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第一是皈依佛，皈依佛之後，你永遠要信奉佛寶，不要再信那個天魔外道；所謂天魔外道就是那不究竟的旁門左道，凡是那些有爭、有貪、有求、自私、自利，隨便打妄語，這都屬於外道的，所以不能皈依他們；甚至於佛教徒如果要盡爭、貪、求、自私、自利、盡打妄語，那也是等於外道一樣，所以要有「擇法眼」，要知道是法、非法。沒有「擇法眼」，就那麼糊里糊塗的，皈依之後，做一個糊塗佛教徒，這是沒有意思的。
皈依佛了以後，不能又去參加「一貫道」、二貫道、三貫道、四貫道、五貫道；貫來貫去，都貫到地獄去。你那一貫、一貫的，聽那聲音，已經就很有問題的，那一貫就「貫(摜)倒」了嘛！我們人才跟它就貫，這一貫若貫倒了跌死，那更不得了的。跌死了，沒有旁的地方去，就到地獄去。我不怕「一貫道」他怎麼樣子對我不利，我不在乎的。因為我是願意主持公道的，我不能不說真話。你叫我要說的話不說，我不能不說的。
皈依法呢？就是那旁門左道的書，絕對不能看的！你若看他那個書，你也就變成魔子魔孫了；因為你種的因不真，結的果也就不實在了，你想成佛也辦不到了。這個皈依僧呢？要皈依清淨福田僧，什麼叫清淨福田僧呢？他/她持銀錢戒，甚至於就不持銀錢戒，他也不要錢；他把錢或者供養其他有道德的人、有修行的人，這樣的，都是清淨福田僧。清淨，就是什麼也沒有了，不是像有一些個有財產的；有財產，那就不清淨了。財就是一個邋蹋的東西，能把財看破了，那個「色」字也就沒有問題了。你離不開財，就離不開色；離不開色，也離不開財。這個財、色、名、食、睡，地獄五條根，它是一個連著一個的。這也就像「一貫道」似的，這個一貫就是把它串起來；財就連著色，色就連著名，名就連著吃，吃就連著睡，這是「財色名食睡，地獄五條根」。我們不要把財看得那麼重，所以不必去賭「大家樂」，去賭「大家樂」結果變成「大家哭」了。你看看我，你也輸了；我看看你，我也輸了；結果不知道是誰贏了？那麼，莫如大家「守本份而安歲月，憑天理以度春秋」，這是比較保險一點，沒有那麼大的風浪。
皈依戒呢？這個戒，就是要「諸惡不作，眾善奉行」，止惡防非。佛入涅槃了，我們佛弟子應該以戒為師，所以也要皈依戒。這是皈依的意義。
你皈依來、皈依去，皈依很多次；其實這個皈依，一次已經夠了。不須要皈依很多次！皈依很多次的，所有這些授皈依法師，也不告訴你皈依一次就可以了，不必再皈了。為什麼呢？你若不皈依，他就少了供養了；少了供養，他就吃虧了，所以明明他知道皈依很多次是不對的，他不告訴你。你懂了嘛？你要是認為第一次皈依沒有感應，你不相信三寶，說：「我再皈依一次，求求感應。」那既然你第一次不信，第二次還是會沒有信心的；沒有皈依弟子，就不許可上我那個廟上去；彼此門戶之見，始終打不破的；這樣一來，就因皈依而弄得出家人都不和了。你說這是怎麼搞的？所以皈依一次就好了！
你或者因為你師父還俗了，或者失蹤了，或者已經死了，那麼你想再找一個師父，想再皈依，那可以的。如果沒有這些情形，最好皈依一次就可以了，你覺得哪一個師父、哪一個和尚，值得你尊重，你就尊重他，就拿他當師父就好了，不用再皈依了。所以頭先有人問我可不可以，我說，我不會做生意。我這個答覆，也不是很圓滿的。那麼今天就是這樣了，「將軍不下馬，各自奔前程」，好好努力，希望你們早成佛道。
我們現在要發菩薩的「四弘誓願」，各位都要發真了一點，在佛教裏，要做以後一個好的佛教徒；不要在佛教裏，不是搞風就是搞雨，再不就不是求名，就是求利，不要做這一類的佛教徒。各位聽明白嗎？我寧可「將身下地獄，不拿佛法送人情」，所以我和你們說的話，都是從我悲心切切裏頭流出來的，現在我們發四弘誓願。
待續
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The first refuge you take is with the Buddha. After taking refuge with the Buddha, you should always believe in and serve the Jewel that represents the Buddha. Don’t go to demons and gods of heterodox paths, sects and cults that are not ultimate after all. Anyone who contends, is greedy, seeks, is selfish, pursues personal benefit, and casually lies is following a wrong path and you should not take refuge with such a person. Even Buddhists who contend, are greedy, seek, are selfish, pursue personal benefit, and lie, are straying from the right path. You must have the Dharma-selecting eye, i.e. the ability to select between right and wrong dharmas. If you do not have that ability and remain muddled after having taken refuge, you would just be a muddled Buddhist, which would be meaningless.
