Do Not Be a Wanderer: To Kill Father and Mother... Is to Find Peace and Joy?

**Summary:** Venerable Thích Chân Quang reveals the profound meaning behind the verse "kill father, kill mother" in the Dhammapada (Verse 69): the eradication of craving and ignorance to find serenity, along with lessons on humility and preserving merit.

**The Story from the Woods River Station**

The story tells of a short, humble monk emerging from the Buddha's dwelling. Seeing this, visiting monks from afar could not help but feel a sense of contempt in their hearts. The Buddha, knowing their minds, uttered a sentence that shocked everyone: "That monk has just killed his father and mother." How could one kill their parents and still live in peace and joy? The monks were terrified. Then the Buddha gently explained: "Father" is craving, and "mother" is ignorance. Only by killing craving and ignorance, and eradicating afflictions and deluded thoughts, can one truly live in peaceful joy.

**The Lesson from the Short-Statured Arhat**

That humble monk was the Venerable Bāhiya Dārucīriya, an Arhat. His small stature did not reflect the depth of his spiritual realization. When the visiting monks recognized him as a realized being, a deep sense of regret arose in them. Venerable Chân Quang teaches: "Regret is a form of moral integrity. A person who makes a mistake and does not feel regret is beyond remedy. Knowing regret and knowing shame are beautiful states of mind in this world."

In deep meditative concentration, one who has attained realization does not harbor regret because they are resolute in not repeating the mistake. But for us, regret is a precious medicine for enlightenment.

**Eradicating Craving and Ignorance in Daily Life**

Craving and ignorance are likened to parents, the forces that guide our minds through the cycle of rebirth. We live driven by greed, by anger, by self-clinging, thus creating karma. Eradicating them is not an act of harming anyone, but the practice of transforming consciousness. He emphasizes: "When we hear about the practice leading to enlightenment, we must understand it as a work spanning a thousand lifetimes. One who thinks it will take a thousand lifetimes to attain the path will not deplete their merit; because of this, they may even realize the fruit in this very life."

Humility is the foundation. Those who promise "quick enlightenment" are truly harming themselves.

**The Trap of Outer Appearances**

The anecdote of Zen Master Shishuang Qingzhu, a man of small and unattractive appearance, is that of a true practitioner hidden beneath a humble exterior. Only when Scholar Zhang Zhe heard the temple attendant say, "The Abbot is a living Buddha," did he awaken to the truth that outer form does not reflect the inner mind. Venerable Chân Quang warns: "Our external view sometimes does not match the inner reality. The person who appears attentive and kind to us might be a deceiver putting on an act, while the one who seems indifferent could be truly honest and kind-hearted."

**The Verse on Peaceful Joy**

This verse teaches us: "The disciple of Gotama is always mindful, day and night, constantly contemplating the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, remembering the body's impermanence, delighting in the virtuous, and finding peace in meditative contemplation." This is the key to killing the father of craving and the mother of ignorance, and to living a life of peace and freedom.

**Practicing Regret and Awareness**

Each person should practice starting their day with a gentle sense of regret for yesterday's mistakes, and then resolve not to repeat them. Always maintain awareness like the woodcutter's child in the sutra: when lying under a cart at night and haunted by spirits, he continued mindful of the Buddha and remained at peace. Keep a humble heart, worship the Buddha with sincerity, look upwards, and view life as a long journey of a thousand lifetimes, so that every step is a step toward peaceful joy. Do not be a wanderer; instead, pause and ask yourself: "Is my heart still being led by the father of craving and the mother of ignorance?"