TTeachingseachings inin ChineseChinese BuddhismBuddhism Selected Translations of Miao Yun HAN DD ET U 'S B B O RY eOK LIBRA E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.buddhanet.net Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc. EDITOR’S NOTE Venerable Yin Shun’s expertise and writings in Buddhism have been widely acknowledged by the Chinese Buddhists this century. The “Miao Yun Collection” written by the Venerable provides us with important information and a systematic approach to Buddhism, giving us a better insight and understanding of Buddhism. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Triple Gem, and hope that more people may benefit from the Venerable’s writing. In Australia, there are very few English books on Mahayana Buddhism. In order to introduce the Buddha’s teachings to Westerners, members from the University of New South Wales Buddhist Society, the Sydney University Buddhist Society and the Hwa Tsang Monastery Inc. thought about translating the Mahayana sutras and texts, and chose Venerable Yin Shun’s work as the choice of translation. The collection of this translation will be called “Selected Translations of Miao Yun Part I”. We have selected and translated eight articles from five books in the Third volume of the Miao Yun Collection; namely “The Dharma is the Saver of the World”, “The Three Essentials in Practising the Teaching of the Buddha”, “The Buddha lives in the world”, “To investigate the Dharma according to the Teachings of the Buddha” and “My view on Religions”. Some of these articles were translated before and were collected in the book “A Translation of Works by Venerable Yin Shun”, published by the Mahaprajna Buddhist Society, Singapore. 2 We apologise for not being able to contact and consult the original translators but we have obtained the approval from the original publisher, Venerable Hao Zhong, and edited these articles in accordance with the interests of Western readers. To aid readers, we have chosen to translate according to the meaning instead of direct translation in some circumstances. This is our first attempt in translation and it is possible some passages may seem difficult to understand. Your advice would be most appreciated. To ensure the consistency of the translated works and the original articles, and to ensure the fluency of the translation, we have repeated the process of editing and proofreading several times. We have also invited an Australian Buddhist, Mr. Kiddle to assist us in this aspect. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Venerable Tsang Hui for his guidance and encouragement, Mr. Khoo Cheang Jin for his design, and Mr. Mick Kiddle, Mr. Chai Gao Mao, Mr. Mok Chung, Mr. Lin Yang, Mr. Beng Tiong Tan and other members for assisting in the translation. We would also like to thank Venerable Xing Ying, Mr. Xu Yang Zhu and Mr. Guo Zhong Sheng for their proofreading and suggestions, and Mr Gregg Heathcote and Mr. Simon Paterson for refining the articles. It is hoped that with the publication of this book, more Buddhists who are well versed in both English and Chinese will take the initiative to participate in tasks like this, so that more people may benefit from the work of Venerable Yin Shun and hopefully appreciate and practise Mahayana Buddhism. Neng Rong, June 1995 3 Precious Suggestions Venerable Tsang Hui, I have received the select English translation of the “Miao Yun Collection” which you asked Mr. Li to hand to me. I am touched by the enthusiasm and efforts of yourself and many others involved in the translation of Buddhism. Before Venerable Yin Shun went to Singapore he instructed me to give the translations to some local expert on the translation of Buddhist texts into English, such as Mr. Xu Yang Zhu or Mr. Guo Zhong Shen etc., to get their opinion. They had suggested that the translations should be further smoothed by Western authors well versed in the literature. The language used should be free from the Chinese style making the translations more accessible to Westerners. I understand that there may be some difficulties carrying out these suggestions, because you and others have already invested so much effort and time on this project. Therefore, the final decision regarding the suggestions is up to you, considering the practical conditions prevailing. Thank you very much Yours in Dhamma, Venerable Xing Ying 95.4.12 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Part One 1. How I came to follow the Buddha’s Path 1 2. The Basic Purpose of Following the Teaching of Buddha 9 3. The Path from Human to Buddhahood 33 4. The Three Essentials in Practising the Teaching of the Buddha 52 5. A Commentary on the Excellence of the Three