这身口意三业清净，才能得到法味。

Only when the three karmas of body, mouth, and mind are purified will you get to taste the flavor of the Dharma.

你们各位善知识，到我这儿来听法，你听不到法的，我不是打人，就是骂人，所以我先要对你们声明。我现在要你们每一个人把眼睛闭上，若有诚心的话，都能有所感觉。因为你们各位都是有一种企图、希望到这儿来的。你们希望什么呢？我知道，都希望我来加持你们各位。想要加持的人先要具足诚心、真心，不要敷衍，不要苟且。什么叫诚心？我现在要每人打你们三棍，这三棍子我若都打完了，大约几个钟头也打不完。所以我在这儿向你们每一个人来打，你们谁觉得挨打，或者痛、不痛，或者有感觉。那有感觉的，这也不是什么就受加被、加持了；没有感觉的，那是你自己的感应，你对这个佛的道理，还没有真正领会到。

All of you Good and Wise Advisors, if you have come here to listen to the Dharma, you will not get to hear any. That's because if I am not beating people, then I am scolding people. So I want to inform you in advance. Now I want every one of you to close your eyes. If you are sincere, you will get a response. All of you have come here with a motive, a hope. What are you hoping for? I know you all hope that I will give you aid. If you want aid, you must first be sincere and true. Don't just go through the motions and try to get by. What is sincerity? Now if I were to strike each of you three times with my cane, I probably wouldn't be finished even after several hours. So, I will strike each of you from here. You may feel it when you get struck. You may feel the pain, or you may not feel it. You may have some kind of sensation. For those who feel something, that doesn't mean you have received aid. If you don't feel anything, that's just your own response; you haven't really understood the Buddhas' principles yet.

这三棍子，我是替十方诸佛菩萨来打你们，我不需要到你们每个人头上打，我只是在上边这儿，向下打三棍子。这样你们应该消的业障，一定会消去；你业障太重，那三棒子还消不完，慢慢你遇着这个机会，可以再捱打的。那么这三棒子，第一，打去你的身业；第二，打去你的口业；第三，打去你的意业，这身口意三业清净，才能得到这个法味。

I am representing the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions when I strike you three times. I don't have to hit each of you on the head individually. I will simply give three strikes with my cane from here. If your karmic obstacles are meant to be eradicated, they will definitely be eradicated. If your karmic obstacles are too heavy, then three strikes of the cane will not get rid of them all. In time you will have more chances to be struck. Of the three strikes of the cane, the first one beats away your body karma, the second one beats away your mouth karma, and the third one beats away your mind karma. Only when the three karmas of body, mouth, and mind are purified will you get to taste the flavor of the Dharma.

这个法，什么叫法呢？一切法是不出众生一切心，众生因为有一切心，才有一切法。若无一切心，何用一切法？所以这三棍子，你们自己有感觉也好，没有感觉也好。有感觉的，也不必各处去替我宣传。你一宣传哪，人家说你是我用钱买的，来替我宣传。没有得到感应的，你说没有得到感应，那是你业障太重了，佛力不能加被你，你自己要生大惭愧。不要自己没有得到感应，就说这是假的。真假你分别不出来，真的里头也有假，假的里也有真，一切唯心造。你就真的，你心里没真，也是假的；假的，你心里真，也会有大感应的。

What is the Dharma? All dharmas are not apart from the minds of living beings. It is only because of the minds of living beings that all dharmas exist. If all minds did not exist, of what use would all dharmas be? Therefore, if you feel the three strikes, that's good, and if you don't feel them, that's also good. If you feel something, there is no need to publicize it, for if you do, people will think I hired you to advertise for me. If you feel nothing, it is because your karmic obstacles are too heavy, and even the Buddhas' power cannot aid you. You should feel great shame and remorse. If you have no response, don't say that this is all false. You cannot distinguish between the true and the false, for the true also contains some falseness, and the false also contains some truth. Everything is made from the mind. If your mind is not true, then even the true becomes false. If your mind is true, then even if it is false, you will have a great response.

