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古人說得很好：「酒若少吃性不狂」，你喝酒不要喝太多，少吃一點性不狂。「戒花全身保命長」，你若能把這個色斷了──你就不斷，也減少它，你的生命就會長。長生不老就是要斷欲。你說：「我是在家人，我不能斷。」不能斷，也要逐漸逐漸把它減輕了。「財能義取天也護」，錢要合乎義的你才取；義，就是恰到好處。「勿貪意外之財，不飲過量之酒」；所以「財能義取天也護」，天也會保護著你。
「忍氣心家無過殃」，不要一天到晚：「真氣死我了！」氣死你又怎麼樣呢？你被人氣死，那就是愚癡；若不愚癡，怎麼會被人氣死？他喘他的氣，你喘你的氣，怎麼你的氣會被他氣死，這就是愚癡！這愚癡是誰呢？大約就是我。我自己也不認識自己，不是愚癡是什麼？各位聽我講，那就上當，上什麼當呢？我所講的，就是要人人吃虧，不佔便宜；因為富人不佔便宜，窮人才要佔便宜。你看我連便宜都不知道怎麼佔，也不會發財、也不會當官、也不曉得來享一享富貴。啊！都不懂；你們聽我講，不是上當是幹什麼？愈跟著我學，愈不會發財了。
我不像那個外道：「哦！我有個方法，密宗教你發財。」其實大家頭腦要清醒一點，他若能教人發財，他自己早就去發了，還要等著教你發，他有這麼傻嗎？他有那麼愚癡 嗎？他是怎麼樣叫你發財？叫你拿出五百塊錢，或者一千塊錢，你就觀想這五百塊錢，或者一千塊錢，就一路一路長多了。你們去研究研究，哪一個修這個法修成功了？有誰修成功呢？這個做老師的，他說：「你放我這兒一千塊錢，這一千塊錢就做為你發財的一個本錢，你就想這一千變兩千、三千、四千、五千……。」教人算這個糊塗帳，打這個糊塗妄想，就想…想……想，想來想去，這個錢就通了，就一張變一百張、一百張又變一千、一千又變一萬，一萬又變十萬、百萬、千萬、萬萬、沒有數那麼多了，把全倉庫也裝滿了，睡房也放不下了，擠得自己沒有睡覺的地方了。為什麼呢？都擺上錢了！想這個錢，你說這不是財迷，這是什麼？就這麼想，這比做夢還厲害，做夢醒了，還知道這是做夢；現在一天到晚觀想這個，觀得發神經，那麼發財是誰呢？這個做老師的。你想要發財，要拿一千塊錢本錢給他；他也不須要觀想，就來了一千塊；那個想要發財，又來了一千；有多少個財迷，他就發多少千的財。你們想一想，這在紐約也有，在加拿大也有，在西雅圖那更多。現在我沒說嘛？「嗟末法，惡時世，眾生福薄難調制。去聖遠兮邪見深，魔強法弱多怨害。」正法他不相信，信那些個邪法。世界上沒有不勞而獲的，沒有說我什麼也不做，等著那個房上掉下餅給我吃，這是無有是處的。
講來講去，最要緊的還是：不爭、不求、不自私、不自利。記得這個！這是一個學佛的初步。你誰記得這個，誰是成佛有份的；誰能把這個實行了，誰就離佛不遠了。不要把這個事情看得很簡單，你不爭、不貪，就福祿無邊；爭貪攪擾，是罪孽不少。我們大家不要做這個財迷的夢，你們沒聽見過？這「二戈爭金殺氣高」啊！兩個「戈」字爭那個「金」：你也想得到那個金、我也想得到那個金，你用你那個戈矛刺我一下、我用我這個戈矛刺你一下；我把你刺死了，那個金就是我的，你就沒有份了；你若把我刺死，那個金就是你的，我也沒有份了。這個「錢」字就是這樣子。「人人因它犯嘮叨」，人人意專情篤只為錢，父不父，也是因為錢，子不子，也是因為錢；兄不兄，也是因為錢；弟不弟，也是因為錢。這個錢魅力這麼大，把人都支配得向錢來叩頭，所以叫「拜金主義」。「人人因它犯嘮叨」，人人因為這個東西，就生出很多的問題、很多的煩惱。
「能會用者超三界」。錢也和你這六根是一樣的，你若會運用這個六根──眼、耳、鼻、舌、身、意，它是幫助你修行的；你若不會用它，它是盜你財寶的。你眼睛看色，就被色塵所轉；耳朵聽聲音，就被聲塵所轉；鼻子嗅香，就被香塵所轉；舌嚐味，就被味塵所轉；身覺觸，被觸塵所轉；意緣法，被法塵所轉。這眼、耳、鼻、舌、身、意，你若會用它，它是六個護法；你若不會用，就是六賊，它盜你的財寶，把你的精神也給消耗了，把你的氣血消耗了，都散了。眼睛看顏色，你不要以為這是我長眼睛是看東西的，你看多了，那也是色塵；耳朵聽多了，也是聲塵；鼻子嗅香，你嗅多了，也是有毛病的；舌嚐味，你盡嚐這個味，也是會墮落的；身覺觸、意緣法，道理都是這樣子。
總而言之，世上的事情，你要是會運用它，就對你有利益；不會運用它，對你就有害處。這利益和害處，就是有陰面、有陽面；陰面就是黑暗的那一邊，陽面就是光明的那一邊。我們人若是常常做事光明磊落，大公無私，至正不偏，不為錢財來搖動自己的志願，這是品節高超的；讀書雖未成名，究竟人高品雅。為善不求回報，為善，我們不要想貪報酬，自然夢穩神清，「善欲人見，不是真善；惡恐人知，便是大惡」；這一點，我相信各位都懂，可是都把它忽略了。做一點善事，就是敲鑼打鼓，各處貼海報；惡事呢？就怕人知道。你怕人知道，這還是有羞恥之心；有的人連羞恥之心都沒有。
我這一次到臺灣來，是因為在三年以前，董委員董正之老居士、王大任王國大代表，和陸建剛老居士，由於臺灣這兒常常地震，又加上颱風吹倒了一千多間房子，死了很多人，金錢損失不知道有多少；他們要求我回來，做這個護國息災法。我本來自己很慚愧的，道不足以感人、德不足以化人；不要說感人、化人，連我自己也沒有感好，化我自己也沒化好，所以就不敢應命、不敢來。我也知道臺灣有很多諸山長老、大德高僧，為什麼要叫我回去？我在佛教裏頭是微乎其微，渺小得再沒有那麼渺小，所以就不敢來。
等到今年，這左一封信、右一封信，董老就說「你趕快命駕」；可惜我也沒有馬，怎麼套這個馬車束裝就道？但是大約時間成熟了，今年我把法界大學校長的職務交給何伯超校長；又交給易象乾，也請他當校長；又有一個叫果勒，交給這三個校長。你說：「一個大學裡怎麼會有三個校長？」我不是單單交三個，我要交五個，還要找兩個。這五個校長，一個做美洲的校長、一個做亞洲的校長、一個做非洲的校長、一個做為澳洲的校長，一個做為歐洲的校長；這五大洲，我請五個校長。五個校長各管一洲，可是都是通用的，都是分工合作，互補對方的不足。所以我現在委託出來三個校長，還要再找兩個。因為有校長了，所以我有時間出來；不然的話，我不能把這些學子放在那個地方不管就出來。現在我出來，也有人來給上課，也有人這麼循序漸進，這是我今天能到臺灣來的情形。
待續
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The ancients said it well, “Drink less and you won’t have a wild temperament; avoid sex and you lengthen your life.” If you can be celibate, or at the least, reduce your sexual activities, then you will lengthen your life. Severing sexual desire is a requirement for longevity. You say, “I’m a layperson, I can’t cut it off.” If you can’t cut it off, at least reduce the amount over time.
