I looked at her in surprise, "Oh? You actually study religion too?"
She smiled and said: "It's not research, I just think about such issues occasionally. After all, I have had the experience of receiving Western education, so I think about such issues."
I nodded, "This question is quite interesting. Tell me what you think."
She immediately said: "Western countries mainly believe in Christianity and God. Among us Chinese, the largest number of people believe in Buddhism, followed by Taoism."
I said: "Taoism is our local religion, Buddhism was introduced to our country from India, and our country's traditional culture is extremely tolerant and integrative, so we have accepted Buddhism, and at the same time combined Buddhism with
Our local Taoism is perfectly integrated, integrating Buddhism, Taoism and Buddhism into one.
You see, in "Journey to the West", the relationship between the Jade Emperor and Buddha Tathagata is very good. It is said that the Jade Emperor was born to King Guangyan Purele of the Haotian Realm and Queen Baoyueguang. When he was born, his whole body was full of precious light, illuminating the earth. When he was young,
That is, he was extremely intelligent, did good deeds, accumulated virtue, and saved all sentient beings. Later, he experienced three thousand two hundred tribulations before he became the Golden God and became the Jade Emperor.
Look, isn’t this legend about the Jade Emperor also part of Buddhist thought?”
She smiled and asked me: "Mayor Feng, I agree with your statement, but I think you have ignored one of the most critical issues, which is why China's Taoism and Christianity have not been integrated?"
I said: "It's very simple, that's because Christianity was introduced to our country much later than Buddhism."
But she shook her head and said: "It is true that Buddhism was introduced into China the earliest. It is said that Buddhism was introduced into China during the Han Dynasty, while Christianity and Islam were introduced into China during the Tang Dynasty. Tang Dynasty
It’s been more than a thousand years, so it’s not a short period of time, right? "Journey to the West" was written by me in the late Ming Dynasty, but why didn’t the author of "Journey to the West" integrate Christianity into our local religion?"
I was stunned because I had never thought about such a problem, and now that she mentioned this, I suddenly felt strange and couldn't help but ask her: "Why?"
She smiled and said: "It's very simple, can heaven and hell be one? Can light and darkness be one? Can life and death be one? In Christianity and Islam, the difference between sinners and non-sinners is that there is heaven and
The difference between hell is the difference between God and mortals, etc. According to Buddhism, everything is the original nature of consciousness. Hell is it, and so is heaven. Buddha is it, and so are all living beings. It is originally the self-nature of self-awareness. Where does it come from?
What is the difference between opposites? Tao believes that everything is the manifestation of Tao, so there is no so-called good and evil. Good and evil are just the products of the world's measurement of usefulness and uselessness, etc., and are not the true face of Tao. From this we can see that Buddha
The views of the two schools of Taoism are consistent, but they are very different from those of Christianity and Islam."
I nodded, "It seems you are right."
She smiled and said: "So, this still has something to do with our traditional culture. In the final analysis, the essence of our traditional culture is that there is no distinction between good and evil."
I was stunned again, "It doesn't make sense for you to say this. Who said we can't distinguish between good and evil? Don't Buddhism and Taoism also have theories about becoming a Buddha, becoming an immortal, and going to hell?"
She smiled and said: "Mayor Feng, let me put it this way, Westerners enter churches to repent, while Chinese people enter temples to bribe. Don't you think so?"
I was stunned because after thinking about it carefully, I suddenly felt that what she said was very reasonable and shocking.
She continued: "Today, all problems in China point to the system, all problems with the system point to culture, and all problems with culture point to religion. Morality is culture. There are many aspects of the Chinese nation's national character that deserve discussion and improvement.
National character is morality. Religion determines culture, culture determines the character of the nation, and the character of the nation determines the destiny of the nation. Chinese culture teaches us that ‘human beings are inherently good in nature’.
Western religion is just the opposite. It believes that people are born evil and their nature is also evil. Therefore, they want to restrict you and reflect on you. Western culture believes that people have original sin and their hearts are dark. This world is the darkest
Where are the darkest things? The darkest things are in the human heart.
Everyone has a very dirty side in their heart. Western culture exposes it, displays it, criticizes it, and controls it. Eastern culture wraps it up and nurtures it. Western churches have confession rooms. Enter
After going to church, he told God about the things in his heart. After telling God about the ugly and dirty things, he felt relaxed. His heart was purified.
When I was in the United States, I sat outside a church for a whole day, and I discovered an interesting scene: people always go in with a sad face and come out with a relaxed look. Later, I gradually understood the mystery. Over time, he became
A healthy person, a person with a particularly sound mentality and mind.”
I hurriedly said: "Let's not talk about the system."
She smiled and said: "Okay, let's continue talking about religion...the gods in Chinese temples are gods. Look at the images of those gods: pot-bellied, carefree, playful and smiling, enjoying the fireworks of the world. They all eat their brains.
Fatty. Westerners go to churches to repent, but Chinese people go to temples for bribes. Isn’t it? Because we want to accomplish something, we pray to God, buy incense with money, or put fruits on it.
Human beings eat offerings and silently make wishes. What is this if not bribery?
Westerners go to churches to relieve spiritual suffering. Chinese people go to temples to solve the sufferings in real life. In Western religions, the gods suffer, but the people do not; in Eastern religions, the gods enjoy themselves, but the people suffer. Western churches
They are always built in the center of cities, close to the people. Chinese temples are always built in deep mountains and old forests, alienated from the people."
I was silent and sighed immediately because what she said was indeed the truth.
She continued: "The Chinese people are basically a nation without faith. The lack of faith does not mean that there is no form of faith. On the contrary, the Chinese people believe in the most complicated things, including all qigong masters. They believe in everything, exactly.
Don't believe anything.
There is no place for eternal God in the hearts of the Chinese people. To put it more deeply, there is no ultimate cultural and spiritual pursuit. Such people will not expand their scope of concern to the family or even beyond the individual. If it is expanded, it will definitely be harmful.
other people.
How can such a nation not be in disarray? In Western countries, if a car breaks down on the road, almost all the cars will stop and ask if you need help.
In China, most cars will drive away. I finally stop and ask you. I may still doubt, what are you doing? What is your purpose? A drop of water is very small, but this drop of water can indeed encompass the entire sun.
Go in. For thousands of years, in the competition between the East and the West, the West has won; in the competition between Eastern religions and Western religions, Western religions have won.
What kind of victory is the victory of religion? I think it is a spiritual victory. Without faith, there is no spiritual power, and what we Chinese lack is exactly what Westerners have." (To be completed.)