Like all Buddhist monks, Yancan spends most of his day seeking enlightenment.

But unlike most monks, Yancan sometimes stays up until midnight using Sina Weibo, a popular Chinese micro blogging site, to spread the word of Buddhism among his million-plus followers.

Yancan is the abbot of the Shuiyue Monastery in East China's Hebei province. For over 20 years, the Zen monk has passed his knowledge on through sermons and lectures. But now, the power of the Internet has given Yancan a new avenue through which to spread his wisdom.

Yancan first rose to online prominence last week, when a video of him being harassed by monkeys near E'Mei Mountain, a sacred Buddhist site, was uploaded to the Internet.

Yancan quickly amassed a large following on Sina Weibo, with his posts forwarded thousands of times over since the video's debut, helping him to bring his thoughts on Buddhism to a much larger audience.

"I only hope to shore up positive energy on the web, where people vent too much anger and frustration," Yancan said.

Yancan has written more than 11,000 posts since opening his Sina Weibo account two years ago. Most of his posts reflect a Buddhist interpretation of common life issues, ranging from the pains of growing up to dealing with the national college entrance exams.

"Life inspires me, and then I write what comes to my mind," the monk said.

Yancan's positive approach stands out among the extreme displays of anger and verbal abuse that are common to Sina Weibo and other social messaging sites. His humorous demeanor and laid-back approach have charmed the public as well, as his attitude is not like that of most monks.

"Life itself is too serious, so I try my best not to be," Yancan said.

Yancan recently conducted an online interview on Sina Weibo, inviting netizens to ask him questions about his life and work. He received about 30,000 queries, responding to many in typically witty fashion.

According to one of Yancan's disciples, the master has received numerous interview requests, as well as book offers from about 40 publishers, since the video was uploaded.

Yancan has not been spared from doubt or criticism. Some have described him as being "ignorant of his proper duties" and even accused him of lacking "Buddhist purity."

The criticism has confused the monk. "Isn't it a good thing? Everybody laughs and no one gets hurt," he said. "I am duty-bound to propagate Buddhism. The new age needs us to change."

Yancan said he hopes his popularity will give a boost to his temple's charitable work.

"But I have set no goals. I follow karma," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 27, 2012)

跟所有佛教僧人一樣，延參法師的大部分時間都在求悟。

但他又和大多數(shù)僧人不一樣，有時候會玩新浪微博到午夜。借助這個國內(nèi)頗受歡迎的社交網(wǎng)站，他向數(shù)百萬的粉絲們傳播著佛教教義。

延參法師是河北省滄州市水月寺的住持。20多年來，法師通過說教和講座傳播佛教思想；如今，神奇的網(wǎng)絡為延參法師指明了一條全新的大道去傳播他的睿智。

上周，自打他在佛教圣地峨眉山遭猴子戲謔的視頻傳到網(wǎng)上后，延參法師一躍成為了網(wǎng)絡紅人。

自從該視頻發(fā)布以來，法師很快在新浪微博上吸引了一大批粉絲，他的微博隨之被轉發(fā)了數(shù)萬次，佛教思想也因此普及到更多網(wǎng)民。

“微博上有很多負面的情緒和信息，我希望能給大家一些正面的能量。”延參法師說。

延參法師兩年前開通新浪微博賬戶，目前已經(jīng)發(fā)布了11000多條信息，其中大部分都是對生命的佛學闡釋，包括成長的痛苦以及如何應對高考等。

“生活給了我啟迪，而我將自己的心境寫了下來。”法師說道。

新浪微博和一些社交網(wǎng)站往往成為人們表達憤怒、口頭謾罵的一個很極端的平臺，延參法師的積極心態(tài)一下子脫穎而出。與大部分僧人不同，他幽默的舉止和淡定的姿態(tài)迷倒了眾人。

“生活本身就太嚴肅了，所以我盡力不要把它看得很嚴肅。”延參法師這么說。

近日，延參法師在新浪微博上發(fā)起了一個在線訪談，邀請網(wǎng)民們就他的生活和工作發(fā)問。他收到了近3萬個問題，其中很多都以詼諧幽默的方式給出了回答。

據(jù)延參法師的一位弟子透露，自從視頻上傳網(wǎng)絡以來，大師接到了無數(shù)的采訪請求，40家出版商向他拋出了橄欖枝。

延參法師也免不了引來一翻質(zhì)疑和非議。有人說他“不務正業(yè)”，甚至指責他“六根不凈”。

這樣的非議使法師很困惑。“這有什么不好呢？大家都被逗樂了，也沒有人受到傷害。”他說，“宣傳佛教，我義不容辭。新的時代需要我們做出改變。”

延參法師希望他的名氣可以更好地帶動寺廟里的慈善工作。

“不過，我沒有設定目標，一切隨緣。”他說。

（China.org.cn Wendy 譯）