现在你们大家听得懂我说话吗？（大众：懂。）

Do you understand what I said? [Everyone: "Yes."]

现在我要开始打人啦！你们大家要把眼睛闭着。你要是不闭眼睛，把你吓死，你不要来怪我啊！

Now I'm going to start hitting people. You should all shut your eyes. If you don't, then don't blame me if you are scared to death by what you see.

挨打已毕，好好乖乖地听法。无论你是什么人，到这儿来，是龙，要盘起；是虎，要卧起来。我是不会说法的人，但是你若会听，句句都是妙法；你若不会听，我讲什么，你也认为很浅的，没有意思。所以说：“一切唯心造”，这才是妙法。你不知道反求诸己，来求自心的话，你就会当面错过，交臂失之。各位听得懂吗？（大众：听懂。）

The beating is over, and now you should obediently listen to the Dharma. No matter who you are, if you have come here, then you must coil up if you are a dragon and lie down if you are a tiger. I am a person who does not know how to speak the Dharma, but if you know how to listen, then every sentence is wonderful Dharma. If you don't know how to listen, then no matter what I say, you will think what is said is shallow and uninteresting. That's why it's said, "Everything is made from the mind." That is the wonderful Dharma. If you do not understand how to turn around and look within yourself and find your own mind, you'll miss the opportunity that's right in front of you. Do you all understand? [Everyone: "Yes."]

还有你们各位是来听法，不是看人的，最好你们各位把眼睛闭上，口闭上。不要说话，不要东张西望，不要看看旁人都是干什么了。你眼睛闭上，你心不外驰，能专心致志来听所说的法。你口也闭上，就不会和这个交头，和那个接耳，私开小会，说这个法师讲得真好，来赞叹一番。是不是好，你也不一定知道；是不是坏，你也不认识，所以不能自作聪明，妄加批评。

All of you have come to listen to the Dharma, not to look at people, so it would be best if you all close your eyes and mouth. Don't talk, and don't look around to see what other people are doing. If your eyes are closed, your mind will not run outside. Then you can listen with single-minded concentration and full attention to the Dharma that is spoken. If your mouth is also closed, then you won't chatter or hold a little discussion to praise how well this Dharma Master speaks. You may not know for sure whether he is good or bad, so you should not presume that you are intelligent and casually offer a critique.

总而言之，我每天一开始的时候，都要打人，我这个金刚宝杖，要打三下。我打这三下啊！如果你有什么问题的，可能把这个问题就化解了。你若不正心、诚意、格物来听，你的智慧也不会开的。至于开智慧，或者得到什么受用，你不必到外边去宣传去，我不会许可你到外边，给我做一些个虚伪的宣传。

In general, every day before I begin, I will hit everyone three times with my Vajra-jewelled staff. If you have any problems, your problems may be resolved. However, if you do not listen with a proper, sincere, and concentrated mind, your wisdom will not come forth. Even if your wisdom comes forth and you obtain some benefit, there's no need to publicize it. I forbid you to go around making false advertisements for me.

我这次是给你们台湾送福来了，你们谁有诚意的人，一定会有特殊感应的；没有诚意的人，你在这儿随梆唱影，就是人家念佛，我也念佛；人家叩头，我也叩头。其实你那个念佛，也不是真念佛，你是心里总打一个妄想：“唉呀！法师什么时候来呀？法师什么时候讲法呀？”这未来心已经有了。

This time I have come to bring blessings to the people of Taiwan. If any one of you is sincere, you will definitely receive a special response. Insincere people just follow the crowd, reciting the Buddha's name when they see others reciting, and bowing when they see others bowing. When they recite the Buddha's name, they aren't truly mindful, because they are having the false thought, "When is the Dharma Master going to arrive? When is he going to speak the Dharma?" They already have a mind dwelling on the future.

