On Practice XIV 【修行 (十四) -英文】

打佛七是在打这个〔不生不灭〕，就是说打我们生死的路能够清清楚楚，找回我们本来的面目。

The purpose of attending an intensive seven-day retreat on reciting the name of the Buddha is to find the neither-arising-nor-ceasing mind. In other words, we need to know what is arising and ceasing and what is permanently existing. We need to find the true self.

 

众生无始劫以来种在八识田中的种子很多，〔好的、坏的〕都有，尤其是坏念头无量无边。我们打佛七念佛，就是在种好的种子来增长善根，将过去坏的种子彻底地从心田里拔除净尽。

In the eons, all sentient beings continue to sow seeds in the field of their eighth vijnana; some of the seeds are flawless, but more significant are the immeasurable and illimitable flawed ones. The purpose for our attending a seven-day retreat on reciting the name of the Buddha is to sow flawless seeds and to weed out the flawed ones from the field.

 

度众生没有那么简单，须有佛缘及褔报，而且自己修到有功夫，褔、慧具足时，自然护法菩萨会拥护，否则想要度人，人却不让你度。

To deliver other sentient beings is by no means an easy matter. With enough merit and karmic affinity to the Buddha accumulated in our previous lives as well as a certain degree of wisdom through diligent practice in this life, bodhisattvas guarding the Dharma will come to assist us in our attempt to deliver others. Otherwise, no matter how hard we try, all the efforts will be in vain.

 

业障就是烦恼、挂碍，如挂碍家中的男女老少等。每个人挂碍不同，但皆把自己的生死路忘记，甚至连临命终时将去哪里也不关心了。

Our karmic obstructions are our vexations and numerous worries in our mind, such as worrying about everyone in the family. We all worry about different things, but forgot to worry about the most important one: how to escape the cycle of birth and death--we even forgot to worry about where we will be going after death.

 

人若知道信佛、回头念佛修道，忏悔往昔所造诸恶业，则必可承佛慈力业消障除。否则众生随业转，个人业感不同，若不觉悟修行，不能转业，就得轮回。

If a person comes to believe in the Buddha and have faith in the Buddha, knows to recite the name of the Buddha, learns and practices the Dharma and repents past transgressions, he or she will eradicate his or her karmic obstructions with the assistance of the Buddha. Otherwise, he or she will be destined as the karma leads. If a person is not aware of this fact and does not know to follow the Buddha to practice, the strength of his negative karma will prevail and confine him to the eternal cycles of rebirths.

 

人的一生脱离不开生、老、病、死苦，既然认识人生是苦，就是设法离苦，而学佛是离苦最妥善的一途，要寻求解脱也只有学佛。

As a human being, no one can avoid the pain of birth, aging, disease, and death. Once we recognize this fact, we should try to escape from this misery. The most appropriate means that can guarantee us a genuine liberation from suffering is to practice Buddhadharma; it is also the only means that can deliver us from all trammels of life.

 

有些居士不懂佛法，说错了，我们出家人应该指导他，不可随顺他的意思，使其不能进步，否则我们就有过失。

It is possible that some lay practitioners, while not comprehending fully the essence of Buddhism, may interpret incorrectly the teachings of the Buddha. We monastic practitioners ought to correct them when appropriate. Do not allow them to hold on to their misconceptions thus hinder their progress in practice. Otherwise, we are guilty of neglecting our responsibility.

 

有人学佛学了一段时间后，反而生出更多的烦恼，这是业障惑之故，须从身、口、意三业清净下手，才能消除根本业障。

Some people may find themselves even more vexed after practicing for a period of time. This is due to the manifestation of their karmic obstructions. Under such circumstances, they ought to purify their deeds, words, and thoughts so as to eradicate the deep-rooted karmic obstructions.

 

念头从何处来? 念头从〔无明〕来，从六根门头而起，也就是眼、耳、鼻、舌、身、意六根去看、去听、去分别时，念头就来了。

Where do all our ideas come from? They originate from the six sense organs due to ignorance. When we use our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind to perceive, ideas arise.

 

佛法不是问出来的，经书指示路径，完全要靠自己苦修去〔悟〕出来，没有说我要做什么。

No one can attain true enlightenment of the Buddhadharma just by asking a master for it. All sutras are maps that mark the paths that practitioners may take. Only through diligent practice, not pronouncements, will we be able to comprehend the teachings of the Buddha and attain the enlightenment.

 

世间〔事〕可以用学的，但是〔佛〕却不是可以装腔作势〔学〕出来的。所以经典的实义也非以我们凡夫知见去研究就可以了解，即如你所想象测度的〔经〕理，只是个人的见解，纵使遍览一切经典，亦如〔镜花水月〕，毕竟都不是自己所证悟。所以看经书不可执着文字相，在经文字句里徘徊思义，反而〔著〕在那里，无法跳出去。《金刚经》云:〔法尚应舍, 何况非法?〕一切经典都是佛陀指引我们〔了生死〕的路，研究经典的目的是要我们依教奉行，老实修行，亲自去体悟。这条〔了生死〕的路必须要自己苦心修持地走过去，并以〔深信诸佛皆充满〕的信愿，兼仗佛力加被，才能到达彼岸，开显我们自性的无相般若智慧。

Secular knowledge can be learned in the conventional way, but not the Buddhadharma. Whoever wants to acquire the Buddhadharma the same as secular knowledge through the conventional way postures a Buddhist practitioner. We can never truly comprehend the essence of the sutras through research or study. Thus, we may very well think that we understand the meaning of a sutra after reading it. But our understanding is as illusive as the flower's reflection in the mirror or the moon's reflection on the water because it is derived more from our imagination and speculation than from a genuine realization attested through practice. Therefore, we should not be stuck in the words of any sutra or adopt a literal interpretation of what we read. Otherwise, we will be bound by the words and cannot attain true wisdom. In the Diamond Sutra, the Buddha teaches us: "Even the Dharma shall be relinquished; let alone the undharmic doctrines." All sutras are paths pointed out by the Buddha to help us escape the cycle of birth and death. The purpose of studying them is to follow the paths, to practice diligently so as to attain the true enlightenment one day. There is no other way to escape the cycle of birth and death but to practice and experience the Buddhism in person. Have faith that all Buddhas are guiding and watching over us so that we can ultimately cross over the river of birth-and-death and unfold the formless prajna wisdom of the intrinsic nature.

 

------Translated from Analects of Master Kuang-chin（编译自《广钦老和尚开示录》）