佛教与清明节

文｜妙音

清明节将近，中国的传统习俗最重要的是祭奠已故亲人。清明节与佛教并无直接联系，但一个“孝”字将两者紧密相连，面对亡故亲人、历代祖先，佛教自有相应法门，既让在世之人寄托哀思、表达孝道，又让已故亲人获得最大福报。

　　

清明节的习俗大约始于周代，是一个充满祥和惬意气氛的节日，距今已有二千五百多年的历史。现时的清明节，是阳历四月四日或五日，此时春暖花开，万物复苏，天清地明，最宜扫墓祭祖、春游踏青;踏青除了欣赏大自然的湖光山色、春光美景之外，还开展各种活动，增添情趣。二零零六年，“清明节”被列入第一批国家级非物质文化遗产名录。清明节是专为追思和祭拜亡者而设的传统节日;落实了中国哲学家及圣人孔子于西元六世纪所提倡的孝道。清明节是落在冬至以后初春的第106天。人们会在当天前往祖先和亡者的坟墓或骨灰塔祭拜和打扫，同时以亡者的名字做供养。

　　

孔子与佛陀虽分别住在中国和印度，但两者却生存于同一个时代。孝道是两者为促进社会和谐，共同提倡的教义。孔子所提倡的孝道已根深蒂固的融入华人社会体系，以致每个华人了知自己在清明节所应尽的义务，每年过清明节的传统不曾间断。清明节虽始于对亡者的祭拜和供养，生者也在亡者的坟前提出请求和感激亡者对生者所给予的祝福与保佑。

　

佛教与清明

　　

依佛教的说法，亡者因过去活着的时候种下的种种恶因缘，以致他们往生恶趣。那些因执着于财产和子女的亡者，因此转生为不幸的众生。他们可能回到家中流连在门后，制造阴森的气氛。清明祭祖之时，佛弟子当以诵超度类的经文为主，透过为他们做功德，他们可以转生善趣。佛教建议活着的亲友做功德回向给亡者，可以帮他们减少痛苦。其实，《善生经》中有提到子女的义务就是时常做功德回向给已故的父母。因此，任何族群的佛教徒都可以在清明节追思怀念已故的祖先，并以亡者的名字做供养来帮助亡者。在《TirokuddaSutta》中也提到生者心中的感激会促使他们以亡者的名字来做供养。

　　

“他给予我，并为我工作。他是我的亲人、朋友和亲密的人-因为如此想，生者为亡者做供养。”

　　

“那些慈悲的，因此，必然记得已故的亲戚，并且以亡者的名字做供养。透过全心全意的功德回向，亡者将对做功德的活着的亲属感恩，并且祝福他们。”

　　

“那些已故者因为被记得和获得满足而产生的感恩之心，心中将积极的对活着的亲属产生祝福。”

佛教徒在清明节可做

　　

一、到置放祖先灵位的坟墓、骨灰塔等圣地做打扫和供养。

二、到寺庙为往生者做供养，并将功德回向给亡者。

三、为亡者受戒(八或十戒)，并将功德回向给亡者。

四、拜访老人院、残障或智障者收容所、孤儿院，并将功德回向给亡者。

五、为亡者做任何功德，并将功德回向给亡者。

六、念经持咒，为先人做功德回向。

愿一切众生快乐安详!

　　

清明是修行人最好的节日

　　

对于修行人而言，死亡是一个极为重要的事情，是人生真正的转折点，来生的何去何从全部从死亡开始变得明了，如果说清明是对亡者的一种祭奠，更是对无常的一种表达，人生中最为痛苦的无非是阴阳两隔的离别之苦，通过清明应该认知有漏法皆苦的自性，通过清明应该提起寿命无常，人必有一死，且死期不定的知见，对于修行人而言，最有实意的就是修行。佛教里没有清明这个节日，因此佛教经卷中也没有关于“在清明节如何如法祭奠过世亲人”的记载。对于佛教弟子而言，如果讲到要“祭奠超度亡者”，那么每一天都可以当做清明来过。因为我们只要把每天所作修行功课的功德回向给亡者就可以了。至于是否扫墓、是否上供品、是否燃香，这些风俗习惯更多的是出于自己情感的需求，让自己心里“过得去”，跟亡者的关系并不大。

　　

祖古颜班：清明节祭祖，如何最能利益往生的亲人

　　

清明节，对佛弟子而言，是带着感恩之心推广孝道的好机会。清明节在今天最大的功能，就是让我们追宗思源，不忘自己的先祖，学会知恩、感恩、报恩。我们于清明节所做的纪念，要祈愿“先祖为主的六道所有一切如母有情众生，能够早日脱离轮回苦海，得到佛的果位，我们来念经、做功德”，这样对他们而言收获就很大。仅仅依靠我们自己的微薄力量去做功德是很有限的，如果是以众生的名义来做功德，功德就会很大。

　　

