacrifices for her children, even though she is suffering and bitter, she never complains, as long as the children are safe and happy, her heart is like having a hundred thousand joys.
When it comes to father, literary language always has the most noble words. Father silently endured, stretched out his arms to fight against the storms of life, allowing him to stand firm to go to the horizon of the open future ahead. As we grow older, the burden of the family on our father's shoulders becomes heavier and heavier. Time has been silently taken from his father in his youth, his forehead is now marked with indelible wrinkles. Throughout his life, his father was a solid pine tree trunk, the breadwinner of the family to protect his mother and children. Father's great sacrifice, how can our children understand…?
How to repay the favor of parents?
What should children do if they want to show respect to their parents? In fact, there is no perfect answer to this question, just as there is no way for children to repay their parents in just a day, even a day. Vu Lan season. Because parents are the ones who have worked hard to give birth, nurture and build us a life...
The Tripitaka of Buddhism mentions a lot about the spirit of filial piety. The World-Honored One, in many lifetimes, became a Buddha in this life. Even when he became a Buddha, he still practiced filial piety. The Buddha taught: "filial piety to our parents is the greatest good karma of our life, the best reward that everyone should do in the world".
Because filial piety is the root of morality, "filial heart is the Buddha's mind, filial piety is Buddha's conduct", all Buddhas in the ten directions have cultivated from this filial mind and become Buddhas. We must cultivate and water this root every day; If the root is deep, the new tree will be durable, fresh flowers and good fruit will be produced.
According to Buddhism, guiding parents to live according to the Right Way is the most meaningful filial attitude of a child's duties towards his parents. Because when parents are liberated and happy, the son's filial piety will be accomplished.
The Buddha taught that we should live with our parents in faith, believe in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha; encourage, guide, take refuge in the Three Jewels, uphold the Three Jewels and the Five Precepts; encourage, guide, give alms, do good deeds, abstain from evil deeds; Studying the scriptures with the teachings of the Buddha to expand wisdom, apply them in life... We can bring real value to our parents, peace and happiness right in this life and the next.
In the sutras, the Buddha said: "If parents have not yet abided in the Dharma, should help and lead them to abide in the Dharma; parents who have not yet settled in the good, should do anything for the parents abide in the good; If parents have not yet taken refuge in the Three Jewels, should take them for refuge in the Three Jewels".
Let's our parents light up in our hearts the light of liberation and enlightenment that the Buddha taught over 2000 years ago... The parents not only enjoy external material blessings but also enjoy be happy in the soul, free from troubles, stay away from the world's attachments, the illusion of reincarnation that the Buddha reminded. When parents are liberated and happy, the son's filial piety will be accomplished. Therefore, there is an old saying: "Parents gain separation from the ceiling, filial piety achieves them", that is, when parents are liberated, if they leave the world, the child will be filial.
Let's turn the tears that fall when listening to someone reading a white poem on Vu Lan's day or the tears when wearing a white flower on the chest into practical actions. Don't just reminisce for a few seconds and then forget, hurt for a few minutes and then disappear.
Let filial piety be like blood and breath always present in each of us, so every moment of a person's life is a moment of filial piety to mother and father.
Every child of the Buddha should try to cultivate a perfect filial piety. It is not only a way to repay the deep gratitude of the two parents, but it is also an essential virtue in cultivating quality and happiness, towards the achievement of all good and great wishes in the world.
The Buddha taught that:
We should live with our parents in faith, believe in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha; encourage, guide, take refuge in the Three Jewels, uphold the Three Jewels and the Five Precepts; encourage, guide, give alms, do good deeds, abstain from evil deeds; Studying the scriptures with the teachings of the Buddha to expand wisdom, apply them in life...
We can bring real value to our parents, peace and happiness right in this life and the next.
In the sutras, the Buddha said: "If parents have not yet abided in the Dharma, should help and lead them to abide in the Dharma; parents who have not yet settled in the good, should do anything for the parents abide in the good; If parents have not yet taken refuge in the Three Jewels, should take them for refuge in the Three Jewels".
Let's our parents light up in our hearts the light of liberation and enlightenment that the Buddha taught over 2000 years ago... The parents not only enjoy external material blessings but also enjoy be happy in the soul, free from troubles, stay away from the world's attachments, the illusion of reincarnation that the Buddha reminded. When parents are liberated and happy, the son's filial piety will be accomplished. Therefore, there is an old saying: "Parents gain separation from the ceiling, filial piety achieves them", that is, when parents are liberated, if they leave the world, the child will be filial.
Let's turn the tears that fall when listening to someone reading a white poem on Vu Lan's day or the tears when wearing a white flower on the chest into practical actions. Don't just reminisce for a few seconds and then forget, hurt for a few minutes and then disappear. Let filial piety be like blood and breath always present in each of us, so every moment of a person's life is a moment of filial piety to mother and father.
Every child of the Buddha should try to cultivate a perfect filial piety. It is not only a way to repay the deep gratitude of the two parents, but it is also an essential virtue in cultivating quality and happiness, towards the achievement of all good and great wishes in the world.
