Master Jiqun's "Right Faith and Superstition"

Introduction: At the beginning of the new year, a teahouse named "Xiyuan Tea Ceremony" quietly opened in Xiyuan Temple, Suzhou. The teahouse is located beside Xiyuan Temple's release pond and is set up in its important garden landscape surrounding hall. Surrounded by strange rocks and rockeries, ancient trees, winter snow, spring flowers, summer rain and autumn insects, you can sit down and take a seat for a while, either picking up a pen and copying scriptures, or listening to quaint music. The bookmark on the desk has the three words "Go and have tea" written by Master Jiqun himself. This famous Zen koan also gave the "West Garden Tea Event" a Zen feel. In the warm tea room in winter, we burned incense and washed cups, feeling the artistic conception of "tea and Zen." The interview had not yet begun, but the wisdom of Zen was already scattered in people's every move so indifferently...

1. You once said that if Chinese people have no special belief, their traditional belief is Buddhism. Many Chinese customs around the Spring Festival just verify this statement, such as the Laba Festival that just passed. Could you please Master to introduce to us the true meaning of Laba in detail?

Master Jiqun: Laba is an important part of the sinicization and folk customization of Buddhism, especially in the Jiangnan region. On this day, many temples will offer Laba porridge to the Buddha and to the public. People will also come to the temples to worship the Buddha, offer incense and drink porridge on this day. Judging from the current situation, most people are interested in Laba porridge to ensure safety, increase blessings, and seek good luck. There is nothing wrong with this, but we must know that the Laba festival also contains a deeper meaning.

The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is the day of Buddha Sakyamuni’s enlightenment. The temple cooks Laba porridge on this day to commemorate the Buddha’s hardships and his final enlightenment. It is a pity that later generations have gradually forgotten the original meaning of this festival, so it is necessary to guide people so that people can get to know the Buddha through such an opportunity. Therefore, Xiyuan Temple held a series of activities during Laba this year with the theme of "Understanding the Buddha and Commemorating the Buddha". We hope that everyone can take this opportunity to get closer to the Buddha and the enlightened person who achieved enlightenment more than 2,500 years ago.

Before the Buddha became a monk, he was the prince of Suddhodana, named Siddhartha. Like millions of ordinary people in the world, he had all kinds of confusions and worries, as well as confusion and fear about birth, aging, illness and death. In the end, he chose spiritual practice to explore the answer to life and the value of life. His practice and enlightenment represent the process of moving from troubles to liberation, and also represent the sublimation from ordinary people to sages. The key to our commemoration of the Buddha is to realize the significance of the Buddha's life of seeking and attaining enlightenment to each of our lives. He found a way out for us confused sentient beings.

2. The theory that "Buddha is also a human being" you mentioned will be somewhat novel to many people who do not know much about religious beliefs, because in the traditional sense, religious The goals are all pointing to a "god". Doesn't Buddhism allow us to "believe in God"?

Master Jiqun: From the perspective of religious belief, most religions will establish the worship of the dominant god, and obtain salvation through belief in God. From a Buddhist point of view, what determines the development of life is none other than our own behavior. Through his practice, the Buddha discovered that every life has the potential for self-liberation and enlightenment, which is the Buddha-nature. Therefore, in the minds of orthodox Buddhists, the Buddha is not a god as usually thought, but an ultimate enlightened person, a discoverer of truth, a merciful saint, and a guide who passes on the experience of cultivation to us. .

When the Buddha became enlightened, someone asked him: "Are you a god?" He replied: "I am not, I am an awakened person." The meaning of the word "Buddha" is " The Awakened One". Before he was enlightened, he was a person with all kinds of confusions just like us. Of course, the Buddha's practice is not limited to this life, but is accumulated over many lifetimes. Because of this deep root of wisdom, he was deeply touched when he saw the pain of birth, old age, illness and death, and resolutely put aside his identity as a prince, seeking liberation and truth as his life goals. This is where he is both the same and different from ordinary people.

Experiences like the Buddha have brought hope to thousands of lives and let us know that everyone actually has the potential for enlightenment. Although every life has confusion and troubles, it also has the hope of liberation.

3. When it comes to faith, people often think of superstition. We even think of things like fortune-telling and fortune-telling that are usually criticized as superstitious. So what exactly is superstition?

Master Jiqun: confusion means confusion and unclear distinction; faith means belief and obedience. Superstition is blind belief and worship. In other words, any belief that cannot lead people to enlightenment, wisdom and truth can be called superstition. Judging from the object of belief, if the object itself is still in a state of delusion, then the belief based on it will naturally be delusional as well. Usually, we always think that superstition exists only in religious beliefs. In fact, we often fall into superstition in our lives without even realizing it. For example, those who are greedy for money are called money fans, and those who love to watch theater are called theater fans. There are countless similar examples.

From our own point of view, if we are extremely obsessed with something, it will also lead to superstitious behavior. For example, fortune telling and fortune telling can be regarded as part of traditional Chinese culture and are not necessarily nonsense. Because destiny does have certain rules to follow. This is what Buddhism calls "such causes and effects." However, the phenomenon of life’s origin is very difficult to understand, and it also contains many uncertain factors that can be modified.

If we believe too much in fortune-telling and fortune-telling, and think that destiny must be like this, we will become mechanical fatalists.

Buddhism aims at pursuing enlightenment and wisdom, and is a wise faith. The purpose of studying Buddhism is to help us open up our inner wisdom and relieve everyone's inner confusion, troubles and attachments. In this sense, what Buddhism wants to do is exactly: get rid of superstition and liberate the mind.

4. In such a special festival atmosphere, you will also see many people burning incense, praying to Buddha, offering a few fruits, and then making a lot of requests to the Bodhisattva. How do you understand this question.

Master Jiqun: We must first understand these phenomena instead of looking at them with a mocking attitude. As ordinary people, they want to be healthy, safe, rich, and live a good life. These are all legitimate requirements. It cannot be realized in real life, so it is understandable that it is brought up to the Great Merciful and Compassionate Bodhisattva out of trust in the Bodhisattva. If you have full faith in the Bodhisattva, pray sincerely, and have reasonable wishes, the Bodhisattva will naturally be merciful and blessing you. But we must know that the real role of Buddhism is not just this, but to help us change the inner quality of life. By studying Buddhism, we can understand the truth of life and the truth of the world. Through understanding, you can gradually change your concepts, adjust your mentality, and finally open up wisdom, eliminate worries, and complete the complete improvement of your life. This is the true meaning of Buddhism in the world.