Read 1st part HERE
The Thathagatha(Lord Buddha) said that there were five such qualities,which should begin and develop from the earliest childhood.They are as follows.
01.Abiding by the advice
Accepting and following,with love and respect,the advice by parents, teachers elders etc is the true nature of those possessing merit;in the past,the present and the future.Such people possessing merit are delighted to hear advice.Those who do not like advice are the merit-less. They.They are not happy at all to hear advice,and they simply escape when they hear the first few syllables of advice. They take a turn for the worse in both words.however,the meritorious puththas eagerly expect advice from parents and elders.These noble people such as parents,teachers and elders who show your faults and dearly advise you on these in order to correct you,may at times blame you and expel you fromtheir proximity due to some misdemeanor of yours.Even then you should not leave them,but be with them.Thus said the Lord Buddha.
Therefore,one should understand the meanings of all the advice one receives,should distinguish between well-intended and ill-intended advice and should follow only the well-intended advice which pave the way to success.such a puththa is praised by the wise and humane people.
02.Looking after Parents
Parents are the ones who brought Children to this world.Not only that,but they are also the ones who fully performed all the duties necessary for the children to grow up.Even though young ones of some animal species can grow up without the protection of their parents,no human child can survive without parents.Specially a parent less human baby cannot last even for a few days.No one can explain how much trouble and pain the parents under go bringing up a child.Parents have the noble thought that nothing else is more valuable than their children.Therefore,they always wish their children the best.They are shocked and starled at any affliction of their children.They carry out all the necessary treatment advised by the physi-cian,with the fixed intention of remedying.The more successful the children are,the happier are the parents.When children are back on their feet,the parents are mediocre.Parents with all their good qualities should be well taken care of their grown up children.Children should a ‚end to the needs of their parents,according to their capabilitiesat least.Even a li‚le good treatment by the children is a wonderful and great thing to the parents.The value of bless-ing given by parents a[er receiving such a treatment,however small,is tremendous. These blessings by the parents is a great boost to the success and development of the children. However,we must bear in mind that the Lord Buddha Himself said,"Nothing done by the children can match what the parents did for them when they were wrong."
Even the ancient kings highly regarded the goodtreatmentof the parents.History says that King Agbo VIII of Ancient Sri Lanka built a piriwena(monasterial school)by the name of Uda Agbo in memory of his departed father.He worshipped the Holy Triple Gem and invocated the benediction there of to go to his fathe. He also a‚ented to his sick mother and whenever he lef the palace he used to make obeisance to her by touching the ground with all the required five parts (elbows,knees and forehead) of his body and then by circumabulating her with his right side towards her.He did these things to salute his parents because even the kings well-understood the value of parents.
The Lord Buddha has expounded in the Parabhawa and Wasala suththas that any person who does not treat his/her parents well would decline,be degraded and is like an outcast.
03.Preserving the Race
The third quality of virtuous children is the preservation of their race or lineage.These practices or duties should be protected like one’s life,preventing their extinction.In any nation of the world,there are customs peculiar to the nations.There are religious customs too.We must not engage in activities not suitable to us or to our family.All these good customs with their incident virtues are protected only by those who can be proud of thir nation.
04.Shraddha or Religious Devotion
Religious devotion or Shraddha is the belief in the nine pre-eminant qualities which are possessed exclusively by the Lord Buddha,the doctrine explains.One who has credence in the qualities of the Lord Buddha the "gem", def-initely believes in the other two "gems",viz His Doctrine( Dhamma )and His Priests ( Sangha ).One who does not believe in Lord Buddha’s qualities,does not believe in the other "gems".This is because all these three ’gems’ are con-nected to one another.This shraddha ,actually a combinaࢢon of devoࢢon,respect,reverence and belief,is possessed by Buddhists only.The shraddha is the greatest gain of all,the Lord Buddha said clearly in the Chanuththariya sut-tha .The actions,words and thoughts of those who do not possess shraddha are erroneous,while the same of those who have shraddha are correct.The quality of shraddha helps the Buddhist improve his virtues.Faith full children of good families can accumulate an unlimited amount of "good consequences" or punya by engaging in meritorious acts.Therefore,it is clearly evident that shraddha is also a basic quality of a good child.
05.Seela or Observance of Religious(and Moral)Duties
Seela means the taming of the body and the speech.A Buddhist layman should continuously observe the five pre-cepts.The benefit to the society from laymen and children who observe seela is tremendous. There are instances where the children are be‚er than thire parents in observing seela or precepts. They are the legitimate children."Athijathang anujathang pu‚hamichchanthi panditha"(The wise are pleased with the legitimate children who are perfect models of their father).
Therefore,all the children should learn and practice the above five aspects and pave the way for the be‚erment of both the worlds,being praised by the humane and wise people,as the lord Buddha taught.
