《景德传灯录》：

梁武帝问达摩说，“，朕自即位来，建造寺院，抄写经文，还劝无数人出家为僧。如此种种，功德几何？”

达摩答：“无功德。”

梁武帝问：“为何无功德？”

达摩答：“人天小果，有漏之因，如影随形，虽有非实。”

梁武帝问：“何为真正功德？”

达摩答说：“净智妙圆，体自空寂，如是功德，不以世求。”

佛家云因果有报，修得功德。然，昨日和一友人聊于此，其人曾近佛后远佛，曰善恶无报，应斩丑恶以扬善。言于此，本人虽非佛教徒，但知投机主义功德心要不得。佛家四法印讲，“诸行无常，诸法无我，涅磐寂静，有漏皆苦”。茫茫宇宙，“此生而彼生，此来而彼灭”，刹那间生灭相继，是谓“无常”。佛家心存善念，斩恶灭生，如此戾气，真是要之不得。

这段针灸的日子听夏医生讲了不少佛法，自己回家闲来读读《道德经》。风云变幻的日子，力求寻一份静谧，给自己一个正确的选择。又言及我，佛讲求“无我”。可见，此人道行浅之又浅。但话归于题，有信仰的人看似更加幸福、安祥快乐。基督徒到佛教徒，眼前的个个真例似乎见证如此。

若世间人都可行依于此，无论称其为人世佛国还是人生天堂都是极幸福的地方。yet 似乎只可是想想。

I am Ming Ming, a postgraduate student of ANU and one member of CIF. Now I am on holiday, waiting for the graduation ceremony. Without doubt, I am enjoying a fantastic time here. In terms of study, it is ANU that will never dissatisfy your desire for studying. In terms of life, it is Canberra that will offer you an opportunity to experience a mix of cultures worldwide and the kindness of even strangers passing by. In terms of traveling, it is Australia which can provide you various sorts of endless amazing spots as long as you are ready to explore. Yet, something which impresses me further and deeper is CIF (Crossroads International Fellowship), in which I spend my fantastic Bible study time with my lovely Christian and non-Christian friends with different backgrounds. Additionally, this not only means the first time for me to get access to the Holy Bible and Christians but also the beginning of my relationship with Christianity.

About CIF

Actually, before arriving here, I had little understanding of Christianity. However, I know that western culture, arts, customs and even academic thoughts have been impacted significantly by it. Besides, I am a person who has great interest and desire to know about religious issues. Consequently, when I heard the news from Annie, one of my classmates, I could not wait for the coming time. One thing I would like to say here is about the name of CIF. The first bachelor degree I have got is related to economics and international trade. CIF is one of the common payment methods, namely Cost, Insurance and Freight. Yet, this CIF is extremely different from that one. This information below is provided by CIF about itself.

CIF is a group especially for international students. We are part of Crossroads Christian Church. We meet every Sunday at 4:30pm in the Bernard Neumann Room, Bruce Hall, ANU, to learn from the Bible, make new friends and have a free meal together. Everyone is welcome.

Yes, each Sunday, we will get together to sing songs at the beginning and then pray. After that, a specific speech will be given by CIF leaders, UniChurch friends or Christians from any Christian groups. He or she will explain and help all members to understand and think deeply about the weekly topic. After that, CIF attendees will be divided into various small groups, including normally 4 to 6 people. At that time, you can ask any words, sentences or key points you do not completely know or understand. Last but not least, there is free yummy dinner provided.

Friendship from CIF

Here in CIF, there are friends worldwide. The person who sits besides you might come from Europe, America, Middle East, Asia, Africa or Australia. Last week, we just welcomed a new member, a girl who comes from Baghdad that just suffered from the smoke of gunpowder. Among those people, some are Christians, some are like me who have gained a great interest in Christianity, and some have more interest in the later meal or practising English. J No matter what your real purpose, if you join CIF, join this Bible study group, all CIF members will welcome you with their kind and sincere smile.

