The Deep Kindness of parents..

At one time , the Buddha dwelt at Shravasti , in the Jeta Grove , in the Garden of the Benefactor of Orphans and the Solitary , together wiyh a gathering of great Bhikshus , twelve hundred fifty in all , and with all of the Bodhisattvas , thirty-eight thousand in all .

At that time , the World Honored One led the great assembly on a walk toward the south . Suddenly they came upon a pile of bones beside the road .

The World Honored One turned to face them , placed his five limbs on the ground , and bowed respectfully .

Ananda and all the other disciples were not understand the reason why .

Ananda put his palms together and asked the World Honored One , " The Tathagatha is the Great Teacher of the Tripple Realm and the compassionate father of beings of the four kinds of births . he has respect and reverence of the entire assembly . "

" What is the reason that he now bows to a pile of dried bones ? "

The Buddha told Ananda , " Although all of you are many my foremost disciples and have been members of the Sangha for a long time , you still have not far-reaching understanding . "

" This pile of bones could have belonged to my ancestors from former lives . They could have been my parents in many past lives . "

" That is the reason I now bow to them . "

The Buddha continued speaking to Ananda . " These bones we are looking at can be divided into two groups . One group is composed of the men , Which are heavy and white in color . The other group is composed of the bones of women , which are light and black in color . "

Ananda said to the Buddha , " World Honored One , when men are alive in the world thet adorn their bodies with robes , belts , shoue , hats and other fine attire , so that they clearly assume a male apperance . "

" When women are alive , they put on cosmetics , perfumes , powders , and elegant fragrances to adorn their bodies , so that they clearly assume a female apperance . "

" Yet , once men and women die , all that is left are their bones , How does one tell them apart ? Please teach us how you are able distinguish them . "

The Buddha answered Ananda , " If when men are in the world enter temples , listen to explanations of Sutras and Vinava texts , make obeisance to the Tripple Jewel , and recite the Buddha's names , then when they die their bones will be heavy and white in colour ."

" Most women in the world have little wisdom and are saturated with emotion . They give birth to and raise children , feeling that this is their duty ."

" Each child relies on its mother's milk for life and nourishment , and that milk is a transformation of the mother's blood . Each child drinks one thousand two hundred gallons of its mother's milk . "

" Because of this drain on the mother's body whereby the child takes milk for its nourishment , the mother becomes worn and haggard and so her bones turn black in colour and are light in weight . "

when Ananda heard these words , he felt a pain in his heart as if he had been stabbed and wept silently . He said to the World Honored One , " How can one repay one's mother's kindness and virtue ? "

The Buddha told ananda , " Listen well , and I will explain it for you in detail . The fetus grows in its mother's womb for ten lunar month . What bitterness she goes through while it dwells there !

" in the first month of pregnancy , the life of the fetus is as precarious as a dewdrop on grass : how likely that it will not last from morning to evening but will evaporate by mid-day ! "

" During the second lunar month , the embryo congeals like curds . "

" In the third month it is like coagulated blood . During the fourth month of prenancy the fetus gegins to assume a slightly human form . "

" During the fifth month in the womb , the child's five limbs-two legs , two arms , and a head--start to take shape . "

" In the sixth lunar month of pregnancy , the child begins to develop the essences of the six sence faculties : the eyes , ears , nose , tougue , body and mind . "

" During the seventh month , the three hundred sixty bones and joints are formed...."

" And the eighty-four thousand hair pores are also complete . "

" In the eight lunar month of the pregnancy the intellect and the nine apertures are formed . "

" By the ninth month the fetus has learned to assimilate the different nutrients of the foods it eats . "

" The coagulation of the mother's blood from her internal organs forms a single substance , which becomes the child's food . "

" During the teeth month of pregnancy , the body of the fetus is completed and ready to be born . "

" If the child is extremely fifial , it will emerge with palms joined together in respect and the birth will be peaceful and auspicious . "

" The mother will remain uninjured by the birth and will not suffer pain . "

