A reminder from the last issue:
Language is a tool to express thoughts and exchange ideas;
however, it cannot meet this requirement one hundred percent.

Shakyamuni Buddha said in the Shurangama Sutra that, "Once you put it into words, the true meaning is lost." Because the profound principles of sutras are beyond the scope of language, it is difficult to explain sutras. Language has no way to express the true meaning completely. Unfortunately, people often do not understand this, and blindly make mistakes. Therefore, if assignments, lessons, and sutra lectures are not correctly explained, the audience will not immediately understand. Misunderstandings are inevitable, because even small mistakes may obstruct the truth.

Clarify the Falseness of Artificial Phenomena

In modern society, dishonesty has become a trend. Whether it's in the society, country, or the whole world, people tell lies frequently without any sense of shame. The situation is becoming worse and worse. This kind of artificial, false phenomena takes countless forms in our society, and causes people to commit crimes and break the law. However, the source of this false behavior is the human mind. So if we wish to clarify the falseness of artificial phenomena, we must start by clarifying our own minds. This is an important spiritual problem. As Buddhists, it is our duty to start with ourselves, and there is only one place to begin: education. All the advantages gained through false behavior come at the cost of the society, the country, and every individual. This is mainly because the human character has deteriorated until people virtually have no sense of shame, and have lost their pure foundation of truth, goodness and beauty. So we should seriously introduce a lesson called "Having a Sense of Shame" in kindergarten and elementary schools, as well as in every home and family, in order to teach students to make their words consistent with their actions, and not to lie. Lying is a cause for shame. We must each change ourselves to get rid of the false phenomena in our society and country. The news media should broadcast the facts which expose all the false phenomena in our world. In time, the results of our work will appear: the tides of destiny will be turned back, and the human spiritual civilization will have a solid foundation. The crime rate will fall, and even become nil.

To be continued