Filial piety: Actions speak louder than words

To practise filial piety, I hope all of you practise the mind of filial piety towards your parents first. It is not surface filial piety. We must cultivate a pure mind of filial piety and have a fountain of true love for parents. Its easy to give necessities to your parents when they are healthy. However, when they are sick in bed, even on the verge of death, how can we care for them? Will our mind towards parents be the same as when they are healthy? I have a vow, that is, if my parents are ill, I will spend time taking care of them by myself. Though they have six more children and many grandchildren and I am so busy with my Buddist duties, I will still take my time to care for my parents. You should also do the same to truly practise filial piety with me by genuine actions, not just by words.

From our love to parents in this current lifetime, we will broaden our filial love to our parents of many lives, repaying the debt of gratitude to them by living our life righteously as disciples of the Buddha. My parents named me “Minh Hiếu”, which means “bright filial virtue”. I feel that is my causality, so since childhood, the filial piety has been deeply engraved on my mind. When I approached the Buddhist doctrine, listening to the wise teachings of the Buddha, my filial mind strengthened, making me decide to fulfil the great filial piety. It was the path of becoming a monk to fulfil the great filial piety to repay the debt to parents in this life and many previous lives.”