【Description】
You often encounter unexpected incidents in your life, and even experience uncontrollable calamities. What causes these events to happen? Is there a way to prevent them from occurring? According to Grandmaster JinBodhi, you share a bond with your parents which connects you to your ancestors. As such, you should try your best to keep such connections unblocked to make sure you keep receiving your ancestors’ blessings and energy. Without these blessings, your life could be negatively impacted.
To be blessed with auspiciousness, you must first learn to be grateful to your parents for raising you. Only when your parents are happy can your life be smooth.
In this video, Grandmaster JinBodhi tells a touching story, reminding you of your parents’ love and your ancestors’ connection. A chanting session then follows so participants can express their love to their parents. In return, all participants learn to be grateful, delivering
light and auspiciousness to their parents and accumulating merits for their parents and themselves for a life transformation
【You will learn】
- Rediscover your parents’ love
- Clear up misunderstandings with parents
- Ways to accumulate merits for your parents
- Ways to make your life smoother
【Featured aphorisms】
- To be blessed with auspiciousness, you must first understand and be grateful to your parents; this should be the foundation of your buddhadharma learning and behavior.
- Only when your deceased parents are at peace can your life be smooth.
- To offer your deceased parents the utmost reverence, you should pray for your parents to be blessed by the energy and protection of the buddhas and bodhisattvas.
【Content】
We all have parents, be they biological or adoptive. You are still alive today because of your parents’ love for you. For 18 years, since you were born, your mom probably never slept well. Before you turned 3, she checked on you several times a night. She checked to see whether you had pooped or peed. She always cleaned you up, no matter how much of a mess you had made. But before becoming a mother, she was disgusted by baby poop. “Ugh! Disgusting. I will never have a baby.”
After you were born, she wasn’t disgusted by your poop at all. She felt so happy because of her love for you. No one can fake the true love parents have for their children. While you are growing up and maturing, your parents are getting older. Before you learned to speak, you relied on your parents. After you learned to talk and got smarter, you became independent. You started to distance yourself from your parents. From Nature’s perspective, it is normal. But as humans, we should keep our emotional connection with our parents. We should always respect and love them.
In most families, when there are delicious foods, parents always want their children to eat first. Whenever there are some delicious foods at home, such as dumplings or meat, mothers want their children to eat first. In a poor family for whom tasty food is scarce, the mother would let her child eat, telling her child, “I don’t like to eat this.” Let’s not talk about right or wrong with regard to eating meat. She simply wants to leave the best for her child.
Here is a story about a 15-year-old girl. Her eye was injured by a slingshot pellet. It was done accidentally by another kid. To get her vision back, the girl needed a cornea transplant. With a corneal match and a surgery, she would be fine. Her mom offered hers on the spot. The surgery was unsuccessful as the cornea was incompatible. The mom was blind, but she never complained.
When the girl was 18, she failed to get into college. Her mom nagged her. Feeling unhappy, the girl ran away from home for years. On her mom’s birthday, she finally texted her mom. It was short: “I hate you.” Her mom was on the verge of dying by suicide. But she didn’t. Why? She said, “My daughter would be sad, if she has a change of heart later.” Her thoughts were still about her daughter. “I don’t want my daughter to feel ashamed.” That is why she continued to live in grief. That is what our parents are like.
What your parents do for you might be right or wrong, but everything they have done is from their love for you. There was another organ-transplant story in China years ago. A girl was diagnosed with liver failure. It was a rare occurrence. She was in her early 20s with a future ahead of her. The only way to save her life was a liver transplant. Her father didn’t get along with her mother very well. When the girl was still very young, her father left her and her mother. So her father didn’t live with them. The girl hated her father very much.
After the father heard about his daughter’s condition, he went to the doctor. He showed his ID and got his blood type checked. He told the doctor that he wanted to provide his liver to his daughter. The doctor was moved, and asked the father to have a medical exam. The medical report revealed that he had heart disease and high blood pressure. It was possible that he wouldn’t survive the surgery. It was really risky. He had so many health problems. What if he died during surgery? After thinking for an hour, the father said, “I am willing to risk my life for my daughter.”
But the daughter didn’t want her father’s offering. She still hated her dad. After being persuaded by the doctor, the girl finally agreed. The father signed the paper; the girl’s mother also agreed. The operation was finally conducted. It was a sad story. The operation was a success, but the father died before the daughter woke up from surgery. The father left a letter for his daughter. What he wrote was sad. Long story short, he was happy to finally do something for his daughter. That is the gist of it. That is what a father did for his daughter.
