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二月五日在柏林甘慈善中心，本會比丘恒實師做了為時一天，主題為「心地上的佛教」的講演；同時應邀參加的尚有恒音師及恒奘師兩位比丘尼。這是Sandi
Peters和Thomas Hand神父所組織的為時一月的共修的一部份。Thomas
Hand是位七十九歲的天主教神父，他積極提倡東西方精神交流。與會的五十幾位聽眾，有天主教徒、耶穌教徒、猶太教徒、佛教徒、印度教徒，都有心研究其他的宗教傳統，來提昇自己的修行。有幾位修女修士也參加了聚會。
在六個小時的演講中，恒實師描述了佛教的歷史，介紹了大乘佛教的五大宗：律、禪、密、教、淨。佛教，與其說注重正教，倒不如說注重正行，恒實師讓聽眾體驗了一些修行的法門。關於密宗的法門，我們先誦了大悲咒，再教聽眾誦
「嗡嘛呢叭彌吽」六字大明咒。關於教理的法門，恒實師介紹了《心經》，與《華嚴經普賢行願品》的第九願。關於淨土法門，大家一起念誦「南無阿彌陀佛」。與會大眾聽得很認真，有趣的故事還不時引起陣陣笑聲。午餐前，恒實師講了Howard
Swanson這位修禪的素食牛仔的故事。
藉著這個故事，恒實師告訴這些每天靜坐四小時的共修會會員，素食對大家的修持有所幫助。有位年輕人說，他生氣時可以用毒品來鎮定。恒實師告訴他，那效果只是暫時的，長期就不行了。我們應該知道，靠外界途徑能得到的寧靜是扭曲的。禪宗裏面，你要放下一切，使內心達到原本的狀況。每位與會人士從演講中，都獲得了新的理解和經驗。Thomas
Hand神父辦的這次共修會，使不同信仰之間的相互理解，邁進到一個更深的層次。
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On February 5 at the Mercy Center in
Burlingame, Dharma Master Heng Sure presented a one day
seminar "Buddhism on the Mind Ground" as part of a
month-long retreat organized by Sandi Peters and Father
Thomas Hand, a seventy-nine-year old Catholic priest who
actively promotes spiritual exchange between East and West.
Bhikshunis Heng Yin and Heng Jhuang were also present. The
audience of fifty included Catholics, Protestants, Jews,
Buddhists, and Hindus who are interested in exploring other
spiritual traditions so as to enhance their own practice.
Several Catholic sisters and brothers attended.
During the six hours of the seminar,
Dharma Master Sure sketched the historical development of
Buddhism and introduced the Five Major Schools of Mahayana
Buddhism: Vinaya, Chan, Secret, Teachings, and Pure Land.
Since Buddhism emphasizes orthopraxy (right practice) rather
than orthodoxy (right doctrine), Dharma Master Sure let the
audience experience some of the various practices. For the
Secret School, we chanted the Great Compassion Mantra, then
taught the audience to chant "Om Mani Padme Hum." For the
Teachings School, Dharma Master Sure shared the Heart Sutra
and the passage on the ninth vow from the "Chapter of
Universal Worthy's Conduct and Vows" of the Avatamsaka
Sutra. Finally, for the Pure Land School, the audience
chanted "Namo A-mi-to-fo." The audience listened
attentively, chuckling at the stories frequently
interspersed throughout the lecture. Dharma Master Sure told
the story of Howard Swanson,
meditating-cowboy-turned-vegetarian, right before lunch,
telling these retreaters, who were meditating four hours a
day, that vegetarianism improves meditation. To a young man
who felt that intoxicants calmed him down when he was angry,
Dharma Master Sure replied that it might seem so
temporarily, but in the long run, he would realize that
calmness obtained through anything external was still a
distorted kind of calmness. In Chan, one must strip away
everything and leave the mind in its original state.
Everyone came away from the seminar with
new understandings and experiences. Father Hand's Mercy
Center retreats are a significant step towards interfaith
understanding at a deeper level.
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