" However , if the child is extremely rebellious in nature , to the extent that it is capable of commiting rebellious acts , then it will injure its mother's womb . "

" The birth will feel like the slices of a thousand knives or like ten thousand sharp swords stabbing her heart . "

" Those are the agonies involved in the birth of a defliant and rebellious child . "

" To explain more clearly , there are ten types of kindness bestowed by the mother on the child : "

" The first is the kindness of providing protection and care while the child is in the womb . "

" The second is the kindness of bearing suffering during the birth . "

" The third is the kindness of forgetting all the pain once the child has been born . "

" The fourth is the kindness of eating the bitter herself and saving the sweet for the child . "

" The fifth is the kindness of moving the child to a dry and lying in the wet herself . "

" The sixth is the kindness of suckling the child at her breast and nouriching and bringing up the child . "

" The seventh is the kindness of washing away the unclean . "

" The eighth is the kindness of always thinking of the child when it has travelled far . "

" The ninth is the kindness of deep care and devotion . "

" The teeth is the kindness of ultimate pity and sympathy . "

" The kindness of providing protection and care while the child is in the womb . The causes and conditions from accumulated kalpas grows heavy : "

" Until in this life the child ends up in its mother's womb . "

" As the months pass , the five vital organs develop . within seven weeks the six sense organs start to grow . "

" The mother's body becomes as heavy as a mountain . "

" The stillness and movements of the fetus are like a kalpic wind disaster . "

" The mother's fine clothes no longer hang properly . And so her mirror gathers dust . "

" The pregnancy lasts for ten lunar months . And culminates in difficult labour at the approach of the birth . "

" Meanwhile , each morning the mother is seriously ill . And during every day is drowsy and sluggist . "

" Her fear and agitation are difficult to describe . Grieving and tears fill her breast . "

" She painfully tells her family that she is only afraid that death will overtake her ....child "

" One the day the compassionate mothers bears the child , her five organs all open wide , leaving her totally exhausted in body and mind . "

" The blood flows as from a slaughtered lamb . "

" Yet , upon hearing that the child is healthy....."

" She is overcome with redoubling joy.... "

" But after the joy , the grief returns , and the agony wrenches her very insides . "

" The kindness of both parents is profound and deep . Their care and devotion never cease . "

" Never resting , the mother saves the sweet for the child . And without complaint she swallows the bitter herself . "

" Her love is weighty and her emotion difficult to bear . Her kindness is deep and so is her compassion . "

" The kindness of moving the child to a dry place and lying in the wet herself . "

" Only wanting the child to get its fill , the compassionate mother does't speak of her own hunger . "

" The mother is willing to be wet . So that the child can be dry . "

" With her two breasts she satisfies its hunger and thirst . "

" Covering it with her sleeve , she protects it from the wind and cold . "

" In kindness , her head rarely rest on the pillow . So long as the child is comfortable , the kind mother seeks no solace for herself . "

" The kind mother is like the great earth . "

" The stern father is like the encompassing heaven . One covers from above ; the other supports from below . "

" The kindness of parents is such that they know no hatred or anger toward their offspring . "

" And are not displeased , even if the child is born crippled . "

" The parents care for and protect it together until the end of their days . "

" Originally she had a pretty face and a beautiful body . "

" Her spirit was strong and vibrant . Her eyebrows were like fresh green willows . "

" And her complexion would have put a red rose to shame . "

" But her kindness is so deep she will forego a beautiful face . "

" Although washing away the filth injures her constituion . "

" The kind mother acts solely for the sake of her sons and daughters , and willingly allows her beauty to fade . "

" the death of loved ones is difficult to endure . "

" But separation is also painful , when the child travels afar . "

" The mother worries in her village . From morning until night , her heart is with her child . "

" And a thousand tears fall from her eyes . "

" like the monkey weeping silently in love for her child . Bit-by-bit her heart is broken . "

" How heavy is the parents' kindness and emotional concern ! Their kindness is deep and difficult to repay . "

" Willingly they undergo suffering on their child's behalf . "

" If the child toils , the parents are uncomfortable . "

" If they hear that he has travelled afar , they worry that at night have to lie in the cold . "

" Even a moment's pain suffered by their sons or daughters , will cause the parents sustained distress . "

' The kindness of parents is profound and important . Their tender concern never ceases . "

" From the moment they awake each day , their thoughts are with their children . "

" Even if a mother lives for a hundred years , she will constantly worry about her eighty-year-old child ! "

" Do you wish to know when such kindness and love ends ? It doesn't even begin to dissipate until her life is over . "

The buddha told Ananda , " When I contemplate living beings , I see that...."

