Page 6 - EH 73 May 2024

4 EASTERN HORIZON | LEAD ARTICLE

Joyful Parents,

Successful Children

By Venerable Lama Zopa Rinpoche (1945-2023)

As Buddhist parents, we have
a special and very important
responsibility to ensure that our
children not only receive a good
worldly education but are also
educated to be good-hearted
human beings. In this book,
Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains
how we can teach our children
the good qualities and behavior
that are essential for achieving
every type of happiness, both
short- and long-term.

Raising Children With Bodhicitta Then as your human mother, they It is truly unbelievable how these

You and every single sentient were kind to you in four ways: they mothers of old protected you, bore
being—all the numberless hell protected your life from hundreds so many hardships for you and
beings, hungry ghosts, animals, of dangers every day; they educated created so much negative karma for
human beings, asuras, suras and you in the ways of the world; they you. Can you even begin to imagine
intermediate state beings—are like bore many hardships for your their kindness? But, unfortunately,
one big family. This is because every well-being; and they created a almost every single one of their
one of them has been your mother great amount of negative karma for actions became negative because it
not just one time but numberless the sake of your happiness. Every was done out of attachment.
times throughout beginningless lives. sentient being—every hell being,
every hungry ghost, every animal, To avoid this happening, the best way
Every sentient being has given you every human being, every asura and to take care of children is to think
a body numberless times, not just a every sura—has done this for you of them simply as a sentient being
human body but also the bodies of when, as human beings, they were rather than as my child. For example,
different kinds of animals, hungry your mother. Similarly, when you when you generate bodhicitta for all
ghosts and so on. Each time you were born as an animal, your mother sentient beings at the beginning of a
were born from a womb or an egg, was kind to you; for example, when spiritual practice, such as reading a
they gave you a body. Just taking you were born as a bird, day after prayer, doing a session of a retreat or
into consideration the times you day, your mother went to look for even just reciting a mantra such as
were born with a human body, food and killed many insects and OM MANI PADME HUM, you do it for
every sentient being has given birth worms to feed to you. the benefit of all sentient beings—
to you numberless times. the numberless hell beings, hungry