When we completely wipe out greed, anger, and stupidity, we will be pure in body and mind and free of afflictions.
人有贪心,永远不快乐;若是不贪,就有快乐,所以要止贪。
Greedy people are never happy. Only those without greed can be happy. Therefore, we should not be greedy.
贪心有如无底坑,
填之难满瞋恨生;
五欲纷陈颠倒想,
痴然不觉法器崩。
A greedy mind is like a bottomless pit.
Because it is hard to fill, anger arises.
A profusion of the five desires
deludes our mind,
And the Dharma vessel disintegrates
before we realize it.
因为贪心起,多少人为它身败名裂!多少人为它国破家亡!它是害人的东西,不可不谨慎。
How many people have ruined their health and reputation because of greed? How many have caused their countries to perish and their families to break up? Greed is a harmful thing, and we must certainly be wary of it.
We should quell our anger. The fire of anger can burn up all our merit and virtue. The first thing that cultivators should practice is patience. With great patience, we can turn anger into kindness. Anger is like ice; we have to melt it into water, for water can benefit many things.
If we can get rid of stupidity, our wisdom will manifest. Why do we have so many idle thoughts? Because we are very stupid. Stupidity is caused by ignorance. Ignorance sets off thoughts of desire. We entertain foolish, idle thoughts and go off on wild flights of fancy. Our rational mind cannot control our emotions, so we are led to do upside-down things. This is extremely dangerous, as we could easily lose our resolve to cultivate. Yet if we can cast out those idle thoughts, our stupidity will naturally cease.
In general, we must dispense with greed, anger and stupidity. When we completely wipe out these three poisons, we will be pure in body and mind and free of afflictions. Having no afflictions, we will experience a state of lightness and ease, free of worries and obstructions. How carefree we'll be! This is a profound principle. I hope you will carefully reflect upon what I have said. If you understand, you will gain considerable benefit.