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1975年 8月19日星期二下午
今天唸佛七是第二天了，頭一天不知道南無阿彌陀佛是怎麼回事？所以我跟大家解釋一下。這第二天呢，每一個人就應該知道怎麼樣用功了；怎麼樣唸佛了。在唸佛的時候，聲音也不要太大了；太大了氣會受傷。但是也不能太小了；太小了就容易昏沈，容易沒有精神了。你沒有精神了，昏沈了，自己所唸的南無阿彌陀佛，自己都聽不見了；你聽不見，你心裡也就沒有南無阿彌陀佛的存在了。所以唸佛必須要口裡唸得聲音清清楚楚的；耳朵要聽這個聲音清清楚楚的；心裡要觀想阿彌陀佛和這個唸佛的聲音清清楚楚的。就是一秒鐘，也不要把時間空過去，時時刻刻都提起來唸佛這一念，來誠心誠意地唸南無阿彌陀佛。唸佛的這個念頭不要叫它斷了，時時刻刻都繼續、繼續來唸佛。
昨天晚間講觀想念佛，今天就講觀相念佛。
第二觀相念佛：因為觀想，不容易把你的心量放大了來觀想阿彌陀佛這麼大的法身。你可以預備一個阿彌陀佛的像；你再對著阿彌陀佛像來唸佛，也注意阿彌陀佛兩個眉中間那個白毫相光。你觀想這個佛相有白毫相，由這個白毫相又放大光明，盡虛空遍法界都得到阿彌陀佛的光明遍照。
在阿彌陀佛的光裡面又現出來無量諸佛；也現出來無量的菩薩，這樣做觀想；觀這個相，這叫觀相念佛。
第三是持名念佛：這個持名念佛，就是執持六字洪名––佛的名號來唸佛。執持名號又分出來有聲念佛，與無聲念佛。
有聲念佛，就是我們開靜的時候，大家同聲稱唸南無阿彌陀佛，是有這個聲音。
無聲念佛，就是坐著的時候還是專一其心，默默來稱唸南無阿彌陀佛的名號，這叫默唸，又叫金剛唸。唸佛這個法門，在佛教裡是最容易修的一個法門。
這個法門三根普被，利鈍兼收。三根就是上根、中根、鈍根。
上根就是最有智慧的人；中根就是普普通通的人；鈍根就是很愚癡的人。這個法門也是老少兼收，利鈍兼收。利，就是聰明有智慧的人；鈍，就是愚癡的人。有智慧的人，修唸佛的法門，也是很容易相應的；愚癡的人修唸佛的法門也很容易相應。所以這唸南無阿彌陀佛這六字洪名，是又省工，又不費錢，是最方便的法門；不但是方便，是方便中的方便，捷徑中的捷徑，就是近路，近路中的近路。這種法門是最妙的法門了。
你不要以為唸這一句南無阿彌陀佛，這又有什麼意思。這個意思可就多了，有說不完那麼多的妙處，說不完那麼多的好處。在佛住世的時候，叫正法時代，就是有佛說法，有證果的阿羅漢，有大菩薩，有一切的聖人在世間，這叫正法時代。
等佛入涅槃後，這叫像法時代。像法時代，修道的人比較少了，盡著相的人多了；執著造佛像，造種種的佛像，修行人就少了。
過了像法時代就是末法時代。這正法是一千年，像法一千年，共兩千年。末法是一萬年。
我們現在是末法時代。什麼叫末法呢？就是法到末梢上了，就是佛法就要沒有了；佛法沒有，就是沒有人信佛了，所以末法時代衆生信佛的心就不堅固。
在佛住世的時候，人信佛的信心––甚至於他信佛，你想用刀殺了他，說：「你不要信佛了，你信佛，我就要用刀殺了你。」他就寧可你用刀殺了他，他也信佛。這是正法時代，人的信心就有這麼堅固。
待續
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Tuesday, August A 9, 1975 (afternoon)
Today is the second day of the Buddha Recitation Session. Yesterday you didn’t know what the recitation of "Namo Amitabha Buddha" was all about, and so I explained it to you. By now, each of you should know how to apply effort in reciting the Buddha's name. When reciting, don't sing too loudly or it may injure your constitution. However, if you recite too quietly, it's easy to doze off and lose your vitality. When you are drowsy, you are not able to hear yourself recite. If you can't hear yourself recite, then "Namo Amitabha Buddha" will not be present in your heart. So it is necessary to recite out loud so that your ears hear the sound clearly and distinctly, and your mind contemplates the sound clearly and distinctly. Don’t waste even a single second. At all times be mindful of your Buddha Recitation. Say "Namo Amitabha Buddha" with sincerity and concentration.
