Sex, Marriage and Family in World Religions (76 page)

At this time the monk Mulian and the assembly of great bodhisattvas rejoiced. Mulian’s sorrowful tears ended and the sound of his crying died out.

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Then, on that very day, Mulian’s mother gained release from an eon of suffering as a hungry ghost.

Then Mulian told the Buddha, “The parents who gave birth to me, your disciple, are able to receive the power of the merit of the Three Jewels because of the mighty spiritual power of the assembly of monks. But all of the future disciples of the Buddha, those who practice filial devotion, may they or may they not also present
yulan
bowls as required to save their parents and their seven generations of ancestors?”

The Buddha said, “Excellent! This question pleases me very much. It is just what I would like to preach, so listen well! My good sons, if there are monks, or nuns, kings of states, princes, sons of kings, great ministers, counselors, dig-nitaries of the three ranks, any government officials, or the tens of thousands of common people who practice filial compassion, then on behalf of their current parents and the past seven generations of ancestors, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, the day of which the Buddha is happy, the day on which the monks release themselves, they must all place food and drink of the one hundred flavors inside the
yulan
bowl and donate it to monks of the ten directions who are releasing themselves. When the prayers are finished, one’s present parents will attain long life, passing one hundred years without sickness and without any of the torments of sufferings of hungry ghosthood, attaining rebirth among gods and humans, and blessings without limit.”

The Buddha told all of the good sons and good daughters, “Those disciples of the Buddha who practice filial devotion must in every moment of conscious-ness think of and care for their parents and their seven generations of ancestors.

Each year on the fifteen day of the seventh month, out of filial devotion and compassionate consideration for the parents who gave birth to them and for the seven generations of ancestors, they should always make a
yulan
bowl and donate it to the Buddha and Sangha to repay the kindness bestowed by parents in nurturing and caring
(zhangyang ciai zhi en)
for them. All disciples of the Buddha must carry out this law.”

Upon hearing what the Buddha preached, the monk Mulian and the four classes of disciples rejoiced and put it into practice.

[
Taisho¯ shinshu¯ daizo¯kyo¯,
translated by Alan Cole based, in part, on Stephen F.

Teiser’s translation in his
The Ghost Festival in Medieval China
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1988), pp. 49–54]

THE SUTRA ON THE PROFOUND KINDNESS

OF PARENTS

This text appears to have been very popular in the Tang period (618–907) and continues to be a favorite in modern Taiwan. Coming slightly later than the two above selections, this text is distinctive for its more elaborate depiction of 360

the loving nostalgia that a son should feel toward his mother, who is presented as a wonderful and solicitous caretaker during the son’s baby days. Again the trope of replacing Confucian filial piety with Buddhist filial piety appears early in the work, but this text is really unique for the middle section that begins to chronicle the deep pathos apparently expected at the heart of the typical Chinese family. In this section we are taken behind closed doors to witness what the author assumes the reader to know about already—the kind of deadly ani-mosity that erupts in Chinese families as the live-in son takes a wife. More exactly, the text shows that the author wants to give voice to some fundamental angst haunting standard modes of reproducing the Chinese family and, by implications, seems to be offering Buddhist filial piety as solution to these fright-ful episodes. As I argued in
Mothers and Sons in Chinese Buddhism,
“By inserting an extensive complaint about unfilial adult sons into the budding form of Buddhist mother-son filial piety . . .
The Sutra on the Profound Kindness of
Parents
presents Buddhist filial piety as the stabilizing force that can overcome the inevitable tension surrounding the act of wife-taking. Perhaps this text reveals an equitable solution to the problem of Buddhism in China. On the one hand, Buddhism was to be granted high status and its institutions were to be patronized. On the other hand, the concerns of family were to be offered the power of the new Buddhist filial piety, which would assist in solving a long-standing problem in Chinese family life.”10

Document 5–15

f u m u e n z h o n g j i n g : t h e s u t r a o n t h e

Thus I heard. Buddha was once Gr.dhrakuta Moutain with great Bodhisattvas and Sŕavakas assembled together along with monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen, as well as heavenly humans
(tian fenmin),
heavenly nagas
(tianlong),
and ghosts and gods, all of whom had come together to single-mindedly listen to the Buddha. When they stared at his face they could not take their eyes off him for an instant.

