为了新年的第一天和人生的最后一天
For The First Day Of The New Year And The Last Day Of This Human Life
Introductory excerpt by Raoul Birnbaum, in the chapter, ‘A Peripatetic Bodhisattva-Artist: Hóngyī: II: An Experiment in Reforming Faults’, of the book, ‘Buddhist Masters of Modern China: The Lives & Legacies of Eight Eminent Teachers’, edited by Benjamin Brose:
‘At the end of the year in 1932 (following the traditional calendar), [Great Master] Hóngyī [弘一大师] gave three talks at the Miàoshì Monastery [妙释寺] in Xiàmén [厦门]. The first talk, given to a group that had gathered for a period of intensive chanting, addressed basic Pure Land practices.
The second talk (“At the End of Life”) [or “For The Last Day Of This Human Life” 《人生之最后》] was a long, detailed, and practical discussion of Buddhist approaches to deathbed practices — how to prepare for one’s death, how to help those who are dying, auspicious ways to die, caring for the bodies of the recently dead prior to cremation, and so forth.
Keyed to its particular moment in the calendar, in this lecture, [Master] Hóngyī compared the moment of death to the end of the year, that point of reckoning when in Chinese worlds, debts traditionally come due and must be settled.
Following those two talks, the Miàoshì Monastery Abbot invited [Master] Hóngyī to pass the New Year with the monastic community there, and then return to give an additional talk after the main holiday festivities had concluded…
[T]his [is the] third talk [“Discussion On Experiments For Correcting Faults” 《改过实验谈》], once again keyed to the calendrical moment… ([after] the resumption of social activities on the eighth day of the New Year)…
Conceptually, it is paired with the earlier talk, “At the End of Life.” Having spoken about death and endings as the old year came to a close, [Master] Hóngyī now reflected on a Buddhist practitioner’s constructive approach to the New Year: an internal renewal and transformation that might match the lively external environment of the traditional New Year celebrations seen all around Xiàmén.’
相关讲座
Related Talks:
《人生之最后》
For The Last Day Of This Human Life
https://purelanders.com/last
《改过实验谈》
Discussion On Experiments For Correcting Faults
https://purelanders.com/gaiguo
