比丘尼恆音 講於2012年5月3日星期四晚 萬佛城大殿 A talk given by Bhikshuni Heng Yin on May 3, 2012 (Thursday) at Buddha Hall of CTTB
上人、各位法師、各位佛友：阿彌陀佛！
今天晚上因為我們有很多從遠方來的佛弟子，我想用這個機會分享一些發生在聖城法界佛教大學（簡稱為法大）中令人興奮的事情。可能大家有聽過法大，但不一定知道內部現在的進展。我並不是直接有參與，但我長期都是法大的學生。
法大和我們的中小學一樣，都是上人的一項願景－透過非宗教性的方式，將佛法教育帶給全世界。透過教導德行及我們心識如何運作的原理、學習打坐、欣賞東西方的宗教、文學及哲學等方式，法大與中小學能夠幫助不同宗教的信眾學習更快樂、更有意義、和樂的生活，以及菩薩道。
其實，法大是我當初來萬佛聖城（簡稱為聖城）的主要原因。當上人跟弟子們來訪德州大學舉辦禪修時，我就被佛法所吸引；上人開示孝道以及德行的道理，而這次禪修的體驗改變了我的生命。之後我來聖城參加一個暑期禪七－也是一個重要的轉折，它讓我想專一地學習佛法及修行。但是有一個問題，我不認為我能立即中斷我在德州大學電腦科學博士班一年級的課程，與拒絕優渥的獎學金；況且我也不認為我的父母會同意，畢竟那太突然了。
然而幸運的是，我訂閱了法大的課程目錄，當我看了法大開設的課程後，似乎轉學到法大繼續我的學習是個合宜理智的事。因此那個暑假我向法大提出申請，數月後，我收到法大的入學通知書，我便快樂地打包，準備來聖城長住學習。
法大上課期間，我參加每日的課誦、社區服務、在女校教書及學習將中文開示翻譯成英文；很快地，我決定要出家，因為我需要全心全意地學佛與修行。沒多久我出家了，完成了法大翻譯經典的碩士學位，然而那並未結束我在法大的學習。我從其他的分支道場回來之後，我又回到法大當特別學生，再過幾年，我繼續上法大「佛學修持」的碩士課程。
多年來，我在法大得到多方面的知識－學習語言、將白話文及文言文翻譯成英文、學習梵文讀經，最重要的是，學習解釋佛教的道理給現在的年輕人，就是將佛理從傳統的文義翻譯成現代年輕人可以了解的內容。我也上了幾個學期課程包括：佛學教育課、如何教世界宗教、回教、佛教的倫理道德、佛教的詮釋學及詮釋經典的方式，也有學習不同經典的課程，例如《華嚴經》、《楞嚴經》或《維摩經》等。
最近，我覺得對我有幫助的課程是，一個出家人要了解現代的社會，閱讀一些西方的哲學、心理學著作，同時讀一些佛教的經與論。比如說我們學 Freud（弗洛伊德）跟 Jung（榮格），同時也學唯識；隔一年，我們又學龍樹菩薩跟尼采，還有 William James（威廉•詹姆斯）－他創造了一個美國「實用主義」哲學。有一個學期我們學習古希臘哲學及修行方法。我發現西方的思想家與佛教有很多的共同處，而且對心理跟世界的分析，有著很深的了解，能夠讓我深入了解佛法，將佛教的道理與現代的社會相連。
這些課程主要學習方式，就是直接閱讀原著經典，然後反省思考自身及修行。這與一般的宗教研究方式不同－他們用一種非宗教性的方法學習宗教信仰、行為以及宗教機構，他們採用多元的教規，以及不同學科的研究方法，例如人類學、社會學、心理學、哲學及宗教歷史。換句話說，他們是從表相來學習宗教，教授的學者不一定要信仰宗教或是修行者，甚至有時這樣做會讓人覺得你是有點偏信。
宗教學者可能會研析儀式、信仰、宗教藝術及禮拜方式，或著從經濟學、心理學與歷史學來研究宗教。然而在法大就不同，我們研究經典的目的是知道修行的方法，進而得到解脫，我們是解行並進。在外面一般的宗教學，可能只學習讀經，去判別經典的真偽、對文化的影響、寫經者的動機、如何應用在今日的社會、經典流傳、翻譯及校訂歷史等等。然而，經典最重要的部分─教導修行方法進而得到解脫──卻不被關注。
