Question and Answer Session at Renmin University of China

March 17, 2011, evening

(1) Question: I am training to be a teacher in the School of Journalism. Last year, there was a controversial incident: After obtaining a full scholarship to go to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Liu Zhiyu from Peking University decided to become a monk at Longquan Temple. This matter drew the attention of our community. It was considered a tremendous waste of social resources that such a talented and lucky person would reject a promising and bright future to become a monk and that his action was extremely irresponsible toward his parents and teachers. However, some people felt that becoming a Dharma teacher was also a valid career choice. Since you have been a monastic for over twenty years, I would like to ask, what exactly is this career? What are your personal feelings about it?

Answer: I don’t think it is a big deal for a talented Beijing University student to become a monk at Longquan Temple. Before Shakyamuni Buddha became a monastic, he was a prince. In Chinese history, Shunzhi Emperor also chose to become a monk. If we compare a talented student to the prince and emperor, then it is not something particularly surprising or significant for a talented student to become a monk. Becoming a monastic is a personal choice. When someone has studied and learned about Buddhism to a certain level, it is quite common for him or her to seek a new way of life.

Of course, it is normal for some people to think that his choice was a mistake. This also includes my own case. When I became a monk, many of my classmates felt that I was the most unsuccessful person. Some even cried for me in sympathy. However, when we met up together again twenty years later, those who had chosen to be laypeople had each gone through ups and downs of life. On the contrary, my monastic life has so  much freedom and joy, very little desire, and is very content. Consequently, a number of them started to admire me.

As such, from the secular point of view, it is difficult for people to accept the choice to become a monastic, but from the Buddhist perspective, this is very normal. Atisha, for example, was Prince of Bangladesh. It says in the history books that his country had one hundred thousand village households and many people lived there. However, triggered by virtues in his previous life, he eventually gave up his throne and followed a monastic life.

Often, many university students and teachers come to our Buddhist institute to become a monastic. However, before anyone becomes a monk or nun, I always ask them to observe the monastic life properly first. Otherwise, it is not very good to become a monastic and then regret it.

Question: You have talked about many issues regarding cause and effect today. However, as ordinary people, we are not able to see our past and future life, nor can we see hell or heaven. Since it is so, how can we know that they truly exist? How can we establish a genuine faith in cause and effect?

Answer: It is not easy to establish this kind of understanding or view. Not only things like heaven and hell, but the solar system, the Milky Way, black holes, and other profound astrological fields are also beyond what our naked eye can perceive. However, just as those hidden phenomena or mysteries of the universe that are invisible to our naked eye can be revealed through astronomical discoveries and theories, in the same way, the truths in Buddhism are supported by the teachings of Buddha. We need this kind of proof or support since the ability of our naked eye is very limited.

A while back, when Stephen Hawking came to Beijing to give his lecture, due to the profundity and complexity of his theories, many students from TsingHua University and Peking University were not able to grasp his ideas, and some even left the lecture early. In his discoveries, the universe is not merely three-dimensional space, there exist many more multidimensional spaces, and it can even expand to eleven dimensions. This shows that there exist many hidden phenomena or mysterious that are beyond the reach of our naked eye.

Thomas Edison, Galileo Galilei, Sir Isaac Newton, and other prominent scientists also recognize the existence of heaven and hell. We can see this from their biographies.

Therefore, like it says in the Buddhist Pramana treatise, the Pramānavārttikakārika, what our naked eye fails to perceive does not necessarily lack existence. This is particularly true in the case of some subtle and profound areas where even though our naked eye cannot perceive them, we can still establish their existence through inferential conclusions.

(2) Question: I am a first year student in the Department of Finance. Buddhism emphasizes “renunciation,” but when Shakyamuni Buddha became a monk, he was already over thirty years old. By that time, he had already gone through many things in life, and was therefore able to gain renunciation. As for you, you became a monk when you were still very young. May I  ask what was the basis for your decision to follow a monastic life?

Answer: Shakyamuni Buddha, on the surface, did  initially enjoy life in the palace. Then, when he encountered the old, sick, and dead while traveling outside the palace, he eventually generated the mind of renunciation, became a monk, and ultimately gained enlightenment – becoming a Buddha.

This is the explanation based on the common Sutrayana view. As for the uncommon Mahayana and Vajrayana explanation, it is said that while Shakyamuni Buddha was on the bodhisattva path, he had been a monastic and had practiced Dharma for countless times and billions of eons. His last reincarnation was just his manifestation to show sentient beings how to become a Buddha.

Regarding the biography of Shakyamuni Buddha, the Vaibhashika and Sautrantika schools in the Hinayana, and the Yogacara, Madhyamaka, and Vajrayana schools in the Mahayana all have their distinct views. Regarding this particular area, I have recently been translating a text on the history of Tibetan Buddhism and, at the beginning of this text, the whole process and experiences of Buddha’s enlightenment, from the time of his becoming a monk to  his enlightenment, are described there. When this translation is complete, if you are interested, you can read about it.

As for my personal reason for becoming a monk, at that time it was because I was very interested in dialectical thinking and psychology, and I also yearned to understand the truth of reality. I felt that if I had to follow a life such as going to work in the morning and coming home in the evening, getting married and having children, then when I was over fifty years old, whatever I had done would have become the past, and would be gone, just like that.  In contrast, in choosing to become a monk, although my life would not be exciting, there would be plenty of opportunities to study, and there would not be much stress.

My initial state of mind when I first became a monk was just that simple. After I had some understanding about Buddhism, I began to realize that being a monastic shouldn’t only be for the sake of our own joy and happiness, it should be about benefiting sentient beings and taking the responsibility to promote the Buddhadharma.

(3) Question: I am a visiting scholar at RenMin University. I am quite interested in religious study and have read some books about religions. I would like to ask: Do you treat Buddhism as intellectual enquiry and philosophical research only, or do you treat it the traditional way, with taming the mind as essential?

Answer: Good question. Buddhism is not just about intellectual enquiry. What is more important is putting it into practice – to truly tame the mind. If you have transformed your mind to a certain level, whether you are a monastic or a layperson, you will experience something transcendental; this will definitely happen.

For so many years, not only have I enjoyed    reading books and studying Dharma, but I also very much aspire putting them into practice, so as to truly realize their meaning. Whether it is about bodhicitta, renunciation, or the wisdom of selflessness, I have had systematic study and practice experiences. Albeit my practice is not good, I truly have made some effort. Otherwise, having a mere literal understanding without any realization would only result in rhetorical, bubble-like speeches.  For that reason, putting Dharma into practice and gaining experiential understanding is vital.

This is not just relevant for Dharma teachers; it applies to all Dharma students, too. As the Flower Adornment Sutra says, just as a thirsty man near a river who, due to his fear of drowning, chooses not to drink the water and so dies of thirst. In the same way, a person who has listened to the Dharma but doesn’t practice it will not gain any benefit from it.

(4) Question: I have read some Buddhist scriptures; however, my contact with Buddhism is only at the literal level. May I know how to put them into practice?

Answer: The practice of meditation can be divided into analytical meditation (Tib. chegom) and settling meditation (Tib. jokgom). Analytical meditation refers to gradually integrating the teachings we have received into our daily activities through investigating and familiarizing ourselves with the meaning of the teachings. For example, after we understand that all things and events are impermanent, we can then put this into practice and let it penetrate into our daily activities. As for settling meditation, it refers to having a quiet and peaceful environment, eliminating all dualistic thoughts, and then settling the mind in the meaning of the teachings.