The Buddha said, “People are born into the world with father and mother as parents. Without the father there would be no birth
(sheng),
and without the mother there would be no rearing
(yang).
Therefore it depends
(jituo)
on the mother who carries [the baby] in her womb for ten months until the time when it is fully formed, and she gives birth, and the child drops on the grass [mat?].

[Then after the baby is born,] the father and mother nurture him
(yangyu).

When he is lying [asleep] they put him in a crib or otherwise, they hold him and make harmonious noises for him; he smiles, not yet able to speak. Now, when he is hungry he needs food, and without the mother he could not eat.

When he is thirsty, he needs drink, and without the mother he could not suckle.

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Mothers swallow the sour food and give11 the sweet things to him when he is hungry, and [in bed] she puts him in the dry places and accepts the wet places.

Without [fulfilling] this responsibility
(yi)
they would not be parents. Without the mother, the child could not be raised. The loving mother raises the son
(er)
and when she takes him out of the crib there is food between his ten fingers and the child is unclean. Each [child] requires eighty-four pecks [of milk]. This is what is reckoned and spoken of as the kindness of the mother
(muen)
and it is as vast as the horizon of heaven
(hao tian wang ji).
Exclaiming about the loving mother, the Buddha asked, “How can we repay [her]?”

A¯nanda said to the Buddha, “The World Honored One has asked, ‘How can we repay this debt?’ but this is just what I want [you] to explain.”

Then the Buddha said to A¯nanda, “You listen well and think hard about this while I analyze and explain it for you. The kindness of our parents is as vast as the horizon of heaven. It can be repaid by a filial, obedient, and loving son
(zi)
who is able, for the sake of his parents, to make merit, produce sutras or perform the ghost festival offering
(yulan pen)
on the fifteenth of the seventh month. By offering [in this manner] to the Buddha and the sangha, the results you gain are limitless and you are able to repay your parents. Or again, if there is someone who is able to copy this sutra and distribute it among the people [making them]

accept it, praise it, and recite it, then this person is known to have repaid his debt to his parents even though his parents [might] say ‘How is it repaid?’”

When parents leave to go somewhere in the neighborhood, to the well, or stove, or to grind [some grain] and do not come back for a while, my son
(woer)
cries at home because he wants me to return to the house right away. As I come back, my son watches me from a distance. Or, [if we go out] if he is the stroller, I cuddle his head, and tickle him as we go along.12 If he is calling out for his mother, the mother, for the sake of the son, bends over for a long time extending her arms to wipe up the “dust.” Cooing sweetly with her mouth, she opens her blouse and takes out her breasts and gives them to him.

When the mother sees the son, she is happy. When the son sees the mother, he is happy. The two feel kindness
(en),
compassion, intimacy and love [for each other]. There is nothing stronger than this kind of love
(ci).
At about two or three years the boy starts to think and begins to walk . . . When the mother returns from being out, she goes immediately to where he is seated, and some-times she has gotten cakes or meat which she does not eat or suck the flavor from. Instead nine times out of ten she brings them back for him, which always makes him happy, otherwise he would cry and sob. Children who cry are not filial. They must have the five obediences.13 Filial children do not cry, rather they are loving and obedient.

In time the child grows up, and makes friends with whom he goes about.

He combs his head and rubs his hair and wishes to get nice clothes to cover his body. Low quality cloth will not do, so the father and mother take whatever 362

nice cloth they have and give it to the child. With regard to his coming and going, they are publicly and privately worried sick. They look north and south and follow the son east and west [trying to keep] abreast of his lead. Then they find him a wife who will be a woman to their son. Then the parents turn and separate [from the son] and live happily, talking to each other. When the parents get older their strength weakens and they age. From morning to night he does not come to ask how they [the parents] are doing. Or again, the father or mother might be lonely, having lost their spouse and living by themselves in an empty room, like a traveler stopping at someone else’s place [and not feeling at home in their own house.] Always without dutiful love
(enai)
and without soft blan-kets, they are cold. Suffering, they meet with danger and misfortune. When they are really old, they loose their color and have lots of lice. They cannot sleep at night and are always sighing, “What crime or past error [have we committed] to have produced this unfilial son?” Sometimes [they] call out [for him], and glare with surprising anger, but wife14 and son scold them, lowering their heads and smirking. His wife is also unfilial. They [the young couple]

