文殊師利。云何名菩薩摩訶薩行處。若菩薩摩訶薩住忍辱地。柔和善順而不猝暴。心亦不驚。又復於法無所行。而觀諸法如實相。亦不行。不分別。是名菩薩摩訶薩行處。云何名菩薩摩訶薩親近處。菩薩摩訶薩。不親近國王王子。大臣官長。
這一段文，是講什麼叫菩薩行處。所以釋迦牟尼佛叫一聲文殊師利菩薩，說「文殊師利」，你知道嗎？「云何名菩薩摩訶薩行處」：怎麼樣才可以稱做菩薩摩訶薩這個大菩薩所修行的處呢？
「若菩薩摩訶薩住忍辱地」：若就是假設，假設這個菩薩他修行忍辱行門的時候，住在忍辱的地上，那麼得怎麼樣子呢？住忍辱地，要「柔和善順而不粹暴」。
談到這個忍辱，很不容易的。釋迦牟尼佛在過去做忍辱仙人，遇著歌利王給他割截身體，他都不生瞋恨，那就是叫住忍辱地。聽過《金剛經》的人都知道這個公案；沒有聽過《金剛經》的人，對於這個公案一定是不明白。
在過去無量劫以前，釋迦牟尼佛在山裡邊修忍辱行。山裡邊沒有人，他又對誰修忍辱行呢？沒有人碰他，沒有人和他來往，他這個忍辱怎麼樣修法呢？他修忍；這個忍不一定要辱，就是忍人所不能忍的。好像山裏邊有一些個蚊蟲，咬人咬得很厲害。那麼他就有這個蚊蟲來咬，他也忍著，也不趕走這個蚊蟲。為什麼他不趕它走呢？第一他要修忍；第二，他若趕這個蚊蟲走，怕把這個蚊蟲嚇壞了，所以他修這個忍行。這是小動物蚊蟲，那麼大的，乃至於蛇來咬他，他也忍著；甚至於老虎來咬他，他也忍著；所有一切狼蟲虎豹來想要咬他，他都忍著。這是對於一切畜生有忍，因為沒有人，所以就對畜生修這種忍。
可是有一次這個歌利王就到山上去打獵去，打獵他就帶著很多的人。有大臣哪，有將軍哪，他又帶了一些個女人。這些女人就是皇宮裡頭的娘娘、妃嬪之類的，也到山上去打獵。在這個打獵的期間，各人找各人所看見的畜牲就去打。這些個女人沒有去打獵，就在山上各處去遊玩，各處去跑。一跑就看見一個很奇怪的這個人。怎麼奇怪呢？頭髮都長到一起了，好像我們用的那個地氈一樣成了一片；鬍子也很長的；手指甲也有幾寸長，轉了好幾轉在這手指頭上。那麼她們一看，說這是個什麼怪物啊？就有很多女人害怕，就要跑。
那麼這個很奇怪的，也不知是人，也不知道是畜生，就說話了。說是「妳不要怕我啊，我不會吃妳們的。」
那些女人說：「噢！這個不是……，不是怪物。他會說話，和我們人是一樣的。」於是乎嚇跑的那幾個也就回來。人都是有一種好奇的心理，說看看他是怎麼會說話，就回來說：
「你在這裡幹什麼啊？」
「我在這兒修行。」
「什麼叫修行呢？」
「無論誰給我什麼麻煩，我都忍著，我在這兒修忍辱行。」
他那麼講了幾句話，這些女人就都不怕了，說他會說話和我們人是一樣的。所以大家就越走越近，就把這個老修行－－忍辱仙人，給圍上了。
這個歌利王去打獵，快打完了，回來就找他這一些個女人。但是，一聽這些女人在這兒吱吱喳喳地講話。山上沒有其他的聲音，很遠就聽見這些個女人都在那兒和這個人談話，於是乎這歌利王就到這個地方來了。一看，噢！這麼一個長頭髮、長鬍子，但這可不是「嬉痞」。你不要誤會了，以為這嬉痞是長頭髮、長鬍子和這個忍辱仙人是一樣的，這不是的。忍辱仙人專門忍辱；你做「嬉痞」專門不忍辱，專門要殺人、偷盜，什麼事壞做什麼，這就是不同的地方。
那麼歌利王來了，他一看，噢！這一個怪人在這兒和他這一些個女人都在一起談話，他就生出一種妒忌了。「哼！你這個怪人，大概是有一種特別的本領，把這些個女人都給迷住了。」
待續
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Sutra:
Manjushri, what is meant by the Bodhisattva Mahasattva's range of practice? If a Bodhisattva Mahasattva dwells on the ground of patience, is gentle and compliant, not impetuous or volatile; if his mind is not frightened; if, moreover, he does not practice in regard to any dharma, but contemplates the marks of all dharmas as they really are not, however, practicing nondiscrimination—that is called the Bodhisattva Mahasattva's range of practice.
