点燃希望

重要组成部分

Section 1. 

Buddhism is an important component of Chinese traditional culture

记者：

国家的强盛需要把每一个人的力量汇聚到一起。我们现在经常说，要弘扬国学，我想知道您所理解的国学是什么呢？

Journalist: It is necessary that everyone’s strength can be harnessed into one in order for a nation to be strong and prosperous. We often say nowadays that we should promote and propagate Chinese studies. I would like to know, what is your understanding of Chinese studies?

传喜法师：

中国人自古以来所积淀的传统文化，是中华民族集体智慧的结晶，我们现在称之为国学，说到底就是“人学”，启发一个人如何去发现人性的黑暗，照见光明的自性。这是中华文化深层次的主脉。

Master Chuan-xi: The traditional culture that the Chinese has forged since the ancient times is a crystallization of the collective wisdom of the Chinese people. We call it ‘Chinese studies’ today. To be most exact, it is the study of how to be human. It inspires one to seek out the darker sides of the human psyche so that our illuminated self-nature can be brought out. It is the artery that is found deep within Chinese traditional culture.

国学强调人天相应，人天合一，这是华夏文明超尘脱俗的圣人知见，我们的传统文化始终指向让生命去认识人道规律，以及怎样遵循天道规律。人的知见如果进入高级状态，是谓文明人，社会自然进入良性状态。君子的天下，风调雨顺；小人的天下，危机四伏。

Chinese studies emphasizes the mutual resonance of man and heaven, and their coming together as one. This is the knowledge of the sagely ones of the Hua Xia civilization who have transcended worldliness and humdrum. Our traditional culture has always directed us towards living our lives so that we are able to know the regulations of the Way of the Man, and also to know how to be in accord with the regulations of the Way of Heaven. When a person’s cognition reaches the highest level, he can be called a civilized person and society enters into a wholesome state naturally. It is world of the gentleman in which there are favourable natural conditions. In the world of the inferior man, crises lurk everywhere.

“人学”即是圣贤学，克己复礼，克服动物本能，享受文明成果。因而，学问的本质其实是生命的自我发现。

The study of being human is also the study of being sagely and virtuous – self-discipline and the restoration of the observation of propriety, and the curbing of one’s animalistic instincts so that we can enjoy the fruits of civilization. As such, the essence of this study is in fact the discovery of oneself in life.

记者：

归根到底还是人，法师您以此来说我们中国的传统文化，它如何发展和传承，那我们的传统文化跟我们的佛学又有什么样的内在的联系呢？

Journalist: In the final analysis, it is still about being human. Master, according to what you are saying, how do we develop and pass on this traditional culture of us Chinese? What then is the intrinsic connection between our traditional culture and Buddhism?

传喜法师：

圣人垂衣裳而天下治。也就是，圣人乾智已开，天下方显君子之体。反过来说，天下积重难反之局，只在圣人反掌之间。

Master Chuan-xi: The sagely ones began the rule of all under heaven when they started the custom of putting on clothes. That is, the embodiment of the gentleman was thus manifested when the exalted wisdom of the sagely ones was roused. On the other hand, the situation in which all under heaven had gotten so accustomed to their old habits that they find it difficult to change can materialize as quickly as the time it takes the sagely ones to turn their hands.

当社会渐渐失去原本固有的道德防线，陷入集体趋利状态，人性的黑暗便有机可乘，表相上看，人们相互不信任，各行各业逆流暗涌。我们希望建设文明祥和的社会，但我们正在做的，却只是无限制的追求物质财富。

When society gradually loses the moral defence it originally had and descends into a state of collective profiteering, opportunities arise for the dark side of the human psyche to come into play. People appear to not trust one another, and in every trade and profession, there are sinister undercurrents. We aspire to establish a civilized and harmonious society; yet, what we do is to engage in the unbridled pursuit of material wealth.   

生命是天下父母给予子女的最美好的礼物，智慧是先祖馈赠给子孙最无价的遗产。有精神修养和道德准则的人，必然对传统文化有一种本能的渴求。所以传统文化能不能弘扬，关键看我们对传统文化的理解是什么，有没有投之以诚，让我们的心灵苏醒，发现传统文化的至善至美。就像人有肉体和精神两个层面，慧行健身，智行养心。优秀的中华传统文化恰如一滴甘露，元亨利贞，以美利天下。

Life is the most wonderful gift that all parents can give to their daughters and sons, and wisdom is the most invaluable heirloom one’s forefathers can pass on to their descendants. Someone who is spiritually learned and morally upright must necessarily have an instinctive longing for traditional culture. Therefore, the key to whether traditional culture can be propagated lies in what we understand of traditional culture, and whether we have committed ourselves with sincerity such that our souls have been awakened to the discovery of the wholesomeness and beauty of our traditional culture. It is like the twin aspects of body and mind to being human – one needs to exercise wisdom to build up one’s body as well as to cultivate one’s mind. The excellent traditional culture of the Chinese is like a drop of sweet dew – it is great and originating, penetrating, beneficial, and righteous; and its beauty brings great profits to all under heaven.

佛教东来，传入中国已经有两千多年的历史，极大丰富了中华传统文化的认知维度，两者共生共荣，泽被千秋。儒家以诚为本，佛教以觉为宗。像我们这样的佛门弟子，无论衣食住行， 还是起心动念，都以觉照为观。

It has been more than 2,000 years since Buddhism was transmitted from the West into China, and it has greatly enriched the cognitive dimensional aspects of Chinese traditional culture. The two co-exist and flourish together, and has brought benefits to many for thousands of years. ‘Sincerity’ is the fundamental principle of the Confucian, while ‘enlightenment’ is the objective for the Buddhist. Just like us disciples of Buddhism, we have to contemplate with the aim to enlighten and illuminate, on whatever it is that we do – whether it is how we clothe ourselves, how we eat, how we live, and how we conduct ourselves – or every ideation and thought that arises.

佛教文化一定程度上保留了我们古人的一些生活习惯和文化诉求。对于尚且没有信仰的人来说，孝悌忠信，礼义廉耻亦是佛门世谛；对于皈依者来说，戒恶积善，修福增慧乃为增上良缘；对于修行者来说，观轮回过患，起大悲菩提心，世出世间，直心道场，一路涅槃门。

To a certain extent, Buddhism has managed to retain some of the habitual traits and cultural yearnings our ancestors had. To those who do not yet subscribe to any religious belief, filial piety, brotherly love, loyalty, trust, propriety, righteousness, integrity, and honour are worldly truths in Buddhism. To those who have sought refuge in Buddhism, refraining from evil and accumulating good deeds, engaging in blessed acts and developing wisdom, add to the favourable conditions for one to achieve enlightenment. To the Buddhist practitioner, contemplating on the suffering of the cycle of rebirth, giving rise to the mind of great compassion and enlightenment, not discriminating between transcendence and worldliness, and having a direct and straight-forward mind as the ground for practice, direct one on the path to the gate of Nirvana.

当代社会欲保存古道，弘扬宗风，既要重视传统文化的优秀特质，也不可忽视佛教文化匡扶正气的道义力量。

As present society desires to retain the ancient path and to propagate and spread the ideals of its teachings, it is important that we do not overlook the potential for Buddhist culture to uphold righteousness in the Dao, at the same time as we attach importance to the unique and fine qualities of traditional culture.