正常来讲，佛弟子祭拜祖先的时候，是不磕头的，只是念经持咒，为先人做功德回向，或是请寺庙念经做超度。但从中华传统的礼节上来看，不少地区有磕头等习惯，毕竟是自己的亲人，这也是无可厚非的。佛弟子清明祭祖最好的方式就是：恭敬地去到坟墓边上，把杂草和乱石清理干净，把周围的环境整理地干干净净，可以带着鲜花，如果想要供奉，可以供一些素食，以表追思与纪念。实际上为他们念念经、做功德，比磕头烧香这些好多了。

　　

祭拜祖先最好还是用素食，很多地区习惯供荤食，这对亡者是不好的。真要做，最好是请正规寺庙的法师来做烟供等施食法。如果没有法师，我们自己带一些食品和水，在旁边念经，念佛号，念六字大明咒，将这些撒在坟墓周边，也是可以的。

　　

在清明节，最好的孝，就是做功德回向祖先，既然佛弟子日常都提倡用不杀生等做功德，清明祭祖当天最好能吃素，这样功德更大。

　　

清明祭祖之时，佛弟子当以诵超度类的经文为主，如果时间足够，可以虔诚地念诵《地藏菩萨本愿经》、《阿弥陀经》、《三十五佛忏悔文》、《华严经》中的《普贤行愿品》、《往生净土祈请文》等等，还可以念诵：南无阿弥陀佛、观音菩萨的六字大明咒、释迦牟尼佛心咒、百字明等等殊胜的密咒与佛号。

　　

作为佛弟子，不一定要到清明节才想到祖先，日常也可以做功德、念经持咒回向往生的亲人。就好像亲人去远行了，你可以直接把“钱”打到他的卡上，这里的“钱”就是福报。我们向先祖的福报银行里存福报，他们什么时候有需要，都可以获得利益。

The true Path is sublime. It can't be expressed in language. Of what use are scriptures? But someone who sees his own nature finds the Path, even if he can't read a word.

-- Bodhidharma

Visualising a Pure and Perfect World

by Heidi Köppl

When Rechungpa, a student of the eminent Tibetan yogi Milarepa, was returning home from his studies in India, his master went out to meet him. Along the way it started to rain, and Rechungpa lost sight of his guru in the wind and fog. He could hear the master singing through the storm but couldn’t see him. When Rechungpa finally caught sight of Milarepa, he was sheltering from the rain inside a yak horn, singing and laughing. As mystifying as that feat was, the part that really blew Rechungpa’s mind was that Milarepa fit within the yak horn without making his body smaller or the yak horn bigger. To us, as well, the baffling thing about this story is not the possibility of magic — which is a given in so many stories — but the logical dissonance of it. We can’t picture this in our mind’s eye. We may try again and again to envision it, but it breaks the boundaries of our conceptual framework.

Gendun Chopel, an early twentieth-century monk and scholar, maintained that Milarepa wasn’t the one toying with reality. Rather, he said, we ordinary, confused people are the real magicians. The Buddha taught that the universe and its inhabitants are like appearances in a dream. If that’s true, then the habitual reification of our moment-to-moment experience is quite an accomplishment. Everything we experience is unreal, no more than illusions, as fleeting and insubstantial as the moon’s reflection on the surface of the water. Yet we make it real by continually transforming the spurious phenomena of our world into a concrete reality. By defying the laws of our perceived “real world,” Milarepa was revealing the true nature of reality.

The sutras and tantras are full of these kinds of mysteries, such as universes contained in a single atom, inconceivable by conventional standards. Contemplating such mysteries is one of many methods the Buddha taught to help us undo the magical trick our minds play on us. In Vajrayana Buddhism, visualisation practices are one of the primary tools employed to demystify these so-called mysteries by deconstructing our rigid concepts of what is and isn’t possible.

WHY VISUALISE?

Vajrayana practitioners strive to cut through fixed ideas about what is real and unreal by visualising striking scenes and beings, including colourful deities with many heads or arms, some peaceful and others wrathful. By imagining one’s ordinary dwelling as a celestial palace, it’s possible to transform the mundane world into a divine mandala.

But what is the use of conjuring appearances that seem to have no bearing on our ordinary lived experience? As good Buddhists, aren’t we supposed to become more grounded in reality, not live adrift in an imaginary world? How could superimposing deities and palaces have any practical benefit? It’s natural to worry that visualisation practice could cause us to view the world naively, through rose-coloured lenses. We may even fear that by blurring the line between the real and the unreal, we could end up with a serious mental disorder.

The Vajrayana tradition itself acknowledges such possibilities. On the one hand, such apprehensions overlook the fact that our day-to-day experience of reality is no more real than what we imagine in our visualisation practice. Things appear to us as real and solid because we magicians have already conjured an elaborate illusion. From the moment we open our eyes or perceive with any of our other senses, we’re already deeply entrenched in constructing a distorted reality. Our experience of right now, even though it arises effortlessly and automatically, is no less a visualisation than is a colourful deity or a mandala. Paradoxically, though, by diligently visualising everything as a pure and perfect mandala, we direct our minds toward an experience that is more in line with the way things really are.

