Filial piety is at the top of the hundred virtues
In the ethical tradition of the Vietnamese people, when you drink water, remember its source, filial piety to your ancestors , grandparents, and parents is considered paramount and tops the list of priorities to do. Also because the virtue of "filial piety" is considered the top 100 human virtues.
Why is that so, because parents are the ones who give birth to us, nurture us, and help us grow and become human beings. If there were no parents, there would certainly not be us in this world and thus our parents are our birth, our ancestors, and the closest Gods and Buddhas to us. If we cannot be filial to our parents, then who else can we be filial to?
Even if they had to endure many hardships and hardships to raise us, our parents would not mind. Children are a very elaborate project that parents have created, surpassing all other meaningful and valuable projects. For me, my parents accepted the mud and dirt at the bottom of ponds and lakes, so that I could become a radiant lotus flower.
In Vietnamese society, every person is a cell. What connects cells into an organization, a smooth, flexible system is filial piety. Filial piety is not only at the top of the 100 virtues, but there are hundreds of types of filial piety, from the closest filial piety to parents to the more distant filial piety to the people, the Fatherland, heaven and earth.
But no matter what, filial piety to parents is still at the top of the hundred filial pieties. In the treasure of knowledge, from academic to folk, from history books to folklore treasures including folk songs, proverbs, fairy tales, fables... filial examples are always held up high to serve as a golden mold. pearl ruler for the entire society.
"Twenty-Four Filial Piety", "Kieu", "Luc Van Tien"... are classic works on the virtue of Filial piety, even though the way of filial piety and understanding are expressed in many different ways. Selling oneself to save one's father, taking care of one's old age, or boldly declaring: "A man of filial piety is the first"... all have become a guideline for Vietnamese people to practice filial piety.
Invisibly, filial piety has become the first and most important criterion to evaluate a person's quality. A person who is cruel and cruel to the whole world but is filial to his parents is still more respected than a virtuous person who is above the sky but is not filial to his old father or withered mother.
Therefore, Vietnamese people are encouraged to be filial to their parents in all circumstances and under all conditions. Because the word Filial piety is extremely large, no matter how much you do, it can hardly be considered complete. All of this closely parallels the moral philosophy of Buddhism.
Buddha also taught this. In the Anguttara Nikaya Sutra, the Buddha preached: "Monks, there are two types of people who say it is difficult to repay gratitude: father and mother. Bhikkhus, if you carry your mother on one shoulder and your father on the other shoulder, and carry on like that for a hundred years, even if your parents defecate and urinate on it, it will not be enough to repay their kindness." It is because of such deep gratitude to our parents that we cannot forget.
Therefore, Vietnamese people accept Buddhism not only in its profound philosophy in its doctrinal system, but also in its noble humanistic moral principles and behaviors. The moral philosophy of the Vu Lan ceremony has blended with the nation's filial piety, creating a unique feature of Vietnamese morality and culture.
When considering the Vu Lan philosophy of Buddhism and the filial piety of Vietnamese people, we see two great similarities. First, when our parents are still alive, we must respect them. When you are young, you must obey your parents, study hard, help your parents with suitable jobs, and when you grow up, you must know how to take care of your parents.
Second, when our parents are no longer there, we must remember the merit of giving birth and nurturing them by living well in life and remembering them by worshiping them. We must not only be grateful to those who are taking care of us, but we must also remember the gratitude of those who have passed away, from those born in countless lifetimes to those who have made contributions to the country and the people who have sacrificed their lives to repay the country's debt. The compatriots who died, the unjust souls who had no one to worship them, suffered a lot in hell.
Be filial every moment and be filial in countless lifetimes
Now, Vu Lan festival not only stops being a Buddhist holiday but also becomes a festival of human love in Vietnamese society. The combination of love for one's homeland, love for one's parents, the spirit of respect for one's teacher, and compassion of Buddhism has created a fragrant lotus flower.
Vu Lan is the abbreviation of the word Vu Lan Bon. "According to the law of Tay Truc country, on the monks' fourth day, they set up a lavish table and make offerings to Buddha and monks to save the suffering of the deceased hanging upside down." Derived from that meaning, the Vu Lan Bon Sutra is a filial piety held on the full moon day of the seventh lunar month.
The Vu Lan Bon Sutra talks about Maudgalyayana, a disciple of the Buddha who, upon attaining enlightenment, immediately remembered his gratitude to his parents. He looked down into the underworld and saw his parents hanging upside down (mysterious island) in extreme hardship. He brought rice to his mother, but she could not eat it because the rice turned into burning coal before it reached her mouth.
The Buddha taught that if he wanted to save his mother, he had to wait until the full moon day of the seventh month, when enough monks gathered to make a feast to worship Buddha and treat the monks. Relying on their good health, they can save the souls of the dead, making their parents and relatives who are still alive gain more blessings.
According to Buddhist concept, repaying filial piety to one's parents is not only when the parents are alive but also when the parents are dead. This concept is broader than the Vietnamese practice of filial piety, which only focuses on showing filial piety when parents are still alive rather than when they have passed away, as in the folk song satirizing the false filial piety:
When he was alive, he was not given food
When the waterfall falls, perform a fly funeral
However, it is easy to understand why there is this difference. Buddhist filial piety aims to help parents not only live happily in the present life but in countless lives, not only to escape karma in the past and present but also in the future.
That's why we need the help of the monks of the great assembly in Vu Lan Bon to be able to do those great filial deeds. This act of filial piety is much greater than providing thoughtful care for parents in their old age, having a glorious end to life.
Therefore, the Buddha taught how to be filial: "Whoever has no faith in their parents, encourage, guide, and establish them in faith; For parents who follow the evil precepts, encourage, guide, and establish them in the good precepts; For greedy parents, encourage, guide, and rely on alms giving; For parents who follow evil wisdom, encourage, guide, and abide in wisdom. That's enough work and enough to pay for my parents."
However, that is only a small difference between the vast majority. The spirit of filial piety in Buddhist ethics has merged with the spirit of filial piety of the Vietnamese people. Being filial to one's parents is an indispensable job, doing it above all duty and responsibility, because it is morality and human personality.
That meaning is also what the Buddha once taught: "Monks, parents are synonymous with Brahma, parents are synonymous with Masters, parents deserve to be worshiped." Therefore, it is not until Vu Lan month that Vietnamese people instruct each other:
Worship your father and mother with all your heart
That is the word Filial piety taught in morality!
