Give an example to explain what "birth, illness, death" means.

In the biographies of eminent monks, almost all the stories of "asceticism" are recorded, which are touching. It should be said that at that time, social productive forces were extremely backward and material civilization was extremely poor. These eminent monks and great virtues made great efforts to spread and promote Buddhism, so later generations also called them ascetic monks and founders. Objectively speaking, it is the specific times and living environment that created and bred these "ascetic monks" and became our present "grandfathers".

Up to today, the progress and development of material civilization and spiritual civilization in human society are obvious to all. Buddhism, as a social ideology, has also made continuous progress and development with the progress and development of society. As a firm believer and faithful practitioner of Buddhism, the most basic and fundamental belief of Buddhists remains unchanged, that is, birth, aging, illness and death!

So, how can we "live and die"? Among the 12 voluminous Buddhist scriptures of Sanzang, we can get the simplest answer: practice. What is practice? In this regard, Master Kong Jing has a very intuitive and clear explanation: "Practice is to correct your bad behavior." The mage further pointed out: "If you practice at home, your personality will be more and more perfect, then you can live and die, you can become a bodhisattva, and you can become a Buddha!" This reminds me of the words of Master Tai Xu, a radical advocate of Buddhist reform, "Relying on Buddhism and completing it in personality is the real reality." That's what it means.

Since "practice" can solve a Buddhist's most fundamental problem about life, how to "practice" is urgent and urgent. From this point of view, our fundamental mentor Sakyamuni Buddha is absolutely unambiguous. As early as the establishment of the Buddhist group, his old man lost no time in formulating a series of "guidelines" on how disciples "practice the Tao of Operation", which we collectively call "commandments". "When the Buddha was alive, he took the Buddha as a teacher; After the Buddha dies, learn to quit. " With the changes of the times and the continuous progress of society, later, people took pains to divide the "commandments" into more and more organized and specific commandments. These methodical and specific terms have been interpreted into many "practice methods". Some people say there are 84,000 ways. We don't care whether there are 84,000 ways or millions of ways, but there is absolutely no way to teach you to practice asceticism deliberately!

Sadly, today, with the continuous progress of social civilization and the growing prosperity of Buddhism, a considerable number of people in our monk group actually take crooked ways and practice the practice of "trying to die." Their words and deeds are creepy and frightening. It's appalling!

He is nearly seventy years old this year, and at the age of 50, he is still facing the loess in the countryside, because he is too poor to be cared for. After becoming a monk, I finally felt safe. Maybe this is a great blessing. In the third year of becoming a monk, I found a job as a scholar in a big jungle. Because I am good at fortune telling and my income is quite rich, I should say that my life is leisurely. Unexpectedly, three years ago, the old monk made an incredible decision: "For life and death, I vowed to be' ascetic' and play barefoot for three years!"

"Oh, dear, I am barefoot for 365 days a year. This hot weather is barely passable, but how can I live in a cold winter with heavy snow? Isn't this asking for trouble and torturing yourself? " Some kind-hearted lay bodhisattvas, considering the old mage's "fitness", quickly took turns to persuade, or moved by emotion, or understood by reason. However, this Old Master Q "swears to be profound" and "distinguishes talents without hindrance", and any persuasion is of no help. But what happened? The first winter, my feet were frozen to death. In the second year of late autumn and early winter, my feet began to bleed and fester, obviously swollen, and gradually lost consciousness, and I walked with a trembling limp. A lay doctor regarded this as an opportunity and said, "Men are afraid to wear boots (swollen feet) and women are afraid to wear hats (swollen faces); This barefoot can't be beaten again, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable! " Funnily enough, when the old master of knowledge heard this, he panicked and hurriedly stopped, so the so-called "barefoot practice" ended hastily.

If it is really said that walking barefoot in the cold1February is "training", I think it is better to say "selling training" No wonder some amateurs who have provided this knowledgeable old teacher with a lot of money are crying out for it. I think if this is also a kind of consumption behavior, these kind amateurs will definitely complain about "3. 15".

If Old Master Q's so-called "asceticism" only made him suffer from the pain of flesh and blood (it is said that he left behind sequelae such as rheumatoid arthritis and periodic frostbite), then the young monk's "asceticism" is simply a lifelong regret.