All parents love their children. As kids, you could be so immature sometimes. You might hate your parents just because they paid more attention to your elder brother. So you hated them, ran away from home and even scolded them. After getting married, some gave their parents a hard life. All this comes from ignorance.
I have helped many people, young and old, in Canada. Some misunderstood their parents and became depressed. They even ignored their parents. After talking to me, they realized they were wrong. I told them to call their parents as soon as they got home. Firstly, apologize to them; secondly, greet them; thirdly, visit your parents as often as you can. Your parents are the biggest benefactors in your life. Because of a minor issue, you blame them, and even scold or torment them; it is against ethics and morals. Your life will be hell, doomed to failure. Everything you do will go against you. This is because your energy channel is blocked.
When you were born, you were connected with your ancestors. Plotting against your ancestors means you are cutting ties with them. Though your parents won’t curse you for your wrongdoing, your ties will have been cut. Can you live if your upper body is separated from your lower body? Just by yourself, you can’t fight the attack caused by the karma of samsara. The foolish acts you committed and the disasters befalling you are the work of karma. To live auspiciously, first learn to be grateful to your parents. Be grateful to your parents for raising you. Gratitude is the prerequisite for learning Buddhism, and learning how to be a decent human being.
To live auspiciously, first learn to understand your parents, and to be grateful to them.
Now you have understood. Let’s do one thing for our parents: Let’s chant for their health, longevity and happiness. If they have passed away, chant for them to be blessed by the Buddha and bodhisattvas. Some of your parents might have been banished to hell; let’s chant for them to help them leave hell and reach Paradise. Only when their souls are not suffering can you live auspiciously. If your ancestors are suffering in hell, I don’t expect you to live auspiciously. No way.
If they scream curses while suffering in hell, their descendants will not live in peace. Some people suffer from rapid heartbeat. They ask me why. What is the reason? They are not being threatened, so what is the reason? Is it because of their diet, or lack of exercise? No, none of these is the reason. It is their ancestors suffering in hell. They are yelling for help. The devil in hell is putting liquid iron into their mouths. They are experiencing great pain. That is why they need our blessings.
The biggest honor you can give your parents is the blessing from the Buddha and bodhisattvas, and a strand of Buddha-lights that illuminates their souls. Alright. Let’s kneel and ask Divine deities to bless our parents. Only if they are blessed can we be blessed with health, peace, auspiciousness and a life of smooth sailing. It is your merit that liberates your parents from sufferings. It is your effort that gets your parents blessed. It shows your maturity, compassion, wisdom, and your karmic connection with the Buddha. Let’s chant for our parents who gave life to us and raised us. We will chant for 10 minutes, OK? (OK.) Chant to express our respect and love.
Be sincere. Be seated. Your legs must be sore by now. No matter what practice we do, fatigue, aches and pains are normal. Especially when we are chanting, the aches, fatigue and soreness we feel show that our karma is being cleansed. After chanting for a few days, many notice themselves healthier and happier. Their illnesses have disappeared. Their pain and worries have gone. Why is it so quick? It doesn’t take long to feel it. What is the reason?
When we chant with sincerity and reverence for our parents and ancestors, our sins committed over a very long time, over 60, 80 or even 100 years, will be compressed in these several days. The pains in our back, waist and even heart show that our karma is being eliminated. Try your best to endure the pain unless it is life-threatening. Bear the pain if you can. You won’t feel the body aches after relaxing and chanting. After kneeling and sitting for several days, you will be able to run once you stand up. Usually, after sitting for 3 hours, your legs would easily cramp when you stand up. Why do our legs feel so relaxed after practice? This is because Buddha’s auspicious light is blessing us.
When chanting for your parents, visualize the Buddha and bodhisattvas in front of you, blessing you. Think about your parents too. Visualize your parents smiling at you, whether they are still alive or have passed away. Just visualize that they have a good child to chant for them. Your love, respect and honor will delight and gratify them. A smooth life awaits you after that. Now your waist won’t get cramped easily. You won’t feel neck pain that often. Your legs won’t feel aches frequently. Your life will be transformed. Your parents will repair your ties with your ancestors. That will be very strong energy for you.
Honoring your parents will benefit you. I hope you understand the basic principles. Nothing is more important than honoring your parents.
Parents have given us life, and they connect us to our ancestors. Only when they are blessed can we live auspiciously.