80岁老教授的来信：《现代和尚——传喜法师》（二）Master Chuanxi——A Modern Monk
（3）出家的宗旨，现代和尚和旧时和尚相比较，迥然不同。前面说的三个旧时的和尚，他们都为生计，为取得一个饭碗而出家，且都在年小时。佛家规定，童子出家不得小于7岁。这条规定隐含着这样一个残酷的历史，走投无路的父母，把还不懂事的孩子送入空门，且为数着实不少。现代和尚就不是这样了。传喜法师出家前，是个私人老板，他在1986年，20岁时领了营业执照，那时工资一两百元就算高了，而他能赚两三千，他早早就成了万元户。他之所以自觉自愿地走入寺庙，是为了寻求人生的意义。他在1990年，24岁时，就在上海圆明讲堂明旸大和尚座下，做了三皈依（皈依三宝，以佛、法、僧为师）五戒（不可杀、盗、淫、妄、酒），开始茹素念佛，他还组建念佛团领众精进共修，成了一个出色的居士。中国历史上，许多知名的诗人常以“居士”为号，如李白号“青莲居士”，白居易号“香山居士”，苏轼号“东坡居士”，一代女词人李清照号“易安居士”。近代文化名人赵朴初也是个笃信佛教的居士。与传喜法师出家前居士身份不同的是，他们并不茹素，且有妻室或夫婿。
传喜法师从居士到剃度，这中间有个很特别的朝山经历。他认为修道修行，不应该住家里，应该到山里去。他从上海乘火车到绍兴，然后步行到了新昌大佛寺。第二天，走了一整天，天黑了才到达石梁方广寺。方广寺老和尚知道他来意后说：“修道修行，进一步应该出家。”就在方广寺，种下了出家的因子。过几天，到了天台国清寺。国清寺遇到慧良老法师，老法师一身清气，他深受感动，跟着老法师做功课。离开国清寺，又走苍括山、雁荡山，一直走到温州。这一次步行，整整用了一个月时间。回到上海后，又带团朝山，第二次到了新昌大佛寺。接着去朝普陀山，去阿育王寺，去天童寺。在天童寺正碰上松山老和尚圆寂。老和尚93岁，那天做早课时还在，到吃早饭时，就在椅子上盘着腿坐化了，老和尚的修行真是到了生死自如的境界。传喜法师恭敬他，就给这位老和尚助念，送老和尚起程。后来传喜法师又第三次来到新昌大佛寺拜见悟道大和尚。大和尚身边的人对他说，如果你能在这里出家就好了。他问，我出家，师父会答应吗？大和尚身边的人说，你求啊，你要发心。经这么一点拨，他出家的因缘成熟了。出家那天，他妈妈、哥哥，还有念佛团里的一些老太太，租了一辆大巴士，把他送到了新昌大佛寺。剃度当天，传喜法师就跟着师父去朝五台山。这是1994年，他29岁。后来传喜法师又去西藏五明佛学院参修，2001年参拜新龙江堆寺，又朝圣雄龙西神山等。传喜法师这个朝山朝圣经历，在旧时和尚当中，这也许可当作天方夜谭来说吧。
（4）现代和尚学习现代文化，又会应用现代文化。传喜法师2006年在上海佳艺龙腾装饰公司作弘法演讲，他说，佛教不是有神论者，佛教主张无神论。这个说法颇新鲜，颇惊人，颇能夺人眼球。传喜法师的高明，在于能自圆其说。他说，佛不是说不承认神的存在，但此神与彼神不一样。其他宗教所谓的神，指的是创造世界、创造人类、掌握人间悲欢离合的主宰。佛教认为，没有谁可以掌握我们的命运，命运是你自己掌握的。佛是觉悟的众生，众生是没有觉悟的佛。换句话说，人人都有佛性，如果入了迷途，为“业”所困，佛性就在你身子里睡觉了。你一旦皈依三宝，从“业”中解脱出来，你觉悟了就成了佛。这就让人明白，禅宗为什么提倡“顿悟”，提倡“放下屠刀，立地成佛”。传喜法师从有神无神的角度，阐发了皈依三宝的重要，除恶为善的重要，自我觉悟的重要。
2005年，传喜法师在马来西亚新山西莲阁讲佛学，他说到了诺贝尔奖得住丁肇中先生。丁肇中博士认为地球上任何一个正物质都会有负物质。地球上捕捉不到负物质，丁博士设计了科学仪器，到太空去收集。传喜法师说，丁博士的理论和中国古老的哲学“一阴一阳谓之道”相契合。法师又说，有一次丁肇中到中国，有记者问他：“尊敬的丁博士，按照你的推论，任何物质都有它的负物质，我们人从唯物的角度上说也是一种物质，那我们人也有一个负的人喽？”丁教授很肯定地说：是的。记者继续问：“我们这个正的人什么时候能够跟我们负的人碰面呢？”丁教授回答得很奇特，他说，不能。记者追问，为什么不能碰面。教授说：“如果正的人和负的人碰面，就变成光明了。”读了这段文字，觉得不可思议，就去物理组请教。物理组有年长的，也有年轻的，一致认同正物质和负物质说，还举了例，譬如正离子、负离子，正极、负极。说到人，他们都说没见到过文字的记载。一个中年老师说，人是许许多多物质的综合体，不能说是一种物质。回到会议室，碰到老杨，他是老一辈，退休的，可能见多识广，让他看传喜法师这段演讲。老杨说，人这个说法没听说过，太玄了，不好说。如果注明出处，可查考。没交待来源，只能存疑了。回到家里，再读法师的这段话，终于明白了“醉翁之意”。“如果正的人和负的人碰面，就变成光明了。”法师接过丁肇中这句话说，“这是用科学方法在修行。”阿弥陀佛，是梵语，中文意思是“无量光”，就是负面和正面的合一。“念佛就是为了正物质和负物质的综合。”岔道和正道合一，“就将是光明，就是极乐世界，是无量光无量寿。”啊，传喜法师真棒呀！古老的《无量寿经》，耳熟的“阿弥陀佛”，经法师现代化的宣讲，更显得蓬勃有生气了。如果我先后交谈过的三位和尚现在还在世，读一读《钵水云影》，一定会佩服得五体投地，愿为法师的门徒了！
宁波效实中学语文特级教师
正教授级中学高级教师
冯中杰
（3）With regards to the purpose of becoming amonk, there is a vast difference between the modern monk and the old monks. The above mentioned three monks had chosen the path due to poor family condition.Becoming a monk at least ensured their survival. They all became monks at a very young age. This was a cruel part of the history where many parents could not feed their own children and were left with no