The poor monk has a personality since he was young. He doesn't like one-on-one exchanges, doesn't like living alone, and likes living in groups. Childhood at home is young, because there are many brothers and sisters, just like a group; After becoming a monk, many people in the monk's group slept in a single (open shop), hundreds of people passed through the hall and used the room together. One or two hundred people were inseparable from the morning and evening recitations. They realized that there were many people and the common life was also very interesting.
After coming to Taiwan, the children's class, student union, singing team, Dharma group, literature and art class, tutorial class... and young and old believers of the Buddhist Chanting Association can't live without the masses every day.
At the age of 40, when he opened the mountain in Foguang Mountain, the masses gathered. In addition to people and guests coming and going every day, just the four monks and believers who live together, from a hundred to more than a thousand people, from then on, I can't leave the public any more.
In my memory of my life, I have never had anyone drive anywhere for me, and I have never had five minutes when people didn't know where I was? Every time the car starts, it is full of people. In the past, when there were no high-speed trains or mobile phones, they often traveled between Kaohsiung and Taipei. When Kaohsiung left, they told Taipei by phone; If the car breaks down on the way, and you are delayed for a while, when you arrive in Taipei, the apprentice asks, "Why is Master so slow for half an hour?"? Therefore, I often laugh at myself as a "limited time delivery". After the legal affairs become more and more busy, they will also take Ziqiang train or plane to and fro, which will become a "express".
In a word, team is a situation where I can't leave anywhere. So when I write a word, I often write "I am in the crowd" and "I am in the crowd", which is just my expectation. Because my nature likes the public, and I like to participate in public activities - joint practice, which can be said to be a reflection of my life. Sangha is originally called "Hehe", the so-called "Six Harmony Sangha", and the Buddhist order relies on a "Hehe". Living in a group is becoming a monk, and also taking "harmony" as "monk". How can a group live together if there is no harmony?
The four major purposes of Foguang Mountain are: "to promote Buddhism through culture, to educate and train talents, to benefit the society through charity, and to purify the people through joint cultivation". The first three principles are easy to understand, and the fourth "to purify the people through joint cultivation" must be explained.
All the construction in my life has never been for a single person. For example, to build a jungle college, there are male school departments and female school departments, each with a mountain residence, and the middle must pass through the place where believers gather. Even though there are male and female disciples, they hardly know each other's names and have no contact with each other because of the separation of the treasure bridge.
Mr. Nan Huaijin said in Foguang Mountain that the shape of Foguang Mountain is like an orchid petal; I don't want to be as beautiful as he said, but it can also be said to be like a five finger mountain. The east mountain is male, and the west mountain is female. In the middle is the Mahavira Hall and the Chaoshan Hall where believers come and go for accommodation. At the rear of the Mahavira Hall, those who like meditation can meditate in a meditation hall; Those who like to chant Buddhism can chant Buddhism in Jingyelin (Buddhist Hall), and the Buddha's voice is continuous every day. In addition, in more remote areas, there are nurseries and nursing homes, each with its own hills. Everyone lives in a group.
When I think of the architectural form of the jungle on the mainland in the past, except the abbot's room, there are West Hall and Back Hall, which are mostly inhabited by elders. Because Foguangshan is a young man, he did not think and felt that it was unnecessary to build a solitary residence. All the people are living in groups. It can be said that "there is me among the people", and I am also among the people.
Because I have such a personality, Foguang Mountain holds different activities for all kinds of people. For example, we have held summer and winter camps for the elderly and dinner parties for the elderly living alone, and invited thousands of elderly living alone to have dinner together. I remember when I was over 60 years old, the disciples all knew that I didn't like prolonging my life. For this day, they wanted to celebrate my birthday, so they told me to invite a thousand people of 60 years old to come with me. I had to go against everyone's will, so I accepted it. On the day when I was 60 years old, there were 1300 old people who were 60 years old. I think it was also very meaningful. The so-called "music alone is not like music with others". I am in the crowd, and the public can give us joy and happiness.
In the early days of Foguang Mountain, when the equipment was not complete, the mountain and the National Salvation Corps jointly organized several "junior college youth Buddhist summer camps". Many of the students at that time are now serving the country and society in various posts, such as Chen Zhaolong, president of Kaohsiung Changgeng Hospital, known as the "father of liver change", Lin Shengzhong, chairman of CNPC Lin Fangyu, the president of Taipei Rongmin General Hospital, Zhao Cuihui, the president of the North Association of the Chinese Federation, Xue Zhengzheng, who once served as the chairman of the Yunlin local party department, and so on, all of them have achieved something, which is really gratifying.
