Vistopia
Finding Peace: 40 Introductory Lessons on Buddhism
Cheng Qing
Hello, I’m Cheng Qing. Three weeks after launch, your support shows both enthusiasm for Buddhism and a desire to resolve life’s problems.
This special answers listeners and explains some intentions behind the course.
 
1、
Hu Bugui: How should one practice Buddhism? Must one enter a temple?
Many ask about practice. In fact,whenever Buddhist teaching is turned back upon your own mind, practice has begun.Awakening means understanding the Buddha’s truths and testing habitual views for traps. The relief of ‘so that’s how it is’ is already awakening and practice.
I cannot recommend temple practice for everyone because circumstances differ. Butas understanding deepens, you will recognize suitable temples. Before then, do not abandon life for a utopia; use Buddhist thought to observe suffering and contradictions in cognition.
Today’s boom in cultivation and mind-body-spirit courses contains traps from weak teachers and commercial motives. I suggestreturning patiently to Buddhist ideas and testing them against your worldview; further practice may then open naturally.
 
2、
Yan: Past fifty, I obsess over avoiding illness and pain and fear health scams. How does Buddhism address bodily pain?
Attachment to health is attachment to the body and fear of aging and death, becausefor Buddhism pain is not necessarily suffering. Pain is sensation; understanding determines whether the body hurts while the mind does not suffer.。
Ignorance clings to preserving the self and accepts scams for illusory health or longevity, even staking everything on a tiny imagined chance.
The Buddha teaches impermanence. It is not a fixed self falling into nothingness but life continuing through karma; fear involuntary rebirth, not annihilation. What continues is not the self we now imagine. Later episodes explain further.
 
3、
Maimai: Can young people full of hopes but little experience truly avoid attachment?
We habitually imagine attachment and nonattachment as opposite extremes.
Buddhism rejects such binary logic, becauseaffirming nonattachment creates attachment as its opposite, and we then cling to removing attachment.Instead ask what you cling to and why. Seeing an object or logic as unreliable and contradictory naturally loosens the grip.
For example,we seek certainty and fear leaving society’s path. Yet once-secure programming careers and ever-rising property become unstable. Accepting impermanence loosens old goals and gives the mind flexibility.
Therefore,immediate nonattachment may be hard, but the right cognitive path gradually brings clarity and freedom.For young people it is not giving up when goals fail, but seeing endless possibility rather than presetting one narrow goal.Nonattachment means valuing the present and doing today’s work. Future paths unfold naturally; no single external standard measures who we become.
I urge students to excel professionally, the foundation of life. Buddhist wisdom addsemotional easeandconceptual acceptance of conditions.。
Thus,we need not become nonattached at once; examine what and why we cling, and answers may emerge.
 
4、
Can you recommend introductory and advanced books?
For the earlier course, consider mainland editions ofVenerable Nārada’sThe Buddha and His Teachings, published by Shaanxi Normal University Press. The Sri Lankan monk presents the Buddha’s life and Theravada thought as a reliable introduction.
Readers uncomfortable with monastic style may try a book by a British anthropologistMichael Carritherswritten by himA Little History of the Buddha, published by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. Its anthropological view of Theravada doctrine and life suits modern educated readers.
AlsoDzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche’sWhat Makes You Not a Buddhist, and Thai monkAjahn Chah’sEverything Arises, Everything Falls Away, while neither is a survey, both vividly show how practitioners understand teaching and reflect on life.
 
