自性里头平安，这才是真快乐。

Only when your own nature is at peace will you know real happiness.

各位善知识：今天叫宣化来对大家说法，可是宣化不但不会说法，连话也不会说。虽然如此，不会说话，因为大家这么诚意，来要我说法；尤其这些个青年同学们，这样地殷勤请法，所以我虽然不会说话，可是也不得不说话。既然说话，说个什么话呢？为什么我说我不会说话呢？

All Good and Wise Advisors! Today you have asked Hsuan Hua to speak the Dharma for everyone. However, Hsuan Hua not only doesn't know how to speak the Dharma, he doesn't even know how to speak. But since everyone is so sincere in asking me to speak the Dharma, especially these young students, I am obliged to speak even though I do not know how to speak. What shall I say? Why do I say that I do not know how to speak?

我今天先对你们大家说明白一点，因为我一说话，就要说真话。在这个世界上，就没有人愿意听真话，都愿意听假话，都愿意听揄扬、赞叹的辞句。这一类揄扬、赞叹的辞句，我根本就不知道从何说起，所以因为这个，我要你们各位先要有心理的准备。不要等我讲了不好听的话了，你们再不愿意听。由一开始，你们就要有心理的准备，预备无论我讲的是法非法，也都要特别小心，不要上了当。这是我要对你们先说的话。

Let me explain. It is because I speak only the truth, and no one in this world likes to hear the truth. Everyone likes to hear phony talk and words of praise. I don't even know how to begin speaking hypocritical flattery! Therefore, you should all be psychologically prepared. Don't wait until I say something unpleasant and then decide you don't want to listen. Be psychologically prepared, so that no matter if I speak in accord with the Dharma or not, you are especially careful not to take a loss. This is what I want to tell you in advance.

你们各位听我说话，都听得懂吗？（大众：听得懂。）我这个不会说话的人说的话，你们也都听得懂，啊！这不奇怪吧？那就不要翻台湾语了，也不要翻英语了，节省时间，好不好？（大众：好！）

Do you all understand what I said? [Everyone: "Yes."] So you all understand me even though I don't know how to speak? Isn't that strange? So we will not translate to Taiwanese or English, in order to save time. Is that all right? ["Yes!" Applause]

我所要说的，人啊！乐极会生悲，不要乐极了，不要快乐到极点；快乐到极点，悲极就来了。你们大家相信这个道理，我也这么说；不相信这个道理，我也这么说。因为我要说的话，我不管人信不信，我一定要说我所愿意说的话，就是你们认为我不会说话，我也要这样说。因为我到这来，我不能尽给各位揄扬之辞啊，赞叹之语啊，这一类的言语。因为我知道你们各位，不论老的同愿、中年的同愿，和青年的同愿，听这一类的话听得很多了。我现在给你们换换口味，说一点你们不愿意听的话，所以叫你们不要追求快乐。

What I want to say is, "Too much happiness leads to sorrow." If you become extremely happy, you will feel sad afterwards. Whether or not you believe this principle, that is what I say. I say what I feel like saying regardless of whether people believe it or not. This is what I will say even if you consider me someone who doesn't know how to speak. I haven't come here just to flatter you with words of praise. I know that all of you who share the same vows, whether you are elderly, middle-aged, or young, have heard a lot of that kind of talk. Now I'll give you something that tastes different and say some things that you don't like to hear. I will tell you not to pursue happiness.

