..續本文上一頁 ignorance, I am this way I don”t dare compare myself to wisdom that ascends. This is the way I see it, whatever other people don”t want, that”s what I go and pick up for myself. And anything that others want, I will give to them.

　　This is my stupid behavior, and it”s also my dumb appearance; the way I show myself externally. Now, behavior, that”s something that you yourself are aware of, that”s in the person. The outer manifestation is what others perceive, that”s what the world witnesses. So, all in all, I would say that stupidity is much more practical than wisdom. It”s much more applicable to life.

　　Wisdom, although it receives the praise of the world, is not something one needs to aspire to. This should be something that one is willing to give to others. So my principle is that I want to give as much wisdom as I can, and not keep it for myself. If I had any, I wouldn”t be in the process of giving it to others. So, I don”t know whether you want to listen to this, but that”s just how ignorant my wisdom is. You have freedom of choice. If you listen to this stupid person talking about stupidity and say, "Hey! that”s pretty good, that”s interesting!" then I invite you to listen. If you listen to it and the more you hear the less you like it, well it”s up to you, you”re free to choose. This is a democracy, and I cannot compel any of you to do what you are not willing to do.

　　I recall the first time I met the late Paul, Cardinal Yu-bin, who was the Catholic Cardinal of China. I am a Buddhist, I was interested in taking him across and making him a Buddhist as well. I thought, well, how am I going to do this

　　 So, the first time I met the Cardinal I said, "Cardinal Yu-bin, you have been a Catholic for so long, I bet you”re tired of it." So he stared at me. I said, "I have a proposal, why don”t you be a Catholic-Buddhist

　　 Why don”t you be the Buddhist among the Catholics

　　"

　　He opened his eyes even wider at that, and he stared. He thought that was pretty strange. Why would I be asking him to change his religion

　　 How incredible! So I said "Cardinal Yu-bin, you need not see this as strange, You should go ahead and be the Buddhist among the Catholics. Then I will be the Catholic among the Buddhists. That way, when our thinking merges, we can exchange our beliefs in this way, and it will put an end to all the wars in the world. So what do you say

　　” He stared at me a little longer, about two minutes,and he slapped his thigh and said "Right! Let”s do it!"

　　After that, since he”s a man of his word, he went into the Buddha Hall at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas and bowed to the Buddha images. After that he didn”t think bowing was such a superstitious act, or like worshiping graven idols. He didn”t think that way any longer.

　　So, that you could say, was my dumb intent, to try and take across a Catholic Cardinal. Especially a person as wise as Cardinal Yu-bin. I believe nobody dared do such a thing in the past. When I explained the principle behind it, not only did he not stand behind his seat as a Cardinal, he completely agreed with the principle and the truths inside. He didn”t fear over-stepping the boundaries of his Cardinal”s authority. In fact, he stepped out of that role in order to meet the truth of unity and harmony among religions. His intent was to connect at the level of thought; to put the hearts together.

　　Now, as we look at the wars in the world we can know that a large part of the responsibility for them should be placed squarely on the shoulders of religious leaders who are not upholding their proper duty, their proper responsibility, in guiding people away from warfare. We need to use wisdom to do the things we do; we don”t want to use ignorance and stupidity to do those things.

　　What does that mean

　　 Wel…

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