Sutra No. 374-A

The Ullambana Sutra recounts how the great Maudgalyayana sought to rescue his mother, Lady Qingti, from her unbearable suffering—like being hung upside down. It establishes filial piety as the foundation of the Way. For this reason, the Buddha was asked to expound this sutra, which benefits all beings and repays the toil of raising children. Our World-Honored One, Shakyamuni, accumulated wisdom over countless eons, cultivating filial conduct in every way. Toward the living, He offered wholehearted devotion, inspiring them to awaken; for the deceased, He bestowed virtuous practice to rescue them from drowning, helping them to be reborn among humans and gods. Through hearing the Dharma, they gained enlightenment, leaving suffering’s path forever. This gratitude is not limited to one life’s parents, but extends to countless lifetimes of parents and all six kinds of relatives. Thus, Shakyamuni is called the “Greatly Filial One.”

In worldly life, filial piety means providing warmth and coolness in season, offering sweet and nourishing food, protecting one’s body, building a good name, and neither harming nor dishonoring oneself—this is the highest worldly filial piety. Those who cultivate transcendent filial piety renounce attachments, leave family, study Buddha’s teachings, use the Dharma to benefit their living relatives, and guide their departed ones. They universally aid all sentient beings, treating friend and foe alike. Though Confucian and Buddhist paths differ, the heart of filial respect remains the same.

In the Tang Dynasty, Chan Master Guifeng wrote one scroll of commentary, explaining the sutra’s core meaning as a model for later generations to repay immeasurable kindness. In the Song Dynasty, the great teacher Guangyan, Master Yurong, further clarified the commentary’s many layers. He drew widely from Confucian examples of filial piety, showing how the Way of filial piety runs through all traditions. This work became two scrolls, titled *Xiaojing Chao* (“The Balanced Record of Filial Piety”), and additionally compiled one scroll of outlines for its essential points.

Thus, through the sutra, we understand Maudgalyayana’s reason for beginning this teaching; through the commentary, we grasp the sutra’s great meaning; through the explanatory record, we see the detailed unfolding of the commentary. And so the way of filial piety shines forth in all its brilliance.

In the spring of the second month of the year Jiyou in the Xuande era, the monk Wei Shi, an elder of enduring truth, who served as the Right Lecturer of the Monastic Registry and Abbot of the Great Bao'en Temple, [said this].