Asian Cultures: Tibetan Faith and Chinese Buddhism

In May 2016, the sky was very clear in Lhasa. Accompanied by the orange-red morning sunlight, I landed at this grand palace that contains a long history and religion.

Early in the morning, the Potala Palace gathered many Tibetans who came to worship, people circled around this magnificent building, which is a symbol of good luck. Pure sky and earth, brilliant grass and light, like a poem of love.

 In the midst of the many simple Tibetans on pilgrimage, a man with a touch about6/7The young boy, age 1, caught my eye.The little boy was dressed simply, and his little orange jacket with his tanned cheeks looked very endearing.

Standing on the stone floor of the palace, enjoying the cool breeze, and watching the pilgrims from afar, I felt very uncomfortable. In the highly "civilized" metropolis, everyone has their own little mind, everyone has lost their faith and worships money above all else. In contrast to the piety and faith left by the religions here, the temples in the eastern part of the Han Dynasty are only a memory of overpriced incense and merit money.

      There are too many businessmen who lack faith, and nowadays counterfeiting and fraud have become commonplace, and even religion has been set up as a low-input, high-return "business". There are no factories, no technology, just use the piety of others can make huge profits.

I have even read a news article about the upcoming listing of the four most famous Buddhist mountains. There were comments:At present, a large part of the temples are simply tourist places without any religious function and only have the appearance of temples."

At present, high prices of incense, mandatory tickets, charges for drawing lots, exorbitant opening fees, so to speak, everything can be linked to money. I don't know whenThe successful reform of religious sites as a place of non-profit exchange for religious people through"commercialization"model that promotes tourism as a party"place of interest (tourism)"The new model.

What is even more unbelievable is that in Kunming Yanquan Temple, there has been an explosion of cash is not enough to brush credit card spending services. There are even temple masters who use the bodhisattva as a blade to advocate that the more incense burned, the more wishes will be granted.

I recalled that in the Journey to the West, Master Sanzang advocated the concept of saving the world through compassion. Nowadays, it is very difficult to hear about a monk's "universal life", and where is the money used to help the world? Once upon a time, the image of good monks gradually became a negative group of people who nowadays sell overpriced incense.

However, even though so many negative aspects of Han Chinese Buddhism have been mentioned, there is still no shortage of Buddhist purgatories where one can practise Buddhism with dedication. For example, the Nanshan Guanghua Temple, which is located right in Putian:

Tranquility and serenity, strolling in which you will not want to make noise, just want to quietly feel this Buddhist clean place.

This is an old monk in the temple who says Amitabha Buddha to every passerby as they pass by.

      It doesn't matter where the real practitioners are, there are those who live in the famous mountains and high echelons, and those who are scattered in the folk villages.

This is the Wenshu Temple in Wenshu Township, Guangshan County, Xinyang City, Henan Province, and it is important to mention that there is only one person at this temple, Venerable Huixian. And this temple is like this.

Venerable Hugh Yin was a person who did not think she was endowed with great knowledge, and she asked for advice from time to time.

 Not only was he not very learned, Venerable Hugh Yin was also broke. However, he was loved by the villagers. The villagers often take the initiative to give the Venerable Master their own vegetables, Huixian Venerable Master also do not want more, the extra food will be given to those in need.

So how does she do it herself? Save up some money, organize a schoolhouse and teach dozens of children. Invite a few learned monks to lecture.

The picture shows the "Summer Camp" program conducted by Venerable Hugh Hsien, who invited teachers of Chinese culture to participate in the program.

 Based on the existing rural problems, Venerable Huixian said that while she wants to take more care of left-behind children, her next step is to open a nursing home to take care of empty nesters in the countryside.

Can we say that she is not great for such a person who is not much learned?

In addition, we must mention the Da Bei Temple, which is known as a "true pure land of Buddhism".

With other scenic spots to merit box as the assessment indicators and tasks of the Great Compassion Temple is a bit "extraordinarily alternative". The sign outside their temple reads:

     Chanting sutras in the morning, practicing labor in the afternoon, and joining in the evening class chanting sutras together with the beating of the evening drums, the day at Dabei Monastery comes to an end.

Hard and slightly monotonous monastic life for many Buddhists to admire, but also won the unanimous praise of the people, not only is the temple life so that believers applauded, the Great Compassionate Temple unique footwork is also widely respected, the network circulated pictures are Great Compassionate Temple monks walking footwork photographed.

There are many stories of Dabei Monastery that have been widely circulated among the people, and more and more monks have started to study at Dabei Monastery, as well as to aspire to those who are really practicing in the Pure Land. This is a good news, Chinese Buddhism is awakening, the original heart of Buddhism is returning. May the turbid stream be cleared, compassion return, and the pure land remain forever.

Message:

It is true that in today's society, money is becoming more and more omnipotent. Yesterday, I watched a video and there was a line that said: there is a red button that you press once to get 100,000 dollars, but at the same time a person will die, would you press it?

The answer is that those who lack faith will press, and very frantically. Look at the gutter oil, Sudan red, fake medical care, frauds, crazy cram schools, shady tours, and property prices that have gone up to 70,000 psf. We find that the most closely related to people's clothing, food, housing, transportation and education are all being mixed up by greedy people.

Look at our pious Tibetan compatriots, should we not learn from them with an open mind, and find the original belonging to our knowledge of faith and morality?