如何悔過呢？悔悟改過自新。怎麼做呢？曾子有一則箴言：「吾日三省吾身；為人謀而不忠乎？與朋友交而不信乎？傳不習乎？」盡職、誠信、勤學是曾子自我反省的課題，而最大的啟示就在「每日」這個功夫上。有話說：「苟日新，日日新，又日新。」如果一天無過可改，那麼也就一天無功可進。莎士比亞說：「悲劇使人淨化。」我覺得「懺悔使人懂得謙卑。」唯有真正認清自己的過錯，看穿自己的醜惡面，才能產生大慚愧心，真正的謙卑自然就流露出來。《佛遺教經》說得好：「能愧之人，得修諸善法。」沒有慚愧心的人，猶如一個滿溢的茶杯，再寶貴的法水也無法注入；有慚愧心的人，就像一個空的茶杯，法水涓涓滴滴都能盛量。
六祖惠能大師解釋「懺悔」，說道：「懺者，懺其前愆，從前所有惡業，愚迷驕誑嫉妒等罪，悉皆盡懺，永不復起，是名為懺；悔者，悔其後過，從今以後所有惡業愚迷驕誑嫉妒等，今已覺悟，悉皆永斷，更不復作，是名為悔，故稱懺悔。」所以懺悔的真義在於真心悔改。這個真心必須真誠到極點，唯有誠意真到如金石般，才能切斷過去的過惡舊習，如金剛刀能切金斷玉，還要像來果禪師說的「永不再犯。」要想如果明知故犯，罪加三級；要思惟地獄業報，生怖畏心，恐懼心。在「慈悲三昧水懺」中講到懺悔的心要：「第一慚愧，第二恐怖，第三厭離，第四發菩提心，第五怨親平等，第六念報佛恩，第七觀罪性空。」
我們累劫以來所造的罪業如須彌山，就像《華嚴經》所說，幸好罪業沒有形相，若有的話，眾生所造的罪業會把虛空都脹破了。
怎麼樣才能生出恐怖心來懺悔，明因果，知道「如是因，如是果」呢？因果律就像物理學的慣性定律，把球打到牆上它會反彈。因此在因果定律之下，沒有人可以心存諂曲或僥倖，上至達官顯貴，下至販夫走卒，一律平等。種菩薩因，便得菩薩果；種地獄因，便受地獄果報。如何明瞭地獄業報？誦讀《地藏經》、《楞嚴經》的「十習因六交報」，深信因果是修行的基礎，猶如建築的基石；基石穩固了，依菩薩道藍圖建構，成就莊嚴的佛國。明因果對自利而言，是防心離過，止惡防非；對利他而言，能明瞭眾生苦難的根源，以及世界敗壞的禍因，了知返本還原之理。
從因果的原理中體悟因果輪迴的業報，看清眾生冤冤相報的本相，生出恐怖心之後，才能信解而厭離。厭離什麼呢？厭離輪迴的漩渦，希望尋找解脫之道；不僅自己得到解脫，也幫助親友解脫，推己及人，冤親平等，十方三世一切眾生皆得解脫。
修行路上剛出發時，一片荊棘，垃圾堆積如山，就好比我們的罪業惡障，阻礙我們前進。我們必須先當「清道夫」，披荊斬棘，掃除垃圾，理出一條平坦的道路來。所以發菩提心修行，第一要「剷除業障」，用金剛智慧劍剷除累劫以來積聚的業障山，懺悔要用大丈夫的力量，因為累劫過患已成積習，要用力剷除它。
待續 |
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One must reform within one's heart daily. How? One reforms and changes one's faults and begins anew. How? Zengzi had these admonitions for us: "I make three reflections daily: Have I failed to fulfill my obligations to others? Have I been unfaithful to any friends? Have I reviewed what I've learned?" Fulfilling obligations, being sincere and faithful, and studying diligently are the themes of reflection for Zengzi. The greatest inspiration comes from mastering this practice by doing it "daily." A saying goes, "If I can renew myself one day, I can renew myself every day." Any day that I have no fault to correct is a day that I have failed to make progress. Shakespeare said, "Tragedies moralize." I feel that "repentance and reform are humbling." When we truly recognize our faults, we see our ugliness and feel great remorse. True humility will naturally show. The Sutra of the Buddha's Final Teaching says it well, "Only when someone is capable of remorse is he able to cultivate all good dharmas." People who have no sense of shame resemble a teacup filled to the brim: the most precious water of Dharma cannot go in. People with a sense of shame are likened to an empty cup that is capable of retaining every drop of the water of Dharma.
