Questions and answers from Shanghai Transport University

Questions and answers from Shanghai Transport University

24 October 2012

(i) Ask: Will there be consequences when a person has reached the point of "bearing his heart without shelter"?

A: This is from the Book, which means that everything should be put to rest in the light of the heart. That's what he heard.

But we need to know that, while all the law is empty, the world is unending, as if it were a dream, but it was a dream that felt bitter. Now that secularism has appeared, we must act to stop evil and do good. Otherwise, if more bad things are done, Arrayer will accumulate the seeds of evil, which may be ripe in this life, perhaps in the next, and will eventually allow themselves to experience the painful consequences. In reality, there are people whose fate is so great and who are so ill that it is linked to the power of the world.

(ii) Question: Is it not wealth and status that the well-off people have wealth and status, but are often unhappy, but rather feel happier at the bottom of society?

Answer: Wealth, status is a blessing, but the consequences depend on how we use them. Such a blessing can bring happiness to him if it is applied properly, and, if it is not, it can bring misery. For example, I have wealth and status, and it makes sense to him if I use those resources to help others, and if I use them to do something bad, it would be better without such a blessing.

(iii) Question: How can people believe in a return?

Whether or not to believe in it depends primarily on the cause of the individual. There are a lot of books about the past and the future, and if you look at them more, you will gradually accept the concept of a return.

Some people say, "Because I don't believe it, I don't admit it. "This statement is irrational. If a man's death is like nothing, you don't believe it, but what will you do then?

In fact, the cycle is not a Buddhist family, and many religions recognize it and even many non-religious people recognize it. There are many in the world who remember the past, and a significant part of them are non-religious.

Some people might ask, "Why can't I remember a previous life?" This is because there's a fetal barrier that obscures the memory of a previous life, so only one person can remember a previous life. It is a simple truth, needless to say, that with the passage of time, most of our childhood experiences are lost in memory.

It is true that there must be a reliable basis for denying the past and the future, but it is feared that such a basis will not be found. I have been concerned about this issue for more than two decades, and in the process I have reviewed a great deal of information and documentation, and I am now convinced that there is a well-founded and absolutely no basis for it.

In any case, it is the truth of life, and one should devote time to exploring it.

(iv) Question: What does the rotation have to do with the human heart or soul?

It's a six-way rotation, in which the sky, man, Ashuro, and hell, the hungry, the animals are three. In this life there will be three evils in the next. This life will be good, and the next will be good. If there are good practices in life, we can go back and forth. These are well known in the scriptures.

It's about the heart or the soul. From the beginning, we have done all kinds of things in our turn, all of which are driven by the power of our hearts. During the cycle, people's habits are different due to different experiences. In the case of the two brothers, the blood of the parent of the birth is the same as the blood of the mother and father of the child, and the education of the day after is the same. However, given the differences in the nature of the child, it is likely that one person is of good character, another person is of bad character, and the love, specialty and abilities vary.

If this heart is to be analysed in depth, it is bound to be the third turn of Buddhism. According to the Third Turner, the light of the heart will never go away, and when a man is in a man's place, his heart is overshadowed by his troubles, and when a man becomes a Buddha, all his troubles will be clear and his heart will be turned into wisdom. This process is like the extraction of gold, which is beginning to mix with impurities and, through repeated refining, eventually becomes pure gold without any trace.

佛教极为重视对心的探索，我也希望你们对心作一番探索。如果懂得了心的来龙去脉，人生的很多问题会看得比较透，处理起事情来也会游刃有余。

（五）問：怎样才能改变当前大学生信仰和道德缺失的现状？

答：作为一个藏族人，我从小接受的是佛学教育，没受过汉地的国学教育，不过后来接触到国学典籍后，我感觉非常殊胜。我经常想，如果年轻人都能学习国学，国家和社会就有希望，如果不重视国学，人心彻底变坏了，物质再发展也没有意义。

十年文革是一场浩劫，这场浩劫革了传统文化的命。在座各位都是这场运动的受害者，像《弟子规》、《三字经》、《论语》、《道德经》这些典籍，以前基本上没系统学过，确实很可惜。

怎样才能恢复传统文化？一方面教育部门要承担应有的责任，另一方面每个有心人也要努力，如此上下齐心，传统文化就会遍地开花，社会风气也会从根本上好转。

其实，仅从饶益自身来讲，我们也需要推广传统文化教育。再过20年，在座不少人都成了拄着拐杖的老人，如果现在不对儿女传递国学思想，等到那个时候，他们就不一定管你了。

弘扬传统文化不是说说就行了，必须有实际行动。如果你们做不了很大的事，可以从弘扬《弟子规》入手。《弟子规》非常简单，每个人都应该会讲，如果实在找不到听众，可以给自己的孩子讲。

