加载中…
宗萨仁波切北大演讲(英文)一
(2007-03-26 17:17:27)
标签：
希热多吉居士藏传佛教 |
分类： 走近佛教 |
(Without Rinpoche's opening address...)
Master Xuanzang delivered his determination to really study the truth. All his sacrifice and endurance are just amazing. Almost inconceivable. If you ask me how much relevance, how much relevance of that to today as far as Buddhism is concerned. I especially think it did do a lot. Not necessarily as a religion, but as a means to, as a tool to find or actualize the truth. And all you wonder maybe because of Buddhism is something that originates from India. So it really doesn't have much relevance in China or elsewhere. I think things are not like that. I'll leave this subject to Mr. Sharf. He will talk about this in the afternoon.
I'd like to talk a little bit about Buddhism view. As the view is what drives us I think. Before we talk about the Buddhism view. Again, I think we ask this question: why Buddhism? I think that question can be simply and easily answered of that. Why everything? Why science? Why technology? Why economy? I think why Buddhism because fundamentally we all want to have fun. We want to be happy and we want to really have fun, the fun that lasts long, and cheap if possible, and portable fun. And I think this is the same case for everything like science, technology. And if you look at what we do, we are always looking for fun. Of course, the definition of what is fun differs. Different beings. Different cultures. Different nationalities. Different generations. And then because of that, the methods or the tools to acquire the truth also then began to have differences and varieties.
Now according to this prince, the Indian prince Siddhartha. According to him,the reason why we can't, we are not able to have the fun as much as we want depends basically on only one reason.We are always looking at something, looking at something fake, unreliable, uncertain. And then we think that's the truth. An absolute truth. And that is ultimately what he called ignorance. And this is actually nothing religious. We are talking completely science I think.
If you want to have a genuine Italian leather shoes, and then if someone tells you it's a fake one. Then you will be suffering. And you don't have the courage to be happy with the fake. Not many of us will do. So for this Indian Prince Siddhartha, finding the truth is very happen to be the biggest quest for him.
So when he was in the palace. Once he was in the palace, he saw death, old-age and sickness. When he heard that death, old-age and sickness are inevitable and going to happen to everyone. Then naturally he wants to solve that problem. Of course if there is a problem, our immediate reaction is to solve that problem. So he slipped out of palace and left his family because his family was against him having this idea of finding the truth.
So finally he found, this is what Buddhist would say, finally found the truth. That does not mean that Buddha finally find a way so that we don't have to die. Finally he found a moisturizer cream so that our skin would never wrinkle. He found a truth, and then he realized that you have to accept that truth, if you accept that truth, you don't suffer. And the truth that he found, what he has realized was later taught to his students. So in order to make them easily accessible, we categorize them into many different categories. So there are a lot of categories of truth. They are a lot of methods to getting close to the truth. And then the unfortunate thing happened. These methods I think then began to become so-called Buddhism--the religion. And that is very unfortunately I think. Because we then began to get so attracted to the methods, rather than the truth.
For instance, okay...you ask this question: but why all these tools, in the first place, why all these methods? Why all these different kind of tools? This is a challenging question. I'll give you two examples here.
First, this glass is filled with pristine, very very clear water. And then you are looking for the water, get the water that is completely to brim. You will not see the water, because the water is too clear, you will not see it, so in order to make you see water, what do we do? We diluted the water a little bit. So this yellowish color has you to see there is water. So in Buddhism, you try all these methods, which is nothing more than that dilution. In other words, what I'm saying is, all these sorts of Buddhism methods are effectively, if I can be very frank, they are all fake.They are not the real truth, but if you ask me: do they help? Very much! Without them, you don't see it. But the problem is we get so attracted to the color not the water.
You would ask, in that case why Siddhartha taught us all these different tools of Buddhism. If you at a gunpoint, if someone tell you, you must say the sky is red, or the sky is green. You have no choice, but agree and say yes, the sky is green. But inside you know it is not green. That's how exactly Buddha taught all these teachings. He has no choice. He was not at a gunpoint. Anybody. But he had no choice. Because Buddhists would say he has powerful compassion.
Let's say, you're dreaming right now. A nightmare. That you are sleeping with a tiger. And you're frantic. Okay, you know, to get out of that. There are several things you could do. You can chase away this tiger. That's not bad. But most of us might run away right away. But there is a much better way: a bucket of cold water. But if you really think it carefully, both ways are wrong. Why? Because the bucket of cold water has not chased away any tiger. There is no tiger. You are dreaming. So Buddhism methods are usually like that. But you should still thank that bucket of cold water because it is good for you. Your appreciation of that bucket of cold water is good. Because next time when you dream again. You know what to do.
