..续本文上一页you, students of Peking University, you should also frequently remind yourself in the same way. Mastering the profound state of emptiness and Buddha nature may be too difficult for us now. However, we should at least check if we have an altruistic mind.
Albert Einstein once said: “A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving. I also believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind.”
At present, many college students, civil servants, teachers, and doctors are only living their lives for themselves. This phenomenon is saddening. Of course, this phenomenon is also related to today”s education. They were brought up and nurtured with the idea that “we should strive for wealth, status, and fame.” What will be the consequences of this
It can only be that everyone becomes very selfish. Although verbally promoting a harmonious society, in fact, they seek nothing but profit, which is contrary to their promises and words.
To change this trend, we should start with ourselves, cultivating bodhicitta bit by bit to benefit all sentient beings. As a monk, I have spent a long time studying Mahayana Buddhism. What I have found is that, ultimately, the Mahayana doctrine can be summarized in two words: “benefiting others.” There is nothing as profound as this doctrine. Tibetan Buddhism and Chinese Buddhism both belong to Mahayana Buddhism. However, if we do not have the mind of benefiting others, then we are not worthy of the name Mahayana. The doctrines of emptiness and tathagatagarbha are profound and excellent. For those who have the faith and exceptional karmic link, it is possible for them to learn and study these. However, for most people, if you don”t have professional guidance and just casually read a book or two, it will be difficult to master their true meaning. For this reason, we must know what is most suitable for us based on our capacity, and that cultivating an altruistic heart is suitable for every practitioner. If you are a teacher or student in higher education but you are not Buddhist, this altruistic heart is still essential. With an altruistic heart, as students, when you graduate and leave school, whatever you do will be meaningful. Similarly, as teachers, when new groups of students start, if you always have an altruistic heart, then whatever you do will be meaningful for you and your students.
2. Recognizing the Existence of Past and Future Lives
I would now like to stress a point: Modern people should establish a correct life-view. Life-view refers to the goal of human beings, their values, and meaning. It is the primary component of the world-view. In particular, it is expressed as the view of happiness and suffering, and living and dying. Inpiduals in this world have different preferences and goals. Thus, they have different life-views. However, for Buddhists, our life-view must include the following two points: first, to believe in the law of cause and effect, and second, to be aware of the existence of past and future lives in samsara. If you observe these two points, then your life, work, and goals will improve ethically. Conversely, if you don”t believe that positive actions bring happiness and negative actions bring suffering, and don”t believe in the existence of past and future lives, then your behavior will be extremely blind.
Therefore, from now on, we must have a new outlook on the meaning of life and make appropriate changes. In the same way as Buddhists do, we should recognize that positive karma brings happiness, negative karma brings suffering, and that past an…
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