關於 what is an ancient wall ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

【解開人生謎題的寶書】(English writing below)

「師姐，簽書號已經發完了耶！」

地點：台灣雷藏寺的大燈文化攤位。

我一手抓著根本上師聖尊蓮生活佛的新書《我所知道的佛陀：如是我聞》，一手拿著錢要付款。

「沒關係，師兄，沒有師尊的簽名，我還是想買這本書。」我微笑著回答，感謝他的熱心提醒。

我喜歡紙本書。家裡整堵牆的書架，都是師尊的書。

我甚少在雷藏寺買師尊的書。一般來說，師尊推出新書時，我都會在新加坡的紀伊國屋書店購買，希望藉此能推廣師尊的文集在寺廟以外的地方。用錢買書，也是我出點微薄之力，代表我對作者付出的支持。

有師尊簽書固然是錦上添花，但能不能開悟，還是需要自己的努力。

初聽師尊宣布這書名《我所知道的佛陀：如是我聞》時，我頓時倍感親切。

每個人信佛的起點都不一樣。有的人是因爲篤信觀世音菩薩，而皈依佛門，我則是因爲「南無本師釋迦牟尼佛」。

在大學佛學會時，我常去本地的一間斯里蘭卡佛寺參拜佛陀，繞菩提樹。好幾年的時間，我在那兒，向佛陀述說了很多、很多我的苦楚，我的煩惱，有時候邊說，邊繞菩提樹，繞了無數圈，就連第一次失戀，也在臥佛前哭了兩個小時。

那時，我不明白為什麼人家做人，我也做人，但我無論怎麼努力，卻特別的苦。我一直求佛陀告訴我：我爲什麼要活著？我爲什麼要來到人間？我要怎麼改命？

當然，在壇城上的佛陀怎麼會開口跟這「怨女」說話呢？

我把打工的錢存起來，買一尊佛像，拿去開光，安在書房內。後來媽媽因爲某事生我氣，趁我不在時，把佛像仍掉。我畢業就職後，又請了一尊。傻傻的我以為那兩尊都是釋迦牟尼佛，其實祂們都是「大日如來」。

我想，這應該是我五年後皈依師尊的因緣之一。

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2013年，西雅圖雷藏寺開創一個新聞單元《如是我聞》，報導師尊的日常法教。小女子我自告奮勇拉著我師兄一起爲官網，把幾篇《如是我聞》翻譯成英文，回饋師尊的無私奉獻與教導。

從台灣飛回新加坡的航班上，我閱讀了師尊新書《我所知道的佛陀：如是我聞》兩個小時。

我忽然恍然大悟，十九年前，常跑到釋迦牟尼佛跟前訴苦的那個少女，原來佛陀真的聽到了她的哀求，沒有讓它落空。

理科班的我，從小就對這世界很好奇。家裡的百科全書，十年來，我從頭到尾都讀了至少百遍，但總覺得人要懂的知識，不該只有這些。

皈依師尊前，我曾讀過、聽過很多有名出家人的法語開示，無論是講中文或英文的。他們都講得很好，但是，唯有蓮生活佛的開示和文集，徹底的解除我自幼對於人生和宇宙的迷惑。

尤其是這本書。

原來在科學之外，還有這樣一個空間、一種能量和宇宙能力場存在著。

皈依學佛，就是學佛陀的教義，目的就是要成佛。

可怎樣的佛弟子，才是釋迦牟尼佛認可的弟子？

我們人要如何離苦得樂？如何去馴服自己狂野的心？如何從凡夫身回歸本來的面目？什麼又是原本的自己？

那天，師父問一位少女：「妳想學佛，那妳知道佛教教主是誰嗎？」

她已閱讀完師父在臉書2013年至2019年的文章，卻一個字都說不出。

切勿把佛法當成普通的人間知識來看待，更不要以學佛爲名，利用其知識賺錢做生意爲實。販賣如來，可是下地獄吞熾熱鐵丸、喝滾燙鐵汁之罪啊！

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我去台灣前，師父交代過要我到台北101拍照，於是我就抱著師尊的書去。

