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師父上人，各位法師，各位善知識，阿彌陀佛！
我叫陳彥君，在兩個月前法師跟我說她要排我說法的時候，我很害怕，心裡想：我不要上去講話，那麼多人，而且我佛法也懂得不多。可是佛青會一位朋友勸我說：「你應該去練習你所不會的，尤其是上台說法、翻譯，不應該逃避，多練習就會的，以後才有能力幫忙說法，或是翻譯經典。」所以今天我只好硬著頭皮上台來練習講法。剛剛上殿之前，我打了個電話給我媽媽說這件事，我媽媽就笑我說：「終於輪到妳要去台上講法了。」然後她說「妳講教育好了。」我說：「我不懂教育啊！」我媽媽說：「妳應該說師父很注重教育，說教育是做人的根本。」所以我今天就說說我在萬佛城學校的經驗，和在外面大學的經驗。
現在我先講一講我的背景，我十歲的時候從臺灣到萬佛聖城來念書，讀了八年，直到高中畢業，就到波士頓念大學（麻省理工學院），現在大學畢業，回萬佛城，在女校教生物跟科學。
萬佛聖城真是一個很特殊、一個很好的地方，可是在小時候，我並不知道。我只知道聖城是個不錯的地方，可是我沒想到它是那麼好，直到我出去念大學，才發覺到萬佛聖城實在是一個很難得的地方，好像是個天堂一樣。大家都很認真修行，都想讓自己的品行更好，沒有一個人刻意要去害別人，不是每一個地方的人都是這樣子的。
我去念大學的時候，我真正學會到一件事，那就是我在這裡長大的那段時間，因為有時候要拜《大悲懺》，然後還要來聽經，所以很多事情，我們小孩子都覺得這不是很有趣的。當時我並不明白必須參加法會、大悲懺和聽經的道理。可是無形中，它對我們的幫助很大，那個時候我其實並不是很了解，一直到離開了萬佛聖城，到一個完全沒有佛法的地方，我才發覺佛法真的是很寶貴，我以前的生活真的依賴它很多。因為同學對佛教徒認識不多，當你說你是吃素的，因為不想殺生，他們大多不了解，也會問我：「為什麼妳不喝酒呢？不去參加party？為什麼不穿皮鞋？」最大的感觸是在大學的時候，找不到一個道場，一個清靜寺廟可以去。因為我從小在萬佛聖城長大，廟和佛殿對我是很重要的。以前不高興的時候，就來佛殿跟觀世音菩薩頂禮，說說話；可是在大學裡沒有道場，找不到一個真正清淨的環境。
佛教說生命很苦，在我小時候不知道苦是什麼？苦可能是功課做不完，或者是…直到我讀大學後，終於了解苦是什麼？苦是沒有道場可以去，真是非常的苦。幸好在我很苦的時候，法界佛教青年會成立了，那正是我大一、大二的時候。在佛青會裡面真是非常的好，我遇到了很多同樣年紀的年輕人，他們跟我一樣，對生命有同樣的問題和困難，雖然以前我不認識這些人，很妙的是才認識一、二天，就好像已經是很久很久的朋友。我們很幸運，有很多很好的老師，花時間來教我們佛學，教我們怎麼樣打坐，教我們初淺的佛學道理，怎麼樣把我們的生活和佛法融合在一起。這實在是非常重要的，它等於是救了我，使我覺得生命也不全都是苦的，還有很多的事情值得我去學習；我明白佛法不只是說一說或者只是去學一學，是要真正去實行，真正去修行，它才對你有幫助。
我告訴佛青會的老師我在學校的情形，他建議：「妳可以每天打坐。」剛開始練習打坐時非常困難，因為心裡很亂，有很多妄想，連坐一分鐘都很難，並不是因為腳痛，而是心根本靜不下來。記得以前在聖城上學的時候，可以坐很久，為什麼我退步那麼多？從那時候開始，我每天在固定的時候打坐，不管是有多少妄想，也不管有多忙。慢慢的，它真的幫助我很多，後來我發現越是在我最忙的時候，最沒有時間的時候，我更需要打坐，因為打坐能讓我的心靜下來，讓我有思想的空間去做我應該做的事情。所以現在我遇到一些大學生或是我的朋友都跟他們講，打坐對我們的幫助真的很多。
我目前在培德女中教科學和生物。我覺得我們學校的學生，真的很不錯。怎麼說呢？她們都很善良，雖然有的時候考試考得不好，讓我失望；可是她們的心地善良，我覺得這是最重要的。因為我現在了解教育不是要學生考試考得好，有很好的成績；而是培育孩子們的內在美，她們的品行要良好。因為這樣子，我越來越發覺自己真的不知道要怎麼教學生，我只會教她們書本上的知識，卻不知道怎麼教她們的品行。其實，我覺得我不必擔心這一點，因為她們在萬佛聖城，無形中就可以學到很多關於這方面的事；因為上人留給我們的法，就是叫我們要成為一個好的人。阿彌陀佛！
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Venerable Master, Dharma Masters, and all good and wise advisors, Amitofo!
