Wonderful Metaphors in the Pure Land School
淨土宗妙喻
Metaphor 66: Parental Love
The 18th Vow contains two aspects of Amitabha Buddha’s deliverance of sentient beings. The first one is the “Embracing Way” by which Amitabha receives and delivers sentient beings who exclusively recite Namo Amitabha Buddha . The second one is the “Prohibiting Way” which stipulates that we must not commit any of the five grave offenses or abuse the Right Dharma.
These two approaches sum up parental love which is innate, heartfelt, and spontaneous. While parents love their children in an “embracing” and loving manner, they know that a young child can be ignorant and make mistakes. If they overindulge the child, do not teach him correct behavior, or do not prohibit him from doing wrong things, the child will never see the error of his ways. He will grow up to be a person of flawed character. Based on their own experiences, parents set limits so that their children learn what behaviors are unacceptable. The parents would say, “you must not do this,” or “this is absolutely forbidden because it is a grave offense. We love you dearly as our own flesh and blood; but, if you are defiant and commit serious wrongs, we will have no choice but to expel you and break off our relations.” This is what is meant by the ‘Prohibiting Way’. True parental love requires both loving kindness and wise pre-emptive warnings.
However, would parents truly abandon their child or sever ties with him over a transgression? The Answer is “no.” This is merely an expedient tactic and does not reveal the parents’ true intentions.
It is inconceivable for a loving father to say, “My son, I love you, so it’s okay if you do something evil.” It’s also unthinkable for the father to be happy if the son goes astray, and for their relationship to improve as a result. However, this doesn’t mean that the father will sever ties with his rebellious son after warning him against wrongdoing. The father will always treat his son with compassion and kindness, in the hope that the child will grow up to be not just someone who possesses good moral character; but, a person who is wise, compassionate and able to guide others towards enlightenment.
Amitabha Buddha wishes that all ordinary beings become sacred beings, and we should acknowledge his compassionate intentions to save sentient beings. He not only hopes for us to abandon evil and cultivate virtue; but, also to seek the refuge of his deliverance.
However, we must not mistake his deliverance as a justification to engage in wrongdoing. Therefore, the pre-emptive Prohibiting Way is just an expedient measure and does not result in permanent exclusion. Only by truly understanding the dual aspects of parental love can we appreciate Amitabha’s wisdom and compassion, and the great effort he makes to deliver sentient beings.
Suppose one day the child really makes a mistake. The father punishes him by making him stand outside and not allowing him to enter the house. Yet, at dinner time when it’s dark outside and it’s about to rain, the mother goes outside to comfort him and says, “Child! You must understand your mistake. Such things are unacceptable. It’s dinner time now, you should confess to your father and promise not to do it again.”
66. 父母愛子喻
好像父母對子女，一定是打自內心自自然然的充滿慈愛，因為父愛、母愛 是天性，這是「攝取門」的意思。同時曉得小孩幼小無知，難免會犯錯，如果縱 容他，不管教他，不禁止他的話，他就不知悔改，而養成壞習慣，將來恐怕成 為一個惡人，所以父母對無知的兒女在還沒犯過之前，會以他們的常識就將 來有可能犯的，一一禁止他，說：「這個不可做、那個不能犯，因為那是非常嚴 重的罪過；我疼愛你們，你們是我親生骨肉，可是如果是這樣犯了的話，我就 要把你們趕出門，斷絕父子母女的關係。」這是「抑止門」的意思。所以即使父 母慈愛子女，也有攝取跟抑止的慈悲愛心與智慧警誡。但如果兒女犯了過， 就真的趕出門、斷絕父子母女的關係嗎？不是的，那是方便說，不是真實義。
因此抑止門是就方便義來講，並不是真正排除。所以，我們必須要懂得有 攝取門、有抑止門，才能體會佛陀救度眾生的悲愍與苦心。
Namo Amituofo!
