In many cases, our parents taught us that killing is bad, stealing is bad, illicit sex, false dealings, intoxication are bad. We can repay our parents by setting a good example for them in avoiding these unskillful forms of behavior.

"There’s goodness in the world — Ajaan Lee talked about this quite a lot — there’s goodness in the world that has nothing to do specifically with the Buddha. In many cases, he simply pointed out things that everybody had known before: that killing is bad, stealing is bad, illicit sex, false dealings, intoxication are bad. A lot of people had already seen that.

Many of us have learned these things from our parents. Even if we didn’t, we can repay our parents by setting a good example for them in avoiding these unskillful forms of behavior."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Repaying Our Parents"

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