Expressing Opening Statements of Vu Lan – Parents’ Day at Pháp Nhãn Temple
Buddhist Calendar 2566/ Normal Calendar 2022
Namo The Original Master Sakyamuni Buddhaya
Dear respected venerable monks and nuns
Dear Dharma Sisters and Brothers present at Pháp Nhãn Temple on this year’s Vu Lan Filial Piety Day
“Directed toward the Parents giving the births to us
Taking care of and nurturing the parents in peacefulness and happiness
Their spirit and material are full
Nice accommodation with peaceful months and days
The Parents and their children reuniting
have the strong confidence in the Dharma
With our perfect filial piety to the Parents
We, children and grandchildren of the Parents are happy and joyful everywhere.”
By Thích Trừng Sỹ
We know that according to the developed Buddhist culture, Vu Lan festival means the happy day of the Buddha, the happy day of the Sangha, the day of recognition, expression, and repentance of self-mistakes, the day of offering merit Kathina robes to the Sangha, and the day of cultivating the merit field. Additionally, the day after attending Vassa Vassa Retreat – summer or rains Retreat, the Sangha has one more age in the Dharma, and Vu Lan festival also is the filial piety Day for parents.
Indeed, Buddhism is the filial path that teaches people to have filial piety and respect for their parents. The Buddha always teaches us to be filial to our parents and grandparents first. According to the Eastern culture, especially the culture of Buddhism, serving, respecting, caring, and nurturing parents are very important duties of children to parents when their parents get old.
Those who know how to respect and take care of their parents have a lot of happiness and virtue, are praised and extolled because in the family, they are the ones who inherit moral education directly from their parents and their parents are teachers who teach understanding and love for their children. These substances have the potential to nurture and help their children easily succeed in life. Therefore, with thoughts and actions of peacefulness, the merit of serving and being filial to one’s parents and the merit of making offerings to the Buddha and protecting the Three Jewels are the same. Those who do not know how to respect and take care of their parents are unfilial, criticized, and despised by the world.
According to the Buddhist viewpoint, in Aṅguttara Nikāya, the Buddha teaches us that the parents are two Brahmas. If we respect and take good care of our parents, we will be happy and everyone will praise and respect us.
Filial piety and caring for parents always have two aspects: material and spiritual. In terms of materials, when the parents get old, in order to help them live peacefully and happily in their daily lives, children are aware to live by right occupation, effort, and property created by themselves. In terms of spirituality, children themselves must know how to take refuge in the Three Jewels and practice the five virtuous trainings, and then, encourage and exhort their parents to take refuge in the Buddha’s light to live a life of good direction and benefit for themselves and for other people right in this life.
With the just above-mentioned meanings, Vu Lan festival in this year, we focus on our homeland Vietnam in particular and countries around the world in general, please wholeheartedly contribute to praying for valuable and effective vaccines today to treat epidemics to be soon ended, and especially the war happening in Ukraine early reaches to peace. We hope that any rain happens must stop for all things to get fresh.
This year, Phap Nhan Temple has enough good fortune to hold Vu Lan – Filial Piety – Parents’ Day to help us know about the meaning of drinking water to remember the source, being grateful, and repaying the gratitude of the Buddha’s children. That is the reason for the opening of the Vu Lan – Parents’ Day today.
Thank you so much for your attention and listening. We would like to wish you all peace, joy, and happiness in the Dharma.
Namo Maha Moggallāna Bodhisattva.
