Buddhism is by no means a superstition-for students and friends who have some misunderstandings about Buddhism.

Buddhism is the education of Buddhism!

Buddhism is the Buddha's education of the Nine Dharma Realms (Bodhisattva, Jue Yuan, Wensheng, Man, Heaven, Asura, Animals, Hungry Ghosts and Hell), and Buddhism is the teaching of wisdom and consciousness. The teaching purpose of Buddhism is to completely get rid of superstition, enlighten wisdom, make people distinguish between true and false, good and evil, interests, gains and losses, and then establish a rational, broad-minded, enterprising, optimistic and upward outlook on life in the universe, so as to solve all the sufferings of all beings and achieve a complete, true and happy life goal. Therefore, the education of the Buddha is indeed something that everyone should accept and follow.

Everything that Sakyamuni Buddha said in forty-nine years was to explain the truth of life in the universe. Life is ourselves, and the universe is our living environment. I feel like a famous Buddha and Bodhisattva, but not like an ordinary person. Practice is to correct our wrong views, ideas, statements and practices about the universe and life. Buddhism's practice program is to feel right and clean, feel without confusion, be right and not evil, and be clean and not dirty. In order to achieve this goal, we should guard against the wisdom of three studies. The foundation of reading is three blessings, treating others with six, practicing six times in life, following Pu Xian's wishes and returning to the pure land, and the enlightenment of Buddhism can be completed.

What exactly does Buddhism do? "Buddha" is the Buddha's education, and it is the Buddha's perfect education for all beings in the nine dharma circles. The connotation of education includes endless things, which is more than the curriculum content of modern universities. In time, it talked about the past, present and future; In space, it tells us that life in front of us has been interpreted into an endless world. So it is teaching, education, not religion; This is an education of wisdom and understanding of the universe and life. Confucius' education in China is lifelong education, from birth to death. Buddhism is the third generation of education, focusing on the past, present and future.

Is Buddhism really education? If we observe carefully, this doubt will be eliminated. In daily life, only teaching can be called a teacher and student. We call Sakyamuni Buddha the fundamental teacher, which means that this education was founded by his old man, and he was the first founder. We call ourselves "disciples", and disciples are self-proclaimed students in ancient China. From these names, we know that our relationship with Buddha is a teacher-student relationship. As far as religion is concerned, God and believers are not teachers and students. Buddhism clearly says that Buddhism is a teacher-student relationship with us; We are classmates with Bodhisattva-Bodhisattva was a student of the early Buddha, and now we are students of the Buddha. We were classmates of Bodhisattva before and after, and Bodhisattva was our senior. We should make it clear. In daily life, we call monks "monks". In fact, there is only one monk in a temple. "Monk" is an Indian word, which translates as "pro-teacher". It was the teacher who taught me personally, just like the head teacher at school now. He taught me directly, and the relationship was very close. If he doesn't instruct me directly, call him a "mage", just like there are many teachers in the school, but he doesn't attend my class or instruct me. This is the difference between a monk and a mage. The teacher who teaches on behalf of monks is called "Ali" (that is, the subject teacher). Ali's words and deeds can be our example, and we can learn from him. These names are only available in education, but not in religion. This can prove that Buddhism is education, not religion.

As far as the organization of Buddhist Dojo (China Buddhist Temple) is concerned, the temple is an educational institution that combines Buddhist teaching with Buddhist art, just as schools and museums are now combined. This form is modern art teaching. Modern people talk about art everywhere, and Buddhism practiced art teaching more than 2000 years ago. As can be seen from the organization of the temple, it is roughly the same as that of modern schools. "Monks" are equivalent to school principals and are in charge of teaching policies. It is the monk's responsibility for him to formulate courses and hire teachers. Under the monk, three people helped him. Buddhists are called program deacons, which are divided into three parts: the first part is in charge of educational affairs (equivalent to the director of the teaching department of the world school); The person in charge of the subject is called "Na Wei" (equivalent to the teaching director of the world school); The person in charge of general affairs is called "supervisor" (equivalent to the general affairs director of the world school). The name is different from that of the school. In fact, the affairs they manage are no different from the educational affairs, discipline and general affairs of modern schools. It can be seen that the organization of temple institutions is indeed a school and a very complete school. China used to call it the "jungle", that is, Buddhist University. From the origin of Buddhism to its establishment in China, we can see that it is indeed a teaching system. We must know this fact clearly before we know what we are learning!

The system of Buddhist temples is like a combination of schools and museums. We have separated the museum from the school now. It is a combination of museums and schools, and it is a special structural system. All the arts of Buddhism are highly artistic and cannot be regarded as pure works of art; It contains profound educational significance and high spiritual wisdom, which is invisible and incomprehensible to ordinary people. As far as Buddha and Bodhisattva statues are concerned, many people see so many Buddhist statues and think that this is a low-level religion and pantheism. There is only one god in other people's high religion-the only true god. He doesn't know or understand that the Buddha and Bodhisattva supported by Buddhism are not gods, but represent Buddhism.