“Heaven protects someone who obtains his wealth through proper means.” You should only take money if it is rightfully yours. Do not be greedy for external wealth; do not drink to excess. If your wealth is legitimately acquired, then heaven will protect you.
“Being patient you’ll be without faults or misfortune.” Don’t go around all day thinking, “I’m so mad I could die!” So what if you die? It would be foolish of you to die from being upset by others. Who is foolish? I am, probably. I don’t recognize myself. So if that’s not foolishness, what could it be? If you listen to me, you take a loss. What kind of a loss? I always talk about how people should give and not take advantage of others. The wealthy don’t take advantage of others; only the poor want to take advantage of others. Look at me: I don’t even know how to take advantage of others. I don’t know how to get rich or become an official. I don’t know how to enjoy wealth or honor. I don’t know any of that. What else could this be if not a loss? The more you learn from me, the less you will want to be wealthy.
Unlike those of heterodox paths, I don’t say, “I belong to the Secret School and you can get rich by learning from me.” Actually, if people were clear-headed, they would have become rich long ago if they could have. Why would they wait to tell you about it? Are they that foolish? How do they tell you to get rich? They tell you to take out $500 or $1,000 and contemplate those $500 or $1,000 growing. Do some research and find out who’s had any success with this method. The teacher, on the other hand, would say, “Leave $1,000 here as the capital for your future wealth, and then you imagine it turning into $2,000, $3,000, $4,000, $5,000, etc.” That type of calculation is confused just as your false thinking is confused. You think and think until you imagine that one bill has turned into 100 bills, then 1,000, then 10,000, 100,000, one million, ten million, a billion, and then infinitely many. Cash has filled up an entire warehouse. It doesn’t even fit in your bedroom; you have no room to sleep. Why? Cash is everywhere. If you haven’t become a money-grubber, then what are you? You take your imagination even more seriously than your dreams. You will know when you have had a dream. But as you do this contemplation [on money] day and night, at some point you become insane. Who becomes rich then? This teacher received $1,000 from you without having to contemplate. Somebody else wants to become rich, so the teacher gets another $1,000. He becomes $1,000 richer for every money-grubber. Just think, this happened in New York, Canada, and even more frequently in Seattle. Wasn’t it said, “Alas! In the evil of the Dharma-Ending Age, living beings’ blessings are slight; it is difficult to train them. . . Demons are strong, the Dharma is weak, many are the wrongs and injuries.” Living beings don’t believe in the Proper Dharma, only evil dharmas. There is no free lunch in the world. It’s impossible for cookies to roll off the rooftop and fall right into your lap while you sit there, doing nothing. There’s nothing right about that.
