DHARMA IN EVERYDAY LIFE

By Nhat Quan

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Buddhist scriptures teach that the first virtue for a Buddhist practitioner is filial piety towards one's parents. The reason you should remember to practice filial piety towards your parents is that your grandparents, parents, and other respected relatives from many lifetimes have suffered in the three lower realms due to their imperfect practice. You often refer to this as dedicating merit to the departed spirits, but in reality, these are your ancestors from many generations, whom you often refer to as the nine generations of ancestors. In order, they are:

1- Great-great-grandfather

2- Great-grandfather

3- Grandfather

4- Father

5- Yourself

6- Son

7- Grandson

8- Great-grandson

9- Great-great-grandson

The Seven Generations of Ancestors include:

1- First Ancestor

2- Second Ancestor

3- Third Ancestor

4- Fourth Ancestor

5- Fifth Ancestor

6- Sixth Ancestor

7- Seventh Ancestor

In Vietnamese family tradition, only the nine generations of ancestors are usually worshipped, while the seven generations of ancestors are reserved for royalty.

The nine generations are counted from yourself as the starting point, with four generations above you and four generations below you. Worshipping the four generations above you is understandable, but you must also worship the four generations below you, because life is a chain of interconnected events and interdependent origins. You worship the four generations above you because these individuals were instrumental in giving you life, raising you, and building your future. Therefore, you must worship them to remember their kindness and express gratitude for their upbringing and guidance, remembering the source from which you came. Furthermore, you must also worship the four generations below you, because in the cycle of reincarnation, no one knows whether your future descendants will be your grandparents or parents reincarnated. If your ancestors performed virtuous deeds, their descendants will benefit; if they committed evil deeds, their descendants will suffer the consequences. Therefore, worshipping the four generations below you serves as a reminder for you in this present life to perform virtuous deeds and understand the law of cause and effect across three lifetimes:

- Past

- Present

- Future, all are interconnected.

Hence, there is a saying:

- One person performs virtuous deeds, a thousand people benefit,

One tree blossoms, a thousand trees are fragrant.

Therefore, when you begin to worship your grandmother /grandfather, her/his spirit has already witnessed your sincerity. Moreover, the act of worship is only to remember their kindness; your main task is to perform many virtuous deeds to dedicate the merit to your grandmother so that she may be reborn in a peaceful world. Because when the heart stops beating, the seven elements of the body:

- Earth, water, wind, fire, space, consciousness, and knowledge

All return to dust, so you should not worship ashes on the altar; doing so is not in accordance with the spirit of Buddhist teachings and the laws of nature.

In the spirit of gratitude, remembrance, and repayment of kindness, especially for a Buddhist practitioner, when your grandparents and parents know that you are on the path of spiritual practice, they are very happy and constantly hope that their child or grandchild, that is you, will dedicate merit to them. If you lack spiritual cultivation, have no accumulated merit, or often forget to dedicate your merits to them, then your own relatives will be more prone to anger than ordinary people.

If you have the opportunity to learn the Dharma and know how to pray for others, you will see that most phenomena commonly attributed to "possession and revenge" occur within your own family, 90% or more of the time. It could be your father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, uncle, or aunt. That's usually the case.

Some people, due to their deep karmic debt, have very aggressive minds. Some of them possess their relatives, and each time they do, they grab knives or axes and stab themselves. It's terrifying! They beat their relatives, they try to kill them, and each time, they say:

- Why did you kill me? Why did you harm me? What did I do wrong to you that you mistreat me?

They harbor such resentment. These are the cases you know about, but other resentments are happening everywhere that you are unaware of. In your countless lifetimes, you have had countless ancestors who suffered great misfortunes. When you practice Buddhism like this, those ancestors can often sense it, hoping that a child or grandchild will dedicate their merits to them. If they see you now:

- Firstly, they see a child or grandchild who knows how to practice but doesn't dedicate their merits.

- Secondly, they see that you are practicing, but not diligently, practicing as if it's a game, without a firm resolve. Therefore, there is no dedication of merit at all, which makes them suffer even more. This contributes to the rise of their resentment.

Therefore, the Buddha taught that the first duty of a Buddhist is to be filial to one's parents. If you know how to chant the Buddha's name and know the path to the Western Paradise, this filial piety must be practical, not just waiting until the seventh month of the lunar calendar for the Ullambana festival to perform some kind of ceremony called "filial piety"! That's also very good. But if possible, you should continuously demonstrate virtuous conduct. This means that every day you must live virtuously, recite Buddha's name, and sincerely dedicate the merits, so that this merit naturally spreads throughout the Dharma realm.

In the text called "Nine Grades of Lotus Platform," the first page is the "Repaying Gratitude through Buddha Recitation," which contains four verses:

- Buddha's grace, Parents' grace.

Vast and boundless.

To repay this virtue,

Buddha recitation is the best.

This means:

- The grace of the Buddha and the grace of our parents,

Is so vast and encompassing the entire Dharma realm, so immense that we cannot describe it.

To repay this merit,

There is nothing better than reciting the Buddha's name.

Your Buddha recitation here is not just for yourself, but also for your ancestors, parents, and all generations of your family. Try to be more diligent every day; instead of wasting time on frivolous activities, dedicate more time to reciting the Buddha's name. Instead of daydreaming and suffering all day:

- A moment of sadness can destroy so much merit.

- A moment of anxiety can destroy so much merit.

- A moment of suffering that enters the mind will make you loss paith.

