In schools and universities in present-day China, the key criterion used for evaluating a student’s ability is the sum total of scores secured by a student in a given number of semesters. I don’t think such a criterion is legitimate. The sum total of scores secured by a student in a given number of semesters can be counted one aspect of a student’s intellectual capacity. But to acquire a balanced appraisal of a student’s intellectuality, some more important indicators ought to be adopted. And I suggest that, instead of the current criterion, “a student’s academic propensity and academic interest” be adopted as new criteria or new indicators for judging a student’s intellectual caliber. That a student is attracted by and becomes interested in an academic subject means the door to a possible prospective success in the academic subject is wide opened to the student. His interest in the academic subject will induce him to set up an ideal goal for his future success in connection with the academic subject. But between an ideal and its realization, there is often a very long distance. And we can draw, from Hui Neng’s instructive passage cited above, the wisdom needed for tiding over the distance. The way Buddhist votaries carry on their self-cultivation program in compliance with the instructive passage of Hui Neng for seeking moksa can be imitated by our contemporary young people in their efforts to tide over the distance between their ideals and the realization of their ideals. Below is my expatiation on Hui Neng’s instructive passage which contains four sentences:

♦The first sentence says: “I vow to manumit an infinite number of ‘the fettered’ dwelling in my mind”. The purport of the sentence is that having set for himself a worthwhile goal, an individual should never swerve from it until he has reached it.

♦After an individual has set for himself a worthwhile goal, he shall have to confront various interferences in his endeavor to reach the goal. (In Buddhist diction such interferences are called “defilements”.) So “I vow to get rid of the innumerable defilements…”

♦Apart from his determination to strive for his goal, an individual needs to acquire new knowledge to facilitate his pursuit. (In Buddhist diction, “Dharma” is tantamount to knowledge.) Therefore “I vow to … assimilate into the countless systems of Dharma….”

♦In the final analysis, an individual needs to have a right outlook on life which is to underpin his determination to strive for his goal. Therefore “I vow to bring … to attain the Supreme Buddhahood”.