Given everything that has been said, the most important [guidelines] are still these: do not contend, do not seek, do not be selfish, and do not pursue personal profit. Remember these, they are the first steps to studying Buddhism. Whoever can apply these principles is not far from Buddhahood. Don’t think this is easy to do. If you were not contentious and not greedy, you will enjoy boundless blessings and prosperity. If you mix contention and greed with anything that you do, you will be committing more than offenses. Don’t dream about being rich. Haven’t you heard that, “As two weapons duel for gold, an atmosphere conducive to bloodshed heightens.” The Chinese character, money, has the radical “weapon” twice as well as the radical “gold”. Using artillery, people fight over gold. You want gold, and so do I. You stab me with your bayonet and I spear you with my javelin.
The winner of the gold has stabbed the loser to death while the loser gets nothing.
People mutter to themselves about money. People end relationships over money. One’s father no longer performs as a father should, because of money; one’s son no longer behaves like a son because of money; and one’s sibling no longer acts like a sibling because of money. Money has tremendous charm. It can command people so that they to bow to it—people worship money. People become fraught with problems and afflictions as a result of this stuff.
If you knew how to use money, you would transcend the three realms. Money is just like your six sense faculties. If you know how to use your six senses: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind, they will help you cultivate. If you do not know how to use them, they will steal your treasures. That means that you see certain forms and are turned by them; you hear certain sounds and are turned by them; you smell certain odors and are turned by them; you taste certain flavors and are turned by them, your mind encounters certain dharmas and is turned by them, and so on. If you know how to use your eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind, they will be your six Dharma protectors. If you do not know how to use them, they will be six thieves who steal your gems and deplete and dissipate your spirit, energy, and blood. Don’t think because you have eyes that they’re meant to look at everything. If you look too much, those objects become objects of defilement. If your ears listen excessively, sounds become defilement. If you smell too much, the same problem occurs. If all you do is use your sense of taste, then you will transmigrate into a lower realm in a future life. This also applies to the body being aware of tactile sensations and the mind encountering dharmas.
Generally speaking, anything that you know how to use properly in this world is beneficial. Anything that you don’t know how to use is harmful. There are positive and negative sides to both benefits and harm. The negative side is the dark side and the positive side is the bright side. If we were to always do things openly, altruistically, and fairly, remaining true to our resolve despite the influence of money, then our characters will be sublime. Although one hasn’t become famous because of one’s knowledge, one at least has a lofty and cultivated character. For the sake of goodness, one doesn’t ask for any reward. Not being greedy for rewards, our sleep is naturally peaceful and our mind is clear. “Goodness that one wishes others to know about is not true goodness; evil that one is afraid others will know about must be great evil.” I believe everyone understands this point, and yet everyone has ignored it. You do a bit of good and you bang the gong and beat the drums, advertising it everywhere. If you do evil deeds, on the other hand, you are afraid that others will find about about them. At least that fear shows that you still have a sense of shame. Some people don’t even have this sense of shame.
When I came to Taiwan about three years ago, a legislator, the elder layperson Dong Zhengzhi, Congressional Representative Wang Dareng, and elder layperson Lu Jiangang asked me to come back. They wanted me to conduct this Dharma Assembly to Protect the Country and Quell Disasters because of the frequent earthquakes in Taiwan. In addition, a typhoon had knocked down more than one thousand houses, killing lots of people and incurred who-knows-how-much monetary damage. I had felt ashamed because my Tao isn’t enough to move people and my virtue isn’t enough to transform people. Not to mention moving and transforming others, I can’t even move and transform myself. Since I can’t even transform myself, I couldn’t accept the invitation and didn’t dare to come. I also know that Taiwan has many senior monastic leaders and preeminent members of the Sangha. Why should I come back? I’m such an insignificant and secondary member of Buddhism. I couldn’t be more insignificant and secondary. I didn’t dare to come.
This year, however, I received letters from several different people. Elder Dong told me to comply. The timing was probably right this year because I had turned the duties of the Chancellor of the Dharma Realm Buddhist University over to three people: Ho Pai-cho, Ron Epstein, and Doug Powers. I turned it over to three chancellors. “How could a university have three chancellors?” I am not just handing it over to three, but to five. I need to find two more. Of these five chancellors, one will be the Chancellor for the Americas, one will be the Chancellor for Asia, one for Africa, one for Australia, and the other for Europe. Each Chancellor will be responsible for one continent; at the same time, they will substitute for each another and cooperate to make up for what is lacking in the others. Therefore, I have turned those duties over to three chancellors. Now I need to find two more. Since the time I used to spend on these duties is free, I can come to Taiwan while other people are teaching those students in class. I couldn’t have just left those students alone, they need people to teach them over time.
To be continued
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