The 38 Ways to Happiness :- Cherishing our parents (1)

Blessing Eleven:
Cherishing our parents

 

A. INTRODUCTION
A.1 Introduction to Blessing Eleven
As we shall see for this blessing on cherishing our parents, much more than for cherishing husband, wife or children, the factor of “gratitude” is very important. According to Buddhist definition, “gratitude” is an active virtue and to be fulfilled, should be practised in all of the following stages:
1.    Appreciating our Debt of Gratitude to Our Parents [kataññū]
2.    Repayment of our Debt of Gratitude to Our Parents [katavedī] by:
1.    repaying our debt of gratitude to our parents: physically and spiritually both before they pass away and after death too
2.    Announcing the Goodness of Our Parents
Only when we have done all of these components of gratitude can we be said to have fulfilled this eleventh Blessing — and the remainder of the discussion in this blessing describes the practicality of putting all three components in practice. In some Buddhist literature, practising such duties is known as ‘filial piety’.
 

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