There are infinite things and infinite principles in the world, which cannot be fully expressed by one image and one method, so many different works of art are used to express them. Understand the special use of Buddhist art in education, and you will not regard Buddhism as a religion; Really clear, the heart of admiration arises spontaneously.

Buddhas represent our sexual virtue; All bodhisattvas and arhats represent Xiu De. If you don't fix it, although you have sexual virtue, it can't be shown and won't be useful, so the appearance of sexual virtue depends on Xiu De. Bodhisattva represents "cultivation" and Buddha represents "sex". Therefore, the Buddha statues supported by Buddhists are generally one Buddha and two bodhisattvas. This Buddha represents truth with "sex", and the Bodhisattva represents "use" with "sex". Nature is empty, physical and useful. Body, phase and use; The body is empty. Starting from "body", we can present "phase", and now "phase" has a role. Bodhisattva stands for "phase" and "use", while Buddha stands for "noumenon". Therefore, in Hua Yan Jing, the Buddha said nothing-"noumenon" certainly has nothing to say; What the Bodhisattva said-say it if it works. From "phase", from "function" and from "ontology" without saying a word. Ontology not only can't speak, but also has no thoughts. The so-called "opening your mouth is wrong, and using your head is good" is from the "ontology". (At special times, the Buddha becomes a bodhisattva in order to say something, and the same is true. Therefore, for a Buddha, the Buddha represents the "body". Why are there two "uses"? Infinite "phase and use" can be divided into two categories: one is knowledge, the other is action; Is to solve and do. "solution" and "line"; It is "reason" and "thing". Usually we support Sakyamuni Buddha, which means "noumenon". On both sides of the Buddha, there are two arhats-Ananda and Ye Jia. Difficult people are the first to listen. They represent "solution" and wisdom. Ye Jia's venerable asceticism is the first, which represents the real "doing". There is also a shrine to Sakyamuni Buddha, next to Manjusri Bodhisattva and Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. Manjusri is wisdom first, representing "solution", and Bodhisattva Samantabhadra is the representative of "action". In other words, no matter how many there are, there are always two types: solution and action. Pure land Sect worships Amitabha-representing noumenon. On both sides are Guanyin Bodhisattva and Guanyin Bodhisattva. Avalokitesvara bodhisattva shows great compassion and stands for "walking"; The general trend is that Bodhisattva's wisdom comes first and represents "solution". Therefore, the method of worshipping Buddha statues is meaningful. It must be one Buddha and two bodhisattvas, not two buddhas and three bodhisattvas! Every Buddha represents a part of virtue, but fellow initiates should know that every part is perfect, so "one is everything, and everything is one". Sakyamuni Buddha said from the name, and the name is dominant. "Sakyamuni" means kindness and teaches us to be kind to others and be merciful. "Muny" means purity, and silence means purity. This is for myself. Be merciful to others and ask yourself to be clean! This is what Sakyamuni Buddha stands for, and this is what our sexual virtue should be. Amitabha is a Sanskrit translation, and "A" and Sanskrit mean "nothing", so it is translated into "nothing" and "Amitabha". Sanskrit means "obstacle and measurement", and Amitabha means no obstacle and cannot be measured. What is no obstacle? Everything is clear: wisdom is clear (boundless), magical powers are clear (boundless), Taoism is clear (boundless), life is clear (boundless), and space is clear (boundless). Why? Because the Buddha is accessible from all directions. So every Buddha can be called Amitabha. Amitabha is the original name of all buddhas. So we call every Buddha Amitabha and hide it in the Dharma! Therefore, to support the Buddha, we must first understand every Buddha and bodhisattva, which represents a practice method of Buddhism and a truth in the universe.

As far as Buddhist architecture is concerned, the main hall for offering Buddha is two floors outside and one floor inside, which is meaningful. From the outside, it is true and vulgar; It tells us that truth and vulgarity are the same. This means: the appearance is different, but the essence is the same (no difference). As soon as you enter the mountain gate, the first building you see is the Tianwang Temple, which is dedicated to the four heavenly kings-Dharma-among which Maitreya is dedicated. This kind of sacrifice makes people see Maitreya at first sight as soon as they enter the mountain gate. Maitreya Bodhisattva is a statue of a cloth bag monk. Seeing his smiling face tells us: Do you want to learn Buddhism? Smile at people first, don't lose your temper; If you lose your temper, you can't learn Buddhism. You must be very happy. Look, he has a big belly. "Big" means that you can tolerate everything without considering others. Therefore, it also represents (teaches us) equality and joy-treat anyone and anything with a joyful and peaceful mind, and don't care about anyone. Only with these conditions can we learn Buddhism. Therefore, Maitreya faced the gate and told the newcomer: Only with my qualifications can I be qualified to enter the Buddha.

