学习佛法的人，就是在这儿开始把种子种到地下去。种子种下后，能不能生出？还要看各种的缘。诸缘具足了，种子就能顺利地生出。假若各方面助缘不圆满，就有可能变成焦芽败种。这也就是看我们发菩提心、种菩提种子时，种得够不够深？坚固不坚固？

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.

若是种得够深而且坚固结实，那么将来种子一定会生根发芽；可是若想结菩提果，还要有一段相当的时间，这就要看你用功用得如何？要是用功上路了，开悟证果，成就觉道，这才算是收成。

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.

种子生根发芽、抽叶、开花、结果的过程中，都必须经过相当的时间培养、灌溉、加肥料。肥料是什么？就是学佛的道德。修行要处处本着道德，以不妨碍道德为根本戒条。

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，财者末也。”德行是人的根本，而财仅是一种末梢之物。修道人处处要惜福节约，不浪费金钱物质，如此日积月累，才能培养出自己的德行，所生出来的枝叶才会茂盛，果实也将累累。如果不加肥料，不用功去培养灌溉，枝芽花果很容易就会枯槁而死，所以修道人，第一戒条就是“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.

德行先由小处做起，“毋以善小而不为”，你不要以为小善就不去做，而等着做大善，大善没有那么多。山是一粒一粒微尘积成的，微尘虽小，但积多了也会变成一座山；德行虽小，但积多了，也会变成一座德行山。

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.

不违背道德就是德行，不妨碍他人就是德行。无论做什么，要以帮助他人为本份。若于利益上、时间上、文化智慧上，或其它种种事情上，对他人有所妨碍，不能利益他人，都是于道德有所违背。所以我们的一举一动、一言一行，总以不违背道德为根本箴规。想要修道，先要培德；没有德行，就不能修道。有人想修道，魔障就来找，这因为没有德行的缘故，所以说：“德者本也，财者末也。”

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."

道德就等于日月，也等于天地，也等于人之性命。没有道德就等于人没有性命、没有日月天地一样。什么是道德呢？就是以利益他人为主，以不妨碍他人为宗旨，也就是内心充满仁、义、礼、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：有仁爱的心，就不会杀生。
（二）义：具足一种知识，做什么事都恰到好处 ，合乎中道，不太过也不会不及，不偏左也不偏右，事事合乎中道。懂义，就不会偷盗。讲义气的人不会偷他人的东西。
（三）礼：礼是一种礼貌、礼节。尚礼节就不会奸淫。偷盗与淫乱都是因为不合乎义礼，是违背常规的现象。
（四）智：有智慧的人就不会乱喝酒、乱吃迷魂药，愚痴的人才会做出种种颠倒的事。
（五）信：有信用就不会打妄语。

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、义、礼、智、信，五常充足圆满了，这就是道，就是德。所以道德是从心中生出，它的根本就在我们人的心里头，可是它生出来有种颜色。这种颜色不是青、黄、赤、白、黑，是一种德行之表现，是德行之光泽，故韩愈在〈原道〉中，有一段文说：“博爱之谓仁，仁而宜之之谓义，由是而之焉之谓道，足乎己无待于外之谓德。”而孟子说：“仁义礼智根于心，其生色也，睟然见于面，盎于背，施于四体，四体不言而喻。”有德之人不单单面上有所表现，其背上也洋溢着德光，甚至于在四肢上也能显现出来。这种德相虽然描述不出来，但人人皆能明白。德行的表现，才是真正的功夫学问，这种德行不能假装的，虚假只会暂时骗人一阵子，不能长久。

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，不妨碍他人，也不怕他人妨碍自己。谁妨碍自己都接受，逆来顺受；谁对自己不慈悲，或不讲道理，都是自己的善知识。能“逆来顺受”，对横逆能处之泰然，才见出你忍辱的功夫，不要因别人一句话就动了。有些人的“不动”是无惭无愧，这是不对。你要修的“不动”，是能忍人所不能忍，这才是真功夫，否则还须从头练起。

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“三花聚顶”、“五气朝元”，为道德圆满之表现。这两个名词在某些佛教徒听起来，说是外道。其实什么叫外道？什么叫内道？这个名词并没有什么外内道，这是用来形容某种修行所成就的结果。“三花”就是精、气、神，三者都变成一种光华。“五气”：仁、义、礼、智、信，五气都圆满，叫五气朝元。

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."

在佛教里，道德圆满了，就获得大圆镜智、平等性智、妙观察智、成所作智，三身、四智、五眼、六通，缺少哪一样，也无法得到这种境界。所以佛教万德庄严，它能包罗一切宗教，而一切宗教只是佛教的一部分。所以我常将佛教比喻为大学课程，道教或其它高超一点的宗教可以算为中学，世间宗教如儒教等，只是小学过程。

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.

在小学、中学、大学，都是读书人；世界各宗教，也都是宗教人士，所以不可以分门别类，到这教就说这教好，到那教就说这教不好，“入者奴之，出者污之。”这是错误的观念。一切宗教都是佛教的一部分，这看法才是对的。因为佛说：“一切众生皆有如来智慧德相，皆堪作佛。”一切众生皆有佛性，那么外道也是众生之一，也有成佛的机会，为什么要摒彼于门外呢？佛教是尽虚空遍法界，无有边际、无门户、人我之见。所以我们学佛人的心量要大起来，不要心胸狭窄、小气。

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.

道教里有德行的人，有一种表现，一般凡人都看得出，就是鹤发童颜。头发虽然花白，但其面色有如童子，很润很细。为什么？就是一种道德感召的变化。虽然是白发，但头发并不干枯，而且有光润之气（并不是擦发腊），他的毫毛、头发会放光，若有功夫的人，或开五眼的人，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，不单头发放光，而是全身都可以放光，每一根汗毛梢上都可以放光，每一个毛孔都与众不同。在佛教里修行有功夫的人，能使白发转黑，齿落重生。道教也有齿落重生的境界，不过不能全身毛孔放光，这是不同处。你们各位看人是不是一位善知识？不需开五眼，就凭凡夫肉眼，只要你是个行家，就可以看出他是不是善知识？是否有德行？人若无德行，是面生横肉，非常讨人厌的！

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间开示于
万佛圣城