「向使不聞佛語」： 向就是假設，如果你不聽見佛所說的這個語言。「此事誰見誰聞」：這個道理誰知道呢？誰會看見呢？誰會聽見了呢？沒有的！「未睹佛經」：你若沒有看見佛經上所說這些個道理。「此理」：這個理論。「焉知焉覺」：你怎麼會知道呢？你又怎麼會覺悟到呢？「其或依前貪戀」：你如果還是照著以前那麼貪戀這個臭皮囊。「仍舊癡迷」：你還是不明白這個道理的話，「祇恐」：你就怕啊。「萬劫千生，一錯百錯」：一回錯了，那麼一百回都是錯的。
「人身難得」：這個人身不容易得的啊！我們現在得到人身了，不要再錯過了！「而易失」：很容易丟的。這個「良時」：那好的時候，就是你青年的時候。「易往而難追」：也是容易過去了，你再想把這個好的時候再追回來，追不回來了。「道路冥冥」：那個道路很黑暗的。冥冥，就看不見什麼東西。「別離長久」：那麼分別的時候很長久的。「三途惡報」：在地獄、餓鬼、畜生這三途這個惡報。「還自受之」：你種這個惡因就受惡報。「痛不可言」：這實在地是可痛得很！「誰當相代」：誰能替代你受這果報呢？
「興言及此」：我現在講到這個地方啊。「能不寒心」：你這個心能不很害怕的嗎？「是故宜應斷生死流」：因為這個，你應該趕快修行，把這個生死了了，斷生死流。「出愛欲海」：出愛情和欲念這個苦海了。「自他兼濟」：你自己也離苦得樂了，他人也離苦得樂了，都是得到救度了。「彼岸同登」：同到那個不生不滅的彼岸去了，同登那個彼岸。「曠劫殊勳」：從無量劫以來，曠遠的這個劫以來，這是你立了一個大功。「在此一舉」：都是在這一舉，就是這一件事情，你要把它了生死了。「是為發菩提心第六因緣也」：這個就是我們每一個人發菩提心，第六種必要的因緣，必要發這種菩提心的一個因緣。
云何尊重己靈。謂我現前一心。直下與釋迦如來。無二無別。云何世尊。無量劫來。早成正覺。而我等昏迷顛倒。尚做凡夫。又佛世尊。則具有無量神通智慧。功德莊嚴。而我等。則但有無量業繫、煩惱。生死纏縛。心性是一。迷悟天淵。靜言思之。豈不可恥。譬如無價寶珠。沒在淤泥。視同瓦礫。不加愛重。是故宜應。以無量善法。對治煩惱。修德有功。則性德方顯。如珠被濯。懸在高幢。洞達光明，映蔽一切。可謂不孤佛化。不負己靈。是為發菩提心第七因緣也。
這第七叫「尊重己靈」。這個己靈也就是佛性，佛性也就是我們自己的那個靈性，因為佛和眾生是一樣的。那麼他為什麼有那麼大的智慧？我們就還是這麼愚癡。就因為佛他修德有功了，所以這個性德就方顯。修行的德行成就了，自己那個本性的智慧也就現前了。你若不加修理，不加雕琢，本性雖然是有，但是就現不出來。就好像這個桌子，這是一棵樹長大了，那麼把它鋸斷了，截割成這個木板，去做這個桌子，是一個器皿，可以用的。那麼像在那個樹上呢，你就不能拿那個樹當桌子，你只可以說它是棵樹。那個樹可以做種種的用具，種種的材料，可是你要是不會用呢，就只用它來燒火；你若會用，能以造成種種有用的傢俱，你願意造什麼，你若會造都可以。
待續 |
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If the Buddha did not speak of this, who would have recognized or even imagined these things? If we had never heard what the Buddha had said, how could we know about these situations? If we had not read the Buddha's sutras, how would we know and be aware of these truths? If you've never read a Sutra spoken by the Buddha, then how could you learn about these matters?