这快乐，什么叫快乐？真正的快乐，不是世间的快乐，不是人间的快乐，那是一种自己心里边时时有一种快乐，不需要向外驰求，不需要到外边去找去。你到外边找的，都不是究竟的快乐。你想究竟的快乐，你必须要有相当的修养、相当的学识、相当的造诣，自性里头平安，这才是真快乐。你到外边去找快乐，一天到晚追求快乐。追求得到了，这是快乐的一时；得不到，这是烦恼的重重。你贪而无厌，又患得患失，这都不是真正的快乐。真正的快乐，是无求的，“到无求处便无忧”。你无所求，这才是真正的快乐，真正自性的稳定、平安。

What is happiness? True happiness is not worldly happiness. Rather, it is a happiness that is always present in your own mind, which you need not look for outside. If you seek outside, you won't find the ultimate happiness. If you want the ultimate happiness, you must have considerable cultivation, considerable learning, and considerable attainment. Only then will there be peace and joy in your own nature, which is the real happiness. If you seek for happiness outside, you may attain it, but it will only last for a moment. If you fail to attain it, you will be full of afflictions. If you are insatiably greedy, you worry about getting things, and then you worry about losing them. None of this is true happiness. True happiness comes from not seeking anything. When you reach the state of seeking nothing, you have no worries. Seeking nothing, you have true happiness, and your nature is stable and tranquil.

你到外边去找，找到什么地方也找不到真正的快乐。我们人间所追求的吃喝玩乐这些享受：坐最值钱的汽车，或者买飞机，或者买轮船，到处去游一游船，这是快乐？这简直地都是浪费你的精力、浪费你的智慧。你真正的智慧不是在外边这些个东西，真正的享受，是你自在快乐，这是我们人人都有的，你不要向外去找去。你尽向外驰求，啊！你争我夺，你虞我诈；你欺骗我，我欺骗你，结果就会得到自己这个不真实的快乐，这真是可怜愍者，佛所谓的这一类的人是可怜愍者。不要舍本逐末，不要倒行逆施。我所说的这个话，都是人不愿意听的。

You can search outside all you want, but you won't find true happiness anywhere. The enjoyment we pursue in this world--eating, drinking, making merry, driving an expensive car, owning a plane, or buying a ship and taking a cruise--is this happiness? This is just wasting your energy and wasting your wisdom. True wisdom cannot be found in these external things. True joy comes from being carefree and happy. We all have this within us, and we need not search outside for it. But people always seek outside themselves, and end up cheating, flattering, and fighting one another in order to obtain an artificial happiness. The Buddha said such people are to be pitied. They are lamentable. So do not forsake what is fundamental to pursue the superficial. Do not act in an upside-down way. What I've just said is something no one likes to hear.

我所说的这个快乐是什么呢？你不争是快乐，不贪是快乐，无所求这是快乐，你不自私这是快乐；你不自利，更是快乐；你不打妄语，这才是真正快乐。你打妄语，你于心就会有愧，觉得这是骗人了。你就算不觉得，在你良心上，也觉得有了污点了，对不起良心了。你若是一个没有良心的人，那就又当别论啦！所以现在人心不古、道德沦亡、世风日下，在这种情形之下，我们要赶快醒悟。怎么样醒悟呢？我们做学生的，要好好读书，朝于斯，夕于斯，这个“昔仲尼，师项橐”，要能“如负薪，如挂角”，“囊萤映雪”，这样子，才够上一个读书的人。不是那么整天就想自在，想安乐，想不读书，追求快乐去；这不是快乐！

What do I call happiness? Not fighting is happiness. Not being greedy is happiness. Seeking nothing is happiness. Not being selfish is happiness. Not wanting to benefit yourself is happiness even more. Not telling lies--that's true happiness. If you lie, you will feel remorse in your heart because you know you have deceived someone, and there will be a stain on your conscience. If you are a person with no conscience, that's another story. People's minds are not the way they were in ancient times; morality has perished; and the world deteriorates day by day. In this situation, we must quickly awaken. How can we awaken? If we are students, we should apply ourselves diligently, studying in the morning and in the evening. In the past, Zhong Ni (Confucius) took Xiang Tuo as his teacher. We must pursue our studies as earnestly as the woodcutter who put his book on a log he was hauling, the oxherd who hung his book from the horn of the ox he was riding, the student who studied at night by the light of fireflies collected in a pouch, or the boy who read by the moonlight reflected off the snow. Only then can we be considered true students. We should not just seek ease and comfort all day long and enjoy ourselves instead of studying. That is not happiness.

