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「藍頸孔雀飛翔空中，卻始終不及天鵝速疾。出家在家亦復如是，出家比丘林中禪坐，具能仁寂靜之德，在家人望塵莫及。」（《佛說涅槃經》，221節）
最近，我們中學的一名學生，問我一個問題：「人為了開悟，為什麼一定要放棄在家人的生活，變成一名僧人呢？難道在家人就不能開悟嗎？」
我的回答非常直截了當，在家人即使想達到真正開悟的最低層次--入流（須陀洹）--也是不大可能的事，只要想想出家眾如何地摒棄了世俗之樂吧。他們飲食減量，而且只吃人家供奉的食物。他們縮短睡眠時間，他們不涉足塵世，不耽情世樂不看電影、跳舞、開派對等等。他們不領薪水，所以沒有錢可以任意購物或娛樂。
但是，冀求最低程度的開悟，所需要的幾個條件，如入禪得定，及最重要的先決條件：證得般若智，即便在如上所說的環境下，成功的出家人也寥寥可數。
出家人成道尚且如此難，更何況是一名在家人呢？什麼時候吃、吃多少、喝多少，只要他能夠買得到的，都隨他怎麼高興。世間娛樂的享受，隨他怎麼喜歡。賺取的薪水，隨他愛怎麼用就怎麼用。如果是拖家帶小的話，那麼他們又多了一個養家糊口的責任。這倒不是說在家人不可能開悟，而是說，明知世俗欲樂障礙開悟，卻又主動選擇這一種沉迷於欲樂的生活，修行之路自然就倍加艱辛。師父上人在萬佛城的一次開示中（1983年11月11日），對於「一直耽溺物質享受，在修行上將很難有所成就」這一點，作出了若干指示：
「出家的目的，是為了生脫死，而不是為了享受。既然出了家修行，又何必貪圖物質享受呢？有貪享受的心，又何必出家呢？……凡是講究享受的出家人，對於修持方面，根本談不到，不過是掛著假名而已。」（〈宣化上人開示錄〉第二冊，第175—176頁）
佛經上，有一條普通遮戒，佛陀一而再、再而三地闡述、來說明出家生活，對於那些想全心投入覺悟的佛道者，最大好處在哪裡：「在家居士、其子女、其家人，聽聞佛法。聽聞已，於諸佛所而生信心，生信心已，作如是思維：居家生活，受無量束縛，屬染污之途。沙門生活，自由如曠野空氣。若身居家而欲求聖道，是為難矣：以修難圓滿，行難圓淨故，如欲磨亮螺貝之難。是故當剃除鬚髮、身披法服，捨在家而入出家。
如是出家已，以波羅提木叉檢約身心，依伽藍界而行息止。其身善業充滿，禪坐無輟，得相應主題。因知悉若戒行略有瑕疵，將陷身危厄，愈是嚴持戒律；其口善業充滿，居清淨行業；身具戒行，謹護諸根，正念不失，理念清晰，安住知足。」
誰都看得出來，在家人和佛教僧眾二者間的生活有很大的差別。這種差別，在師父上人的教化中也是十分明顯的。事實上，那些極其有幸能接近師父上人，並在他的指導下工作、學習以及修行的人，都看得出來：他對待即使最發心、最親近他的在家弟子的方式，也跟他教導出家弟子的方式還是有很大的不同。由於他對出家弟子有更高的期許，所以教化他們的方法更直接、更針對性。也可以說，因為他們同為僧團的一員，所以師父上人才會以類似父母教子女的方式來教導他們。教導在家人，則特意不那麼直接和個別；他的期望當然也比對出家弟子要低得多。對出家人的期望標準高，其實是意味著更多的重任，及在未盡責任、有虧職守時，就意味著更嚴重的後果。這個道理，早在1970年代，師父在三籓市舊金山寺的一次開示中，已經講得很透徹了：我們在用齋時，要作三念五觀。有一偈言：
施主一粒米，重如須彌山；
吃了不修行，披毛戴角還。
這是多麼危險！所謂的「袈裟底下，失去人身。」所以，出家人處處要嚴守戒律。我們在生死未了的時候，欲心未斷的時候，時刻不能懈怠，處處不能馬虎。所以普賢菩薩警眾偈說：
是日已過，命亦隨減；
如少水魚，斯有何樂？
大眾！
當勤精進，如救頭然，
但念無常，慎勿放逸！
我們出家人，一分一秒皆要愛惜，所謂：「一寸光陰一寸金，寸金難買寸光陰。」光陰如此地寶貴，不可浪費時間！每個人要用功修行，精進再精進，才能有所成就。（〈宣化上人開示錄〉第3冊，66—67頁）
