..续本文上一页 great help and benefit for our present and future lifetimes. Even if you do not believe in the existence of future lives, Buddhism still has considerable physical and psychological benefits for your present complex and chaotic environment. I have met with people who live in big cities who understand Buddhist teachings, and they have often told me that due to the teachings they are able to cope with sudden unfavorable occurrences with courage. As it says in Four Hundred Verses of the Middle Way, extraordinary people have extraordinary suffering, ordinary people have ordinary suffering, and the whole world is inseparable from suffering. Even if some people seemingly eat well, dress well, have a limousine, live in a luxury house, and are envied by the world, if they do not possess the ability to gain inner strength of mind and counter mental agitation, then happiness still eludes them.
The same applies to monks and nuns. If your understanding of Buddhism is at an experiential level, then you can overcome any unfavorable conditions and not indulge them. If you haven”t attained the state of liberation, then even if you cut off your ears and nose, your tendency to grasp at things as real will continue.
What do we need the most now
We need to share the concepts of Buddhism with others; this is very important in the present time. To facilitate this sharing, we need some places in which to offer the teachings. In the Han region, there are few places to study Buddhism. In contrast, the Tibetan region has a better environment for this. For example, in my home town, Luhuo County, with a population of only forty thousand there are already more than twenty monasteries. Similarly, in the county where Serthar Buddhist Institute (Larung Gar) is located, the population is less than forty thousand, but there are nearly thirty monasteries. In the Tibetan region, when you are traveling by coach, within just short distances you will see a stupa or monastery. There are many of these buildings. Teachings are available in most of the monasteries; many children living nearby a monastery take the eight precepts on a monthly basis since their childhood. Due to these influences, they more or less understand Buddhism quite well. In contrast, in the Han region, the population of a city may be in the millions or even tens of millions, but there are very few monasteries. Even if a truly devoted layperson wants to listen to Dharma teachings, he or she may not be able to find a place offering this. It is also very rare to find a guru who can give Dharma teachings.
Of course, Buddhism is not about something superficial. It doesn”t matter about the ritual or external appearances of Buddhism, whether it is setting off firecrackers or singing. These are trivial things. What is the most crucial thing
It is to understand the truth of Buddhism. After the Buddha entered parinirvana, the great Indian Buddhist Master Vasubandhu said at the end of the Abhidharmakosha that Buddha”s teachings consist of the Dharma of scripture and the Dharma of realization. The Dharma of scripture is the literal teachings that we listen to and contemplate. The Dharma of realization is integrating theoretical understanding into our mental continuum and through practice subduing desire, hatred, and ignorance. Other than these two, there is no other Dharma. Therefore, for Buddhism to flourish, it is not necessary to have magnificent monasteries or even charities, because these are all at only the superficial level. Without compassion, no matter how magnificent the appearance, we cannot call it the “Buddhadharma.”
For this reason, among all the activities we are doing, the most important one is to study the Buddhadharma. Through constant effort, your life-view will eventually change. Of cour…
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