玳瑚師父教過，台北101是現代版的文昌塔。

古時候，文昌已甚被重視，因爲利於讀書、功名和事業。在沒有某種形式的山脈時，就會建文昌塔（又稱文峰塔）來催旺文人輩出。

古代有文昌塔，現代有台北101。

古代有佛陀初傳四聖諦，現代有蓮生法王繼續的轉法輪。

而人呢？從古至今，仍然在醉生夢死中。

一般人要文昌，因爲追求功名。但我對人間的智慧，已意興闌珊。我要文昌，因爲希望早日開竅，拜託，不要那麽笨 ～～

無論你是剛接觸佛法，還是皈依許久的老弟子，如果你和我一樣追求生命的實相，這本書裡的般若智慧必會讓你大開眼界、讚歎連連。

你到底有多認識佛陀呢？

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我大力推薦此書，可到以下書局網購，或到真佛般若藏免費閱讀電子書或聆聽有聲書：

1) 新加坡紀伊書店 - https://singapore.kinokuniya.com/bw/9789573052654

2) 台灣金石堂 - https://www.kingstone.com.tw/basics/basics.asp?kmcode=2012000022409&lid=common-index-billboard-all&actid=bookindex

3) 真佛般若藏 - https://www.tbboyeh.org/cht#/store

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"Dharma Sister, the numbers for book signing have all been given out!"

Venue: Daden Culture book stall at Taiwan Lei Tsang Temple

I was holding on to "The Buddha I Know: Thus Have I Heard", the latest book by my Root Guru, His Holiness Living Buddha Lian Sheng, with my other hand grasping onto the cash, wanting to pay for the book.

"No problem, Dharma Brother. Without the autograph of Grandmaster, I would still wish to buy this book." I smiled in reply, thanking him for his friendly reminder.

I prefer reading from an actual book over an ebook. Back at home, I have one full wall of my Grandmaster's books on my bookshelves.

I rarely buy my Grandmaster's books from Lei Tsang temples. Usually, for His latest release, I would buy from Singapore Kinokuniya book store. It is my hope that this little gesture would help to boost sales at external bookstores, so that my Grandmaster's books can continue to be sold beyond the temples. To pay for it is my small token of appreciation and support for the author's effort.

To have my Grandmaster's autograph on the book is, of course, covetable, but whether the I can attain enlightenment is still dependant on my hard work.

When I first heard my Grandmaster announcing the book title "The Buddha I Know: Thus Have I Heard", I immediately felt a sense of closeness.

Everybody has a different starting point for believing in the Buddha. There are some people who are devoted to Guan Shi Yin Bodhisattva, and hence take refuge. For me, it was because of Shakyamuni Buddha.

During my NUS Buddhist Society days, I often visited a Sri Lanka Buddhist temple in Singapore. I would pay homage to Buddha and circumambulate the Bodhi tree. For many years, I would be at the temple regurgitating my troubles and sufferings to Buddha. Sometimes, I would circumambulate endless rounds around the Bodhi tree while being troubled. When my first relationship failed, I cried in front of the Sleeping Buddha for 2 hours.

At that time, I didn't understand why my life was tougher than other people, no matter how much effort I poured in. I kept pleading to Buddha for an answer. For what am I alive for? Why do I have to come to this mortal world? What can I do to improve my life?

Naturally, how could the Buddha that sat on the altar literally speak to this resentful girl?

With the money I scrimped and saved working part-time during my uni days, I bought a Buddha statue and after having it consecrated, I enshrined the statue in my study room. Once, when my mum was angry with me over some issue, she threw away the Buddha statue while I was out.

Upon graduation, I bought another Buddha statue. The silly me assumed that both statues are of Shakyamuni Buddha when in fact, they were of Mahāvairocana Buddha.

I guess this must be one affinity why I took refuge in my Grandmaster 5 years later.

In 2013, Seattle Lei Tsang Temple started a new column "Thus Have I Heard", reporting on the daily Dharma teachings of Grandmaster. Dragging the husband along, we volunteered to translate a few of the reports into English for the official website. It was our little way to repay Grandmaster for his selfless contributions and teachings.