On the other hand, just as the tradition warns against reifying our mistaken perceptions of this illusory world, it also warns against reifying the visualised world. Moreover, the emphasis on compassion does not allow the practitioner to forget that illusory world, nor to ignore the suffering experienced by those tethered to it. In this way, the tradition steers between its Scylla (the psychosis of clinging to one’s visualisations) and Charybdis (the mundane neurosis of lived reality).

Is this method open to abuse? Undoubtedly. However, among the welcome and refreshing testimonies of people who have suffered within the Vajrayana tradition, there can be heard the persistent question: why am I always viewing the other person as a Buddha, and never myself? While I cannot responsibly address the abuse of Vajrayana methods in this article, I should clarify that the visualisation practice I am discussing here involves a transformation of oneself, and all others, into fully awakened beings. The radical potential of this perspective for all, from the marginalised communities of classical India (the mahasiddhas in particular) to those of us today, cannot be emphasised enough.

GETTING PLAYFUL WITH EMPTINESS 

The basic premise of the Buddha’s teachings is that everything is emptiness; things appear while being insubstantial. They are like phenomena in a dream. Though we hear this again and again, our persistent perception that we inhabit solid bodies, surrounded by a world filled with concrete objects, belies this truth. We neither see nor feel emptiness, and merely hearing that everything is an illusion does not enable us to actually experience it. Our ageing bodies, the wooden table we lean on, and the cobblestones we walk upon all feel just as solid as ever.

Through visualisation practice, we can come to understand emptiness not just as a negation of real things but as an open space within which anything is possible. Visualisation is a way to play with emptiness, allowing us to integrate it into our lived experience rather than holding it as a purely academic theory or assertion. Through repeated visualisation, we gradually dematerialise solid reality, unfreezing our perceptions and freeing them from the clutches of our ingrained ideas about what is possible or impossible, real or unreal.

We do not import into our visualisation practice the physical laws of the ordinary substantial world, where size, space, and time can become impediments. In our visualisations, nothing can hinder anything else — all appearances are truly empty and transparent. And, even though we do work with size and direction when we visualise, we imagine them to be in dimensionless, timeless space. Through visualisation, we directly experience the Buddha’s teaching that the world is beyond the restrictions of space and time. As a tantric meditator loosens her grip on concepts of size, location, and time, there is no obstacle to perceiving the entire universe in a single atom. For her, Milarepa can easily fit inside a yak horn, or pirouette in midair if he wants to.

THE WORLD AS A PURE REALM 

Mired in delusion, we fail to see that this seemingly imperfect world is in its very nature perfect and pure. Your mail carrier may be an accomplished siddha, a stray dog a powerful deity, or the noisy, crowded city street a field filled with Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. In fact, according to Vajrayana teachings, these possibilities are all true, as each small particle is said to contain billions of universes of complete awakening. It is truly inconceivable! In order to perceive this reality, we need a state of mind that is utterly open, in awe and wonder at all these endless possibilities. That disposition serves as the point of entry to serious practice. It may be a lot to swallow, but Vajrayana training depends on our embracing this radical open-mindedness.

The proof of this radical perspective lies in its liberating effects. The great Nyingma teacher Longchenpa likened it to two men celebrating in a palace, surrounded by absolute abundance. If at some point one of them dozes off and begins to have a nightmare, the other person, who is still awake and fully aware, may notice his friend is moaning and crying in his sleep and gently wake him. Upon awakening, the two of them will look at each other and laugh.

THE RESULT IS PRESENT IN THE BEGINNING 

What prevents us from directly experiencing the world’s flawless perfection is that we don’t take emptiness seriously. On some level, we believe emptiness is just a theory, an idea, rather than the nature of our own reality. Instead of living by the understanding of emptiness, we choose to nurture our magical powers of clinging and fixation, continually recreating a world where everything appears to be static, solid, polluted, and so very real.

The development stage of Vajrayana helps us make contact with the innate purity we have become distanced from; it is the supreme method for quickly reversing our long-standing magical tricks. As the name of this practice suggests, we must develop and be creative. Our first footsteps here are meant to encompass the entire path, bringing the fruit of enlightenment right into the present moment. This is the reason Vajrayana, the “lightning bolt vehicle,” is said to be so swift.

We begin by visualising ourselves as a single deity. Next, we are not only that main deity but also the retinue within the mandala of the deity. Finally, we experience the entire mandala, along with its protection circle, or palace, as inseparable from ourselves. This practice loosens the rigid boundaries between ourselves and the world around us, and eventually, the mystery of reality as ultimately nondual begins to make experiential sense.

