Filial Piety: Confucianism and Buddhism

Introduction

• Michihata Ryoshu and Zhong Yulian both discuss filial concepts in Buddhism and Confucianism separately.
• Michihata Ryoshu wrote "Buddhist and Confucian Ethics: The Issue of Filiality in Chinese Buddhism.”
• Zhong Yulian wrote 《儒佛的孝道思想》 or "Filial Thought in Confucianism and Buddhism"

Zongmi (780 - 841)

• An ancient Buddhist scholar in China who performed a comparative study of filial piety.
• The study was used in Buddhism and Confucianism in commentary for the Ullambana Sutra.
• Comparative study had limitations in its scope.
• Filial piety is the fundamental ethical teaching of both Confucianism and Buddhism
• Zongmi aimed to reconcile with Confucianism, which considers filial piety an important aspect of their ethics, while the fundamental ethical teaching of Buddhism is karma.

Similarities in Confucianism and Buddhism

• Morality is the foundation of both.
• Filial piety is an important ethical teaching in morality.
• There are five similarities concerning filial piety in both schools of thought:
  • Repaying parents’ debt
  • Respect and reverence to parents
  • Unfiliality as one of the five grave crimes
  • Generalization of filial piety
  • The responses of filial piety

Repaying Parents’ Debt

• Both Confucianism and Buddhism advocate repaying parents' debt, but the ways of repaying it are different.
• Confucius: natural feeling rising from the bottom of the heart to your parents.
• Shijing: 《詩經》says, "It is my father that begot me! It is my mother that fed me!"
• Even if one should carry about his mother on one shoulder, and his father on the other, and so doing should live a hundred years, could he not repay his parents. Parents do much for their children, they bring them up, nourish them, and introduce them to this world.
• Ways of repaying parents' debt are different, with the same emphasis on parents’ difficulties.

Respect and Reverence to Parents

• Both speak of respect and reverence to parents, but Confucianism emphasizes it.
• Confucius: Filial piety nowadays means the support of one’s parents with reverence.
• In Confucian concept of filial piety respect is the root and propriety is the model.
• There are three degrees of filial piety, the highest is the honoring of parents.
• Supporting parents is the basic requirement, and respect to parents is the highest form in Confucianism.

Confucianism

• One should practice filial piety in accordance with propriety.
• When parents are alive, serve them according to propriety.
• When dead, bury them according to propriety, and sacrifice to according to propriety.
• Rules of propriety are simply the development of the principle of reverence.
• Filial piety is the natural feeling of a man while propriety is the rule and model in practice of it.
• Monks, those families where mother and father are worshipped in the home are reckoned like unto Brahma
• Those families where mother and father are worshipped in the home are ranked with teachers of god.
• The Buddha said, "these three fires, when esteemed, revered, venerated, respected, must bring best happiness." The three fires are parents (first), one's wife, children, employees, and dependents, and the last is religious persons.

Unfiliality as one of the Five Grave Crimes

• Both Buddhism and Confucianism consider unfiliality as one of the five grave crimes.
• Confucianism considers unfiliality as the first of five grave crimes.
• There are three thousand offenses against which the five punishments are directed, and there is not one of them greater than being unfilial
• In the Han dynasty, the idea of “ruling the state by using filial piety" was implemented, so unfiliality was considered one of the grave crimes.
• Buddhist teaching: killing mother and father are the first two of the five kinds of gravest bad karma, those who commit the gravest bad karma will be born in hell with immediate effect.

Generalization of Filial Piety

• Buddhism and Confucianism generalized the practice of filial piety as the social order and the universal law respectively.
• Confucius: filial piety is a natural feeling towards one's parents.
• Zengzi developed and generalized this morality as the universal law.
• Filial piety includes all activities from our daily life, from service to the ruler to relation to friends, and it includes all aspects of human life.
• Zengzi: To fell a single tree, or kill a single animal, not at the proper season, is contrary to filial piety, thus Zengzi made filial piety as the universal truth.
• Buddhism: all kinds of service and help to sentient beings as filial piety.
• In Samsara, all sentient beings might be our parents in past lives, and we should practice filial piety to all sentient beings.

The Responses of Filial Piety

• Buddhism and Confucianism: gods or heaven response of filial piety.
• Confucianism: heaven would respond to human act of filiality
• Buddhism: gods would respond to human filial actions
• Xiaojing: Filial piety is the constant method of Heaven, the righteousness of Earth, and the practical duty of Man.
• Confucius: peace will prevail when people practice morality.
• Tang emperor Xuanzhong to the Confucian scholar Xing Bing all interpreted that the practice of filial piety will influence spirits who will response to it.
• Filial son Gu Ju buried his own son to support his mother and was rewarded gold by heaven.
• Filial son Wang Xiang wanted fish for his mother, so he used his own body to melt ice to get some fish for his mother, because of his filial piety the ice melted on it's own and two fishes came out as the reward of heaven. The ministers, the sons, and the Four Great Kings will inspect the world's folk among men on the 8th, 14th, and 15th of each half month, to see if they are paying reverence to parents, to recluses, and Brahmins, and elders, and do good work.
• If humans do not perform ethical good conduct, the Four Great Kings will report to the King of Gods that there will be diminishment of god-hosts and increase of asura-hosts. If humans perform ethical good conduct, the opposite happens.
• Asuras and gods fight in Buddhist scriptures because gods represent righteousness and keep the world in peace.