法大希望仿效上人教導經典的方式－藉由研讀中文經典、解釋與翻譯成英文和其它語言的方式，直接教導我們。上人強調學習文言文可直接了解經文的意思，也讓弟子輪流來解釋與講經說法，讓每個人可以啟發自己本有的智慧，並且互相學習。上人講經的法會可以是幾個禮拜，甚至長達幾年，期間除了日常課誦及許多打坐的時間，讓學生可以去思考經典的意思。上人不鼓勵弟子閱讀學者判別經典真實性的意見，而是要求我們直接讀經，然後自己去決定這部經是否有法的本質（體）在裡面。
上人講經是深入淺出，並直接應用在我們的現況與內心，他用解釋經典的方法，讓我們看到自己的過錯與壞習慣，規勸我們懺悔和改正，淨化我們的內心才能成佛，是沒有捷徑的。上人也鼓勵我們去學習不同修行的方法－律宗、禪宗、教宗、密宗、淨宗。修行是了解經典的基本方式，上人將它融入日常的課程，這些在外面大學裡是找不到的。
在美國，一個大學必須得到當地認證機構的認可才能被承認與招生，法大所在地的認證機構為西區大學院校協會（WASC），要有 WASC 的認可才能核發簽證給國外的學生，這是很重要的，因為許多國外的學生可以來申請法大。我參與育良中學的認證事務，但大學的認證是困難得多了，因為要具備教授大學程度課程的資格。
目前法大有一群具備才能、專業的年輕人，其中有好幾個是我們的校友，或是佛青會成員，這幾年密集研究，如何讓法大將上人的教法、願景、財務永續運作及取得WASC認證緊密的結合，他們發現有一個方式可以滿足這個需要：以原著經典為主的課程；在美國，有幾所大學是用這種方式，如聖約翰學院及湯瑪斯阿奎納斯學院，學生學習西方的原著經典，然而在法大，還會擴大到東西方的原著經典，包含佛教的經與論，也著眼於中文及梵文的學習。這幾所大學與法大一樣注重直接與經典接觸，以團體討論的方式去發現經典涵義，而不是如同之前提從表相去學習，教授及講師也跟學生們一起研究，漸漸地也必須教授不同的科目，例如佛教經典、東方原著經典、西方原著經典、語言、數學、科學、音樂等，因此他們也培養自己變成多才多藝。
或許有人會問：這種課程會吸引學生嗎？我認為東西方想找尋真實智慧及離苦得樂方法的學生都會想來。這些課程不只提供佛教經典，還有一些世界經典，在這憤世嫉俗與焦慮的年代，讓大學生可以直接學習經典並修行轉化成希望之光。從那些年輕人短暫靜修，我們看出許多年輕人渴望一個給他們希望與達到真實自由的方法。這也正是吸引我到法大的願景，而且我相信，法大可以提供一個有意義的課程，去幫助人們找尋智慧、真實與希望。
在這三年的觀音七，法大提供一個方向－晨間的引領禪坐，中午的問答課程及傍晚對新進者的英文討論，奇怪地是，這個討論不只是對初學者，有時會討論到非常深入，讓人可以迴光返照，這些討論可以讓那些不曾想過修行或參加儀軌的人，了解到這些好處，但是別被嚇到，事實上，這個討論常常是講中文的。
我很清楚，法大就是幫助聖城將佛法帶到西方，以及將西方人與現代年輕人接引到聖城不可或缺的部分。
Ven Master, Dharma Masters, Friends in the Dharma, Amitofo,
I’d like to take this opportunity, when we have many disciples from afar, to share about some exciting things that are happening at Dharma Realm Buddhist University (DRBU). Many of you may have heard of the university, but not be aware of what is happening within it. I am not directly involved, but I do have a long history as a DRBU student.