choice but to send them to the monasteries. That was why a rule was set so that children below the age of 7 were not allowed to be ordained as monks.Master Chuanxi’s path to monkhood was completely different. He was an entrepreneur in his 20s in 1986. In those days, earning one to two hundred yuan a month was considered as high income while the master was making two to three thousand yuan, and possessed wealth of well over 10,000 yuan. Due to the urge to seek the true purpose of life, he started studying Buddhism. In a ceremony held by the highly respectable venerable Master Mingyang at Shanghai YuanmingLecture Hall (in 1990), he took refuge in Three Jewels (the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha) and undertook Five Precepts (refrain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, making false statements and drinking alcohol). He became a vegetarian and established a Buddhist chanting group to practice Buddhism diligently. He was an outstanding lay Buddhist. In the history of
From a lay Buddhist to becoming a monk, Master Chuanxi had very special experiences while making pilgrimages to some sacred mountains. He believed that in order to follow a religious path and cultivate one’s spiritual strength, staying at home was inappropriate. It should be in the mountains. So, he took a train from Shanghai to Shaoxing.From there, he walked to Grand Buddha Temple in Xinchang. He continued walking on the second day and arrived at FangguangTemple of Shiliang in the night. The old monk at the temple told him that: “The next stage to practicing Buddhism and cultivating one’s spiritual path is to become a monk. It was at that time that the seed of his monkhood was planted. A few days later, he went to Guoqing Temple in Tiantai. He was very attracted to and moved by the unique charisma of the old venerable Master Huiliang of the temple. After departing from the temple, he continued his journey on foot to Wenzhou for a month passing through Mount Cangkuo and Mount Yandang. When he finally went back to Shanghai, he brought his chanting group to make pilgrimages to mountains and went to Grand Buddha Temple for the second time. Later, he visited Mount Putuo, AshokaTemple and Tiantong Temple.It was at Tiantong Temple that he witnessed the 93-year old monk, Songshan, attained Nirvana. The old monk still completed his morning prayer and sat on a chair in a cross-legged, sitting posture before dying. This proved that his level of attainment was very high because his own life and death were completely in his control. Master Chuanxi participated in the praying ceremony after the death of the old monk.
