Do British people believe in Buddhism?

Huang Guotian: The First Work Report of the British Buddhist Education Foundation

Author: Huang Guotian article Source: Unknown hits: 70 Update time: 2009-4- 12

Huang Guotian: The First Work Report of the British Buddhist Education Foundation

Author: Huang Guotian

I. Origin

1On July 6th, 994, The Times reported the British government's new policy on religious education, and published the then Minister of Education john barton.

Patten), British Archbishop George Carey, and Sir Ron, Chairman of the British Textbook Decision Committee.

Dearing), describing their enthusiasm for promoting religious education. The new religious education policy stipulates that British public or private primary and secondary school students, from the age of five to sixteen, must study at least two religious subjects: Christianity is a compulsory subject and any one of Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism is an optional subject. Religion is one of HKCEE's examination items. At that time, religious textbooks, syllabuses and guides for primary and secondary schools in Britain were published, including Buddhist syllabuses. Religious leaders called on major religious groups to do their utmost to help the government promote religious education in primary and secondary schools in order to promote the successful promotion of this new religious education law.

Second, cherish fate.

At that time, Master Yan Kong and Buddhist Huang Guo were very surprised when they saw the news. In England, where Christianity is the state religion in the west, Buddhism can be legislated by the government and become a compulsory course in primary and secondary schools across the country, which is unprecedented.

Third, action.

Guo Li immediately informed the master of this news, and personally went to the Jing Zong Institution in Dallas to report to the master. Master Kong Jing was very happy and surprised after hearing this, and told him to collect more information and make a detailed report. Master also said, "Britain can list Buddhist education as a compulsory course in primary and secondary schools all over the country, which shows that westerners recognize the value of Buddhism. This will surely prompt more people in China to reflect and give them a new understanding of the value of Buddhism. This will have a great impact on China society in the future. 」

At that time, in London, Xie, Li Guocheng, Yang, Huang Guoyu, Deng Deming, Jia Yi, Hao Shenshi (Ken

Hudson, anita and other Buddhist disciples were very excited after hearing the news and actively participated. They made suggestions, inquired about news, collected information, and planned how to help the government promote the great cause of Buddhist education in primary and secondary schools and carry forward the Buddha's perfect education for all beings in the nine dharma circles.

Under the introduction of Hao Shenshi, Master Yan Kong, Guo and Hao Shenshi and Mr. Han Lipu (Patrick

Hannibal lecter). He is in charge of Kent (Kent

County) local education bureau's religious education, specializing in counseling religious teaching and subject teachers, strengthening religious knowledge and skills, and selecting teaching materials. After learning of our purpose, he was very happy and said sincerely: "Because Buddhism is based on the law of origin and the four noble truths, it conforms to today's science and is easily accepted by westerners;" At the same time, it advocates five precepts, ten virtues, four strokes and six degrees, and advocates compassion, humiliation, peace and non-violence, which is exactly what western society urgently needs. Buddhism plays an extremely important role in promoting social morality and maintaining social stability. Therefore, the officials of the religious department of Kent local education bureau, especially himself, are very happy and actively promote Buddhism as a regular subject in every primary and secondary school. However, because the British government has publicly promoted Buddhist education in primary and secondary schools for the first time in history, there are many difficulties, such as the lack of textbooks and textbooks suitable for primary and secondary school students; The teacher knows nothing about Buddhism. What is particularly difficult is that Britain is a traditional Christian country, which has created obstacles to the promotion of Buddhism. In addition, the government's funding for religious education is very small, and a student is only one catty a year. The use of funds is mainly Christian, so in the end, there is very little money that can really be used for Buddhist education. Without the funding and support of the Buddhist community, it is difficult to effectively promote Buddhist education in primary and secondary schools in Britain!

Finally, he provided a lot of valuable information about the government's new religious education policy and the "Kent religious teaching syllabus"

Outline of religious education. These materials are very helpful for us to promote Buddhist education.

Since the legislation of the new religious education policy, the promotion of Buddhist education in primary and secondary schools has been unable to be implemented due to the lack of additional security funds. Seeing that other major religions are promoting their own religions in various regions, we Buddhists in London are very anxious. We are anxious in our eyes.

