Speaker: Venerable Master Chin Kung, 2018.05.03
Respected Dr. Birtalan Agnes, Dr. Sonkoly Gábor, professors, doctors, guests and elders. Warmest greetings to you all. Respected Dr. Birtalan Agnes,Dr. Sonkoly Gábor, professors, doctors, guests and elders. Warmest greetings to you all.
I am very delighted to hear the news of Eötvös Loránd University organising an international workshop on Mongolian Buddhism for the reception of ‘The Tripitakas’ in Mongolian. This is indeed an important event that is worth celebrating. I am most honoured to be invited to the event. Unfortunately, at the age of 92, my physical strength goes against my wishes. Moreover, I have to deal with many Dharma affairs that I have been engaged in. With no other alternative, I have to go against my wish and record this video clip as a gesture of expressing my sincere and best wishes to you all. I do hope you could forgive my difficulties in not being able to attend the special event in person. Thank you very much.
It took almost 500 years to translate ‘The Tripitaka’ into the Mongolian language across three dynasties in China, i.e. the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. It is the complete collection of all Buddhist sutras in Mongolia and is also considered to be the encyclopaedia of Mongolia Buddhist culture. It is truly treasure hard to come by. However, as the original copy is old and frail, its preservation is at the brink of danger. In 2012, we fortunately heard the great news of republishing ‘The Tripitaka’ in Mongolian. Subsequently, we took part in the important endeavour and provided financial assistance to it within our capacity. The republication of the Mongolian Tripitaka is now completed, and its copies are being donated to individual Buddhist monasteries, academic institutions and research institutes. This is truly a good deed that is worth celebrating both on earth and in heaven.
The Academic and Cultural Values of the Mongolian Tripitaka
On this occasion, the Mongolian Tripitaka travelled 10,000 miles and arrived at Eötvös Loránd University. It is very special indeed.
Eötvös Loránd University not only has a long history of Mongolian studies and Buddhist studies, but also has witnessed a continuous and prosperous development in both areas. Research in these areas is growing more complete and diversified. The Department of Mongolian and Inner Asian Studies, Research Centre for Mongol Studies, Budapest Centre for Buddhist Studies endeavour to research in the areas mentioned above, covering religion, language and culture, Nomadic traditions and history.
Speaking of Mongolian religion and culture, it is not difficult to find that Buddhist culture is an integral part. Therefore, studying classical Buddhist literature is of paramount importance for research in Mongolian culture.
The Mongolian Tripitaka offers a vast amount of information. Apart from Buddhist sutras, texts on Buddhist precepts and commentaries on Buddhist scriptures, it also covers areas such as philosophy, history, astrology, geography, medicine, architecture and science and technology. In a word, its value is not only manifested in the scope of Buddhist philosophy, but also in culture and knowledge related to social and natural sciences. Moreover, the Mongolian Tripitaka also collects the essence of the Mongolian language. It provides important references for studies in Mongolian rhetoric and grammar as well as the translation of Buddhist sutras.
The chief editor of the Mongolian Tripitaka, Professor B. Oyunbilig, told us that it took three dynasties, i.e. the Yuan, Ming and Qing, to complete the Mongolian Tripitaka, i.e. the Kanjur and Tanjur. Its ethnical and regional characteristics are very prominent and it is of extremely high academic values. The former Secretary of the International Association for Mongol Studies, Sh. Bira, also holds that the recently published Mongolian Tripitaka is one of the most important international Mongol studies. Therefore, it is not only an importance source for studying Buddhism, but also is indispensable for studying Mongolian and Asian cultures.
The Relationship between the Changkya Khutukhtu and Me – Understanding the Buddha
The Changkya Khutukhtu the Seventh of Inner Mogolia was my teacher. In Mongolia, the word ‘Khutukhtu’ means being enlightened and free from birth and death. Throughout his life, the Changkya Khutukhtu was frugal, diligent with practising Buddhism and perfectly abode by Buddhist precepts. He mastered Chinese, Manchurian, Mongolian and Tibetan languages, and was thoroughly familiar with the five major Mahayana texts. With a perfect understanding and practice of both exoteric and esoteric teaching, he remained composed and poised whenever and wherever. The Changkya Khutukhtu was the second teacher who taught me Buddhism.