现在我告诉你们一句你们或者还不知道的话，不但美国，西方的教育完全破产了。可是他们还在掩耳盗铃，说还可以维持现状。怎么说西方教育破产了呢？它因为都“去人伦，无父子”了，也没有老，也没有小。西方的教育，儿子叫爸爸不称爸爸，叫什么？叫名字，直呼其名，简直地这个长幼尊卑已经错乱了。

Now I want to tell you something that you may not be aware of yet. In the United States, and in the West generally, education is totally bankrupt. However, like the person who plugs his ears and steals a bell thinking that other people will not hear the bell, they claim that their educational system can still manage. Why do I say that Western education is bankrupt? Because Western educators have discarded the ethics of human relationships. Parents and children do not know their place, and the old and the young do not know their roles. In the West, children do not address their father as "Father." Instead, they call their fathers by name. The order between elders and the young, and between superiors and subordinates, has been messed up.

还有它的家庭都破碎了，家庭怎么破碎呢？美国人百分之九十九都结婚以后，就再离婚，这家庭就破碎了。破碎了，生了小孩子，小孩子随着爸爸养，爸爸就整天说：“你妈妈以前怎么坏怎么坏，她若不坏，我不会和她离婚。”就这样子。这小孩子说：“喔！妈妈这么坏，我对女人真讨厌到极点了。”你看！小孩子就讨厌女人。那么有的跟着妈妈养的，这妈妈就灌输他，说：“你爸爸怎样坏怎样坏，所以我和他离婚了。”这样一来，这个小孩子又讨厌爸爸，一见到男性就讨厌了，说：“男人都这样地坏。”

Broken families are widespread; ninety-nine percent of the marriages in America end in divorce. If the children live with their father, all day long they hear him rant about how terrible their mother was. "If she hadn't been so bad, I wouldn't have divorced her," the father tells them. The children think, "Oh, how awful my mother is! How I hate women!" So you see, those children end up hating women. If the children live with their mother, she keeps telling them how awful their father was. "That's why I divorced him," she says. The children end up hating their father. They get annoyed whenever they see a man, because they think every man must be that terrible.

你算算！因为夫妇间离婚了，把小孩子养得对男女互相有仇恨的这种思想，结果长大了就怎样呢？变成问题儿童了。讨厌爸爸的，见到男人就把他杀了，一枪就把他打死；讨厌女人的，就想要把女人给打死，见到女人都是和眼中钉一样。你算算，它这个社会怎么会好？这是从根本上已经坏了。不过这种情形啊，美国人本身还不知道，他们不晓得这是一个最大的问题，他们还觉得他们国家有那么多财产，物产丰富，什么都不缺，这是一个好国家；他们不知道已经里边都烂了，就像那个树木，心都烂了，根都没有了，把根都给刨了。所以这是离婚的问题，男女都是结婚了之后，一定要再离婚，觉得再找一个新鲜的，这个旧的够了，再找新鲜的。其实找新鲜的，还不如那个旧的。啊！越搞越糟，越搞越糟，这问题儿童就出现了，家庭也破碎了，这是中国的五伦八德完全失去作用了。所以我们中国人，你们不要以为西方的文化怎么好怎么好，它从根本上已经就破产了。

Think it over. As a result of their parents' divorce, the children learn to hate men or women and grow up to become troubled teenagers. If they hate their father, they will want to murder any man they see, finishing him off with one shot. If they hate women, they will want to shoot women. They see women as thorns in the flesh. Under these circumstances, how can the society function well? It is rotten at the core. Nevertheless, Americans have not yet realized the seriousness of this problem. They still think, "Our country is so rich in natural resources and material goods, and doesn't lack anything. This is a good country." They do not realize that it is already rotten inside, just like a tree whose trunk is rotten and whose roots are gone. This problem is caused by divorce. After a man and a woman get married, they are almost certain to get divorced, because they will get tired of each other and want to find new partners. The new partners turn out to be worse than the original ones, and the more they do this, the more of a mess it becomes. As a result, there are troubled children and broken families. This is because the five kinds of human relationships and the eight virtues are no longer functioning. Chinese people should not think that Western culture is so great, for it has become bankrupt at the very roots.

