續前期：August19，1975年8月19日星期二晚

比丘尼恒賢：

第二願是稱讚如來。比如稱讚阿彌陀佛那讚上說：

阿彌陀佛身金色，相好光明無等倫；
白毫宛轉五須彌，紺目澄清四大海。
光中化佛無數億，化菩薩眾亦無邊；
四十八願度眾生，九品咸令登彼岸。

這是讚佛，也是第二願稱讚如來。

第三願是廣修供養；供養有很多種：有在佛前供香、供花，也可以一瓣心香作供養，這都不一定的。

第四願是懺悔業障，就是懺悔以前所做過的種種一切；這種種一切障礙著你使你現在修行困難，這業障讓你坐不住禪，讓你不能專心唸佛，不能專心修你的法門。由無始 來以至今生，由身語意所生的惡業，一切你都懺悔。這在皈依時特別重要；因為在皈依 時，有那一剎那能感應十方佛加被放光照你 。假如在那一剎間你能很誠心懺悔的話，就可以澈底消滅你的業障，恢復清淨。這全看你誠心的程度。

第五願是隨喜功德，聽起來有點神秘，特別在早上四點半我們唸到這個願時。這個 願就表示凡有人做善事時你也歡喜，也參加一份。假如有法會時你不光是說：「啊！真不錯，他們有法會。」你自己也要去參加。所以在洛杉磯那麼遠的地方，有人聽到奧立崗這兒有法會，他們不只贊同；他們也趕來 參加。其他地方也有人從老遠趕來的。

普賢菩薩第六願是請轉法輪。我們都知道佛講〈阿彌陀經〉是不問自說的，但一般是沒人請法就不說法；有人請法才說法。當然講法不光是只用語言才算講法；講法有很多種方式，所以第六是請法，請轉法輪。

第七願是請佛住世。當然佛成佛之後就可入涅槃了，不需要停留在這個眾苦交煎的世界。佛也不會再受苦了，不過假如眾生請佛留下佛也會留下來的，所以第七願是請佛住世教化眾生。

第八願是常隨佛學，也就是佛做什麼，我們也就做什麼。比如說佛捨身餵餓虎我們也這樣修行；佛割肉餵鷹我們也這樣修行： 這就是常隨佛學。

第九是恆順眾生。這並不表示當眾生幹的事有問題時你也跟著去幹，只為要順著他們。這是說你看眾生喜歡什麼，你就從那見來教化他，眾生愛做什麼，你就用那做基礎來幫助他了生死，不是在外強加一些桎括楛在他身上。換言之，你就從眾生原有的地方開始。 

第十是普皆迴向。這就是你把所有你依 佛教修行所累積得來的功德迴向給眾生，最好是所有一切眾生，令他們都成就菩提。功德也可以迴向給個人，助他康復。

這是普賢普薩的十大願。上面所提的「活羅漢」當然不是真的活羅漢；真羅漢已經了了兩種生死裡的一種。生死有兩種：一是分段生死，就是有個身體；這身體的壽命期限雖不是絕對固定的，但差不離是一定的；另一是變易生死，就是念念相績不斷。前念死了，後念又生；後念死了，新的一念又生了，如此循環不息，永不終止。阿羅漢已經了了第一種的分段生死，所以已經沒有一個身體，也沒有壽者相了。那麼這故事裡所謂的「羅漢」自然是還沒有到達這個程度，他自己的生死還沒有把握，所以當他的罪業滿 了，就得死了。

待續

Continuedfrom last issue: Tuesday, August 19, 1975 (evening)

Bhikshuni Heng Hsien:

The second vow is to praise the Thus Come One's qualities. Such praises are, for example, the praise of the Buddha Amitabha. The praise that says that Amitabha's body is a golden hue and the light of his fine marks are beyond compare. The mark of the white hair tuft between his eyes is as large as five Mount Sumerus and his clear purple eyes are as vast as four great seas. In his light there are countless transformation Buddhas and boundless transformation Bodhisattvas. His forty-eight great vows save living beings and the nine grades of lotuses completely cross beings over to the other shore. This is a praise of the Buddha and that fulfills the second vow to praise the Thus Come One's qualities.