I started learning Buddhism at the age of 26 and began with philosophy. My first teacher was the renowned Chinese philosopher Thomé H. Fang (Fang, Dongmei). Mr Fang told me that ‘Buddhist philosophy is the summit of all philosophy in the world, and learning Buddhism is the highest enjoyment in one’s life’. What he said was very appealing to me and I therefore started to study Buddhist scriptures carefully and regarded Buddhism as philosophy.
Half a year later, I was fortunately introduced to the Changkya Khutukhtu. He enabled me to understand that philosophy is not what Buddhism is all about. It is only a part of it. The foundation of my practice of Buddhism was established under the guidance of the Changkya Khutukhtu. He told me that Sakyamuni Buddha was the founder of Buddhism. To learn and practise Buddhism, we should first get to know Sakyamuni Buddha so to avoid taking the wrong path or wasting time and effort unnecessarily. He also told me that the detailed about Sakyamuni Buddha are all recorded in the two books, ‘The Life of Sakyamuni’ and ‘Historical and Geographical Records of Sakyamuni’, collected in ‘The Tripitaka’.
Only after reading the two books did I know that Sakyamuni Buddha was a human being but not a god. He was the prince of the kingdom of Kapilvastu in ancient India. In order to find solutions to the problems of birth, ageing, illness and death, he became a truth-seeking monk. Later, he was fully enlightened, and discovered and thoroughly understood the truth of the Universe and life. Afterwards, he started to give Dharma talks and spread the truth that he had discovered. Therefore, Sakyamuni Buddha was in fact, in the modern terms, a volunteer engaging in multicultural social education, and he dedicated to education throughout his life. We can tell that Buddhism is education, the most perfect education that Sakyamuni Buddha provided for all beings.
The Purpose of the Buddha’s Education – Breaking Delusions, Gaining Enlightenment, Leaving Suffering and Obtaining Happiness
To learn and practise Buddhism, we should first understand what Buddha is, what Dharma is, and what Buddha Dharma (Buddhism) is. Clearly understanding the answers to these questions will be very helpful for learning and practising Buddhism. The word ‘Buddha’ is the transliteration of the original word in Sanskrit. It means wisdom and enlightenment. Buddha has its fundamentals and their manifestations and outcomes. Its fundamentals are wisdom and its manifestations and outcomes are enlightenment. The wisdom mentioned here is different to the wisdom that we normally talk about. It has three levels. 1) Pratyeka-buddha wisdom, i.e. the wisdom of correctly understanding the noumenon of the universe. 2) Bodhisattva-wisdom, i.e. the wisdom of correctly understanding the creation, phenomena, process and outcomes of everything in the universe. 3) Buddha-wisdom, i.e. the ultimate and perfect wisdom of understanding the truth of the universe and life. There are also three levels of enlightenment. 1) Enlightenment from within, i.e. the enlightenment of ourselves. 2) Enlightening others, i.e. helping others to become enlightened. 3) Perfect enlightenment, i.e. the previous two levels have reached perfection.
Wisdom is the fundamental and enlightenment is the outcome. The object of being enlightened is the universe and life. We use a word to name the universe and life, i.e. ‘Dharma’. It entails all things in the infinite time and space. When combined, ‘Buddha Dharma’ (Buddhism) refers to the infinite wisdom and enlightenment that enable us to correctly understand everything in the universe and life. The object of being enlightened is infinite, so is the wisdom that enabling enlightenment. Enabling enlightenment and being enlightened are one but not two. It is not easy to understand. Take dreams as an example. When we are dreaming, we suddenly wake up and realise that we are dreaming. We know that what is in the dream is all from our minds. Our minds enable us to know and the dream is what being known. But the dream and the mind that is aware of our dream are one but not two. Therefore, Buddhism is not philosophy. In Buddhism, what enables and what is enabled are one. But in philosophy, these two are conflicting with one another.