Finally, some practical arrangements.
No book or course can encompass all Buddhist systems. This course focuses on important ideas and modes of thought rather than pretending to completeness.
Buddhist guidance responds to individual doubts, whereas a systematic course needs a framework. Observing the self draws chiefly on the Āgamas; later, observing sentient beings introduces the Diamond and Heart Sutras and Mahayana. Later material may resolve current questions.
Updates may be slower because I adjust later chapters to your responses, though I will accelerate during summer and add specials.
Thank you again. See you next time.
Episode editor: 夏夏
2023.06.09
Audio in Chinese

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Featured comments

89 comments
  • 云妮
    2023-06-09 23:09:15

    我个人其实挺喜欢老师的慢慢更新，毕竟“慢下来”也是应对当下的一种力量吧。

  • 隼龍
    2023-06-10 12:56:45

    作为一个身负各种病的中年人，我觉得积极面对人生的每一刻，坦然接受自己发生的问题，认真过好每一天，是摆脱对健康执着的最好方式。

    150****6174 ：其实不需要时时刻刻都积极，一天四分之一消极，一半平静，四分之一积极才是平衡哈哈哈

    隼龍 Reply 爱吃芒果酸奶冰淇淋 ：感谢🙏

  • Shen Zhou
    2023-06-12 05:20:03

    我第一次接触的是 《佛教的见地与修为》, 然后看了一行禅师与圣严法师的一些书. 我个人经验,想了解佛学,看一两本品质高的书就差不多了,因为无论是禅宗还是藏传佛教,佛学的根本都一样.比如, 一行禅师的《活在此时此刻》是本修行之书.讲述的是他的日常生活. 在吃饭,坐车,行走,爬山中正念.即便不信佛,但在心绪不宁,烦躁不安,愤怒难平时都可以试试佛家的修行办法.方法很简单:不去想过去和未来,就做好当下的事.如果你在吃饭,那么就全心全意地吃饭;你在行走,就专心地行走....我不是佛教徒,但我深以为,生活的最佳状态确实是内心的平静,安宁和从容.一旦抵达了平静的内心,整个人的状态都会发生变化.有种由内向外延伸的东西,会在不知不觉中改变外在行为.从容的行为是平静内心的折射,当外在的任何变化不会影响到你,你会活得轻松自在.愤怒,烦躁,怨恨...好像与生俱来,是我们人性中固有的. 登上心灵修行的小舟或许会助我们抵达静谧的彼岸.

    136****7373 ：一行禅师的书写的很好！！！

  • R
    Ray
    2023-06-09 21:38:44

    随喜🙏执着于不执着，也是执着。修行，两个字分开，就是改变和行动。原来如此。感谢老师。

  • 空心阁
    2023-06-10 01:07:21

    老师，近期发生武汉小学生校内出车祸去世母亲也随之自尽的事情……能用执着想不开来理解这位母亲吗？面对丧子之痛，忍气吞声的高压和网暴，这种生物本能的大苦之时如何放得下执念呢？我也知道历史上比这更苦的人和事也太多了，请教就是面对这样的大苦大悲如何进行思考和解脱？

    成庆 （主讲人） Reply 空心阁 ：可以尝试《心经》

    成庆 （主讲人） ：我们没办法轻描淡写每个人所遇到的痛苦，对于儿童而言，丢失了心爱的玩具可能就是天大的事情，而丧子之痛对于一般人而言，那更是难以承受之重。我们当然要去探讨、追究这些不幸的外部原因，比如制度、管理、人为疏失，但如果我们自己一旦遇到这些问题时，除了悲伤，是否能够有新的离苦之道呢？其实，远离执着也需要分境界、分程度，就像中年人很容易舍弃童年喜爱的玩具，而一个饱经沧桑的人，可能也习惯了世间的无常变故而变得相对冷静，我们之所以很难承受生命中的某些痛苦，其实是我们还没有能力看清人作为一种生命存在，其背后的巨大的疑惑，也就是我们的悲欢离合具有那么重要的意义，或许只是我们赋予其相应的价值呢？当然，在这样谈的时候，我们不得不非常小心，因为对于我们普通人，某些人生境遇的苦几乎是毋庸置疑，只能承受和受苦，但如果我们自己遇到类似的遭遇，佛陀的指导可能是：这的确是不幸，但能否换个角度思考，这些苦能够得到缓解，乃至最终能够超越呢？这其实就是所谓修行的意义，不容易，但的确是佛陀指出的道路。