Next to the protector, there are four heavenly kings: East, South, West and North. The king of the East stands for responsibility and is called the king of the country. Preside over a family's affairs, which we call housekeeping. The general manager and chairman are responsible for the affairs of the company. The emperor and the president are in charge of state affairs. How? Be responsible for your duties. In this society, everyone has his own responsibilities. If he can do his duty wholeheartedly, the society will be harmonious and the country will be rich and strong. The king of a country taught us this truth.

The king of growth in the south. It is not enough to do things well within the scope of duties, but also to make progress every day. Buddhism emphasizes keeping pace with the times, and if you don't advance, you will retreat! The times are always progressing, so the king of growth tells us that our virtues should be increased, our moral character should be increased, and even our knowledge, wisdom, talent and ability should be increased, including our living standards should be improved every day. Buddhism is not out of date! Buddhism is really progressive and always stands at the forefront of the times; He is not following the times, but leading the times. How to control the country and grow successfully? The last two heavenly kings taught us how to practice.

The king of the west told us to see more; The north has learned more about the heavenly king, so let's listen more. This is what we often say: "Read thousands of books and take Wan Li Road". Reading is the basic knowledge of achievement; Taking Wan Li Road means going to school, which is what we call sightseeing, traveling and investigation today. Students know that I have traveled all over China, and generally think that teachers should take a walk when they teach geography. Yes! Look around. Seeing the advantages of others, we adopt them; Shortcomings, we are vigilant and improve.

We can "learn from others' shortcomings and use others' strengths" to build our own society and our own country, which will be the most perfect in the world. This is called a real protector! So these statues are to teach us a lesson! You should understand at a glance and always remind yourself to work hard for this ideal goal! If this can be done, where are the Buddhist superstitions and idolatry?

The four heavenly kings all hold props in their hands, and this prop is also very expressive. The heavenly king holds the pipa, which means that you can't do things too quickly. We must know that the "middle way" cannot be crossed and cannot be left behind. It's like playing the piano. If the string is loose, it won't come out. If it is tight, it will break. Confucianism stresses the doctrine of the mean, while Buddhism stresses the doctrine of the mean, that is, we should do our duty properly, not too much, not too late, so that things can be completed. The southern growth king, who represents a new day and a new day, holds a sword in his hand-the sword of wisdom, which means "cut the gordian knot;" Hui Jian breaks troubles. " The wide-eyed king in the west is wrapped in a dragon, sometimes a snake, which means the same thing as dragon. Represents change! We often say: "the dragon sees the head and does not see the tail." "On behalf of the world reality society, all people, all things, all things, are fickle and changeable. You must see it clearly to deal with it calmly. This is what the dragon means. In the north, I heard that the king of heaven had an umbrella in his hand; An umbrella is a kind of cover. The ever-changing world and all kinds of pollution should be prevented and not polluted. Therefore, while learning more and listening more, we should protect our pure mind and avoid being polluted. Only when we fully understand the real society can we have wisdom and ability, and know what attitude and methods we should use to deal with it, so as to achieve perfection (whether for people, things or things). The palace taught us this! There is not only one god, burn some incense to him and he will keep you safe! That's all wet!

Therefore, there is nothing in Buddhist temples that is not taught. Even providing tools has its educational significance. What's the point of offering a glass of water in front of the Buddha? Table method! Water is clean and pure, which means that our hearts should be as clean as water; Water is flat without waves, and our hearts should be as flat and calm as water. Seeing this glass of water supply, I think my heart should be as clean and equal as water. Flowers are offered before the Buddha, and flowers represent "cause", which will bear fruit after flowering; Flowers represent six degrees and ten thousand lines. Supporting fruit, fruit is not for buddhas and bodhisattvas to eat, but for teaching us to see the fruit and think "what kind of karma we want, what kind of karma we must cultivate". Therefore, all the facilities and support of Buddhism are everywhere to remind and educate themselves. Buddha and Bodhisattva don't smell, eat or want anything! Furthermore, "lamp" stands for wisdom and light, and "fragrance" stands for abstinence and true fragrance. There is nothing that does not show, and there is nothing that does not educate. Now people who study Buddhism simply don't know these educational significance. Why burn incense? Why supply these things? I don't know, so all Buddhists have become superstitious. Some people in society criticize people who study Buddhism as "superstitious", and he is right! How many people who study Buddhism really don't understand. If you know it clearly, explain it to them. I believe they should also learn it.