那么听法的人也应该“过去心不可得，现在心不可得，未来心不可得。”你要扫三心，非四相，无我相、无人相、无众生相、无寿者相。你若这样听法，就是合乎你思想的，这也是妙法；不合乎你思想的，也是妙法，佛教里所说的：“粗言及细语，皆归第一义。”

People who listen to the Dharma should be such that "the mind of the past cannot be obtained, the mind of the present cannot be obtained, and the mind of the future cannot be obtained." You must sweep away the three minds and get rid of the four marks. Be without the mark of self, the mark of others, the mark of living beings, and the mark of a life span. If you can listen to the Dharma in this way, then whether or not it agrees with your thinking, it will be the wonderful Dharma. In Buddhism there is a saying, "General summaries and detailed descriptions all express the foremost meaning."

怎么能得到第一义呢？就是你会听。会听，我就算骂人，你听的也是妙法；我打人，你觉得这是当头棒喝；你若不会听，我就用什么力量来加持你、帮助你，那也是格格不入的。

How can you obtain the foremost meaning? You can if you know how to listen. If you know how to listen, then even if I am scolding people, it sounds like wonderful Dharma to you. If I beat people, you feel as if it is a timely blow on the head. If you don't know how to listen, then no matter how hard I try to help you, it won't be able to reach you.

南无萨怛多　苏伽多耶　阿啰诃帝　三藐三菩陀写
南无萨怛多　苏伽多耶　阿啰诃帝　三藐三菩陀写
南无萨怛多　苏伽多耶　阿啰诃帝　三藐三菩陀写

Na mo sa dan tuo　su qie duo ye　e la he di　san miao san pu tuo xie.
Na mo sa dan tuo　su qie duo ye　e la he di　san miao san pu tuo xie.
Na mo sa dan tuo　su qie duo ye　e la he di　san miao san pu tuo xie.

各位善知识，你不要尽听我所说的法，浪费你的时间。我叫你闭上眼睛，不东张西望；闭上口，不交头接耳，这是叫你回光返照，叫你凝目存神，不要把你的精、气、神都散了，散到外边去了。所以第一个条件，我要告诉你们一个健康的方法，就是少说废话，少看那不合理的东西。在儒教所谓：

All Good and Wise Advisors, do not waste your time by just listening to the Dharma I speak. I told you to close your eyes so that you wouldn't look around and to close your mouth so you wouldn't whisper among yourselves. This is telling you to turn the light around and shine within, to concentrate and pay attention. Don't let your essence, energy, and spirit flow out and disperse. I will tell you the first condition for health: Cut down on idle chatter, and don't look at things which do not accord with propriety. A Confucian saying goes,

非礼勿视，
非礼勿听，
非礼勿言，
非礼勿动。

If something does not accord with propriety, don't look at it.
If something does not accord with propriety, don't listen to it.
If something does not accord with propriety, don't say it.
If something does not accord with propriety, don't do it.

视、听、言、动都要合理，你若不合理，那就不是人了。非礼，你要去看；非礼，你也要听；非礼的话，你也要说；非礼的事，你也要去做，这就不是人了。人哪，要知道人的根本，做人要懂得怎么样做人。

The things you look at, listen to, say, and do should all be proper. If you do not act properly, you cannot be considered a human being. If you want to look at, listen to, say, and do things that do not accord with propriety, then you are not a human being! You should know the fundamentals of being a human being.

讲法，我不会讲，我只讲一个做人的道理。不用任何手段，去欺骗人而利益自己；不用任何手段，去向外驰求来攀缘；不用任何的手段，谋夺人的财宝；不用任何非礼的手段，去做一切不合礼的事情，这就近仁了，这是儒教所主张的。

I don't know how to speak Dharma. I only know how to talk about the principles of being a human being. Don't use any tricks to cheat others and benefit yourself. Don't use any scheme to seek outside and take advantage of the situation. Don't plot to seize the wealth of others for yourself. Don't use improper means to achieve improper ends. If you can do this, then you will approach humaneness. These are the principles advocated by Confucianism.

