มาตาปิตุ อุปัฏฐานัง การเลี้ยงดูบิดาและมารดา

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Taking care of parents

June 10, 2021

Lord Buddha taught that even though one carry his or her parents over one’s shoulders and let them defecate and urinate over their shoulders, feed them with meals and water, and sleep over one’s shoulders for a hundred years, one still cannot completely pay back one’s parents.

That is because parents teach following five teachings, since their children are in the wombs. These teachings result in bliss and prosperity of their children’s life for both current and next lives.

1. Parents forbid children from sinful actions. Parents tell children about harmful things so that their children will learn from them.

2. Parents tell children good deeds and advise them to commit good deeds.

3. Parents teach arts, wisdom, and knowledge for children to live their lives.

4. Parents look for suitable spouses so that children have soul mates and have stable and happy families.

5. Parents give legacy to their children when children can manage and maintain such legacy as well as make it increase.

Taking care means both physical and mental.

Since the ancient time, sages gave definitions of giving back to parents in five aspects as follows.

1. Children taking care of parents when they get older and when they are sick.

2. Children help support their parents’ work, with an intention to relieve their burdens.

3. Children make their families stable and prosperous, with the fear to make their parents and families disgraceful if they do anything wrong.

4. Children follow their parents’ teaching which make them suitable to receive their parents’ legacy and make their parents feel relieved, comfortable, and confident.

5. After parents’ death, their children should make merits for sharing to their parents. No other merit is greater for parents to see that their children are good people.

These are called taking care of parents physically.

And if children want to take care of their parents mentally which means make them feel relieved, comfortable, contented, joyful and blissful, and lead them to heaven after death.

For example, Before Phra Sareebutr (the chief disciple of the Lord Buddha)’s death, he traveled a long distance to teach his mother who had false belief. His mother thought that Lord Buddha separated him from her.

Phra Sareebutr taught her about Lord Buddha’s teachings until his mother attained enlightenment and became a noble individual.

When he saw that his mother became attained the first stage of holiness, he bid farewell to his mother before his nirvana. As such, Phra Sareebutr is called a child of great gratitude.

Because he did not only take care of his mother in one life, but he took care of his mother with sacred Dhamma in every of her life before reaching nirvana. As such, it called taking care of parents mentally.

Children can be classified into three groups.

1. Children of higher morality than parents

2. Children of same morality as their parents

3. Evil children which undermine their families

Any children taking care of parents both physically and mentally will have reputation and respect among lots of people. They are honor for their families.

They will be prosperous both in this world and in Dharma.

They will be prosperous as human beings, in heaven, and finally attain nirvana, according to Buddhist proverb that gratitude and giving back are signs of good and prosperous people.

This is the most auspicious factor in one’s life.

Buddha Isara