ENG version

會員是佛光會的資源，會員是佛光會的種子，有會員才有活動，有會員才能將佛法傳播的更廣。會員既是如此重要，應如何增加會員呢？這裡我謹提供幾點意見供各位參考︰

(一) 廣做文宣，讓人了解︰佛法流傳於世已達兩千六百年，然而還有許多人對佛教並不了解，這固然是因為身負弘法重任的佛子沒有善巧方便，令其知之，「為善不欲人知」的觀念深入人心，也是重要的因素之一。

其實，只要心中無名，實至名歸，外在的盛名只是作為弘法利生之用，也沒有什麼不好。兩千六百年前，佛陀就非常重視文宣的功能，不但強調四句偈的功德無量無邊，而且經常「出廣長舌相，遍覆三千大千世界」，期使四生九有都能了解真理，同霑法益。每部經文的「流通分」中，佛陀也殷殷囑咐諸大菩薩「廣宣是經，依願流布」。由於諸佛菩薩的耐心宣導，所以百千劫中，接引無數眾生趣入正法。

佛光會自成立以來，所推出的各種活動都是提升心靈建設、利益社會大眾的善行，如果能廣為宣傳，讓人了解，必定可以增添許多生力軍加入我們的行列，共同為弘法利生而努力。

(二) 舉辦座談，增加溝通︰佛陀不但懂得文宣，更了解人性，從經典中，我們可以得知許多法筵盛會都是以座談方式舉行，由諸大菩薩與佛陀互相問答的內容作為主幹，所以過程生動有趣，攝受力強。尤其身處現代開放的民主社會，儘管自己的主張正確無誤，一味要求別人聽從，不但不能引起對方的興趣，也不合乎時代的潮流。我們應當從傾聽別人的訴說裡了解對方的需要，從彼此討論中交換意見，達成共識，乃至從座談對話中破邪顯正，度化群迷。

柏林圍牆的拆除，是東、西德互相交流的結果；以、阿之間和談成功，也必須經過雙方多少次的會面協商。一國政令的頒布、公司行號的策略制定，需要經過開會決議，親眷、朋友之間的意見相左，也必須透過溝通才能解決。

佛光會是一個講求效率的現代化佛教組織，若能經常舉行座談會，與社會各界聯絡情誼，並且藉著討論，讓大家具體了解佛光會的宗旨、目標、制度、會務，相信對於鞏固舊會員，增添新血輪都能有實質的助益。

(三) 主動爭取，家庭普照︰以往想要聽經聞法，都要跋山涉水，千里迢迢到深山古剎裡專程請益。如今遍布全球各地的佛光會設有家庭普照」項目，會員們應該多多利用，邀請理監事、督導長、督導、會長、檀講師、檀教師、檀導師等前往主持，並且集合其他會員及親朋好友們同來聚會，大家在「家庭普照」的時候，不但可以談論佛理、請益法要，而且可以誦經祈福、聯絡友誼、交換資訊、講解佛光會的內容。這樣一來，不但增進會友們的信心道念，也能使在場的親友們認識佛法的妙用，了解佛光會的好處，吸收潛在的會員入會，可謂一舉兩得。

藉著家庭普照，佛光會一定能贏得更多的支持，希望大家主動爭取。

(四) 擴大服務，利樂領導︰兩千六百年前，佛陀與弟子們藉著托缽行腳，深入社會，了解民瘼，說法利眾，造成佛法在五印度風行一時。數百年後，佛教又在中國的盛唐時期綻開奇葩，究其緣由，除了譯經事業發達、法師四處講學之外，教界重視社會福利事業更是佛教受到歡迎的主要原因，當時的寺院或架橋鋪路，或濟貧施食，或開鑿水運，或植樹環保，或給助舟車，或融通錢財，或營建倉庫，或興辦義學，這些對抒解民困，安定社會均有莫大的助益，自然贏得朝野一致的讚揚。經云︰「欲做佛門龍象，先做眾生馬牛。」實是不虛之言！