DRBU, like the elementary and secondary schools, are part of the Ven. Master’s vision to bring Buddhist education to the world, primarily through non-religious means. Through the teaching virtue and principles of how the mind works, through teaching meditation, through teaching an appreciation of the religions, literatures, and philosophies of both east and west, the schools and university can help people of all religions learn to lead happier, more meaningful and harmonious lives and to learn to walk the bodhisattva path.
In fact, DRBU is the reason I first came to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB). I was first attracted to Buddhism when the Ven. Master and disciples visited theUniversityofTexasand held a meditation retreat. The experience of meditation was life changing, as were the principles of filial respect and virtue that the Master spoke of. I then came for a summer Chan session, which was pivotal as well. It made me want to pursue Buddhist study and practice fulltime. But there was one problem. I don’t think I would have been able to suddenly stop my studies at UT, as a first year PhD student in the computer science department, turning down a generous fellowship that covered my costs, just like that. I am not sure my parents would have agreed either. It would have been too drastic.
Fortunately, though, I had ordered a DRBU catalog, and after looking at the courses and program, it seemed like a very reasonable thing to continue my graduate studies by transferring to this Buddhist university. So I applied to DRBU that summer. A few months later, I received an acceptance letter from DRBU so I happily packed and prepared to stay at CTTB longterm.
While taking classes in DRBU, I participated in the daily ceremonies and community service, taught in the girls’ school, and learned how to translate Chinese Dharma talks and commentaries into English. I soon developed a strong conviction that I wanted to leave the home life because I needed to devote myself fulltime to learning and practicing the Dharma. Not long afterwards, I became a nun. I still continued at DRBU and completed a Master’s in Translation of Buddhist Texts. That was not the end of my studies at DRBU, however. After spending some time at other branch monasteries, when I came back I started taking classes at DRBU again as a special student. Several years later, I enrolled in another of the Master’s programs, this time in Buddhist Studies and Practice.
Over the years, I have gained a lot from DRBU in many areas of study – starting with languages, learning to translate modern and classical Chinese to English, learning enough Sanskrit to read some Sutras, and more importantly, learning how to explain Buddhist concepts to young people in the modern world, which means translating them out of a traditional Chinese context into terms that people today can understand. Also, I have taken several semesters of classes exploring Buddhist education, how to teach world religions, Islam, Buddhist ethics, Buddhist hermeneutics or way of interpreting texts, etc. There have also been classes focused on studying one particular sutra, such as the Avatamsaka Sutra or Shurangama Sutra, or a particular shastra.
More recently, the courses that I have found most helpful to me as a Buddhist nun trying to relate to the modern world are courses where we read Western thinkers in philosophy and psychology in parallel with Buddhist sutras and shastras. For example, we studied Freud and Jung in parallel with Yogacara philosophy; another year, we read Nagarjuna in parallel with Nietzsche and with William James, a founder of American philosophy of pragmatism. One semester we studied ancient Greek philosophers and the spiritual exercises in their teachings. I discovered that Western thinkers have much in common with Buddhism and have comparable depth in their analysis of the mind and the world, which can enhance my understanding of Buddhism and help me to connect Buddhist concepts to the modern world.
The method of teaching in these courses is to do close reading of the primary texts, and then using them to reflect upon ourselves and our practice. This is very different from the Religious Studies model, which is the secular study of religious beliefs, behaviors, and institutions that draws on multiple disciplines and their methodologies including anthropology, sociology, psychology, philosophy, and history. In other words, it is studying religion from the outside. The scholar need not be a believer or practitioner, and sometimes, is considered biased if he/she professes to be one.