" Although they are born as human beings , nonetheless , they are stupid and dull in their thoughts and actions . "

" They don't consider their parents' great kindness and virture . They are disrespectful and turn their backs on kindness and what is right . The lack humaneness and are neither filial nor complaint . "

" For ten months while the mother is with child , she feels discomfort each time she rises , as if she were lifting a heavy burden . "

" Like a chronic invalid , she is unable to keep her food and drink down . "

" When the ten months have passed and the time comes for the birth , she undergoes all kinds of pain and suffering so that the child can be born . "

" Once the child is born , she saves what is sweet for him and swallows what is bitter herself . She carries the child and nourishes it , washing away its filth . "

" There is no toil or difficulty that she does not willingly undertake for the sake of her child . "

" She gives the dry place to her child and sleeps in the dump herself . "

" For three years she nourishes the baby with milk , which is transformed from the blood of her own body . "

" Parents continually instruct and guide their children in the ways of propriety and morality as the youngster mature into adults . "

" They arrange marriages for them and provide them with property and wealth of devise ways to get it for them . "

" They take this responsibility and trouble upon themselves with tremendous zeal and toil . "

" Parents never speaking about their care and kindness . "

" When a son or daughter becomes ill , parents are worried and afraid to the point that they may even grow ill themselves . "

" They remain by the child's side providind constant care , and only when the child gets well are the parents happy once again . "

" In this way , they care for and raise their children with the sustained hope that their offspring will soon grow to be mature adults . "

" How sad that all too often the children are unfilial in return ! "

" When they ought to be polite , they have no manners . They glare at those whom they should venerate , and insult their uncles and aunts . "

" Rarely will they rely upon the guidance of their parents . They are contrary and rebellious when interacting with their brothers . "

" They come and go from home without ever reporting to their parents . Their speech and actions are very arrogant and they act on impulse without consulting others . "

" Such children ignore the admonishments and punishments set down by their parents and pay no regard to their uncles' warnings . "

" As such children grow up , they become more and more obstinate and uncontollable . They are entirely ungrateful and totally contrary . "

" They befriend evil people and under their influence soon adopt the same kinds of bad habits . They come to take what is false to be true . "

" Such children may be enticed by others to leave their families and run away to live in other towns ,thus denouncing their parents and rejecting their native town...."

" They may become salesmen or evil servants who languist in comfort and luxury . "

" They may marry in haste and that new bond provides yet another obstruction which prevents them from returning home for long periods of time . "

" Or , in going to live in other towns , these children may be incautions and find themselves plotted agaist or occused of doing evil . "

" They may be unfairly locked up in prison . or they may meet with illness and become enmeshed in disasters and hardships...."

" subject to the terrible pain of poverty , starvation , and emaciation . Yet no one there will care for them . "

" Being scorned and disliked by others , they will be abondaned on the street . No one bothers to try to save them . "

"Their bodies swell up , rot , decay . and are exposed to the sun and blown away by the wind . These children will never again have a happy reunion with their relatives and kin . "

" Nor will they know how their ageing parents mourn for and worry about them . "

" The parents may grow blind from weeping or become sick from extreme grief and despair . "

" Constantly dwelling on the memory of their children...."