Initially, it can be challenging to believe visualisation practice really works. If we are told to transform ourselves into Green Tara, for example, we may diligently go about picturing that, but when we look again, our bodies still look and feel like our old familiar selves. Nothing has changed. Though we may not feel any change for a while, the greater our openness to the possibility of being able to change appearance in an instant — and the greater our confidence in our experience that everything is emptiness — the more quickly our transformation takes place. It is crucial that we approach this practice with a sense of open-ended possibility.

The wondrous vehicle of the Vajrayana, which “takes the result as the path,” does away with our poverty mentality, the underlying sense of never having enough and of not being good enough. It also eradicates our neediness and our continuous compulsion to accomplish something in the future. Our insistent urge to become somebody else — somebody who is more amazing, perfect, and powerful at some point in the future — is an impulse that pulls us away from fully experiencing the richness of the present moment. From the Vajrayana perspective, the craving for something beyond what is manifest right now is ultimately created by our mistaken belief in a self — a belief that inhibits our appreciation of the way things truly are and prevents us from being present to our full potential, right here and now. The good news is that in a moment of correctly applied Vajrayana practice, these urges and impulses completely evaporate, freeing us to encounter wonder and magic. When we begin to visualise all this as a transparent realm of perfect awakening, we acknowledge emptiness in the present moment. Actively and playfully, we can then bring the result of the path — enlightenment — into the present. The result is right here, in this moment. We don’t have to wait. We can enjoy the resplendence of awakening right now and share it with others.

Whether or not we are able to take advantage of the fast vehicle of Vajrayana practice hinges entirely on our ability to discredit the overwhelming sense of a real phenomenal world. We must let go of our attachments and stop falling for our own magical tricks. We must be completely honest with ourselves. Although we may be magnificent magicians, the world we have conjured is full of suffering. Now is time to finally dissolve it.

Reality is like a face reflected in the blade of a knife; its properties depend on the angle from which we view it.

-- Venerable Hsing Yun

果中有因，因中又有果，因果循环不停

梦参老和尚

有的人老了才得死，有的不老就死了，现在二十几岁死的人多了，没经过老。有时候他八苦交加，我说：“你可能断老苦。”他说：“为什么?”我说：“你可能早死。”他说：“为什么呢?”我说：“你做的事太绝了。”人做的事情太绝了，死得就快，他自己把寿命减短了。有没有这样的人? 咱们这里很多啊，不过你们不敢说。那么对着自己亲友，可以跟他说：“多做好事，才不会缩短你的寿命。”

　　

车祸好像没什么因果，哪会没因果呢! 为什么人家不出车祸，你就出了? 为什么人家在那个时候就过得去，那么一剎那间你就过不去? 说炸弹没眼睛，我说炸弹有眼睛，好多人被炸弹摔出去很远，他就不死。有一个人不是被炸弹炸死的，他自己从床上滚下来就摔死了。当时炸弹把他摔出很远去，好几百步外，从空中摔下来，他不死啊;反而在床上梦颠滚了下来，就摔死了。他睡在床外头，他妻子睡在床里头，这一翻身摔了下来，就死了。生死好像也不是跟环境有什么关系，这也是不可思议，什么不可思议呢? 业果不可思议。

　　

这十二因缘念起来—无明缘行、行缘识、识缘名色、名色缘六入、六入缘触、触缘受、受缘爱、爱缘取、取缘有、有缘生、生缘死。这十二因缘，因什么? 缘什么?因着无明欲色，缘着父母。欲界一有，生了色、声、香、味、触，都是你所缘的境界，这就是因缘。这个因缘咱们讲了两种，一个现在的因、未来的果，一个过去的因、现在的果，叫做果中有因，因中又有果，因果循环不停。

　　

咱们做一件事，这个是因，这个因一定要结果;如果是好事，结的是好果，现在结、未来结，永远是要结的。有没有有因无果的呢? 也有。这个有因无果的情况很多，像在过去造了很多的业，一定要结果受苦啊，但是我不孵育它，不给它生长的水土条件，果就结不成了，它就死了。我过去造很多的业，我要受苦还报的，我现在不培育它了，另外有一个好因，我培育那个生极乐世界的因;你那做恶的恶果恶因，是你们孵育它，它愈来愈大，惑愈造愈大，受报才会愈大;如果我断了惑，不造业了，于等那个果淹死了，我也就不会还报。

　　

有因无果，就举这么个例子，如果我种下一个，不一定种下去都会成长，要是碰到天干、水土不服、人工不到，就不结果了。粮食打不成，没果啊，种是种了。有因无果是这么解释。

　　

一般而言，有因一定有果。像我们这个业，很不容易断的，天天在孵育它，天天在贪嘛，以前在贪，现在又在贪，未来又要贪，永远在贪，永远孵育它，当然是有啊。你永远在爱呀，人家讲爱情比生命还高啊，“生命虽可贵，爱情价更高!”那就去爱吧，爱完了就把生命给搭上了，那就爱不到了，但是可给他造业了，他未来的一生就受了，这是十二因缘法。苦、集、灭、道，叫做四圣谛。苦、集是世间的生死法，集是因，苦是果。