Now you know why I took a liking to the book title almost immediately.

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On the flight back from Taiwan, I read the book for about 2 hours.

I suddenly had a realisation. The young lady that cried and bemoaned her fate in front of Shakyamuni Buddha 19 years ago had her prayers answered after all. Buddha did hear her pleas and did not let her prayers go unfulfilled.

I was a Science student and since young, I was full of curiosity for this world. The encyclopaedia I had at home had been read at least 100 times over 10 years. But I had always felt that the knowledge humans need to know should be more than that.

Before taking refuge in Grandmaster, I had read, watched and listened to many Dharma discourses expounded by many famous Venerables, both in English and Chinese. They all explained the teachings of Buddha very well.

However, only Living Buddha Lian-Sheng could thoroughly answer my conundrums about life and this universe, through His Dharma discourses and books.
Dictionary

Especially in this book.

Apart from the science that we know, there is indeed another dimension of existence, another field of energy from the Universe.

When we take refuge to learn the Dharma, we are essentially learning what the Buddha had taught. The sole purpose is to eventually attain Buddhahood.

But do you know, just what kind of Buddhists are recognised by Shakyamuni Buddha as true disciples?

And how can we humans break free from sufferings and achieve bliss? How can we tame the wild minds in us? How do we return to our true self from this mortal body?

Just what actually is our true nature?

That day, Shifu asked a young lady, "You say you wish to learn the Dharma. Then do you know who is the founder of Buddhism?"

She had read all of Shifu's FB articles from 2013-2019, but was unable to reply.

Do not treat the Buddhadharma as ordinary mortal knowledge, let alone masquerade under the name of learning the Dharma, but in reality, using the knowledge to make more money and build a business. Peddling the Buddha for self-profit is a sin that would have you swallowing red hot iron balls and drinking boiling hot liquid iron in Hell!

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Before my trip to Taiwan, Shifu told me to take a photo with Taipei 101. So I went there with my Grandmaster's book.

Master Dai Hu had taught me, Taipei 101 is the modern-day version of Wen Chang Pagoda.

In ancient times, Wen Chang is highly valued, because it favours the academics, scholarly achievements and career. When a certain mountain form is lacking in certain geographical locations, a Wen Chang Pagoda ( also known as Wen Feng Pagoda) would be constructed to activate and encourage the birth of more scholarly people.

So in the old days, there is the Wen Chang Pagoda, and now we have the Taipei 101.

In the past, there is Buddha who first expounded on the Four Noble Truths. And now, we have His Holiness, Dharma King Lian Sheng, to continue turning the Wheel of Dharma.

What about humans? Throughout history, humans have lived a befuddled existence. Even till now.

Most people want Wen Chang because they pursue fame and recognition. I covet Wen Chang, because I hope to get enlightened sooner. Oh please, let me be less stupid...

Whether you are new to the teachings of Buddha, or a Buddhist disciple for years, if you are pursuing the ultimate truth of Life like me, this book will open up your eyes and have you singing in praises.

Just how well do you know Buddha?

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I strongly recommend this book and you can purchase it online at the links below, or hop over to True Buddha Prajna Treasury to read the ebook or listen to the audiobook for free.

1) Kinokuniya Singapore - https://singapore.kinokuniya.com/bw/9789573052654

2) Kingstone Taiwan - https://www.kingstone.com.tw/basics/basics.asp?kmcode=2012000022409&lid=common-index-billboard-all&actid=bookindex

3) 真佛般若藏 True Buddha Prajna Treasury - https://www.tbboyeh.org/cht#/store

People I met on grand adventure (1): the young men who intruded my solo photo
旅途上遇見的人們 (1)：在希瓦和我同框的烏茲別克青年