If we continue our hankering for love and pleasure, being greedy for love and sex and other such pursuits of illusory pleasure, then we will forever remain stupid and confused. You will always be confused and will never wake up.
It is only to be feared that one mistake has led to another for ten thousand kalpas, through thousands of lives: You make one mistake after another, all the while being attached to this illusory human life. A human body is hard to obtain and easy to lose: it is not easy to acquire this human body and once you lose it, it is difficult to get it back. Good times soon pass and cannot be brought back. Pleasant times pass quickly. Youth is an example. When the time has passed, it is impossible to get it back. The road is dark and gloomy: the path of the future is dark. And separations last a long time. I must endure evil retribution in the Three Paths by myself: in the three evil destinies of the hells, the hungry ghosts, and the animals, you yourself must answer for what you've done. The pain is unspeakable; it is unbearable to the extreme. Who would stand in for me? No one can go to the hells or become a hungry ghost or an animal on your behalf.
Even discussing this subject chills my heart. Even writing this essay chills my heart. We, therefore, must halt the flow of birth and death. We must make a deep commitment to quickly cultivate the Way, resolve the mind on Bodhi, and halt the flow of desire and of birth and death. Get out of the ocean of love and desire: get out of the emotional love and desire. Save ourselves and save others: you should save yourselves and others so as to leave sufferings and attain bliss and reach the other shore together. Together we should reach the other shore of non-production and non-extinction. Of all things throughout distant kalpas past, this is the most extraordinary achievement, yet one only needs to begin: for beginningless eons until the present, this is the greatest of meritorious works, and yet it lies within a single move. This is the sixth cause and condition for resolving the mind upon Bodhi: being mindful of the suffering of birth and death.
Essay:
What is reverence for our own spiritual nature? It is that right now, in a single thought, I can directly be one with Shakyamuni Thus Come One, without any difference at all. Why is it, then, that the World Honored One realized proper enlightenment an infinite number of eons ago, yet we are still muddled, confused, and upside down, still only ordinary people? The Buddha, the World Honored One, has also perfected infinite spiritual penetrations and wisdom and the adornments of merit and virtue, while we have only an immeasurable amount of karmic ties and afflictions and are bound to birth and death. Our minds and natures and his are one, but our confusion and his enlightenment are as far apart as the sky and the abysmal deeps. If we calmly contemplate this matter, how could we not be ashamed? It is as if we had dropped a priceless pearl into a mud puddle, considering it as worthless as a broken tile, neither cherishing nor esteeming it. We should therefore use an infinite number of wholesome Dharmas as an antidote to our afflictions. By cultivating virtue, we gain merit, and the virtue of our nature can then appear. Thus we wash the pearl and set it up high, where it now releases a penetrating radiance that outshines everything. Then we can say that we have not been ungrateful to the Buddha's teaching and have not failed our own spiritual nature. This is the seventh cause and condition for resolving the mind upon Bodhi.
Commentary:
The seventh is reverence for our own spiritual nature, which is the Buddha's nature. The Buddha's nature is also our spiritual nature, because the Buddha and the living beings are the same. Why is it that the Buddha has such great wisdom? Why is it that we are still sostupid? The Buddha has accrued merit from cultivating virtue, and itallows the virtue of his nature to appear. When you have accomplished virtuous conduct through cultivation, the wisdom of your inherentnature will manifest. If you don't reform and polish your originalnature, then it won't manifest itself. Consider the analogy of a table.When a tree has grown to maturity, it can be cut down and sawedinto wooden boards, which can be used to make a table, a usefulpiece of furniture. However, you can't say that the tree is a table; youcan only say that the tree can be used to make different kinds ofhousehold utensils and useful equipment. If you don't know how touse it, you can only use it as firewood; but if you know carpentry,you can build different kinds of furniture or any other types of thingsthat you wish.
To be continued |
