找回文化自信， 迎来生命的新生

Only through Inner Spiritual Awakening, can you Transcend to Nirvana

01.A Life of Cultivation is Invariably One of Progression

Each day subtracted from the calendar is a day deducted from a finite span. Happily, our passage through time and space leaves its trace: deeds gradually take shape just as crops do — like seed sown in a field, once planted it must sprout and bear fruit.

Therefore, if a practitioner makes cultivation the axis of his existence, the merit of the Way increases day by day — hence, we have the saying “The purse may be empty, yet the Way is never poor.” Outwardly we may live with the barest material needs, yet inwardly the spirit remains inexhaustibly rich. As my late master, Venerable Wugong, often murmured to himself, “Whether one has the Way or not—one alone knows.”

Thus, though the human life still dances to the sorrow of partings and the joy of reunions, though flood and fire vie with man‑made calamities, the life of one who cultivates is one of progress. How is that progress shown? By an inner architecture ever more integral and harmonious; by body, speech and mind ever purer and clarified; precepts, concentration and wisdom augmented. Put in modern terms, one’s very field of energy is uplifted.

From of old, every disciple of the Buddha who has set foot on this path has witnessed life transfigured, for Buddhism is a journey to awakening and enlightenment, a voyage towards the Nirvana.

However inconstant the cycle of rebirth may be, the Dharma abides serene and undisturbed. Not for a year or two, but for over three millennia the Tathāgata’s opened the broad Bodhi Way, establishing the Pure Land of the mind. With vows vast and measureless He gathers in all beings— quick or slow, keen or dull, none are excluded.

Thus, a striking contrast appears. In worldly existence each passing day diminishes life; for the practitioner every day enlarges merit, broadens the horizon of being, until in the end it becomes “Infinite Light, Infinite Life”.

If life meant only impermanence and decay, how should we commemorate the year 2024? For one who practises there is no need. Bygone days form a four‑dimensional thread of merit; it is simply there—no one can wrench it away.

Such is the wonder of the Dharma. This is the true meaning of the old blessing, “May Heaven increase your years and Man increase your longevity.” What is longevity? “To die and yet not perish—that is called longevity.” Only merit confers such true life. Here lies the great divergence between the Dharma and the world.

2. Returning to the Great Way: the choice of Eastern civilisations

Throughout history, explorations of reality have seldom strayed beyond the scope of “two plus one”. The “two” refers to the dualistic world of phenomena; the “one” to the realm of the Great Way. The more ancient the era, the more the inquiry inclined towards the “one”. Since the Renaissance period, and especially from the eighteenth century onwards, discourse on the “one” has steadily waned.

Today global society immerses itself in the dualistic sphere of mathematics, physics and chemistry—while the domain of the Great Way, of this supremely unified, ultimate truth, is largely brushed aside and ignored.

Yet, this is precisely this “One” that we, as Buddhist disciples, seek. Because with the One life gains the path of enlightenment; in possessing the “one”, humanity gains civilisation.

Why, scholars ask, did Western philosophy give birth to science, to rigorous logic and to the mainstream culture of our time, while the East seemingly did not? Many philosophers remain ensnared by this quandary.

Without clarifying it, we cannot understand the heart of the cultural self‑confidence inspired by five thousand years of Chinese civilisation. Wherein lies the system that supports this confidence?

In fact, Eastern civilisation has never been inept at numbers, patterns or science. Tradition declares: “The Way gives birth to the One; the One begets the Two; the Two begets the Three; and Three engenders the myriad of all things.” The four images, the eight trigrams, the sixty‑four hexagrams with their two thousand‑plus changing lines contain even time and space. Historically, in mathematics, astronomy and the mechanical arts China were never inferior. Why then did Eastern invention not drive relentlessly forward?

Chinese inventors did not pursue unbounded technological escalation, for such endeavours remain bound to the dualistic realm, to the domain of things, whereas Chinese value‑recognition must ultimately return to the One. Our elders warned against “being lost by over-indulging in things and losing aspiration”. That aspiration must return to the Great Way. Whether politics, mathematics, astronomy or geography, all were charged with “conveying the Way”.

Hence, the ancients treated technology with caution. It was not lack of intelligence or logical capacity, but because they foresaw its perils. History has repeatedly shown that each advance in technology adapts to create more effective weaponry, and each carnage surpasses the last. Has human civilisation has truly progressed?

Humanity needs Eastern wisdom; we cannot stake everything by betting upon the dualistic world. Were history to turn anew, I believe our sages would still choose the Eastern Road that returns to the Great Way.

3. Restoring Cultural Confidence, Welcoming Life Renewed

Though most people remain caught in duality, no multitude can outweigh a single being who dwells in the unity of the Way. Even if such fully awakened minds are few, one such person suffices to benefit countless beings. As the Buddha taught: should the three‑thousand‑fold cosmos be filled with first‑stage Bodhisattvas, their combined merit could not be conceived next to that of a single second‑stage Bodhisattva.

Because of this principle our forebears declared, “Though ten thousand stand in my path, I advance.” When millions are intoxicated by duality, a sage who awakens to the One and abides in Unity, walks unimpeded among them, untouched yet able to influence all. 

Thus, throughout history, brilliant sages have appeared, glittering like stars across the vault of night, appearing every three to five centuries.

Even when a Bodhisattva descends to this world and lives outwardly in accord with its conventions, he does not make it his refuge, this is not his true home. Though his feet may tread this earth, his heart-mind abides in the Land of Bliss.

Let us not despise the power of the One simply because the Two seems to dominate. The power of the Great Way is beyond reckoning. Even if we have not yet entered Unity, our earnest longing for it already carries immense strength.

Likewise, civilisation is not confined by geography. Eastern wisdom is not limited to the East, nor Western culture to the West. Civilisation belongs to whoever lives it and honours it.

Present‑day humanity must integrate the two traditions of East and West. While the dualistic realm prospers, we need the refuge of the One to ground our values of life. We may enjoy the comforts of modernity and cherish the riches of ancient wisdom; dwell in Dharma‑joy and meditative delight in the present life, and be assured of the Pure Land hereafter. There is no contradiction.

Thus, each person is “without mental obstruction, without fear, far from inverted dreams”—a life truly auspicious. Families, societies, and all life radiates fields of positive energy.

The turning of the seasons itself has no meaning; what matters is the meaning we confer upon time and space. New birth is not found in a calendar but in the awakening of the heart-mind. We have already encountered the Dharma — the pinnacle of the human inheritance—we must learn it well, with the humility it deserves.

In this New Year, may each of you regain cultural confidence and welcome the rebirth of your lives, with inner Spiritual Awakening.

THE END