There are four methods in Buddhist scriptures: teaching, reasoning, practice and fruit, the most important of which is "practice", which is now called "practice" If teaching and reasoning can't be turned into actual life behavior, it's tantamount to learning in vain, or going with the flow. In the past, Li Bingnan lay people often said, "How to live and how to die, or how to live and how to die." Buddhism guided us to make changes, starting with our thoughts. From what idea? Starting from selfishness, all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas began to cultivate fruits in the local area. Throughout the ages, no one in the world has always thought of himself. This is selfishness. We should reverse this concept for all sentient beings. As soon as this idea was changed, it was transformed into sanctification and completely turned around.
I decided not to be myself, but to all sentient beings. I came to this world to serve all sentient beings. If you always think about your own interests, this is an ordinary person. Destroy evil and cultivate good, evil is rewarded with evil, and good results come from planting good. If you still do it for yourself, you are still an ordinary person. Turning a mystery into enlightenment, the real consciousness must be to sacrifice oneself for others. This idea didn't come into being. I hope my heart won't get angry. Even if I realize it, it is still limited; This kind of consciousness, can't break the trouble, can't go out of the three realms, and can't live and die. This understanding is superficial. What is Shanggen Nina Li Chi? Is to fundamentally change and work hard for all sentient beings. Reading is for all beings, because if you want to serve all beings, you must have rich common sense and true knowledge. Moral cultivation is also to serve all sentient beings, even to dress, eat and keep fit, and to serve more sentient beings.
People in the world retire after they get old, but Buddhism doesn't. Sakyamuni Sutra and Sakyamuni Local Records are both biographies of the Buddha. Sakyamuni Buddha did not retire, nor did his disciples. In Buddhism in China, there are retired monks who pass on their jobs to the next generation of young people when they are old and retire themselves. In China, there is no retreat of monks in Buddhist scriptures. The so-called retirement means paying some deacons, not supporting the elderly. China Buddhism and ancient Indian Buddhism are completely different in system. Buddha is alive, pure religion. In the later period, the Buddha also accepted the support of the king's ministers and elders, such as the fine house in the forest garden, in order to let everyone have a stable residence. But the Buddha only accepted the right to use and decided not to accept the ownership; In other words, it is only a temporary stay, not your own, so there is no obstacle in your heart.
After Buddhism was introduced into China, the emperors at that time supported monks from India and only accepted the right to use them. Until the mid-Tang Dynasty, Buddhism had a major reform in China, that is, the jungle system. This was initiated by a monk named Mazu Yi Dao (the eighth ancestor of Zen) and Zen master Baizhang. This system is very good, and Mr. Fang Dongmei was impressed by it in the past. Before that, Buddhism teaching was private teaching, and the method of jungle was to regularize and institutionalize education, which is now the university, and the jungle is the university, which is the characteristic of Buddhism in China.
The organization and facilities of the jungle are the same as those of the present school, but with different names. The chairman and abbot of Jungle, later known as the abbot, is the principal and is responsible for education. There are program deacons below, which are divided into three institutions: the first monk, like the dean of the current school; Na Wei is the dean; Prison is the general manager. Korea is now called a mage, that is, a professor. Organizing and planning and formulating some curriculum standards are the teaching divisions formed in China. Its original intention is to sort out Buddhist scriptures and arrange the teaching order according to the nature and depth of classic contents. But the most basic thing is moral cultivation, and Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism are no exception.
Buddhism has declined in the past one or two hundred years, and it has declined to the extreme so far because it does not follow the rules. The rules of Confucianism are in primary schools, which are different from those in primary schools now. Confucian primary school is the cultivation of virtue, and the cultivation of virtue must start from an early age. The child is obedient, teaches him to be a man, and develops his habits. The Book of Rites says that primary schools teach life education, sweep the floor to deal with it, and honor teachers. Academically, only reciting scriptures is taught, not explaining them. Make use of the best memories of teenagers, remember all the teachings of ancient sages and sages, and never forget them for a lifetime. Whenever and under what circumstances, when you start to think, you will think of the standards of ancient sages and sages and will not violate them. The purpose of reading is here, and I dare not foul or do anything wrong. The standard of right and wrong, good and evil is provided by the experience of ancient sages and buddhas and bodhisattvas. If you want to surpass, you still have to follow this model to achieve it. If you set another set of standards, you must abide by the rules. Therefore, the classic lessons should be remembered, the theory should be clear and thorough, and then these teachings should be put into practice in life. This is called "practice".
Ancient monks learned the five-year precepts, which is a basic education, but not in modern times. Learning precepts for five years is not learning the law, but observing teachers and teaching precepts for five years. The teacher's canon is Misha's canon, monk's canon, woman's canon and Sanju's canon. We should study hard and achieve our own virtue, which is the similarity between Confucianism and Buddhism. Confucius taught four subjects, the first is virtue, the second is speech, the third is politics, and the last is literature. Political affairs, that is, common sense of doing things today; In other words, the ability to serve the society, the country and the people in the future belongs to political affairs. Only when you have spare capacity can you learn literature. Literature is to improve the enjoyment of your spiritual life, so it is put at the end. Buddhist teachings are no exception, the first is to abstain from self-cultivation. We must attach importance to menstruation, that is, we must put classic theories and teachings into practice in our life, work and dealing with people. In our daily life, whether in prosperity or adversity, we can't go against the teachings of the Buddha, so that we can live this life.