Apart from bible study during CIF, each overseas student can have one local friend to learn about the Bible and practise English. For me, I am really lucky to have the outstanding and the best female Christian Anna, CIF leader Derek’s wife, as my partner. Also, this couple are my closest local friends in Canberra. Besides, Anna and Derek’s love story has been attributed greatly to their common faith. That was according to God’s good will. Currently, Derek is a lawyer and Anna works for the federal government. Yet, these things are less significant to them. Their meaning of life is to offer themselves to Jesus and help others know about Jesus. Next year, both of them will give up their higher income jobs, head for Sydney and go to a special Christian college to pursue their Bible study. Dearest friends, bless you. J

Amazing Christianity

Someone asked me before, “The Holy Bible, merely one book, might take a couple of days to read through it. It is not like a subject like Media or Information systems, where you need to learn everything about these systems. So what are you studying? And why so many people keen to read it? ” Well, please look at these Christians. I am sure you can find the answer by your own eyes and thoughts. Actually, CIF is just a small group. After CIF, there is another bigger place for Christians called UniChurch on the ANU campus. There are about 30 people in CIF, while there are approximately 200 or 300 people in UniChurch. Now, the lecture theatre has become a church. Yes, it is a church, which is not a special building, but a place for Christians to meet, discuss, encourage and pray together. That might be a common misunderstanding which I had before as well. Citizens in Canberra are famous for their higher education background and higher incomes. In CIF or UniChurch, there are government officials, average citizens, and the majority of them are students and professors of the Australian National University or the University of Canberra. Now, look at them. Think about them. Such a huge group of young people! They have a higher education background. They come together, because of one faith, because of the Holy Spirit, because of Jesus. They are brothers and sisters. They are children of the Lord. What kind of spiritual power is this?

Apart from the Bible study, leaders of CIF always provide some great ideas to enhance friendship, to make our overseas study time colorful. For instant, Girls/Boys Night, Games Night, Pizza Movie Night, BBQ and Bush Walk are all impressive events. Here, you can hardly feel that Christianity is merely about boring rules. What actually happened here are mates singing, laughing, mutual encouraging, freely expressing, deeply discussing and international friendship.  

My memorable experience of CIF

I myself serve as a typical example who has gained great friendship from CIF. Yes, I have made lots of friends here. Except for the members I mentioned above, there are many other brilliant and nice people. In terms of weekly music, Steven’s a handsome guy who usually leads the singing part. Fionna, a Southeast Asian girl, is an amazing piano player. Grace, a Malaysian girl, used to study in the University of Melbourne and is currently working in the government. You can hardly find her in discussion groups, because she is always busy preparing dinner for later. Sonya, a primary school teacher is preparing together with Grace. She is pretty nice - she helped me do an interview for my Consumer Behavior research. Conan is in charge of allocating name tags. Adam manages the CIF library. Again, there are many knowledgeable members and funny guys. Like Josh, this Korean guy with great sense of humor, usually makes some impressive announcement.

Apart from friendship, regarding my experience, I am usually a“trouble maker” not only during CIF discussion, but also coffee discussion time and mail discussion. What I have learnt from the Bible always reminds me of some other seemingly inconsistent ideas from Buddhism, Taoism, Philology and Psychology and so forth. For example, with regard to world creation, Taoism indicates that the nature of the world is chaos. It occurred and develops by nature. There is nothing which can control all this, therefore people should live a natural way. Doing nothing also means doing everything. While Christianity suggests that it is the Lord who created this world and human beings. Everything is in the control of the Lord. How far different are these ideas? The second example is about satisfaction. They argue that only believing, trusting and loving Jesus can lead to real satisfaction. As a marketer, I have learnt to achieve the business goal by fulfilling consumers’ desire and needs. I drew and showed Maslow’s five level satisfaction theory to demonstrate the actual picture of this world. Besides, how could that theory explain me, a kind of person who believes she is living a satisfied life not as a Christian? Another example is the topic of death. According to the Holy Bible, Christians can go to paradise, while non Christians will go to hell after their death. Do you think what Buddhism says is more fair and acceptable? Those who did more good deeds will go to the heaven, those who did more bad deeds should go to the hell, while the average people just drink that Meng Po soup to release their previous memories and jump into another new life’s body. Last but not least, about meaning of life, great people such as Alexander, their people and offspring are continually mentioning and passing on their great achievement one generation to another. Is this meaningless also? The examples are endless. And eventually each concern has been answered. What I would like to highlight here is there is no exception, since each time, those Christians, no matter who, will endeavor to explain to you and help you understand with their patience. I do appreciate it, mates.