Sakyamuni Buddha told us that it is the wisdom, virtue and ability to know everything in the universe is innate. Apart from Buddhas, every being has them all. In this sense, Buddhas and all beings are equal. But, despite of the equality, our wisdom and ability are truly different to those of Buddhas. It is because we have lost our innate wisdom, virtue and ability due to our delusions. The lost and delusions bring us suffering. We are completely ignorant to the truth of the universe and life. Our views and thoughts are all wrong. This results in our wrong speech and actions. Then, the wrong speech and actions have consequences which are the Cycle of Six Paths. Subsequently, we have to experience the suffering of ageing, illnesses and death, the suffering of separating from those whom we love, and the suffering of meeting the hateful. We consequently lead a life full of suffering. If a person can truly understand the truth of the universe and life without any wrong thought, view and action, the consequence that they receive is definitely happiness. Delusions are the cause of all suffering. Then, how did lose our innate wisdom, virtue and ability? The Buddha told us the very reason in one sentence, ‘It is because of erroneous thinking and attachments of all beings.’ Our erroneous thinking and all kinds of attachments have covered our wisdom, virtue and ability. Once we get rid of erroneous thinking and attachments, our innate Buddha-nature will restore. The purpose of Buddhist teaching is to help us let go of erroneous thinking and attachments, break delusions, gain enlightenment and consequently leave suffering and obtain happiness. To leave ultimate suffering and attain ultimate happiness is to become a Buddha. This is also the ultimate goal of Buddhist teaching.
Gaining the True Benefit of Buddhism via the Process of Believing, Understanding, Practising and Attaining
How to leave suffering, obtain happiness and gain the true benefit of Buddhism? Buddhas are our teachers. They only teach us theories and methods. Being students, we must work hard by ourselves to obtain final success. But we should cultivate ourselves in order, and there are four steps, i.e. believing, understanding, practising and attaining.
Believing is the first step. We often say, ‘Buddhas do not help those who do not believe them.’ When a person can believe Buddhas, it means that the condition of helping them is ready. When helping all beings, Buddhas first help those who believe them. Believing. Firstly, we must believe in ourselves, believe that we have Buddhua-nature and have become a Buddha. We believe that our original Buddha-nature has been contaminated, but it will be restored once we have removed the contaminants. Consequently, we will be exactly the same as all Buddhas. Secondly, we must believe in others which refer to Buddhas. Why do Buddhas help all beings? It is because they have attained ultimate wisdom and know that all beings and themselves are one entity. Unconditional love and compassion is therefore flowing from this one entity. Using this unconditional love as a drive together with most wise and virtuous methods and means, Buddhas help infinite beings break delusions, gain enlightenment, leave suffering and obtain happiness. Believing in Buddhas and follow Buddhas’ teaching and approaches to practise, we will definitely succeed.
Once our confidence is in place, we should try to understand. Only practice with no doubt can we experience happiness without any obstacle. The purpose of learning and practising Buddhism is to attain thorough understanding of everything. We must not deviate from this direction. When studying sutras or commentaries, we can select one of them only. We should then be focussed on this one text, and delve into it over a long period of time. The learning and practising of Buddhism is different to learning of things in this impermanent world. The latter advocates that learning should be like a pyramid, i.e. learning a lot first and gradually focussing on a small area. By contrast, learning and practising Buddhism is like a big tree, i.e. focussing on one thing first, establishing a solid foundation, and then its branches and flowers will flourish. So be focussed first and then broad.
After we have understood it all, we can start practising it. It is like that we are to travel to new place. We have to first study the map of that place. This is doing homework on understanding, knowing how to travel from one place to another. Once we are prepared, we will set on our journey. Therefore, after understanding the theories and meanings of Buddhist texts, we must put them into practice in our daily lives, using Buddhist scriptures as benchmarks. If our views and thoughts are different to what is in the scriptures, we should realise that we are wrong and Buddhas are correct. Subsequently, we should courageously abandon our wrong views and thoughts, and use Buddhas’ views and thoughts to rectify our own. Our speech and actions must also follow the same benchmark. Self-cultivation in the context of Buddhism refers to rectifying our wrong views, thoughts, speech and actions. Therefore, Buddhism is not a collection of pretty but empty theories. Instead, it is something that can be put into practice in our daily lives. If we can practise it, we will obtain benefit of Buddhism, truly reducing worries, improving wisdom and bringing happiness. And these in turn will become the drive that sustains further self-cultivation.