还有它这个男女结婚了，就不离婚嘛，男的也要另外找一个情人，女的也要另外找一个情人，因为互相不满意，就互相报复。所以搞得家庭也是七零八落的，家不成一个家，家庭破碎了，那么这不离婚的是这样子。还有一些懂得道理的，还没有这个现象，不过是少数，多数的人是在那儿尽离婚。

Furthermore, even if a couple stays married and does not get divorced, the man will find a lover and the woman will also get a lover, out of revenge. They become dissatisfied with each other and mutually want to take revenge. They disturb the family until it breaks up and is no longer a real family. That's what happens if they don't get divorced. There are still some people who understand principle and do not get divorced or find lovers, but they are in the minority. The vast majority of the people are constantly getting divorced.

我觉得我们中国人现在也趋向这种的行动了，所以我愿意把这个根本的厉害先对大家讲一讲。我们大家要快一点把这个迷梦唤醒了它，你们不要再作西方的梦。我当初以为西方––美国有什么了不起，我到那个地方我才知道––讲真话给你们听，现在也有美国人在这儿，我不怕他们反对我––我觉得他们是很愚痴的。对这个你们大家有什么意见？你们是不是听过美国这种风气？

It seems to me that Chinese people are also picking up this trend. That's why I want to speak about the importance of the fundamentals of being a human being. We should quickly awaken from our confused dream. Don't dream about the West anymore. I used to think the West--the United States of America--was really great. But when I got there, I found out--I'll tell you the truth, and I'm not afraid if the Americans here oppose me--I think they are very stupid. What do you think? Did you hear about this trend in the United States before?

我的时间还有十八分钟，那么你们谁若听我所说的话，有什么感想，提出来问问题，我现在答覆你们的问题。我预备今天安排到八点钟，我现在对你们讲的，你们信不信就由你自己，因为我还带着病来和你们大家说不成文的、不会说话的这种经验。你们觉得对我们中国人是不是有点帮助？你们大家想一想。

I have eighteen minutes left. After listening to my talk, if any of you have questions, you can ask them. I'll answer your questions now. I plan to stay until eight o'clock tonight. I say to you, whether you believe or not is up to you, because I have come with illness, to tell you about these experiences in my ineloquent way. Do you think they are of any benefit to the Chinese people? Everyone can think it over.

问我问题，我先给你们一个条件。你们深的问题不要问我，我答不出来的，因为我也没有学问，也没有什么智慧。这样一来，你若一问深的问题，我就最好是不答覆；我不要答覆错了，答覆错因果，那我要负因果的。所以你们浅浅的，真是不明白的问题，你可以提出来讨论，我现在也是在学习期间，我向各位学习。你们各位不要以为我什么都懂，我什么也不懂，你问我问题，我就勉为其难来答覆你们的问题，你们大家懂了吗？（大众：懂。）

When you ask questions, I have one condition: Don't ask profound questions. I won't be able to answer them, because I don't have much learning and I don't have much wisdom. If you ask a profound question, it's best if I don't answer it. If I answer it incorrectly, then I have to be responsible for the cause and effect. You can ask simple questions about what you really don't understand, and we can discuss them together. I am also just a student and wish to learn from all of you. You should not think I know everything, for I really know nothing at all. If you ask questions, I will try my best to answer them. Do you understand? [Everyone: "Yes."]

快一点！问问题的人要把你的姓名写上，或者说出来。因为人太多了，争取时间，你的姓名叫什么，对大家说了，然后就提出你的问题。如果有麦克风，拿着麦克风讲话，我好也能听得清楚一点，因为我年老，耳聋眼花，打架打不过你们这些青年人，切记不要和我打架。

Quickly! Those who ask questions should either write out or say their names. There are many people, so don't waste time. You should first give your full name, and then ask your question. If there is a microphone, please use it so that I can also hear it clearly. In my old age, my ears are going deaf and my vision is blurred, and I am no match for you young people, so please do not fight with me!

