老海棠树

正如果可能,如果有一块空地,不论窗前屋后,要是能随我的心愿种点什么,我就种两棵树。一棵合欢,纪念母亲。一棵海棠,纪念我的奶奶。奶奶和一棵老海棠树,在我的记忆里不能分开;好像她们从来就在一起,奶奶一生一世都在那棵老海棠树的影子里张望。老海棠树近房高的地方,有两条粗壮的枝丫,弯曲如一把躺椅,小时候我常爬上去,一天一天地就在那儿玩。奶奶在树下喊:     

纪念虚云老和尚圆寂50周年法会在江西云居山隆重举行

10月29日．纪念虚云老和尚圆寂50周年法会在江西永修云居山真如禅寺隆重举行。中国佛教协会会长一诚长老、香港宝莲寺退居方丈圣一长老、澳门佛教总会理事长健钊长老、香港竹林禅寺方丈意超长老、台湾佛光山住持心培法师、美国法界总会万佛圣城董事长恒实法师     

虚云老和尚暨云居历代祖师第二届学术研讨会举行

正本刊讯10月3日至4日,为纪念虚云老和尚圆寂五十五周年,由云居山真如禅寺举办的"虚云老和尚暨云居历代祖师第二届学术研讨会"及《云居法汇》首发式在庐山西海温泉假日酒店举行。中国佛教协会副会长纯一法师、中国社会科学院杨曾文教授、南开大学孙昌武教授、台湾慈光佛学院院长慧空法师等约200名来自海内外专家学者代表共聚一堂,缅怀先德。     

普陀山隆重举行妙善老和尚百岁诞辰纪念法会

本刊讯7月31日,"妙善老和尚百岁诞辰纪念法会"在浙江省舟山市普陀山普济禅寺内隆重举行。中国佛教协会副会长、普陀山全山方丈戒忍法师,舟山市领导周克非、王忠志、蒋宝华,普陀山管委会主任薛剑波,浙江省佛教协会副会长、宁波七塔寺方丈可祥法师,天台山国清寺监院允观法师及海内外嘉宾、信徒共1000余人参加了纪念法会。     

我的启蒙恩师——道生老和尚

我出生于扬州市的一个书香门第,自幼喜爱书画和文学。 1949年在扬州宛虹桥小学读书,学校设在藏经院的大殿上。因而藏经院的和尚便另辟居室。藏经院并不以侍奉香火为主,而是以出版经书为业。和我处得最好的同学叫朱福烓,他的弟弟叫朱福海,他们早就接触了佛门。在他们的引见下,我才有佛缘,见到藏经院的退居老和尚道生。在道老的教诲下崇信佛教。道生老和尚是兴化人,自幼出家,除佛     

忆念昌老

昌明老和尚是我非常尊敬的一位慈祥的长者，老人家虽然离我们去了，但我心中还一直觉得昌老在我们身边，还在作我们后学的指路明灯，照耀我们在菩提道上精进修学。昌老的爱国爱教情操、人格魅力、佛法修为似一面旗帜，引领我们向前，是我心中不竭的精神源泉。     

云居山真如寺举行纪念虚云老和尚圆寂四十周年法会

本刊讯１０月２１日（农历九月十三日）上午，座落子江西永修云居山云居茅蓬原址上的虚云和尚纪念堂在阳光的照耀下，显得格外庄严肃穆，纪念虚云老和尚圆寂４０周年法会在这里举行。云居山真如禅寺全体僧众以及广东省云门山大觉禅寺方丈佛源法师。庐山东林寺方丈传印法师...     

觉悟人生 奉献人生——忆净慧老和尚

正我跟净慧老和尚的交往有三十多年。净慧老和尚是中国现代佛教界一位很有学养、很有战略眼光的高僧,也是我们学术界的忠实朋友。他早年在中国佛学院读研究生,属大陆佛教界最早的一批研究生,在佛学和修证方面都有很高的造诣。改革开放以后,他开始负责中国佛教协会会刊《法音》杂志编辑工作,后来又肩负起修复河北赵县柏林禅寺祖庭之重任。三十多年来,他一直走在佛教事业的最前沿,为推动中国大陆佛教的发展作出了巨大的贡献。     

追忆德林老和尚

正一转眼,德林老和尚已经圆寂两年了。从1984年重回扬州高旻禅寺担任第47代方丈,到2015年圆寂,德老以重建祖庭为己任,三十多年间精心策划、广结善缘,先后建成大雄宝殿、禅堂、天中宝塔、水晶宫、大讲堂、罗汉堂、钟之巅等,为佛日增辉,亦为河山生色。在德老2005年传戒、传法、传位"三传"活动之后,笔者有幸在高旻寺与德老多次交流,深感老和尚高年硕德,值得后人转相效仿。现叙事记文,追忆德林老和尚。     

纪念本焕老和尚诞辰108周年佛教文化艺术精品展开展

正本刊讯5月9日9点,纪念本焕老和尚诞辰108周年佛教文化艺术精品展于弘法寺经堂正式拉开帷幕。中国佛协副会长、深圳弘法寺方丈印顺法师,深圳市总商会副会长王荫琦,罗湖区宗教局局长李立笔,中国收藏家协会副秘书长曾惠华,广东省收藏家协会副主席黎伟昌,中国文物学     