　　

因为你起了很多惑，造了很多的业，招记来的自然要受苦，苦就是果了。谁受苦呢? 身、心。身哪，有些人受罪代价关监牢，因为这是个身业，说身是苦。你家里就是一个牢，“家”字跟“牢”字两字都是宝字盖，都是扛起的，把你扛到里头，信吗? “牢”是个牛，“家”是个猪，牛跟猪都差不多，研究过吗? 想一想，牛跟猪差好多，牛给人家劳累一生，最后老了，人家卖了，而且挨一刀去;猪呢，就便宜了，它倒在猪圈里光睡觉，然后就挨一刀。

　　

这些苦果是怎么来的? 就是过去招感、招记来的。这个记就是世间的因，这个苦就是你这个身心所受、所愁的苦果。这里有很多的敌恼逼迫你，想不做都不行。不想造业，谁想做坏事?但是逼迫你非造业不可。你问那个杀猪宰羊的，我跟他们谈过很多话，都懂得因果啊，我说：“你懂得因果，为什么还杀呢?”他说：“师父啊!没办法呀，不然我活不下去，我家里头…。”明知道是业，还非造不可，这就是逼迫苦，自己不愿意做。

　　

你看，哪个妇女愿意当妓女，她被逼迫的，她没办法，落到那个地方。这就是愁于身心所属的是因，偿还啊，身心偿还你所招感的，你自己做的，你还债嘛。但这无量劫来的债，还得完吗? 还不完啊。今生好一点，若生活过得愉快一点，家庭也幸福一点，来生又变成什么样子? 又随哪个因去转了? 无量的因哪! 知道这种道理了，赶快断，断什么呢? 别造因就不受果，现在先断因。菩萨是畏因，咱们众生是畏果。菩萨不敢造一点坏事，一起念马上就止住，觉知前念起，只须后念不起，不让它相续。众生不然，众生就是相续，众生他是非得发这身口七支，他在贪里头，他说：“我没做啊，我心里想啊，我不敢去做啊。”不敢去造业那也是止了，这是世间的因果。

We are in the habit of doing things, getting involved, using the mind actively. Because of these habits, it’s hard to be doing nothing. But notice that in the process of getting rid of one distraction, we create two.

-- Dza Kilung Rinpoche

Lessons I learnt from living in the world's happiest place

by Karen Lim (Published Mar 24, 2019)

(HER WORLD) - Happiness is not a laughing matter, at least not in Bhutan. Happiness is serious business for them over there. So serious, that they've even established a Gross National Happiness (GNH) Commission, which ensures that everything the country does contributes to the overall well-being and happiness of its people.

The pursuit of GNH is also enshrined in the country's Constitution and when you ask a Bhutanese if they are really happy, most would say yes.

Having lived and worked in Bhutan for almost a year now, what I've learnt about happiness is that it is not an end goal. It is the journey and mindful pursuit of happiness that leads to fulfilment in one's life, and contributes to a peace of mind.

Here are some serious lessons on happiness that I've learnt during my time here:

1. MONEY DOES NOT EQUATE TO HAPPINESS

Analytics and advisory company Gallup ranked the Kingdom as 97th in its 2018 World Happiness Report. The happiest countries in the world, according to the report, happened to be some of the richest ones too, such as Finland, Norway, and Denmark.

But a wealthy nation is not the ultimate pursuit of Bhutan. In the 70s, the Fourth King of Bhutan, His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck, famously said that "Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross Domestic Product". And with that, the Bhutanese started pursuing this national goal. Bhutan is careful in the steps they take to development. Decisions and policies must adhere to GNH guidelines of cultural preservation, protection of the environment, good governance and sustainable socio-economic development.

Studies have shown that money does not make one happy. Here, the average monthly salary of an employee in the government sector ranges from 20,000Nu to 30,000Nu (S$400 to $600). After deducting financial commitments such as rent and so on, there's barely enough left to save. Yet the Bhutanese trudge on, content and grateful for everything that they have. Perhaps it is also due to the Buddhist mindset of living in the present that the Bhutanese live their life one day at a time - despite the lack of financial security - and with a lot of gratitude too, gratitude for their Kings, their work, the beauty of their country, their family and their community.

2. HAPPINESS ISN'T ABOUT HAVING A PROFITABLE BUSINESS

In Bhutan, there are many small businesses that have been set up to empower or assist the marginalised. These enterprises have found a middle path to doing business: Rather than falling to the two extremes of purely profit driven businesses and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), local businesses have sought the path of setting up social enterprises, giving back to society and the environment. These companies are contributing to many areas, from waste management, to rural development, and to empowering women.

