乾县铁佛寺移动版

Imagine an Englishman, a Frenchman, a Chinese and an Indonesian all looking at a cup. The Englishman says, ‘That is a cup’ . The Frenchman answers, ‘No it's not. It's a tasse’ .  Then the Chinese comments, ‘You are both wrong. It's a pei’. Finally the Indonesian man laughs at the others and says, ‘What fools you are. It's a cawan’ . Then the Englishman get a dictionary and shows it to the others saying, ‘I can prove that it is a cup. My dictionary says so’ . ‘Then your dictionary is wrong,’ says the Frenchman, ‘because my dictionary clearly says it is a tasse’ . The Chinese scoffs, ‘My dictionary says it’s a pei and my dictionary is thousands of years older than yours so it must be right. And besides, more people speak Chinese than any other language, so it must be a pei’. While they are squabbling and arguing with each other, another man comes up, drinks from the cup and then says to the others, ‘Whether you call it a cup, a tasse, a pei or a cawan, the purpose of the cup is to hold water so that it can be drunk. Stop arguing and drink, stop squabbling and quench your thirst’ .  This is the Buddhist attitude to other religions.

QUESTION:  Some  people  say  all  religions  are  really  the  same.  Would  you agree with them?

ANSWER: Religions are far too complex and diverse to be encapsulated by a neat little statement like that. A Buddhist might say that this statement contains elements of both truth and falsehood. Buddhism teaches that there is no god while Christianity, for example, teaches that there is. Buddhism says that enlightenment is available to everyone who purifies their mind while Christianity insists that salvation is possible only  for  those  who   believe   in  Jesus.   I  think  these  are  significant  differences. However, one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible says;

‘If I speak the languages of men and angels but have no love, I am only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith so strong that it can move a mountain, but I have no love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and even surrender my body to the flames but I have no love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does

not boast, it is not proud. Love is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs done. Love does not delight in evil  but  rejoices  in  the  truth.  It  always  protects,  always  trusts,  always perseveres.’ I Cor.13-7

This  is  exactly  what  Buddhism  teaches  -  that  the  quality  of  our  heart  is  more important than any super-normal powers we might have, our ability to foretell the future, the strength of our faith or any extravagant gestures we might make. So when it comes to theological concepts and theories Buddhism and Christianity certainly differ. But when it comes to heart-qualities, ethics and behavior they are very similar. The same could be said for Buddhism and other religions.

QUESTION: Is Buddhism scientific?

ANSWER:  Before  we  answer that  question  it  would  be  best  to  define  the  word 'science.' Science is, according to the dictionary,   ‘knowledge which can be made into a system, which depends upon seeing and testing facts and stating general natural laws, a branch of such knowledge, anything that can be studied exactly.’ There are aspects of Buddhism that would not fit into this definition but the central teachings of Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths, most certainly would. Suffering, the First Noble Truth, is an experience that can be defined, experienced and measured. The Second Noble Truth states that suffering has a natural cause, craving, which likewise can be defined, experienced and measured. No attempt is made to explain suffering in terms of a metaphysical concept or myths. According to the Third Noble Truth, suffering is ended, not by relying upon a supreme being, by faith or by prayers but simply by removing its cause. This is axiomatic. The Fourth Noble Truth, the way to end suffering, once again, has nothing to do with metaphysics but depends on behaving in specific ways. And once again behavior is open to testing. Buddhism dispenses with the concept of a supreme being, as does science, and explains the origins and workings of the universe in terms of natural laws. All of this certainly exhibits a scientific spirit. Once again, the Buddha's constant advice that we should not  blindly   believe  but  rather  question,  examine,   inquire  and   rely  on  our  own experience, has a definite scientific ring to it. In his famous Kalama Sutta the Buddha says; (责任编辑：admin)