Buddhist Believers

As China becomes richer and more populous, and continues to open to the outside world, the Chinese people wish to further enrich their spiritual and cultural lives. Now they have more time to think about these needs, and some are choosing to pursue religion.

By TANG YUANKAI

CAI Lixu, a celebrated educationist and devout Buddhist, once said something that touched the hearts of many viewers of his audio-visual series Lectures on a Happy Life. He said: “The Chinese character ‘mang’ (meaning busy) is composed of two other Chinese characters: ‘xin’ (meaning heart) on the left and ‘wang’ (meaning die) on the right. So the character ‘mang’ suggests that the heart dies. Nowadays people often get too busy to see others in need. They get lost in their hectic modern lives and often have no idea what they really want.”

Before hearing these words, Fan Nannan asked herself the same question almost everyday: “Should I just quit or keep working?” Having reached middle age, she enjoyed the stability of her career. In many people’s eyes she had everything. “But I had to stay at my office for 120 hours a week, which meant 24 hours a day if I worked five days. But of course there are only 24 hours in a day! So I had no choice but to sacrifice my weekend,” recalls Fan.

“Gradually I started to feel like a cup of ice-cream that could be nibbled by anyone. Everybody could take my time except myself,” she adds. Finally one night she couldn’t move her legs. “I knew what the doctor’s diagnosis would be – the heavy pressure had not only impacted my mind, but also my body.”

Inspired by Mr. Cai, Fan thought: “In the beginning I didn’t see the need to share my time with my parents and other family members because I devoted myself to work. Then I ignored my own needs, and only focused on earning money.” She asked herself: “What exactly am I doing? Am I working diligently every day or just wasting my life?”

Although she didn’t resign, she applied for a long holiday, giving her boss some reasons she had never raised before. She wanted to see her family, have a rest and ease her mind.

For the first time in the eight years since she had started working, Fan went traveling with her parents. In a temple, she got to know the Four Heavenly Kings, each of whom watches over one cardinal direction of the world.

The Southern Heavenly King is also known as the Lord of Spiritual Growth. Fan says she learned from the Buddha that simply fulfilling one’s duty is not enough – it is more important to improve one’s morality, wisdom and ability. Now, as a practicing Buddhist this is what she strives for every day.

“The instruments held by the Four Heavenly Kings remind me how to deal with things,” she explains. “The lute held by the Eastern Heavenly King suggests that I should not handle things impetuously. If the string is loose it can’t be played, but if the string is too tight it might break. This tells me that I should follow a middle course – I should try my best to handle everything with a responsible attitude, but never go too far. In this way I can do a perfect job.”

Fan also talks about her understanding of the Southern and Northern Heavenly Kings’ instruments, namely a sword and an umbrella. The sword can cut the binds of irritating things in one’s mind, while the umbrella suggests that one should protect one’s self from various evils in the world and keep one’s heart clean.

“I decided to follow Buddhism after admiring the changes in Fan,” says Han Yuanxin, who is the same age. She was one of Fan’s clients and went through the same transition from impetuousness to a peaceful heart. “In the past, I believed it was inevitable that modern people had to lead a fast-paced life. However, it seems the few impulsive people leading a hasty lifestyle influence many others,” she says.

From Han’s point of view, the more material civilization brings convenience to people’s lives, the more it also sparks various crises. Many Chinese who are used to an unhurried manner have gradually felt heavier and heavier pressures, and unthinkingly switch to a faster-paced lifestyle. They tend to do things very quickly and thoughtlessly. Before long they have lost control. “With modernization, people expect all their actions to immediately yield fruit. The emergence of cars, airplanes, mobile phones and the Internet has helped us save time, but we still feel short of time. In the past we’d happily spend 30 seconds waiting for an elevator, but now we’re probably only willing to wait 15 seconds before becoming impatient. Numerous people walk through their lives at a brisk pace,” comments Han.

“Buddhism provides us a land of peace, or a Shangri-la that is far away from the turmoil of modern society. There we can seek a better life, on a spiritual level,” says Han. She firmly believes that Buddhism helps clear and calm her mind. Now she finds it easier to have self-control.

However, Han’s husband doesn’t understand why his wife follows a religion. Like many people, he believes Buddhism is the business of the elderly; he says it is not fit for young people unless they are suffering major frustrations in their career or relationships. But Han takes issue with the notion presented in some literary and artistic works that ill-fated people have no choice but to convert to Buddhism. “This kind of attitude makes many people distance themselves from the wisdom of Buddhism. In addition, many Buddhists don’t have a correct understanding of Buddhist doctrine; they don’t know how to distinguish right or wrong in face of misunderstandings. I think that is because we Buddhists don’t do a good job explaining,” says Han.