What is attaining? It means we have personally attained the state of mind, and seen that the truth is truly what Buddhas described. Only by then, what we have learned is valid. If we have only heard the theories in Buddhist scriptures but not seen them, there is still a layer of obstacle. As ancient sages said, ‘It is like drinking a cup of water. Only the one who drinks it knows its temperature.’ Attaining is like you having drunk the water and thoroughly known the ins and outs of it all. The goal of Buddhas being in this world is to perfectly help us solve all problems of suffering, to enable every one of us to obtain happiness and a happy family life, and to live in a peaceful, harmonious, stable and prosperous world. The benefit of other goals such as surpassing the Six Paths, freeing from birth and death, and becoming a Buddha, are even more incredible.
I have been practising Buddhism for 67 years and teaching Buddhism for 60 years. It is truly as what my teacher told me, I have experienced ‘the highest enjoyment of life’. What is the highest enjoyment of life? It is living in happiness and joy every day. It has nothing to do with wealth, social status or poverty. Although I have experienced many setbacks over the decades, I do not see them as setbacks but as exams. They helped me to improve. In a favourable situation and coming across a good opportunity, I refrain from being greed. In an unfavourable situation and coming across a bad opportunity, I refrain from being angry. I remain at ease and happy. This is because I read Buddhist texts every day. As a result, I gain clearer understanding of all things in this world and beyond. Consequently, I am happier day by day.
Therefore, I am grateful to all my teachers throughout my life, for giving me the opportunities of knowing the greatness of Buddhism. I am also grateful to the Buddha for leaving us so many precious classical texts and telling us the truth. In my whole life I can abide by the Buddha’s teaching steadily and resolutely, persist in walking on the great path of the correct doctrine of the Buddha, and accept and promote the Buddha’s teaching. This is because I entirely rely on Buddhist texts. The benefit that I get from them is truly incredible.
Today, we have a copy of the Mongolian Tripitaka. I hope everyone, with this special opportunity, could learn and promote the infinite treasure of wisdom in Buddhist scriptures. It will benefit not only us but also others, and subsequently benefit the modern society and all human beings around the globe.
May the workshop be a great success. May you all obtain perfect good fortune and wisdom. May auspiciousness, good health and peace be always with you, with the blessings of infinite wisdom and long life. Thank you very much.
I am very delighted to hear the news of Eötvös Loránd University organising an international workshop on Mongolian Buddhism for the reception of ‘The Tripitakas’ in Mongolian. This is indeed an important event that is worth celebrating. I am most honoured to be invited to the event. Unfortunately, at the age of 92, my physical strength goes against my wishes. Moreover, I have to deal with many Dharma affairs that I have been engaged in. With no other alternative, I have to go against my wish and record this video clip as a gesture of expressing my sincere and best wishes to you all. I do hope you could forgive my difficulties in not being able to attend the special event in person. Thank you very much.
It took almost 500 years to translate ‘The Tripitaka’ into the Mongolian language across three dynasties in China, i.e. the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. It is the complete collection of all Buddhist sutras in Mongolia and is also considered to be the encyclopaedia of Mongolia Buddhist culture. It is truly treasure hard to come by. However, as the original copy is old and frail, its preservation is at the brink of danger. In 2012, we fortunately heard the great news of republishing ‘The Tripitaka’ in Mongolian. Subsequently, we took part in the important endeavour and provided financial assistance to it within our capacity. The republication of the Mongolian Tripitaka is now completed, and its copies are being donated to individual Buddhist monasteries, academic institutions and research institutes. This is truly a good deed that is worth celebrating both on earth and in heaven.
The Academic and Cultural Values of the Mongolian Tripitaka
On this occasion, the Mongolian Tripitaka travelled 10,000 miles and arrived at Eötvös Loránd University. It is very special indeed.
Eötvös Loránd University not only has a long history of Mongolian studies and Buddhist studies, but also has witnessed a continuous and prosperous development in both areas. Research in these areas is growing more complete and diversified. The Department of Mongolian and Inner Asian Studies, Research Centre for Mongol Studies, Budapest Centre for Buddhist Studies endeavour to research in the areas mentioned above, covering religion, language and culture, Nomadic traditions and history.