When you diligently practice like this, firstly, it dispels worries and anxieties, preventing the erosion of merit. Secondly, if your ancestors and parents, in many lifetimes, unfortunately fell into the realms of animals, hungry ghosts, or hell, through your dedication of merit, they will have the opportunity to be reborn in the Western Pure Land. Therefore, when you practice, suffering will never come, and mindfulness will penetrate your mind more and more each day. While sitting in the meditation hall, you focus your mind on reciting the Buddha's name, determined to be reborn in the Western Pure Land, so that suffering will never appear while you are reciting the Buddha's name.  Unintentionally, your recitation of the Buddha's name brings immeasurable merit. Because of focused concentration, you accumulate merit. Thanks to this merit, you can dedicate it to all sentient beings in the universe, including your ancestors and parents.

Therefore, filial piety towards parents is not only for when they are alive, but you must also dedicate merit to your deceased parents and grandparents.  Because your ancestors and parents may not have received guidance in spiritual practice, they often suffer in the lower realms, waiting every day and every hour for your help. Do not practice filial piety by waiting until the anniversary of their death to sacrifice a few chickens or pigs as offerings. This is a terrible mistake! Doing so will only cause your parents to suffer even more because of your act of killing

When you understand that filial piety is nothing more than resolving to cultivate diligently, creating good karma, and resolutely aspiring to be reborn in the Western Pure Land, the merit of being reborn in the Western Pure Land is the ultimate act of filial piety. Because when you are reborn in the Western Pure Land, that day is the day your grandparents, parents, and ancestors of nine generations will also escape the three evil realms. They are waiting every second for the day of your rebirth so that they can escape suffering. I'm not saying they will go to the Western Pure Land, but they will escape the three realms of suffering. You know that you don't just have one father, two fathers, or three fathers, but countless fathers, countless children, countless grandfathers and grandmothers, and they will all be liberated. This merit is immeasurably great.

Therefore, you should strive to increase your diligent practice to contribute to others in the world, dedicate merit to all sentient beings in the Dharma realm, alleviate calamities, and resolutely aspire to be reborn in the Western Pure Land. This diligent action will:

- First, resolve the calamities for yourself.

Each of you is full of evil karma. You have many karmic creditors. If you do not sincerely recite the Buddha's name, if you do not resolutely recite the Buddha's name, if you do not resolutely cultivate, those beings will never forget their grudges of killing and harming. Because they do not understand karma, they do not let go, they do not release their grudges. This evil karma combines with the collective karma of sentient beings to create calamities. The calamities in the world of sentient beings are now very great because, throughout countless lifetimes, you have created too much evil karma.

Just think about it, establishing a Dharma center costs money, time, effort, and everything else, but at most,t only five, ten, or twenty people come to recite the Buddha's name. There are tens of thousands of other people who never recite Buddha's name, and millions of others who continue to kill every day. The problem of killing cannot be solved.

Understanding this, when you come to the meditation hall, you must remember that you have the opportunity to be reborn in the Pure Land, escaping all the calamities that you have suffered in countless lifetimes. Once you escape, you will have the power to save sentient beings, to save them from these calamities. Therefore, to end these calamities in this world, you must practice diligently, many people must practice, and many people must be reborn in the Western Pure Land for this calamity to end. This is truly the case.

When you are reborn in the Pure Land, you will have divine powers and abilities, and you will go to rescue sentient beings from these calamities. The Buddhas of the ten directions take turns saving sentient beings, but they cannot save them all. There are too many calamities! You must understand this and strive to cultivate diligently to reach the Western Pure Land, cooperating with the Buddhas of the ten directions. Then, when Maitreya Buddha descends to this world, you will also follow Him to this world to propagate the Dharma and save sentient beings. This is the truth! Please have firm faith. Faith, Practice, and Vow. Rely on Faith, Practice, and Vow to proceed.

- If your faith is not yet firm, strengthen your faith now.

- If your vow is mistaken, make a new vow now. The sooner you are reborn in the Pure Land, the better. This vow is a very strong condition for you to reach the Western Pure Land.

- Establishing virtuous conduct and avoiding evil is a supportive practice. Reciting the name of Medicine Buddha with earnestness to reach the Eastern Pure Land is the main practice.

Therefore, the main practice and supportive practice must be clearly distinguished. With a single mind and heart, recite the name of Medicine Buddha every day. Resolve to wholeheartedly recite the name of Medicine Buddha! Those who recite five thousand times should strive to increase to seven thousand or eight thousand recitations of Medicine Buddha's name a day. Having reached eight thousand, should we gradually increase it to nine thousand? Or to ten thousand? Master Yin-Guang set the standard of fifty thousand because he saw the immense suffering in the world! He knelt and prayed for all sentient beings to recite the Buddha's name to avert disaster and suffering, so that they themselves could escape calamity.

In short, the term "Nine Generations and Seven Ancestors" refers to the countless ancestors who have passed away in the past. This is the meaning of "nine generations" that is still frequently mentioned in the Buddhist funeral prayers in Vietnam today. More specifically, when a Buddhist monk performs a funeral service, there is always a passage that says:

- May the souls... and the nine generations and seven ancestors be reborn in the Western Pure Land.

Understanding this meaning, you should not make excessive displays during funerals or ancestral memorial ceremonies. Because when you sincerely remember your ancestors and dedicate yourself to spiritual practice, their spirits have already witnessed your devotion. Moreover, the act of worship is only to remember their contributions; your main task is to perform many virtuous deeds and dedicate the merits to your ancestors of many generations so that they may be reborn in a peaceful world. Understanding this meaning, you should not make excessive displays during funerals or ancestral memorial ceremonies. Because when you sincerely remember your ancestors and dedicate yourself to spiritual practice, their spirits have already witnessed your devotion. Moreover, the act of worship is only to remember their contributions; your main task is to perform many virtuous deeds and dedicate the merits to your ancestors of many generations so that they may be reborn in a peaceful world.

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