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過去，自然界是大多數人現成的老師。可是，在眼前這個科技與工業兩俱發達的太空時代，情況顯然不是那麼回事了。殊不知這所謂科技進步的時代，令我們付出了沉重的代價。有位作家妥貼地敘述了這種不幸：
「許多美國人都活在一種經濟化的景觀中--像商場、店舖、劇院、滑雪場、主題公園--處在這樣的環境下，人將不可避免地與無聊、無饜足的需求和嫉妒…打交道。」
以上所說，真的沒錯。看看當今之世，電視、電腦、網路、購物商場、電影院，加以人們不斷地追求財富、享樂與認同/名聲的那股熱情勁兒，在多方面取代昔日的自然渾樸世界。鋪天蓋地而來的「經濟景觀」使我們變得目盲，無從感知大自然亟欲傳遞的訊息。摩天大樓和周遭各式各樣美侖美奐的人工製品，令我們目光渙散、視線失焦。我們的感官更是無時無刻不受到媒體、廣播電視、商品廣告、流行歌曲的疲勞轟炸。
倘若我們任令自己陷溺於這個充斥著娛樂、競爭和各種無窮欲望的浮華世界中，我們的靈性將被這些滿載謬誤與痛苦的無常事物所消磨殆盡。對至關緊要的根本大事置之不理，是現今世界普遍的趨勢。人多不願正視本身迫在眉睫的死亡大事。能夠冷靜地面對並思考死亡此一大事，需要很大的勇氣。
當今之世，林林總總的駐顏美容術多得氾濫，若是極力追求，將使事實真相被忽視了。一概排拒生活中難以避免的事物，固然會給自己造成巨大壓力，但若一味貪得無厭、只知利己，則會更加助長人性弱點。
避開嚴肅的、啟人深思的課題，將使人無從了解一向最害怕的那件大事。人對於不明白的事情產生了恐懼。自然界要給我們上的課，告知我們宇宙間一個殘酷的事實，即是，一切的人事物都是無常變易的。
一件發明帶給人類的可能是傷害，也可能是利益。我們生來也具有一種本能，一種能令眾生蒙受痛苦，或者獲得幫助的本能。
人因受到某種吸引而趨從的方向，無不出於自身的選擇。有人會願意為了來生，而將眼前放下嗎？有人會願意犧牲短暫的此我，以換得出世的真理嗎？
順利或困頓
濁世或淨土
一切肇因於
人之何所擇
人之何所從
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For most people in the past, nature was their teacher. However, in this space age of aggressive technology and industrialization, that is rarely the case anymore. We are all paying a heavy price for this so-called advancement in science. A writer described this misfortune aptly in the following words:
“So much of what Americans live with is an economic landscape – malls, stores, and movie theaters, ski slopes, and theme parks – in which one’s relationship to place has to do with boredom, undisciplined need, and envy…”
There is a lot of truth in the above passage. In the present time, television, computers, the internet, shopping malls, cinemas, and the constant (obsessive) pursuit of wealth, pleasure, and recognition/fame has replaced the natural world in many ways. And we have often become alienated from nature. The enveloping massive “economic landscape” causes us to become increasingly blind and unreceptive to what nature has to teach us. Skyscrapers and all kinds of imposing but artificial stuff surround and obscure us. Our senses are constantly being bombarded and confused by the media, billboards, advertisements, television, commercials, and songs.
As we immerse ourselves and sink more and more deeply in the superficial world of entertainment, competition, and unrestrained desires, we sacrifice our spirituality for what is false and fleeting. There is a widespread tendency to ignore topics that are really important and fundamental. Most people do not want to look into the great matter of their own impending death. It requires courage to calmly ponder such grave issues.
The modern world is filled to the brim with all kinds of methods to preserve and maintain one’s youthful appearance. When this reaches an extreme, one is ignoring reality. The continuous refusal to accept the inevitabilities of life causes tremendous stress. Giving in to acquisitive and egoistical inclinations increases one’s vulnerability.
Evading solemn and thought-provoking topics will not help one to understand the very thing that one dreads the most. One fears what one does not understand. The main and obvious lesson the natural world teaches is the harsh universal truth of how everything and everyone is impermanent and constantly changing.
An invention could bring harm or benefit to humanity. We have within us, the innate potential to inflict pain or to bestow aid upon living beings.
The direction one gravitates towards is an individual choice. Is one able to give up what one is for what one can become? Can one sacrifice one’s temporal-self for world-transcending values?
Bliss or misery,
The turbid world or the Pure Land,
Is the result of
The constant choices one makes,
And the path one takes.
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