Fourth, the basic preparation

1September, 1995, Master Jing came to London University to study for his doctorate. Kota Kota told him in detail the opportunities and difficulties in promoting Buddhism in Britain. After knowing the situation, Master Silent immediately suggested organizing like-minded initiates to discuss and plan together, seize this golden opportunity, create conditions and actively promote the education of the Buddha. At that time, there were masters such as,, Li Guocheng, Deng Deming, Hao Shenshi, Xie, Yang, anita, Huang Guoyu and Jia Yi who attended the meeting. This is the first preparatory meeting, and the date is 1995 1 1 26th.

The silent master said at the meeting: "The religious education law currently formulated by the government is unprecedented in western industrialized countries. This is the glory of Buddhism. As disciples of Buddhism, we should seize this golden opportunity. However, due to its wide coverage (all primary and secondary schools in Britain), long time (decades or even millions of years) and great influence (not only in Britain, but also in the world in the near future), it has a long way to go. Therefore, we should solicit the opinions of various Buddhist groups, eminent monks and great virtues, and actively invite people of insight from all walks of life to participate in it to jointly promote this epoch-making Buddhist education. There are many ways for Buddhist groups to participate. One way is that we compile teaching materials, and then ask Buddhist groups and individuals around the world for help, begging them to print Buddhist teaching materials at will, and then send them to the UK, and then we will distribute them to primary and secondary schools. " Master Jing's proposal is feasible and gives great confidence and encouragement to the participants.

Matters to be solved on that day:

1. Publicity

All the information and development of the new religious education law in Britain should be reported to Buddhist groups and eminent monks and virtues all over the world, and the matter should be reported through Buddhist newsletters and magazines everywhere.

name

The association will be named "British Buddhist Education Foundation".

register

For a long-term career, you should apply to the government for registration as a tax-free charity organization.

4. Purpose

Popularize and popularize Buddhist education; Assist and promote the Ministry of Education and primary and secondary schools to choose Buddhism as the main course; Prepare appropriate teaching materials; Provide textbooks and reference books free of charge; Cultivate teachers' common sense and interest in Buddhist teaching.

Verb (short for verb) publishes a report.

According to the decision of the meeting, we will send letters to Buddhist groups at home and abroad, eminent monks and great virtues and various Buddhist communication publications as follows:

(1)1In the first month of 996, about 200 reports were published on the topic "Britain will become an oasis in the Buddhist desert".

(2) More than 200 English reports have been published specially for China.

(3)1February 1996, with the theme of "Buddhism will become a regular curriculum in primary and secondary schools in Britain", more than 200 copies were distributed.

Sixth, reverberation

Since the report was issued, many Buddhist groups and eminent monks and great virtues have responded, agreeing that this cause is of far-reaching significance and caring. Many unknown monks and laymen read these reports in Buddhist publications and sent letters or drafts from the United States, Canadian, Singaporean, Malaysian, Hongkong and Taiwan Province provinces to show their support. What is particularly touching is that Chinese mainland, as far away as Heilongjiang, Tianjin, Beijing, Hebei and other provinces and cities, also has enthusiastic letters from Buddhist friends expressing their concern and support. Master Kong Jing, Master Feast and Master Xingyun all entrusted deacons to write letters to express their concern and support. Zhao Puchu, president of the Chinese Buddhist Association, was very happy when he learned the news. He gladly wrote the name of the British Buddhist Education Foundation, which was a great encouragement and affirmation to the staff who worked day and night for the Foundation. Enthusiastic support makes us more encouraged, and we are determined to promote Buddhist education in Britain more practically and harder.

Seven, edit teaching materials

The key to the success of this undertaking lies in editing suitable textbooks and providing them to primary and secondary schools free of charge. Although there are many institutions of higher learning in Britain, such as Oxford University, London University, Cambridge University, etc., they can all study for master's and doctor's degrees in Buddhism. Advanced Buddhist theory books are common, but Buddhist books and textbooks suitable for primary and secondary schools are in a vacuum. Since the publication of the government's new religious education policy, although there are several textbook publishers, each with one or two so-called Buddhist textbooks, after our review, they are not as good as Buddhism and cannot be adopted. So we have to edit it ourselves. After many times of collection and discussion, it is still not ideal; Later, I consulted my own textbook experts, and the results were still unsatisfactory. In the end, this burden fell on the shoulders of the master mute and Hao Shenshi. Master Silent came to Britain to study for a doctorate in Buddhism, and his studies were very busy. Hao Shenshi is a professional teacher and a businessman, and he is also very busy. It is rare that the two of them are compassionate and tireless, and they have given everything for the cause of Buddhism.