Later, local Buddhist Light Societies established youth groups. Dharma masters such as Cirong, Huichuan, Jue Pei and Rubin held "International Buddhist Youth Conference" every year around the world. For example, the United Nations Conference Center in Geneva, France, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Sydney, Australia, Malaysia, Japan and other places are where they attend and meet, It is hoped that modern youth can communicate with each other and open their eyes to the world. For example, at the congress of the Buddhist Light Youth League held in the Malaysian Wizard of Oz, there were 8000 youth league representatives from all over the world gathering. Although I could not do anything like the Buddha's "Spirit Mountain Victory Meeting, Millions of People Day", I was also overjoyed to have 8000 youth gathering at that time to see the future of Buddhism.
Every year, Dharma Masters such as Cihui, Miaofan and Miaoguang hold "International Youth Life Zen Camp" for more than 1000 junior college students from more than 400 universities in the world, such as Harvard University, London University, Peking University and Singapore University, from dozens of countries and regions, and also get warm responses. Word of mouth has it that it has now become an annual event that young students everywhere look forward to.
More than thirty years ago, Master Cirong held a "Women's Bench Meeting" for mothers in Taipei's Pumen Temple, and held a "Teacher Training Camp" for teachers. Later, there was a "Life Education Training Camp", and "Literature Camp" for art lovers and other related activities. For more than 20 years, the "Zen and Pure Practice Association" has been held in three districts in the north, middle and south of China every year. More than 10000 people have participated in each meeting, lighting up thousands of heart lights and wishing the country and society a better future. In addition, every year, more than 1000 academicians gather, and more than 2000 students of the Reading Club often gather to study. As for all kinds of believers' workshops, volunteer workshops, short-term monastic meetings, etc., they have never stopped for decades. As a short-term monk, there were more than ten thousand people who had signed up. It can be seen that Foguang Mountain has a considerable energy to attract people to organize activities. Even children's activities in summer vacation and winter vacation must be held in echelon because of the large number of people.
Mr. Li Yaochun, who once worked in the Ministry of Education, is the guardian of Foguang Mountain. He volunteered to come to the Foguang Association to be responsible for the promotion and implementation of the "Foguang Children's Corps". Both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are officially registered with the World Association of Boy Scouts. They often camp around the world and participate in the rally. It can also be regarded as helping us cultivate children's seedlings! It can be said that there are so many joint practice activities to purify people's hearts.
During these activities, the hardest work is still the Faxin Bodhisattva in the typical seat (cooking) in Daliao (kitchen). The apprentice who was in charge of the ceremony seat of Yunju Building told me that last year (2014), just in the summer vacation of two months, there were more than 200000 people eating in the dining hall of Yunju Building. In order to thank many Bodhisattvas for coming to volunteer, I often express my thanks and encouragement with fruits and cookies. I don't know how many times.
Of course, some people criticize us for just holding activities without practice, but from the early days when Yilan youth followed poor monks around the village to preach around the island, to now, there are hundreds of Tantan lecturers and preachers around the world, such as Zheng Shiyan, Zhong Maosong, Wu Qinshan, Li Honghui, etc. They are all around the world, preaching Buddhism again and again, making more people shocked by Buddhism, Having gained confidence, we have to say that these activities have not contributed to them. The practice of the Bodhisattva Way is an active six degree balami that "I hope all living beings will leave their suffering and not seek happiness for themselves". I am also very proud that I can help you purify your body and mind with Buddhism.
As far as personal cultivation is concerned, the four disciples living in Foguang Mountain, namely, Bhikkhu, Bhikhuni, Yoposei and Yopoyi, have three meals and one dish every day, besides the two o'clock class (morning and evening classes), and have been studying in the classroom for at least eight hours for decades. In addition, there are meditation halls, Buddha chanting halls, and downhill services. Do they practice or not?
Now, Foguang Mountain has more than 300 monasteries in the world. Like the Christian Sunday worship, the monasteries hold joint practice on Saturdays. At the same time, the global Buddhist people chant Buddhism at the same time. On average, there are three hundred to five hundred people in each ashram, and there are ten thousand people chanting Buddhism at the same time. They explore their own world from their own heart, and do not pursue the outside world. They also increase their confidence in Buddhism.
In addition to traditional chanting, preaching and saying, Catholics used to form a basketball "home team" to fight in the world in order to preach, which added a lot of honor and believers to Catholicism. Therefore, when I was young, I always hoped that Buddhism could also have a "returning to Buddhism basketball team", and indirectly spread Buddhism around the world by "meeting friends through basketball" with teams from all over the world.
