Resolving doubts, clearing confusions. Teaching and learning are mutually beneficial

　　- Central China Normal University School of Political Science and Law,Buddhist Studies Talks

　　Morning of June 11, 2011

　　Eight thirty in the morning, amidst loud applause, Khenpo Sodargye walks into the School of Philosophy teaching and research room at Central China Normal University. On June 10th evening, Khenpo”s talk “This new age needs spiritual education” was extremely well received by students, who requested an additional talk, which led to today”s event. Today”s event is mainly a conversation between Khenpo and all the research and doctorate students of the Central China Normal University School of Philosophy.

　　Opening words by Professor Gao Xinmin:

　　There is a saying in Buddhism: “Rare is birth as a human being, hard it is to obtain the chance to listen to the Dharma, difficult it is to encounter wise spiritual mentors.”

　　“ Rare is birth as a human being.” For us to have a human body, and those of you sitting here, as a research student, a doctorate student, not only have you a human body, you are cream of the crop. This is based on past cultivations, which were not easy.

　　“Hard it is to obtain the chance to listen to the Dharma.” Many wish to listen to the Buddhadharma, but because of karma do not have this opportunity. Therefore, for us to listen to the Buddhadharma today is extremely rare.

　　The most important is “difficult it is to encounter wise spiritual mentors”, and a wise spiritual teacher like our teacher Khenpo Sodargye is truly difficult to encounter. From my knowledge, Khenpo Sodargye is known in Buddhism as “dragon or elephant” – an extraordinary person – within the Dharma. Not only is he a wise spiritual teacher, he is a great wise spiritual teacher. He is a theoretician in Buddhist studies, thoroughly versed in both the Sutrayana and Tantrayana, and at the same time has attained high states of realization. It is also worthy of note that our teacher has contributed greatly to the exchange of Han and Tibetan Buddhism. I feel very honored to have this opportunity to study closely with Khenpo.

　　After hearing our teacher”s talk last night, I feel that our teacher is truly carrying out the spirit of Buddhism. Buddhism emphasizes the simultaneous practice of the five sciences, to be thoroughly versed in them. Our teacher has achieved this extremely well. He is not only well versed in the inner sciences, but also in worldly knowledge. For example, many of the people he referred to like Russell and Toynbee are just the people we study in our discipline.

　　In our discipline, we also have areas of connection with our teacher. For example, our main work is in philosophy of mind; and Buddhism, particularly Tibetan Buddhism, encompasses a very profound resource of philosophy of mind. Thus, we have a future research proposal where we plan to examine Buddhist philosophy of mind, especially that of Tibetan Buddhism. This will be an opportunity for the development of worldly philosophy of mind. The reason why I feel very happy is because I have met our teacher. So our future work in this area will have a very good platform, a very good opportunity.

　　Let me finish here and leave time for our teacher. First, let us invite our teacher to give a themed talk. According to the students” requests, yesterday I have also asked our teacher to please introduce Tibetan Buddhism to us. Of course, if possible, to introduce more the ideas on philosophy of mind within Tibetan Buddhism, and some basic knowledge of the various traditions. In addition, we would also like to know a little about the relationship between Tibetan Buddhism and Han Buddhism. After teacher”s talk, students are invited to freely ask questions. These are the two sections of this morni…

《Resolving doubts, clearing confusions· Teaching and learning are mutually beneficial》全文未完，請進入下頁繼續閱讀…