His name is Xin Zhong. He is only 34 years old this year. 1992, he got an anklet at Zhanghua Temple in Shashi, Hubei Province. Because he vowed to be "ascetic", he believed that "the deeper the scar burns, the deeper the Buddha root", and the greater the hope of escaping from life. "In front of the monk, he almost didn't burn through his skull. His hands and feet trembled with pain on the spot and he was almost unconscious. Due to the severe stimulation of the brain nerve center, he naturally suffered from "deep karma" in the following days. In order to "eliminate disasters and take refuge", his "asceticism" content is increasing. First, I stopped eating after noon, then I simply ate at noon, and then I stopped ordering at night. Soon, the young monk in his prime forced himself to torture himself into a thin, haggard, unresponsive and almost demented person.

There are also some monks who practice "asceticism", which is also ridiculous. In Shashi, Hubei Province, two young monks vowed to worship four famous Buddhist mountains in a "three-step and one-worship" way. Let's not discuss whether this has anything to do with life and death for the time being, but as far as their behavior is concerned, they are simply crazy and take madness as evil. Yes, among the eminent monks in ancient Dade, there were indeed many "ascetic monks", who worshipped four famous mountains in three steps, but the traffic in their time was quite limited, almost "it is difficult to worship unless you leave." What about now? Modern means of transportation, such as airplanes, ships, trains and automobiles, are readily available and convenient. Why do we have to "worship in three steps"? Apart from wasting time, torturing ourselves and damaging the prestige of monks, this can't explain any other problems, let alone "living with death."

This "ascetic monk" monk is equally elusive. He often calls himself an "ascetic monk" and is proud of it. He is not only a strong advocate of asceticism, but also an enthusiastic participant in asceticism. Here is an example. Mosquitoes can't sleep at night in summer. He didn't take any measures, (or isolate it with mosquito nets, or drive it away) but let it bite him, even if he was "torn to pieces" by it. It is also euphemistically called: "support all living beings and pity the old." He also said, "This kind of ascetic practice is caused by compassion. Compassion is the food of life and death, and it is also the food of living in the pure land of the West." This is really stupid! The author replied angrily, "If you support all beings, you are stupid." "It is because of ignorance that this asceticism is practiced. This is the crux of The six great divisions in the wheel of karma's eternal fall into the hell of A Bi. "

In short, the so-called "asceticism" has various patterns, which are difficult to describe. But if we look at the essence through the phenomenon, it is not difficult to find the mystery. Generally, there are the following situations:

One is a lie. In order to achieve ulterior motives, they cleverly use "risks" to deceive themselves, saying that "asceticism" is false and that it is true to deceive others to support them (of course, many people "steal chickens and eat rice").

It's all about showing off. They put on airs, mystify, for the purpose of fishing for fame, deceiving the world and stealing fame.

These three are stupid. In fact, such people are also very poor. They turned their delusions upside down and practiced blindly, resulting in "self-defeating" and reaping the consequences.

The biggest thing in common among the three is that they all do not hesitate to hurt their bodies, and they are extremely deceptive. And this is completely contrary to Buddhist precepts, but also incompatible with Buddhist principles! We are not so much "ascetic monks" as "practicing evil deeds". If they don't repent, don't thoroughly remould themselves, go their own way, be stubborn, or even get worse, then we have every reason to assert that they will never "die", but will always suffer from "six divisions in the wheel of karma". Gu Dade said that "there are many monks in front of hell", which is really a rare warning.

It seems necessary to be more verbose: we are by no means deliberately opposed to "asceticism" without asking questions or indiscriminately. On the contrary, we admire and admire those "ascetic monks" who take precepts as their teachers, know what is right and see what is right, practice diligently and take pleasure in suffering. Master Hong of Hubei Tiannv Temple is 76 years old this year. He became a monk in the spring of 6 1 year and quit wax in the summer of 54. Her old man vowed to live for Dafa and strictly abstain from practice. In order to continuously adopt lonely old people and support as many children as possible who are out of school, her old man used the eight acres of vegetable fields in the temple to grow vegetables, grow vegetables and sell vegetables himself, and shed untold efforts and sweat. Her own diet can be said to be frugal to the minimum. Although she is poor, she enjoys herself and has been infatuated for decades. In Jingzhou, she is a famous "cook", "old nanny" and "ascetic monk". In Buddhism, she is a famous bhikshuni.

In a word, we should actively advocate and constantly carry forward the "asceticism" that helps to "get rid of life and death", and at the same time, we should take a clear-cut stand and make a long speech to criticize those deceitful, "ostentatious" and "ignorant" asceticism. Of course, you must never "kill with one stick." Instead, we should warm them with the spirit of Buddha's compassion, then guide them, make them feel something, and treat others seriously, so as to purify the monks and defend the Buddhism. In fact, this is also my good intention for this composition.