（六）問：我们应该选择怎样的膳食方案？

答：从健康角度来讲，吃素是人类的最佳选择。科学家发现，人的身体并不适合肉食，并且动物携带有许多病菌，肉食可能导致染上动物的疾病。

站在大乘佛教的视角，吃素更是理所应当的，退一步讲，即便不能吃素，也不要点杀。说实在的，食肉就是杀生，这辈子你大口吃肉，似乎很潇洒，下辈子就不好说了，很可能你变成动物，从前被吃的动物变成人来吃你。

不懂因果的人可能觉得这种说法很可笑，不过，在因果面前，某些人觉得可笑之事，却往往是残酷的现实。

各位朋友，希望你们深深思维这些道理。

問：请开示一下放生的道理。

答：放生就是解救屠刀下的生命，这种善行的意义难以言说。试想：假如你正要被枪毙，此时有人将自己解救出来，你的内心会有何感受？

有些人声称：“动物生来就是给人吃的。”这实属大邪见。对懂得生命价值的人来说，动物和人的生命没有区别，都值得我们尊重、爱护。

如果自己以前杀过生，今后应当精进忏悔，要多念金刚萨埵心咒——嗡班杂儿萨埵吽，并且多放生，这样就能清净杀业。

（七）問：南怀瑾先生于今年9月29号仙化，您如何看待南老的弘法事业？

答：对南老一生无偏地弘扬儒释道，我发自内心地随喜赞叹。我曾几次想拜访他，可惜因缘都不凑巧。那天得知南老圆寂后，我特意带人为他念了经。

我看过南老的书，感觉他确实是一位博通古今、学贯中西的大师。尤为难得的是，直至九十高龄，他还在不懈地传道授业。今天，这样的大师非常罕见。

在复兴传统文化方面，南老可以说居功至伟。上世纪九十年代，传统文化在大陆刚升温，南老的《金刚经说什么》等著作风靡全国，许多人依靠他的著作被引入佛门。

虽然南老已经离开了我们，可他的著作依然留存于世，所以大家也不必过于伤心。

当然，也有个别人对南老持不同看法，这也很正常。自古以来，当一个人有名声、事业时，旁边总会有人议论纷纷。

（八）問：如果想学修中观，应该从何入手？能否介绍一下中观的学修次第？

答：要想学修中观，可以从《中论》、《入中论》和《四百论》这三部论典入手。

学修中观要经历四步境界：首先万法抉择为空性，然后空性抉择为双运，之后双运抉择为离戏，最后离戏抉择为等性。

修行中观有两种途径：一是以窍诀方式直接安住空性，就像《六祖坛经》中所讲的那样；还有一种方法是通过反复观察，抉择出万法皆空的正见，然后安住于此见解。

（九）問：我有一个朋友，他的佛缘很深，他也一度笃信佛教。然而在现实中，苦难一个接着一个，把他打击得差点崩溃。后来他对佛法信心没那么强了，反而没什么灾难了。这是什么原因？

答：你这位朋友的不顺，并非源自他对佛法的信心。

现实生活中常有看似矛盾的现象：作恶时，一切都很顺利；行善时，则违缘重重。这并非因果错乱。一般而言，人在精进行善时，将来的恶报会提前成熟，那个时候往往会出现不顺；而从善法中退失后，生活往往会重归平静，不过这并不值得庆幸，因为恶业并未消失，依然在前面等候着他。

因果非常复杂，只有系统学习佛法，才会明白这些道理。

(十) 問：您的人生使命是什么？

答：以前，我没有特别的人生使命，只是觉得一辈子多看些书就行了，因为我从小就喜欢看书，从小学、中学到师范，最大的乐趣都是看书。后来我的想法变了，我觉得应该将学习佛法的心得分享给他人。

所谓“堪布”，有把知识传给他人的意思。我到喇荣五明佛学院才几个月，就获得了堪布学位，从时间上看太快了。我想，既然自己是堪布，就要将掌握的真理传递给众生，哪怕只剩最后一口气，哪怕只有一个有缘众生，也要尽心尽力传播佛法。这，应该就是我的使命吧。

問：怎样才能找到人生的使命？

答：每个人都要有自己的使命，具体是什么取决于自己的选择。从一般意义上讲，人生的使命在于断除一切伤害众生的恶行，行持一切饶益众生的善行。在这方面，自己要有所计划，哪怕一个月或者一年做一件好事，也是非常有意义的。