佛光會想要興隆聖教，普濟社會，必須遠紹教主佛陀示教利喜的悲心，上承高僧大德喜捨奉獻的精神，先具備服務大眾的發心與領導群倫的願行。因此，對於有益社會福祉的事業，我們一向樂於參與，甚至主動發起。歷年來的愛心媽媽服務、急難救助服務、友愛服務、環保服務、醫院服務、義診服務、賑災服務、移民服務、考生服務、交通服務、職業服務等等，已使佛光會在短期間內獲得社會大眾的肯定。但我們不能因此而自滿，為利樂更多的眾生，各位會員們應該擴大服務範圍，舉凡社區、家庭、學校、團體的公益活動、旅行參學、婚喪喜慶，乃至心理諮詢等，都應該熱心支援，善巧引導。我們以身體力行來實踐佛光會的信條，就是號召新會員的最佳方式。

增加會員的方法有四種︰

(一) 廣做文宣，讓人了解。
(二) 舉辦座談，增加溝通。
(三) 主動爭取，家庭普照。
(四) 擴大服務，利樂領導。

希望大家敞開胸懷，張開雙臂，迎接更多新會員的加入，讓佛光會淨化社會的力量更加茁壯，讓佛光會建設人間淨土的目標早日達成。

How to Increase Our Membership

BLIA members are all the BLIA has. Members are  our  resources and our seeds. They are our potential, and it is only through them  that we will ever succeed in preaching the Dharma. In the next few sections I will discuss how the BLIA should work to increase its membership.

Publicity

People will not become Buddhists if they do not know anything about Buddhism, and they will never join the BLIA if they have never heard of it. Sakyamuni Buddha was a preacher. We should never forget that he gave forty-five years of his life to preaching the Dharma. Buddhism is so vast, and its philosophy is so rich, it has happened in the past that Buddhists let themselves ignore this crucial quality of the Buddha.

Sakyamuni Buddha used what are called “skillful means,” or “expedient methods” (upaya), whenever he preached the Dharma. Skillful means is based on nothing except the Buddha’s desire to communicate with others in the most effective way he could. He was a preacher and a communicator, and he used every method he could to make people understand the Dharma.

The Dharma can be hard to understand, and that is why Buddhists sometimes forget this basic truth about the Buddha’s teaching.

Buddhists sometimes close themselves off from the world in the belief that they can only reach enlightenment alone. Other Buddhists have mistakenly tried to “hide their goodness from the eyes of others.” Why be like that? We have nothing to hide. On the contrary, we have everything to share.

If people learn about us, and look to us for help, that is a good thing! We should never allow ourselves to become arrogant or vain about our practice, but at the same time, we should never allow ourselves to feel ashamed of our practice or that it is something that needs to be kept secret. The more people know about us, the more they will be attracted to us, and to Buddhism.

There is no better example of this outgoing attitude than the life of our original master, Sakyamuni Buddha. The Buddha constantly exhorted his followers to memorize verses and repeat them to others. He “spoke in a voice that reached all the realms of existence.”

All of the sutras contain passages in which the Buddha exhorted bodhisattvas to “disseminate this teaching and make it known every- where by your vows.” Those instructions were acted upon, and for that reason, the Dharma has spread to many parts of the world, and indeed, to many parts of the universe.

The BLIA is based on the strength and wisdom of the Buddha’s teaching. Part of that strength and wisdom lies in the full knowledge that we also have a duty to extend his Dharma to as many people as we can. By reaching out to others, we enrich their lives and our own, as we further the original work of Sakyamuni Buddha.

Discussion groups

It is good to talk about Buddhism. We all need to read and study, but if we never express our ideas, our growth will be very slow. If we always wait for someone else to explain everything to us, the creative and dynamic aspects of our wisdom will not develop. We need to have dialogues with other Buddhists Once again, the Buddha himself is the best proof of the efficacy of dialogue and discussion. Many Buddhist sutras are records of discussions held by the Buddha with his disciples. They asked him questions. They expressed doubts and fears. They willingly exposed their misunderstandings to him and to other disciples. They learned the Dharma through open-mindedness and conversation. Their attitudes made learning fun as it strengthened their powers of discernment and speech.

Those of us who live in democratic societies are fortunate in this regard, because democracy is founded on open discussion and respect for the opinions of others. Isn’t it foolish to insist that you and only you are right, and that you have no need to listen to anyone else? Tradition- al societies often were run that way. All over the world, dictators with that kind of an attitude are finding themselves standing alone as the masses turn away from them in disgust.

