..续本文上一页ise Buddhism on their own accord and opinion, based on the current situation of Buddhism in China. The following are two commonly heard criticisms:

　　a) The country will weaken and end if the people believe in Buddhism.

　　They think that the end of India is due to its people”s belief in Buddhism. They want China too strong and hence subjectively conclude that the people should not believe in Buddhism. In fact this is totally wrong. Those who have studied the history of Buddhism will know that the time when India was strongest was during the time when Buddhism was most popular. At the time of Emperor Asoka, he unified the whole India and spread the teaching of the Buddha to the whole world.

　　Later, with the revival of the Brahmana practice, Buddhism was destroyed and India became more restless each day. When India was conquered by the Muslims and the British, Buddhism has already deteriorated to the stage of near to non-existence.

　　Buddhism in the Chinese history also has a similar path. Now that we call the overseas Chinese the "People of the Tang", and to call China as the "Mountain of Tang", shows that the Tang dynasty was the strongest dynasty in the history of China. And, that is in fact the time when Buddhism was at its high peak: After the destruction of Buddhism by Emperor Tang Wu Zhong, the Tang dynasty began to deteriorate. After the Tang dynasty, the Song Emperors, Song Tai Chu, Tai Zhong, Zhen Zhong and Ren Zhong were all faithful followers of Buddhism. That was also the peak period of the Song dynasty. For the Ming Emperor, the Ming Tai Chu had had the experience of leading a renounced life, the Tai Zhong was also very faithful to Buddhism. Weren”t these the times when the country was in good order, peaceful and strong

　　Although Japan is facing failure at the moment, they became one of the stronger countries in the world sometime after the Ming Zhi Revolution. Then, they were mostly Buddhist. Thus, who says that Buddhism will weaken a country

　　 From the facts in the history, the time when a nation was strong was also the time when Buddhism was at its peak. Why are people wishing that the Chinese nation can become stronger but at the same time condemn the propagation of Buddhism

　　b) Buddhism is useless to society

　　The Chinese this century, see the Catholic and Christians” contribution in setting up schools and hospitals, but little is being seen to be done by the Buddhists. Hence they feel that Buddhism is pessimistic and does not contribute to the social welfare of the society. This is a wrong concept. The most that one can say is that Chinese Buddhists this century were not hard working and responsible. This is not the attitude that the Buddha taught us to have.

　　The Chinese Buddhist in the past also participated in the social welfare activities in the society. In Japan, Buddhists are at present setting up a lot of universities and high schools. The monks and nuns are the principals or lecturers of the universities or high schools. The charitable work of the society is also conducted and organised by the Sangha of the monastery or temple. This is especially so in Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand. The Buddhists in these countries maintain a very close relationship with the development of education and other charitable work in the society.

　　Thus, one cannot say that Buddhism is not bringing benefit to the society, one can only say that the Chinese Buddhists have not fulfilled their responsibilities or acted as true followers of the Buddha. One should put more effort into these areas of charity in order to fulfil the basic teaching of the Buddha in relieving the sufferings of the world, and hence increase the popularity of Buddhism.

　　Unfortunately many Chinese do not understand Buddhism well. Today we have discussed some of the common criticisms. I hope this has enabled you to understand better the wisdom of the Buddha”s teachings. I hope too, that you may practise according to the Buddha”s example, rather than allowing yourself to blindly follow meaningless and perhaps, unhelpful rituals.

　　Translated by Neng Rong, edited by Mick Kiddle, proofread by Neng Rong. (19-6-1995)

《Common Buddhist Misunderstandings》全文阅读结束。