這並不表示在家人在護持佛法上，只能扮演無足輕重的角色。佛陀說過：沙門，於四事中，婆羅門、居士等於汝有大饒益：衣服、飲食、臥具、醫藥。汝等亦應於其廣行饒益：以諸善法、及清淨梵行而行教化。兩相助益，將使佛教中了生脫死，離苦得樂之法能得延續。兩相倚護，緇素二眾，將使善法得以紹隆。因有衣服及餘三事之護，(後者)沙門能得無憂。因行善法於世間，及行往生善趣之道，(前者)居士於快樂天福而生好樂。」
這段經文將佛教出家人與在家人之間的關係，劃分得很明確。而且，把超脫生死和往生天界兩者的果報，也作了清楚的區分。但是，在此必須再指出，出家人致力開發心靈「功夫」的首要任務，應該擺在能夠真正地教導佛法方面。這種能力並不單單來自於研讀佛典。這一點，師父上人再一次地在金山聖寺（1974年8月8日）的一次講法中，已經講得很明白了：
「真正的本事，真正的功夫，不在書本裡頭，也不在經裡頭，或者論裡頭，或者律裡頭的任何一個部分，這須要你老老實實地去修才行。經藏只是指引人道路，教人怎樣去修。可是你要是光曉得這個道理而不去實行，那是沒用的。好比你打算到某個城市去，你雖然認得那兒的路，可你沒有真正去走過。如果你不去，永遠沒到那個城，你就得不到那兒的寶。你若沒到藏寶庫，那你就得不著你所期待的有價值的東西了。佛經告訴你的就是這條通往寶藏之路。
律藏，是一種教你怎樣去到寶所的方法，你若知道這法子卻不用，那你永遠也得不到寶。論藏，專門討論教義以及如何才能到達寶所。可是你若儘在那兒討論來討論去，說前說後地，而不真正去修，那麼就是盡未來際，你也得不到寶。
迷時千卷少，悟時一字多。
當你整個人迷迷糊糊的時候，你去看一千本書也不夠，還嫌太少了。
你要是真正開悟了，你要是真正得道了，覺醒了，那時口吐一字，勝他千言萬語。禪宗講『以心印心』和『不立文字』，沒有任何語言或經典。這一脈心傳的法門，也就叫『心地法門』。心地法門教人修自本心，明自本性。本地風光，不從外得。離了本心，便找不到這個心地法門。不過，如果你能迴光返照，在自性上下功夫，就會明心見性，要明心見性那才算。」（〈傾聽自己，想一想〉上冊，140—141頁）。
有人真正達到開悟的階段，證得聖果，那時他就可以教佛法了。師父上人早年在美國講授佛法時，其中的幾句法語最常為被人所引用，亦說明得很清楚了。（載於〈宣化上人事蹟〉第一冊第89頁）：
「只怕你自己不真，不要怕別人超過你…人家有沒有在嫉妒我，沒什麼影響，我都一樣高興，因為我的自性裡有佛。
你若願意跟著我，與法界性一體，很好；不願意，也沒關係。當你達到那樣的境界的時候，你就可以講經說法了。」
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The blue-necked peacock which flies through the air, never approaches the speed of the swan. Similarly, the householder can never resemble the monk who is endowed with the qualities of a Muni (silent sage) who meditates aloof in the forest. (Spoken by the Buddha in the Sutta Nipata, Verse 221)
Recently one of the students in our high school asked me a question: “Why does a person have to renounce the householder's life to become a monastic in order to become Enlightened? Can't a householder realize Enlightenment?”