Difference in Confucianism and Buddhism

• Buddhism and Confucianism are different in their philosophy of life, there are five differences in their concept and practice of filial piety.
• Confucian philosophy: family and social responsibility of individual. Cultivate persons, regulate families, order well states, and make peace in the world.
• Filial piety is an important teaching in Confucian ethics so it is the basis for cultivation of persons.
• Buddhist philosophy: liberation from the world of desire and attachment. One needs to cultivate in morality first and finally achieve moral perfection.

Five Differences

• Filial piety as the highest norm versus karma, the ways of repaying parents' debts, filial piety as a one way duty versus a reciprocal way, the power of father and the virtue of mother, and Confucian avenging parents and Buddhist compassion to enemies.
• Confucianism considers filial piety as the highest norm to be followed by all the members of society.
• Buddhism considers karma as the basis of ethics although it also taught filial piety as the most important ethical conducts.
• Confucianism focuses on morality being centered on family where filial piety is the foundation of family morality. Confucianism focuses on all moral teaching grows from filial piety.

Scholars

• Ren or Benevolence is considered the highest form of Confucian morality.
• Ren is greater than Xiao (filial piety), and is Xiao is the higher form as well as the root of Ren, and Confucius stated Benevolence is the great exercise of loving parents.
• Morality (sila) is the starting point of cultivation in Buddhism and includes all kinds of codes of practice.
• Buddhism has three steps: morality (sila), concentration (samadhi), and wisdom (panna).
• Morality includes the five precepts, ten virtues, and filial piety, but karma is the foundation of Buddhist ethics

Ways of Repaying Parents' Debt

• Buddhism and Confucianism are different.
• Lunyu: Parents should be served according to propriety when they are alive.
• When dead, they should be buried and sacrificed following propriety.
• The Dadai Liji said: The greatest form of filial piety is respecting parents, the second is not to disgrace parents, and the third is supporting them.
• The Xiaojing: The service which a filial son does to his parents is as follows: reverence, nourishing, feels anxiety, mourning, and utter solemnity.

Confucian ways of repaying debts as seven aspects

• When parents are alive: keep them respected and reverenced, happy with support to avoid worry, and give advice without tiresome.
• When parents are dead: perform proper funeral ceremonies, and carry on their profession to make their names known to future generations.
• Keeping one’s body intact, and having posterity.
• Buddhism includes the first five aspects and notes the actions of both one’s body and posterity has no effect on one’s parents.
• The physical body has only instrumental value to be used to fulfill higher purposes.
• In Buddhism, the idea of having posterity is not related to one’s parents.

Sigalovada Sutta

• A child should minister to his parents, supporting them, performing duties, keeping the family tradition, being worthy of inheritance, and offering alms to relatives.
• Confucianism says parents should be admonished with utmost respect, son's should have no resentment of parental advice.
• Buddhism says parents should be be advised to do good, settle them in faith and morality, and to encourage acts of liberality and wisdom.
• Buddhism states advice is more than repaying what is due to parents. Also believing in the Enlightenment of the Perfect One, abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxicants, and that a householder is to be devote to charity.

Buddhist and Confucian Advice

• Buddhist Advice: more active and positive advice
• One should advise one's parents to do good deeds in their daily life so that they can enjoy the fruit of their actions both in this life and the world beyond..
• Confucian teaching: only when parents are liable to make mistakes then one should give advice.

Confucianism - One way duty vs reciprocal way

• Children's obligation to parents
• No ( or little) responsibility of children
• In Confucian texts, there is no mention of parents' duty to their children.
• One might say, there is no need to discuss parental duites, since the feeling of parents toward children are always there.

Buddism-reciprocal way

• Children's respect towards parents are important, but so is parents' service to the children
• In Sigalovada Sutta teaches that children serve parents in five ways AND parents also care for children in five ways.
• Parents restrain kids from evil and incourage good.
• Train them for profession and to find a suitable spouse.

Father vs mothers virtues

• Confucianism: power of the father
• Buddism: Virtue of the Mum.
• Xiaojing piety nothing is greater than reverence of ones father
• But Confucianism, One should show love towards mother, Reverence towards the ruler, both love and reverence to father.
• In Buddhism the mother is a friend to the home, and the virtue of parents in general
• Dacheng bensheng summarized that mother provides virtues like Care, Great earth, the virtue of giving birth, the virtue of care , wisdom and teaching.

Confucian Avenger and Buddhist compassion

• Confucianism: avenging father and mother.
• Buddhism: Compassion towards enemies.

Two types of filial piety

• Worldy Filial Piety: Requite Injury with uprightness.
• Buddhist Filial Piety: Overcome Hatred by compassion.
• Buddhist ethics: there is no escape from the law of karma.

Two special Aspects to confucianism

• 1. Great police implication.
• 2)Covering up of sons

Political Implications

• Fudial piety and loyalty is one, not separate.
• 5 types of funeral piety.
• Devide into social status.
• Buddism, emphasis is on natural feeling.

Confucianism: cover up

• Should be a two way, father+sons should cover for wrong done
• Familes are building blocks of peace
• No covering: not being able to scape the law of karma.

Conclusion

• Is central, karma, buddhist ethics.
• Buddism, analasys is far from buddhists.
• Build family and nation together.