Speaking of Mongolian religion and culture, it is not difficult to find that Buddhist culture is an integral part. Therefore, studying classical Buddhist literature is of paramount importance for research in Mongolian culture.
The Mongolian Tripitaka offers a vast amount of information. Apart from Buddhist sutras, texts on Buddhist precepts and commentaries on Buddhist scriptures, it also covers areas such as philosophy, history, astrology, geography, medicine, architecture and science and technology. In a word, its value is not only manifested in the scope of Buddhist philosophy, but also in culture and knowledge related to social and natural sciences. Moreover, the Mongolian Tripitaka also collects the essence of the Mongolian language. It provides important references for studies in Mongolian rhetoric and grammar as well as the translation of Buddhist sutras.
The chief editor of the Mongolian Tripitaka, Professor B. Oyunbilig, told us that it took three dynasties, i.e. the Yuan, Ming and Qing, to complete the Mongolian Tripitaka, i.e. the Kanjur and Tanjur. Its ethnical and regional characteristics are very prominent and it is of extremely high academic values. The former Secretary of the International Association for Mongol Studies, Sh. Bira, also holds that the recently published Mongolian Tripitaka is one of the most important international Mongol studies. Therefore, it is not only an importance source for studying Buddhism, but also is indispensable for studying Mongolian and Asian cultures.
The Relationship between the Changkya Khutukhtu and Me – Understanding the Buddha
The Changkya Khutukhtu the Seventh of Inner Mogolia was my teacher. In Mongolia, the word ‘Khutukhtu’ means being enlightened and free from birth and death. Throughout his life, the Changkya Khutukhtu was frugal, diligent with practising Buddhism and perfectly abode by Buddhist precepts. He mastered Chinese, Manchurian, Mongolian and Tibetan languages, and was thoroughly familiar with the five major Mahayana texts. With a perfect understanding and practice of both exoteric and esoteric teaching, he remained composed and poised whenever and wherever. The Changkya Khutukhtu was the second teacher who taught me Buddhism.
I started learning Buddhism at the age of 26 and began with philosophy. My first teacher was the renowned Chinese philosopher Thomé H. Fang (Fang, Dongmei). Mr Fang told me that ‘Buddhist philosophy is the summit of all philosophy in the world, and learning Buddhism is the highest enjoyment in one’s life’. What he said was very appealing to me and I therefore started to study Buddhist scriptures carefully and regarded Buddhism as philosophy.
Half a year later, I was fortunately introduced to the Changkya Khutukhtu. He enabled me to understand that philosophy is not what Buddhism is all about. It is only a part of it. The foundation of my practice of Buddhism was established under the guidance of the Changkya Khutukhtu. He told me that Sakyamuni Buddha was the founder of Buddhism. To learn and practise Buddhism, we should first get to know Sakyamuni Buddha so to avoid taking the wrong path or wasting time and effort unnecessarily. He also told me that the detailed about Sakyamuni Buddha are all recorded in the two books, ‘The Life of Sakyamuni’ and ‘Historical and Geographical Records of Sakyamuni’, collected in ‘The Tripitaka’.
Only after reading the two books did I know that Sakyamuni Buddha was a human being but not a god. He was the prince of the kingdom of Kapilvastu in ancient India. In order to find solutions to the problems of birth, ageing, illness and death, he became a truth-seeking monk. Later, he was fully enlightened, and discovered and thoroughly understood the truth of the Universe and life. Afterwards, he started to give Dharma talks and spread the truth that he had discovered. Therefore, Sakyamuni Buddha was in fact, in the modern terms, a volunteer engaging in multicultural social education, and he dedicated to education throughout his life. We can tell that Buddhism is education, the most perfect education that Sakyamuni Buddha provided for all beings.
