Lecture No. 0007
Global Lamrim II
Lecture No. 0007
Tape no.
1A 15:41 ~ 18:26
Date
2018/04/23 ~ 04/25
Outline: Foundation
Topic: History of Buddhism in Tibet
Vol. 1 of Master’s discourse handbook P9 LL3 – P10 LL2
In the last lesson, Master introduced Lama Tsong-Kha-Pa to us. Next, Master will briefly introduce the Tibetan lineage of Buddhism. So, during the class, everyone, please slowly settle your heart, allow those chattering thoughts and the hustle and bustle of life to gradually quiet down, and let us concentrate on listening to Master’s discourse. Because in the following section, Master is about to introduce several prominent figures to us. They had made tremendous contributions to the development of Buddhism and deserve our appreciation and remembrance. Let us listen to the first short paragraph below. [01′02″]
[Venerable Jih-Chang’s commentary book 1, tape 1A on page introduction-9]
Here, I might as well introduce the Tibetan Buddhist lineage briefly. It was rarely mentioned in China, so I will go over it briefly. Tibetan Buddhism was established by King Songtsan Gampo during the time equivalent to the era of our early Tang dynasty. Before Tang, there were the Southern and Northern dynasties, followed by Sui and Tang. Songtsan Gampo lived during the Sui and Tang period and he was a very intelligent and capable emperor of Tibet. During that period, China was in the early Tang dynasty, which was the golden age of Emperor Tang Tai-zong. In Chinese history, there was this history: Tang Tai-zong’s princess, Princess Wen-cheng, was married to Songtsan Gampo. At that time, she brought many Buddhist sutras with her to Tibet. Songtsan Gampo also married another wife who was from Nepal. Similarly, Nepal was also a Buddhist country, so [she] too brought significant Buddhist teachings to Tibet. [02′42″]
Great, everyone heard it with close attention, right? I made this paragraph rather short for fear that some of you might lose concentration if it is too lengthy. Master said, “Here, I might as well introduce the Tibetan Buddhist lineage briefly. It was rarely mentioned in China, so I will go over it briefly.” This Tibetan Buddhism lineage is rather foreign to us. We can imagine many years ago, wherever Master went, he brought this Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment with him. At that time, Master was learning Lamrim and then started giving Lamrim teachings to others. He started giving the teachings many times, in the end, Master was always the only one left. So, how do we exactly introduce the Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, such an excellent Buddhist scripture to the Chinese, this is in fact very difficult. Even though Venerable Fa-zun had translated it into Chinese many years ago, allowing us to study it in Chinese, but in the beginning when we first started studying the Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, everyone might feel that it is a profound Buddhist text and possibly need a lot of time and effort to learn. Very often, people are afraid of its depth and duration of study. Hence as they studied it, they became dispirited over time. [04′01″]
