..续本文上一页ving beings and praise the Buddha”s great compassion and loving kindness. The advocation of moral standards, participation in community and cultural activities, and increasing economic growth cannot bring us ultimate peace. The Buddha”s great compassion and loving kindness is the most perfect one. We should practise the Buddha”s great compassion and loving kindness and progress towards enlightenment.

　　There are many ways of following the Buddha. Meditation on the Amitabha Buddha has its emphasis on faith and dedication. Recitation and study of scriptures in order to understand the theories of Buddhism has its emphasis on wisdom and those who do charitable works stress compassion. We should try all these meritorious ways and can start with anyone of them. However, a dedicated follower of the Buddha must gradually practise all three of them if achieving enlightenment is his ultimate goal.

　　2. Only human beings can learn from the Buddha”s example

　　2.1 The Superiority of the Human Mind

　　Generally speaking, human beings have a strong sense of self-esteem. Yet often they belittle themselves, feeling that they are insignificant. We are often unwilling to undertake great tasks or to strive towards the highest ideals or goals. This is the wrong attitude! In fact human beings are of great significance.

　　Buddha Dharma tells us that among the six realms, the beings in hell are too miserable, and the hungry ghosts are always starving. Under such conditions, these beings cannot practise the Buddha”s teachings. The animals have low intelligence and are unable to understand the Buddha”s teachings. The Asuras are too suspicious and cannot believe in what the Buddha said. They are also full of hatred and in constant warfare. The heavenly beings have too much enjoyment, and cannot find the time and mind to practice the Buddha”s teaching. That is why the heaven of Longevity is considered as one of the miseries of the "Three Sufferings and Eight Miseries". Hence, it is said in the Buddhist scriptures, "Human form is difficult to come by", and only human beings have the ability and opportunity to follow the Buddha.

　　Some may ask: "What is the difference between the theistic and Buddhist teachings

　　" Theistic teachings claim that the human realm of existence is inferior to the heavens, but in Buddhist teachings, we claim that the human world is better than the heavens. Now that we have acquired a human body, we should not waste it. We should respect our own body and try to develop fully our maturity. We should strive diligently towards our goal. This is a speciality in the Buddha”s teaching.

　　What is so good about being human

　　 According to the sutras, human beings are endowed with three supreme qualities which even the devas cannot exceed. Although Mahabrahman was a noble being he was not as great as human beings. Therefore, Buddha had chosen the human realm of existence as the place to be born in and to achieve enlightenment, setting an example for us to follow.

　　The three supreme qualities of Human are memory, pure behaviour and perseverance.

　　a) Memory — In the Indian language the word human (manusya) means memory. The human memory is stronger than that of any other creature. We can remember clearly things that happened in our childhood. We are also capable of preserving our experiences and history from thousands of years ago. In this regard, cattle, sheep, pigs and dogs, or even devas are not as good as us. Because of our memory, we have gained great wisdom. All the cultural and scientific advances that we have made to date are the fruit of the progress and development of our accumulated past experience and preserved memory. This wisdom that we have derived from memory is incomparable to any other creatures.

　　b) Pure Behavior — The control of carnal …

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