Wonderful Analogies in Pure Land School
淨土宗妙喻
Metaphor 70: Stern and Gentle Parenting
These two methods of salvation are like the way parents raise their children. When the father puts on a stern face, the mother puts on a gentle one. Since children are young and ignorant, some of them may be mischievous or hyperactive and prone to making mistakes, even committing serious crimes. Therefore, the father has to establish strict rules to regulate their behavior and says: “You cannot do this or that, I warn you! If you do it, I will kick you out of the house and even sever our father-son relationship.”
Suppose that one day the son truly did something wrong, and his father sent him outside to stand as punishment, forbidding him from coming back into the house. But when evening came, it was getting dark outside and rain was about to fall. So the mother went outside to comfort him gently, saying:
“Child, you need to understand that what you did was wrong and cannot be allowed. It’s getting dark now, and it’s time to eat. You need to acknowledge your mistake and repent. Go inside and apologize to your father, and don’t do it again.”
70. 黑臉白臉喻
這兩種救度的運作像什麼呢？就像父母教養孩子一般，父親扮黑臉時，母親就扮白臉。畢竟孩子還小，不懂事，有的孩子比較調皮，有的孩子比較好動，甚至是過動兒，容易因無知而做錯事，甚至犯下滔天大罪，所以，父親就不得不先立下比較嚴格的規矩來規範：「這個不能做，那個不能犯，警告你！如果犯了就把你趕出門，不讓你回家，甚至斷絕父子關係！」
假設有一天，兒子真正犯了過失，爸爸就把他趕到外面去罰站，不准進門。可是到了晚上用餐時間，外面天黑又將下雨，母親就到外面去溫言安慰，說：「孩子啊！你要曉得過錯，那樣的事情是要不得的，現在天黑要吃飯了，你要知錯悔改，進去向爸爸懺悔，以後不可以犯。」
Namo Amituofo!
