Love mother in Buddhism.VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=THICH CHAN TANH.

In Buddhist philosophy, there is no greater love than the love of a mother for her child, and no sacrifice is greater than a mother giving birth to a child.

Buddhism is filled with images and metaphors of supreme love like the ideal love of a mother for her children. 

Buddhism is filled with images and metaphors of supreme love like the ideal love of a mother for her children. 

Such motherhood is respected for its lessons of love and sacrifice. However, motherhood is also criticized by attachment to children, because through this attachment, people experience suffering.

This article examines the love of a mother idealized in many Buddhist texts and other writings as an example of universal love, the Middle Way, and the path of Bodhisattva.

The paper also discusses the role of motherhood in cultures influenced by the patriarchal and Buddhist culture, especially in traditional China.

According to Buddhist philosophy, people are inherently capable of transformation and enlightenment. Although there is no concept of sin, there is a concept of penance. In contrast to Western culture, most people are taught that they are sinners from the moment of birth. For women in Christian society, this sin was passed down from the first mother, Eve, who dared to seek knowledge.

In Buddhist thought, there is no such imposition against women. However, cultures influenced by the patriarchal ideology of the East also adjusted Buddhist philosophy to suit their customs. But, despite the patriarchal structures, motherhood and what we have learned from our mother, her love and care for us are children, the ideal of slapping, is an avenue that leads to peace.

Universal love

Motherhood and what we learn from our mother, her love and care for us are children, the Bodhisattva ideal, is an avenue that leads to peace. . 

The state of universal love and unconditional love for all sentient beings is called mettā, metta. The purpose of mettā is to wish everyone happiness. It has no conditions. But before we are compassionate to others, we must love ourselves. The Buddha taught that if you can keep the mind of love even though in a moment, you can attain Nirvana, the ultimate truth (Dharmasiri, nd: 43).

Developing a mind filled with compassion helps you to get rid of the suffering of autism and attachment. To accomplish this, the Buddha encouraged his disciples to strive to develop a mind full of compassion and joy (Bodhi, 1995: 43: l). These four qualities are called Four Offense (Brahma-vihāra), or Four immeasurable, in which the first thing is the mettā.

The second immeasurable mind, compassionate mind (karuṇā), is the desire to end the suffering of others. The ideal mother of Buddhism manifests the model of self-sacrifice and selfless love for her child. According to a Buddhist and also an author, Sharon Salzberg (1995):

“It is the mind that removes the heavy barrier, opening the door to freedom, [and] making the heart narrow to expand throughout the world. The mind brings heavy things hardening out of the heart; it gives wings to those who are clinging to the self-centered land ”(front page).

We can imagine that compassion is like a caring mother whose every thought and action is intended to treat her sick child. It is the mother who compassionately tells her young children that life is like waves on the ocean, only part of the whole. Each wave overflows and then will return to the ocean where it originated.

Compassion is also understanding and acceptance. It destroys the dual barricades created by patriarchal culture. Compassion is the desire for all beings to be free from suffering. This understanding and acceptance describes the unconditional love of a mother for her child. If we can love each other like a mother who loves our children, we will know compassion.

Be happy with the luck and the goodness of others called muditā, praise or praise, the third innocence. This is a state of euphoria, complete absence of envy or jealousy. Muditā is a strange concept for Western societies. Muditā emphasized that we do not see happy sources as limited numbers. For example, a mother always has enough love for all her children, but also has enough joy to express to the success of others.

If we divide this earth into small pieces like grass seeds, the number of these pieces is not as large as the number of times that each being was our parent. 

The fourth fourth immeasurable mind is discharge (upekṣā), which is a state of love, compassion, and joy for the happiness and benefits of others. Discharge is not indifferent indifference. As a mother, exhausting is the realization that even though you love all your children equally, their temperament requires you to treat them differently. For example, a child who is often sick requires more attention to his health, while another good at school requires more freedom to explore himself, while a third child more encouragement is needed to lessen its lack of confidence. A mother loves all her children while clearly recognizing their individual needs.

In our relationships with each other, the discharge is recognizing that our relationships are often built on sentiment: a compliment or praise can make a friend, while a word speak uncomfortably or criticize an enemy. Discharge is the ability to see beyond feeling and compassion, and to realize that we all want us and our loved ones to be happy. Every time we have this understanding we can see all beings in the same way.

Discharge also means balance. The purpose of this immeasurable mind is to balance our love and compassion for all beings, and balance the emotional states such as rejoicing and discouragement, joy and sorrow. . It leads to letting go of sorrow and fear of life, of death, and of the law of karma and karma.

Treating all beings equally is important in the light of Buddhist faith in rebirth. The Buddha taught that it is very difficult to find a being that is not your father, mother or son in a previous life (Dharmasiri, nd: 45).

Salzberg said that in the endless cycle of reincarnation, we had all these things: love, hate, fear, murder, hurt, force, help, serve (1995: 185). In Buddhist philosophy, there is no separation between beings, no one is inferior or superior to others. Each and every life is correlated and interconnected. The great master of Buddhist philosophy, Nagarjuna, said:

"If we divide this earth into small pieces like grass seeds, the number of these pieces is not as large as the number of times that each being was our parent."

