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1975年8月20日星期三下午
上人：還有沒有問題？
問：佛法對我來說是新的，我想知道您教哪一宗派？
上人：他叫甚麼名字？
答：鮑伯。
上人：他是甚麼地方來的？
答：曼哈頓
上人：我們金山寺是整個佛教的一個佛教，並不單屬於哪一宗，哪一派；也沒有宗，也沒有派。
問：我記得上人曾說我們修行要從根本處修起，法也要從根本處修。我新來，也不懂很多，但是我可以理解生死的概念；我知道舊的死了新的又會生出來了。我希望上人能就這點再加以解釋一下，並且再多告訴我們一些法是什麼；我們在這末法時期該怎樣弘揚法。法是不是也像其他的眾生一樣，在一處滅了，在他處又生起。
上人：法，就是一個方法。什麼方法呢？修道的方法。修道的方法因為時間久了，人覺得這個法不新鮮了他就不修行。本來這個法，沒有正法也沒有末法，法是不動的，沒有正末。人呢？有勤修精進和懶惰。人精進就是正法；人懶惰就是末法。我們現在在這兒打佛七，叫精進七，這就是正法。那麼過了打七，你不精進，不修行了，這就是末法。
問：可不可以請上人講一講第三眼？
上人：有五眼，不只三眼。他聽誰說過有三眼？
問：上人昨天所講的白毫相，是第三眼？
上人：不是的。那是白毫相光。佛不是只有三眼。佛是有百千萬無量無邊那麼多的眼。我們眾生修行也可以有無量無邊那麼多的眼。每一個毫毛梢上就有無量無邊那麼多的眼睛——不要說這個眼，有一些外道所說的三眼，那眞是太少了，太不明白佛法的道理了。佛法，你要修成佛了，那個眼睛沒有數量那麼多；那個手也沒有數量那麼多。觀音菩薩都有千手千眼；不只千手千眼，萬手萬眼都不止。
你們被蚊蟲咬的呢？一定有很多人都被蚊蟲咬。
間：………。
上人：那就是你不誠心唸佛，沒有拿出眞心來。
問：那訂的合同呢？
上人：你告訴他，這個蚊子一定是沒有信用的。牠一定是不依照這合同來做的。這是毫無疑問的，因為牠太小了，牠不管這個。這蚊子也太多了，很多。我可以一個簽著，另一個簽著，那不少了。牠們是很自由很民主，不聽旁人管的。我和這個蚊子簽了合同，那個蚊子說我沒有簽。我不管的，所以牠要來咬人。
翻譯：上人只跟一隻蚊子簽約。
上人：簽，也不是一個，也是很多，但是，另外還有很多的嘛！不是單單一個。譬如這一個國家有民主黨跟共和黨。我和民主黨簽了，共和黨說我沒有簽，他那個Party（黨）不管的。因為蚊蟲太多了，牠有好幾黨，好幾派。
蚊子有蚊子的黨；螞蟻有螞蟻的黨；蜂子有蜂子的黨，各有所黨，各有一派。唯獨我這個佛教，也沒有一個黨，也沒有一個派；也沒有一個宗，就是全體的佛教。我所講的佛教，不是中國的佛教，不是日本的佛教，不是暹羅、緬甸的佛教，也不是錫蘭、印度的佛教。我所主張的佛教，是整個世界的佛教，是整個宇宙的佛教，是整個法界的佛教。我所主張的佛教，也不叫它做佛教；叫它做什麼呢？叫它「人教」——你是人，就應該信佛教。因為人能成佛，所有的人都可以成佛，沒有成佛之前，我們叫它「人教」。
待續
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Wednesday, August 20, 1975 (afternoon)
The Master: Are there any questions?
Student: I am rather new to Buddhism and would like to know what school or sect you teach.
The Master: What is your name?
Student: Bob.
The Master: Where are you from?
Student: Manhattan.
The Master: At Gold Mountain Monastery we study the entire spectrum of Buddhism. We do not subscribe to any one particular sect or school. We maintain no such divisions.
Student: I recall the Master once saying that we must cultivate our roots where we come from and we must cultivate the Dharma where it comes from. I'm very new and I don't really understand very much, but I do grasp the idea of birth and death. I understand that when things die, new things are born. I would like the Master to expound upon that and tell us more about what the Dharma is and how we can learn to propagate it in the Dharma-ending Age. Like other living things, when the Dharma ends, does it then get reborn?
The Master: The Dharma is a method—a method for cultivating the Way. After practicing for a time, people often feel that the Dharma is not as fresh and exciting as it was at first and they quit cultivating. Basically, there is no Dharma-ending Age and there is no Proper Dharma Age. The Dharma itself is unmoving. It is not inherently "proper" or "ending." People, however, are sometimes diligent and vigorous and at other times they are lax and lazy. When people are vigorous, that's the Proper Dharma Age. When people are lazy, it's the Dharma-ending Age.
The Buddha Recitation session we are conducting here is a vigorous one and it is the Proper Dharma Age for us. After the session is over, if you don't cultivate and aren't vigorous, it will revert to the Dharma-ending Age.
Another student: Could the Master please tell us more about the third eye?
The Master: There are five eyes, not just three eyes. Where have you heard about three eyes?
Student: Yesterday, when the Master discussed Amitabha Buddha's white hair-mark, I took that to be the third eye.
The Master: That's not the third eye. That's just the white hairmark. The Buddha doesn't have just three eyes. The Buddha has a hundred thousand billion, limitless, boundless eyes. If we living beings cultivate, we too can possess a measureless number of eyes. On the tip of every hair alone there is an infinite number of eyes. The third eye which non-Buddhist religions talk about is really nothing. They simply have no understanding of what the doctrines of Buddhism are all about. If you cultivate and become a Buddha you will have an uncountable number of eyes and an uncountable number of hands. Guanyin Bodhisattva is said to have "a thousand hands and a thousand eyes," but not only has she a thousand eyes and hands, she has more than ten thousand. It cannot be known how many hands and eyes she has.
Has anyone been bitten by mosquitoes? Certainly a lot of people must have bites?
Student: ...
The Master: That's because you haven't been sincere in your recitation! You haven't brought forth your true heart.
Student: What about the contract?
The Master: The mosquitoes are not trustworthy. They are bound to fail to observe the terms of the contract. There's not the slightest doubt about it. They are just too small to pay attention to things like that. There are too many of them, besides. I can sign a contract with one of them, but another won't keep the agreement, and will close in. They like their independence and are very democratic in spirit. They won't put up with having people supervise them. If I sign a contract with one of them, another will say, "I didn't sign nothing. I'm not following no contract," and so they bite.
Translator: The Master only made out a contract with one mosquito...
The Master: Hey, it wasn't just one. It was a lot of them. But there were still a lot of them who didn't sign. For example, in this country there are the Democrats and the Republicans. If I signed a contract with one of them, the other would say, "He didn't sign. It's none of our business." Mosquitoes, too, have a lot of different parties and sects.
Mosquitoes have the Mosquito Party. Ants have ant parties and bees have bee parties. Each creature belongs to its own organization and faction. Only my Buddhism has no party, no school, and no sect; it is all-inclusive, complete Buddhism. The Buddhism I teach is not Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Burmese, Ceylonese, or Indian. The Buddhism I promote is world-Buddhism, universal Buddhism, the Buddhism of the entire Dharma Realm. The Buddhism I promote I don't even call Buddhism; I call it "the teaching of people." If you are a person, you should believe in Buddhism. This is because people can become Buddhas. Since all people can become Buddhas, we can call this teaching "the teaching of people."
To be continued
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