學習佛法的人，就是在這兒開始把種子種到地下去。種子種下後，能不能生出？還要看各種的緣。諸緣具足了，種子就能順利地生出。假若各方面助緣不圓滿，就有可能變成焦芽敗種。這也就是看我們發菩提心、種菩提種子時，種得夠不夠深？堅固不堅固？

People who are learning and practicing the Buddhadharma are sowing seeds in the ground. Once the seeds have been sown, will they sprout? It depends on various conditions. When all the right conditions are present, the seeds will sprout and grow in due course. If the various aiding conditions are not all present, the sprouts may wither and the seeds may go bad. It also depends on whether we sowed our Bodhi seeds deeply and firmly enough when we made our resolve for Bodhi.

若是種得夠深而且堅固結實，那麼將來種子一定會生根發芽；可是若想結菩提果，還要有一段相當的時間，這就要看你用功用得如何？要是用功上路了，開悟證果，成就覺道，這才算是收成。

If we sowed them deeply and firmly enough, the seeds will surely take root and sprout in the future. However, if you want to reap the Bodhi fruit, it will take considerable time, and it depends on how well you apply effort. If your cultivation advances well, and you become enlightened, realize the fruition, and accomplish the Way, then you have reaped the harvest.

種子生根發芽、抽葉、開花、結果的過程中，都必須經過相當的時間培養、灌溉、加肥料。肥料是什麼？就是學佛的道德。修行要處處本著道德，以不妨礙道德為根本戒條。

During the process of taking root, sprouting, growing leaves, flowering, and bearing fruit, a considerable time of care, watering, and adding fertilizer is needed. What is the fertilizer? It is studying morality. Every aspect of cultivation must be based on morality. "Not going against morality" should be our fundamental precept.

儒教云：「德者本也，財者末也。」德行是人的根本，而財僅是一種末梢之物。修道人處處要惜福節約，不浪費金錢物質，如此日積月累，才能培養出自己的德行，所生出來的枝葉才會茂盛，果實也將累累。如果不加肥料，不用功去培養灌溉，枝芽花果很容易就會枯槁而死，所以修道人，第一戒條就是「注重德行」。

A Confucian maxim says: "Virtue is fundamental. Wealth is incidental." Virtuous conduct is the foundation of a person, while wealth is an insignificant thing. Cultivators should always be thrifty and avoid wasting money or resources. That way, over the days and months, they can foster their practice of virtue. Then the branches and leaves will grow abundantly, and fruits will accumulate. If you don't add fertilizer, and you make no effort to care for and water the plant, it will be easy for the branches, flowers and fruit to wither and die. Therefore, the foremost precept for cultivators is to place emphasis on virtuous conduct.

德行先由小處做起，「毋以善小而不為」，你不要以為小善就不去做，而等著做大善，大善沒有那麼多。山是一粒一粒微塵積成的，微塵雖小，但積多了也會變成一座山；德行雖小，但積多了，也會變成一座德行山。

Virtuous conduct begins in small places. "Do not think a good deed is too small and fail to do it." Don't wait around for a big good deed to do, because there aren't that many big good deeds. A mountain is an accumulation of specks of dust. Although each speck is tiny, many specks piled up can form a mountain. Virtuous deeds may be small, yet when many are accumulated, they will form a mountain of virtue.

不違背道德就是德行，不妨礙他人就是德行。無論做什麼，要以幫助他人為本份。若於利益上、時間上、文化智慧上，或其他種種事情上，對他人有所妨礙，不能利益他人，都是於道德有所違背。所以我們的一舉一動、一言一行，總以不違背道德為根本箴規。想要修道，先要培德；沒有德行，就不能修道。有人想修道，魔障就來找，這因為沒有德行的緣故，所以說：「德者本也，財者末也。」

Not going against what is proper and right is known as virtuous conduct. Not hindering others is morality. In whatever you do, you should make it your obligation to help others. If you hinder others and cannot benefit them in terms of profit, time, culture, wisdom, or any other aspect, you are acting contrary to morality. Therefore, in every move and action, every word and deed, we should always make "not going against morality" our basic rule. If you want to cultivate the Way, you must first foster virtue. Without virtuous conduct, you cannot cultivate. Some people who want to cultivate will encounter demonic obstacles as soon as they start. That is due to a lack of virtuous conduct. So it is said, "Virtue is fundamental. Wealth is incidental."

道德就等於日月，也等於天地，也等於人之性命。沒有道德就等於人沒有性命、沒有日月天地一樣。什麼是道德呢？就是以利益他人為主，以不妨礙他人為宗旨，也就是內心充滿仁、義、禮、智、信。

Morality is equivalent to the sun and moon, to Heaven and Earth, and to our very life. Lacking morality is equivalent to being without life, without the sun and moon, and without Heaven and Earth. What is morality? Morality means to take benefiting others as most important, and to take not hindering others as our principle. It is fill our minds with humaneness, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness.