Now, I am going to graduate and leave Australia. Dear Anna said, “You are invited to come to dinner before you leave.” Dear Deepa said, “We should hold a party, which one do you prefer, ice cream or plain cake?”     (Deepa is an Australian who comes from Wollongong yet has an Indian background. She is a pretty girl and in charge of CIF transport.) Dear Sarah sister asked me whether I had arranged my accommodation in London or not, when she heard I would go to University College London to pursue my further study. She told me she had worked in London several years ago and she could introduce some Christian friends to me. Come on, guys, all of you are so nice. I am not a Christian, yet I do love you. J

Conclusion

So now, I have got a general idea of Christianity through my relationship with CIF. To be honest, I like studying the Bible, but also sutras of Buddhism and Tao Te Ching of Taoism. Actually I used to search for different kinds of power which were supposed to contribute to enrich ourselves and live a balanced life. Yet, later I found I could not handle all of these things like Kant did. He served as a typical ideal example to me, in that he was an atheist yet mastered all religion issues and was particularly close to Christianity. Because these days I have been influenced to reconsider many aspects of ourselves, and of this world, it turns out to be fundamentally vital to clarify the true meaning of life and the true faith.

Basically, the main puzzle for me is the struggling of various spiritual schools. As a matter of fact, the more you know about Jesus, the more you would like to know further. The more you get along with the Christians, the more you can feel there seems to be a kind of invisible power that makes them live such peaceful and bright lives. I am curious about such power and I am shocked by such power. Fortunately, I am on the way to exploring something really critical in this world. I know it is not about title, income, degree, status etc. Thanks again, CIF and all my friends. You are my valuable treasured memory forever and ever. J

应安娜姐姐要求，写了一个英文版的。刚送她回家，今天参加完我最后一个CIF。此文，以作留念。That is the end, also the beginning.

 Hi dear Anna,

Tks for your asking. Actually I have got some questions after finishing reading all MARK on Tuesday.

Yet, I am involved in two reports and lots of group meetings. Therefore, after studying I am tired to face to computer again. Please forgive me dear.

These days, I am always thinking about the death of Jesus.

To be honest, I am not an exception who has numerously doubt about this issue...Perhaps this is another key point for people to believe in Jesus. 

However, such a story seems not strongly convincing me... 

I would like to know when you read about it, what were your opinions at that time? 

Hi again!

I thought you would have some questions  :-)

You are right, there are many people who have doubts about the resurrection of Jesus, and his miracles, and so on.  That is why there are so many books written about the topic. Again, I recommend you finish reading Lee Strobel's book.  (There are heaps of others I can lend you if you want.)

I grew up believing that God exists.  It is very clear in my mind that a 'god' created the world and that we are not the most intelligent or powerful beings in this world.  So, when I read about Jesus life and death and resurrection, it was surprising, but easy for me to think it is possible.  Of course, if there is a god who created the world, this god can do many other things like this without difficulty.

You also believe in many things which others have doubts about - such as wearing bracelet to get peace from Buddha, tying red string on your mobile phone because it's a good year for you to wear red, and so on.  I think most people in the world do beleive in some powerful being (a god) who can influence their life. 

Now the question for both of us is - who is this being?  Is it Buddha, or an unknown force, or 'nature', or the God of the Bible?  I think that there is a lot of evidence to say that it is the God of the Bible - and Mark's writings about Jesus, a real man who really lived here on earth a while ago, who people saw and touched and watched die, they buried him, and they saw him walking around alive again after 3 days - this is just one piece of that evidence.

There is much evidence outside the Bible too, which Lee Strobel also talks about in his book.  Also, I find confirmation of the fact that Jesus is God, in my heart, because since I have become a Christian my life has changed in so many ways that is difficult to explain if God isn't true.  Many other people have similar stories.  No one piece of evidence is enough, but all together there is a HUGE body of evidence which leads me to believe that Jesus really did rise from the dead, and really is the Son of God, with the power to save us from death (our punishment by God for forgetting about or ignoring him).

…….