Okay, now let's talk about the view. The view as we said previously, the view is what drives us. Everything. Basically, the view is an idea. And this maybe right now, in our world, there is an idea that SUV and BMW cars are good. A slim body is good. That's the view. Now motivation comes in. Right? Of course motivation can be very conditional. Until all these magazines such as Vogue and Cosmopolitan are introduced, I don't think many people have the motivation of becoming slim. So because of these conditions, now you have the motivation to become slim. Because you think the idea of becoming slim is the ultimate truth. So what do you do? You think about becoming slim. You read about it. Go to the workshop. That's basically the meditation. And then cutting down rice. Running. Herbal stuff to slim you down. That's the action. So the view is very important. So let me share with you four fundamental views of Siddhartha.
First, he discovered that no matter where or when, everything compounded as long as something is compounded is all impermanent.
Because even the very action of putting two things together--compounding, that is already impermanent. The shape has changed. The color has changed. The size has changed. But I'll tell you that, as simple as it sound, it is not that easy to get used to it. I'll give you a very popular example coming from Theravada Buddhism.
They said that every time you look at your hand. This is what Buddha said. Every time you look at you hand, there are three fundamental mistakes you make.
The first one, you think it in terms of whole, not as a part. You don't think can I shake your veins, bones, and blood or skin. You think it in terms of a hand. So because we think everything as a whole. In reality, there is no hand. But you know, there are a lot of particles of a lot of different things.
The second, you think yesterday's hand is today's hand. I mean, today's hand is yesterday's hand. It's the same hand that you are shaking with. But this is again not the truth. If today's hand is exactly the same hand as yesterday. Then really moisturizer companies will have no business. Hand cream. Even as we see it is deteriorating day by day, minute by minute. We think it is the same hand.
The third mistake is we think it is independent. It is not depend on any other things. More will be discussed later. So see now Buddha discovered that this fundamental mistaken view then leads you to suffering. How? You think that this will last. You think it is permanent. So what do you do? You get attached. You just never think that one day this is going to be inside of coffin. So what do you do? You go around the world, trying to protect this. Even Buddhists will go to their master asking for bless, so it can live healthy and live forever. And if I joke with you, you know. To live long is a very important issue in the Chinese society. We already see an old man with a peach-- "xiantao". Like the genuine Italian shoes or fake Italian shoes. Because you have diverted yourself from the truth that no matter what do you do it is impermanent has led you to all kinds of unnecessary sufferings. Remember what we've discussed right at the beginning? Therefore we are not having fun. Because we are so busy taking care of this. Okay. Now let's shift this a little bit. The Buddha's first truth/view that everything is impermanent, it is not necessarily a bad news as many people would think. Actually, impermanence is a very good news. If your hand is becoming dry. You should buy moisturizer. Why? Because of impermanence it really works. If you are not millionaire now, thanks to impermanence, you can become millionaire.
Master Xuanzang delivered his determination to really study the truth. All his sacrifice and endurance are just amazing. Almost inconceivable. If you ask me how much relevance, how much relevance of that to today as far as Buddhism is concerned. I especially think it did do a lot. Not necessarily as a religion, but as a means to, as a tool to find or actualize the truth. And all you wonder maybe because of Buddhism is something that originates from India. So it really doesn't have much relevance in China or elsewhere. I think things are not like that. I'll leave this subject to Mr. Sharf. He will talk about this in the afternoon.
I'd like to talk a little bit about Buddhism view. As the view is what drives us I think. Before we talk about the Buddhism view. Again, I think we ask this question: why Buddhism? I think that question can be simply and easily answered of that. Why everything? Why science? Why technology? Why economy? I think why Buddhism because fundamentally we all want to have fun. We want to be happy and we want to really have fun, the fun that lasts long, and cheap if possible, and portable fun. And I think this is the same case for everything like science, technology. And if you look at what we do, we are always looking for fun. Of course, the definition of what is fun differs. Different beings. Different cultures. Different nationalities. Different generations. And then because of that, the methods or the tools to acquire the truth also then began to have differences and varieties.
Now according to this prince, the Indian prince Siddhartha. According to him,the reason why we can't, we are not able to have the fun as much as we want depends basically on only one reason.We are always looking at something, looking at something fake, unreliable, uncertain. And then we think that's the truth. An absolute truth. And that is ultimately what he called ignorance. And this is actually nothing religious. We are talking completely science I think.
If you want to have a genuine Italian leather shoes, and then if someone tells you it's a fake one. Then you will be suffering. And you don't have the courage to be happy with the fake. Not many of us will do. So for this Indian Prince Siddhartha, finding the truth is very happen to be the biggest quest for him.
So when he was in the palace. Once he was in the palace, he saw death, old-age and sickness. When he heard that death, old-age and sickness are inevitable and going to happen to everyone. Then naturally he wants to solve that problem. Of course if there is a problem, our immediate reaction is to solve that problem. So he slipped out of palace and left his family because his family was against him having this idea of finding the truth.
