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1975年8月20日星期三下午
那麼「人教」還不普遍，只有人能成佛。那麼「人教」又給它改個名字，叫什麼呢？叫「眾生教」，所有的一切眾生都包括在內了。眾生就是在天上飛的眾生，地下走的眾生，水裡頭的眾生，和一切樹木植物，這都是眾生，每一個樹木裡頭它都有眾生。眾生是眾緣和合而生，所有的一切因緣和合成了才成眾生。所以我主張佛教改個名字叫「人教」；人教又改個名字叫「眾生教」：這個眾生教就是佛教。
眾生教又給它改個名字叫「心教」；心教不是新舊的「新」是人心的「心」。一切眾生都有一個心，既然有心都可以成佛；都可以成佛就叫心教。心、佛、眾生，是三無差別；佛與眾生和心是一樣的。我所提倡的佛教是法界的佛教。我的宗旨就以法界為宗。我是法界宗；以法界為宗，以法界為體，以法界為用，以法界為名。又叫一個法界教－－名、體、宗、用、教，都是法界；名叫法界，體叫法界體，宗叫法界宗，用叫法界用，教叫法界教：以法界做它一個範圍。所以，所有的眾生都包括在這法界裡面；無論你是什麼宗教，你跑不出法界外面去。
你也不能說你不是眾生；你是眾生，你在這個法界裡頭，在這個佛教裡頭包括著，不論你是好人、壞人，我都把你包括在佛教裡頭。你信佛教，不信佛教，我也都把你包括到佛教裡頭來。
你說：「我不信佛教。」那是你自己的事情，就好像你自己有父親，可是你從小就跑到外邊，所以也不認識這個父親了。等到自己父親來見面的時候，也不認識了。所以，我這個佛教的範圍是包括所有信佛和不信佛的人；不是說信佛的人就是佛教，不信佛的人就不是佛教，不是的。你信不信，我都承認你是佛教，因為佛說過一切眾生皆有佛性，皆堪作佛。你跑不出去的；你沒有地方跑的，所以我的皈依弟子，他願意來就來，願意走就走。你走到什麼地方去，我怎麼樣也不相信你會跑出到法界外邊去；你沒有跑出到法界外邊去，你還在法界裡邊，那就是我的範圍。所以，我這個佛教是沒有一個邊際的。
我這個佛教，你信也好，不信更好；你讚歎佛教也好，你識謗佛教也沒有關係：順逆皆精進，你就是識謗，我也要度你成佛的。
好像是昨天那個果立說有一個蚊子咬他耳朵，我叫他發願先度牠成佛。你要是有這種願力，蚊子就不咬你了。那麼果童又說也有蚊子咬他，我說把牠Put
in jail，把蚊子放到監獄裡去。他說NO！NO！他那麼小就有慈悲心。咬他一口，他也不願意把牠放到監獄裡頭，這個就是慈悲心。至於說和這個蚊蟲簽合同，有的人說還是被蚊子咬呢！雖然說簽合同，我們一切一切還要反求諸己，要迴光返照。
我最初說那個道理，那才是真的。什麼呢？我說你們要是拿出真心來唸佛，就沒有蚊子來咬你們了，不需要簽合同，蚊子也不咬你；你要不用真心來唸佛，盡打妄想，那個蚊子牠也會看，說：「你呀！在這兒修行，在這兒唸佛，你盡打妄想。好！你先布施給我一點血，看你怎麼樣？」所以牠會看的。
你要是有真心呢，牠就「寧動千江水，莫動道人心。」「這個人在這兒修道唸佛，我無論如何不打他閒岔。」牠會看的。你看這蚊子雖然小，牠會聞味道的。你有這個唸佛的味道，有真心，牠就不咬你；你要沒有真心，好像我這樣常打妄想，這個蚊子就常常和我化緣。我這麼樣子不肯布施的人，都要布施一點血給牠。
你們各位也當然是一樣啦！從來也不想捨一分錢布施，捨一個錢幫助人，所以這個蚊子說：「好啦！軟化，不如硬化；我一定要喝你的血，叫你發菩提心。」牠喝你一點血，你就有點覺悟，想這個娑婆世界真是苦；不要說旁的，這個蚊蟲咬一口就痛得要一、兩天，腫起來。這個世界真苦囉！趕快唸佛求生極樂世界。那個地方無有眾苦，但受諸樂；那個地方也沒有三惡道，沒這麼多的蚊蟲、螞蟻、蜂子，這些麻煩都沒有，所以你發菩提心。這個蚊子正是你的善知識，正是幫助你修行的，你要迴光返照，反求諸已；要問問自己，是不是拿出真心來唸佛了。這個意思在這個地方。
昨天我說和牠簽合同那是假的；今天我和你們說這個才是真的。
有的人說我們打佛七，講開示，怎麼講蚊蟲呢？蚊蟲雖然小，可有大文章在裡頭。我們修道是要從小的地方修起，不是要從大的地方修起；都是自小而大，自近而遠，自卑而高，所以我們現在要是把近的事情弄清楚了，遠的事情也就明白了。如果你們各位不願意聽，我所講的你們就把它忘記了；你要是真忘了它，那你才是真唸佛的人。我絕對不相信，你們會把「今天」忘了；不是「我今天說的」，你把它忘了，而是把「今天」給忘了。有人說我會忘了，我睡著就不記得了，這是真的。
待續
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Wednesday, August 20, 1975 (afternoon)
But "the teaching of people" is not an all-inclusive term, so we will give it yet another name, "the teaching of living beings." All living beings are included within it. This includes the living beings who fly in the air, those who walk on the earth, and those who live in the waters, as well as all the plants and trees. All the trees have living beings inhabiting them. Living beings are born from a conflux of changing conditions. When the causes and conditions conjoin, living beings are born. So I advocate that Buddhism be renamed, "the teaching of people," and that that name be further changed to "the teaching of living beings."