These initiatives show that the Bhutanese are not intent on making a profit, but rather to help their fellow citizens. An example is Nazhoen Pelri Eco-Friendly Initiative, Bhutan's first waste paper recycling unit that produces on average 20,000 egg trays per week from waste materials and employs recovering drug dependent youth to reintegrate them into society. Another is MAD Bhutan, a Singapore-based tour operator that channels its profits to benefit the rural school children in Bhutan.

Happiness isn't about having a profitable business, it is also about giving back, and most importantly, running a business with a heart and a conscience.

3. HAPPINESS IS ABOUT BELONGING TO A COMMUNITY

The population in Bhutan is small. At about 735,000 people, the entire country is the combination of three mature estates in Singapore. What this translates to is a tight-knit community where everyone knows one another. Someone is always somebody's cousin, in-law, relative or work associate.

A small community helps to foster kinship and harmony unlike populations that live in large, globalised cities. A lot of time here is spent on kindling those relationships, and cousins are usually hanging around with one another, over a beer or a cup of buttered tea huddled around the bhukhari (local wood-fire stove used as a heater), or playing sports such as archery, darts and football.

Neighbours all know one another and stop to chat in the middle of the road, relatives are always at your disposal when you need them to help with family rituals, and if you need help in procuring a nice silk kira (traditional costume for women), there's always someone who knows a weaver somewhere. To get something done here, the Bhutanese normally just pick up their phone and make a call.

With a close community like this, help is always there when you need it. Speaking from experience, this is probably the most effective way to get things done here.

4. HAPPINESS IS ABOUT BEING KIND AND HAVING COMPASSION

Compassion is an integral trait of the Bhutanese and you can witness it in the way they treat animals, specifically the multitude of stray dogs here.

Stray dogs roam the streets in droves - along the roads, napping at your doorstep and even entering shops at times - but you'll rarely see a Bhutanese chasing a dog away or hitting them. They have become such an essential part of the daily lives of people living here that some locals feed the dogs on a regular basis.

The Bhutanese love to do picnics and any leftovers are always given to the dogs. I've been told before that "it's better to feed the dogs than to waste the food". Now that's good food waste management.

Compassion is also seen in their collective support and words of encouragement that you can see on social media, during times when tragedy strikes or when someone is in need. The out pour of solidarity and compassion that I have seen is always encouraging and inspiring.

I have also personally witnessed elderly beggars entering the office seeking alms, and they are never chased away. Instead everyone reaches out for their wallets to give some money to the elderly. 

Compassion is also exemplified in Bhutan's prime minister Dr Lotay Tshering, who is a trained urologist surgeon and treats patients for free, often working after hours and on weekends to tend to the sick.

As a Buddhist nation, it is clear that in Bhutan, the cultivation of compassion for all beings is the goal for a life well lived and for society to flourish. And when that happens, it translates to happiness.

5. BEING CLOSE TO NATURE MAKES ONE HAPPY

It's no secret that being close to nature instils a sense of contentment and happiness to many. This is why for us urbanites, a trip to somewhere with beautiful surroundings is always a great way to reset from our city lives.

Bhutan is mostly made up of forests and mountains that roll on forever, with dense growth of pine trees that look like broccoli. Conserving and protecting the environment is so important to the Bhutanese that it is mandated in the Constitution that at least 60 per cent of Bhutan must be covered by forests for all time. This has resulted in the Kingdom being the only carbon negative country in the world, absorbing more of the world's carbon dioxide than it produces.

Bhutan may be small in size, but big on ideas, and when we live in an age where the world's most powerful countries are slow to take action against climate change, Bhutan's foresightedness sets it apart from most countries. As an agricultural society, the Bhutanese rely heavily on their land and nature. Their connection with the environment and animals is important, and when that is destroyed, their livelihoods become affected and happiness then becomes a far fetched idea when you're struggling to grow produce in your fields.

As the current king of Bhutan, His Majesty King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, once said: "Where we live must be clean, safe, well-organised and beautiful; for national integrity, national pride and for our bright future."

6. HAPPINESS IS ABOUT HAVING A SENSE OF BELONGING

Humans have an inherent desire to have a sense of belonging, whether it is in social groups, among friends, or even in a country, sharing the same connection makes people feel secure and happy. A strong cultural identity helps to promote belonging and gives a group of people a place they can call home.

Every Bhutanese is proud of how far they have come. They adore their Kings, they guard their culture and traditions jealously, and they're proud about the fact that they have never been colonised by external powers.

Their cultural identity is visible in the traditional costumes that they wear every day to work, school, temples and festivals. Even the designs of buildings must adhere to strict cultural guidelines, incorporating traditional Bhutanese elements on the facade. These are just part of a set of protocols or code of conduct (driglam namzha), that determines how cultural values, practices and traditions are maintained and not lost in an increasingly modernising Bhutan.

This sense of belonging allows the people to feel safe in their home country, and with that comes motivation, health and happiness. This is why cultural preservation is one of the main pillars in GNH.