We can imagine, under the circumstance where no one recognized the name of Lama Tsong-Kha-Pa, nor did they know what the Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment was about, under such circumstance, Master, all by himself, gave the discourses again and again, again and again, enduring countless times of failure. Facing the wilderness of our ignorance, he did not have any fear in his heart, continuing the battle alone to traverse our darkness of ignorance. Thus, upon reading this “rarely mentioned”, I still feel kind of poignant, both very grateful and poignant, thinking how difficult it was for Master to deliver the Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment to you and I, to our heart. [04′51″]
What Master was about to introduce now is actually a grand historical scroll. This scroll might be serious but it is also filled with very very splendid colours. It was mentioned here, the King Songtsan Gampo [of Tibet] in Tang dynasty and Princess Wen-cheng, whom we are all very familiar with. When I went to Jokhang Monastery in Lhasa for to pay reverence, I saw the life-size statue of the 12-year-old Shakyamuni Buddha. It is in Jokhang Monastery now. Originally, it was said to be in the Ramoche Monastery. At an even earlier time, it was said to be enshrined at a place named “Udyana”. [05′33″]
The life-sized statue of 12-year-old Shakyamuni Buddha brought by Princess Wen-cheng to Tibet, as everyone knows, Lama Tsong-Kha-Pa offered the jewelled crown of the Five Buddhas to this statue, transforming him into the adornment of the enlightened physical form of Buddha. It was said that Buddha used to wear this crown in the past, and this was performed to follow the tradition. What is the purpose of offering this jewelled crown? The depending-arising of the adornment of this statue of Buddha’s enlightened physical form, is for the wish that till the end of cyclic existence, the blissful fields of all living beings would steadily remain - Lama Tsong-Kha-Pa offered with such arising aspiration. [06′14″]
This Buddha statue is one where people form long queues every day to gild the statue with gold foil, for veneration, making offering, and supplication. When we went there, we were fortunate to follow the Rinpoche, queuing at the start of the pilgrims procession team. Because of Rinpoche, the Lamas at Jokhang Monastery specially opened the door to the shrine niche for us. At that moment, time seemed to stand still. I watched the Rinpoche, who is usually very solemn, of course also very compassionate, unexpectedly holding the “khata” like a child and walking up to the Shakyamuni Buddha statue, gently placing his forehead on the knee of Shakyamuni Buddha. That physical display of his sincere prayers, [I] recollecting it today, it remains so vivid, causing me to be deeply touched. Therefore, at that time, I also followed the Rinpoche, placing my head on the knees of Shakyamuni Buddha and prayed. That moment seemed so tranquil, like a wandering child leaning against the knee of his loving father. Nothing but Buddha’s eternal compassion filled up my mind, filled the universe. Although the duration was not long, it stayed in the memory forever! [07′38″]