终生受益

编辑部:今2002年2月4日收到一本《科学与无神论》杂志。去年2001年收1——6期六本。我本人是村老人会成员,在会里,我大力宣传科学与无神论,大有进展。很多老年同志根据亲身体会、信仰无神论和相信科学,在这方面得到     

To Understand Understanding: How Intercultural Communication is Possible in Daily Life

I propose a few epistemological and methodological reflexions to account for intercultural daily communication. These reflexions emerged during a sociological research in Mendoza, Argentina, with Huarpes Indigenous students at the University of Cuyo. I observed that Indigenous people became quasi “ethnographers” of diverse environments. To make intelligible their classmates’ behavior, and to account for their own behavior, Huarpes follow, in diverse environments and interactions, public rules of meaning. The objective of this paper is twofold: (a) to stress the methodological scope of ordinary communication and ordinary reasoning in order to study understanding between people from different groups and categories, and (b) to contest a kind of “pessimist” standpoint in social sciences and philosophy according to which the use of ordinary language reduces possibilities for understanding. Interviews, participant observation in natural situations, and a review of literature about language and understanding are the basis of this paper.     

Life History Correlates Of a Career Commitment To School Counseling

This study sought to explore the use of the scored life history as a predictive index of a career commitment to school counseling. Hypotheses concerning the relationship between life history data and a career commitment to teaching and administration were also investigated. Multiple regression analysis was used to obtain validity coefficients estimating the relationship between weighted linear combinations of life history data and the career commitment criteria. The regression weights obtained for the most promising biographical predictors were used to predict current occupational titles for a cross-validation sample. Statistical analysis of the data indicated that selected and empirically weighted life history materials are valid indices of counselor career commitment. For practical purposes, life history data for teaching and administration demonstrated a lack of consistent predictive power. The content of the most promising predictors for the three occupational groups was logically examined.     

Designing Programs with a Purpose: To Promote Civic Engagement for Life

Curricular and co-curricular civic engagement activities and programs are analyzed in terms of their capacity to contribute to a common set of outcomes associated with nurturing civic-minded graduates: academic knowledge, familiarity with volunteering and nonprofit sector, knowledge of social issues, communication skills, diversity skills, self-efficacy, and intentions to be involved in communities. Different programs that promote civic-mindedness, developmental models, and assessment strategies that can contribute to program enhancement are presented.     

To Have Life,and Have It Abundantly! Health and Well-Being in Biblical Perspective

Epidemiological studies researching the impact of participation in religious activities on the overall health and well-being of individuals suggest that having faith and practicing religion is good since they represent expense free, non-medical coping mechanisms accessible to everyone. Faith and religion, thus, can serve for a large number of people as potential reservoirs for cultivating well-being and maintaining health, thereby cutting health-care costs significantly. This begs the question if such pragmatic instrumentalization does do justice to faith and religion in the first place. The article investigates this question taking the Christian biblical tradition as an example by, first, identifying texts speaking of ‘health’ across different Bible versions (I), second, by sketching related concepts of ‘health’ (II) and, finally, by assessing the actual extent to which biblical tradition supports the quest for health and well-being (III).     

The Effect of Life Events and Relationships on Adult Women's Decisions To Enroll in College

This study was designed to investigate the role of life events and “relationship” morality in women's decisions to enroll in college. Interviews with 38 women, ages 25–46, indicated that the timing for women returning to college was determined by the state of their relationships and life events and not solely by motivation. Enrollment was often postponed until children were “old enough,” family responsibilities were lessened, or fellow workers or employers would not be inconvenienced.     

To Be or Never to Have Been: Anti-Natalism and a Life Worth Living

David Benatar argues that being brought into existence is always a net harm and never a benefit. I disagree. I argue that if you bring someone into existence who lives a life worth living (LWL), then you have not all things considered wronged her. Lives are worth living if they are high in various objective goods and low in objective bads. These lives constitute a net benefit. In contrast, lives worth avoiding (LWA) constitute a net harm. Lives worth avoiding are net high in objective bads and low in objective goods. It is the prospect of a LWA that gives us good reason to not bring someone into existence. Happily, many lives are not worth avoiding. Contra Benatar, many are indeed worth living. Even if we grant Benatar his controversial asymmetry thesis, we have no reason to think that coming into existence is always a net harm.     

Knowledge and Attitudes About Later Life Sexuality: What Clinicians Need To Know About Helping the Elderly

In the family therapy field we have often overlooked the elderly and in particular addressing sexual concerns within the context of couples therapy with the elderly (Van Amburg, Barber, & Zimmerman, 1996). The projected life-span of the elderly has increased due to improvements in medical technology and due to a better quality of life which promotes longevity. Included in this paper are the specific age-related physical, emotional, and sexual changes common in later life as well as a clinical case vignette of an elderly couple presenting with a sexual issue. Current sexuality education programs for the elderly are reviewed as well as clinical implications for therapists who treat the elderly.