你们皈依我的人，今天我要向你们下一道命令。什么命令？要布施！我要向你们化缘。有人说：“师父，这么多年来，你也没有向我们化过缘，今天向我们化缘，一定要化一个大缘啰！”

Today I’m issuing an order to those of you who have taken refuge with me. It’s an order to donate! I’m soliciting donations from you. Someone is saying, “Teacher, in all these years you’ve never asked for donations from us. Now you must be asking for a big donation!”

不错！小缘我不化，化小缘有什么意思？三、五百万是没有什么大用的。在这个世上，钱只是花花绿绿的钞票，尽管拿来金子、银子，也不能吃，死也不能带去，都是没有什么大用。

That’s right! I don’t want small donations. What use are they? Even three million or five million aren’t of much use. Money is nothing but paper bills. Even if you gave me gold or silver, I wouldn’t be able to eat it or take it along when I die. These things are all useless.

那么我向你们化的是什么缘呢？就是化你们所有人的脾气，所有人的无明、烦恼、瞋恚。这一切都要舍给我，因为我是一个“辣椒”师父，这些东西我都不嫌多，越多越好！全部舍给我之后，待我用无明炉，慢慢用无明火锻炼，把这些东西都炼成真金、钻石，将来大家共成佛道。所以诸位不舍也要舍，不布施也要布施。谁是我的真徒弟，谁就要把你的脾气、无明、烦恼、妒忌、障碍，统统舍给我。

What donation am I soliciting from you then? I’m asking for your bad temper, your ignorance, your afflictions, and your anger. Hand them all over to me! I’m a “hot pepper” of a teacher, and I can never have enough of these things. If you give them to me, I’ll put them in the furnace of ignorance and smelt them with the fire of ignorance. I’ll smelt them into pure gold and diamonds, and then we’ll all become Buddhas together! You have to give them up even if you can’t bear to. If you want to be a true disciple, you’ve got to give me all of your bad temper, ignorance, afflictions, jealousy, and obstructiveness.

我是收拾垃圾的人，你们把这些东西都一齐丢到垃圾桶里去，好不好？然后，我们进一步把这个世界净化，将世间的戾气熔化，使灾难化为无形，使困恼转为吉祥。这是我今天要说的话。

I’m a garbage collector. Why don’t we dump all that stuff into the trash? Then, let’s go one step further to purify the world. Let’s dispel the violence and calamities, and transform afflictions into auspiciousness. This is what I wanted to talk to you about today. I’m not joking. It may sound like a joke to you, but what I’ve said is completely true.

我说这些，不是说笑，你们听起来好像笑话，但我所讲的全是真实不虚。我的确要向你们化缘，你们谁舍不得，就不是我的弟子；谁舍得，就是我的真徒弟。不舍也要舍，不让也要让，不忍也要忍，知道吗？这是决定法，不是不定法，不要马马虎虎，敷衍了事。谁也不准存有嫉妒障碍，只准尽力去帮助他人修道。这是今天要向你们说的话，说多了，你们会被辣得透不过气来，所以今天就辣这么多好了！

I do want to solicit this donation from all of you. Those who can give it are my true disciples, and those who cannot aren’t my disciples. We should give what we don’t want to give, yield what we cannot bear to yield, and endure what we find unendurable. Understand? This is fixed. Don’t be sloppy and casual. No one is allowed to be jealous or obstructive of others. We should all help one another to cultivate. This is what I want to tell you today. If I say too much, I’m afraid it will be too “hot and spicy” and you won’t be able to breathe. I’ve given you enough spice for today!

一九八○年十二月一日开示