There is a Jataka tale about a man who was instigated by his wife to murder his old father. One version of this story has it that the man was to dig a hole in a forest and leave him there to die. Leaving one's parents to die in an unfavourable place seems far fetch but I read of Ubasute, the ancient Japanese practice of leaving mothers in a distant, secluded locations to meet their end alone. In 1783, Mount Asama erupted, resulting in the Great Teimei Famine. There was a desperate need to reduce the population for survival and elderly individuals who could no longer contribute to the community were thus abandoned in remote areas. In good or bad times, abandoning our parents seems like a cruel act.
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