What is more, "the teaching of living beings" can be renamed "the teaching of the mind." Because all living beings have minds, they can all become Buddhas. Thus we call it "the teaching of the mind." The mind, the Buddha, and living beings are three and yet are not different. They are one and the same. That is why I propagate the Buddhism of the entire Dharma Realm. I take the Dharma Realm as my school; I take the Dharma Realm as my substance; I take the Dharma Realm as my function, and as my name. And I embrace the teaching of the Dharma Realm. So, in name, substance, school, function, and teaching, it is all "the Dharma Realm."
Name: The Dharma Realm
Substance: The Substance of the Dharma Realm
School: The School of the Dharma Realm
Function: The Function of the Dharma Realm
Teaching: The Teaching of the Dharma Realm
The entire Dharma Realm is our scope. All living beings live within the Dharma Realm. No matter what religion you follow, you can't go beyond the Dharma Realm. Moreover, there is no way you can deny that you are a living being. All living beings are included within the Dharma Realm. Thus you are encompassed within Buddhism. Whether you are a good person or a bad person, you are included within Buddhism, and I consider you to be a Buddhist whether you consider yourself to be one or not.
You may say, "But I don't believe in Buddhism." Well, that's your business. You are like a person who ran away from home at an early age and now no longer recognizes his own father. Even face-to-face you no longer know your father. The scope of my Buddhism includes everyone— believers and non-believers alike. Are believers real Buddhists and non-believers not Buddhists? No. Whether you believe or not, I claim you as a Buddhist. The Buddha himself said, "All living beings have the Buddha nature and all can become Buddhas." You can't run away. There's no place to run to! So when my disciples want to draw near, they may do so; if they want to leave, they are free to leave. No matter where you go, I know you'll never run beyond the Dharma Realm. You can't escape the universe, you can't run beyond the Dharma Realm, and that is just my territory. My Buddhism has no limits. If you believe, fine. If you don't, that's even better. If you praise Buddhism, fine. If you slander it, it doesn't matter. I am vigorous whether the situation is favorable or unfavorable. Even if you slander Buddhism, I will still take you across to Buddhahood. For example, yesterday Guo Li said a mosquito was biting his ear and I told him to make a vow to cross it over to Buddhahood. When you have that kind of vow power, the mosquitoes won't bite you. Guo Tong said that a mosquito had bitten him and I told him to take it to jail. He said, "No, no, no..." Even though he was bitten, he wouldn't lock the bug up in jail. That's the heart of compassion.
Even though I said that I had signed a contract with the mosquitoes, some people have been bitten by them. Although a contract was signed, in all matters one should reflect upon oneself, illuminate inwardly. The first doctrine I spoke was the real one. What was that? I said that if you brought forth your true hearts to recite the Buddha's name, no mosquitoes would bite you and no contract would be necessary. If you do not recite sincerely, but drift off in idle daydreams instead, the mosquitoes know what to look for and they'll say, "You! You're supposed to be cultivating and reciting the Buddha's name but all you're doing is daydreaming. Okay, you can just offer me a bit of your blood. How do you like that?" They can tell just by looking, you know. If your heart is true, then,
Better would it be to change the course of a thousand rivers,
Than to disturb the mind of a cultivator of the Way.
The mosquitoes intuit, "That person is busy cultivating and reciting. No matter what, I'm not going to pester him." Although mosquitoes are small, they can tell by looking, and they also know how to distinguish odors. If you have the "Buddha Recitation fragrance," if your heart is true, they won't bite you. If your heart is not true, if you're like me, for example, and do nothing but daydream, they come to beg from you all the time. The mosquitoes come to ask for a handout, and although I'm very stingy, I have to oblige and give them a little blood. The same is true, of course, for all of you as well. You never, ever considered giving away a penny in order to help someone else, so the mosquitoes say, "This guy is a hard case. I have to transform him in a tough way instead of gently. He's very stingy with his blood and so I'm determined to taste it." They are encouraging you to bring forth the thought of Bodhi, because when they sting and drink a little blood you may wake up a little, "Ah, the Saha world is truly filled with suffering." Because the bite hurts for several days, you can know how bitter samsaric existence is, and think, "I must hurry up and recite the Buddha's name and seek rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss where there is no suffering, only happiness. There are none of the three evil paths, and no mosquitoes, ants, or other pests there either." And if you do bring forth the thought of enlightenment, then the mosquitoes become your Good Advisors. They truly help you cultivate. You've got to turn the illumination around and reflect inwardly. Ask yourself, "Have I recited in earnest?" That's the important point. Yesterday when I said that I had signed a contract, that was false. What I told you today is the truth.
Someone is thinking, "I came to this recitation session to hear instructional talks; why is he talking about mosquitoes?" Although the mosquitoes are small, they are a topic for a major essay. When we cultivate the Way, we should start from the small, not from the big. One proceeds from the small to the big, from the near to the far, from the lowly to the lofty. So if you can be clear about the things close at hand, you will understand what is going on at a distance.
If you don't want to hear what I have to say, simply forget it. If you can forget it, you're truly mindful of the Buddha. However, I feel sure that you won't forget it today.
Someone is thinking, "I can forget. When I fall asleep I'll forget about it." That's all too true.
To be continued
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