|
二月間，一位提倡宗教之間互相了解及和平的傑出領袖，來萬佛聖城演講，和聖城的僧團及居士對話交流。
這位演講者是皮耶‧貝提恩神父，他是天主教比利時聖本篤教團的僧侶，同時也是世界性的「僧侶宗教對談協會」的秘書長。
貝提恩神父是世界宗教研究院所舉辦的第六屆「宣化上人紀念講座」，遠道從比利時邀請而來。位於柏克萊的世界宗教研究院是法界佛教大學的分部。
在柏克萊「神聖的款待」的演講中，貝提恩神父提到他在日本學習坐禪的經驗。這些經驗讓他了解到，只通過言語來討論宗教之間的相同及分歧處，不足以真正明白。不同宗教的人必須去參加其他宗教修道的儀式或方法，因為宗教的真理是超越文字的，在靜默中共修，究竟比通過語言更有效，雖然語言也可能有幫助。
貝提恩神父對於修行無私分享的方法及接受款待做了些比較。一位客人住在一個陌生的文化背景之家，面對不熟悉的風俗，居住及飲食，而無法適應，也因為這種不適應的感受，使貝提恩神父認為可以使一個人真正的感激及瞭解到另一種不同的生活方式。
他也提到傳統上所有偉大的宗教，都要求信徒們不但要歡迎來乞求食住的陌生人，而且視他們為神聖的化身。只有這樣侍奉這些陌生人，我們才可以克服雙方的不同，代之以欣賞我們共有的人性。就如體驗他國文化飲食的異鄉客，任何人想要真正了解宗教對話，可以參加其他宗教的儀式。這種做法並沒有使我們離開自己的信仰，而是使我們更深入自己的修行。
在萬佛聖城的演講，貝提恩神父分享對他自己作為一個基督教徒，而修習參禪打坐的經驗。他也提到七歲的時候，1944年諾曼地登陸，他最好的朋友被炸死了，而使他決心成為一位宗教人士。他也回憶道當他被逼迫離開剛果的老師職位時，如何因學參禪而克服他自身的壓力。目前在布魯塞爾附近所住的修道院中，他舉行每月的一日坐禪會，也到處極力提倡宗教對話及款待。
在萬佛城，看到他的演講稿生平第一次被翻譯成中國的文字，令他非常感動。
貝提恩神父在柏克萊的演講內容，將在世界宗教研究院的「東西宗教年刊」中發布。
|
|
A distinguished leader in the effort to promote understanding and peace between religions spoke to the assembled Sangha and laity at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB) in February.
The speaker was Pierre-François de Béthune, a Belgian Benedictine Catholic monk who is secretary-general of the worldwide Monastic Interfaith Dialogue.
Father Béthune had traveled from Belgium to California especially to deliver the sixth annual Ven. Hsüan Hua Memorial Lecture, which is sponsored by the Institute for World Religions. The Institute, which is a part of Dharma Realm Buddhist University, is headquartered in Berkeley.
In his Berkeley lecture, entitled “Sacred Hospitality,” Father Béthune spoke about his experiences studying Zen meditation in Japan. These experiences convinced him that mere dialogue – mere verbal discussion of similarities and differences between religions – is not sufficient for real understanding. What is necessary is for people of different religions to be willing to enter into each other’s spiritual practices. Since the truths of religion are ultimately beyond words, practicing together in silence is ultimately more effective than talk, although talk may be helpful.
Father Béthune compared this open-hearted sharing of practice to giving and receiving hospitality. The guest in a household of an unfamiliar culture, confronted with customs, lodging, and food that are strange to him, is vulnerable, and it is this vulnerability, Father Bethune argued, that can allow for real appreciation and understanding of a different way of life.
He noted that all the great religions traditionally require their believers not merely to welcome strangers who ask for food or shelter, but also to see them as representatives of the sacred. Only by esteeming strangers in this way can we overcome our natural distrust of what is different and appreciate instead our common humanity. Just as the stranger, in order to experience a foreign culture, accepts unfamiliar food, so anyone who wishes for real interfaith understanding can find it by participating in unfamiliar practices of other faiths. This challenge does not lead us away from our own faith, but rather leads us deeper into our own practice.
At his lecture at CTTB, Father Béthune departed from his text to talk more informally about his life as a Catholic monk and his experiences with silent meditation in the Zen tradition. He spoke about finding his vocation at the age of seven, when during the landing in Normandy in 1944 a bomb killed his best friend. He recounted how his discovery of Zen helped him to overcome his distress at being forced to leave the Congo, where he had been a teacher. Now, at his forest monastery near Brussels, he hosts monthly all-day meditation sessions, and he travels widely to promote his understanding of interfaith hospitality.
At CTTB, Father Béthune was moved to see that his lecture had been translated into Chinese for the first time in his life.
Father Béthune’s lecture in Berkeley will be published later this year in Religion East and West, the annual journal of the Institute for World Religions.
|
