The Difficulty of Repaying the Profound Kindness of Parents Sutra

Available in English & Chinese w/ pinyin

The Difficulty of Repaying the Profound Kindness of Parents Sutra
父母恩重難報經

When we are born, we may know only that the warmth of our mother and father is there to comfort us. When we grow as children, we may know only that our parents are there to guide and encourage us. When we become teenagers, we may think that our parents are there only to discipline us. When we become adults, we may think that our parents are irrelevant—what could they possibly know about our careers, our love lives, and our daily existence in this world?

Often, it is not until something stops and reminds us that we realize our parents endured great pain and sacrifice to keep us healthy, feed and clothe us, educate us, and raise us into adulthood. That “something” may be the death of a parent, or it may be when we have our own children.

The Difficulty of Repaying the Profound Kindness of Parents Sutra serves as another kind of reminder that we all owe a great deal to our parents. Best of all, it demonstrates a way to show our appreciation for them and to repay their kindness. 

The sutra presents the teachings of the Buddha to his great disciple, Ananda, and “a gathering of monks numbering two thousand five hundred, and bodhi­sattvas and great bodhi­sattvas numbering thirty-eight thousand in all” in Jeta Grove in the city of Sravasti.

當我們出生時,只知道父母帶給我們溫暖;當我們幼童時,只知道父母給予我們引導及鼓勵。當我們青少年時,認為父母只會管教我們。當我們長大成年,認為父母怎麼會懂得我們的事業、愛情、和日常生活呢?
 
通常,直到有一些事發生了,才會提醒我們意識到父母承受著很大的痛苦和犧牲,為了我們的健康、衣食、教育,和養育成年。這些事有時可能就是父母的辭世,也可能是我們生兒育女時。
 
《父母恩重難報經》是另一種提示:我們虧欠父母的太多了。最重要的是,本經指引我們一條感恩、報答父母的孝順之道。
 
這部經是佛陀在舍衛城祇樹給孤獨園,為弟子阿難與大比丘二千五百人、菩薩摩訶薩三萬八千人的說法開示。

Contents

    • Incense Praise
    • Sutra Opening Verse
    • The Difficulty of Repaying
      the Profound Kindness of Parents Sutra
    • A Prayer for Our Parents, Relatives, and Friends
    • A Prayer for the Birthdays of Our Parents
    • Triple Refuge
    • Dedication of Merit

目 錄

    • 前言
    • 爐香讚
    • 開經偈 佛說父母恩重難報經
    • 為父母親友祈願文
    • 為父母壽辰祈願文
    • 三皈依
    • 迴向偈