Can Jinling Temple in Linzi, Zibo meditate? Do I have to recite the scriptures?

Many people have read one of Mr. Lin Yutang's masterpieces, A Journey of Faith. His original work is From Pagan to Christian, which means how he returned to Christianity from Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, which can be said to be the witness of his life. My witness can paraphrase his title-from a pagan to a Christian.

We China people grew up in the cultural background of 5,000 years, and probably all came into contact with the beliefs of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, especially Buddhism. Personally, I am an old disciple of Buddhism for nearly twenty years.

Life is very unsafe.

I am surprised and grateful for the reason why I became a Christian. I was born in 1949, which was a very important period in the history of China. When the National Government moved from the mainland to Taiwan Province, I felt that life was very unsafe and the foundation of life was very empty. That era was bitter, it was a bitter era, so the feeling of suffering was innate, and the world was bitter, and life was impermanent and meaningless. It was natural to accept Buddhism at that time, and the more you believed, the more fascinated you became. That will be twenty years.

Faith is an adventure.

Buddhism seems to be flourishing now, but most people believe in it. In my opinion, they are just playing with tickets and arranging flowers, and they have not put their lives into it. Like when I believed in Buddhism, I really put my life into it, very seriously. I have been seriously pursuing it from high school to college. The family has its own Buddhist temple and various gods in the living room, just like the small temple, the Pantheon and the Longshan Temple. It is very lively and the incense is flourishing. It's hard to imagine a family. In fact, I wanted to become a monk and made my parents cry many times. I found many relatives and friends in the south to explain the great righteousness to me and advised me not to become a monk, but to carry on the family line.

It sounds funny, but at that time I was really serious about pursuing it. I'm like half a monk. I usually meditate and recite Buddha, sometimes 10 thousand times, sometimes 100 thousand times. I am definitely more pious and earnest than ordinary believers. I really put my heart and soul into it Meditate for an hour is nothing. It is best to meditate for half a day or all day. Sometimes I wish I could meditate for a month and not get up for two months. I pursue it very seriously, definitely not in the general form of arranging flowers or playing with tickets. I have been pursuing it seriously for twenty years. Are those Buddha statues real? Still fake?

Taiwan Province Provincial University has inherited the tradition of Peking University, which is the scientific spirit since the May 4th Movement. We always ask for evidence. When we submit any report or document, we must produce enough evidence. Otherwise, no matter how well you write, how insightful and thorough your theory is, if the evidence is incomplete, the paper will still fail.

Personally, I study literature and have received such strict training. In this training process, is the Buddha I worship true or false? Is there any evidence? For example, I have worshipped many names such as Bodhisattva, Guanyin, Dizang, Amitabha and Sambo. There is a Buddhist sutra called the sutra of ten thousand buddhas, a thick one, full of Buddhist names. I often read and recite, so I thought, where did this come from? I looked around, referred to the information of various countries I could find and did a lot of research. The final conclusion is unfounded and I don't know where it came from. Since there is no historical basis and no geographical clues, I believe it. The power of letter is so great that I have a question mark about what I believe for the first time in my life. What's wrong with my worship? Ask the master casually, and they all say, "It doesn't matter. You can have this kind of thing if you believe it, and you can have it if you are sincere. " I have no peace of mind.

These words are really hard to accept, because I just don't think so in my heart. What should I do? Meditate, sit for one day, sit for two days, nothing will happen, and my heart will be restless. "Meditation" is a kind of work and belongs to a kind of yoga. When you meditate, you will feel a brief silence. In fact, I still feel quiet after sitting quietly for a while, but there are still many problems in my heart, especially the problem of sin. Secular desires cannot be appeased by meditation or artificial means. He just suppressed it for a long time, and they came out in other ways, more vigorously. So from the practice itself, I found that it has great limitations and sequelae. Is there any evidence of Buddhism?

