Life—The Most Precious Gift

When parents give us life, allowing us to enter this world, it is the best gift they can give. They have done what they could to bring life into this world. Sometimes, if parents could provide us with more care, it is an additional gift. However, if a child fails to see how precious life is and only focuses on what they haven't received, thinking that their parents haven't done enough or should do better, the child may fall into a state of disappointment and dissatisfaction. This state can impact us throughout our lives, making us increasingly impoverished, lost, and ultimately leading to failure.

Indeed, some children may not receive much love and care from their parents, but they will find it from others, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, or other caregivers; otherwise, we wouldn't be here. Therefore, the fact is that we have already received "enough".  We may not always agree with or like our parents' behavior, but if we negate their identity because of their actions, it severs our connection with ourselves, leading to greater emptiness within and more significant disorder in the family. On the contrary, if we can reawaken to the fact that we can only receive this most precious life from our parents, recognizing that having this life gives us the opportunity to learn, feel, experience many beautiful things, and even grow enlightened, then, just like the great Shakyamuni Buddha praised, "it’s hard to repay the debt we owe to our parents". Hence, we not only have to repay our parents, we also have to acknowledge the abundance they have already given us, and also respect the position of our parents in our hearts. Our hearts will then be filled with happiness because—only those who recognize their own happiness can truly be happy; only those who repay their parents' kindness can have true peace in their hearts. Extracted from “Love and Reconciliation” by Chou Ting Wen