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上人說：「如果你自己有個心都不知道，那麼連你的生命也不明白了。來的時候糊裡糊塗，不知道從哪裡來；去的時候也糊裡糊塗，到什麼地方去也不知道。」世界上的眾生不都是這樣子的嗎？
記得小學的時候，我的同班同學，他得了心臟腫大症，休學在家。他媽媽愛子心切，以中國人「吃心補心」的觀念，每天餵他吃豬心。因為他家就在我的隔壁，我常看到他在吃豬心。這樣進補了有好長一段時間，在他十二歲時，還是不幸死了。如果他們明白佛法，明白因果，他媽媽還敢餵他吃豬心嗎？
在同一時期，村子裡有位孤兒，大概連小學都沒讀。他十幾歲就幫人做粗重的勞力工作，成天在大太陽下做工，皮膚黝黑。他為人誠實，工作賣力，大家對他的印象很好。因為工資微薄，只能勉強糊口，我常見他以醬油拌飯充饑。
有一天，在十字路口的雜貨店門前，他穿著整齊，直挺挺的躺在地上，不再醒來。因為他覺得生活太苦了，所以喝農藥自殺，當時他只有十九歲。村子裡的人除了為之嘆息外，也不能幫他什麼。如果他明白佛法，明白因果，他會自殺嗎？
很多人糊裡糊塗的來，又糊裡糊塗的去，不知生從哪裡來，也不知道死往何處去，流浪生死，永不止息。現在我們很幸運遇到上人，明白了心法妙，眾生法妙，佛法妙，就要用功修行，才能了生脫死；不但自己要得到解脫，還要發大菩提心，來幫助所有眾生從生死道中得到解脫，讓每個人也來的明白，去的也明白，不再有糊塗來去的痛苦。
二‧什麼不是妙？
今天上人說：「你說：眼前的什麼不是妙？」這句話確實很妙。萬佛城以前是個醫院，現在變成了弘揚佛法的道場；如來寺以前是精神病患住的地方，現在是出家人的寮房；各位現在坐在這裡聽法的地方，以前是籃球場，您說這是不是也很妙呢？
東初法師到萬佛城的時候，看到這裡的地理形勢，很像印度的靈鷲山，就說可以取名為妙覺山；上人把佛法傳到西方，要在這裡造就萬佛，因而取名為萬佛聖城，使它成為佛教的發源地，所以說「東來初地妙覺山，西方道源萬佛城。」
上人以宏遠的眼光，要把萬佛城興建成一個大叢林。可惜這附近的人不瞭解佛法，也不明白我們在做什麼，妙覺山計畫在一九九二年公聽會時遭到反對，未能通過。
近十年來聖城埋頭苦幹，不斷接引西方人來瞭解佛法，擴大「敬老節」和「懷少節」的規模，努力做好敦親睦鄰的工作，鄰居們也願意把孩子送到我們的學校讀書。現在這個龐大的計畫終於在二○○二年通過了，證明了我們的努力沒有白費。「這一切都是最好的安排」，萬佛城的這一切都是很妙的，處處都妙不可言，都是在為我們說最妙的法。
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The Venerable Master said, “If you don’t know that your mind actually exists, you won’t understand your life. When you come, you come confused. You don’t know where you came from. When you go, you also leave with confusion and have no idea where you are going next.” Isn’t this true for all the living beings in the world?
I remember when I was in elementary school, I had a classmate who had a heart disease and took leave from school. His mother loved him very much and fed him pig’s heart everyday because of the ancient remedy and belief of “eating hearts will mend hearts.” I often saw him eating pig’s heart since I lived next door. He stayed on this pig heart diet for a while. Nonetheless, he died unfortunately at the age of twelve. If they had understood the Buddhadharma, would his mother still have had the audacity to feed him pig’s hearts?
During that same period of time, there was an orphan in the village. He did not receive a grade school education. He started working as a laborer when he was a teenager. He worked out in the open under the sun everyday; therefore his skin was fairly dark. He was an honest and hardworking man, whom people had a very good impression of. Due to his meager wages, he could barely make ends meet. I often saw him eating meals of only rice with soy sauce.
One day, he dressed up neatly and laid down on the crossroad in front of a store. He never woke up. He thought life was too hard, so he committed suicide by drinking pesticide. He was only nineteen then. The villagers could not do anything for him other than lament his loss. If he had understood the Buddhadharma and the law of cause and effect, would he still have killed himself?
Many people come into the world muddled and leave in confusion as well. They do not know where they came from at birth, nor do they know where they are going after death. We travel between birth and death and never stop and rest. We now are very fortunate that we have met the Venerable Master. We understand the wonderful dharma of the mind, living beings and the Buddha. We should cultivate and hope that we can put an end to birth and death. Not only we should we liberate ourselves, but we should also bring forth the great Bodhi resolve to help all living beings be free from birth and death. We should cause everyone to come and go with clear understanding; as a result, there will no longer be any suffering of coming and going in confusion.
(2) February 10, 2003 What is not Wonderful?
Today, the Venerable Master said, “Tell me, what in front of your eyes is not wonderful?” These words are truly wonderful. The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas is now located where there once was a hospital. Now it has become a Way-place where the Dharma is propagated; the Tathagata Monastery was once a facility for mental patients and now it contains the dwellings of monastics. All of you are sitting right now here listening to the Dharma. Don’t you think this is also wonderful?
When Dharma Master Dong-Chu visited the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, he thought that geography of the City closely resembled that of Mount Gridrhakuta. He suggested that we name this place Wonderful Enlightenment Mountain. Since the Venerable Master brought the Buddhadharma to the West and vowed to create myriad Buddhas, our Way-place was then named the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, which would become the place of origin of Buddhism. Thus, the saying goes, “Coming from the east, the first place was Wonderful Enlightenment Mountain; the origin of the Way in the west is the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas.’
With his vast and far-sighted vision, the Venerable Master wanted to build the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas as a large monastic community. It was a pity that the local people did not understand Buddhism and rejected the proposal for the Wonderful Enlightenment Mountain Plan at the public hearing in 1992.
In the past ten years, everyone worked hard and silently. We continue to welcome and influence Westerners to learn the Buddhadharma. We have also expanded the scope of Honoring Elders Day and Cherishing Youth Day and try our best to be a good neighbor. The people in the neighborhood are now willing to send their children to our schools. As a result, the proposal for this huge project finally passed in 2002. It proved that our efforts were not wasted. “Everything happens for the best.” Everything in CTTB is just so wonderful that we cannot describe it in words, so the most wonderful Dharma is being spoken to us everywhere.
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