pervert the five obediences and jointly engage in the five wayward deeds
(wu
ni)
.15 Sometimes the parents call for him when they are very sick and could use his help, but they will call ten times and he will disobey nine times.16 He simply is not obedient. Scolding and swearing at them wrathfully, he says, “It would better if you died early and were already in the ground.” When his parents hear this, they cry miserably and are deeply disturbed. Tears pour forth from their eyes, and they cry until their eyes are swollen. [They say to him,]

“When you were small, if it had not been for us you would not have grown, but it would have been better if we had never given birth to you at all.”

The Buddha said to A¯nanda, “If there are good men and women who, for the sake of their parents are able to receive, recite, copy the line or one verse of the
Maha¯ya¯na Perfection of Wisdom Sutra on the Profound Kindness of Parents
[even if they should] hear or see only one line, they will have all of their five heinous crimes and serious sins wiped away, forever removed without a trace remaining. They will always see the Buddhas and hear dharma, and quickly attain liberation.” Then a¯nanda got up from where he was sitting and with his robe on his right shoulder, long knelt with his hands clasped, and then asked the Buddha, “World Honored One, what should we call this sutra? How shall we keep this sutra?”

The Buddha said, “A¯nanda, this sutra is to be called
The Sutra on the Profound Kindness of Parents.
All sentient beings, if they are able to, for the sake of their parents, make merit
(zuofu),
reproduce this sutra, burn incense, petition the Buddha, worship and make offerings to the Three Jewels, or give food and drink to the sangha, then let it be known that this person has repaid his debt to his father and mother.” Then the heavenly Buddhist Indra and all the other gods and people who had heard this together were delighted, gave rise to
bodhi
mind, wept to such an extent that the ground shook while their tears ran down
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363

like rain as they did full body prostrations [to the Buddha], faithfully paying homage to the Buddha’s feet. Then [still] delighted, they rose and left.

[
Taisho¯ shinshu¯ daizo¯kyo¯
85.1403, translated by Alan Cole]

THE BLOOD BOWL SUTRA

This sutra, composed in China, probably in circulation by the thirteenth century and still widely available in China and Japan, retells the Mulian-saves-his-mother motif, as seen above in
The Ghost Festival Sutra,
but develops the problematic of that narrative in several ways. First, it explicitly creates a women-only hell to which, apparently, all women are doomed for simple biological realities, such as menstruation and blood-letting during childbirthing. Second, by explaining that the cause of this hell is due to vaginal blood being acciden-tally offered to the Buddha—in a cup of tea—the text articulates a clear divide and antipathy between the “pure one” (the buddhas, presumably) and women, and perhaps humans in general. In this light the text represents an almost Manichaean divide between ethereal buddhas and earth-bound humans. Third, though this sutra clearly draws on the Mulian story, here Mulian’s task of rescuing his mother has broken free of the Ghost Festival offering on the fifteenth of the seventh lunar month, as explained above in
The Ghost Festival Sutra
; now the offering is focused on a funeral sequence initiated by her death and lasting for three years. In short, parallel with
The Ghost Festival Sutra,
this text articulates a kind of “sin of life” dogma, but in a much clearer and undeniable manner. Too, it’s evident that this doctrine treats the sin of life not as a failure of morality, or an Augustinian perversion of the will, but rather as a purity problem deriving exclusively from female reproductive fluids. In effect, in this text morality has disappeared to be replaced by a hard-hitting demonization of female biology, which, nonetheless, has implications for the son who has to adapt his cosmology to this point of view and marshal resources to offer to the Buddhist in order to ensure his mother’s postmortem well-being. Though this rescue effort is understood as the son’s duty in the text, I should draw readers’