..续本文上一页ng on this method, some of the Buddha”s rituals and transmissions, even after more than 2500 years, are still perfectly retained and passed down in the Tibetan region. This has been highly praised by countries in the West.

　　In addition, the translation of the Tripitaka in the Tibetan region was also particularly rigorous. Looking into history, translation centers during the time of Emperor Trisong Detsen had over 300 translators with outstanding wisdom. Whether in penmanship or knowledge of the content of sutras, they were incomparable. I once compared Tibetan and Chinese versions of Letters to a Friend and the Amitabha Sutra, and found the translation style of the Tibetan region to indeed be more rigorous.

　　Particularly with the Tripitaka, the Tibetan region has another sublime feature – it is all in the modern vernacular and is very easy to understand. In this 21st Century, most people in the Han region cannot understand classical Chinese. Plus, the tempo of life is so fast that many people utterly have not the time or energy to study the Tripitaka. Some people may have this interest, but after chewing on classical Chinese for ages, they find it too difficult to understand and give up. Finally, because the words are too intricate and obscure, it is difficult to muster the motivation to even go through one volume of this Classic. Yet when Tibetans have the honor to read the Tripitaka, they do not have this trouble.

　　Thus, from several perspectives, Tibetan Buddhism truly has some uncommon characteristics. Exactly because of this, more and more people in China and abroad particularly favor Tibetan Buddhism. This is not a blind choice.

　　(2) Question: I am a Marxist Philosophy research student. I was born and grew up in a Catholic family, and as a Christian, I believe in the existence of a future realm. But I feel that that is the revelation of God, it is enough for me to believe in it. Yesterday during your talk, you mentioned that you firmly believe in past and future lives. My question is: why do you so firmly believe in such things that cannot be grasped in the secular world

　　 Why do you so devotedly believe

　　Answer: To believe that we have past and future lives is not without reason. If we believe without any reason, then that is a type of deluded belief, and is not worthy of pursuit for us. But if it is the truth, yet we have ignored it, then that also is not scientific, and is definitely not of scholarly attitude.

　　To know whether past and future lives exist, there is an abundance of teachings and reasoning within Buddhism. But these cannot be covered in one or two lectures. In this regard, in the Tibetan region we would generally study the Indian commentator Dharmakirti”s Commentary on Dignaga”s “Compendium of Valid Cognition, which has numerous reasoning to prove the existence of past and future lives. Since we cannot see the past and future with our eyes, or relate to them with our mind, we need to establish them by either relying on the words of Shakyamuni Buddha, or using reasoning.

　　i). How were the words of Shakyamuni Buddha established

　　 First we need to establish that Shakyamuni Buddha is the one who inerrably understands all phenomena. His teachings over forty years were in complete accord with the truth, and to this day not one of these can be refuted. Since he one hundred per cent does not lie, then what he has said can be the proof for the existence of past and future lives. This is one way to expound and prove.

　　ii). How can we establish it through reasoning

　　 Our consciousness in this moment was produced by consciousness in the previous moment. There is no need to wait and observe any other cause[1]…… it has a complete suite of logical reasoning. Through this type of reasoning, each person can come to know that p…

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