Commentary:
This section of text discusses the Bodhisattva's range of practice, which is why Shakyamuni Buddha says,
"Manjushri, do you know what is meant by the Bodhisattva Mahasattva's range of practice? Do you know what constitutes the scope of cultivation of a great Bodhisattva?
If a Bodhisattva Mahasattva dwells on the ground of patience—when a Bodhisattva cultivates the practice of being patient and resides at the level of patience—what is he like? It must be that he
is gentle and compliant, not impetuous or volatile."
Being patient is not at all easy. In the past, when Shakyamuni Buddha was a Patient Immortal, King Kali dismembered his body, yet as a Patient Immortal, he didn't feel any hatred or anger. That qualifies as dwelling on the ground of patience. Those who have heard the
Vajra Sutra know that story, but those who have not will not know it.
Limitless kalpas ago, Shakyamuni Buddha was in the mountains cultivating the practice of patience. You may wonder, "Since there aren't any people in the mountains, with whom was he being patient? No one came into conflict with him or had any dealings with him, and so how could he cultivate patience?" His cultivation of patience did not necessarily involve being insulted. He simply endured things people cannot bear. For instance, in the mountains there are many mosquitoes, and they bite people all the time. When the mosquitoes came to bite him, the Buddha, a Patient Immortal, was patient and didn't drive them away. First of all, he wanted to practice patience; and secondly, he was afraid that if he drove them away, he would terrify them. That's an example of how he was patient with small creatures. As to larger creatures, if snakes came to bite him, he would bear it. If wolves, bears, tigers, and leopards came wanting to tear into him, he endured it. He practiced patience toward all the animals, since there were no people there.
One time, King Kali came to the mountain to hunt. He brought a large group of people with him. There were ministers, generals, and quite a few women, including the queen and the ladies-in-waiting from the palace. During the sport, each of the men went off in pursuit of whatever kind of animal he spotted. The women didn't hunt, so they wandered around amusing themselves on the mountain. In the course of their explorations, they saw a very strange creature. The hair on his head was matted together like a rug, and his beard was very long. His fingernails were several inches long and had curled into several loops at the ends of his fingers. The women stared and exclaimed, "What kind of monster is that?" Many of them were frightened and wanted to run away.
But then the "monster" (they couldn't tell if it was an animal or a human being) spoke to them. He said, "Don't be afraid of me. I won't eat you."
The women said, "Oh, it's not a monster. He can talk like a human being." Then the ones who had started to run away came back, for people tend to be curious. They said, "Let's go see how he can talk."
They asked him, "What are you doing here?"
He answered, "I'm cultivating."
"What does 'cultivating' mean?" they asked.
He replied, "No matter what kind of trouble people give me, I endure it. I am cultivating the practice of patience."
Once he had said a few sentences, the women were no longer afraid, and they thought, "He talks. He's a person like us." They drew closer and closer until they had surrounded the Patient Immortal.
Meanwhile, King Kali had finished hunting and came back to look for his women. He was a long way off, but because there weren't any other sounds on the mountain, he could hear them chattering with someone. As the King approached, he saw the person had long hair and a long beard. However, he wasn't a hippie. You shouldn't be misled to think hippies are like the Patient Immortal. The Patient Immortal specialized in being patient, whereas hippies specialize in being impatient, in breaking the rules and doing every kind of disreputable thing there is to do.
As soon as the King saw the strange man talking with his women, he became jealous and thought, "You freak, you must have some special skill to be able to confuse my women like that."
To be continued |
