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念佛的法門，叫「橫超三界，帶業往生」。什麼叫「橫超三界」呢？橫超，就是走的路很少，成就的功德就很大。修其他的法門，要一步一步的去修行；好像修禪，修初禪天、二禪天、三禪天、四禪天，一步一步的，才能成就。而念佛的法門，你在娑婆世界這兒念阿彌陀佛，你那極樂世界的蓮花就生出來了。念佛念得多，蓮花就生得大；你念佛念得少，蓮花就生得小。你若念念佛，又不念了，蓮花就乾了、就沒有了；所以念佛的法門是橫超。三界，就是「欲界、色界、無色界」；欲界是我們人和六欲天所住的地方。
念佛怎麼「橫超」呢？就好像竹子，裡面有個蟲子，蟲子若是順著竹子往上去，咬透了一節、又要咬第二節、第三節、第四節、第五節，一路咬，咬過一節又一節，經過很多節，把竹子咬透了，然後才能出去。蟲子要是聰明，橫著咬，一咬就咬通了，牠就可以出去了。念佛法門，就好好像蟲子在竹筒裡橫著咬出去一樣；你用的功夫雖然少，但成就很大的，所以叫「橫超三界」。
什麼叫「帶業往生」呢？你造的什麼罪，你如果念佛，不論這罪有多重，就可以把你的孽障帶到極樂世界去。可是帶業，是你在沒有信佛之前，不知道，就不是罪，所以造的罪業可以帶得去；如果知道了，你還造罪，那就不行了！因為你明知道還故意做，就帶不去。
念佛的人，就要隨時消舊業，更莫造新殃──你不要再造新的罪業。大家念佛要有一種誠心，不要怕苦。但是念佛的時候，也不要念得太急，也不要念得太慢。你念急了，把喉嚨會念得沙聲；你念慢了，自己聽得不清楚，容易昏沈、打瞌睡。所以念佛的聲音，要不緊不慢，所謂「緊了繃，慢了鬆，不緊不慢才成功。」
很少機會打佛七，所以大家誠心一點。在家裡也可以念佛，你們沒有辦法趕來參加的，在家裡，要也像打佛七一樣的打佛七；大家不要怕辛苦、不要怕困難。昨天晚間，我說行香念半小時，坐念念半個小時；果立以為坐著也念，但是坐著的時候要轉板，就要止靜。走念半小時、坐念半小時；這樣，靜坐又可休息休息，走著念，又可運動運動，這是很好的方法。
（以下師父以國語、粵語開示）不會很辛苦的，就算為佛法辛苦一點，佛還知道。佛一看：「喔!這個善男子、善女人為了求佛法，這麼不怕疲倦、苦，這個人很精進！」但你要支持得住才可以，你不要支持不住、很勉強的，那又不對了。你精神能受的，可以來用功；若受不了，來休息，也好。
打佛七看看誰得到念佛三昧，看誰得到利益。
念佛是最圓滿的法門，不用花什麼工夫，也最不花錢；只要能常念這六字洪名「南無阿彌陀佛」，就可以往生極樂世界。所以說：念佛一聲，能滅八十億劫生死重罪，你只要有誠心來念，就可以了。
「南無阿彌陀佛」六字洪名，是什麼意思？「阿彌陀佛」是梵語，翻譯為中文，是「無量光」，又叫「無量壽」。無量光，因為他智慧無量；無量壽，是因為他福德無量。我們為什麼要念佛呢？因為阿彌陀佛在好早以前發了48個願，其中有一願說：十方一切的眾生，我成佛的時候，若有稱我名號的，就一定會生到我國裡來；如果不生到我國，我也不成佛。因為他發這個願，所以我們眾生若有念「南無阿彌陀佛」的人，就會生到極樂世界。生到極樂世界做什麼呢？到那裡也要吃飯、睡覺、穿衣服，就和在娑婆世界一樣；那為什麼要去呢？
到極樂世界「無有眾苦，但受諸樂」──什麼苦也沒有，得到所有的快樂。到那裡去，所有的人都是男人，沒有女人，這個世界就這麼奇怪。我們這個世界是女人生小孩，沒有女人，那人從哪裡來呢？你不要著急，因為生到極樂世界，是從蓮花化生出來的。你念「南無阿彌陀佛」，極樂世界就有一朵蓮花生出；你念得多，這蓮花就生得愈大，甚至大如車輪。你在這兒死了，你的佛性就生到極樂世界那朵蓮花裡去了。等那朵蓮花度過了一會兒時間，然後蓮花就開了，就現出佛的身體；所以說「花開見佛悟無生」，悟無生法忍。所以極樂世界，無論男人、女人，生到那裡，都是男人，又沒有三惡道，沒有地獄、餓鬼、畜生。
所以生到極樂世界，你想吃什麼，它就來到；等你吃的剛剛好，不會不夠食、也不會剩幾多，你要吃多少，就來多少。東西來了，你吃完了，我們世界科學發達，有洗碗機、電爐頭；可是在那兒，你不用煮東西、不用洗碗機，也不用洗爐頭，對懶人很好。懶人不鍾意做工，生到極樂世界，真的什麼工都不用做：不用洗衫、洗碗。天然飲食，你食完了，就得了；盤碗都自己去了，不用人工洗。你看，這幾妙！所以叫「極樂世界」。極樂世界什麼都微妙不可思議，你鍾意食什麼，就有什麼。好像我鍾意吃水餃，水餃就來了，不用人買、也不用人做，不用像果揚包得那麼辛苦。這個世界太好了！怎麼會這麼好呢？就因為阿彌陀佛在因地發願：我的世界一定要超過其他的世界。天上也沒有這麼好，所以我們人念佛，一定要生到極樂世界；生到極樂世界，花開見佛，悟無生法忍了，你所有的朋友和親戚眷屬，都還是不退菩薩。
什麼叫「不退菩薩」呢？菩薩有三不退：「位不退、行不退、念不退」。位不退，就是不退於二乘，他是大乘人；行不退，修行他要修菩薩道，永遠不會說：「我不行菩薩道了、菩薩道不容易修。」念不退，他幾時也不會打妄想：「唉呀！我念佛也沒有功效，修行信佛這麼多年，我也沒把佛念得有了，念佛念得又有效了。」
待續
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The practice of reciting the Buddha’s name allows us to directly transcend the three realms and go to rebirth with our karma. What does it mean to directly transcend the three realms? It means that one travels a short distance and yet achieves great merit and virtue. With other practices, one has to do them one step at a time. For instance, with meditation, one has to meditate