……佛法的真諦，都包括在六大宗旨之內。
今天是甲子年最後的一天，明天就是乙丑年的開始。我們在這時候，要改變舊的習氣。過去所行所作，因為有不良習氣的緣故，以致有很多地方不合法。從明天起，要選擇新宗旨，重新做人。如果總是不肯「覺今是而昨非」，修行就不會有進步，只是混光陰而已。
各位！不要掩護自己的短處，要發揮自己的長處。所謂「見賢思齊」，我們要向曾子看齊，學習他的作風。在《論語》上有這樣的記載：
曾子曰：吾日三省吾身。為人謀而不忠乎？與朋友交而不信乎？傳不習乎？
曾子說：「我每天有三件事，必須自我檢討：所做的事，是否忠實盡了自己的能力呢？和朋友相交，是否有不誠信的地方？每天所學習的功課，是否有溫習研究？」這一番話，我們可以做為借鏡。
在《三字經》上開宗明義地說：
人之初，性本善。
性相近，習相遠。
苟不教，性乃遷。
剛出生的小孩子，他們的本性都是善良的。因為本性和善相近，所以說「性相近」。漸漸長大，被環境所薰陶，被習氣所染污，所謂「染於蒼則蒼，染於黃則黃」於是性情就漸漸和善相離遠了，所以說「習相遠」。在這個時期，如果不能好好地教育，把舊的習氣改變，回復到善性上，那麼他的性情就要變遷了。
年輕的時候，有父母師長來教化，來改善自己的習氣毛病，到了成年的時候，就再沒有人來教導你。你若想往好的地方改善，必須自己去改善自己。因為這個緣故，所以今天的題目是：
改變舊的習氣，選擇新的宗旨。
我們要認清目標，要怎樣作人？怎樣才能作一個眞正的佛教徒？新的方針是什麼？新的宗旨是什麼？這些問題都要弄清楚；否則的話，無法改變舊習氣，無法選擇新宗旨。各位！要注意這一點。
總而言之，這些問題很簡單，就是躬行實踐「諸惡莫作，眾善奉行」，就可以了。人人本著這個方針去做，自然達到做人的目標。
新的方針，就是把嫉妒、障礙、貢高、我慢等習氣完全消滅，不令它發生作用。如何消滅這四種不正當的心理？就是用慈悲喜捨四無量心來調治。有慈心就沒有嫉妒心；有悲心就沒有障礙心；有喜心就沒有貢高心；有捨心就沒有我慢心。各位研究一下，有沒有道理？
新的宗旨，就是不爭、不貪、不求、不自私、不自利、不妄語。其實這是萬佛聖城舊的宗旨，你們雖然聽了很多次，但是沒有認真去實行。凡是沒有實行，就是新的；實行之後，那就不是新的。今天舊調重彈，再談談這六大宗旨的義理，希望各位注意！
我們為什麼有煩惱？為什麼有憂慮？都因為有爭、貪、求、自私、自利、妄語在作怪，支配得你身心不自在。若能將它們降伏，便不會顛顛倒倒，就得到無煩無惱、無憂無慮的境界，無論在何時，都是達觀自在。我們為什麼不達觀？為什麼不自在？一言以蔽之，就是被這六種境界所轉。
我在小的時候，歡喜和人爭，好抱不平；如有不平之事，除非我不知道，若被我知道了，一定挺身而出，評論是非。我也貪；貪什麼？貪吃（小孩子皆犯這種毛病）。有好吃的東西，沒有我的份，一定去爭，非得到手不可。
到十二歲的時候，我反省自己的個性，為什麼這樣倔強？研究明白之後就改過自新，開始在家裏給父母叩頭，表示懺悔。過去有許多事情，曾令父母操心，從今以後，再也不爭、不貪、不求、不自私、不自利。覺得很實用，一直用到今天，終身信守不渝。
後來，除了給雙親叩頭之外，又給天、地、君、親、師叩頭，又給天下大聖人、大賢人、大善人、大孝人叩頭，又給大惡人叩頭。為什麼？令他們也改惡向善。這樣每天風雨無阻在院中叩八百多個頭，需要兩個小時。
上次到加拿大金佛寺時，我對三步一拜（兩比丘）說：「你們試一試，若是不爭、不貪、不求，這有多妙！不自私、不自利，這是妙中之妙，再沒有比這更妙的法了。倘能眞正躬行實踐這六大宗旨，你說還有什麼能超過這種法？」各位！努力實行這六大宗旨，對修行才會有進步。否則一切等於空談，畫餅不能充飢，煮沙不能成飯。
萬佛聖城這六大宗旨，人人要念茲在茲不忘它，因為這個，所以我什麼都捨了，什麼都布施於人，不是盡叫人布施給我。當然，有人布施，我也不拒絕，但是，我儘量布施，有機會就做一點。凡是我能做到的事情，我就做一點；做不到的事情，也不勉強去做。
各位想一想！若是能這樣去做，還有什麼好憂愁的？還有什麼放不下呢？如果認眞去實行這六大宗旨，那就是眞正明白佛法了。換言之，佛法的眞諦，已包括在這六大宗旨之內。
不爭，就是不犯殺戒。為什麼要殺生？就因為要爭；你爭我奪，就發生殺人放火的行為。不爭就不殺，這樣就把殺戒守住了。不貪，就是不犯盜戒。為什麼要偷盜？
就因為貪的緣故，貪人之物為己有，若不貪就能守持不盜戒。
不求，就是不犯淫戒。男人追女人，這是求；女人追男人，也是求。求之不得，就神魂顛倒，甚至在夢中，還在追求，身心不寧。
不自私，就是不犯妄語戒。為什麼要打妄語？因為要保持自身的利益，所以到處騙人說假話。如果不自私，到處可說眞話，沒有欺騙的行為。
不自利，就是不犯酒戒。飲酒的人，認為飲酒能令血液奔騰，對身體有益，一定能健康。喝酒的人喝醉的時候，覺得自己飄飄然成為神仙，這是自利在作崇。
