The Fourth Chung Hwa International Conference on Buddhism: The Role of Buddhism in the 21st Century=第四屆中華國際佛學會議 -- 「佛教與廿一世紀」
出版日期
2002.01.20
頁次
7
出版者
中華佛學研究所=The Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies
出版地
臺北縣, 臺灣 [Taipei hsien, Taiwan]
資料類型
會議論文=Proceeding Article
使用語言
英文=English
附註項
The Fourth Chung Hwa International Conference on Buddhism：The Role of Buddhism in the 21st Century, Organized by Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies, DDMBA; January 18-20, 2002, Auditorium of Acemic Activity Center, Acemia Sinica. 第四屆中華國際佛學會議 -- 「佛教與廿一世紀」, 法鼓山中華佛學研究所主辦, 2002年1月18-20日, 中央研究院學術活動中心.
關鍵詞
Buddhism in 21st Century; 佛教與廿一世紀
摘要
The goals of Buddhist philosophy and practice as they are presented in Tibetan literature are indeed lofty -- escape from the entire round of cyclic existence，attainment of Buddhahood and its accompanying omniscience，serving as a source of help and happiness for all sentient beings, and so forth. Texts on wisdom examine the ideational underpinning of the process of afflictive emotions with the aim of undoing the possibility of affliction through understanding that such states lack a foundation of valid cognition. The aim is to provide a topic of contemplation and meditation so that all whatsoever lust，hatred，and ignorance can be uprooted.
Similarly，texts on compassion lay out methods for achieving a state of heartfelt pity for all beings, not just those bound in obvious misery but those enjoying ordinary happiness as well the more general limitation of pervasive conditioning. Compassion also is to be practiced toward those who have escaped cyclic existence but not reached Buddhahood in which the obstructions to omniscience have been removed.
The context of the practices can be so lofty that the topics take on the aura of a realm unrelated to daily life. However，do the practices contribute to gradual betterment of a person? If so，how? Do they provide a therapeutic psychology of self-development toward creating a better personality? If so，why is the framework of the teachings so often couched in the language of complete deliverance from affliction? Conversely，is something lost when such an other-worldly system is commandeered as a mere exercise for incremental improvement?
These are the issues that my paper attempts to discuss.
