..續本文上一頁dhisattva Asanga unraveled it. These two main Indian lineages were then perfectly transmitted to the Tibetan area and continue to flourish up until today. Currently, many people, including western intellectuals, have a strong inclination to study the vast and profound Dharma.

　　Sometimes, when I meet teachers and university students from overseas, I find that they are quite profound in their state of calm abiding and the theoretical understanding of Buddhadharma. I feel ashamed in front of them. All of you, too, are intellectuals; therefore, whether you are Buddhist or non-Buddhist, you should be fair and use your wisdom objectively to investigate how exactly Buddhism views this world.

　　V) The current practical role of Buddhism

　　Someone may ask: “Buddhism asserts that all phenomena are emptiness. Since it is so, what is the point of carrying out any activities or doing anything at all

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　　This is not necessary so. The emptiness of all phenomena posited by Buddhism refers to the ultimate mode of being of phenomena. As for the conventional mode of being of phenomena, they actually exist. This question stems from a lack of understanding of the relationship between the two truths. Without comprehending the two truths, either people think that since “everything is empty” nothing needs to be done, or, otherwise, they assume that “everything exists” and therefore strongly attach to everything. By contrast, if they studied treatises such as Distinction between the Two Truths, The Sword of Wisdom for Thoroughly Ascertaining Reality, and so on, they would apprehend in what situation Buddhism advocates emptiness, how to understand different levels of emptiness, and why “not being empty” does not entail attachment to things.

　　Why is it necessary for us to realize emptiness

　　 We may live a secular life, but without comprehending and realizing emptiness, we will not be able to neatly resolve problems associated with love and romance, family, and work. No matter how difficult the issues are, we will not hold onto them as completely real. Otherwise, the greater our attachments, the greater our mental afflictions and sufferings will be. Longchen Rabjampa, the renowned Tibetan Buddhist master, said in many treatises that: “The degree of your attachment toward something is relative to the sufferings that it will bring.” Therefore, we should understand the teaching of emptiness. If we can do this, not only can it solve many of our practical problems, it can also boost our tendency toward practicing wholesome activities.

　　Presently, what becomes the daily routine of many city dwellers is to go to work in the morning and return from work in the evening. They live aimlessly, just like an ant, and they don”t know the purpose of life. I once read a book named Theory of True Nature (pinyin: BenXingLun), which was a best seller in the 1970s. The book says: “Only when people reach the age of 35 do they ask themselves: “What is the purpose of my life

　　”” At present, many people do not know about the principle of past and future lives. As a result, they are insatiably greedy for money, strive for their own benefit, and never consider contributing to the society. These people may appear to be leading a happy life, but, in fact, they are plagued with great mental and emotional suffering.

　　I heard that there was an elderly couple in the UK who owned a villa worth one hundred million yuan. In addition to that, they also owned a manor in France, and its yearly maintenance alone cost two million yuan. Even so, their life still lacked any joy and happiness. Actually, two elderly people striving for this kind of life is quite unnecessary and meaningless. Once we fall into this kind of situation, our vision of the value of life is blocked by unreal phenomena, and oft…

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