Central China Normal University Question & Answer
10 June, 2011, evening
(1) Question: I am a Philosophy student at the Huazhong Normal University. I am completely outside of Buddhism, but have always wished to learn a little about it. You talked about Greater Vehicle (Mahayana) Buddhism then; what is the status quo of Small Vehicle Buddhism today, has it been passed down
Answer: Small Vehicle Buddhism mainly promotes not committing unwholesome deeds, and promotes self-liberation; it is flourishing in countries like Sri Lanka and Myanmar. However, Small Vehicle Buddhism tends not to refer to itself as “Small Vehicle”, but rather, prefers to be known as “Theravada”.
Theravada Buddhism actually is also very admirable; they see samsara of the three realms as a burning house, and whole-heartedly seek liberation from it. Some of their practices are far more rigorous than us Mahayana practitioners, and their acts of helping others and aspirations are also immense. Therefore we are very much in awe of true Theravada Buddhism. In truth, all precepts in Tibetan Buddhism cannot be separated from the foundation of the Theravadan precepts of inpidual liberation.
Question: You mentioned that you belong to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. I wish to know what are the differences between Tibetan Buddhism and Han Buddhism
Answer: Both Han and Tibetan Buddhism originated from India. When it was introduced to the Han region, it merged with the life there and became Han Buddhism; when it was introduced to Tibet and merged with life in Tibet, it became Tibetan Buddhism.
Tibetan Buddhism has a very complete system of studying, contemplating, practicing the Dharma, and debating. It also pays considerable attention to lineages, which have never been broken, and it requires one to study and practice in stages. There are many monasteries in Tibetan areas, for example in Serthar where I live, the population is less than 50,000, with more than 20 monasteries. All of these monasteries have Dharma teachers teaching there, and lay people from the surrounding areas also often attend the teachings.
In comparison, within Han Buddhism, there are relatively few monasteries in one town. Even if there are a few, not many are teaching the sutras and the Dharma. The reality is that while many Buddhists nowadays are very devout, most of them do not understand what are the actual ideas taught in Buddhism. This is why I hope that in the future, not only do Han region monasteries need to teach the sutras and Dharma, communities of university students and lay practitioners also need to genuinely study Buddhism. The teachings of Buddhism are what I am interested in the most. It is a real shame to not know about them.
Question: I noticed something then, if it is disrespectful, please forgive me. Within a few minutes of your talk, you started to feel hot, so everyone turned on the fans and air-conditioning. I thought then: you may be hot, but we are not necessarily so. I wondered what were you thoughts then
Answer: You say that I was hot but not necessarily all of you. But looking at your expressions, it seemed that many people felt more comfortable after the fans were turned on. Including you, you were sweating from the face. If it was not due to heat, then perhaps it was a cold sweat. (Audience laughs and applauds loudly)
(2) Question: I am a teacher from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology. I believe that religion has very fundamental meanings to society. But nowadays comparing Buddhism with Christianity in the West, there is a very obvious difference: Western churches are all built within communities and participate greatly in society; whereas Buddhism is basically situated in mountains or forests far away from the people. Thus, should Buddh…
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