" They may pass away , but even when they become ghosts , their souls still cling to this attachment and are unable to let it go . "

" Others of these unfilial children may not aspire to learning , but instead become interested in strange and bizarre doctrines . "

" Such children may be villainous , coarse , and stubborn , delighting in practices that are utterly devoid of benefit . "

" They may become involved in fights and thefts , setting themselves at odds with the town by drinking and gambling . "

" If such children do live at home , they leave early in the morning and do not return until late at night . "

" Never do they ask about the welfare of their parents or make sure that they don't suffer from heat or cold . "

" They do not inquire after their parents' well being , nor even on the first and fifteenth of the lunar month . "

" In fact , it never occurs to these unfilial children to ever ask whether their parents have slept comfortably or rested peacefully . "

" Such children are simply not concerned in the least about their parents' well being ."

" If they ever attempt to help their parents out in any way , they feel embarrassed and are afraid people will laugh at them . "

" Yet , such offspring may lavish wealth and food on their own wives and children , disregarding the toil and weariness involved in doing so . "

" The solitary parents are left alone in empty houses . Unfilial sons be so intimidated by their wives with all of their wishes . "

" But when appealed to by their parents and elders , they ignore them and are totally unfazed by their pleas . "

" It may be the case that the daughters were quite filial to their parents before their own marriages , but that they become progressively rebellious after they marry . "

" This situation may be so extreme that if their parents show even the slightest signs of displeasure , the daughters become hateful and vengeful toward them . "

" The emotional bonds between such couples are deeply entangled and yet those daughters hold their parents at a distance . "

" They may follow their husbands and move to other towns , leaving their parents behind entirely . "

" When the parents continue to hear no word from their daughters , they feel incessant anxiety . They become so fraught with sorrow that it is as if they were suspended upside down . "

" Their every thought is of seeing their children , just as one who is thirsty longs for something to drink . Their kind thoughts for their offspring never cease . "

" The virtue of one's parents' kindness is boundless and limitless . If one has made the mistake of being unfilial , how difficult it is to repay that kindness ! "

" Upon hearing the Buddha speak about the depth of one's parents'kindness , eveyone on the ground and began striking themselves until all their hairpores flowed with blood . "

" Some fell unconscious to the ground , while others stamped their feet in grief . "

With loud voice they lamented , " Such suffering ! How painful ! How Painful !"

" We are all offenders . We are criminals who have never awakened , like those who travel in a dark night . "

" We have just now understood our offenses and very insides are torn to bits . "

" Please tell us how we can repay the deep kindness of our parents ! "

" We only hope that the World Honored One will pity us and save us . "

The Tathagata used eight kinds of profoundly deep and pure sounds to speak to the assembly . " All of you should know this . I will explain for you the various aspects of this matter . "

" If there were a person who carries his father on his left shoulder and his mother on his right shoulder until his bones were ground to powder by their weight..."

"....And if that person were to circumambulate Mount Sumeru for a hundred thousand kalpas until the blood that flowed out from his feet covered his ankles , that person would still not have repayed the deep kindness of his parents . "

" If there were a person who , during the period of a kalpas fraught with famine and starvation , sliced the flesh off his own body...."

"...To feed his parents and did this as many times as he passed through hundreds of thousand of kalpas , that person still would not have repayed the kindness of his parents . "

" If there were a person who , for the sake of his parents . took a sharp knife and cut out his heart and made an offering of them to the Tathagates..."

"...And continued to do that for hundreds of thousands of kalpas , that person still would not have repayed the deep kindness of his parents . "

" If there were a person who ,used a sharp knife to cut out his heart and liver so that the blood flowed and covered the ground , to do this for hundreds of thousands of kalpas , that person still would not have repayed the deep kindness of his parents . "

" If there were a person who , for the sake of his parents , took a hundred thousand swords and stabbed his body , that person still would not have rapayes the deep kindness of his parents . "

" If there were a person who , beat his bones down to the marrow , that person still would not have repayed the deep kindness of his parents . "

" If there were a person who , for the sake of his parents , swallowed molten iron pellets...."

"....And continued in this way to do this for hundreds of thousands of kalpas , that person still would not have repayed the deep kindness of his parents . "

At the time , upon hearing the Buddha speak about the kindness and virtue of parents , everyone in the Great Assembly wept silent tears and felt searing pain in their hearts .