Because the two of them have no experience in compiling textbooks, in order to make the content reasonable and conform to the specifications and standards of domestic textbooks, they have to consider the interests of primary schools and young students, so this work is quite laborious and time-consuming. They consult the mage Dade everywhere, such as Amaravati, a famous temple in China.

Dear Ajahnsumedho, Abbot of London Buddhist Temple (London Buddhism

Old Ven Dr. M.Vajiragana and Ms. Terry Nicholson (Mrs.

Terry]

Nicholson) and so on. , got a lot of instructions and valuable advice. After a whole year's efforts, the manuscript was finally completed. The most rare thing is that Deng Deming and his wife, who run the printing industry, strongly support them and are not afraid of trouble. From the first draft to the final draft, they revised it many times and printed proofs.

Proof), not only paid a lot of precious time, but also spent countless printers, paper and money. Instead of complaining, they are filled with joy and eager to print out all the documents of the foundation, such as stationery, articles of association receipts, membership application forms, etc. This is very rare.

VIII. Donation and Protection

What I want to emphasize here is that although we have sent hundreds of reports and expressed our desire for help, we have never climbed abroad to raise money. Fund-raising activities can't start until the foundation is officially registered and becomes a legal charity organization. However, to our surprise, Xu Guoqing, a Buddhist as far away as Singapore, read our report in the Buddhist publication Fa Yin and sent 500 pounds for printing textbooks, expressing the hope that his small donation would increase our confidence. This is the first donation we have received. The second donation came from Malaysian Buddhist Wang Meili, who donated 2500 pounds in the name of her son. Then Jin Guoqin, a Buddhist in Singapore, sent 3,000 pounds, and Lin Zhongyu and his wife in Malaysia sent 1000 pounds. Their righteous acts are endless.

So far, more than 30,000 pounds have been donated, including 5,000 pounds donated by Li Guocheng and Guo Lan. Huang Guo Youju donated 3800 pounds in the name of her family (her donation came from her very limited savings over the years). Huang Guotian and Guo Ying also donated 1 million pounds. There are many voluntary donors, and the list cannot be exhaustive.

Nine, help printing

On June 26th this year, Tian Guo met with Ven. Dr. K. Sri from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Elder Damananda reported that we provided free Buddhist textbooks for primary and secondary schools in Britain to promote Buddhist education. Before hearing our report, Elder Dhammananda was very surprised and promised to print 60,000 textbooks. This is exactly what Master Net Cause expected.

Hope

Buddhism is the Buddha's perfect education for all beings in the nine dharma circles. It has no national boundaries or races. If people all over the world are nourished by Buddhism, world harmony and peace will be just around the corner.

Buddhism has been introduced to Europe and America for more than a hundred years, mostly Tibetan tantra, Sri Lanka, Thailand and other Buddhism. Because English is often used as the language to teach Buddhism, most of the people who teach Buddhism are westerners with higher education, mainly practicing meditation, and few ordinary citizens.

China Mahayana Buddhism has been introduced to western countries for decades, and many countries have also built magnificent temples. For example, there are two large temples in Britain (Bookkogi in London and Fayou Temple in Birmingham). However, due to language restrictions, most of them are overseas Chinese. Until now, the influence of China Buddhism in the West is still very weak. Today, the British government has opened the doors of primary and secondary schools, welcoming us to spread the seeds of Buddha's wisdom to innocent children and teenagers. It can be predicted that in a decade or two, these students will become the backbone of society and be active at all levels of society. I hope they will be blessed by the Buddha's mercy, and they are all kind, benefiting mankind, making society peaceful and people happy. As the "Infinite Life Sutra" said, "Wherever the Buddha goes, the country is surrounded by mountains, the world is peaceful, the sun and the moon are clear, and the wind and rain are timely, so he can't afford it. The country is rich and the people are safe, the soldiers are useless, Dexing, courtesy and repair. The country has no thieves, no grievances and no bullying, and each has its place. " This affects neighboring countries and extends to western countries. With oriental culture, the world will be peaceful and predictable! This should be the great wish of every Buddhist disciple!