问：弟子车祸失明后，眼前常出现一湖水，有瀑布流注其间，湖里有变化的色彩掺杂，像是戴照明灯在潜水游泳一样，除了睡眠以外均存在，不知如何是好？

Q: Venerable Master, I lost my eyesight in a car crash, and often the vision of a lake of changing colors, with a waterfall in it, appears before me. I feel like a scuba diver wearing a bright lamp on my forehead. This experience occurs all the time, except when I am asleep. What should I do?

答：你问问题不是写文章，你要简单一点，扼要说，不要说这么长。说这么长，我现在记忆力也不好了，所以你说完了，我也都忘了，那怎么办？

A: When you ask your question, don't make it an essay. Be brief and to the point. Don't be so long-winded, for my memory isn't that good anymore. By the time you finished asking your question, I already forgot most of it. What am I supposed to do?

问：弟子的朋友苏建明因车祸失明，寻遍名医均无法治愈，恳请上人指点，应如何求治，才能痊愈。谢谢您！

Q: Venerable Master, my friend Su Jianming lost his eyesight in a car accident. He has seen all the best doctors, but none have been able to help him. I sincerely request the Venerable Master to advise him on a method to cure himself. Thank you.

答：你要念观音菩萨，《观音菩萨普门品》上有四句偈颂，说：

无垢清净光，慧日破诸暗，
能伏灾风火，普明照世间。

你这个车祸，这都是前因后果的，你大约前世，或者把什么众生眼睛给打瞎了；或者是射小鸟；或者是杀畜生，先把它眼睛给弄伤了，所以今生要受这个果报。这没有什么，就是如此而已。

A: You should recite Guanyin Bodhisattva's name. In the "Chapter on Guanyin Bodhisattva's Universal Door," there are four verses:

The pure, undefiled radiance
Of wisdom's sun destroys all darkness;
It dispels the calamities of wind and fire
And lights up the entire world.

The car accident you were in has to do with your past causes and their effects. In a previous life you may have blinded some living beings, or hunted birds, or put out the eyes of animals before you killed them, and so in this life you have to undergo the retribution. That's all there is to it.

问：弟子的妹妹于就读三专一年级时，曾有自杀倾向，于二年级住校时，便有行为举止异常，言语不合逻辑，家人曾帮她超度冤亲债主，现在病况已改善，但仍会定时发作，请教上人是否有方法可治愈？

Q: Venerable Master, when my sister was a freshman in community college, she showed suicidal tendencies. During her second year of living on campus, she behaved abnormally and talked illogically. After her family transferred merit to cross over her creditors from past lives, her condition improved. However, she still has periodic lapses. Is there any way to cure her?

答：念观音菩萨就好了，可是要拿出真正的信心来。

A: She should just recite Guanyin Bodhisattva's name, and she will get well. But she has to have true faith.

问：有人说我的弟弟克到我妈妈，于民国八十三年时，会对我妈妈造成生命威胁，且言最好我弟弟和妈妈能不住在一起，不知可否有开解之道？

Q: Venerable Master, someone said that my brother will be a threat to my mother's life in 1994 and should not be allowed to live with her. Is there a way to solve this problem?

答：我是一个出家人，不是一个跑江湖的，不懂得这些个问题。

A: I'm a left-home person, not a snake-oil salesman, and I don't know how to answer such questions.

问：请问平日持咒是专持一咒呢？或是持念多种咒？哪样较殊胜得利？

Q: If we recite mantras on a daily basis, should we recite just one mantra or many different mantras? Which is more beneficial?