The Purpose of the Buddha’s Education – Breaking Delusions, Gaining Enlightenment, Leaving Suffering and Obtaining Happiness
To learn and practise Buddhism, we should first understand what Buddha is, what Dharma is, and what Buddha Dharma (Buddhism) is. Clearly understanding the answers to these questions will be very helpful for learning and practising Buddhism. The word ‘Buddha’ is the transliteration of the original word in Sanskrit. It means wisdom and enlightenment. Buddha has its fundamentals and their manifestations and outcomes. Its fundamentals are wisdom and its manifestations and outcomes are enlightenment. The wisdom mentioned here is different to the wisdom that we normally talk about. It has three levels. 1) Pratyeka-buddha wisdom, i.e. the wisdom of correctly understanding the noumenon of the universe. 2) Bodhisattva-wisdom, i.e. the wisdom of correctly understanding the creation, phenomena, process and outcomes of everything in the universe. 3) Buddha-wisdom, i.e. the ultimate and perfect wisdom of understanding the truth of the universe and life. There are also three levels of enlightenment. 1) Enlightenment from within, i.e. the enlightenment of ourselves. 2) Enlightening others, i.e. helping others to become enlightened. 3) Perfect enlightenment, i.e. the previous two levels have reached perfection.
Wisdom is the fundamental and enlightenment is the outcome. The object of being enlightened is the universe and life. We use a word to name the universe and life, i.e. ‘Dharma’. It entails all things in the infinite time and space. When combined, ‘Buddha Dharma’ (Buddhism) refers to the infinite wisdom and enlightenment that enable us to correctly understand everything in the universe and life. The object of being enlightened is infinite, so is the wisdom that enabling enlightenment. Enabling enlightenment and being enlightened are one but not two. It is not easy to understand. Take dreams as an example. When we are dreaming, we suddenly wake up and realise that we are dreaming. We know that what is in the dream is all from our minds. Our minds enable us to know and the dream is what being known. But the dream and the mind that is aware of our dream are one but not two. Therefore, Buddhism is not philosophy. In Buddhism, what enables and what is enabled are one. But in philosophy, these two are conflicting with one another.
Sakyamuni Buddha told us that it is the wisdom, virtue and ability to know everything in the universe is innate. Apart from Buddhas, every being has them all. In this sense, Buddhas and all beings are equal. But, despite of the equality, our wisdom and ability are truly different to those of Buddhas. It is because we have lost our innate wisdom, virtue and ability due to our delusions. The lost and delusions bring us suffering. We are completely ignorant to the truth of the universe and life. Our views and thoughts are all wrong. This results in our wrong speech and actions. Then, the wrong speech and actions have consequences which are the Cycle of Six Paths. Subsequently, we have to experience the suffering of ageing, illnesses and death, the suffering of separating from those whom we love, and the suffering of meeting the hateful. We consequently lead a life full of suffering. If a person can truly understand the truth of the universe and life without any wrong thought, view and action, the consequence that they receive is definitely happiness. Delusions are the cause of all suffering. Then, how did lose our innate wisdom, virtue and ability? The Buddha told us the very reason in one sentence, ‘It is because of erroneous thinking and attachments of all beings.’ Our erroneous thinking and all kinds of attachments have covered our wisdom, virtue and ability. Once we get rid of erroneous thinking and attachments, our innate Buddha-nature will restore. The purpose of Buddhist teaching is to help us let go of erroneous thinking and attachments, break delusions, gain enlightenment and consequently leave suffering and obtain happiness. To leave ultimate suffering and attain ultimate happiness is to become a Buddha. This is also the ultimate goal of Buddhist teaching.
Gaining the True Benefit of Buddhism via the Process of Believing, Understanding, Practising and Attaining
How to leave suffering, obtain happiness and gain the true benefit of Buddhism? Buddhas are our teachers. They only teach us theories and methods. Being students, we must work hard by ourselves to obtain final success. But we should cultivate ourselves in order, and there are four steps, i.e. believing, understanding, practising and attaining.
Believing is the first step. We often say, ‘Buddhas do not help those who do not believe them.’ When a person can believe Buddhas, it means that the condition of helping them is ready. When helping all beings, Buddhas first help those who believe them. Believing. Firstly, we must believe in ourselves, believe that we have Buddhua-nature and have become a Buddha. We believe that our original Buddha-nature has been contaminated, but it will be restored once we have removed the contaminants. Consequently, we will be exactly the same as all Buddhas. Secondly, we must believe in others which refer to Buddhas. Why do Buddhas help all beings? It is because they have attained ultimate wisdom and know that all beings and themselves are one entity. Unconditional love and compassion is therefore flowing from this one entity. Using this unconditional love as a drive together with most wise and virtuous methods and means, Buddhas help infinite beings break delusions, gain enlightenment, leave suffering and obtain happiness. Believing in Buddhas and follow Buddhas’ teaching and approaches to practise, we will definitely succeed.