After taking refuge with the Buddha, you cannot join the Yi Guan Dao (“One Connected Way,” the Heavenly Way), the Two Connected Ways, the Three Connected Ways, the Four Connected Ways, or the Five Connected Ways. You connect and connect until you connect with the hells and fall in. Just the name, “One Connected Way” already sounds suspicious. That single connection will “connect” with you and knock you over dead. That’s even worse because once you fall and die, you will have nowhere to go but the hells. I’m not scared of threats from One Connected Way. I don’t care because I advocate justice. I have to tell the truth. If there’s something I have to say, I can’t hold it in.
 To take refuge with the Dharma means that you cannot read the books of heterodox teachings. If you read their books, you will also become the children of demons. As a result, the causes that you plant will not be true and the results that you reap will not be real. You could not become a Buddha even if you wanted to. As far as taking refuge with the Sangha, you should take refuge with members of the Sangha who are pure fields of blessings. Who are they? They’re the ones who keep the precept against holding valuables. Even if they don’t hold this precept, they wouldn’t want money. They may offer the money they receive to others with virtue and cultivation. These people would be members of the Sangha who are pure fields of blessings. Purity means having nothing. Those who have assets are impure. Money is filthy. If you are able to break your attachment to money, sexual desire will not be a problem. If you are unable to put down money, you cannot put down sex. If you can’t let go of sex, you can’t let go of money. The five roots that lead you to the hells—money, sex, fame, food, and sleep—are connected. They are linked in the way that the “One Connected Way” is. This “Way” is connected to the five roots. Money is linked to sex, sex is linked to fame, fame is linked to food, and food is linked to sleep. Don’t take money to be too important. You don’t need to go and gamble on the “Everybody Happy” lottery so that everybody cries. You see that I have lost and I see that you have lost. In the end, who actually wins? Everyone might as well be content and be responsible in his or her role, acting on the basis of universal principles year after year. This would be more of a guarantee. Less risk is involved.
To take refuge with the precepts means that one doesn’t do any evil and does every good, avoiding evil and preventing wrongdoing. Since the Buddha has entered Nirvana, we should take the Precepts as our teacher, hence we should take refuge with the Precepts. This is the significance of taking refuge.
You may take refuge here and take refuge there, but actually, once is enough. You don’t need to take refuge so many times. The other Dharma Masters that you have taken refuge with didn’t tell you that you only needed to take refuge once though. Why? They would have received fewer offerings if you did not take refuge again. With fewer offerings, they suffer a loss. They didn’t and wouldn’t tell you such a thing. You understand? They obviously know that it’s wrong to take refuge so many times. Meanwhile, since you didn’t receive any miraculous responses from taking refuge the first time, you don’t have any faith in taking refuge. You take refuge with the Triple Jewel again in the hopes of having your prayers answered. You didn’t believe in it the first time; you didn’t have any faith the second time...and your conviction is still missing. Without faith, you will never receive a response.
Laypeople take refuge with this Master and that Master so that Sangha members end up fighting over disciples. “Your refuge disciples cannot come to my temple; my refuge disciples cannot go to your temple”: turf wars! Disharmony exists in the Sangha because laypeople repeatedly take refuge. That is why you should take refuge just once. If your teacher has returned to lay life, disappeared, or died, and you need another teacher, then it’s permissible to take refuge. If none of those circumstances applies, it would be best to take refuge just once. If you feel a particular teacher, a monk, deserves your respect, then pay your respects as if he were your teacher. You don’t need to take refuge again. That’s why when someone asked me if it’s okay to take refuge again, I told him that I didn’t know how to do business. My answer wasn’t exactly perfect.
That’s it for today. You should be like the saying: “A general does not dismount; each gallops toward his destiny.” Cultivate with diligence. I hope that you will attain Buddhahood soon.
We will now make the Four Great Vows of a Bodhisattva. Make your resolve very sincerely now. Be a good Buddhist and don’t stir up trouble within Buddhism by fighting for fame or fortune. Don’t be that kind of a Buddhist. Is that clear? You should think: “I would rather enter the hells than use Buddhadharma to gain favors from others.” Don’t give away the Buddhadharma out of affection. Everything I said came directly from my heart out of earnest compassion. Let’s now make the Four Great Vows.
To be continued
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