答：没有得益的！是法平等，无有高下，一即是多，多也是一。你多，也要专一，才能灵；你一，若能专一，也能更灵。所以这是你贪心，才说愿意读多一点咒，或者多一点经，这都是贪心作怪的。

A: Neither is more beneficial. All Dharmas are equal, without one being better than another. The one is just the many, and the many are just the one. Whether you recite many mantras or one, you have to be single-minded for it to be efficacious. If you say you want to recite more mantras or Sutras, that's just your greed acting up.

问：请问初发心学佛的人该如何学佛？如何选择道场与善知识？如何判断是否正法？阿弥陀佛。

Q: Yang Shuhui bows in respect and asks: How should a beginner go about studying Buddhism? How should he choose a Way-place and find a Good and Wise Advisor? How can he recognize the Proper Dharma?

答：我不是善知识，所以我不懂这个。你还要自己去选择，这没有一个方法，你自己要有择法眼。真的，你不要拿它当假的；假的，也不要拿它当真的，这就够了。

A: I am not a Good and Wise Advisor, so I don't know. You have to choose for yourself. There is no fixed method. You have to use the Dharma-Selecting Eye. Don't mistake the true for the false and the false for the true, that's all.

问：玉琳国师拒绝还俗结婚，其做法我不一定赞成，请问师父的看法。

Q: National Master Yu Lin refused to return to lay life and get married. I don't quite agree with his decision. What is the Venerable Master's opinion?

答：我出家人不管这个事情。你们自己的事情，又结婚、生儿子，这个事情不要来问我。

A: Being a left-home person, I don't get involved in such matters. Don't ask me about matters of marriage and childbirth.

问：弟子该如何有择法眼？

Q: Venerable Master, how can I obtain the Dharma-Selecting Eye?

答：我也没有择法眼，我怎么能告诉你？

A: I don't have the Dharma-Selecting Eye myself, so how can I tell you?

问：如何精进，更上一层楼？

Q: Venerable Master, how can we be vigorous and advance to a higher level?

答：吃饭、睡觉、打麻将。

A: Eat, drink, and play mahjong.

问：如何出三界，入解脱门？

Q: Wang Manmei seeks instruction. Venerable Master, how can one leave the Triple Realm and enter the door of liberation?

答：你不在三界，就是出三界了嘛！

A: If you are not in the Triple Realm, then you have left the Triple Realm!

问：如何认识自己的真生命？全部赞同您刚才的说法。

Q: How can I recognize my true life? I fully agree with what Venerable Master just said.

答：那就上当啰！

A: Then you've been cheated!

问：往生如何处理？阿弥陀佛！

Q: Venerable Master, how should one prepare for rebirth?

答：你要往生做什么？你带这么多垃圾东西，怎么会去得了？

A: Why do you want to be reborn? How can you go to rebirth when you are dragging so much garbage around?

问：请问出家的条件？

Q: What are the conditions for leaving the home-life?

答：出家没有什么条件。出家的条件就是要勇猛精进，不要懒惰，不要混吃等死，不要攀缘，不要一天到晚等着人家来供养，这是出家条件。不要尽贪图福报，出家是越苦越好，不应该享受。所以我们万佛城的人，都是一些像瘦猴子似的，没有那么肥头大耳朵的。因为什么呢？都吃一餐，都上我的当。有的上十多年的当，他们还觉得没上够，还跟着我呢！没有跑；有的觉得已经上当了，他们就还俗去了。

A: There aren't any conditions for leaving the home-life. The only condition is that you must be vigorous. Don't be lazy, don't just eat in confusion and wait for death, and don't exploit situations. Don't just sit there all day long waiting for people to make offerings. Don't be greedy for blessings. After you leave home, the more bitter it is, the better. You should not enjoy too much luxury. The left-home people at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas are all like skinny monkeys, because they eat just one meal a day. You won't find any chubby faces. They've all been cheated by me. Some have been cheated for over ten years, and they still feel they haven't had enough. So they haven't run off and are still following me. The ones who feel they've had enough of being cheated have returned to lay-life.