When reflecting on it now, I am still very touched.
Also, I visited the statues of King Songtsan Gampo and Princess Wen-cheng in Lhasa. Followers going for the pilgrimage will likely want see the statue of Princess Wen-cheng, which was moulded like the Tara, very very dignified! In the hearts of many Tibetans, Princess Wen-cheng is like Buddha or Bodhisattva, because she brought large volumes of Dharma to Tibet. So our beautiful, compassionate Princess Wen-cheng brought the Chinese Buddhism lineage into Tibet. Have you sensed that this is a very lovely episode in the history of Buddhism! [08′18″]
The lineage of Buddhism has come a long way. It is able to continue to our time, and we are still able to hear Dharma from such an ancient lineage, it is very precious, and very rare! Hence, the time we gather here, to listen to this precious teaching, is truly hard to come by!
Let’s continue our listening. [08′43″]
[Venerable Jih-Chang’s commentary book 1, tape 1A on page introduction-9~10]
Songtsan Gampo not only invigorated Buddhism but the Tibetan written language was also established during his time. He specifically sent an official to other places [India] to learn and bring back [the language]. Finally, this official learned the Indian [Sanskrit] language. He made use of the Indian [Sanskrit] characters and, bringing his own understanding and adaptation of it to Tibet, he created the Tibetan characters. So although Tibetan is different from Sanskrit, [the alphabet used for] it is based on Sanskrit. Because of this relationship, there are many advantages in the translation. For example, with modern languages, it is different when translating English into Chinese than it is translating English into German or into French. The translation among Western languages is easier. It is because they have more similarities. This is a side comment. [09′46″]
In this short paragraph, let me raise another question: Songtsan Gampo not only revived Buddhism in Tibet, and also when were the Tibetan alphabets inaugurated? It was also around that time. There was a minister called Thu-mi Sam-bho-ta, right? He was a very famous minister who created the Tibetan alphabets. Nowadays, the Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment has been translated into many different languages. I have seen the English version many years ago, the Mongolian version, the Korean version, the Japanese version, etc. Many countries have Lamrim in their own languages. Understandably, it spreads quite extensively. [10′28″]
Mentioning about written characters, Master has always cherished written papers, written papers are not randomly thrown around. Why? Out of respect for the characters written on the paper. For the origin of written characters has also come a long way, and is also not easy to pass on. Hence, when it comes to written papers, one should not casually place it around after writing, especially when there are Buddhism related characters. One should be very, very respectful, put them properly in a box and store them appropriately. Towards scriptures, one should uphold them with even greater respect! [10′56″]
