The Ultimate Act of Filial Piety

This interview was recorded at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. It features Venerable Chuandeng, who shares his profound journey from a humble life of manual labour to his current role as a monastic dedicated to the deliverance of sentient beings. His testimony highlights the transformative power of filial piety and the urgency of the Buddha’s teachings in saving those lost in the cycle of reincarnation.

Venerable Chuandeng speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I am Chuandeng. I have come to realise that true filial piety towards one's mother is not merely providing for her physical comfort, but to help her permanently end the suffering of birth and death. It is the greatest gift a child can offer to a parent who has sacrificed everything."

A Life of Endless Sacrifice

"I spent my days and nights working tirelessly, my hands moving with a singular purpose: to finish a beautiful garment for my mother. She was over fifty when she gave birth to me—a late-life surprise that she embraced with quiet strength. She risked her very life to bring me into this world. From a young age, I followed her as she worked as a seamstress, a skill she had mastered and practised her entire life. She did not just have me; she raised twelve children in total. To support us, she worked from dawn until dusk, sewing for others for a pittance just to keep us fed and sheltered.

My father was the eldest son of our family, but he was a wanderer. He was rarely home, and when he did return, he was often heavily intoxicated. It was under these difficult circumstances that my mother conceived me at such an advanced age. My father had once been a tailor himself, but after a failed business partnership, he became a drifter, aimless and irresponsible. My mother bore the burden of the household alone, and whenever my father returned, he would only demand money. She never knew what he was doing out there, but she was already so overwhelmed with work and chores that she would simply give him whatever he asked for just to avoid conflict. She accepted this as her lot in life, a traditional woman who carried her cross without complaint."

The Mother's Unwavering Love

"Despite her exhausting workload, my mother was deeply committed to our upbringing. She never neglected us. She did not want us to turn out like our father, nor did she want us to be irresponsible with our lives. Even when she was at her busiest, she would carve out time to be with us. Though these moments were brief, they were enough to nurture our bond and allow her to guide us with the wisdom of her life experiences. She was the anchor of our home, providing a sense of stability that my father could not.

When I was born, my eldest brother was already in his twenties. To help the family, he worked away from home, sending money back to my mother every month. Sometimes my father would seek him out to demand money, and my brother, believing this was the only way to show filial piety to his father, would give him his hard-earned savings. We were a family bound by duty, yet shadowed by the absence of a father's true presence."

A Sorrow Hidden in Dreams

"Under my mother's guidance, all of us children were filial and sensible. As we grew, we joined our siblings in helping with chores and working to earn extra money. I was too young to do much, so my siblings would keep me by their sides while they worked. I saw the reality of our home life clearly, and I saw the deep sorrow hidden in my mother's heart. She never complained about my father in front of us. She carried the weight of the entire family on her shoulders without a single word of resentment. As a traditional woman, she accepted this as her fate. She would say, 'I chose my husband, I gave birth to these children—it was all my own choice. Who else can I blame?' For her, the most important task was to earn money, raise us well, and keep us on the right path. That was her life's mission.

My siblings grew up well, but I could see that none of us were truly happy because our father was absent. As my siblings entered the workforce, the financial burden eased, and my mother had more time for me. They often said I was the luckiest child. Yet, I would often see my mother weeping in her dreams. She was unaware of her own sorrow, but I saw it all: in her dreams, she was always searching for my father, carrying one child on her back, holding two others by the hands, with more following behind. She would run east and west, searching endlessly, but she could never find him. Her tears would flow uncontrollably. I would wipe them away with my sleeve, waking her. She would hug me, stroke my head, and say, 'Chuandeng, you are a good child. I do not know what karmic affinity brought you to me, but I do not want you to suffer. I will take good care of you, and I hope you grow up to be a useful person in society.' I understood then that she poured every ounce of her energy into us, no matter how hard it was."

The Turning Point of Dharma

"When I was twelve, my mother fell ill. She no longer had the strength to sew and had to stay in bed. My siblings urged her to stop working, but she insisted; it was her life's mission. Over those ten years, I watched her hair turn from black to white, and the wrinkles on her face deepen. She was truly old and frail. I did not want her life to end this way, but I did not know how to help her.

One night, while I was sewing a garment for her, I pricked my finger deeply. It bled profusely. I felt a sudden, inexplicable fear—was this a sign? I worked faster, tears streaming down my face, telling myself to stop crying. The next day, I went to find buttons for the garment. I found a unique shop, and the owner, upon hearing my story, was deeply moved. He told me, 'Your mother has worked hard her whole life. You must send her to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Do not let her continue to cycle through samsara; it is truly painful.' I asked him how, and he replied, 'Teach her to chant Namo Amituofo, and with a single heart, seek rebirth in the Western Pure Land.' I spent the entire day listening to him teach the Dharma. I finally understood: true filial piety is to help one's mother escape the cycle of birth and death forever."

Rebirth in the Western Pure Land

"I chanted Namo Amituofo as I sewed the final button onto her garment. When I gave it to her, she was deeply moved. She had spent her life making clothes for others, but this was the first time a child had made one for her. She loved it so much she was afraid to get it dirty, saying she would save it for a special occasion.

To help her understand the Dharma, I went to the temple daily to listen to teachings and shared them with her. She was filled with Dharma-joy and was so grateful to the Buddha for allowing her to hear such precious teachings at the end of her life. She held the prayer beads I gave her and chanted constantly, seeking rebirth in the Western Pure Land. Her sincerity moved the Buddha to assist her. Three months later, she knew the time of her passing. On that day, she wore the garment I had made for her and waited for the Buddha to lead her. We all gathered around her, chanting. When the time came, she truly saw the Buddha arrive to lead her to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

After she passed, I dedicated myself to practice and, after serving in the temple for a year, I shaved my head and became a monastic. I realised that many in this world suffer just as my mother did. Without the Dharma, they would continue to suffer in samsara. I vowed to spend my life delivering sentient beings so that all who suffer may hear the Dharma and be reborn in the Western Pure Land."

A Vow to Deliver All Beings

"My siblings later told me that my father had passed away years ago. I sighed for his life, chanted for him, and performed Chao Du to help him reach the Western Pure Land. Now, I follow Practitioner Su into the universe to perform Chao Du. Practitioner Su's speed of deliverance increases day by day. In my own space, I also hasten to deliver the spirits connected to me by karmic affinity. The faster I deliver them, the sooner they can leave suffering behind.

With a sense of extreme urgency, I work to send beings to the Western Pure Land. I cannot bear to see any being suffer in the vastness of space. Every day, I am diligent and cautious in my deliverance. I do not want to abandon a single planet or a single speck of dust, for every speck of dust is a potential Buddha. I cannot give up the chance for any spirit to become a Buddha; I strive to help them chant and be reborn in the Western Pure Land.

The universe is magnificent and dazzling every day because the golden light brought by Practitioner Su permeates the entire cosmos. Immeasurable and boundless beings are being sent to the Western Pure Land. For hundreds of millions of years, beings have waited for this moment, finally receiving deliverance through the compassion and vows of Practitioner Su. I offer my gratitude to the Buddha for His compassion, and to Practitioner Su for His compassion. Namo Amituofo."