In Buddhist teaching, we learn that our lives are supported by three kinds of parents, and we should show our filial devotion to them accordingly.

1. 1. Our Biological Parents gave birth to us and care for us in this lifetime. This is our foundational devotion.
   2. Heaven and Earth (Nature) nourish, shelter, and sustain all living beings, generation after generation. This is our expansive devotion.
   3. The Buddha (Parent of Our Dharma Life) reveals our true nature and shows the way to liberation. The Buddha’s boundless wisdom and compassion permeate all existence. This is our ultimate devotion.

       The kindness of these parents is immense, and we should respond with gratitude, respect, and care. Honoring them brings great blessings, while rebelling against them amounts to grave transgressions.

       Most people know that neglecting their parents is wrong. But many do not realize that we may also fail in our responsibility to our natural environment. Human beings take from nature without reverence, destroy species, and pollute the air, land, and water. We are already suffering various disastrous consequences as a result. If we truly want to change, we must protect life, cherish what we have, and care for the environment. This is how we honor Heaven and Earth.

       From a Buddhist perspective, slandering the Dharma and turning against the Buddha is a transgression infinitely greater than being harmful to Heaven and Earth. Because Buddha-nature is inherent in all sentient beings, rejecting the truth of the Dharma is to cut ourselves off from our deepest spiritual root, and from the path that can benefit all beings.

       Caring for our parents is a beginning. Caring for the earth widens that devotion. Honoring the Buddha brings both to fulfillment.

       Someone who honors their parents may still never think to honor Heaven and Earth, let alone the Buddhas. And someone who neglects even their own parents will almost certainly neglect everything beyond them—and will find it hard to trust in the Buddha at all. But here is the key: those who truly honor the Buddha will naturally extend that same reverence to Heaven and Earth, and to their parents as well. Devotion at the highest level flows downward and embraces everything beneath it.

       As the sutra says: "Those who show loving reverence toward the Buddhas perform a truly great good."

       Ultimately, the highest expression of filial devotion toward the Buddhas is this: to faithfully accept Amitabha's deliverance, exclusively recite his name, aspire to be reborn in his Pure Land, and guide all sentient beings toward liberation.

       We recognize the love of our parents. We receive the gifts of the natural world every day, often without noticing. And the compassion of the Buddha is deeper still—something many people have not yet learned to see.

       So let’s show our filial devotion by honoring the Buddha, Nature, and our birth parents. 

(Translated by the Pure Land School Translation Team;
edited by Householder Fojin)