  • 雷暴野孩子
    2023-06-13 08:09:17

    谢谢成老师。虽然我还没有三十岁，今年老爸被诊断出癌症，而且很不乐观。工作上也因为新项目时常感到力不从心。这段时间都是工作出差、回家去医院陪护，朋友说提前过上中年人的生活了。每天睡醒就开始发愁，各种问题在脑子里面转。还好，听到成老师的声音，能静下来一小会。哪怕就是一小会，我都觉得自己能休息下来了。

    成庆 （主讲人） ：先放松，後面我也会介紹一些簡單的禅修方法，您可以在日常生活中尝试一下。

    雷暴野孩子 Reply 成庆 ：感谢成老师。

  • s
    smy
    2023-06-11 09:23:59

    老师 想请教：身为三十岁的年轻人 有一些不可更改的人生轨迹 有很大的遗憾或后悔 该如何放下？救救孩子吧😭

    成庆 （主讲人） ：放不下大概还是看不清，既然已經过去，何必老是背負著？可以在回憶这些事情的時候不要跟著去造作联想，回到當下做的事情，慢慢嘗試。其實只是我們自己綁自己而已。

  • Lrl
    2023-06-12 17:33:15

    成庆老师好，日常生活中有一些困惑，期待您的回复！首先，平时在别人问自己“你信佛吗？”自己总会思考一下，信佛、佛教徒，该如何去定义呢？自己又是否属于。想听听老师对这个问题的看法。其次，不知道为什么很多人听到佛教总会想到类似于“佛系”之类的观念，认为是无欲无求偏向于所谓消极的心态。这一观点我之前也有困惑，因为有时候将一些欲望放下后，似乎自己就失去了内驱力，自然在做事上会匮乏动力。心中很是矛盾，望老师解惑！

    成庆 （主讲人） ：其他人的问题如何回答可能是其次，关键是当你接触佛学，或者佛法时，你到底想要寻求什么？其实对于我而言，我最为关注的是，佛学中的道理是否清楚地解释了我们烦恼产生的原因，以及有无提出正确的解决方法能够让我实践。如果这些问题都可以得到肯定回答，那么就是您所谓的“信佛”，因为金刚经里就说过，若见诸相非相，即见如来，因为佛陀所说的道理，是在我们的人生中看到他想要告诉大家的真相而已。

    Lrl Reply 成庆 ：感谢老师的指点，这是值得我深思的问题，会去思考！也希望日后能从老师的节目中汲取更多！感恩

  • 丁冉
    2023-06-10 07:58:36

    感谢成老师的周末更新，听老师磁性的声音耐心和我们解道佛学，每一期我都是听5－10遍以上。慢慢的吸取营养，慢慢消化。

  • panjingwei1945
    2023-07-10 18:55:47

    老师慢慢更新慢一些挺好的。我个人每次听多要全神贯注，又因为有些部分有些难还需要去查资料，所以一集听完要几乎一个小时。听完往往感觉很疲惫(但也很兴奋，因为感觉学到了不得了的知识)。现在的节奏对我来说刚刚好。

  • V
    Veronique
    2023-06-09 20:10:55

    关于执念和拥有，听了好几次才明白，有的时候可以反向思维，有种若有所悟的感受，受教了，谢谢

  • w
    wangxiaoni
    2023-06-12 08:04:18

    感觉不执着 似乎会容易陷入虚无，请问该如何看待世俗意义上的人生目标？

    成庆 （主讲人） ：从现实的人生中去觀察苦的原因

    wangxiaoni Reply 成庆 ：感谢老师回复 我好好理解一下

  • 何静芝
    2023-06-11 11:41:08

    对对对，生出一个概念（执着），然后再去破这个概念（破除执念），那还不如不要生出这个概念来得“方便”，法门一定要方便😂

  • Freeman
    2023-06-09 23:46:43

    请问对于佛学来说，是不是在面对任何问题时，都不要诉诸情绪，不要对问题作出情绪化的反应?

    成庆 （主讲人） ：看清楚就会释然 不会对立，反而只是去面對处理問題。

  • 如风
    2025-08-24 17:49:02

    在思考执着或者不执着这个问题的时候其实就已经执着了