until one reaches the the first dhyana heaven, the second dhyana heaven, the third dhyana heaven, and then the fourth dhyana heaven. One attains one level at a time. However, when you recite Amitabha Buddha’s name in the Saha world, your lotus will grow in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. The more you recite, the bigger the lotus. The less you recite, the smaller the lotus. If you don’t recite at all, the lotus withers and disappears. Reciting the Buddha’s name allows one to transcend the three realms horizontally, or directly. The three realms are the desire realm, the form realm and the formless realm. Human beings and the beings of the six desire heavens live in the desire realm.
Why do we transcend the three realms horizontally? It’s like a worm inside a piece of bamboo. If it travels vertically inside the hollow bamboo, it has to gnaw through one section at a time and has to go through many sections before it gets out of the bamboo. However, if the worm is smart, it can gnaw a hole horizontally through the side of the bamboo. Reciting the Buddha’s name is like gnawing through the bamboo horizontally. It takes less effort but the achievement is great. So this is how one transcends the three realms horizontally.
What does it mean to go to rebirth with your karma? If you recite the Buddha’s name, then no matter how heavy your offenses are, you can take your karmic obstructions with you to the Land of Ultimate Bliss. However, you can only take karma created before you became a Buddhist, because at that time you did not know that your actions were offenses. Once you understand what offenses are, if you still commit them, then you can’t take them with you. If you know that it’s an offense but you purposely go ahead and do it, you will not be able to take that karma with you.
This is why people who practice reciting Buddha’s name should always try to eradicate their old karma and avoid creating new offenses. When we recite the Buddha’s name, we should be sincere. During these seven days, we should not fear hardship. When we recite the Buddha’s name, we should not be in a hurry, and we should not recite too slowly either. If we recite too fast, then our throats become hoarse. If we recite too slowly, then we can’t hear ourselves clearly, and that way we become drowsy or nod off. In reciting the Buddha’s name, we should be not too tense or too slack. When we are too tense, then we snap; but if we are being slack, then the recitation will drag out. We will succeed only when we are not too tense and not too lax.
