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【本刊訊】為了挽救現代社會倫理教育破產，不知敬老尊賢、不懂尊師重道的顛倒現象，今年十月十四日，在美國三藩市金山聖寺，慶祝觀音菩薩出家的法會上，宣公上人對眾公布，定每年的舊曆九月十九日，觀音菩薩出家日作為年老女居士共同的生日。在這天特別要素食戒殺。
十一月十五日早上，宣公上人在柏林根市國際譯經學院開示後，又公布以每年舊曆十一月二十七日為「耆德節」，為七十二歲以上的老人家做生日。藉著敬老、素食來提醒世人，尊重一切眾生的生存權利。壯年人知道敬老，年幼的人才懂得盡孝。幼盡孝，壯敬老，這種教育能做成功，世界就有救了。
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[Local News] In order to save moral education in modern society from bankruptcy, and to redress the current lack of respect for elders, virtuous ones, teachers, and the Way, the Venerable Master announced at Gold Mountain Monastery in San Francisco during the celebration of Gwan Yin Bodhisattva's Leaving Home on the nineteenth of the ninth lunar month (October 14, 1992) that from now on this day would be the common birthday for all the elderly laywomen. On this day, everyone should especially eat vegetarian food and refrain from killing.
Then on November 15; at the International Translation Institute in Burlingame, the Venerable Master proclaimed the twenty-seventh of the eleventh lunar month, Amitabha Buddha's Birthday, as Virtuous Elders' Day; to celebrate the birthday of those seventy-two years old and up.
The goal is to teach the world's people by setting an example of respecting the elderly and eating vegetarian food. For if we value only the young and the middle-aged, while neglecting the elderly, the nation cannot last long. It is like wanting only the fresh fruits and flowers of a tree, not the old roots. There is no way the tree can survive. Only when adults learn to respect the elderly will children understand to be filial. When adults respect their elders and children are filial to their parents, there will be hope for the world.
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