不妄語，在前邊所說五項之中已包括這項，但為提高大家的警覺，特別強調打妄語的壞處，所以又加這一項，作為警惕。
現在加拿大溫哥華金佛寺，常常講六大宗旨，教化老年人、中年人、少年人，令他們知道佛法的重要性。如果能眞正不爭、不貪、不求、不自私、不自利、不妄語，那麼社會必定安寧，家庭必定幸福。
世界上的人，若能嚴守五戒，沒有殺、盜、淫、妄、酒的行為，就沒有煩惱，沒有憂慮了，所以說這六大宗旨是最妙的法門；又可以說是「無上甚深微妙法，百千萬劫難遭遇。我今見聞得受持，願解如來真實義。」
再說一句，身為佛弟子，最低限度要嚴守這五種基本大戒，徹底實行，才能安樂自在；假設這五種戒不能守，那麼比丘二百五十戒，比丘尼三百四十八戒，更不容易守。所以本師釋迦牟尼佛在雙樹林入涅槃時，便對阿難尊者說：「以戒為師。」由此可知，戒律是如何重要！ |
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The Truths of the Buddhadharma Are Included in the Six Guiding Principles
Today is the last day of the year designated by the cyclical characters jia (the first of the Heavenly Stems) and zi (the first of the Earthly Branches). Tomorrow is the beginning of the year designated by the characters yi(the second of the Heavenly Stems) and chou (the second of the Earthly Branches). Now is the time for us to change our old habits. In the past, due to bad habits, there were very many ways in which what we did was not in accord with the Dharma. Starting from tomorrow, we should make new resolutions and become new people. If we are never willing to "awaken to what is right today and what was wrong yesterday," then we will not make progress in our cultivation and will simply be wasting our time.
All of you, don't conceal your shortcomings and promote your long points. There is a saying, "When you see worthies, wish to be like them." We should try to emulate Zeng Zi and learn his style. It is recorded in The Analects: Zeng Zi said, "I daily examine myself on three points. In carrying out plans for others, have I been disloyal? In interacting with friends, have I been untrustworthy? Have I failed to go over what I was taught?" What Zeng Zi said was, "Every day I have to take stock of myself concerning three matters. In taking care of things, have I loyally and truly done the best job I could? In my relations with my friends, were there some ways in which I violated their trust? Did I go over and review the lessons which I studied each day?" We can use this quotation as a mirror for ourselves.
