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師父上人、各位法師、各位善知識：
阿彌陀佛！我叫劉果福，今晚跟大家講講我在聖城學習到的一些東西。
我以前有個朋友怕吃胖。為什麼呢？肥胖容易生病。他看了一本書，看完就叫每一個人，「不要太過珍惜食物，你要知道，浪費食物是很好的。當你把食物遺棄在桌子上，你應覺得很舒服。」他這樣說。我來聖城後，就開始了一系列的磨鍊跟接受善知識的教導。我開始做工時是跟果建一起，他說，「上人有一次告訴我：『做工時，不能浪費釘子；否則，你將來做工時，什麼都有，就是沒有釘子。』」
又有人跟我說，他常去看聖城的車房、洗衣樓之類的舊房子，因為那裡有很多閥（valve）、管子等的舊東西。他說，「你知道聖城怎樣生存的嗎？就是因為這些東西；聖城就是靠這些破銅爛鐵哩！」我想，當初為什麼很多人都不敢買聖城的前身--當時的州立醫院-- 就是因為建築物太陳舊，維修困難。這些建築物內的很多零件，都很古老的；太早期的東西，現在可能買不到。那我們怎麼維修聖城呢？就用這些舊車房、舊洗衣樓裡的舊東西來替換；如果要以新的零件換，可能得把聖城整個建築系統都換掉，所以聖城可以說是依靠這些破銅爛鐵來維修的。這是柯果明居士告訴我的。
兩天前，我聽錄音帶裡上人問是誰扔了他的紙杯，有個人說是他丟的。上人跟那人說他不應該這樣，因為如果有人沒有杯子，就可以用這個紙杯。過後有人跟我說，他看到上人有一個蠟紙杯，用了兩年，後來有人把它丟掉了；上人跟那人說，「我還沒有用夠呢！為什麼你丟掉？」這是（沙彌）果遜師告訴我的。上人也說以前在舊的金山寺我們是從垃圾桶裡揀食物吃，現在雖然不用了，可是我們也不該浪費東西。我覺得這是一個很有智慧的開示。
在聖城有許多人跟隨上人很久了，都知道聖城的家風吧！上人這種節儉個性，這種不浪費的做法，是我們該效法的。
有些東西，對有些人來說是破銅爛鐵；對另一些人來說，就是寶貝。我在法界聖城時，就遇到了這樣的事情﹕那裡屋頂上有個鐵盒子壞了，是救火的東西；救火修理人員來看了，說，「這個盒子壞了，必須換掉。可是這種盒子現在買不到了，太舊了，所以你得換整個關閉閥才行。」我問，「要多少錢？」「差不多九百塊吧，再加稅。」我覺得太貴了，所以當有人跟我說，「我們試做一個看看吧！」我就做了一個鐵盒子，給救火人員看，他說可以，我們就用那個盒子來替換；利用了一片破銅爛鐵，就不用換新的關閉閥，結果省了一千多塊錢。
這種事在聖城常有，例子很多；利用了破銅爛鐵，也省了很多錢。
聖城做了很多資源回收的工作，減少很多垃圾量；可是，我們要再接再厲，不只回收舊東西，還要回用--收回後，還要利用！為什麼？因為如果可以回用，很多東西都還有利用的價值。回用東西，也是讓我們不至喜新厭舊的一個方法；如果我們喜歡新東西，討厭舊東西，這會使我們的欲望增加，要買這，要買那，這不好。
我覺得聖城是正法的代表，是末法時代裡的正法。要這個正法住世，我覺得必須有兩個條件﹕第一是四眾真誠修行持戒；第二是我們要很有智慧地去利用我們所擁有的資源。為什麼我們要很小心地利用我們的資源呢？因為我們要讓正法延續下去。
聖城有必要節約日常的費用，因為施主的錢得來不易；我們又不要攀緣，否則就失去了我們的宗旨。所以最好是不浪費，好好珍惜我們資源；能再用的，要盡量運用。如果自己的東西浪費了，那只折損我們自己的福報；浪費了常住的東西，那等於什麼呢？等於把這個正法也給滅了。這是我作為在家人的一種看法。
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Venerable Master, Dharma Masters, and good advisors, Amitabha!
