..续本文上一页ld bring disgrace to the parents of our wisdom-life, that is, the Buddha. Is that all we have to do to be filial to the Buddhas
If you still don”t change your old habits of arrogance, contention, greed, and other faults, you will cause the Buddhas to worry about you, and how can that be considered filial piety
孝顺是一切佛经道理的本源，地藏王菩萨往昔就是一个孝顺的婆罗门女；目连尊者为救生母离饿鬼道，请佛救度，而有盂兰盆法会。在佛教中，杀父杀母，和出佛身血一样，是属于五逆重罪，要堕无间地狱。
Filial piety is the source of all the Buddha”s Sutras. In a former life, Earth Store Bodhisattva was a filial Brahman woman. Venerable Maudgalyayana, wishing to free his mother from the path of hungry ghosts, went to ask the Buddha to rescue her, an thus the Ullambana Ceremony came about. In Buddhism, killing one”s father and killing one”s mother, along with shedding the Buddha”s blood, are classified among the Five Rebellious Offenses that merit falling into the Unintermittent Hells.
一个不孝事父母的人，想要祈福，是无有是处的。
If a person who is not filial to his parents prays for blessings, there is no way he or she will obtain them.
佛陀时代，在罗阅祇园有一个人，为人凶恶愚昧，不孝父母，欺压善良，不敬尊长，家道衰落，多不如意事，因此，便去事奉火神，希望求得火神的褔佑。
In the Buddha”s time, there was an evil and foolish person in Rajagriha who was unfilial to his parents, cheated good people, did not respect his elders, caused his family to fall into ruin, and had all kinds of bad luck. He decided to go worship the fire spirit in order to seek its protection.
事奉「火神」的方法，就是当太阳刚刚要落山时，点燃一堆大火，向火光跪拜，直到深更半夜火熄为止。他这样拜火拜了三年，生活还是没有什么改善，又改变信仰去事奉「日月」之神。
The method of worshipping the fire spirit involved lighting a big fire at the time of sunset and making prostrations to it until midnight, when the fire was extinguished. He worshipped in this way for three years, but there was no improvement in his lifestyle, so then he began to worship the sun-moon spirit instead to go worship the fire spirit in order to seek its protection.
事奉「日月」之神方法是﹕白天太阳出来向太阳膜拜，夜里月亮升空向月亮膜拜；直到太阳落山，月亮西沉为止。他这样也拜了三年，仍然得不到褔佑，就又再改事天神，每天烧香对着天空跪拜，同时摆上香花美酒、腊肉、猪羊牛只，想要获福。这样经年累月，终于耗尽家财，弄得贫穷不堪，当然也没得到什么好处。他为了拜天，弄得辛苦憔悴，病得不能出门。他听说舍卫国有一位佛陀，是所有天神所崇敬的，想想应该去事奉他，这样一定会获得褔佑。
The method of worship involved making prostrations to the sun at sunrise, and making prostrations to the moon when it ascends into the sky at night, bowing continuously until the sun sets behind the mountains, and the moon sets in the west. He bowed like this for three years, but still didn”t receive any blessings or protection, so he changed to worshipping the heaven spirit. Every day he lit incense and made prostrations to the heavens, making offerings of fresh flowers, fine wine, and dried pork, mutton, and beef, hoping to obtain blessings. In bowing to the heavens, he wore himself out until he was too sick to leave his house. Then he heard that there was someone known as the Buddha in Shravasti, whom all the heaven spirits worshipped. He thought he ought to go worship Him as well, for it would certainly bring him blessings.
他便来到舍卫国，见到了佛陀，他便诉说自己九年来的经过，如今皈依佛，希望佛陀赐福给他。
He went to Shravasti and met the Buddha, and told the Buddha what he had been doing for the past nine years, saying that now that he had met the Buddha, he hoped the Buddha could bestow blessings upon him.
佛陀告诉他说﹕「祭神求褔报，日后观收获，四分不得一，不如敬贤善。能为善谦诚，常敬长和上，四褔自增多，健康长寿安。」──《法句譬喻经‧述千品十七》
The Buddha told him, "If you worship spirits hoping for blessings, you will find that you will not gain even a quarter of what you put in. It would be better to venerate good and worthy people. If you can be virtuous, humble, and sincere, always respecting your elders and seniors, the four blessings will naturally increase and you will enjoy health, longevity, and peace." (Chapter 17 of the Dharmapada Sutra)
一个不孝父母，不敬长老的人，是不可能获得褔佑的。佛教把一切众生看作是过去世的父母。「是男子皆是我父，是女子皆是我母。」将孝道扩大了，这是一种平等的孝顺，不只孝顺自己的父母，更达到三世一切父母，以一种平等心，这可以说是孝道最极致的境界了。
A person who is unfilial to his parents and disrespectful to his elders cannot possibly attain blessings and protection. In Buddhism, we consider all living beings to be our parents from past lives. " All men have been my fathers. All women have been my mothers." The scope of filial piety is expanded and becomes an impartial filial piety directed not only towards our own parents in this life, but towards all our parents in the past, present, and future. This kind of impartial spirit could be said to be the utmost state of filial piety.
《弟子规浅释 Standards for Students 第五章﹕信 Chapter Five: LEARNING TO BE TRUSTWORTHY - 5》全文阅读结束。