Questions & Answers at Hong Kong Institute of Education

　　November 23, 2011, evening

　　(1) Question: I am an English major student at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Just then, you talked about life as a dream, that everything is empty at the end. Since a meaningful life or a meaningless life in the end are both empty, then why shall we imbue life with meaning

　　Reply: It is not just I. You would also acknowledge the point about life as a dream. You can contemplate: when you eventually die, would everything in your life not be empty

　　 Yes, definitely. But just because you will one day die, does it mean that you now do nothing

　　 No. What you should strive for, you should still strive for.

　　Therefore, I emphasized over and over again, one must actively face life. Although life is a dream, one should still do one”s best for things that are meaningful to future lives and generations. These two are not contradictory.

　　(2) Question: I am a Master program student at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. If life is a dream, then are we living in our own dreams, or living in someone else”s dream

　　 Or perhaps the entire world itself is one grand dream

　　Reply: You like to say “if” life is a dream. But from my perspective, it is not a matter of “if”, but that it “absolutely” is a dream.

　　This can be understood from two perspectives: one is that we are currently dreaming; the other is that this world is as described in The Matrix, and is essentially a fictitious world. One cannot find any reason to refute this view. After all, if this world is real and true, then it is not possible to derive all things and phenomena from it. Then telephone, Internet and such also cannot appear.

　　So we are indeed dreaming. Wang Anshi from the Song Dynasty [CE 968 – 1279] also said: “Death and life are like dreams, this truth is more than clear.” He said life and death are essentially a dream, and this is extremely clear. Of course, some people truly realize this only after a long period of thinking and observation. Or like others, when they encounter an emotional crisis, then they are willing to face the fact of life as a dream, and know that we are merely fooling ourselves with some things.

　　Therefore, this question requires you to further explore and ponder. It is not as simple as some think.

　　(3) Question: I am a Chinese major student at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. There is a prominent problem for people today: after hundreds and thousands of years, we still have not learned how to love. From the Buddhist perspective, how is love understood

　　 If the Buddha”s love is to liberate all sentient beings, then who loves the Buddha

　　Reply: Isn”t it a good thing for all sentient beings to love the Buddha back

　　 People of the world often say: “You love me, so I love you.” According to this logic, if the Buddha loves all beings, then all beings should also love the Buddha. If not, then they are being a bit heartless. (Audience laughs)

　　Question: Let me clarify, when all beings love the Buddha, they are placing certain hopes on the Buddha. But when the Buddha loves all beings, it is without attachments or desires. I feel that these loves are not equal. What is your view on this

　　Reply: Hehe, I was kidding then, but was also speaking the truth.

　　Actually, there are two types of love in the world: one is to possess; one is to give. No matter which type, they are both a type of small love – you love me, so I love you; you no longer love me, I hate you. There is even a book called Love You to the Point of Killing You. From this, we can see how frightening love is.

　　But Buddha”s love for all sentient beings is a type of compassion and loving kindness. These can be pided into dependent and independent. Independent love is viewed from the level of the empty D…

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