The Buddha came to the world to teach Li Xi, which opened up light and hope for the world; The Buddha established the basic ideas of human Buddhism, such as "Five Commandments and Ten Kindnesses", "Origin of the Middle Way", "Karma", "Four Boundless Minds" and "Six Degrees and Four Photographs".
In order to adapt to the development of the times, he founded cultural, educational and charitable undertakings, and put forward the directions of "harmony between tradition and modernity", "harmony between monks and believers", "equal emphasis on practice and wisdom" and "integration of Buddhism and literature and art". Over the years, with the tenet of "Buddhism as the body and learning as the purpose", human Buddhism has gradually improved. I am glad to see you holding high the banner of Buddhism on earth, going out of the mountains to participate in social welfare and practicing the essence of Buddhism's compassion and altruism.
In 2004, I gave a regular annual lecture on Buddhism in Hong Kong and Taipei. The three-day themes are "Buddhist life science", "Buddhist life and death science" and "Buddhist life science". I said: life is a "body", and life as an ontology is constant, eternal, absolute, infinite and real; Life and death are "phases", and the phenomena revealed by each life are birth and death, impermanence, relative, finite and extraordinary; Life is "use", from birth to death, including food, clothing, housing, behavior, physical and mental activities. , are the functions of life. Therefore, body, phase and use are inseparable. When we come into the world to live, there is life, and when there is life, there is life and death. The three are integrated and closely related. So the whole human Buddhism can be said to be "life science", "life and death science" and "life science".
In the future, I will be arranged to give a speech on "Three Learning Principles of Human Buddhism" all over the world. The so-called abstinence from wisdom means learning Buddhism for the second time. Living in the world, you need to get rid of your troubles, so that you can get wonderful wisdom and swim freely in the world!
From 65438 to 0949, after I came to Taiwan Province Province from Chinese mainland, I resolutely took face-to-face Buddhist lectures to meet the needs of the general public. Evangelize from the countryside of Yilan and gather in the whole city; From prison opening to teaching in a factory. 1975 held a lecture on Buddhism at Taipei Art Museum. Next, I spread Buddhism from north to south, from west to east, from school to military camp, from home to abroad. Over the past twenty years, with the internationalization of Buddhism, I have been traveling around the world all the year round, running around and becoming attached.
The target audience of the speech is not only ordinary believers of all ages, but also college students, business elites, teachers, police and other specific targets. The content of the lecture is all-encompassing. Classics include Six Ancestors Tanjing, Diamond Sutra, Vimalakīrti Sutra and Goblet of Fire. It also talks about the relationship between the meaning and characteristics of Buddhism and modern life, and the influence of Buddhism on society, politics, ethics, economy, psychology, folk customs, fate, supernatural power, knowledge, karma, reincarnation and death.
Thirty years ago, the disciples of Foguangshan compiled the contents of my speeches over the years into a book, named "Lectures of Master Xingyun". There are four volumes in total, and I don't know how many times it has been reprinted for more than 20 years! Many readers regard this set of books as a must-read for understanding and studying Buddhism, and many monks and disciples at home also use this set of lectures as teaching materials.
This set of speeches has been missing for a long time, and from time to time people ask and urge it to be reprinted. I watched it again and found that this set of speeches has been spoken for almost 30 years. Although the truth of Buddhism remains unchanged and people's hearts are good and beautiful, the environment and personnel have changed. Therefore, it is decided to completely revise this book, instead of presenting it in the form of lectures, and make corrections, revisions, additions and deletions again. According to the nature of the content, it is classified into Buddhism and life, Buddhism and justice, Buddhism and society, Zen and pure land, life and death and liberation, religion and experience, learning Buddhism and seeking dharma. In order to preserve and cherish the history, but also to facilitate future generations' reference and inquiry, the time and place of the speech are also recorded after each article.
The reason why I named this set of books "Buddhist Books on Earth" is because the Buddha was born in the world, and all the people who practice, become Buddha and talk about things are in the world; Buddhism was originally said by the Buddha, and it was originally "human Buddhism"! Therefore, I follow the teachings of the Buddha. No matter what I write, say and do, I always care about the well-being of all beings in my heart. I have been a monk for more than a year and devoted my life to the promotion and practice of Buddhism in the world, mainly because I hope that all ethnic groups in the world can respect each other, that people and I can tolerate each other, and that society can progress harmoniously with each other.