（中文版寫在英文版後面，閱讀中文者請移駕下方繼續閱讀）

On the fourth day (5/10) of my adventure, around 5pm, I was at Kunya-Ark Citadel, a former Khanate palace in the Uzbek ancient city Khiva. There is an overlook above the citadel. Since it was nearly 40 degree Celsius (above 100 degree Fahrenheit), I hid myself in the shadow of the building for an hour while overlooking the entire city. Meanwhile, some other tourists also came up to take photos. As a solo traveler, I rarely get photos of myself; but in order to have something to share with my family, I asked some locals with gestures to take a photo for me. Surprisingly, while one of them got my phone, and another young man walked over to stand besides me, without hesitation. He had one arm on my shoulders and the other thumb up. Consequently, I expected a solo photo but ended up getting two with locals, which is even better!

The landmark on the right of the photo behind me is the Islam Khoja Minaret. Minaret is a tower where Muslims are called to worship. This minaret was planned to be 70 to 80 meters (210 to 280 feet) high, but the construction stopped at 29 meters (78 feet). The completed part doesn’t really look like a tower, but more like a giant water tank; but even if it were a water tank, it would be the prettiest water tank in the world. Other parts of the city are also filled with Islamic architecture covered by blue tiles. Probably due to their prohibition of images and icons, their gift of art is thoroughly demonstrated in those delicate and appealing tileworks.

I walked around the city for 5 times during the one afternoon and one night I spent there. It was exciting to see such densely populated Islamic architectures, but what excited me even more is the people there. Near the citadel, I ran into a boy who was playing the game of “letting a coin come down on a slope”. Upon seeing me with my DSLR, he picked the coin up to let me take a picture of him with a beautiful smile. In addition, many other kids are playing among buildings made of mud bricks. While taking sunset pictures from the top of the city wall, this scene reminded of my childhood in Hengchun, another idyllic town with a city wall in southern Taiwan, where I had lived for 3 years.

旅行的第4天（5月10日）下午5點，我在烏茲別克古城希瓦（Khiva）西隅的Kunya-Ark Citadel，也就是過去的汗國皇宮，那裡有座遊客可以上去俯瞰全景的瞭望台。當時氣溫接近攝氏40度，我索興躲在瞭望台的陰影中耗了整整一小時，期間許多遊客也上來拍照。那時我想，雖然一個人旅行拍不到什麼照，至少還是要生出幾張照片和家人分享吧？於是鼓起勇氣，比手畫腳請幾位烏茲別克當地人為我拍照。只見他們其中一人接過手機，另一個人則毫不猶豫的站到我身邊，一手搭在我的肩上、另一手豎起大拇指。我本來想要的是一張獨照，結果卻意外的獲得兩張和當地人的合照，比我原本想的更好。看來語言不通有時候還是有些意外的好處的。

照片裡最醒目的是我右後方的宣禮塔Islam Khoja Minaret，是叫喚穆斯林前往禮拜用的高塔。本來應該要到蓋70至80公尺高，卻在29公尺處就停工，留下的未完工部分不像高塔，反而像是個大水槽；但就算它真的是個大水槽，絕對可以被稱為全世界最漂亮的水槽，城裡其他地方也無處不是貼滿了藍綠色磁磚的伊斯蘭式建築。或許是因為伊斯蘭教不允許聖像存在，他們的藝術細胞似乎全部都投注在這些精美細緻的幾何圖案裡了。

在希瓦待了一個下午加一個晚上，把整個城繞了至少5圈。初次見到密度這麼高的伊斯蘭建築固然讓人興奮，但更讓我喜歡的是在這裡生活的人們。在前述的瞭望台附近碰到一個小男孩，反覆的玩著「讓硬幣從斜坡上滾下」的遊戲；一見到我拿著單眼相機，就毫不怕生的拿起硬幣讓我拍照，還很有誠意的附上相當天真的微笑。此外，大部分地區仍然保留著土造建築的面貌，傍晚孩童在街上嬉戲的景象和台灣鄉下所見並無二致，讓我走在城牆上不禁想起曾經居住過三年的屏東縣恆春鎮，一個同樣有著一座古城的小鎮。

[ MY JOURNEY OF MASTERING METAPHYSICS II ]

If you have been thinking of learning Chinese Metaphysics 玄學, I need to be honest with you.