So finally he found, this is what Buddhist would say, finally found the truth. That does not mean that Buddha finally find a way so that we don't have to die. Finally he found a moisturizer cream so that our skin would never wrinkle. He found a truth, and then he realized that you have to accept that truth, if you accept that truth, you don't suffer. And the truth that he found, what he has realized was later taught to his students. So in order to make them easily accessible, we categorize them into many different categories. So there are a lot of categories of truth. They are a lot of methods to getting close to the truth. And then the unfortunate thing happened. These methods I think then began to become so-called Buddhism--the religion. And that is very unfortunately I think. Because we then began to get so attracted to the methods, rather than the truth.
For instance, okay...you ask this question: but why all these tools, in the first place, why all these methods? Why all these different kind of tools? This is a challenging question. I'll give you two examples here.
First, this glass is filled with pristine, very very clear water. And then you are looking for the water, get the water that is completely to brim. You will not see the water, because the water is too clear, you will not see it, so in order to make you see water, what do we do? We diluted the water a little bit. So this yellowish color has you to see there is water. So in Buddhism, you try all these methods, which is nothing more than that dilution. In other words, what I'm saying is, all these sorts of Buddhism methods are effectively, if I can be very frank, they are all fake.They are not the real truth, but if you ask me: do they help? Very much! Without them, you don't see it. But the problem is we get so attracted to the color not the water.
You would ask, in that case why Siddhartha taught us all these different tools of Buddhism. If you at a gunpoint, if someone tell you, you must say the sky is red, or the sky is green. You have no choice, but agree and say yes, the sky is green. But inside you know it is not green. That's how exactly Buddha taught all these teachings. He has no choice. He was not at a gunpoint. Anybody. But he had no choice. Because Buddhists would say he has powerful compassion.
Let's say, you're dreaming right now. A nightmare. That you are sleeping with a tiger. And you're frantic. Okay, you know, to get out of that. There are several things you could do. You can chase away this tiger. That's not bad. But most of us might run away right away. But there is a much better way: a bucket of cold water. But if you really think it carefully, both ways are wrong. Why? Because the bucket of cold water has not chased away any tiger. There is no tiger. You are dreaming. So Buddhism methods are usually like that. But you should still thank that bucket of cold water because it is good for you. Your appreciation of that bucket of cold water is good. Because next time when you dream again. You know what to do.
Okay, now let's talk about the view. The view as we said previously, the view is what drives us. Everything. Basically, the view is an idea. And this maybe right now, in our world, there is an idea that SUV and BMW cars are good. A slim body is good. That's the view. Now motivation comes in. Right? Of course motivation can be very conditional. Until all these magazines such as Vogue and Cosmopolitan are introduced, I don't think many people have the motivation of becoming slim. So because of these conditions, now you have the motivation to become slim. Because you think the idea of becoming slim is the ultimate truth. So what do you do? You think about becoming slim. You read about it. Go to the workshop. That's basically the meditation. And then cutting down rice. Running. Herbal stuff to slim you down. That's the action. So the view is very important. So let me share with you four fundamental views of Siddhartha.
First, he discovered that no matter where or when, everything compounded as long as something is compounded is all impermanent.
Because even the very action of putting two things together--compounding, that is already impermanent. The shape has changed. The color has changed. The size has changed. But I'll tell you that, as simple as it sound, it is not that easy to get used to it. I'll give you a very popular example coming from Theravada Buddhism.
They said that every time you look at your hand. This is what Buddha said. Every time you look at you hand, there are three fundamental mistakes you make.
The first one, you think it in terms of whole, not as a part. You don't think can I shake your veins, bones, and blood or skin. You think it in terms of a hand. So because we think everything as a whole. In reality, there is no hand. But you know, there are a lot of particles of a lot of different things.
The second, you think yesterday's hand is today's hand. I mean, today's hand is yesterday's hand. It's the same hand that you are shaking with. But this is again not the truth. If today's hand is exactly the same hand as yesterday. Then really moisturizer companies will have no business. Hand cream. Even as we see it is deteriorating day by day, minute by minute. We think it is the same hand.
The third mistake is we think it is independent. It is not depend on any other things. More will be discussed later. So see now Buddha discovered that this fundamental mistaken view then leads you to suffering. How? You think that this will last. You think it is permanent. So what do you do? You get attached. You just never think that one day this is going to be inside of coffin. So what do you do? You go around the world, trying to protect this. Even Buddhists will go to their master asking for bless, so it can live healthy and live forever. And if I joke with you, you know. To live long is a very important issue in the Chinese society. We already see an old man with a peach-- "xiantao". Like the genuine Italian shoes or fake Italian shoes. Because you have diverted yourself from the truth that no matter what do you do it is impermanent has led you to all kinds of unnecessary sufferings. Remember what we've discussed right at the beginning? Therefore we are not having fun. Because we are so busy taking care of this. Okay. Now let's shift this a little bit. The Buddha's first truth/view that everything is impermanent, it is not necessarily a bad news as many people would think. Actually, impermanence is a very good news. If your hand is becoming dry. You should buy moisturizer. Why? Because of impermanence it really works. If you are not millionaire now, thanks to impermanence, you can become millionaire.
喜欢
0
赠金笔