7. HAPPINESS IS ABOUT LEADING A SIMPLE LIFE

One of the most important lessons I learnt about living in Bhutan is how to lead a simple life, one that is far from the excesses of delicious food, the ease and convenience of a well-connected transport system, and access to water each time I turn on the tap.

A simple life here means coming home daily after work with no distractions like midnight movies, drinks at a rooftop bar or over-the-top launch events. A simple life means not going out for sushi dinners or window shopping. It also means having a similar cuisine almost daily, due to the limited variety of vegetables and ingredients here. Dining out is a rarity and a luxury.

Walking is the primary mode of transportation for someone like me who doesn't own a car here. Sometimes, a taxi ride is needed and unavoidable, but my daily commute is usually done with my two legs.

Water supply can sometimes be unreliable and during occasions where there are water issues, we all tend to say a little prayer in that one second when we turn the tap on. Sometimes the water is muddy too. Keeping reserve water in buckets at home is par for the course for everyone here.

But all these "inconveniences" doesn't stop many living here from being happy. Yes, there may be days where you can't wash properly, or days where you may crave for a nice dinner at a restaurant, but one thing I've learnt is that the simpler your life is, the less you desire. The lack of complexities in life makes one much more appreciative for the little things you have. In fact, I wake up appreciating what I have and I don't know what else I need more to make me happy, because whatever I have today, I am contented and grateful for. And I am happy.

8. HAPPINESS IS ABOUT ACCEPTING SITUATIONS YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OVER

There are many situations one might face here where you will have no control over, such as issues with water supply or electricity. When a dry spell hits, you don't go all uncontrollably mad. Most of us just sigh and start boiling the water from our buckets.

There have been umpteenth times when my colleagues' vehicles were blocked by construction trucks just as they were about to head to the office. They don't go yelling at the drivers. Instead, they just sit in their cars and wait it out.

The attitude of the Bhutanese to situations they have no control over isn't about raging at others till they get their way. Instead, I've been told by a Bhutanese that most of them just remark "what to do?" and move on.

Perhaps this truly is the key to their happiness. To not get stressed over small things in life and to take things easy. Sometimes there really is no reason to get worked up over everything.

9. HAPPINESS IS ABOUT LAUGHING AT EVERYTHING, INCLUDING YOURSELF

The Bhutanese are known to be rather humorous. Although a little crass at times, their jokes show how simple, carefree and easygoing they really are. Even in professional settings such as the workplace, people are cracking small jokes or giggling because they're amused by another colleague's mannerisms.

They laugh at the smallest things. And from a place where we have forgotten to laugh at the simplest, sometimes lamest jokes, I oftentimes don't get why they get so tickled by something so apparent or so meaningless. But I've learnt that this is how they learn to take things easy and that is by laughing at everything. And sometimes including themselves.

Life shouldn't be so serious and we should all learn to laugh a little, even if it's over something silly.

IS HAPPINESS THE ONLY THING THAT'S IMPORTANT?

Happiness in Bhutan is beyond just trying to attain that single goal. It is a collection of cultural identity, belonging, a close community, compassion, caring for the environment, cultivation of patience and simply put, just taking things easy.

Is happiness the only thing we should be pursuing in life? No. There are many important life lessons beyond happiness. But it is the journey to happiness and the lessons we learn along the way that matters - not happiness itself.

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/lessons-i-learnt-from-living-in-the-worlds-happiest-place

When we are proud of our wide learning, our efforts at teaching and studying, and we are even sure that we could explain a hundred scriptures, though our minds have not improved the least bit spiritually, it is because we lack the analytic meditation that combines understanding with experience.

-- Pabongka Rinpoche

对机说法

文｜ 慎言

对机说法是指诸佛菩萨在教化众生时，常会根据受教者的能力和根机的高低，而施以不同的说教，以达到最理想的教化效果。对机说法，又作“随机说法”、“随机散说”、“随宜说教”、“随机说”、“应机接物”。佛陀说法八万四千法门，就是根据众生的不同根机而权巧施设。因为众生有八万四千种烦恼，佛陀讲说的每一种法门可以对治众生的一种烦恼。身处烦恼中的众生总能从八万四千法门中找到一种适合自己根性的法门来修学，从而最终消除烦恼，圆证菩提。

佛所说的一切教法，不过令众生明心见性而已，而明心见性重在自证，并不是通过言说所能达到。因此，禅宗常祖师说“说法者，无法可说，是名说法。”虽然如此，但钝根众生不知此理，佛菩萨为教导钝根众生，就不得不针对众生根性方便说法。众生的业障有深浅厚薄的区别，因而佛在说法时则当应机而说。假若说法不对机，尽管费尽口舌，众生却不能了解。众生的根性，各各不同，只有适合众生的根性而说，才能达到最理想的教化效果。