My answer was direct and simple. To realize even the very lowest level of genuine Enlightenment, that of a Stream-Enterer (Srotapanna) is an incredible achievement. Just think how monastics renounce worldly pleasures. They reduce the amount they eat and drink and only partake of the food that is offered to them. They reduce the amount they sleep. They do not go out into the world as they please to indulge in worldly entertainments--seeing movies, dancing, parties, etc. They do not receive any salary, so they do not have money with which they can spend on material objects or pleasures as they please. Yet even under those circumstances, very few monastics are able to successfully develop the meditational skill and most importantly the requisite prajna-wisdom to realize even this lowest level of Enlightenment.
Now how much more difficult is it for a householder, who can buy whatever food and drink he wants, partake of it whenever he pleases, and indulge himself in worldly entertainments as he pleases. He makes a salary and uses the money as he wishes to support his worldly way of life. If he/she has a spouse and/or children then their life is devoted to taking care of those responsibilities as well. This is not to say that it is impossible for householders to become Enlightened, but how much the more difficult is it for them, when they have freely chosen to live a life embroiled in worldly pleasures that are a hindrance to spiritual enlightenment. The Venerable Master gave these instructions in a lecture at the City of 10,000 Buddhas (November 11, 1983) with respect to the difficulty of having success in cultivation while still being attached to material comforts:
The goal of renouncing the householder's life to become a monastic is to end birth and death, not to enjoy oneself. Since you have renounced the householder's life to cultivate why should you be greedy for material comforts? If you crave material comforts, why did you renounce the householder's life?... Any monastic who has renounced the householder's life who is still finicky about material comforts does not have any skill in cultivation and is a monk in name only.” (Talks on Dharma, Vol. 2 pgs. 175-176)
There is a common refrain in the Buddhist Sutras spoken by the Buddha over and over again, which expresses the principle of the great advantage that the monastic life offers for those who want to fully devote themselves to the Buddha's path to Enlightenment:
A householder, or his son, or one belonging to any family, listens to the Dharma. On hearing the Dharma, he develops faith in the Buddha. When faith is developed, he considers thus:
“Full of bondage is the life of a householder. It is a path laden with defilement. A monk's (Shramana's) life is free as the open air. Difficult it is for a layperson to pursue the holy life in all its fullness, in all its purity, like a polished conch-shell. Now it would be better for me to shave off my hair and beard, don the monastic robes, renounce the householder's life and go forth into the homeless life.”
Having gone forth, he dwells restrained by the restraint of the monastic, disciplinary code (Pratimoksha). He is possessed of good conduct and has a suitable subject for constant meditation. Seeing the danger in the slightest faults, he disciplines himself in the rules. Being possessed of good words and good deeds, he pursues a pure livelihood. He is endowed with morality and his sense faculties are guarded. He attains mindfulness and clear comprehension and is content.
Anybody can see the immense difference between the life of a householder and that of a Buddhist monastic. This difference was also quite evident in the teachings of the Venerable Master. Indeed, those who had the incredible good fortune to be in close proximity to the Venerable Master while working, studying, and cultivating under his guidance saw that the way he treated even his most devoted and close householder disciples, was quite different from the way he taught his monastic disciples. He had much higher expectations for his monastic disciples and therefore taught them in a way that was more direct and personal. One can say that because they are part of the monastic family, the Master taught them in a way not unlike a parent teaching his children. With householders, the teaching was purposely less direct and personal, and the expectations were, of course, much less in comparison to that of monastics. However, the high standards for monastics, implies much more responsibility and greater consequences when one does not fulfill those responsibilities. This principle is well proclaimed in a lecture the Master gave in the 1970's at the original Gold Mountain Monastery in San Francisco:
While we eat, we should make the Three Recollections and the Five Contemplations. There's a saying:
A single grain of donor's rice,
Is as mighty as Mount Sumeru.
If one should eat it and then fail to cultivate,
One will have to repay the debt by wearing fur and horns.
How dangerous this situation is! This is called “losing one's human body while wearing the precept sash”! So monastics who have renounced the householder's life wherever they may be, must sternly guard the moral precepts. Before we've put an end to birth and death, before our thoughts of desire have been severed, we may not be the slightest bit lax or careless.
Samantabhadra Bodhisattva exhorts us:
This day is already done.
