时间：12/25/2027 12/26/2027
地点：星海禅修中心
主讲：净诚
佛法修行
目犍连尊者至孝救母
「神通第一」的目犍连尊者证得阿罗汉果，得六种神通时（天眼通、天耳通、他心通、宿命通、漏尽通、神足通），便想度化现世父母，以报哺育之恩。于是，尊者运用天眼通寻找母亲，结果看见亡母堕于饿鬼道受苦，形貌憔悴，皮骨相连，咽喉像针一般细小。
尊者见状，十分不舍，立刻取钵盛了饭菜，以神通力奉养母亲。不料母亲将食物往口里放时，饭菜即化成了火焰！尊者大惊，悲痛涕泣，前去请示佛陀该如何解救母亲。
佛陀对尊者说：「你的母亲在世时曾经毁谤三宝，不信因果正法，贪瞋邪恶，所以受此业报，其罪根深结，不是你一个人的力量所能救拔。尽管你的孝心能感动天地，但天地神祇对于毁谤三宝者必须承受的恶果也无可奈何。现在唯有仰仗十方僧众的功德力，才能使你的母亲脱离饿鬼之苦。」
佛又开示：「七月十五日是十方僧众解夏自恣日，一切众生当在此时为七世父母及现在父母于危难中者，设百味饮食，置于盆中，供养十方大德众僧。凭借众僧安居期间精进修行的功德，能拔济父母出离三涂之苦，现世父母亦得福乐绵延，吉祥如意。」
尊者欢喜奉行，于僧自恣日准备了珍肴、鲜果，置于盆中供养僧众。借十方贤圣僧的功德力，果然救拔母亲脱离饿鬼之苦。
尊者欢喜白佛言：「弟子之生母，得蒙三宝功德力及众僧威神力而超生善道。未来世的一切佛弟子，是否也应奉行此法供养，救度现在父母，乃至七世父母？」
佛言：「一切众生当于每年的七月十五日，常以孝慈，忆念所生父母，为作盂兰盆供，施佛及僧，回向现在父母，寿命百年，无病、无一切苦恼之患，乃至七世父母离恶道之苦，生人天中，福乐无极，以报父母长养慈爱之恩。」
Date: 12/25/2027 12/26/2027
Location: Star Ocean Meditation Center
Teacher: Jason
Dharma Talk
Venerable Maudgalyāyana’s Filial Rescue of His Mother
Venerable Maudgalyāyana, known as foremost in supernatural powers, attained Arhatship and the Six Superknowledges (divine eye, divine ear, knowledge of others’ minds, recollection of past lives, extinction of defilements, and psychic powers). He then wished to liberate his present-life parents in order to repay the kindness of upbringing. Using his divine eye, he searched for his mother and saw that she had fallen into the realm of hungry ghosts, suffering greatly—emaciated in form, skin and bones clinging together, and her throat as thin as a needle.
Seeing this, the Venerable could not bear it and immediately filled his alms bowl with food, offering it to his mother through his supernatural power. However, when his mother tried to bring the food to her mouth, it immediately transformed into flames. Shocked and heartbroken, the Venerable wept and went to the Buddha to ask how to save his mother.
The Buddha said, “When your mother was alive, she slandered the Three Jewels and did not believe in the true Dharma of cause and effect, but instead indulged in greed, hatred, and wrong conduct. Thus she has received this karmic retribution. The roots of her offenses are deeply bound, and it is not something your individual power can rescue. Even though your filial piety can move heaven and earth, the deities of heaven and earth are also powerless against the consequences of slandering the Three Jewels. Only by relying on the merit power of the monastic Sangha of the ten directions can your mother be released from the suffering of the hungry ghost realm.”
The Buddha further taught, “The fifteenth day of the seventh month is the day when the Sangha of the ten directions conclude their summer retreat and perform the ceremony of self-purification. At this time, all beings should prepare offerings of a hundred flavors in bowls for their parents of seven generations and present and suffering parents, and offer them to the great virtuous Sangha of the ten directions. By virtue of the meritorious practice of the monks during their retreat, parents can be rescued from the sufferings of the three lower realms, and present parents will enjoy lasting blessings, peace, and auspiciousness.”
The Venerable joyfully followed this teaching. On the day of the Sangha’s self-purification, he prepared fine delicacies and fresh fruits, placed them in bowls, and offered them to the monastic community. Through the merit power of the noble Sangha of the ten directions, his mother was indeed rescued from the suffering of the hungry ghost realm.
The Venerable joyfully said to the Buddha, “By the power of the Three Jewels and the mighty virtue of the Sangha, my biological mother has been reborn in a good realm. In future ages, should all disciples of the Buddha also practice this method of offering to save their present parents and even parents of seven generations?”
The Buddha said, “All beings should, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month each year, with filial compassion remember their parents who gave them birth, prepare the Ullambana offering, give offerings to the Buddha and the Sangha, and dedicate the merit to their present parents so that they may enjoy a lifespan of a hundred years, free from illness and all forms of suffering. Even parents of seven generations will be liberated from the sufferings of evil realms and be born among humans and heavens, enjoying limitless bliss, thereby repaying the kindness of parental nurturing and love.”