My name is Stacy Chen. Ever since two months ago when a Dharma Master asked me to speak, I have been afraid of tonight. I kept telling myself, “I don’t want to go up and speak in front of so many people. I know very little about Buddhadharma.” However, one of my Dharma friends in DRBY (Dharma Realm Buddhist Youth) said to me, “You should go practice doing what you do not know how to do, especially speaking the Dharma on the podium and helping to translate. You shouldn’t feel like running away. One learns from practice. Only through practice, can you eventually learn and help with speaking the Dharma and translating sutras.” That is why I’m here today to practice.
I called my mom just now before I came to the Buddha hall. I told her that I’m going to speak the Dharma tonight. She laughed at me and said, “Ah, it’s finally your turn to speak now.” And then she mentioned, “Why don’t you talk about education?” I replied, “But I don’t understand education!” My mom replied, “You should talk about how the Venerable Master really emphasized education and believed that education serves as our roots of being humans.”
I agreed with her and thus I’m here to talk about the experiences I had at the schools in the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB) in comparison with the experiences I had at the university outside the temple.
I’ll first talk about my background a little. I came to CTTB to study when I was ten years old. I studied here for eight years until I graduated from high school. After that I went to Boston (MIT) for my college education. Currently, I have just graduated from college and have returned to the Girls’ School at CTTB to teach courses in biology and science.
CTTB is truly a unique and wonderful place. But I didn’t understand this when I was a student here. I only knew it was a decent place, but it wasn’t the best place. Only when I left to go to college did I realize the preciousness of CTTB, it is like a paradise. Everyone here cultivates with the intention to be a better human being. No one will intentionally harm others. This is not the case everywhere.
Students sometimes had to bow the Great Compassion Repentance and to attend some lectures; however, I didn’t see the value of all these ceremonies. These weren’t necessarily activities that caught our interests. However, even though we did not understand the meaning behind everything, we benefited from these activities in intangible and invisible ways. It wasn’t until I left CTTB and went to a place without Buddhadharma that I realized the value of Buddhist teachings and how much my life depended on Dharma. My friends didn’t really understand Buddhists. It perplexed them when I’d say I’m a vegetarian because I don’t want to kill. Some might ask, “Why is it that you don’t drink and don’t go to parties? Why don’t you wear leather shoes?” However, all these are considered petty things. What really bothered me during college was that there wasn’t a temple nearby to which I could go. There wasn’t a really pure Way-place that I could visit. Because of my upbringing at CTTB, temples and Buddha halls are of great importance to me. Before, whenever I was sad, I would come to the Buddha hall to bow to Guanyin and to talk to her about my day. Yet, this was not the case when I was in college. There was no pure Way-place that I could go to and reorient my life.
Buddhism talks about the suffering of life, but I never really understood what suffering is. Maybe suffering is when I couldn’t finish my homework, or when I didn’t get to eat junk food. It finally occurred to me during college what true suffering is: suffering is when I don’t have a temple to go to; this is true suffering. It was during this time, during my freshman and sophomore years, that the Dharma Realm Buddhist Youth (DRBY) was established. It allowed me the chance to meet young people of my age who share similar questions and difficulties about life and cultivation. I connected with many friends at DRBY and felt that I had known them for a long time when in fact we might have just met for a day or two. We were very fortunate to have very good teachers and advisors to guide us. They spent time teaching us simple Buddhist principles, encouraged us to meditate, and explained how we can apply Buddhadharma into our daily lives. This opportunity with DRBY really saved me during my college years. Life wasn’t all suffering after all. There are still many things I should learn and discover. I realized that one can’t simply talk about or learn about Buddhism. One has to really practice and cultivate Buddhism. Only then will Buddhism be beneficial in any form.
I told a DRBY advisor about my struggles at school, and he recommended that I start meditating every day. It was very difficult in the beginning. My mind was scattered and full of false thoughts. I couldn’t even sit for one minute. It wasn’t because of the pain in my legs, but simply because I could not calm my mind. I was extremely discouraged when I remembered how long I used to be able to sit in high school, and I started to sit a little bit every day. No matter how much false thinking I have or how busy I am, I would find a fixed time every day to meditate. Slowly, my meditation has helped me cope with my days. I realized that it is during my busiest days, when I have the least time to do things, that I most need meditation to help me calm my mind and clear the space I need to finish my tasks. Whenever I talk to my friends now, I advocate sitting in meditation.
I’ll talk a little bit about my experience teaching at the Girls School. Whenever I look at the students in our school, I feel that they are all very good kids. Why? They all have a good heart. Although I get disappointed when they don’t do well on exams, I feel the most important thing about them is that they are kind and good in nature. I realized after teaching here that education is not all about academics or getting good grades. It’s about a child’s inner world, their conduct and their character. I feel I have no idea how to teach virtue. The only things I can give them are the stuff on the books. Actually, virtue is not something I need to teach them when they are at CTTB. Virtue surrounds and permeates this pure place. The Dharma left behind by the Venerable Master was to teach us to become good people. Amitofo.
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