So, first of all, I began to doubt whether there was any evidence of Buddhism. Indeed, I checked Japanese materials, English materials, and foreign materials, and said that the buddhas and bodhisattvas they worshipped were actually some Hindu gods. If Sakyamuni wants to oppose this religion, his disciples should practice penance on their own, that is, they should seek self-liberation, take precepts as teachers, take their own hearts as lamps, and not rely on any external gods. Later, Buddhists found that they could do nothing and had to compete with Brahmanism and Hinduism. Therefore, the so-called immortals who were secretly driven away from the front door came back from the back door and changed their faces. They used some Buddhist ideas and added a name, such as Guanyin and Dizang, which have various functions of saying words, just like Guanyin is to save the suffering, and it is called Guanyin when it hurts. If a person feels that he is going to die, he must recite "Amitabha" if he wants to go to Elysium. Maybe he will send people with cow's head and horse's face to the west, and there will be a pharmacist Buddha who can worship if he is sick. It will give people a magic pill or incense ashes, which will make them sick. But when I found these problems, I began to feel uneasy. Just at this time, I watched the program of 700 Club on TV and heard what they said. I also know that the gospel is true, how Jesus Christ was born, how he preached on the earth, how he cured diseases and exorcised ghosts, and how he was crucified and resurrected. I have read a lot of research and found that the evidence is conclusive, with historical basis and geographical clues.

As soon as the two are compared, we will know which one has the upper hand. For at least one researcher, it is obvious that the evidence on Jesus' side is conclusive. He is a true historical fact. What about Buddhism? This is a legend, and the more I study it, the more I find it problematic. Their monk master said that it took only tens of thousands of robberies for a person to practice successfully, and it took about 10 million years! Tens of thousands of robbers are older than the earth. How did you investigate what happened at that time? How to prove it?

There are three most popular sentences in Buddhist teachings, which can be said to be the basic spirit of Buddhism: "Do all evil, pursue all good and purify yourself." A brief analysis is as follows:

First, all sins:

"Don't do all evil things" means don't do all evil things, such as killing, stealing, adultery and acting rashly. The most taboo evil of Buddhists is "killing". However, killing in Buddhism is not the same as killing in Christianity. Buddhism refers to killing, which has a wide range. Nothing alive can kill. Killing is the biggest sin, so Buddhism should be vegetarian for a long time. It is said that Lohan walks like a UFO and floats three feet on the ground, hoping not to crush ants, grasshoppers and cockroaches. It's a pity that I have been practicing for twenty years, but I still can't live without three inches, and I have trampled many people who shouldn't have trampled to death. Isn't it a deep sin? "Don't kill", can you really not kill? Scientists tell us that there are many microorganisms in a glass of water, and Buddhists also say that there are 108,000 bugs in a glass of water. Isn't this life? There is also life in fruits and vegetables, that is, you kill when you eat and drink, and you kill when you breathe. Even if a person has cultivated to a certain extent, he can be one or two feet off the ground. What if someone is sick? Treating a disease is nothing more than taking medicine and injections. What is the purpose of taking medicine and injection? Sterilization! Are those bacteria life? If you want to practice the teachings, you must wait and die, just sit there and ask the Buddha for help. There is no other way. Exorcists, the great monks I know, didn't stop seeing doctors, taking medicine or cutting off bad tissues without surgery when they were sick. Didn't they kill many students at this time? If we don't kill, how can we keep this commandment? Therefore, I found that "all evils must be done", at least I can't do it. This doctrine is very tall, but it is so empty that it is impossible to sell it.

Second, good pursuit:

There is basically no problem with "doing good things". Everyone is willing to do good, but there are also many difficulties. Just as Sakyamuni is the founder of Buddhism, can he do what China said: "All virtues and filial piety come first"? Buddhism also teaches filial piety! Ethics should be taken care of! But he became a monk when he was very young. He has parents, a wife and children. He is still a prince, and he wants to inherit the throne. He owes something in interpersonal relationships. What should he say to his parents, wife and children after becoming a monk? His engagement with his wife, his obligations to his parents, and his obligations to the country could not be realized. Filial piety and faithfulness are the most basic things. Can he do all these good things by himself? In my opinion, he can't even do these basic good things, and he owes them all. Paul said, "I am determined to do good, but I can't." Because the world is under the power of evil people, we can't jump out, it's impossible. Therefore, the principle of "doing good for all" is correct in theory. In fact, poor people can't do it at all.

