问：学佛的人为什么要往生西方极乐世界？
师答：因为我们这世界叫娑婆世界，“娑婆”就是忍苦的意思，娑婆世界就是忍苦世间。为什么要忍苦呢？这个世界的人有生老病死苦，比如年纪大了，眼睛看不清楚，戴个眼镜还晃来晃去；牙齿掉了，用假牙，吃东西也叫苦连天；老有老苦，生也有生苦，做妈妈的十月怀胎好苦！睡也不能睡，吃也吃不好……。除了生老病死苦，还有求不得苦、爱别离苦、怨憎会苦、五阴炽盛苦，唉呀，苦太多太多了，所以苦海无边。
人有男女相，就有一切要求，情爱欲就从这里开始。有位法官就说：“师父啊，你相不相信这监狱里边，一百个案中，几乎有九十九个都与女人有关系！”所以讲来讲去，还是因为我们这个世间有男女相。
到了西方极乐世界，统统是一样的，没有男女相，没有老相，也没有生相，小孩子是从莲花化生出来就这么大的，生老病死苦都没有。在这个娑婆世界，三恶道的畜生都很苦，猫狗猪也要给人杀来吃；极乐世界没有三恶道，没有畜生，没有迷信，没有迷信就没有鬼神，没有杀盗淫，所以没有地狱，因此那地方最好。
问：我以前看佛经，觉得道理很好，看了心里很舒服，但是最近看阿含经，觉得越来越糊涂，比如经典里所讲的，有的信也不是，不信也不是。
师答：这是一种疑，既然不信就有疑，佛教就欢迎大家疑，大疑大悟，小疑小悟，不疑不悟。
问：有一种大象升到天上，七天后才掉下来，这种就令人难以置信。
师答：你不能说没有看见的东西你就不相信，没有飞机以前，有人说天上有一个东西，能把几百人从这里载到多少远的地方，你相信吗？没有太空船以前，你不信会把地球人载上太空去。只是这种情况你不知道，你就说你不相信，实际上你不相信的事情太多太多了。
By Jia Jia Toh
For many students, high school/university has finished for the year and results have been published. For some, the outcome may be good, and for others, the outcome may not be as we had hoped. When we do not receive the outcome we want, our emotions tend to take over and feelings of frustration, anger and sadness may arise. This is not just limited to school results, but rather, anything that could get in the way of our success and happiness can cause us to doubt our own capabilities and point blame at others.
One thing that Buddhism teaches us is to reflect on ourselves, realise where we had gone wrong, and change it. This could mean changing our habitual tendencies and self-reflecting using introspection in order to find the cause of our mistakes. This then makes the mistake valuable, as learning from where we went wrong will build the foundation for our future successes and allow us to mature as a person. Thus, our mistakes become successes as well.
As Reverend Ming-An Chen once said,
“A person who faces setbacks and failures, but lacks the ability to self-reflect, has definitely conceded total defeat to their failures. A truly successful person is able to self-reflect amidst failures and setbacks. He/she examines the causes and consequences of his/her failures and becomes more mature than before. As these setbacks and failures leave no scars in his/her heart and mind, he/she instead becomes more experienced and courageous. Most people think it is not possible, that is why few succeed.”
When faced with failures and setbacks, it can be challenging and we often find it easier to just give up, but we must remember not to fall victim to our failures and mistakes. We need to see through hardships and setbacks, and transform them into positive mindset and concepts. When we fail, we must observe ourselves. Just being able to do so is a success in itself.
Remember,
“A successful person finds solutions. A failure finds excuses.” – Reverend Ming-An Chen
In order to change, we need to change our mindset. If we do not do so, our mentality, lifestyle and conduct will remain static despite our best wishes to change.
I hope this message serves as a confidence booster for anyone who feels dejected about any hardship in life.
References:
* Becoming Wise – 80 practical words of wisdom essential to inner growth, peace and happiness in everyday life. By Reverend Ming-An Chen
* Sprouting Your Wisdom Life – 100 practical words of wisdom essential to growth, happiness and everyday life. By Reverend Ming-An Chen
问：劝人学佛都不容易，劝鬼神信佛只怕更难，若以诵经超度，其信受程度如何？
师答：当然劝人信佛都不容易，劝鬼神信佛怎么容易？实在很难很难！所以人乘佛教主张：我们尽可能劝人做善，皈依学佛。祂已经做鬼神了，你念经给祂，祂又不改，那怎么办？有办法，最好你跟祂说：“你不要做鬼神喔！你要赶快信佛，不要迷信，不要邪迷。”一直跟祂们讲。祂皈依学佛以后，死了就不再做鬼神了。所以在人乘佛教修士早晚功课里有一条：“不拜鬼神不迷信。”假使你要去拜祂，又要劝祂信佛，祂会说：“我信佛之后，你拜佛就不拜我这个鬼神了，那我也不要信佛了。”所以要使鬼神界慢慢减少，唯有在人道里多劝人信佛，多劝人解脱。
那么为亡者诵经超度，当然也有很多受用，有人超度比没有人超度好，假使这个人死后在鬼神道，我们为祂超度一次，祂生病一次，因为生病一次就消除祂的业障一次，我们多跟祂超度，祂多多生病就赶快死了，投生人道，到了人道，已经种了善根，要劝他学佛就容易了。