Speaking of the Tibetan language, we all know that many venerables at Feng-shan Monastery are studying Tibetan. Many years ago, should be around 20 years or so! Master encouraged the venerables at Feng-shan monastery to start studying the Tibetan language. Through 20 over years of foundation, came the undertaking of scripture translation today, allowing us to translate the Four Interwoven Annotations [into Chinese]. While encouraging us to study Tibetan, Master also put a lot of emphasis on the learning of Chinese classics. Master believed that using Chinese to propagate the Dharma is very very important. The venerables in our monastery also have to ensure that they learn Chinese well, and because this is the native language, they have to be very, very proficient in it. Hence, so many years have passed, I am grateful to Master for having such a vision in establishing Buddha’s teachings. Having learnt the Tibetan language for 20 over years, many venerables in our monastery can, for instance, read the Golden Garland of Eloquence* in Tibetan, read many original commentaries in Tibetan. 20 years ago, this would be totally beyond the imagination of venerables at Feng-shan monastery. However, 20 years later, when you walk into a class, you will find everyone holding Tibetan texts, reading them. It becomes something very common. [*Golden Garland of Eloquence is one of the major compositions by Lama Tsong-Kha-Pa.] [12′06″]
Therefore, to be familiar with a language, using this language to understand Dharma, this level of depth and precision, is in fact a very, very difficult task. The many venerables in our monastery have been working very, very hard, hoping to contribute each of their effort, to propagate Master Tsong-Kha-Pa’s teachings more extensively, using Chinese to help others and help oneself more deeply. Reaching out to many who have faith in Master Tsong-Kha-Pa’s teachings, to the extent of people in all corners of the world using different languages. Currently, we have venerables in the Sangha community giving discourses in English as well as in French and in Korean. Possibly there will be many other languages as well in the near future. Hence, I am very pleased that there are many different languages of delivery available, allowing people with various language ability to be in contact with Dharma, to learn how to eliminate suffering, how to attain happiness. Hence, we are also thankful for Buddha’s kindness, thankful for all our lineage masters’ profound kindness! [13′10″]
【全球广论 II 讲次: 0007】
讲次 0007
科判 释名
主题 西藏佛法历史
音档 1A 15:41 ~ 18:26
日期 2018/04/12 ~ 04/15
手抄页/行 1册 P6-L1 ~ P8-LL7 ( 2016 南普陀版：1册 P5-LL2 ~ P8-L8 )
手抄段落 那么在这里，我也不妨……这个我们顺便一提。
前一节课师父就帮我们介绍宗喀巴大师。那么接下来，师父会简略地介绍一下藏传一系的佛法。所以在上课的时候，请大家把心慢慢地静下来，让那些喧杂的思路，还有那些忙乱的节奏感慢慢地平静下来，让我们专注地听师父的带子。因为在下面的这个带子中，师父会给我们介绍几位伟大的人物，他们为佛教的发展做出了丰功伟绩，所以非常非常值得我们感恩和铭记。那么下面我们就开始听第一小段。 [01′02″]
