這九品裡頭又分出來九九八十一品；每一品又分出九品。前幾天也曾經說過了，他用這九九八十一品的蓮花來度眾生。誰唸佛，西方極樂世界那個七寶池、八功德水裡邊就生出一朵蓮花來。你這唸佛，唸得越多，蓮花就長得越大；你唸佛唸得少，蓮花就小一點。蓮花大，你成佛也大一點；蓮花小，成佛就晚一點。蓮花大，你成佛就早一點；你要唸唸佛又不唸了，那麼蓮花又乾了，又沒有了。所以你要想你品位高，你就多唸佛，誠心唸佛；你要想你品位低，那麼你就懶惰不唸佛，那個蓮花也就沒有了。
「威德無窮極」：這個阿彌陀佛大威德力，沒有可比的。
如果有問題你就快點問，過一兩天我們就要回金山寺去了。
弟子：有的時候小孩子有無形的朋友。我想知道他們是不是真的人。我有一個朋友常常和一群沒有形相的小朋友玩，可是有一次他自己不乖的時候他就怪這些無形的小朋友，然後他們就都不見了。
上人。誰知道是這樣的呢？
弟子：他母親。
上人：他母親看得見嗎？
弟子：看不見，可是他每天跟他們玩好幾個小時。
上人：這有時候會有；或者是鬼，或者是仙，都有的。因為他不知道這是鬼，或者是仙，以為就是朋友。這小孩子中，有的看得見的。小孩子要是修行很容易成功的。
我常常講，男孩子不過十六歲，女孩子不過十四歲，要是參禪打坐用功修行，再遇著真正善知識，就很容易開悟，很容易成他的道果。因為他不知道世界上那麼多真真假假的事情，也不知道你欺騙我，我欺騙你，互相那麼欺騙的事情，等一讀書，有了cheat-sheet（夾帶），就不容易了。
1975年8月24日星期日下午
上人：有沒有其他的問題？ 弟子。請問師父，眾生有沒有一個開始？一個地方？有沒有什麼來源？如果是從無始以來就有了眾生，那麼眾生有沒有一定的數目？如果有來源，那麼是從那兒來的？
上人：來源就是從「0（零）」的那兒來的。你問他，那個「0（零）」從什麼地方開始？從什麼地方終了？那個就是個無始無終。那個「O」要破了，變成一個「一」，就有一個開始。中國字也是一樣，就是，「一」就是從那個「0」變出來的。有了一了，就生出來個二；有了二就有三；有了三，就有四、五、六、七、八、九、十，乃至於無量無邊那麼多的數字。你說這個有多少的眾生？
弟子：如果把這個「0（零）」扭絞一下，就變成「無量」的符號。
上人。這個就是中國那個陰陽魚，不過西方畫的和中國的不同。你修道，還要把這個「一」修成「0（零）」，那就是返本還原了。現在這個問題懂了沒有？
弟子：明白了，就是一個修道的問題。
上人。你修，就是返本還原，從「一」回到「０」上。但是人人都把這個「一」忘了，不要說那個「0」了，連一都忘了，連個「一」，都不知道哪回事。「天得一以清，地得一以寧。」 天得到這個「一」，是晴晴朗朗的萬里無雲；地得一以寧；地得到這個「一」，就不會地震了；「人得一以聖」：人要得到這個一，就是聖人。那麼你要再能修成「0」就是佛了。
待續 |
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Each of the nine grades further subdivides into nine grades, making eighty-one grades in all. Whoever recites Amitabha Buddha's name causes a lotus flower to bloom in the water of eight meritorious virtues in the pools of the seven jewels in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. The more you recite, the larger your lotus blossom grows. If you recite just a little, your lotus will be small. If your lotus is big, you will rapidly become a Buddha. If your lotus is small, it will take a little longer. If you recite for a while and then quit, your lotus will wither and die. If you want to have a high grade of lotus, you should recite more. Recite sincerely. If you don't care whether or not you have a low grade, then you can be lazy and not recite—but your lotus will vanish.
His awesome virtue is infinite.
The power of Amitabha's great awesome virtue is incomparable. No other Buddha can compare with him.
If anyone's got anything to ask, you should ask it now, because in a day or so we're going back to Gold Mountain Monastery.
Disciple: Sometimes children have invisible playmates. I was wondering if they are real human beings. I had a friend whose child played with a whole bunch of them, but when he misbehaved, he blamed the invisible playmates for his mistakes, and they all disappeared.
Venerable Master: Who knew about this?
Disciple: His mother.
Venerable Master: Could she see them?
Disciple: No, but he played with them for hours and hours.
Venerable Master: They may have been ghosts or immortals. But because he didn't recognize them as ghosts or immortals, he treated them as playmates. Some children can see such beings. When children cultivate the Way, they can very easily succeed. I've often said that for boys under the age of sixteen and girls not yet fourteen, it is very easy to become enlightened, provided they sit in meditation, work hard at their cultivation, and meet with a teacher of genuine wisdom. It's easy for them to accomplish the fruits of the Way. This is because they don't discriminate all the true and false things going on in the world. They don't deal with all those "you cheat me and I cheat you" affairs that go on. As soon as they go to school and learn how to use a "cheat-sheet," then it's no longer as easy for them to realize the Way.
Sunday, August 24, 1975 (afternoon)
Venerable Master: Questions?
Disciple: I was wondering if living beings come into existence at a given point in time or if their existence is beginningless. If the latter is the case, then is there a fixed number of living beings? If they do have a beginning, an origin, what is it?
Venerable Master: Their origin is the zero: O. As for the zero, where does it begin and where does it end? That's the "beginningless and the endless." When you break open the zero: O, it becomes the number one:—. In English it stands up on end like this: 1. When this happens there is a beginning. When there is the one, then "two" comes into being. With two, comes three, with three comes four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and on up to infinity. So how many living beings are there?
Disciple: If you twist the zero, it turns into the sign for infinity: ∞.
Venerable Master: That's just the yin-yang symbol. Westerners just draw it differently.
In cultivating the Way you must cultivate to attain the one, and then turn the one back into the zero. That's called "returning to the root and going back to the source." Does that answer your question?
Disciple: Yes. It's a question of cultivating the Way.
Venerable Master: When you cultivate, you return to the root and go back to the source; you cultivate the one to return to the zero. Everyone has forgotten about the one, to say nothing of the zero. They don't even know what the one is all about.
When the heaven attains the one, it s clear.
When the earth attains the one, it's serene.
When people attain the one, they become sages.
When heaven attains the one, the sky is clear. For ten thousand miles, there's not a cloud. When the earth attains the one, there are no earthquakes. People who attain the one are sages. If you can then cultivate and get back to zero, that's Buddhahood.
To be continued |
