佛学常识比赛感想

佛學常識比賽感想

◎李海昱（十三歲）金聖寺週日育良學佛班學生

五月的時候，雲法師問我要不要參加聖城三十週年慶的佛學常識比賽，我馬上就答應了。因為我去年參加聖城的夏令營玩過類似的遊戲，很好玩。夏令營的Jeopardy，玩的方法很原始，因為搶答的方式是以拍桌子來代替按鈴，並且是在大家完全沒有準備的情況下來比賽，然而整個過程又緊張又精彩，充滿了笑聲。大家都玩得好高興。因此，我以為這次的佛學常識比賽也差不多是這樣子的，所以我毫不猶豫的說：「OK！」

幾個禮拜以後，媽媽接到一個關於比賽的 email，那個 email裏至少有一百多頁的比賽資料。媽媽看完了的反應是：「我年紀太大，要記這麼多太難了！」而我是看得目瞪口呆，說不出話來。

因為要背的東西很多，所以我們很快就開始用功。開始研讀比賽資料時，我才知道自己對佛學知識懂得實在是太少了。譬如，《佛說四十二章經》是第一本從梵文翻譯成中文的經典，還有頭陀行一共有十二種，這些對我來說都是新知識。不僅如此，我還把五根、五力、七菩提分、七難、八正道、中國四大名山、普賢十大願王等等，背得滾瓜爛熟。不管比賽結果是怎麼樣，可是為了準備這次的比賽，我的佛學常識增加了很多很多。

我一向對成語就很沒有概念，因為我不太會用。所以，我看到要背八十多句成語時，差點沒昏倒。我很怕我沒辦法把它們的意思統統記起來。可是在媽媽的耐心及不斷的重複下，我度過難關；不僅如此，我還學到很多關於成語的典故和它們的用法。最有趣的一個成語是「豬八戒照鏡子」，它的意思是「裏外不是人」。

聖城的三十週年慶是今年萬佛城最大的活動。七月五號那一天，當我們的車一開進山門，我就感覺到萬佛城裏充滿了熱烈與興奮的氣氛。真的好多人！我從來沒看過這麼多人一起聚集在聖城。那一天的慶祝活動項目很多，譬如演講、舞龍舞獅、男校夏令營的花車、放生儀式、小話劇等等。佛學常識比賽是排在下午一點鐘，場地在道源堂。

比賽開始之前，我們在道源堂幫忙排椅子的時侯，我聽到別隊的隊員緊張地在複習「比丘」的三種解釋，他讓我也很緊張。我們終於和另外兩位隊友見面：王青楠博士（培德中學男校的老師），還有謝阜庭（培德中學男校的校友）。加上媽媽和我，我們四個人一隊，隊名「南華」。

參加的隊伍一共有十隊，每一隊有四個人。題目包含戒律、經典、史地、成語。問題方式有兩種：選擇題與問答題。選擇題是最令人頭痛的，因為不只要講出答案，還得要講出答案的號碼，它也有可能有好幾個答案。所以，如果太急，按鈴按得太快，很容易答錯。很多人，包括我，都因此被扣分。在初賽時，我們的隊伍表現得很好，總共拿到一百六十分，順利地進入決賽。

決賽的題目比初賽時的難很多，也更複雜。搶答得很激烈，不少人都沒有等近經師把題目念完就按鈴。賽前媽媽和我預先說好，分數不增不減比被扣分還好一些，所以我們兩個就很小心。其實，好像我們整個隊每個人都很小心，不敢隨便亂答。除了開始時因為我太早按鈴答錯被扣五分之外，我們的分數都沒有變。後來我們得到好幾次回答的機會，分數才慢慢地往上爬，最後以八十分的成績，得到第二名。

比賽的過程很好玩，很緊張，可是又刺激又精彩。從這一次的比賽中，我學到的最寶貴的經驗就是不要求，也不要貪。譬如在答問題的時候，如果只想要贏的話，往往鈴會按得太早或是答錯。可是如果我不去想輸贏，只是專心聽題目，一般來講都會答對。所以說「平常心是道」，真的一點也沒有錯。