我们学人，先要把儒教这个根本道理明白了，所以举动行为要管自己，行住坐卧不离家。管自己意思就是，把自己的事情做好了它，不要管人家对不对，不批评任何人。他不好，他不对，他的冤孽，他的罪；你若一说他的不好，你就分担他的罪过了。这虽然是一种慈悲心，可是自己啊，我想这吃大亏了！你一天到晚，尽给旁人洗衣服，自己的衣服污浊邋遢，你没看见。所以这一点，我们做人的根本，要认识，要知道。不要糊涂来糊涂去，一生盖着糊涂被；死了，住到糊涂棺材里去，不明不白地就死了。你们各位想一想，尽给人家做工了，自己的本份事一点也不清楚。

In studying to be a human being, we must first understand the basic principles of Confucianism. Therefore, in every move, watch over yourself. Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, constantly be mindful. To "watch over yourself" means to do your own job well and pay no attention to whether others are right or wrong. Do not criticize anyone. If he is bad, if he is wrong, that is his fault and his offense. Once you speak about his faults, you become partly responsible for his offense. Although you do it out of compassion, I think you will take a big loss. From morning to night, you wash others' clothes, but never notice how dirty your own clothes are. This point is basic to being a human being, and we should recognize it. It should not be that you arrive in confusion and leave in a confusion. At birth, you are wrapped in the blanket of confusion, and at death you go to the coffin of confusion. Failing to understand, you die. All of you think about this; you are just working for others, but you are not at all clear about your own affairs.

今天一早，讲那八句俚语没讲完，现在就有十几个人打这种妄想，打什么妄想呢？说：“你讲这些个话，我们都不怎么愿意听，你那个‘老疾缠绵呻吟苦’，还有几句你没讲完呢，你还把那个讲一讲，我们想听一听。”因为你这么一打妄想，把我想要讲的话也给打断了，不知道从何说起。所以我就言归早上那个正传了！你们可要知道我不是讲平词、讲大鼓书的，所以书接上回，或者下回分解。因为“法不孤起，仗境方生；道不虚行，遇缘则应。”你既然打这个妄想啊，我就不管其他人打什么妄想了，我先要满你的愿。

Earlier today, I didn't finish speaking about my eight lines of rustic verse. Right now, more than ten people are having an idle thought: "We don't really want to listen to what you are saying right now. You haven't finished telling us about being mbroiled in the sufferings of old age and disease.' We want to listen to that." Your idle thought has interrupted my train of thought, and I don't know how to continue. So I might as well go back to the original topic! You should know that I am not a wandering story-teller who deliberately stops in the middle of the story and leaves the rest for next time. "The Dharma does not arise by itself; it is produced in accord with situations. The Way is not practiced in vain; it responds to conditions." Since you had this idle thought, I will ignore everyone else's idle thoughts and fulfill your wish first.

今天上午，八句俚语，我讲了六句，还有两句没有讲。这两句是什么呢？我说：

This morning, I told you six of the eight lines. There are two lines left. What are they?

人命呼吸还知否，
速返清净自在城。

Don't you know that life is determined in the space
     of a breath?
Quickly return to the city of purity and comfort!

这还没有加一个浅显的解释。人命呼吸，我们每一个人都有呼吸气，我们的命啊，是在这个呼吸之间。

I have not explained these lines yet. For each of us, life is determined in the interval of a breath.

以前有三个老人，在一个宴席会上，就互相形容这个生死的问题。有一个老年人他就说：“今年酒席宴前会，不知明年又少谁？”意思间就是说，不知谁死了。

Once there were three old men at a banquet, and they were giving their views on life and death. One old man said, "This year we meet at this banquet. Which one of us will not be around next year?" That is to say, who will be dead by then?

那另外一个老人就说：“你说得太长了。”“那你怎么说？”他说：“我说呀！今晚脱了鞋和袜，不知明日穿不穿？”你不要说明年，就明日的事情都不可预料！他认为他这个说得是恰到好处了。

Another one said, "You're talking too far in the future." "Well, what do you say?" asked the first one. "I say: When I take off my shoes and socks tonight, I do not know whether I will put them on tomorrow. Not to mention next year, I can't even be sure about the next day." He felt his statement really hit the mark.