Birth, and Cause and Effect Theories 77 6. Common Buddhist Misunderstandings 83 7. The New Idea We Ought To Have 108 8. The Position of Chinese Tripitaka in World Buddhism 113 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Part Two 1. Buddha Dharma is the Light of Deliverance 131 2. Buddha Came To Save And Protect Us 136 3. A Discussion of the Three-Vehicle and One-Vehicle 147 4. Buddhism-The Middle Path 153 5. The Two Distinctive Characteristics of Buddhism 168 6. Sunyata (Emptiness) in the Mahayana Context 182 7. The Critical Issue of Life and Death 197 8. The Immense Teachings on the Expedient 206 Path of Buddhist Practice 9. Dharma About Lay People for Lay People 211 10. Let Go of Your Sorrow 223 11. From Relieving the Suffering of the Mind 231 to Relieving the Suffering of the Body 12. What is the Significance of Life? 238 6 How I came to follow the Buddha’s Path As we travel the journey of life, we are bound to encounter darkness and many unexpected difficulties. However, darkness is not eternal and difficulties are sure to be overcome in the end. We who are born into the human realm must rely upon our human existence to progress towards a higher and brighter realm. We must preserve the health and harmony of our minds and bodies. We must be rational, warm and faithful, and not fall into empty despair. Thus, religious faith is necessary. Anyone who has no faith or lack of faith in religion is easily frustrated and tends to reject themselves. They often reside in a state of melancholy and despair. Such a person may descend into a state of mind where he mistreats others, suffers severely from hysteria, or commits suicide. Human life which has become evil and corrupt is indeed fearful! This is especially so in these modern times. Human minds are forever pursuing greater riches and material assets. There is emptiness within their hearts. They lack purpose in life. Moral virtues too, have become more and more attenuated. Religion which sets out to heal the hearts of human being is clearly more needed today than ever before. Let me explain how I came to have faith in Buddhism. In 1918, I began my religious search, and ended by choosing Buddhism. The final step was my entry into the monastic order. How did I come to choose Buddhism? Now that I try to put it into words, I find the choice hard to explain. 1 I was born and brought up in a peasant’s family. Due to poverty, I had to give up my studies at an early age. However, I began to study Chinese medicine and the phrase “Medicine is the royal way to Immortality” led me to revere the Way of the Immortals. Shen Nung’s Materia Medica, [and other Taoist classics such as the Bao Pu Zi (Book of the Preservation of Solidarity Master)], which refer to medicines beneficial for the prolongation of life and alchemy1 excited my faith in the religion of the Way of the Immortals. In addition I sought after the esoteric “Arts of the Miraculous”, such as divination by the dexterous arrangement of the Celestial Stems and Earthly Branches and by charms and spells. I joined the Tong Shan Association in which I studied the arts of Shamanism and hypnotism. During this period I was thoroughly engulfed by the magicized religion of the Way of the Gods, paying great attention to the phenomena of individual longevity and mysticism. This enlarged my vision and this search for truth had a good effect upon me. I groped around in the darkness of this faith for two or three years before my father discovered what I was engaged in. He, of course, did not approve of what I was doing and wanted me to become a teacher. With the help of teachers and friend I began to study the work of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu (the Taoist philosophers) and at the same time read some 1 In the History of the Han Dynasty thirty-six works on therapeutics are mentioned. Some of this material is attributed to Shen Nung, a mythical hero of China’s legendary period. The Bao Pu Zi is an alchemical work by Ko Hung of the fourth century A.D. 2 modern works. The result was that my religious outlook began to change. One cannot say that there is no connection between Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu and the later ascetic practices of the Taoists. The philosophical principles of these two thinkers are exceedingly deep and far reaching. They were opposed to the artificial, and demanded a return to what is natural and they searched after an ideal simplicity. But this ideal of theirs is unattainable. A philosophy which is firmly based in this world and is concerned with refining human nature seems to be a reasonable philosophy, but for me, their philosophy lacked the power necessary for its fulfilment.