The third vow is to extensively cultivate the giving of offerings. Giving offerings can be done in many ways. It can be done by offering incense and flowers before Buddha images or it can be done with the offering of the pure heart which is not fixed at all.  

The fourth vow is to repent and reform all karmic faults. This means repenting all the things you've done that make it hard for you to cultivate right now, that act as obstacles. Karmic obstacles make it hard for you to sit in quiet meditation; they make it hard for you to concentrate your mind on the Buddha's name or whatever practice you are practicing. You repent of all the evil done through body, mouth, and mind through beginningless time up to the present. This is very important in taking refuge. There is a moment in the taking refuge ceremony when the aid of the Buddhas is invoked. At that point, the Buddhas of the ten directions shine light upon you, and if you can very sincerely repent at that moment, you can completely eradicate your karmic obstacles and be completely pure. It all depends on the degree of your sincerity at that time.

The fifth vow is to compliantly rejoice in merit and virtue, which sounds sort of occult and mysterious, especially about 4:30 in the morning when we recite the vow. But this means that whenever anybody is doing something that is good, you are pleased and you also participate; you join in. If people are having a recitation session, you I don't just say, "Well, that's really fine that they're having a recitation session." You also go and participate. Some people heard from as far I away as Los Angeles that there was this session of reciting the Buddha's name up here in Oregon. They not only approved, but rejoiced or followed in accord and came up to participate. Other people have also come from a great distances.

The sixth great vow of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva is to request the turning of the Dharma Wheel. Now we know that the explanation of the Pure Land Dharma door was spoken by the Buddha without anybody explicitly requesting it. But in general, the Dharma must be requested before it is spoken. Of course the speaking of Dharma can be a speaking that takes many forms; it's not just necessarily in words. So the sixth great vow is to request that giving of Dharma, the turning of the Dharma Wheel.

The seventh vow is to request that the Buddhas dwell in the world. Now, of course, when Buddhas become Buddhas, they just enter Nirvana and don't have to stay around in our suffering world. They're not subject to any kind of suffering whatsoever. If living beings want them to stay around, however, they will. So the seventh is to request that the Buddhas stay in the world and teach living beings.  

The eighth vow is to always follow the Buddhas in study, which means doing what the Buddha did. The Buddha, for example, gave his life to save a starving tiger. This vow involves doing this kind of practice. The Buddha also cut off his flesh to feed an eagle. That's another example of what can be done to constantly follow the Buddha in study.  

The ninth vow is to forever accord with living beings. This doesn't that mean when living beings are doing things which are questionable you go ahead and do them, too, because you want to follow in accord. It means that whatever living beings like, you start from there in teaching them. Whatever they like to do is what you use as a basis for helping them to end birth and death, without imposing some exterior kind of structure or regulation on them. You start out from where they're at.  

The tenth is to universally transfer all merit and virtue. That means that you take the merit and virtue of all of the practices that you do from knowing about the Buddhadharma and being able to cultivate according to it, and transfer it to other living beings, ideally to all living beings on a very vast scale so that all will accomplish Bodhi. Merit can also be transferred for individual needs or for healing purposes.

Those are the ten great vows of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. Now the living Arhat that was mentioned, of course, was no Arhat because a real Arhat has ended one of the two kinds of birth and death. There are two kinds of birth and death. One is being born in a body with a given life span which is more or less fixed, though not completely fixed. And the other is change birth and death which is the birth and death involved in the constant succession of thoughts: One thought being born and dying, the next thought being produced and then being destroyed, and so forth. Arhats have ended the first kind of birth and death. They are no longer subject to being born in a body with a given life span. But, of course, the so-called 'Arhat' in the story had not reached that point. He didn't have control over his own birth and death and so when his offenses had accumulated to a certain point, he had to die.  

To be continued