The Buddha wanted to repay the kindness of his mother (who died after giving birth to the Buddha). He went up to the Heaven of 33 and stayed there for three months to lecture the Earth Store Bodhisattva Sutra.

part of the sutra section of the Tripitaka. Other divisions are commentaries and vinaya (precepts). There are also three sagely vehicles: sound hears (practice the 4 noble truths), solitary Buddhas (practice the 12 conditioned links), and bodhisattvas (practice 6 paramitas). The four noble truths are not necessarily "small" vehicle dharmas because they are also explained in the Avatamsaka sutra. This sutra was lectured after the Lotus Sutra, but before the Nirvana Sutra. filial respect (a better phrase than filial piety), crossing over living beings, methods for ending suffering, and repaying kindness. Reverend Heng Sure encourages us to "look under the hood" in the things we do. For example, when looking at a rose, we should see the gardener, fertilizer, the thorns, the stem, the leaves, as well the blossom and color. A skillful person looks deeply into the principles, not superficially. The Earth Store Sutra takes us under the hood; we see the basement and the 3/4 of life in which we seldom pay attention to. There will be a lot about the heavens, as well as the hells. We lose our bodies every 80 or so years and the phase in between the bodies is so traumatic that we forget it. What does it really mean to be alive? This is not a sutra for kids. Many people asked whether Americans are ready for this sutra. Well, when will they be ready? Next decade or century? Americans need to know this sutra; they need to know about filial respect. We need to probe into the shadows. We are ready.

There are five schools within Buddhism: Pureland (they recite the Buddha's name), Chan (Zen, emphasis on direct insight and meditation), Esoteric (mantras), Vinaya (precepts), and Teaching (study of sutras). The method we use to classify the Earth Store Sutra is based on the Tien Tai Sect. Another method, though not as popular as the Tien Tai, is the Avatamsaka. Hence, Tien Tai and Avatamsaka are the two main teaching School divisions. The Teaching School is a more "left-brain" approach in which there is a lot of analysis. Yet, all the school fall within Buddhism, just like Christianity, Catholic, Judaism, and Islam are Abrahamic religions.

One salient principle of the Earth Store Sutra is filial respect. Filial came from the French word fis meaning "son." The first relationship a child has is with his/her parents. In West (and also in the East), there is much tension in this relationship. Confucius said that the superior person attends to the roots. When the roots are set firmly, the Tao can spring forth. Enlightenment comes from the roots. Many Zen masters of the past looked for their parents upon enlightenment, e.g., Mahamaudgalyayana found his mother in hell. Parents are connections to the human aspect of life. If this relationship is not ideal, it can be difficult and scary to deal with. Earth Store Bodhisattva is a filial bodhisattva. Between heaven and earth filiality is the foremost virtue. With one filial child, the entire family is at peace. If we are filial to our parents, our kids will be filial towards us.

Filiality is not only taught by Easterners. Moses also "commanded" filiality in one of the Ten Commandments: "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." Without parents, we have no bodies; without a body, one cannot become a Buddha.

Another principle in this sutra is crossing over living beings. Crossing over means to go from affliction to bodhi. To cross over living beings, bodhisattvas use the six paramitas: giving, precepts, patience, vigor, concentration, and wisdom. We will talk in greater details about this in future lectures.

Earth Store Bodhisattva is a tenth stage bodhisattva who has vowed to rescue all living beings, especially those who are in hell; he is right there with them. This sutra is full of methods that are practical in many phases of life-at birth, pregnancy, and death. So stay tuned!

Another principle in this sutra is repaying kindness, i.e., gratitude. Sometimes when life seems so hectic with traffic jams and pandemonium in the family, we forget how much blessings we have, compared with other people in the world. Be grateful! This sutra reminds us to be grateful, to the point that even a sip of water is great joy.

Master Heng Syan told a story about filial respect. In one family, there was a grandfather who was very old and couldnO^~t take of himself. Whenever he ate, he would make a big mess all around. His son was fed up with the sloppiness and decided do something about it. He in turn told his son (the grandkid), to go to a carpenter and order a trough. Grandfather would be placed in it to contain the mess. In effect, grandfather would be treated like an animal. The grandkid said, "Dad, I will order two troughs." The father said, "Why? We only need one." The kid said, "We need one for grandfather and when you become old, I will use the other one for you." The father cancelled the order and treated grandfather like a human being from that time on.

There are three kinds of filiality:

1. limited - filial to family members, but not to other people. This is not ultimate filiality.

2. extensive - take all mothers and fathers as your own. For example, there are many lonely elders. When we visit them, they welcome it like the rising sun. If we didnO^~t have a chance to be filial when our parents were in the world, find an elder. As the verse goes, "The tree would be still, but the wind does not stop. The child wishes to be filial, but his parents are gone." Is there any difference between being filial to our parents and another elder? It is like eating a fruit from your tree or from a farm-weO^~re still eating the fruit. Or like enjoying the shade of a tree in our yard and a tree at the park. Kids today come home to an empty house because the parents are away. Kids will take root with TV and/or gangs. This filiality, though extensive, it still limited.

3. ultimate - reaching Buddhahood is ultimate filiality. A Buddha has kinship with all living beings-animals, hell-dwellers, ghosts, asuras, and devas. The Buddha connects with all living beings. One thought touches all.

Reverend Heng Sure recalled that during his bowing pilgrimage, every scolding that he gave his parents when he was young surfaced in his mind. He recalled having strong hateful thoughts of his parents when he was grounded. This kind of thoughts cuts off the roots of life.

Master Syan recalled that he was asked a question of how it would be possible to attain ultimate filiality in the midst of this "degenerative" society. In a society in which kids take off at 18 and later send their parents to nursing homes. Master Syan responded, "Return the light and shine within. Transform ourselves first. Heal ourselves then we can do good for living beings."