Middle way

Buddhism is the Middle Way. Before and from the birth of Shakyamuni Buddha, many spiritualists have turned to asceticism or hedonism as a way to attain enlightenment. 

Buddhism is the Middle Way. Before and from the birth of Shakyamuni Buddha, many spiritualists have turned to asceticism or hedonism as a way to attain enlightenment. After having practiced both ways and failed to find results, the Buddha advised us to explore the path of leaving the extremes. As Bhikkhu Narada emphasized:

“As a mother does not make a distinction between herself and her only child and protect it even if she harms herself, so does the spiritual pilgrim who practices the path of this Middle Way. compassion is homogeneous with all things ”(1988: 326).

Buddhism teaches that by practicing this Middle Way we can end suffering and samsara and find enlightenment.

The Middle Way consists of eight principles of life that are called the Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Business, Right Path, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. Thinking about love and understanding given to all beings is the right thinking. The Buddha taught us that love and understanding are capable of ending the suffering of all beings (Nhat Hanh, 1991: 33). Understand that there are suffering in life, the cause of this suffering is craving and attachment, and that the way to end this suffering is the Middle Way - the Noble Eightfold Path, which is the nature of wisdom and right understanding (Rahula, 1978: 49).

The role of motherhood

The teacher is ten times more noble than the tutor, the father is 100 times more noble than the teacher, and the mother is 1,000 times more noble than the father. ” 

In some Buddhist-majority countries like Sri Lanka, women are often called matugama, a Pāli word that means "public mother", or "society of mothers" (Narada, 1988: 311). In such cultures influenced by the patriarchy, one of the few ways that a woman can obtain a noble position is a motherhood.

During the time of Shakyamuni Buddha, it is expected that a woman can give birth and be a mother, ten children are the ideal number (Murcott, 1991: 75). Motherhood is seen as "a utility ladder going to heaven". By fulfilling her motherhood, a woman was reborn in higher realms (Narada, 1988: 311).

However, a woman can get high respect by becoming a mother. In The First Buddhist Women: Translations and Commentaries on the Therigatha Susan, Murcott quotes Brahman Vaisista when asserting:

"The teacher is ten times more noble than the tutor, the father is 100 times more noble than the teacher, and the mother is 1,000 times more noble than the father" (1991: 77).

Lama Tsering Everest teaches that in the Mahayana tradition, there is no more noble and respectable act than suffering to allow another being to be born and have the opportunity to attain enlightenment (Mandell, 1995: 57).

Such a mother embodies wisdom, self-esteem, strength, pride, compassion, honor, concern, listening, kindness, rationality, forgiveness and love. The love of an ideal mother can be seen as a model for all love:

“If we ponder our mother's love for us, our love for her will grow. Before we were born, we were protected and embraced in the womb of our mother ... Our presence there was not only a great physical burden for her, but also a responsibility. depriving you of freedom in your actions ... At the time of birth, we cause pain to you, but you forget this at that time and rejoice as if you found a jewel. We have no control over our physical functions, but she doesn't feel terrified about our vomiting or defecation and cares for us lovingly ... No normal care. Our mother's piercing will not exist now ”(Murcott, 1991: 77).

A mother's love is a virtue, but not every woman can give birth to a Buddha. She must be a gentle mother. A mother who gives birth to a Buddha is "special in every way" (Paul, 1985: 63).

A mother's love is a virtue, but not every woman can give birth to a Buddha. She must be a gentle mother. A mother who gives birth to a Buddha is "special in every way". 

In preparation for his birth to Buddha Shakyamuni, His Empress Maya, and his mother, pray to King Suddhodana as her husband that she will not harm any living organism without stealing, using the Addictive, frivolous, libelous, lie, jealous, nor look wrong. In fact, she lived a pure life, "intimate with all", and "practiced 11 moral virtues" (Paul, 1985: 63). Queen Maya died after giving birth to the prince a few days and was born in heaven Tusita.

Kinh Bao's parents' grace lists the ten gifts or sacrifices that the mother gives her child:

The first is protecting and caring for the fetus.

The second is miserable reproduction.

The third is to forget all the pain after childbirth.

The fourth is to eat bitter and spicy and give sweet to children.

The fifth is for the dry and the wet place.

Sixth is feeding and nurturing.

Saturday is bathing, washing for children.

Eighth is always to miss you when you go away.

Ninth is to care for and sacrifice for the child (because he can commit evil).

Tenth is to love you for life.

Diana Paul criticizes the image of a woman in Mahayana Buddhism, arguing that "motherhood represents symbolic suffering, pain, bondage and dependence" (1985: 61). For Paul, in Mahayana Buddhism, "Motherhood falls into the mundane realm, not the sacred", and the goal is to free from suffering and other chains of motherhood (61) . Therefore, Paul affirmed, "The mother cannot escape suffering or escape the bondage of life because of her bondage to her children" (66). In addition, as seen in the Parents' Appeal, a woman can be deeply bound and limited by her mother's role and her connection to her children (Paul, 1985: 65).

