佛法隨筆 Reflections on Buddhism

佛法隨筆 1

大家好！

記得有一次我們跟沛宏去日本自助旅行，

預定的接送車子沒有來，

那時還沒有手機，沛宏去打電話交涉，

結果對方車輛出租公司的社長，親自提著一盒水蜜桃前來道歉！

我見識到日本人的成功文化跟禮數。

沛宏目前是三個女兒的爸爸，我都叫他歐吉桑，

他通日文跟英文，懂巴利文，

但對中文我覺得嚴重溝通不良！

我曾經建議他，不然就完全跟南傳上座部學習，他又不要。

以佛教史而言，他讀的南傳佛教史是完全上座部的，

我讀的是漢系看過去的，而且有真實歷史記載太虛法師栽培的佛學院漢人法師進去南傳那邊當過校編，所以這衝突會變得很大，

而且 我雖然同意《阿含經》不見得同意上座部的佛法解釋，

這樣的緣分也可以走40年，真服了，緣字難寫！

半寄

 

Reflections on Buddhism 1

 

Greetings, friends of NanZen!

 

I remember a trip to Japan with Peihong. The shuttle we had booked didn’t show up, and back then we didn’t have mobile phones. Peihong made a phone call to sort it out, and the president of the rental car company came personally with a case of peaches to apologize! This really showed me the successful culture and etiquette of the Japanese.

 

Peihong is now a father of three daughters, and I affectionately call him "Uncle." He speaks Japanese and English and understands Pali, but I feel there’s a serious communication gap when it comes to Chinese! I once suggested he fully focus on learning from the Theravada tradition, but he declined.

 

In terms of Buddhist history, he studies only the history of the Southern School, while there are actual historical records that Han Chinese masters trained by Master Taixu in China went to the Theravada tradition to help proofread Theravada Buddhist texts, which creates a significant conflict.

 

Also, while I agree with the Agama Sutras, I don’t necessarily agree with the Theravada interpretations. It’s amazing that this connection can last for 40 years—truly, the " serendipity between people" is hard to describe!

 

Master Banji

 

 

佛法隨筆2

大家好！

     我們基金會執行長是大菩薩，常聞聲救苦。

有一位比丘尼想去嘉義南傳道場掛單，沒有人載送，她開車送去，連我跟阿惇老師都拉去了，（阿惇老師去美國多時，一切安好！）

 

剛好他們午齋後要小小的開示，我站著沒有坐下，

住持比丘說：

你坐著聽，如果想走可以隨時離場。

聽他這樣講，我坐下來。

 

學員分享他們的心得，講到午齋多吃一口飯的貪欲，他們很「認真」在討論這個，

我說：多吃一口飯也要計較成這樣，那你怎麼沒有想過你是不是餓了？

說完，我站起來離開。

 

執行長跟阿惇老師都傻眼，只好跟著出來，

我說：就跟你們說我是危險份子不要帶我來，

我後來跟沛宏說你也欺騙我太多了吧！你口中的南傳佛法就只有這樣，還敢在我面前炫，他也沒有任何辯解。（他結婚以後曾經在那裡短期出家）

 

我無意攻擊任何道場，但那一家道場門口掛著他們的南傳佛法是來拯救我們的，但是面對這麽簡易的佛法如何拯救我們呢？真需要他們救豈不悲涼！

 

至少這麼簡單的討論一口飯的貪慾，不曾在我們的南禪精舍出現過。

 

時光倒退，就算我剛出家看到這麽挑戰的字眼，而沒能力反駁，但那邊的人又不能讓我服氣，回去，一定把藏經都讀完，拆他們的牌。

半寄

Reflections on Buddhism 2

 

Our foundation’s CEO is a great bodhisattva, always hearing cries for help. A nun wanted to stay at a Theravada center in Chiayi, but since no one was available to give her a ride, so she drove herself and took me and Prof. Atun along. (Prof. Atun, it has been a while since you went to the U.S, is everything there fine with you?)

 

They were about to give a short talk after lunch, and I stood instead of sitting down. The resident monk said, "You can sit and listen. If you want to leave, you can do so at any time." Hearing this, I sat down.

 

The students shared their thoughts and discussed the greed of wanting to eat one more bite of rice. They were very "serious" about it. I said, "If you’re worried about one more bite of rice, have you considered that you might be hungry?" After saying this, I stood up and left.

 

Our foundation’s CEO and Prof. Atun were stunned and followed me out. I told them, "I warned you that I’m a dangerous person; don’t bring me here." Later, I told Peihong that he had deceived me too much! “What you call Theravada Buddhism is just this, and you still dare to show off in front of me?” He had no response (he had briefly ordained there after getting married).

 

I don’t intend to attack any center, but this one claims that their Theravada Buddhism is here to save us. How can such simple teachings really help us? It’s truly sad if we need their salvation!

 

At least such a basic discussion about the greed for one bite of rice has never occurred in my NanZen Vihara.

 

Looking back, even when I first ordained and faced such challenging words without the ability to respond, the people there never convinced me. I promised myself I would read through the scriptures and dismantle their ideas.

 

Master Banji