（一）仁：有仁愛的心，就不會殺生。
（二）義：具足一種知識，做什麼事都恰到好處 ，合乎中道，不太過也不會不及，不偏左也不偏右，事事合乎中道。懂義，就不會偷盜。講義氣的人不會偷他人的東西。
（三）禮：禮是一種禮貌、禮節。尚禮節就不會姦淫。偷盜與淫亂都是因為不合乎義禮，是違背常規的現象。
（四）智：有智慧的人就不會亂喝酒、亂吃迷魂藥，愚癡的人才會做出種種顛倒的事。
（五）信：有信用就不會打妄語。

1. Humaneness: Having a heart of humane benevolence, you will not kill.
2. Righteousness: Endowed with common sense, everything you do will be just right, exactly in accord with the Middle Way, neither too much nor too little, and neither too far to the left nor too far to the right. All affairs will be carried out in accord with the Middle Way. If you understand what is right, you will not steal. People who value righteousness will not steal what belongs to others.
3. Propriety: Propriety is a kind of courtesy and etiquette. If you honor the rules of etiquette, you will not be lewd. Stealing and lewdness are phenomena which occur because one is not in accord with righteousness and propriety, and because one is acting contrary to the rules of proper conduct.
4. Wisdom: Wise people will not recklessly drink or take drugs. Only stupid people will do all sorts of upside-down things.
5. Trustworthiness: Trustworthy people will not tell lies.

仁、義、禮、智、信，五常充足圓滿了，這就是道，就是德。所以道德是從心中生出，它的根本就在我們人的心裏頭，可是它生出來有種顏色。這種顏色不是青、黃、赤、白、黑，是一種德行之表現，是德行之光澤，故韓愈在〈原道〉中，有一段文說：「博愛之謂仁，仁而宜之之謂義，由是而之焉之謂道，足乎己無待於外之謂德。」而孟子說：「仁義禮智根於心，其生色也，睟然見於面，盎於背，施於四體，四體不言而喻。」有德之人不單單面上有所表現，其背上也洋溢著德光，甚至於在四肢上也能顯現出來。這種德相雖然描述不出來，但人人皆能明白。德行的表現，才是真正的功夫學問，這種德行不能假裝的，虛假只會暫時騙人一陣子，不能長久。

When the five qualities of humaneness, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness are replete and perfect, that is morality. Thus, morality is produced from the mind. Its source is in our mind, but when produced, it has a kind of coloring. The coloring is neither blue, yellow, red, white, nor black. Rather, it is a manifestation of virtuous conduct; it is the luster of virtuous conduct. Thus, Han Yu wrote in his essay "The Fundamental Way," "Compassion which does not discriminate is called humaneness. When humaneness is applied appropriately, that is called righteous-ness. When it is put into practice, that is called the Way. When one finds contentment within oneself and does not seek outside, that is called virtue." Mencius also said, "Humaneness, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom are rooted in the mind. When they manifest in the body, a mild harmony appears in the countenance, and a rich fullness in the back. They spread to the four limbs, and the four limbs communicate it without words." People who have virtue not only show it in their face, their back is also suffused with the glow of virtue, and it may even appear in the four limbs. Although the appearance of virtue cannot be described, people all understand what it is. The manifestation of virtuous conduct is the true sign of cultivation and learning. That kind of virtuous conduct cannot be feigned. What is false can only fool people temporarily, but not in the long run.

修道就是要修真正道德，不妨礙他人，也不怕他人妨礙自己。誰妨礙自己都接受，逆來順受；誰對自己不慈悲，或不講道理，都是自己的善知識。能「逆來順受」，對橫逆能處之泰然，才見出你忍辱的功夫，不要因別人一句話就動了。有些人的「不動」是無慚無愧，這是不對。你要修的「不動」，是能忍人所不能忍，這才是真功夫，否則還須從頭練起。

Cultivating the Way means to cultivate true morality by not obstructing others and not being afraid of being obstructed by others. No matter who obstructs you, you should accept it. "When adversity comes, compliantly accept it." Anyone who is unkind or unreasonable to you is just your Good and Wise Advisor. If you can compliantly accept adversity and calmly handle unexpected or unreasonable situations, then your skill in patience can be seen. Don't be moved because of a single sentence that someone says. Some people think "being unmoved" means to be without shame and remorse, but that's wrong. The kind of "being unmoved" you should cultivate is being able to endure what others cannot endure--that's true skill. Otherwise, you will have to start cultivating all over again.

道家以「三花聚頂」、「五氣朝元」，為道德圓滿之表現。這兩個名詞在某些佛教徒聽起來，說是外道。其實什麼叫外道？什麼叫內道？這個名詞並沒有什麼外內道，這是用來形容某種修行所成就的結果。「三花」就是精、氣、神，三者都變成一種光華。「五氣」：仁、義、禮、智、信，五氣都圓滿，叫五氣朝元。

Taoists take the state in which "the three flowers gather at the summit, and the five energies return to the origin" as the perfect manifestation of morality. To certain Buddhists, those two expressions sound like "external" teachings. Actually, what is an external teaching? What is an internal teaching? These expressions aren't really external or internal teachings in themselves. They just describe the fruition which results from a certain kind of cultivation. The "three flowers" are the essence, energy, and spirit when they are transformed into a kind of glorious light. When the five energies of humaneness, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness are all fully perfected, that's known as "the five energies return to the origin."

