我們學佛的人，不要好奇，不要好高騖遠，平常心是道。人法地，地法天，天法道，道法自然。你勉強做出什麼事情來，都與道不相應的。所以我們無論做什麼事，最好是任運而行，不加造作。有的人學佛學了一輩子，貪心比誰都大，我也不知道他是學的什麼佛。學佛，一切時，一切處，一切事，都要任運而行，不勉強，不要存著一種貪心，不要爭心，不要在那兒學佛，學來學去總是有所求；也不要自私，也不要自利，最要緊不打妄語。我們人若能不打妄語，這誠實的根就紮下去了。
有父母的人好好孝順父母，有兄弟的家庭要和氣，不要爭吵，一爭吵就沒有家庭的溫暖和快樂了。你們看一看，現在全世界，每一個國家，每一個家庭都壞了。家庭分崩離析，不能和樂相處。「男女居室，人之大倫」，可是你要安於室，不安於室，就是天天爭爭吵吵的，雖然有家庭，可是沒有家庭的溫暖和快樂。
這個溫暖快樂並不是說不知足。有的家庭互相不滿意，不知足，說我怎麼生到這麼一個家庭？就有一股怨氣，怨天尤人，就搞得夫婦離婚了。所謂「父不父，子不子，妻不妻」，家庭沒有一天和氣的時候，整天吵吵閑閑。這樣一來，就離心離德，然後就離婚了。你看看全世界現在離婚的人有多少？離婚的比結婚的人還多。離婚不要緊，卻把整個世界每一個國家都破壞了。你看這個世界壞的開始，追源禍始就是從夫婦不和氣來的，因此造成天地災禍都發生了。 天地為什麼有天災人禍？就因為離婚的人太多了。這些離婚的人，家庭都破碎了 ，生孩子也不會教育出有用的人才。家庭破碎，子女也都變成問題兒童了。這個孤兒、孤女，沒有爸爸媽媽的在在皆是。小孩子這麼無拘無束，沒有一種教育的方法來教育他，所以他就殺人、放火、販毒，無所不為了。這樣一來，國家也不像個國了，世界也都不像一個世界了。這追源禍始，就是夫婦不懂得治理家庭的業務，常常鬧離婚，所以這些問題都來了。
天災人禍，好像颶風、地震、水災、火災，這種種不一而足，瘟疫流行、戰爭，什麼災難都不知不覺就發生了。甚至於飛機失事、火車撞車、船在海上航行就沉了 ，淹死不知多少人，傷了不知多少人，這個禍源都是因為離婚，因為這個造成的。離婚，這是陰陽錯亂，陰陽錯亂就一切一切都不順利，不正常了。
所以你們各位想要知道世界怎麼不好的，你要追源溯本，研究研究是從什麼地方壞起來的－就是從夫婦間不和諧，不能相敬如賓，不能舉案齊眉。現在人都說自由，你講自由啊，就越來越不像人了，人都不如畜生了，所以這個時代就壞了。各位要深深明白這一點！不是學佛學了幾十年，學了一輩子，找不出世界壞的根本。
這個夫婦間一壞，你這一爭吵，往上來說，就是不孝順父母，不忠於國。往下來說，生的子女都是一些有問題的兒童。往上也壞了，往下也壞了，這都是有連帶關係的。你們各位學佛的人，要真正懂得這個世界從什麼地方壞的？從外面來說，就是從夫婦那兒壞的：往裡邊來說，就是從人心那兒壞的。人心一壞了，外邊就都不正常了，都不符合規矩了。你無論到哪個地方，你可以觀察觀察，看一看：家庭若不好，吵吵鬧鬧的，社會也不會安定，國家也不會出人才了。你們每一個人都有什麼意見，我不知道我說的話，你們認為有沒有一點道理？ |
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We disciples of the Buddha must not crave new experiences, nor be overly curious and always seeking for the unusual and the unobtainable. The ancients said,
"The ordinary, every-day mind is the Way."
They also said that,
"People follow the Earth, the Earth follows Heaven.
Heaven follows the Way, the Way follows Nature."
