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A parent laments that his Buddhist vegetarian child does not buy non-vegetarian food for him as an act of filial piety. He hears of another vegetarian child who buys meat delicacies for his father. But this displeasure is due to different perceptions of filial piety. The common worldly perception is that anything done to please one’s parents is being filial. But this is spiritually short-sighted, as the Buddhist perspective is that the truly filial are so towards all parents of the past, present and future.<\/span> As such, to add demand for the death of more past and future parents by buying meat to appease just a parent or two is not true filial piety.<\/p>\n The Buddha also taught that true filial piety is to persuade one’s parents to learn the Dharma<\/span> – which would include the above truths. This is so as the Dharma is the greatest gift one can give, as it can lead to liberation from all suffering. One should not feed anyone’s craving for dead animals; not even upon request – as this leads to demand for the deaths of more animals – which is clearly against universal filial piety. If the meat-buying child understood what it means to practise universal filial piety, he wouldn’t do that. He might have intentions to be filial, but the result is not really good.<\/p>\n