【愛與和平是我們共通的宗教.】／海濤法師 【Love and Peace are Our Common Religions..】／Master Hai Tao

First of all, I wanna express how I envy everyone being so young. We used to say: “If I were a freshman again, ...” How wonderful!

Buddha says that human bodies and lives used to serve sentient beings and cultivate Bodhicitta are considered as the best Dharma vessels (Faqi). Therefore, everyone has already got the best accumulation of merits.

More importantly, your affection is so abundant that you feel like falling in love. However, ladies and gentlemen, being in love is suffering. Selfish love pains you. I used to be married before becoming a monk, and Buddha did so as well.

Nevertheless, how could we transform selfish love
into equal great compassion? That is truly merry.
How could we turn dualistic knowledge into forever wisdom?

The know-how of conquering one’s own affliction and serving all creatures is exactly the best knowledge we ‘d like to pursue.

How could we make our worldly ambitions, such as to become a board chairman, to buy an apartment, and to find a good husband, all egocentric, modified to serve all creatures and all human beings?

The vow power includes assisting all kinds of religions.
I hope I could promote my own ability to serve a variety of beings.

In plain words, we are our own enemies in life. The enemies don't come from outside. All people and things from outside are the objects we should appreciate, learn from, and help no matter what religions they are.

Therefore, I think if people ask what your religion is, you reply: “I am here to serve you.” Truth, love, and peace are forever religions. For this, as mentioned above, I have to vanquish the selfish desires. Once you start seeing someone, you turn fragile and get jealous. Girls especially have the tendency to hold men tightly. You'd better learn from us to get a buzzcut.

Renunciation, as just said, is to transcend one's own appearance, to transcend selfish love, to transcend the possession of money, and to transcend so-called success. Only when others succeed, and the world turns wonderful, will I myself become wonderful. There is no individual triumph.

Thus, we have to tame ourselves to serve all creatures and to undertake the suffering of all beings. In conclusion, we are here in the World Youth Buddhist Symposium. The whole world counts on us. Stop being selfish. Let's go embrace the world, and love all religions. Thank you!