Training to be a competent Metaphysics practitioner is not for the weak-minded, or those in for a quick buck.

Sorry for bursting your bubble of fallacies.

You can choose to specialize in one or a few genres. If you have a very brilliant and dedicated Shifu as your teacher, you are expected to be competent in many areas. And I mean, M-A-N-Y.

When I was about 13 years old, I came up with this game of adding up the numbers in a car plate. So in the many car rides I had with my younger sister, we would be competing to see who got the answer first, of any car that passed us by.

I always have an edge over her, being five years older. It takes me only two seconds or less to get the total sum of four random numbers.

I now think that was Divine Intervention preparing me for my inevitable future.

During my painful training as a Metaphysics practitioner, my mental dexterity was stretched wider than capabilities of the Elastic Girl. The homework was endless. The pressure was forever mounting.

In my bookshelves, I have easily 200 or more books on Metaphysics and Buddhism, mainly from Taiwan and Hong Kong. 90% are read. 70% of them are read more than once. Or even thrice.

Shifu believes that an able practitioner is one who has many real-life experiences, not just from reading books.

For starters, he wanted us to go out there and with whatever knowledge we have at that time, consult people for free and solve their problems. Master that ability to read people as if they are naked, so that they don't need to tell you their Bazi or Chinese names, and you would know their past, present and future.

When you can read a person very well, you can already read their living environments, without being physically there. Hence the saying, 人如其屋，屋如其人.

I now take about 10 seconds to read a person completely inside out. But Shifu does it in a split second. #姜還是老的辣 #oldgingeristhespiciest

My early years of training were very harsh.

When I go for my flight, during those long lull periods, I have to talk to a colleague, be it my junior or senior, about Metaphysics. It usually starts off with me analyzing my colleague's Chinese name and the conversation will flow from there. Love life problems, career choices, children issues, etc. Sure there were many awkward starts, embarrassing pauses but these interactions sure honed my skills and confidence fast.

When we dine at a restaurant, right after the waitress takes our order and leaves Shifu would turn round and ask us, so what is the most distinguishable feature on the waitress' face? What problem is she facing now? What does that mole on her face signify?

Insert *Blank looks all round the table.*

Got mole meh?

One of our most memorable impromptu training comes from cab rides. Taxi drivers are notorious for being opinionated, especially the older ones. Learning how to talk to them about Metaphysics and Buddhism was a nerve-zapping challenge for many of us.

If we shun away, we get scolded by Shifu. And gentle isn't exactly an adjective you would use to describe his chiding.

If we have the courage of a lion, as novices at that time, we fall short in the confidence and knowledge department, and the conversation usually ends with the taxi driver having the final (wrong) say.

Insert *bang head against wall*.

Once, we were at Uniqlo Suntec. Shifu wanted us to go up and advised the mother of a young male teenager, about a particular facial feature he has.

The mother was none other than Pan Lingling. She was at the store together with Rebecca Lim, Belinda Lin, Chew Chor Meng, Chen Han Wei, her husband and her son. Intimidated by their celebritity status, my Dharma Brother shook his head and did not dare to approach them.

I took a deep breath, walked up to the group and said what I should, pretending that I did not know who they were. Turned out that another practitioner had once told Pan Lingling about her son's feature too. #gladItried

It wasn't lead conversion that Shifu wanted us to learn. It was the willingness to help people and the guts to stand by the ancient knowledge of our sages, that Shifu hopes for us to master. A good doctor will never back away from treating a patient, just because the patient is very famous, right?

I used to write many lengthy Bazi reports, using the Bazi of famous people and people around me as case studies. I wrote countless reports analyzing Chinese names of people I know and people I don't know.

None of my reports passed Shifu's scrutiny on the first round. So there were often many, many, many rounds of correction...

I used to spend many late nights poring through the modern Chinese dictionary and the Kang Xi Chinese dictionary, coming up with suitable Chinese names for a fictitious Bazi. I figured it is that kind of nightmare that will wake me up if one day I slip into a coma.

