Bob has an indescribable fondness for temples and has been to many temples.
Many people say that there are many rules for going to the temple. Very simple question: what are the Buddhas in the temple; whether to go to the temple and enter the mountain gate is to take the left foot or the right foot first; What posture should we have when worshipping Buddha; What should be said in your heart when making a wish; What should I say when I wish back? Xiaoming thinks that he has a certain understanding of these, briefly talk about his own opinions, if there are any deficiencies, welcome to leave a message in the comment area of the big coffee!
What's so special about entering and exiting the temple?
The mountain gate of the temple is usually three gates, so the mountain gate is also called the three gates. It symbolizes the "three liberation gates", namely "empty door", "phaseless door", and "no work door". So do we enter the temple from the left side of the mountain gate and down from the right? Which foot should it take?
Hakuba Temple Mountain Gate
"Enter the left door, step on the left foot; Enter the right door, step right foot" Why do you say that?
- Both doors have people entering and leaving, in order to avoid friction collision and other actions, self-interest!
- Buddhism pays attention to smoothness, and the direction of the right path is the right path, and you can get the right result!
I don't know if you have found some strange phenomena when you go to the temple, such as many people circling around the main hall, is there any mystery in this? In fact, from the Buddhist family, we call this phenomenon "circling the Buddha".
The number of times we go around the Buddha must be an odd number. Odd numbers are yang, even numbers are yin, yin is unknown, disrespectful righteousness? So we go around the Buddha if it's odd!
Circling the Buddha also means prayer, respect, and at the same time saying his wishes in his heart, hoping that the Buddha and Bodhisattva can hear it with his sincerity!
Some temples will send out three-pillar incense, burning incense to worship the Buddha!
Now the temple rarely enters the door to give incense, and the incense candles we buy outside can rarely be brought in! And the incense of many temples is very inferior, very profitable, and even harmful to the body. Based on this phenomenon, some temples can now receive three-pillar incense for free! So why three pillars?
Three-pillar incense
In fact, the three pillars are enough, these three pillars represent "Buddha, Dharma, Sangha" These three pillars of incense are just right, we don't need a large handful of incense, and some are even several meters long!
Can I enter the temple without worshipping Buddha?
Many people go to temples not to worship Buddha, we all know that temples are a branch of ancient architecture in the mainland, and people who like ancient buildings mostly go to appreciate this "cultural treasure"
In fact, there is no need to worry at all, we can enter the temple without worship! Many temples used to have a couplet:
Accumulate virtue and do good, why not worship me;
There are many evils, and it is useless to have a high fragrance.
The simple truth is that it does not matter that people who accumulate virtue and do good deeds see Buddha as they kneel; People who do a lot of evil are themselves bad causes and effects, even if they are sincere, they are useless!
Many people who go to the temple to worship the Buddha do not understand the so-called rules, for fear that they will "insult" the Buddha because of the rules, in fact, there is no need to worry at all!
Buddha
Buddhism pays attention to appearance, in today's society, what we see with our eyes is not necessarily true, what our ears hear is not necessarily true, and our devotion from the heart trumps all superficial phenomena!
Buddhas and bodhisattvas are not gods.
We separate the Buddha words: one person, one Buddha. In Buddhism, it is said that Buddha is only an enlightened person, and Buddhism has been an atheist since ancient times! Our Buddha Shakyamuni has been fighting feudal superstitions all his life, in fact, this is what the Buddha calls "all beings are equal", so we often say that Buddha is an enlightened person, and people are Buddhas who have not yet become enlightened!
Buddha characters
What exactly is worshiping Buddha?
In fact, we go to the temple to worship the Buddha, Xiao Ming thinks this is very wrong, in my opinion, we are going to learn the Buddha, not to worship the Buddha, it is to learn from Shakyamuni his own tenacity, bravery, wisdom, benevolence, and so on.
There is no Amitabha Buddha in the south
When we go to temples, we usually see "Nan no Amitabha Buddha", and Nan Wu in Sanskrit means to... The meaning of learning! So in my understanding, we go to the temple to learn Buddha and not worship Buddha!
Will those who do not believe in Buddha be blessed by Buddha?
Buddhists often say "follow the circumstances", which in my understanding means casual circumstances. It is good to have fate, but it does not matter if there is no fate. The core concept of Buddhism is "kindness, compassion, and love", and whether we believe it or not really has nothing to do with Buddha!
Go with the flow
What is the core of Buddhist culture?
To sum up "equality of all beings" in four words, these four words are the goals that Buddha Shakyamuni pursued all his life.
All beings are equal
Buddhism originated in ancient India, which divided people into four classes in order to maintain its rule!
The first class is called Brahman, which means oral recitation of the scriptures
The second class is called Kshatriya, which refers to the princes and nobles
The third class is called Vaishya, which refers to farmers, herders, merchants
The fourth class is called Sudra, which refers to "untouchables"
Shakyamuni was born into the aristocracy and spent his whole life opposing this so-called caste system, and he advocated that we are all equal.
Buddhist "Chinese Vegetarianism"
In ancient India, Buddhism could eat meat, and after Buddhism was introduced to China, it slowly formed its own system "Handi Buddhism". During the Wei and Jin dynasties, Xiao Yan, the emperor of Liangwu, was very moved by the sentence in the "Lenga Sutra", "Bodhisattvas have great compassion and cannot bear to eat the flesh of all living beings", and gathered all the monks to make a vow together, and the Buddhist family will not eat meat from now on, and since then, the Chinese characteristic Buddhism of Chinese Buddhism vegetarian fasting has gradually formed!
Temple Suzhai
summary
Buddhism pays attention to merit, pays attention to cause and effect, and doing something for merit is not merit, it is a show. It's easy to do one thing, it's easy to do one thing every day, and it's hard to keep doing good things all your life! Although our grandfather Yuan Longping is gone, people miss him very much, and his scientific research achievements and his lifelong dedication to rice research are great! This is his greatest merit! He is the greatest Buddha in my heart!
Buddhism is a great religion that originated in India and is believed by people all over the world. Buddhism emphasizes selfless love and wisdom, calling on people to pursue inner peace and liberation. Guided by the teachings taught by the Buddha, Buddhist believers continue to practice, perfecting their thoughts and actions through meditation and wisdom, gradually getting rid of suffering, gaining true freedom and happiness, and becoming better people. Those who firmly believe in Buddhism always keep in mind that "all sentient beings are equal and have Buddha-nature", and strive to benefit all sentient beings with wisdom and compassion, so as to deeply entrench the Buddha's ideas in people's hearts.
And as far as I am concerned, I am not religious, I like Buddhist culture very much: Buddhism has a lot of glorious history, and its monasteries, murals, and clay sculptures of Buddha are cultural relics that have survived to the present day! Through the appreciation of ancient artifacts, through the interpretation of many interesting Buddhist stories in ancient times. This is my appreciation of art and culture!