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1975年8月21日下午（盂蘭盆節）（續）
上人：還有人有話要說嗎？
學生：昨晚我夢見和媽媽、姐姐、三位表姐妹一起恭敬地繞佛。
另一個學生：打坐時我有些特別境界。我看見一個有鑰匙孔的金球。孔中一把金鑰匙開始轉動，開始轉的時候，光就越來越強。另一個境界是珠寶的組合，像是磨亮了的的琉璃，泛著很強的紅光和金光。
上人：還有誰要講話？
學生：現在世上有很多人沒有足夠的飯吃，沒有適當的衣著及居住條件，而少數人卻擁有遠超過他們所需的東西。因為這個問題很大，我想去解決它，效果卻微乎其微。我很失望。我們可以做些甚麼來改變現狀嗎？
上人：憂愁是沒有用的。你盡自己的心，能做多少做多少，不要苛求。因為一個人的力量有限；這種人太多了。妳先救自己。
果童：……（略。錄音帶不清楚。）
女眾：幾個月前，我讓朋友早晨把我叫醒，……（錄音帶不清楚。）
上人：還有誰有什麼境界，再說一說。有什麼覺得好，很特別的情形都可以說一說。
比丘尼恆賢：有時我看到光芒彌漫宇宙。偶爾又有所不同，光突然地閃現，像空中的小光點。幾天前，我看到過幾次。當時我在記筆記，沒在打坐。在金山寺也有這種境界。我突然想到，經典上似稱之為摩尼寶，但不能確定，是銀色的光。
上人：我們在這兒念佛，坐著停止的時候，這叫參禪也可以，你還在裏邊唸佛也可以。在這個時候很容易有一種輕安的境界。什麼叫輕安呢？就是一種入定的開始。入定開始的時候，或者覺得自己這個身體和太虛空合成一個了，這時候也沒有人相，也沒有我相，也沒有眾生相，也沒有壽者相。這時候並不是睡覺，但是一切都停頓了，一切都停止住了，這是一種輕安的境界。誰能夠把自己的妄想都停止了，真正智慧就會生出來。
方才這一位居士說「人在世界上，衣食住都不夠了。很多人沒有衣服穿；很多人沒有飯吃；很多人沒有房子住。」這是為什麼呢？就是做善的人少了，做惡的人多了。做善的人少，所以人人都沒有衣服穿，沒有飯吃，沒有地方住；做惡的人多了，所以也是人人沒有衣服穿，沒有飯吃，沒有地方住。就因為人，諸惡去做，眾善他不奉行，所以才受這種果報。
這種果報你想要挽回是不容易，因為做惡的人太多了，做善的人很少。那麼想要天下人人好，先要從我身上做起；想要世間所有的人都沒有痛苦了，也先要由我身上做起。怎麼樣做呢？自己「諸惡不作；眾善奉行。」所有的善事都去做去；所有的惡事都不去做。這可以挽回世間的劫運，可以對世界上有一點幫助。你能做多少善事，就做多少善事，盡上自己的責任，不要憂愁太多了。
你要只想說：「哦，這麼多人痛苦。」天天只想：「怎麼辦呢？」坐在家裏常常這麼憂慮，這是沒有幫助的。要自己實實在在去做好事去，來令世界上好的人一天比一天多，壞的人一天比一天少，這個世界就會好了，會人人都有衣服穿，人人都有飯吃，人人都有房子住。並不是說一定民主的國家是不好，要共產；共產的國家也不一定人人都有飯吃，有衣服穿，有房子住，甚至於是苦上加苦。所以你想要世界好，就必須要諸惡不作，眾善奉行，那自然就好了。
所謂「種善國，就結善果；種惡因，就結惡果。」你種人參，將來就會收人參；你種何首烏將來就有何首烏收。你種什麼，就會得什麼，和種田是一樣的道理。
待續
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Thursday, August 21, 1975 afternoon Ullambana (continued)
The Master: Does anyone else want to say something?
Student: Last night I dreamt that I was with my mother, my sister, and three of my cousins and we were all respectfully walking around the Buddha.
Another student: I had some significant visions while I was sitting. I saw a golden sphere with a keyhole in it. A golden key was inserted in it and it began to turn. As it turned, the light intensified. Another vision was that of a formation of jewels. It had a definite pattern and was set in something that looked like highly polished lapis lazuli. The colors were intense reds and golds.
The Master: Who else had an experience? Speak up.
A student: In the world at present there are a great number of people who do not have enough food to eat, who are not properly dressed or housed, while a small minority of people have much more than they can use. I experience a lot of frustration because my actions seem very insignificant and the problems are great. Just what can we do to change these things?
The Master: Worrying about them is of no use. Exhaust your efforts and do what you can and don't ask too much of yourself. An individual has only a limited amount of influence. There are too many people in the world. You must first rescue yourself.
Guo Tong: [Sound unclear.]
A woman: A couple of months ago, I asked a friend to wake me up in the morning... [Sound unclear]
The Master: Who else had an experience? If you had a special feeling or experience that you feel good about, you can bring it up.
Bhikshuni Heng Hsien: Sometimes I see light that pervades universally, but occasionally I see light that's kind of different, like sudden flashes, like a little point of light in space. I saw a couple of these a couple of days ago while I was writing notes; it wasn't during meditation. I've seen them at Gold Mountain too, and it occurred to me what Sutras describe as mani jewels, but I don't know. They were silver-colored.
The Master: When we are reciting the Buddha's name and we stop and take our seats, that can be considered investigating dhyana. But you can also continue to recite the Buddha's name silently. It is then very easy to experience a state of "peace." What is "peace"? It is the beginning sign of entry into samadhi. You may feel as if your body and empty space have united into one. There will be no mark of people, no mark of self, no mark of living beings, and no mark of a life span. You are certainly not asleep, but everything has come to a stop. This is the state of "peace." Whoever can stop his idle thoughts can realize genuine wisdom.
This layman just said that many people in the world lack food, clothing, and shelter. Many people have no food to eat, no clothing to wear, and no house to live in. Why is this? It's because those who do good are few and those who do evil are many. People who commit many evil acts and do not practice good deeds must undergo this kind of retribution.
This kind of retribution is not easy to avert, since those who do evil are so numerous and those who do good are so few. If you want to make the world a good place, you must first begin with yourself. If you want to alleviate the sufferings of everyone in the world, you must also begin with yourself. How? Do no evil yourself, instead, practice all kinds of good deeds. In this way you can avert the disasters due to afflict us and help the world out a bit. Do as many good deeds as you have the power to do. Do your best to fulfill your responsibilities, but don't worry too much.
If you do nothing all day except sit and think, "People are suffering too much. What can I do?" it is useless. You yourself must do good deeds and make it so that there are more good people in the world every day and fewer bad people. Then the world will be well, and everyone will have clothing, food, and shelter. It is not a matter of saying, "Democracies are no good. We should become communists and share the wealth." In communist countries, it's not necessarily the case that everyone has food, clothing, and shelter. In fact, sometimes there is misery on top of misery. Therefore, if you wish the world to be good, you must refrain from all evil and practice all good, and then the world will naturally become good. It is said,
Plant a good seed, reap a good fruit;
Plant an evil seed, reap an evil fruit.
If you plant ginseng, in the future you will harvest ginseng. If you plant
he shou wu, in the future you will harvest he shou wu. You get what you plant. Karma works in the same way fields are planted and harvested.
To be continued
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