The Sixth Patriarch, the Great Master Huineng, explained repentance and reform in this way, "Repentance is to repent of past errors, to repent so completely of all bad actions done in the past out of stupidity, confusion, arrogance, deceit, jealousy, and other such offenses, that they never arise again. Reform is to refrain from such transgressions in the future. Awakening and cutting off such offenses completely and never committing them again is called repentance and reform." Accordingly, the true meaning of repentance and reform lies with reforming sincerely and changing past evils and old habits, just as the vajra blade cuts through gold and jade. One must act according to what Dhyana Master Laiguo has said, "Never again incur a transgression." You must remember that if you knowingly commit transgressions, your offense triples. You ought to be terrified by the karmic retribution of being in the hells. "The Repentance of the Compassionate Samadhi Water" lists the essential stages of repentance: "First comes a sense of shame. Second is fear. Third is disgust and relinquishment. Fourth is the resolve for Bodhi. Fifth is equal regard for enemies and relatives. Sixth is mindfulness of repaying the Buddha's kindness. Seventh is contemplation of offenses as being empty."
The offenses that we have accrued for endless eons resemble Mount Sumeru. Just as the Avatamsaka Sutra says, it is fortunate that offense karma has no form; otherwise, living beings' offense karma would have caused space to burst apart.
How do we repent and reform out of fear? By understanding cause and effect, knowing that "Just as the cause is, so will be the effect." The law of cause and effect resembles the universal laws of physics. For instance, a ball will bounce back when you throw it against the wall. No one can plead with cause and effect. No one, from high-ranking officials and aristocrats to butchers and soldiers, is exempt from cause and effect. Everyone is equal. If we plant the causes of a Bodhisattva, we reap the fruits of a Bodhisattva. If we plant the causes for the hells, then we endure the retribution of being in the hells. How can we understand the karmic retributions of being in the hells? Read the Earth Store Sutra, and read the Shurangama Sutra's Ten Habits and Six Dependent Retributions. Absolute faith in cause and effect is the foundation for cultivation, just as the groundwork is to a building. Once the foundation is solid, we realize the adorned Buddhaland according to the blueprints on the Bodhisattva path. Once we understand cause and effect, that will benefit us by keeping the mind from transgression, stopping evil and preventing wrong doing. As far as benefiting others is concerned, we understand the root and source of living beings' suffering and the cause of the destruction of the world, and we understand the principle of returning to the origin.
From the principle of cause and effect, we understand cause and effect in transmigration and retribution. We see that living beings are steeped in mutual resentment and revenge. Once sentient beings are frightened by this, they will believe, understand, become disgusted and leave it behind. Leave what behind? They will be disgusted with and leave behind the whirlpool of transmigration in the hopes of liberation—not only their individual liberation, but liberation for their friends and relatives. Whatever applies to ourselves applies to others, enemies and relatives alike; therefore we help all beings throughout the ten directions and three periods of time to attain liberation.
When one is just starting out on the path of cultivation, a mass of thorny brambles and mountains of garbage stand before you. These are karmic offenses and evil obstructions that block our progress. Therefore we must first be street cleaners who hack away the brambles, remove the garbage, and clear out a smooth path. The first thing to do, then, is to bring forth the Bodhi resolve to cultivate. We must eliminate karmic obstructions by using the vajra sword of wisdom to eliminate the mountain of karmic obstructions that has been increasing for eons. We must repent with the strength of a great hero. Since, as endless eons have gone by our past oversights have become habits, it takes great energy to eliminate them.
To be continued |