The modern world has little or no place for arrogant close-minded- ness. All of us must make an effort to listen to others respectfully. We must work sometimes to understand each other, but through dialogue and discussion all of us will be enhanced. Never be afraid to speak, and never stop listening. The Dharma always contains a higher synthesis that is capable of encompassing everyone’s view.

And don’t ever worry that you are going to harm Buddhism by any question you ask. Buddhism has flourished in many cultures, and millions of questions have been asked in many different languages. Buddhism is based in truth. Truth is found through trying. There is no question you can ask that ever will succeed in defiling Buddhism. Rest assured of that.

Nothing good ever comes of uncompromising rigidity. Once the two Germans began talking seriously to each other, the Berlin wall soon was torn down. If Israel and the Arab states want peace, they too must talk seriously to each other with attitudes of tolerance and mutual acceptance. Every nation in the world must base its govern- ment on open discussion, or there will be trouble. The same is true for companies and other organizations.

Needless to say, the BLIA is no exception to this rule. In fact, this rule is even more important for us, since Buddhism itself is funda- mentally based on openness and discussion. Our meetings are open to all, and no topic of discussion is ever impermissible. Through discus- sion, we establish lines of communication with all levels and classes of society. All of us need to understand the basic aims of the BLIA, but we also need to remember that those same aims will take different forms in different parts of the world and at different levels of society.

Be like family

In the past, if you wanted to study Buddhism, you had to hike deep into the mountains to find anyone who would teach you. The BLIA was formed partly to correct that situation. It doesn’t have to be so difficult to be a Buddhist.

The BLIA should be like a family to its members. In a family  we can accept differences among ourselves while still working for the good of all. We can invite friends who are not members of the BLIA to our meetings. We can invite teachers from other chapters and from other parts of the world to speak at our meetings. When we develop familial emotions within the BLIA, we will feel more relaxed and we will be able to make others feel more relaxed when they seek to join us.

If we ever feel a tendency to want to keep things the way they are and not share them with newcomers, we should reflect on the truth that human warmth is a kind of energy that can only grow. You cannot shrink kindness and keep it to yourself. It must be shared. If we all are clear about this, it will be pleasant and easy to accept new members, and no one will fall into the mistaken belief that compassion is something to be hoarded.

Accept responsibility

Two thousand six hundred years ago Sakyamuni Buddha took his alms bowl and his disciples to all corners of northern India. Early Buddhism traveled and made contact with all levels of society in order to under- stand the conditions in which people lived. Nearly two millennia ago, Buddhism began to spread to China. Within a few hundred years, it became China’s major religion. Buddhism flourished in China partly because many sutras were translated into Chinese, but it also flourished because Buddhist monks in China were very active and dynamic people. Fotuchen, Dao’an, Huiyuan, Zhiyi and many other great monks worked tirelessly to make Buddhism understandable to the Chinese people. They chose appropriate ways to preach, and they also saw to it that very practical needs were met. Early Buddhists built roads and bridges. They worked on irrigation projects and disaster relief. They made their temples places where people not only could seek refuge in Buddhism, but also where they could seek refuge from the troubles of the world.

They saw that their responsibility toward the society in which they live was greater than simply preaching or simply meditating. For this reason, they were welcome wherever they went, and large numbers of people were converted to Buddhism.

Chan Master Linyu (771-853) said, “If you want to be a Dragon of Buddhism, first be a mule for the masses.”

If we want the BLIA to grow and increase its membership, we must follow the example of Sakyamuni Buddha, as well as the other great sages within the Buddhist tradition. We must take responsibility for others. We must find in ourselves the compassion that will lead  us beyond the small concerns of our individual lives to a willing acceptance of the needs of others. When we help others first, they will respond in kind as soon as they are able.

The BLIA has many groups that reach beyond the confines of our membership. These groups help us express our concern for others. At the same time, they show others that we are motivated by more than simply proselytizing ideas. The BLIA has much to be proud of, but I hope none of us ever begins to feel that small successes are enough.

Compassion and loving- kindness need room to grow. They are not static states that are to be reached and then forgotten. The bodhi mind is compassion. It is kindness. And it is active. By actively reaching out to others and willingly including them in our groups, we succeed in expanding that very part of ourselves which already transcends us completely.