最後，我要感謝所有的法師和居士們的用心和努力，讓今年的佛學常識比賽這麼成功，又這麼好玩。按鈴真的設計得很酷！雖然比賽已經過去了，但是在比賽中，不論你是當主持人，做裁判，記分數，出問題，念問題，或者在台上比賽，或者是一個熱情鼓掌的觀眾，我都向你們衷心的感謝。

相關連結：聖城開光三十週年藝文活動圓滿收場、佛學常識比賽剪影

Reflection on the Buddhist Knowledge Contest

◎ Lotus LeeSunday School of Gold Sage Monastery, Age 13

In May, when DM Heng Yun asked me if I wanted to sign up for the Buddhist Knowledge Contest at CTTB's 30th Anniversary Celebration in July, I was totally for it. After my experience with Jeopardy at summer camp the previous year, I definitely wanted to try it out. From my previous experience with Jeopardy, summer camp style, it involved no preparation. You just used whatever you knew beforehand and went and had fun. Although it was a rather primitive form of Jeopardy, it was heated and exhilarating, full of laughter and jokes. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought it would be the same this time around too.

To my surprise, a few weeks later, my mom got an email about the contest that had at least two or three megabytes of attachments worth of study material. All my mom could mutter was, "I'm too old for this!!" I just stared. And so began the studying. It was rather like cramming for finals at med school. Until then, I didn't realize just how little I knew about Buddhism. For example, I had no idea that the first sutra to be translated from Sanskrit to Chinese was The Sutra in Forty-Two Sections, and that there are twelve kinds of conduct in ascetic practice. But because of this contest, I greatly broadened my knowledge of Buddhism.

In the past, I never really cared much about Chinese idioms, as I never really used them. So when I saw the pages filled with idioms, I nearly keeled over. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to memorize all their definitions. But through studying, I learned a lot about Chinese idioms and their history, as well as how to use them properly.

The 30th Anniversary Celebration was the biggest event for CTTB this year. From the moment we drove through the mountain gate, I could feel the excitement sparkling in the air. I had never seen so many people at CTTB. There were many commemorative events throughout the day, such as lectures, lion and dragon dance, a parade by the boy's summer camp, liberating life, and a lot more. The Buddhist Knowledge Contest was scheduled at one pm in the Dao Yuan Hall.

As we were setting up the chairs at the competition site, I overheard competitors desperately trying to recall the three definitions of "Bhikshu." Everyone was very worked up. Finally, the main event began. We met our fellow team members-our team leader was Mr. Qing-Nan Wang, a teacher from boy's school, and Michael Hsieh, an alumni from boy's school. The rules for this contest were very much like television Jeopardy, with a few modifications. There were ten teams, with four people to each one. My team's name was Nan Hua.

The categories for questions included precepts, sutras, Buddhist history, and Buddhist idioms. There were two forms of questions: multiple choice and QA. The multiple choice was the most nervewracking, not in the question but in the required method of answering. One had to state the correct number of the choice before stating the answer. The question could also have multiple correct answers. So if you were too hasty and pressed the buzzer too soon, you would most likely lose five points for your team. Many people-including me-lost points because of this rule. On that first round my team did really well, with a total score of 160 points, earning our spot in the final round.

The finals were much more heated than the prelims. People were slamming buzzers left and right without even waiting for Jin Jing Shr to finish reading the question. My mom and I had agreed earlier that keeping the score stable was way better than losing points right and left, so the both of us played it safe. In fact, the whole team seemed to slow down. Except for a five point loss at the beginning (my fault) our score stayed relatively the same. For a while. Then our team started picking it up. Our score began climbing steadily until the end, where we came in a close second place.

I think one of the most important things I learned from this competition was that one should not seek to win and be greedy for the title. I found that whenever I was thinking about winning, I would often press the buzzer too early and/or get the answer wrong. But when I stopped thinking about winning and just concentrated on the question, I usually got it right. I guess the saying "Maintaining a placid attitude is the Way" is really true.

I want to thank all the Dharma Masters and laypeople for making this year's Buddhist Knowledge Competition so successful and so very fun, with its great variety of questions, state-of-the-art buzzer system and so much more. So whether you were MC-ing, judging, keeping score, reading questions, up on stage competing, did lots and lots of work behind the scenes, or was just a spectator providing enthusiastic applause, I THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART.