Thus I heard ,once, the Buddha was giving Darma talks at Jeta Grove in the Garden of Anathapindika in Shravasti. Among the ten great, Discipies, Venerable Maudgalyayana had just attained the six spiritual penetrations. He remembered his parents who had passed away many years ago and wondered about their where about.
In order to repay the kindness of his mother who gave birth to him and brought him up, he used his Divine Eye to search through the Saha World and found that his mother was suffering in the Realm of Hungry Ghosts. She was so thin that her skin hung loosely in her bones. It was really an unbearable sight!
Upon seeing that, Venerable Maudgalyayana was very sorrowful. He filled his alms-bowl with food and went to save his mother.
When his mother saw the food, she covered the alms-bowl wth her left hand because she was afraid that other ghosts might discover it and snatch it away.
Then she used her right hand to put the food into her mouth. However, the food transformed into burning charcoal even before it entered her mouth.
Then, flams burst out from her mouth and she was burnt immediately!
When Venerable Maudgalyayana saw this, he cried in sorrow. Despite having attained spiritual fruition through spiritual practice, he was still unable to save his mother from the Realm of Hungry Ghosts.
As a son, he was indeed helpless and sad. He went to seek the Buddha’s help.
Venerable Maudgalyayana told the Buddha about his mother’s suffering and asked for advice on how to relieve his mother’s suffering.
After listening to him, the Buddha said, “The Negative karma, that your mother has committed in the past, is too heavy. It is impossible to save her with your strength alone. Although you are a filial son, and your cries may have shaken the heaven and the earth, your filial piety may touched the heavenly gods, earth spirits, the practitioners of deviant paths, all the Cultivators of the Way and Four Heavenly Kings, but they are all unable to save your mother!”
Venerable Maudgalyayana was in great despair and tears rolled down his face unceasingly. The Buddha said, “Now I will tell you the one and only way to relieve your mother’s from this suffering.”
“You should prepare the best of daily necessities and offer them to the Great Virtous Sangha assembly in all the ten directions on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month, at the end of the rains Retreat.At that time, all members of the sagely assembly, the sravakas (the Hearers), the Pratyeka-buddhas (the Conditionally Awakened Ones) and others, wherever they may be practicing or dwelling, will gather together to receive you offering. Even Boddhisattvas of the tenth ground will appear as Bhikkhus to receive your offering.
“The merits and virtues of this offering are tremendous. Not only will the parents and relatives of numerous past lives be liberated immidiately from the three lower realms of rebirth even our parents, who are still alive, will be blessed with health and longevity. Our parents in the past seven lives will be able to enter the heavens quickly, be transformationally born with ease and enter celestial light.”
Venerable Maudgalyayana acted according to the Buddha’s instructions. The Buddha instructed the multitude of Sangha members from the ten directions to recite mantras and prayers for the donors wishing that their parents of the past seven lives would be liberated from suffering and attain happiness. The members of the Sangha should contemplate cultivation and bring forth the mind to practise meditation before accepting the offering of food.
The offering must be placed before the Buddha, in a temple or pagoda. The food can only be eaten after members of the Sangha have recited the mantras and prayers.At this time, all the sagely Bhikkhus and great Boddhisattvas who came to receive to offering, were with joy.At this instant, Venerable Maudgalyayana’s mother was liberated from suffering of the realm of Hungry Ghosts in this kalpa. Venerable Maudgalyayana’s sorrow and cries ceased as well.
Venerable Maudgalyayana then said to the Buddha, “My mother has been liberated from the suffering of a hungry ghost due to the merits and virtues of The Triple Gem as well as the great spiritual strenght of the Sangha assembly. In future, if there are Buddhist disciples, who wish to save their present parents, or their parents of seven former existences, can they use the same method of making offering to the Sangha in the Ulambana Dhamma Assembly?”
The Buddha said, “it would be the greatest virtuous deed. It is good that you asked such a question! In fact, I was going to tell you about it!”
The Buddha said, “if there are Bhikkhus, Bhikkhunis, people from the level of kings down to the level of the commoners, who wish to practise filial piety, they should make offerings to the Sangha on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month, at the end of the Rains Retreat. They should prepare all kinds of good food and place them in an Ulambana Bowl, to make offering to the members of the Sangha who are doing spiritual practice in the ten directions, and transfer the merits to their present parents so that they will gain longevity, and be freed from worries, illnesses and disasters. As well as transfer merits to their parents of the past seven lives so that they will be liberated from the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, and born as human beings or heavenly beings to enjoy infinite blessings and bliss. All Buddhist disciples, who wish to practise fillial piety, should always keep this in mind.Recalling the painstalking efforts with our parents brought us up, the best way to repay the deep loving-kindness of our parents is to make offerings to the Buddha and the Sangha during the Ulambana Ceremony on 15th day of the 7th lunar month each year. All children should uphold this practice.”
Venerable Maudgalyayana and the four orders of disciples rejoiced over Buddha’s teaching. They upheld and practised it earnestly.
0 comments:
Post a Comment