I had to learn to write in traditional Chinese, as the art of 姓名學 Name Analysis is built on the foundation of traditional Chinese characters, not the simplified form that we are writing now.

The first time I wrote a 2-pager in traditional Chinese, it took me four hours.

I have sat in for hundreds and hundreds of Bazi consultations and Feng Shui audits.

Every time Shifu finished a Feng Shui audit or any consultation, we have to tell him what we had learn from the audit and explain why he did what he did. Without looking at our notes. Eloquence, memory power and solution suitability are the key points he is looking for. If any one of us screws up, never mind, just go home and write a report, detailing everything. 😱😱😱

Formulas for Bazi and Feng Shui (Yin House and Yang House) to memorize run as long, if not longer, as the Oxford Dictionary.

What I have shared is probably only 30% of what I had gone through as a Metaphysics apprentice.

Is it easy to learn to be a Chinese Metaphysics practitioner?

That depends on what caliber you aim to be.

To be continued.

Beijing (formerly romanised as Peking) is the capital of the People's Republic of China and the world's third most populous city proper. It is also one of the world's most populous capital cities. The city, located in northern China, is governed as a direct-controlled municipality under the national government with 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts. Beijing Municipality is surrounded by Hebei Province with the exception of neighbouring Tianjin Municipality to the southeast; together the three divisions form the Jingjinji metropolitan region and the national capital region of China.

A city combining both modern and traditional architecture, Beijing is an ever-changing megacity rich in history but also truly modern, exemplified in its extraordinary global influence in politics, business & economy, education, history, culture, language, music, sporting, architecture, civilization, fashion, art, entertainment, innovation and technology. Beijing is the second largest Chinese city by urban population after Shanghai and is the nation's political, cultural, and educational centre. It is home to the headquarters of most of China's largest state-owned companies, and is a major hub for the national highway, expressway, railway, and high-speed rail networks. The Beijing Capital International Airport has been the second busiest in the world by passenger traffic since 2010, and, as of 2016, the city's subway network is the busiest and second longest in the world, after Shanghai's subway system.

The city's history dates back three millennia. As the last of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, Beijing has been the political centre of the country for much of the past eight centuries. With mountains surrounding the inland city on three sides, in addition to the old inner and outer city walls, Beijing was strategically poised and developed to be the residence of the emperor and thus was the perfect location for the imperial capital. Beijing was the largest city in the world by population for much of the second millennium A.D. The city is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples, parks, gardens, tombs, walls and gates, and its art treasures and universities have made it a centre of culture and art in China. Encyclopædia Britannica notes that "few cities in the world have served for so long as the political headquarters and cultural centre of an area as immense as China." Beijing has seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites – the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Ming Tombs, Zhoukoudian, as well as parts of the Great Wall and the Grand Canal, all popular locations for tourism. siheyuans, the city's traditional housing style, and hutongs, the narrow alleys between siheyuans, are common in urban Beijing and are also major tourist attractions. The city hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics and was chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, which will make it the first city to ever host both events.

Many of Beijing's 91 universities consistently rank among the best in China, of which Peking University and Tsinghua University are ranked in the top 60 universities in the world. In 2015, 52 companies of the Fortune Global 500 company headquarters were located in Beijing, more than any other city in the world, including state-owned enterprises State Grid, China National Petroleum, and Sinopec Group, ranked 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, respectively. Beijing CBD is quickly becoming the center for Beijing's economic expansion, rapid modernization, and radically changing skyline, with the ongoing or recently completed construction of multiple skyscrapers. Beijing's Zhongguancun area is also known as China's Silicon Valley, China's center of innovation and technology entrepreneurship. According to the 2016 InterNations Expat Insider Survey, Beijing ranked first in Asia in the subcategory "Personal Finance Index," a measure of expats' salaries versus cost of living in the city. Expats live primarily in the east, in urban districts such as Dongcheng and Chaoyang, or in suburban districts such as Shunyi.

Let's take a proper look at Beijing, the Capital city of China...

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