那么在这里，我也不妨把这个藏传一系的佛法，简单地介绍一下。因为这个在我们国内平常是少传闻，所以我简单地说明一下。那个西藏的佛法开始的时候，是松赞冈布王，那个人相当于我们唐朝初年，唐朝初年。唐以前是南北朝，南北朝下面是隋、唐，这样。那么那个松赞冈布王就是隋、唐那个时候的人，他也是西藏人当中一个雄才大略的君主。那么，那个时候我们中国也碰见我们所谓唐初，那是中国最盛的时候——唐太宗。所以中国历史上，不管西藏，有这么一段佳话：唐太宗的公主文成公主，就嫁给那个松赞冈布王，那个时候进去的时候，带了很多佛经进去。那个松赞冈布王不但娶了唐朝的公主，另外他也娶了一个尼泊尔的夫人。那么同样地，那个时候尼泊尔也是佛教的国家，所以从这两个地方传进去了大量的佛法。 [02′42″]
好，大家有仔细地听吧？这个段落我把它分得很短，有点担心长了之后大家走神。师父说：“简单地介绍一下，因为这个在我们国内平常很少传闻。”就是藏传一系的佛法，我们是很少知道的。我们可以想一想，在很多年前，师父开始不管走到哪里都带着《菩提道次第广论》，他自己学习，然后又开始给大家讲《广论》，开始讲了很多次，讲到后来都剩下师父一个人。所以到底如何把《菩提道次第广论》这样一本精彩的佛教论著介绍给我们这些汉人，实际上是很有难度的。虽然很多年前尊法师就已经把它翻译过来了，所以我们是用汉语学的，但是刚开始看到《菩提道次第广论》的时候，大家可能觉得这是一部深奥的佛教撰著，可能要花下血本的时间才能够学懂，通常都怖畏它的深度和学习时间的长度，所以大家都学着学着就没有心力了。 [04′01″]
可以想一想，师父在那样的一种状态下——大家都不知道宗大师的名字，也不了解《菩提道次第广论》，在这种状态下他一个人，一次又一次地讲、一次又一次地讲，经历了多少失败。在面对我们无知的旷野，他没有任何的怖畏心，一直这样单枪匹马地穿越我们这片无知的黑暗。所以看到这“很少传闻”的时候，我心里还是有一点酸楚，又非常地感恩，又非常地酸楚，觉得师父真的是很不容易，才把《菩提道次第广论》送到你我的面前，送到我们的心中。 [04′51″]
那么现在师父要介绍的，实际上是一幅恢宏的历史画卷。这幅历史画卷可能是沉重的，但这里边也有非常非常绚丽的色彩。这里边就提到了唐朝的松赞冈布王，然后提到了我们都非常非常熟悉的文成公主。我去拉萨大昭寺礼拜的时候，有看到文成公主带到西藏的释迦牟尼佛十二岁的等身像，现在是在大昭寺，原来听说是在小昭寺，又更早听说好像是供奉在“乌仗那”这么一个地方。 [05′33″]
文成公主带到西藏的释迦佛十二岁的等身像，大家都知道，宗大师对他献过五佛冠，把他变成了报身佛的装饰。据说往昔他也是带着佛冠的，是遵循往昔的传统而做的。那供上佛冠的主要目的是什么呢？符合报身的装饰这样的一个缘起，是希望直至轮回的尽头之间，众生的福田能够永远坚固地存在，宗大师是为了这样一个缘起而供的。 [06′14″]
那尊佛像是人们每天大排长龙，都去贴金、去礼拜，然后去供养、去祈求。那次我们去礼拜的时候，有幸跟随着仁波切，排在朝圣队伍的最前面，因为仁波切，所以大昭寺的法师特别把佛龛的门打开。那一刻，仿佛时光静止，看着仁波切——他平常非常地威严，当然也非常地慈爱，居然如赤子般捧着哈达走到释迦佛像前，他轻轻地把头俯在释迦佛的膝前，深深祈祷的身影，今天想来，历历在目，让我的心灵震颤！所以当时我也学着仁波切，把头靠在释迦佛的膝上祈求。那一刻仿佛万籁俱寂，好像一个流浪的孩儿，靠在慈父的膝上。只有佛陀万古的慈悲，充满我的心，充满着宇宙。虽然时间不长，但却在记忆中永恒！ [07′38″]
现在想起来，还是非常感动的。
另外在拉萨也有看过松赞冈布王还有文成公主的塑像。可能去朝礼的人都会想要看一看文成公主的塑像，塑得像度母一样，非常非常地庄严！在很多很多西藏人的心中，文成公主像佛菩萨一样，因为她把大量的佛法带给了西藏。所以汉传佛教，由我们美丽慈悲的唐朝公主带到了藏地，有没有觉得这是非常美好的佛教史上的佳话！ [08′18″]
佛教的传承源远流长，它能够绵延到我们现在这个时代，还能听到从那么古老传到现代的这个佛法传承，很珍贵、也很稀有吧！所以你我共聚此时，聆听这珍奇的时光，真的是非常地难能可贵！
请大家继续听。 [08′43″]
么，这个松赞冈布王不但振兴了佛法，这个西藏的文字也是那个松赞冈布王时候建立起来的，他特别派一个大臣，到别的地方去，然后学好了带回来。最后呢，学的是印度，把印度那个母语，经过了他自己的认识以后，适应西藏，造了那个藏文。所以这个藏文虽然跟梵文是不一样，但是脱胎于梵文，脱胎于梵文。因为这样的关系，所以它翻译过去，它有种种的方便。譬如说，拿我们现在的语言来说，你这英文翻成功中文，跟英文翻成德文、法文不太一样，他们西方语言转变一下容易，因为他们语言相似，语言相似，就是这个道理，这个我们顺便一提。 [09′46″]
在这一小段里，我再提一个问题：松赞冈布王不但振兴了佛法，而且西藏的文字是什么时候建立的？也是那时候建立。那时候有一个大臣叫吞弥桑布札，对吧？非常有名的大臣，他创立了西藏的文字。现在《菩提道次第广论》被翻译成很多国的文字，我在很多年前就看过英文的、蒙文的、韩文的、日文的......很多国的文字都有《菩提道次第广论》，所以它传播得是满广泛的。 [10′28″]
在提到文字的部分，师父都很珍惜字纸，字纸是不乱丢的。为什么呢？出于对文字的敬重。因为文字的来源也是非常地源远流长，也是很不容易的传承。所以对于字纸，不是随便写完了就把它放在那儿，尤其是佛法字纸，都要非常非常恭敬地、好好地放在盒子里，供在什么地方。那么对经典，就要更加好好地恭敬受持！ [10′56″]
这里边谈到藏文，大家都知道凤山寺很多法师在学习藏文。很多年前，应该是二十多年前了吧！师父就请凤山寺的法师们开始学习藏文。经过了二十多年的基础，才有今天的译经事业，才能翻译《四家合注》。但是师父在让我们学习藏文的时候，对于汉语的古文也非常非常地重视。师父认为用汉语来传播佛法是非常非常重要的，我们寺院的僧人也一定要把汉语学好，而且这是母语，要非常非常地熟练。所以这么多年过去了，很感恩师父对于建立教法这样的一个远见。二十年前学了藏文到现在，我们寺院的很多法师啊，比如说他们可以看藏文的《金鬘论》、看藏文的原典......很多注释都可以看藏文的原典。这个在二十年前，到凤山寺出家的法师是不能想像的；但是二十年之后的凤山寺，走进一班你就看到大家都捧着藏文书看，几乎是很普遍的一件事情。 [12′06″]
所以，熟悉一個語言、沿著這個語言理解佛法，這樣的深度和精確度，實際上是一件非常非常不容易的事情。我們寺院的很多法師也都非常非常地努力，希望藉借著自己的努力，能把宗大師的教法更廣泛、更深刻地用漢文自利利他吧，傳遞給很多很多對宗大師教法很有信心的，乃至世界各地用各種語系的人們。因為現在僧團裡有法師用英文講法，然後現在應該也有法文、有韓文，可能以後還有很多的不同的語言。所以說很高興有這麼多的語言形式，讓擁有各種語言形式的人們都能夠接觸到佛法，都能夠去學習如何離苦、如何得樂。所以也感謝佛陀的恩德，感謝先輩祖師他們深深的恩德！ [13′10″]