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大家住在萬佛城，「萬佛城到底有多大？」我不知道大家是不是很清楚？因為我們在辦公室，每天都有很多客人來，他們往往都會問這個問題。他們接著也常問另外一個問題：「你們萬佛城到底可以住多少人？」我就告訴他們：「萬佛城的土地有四百八十八個英畝。」他們多半就會說：「喔！那真的很大、很大！」不過，其實大家也還是搞不清楚到底有多大？
在一九九四年的時候，有一個訪客來，上人叫我帶他在整個萬佛城走一趟；我就帶他到處參觀，一邊跟他介紹。他也是問我說：「耶！你們萬佛城有多大呀？」我還是依樣畫葫蘆的跟他講：「有四百八十八個英畝。」他說：「你們大概可以住多少人啊？」我說：「以前醫院時代，住有幾千個人；我們現在，差不多兩百左右。」參觀完後，我反問他：「你覺得怎麼樣？萬佛城大不大啊？」他就告訴我他的答案，已經十年了，我還一直記得很清楚；因為他從另外一個角度來看這個問題，我覺得蠻有意思和啟示的。他說：「萬佛城的大小，決定於住在聖城裏面的人，大家的心量；如果我們住在這邊的人，每個人的『我慢』都很大的話，那用不了十個人，大概就可以把萬佛城給塞滿了。」那樣子，其他的修行人想要來住，就住不進來了，因為萬佛城已經沒有位置。他跟我說：「你不要以為萬佛城的土地大、房子多，就可以住很多人，其實是不一定的。」
在他走後，我去見上人，把他講的這個答案講給師父聽，請教師父他說得對不對？師父說：「他說的是不錯的！」所以這段話，常常在我腦海浮現，我就以此迴光返照。反觀自己，其實「我慢」還是很大，碰到什麼事情都自以為是；當我自以為是時，我的心量就會變小了，就不容易容納別人的意見，也容易就看別人不順眼。我想就到那個人講的，當我變成這個樣子，自然其他的人就住不進來萬佛城了。
一九八四年底，我第一次來萬佛城，記得上人看到我的第一句話，就是：「我們萬佛城都是小人。」那個時候，我不知道要怎麼回答師父。這二十年來，我常常在想這句話，就像師父常常說的：「我是一隻小螞蟻，我是一個小蚊子。」想想看：如果我們每個人都是一隻小螞蟻、一個小蚊子，那萬佛城到底可以容納多少人呢？我想那確實可以住很多很多的人；如若不然的話，那在萬佛城真的是沒有辦法住很多人，因為我們不能包容別人的缺點，我們的心量很小。
中國有句老話：「宰相肚裏能撐船」，他的肚量非常大，所以一條大船都可以在裏面航行。同樣，彌勒菩薩也說：「大肚能容，容天下難容之事」；可知彌勒菩薩的肚量，也是非常地大。上人也說：「常瞅人不是，自己苦未了」。
回想在大學時，我們建築系的人都要做設計。每次想出來的設計，把它畫出來，自己就會很得意，覺得這個設計是最好的。第二天起來，同樣的設計圖，再一看，心裏就想：「耶！奇怪啊！這裏不太好，那個地方也不太對！」越看就越不理想，一大堆毛病。只要隔一個晚上來看，再好的東西，我會發現又有很多毛病。這種情況，一而再、再而三，一直都是這個樣子；去年對的事情，今年會覺得並不理想。這樣自己反省起來，有時何必一定要跟別人爭得面紅耳赤呢？事情往往今天是、明天非。
我往往會認為自己的看法一定是對，別人不同意我的意見，是不可以的；所以做事情時就會很執著，就會想盡辦法要別人照我的意思去做。別人如果不願意照我的意思去做呢？我就會很討厭他，因為他不同意我。這樣做，其實是不對的！大家有緣在一起工作，應該互相包容，互相尊重，互相諒解；就像《論語》中有一句話說：「友直、友諒、友多聞」。所以今天我所講的，就是希望以後我能夠儘量把心量放大，來包容自己身邊的人；我相信，如果我們每個人都能這樣做，那萬佛城就真的是變得非常的偉大。
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 We all live in the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB), yet how big is the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas? I don’t know if everybody knows. Since I work at the front desk in the Administrative Office, visitors often ask me this question.
Another question they ask frequently is: “How many people can live at the CTTB?” My answer is that CTTB is about 488 acres, and most of them would respond, “Oh, that’s very big!” However, most people still don’t have a clear idea of how big it really is.
In 1994, a visitor came and the Venerable Master told me to take him on a tour. He asked me the same question, “How big is CTTB?” I told him that it’s 488 acres. He asked, “How many people can live here?” I told him, “When it was the state hospital, there were a few thousand in total. Now, there are 200 or so.” After the tour, I asked if he thought CTTB was big. His answer, which was given from a different perspective, was quite interesting. Even after ten years, I still remember his answer. He said, “The size of CTTB depends on the capacity of the residents here. If people have a big ego, then with even less than 10 people, they could fill up the entire CTTB.” In that case, others cannot come in to cultivate as there would be no space left for them. He continued, “Don’t think that CTTB is a big piece of land — 488 acres, and many buildings that can house lots of people. It’s not necessarily the case.”
After the tour, when I had a chance to see the Master, I asked for his comments. The Master said, “What he said was right.” Throughout the years, I always tried to reflect on myself and found that a lot of the time I had a big ego and was convinced that my own thoughts and opinions were right. Then the capacity of my mind became smaller and smaller until I could not include others. I found fault with and looked down on others. In those instances, I think I made it very difficult for others to come to live here.
At the end of 1984 during my first visit to CTTB, the first sentence the Master said to me was, “You know, people at CTTB are all small-minded.” For the past twenty years, I have heard and pondered that comment clearly in my mind. The Master said, “I’m a little ant, or a little mosquito.” If every one of us is like a little ant or a little mosquito, then how many people can we house in CTTB? Many indeed. However, if we can’t tolerate others’ faults or include others, then CTTB will be able to accommodate just a few.
There is an old Chinese saying, “One can row a boat in a prime minister’s stomach.” This means that the measure of his mind is so great that a big boat can go on a voyage in his stomach. Maitreya Bodhisattva also said, “My big belly can endure all the unendurable things in the world.” Thus, Maitreya Bodhisattva has extremely broad tolerance for others too. The Master said that if we always look at others’ faults, it’s actually our own karmic suffering that has not ended.
In my college years, I majored in architecture and had to do designs for homework. Every time when a design was done and put on paper, I would feel very good while looking at it. However the next morning, when I looked at the same drawing, I would feel, “This is not good. This needs to be changed. It looks ugly.” The more I looked at it, the more corrections I would need to make on the same drawing. This happened every time. Similarly, I found that what I felt was right in the previous year, would not be so right the next.. Given this situation, I sometimes reflect: “Why should I argue with others? What I think is right today, may not be right the next day.” Our thoughts change.
We work together with the great assembly. Mostly, I think my opinions are right; it’s not okay for others to not agree with me. Therefore, when doing things I have attachments and try my best to get others to do things my way. If they are not willing to do things my way, then I get upset, because they don’t agree with me. That’s not right, actually. Working together, we should cherish the affinities we have and work together as a group. We should practice tolerance, respect, and understanding for the others who are working with us. As it says in the Analects of Confucius: “A friend is someone who is straightforward, trustworthy and knowledgeable.” I believe that if every one of us can expand the scope of our mind, then the CTTB will become truly great!
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