Third, self-purification:

"Self-purification", self-purification, self-transcendence, and clearing up one's thoughts and concepts are the same at first glance. Always keep your mind clean and your heart pure. But when I really do it, I find it difficult. When I teach myself, I often ask my classmates: "Who has absolutely no ulterior motives? Please raise your hand and let the students pay tribute to this modern saint. " I have never seen a girl, even if she is very pure and lovely, and she is afraid to raise her hand with her head down. Then I knew that "self-purification" was not that simple. Even if I practice all my life, maybe those vulgar thoughts can be overcome. What about those wonderful ideas? Freud told us that the thoughts in people's hearts will still be revealed when they dream, which Buddhism calls "night dreams upside down". It is a fact that leopards can't get rid of their stripes, blacks can't change their skin color, and strong men can't lift their heads. So the so-called self-purification is basically repression. For example, I meditate for a long time, but I don't like sports As a result, my lower body circulation went wrong, and I still suffer from it. That's because I meditate too long, one week a day, one month, and I meditate too hard, and all my organs are lost. Why should I meditate? Just to purify myself. How come? I practiced meditation, but I didn't purify myself. On the contrary, it is very bad. In fact, Sakyamuni himself suffered from backache in his later years, which is the sequela of his practice in Yunshan.

Buddhist life is too negative.

I'm also shaken by Buddhist teachings. In life, I compare the gospel of Christ and think Buddhism is too negative. For example, Buddhist scriptures and the Bible all tell similar stories. Buddhist scriptures say that a widow's son died and came to see Sakyamuni in tears. She is really in pain and needs psychological counseling, inner healing and counseling. Sakyamuni said: "It's very simple. Go to the city and find a family that has never died, and let him pour you a cup of tea, and your pain will be fine. " The widow was very happy and went to the city to look everywhere. Finally, she found that no family had not died. Of course, birth and death, who hasn't? Only then did she realize that life is like this. To accept her fate, she must be comforted. In fact, this is resignation! However, in the Gospels of the Bible, Jesus did something different. Jesus saved the widow's son and found her son, showing great grace. Such a comparison, you know, a rational person, what kind of faith he may choose. Comparing a family that believes in Jesus Christ with an idolatrous family, it is true that a family that believes in Jesus Christ will move towards harmony, happiness and happiness. According to the order of Jesus Christ alone, Christians can only be monogamous all their lives, thus avoiding divorce or improper emotional disputes outside husband and wife. It's a pity that children with family problems can't get the love of their parents. Although our country's law also stipulates monogamy, it can't limit many people's desires. Only by believing that Jesus gave believers a new life can they be saved from all their sins.

The idol is broken.

After multi-angle comparison, I gradually feel that what I believed in the past seems to have been abandoned, and I should change my course and start a new stove. But it is not so easy to leave an old belief, and I feel very struggling in my heart. One day, I prayed to God to let me know who is real. Who is the impostor? Suddenly my Buddha lamp went out and my idol fell to pieces. This is a very strange witness. Personally, I didn't have these strange ideas in my mind before, but it's true. In that darkness, I know which way I want to go, which is also the key to change. Later, I slowly went to many parties, and then I left that belief, was formally baptized, and accepted Jesus Christ as my savior until now. Truth can't save people. You must be reborn and become a new person. Primitive Buddhism tells us some truths about life and some basic facts about life, such as birth, aging, illness and death. This is a fact, undeniable and unforgivable. Life is short and impermanent. This is also a fact. Idolaters strive for a painless truth. In short, it is a set of truth, trying to use this truth to alleviate human suffering and increase human happiness. But the problem is that even the best truth can't save people, because people are not created by reason, which is very important. Man is created by the power of God (recorded in the first chapter of Genesis of the Bible, 17). Only the one who made man can save people, and no other reason can save people. If you just accept the truth, don't be born again, don't be moved by the Holy Spirit, believe that Jesus Christ is the only true God and be baptized into the Lord's name. Now our whole family has turned to the true God who created heaven and earth, and the unexpected peace and joy that the Lord Jesus gave us has filled our home. Friend! Do you also want to have this peace and joy? Please write to Jesus.

The Bible says, "When the world was ignorant (idolatry), God didn't supervise it, but now he commands people everywhere to repent." This is sincere advice. I hope you and your family will be blessed, saved, happy and happy as soon as possible.