另外有一个很愚痴的老人，也在这儿想要班门弄斧，大约炫示自己的学问。他说什么？他说：“你们两位啊，说得都太远、太远了。”大家就问他：“那你说怎么说？”他说：“我说呀！这一口气吸进来，那一口气能不能出去？这都是想不到的。”所以我们不要把光阴都空过了。所以说：“人命只在呼吸间”，这一口气吸进来，那一口气不知还能不能出去？

There was another foolish old man who wanted to show off his wit, saying, "What you two are talking about is still too far away." "What do you say?" they asked. "I say: when I inhale this breath, I don't know if I will be able to exhale it!" Therefore, we should not let the time pass in vain. It is said, "Life is determined in the space of a breath." When you inhale this breath, you do not know whether you can exhale it.

你看！他虽然是一个愚笨的人，讲出话来，你驳不倒他，谁也驳不了他，的确是这个样子。所以我说：“人命呼吸还知否”，人命在呼吸间，你知不知道啊？赶快收拾行囊，“速返清净自在城”，你快快地晓得念佛呀！收拾身心来念佛，求生净土。那个地方是最清净的，没有这么繁华，可是有花香鸟语，都是与我们这个世界不同的。所以“白鹤、孔雀、鹦鹉、舍利、迦陵频伽、共命之鸟，昼夜六时，出和雅音，其音演畅五根、五力、七菩提分、八正道分。”

You see! Although that old man was foolish, you can't argue against him. No one can deny his words, for that is how it really is. So I said, "Don't you know that life is determined in the space of a breath?" Life occurs in the space of a breath, didn't you know? Hurry and pack your bags, and "Quickly return to the city of purity and comfort." Quickly learn to recite the Buddha's name. Focus your body and mind in order to recite the Buddha's name and seek rebirth in the Pure Land. That is the purest place. It is not as busy as it is here. The fragrance of the flowers and singing of the birds is totally different from our world. So it is said, "The white cranes, peacocks, parrots, egrets, kalavinkas, and two-headed birds make harmonious sounds in the six periods of the day and night. Their sounds proclaim the Five Roots, the Five Powers, the Seven Bodhi Shares, and the Eightfold Proper Path."

这个佛又叫一声“舍利弗”，说：你不要以为这些雀鸟都是畜类，其实这都是阿弥陀佛，“欲令法音宣流，变化所作”，才有这些神鸟，和我们人世间的鸟，完全不同的。那种鸟不吃东西，它也活着；不喝水，它也不渴；不吃东西，它也不饿。我们这个凡间的鸟，一看见虫子，伸出一个长长的脖子，到那儿一口就把它吃了、吞了！这还杀生呢！极乐世界的雀鸟都不杀生，更不要说人了。所以释迦牟尼佛才赞叹：“极乐世界无有众苦，但受诸乐。”释迦牟尼佛不打妄语的，所以我们应该深信不疑这极乐世界的境界。

The Buddha then told Shariputra not to think that all these birds are mere animals. Amitabha Buddha really created them by transformation in order to widely proclaim the sounds of Dharma. They are divine birds, not at all like the birds in our world. These birds can live without eating. They don't drink, yet they don't get thirsty. They don't eat, yet they don't feel hungry. Ordinary birds, on the other hand, will gobble up any worm they see. They take the lives of other creatures. The birds in the Land of Ultimate Bliss do not kill, nor do the people there. So that's why Shakyamuni Buddha praised the Land of Ultimate Bliss as a place where beings are free of the myriad sufferings and only experience all kinds of joy. Since Shakyamuni Buddha doesn't lie, we should deeply believe in and not have the slightest doubt about the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

一九九三年一月十一日晚间
开示于台湾板桥台北县立体育馆

A talk by the Venerable Master Hua
in the evening of January 11, 1993,
at the Taipei County Stadium in Banqiao, Taiwan