Questions and answers from People's University of China

"March 17th night, 2011"

(i) Question: I will soon be teaching at the Press Academy. Last year there was a hot news story: Liu Ji-woo of Beijing University, who, after receiving a full scholarship from MIT, decided to go to Dragon Springs Temple. It is a matter of great social resonance, of great pride in the day, of rejecting a good future as a monk, of great waste of social resources and of great irresponsibility for the parents. It was also felt that being a magician could also be a career option. I'd like to ask, what kind of profession have you been in for over 20 years? How does it feel to you?

A: It seems there is nothing here. In the history of China, where the prince was born and the Emperor was born, it is not particularly important for a smart student to go home. It is normal to leave a family when it is a free choice, to learn to find a way back to life.

Of course, it is common for some to think that his choice was a mistake. When I left home, many of my classmates thought that I was the least successful at the school, and many people shed tears of sympathy for me. As a result, 20 years later, when we met again in class, every one of them in the family experienced all kinds of sour and bitter, and I was happy and less content and a lot of people started to envy me.

So, from a world perspective, people find it difficult to get home, but from a Buddhist perspective, this is a normal option. Like the Adeis, the prince of Bangladesh, who historically said that there were 100,000 villages in the country and that there were a lot of people in the country, but because of the succulent roots of the past, he eventually abandoned the throne and chose.

Homeway.

There are also a lot of university students and teachers at our Buddhist colleges. However, before everyone left home, I asked them to keep an eye on it, otherwise it would be bad for them to leave.

Q: How do you know that you have many cause-and-effect questions today, but we cannot see the past or the future, nor can we see heaven and hell? How to build a true cause-and-effect faith?

Answer: It is not easy to create such a concept. It's not just heaven's hell, it's deep in astronomy such as the solar system, the Milky Way, the black hole, it's not just our eye. But the mystery of the universe, which is invisible to the naked eye, can be based on the discoveries and theories of astronomers. In the same vein, the truths spoken by Buddhism are based solely on Buddhists ' testimonies, because our eyes are very limited.

Dr. Hawking had previously spoken in Beijing, but because of his theory, many of the students of Qinghua, North China, had no understanding of it and had even left early. In his discovery, the universe is not just the original three-dimensional space, but also the multidimensional space that extends to 11 dimensions. This shows that there are many mysterious areas that we cannot see.

Science giants, including Edison, Galileo and Newton, also recognize heaven and hell. This can be seen from their biography.

So what we cannot see in our eyes does not mean that there must not be. In particular, there are deeper areas where even if the eyes do not see it, its existence can be inferred from reasoning.

(ii) Question: I am a freshman in the Financial and Financial Institute. Buddhists were "reading out" when they were in their 30s, and many things went through. And like you, very young to go home. What is the basis for this choice?

A: It is true that Muigaronnive appeared in the palace first to enjoy life, to see old, sick and dead while travelling, and then to be born distracted, to leave home and to testify to Buddha.

Of course, it's a common multiplication, and it's not like that.——In the hundreds of millions of robberies that occurred at the time of the attack, the Mujahideen-Niv went to his house and was built on numerous occasions, and the last life appeared in front of all human beings.

关于释迦牟尼佛的传记，小乘的有部宗、经部宗，大乘的唯识宗、中观宗和密乘，都有各自不同的说法。这方面的介绍，我最近在翻译一部藏传佛教的历史，开端就讲了佛陀出家、成就的整个经历。等翻译圆满之后，大家有兴趣可以参阅。

至于我个人的出家，是当时对辩证思想很有兴趣，对心理学、真理方面也很希求，觉得如果只是上班下班、娶妻生子，等五六十岁时回顾一生，人生也就仅此而已，不一定很美好。而选择出家的话，生活虽然平平淡淡，但自己有很多学习的机会，也没有生活的压力。

刚开始我出家时，心态就是这么简单。而到了后来，懂得佛教的一些道理后，才知道出家不能只想自己快乐，而应该对众生做饶益，对弘扬佛法要承担责任。

（三） 问：我是人民大学的一个访问学者，对宗教比较感兴趣，以前读过这方面的书。我想问一下，您对佛教是仅处于理论上的思辨、哲学观念的研究，还是像传统那样需要修心？

答：问得好！佛教不仅需要我们从理论上了解，更重要的是付诸于实践，真正去修心。假如你修心达到了一定境界，不管是出家人还是在家人，都会出现超越言思的一些境界，绝对会的。

我自身在这么多年来，不但喜欢看书学习，而且特别希求修证。不管是菩提心、出离心，还是无我的智慧，都有过系统修行的经历。自己虽然修得不太好，但这方面确实花过一些时间。否则，光是理论上讲得滔滔不绝，却一点修证都没有的话，那只是花言巧语，完全是一种“泡沫”。因此，实际修证对我们来讲非常重要。

作为法师要这样，作为听众也要如此。《华严经》中讲了⁵，就像漂浮在河里的人，因怕溺水而最终渴死一样，我们听闻佛法若不去修持，对自己则没有任何利益。

（四） 问：我读过一些佛经，只是从语言文字层面接触了佛教。请问，应该怎样去实修呢？

答：修行分为观察修、安住修。观察修是在日常生活中，将自己所听到的教理，慢慢去思维、去串习。比如说，你明白一切万法无常之后，就可将它贯穿于现实生活中。安住修，则是在寂静的环境中，断除一切分别念，然后去观修它的法义。