My name is Lau Guo-Fu, and I would like to share with you some of the things that I have learned at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB).
Before I came to CTTB, I had a friend who was afraid of getting fat. He knew that when people get fat, they might get sick. Consequently, he read a book. After reading the book, he started telling everyone, “Don’t be too thrifty with your food; you should know that wasting food is good. When you throw away the food on the table, you should feel very comfortable.” This was what he said to people.
When I came to CTTB, I received a series of trainings from my good advisors. When I first started to work, I followed a layperson named Guo-Jian. He told me, “The Venerable Master once told me this, ‘When you work, do not waste nails. Otherwise, when you work in the future, you’ll have everything but nails.’”
Some time ago, someone told me that he often went to see buildings like the Auto Shop, Laundry Building, etc., in CTTB, where a lot of valves, pipes, and other pieces of junk, wood, and metal are stored. He said, “You know what? Do you know how CTTB has survived? It’s because of all these things! It’s because of all these rusted junk and broken metal pieces!” I thought, why didn’t anyone want to buy the property before the Buddhist Association did? It’s because this property is too old! It is difficult to maintain CTTB, because many things in CTTB are old-dated. Old-dated things are so hard to buy nowadays; you can’t find them in the stores. So, how do we maintain CTTB? We use these old things to replace the broken parts. If you wanted to replace them with new parts, you may have to change the whole system and buy or construct new equipment or structures. Therefore, CTTB relies on all this junk. This was told to me by Mr. Kellerman.
Two days ago while listening to a taped lecture, I heard the Venerable Master ask about who had thrown away his paper cup. Someone admitted that he had thrown it away. The Venerable Master told him that that was wrong, because if someone needed a cup, he could have used that paper cup. Guo Sun Shr told me that he had seen the Venerable Master use a wax cup for two years. Later on someone threw it away. The Venerable Master told that person, “I have not finished using it!” The Venerable Master also talked about how in the past [at the original Gold Mountain Monastery on 15th Street in San Francisco], we got all our food from the discarded food meant for the trash bin from a grocery store. Although we don’t have to search for food from the trash bin anymore, we are not supposed to be wasteful in any case. I think this was a very meaningful Dharma talk.
At CTTB, there are so many good advisors who have followed the Venerable Master for so long, and know CTTB’s tradition. This tradition of not wasting, of being frugal, can be our tradition, because the Venerable Master’s conduct and deeds are our role model.
To some people, a piece of rusted metal is a piece of junk, but to some people, it is a treasure. When I was in the City of the Dharma Realm, I saw an example of this. There was a box on the roof that was part of the fire-fighting equipment. The Fire Department told us, “This box is broken; you have to replace it. However, you cannot get a new one like this anymore. Therefore, you have to replace the whole safety valve. It will cost you approximately $900 plus tax.” I thought, this was too expensive, so when someone said to me, “Let’s try making one ourselves!” I made a box out of scrap metal and showed it to the Fire Department and they approved it. So we used that handmade box to replace the broken box. Using that piece of junk, we saved $1,000!
Similar situations often happen here at CTTB. By using the broken junk and rusted metal, we’ve saved a lot of money.
There are a lot of people here at CTTB who work to recycle trash. This has greatly lessened the amount of trash in CTTB. However, we must not only recycle, but we must also reuse! Reusing things is also a good way to keep us from wanting new things and detesting old ones. That attitude would cause our desire to become insatiable; we’d want to buy this and buy that, and that is not good.
I think that the CTTB represents the Proper Dharma; it is the Proper Dharma within the Dharma-Ending Age. There are two causes for the Proper Dharma to remain in the world. First, the four assemblies should sincerely cultivate and strictly uphold the moral precepts. Second, we must utilize our resources wisely. Why must we do this? Because we want to prolong the life of the Proper Dharma.
CTTB has to ration the amount of money used each day, because the money from donations does not come easily. We cannot take advantage of situations, or else we will lose our principles; so, the best way is to not waste anything at all, and wisely use the resources we have. If we can use something, then let’s use it to its full extent. If something is ours, and we waste it, that will use up our blessings. Wasting the monastery’s property is essentially equivalent to destroying the Proper Dharma. This is my view as a layperson. Amitabha!
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