They reflected deeply , simultaneously brought forth shame and said to the Buddha , " World Honored One , how can we repay the deep kindness of our parents ? "

The Buddha replied , " Disciples of the Buddha , if you wish to repay our parents' kindness...."

" Write out this Sutra on their behalf . Repent of transgressions and offenses on their behalf . For the sake of your parents , make offerings to the Tripple Jewel . "

" For the sake of your parents ,hold the precept of pure eating . For the sake of your parents , practice giving and cultivate blessings . If you are able to do these things , you are being a filial child . "

The Buddha told Ananda , " If a person is not filial , when life ends and his body decays , he will fall into the Spaceless , Avici Hell . "
janas in circumference and its surrounded on all four sides by iron wall . Above , it is covered over by nets , and the ground is made of iron . "
" this great hell is eighty thousand yo

" A mass of fire burns fiercely , while thunder roars and bright bolts of lightning set things afire . Molten brass and iron fluids are poured over the offenders'bodies ."

" Brass dogs and iron snakes constantly spew out fire and smoke which burns the offenders and broils their flesh and fat to a pulp . "

" Oh , such suffering ! There are poles , hooks , spears , and lances , iron halberds and iron chains , iron hammers , and iron awls . "

" The offender is chopped , hacked , or stabbed , and undergoes these cruel punishments for kalpas without respite . "

" Then they enter the remaining hells , where their heads are capped with fiery basins , while iron wheels roll over their bodies..."

" passing both horizontally and vertically until their guts are ripped open and their bones and flesh are squashed to a pulp . "

" Such sufferings are a result of committing the five rebellious acts and of being unfilial when one was alive . "

" Upon hearing the Buddha speak about the virtue of parents' kindness , everyone wept sorrowfully and addressed the Tathagata , " On this day , how can we repay the deep kindness of our parents ?"

The Buddha said , " Disciples of the Buddha , if you wish to repay their kindness , then for the sake of your parents print this Sutra . If one can print one copy , then one will get to see one Buddha ."

" If one can print one hundred copies , then one will get to see one hundred Buddhas . If one can print one thousand-ten thousand copies , then one will get to see one thousand , ten thousand Buddhas ."

" All Buddha will forever protect people with their kindness and can immediately cause the parents to be reborn in the heavens , to enjoy all kinds of happiness....."

Ananda and the rest of the asuras , garudas , people , non-people , and others ,as well as the gods , dragons , and all the lesser kings --felt all the hairs on their bodies....

They wept grievously and each one of them made a vow saying , " All of us , from now until the exhaustion of the bounds of the future...."

" Would rather that our bodies be pulverized into small particles of dust for a hundred thousand kalpas....."

" Than to ever go agaist the Thus Come One's sagely teachings . We would rather that our tongues be plucked out !"

" So that they would extend for a full yojana , and that for a hundred thousand kalpas...."

" An iron plough would run over them ; we would rather have a hundred-thousand bladed wheel roll freely over our bodies ; than ever go agaist the Tathagata's sagely teachings !"

" We would rathr that our bodies be ensnared in an iron net for a hundred thousand kalpas , than ever go agaist the Tathagata's sagely teachings ."

" We would rather that for a hundred thousand kalpas our bodies be chopped , and chiselled into million pieces . Our skin , flesh would be completely disintegrated , than ever go agaist the Tathagate's sagely teachings ."

Ananda , rose from his seat and asked the Buddha , " Would Honored One , what name shall this Sutra have when we accord with it and uphold it ?"

The Buddha told Ananda , " This Sutra is called THE SUTRA ABOUT THE DEEP KINDNESS OF PARENTS AND THE DIFFICULTY OF REPAYING IT ."

At that time , the Great Assembly , the gods , human , asuras , and the others , hearing what the Buddha has said , were completely delighted .

They believed it , received it , and offered up their conduct in accord with it , and then bowed and withdrew .