在佛教经典中，有很多关于对机说法的论述。《金光明最胜王经》卷一云：“此诸众生有上中下，随彼机性，而为说法。然佛世尊无有分别，随其器量，善应机缘，为彼说法。”《无量义经·说法品》云：“以佛眼观一切诸法，不可宣说。所以者何？知诸众生性欲不同。性欲不同，种种说法。种种说法，以方便力。四十余年，未显真实。”善导大师《观经疏玄义分》载：“如来对机说法多种不同，渐顿随宜，隐彰有异，或六根通说，相好亦然。”从以上论述可见，对机说法所说的法是随他意之教。

在佛经中常常将佛陀比喻为大医王，用“应病与药”来比喻佛陀的对机说法。佛陀看世间众生的种种迷惑、束缚、贪婪、嗔恚等烦恼为种种病症，常根据众生病症而讲说不同的法，对治众生的诸种烦恼。如《维摩诘经·佛国品》云：“应病与药，令得服行。”《心地观经》卷二〈报恩品〉亦云：“诸如来转于法轮，远离四失，说相应法。一、无非处，二、无非时，三、无非器，四、无非法。应病与药，令得复除。”《大般涅槃经》卷二十五云：“诸凡夫之病总为贪欲、嗔恚、愚痴等三种。教示贪欲病者观骨相，嗔恚病者观慈悲相，愚痴病者观十二缘相。”以上种种论述就是以烦恼为病，以佛法为药的譬喻。同样的论述，如《菩提心论》曰：“诸佛慈悲，从真起用，救摄众生，应病与药，施诸法门。”《五灯会元》卷十记载：文益禅师“调机顺物，斥滞磨昏。凡举诸三昧，或入室呈解，或叩激请益，皆应病与药。随根悟入者，不可胜纪”。

佛教经典记录了很多对机说法的典范。如《维摩诘经》中的维摩诘居士就经常以种种身深入到各种众生中去，采用对机说法的方式，广泛度化一切众生。如经偈云：“或现作淫女，引诸好色者。先以欲钩牵，后令入佛道。或为邑中主，或作商人导。国师及大臣，以利众生。诸有贫穷者，现作无尽藏。因以劝导之，令发菩提心。我心慢者，为现大力士。消伏诸贡高，令住无上道。其有恐惧众，居前而慰安。先施以无畏，后令发道心。或现离淫欲，为五通仙人。开导诸群生，令住戒忍慈。见须供事者，现为作僮仆。既悦可其意，乃发以道心。随彼之所须，得入于佛道。以善方便力，皆能给足之。如是道无量，所行无有涯。智慧无边际，度脱无数众。”

维摩诘居士以“众生病即我病”的慈悲情怀，广度一切苦海众生。为度化淫女，先以欲勾牵，然后引入佛道。对于邑主、国师、大臣、贫穷者、骄慢者、恐惧者、须供事者等不同众生，维摩诘居士都能随顺众生的根性而为说法，使他们都能通过对机教化发菩提心，修学佛法。

在禅宗史上，有很多禅师都是针对众生的根性采用不同的教化方法。沩仰宗开山之祖沩山灵禅师即是如此。一次，灵禅师上堂说法，座下有三千弟子虚心聆听禅师说法。说法完毕之后，灵禅师走下法座来到弟子中间。

灵禅师在第一个弟子跟前停下来。禅师十分慈悲地安慰他、勉励他，脸上露出对这个弟子怜悯的神情。

接着，他走到第二个弟子跟前，什么话也没有说，只是在额头上摸了一下，点点头就走开了。

最后，他走向第三个弟子。在经过这个弟子跟前时，连这个弟子看都没有看一眼，就走开了。

看着灵禅师对待三个弟子的不同态度和做法，弟子中就有人说，第一个人深得师父喜爱，一定是慧根很深。师父又摸了第二个人的额头，并向他点头，说明对他印象也不错。师父对第三个人不屑一顾，一定是他太不争气了，伤了师父的心。

这个弟子话音刚落，灵禅师便来到他跟前说道：“你以俗人的眼光来看待我，你完全估计错了。我之所以安慰、勉励第一个弟子，是因为他最幼稚，最软弱，所以我要时刻扶持他，眷顾他，免得他在学佛的过程中误入迷途。第二个弟子比第一弟子有信心和耐力，但还需要鼓励和赞许，所以我抚摸他，鼓励他，给他信心。而第三个弟子慧根深厚，不仅掌握了修证的方法，而且还会主动修学，以期明见自性，因而我用猛烈的方法训练他，使他成为禅门法器。”

对机说法是诸佛菩萨和历代祖师根据众生根性，实行因材施教的最好方法。通过这种善巧的教育方法，能够启发禅子的悟性，促使他们及早明心悟道。

Rather than blaming all our bad luck and misfortunes on someone or something else, we can see how we need to work hard and we need to be mindful of all our thoughts and actions to make sure that these misfortunes will not happen in the future.

-- HH Gyalwang Drukpa, Jigme Pema Wangchen