问：何谓“应无所住而生其心”？

Q: What is the meaning of the line, "You should produce the mind which abides nowhere"?

答：你心在什么地方？先告诉我！

A: Where is your mind? First tell me that!

问：师父垂怜慈悲，弟子全身病痛，开刀多次未好，家庭破碎，一生多挫折，祈求师父开示指点，祈盼有阳光照被我，阿弥陀佛。

Q: Venerable Master, please be compassionate. My whole body is aching and ill. I have had several operations, but they haven't cured me. My family has fallen apart and I have suffered so many setbacks in my life. May the Venerable Master instruct me, and may the sunlight shine on me. Amitabha.

答：阿弥陀佛！你杀生杀得太多了，来问我？

A: Amitabha! You have killed too much, and you come to ask me?!

问：为何台湾佛教，有很多都以钱来比例高低的境界？如何来求真佛道？

Q: Why do so many Buddhists in Taiwan use money as a yardstick to measure their level of accomplishment? How should we seek the true Buddha path?

答：真佛道是最穷最穷不要钱的，不用求的。

A: The true Buddha path is the poorest of the poor. It costs nothing and doesn't need to be sought.

问：请问上人当初出家的动机？

Q: Venerable Master, what motivated you to leave the home-life?

答：是我出家的？是你出家的？（上人：他是问我出家？是他要出家？弟子：他是问您出家。上人：是吗？）我出家是我出家，你问它干什么呢？你想要刨我的根，我已经没有根了，哈！

A: Is he asking about my leaving home or his leaving home? My leaving home is my business--what are you asking about it for? If you want to expose my roots, I don't have any roots left.

问：第二个问题，为何您的法名是上宣下化？

Q: The second question is: Why is your Dharma-name "Hsuan Hua"?

答：这是我的名字，你知道它干什么？这个就是地狱鬼嘛！

A: That's my name. Why do you want to know about it? It just means that I'm a ghost in the hells.

问：请问上人，邪念如何对治？

Q: Venerable Master, how can I get rid of deviant thoughts?

答：你不打妄想，就没有邪念了嘛！你尽打一些个妄想，当然这个邪念就一个跟着一个来了嘛！这还要问我？你要回光反照问问自己，为什么正念不提起来？邪念你那么喜欢？

A: Simply stop having idle thoughts, and your deviant thoughts will disappear. If you do nothing but idle thinking, then the deviant thoughts will come one after another. Do you really need to ask me? Reflect within and ask yourself: Why can't you maintain proper thoughts? Why are you so fond of deviant thoughts?

问：刚才上人回答如何精进？说“吃饭、睡觉、打麻将”，是什么意思？弟子愚昧，听不懂其中的奥妙。请再明白告诉，如何求精进不懈，谢谢！阿弥陀佛！

Q: Earlier the Venerable Master replied that vigor consists of eating, sleeping, and playing mahjong. What does this mean? I am very stupid and cannot fathom the secret meaning. Please explain more clearly how to be vigorous. Thank you.

答：你是智慧很大的，这你不明白，当然你就是明知故犯了。这个吃饭、睡觉是一般世俗人所应该具有的，你若想要出世，把这一些都要放下。我这个不敢说是禅机，但是我这是反说的，你都不明白，那你还想要明白个什么？

A: Your wisdom is very great. You clearly understand, and yet you ask on purpose. Eating, sleeping, and playing mahjong are the things that worldly people do. If you want to transcend the world, you have to renounce these. Although I don't dare to call this Zen talk, I just said the opposite of what I meant. If you don't even understand this, what can you hope to understand?

问：如何改善人际关系，尤其在办公室中，不让别人在背后说坏话？

Q: Venerable Master, how can I improve my relations with people, especially in the workplace, and prevent others from talking behind my back?

答：你若没有做坏事，谁说你的坏话，那是他的不对；你若已经做坏事了，做那个令人家有闲言闲语的事，那人家越说得多越好。

A: If you haven't done anything bad and someone speaks ill of you, then it's his fault. If you did something bad and people spread rumors, then the more they gossip, the better.