So our lives are that much shorter.
Like fish in an evaporating pond.
What happiness is there in this?
Great Assembly!
Be diligent and vigorous,
As if saving your own head.
Always be mindful of impermanence (death).
Be careful never to be lax.
We monastics who have renounced the householder's life must cherish each passing minute and second of time. Remember: “An instant of time is worth an ounce of gold. Even an ounce of gold cannot buy back an instant of time.” Time is just this precious, so don't waste it! Work hard at your cultivation. Be ever more vigorous. Only then can you expect success.” (Talks on Dharma, Volume 3, pgs. 66-67)
This does not mean that the householder doesn't have a very important role to play in the support of the Dharma. As the Buddha said:
They pay you great service, O monks, the Brahmins and householders who give you clothing, food, bedding, and medicines. You, also, pay them great service when you teach them the good Dharma and the pure life. Thus it is through your mutual help that the religious life, which causes the transcending of birth and death and puts an end to suffering can be practiced. Each relying on the other, householders and monastics cause the good Dharma to prosper. The latter (monastics) are protected from need, since they receive clothing and the rest; and the former (householders), having practiced the Dharma in the world, the path which leads to good forms of rebirth, delight in the heavens possessed of great happiness. (Itivuttaka III)
In these words the relationship between the Buddhist monastic community and that of householders is clearly defined and understood. Also, the fruits of the two--transcending birth and death versus rebirth in the heavens--are also plainly distinguished. However, one must again point out the heavy responsibility of monastics to fulfill their duty to develop the spiritual “kung fu” to truly be able to teach the Dharma. This ability does not come from studying the sutras alone. Again this is well taught in the words of the Venerable Master in a lecture given at Gold Mountain Monastery (August 8, 1974):
True skill, true kung fu, isn't in any book, isn't in any sutra, or any shastra, or in any part of the vinaya. It requires that you truly do the work of cultivation. The sutras just tell people the path. They teach you how to cultivate. But if you merely know the path and don't cultivate it, that is useless. That's as if you decide you are going to go to some city and you know the way there, but you don't actually go. If you don't go, then you'll never arrive at the city. You won't be able to get to the treasures there. If you don't get to the treasure chest, then you won't be able to acquire the valuables that you wish for. Sutras tell you the road to the treasures.
The vinaya is a method which teaches you how to get to the treasures. But if you know the method and you don't use it, then you are never going to get to the treasures. The shastras discuss the doctrines and how to get to the treasures. But if you merely discuss coming and going, merely talk back and forth, and you don't actually cultivate, then to the ends of the boundaries of future time, you won't get the treasures.
When you are confused,a thousand volumes are too few.
When you are enlightened,one word is too much.
When you're all muddled and confused, you can look at a thousand books and it won't be sufficient. It will still be too few.
If you have really become enlightened, if you've really penetrated to enlightenment, you have awakened, then one word is a lot of talk. You have no use for it. In the Chan school we speak of “using the mind to seal the mind” and “not being established by the written or spoken word”. There isn't any language or literature. The inheritance of the Singular Dharma is also called the Mind Ground Dharma. The Dharma door of the mind ground tells you to cultivate it and to recognize it. It is the ‘light and wind' of the original ground. It's not from any other place. You will not find the Mind Ground Dharma anywhere outside. But if you return the light, search within yourself, apply your kung fu to the inherent nature, you will recognize your own mind and see your own nature. That's what counts. (Listen To Yourself, Think it Over, Volume 1, pgs. 140-141)
Once a person has actually attained a level of enlightenment--has realized the fruit of the holy sages--then one is able to teach the Dharma. Once again this is well expressed in a favorite quote by the Venerable Master, that was spoken in the earliest days of his teaching in America and which appeared at the end of the Biography of the Venerable Master, Volume I, page 89:
You need only fear that you yourself will not be true. Do not fear that others will surpass you.... Whether others envy me or not makes no difference, I am happy all the same, for I am of one substance with the Buddhas.
If you would like to come along with me and be of one substance with the nature of the Dharma Realm, fine. If you don't, it does not matter to me. When you have arrived at that state, then you can speak the Buddhadharma.
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