（4）For the third visit to Grand Buddha Temple,he met venerable Master Wudao. Disciples of Master Wudao told him that it would be good if you could become a monk here. Master Chuanxi asked if the venerable would agree. The disciples said that you must beg for it and make a vow. This was when the fate of his monkhood began. On the day of taking tonsure ceremony,his mom, brother and members of the chanting group rented a big bus to send him to Grand Buddha Temple.On the very same day, his master (Master Wudao) brought him to Mount Wutai for pilgrimage. This was when he was 29 years old (1994). Later, he also went to Larong Gar Five Sciences Buddhists Academy to further his study in Buddhism. In the subsequent years, he continued to making pilgrimages to Jiangdui Temple in Xinlong, Mount Western God in Xionglong and many others. Compared to those old monks whom I mentione dear lier, I guess these special experiences of Master Chuanxi were truly unbelievable and unimaginable for them.
The modern monk learns and applies the modern culture. In 2006, Master Chuanxi gave a Dharma talk at Shanghai Jiayi Longteng Company. He said that Buddhism advocated atheism. This statement was, to a large extent, surprising. The master is very skillful because his statements are always consistent, justifiable and notself-contradicting. He said that Buddha did not deny about the existence of ‘god’, but the ‘god’ here in Buddhism was different from the conventional god that people often refer to. In other religions, God is the creator of the world and humankind, and He (the God) is the main controller of our sorrows,happiness, separations and reunions. One of the key beliefs of Buddhism on the other hand is that no one can control our fate or destiny except ourselves. A Buddha is actually a sentient being who is enlightened while a sentient beingis actually a Buddha who is not enlightened. In other words, every one of us possesses the Buddha-nature. When we are lost in the karmic effect that we create, our Buddha-nature fell asleep in our body. However, if we take refuge in Three Jewels and liberate ourselves from the karmic effect, we can attain enlightenment and hence become Buddha. This is why Zen sect advocates sudden attainment of enlightenment. There is a famous saying in regards to this: ‘A butcher becomes a Buddha at the moment he drops his cleaver’. Through the aspects of theism and atheism, Master Chuanxi explicated the importance of taking refuge in Three Jewels, cutting off the evil acts and cultivating the good deeds, and attaining enlightenment through self-realisation.
During a visit to
Reading the book up to this point, I found it amazing and wentto the Physics department to consult my friends. Within the department, both the elder and young physicists agree with the theory about positive and negative substances. They also gave examples like positive and negative ions as well as positive and negative poles. However, when it comes to human as amatter, they all had never seen any written record about it. A middle-aged teacher said that humans are a kind of synthesis which is made of many various substances. Back to the meeting room in the office, I met Mr. Yang, a retired teacher who should be very experienced and knowledgeable. I showed him the speech of Master Chuanxi. He said that he had never heard about this idea applying to humans. He also said that this was mysterious and unless references were provided, it would be difficult to make any further comments about it.
When I reached home, I re-read this part of the book again and finally it all became clear to me. Master Chuanxi used the statement, “When the positive person meets the negative person, it turns into light.” to tell us a scientific way of practicing Buddhism. ‘Amitabha’ is in Sanskrit and it means‘infinite light’ i.e. the integration of the negative and the positive. The purpose of reciting Amitabha is to synthesize the positive and the negative substances. When the two substances meet, “it is light, it is the world of utmost joy, it is infinite light and life”. Master Chuanxi was brilliant that he used such a modern approach to explain the ancient Sutra of Buddha of Boundless Life. If the three monks whom I mentioned above were still alive and got a chance to read this book, I am sure that they would have complete admiration for Master Chuanxi and become his disciples!
爱出者爱返，福往者福来。随喜转载，功德无量。