The Three Character Classic states this very clearly. It says: "People at their origin have natures of fundamental goodness, to which their natures are close; but habits make them distant. If they are not taught, then their natures shift." The basic natures of children, when they are first born, are good and wholesome. Because their original natures are close to goodness, it says "to which their natures are close." Gradually, as they grow up, they are fashioned and influenced by their environment and become stained by habits. A saying describing this goes: "Something stained blue becomes blue; something stained yellow becomes yellow." At that point, their natural temperaments bit by bit depart from goodness. During that period, if you cannot teach them well and reform their old bad habits, so they returnto their nature of goodness, their natural temperaments will shift and change.
When you are young, your parents and elders come and instruct you so you correct your faults and bad habits. However, once you are an adult, no one comes to set you straight. If you wish to change yourself for the better, you have to make the corrections yourself. For that reason, today's topic is "Changing Old Habits and Making New Resolutions."
We need to recognize our goals clearly. How should we act as people? How can we become genuine disciples of the Buddha? What is the new direction we will take? What are our new resolves? We need to clarify these questions. Otherwise, there will be no way to change our old habits or make new resolutions. All of you should pay attention to this point!
Taken as a whole, this problem is very simple. What is required is actually putting in the work oneself. "Not doing any evil, and offering up all good conduct" will suffice. If everyone were to go in that direction, then everyone would very naturally achieve his or her objective in being a person.
Our new direction is to eradicate our habits of jealousy, obstruction of others, arrogance, conceit and so forth completely, and not allow them to operate. How can we eradicate those four improper attitudes of mind? We can do it by counteracting them using the Four Unlimited Minds of kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and renunciation. If you are kind hearted, then you will not be jealous. If you are compassionate, you will not harbor a wish to obstruct others. If your attitude is one of sympathetic joy, you will not be arrogant. With a mind of renunciation, you will not be conceited. Look into this, all of you. Does this make sense or not?
Our new resolutions are: not to fight, not to be greedy, not to seek, not to be selfish, not to pursue self-benefit, and not to lie. Actually, these are the old guiding principles of the Sagely City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. Even though you have heard them very many times, you have not truly put them into practice. So long as you have not yet actually practiced them, they are new. After you have put them into practice, they will no longer be new. Today I am going to strum the same old tune, and talk about the meaning of the Six Great Principles, and I hope all of you will pay attention!
Why do we have afflictions? Why do we have worries? Our fighting, greed, seeking, selfishness, pursuit of self-benefit and lying are to blame. They control our bodies and minds so we are not free or at ease. If we can subdue them, then we will not be upside down, and will reach the state of freedom from afflictions and troubles, worries and cares. At all times we will achieve contemplation at ease. Why do we not achieve contemplation, and why are we not free and at ease? To put it in a nutshell, it is because we are turned by those six kinds of states.
When I was a little boy, I liked fight with people, to redress injustices. If something had been done unfairly, if I found out about it, I would definitely stand up and go to set things right. I was also greedy. What was I greedy for? I was greedy for things to eat. (All children have this problem.) When there was something good to eat, if I did not get a share, I was sure to start fighting until I got it.
After I reached the age of twelve, I began to be introspective about my character, wondering why I was so obstinate. When I had investigated to the point of understanding, then I changed my errors and started anew. I began in my home to bow to my father and mother, to express that I was sorry that in the past I had hurt my parents in many ways. From that time onwards, I did not fight anymore, I was not greedy, I did not seek, I was not selfish, and I did not pursue self-benefit. I felt these principles were very practical and, having employed them up until this day, I intend to adhere to them for my entire life without changing.
Later on, besides bowing to my parents, I bowed to heaven, earth, the ruler, my relatives, and my teachers. In addition, I bowed to the great sages on earth, the great worthies, the greatly good people and greatly filial people. I also bowed to greatly evil people. Why was that? It was to cause them to change their evil ways and go towards the good. Each day, regardless of the wind or rain, I bowed in the courtyard more than eight hundred times, which took two hours.