Once our confidence is in place, we should try to understand. Only practice with no doubt can we experience happiness without any obstacle. The purpose of learning and practising Buddhism is to attain thorough understanding of everything. We must not deviate from this direction. When studying sutras or commentaries, we can select one of them only. We should then be focussed on this one text, and delve into it over a long period of time. The learning and practising of Buddhism is different to learning of things in this impermanent world. The latter advocates that learning should be like a pyramid, i.e. learning a lot first and gradually focussing on a small area. By contrast, learning and practising Buddhism is like a big tree, i.e. focussing on one thing first, establishing a solid foundation, and then its branches and flowers will flourish. So be focussed first and then broad.
After we have understood it all, we can start practising it. It is like that we are to travel to new place. We have to first study the map of that place. This is doing homework on understanding, knowing how to travel from one place to another. Once we are prepared, we will set on our journey. Therefore, after understanding the theories and meanings of Buddhist texts, we must put them into practice in our daily lives, using Buddhist scriptures as benchmarks. If our views and thoughts are different to what is in the scriptures, we should realise that we are wrong and Buddhas are correct. Subsequently, we should courageously abandon our wrong views and thoughts, and use Buddhas’ views and thoughts to rectify our own. Our speech and actions must also follow the same benchmark. Self-cultivation in the context of Buddhism refers to rectifying our wrong views, thoughts, speech and actions. Therefore, Buddhism is not a collection of pretty but empty theories. Instead, it is something that can be put into practice in our daily lives. If we can practise it, we will obtain benefit of Buddhism, truly reducing worries, improving wisdom and bringing happiness. And these in turn will become the drive that sustains further self-cultivation.
What is attaining? It means we have personally attained the state of mind, and seen that the truth is truly what Buddhas described. Only by then, what we have learned is valid. If we have only heard the theories in Buddhist scriptures but not seen them, there is still a layer of obstacle. As ancient sages said, ‘It is like drinking a cup of water. Only the one who drinks it knows its temperature.’ Attaining is like you having drunk the water and thoroughly known the ins and outs of it all. The goal of Buddhas being in this world is to perfectly help us solve all problems of suffering, to enable every one of us to obtain happiness and a happy family life, and to live in a peaceful, harmonious, stable and prosperous world. The benefit of other goals such as surpassing the Six Paths, freeing from birth and death, and becoming a Buddha, are even more incredible.
I have been practising Buddhism for 67 years and teaching Buddhism for 60 years. It is truly as what my teacher told me, I have experienced ‘the highest enjoyment of life’. What is the highest enjoyment of life? It is living in happiness and joy every day. It has nothing to do with wealth, social status or poverty. Although I have experienced many setbacks over the decades, I do not see them as setbacks but as exams. They helped me to improve. In a favourable situation and coming across a good opportunity, I refrain from being greed. In an unfavourable situation and coming across a bad opportunity, I refrain from being angry. I remain at ease and happy. This is because I read Buddhist texts every day. As a result, I gain clearer understanding of all things in this world and beyond. Consequently, I am happier day by day.
Therefore, I am grateful to all my teachers throughout my life, for giving me the opportunities of knowing the greatness of Buddhism. I am also grateful to the Buddha for leaving us so many precious classical texts and telling us the truth. In my whole life I can abide by the Buddha’s teaching steadily and resolutely, persist in walking on the great path of the correct doctrine of the Buddha, and accept and promote the Buddha’s teaching. This is because I entirely rely on Buddhist texts. The benefit that I get from them is truly incredible.
Today, we have a copy of the Mongolian Tripitaka. I hope everyone, with this special opportunity, could learn and promote the infinite treasure of wisdom in Buddhist scriptures. It will benefit not only us but also others, and subsequently benefit the modern society and all human beings around the globe.
May the workshop be a great success. May you all obtain perfect good fortune and wisdom. May auspiciousness, good health and peace be always with you, with the blessings of infinite wisdom and long life. Thank you very much.