佛說父母恩難報經

Thus have I heard: At one time, the Buddha was dwelling at Anāthapiṇḍika's Park in the Jeta Grove near the city of Śrāvastī. At that time, the World-Honored One said to the bhikṣus: "Parents bestow a very great kindness upon their children, such as nursing them, raising them, and caring for them in accordance with the seasons of each time of year, causing the four great elements of their bodies to be harmonized and to grow to maturity. Even if someone were to carry his father upon his right shoulder and his mother upon his left shoulder, and even though his parents might pass their excrement and urine upon his back, yet he bore no resentment whatsoever, and even if he did so for a full thousand years, that child would still not have repaid in full the profound kindness of his parents.

If your parents do not yet have faith in the Three Jewels, exhort them to revere and have faith in the Three Jewels, so that they may attain a place of peace and security. If your parents do not yet keep the precepts, teach them to receive the precepts, so that they may attain a place of peace and security.

If your parents have not yet heard the Dharma, teach them to hear the Dharma, so that they may attain a place of peace and security. If your parents are miserly, exhort and teach them to delight in giving, so that they may attain a place of peace and security.

If your parents are foolish and deluded, exhort and teach them wisdom, so that they may attain a place of peace and security.

Whoever is able to do this may then be said to follow the teaching of the Tathāgata, the Worthy of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the One Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct, the Well-Gone One, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed One, the Tamer of Beings, the Teacher of Gods and Humans, the Buddha, the World-Honored One.

Exhort your parents to have faith in and receive the teaching of the Dharma, so that they may attain a place of peace and security. Although the Buddha-Dharma is exceedingly profound, yet whoever practices it will be able to attain its fruit in this present life. Because its meaning and principle are exceedingly profound, only those who possess wisdom can comprehend these gateways of practice.

Exhort your parents to revere and have faith in the Noble Saṅgha. The Noble Saṅgha of the Tathāgata is exceedingly pure, upright, without deceit, always harmonious, accomplished in the Dharmas, accomplished in the precepts, accomplished in concentration, accomplished in wisdom, accomplished in liberation, and accomplished in the knowledge and vision of liberation. The Noble Saṅgha consists of those proceeding toward the fruit of Stream-Entry and those of the fruit of Stream-Entry, those proceeding toward the fruit of Once-Returning and those of the fruit of Once-Returning, those proceeding toward the fruit of Non-Returning and those of the fruit of Non-Returning, those proceeding toward Arhatship and those on the Path of the Arhat.

Because the Noble Saṅgha of the Tathāgata is foremost in nobility, it must be honored and revered. They are the unsurpassed field of merit for the world.

Therefore, all children should exhort their own parents to cultivate the practice of loving-kindness.

Bhikṣus have two children. One is the one who gives birth, and one is the one who nurtures and rears. For this reason it is said that the bhikṣu has two children.

Thus, bhikṣus should learn to be like the two parents who give birth. From their mouths there should always resound the savor of the Dharma. Bhikṣus, learn and practice in this way."

At that time, when the bhikṣus had heard what the Buddha said, they rejoiced and reverently put it into practice.

The Sūtra Spoken by the Buddha on the Difficulty of Repaying the Kindness of Parents