Religious studies scholars might analyze the rituals, beliefs, religious art, and practices of worship, or study religion from the perspective of economics or psychology or history. Whereas at DRBU we study a sutra to know its teachings which lead to liberation, and as part of that study we put its principles into practice, a religious studies student will read the sutra and perhaps analyze whether it is authentic or apocryphal, the cultural influences and motivations of the author, how it is used in monastic communities today, the history of its transmission and translation and revision, and so forth. The most important point of a sutra, its teachings of practices for liberation, may or may not be the focus of the student’s study.
DRBU hopes to model its studies on the way the Ven. Master taught the sutras. He taught them to us directly by letting us read and study them in Chinese, with his explanations, translated into English and other languages. He emphasized the importance of learning some classical Chinese so as to understand the nuances of the text directly. He also asked his disciples to take turn explaining them, so everyone could activate their own wisdom and learn from each other. The schedule during his sutra lecture sessions, which could last for weeks or even years, also included daily ceremonies and several hours of meditation, during which students could ponder the meaning of the sutra. The Ven. Master did not encourage students to read scholarly opinions of the sutra’s authenticity, but asked us to study the sutras directly and decide for ourselves based on whether the sutra carried the essence of the Dharma.
His sutra teachings were profound, yet simple and directly applicable to our current situation and state of mind. He used the sutras and shastras to point out our faults and bad habits, and exhort us to repent and change – purifying our mind was the only way to reach Buddhahood; there was no shortcut. He encouraged us to practice all the different schools of Buddhism, from holding precepts, to Chan, to studying sutras, to mindfulness of the Buddha, to esoteric practices. As practice was an essential element for understanding the texts, it was integrated into the daily schedule. This you cannot find in secular universities teaching Buddhism.
In theUnited States, in order for a university to be recognized and to be able to attract serious students, it must be accredited by one of the regional accrediting bodies, in our case, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). It must also be WASC accredited in order to issue international student visas, which is an important issue for DRBU because often people from Buddhist countries would like to apply. I have been involved in gaining WASC accreditation for our high school, but getting a university accredited is much, much more difficult because of the level of qualifications required to teach college level material to adults.
Currently DRBU has a team of talented professional young people, many of whom are our alumni or members of DRBY, who have been doing intense research for several years into how to ensure that DRBU is aligned with the Ven. Master’s way of teaching and vision, financially sustainable, and WASC accredited. They have found a model that can meet these criteria: a curriculum based on primary texts. In universities with a primary text curriculum such asSt. John’sCollegeandThomasAquinasCollege, students study the Western classics. DRBU, though, will expand the focus to include both Eastern and Western classics, including Buddhist sutras and shastras. DRBU will also focus on Chinese and Sanskrit, two canonical languages. These universities as well as DRBU value a direct interaction with the text, as well as group discussion to uncover its meaning, rather than studying it from secular perspectives such as mentioned above. The professors or instructors also learn along with the students, and are gradually expected to be able to teach or facilitate the study of all the different strands of study – Buddhist texts, Eastern classics, Western classics, language, math, science, music, so that they also become well-rounded and develop themselves.
A question you might ask is: would such a program attract students? I think it would definitely appeal to both Westerners and Easterners, who are looking for genuine wisdom and a way to freedom from suffering. That is what not only Buddhist texts, but to some extent all the classics of the world, offer, and to be able to directly study them and put them into practice offers a light of hope for college students in this age of cynicism and anxiety. From the college students that have come for short retreats, we can see that many of these young people are yearning for something that gives them not only hope but also methods for achieving genuine freedom. This is exactly the vision that attracted me to DRBU, and I believe DRBU offers a meaningful curriculum to people searching for wisdom and truth and hope.
During the three annual Guanyin sessions, DRBU provides an orientation, morning guided meditation, afternoon question-and-answer session, and evening discussion in English for newcomers. Curiously, it’s not just for beginners, because the discussions can go very deep, and people keep returning. These discussions have helped people who otherwise would never consider joining the practice sessions and ceremonies, to take them seriously and benefit from them, and not be daunted by the fact that they are often conducted in Chinese.
It is clear to me that DRBU is an essential part of helping CTTB to bring the Dharma to the West, and to bring Westerners and young people of the modern age to CTTB.