Last time I went to Gold Buddha Monastery in Canada, I told the two monks who did three steps one bow (Dharma Masters Heng Sure and Heng Chau): "The two of you should try it. If you do not fight, are not greedy, do not seek, are not selfish, and not pursue self-benefit, that is the wonderful within the wonderful. There is no Dharma more wonderful than that. Furthermore, if you can actually put those Six Great Principles into practice, what could surpass that Dharma?" All of you, work hard at putting the Six Great Principles into practice, and then you will make progress in your cultivation. Otherwise, it is all equivalent to empty talk. Painting a cake will not cure hunger, nor will boiling sand result in rice.
Everyone should keep in mind the Six Great Principles of the Sagely City of Ten Thousand Buddhas at all times, and not forget them. For that reason, I renounce everything and give everything away to others, and am not always telling people to give to me. Of course, if people do give, I do not refuse. However, I do my best to give, and I do a little as I have the chance. Whatever I am able to do, I do that much; but I do not force things when they are beyond my means.
All of you, think it over. If you can act like that, what would you still have to worry about? What would you still be unable to put down? If you truly apply those Six Great Principles in practice, then you really understand the Buddhadharma. To state this another way, the truths of the Buddhadharma are included in these Six Great Principles.
Not fighting is just not breaking the precept against killing. Why do people want to kill? It is because they want to fight. You fight and I contend, resulting in actions of murder and arson. If you neither fight nor kill, then you are holding the precept against killing.
Not being greedy is just not breaking the precept against stealing.
Why do people want to steal? It is because of greed. They are greedy to have others' possessions. If you are not greedy, then you are maintaining the precept against stealing.
Not seeking is just not breaking the precept against lust. Men pursuing women is seeking, and women pursuing men is seeking too. When they do not obtain what they seek, their spirits are upside down, to the point that they still seek in their dreams, and their bodies and minds are not at peace.
Not being selfish is just not breaking the precept against lying. Why do people want to lie? It is in order to preserve their benefits. That is why they are always deceiving people and speaking falsely. If you are not selfish, then under all circumstances you can speak the truth, and will not engage in deceit or trickery.
Not pursuing self-benefit is just not breaking the precept against taking intoxicants. People who take intoxicants feel that the intoxicant will improve their circulation, benefit their bodies, and certainly make them well. When they take the intoxicant, they feel giddy and elated and that they have become immortals. People who take intoxicants have such false thoughts, and the culprit is the pursuit of self-benefit.
Not lying is already included in the five items enumerated above, but in order to rouse everybody's vigilance and reinforce the bad points of lying, an additional item has been added as a warning.
Right now in Canada in the city of Vancouver at Gold Buddha Monastery, the Six Great Principles are constantly being lectured. They are taught to the elderly, to the middle aged, and to the young , so that people will know the essentials of the Buddhadharma. If you are truly able not to fight, not to be greedy, not to seek, not to be selfish, not to pursue self-benefit, and not to lie, then society will definitely be stable, and households are sure to prosper.
If people in the world could strictly uphold the five precepts and not kill, not steal, not engage in lust, not lie, and not take intoxicants, then they would have no afflictions or worries. That is why I say that the Six Great Principles are the most wonderful Dharma door. You could also say they are "The unsurpassed, deep, profound, subtle and wonderful Dharma which is difficult to encounter in hundreds of thousands of eons. I now see, hear, receive it and uphold it, and I vow to understand the Tathagata's true meaning."
I will say one thing more. To be a Buddhist, one must at the very least strictly hold the five great fundamental precepts and genuinely put them into practice. Only then can one be happy and at ease. If you are unable to maintain these five types of precepts, then it will be even harder to maintain the two hundred and fifty Bhikshu precepts, or the three hundred and forty-eight precepts of a Bhikshuni. Therefore, our fundamental Teacher, Shakyamuni Buddha, when he was about to enter nirvana in the Twin Trees Forest, told the Venerable Ananda: "Take the precepts as your Teacher." From this we can tell how important the precepts are! |