Anything, done in a forced manner, will not bring a response with the Way. Therefore, no matter what we do, it is better to let things take their own course, and not be artificial and pretentious. Some people may have been studying Buddhism all their lives, but their greed is greater than anyone else's. I don't know what kind of Buddhism they have been learning. As Buddhists, at all times and places, and no matter what we do, we should let events take their own course, and not be contrived or artificial. We must not be greedy or contentious. We shouldn't always be seeking things while we study Buddhism. Neither must we be selfish, nor after self-benefit. Above all, we must not lie. If we can avoid telling lies, we are planting down the roots of sincerity.
Those of you who have parents at home should show them filial respect. Families where siblings dwell together must live in harmony, and not fight among yourselves. Once you start to quarrel, the family loses its atmosphere of warmth and happiness. Look around us: families in every country of the world are falling apart! Families split up and go their separate ways, people no longer get along peacefully and happily. The ancients said,
"Man and woman together form the
fundamental relationship among humans.
We should however, be satisfied with our family and not be discontented; otherwise, you will quarrel everyday. A family like this, although it exists, lacks an atmosphere of warmth and happiness. This feeling of kinship and joy does not permit us to be discontented. In some families, people feel always dissatisfied, and discontent with each other. They ask, "Why was I born into such a family!" There is an atmosphere of enmity at home. Then people blame others for their problems, until finally the husband and wife get a divorce. In this way the situation becomes
"Fathers don't resemble fathers, and sons don't act like sons; wives do not act like wives any longer. "
There is no peace in the home then, not even for a single moment. The family fights day and night. The marriage of people who don't share the same mind or the same resolve will soon fall apart. Do you realize how many people are getting divorced these days? There are many more of them than married people. Divorce itself is bad enough, but the consequences of divorce are destroying every country in the world. The source of the destruction of the world lies in disharmony between married couples, which then brings about all of the disasters that we experience.
Why do these natural disasters and calamities occur? Simply because there are too many divorcees filling the world. A divorce breaks up the family and the children who come from these families can easily become "troubled adolescents." These youngsters lack a mother and father at home, and thus they have no way to learn to become productive and stable in society. Children with single parents or without parents are pervasive now in the world.
Such children grow up unrestrained, and because there is no way to teach them properly, they learn to kill people, destroy property, and take drugs and act out their every selfish desire. In this way, the nation can no longer resemble a nation, and the world is no longer like a world. After you investigate the cause of this phenomenon, you will see that because married couples don't know how to manage their family business and think only of getting divorced when problems arise.
Natural disasters and calamities, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, fires, epidemic plagues, and wars will start to occur more and more frequently. Furthermore, countless numbers of people will drown or be injured in airplane crashes, train collisions, and the shipwrecks. The cause for all these calamities is divorce between couples. Once people get divorced, Yin and Yang in the world fall into disorder. Then nothing goes smoothly any longer, and the world gets out of shape.
So if we want to understand what turned the world bad, we have to investigate its source. We have to search for the place where it went wrong. The answer is the disharmony among married couples. We failed to respect each other and forgot all about the proper courtesy between husband and wife. People these days talk about freedom, but the more we demand liberation, the farther our behavior strays from the standards for humans. It gets to the point, where people are no better than animals. Therefore, the age has gone bad. All of you must clearly understand this point! It shouldn't be the case after you study Buddhism for several tens of years or for all your life, you still can't find the root cause for the corruption of this world.
When the relationship between husband and wife goes wrong, seen from above, it's due to a lack of filial respect for parents. Because of quarreling and fighting, we are unable to truly be filial to our parents nor steadfast in service to our country. Seen from below, the children that come from quarreling families all become troubled adolescents. The damage brought on above leads to damage in the next generation, so the problem is inter-related.
All you Buddhists, to really understand where the world goes bad, you should know that externally, things turn bad first between husband and wife. Internally, the problem begins with our bad minds. If the minds of people are rotten, then the outside environment grows abnormal, and does not accord with the rules. You can take a look around wherever you go to see if this is true--if a family is out of order, and full of conflict, the society won't be peaceful, and the country will not bring forth any talented people or people of worth. Does anyone have a comment? I don't know whether you feel that what I said makes any sense or not. |