问：世情灾劫，日深月险，如何消灾化解，自救救人？

Q: The calamities in the world grow day by day, month by month. How can we quell them and save ourselves and others?

答：就是大家都不生气、不斗争，不你欺骗我、我欺骗你，不互相想要摧残，这个灾劫就都没有了。要团结一致，譬如不能弄出很多的党，很多的派。你这有党有派，就是不会团结的，真正大团结是无党无派的。在《书经》上说：“无偏无党，王道荡荡；无党无偏，王道平平；无反无侧，王道正直。”这是国家所需要的。

A: Simply don't get angry and don't fight. Don't cheat and hurt one another. Then the calamities will disappear. Everyone should unite instead of breaking into so many factions and parties. If you have factions, then you won't be able to unite. True unity--great unity--is without factions. In the Book of History (Shu Jing) it says, "Without factions or favoritism, the way of the kings was broad. Without favoritism or factions, the way of the kings was just. Without twists and turns, the way of the kings was straight and proper." That is what a nation needs.

问：每一个法师都强调自己的佛号最好，但是我们初学者到底念哪一个佛号才是正确？

Q: Venerable Master, every Dharma Master tells us that the Buddha's name he recites is the best. As beginners, what is the right Buddha's name for us to recite?

答：“十方三世佛，皆共一法身”，你念每一位佛，都是到极乐世界去的一条道路。佛是平等平等的，没有哪一个是真佛，哪一个是假佛，哪一个是活佛，哪一个是死佛。

A: All the Buddhas of the past, present and future, throughout the ten directions are of the same Dharma-body. You can recite any Buddha's name and be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. All the Buddhas are equal. There is no such thing as a true Buddha, a false Buddha, a living Buddha or a dead Buddha.

问：真的有阴魂附身吗？

Q: Is it really true that people can be possessed by spirits?

答：你问那个有阴魂附身的人去；我没有阴魂附身。我就是知道，我也不讲这个。

A: Go ask the people who are possessed. I haven't been possessed by a spirit, and even if I knew the answer, I wouldn't talk about this.

现在时间已经到了，我要退休了，你们各位愿意再晚睡一点觉，少吃一点饭，不打麻将的话，那么由我带着的一班人，他们讲得都比我讲得好，我虽然是个师父，我是向徒弟学习的，我是听徒弟话的。本来都是徒弟先讲，我后讲的，今天我因为要早一点退休，所以我就先讲了。我不知道这是你们各位的偏得呀？是意外呀？

My time is up, and I have to retire. If you are willing to stay up a little longer, eat a little less, and miss your mahjong game, then you can stay and listen to the people I brought along. They speak much better than I do. Although I am the teacher, I learn from and listen to my disciples. Ordinarily, my disciples speak before I do, but today I spoke first because I want to retire earlier. I don't know if this is your lucky chance--an unexpected coincidence.

因为我到什么地方，都是一个学校，一个佛教的学校，我训练这一些个徒弟，都比我会讲。为什么说比我会讲呢？他们都会讲中文，会讲台语，会讲日语，会讲英语，很多种语言都会的。我连中国话都不圆满、都不会，所以你们逼着我，要我来说，我就说一说。你们听得大约不很合逻辑、不很合你们的胃口，或者要作呕的样子；可是我已经说了，不管你们呕不呕！

Wherever I go, that place is a Buddhist school. That's how I train my disciples to be better speakers than I am. Why do I say they are better speakers? It's because they can speak many languages, such as Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese and English. On the other hand, I don't even know how to speak Chinese well. Since you insisted, I have said a few words, but you probably didn't find my words very logical or to your liking. Maybe you even feel like throwing up. However, I've already said them, and I don't care if you throw up!

一九九三年一月九日晚间
开示于台湾台北工业技术学院

A talk by Venerable Master Hua
in the evening of January 9, 1993,
at the Taipei Institute of Industrial Technology