心得
Chris Rowe
December 2009
Choosing to study at a private, Buddhist university on the secluded north coast of Taiwan, and choosing to accept all of the “limitations” that come with life in a monastic environment is—at least according to the secular standards of today—unusual and unexpected. For me, I chose DILA (instead of a university back in the Unites States or in Taipei) partly because of my previous experiences with the broader Dharma Drum community. In 2011, while studying Chinese in Taipei as part of an undergraduate Study Abroad program, I participated in Dharma Drum’s Awakening Camp (自覺營), and later participated in multiple Chan retreats. While many of the linguistic, ritual and aesthetic features of the Chinese Buddhist world seemed (and often still seem) incomprehensible to me, the basic principles of simplicity and compassion were intelligible enough to move me in profound ways, and I was encouraged to learn and to practice more. “Practice” is the key word, because Dharma Drum’s emphasis on implementing the Buddhist teachings, as opposed to studying them in a sterile intellectual manner, is what makes it unique.
Students at DILA are expected to attend courses and to complete specific academic requirements like graduate students everywhere, but the training here goes beyond the merely intellectual. Living in a dormitory on a secluded mountain campus, interacting with classmates that are usually monastics, and eating vegetarian meals in silence everyday influences your mood and disposition over time. This kind of training is subtle, but like the slow flow of water, which can eventually carve a deep canyon out of solid rock, these basic daily patterns can powerfully shape an individual’s habits, and therefore his or her direction in life. In the twenty-first century we are facing enormous environmental challenges, which we know are brought about by overpopulation, mass-consumption and industrialization. But from the standpoint of Master Sheng Yan, the founder of Dharma Drum and a formidable scholar of Buddhism, these issues are more fundamentally caused by the restless desires of the human mind. The structure of life at Dharma Drum encourages students to observe their own minds, while academic courses provide students with the tools to understand and to transform what they find.
Morning and evening chanting, along with certain chores that students are responsible for (I clean a bathroom, wash communal dishes, and sweep the dormitory common area every week), like the features of daily life mentioned above, gradually attune students to a mindset of community participation, and encourage responsibility and compassion. The Four Great Vows (四弘誓願) are an essential aspect of Chinese Buddhism, and students chant these vows during morning and evening service. At first it seems unbelievable, promising to save all creatures from all forms of suffering, but exposing oneself to the possibility every day is deeply thought provoking. Not only that, by citing compassionate vows as the basic motivation for offering and pursuing higher education, DILA distinguishes itself from most modern academic institutions.
Many universities throughout the world are succumbing to the instrumentalist mentality, which views education as valuable only if it leads to some tangible economic rewards, but DILA remains true to classic, even ancient academic standards, aiming to transform individuals into wiser, more self-reliant and responsible religious teachers.
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