Motherhood in traditional Chinese Buddhism

A Bodhisattva wishes to benefit and be happy for life. The same way a mother loves her only child, a Bodhisattva loves all beings. 

When Buddhism was spread and prevailed in other countries, it was transformed by the different cultural contexts in which it was present. China responds as a precise example because of previous Confucian philosophy and its emphasis on respect for parents.

The author and historian of Asian religions, Alan Cole (1998) notes that in traditional China, understanding glasses is expressed through father-son relations (2). Buddhism in China particularly emphasizes the relationship between mother and child, but a mother's sacrifice for her child is a debt to be repaid. This blessing involves offering offerings to local temples because of the frequent service and recitation of prayers, a practice that creates merit and helps to resolve sin (Cole, 1998: 3). .. The caution is that if children abandon their parents, they will get unlucky fate (Cole, 1998: 207).

In traditional Chinese Buddhism it is thought that women are essentially defiled while men are less polluted. Any good thing a woman has comes from raising children (Cole, 1998: 10). Therefore, the son of a son is seen as a threat to his son's reverence when she can make him neglect his duties and take his husband's love as his own (Cole, 1998 : 76). In the Sutras of Parents, "mother love" is recognized as safe and supportive of the family (Cole, 1998: 132), while the daughter-in-law can cause troubles.

Purity and pollution are also expressed in the body of the mother. The upper part of the mother, which includes the face and chest, is considered good, when they are nurturing sources. Her lower body, because of her fertility and blood, is considered a disgust in the universe (Cole, 1998: 230) ...

However, the mother is also known as "a mother" (Cole, 1998: 29) and, therefore, there is no stronger love than a mother for her child (Cole, 1998: 139). In the Sutra of Parents, the son was advised to return to this love (Cole, 1998: 149) ...

While in other Buddhist traditions the mother is highly praised for such characteristics as wisdom, compassion, in China, with the exception of the Guan Yin concept, women do not have high spiritual growth ( Cole, 1998: 227). However, a son is advised to follow the instructions of a mother to get the protection of the god and get a good fate.

The way Bo-slapped

A Bodhisattva wishes to benefit and be happy for life. The same way a mother loves her only child, a Bodhisattva loves all beings. Bo-slaps know the suffering that life will encounter: pain of sorrow when losing those who love, the destruction of old age, sickness and death ...

Whether male or female, a Bodhisattva returns to take his place on the ladder of life and help those he can help. There must be great courage to fulfill the vow of Bodhisattva. "I vow to enlighten for the benefit of all sentient beings, and I vow not to go to Nirvana forever until I save the last being to attain Nirvana" (Dharmasiri, nd: 92).

In the Kalama Sutra, the Buddha advised that one should not follow Him in the words but should make every effort to perfect oneself. This is the guiding principle of Bodhisattva. Perfecting yourself is to say that the Buddha reminds us of our relationship and interaction with all life. This path consists of three main stages: initial religious practices; initiating enlightened thoughts; and practice the Baal-bharmas (Dharmasiri, nd: 89). The most important of these Babas is the Prajnaparamita (Prajnaparamita), the "Mother of all Buddhas". The Baal-bhas are the energies of the Mother of Wisdom Bat-elegant manifesting naturally through sincere practitioners (Boucher, 1997: 61).

The Mahayana is considered a foundational basis of Mahayana Buddhism and the second turning of Dharma. The script praises the full wisdom, Prajnaparamita (Boucher, 1997: 64). "The mother of all the Buddhas" gives birth to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to slap through their wisdom. Buddhist scholar, Joanna Macy (1991), calls this mother "Mother of the Tathagata", "Mother of the Bodhisattvas", "instructions of the Tathagata in this world" (109). Thus, wisdom is praised as a mother's image ...

Prajñā wisdom by love opens us to life as it really is, not by imposition, clutching us in the womb, but through our mother's wisdom and insight (Macy , 1991: 111). The Buddha taught that all beings suffer and therefore need our compassion. Bo-slapped out of this terrible suffering to liberate us like mothers. As mothers, Bo-slaps love us like their own children, especially a newborn baby. With compassion and natural love, not asking for anything to repay, Bo-slaps sacrificing their lives to liberate human suffering. This love is at the heart of compassion ...

Conclude

As Walpola Rahula, a monk and historian, commented, "The love of a mother for her child is not the Buddhist or the sheep: it is the love of the mother."

Mother's love is not only Buddhist. The image of a nursing mother is one of the most powerful persuasive images of human love (Davidson and Harrington, 2002: 71). True peace is within each of us, whether we are Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, Judaism or any other spiritual or religious practice in the world, and it has can be found by reconnecting with the power of our mother's love, not the damaging motherhood function of the patriarchy but the love from sin that takes care of us when I am children. Sharing this love with life as a mother sharing love with her children is an avenue that leads to peace and may be our greatest gift to others.END=NAM MO SAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.GOLDEN AMIITABHA MONASTERY=AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.23/6/2019.