THE IMMENSE WILLPOWER AND GREAT FILIAL PIETY OF KSITIGARBHA BODHISATTVA
Master Jun Hong Lu: As Buddhist practitioners, we must know how to practise filial piety. In Buddhism, we have this saying. “The fortunate live in a fortunate land; a fortunate land has fortunate people living in it”. In relation to this, there is a Buddhist view that the fastest way to enhance one’s blessing and eliminate karmic obstacles is to practise filial piety.
Bear this in mind, filial piety holds the greatest field of blessings. The following is scripted in “The Cause and Effect Sutra in the Three Periods of Time” 佛经《三世因果》”:
Why are you born deaf and dumb in this life?
You must have abused your parents with words so abhorrent in your past lives.
If karmic retribution is not real, why do you think Moggallana saved His mother?
Among the four main Bodhisattvas in Buddhism, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is known for His immense willpower and filial piety. Many aeons ago, He saved His mother of many lifetimes, helping her eliminate suffering and ascend to heaven to enjoy eternal bliss.
Lord Buddha once told Ananda that regardless whether you are a monk or lay practitioner, by practising filial piety and providing for your parents with compassion, it would amount to excellent immeasurable merits.
On this front, as a child, if you do not take care of your body or you behave in a reckless manner, abusing your health by indulging in smoking and drinking causing yourself to often fall sick, you are considered unfilial.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s World Buddhist Fellowship Meeting, Sydney, Australia, 11 January 2020