Later, from Pumen Middle School to Foguang University, women's basketball teams were set up one after another. Every year, the "Foguang Cup" friendly competition was held, inviting universities around the world to participate. In order to cheer for the basketball team, the accident led to the formation of the "Foguang Cheerleading Team". As long as there is a schedule, the north, central and south areas will take turns to cheer for the players. Among them, many of them even participated in the game. Master Yongguang, who often led the cheerleading team to cheer, said that many of these grandparents applauded and cheered with everyone in the game. After a game, they suddenly felt that their waist was not sore, their back was not painful, and their body and mind were comfortable. Everyone said that they felt younger.
Because of this reason, the poor monk thought that an association could be established to promote sports for all and purify the social atmosphere, so as to attract more people who like sports to learn Buddhism. In 2009, through the approval of the Ministry of the Interior, the "Three Good Sports Association" was officially established, with Lai Weizheng, a sports loving Jushi, as the president, and Master Huizhi, a sports master from Normal University, as the Secretary General.
In addition to basketball, there are also women's gymnastics teams, baseball teams in Pumen Middle School, and even the "Son of the Tathagata" in the Tathagata Temple in Brazil. Master Juecheng and Master Miaoyuan have also set up a "Foguang Football Team" for them. Every year, they are invited to participate in competitions in Sao Paulo and have achieved good results.
Seeing the cheering of thousands of people in these venues, I felt that sports are really fascinating. I hope that through sports, the so-called "Sick Man of East Asia" title of the Chinese people can be removed, and the Chinese people can become the world's champion, healthy and healthy. The poor monk also hopes to increase the sports population for Buddhism, even in art, music, art and other aspects, so that Buddhism can have a seat in it.
The poor monk classifies these activities as "joint practice", because we believe that they should include not only Buddhist lectures, reading meetings, symposiums, and even various public activities, but also group activities that are beneficial to the purification of body and mind. It is said that before we become Buddhists, we should first become popular. Because of joint practice, we can become friends with millions of people in the world. Of course, we can imagine the busyness it brings us. For example, Foguang Mountain has not closed its gate for 24 hours. People often come back from abroad. When they arrive, it is already 12 o'clock, and they have no supper, but they still have to cook for him; Some people are late for trains and planes, and often wait for them at midnight. Why? Because we are a team's ashram, for individuals from all over the world, we are welcome.
I remember that when the Xilai Temple was first built in Los Angeles more than 20 years ago, people often called from New York and said, "It's five o'clock in the afternoon here. Five hours later, I will arrive in Los Angeles. Please send someone to pick me up. He took off at five o'clock in the afternoon and arrived in Los Angeles after five hours. It was ten o'clock in the evening in New York, but it was three o'clock in the morning in Los Angeles.
We also often receive parents from Taiwan to the United States in this way. At that time, there was a saying in the society that "five sons joined the imperial family". As for the so-called "five sons joining the imperial family", many elderly parents cherish the ideal of joining the children of immigrants overseas to enjoy the happiness of their family. Many of these parents have become "blind people" who can't watch TV or English newspapers; Deaf people who cannot listen to English; A mute who cannot speak English; I don't know how to drive when I go out, and few people walk in Los Angeles. I dare not go out, so I became the "Dharma Child"; When they go overseas, they should wash clothes and clean for their children, so as to become "filial sons" who take care of their grandchildren.
However, the children were busy working every day, unable to take care of the parents of the "five sons" who were admitted to the imperial examination. After living for several months, they were not happy. They all came to Xilai Temple to live with us. They enjoyed eating Chinese food, speaking Chinese, and worshipping Chinese Buddhas. Fortunately, we have the spirit of team consensus and one family from all over the world!
Human Buddhism does not exclude the basic needs of human life, and does not go against the trend of the social era. The so-called Darwinism "natural selection, survival of the fittest", we cannot fail to meet the needs of this era. Therefore, the fourth of the four major purposes of Foguang Mountain: "Purify people's minds through joint practice" is the meaning.
Through holding a variety of joint practice activities, it is convenient to receive and practice Buddhism. The so-called "compassion is the foundation, convenience is the door, and prajna is the use", as long as it is consistent with Buddhism and properly used, eighty four thousand Dharma doors are all wonderful Dharma. Cultivation is not just about individual life and death, but also about being able to serve and contribute to the public. To be a man is not to make a "famous mouth", but to be a man is not just to blame others for their mistakes every day, thinking that he is helping others and is great, but to be able to make friends with others and serve them.
Someone jokingly asked me if I was enlightened in my practice? From these many activities, I have realized once and again, or worshiping Buddha, or sitting in meditation, or practicing together with Buddha and Bodhisattva for more than 70 years. Do you think I have enlightenment or not? Enlightenment does not mean enlightenment, which is not what I said. All of this needs to be confirmed by Buddha and Bodhisattva. But who can we find to prove it now? However, the Buddha is in our mind. The Buddha should know me, and I should also know the Buddha.