Your mindfulness should be uninterrupted. Continue reciting at all times without a break. Last night I explained the first of the four techniques of recitation, "contemplating by thought." Today I will continue with the second, "contemplation of an image Buddha Recitation."
When you contemplate using thought, Amitabha Buddha’s Dharma body is so large that it is not easy to expand the measure of your mind to contemplate it. As an alternative, you may set up an image of Amitabha Buddha and practice mindfulness of the Buddha while facing the image. Look closely at the white hair-mark between the Buddha’s eyebrows. The white hair-mark will emit a great light which will travel to the end of space throughout the Dharma Realm, so that all places receive the illumination. Within Amitabha Buddha’s light appear limitless Buddhas and countless Bodhisattvas. This is the method called "contemplation of an image Buddha Recitation."
The third is "holding the name Buddha Recitation" in which one repeats the six-syllable vast name, "Na-mo A-mi-to-fo," that is, "Namo Amitabha Buddha." This technique is divided into audible recitation and soundless recitation. Here in the Dharma assembly we practice audible recitation. When the bell is rung, everyone recites "Namo Amitabha Buddha" in unison, making a melodious sound. Soundless recitation refers to the period when we sit in silence while singlemindedly reciting "Namo Amitabha Buddha." This is called "silent recitation," or "vajra recitation."
Of all the Dharma-doors in Buddhism, Buddha Recitation is the easiest one to cultivate, as it
Receives the beings of the three dispositions,
And gathers in both the intelligent and the dull.
Living beings are of three dispositions: a superior disposition, that is, people with wisdom; a mediocre disposition, that is, people of average intelligence; and an inferior disposition, that is, people who are very stupid. This method benefits both the young and the old, and works for both the intelligent and the dull. Intelligent people are those with wisdom and dull people are the stupid ones. People with wisdom who recite the Buddha’s name can easily gain a response. People who are stupid who recite will also find it easy to gain a response. Therefore the recitation of "Namo Amitabha Buddha" on the one hand saves effort and on the other costs nothing. It’s the most convenient Dharma-door of all. Not only is it convenient, it is the most expedient of all expedient methods, the shortest of all short cuts, the most wonderful of all Dharma-doors. Some people may say, "What’s the significance of the phrase "Na-mo A-mi-to-fo?" Its significance is profound and vast. Its wonder cannot be exhausted in speech, nor can its advantages.
When the Buddha dwelt in the world, that era was called the Proper Dharma Age. At that time, the Buddha taught the Dharma and there were certified Arhats and great Bodhisattvas; the sages were dwelling in the world. TheDharma-image Age followed next, after the Buddha entered Nirvana. During this period people who cultivated the Way were few; those who were attached to external appearances and concentrated on making Buddhist images were many, but genuine cultivators were few in number.
After the Dharma-image Age, came the Dharma-ending Age. The Proper Dharma Age lasted for one thousand years. The Dharma-image Age lasted another one thousand years. That’s two thousand years in all. The Dharma-ending Age endures for ten thousand years. We are now living in the Dharma-ending Age. What does the phrase "Dharma-ending" mean? It means that the Dharma has nearly come to an end and is about to disappear. The "disappearance" of the Buddhadharma involves the disappearance of belief in the Buddha. In the Dharma-ending Age, living beings’ faith in the Buddha is not firm. When the Buddha dwelt in the world, people’s faith was so firm that if you held a person at knife-point and threatened his life saying, "Don’t believe in the Buddha or I’ll murder you," he would rather die than surrender his belief. That’s how solid in faith the people were during the Proper Dharma Age.
To be continued
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