呻吟 语              [明]吕坤

本书由明末唯物主义思想家、著名学者吕坤著，是一部语录体的著作，刊刻于明万历二十一年（1593）三月，时吕坤在山西太原任巡抚。全书共六卷，前三卷为内篇，计有《性命》、《存心》、《伦理》、《修养》等八篇；后三卷为外篇，共有《天地》、《世运》、《圣贤》等九篇，共约数百条含意深刻、富有哲理的语录。 

本书向我们谈人生、谈哲理、抨时弊，内容涉及人生修养、处世原则、兴邦治国、养生之道。行文中时常出现警言妙语、真知灼见。

在修身方面，作者认为，“沉静最是美质，益心存而不放者”，而“任口恣情，即是清狂，亦非蓄德之器。”沉心静气是一个人的优秀品质，潜心思虑而不放任；信口胡说，即是轻狂的表现，这样的人难以修养出好的品德。读到这里我不禁想到了自己的心与口，看来要培养良好的品德，非得管理好这两个家伙才是。

文风朴实,几句平常话语，却道出了世间人们最易忽视与不愿承认的事实，与现代的“倒权威论”有异曲同工之妙。静心读下去，只觉胸中愈来愈广阔，眼前愈来愈明亮，平日生活中烦恼琐事亦化作烟云惭惭散去。心，也净洁了不少。

呻吟语卷二  内篇  乐集

　　【修　身】

　　六合是我底六合，那个是人？我是六合底我，那个是我？

行者智慧

近日读到一篇佛家之作---行者智慧。“功夫深的人没有德性便是道里的魔鬼，有功夫有德性的人才能为民所用。德是功夫的体，功夫是德性的用，“功德”二字不能偏修。“

不知为何，现在很喜欢读这样的东西。不用怀疑，我是唯物论者，但我从不排斥宗教理说的存在。而且对于其劝人向善，我非常感怀并赞同。尘世间，还有多少人的眼睛是那般清澈如水？在澳洲，我切切实实的感受到了。他们信仰的是上帝，把最赤裸的自己展现在LORD面前。尼采曾言，“上帝死了。”他是彻彻底底的悲观主义者。我不是。我选择怀着憧憬与美好活着。当我的身心感受着这人世间的纯真美好，我是快乐的。

我亲爱的姐姐曾经给我一条短信：“势利纷华，不近者为洁，近之而不染者尤为洁；智械机巧，不知者为高，知之而不用者尤高。” 佛家言，远离尘世中的财色名利是修行，然处于其中又不为其所动，方为真正的有修行有功夫。如大菩萨，融入红尘，在圆满中修成圆满。不过，心空成智这等高深的境界，就绝不是凡人所能达到的了。

文中有这样一段话我很喜欢，“彻底的爱他人，爱自己，都是入道的门径，爱是最快的解脱法门，没有爱心，你就别想解脱。当你深爱某些东西的时候，你自己才愿意活下来，才能更好地爱自己。做到真正的爱自己就是爱人。”----“要想证得究竟圆满的果位，除了爱（大悲心）以外绝无第二法门。要愿意做罗汉也可以不去爱。之所以产生恨，是因为爱了一半就不爱了，倘若爱到底，又怎么会产生恨呢？”爱是束缚还是解脱？为什么那么多人如陷入泥沼而不能自拔？其实答案非常简单。付出的爱才是解脱。“爱是施舍，爱是付出，爱是牺牲，但爱到最后，又是获得，又是存活……”如果一味追求回报，以占有为行为目的。人也便十分容易为之所困而烦恼其中了。我深爱我的家人，所以我知道我要努力地活着，因为我想通过自己的努力让他们过得更加幸福、快乐。

释佛讲：“不怕杂念起，只怕觉知迟”。我觉得，最重要的便是心态。把自己放平、放正、放低、放轻，不去苛求他人为我做什么，而只问自己该去做什么。这样，当亲人、朋友的关怀送至的时候，无论多少我都是感激愉悦的。人活着最重要的是什么？绝不是有多少名利为之所驱，其实就是那一份简简单单的快乐。能感觉到遥远地方有亲人、朋友的牵挂、思念；能给友人以帮助；能充当朋友失意时的倾诉筒；能给身边的人带来阳光微笑------生活本来就是很简单的，不是嘛？

“世上没有一样东西是足够的，除非你的心足够。”追求的脚步是不可以停止的，这是生命的意义。还是博士的话最经典，我们要感激的面对生活。：）

                                               二〇〇五年七月二十二日

When Lord intends to bestow a great mission on a person, it makes him suffer in mind and body. It makes him endure starvation, and subjects him to poverty, difficulties and all kinds of tests so as to harden his will power, toughen his nature and increase his capabilities.

The core of benevolence is to the filial to one’s parents; the core of righteousness is to yield to one’s elder brothers; the core of wisdom is to know the meaning of benevolence and righteousness and adhere to them steadfastly; the core of propriety is to regulate and adjust the relations between benevolence and righteousness; the core of happiness is the enjoyment of practicing benevolence and righteousness.