在佛教裏，道德圓滿了，就獲得大圓鏡智、平等性智、妙觀察智、成所作智，三身、四智、五眼、六通，缺少哪一樣，也無法得到這種境界。所以佛教萬德莊嚴，它能包羅一切宗教，而一切宗教只是佛教的一部分。所以我常將佛教比喻為大學課程，道教或其他高超一點的宗教可以算為中學，世間宗教如儒教等，只是小學過程。

In Buddhism, when one's morality is perfected, one attains the Wisdom of the Great Perfect Mirror, the Wisdom of Equal Nature, the Wisdom of Wonderful Contemplation, and the Wisdom of Accomplishing What Is Done. If one lacks any of the Three Bodies, Four Wisdoms, Five Eyes, and Six Spiritual Powers, there is no way one can attain that kind of state. Thus, Buddhism is adorned with the ten thousand virtues and encompasses all religions. All other religions are but a part of Buddhism. That's why I often say Buddhism can be compared to a college curriculum, while Taoism and other advanced religions can be considered high school, and worldly religions such as Confucianism are merely at the elementary school level.

在小學、中學、大學，都是讀書人；世界各宗教，也都是宗教人士，所以不可以分門別類，到這教就說這教好，到那教就說這教不好，「入者奴之，出者汙之。」這是錯誤的觀念。一切宗教都是佛教的一部分，這看法才是對的。因為佛說：「一切眾生皆有如來智慧德相，皆堪作佛。」一切眾生皆有佛性，那麼外道也是眾生之一，也有成佛的機會，為什麼要摒彼於門外呢？佛教是盡虛空遍法界，無有邊際、無門戶、人我之見。所以我們學佛人的心量要大起來，不要心胸狹窄、小氣。

Whether you are in elementary school, high school, or college, you are still a student. No matter which religion of the world you belong to, you are still a religious believer. Therefore, you should not categorize and discriminate, praising a religion when you are within it, but criticizing it when you meet up with other religions. This is known as "enslaving yourself to it when you are in it, but denouncing it after you abandon it." Such ideas are wrong. The right outlook is to see all religions as a part of Buddhism, because the Buddha said, "All living beings have the wisdom and virtue of the Tathagata, and all can become Buddhas." All living beings have the Buddha-nature. Followers of other religions are also living beings and also have the chance to become Buddhas, so why should they be left outside the door? Buddhism pervades space and encompasses the Dharma Realm. It has no boundaries and no factional or personal prejudice. Therefore, we who study Buddhism should expand the measure of our minds and not be narrow-minded or petty.

道教裏有德行的人，有一種表現，一般凡人都看得出，就是鶴髮童顏。頭髮雖然花白，但其面色有如童子，很潤很細。為什麼？就是一種道德感召的變化。雖然是白髮，但頭髮並不乾枯，而且有光潤之氣（並不是擦髮臘），他的毫毛、頭髮會放光，若有功夫的人，或開五眼的人，一看就知道。

In Taoism, virtuous cultivators have a characteristic look that even ordinary people can recognize: a hoary head with a youthful face. Although their hair is mostly white, their face is smooth and delicate like a child's. Why? Their moral virtue has induced this change. Although their hair is white, it is very glossy, not at all dry. (But it's not because they applied hair wax.) The hair on their head can emit light. Those who have skill in cultivation, or who have opened the Five Eyes, can recognize them right away.

佛教又高一招，不單頭髮放光，而是全身都可以放光，每一根汗毛梢上都可以放光，每一個毛孔都與眾不同。在佛教裏修行有功夫的人，能使白髮轉黑，齒落重生。道教也有齒落重生的境界，不過不能全身毛孔放光，這是不同處。你們各位看人是不是一位善知識？不需開五眼，就憑凡夫肉眼，只要你是個行家，就可以看出他是不是善知識？是否有德行？人若無德行，是面生橫肉，非常討人厭的！

Buddhism is a level higher because it includes the state where not only the hair on the head gives off light, the whole body emits light. The tip of every hair on the body can send out light, and each hairpore is different from ordinary hairpores. Skilled cultivators in Buddhism can cause white hair to turn black again, and new teeth to grow in where the old ones have fallen out. In Taoism, the phenomenon of teeth growing in again also occurs, but they cannot make all the hairpores emit light. That's one difference. Do you know how to tell if someone is a Good and Wise Advisor? You don't have to open your Five Eyes. If you're an expert, you can tell if he's a Good and Wise Advisor, a virtuous person, just by using your ordinary eyes. If a person has no virtue, his facial muscles will typically be contorted into a very disagreeable expression.

一九八二年十二月十七日晚間開示於
萬佛聖城