Great use of Buddhism

Great use of Buddhism

Xuemo

The world has changed. We live in a very cold age. This sense of coldness is bred into our bottom of heart and become our collective unconsciousness. So we all think, the world is the way as it is.  In fact, it is not. World is not like this. There should be love in this world. Life is but once, for everyone. No mater he understands or not, no matter he has his honor or not, we need to treat him as an sike child. Because he even has not any concept of the honor and respect, how pathetic is he? 

In this world, there are great amount of scientific techniques. But we forget a real,"Tao". The term "Tao" means"way","path", or "principle". This Tao has been preached by the greatest philosophers, from the ancient period of the spring and autumn and warring states to the present. These philosophers even think Tao is much higher, than personal life and death. We have an old Chinese saying:"I would not regret dying in the evening provided I would have come to know the Tao in the morning". You can die in content in the evening, when you understand the Tao in the morning. But in this times, fewer and fewer people puts attention on this Tao any more. This Tao, is the least respect, the least compassion, the least understanding, the least tolerance, which we can offer to the life’s of our own kind.

Meanwhile, so many people are running after the usefulness. What is this usefulness? It is a thing, which brings out many to us. And it fulfills our various desires. It makes us lots, lots of money, enables us to buy a pretty nice house. We are after it, crazily. But we don’t know, except it, we should have a spiritual pursuit in our life. This spiritual pursuit is practically useful comparatively as it sees. But it has great use actually.  Why? It is no difference from a human and a dog chasing after a piece of bone, if the human has not any spiritual belief, but to simply pursue a material world. One is called as a Human being. Because he is not only in the pursuit of material condition and need, for survival, but also in the pursuit of the spirit, a higher state. So we name it metaphysical pursuit or spiritual one. This is the soul we are going to talk about today.

What is Soul? It is not a ghost, as people think, in some places of China. Soul is the meaning of your existence. What do you live for? You need to understand, why are you coming into this world? You come to live a fancy house? This house will be pulled down by the government several years after, to build up more fancy buildings. You come to wear beautiful clothes? You will throw them away after few years. You come to have a poison as section chief or village governor, etc? It goes away after your retire. You come to marry a beautiful woman? The wrinkled skin and white hair replaces her beauty that is used to, after some years. So let us see, lots of things we think useful doesn’t have a real use for our lives. There is a story: a rich man had several wives. When he was about to pass away from this world, one of the wives left him, second wife sent and buried him in the graveyard. The third wife went with him, to another world. The wife who left him is all the processed material, including money, house, and even reputation, position. Your position of professor will be taken by another man, when you die. Somebody else will live in your house. Relatives and friends carry your body and bury you into the graveyard, then move on with their lives again. It is quite possible; your wife flirts with her lover, while you are dying. She probably thinks her stock is on a rise happily, when you are struggling on the life and death, in a vast pain. This is the world.

So, what is it that goes along with you actually? It`s nothing but your heart, your soul, your feeling of life, your pursuit to the truth.  This truth gives you a light, with which you don’t fear, in the face of death.  That is the sole company during the last part of journey of your life.

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佛教是真正的大“用”

雪漠

这个世界已经变了，是一个非常冷漠的时代。这种冷漠已经渗透到我们每个人的灵魂深处，成为我们的集体无意识。大家认为世界就该这样。事实上世界不是这样的。世界上应当有爱。因为，每一个人的生命只有一次，无论他是明白还是不明白，他有尊严还是没有尊严。我们都要像母亲对待一个生病的孩子那样，珍惜他。因为，当他连尊严这个概念都没有时，他活得就更加可悲。

这个时代有大量的技术性的东西，但是却忘记了一种真正的“大道”。这个“大道”从中国古代春秋战国时期到今天，一直由一些非常伟大的哲人宣扬着。这些人甚至把生死看的远远低于这个“道”。中国人有一句古话：“朝闻道，夕死可矣。”就是早上明白了这个道，明白了这个真理，晚上死的时候也非常欣慰。但是这个时代没有多少人注重这种“道”了。我说的这种“道”就是对同类的一种起码的尊重，起码的一份悲悯，起码的一份理解，起码的一份宽容。

同样，这个时代许多人追求一种“用”。什么是“用”呢？就是能够给我们带来许许多多满足我们欲望的东西。能让我们赚很多很多的钱、买到很好很好的房子的东西，我们就去追逐它。但我们却不知道人的生命除了这个之外，还应该有另外一种追求。这种追求没有什么“用”，但它却是大“用”。因为，人如果没有一种精神，却单纯地追求一种物质的话，他和一只搜寻骨头的狗没有什么两样。人之所以称之为“人”，就是因为他不仅仅追求一种物质条件、物质需求，来让自己的生命得到延续，还因为在生存之外，还有一种更高的追求。我们称之为形而上的追求，也叫精神追求，就是今天我所要讲的灵魂。

什么是灵魂？灵魂不是中国一些地方的人认为的“鬼神”“灵魂”。灵魂就是你活着的理由。你为什么活着？你要明白你到这个世界上来是做什么的？你难道是仅仅为了住很好的房子吗？很好的房子在几十年之后国家就拆了，会建出更好的房子；难道是为了穿很美的衣服吗？衣服穿上几年之后，你就把它扔了；难道是为了当一个科长、县长之类的官吗？退休之后这些东西就消失了；难道是为了娶到一个美貌的妻子吗？要不了几年她的美貌就会化成鸡皮鹤发。所以，我们看到的许多有用的东西，他不一定对我们的生命真正有用。

有这样一个故事：一个富人有很多的妻子。当他离开这个世界的时候，其中一个妻子离他而去，一个妻子把他送到墓地，只有一个妻子会伴随着他到生命的另外一个空间。当他生命消失之后，离开他的这个妻子就是所有物质的东西，包括金钱、房屋，甚至包括名声、职称。你的教授职称在你死亡之后，这个空档会被别人占有。你的房子会变成另外一个人的。我们的朋友和亲人很可能仅仅只把你送到墓地，然后他们再回到各自的生存空间中去。很可能在你弥留的时候，你的妻子正和情人打情骂俏；当你痛苦不堪地在生死线上挣扎的时候，她可能正在轻松地想着她的股票又上涨了。世界就是这样。

那么，什么是真正伴随你的东西呢？就是你的心灵、你的灵魂、你对生命的感悟、你对真理的追求。这个真理带给你心灵的是能让你面对死亡并不恐惧的一种光明。只有这种东西才能够伴随着你度过你人生最后的旅程。

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