A weeklong Buddha recitation session is a rare opportunity. When we recite the Buddha’s name, we should be sincere. We should be reciting the Buddha’s name even if we are at home and cannot make it to the monastery. We should not be afraid of hardship. Last night, I talked about how in the schedule we will walk reciting for half an hour and sit reciting for half an hour. Gwo Li thought that meant we would recite out loud for the entire time while we are sitting. Actually, when we sit, we will change the tempo so we can sit in silence later. So, we will walk reciting for half an hour and then sit for another half an hour. When we sit in silence we can rest, and afterwards we can walk and recite out loud to get some exercise. This is a good method.
It won’t be too hard. And if you work a little harder for the sake of the Buddhadharma, the Buddha will know. When the Buddha sees you, he may say: “Oh! This good man or good woman, in order to seek the Buddhadharma, has no fear of weariness or suffering. This person is extremely vigorous.” However, you should only do as much as you can handle in terms of energy. Do not force yourself if you are not able to handle it; that would be wrong. If you can handle it and work hard at it, then you may come apply yourself; however, if you can’t handle it, it is also okay for you to come and take a rest here.
During this week of reciting the Buddha’s name, let’s see who reaches the Samadhi of Reciting the Buddha’s Name and attains benefit from it.
This is the most perfect practice. It isn’t a matter of how much effort we put in or how much money we spend. “Namo Amitabha Buddha”—these words can lead us to rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. By reciting this Buddha’s name just once, we can eliminate the offenses created during birth and death in eighty-one eons. As long as we recite with sincerity, it will work out fine.
What does “Namo Amitabha Buddha” mean? “Amita Buddha” is Sanskrit, and translated into our language, it means Limitless Light and Limitless Life. Limitless Light really means infinite wisdom; Limitless Life means infinite blessings. So why do we recite this Buddha’s name? It’s because long, long ago, Amitabha Buddha had made 48 vows. One vow was that after he became a Buddha, if living beings throughout the ten directions in all lands would recite his name, they will be reborn in his world. If they are not reborn in his world, then he will not become a Buddha. It is because of Amitabha Buddha’s vows that living beings who recite Amitabha Buddha’s name will be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. So why would we want to be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss? Do we just go there to eat, sleep, and wear clothes? If it’s just like the Saha World, why would we want to go there?
In the Land of Ultimate Bliss, there is no suffering but only bliss—pure bliss. Everywhere in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, there are only men and no women. That’s how strange it is: there are no women there. Someone may ask, “Women give birth to us. If there were no women, then how can there be human beings?” You need not worry about this. In the Land of Ultimate Bliss, people are born by transformation from lotuses. When you recite “Namo Amitabha Buddha,” your lotus in the Land of Ultimate Bliss grows. The more you recite, the bigger the lotus grows, to the point that it is as big as the wheel of a car. After you pass away from this world, your Buddha nature goes to your lotus in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. A while later, the lotus blooms and you see the Buddha. So that’s why it is said that “when the flower blooms, we see the Buddha and awaken to nonarising,” that is, we realize patience with the nonarising of dharmas. Whether you are a man or a woman, you will become a man in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. The three evil destinies do not exist there, so there are no hell beings, no hungry ghosts, and no animals.
Once you are in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, whatever you wish to eat will appear as soon as you think about it. And it will be just the right amount so that you get enough to eat and there will be no leftovers. However much you wish to eat, that’s the amount that you will get. In our scientific age, there are many inventions such as the dishwashing machine and the electric stove. In the Land of Ultimate Bliss, there is no need to wash dishes or to clean the stove; everything comes naturally. It’s a very great place for lazy people, because you don’t need to do any work—you don’t need to wash clothes nor do you need to wash dishes. The foods there naturally appear, and after you finish eating, you’re done. The dishes vanish by themselves; there’s no need to use human labor to wash them. So the Land of Ultimate Bliss is extremely wonderful; the Land of Ultimate Bliss and everything there is inconceivable. You can eat whatever you want there. For instance, if you like dumplings, then dumplings will show up; there’s no need to buy them or make them—like Gwo Yang who had to work so hard to make those dumplings here. The Land of Ultimate Bliss is a great place. How can it be so fantastic? It’s because in the past Amitabha Buddha made vows, saying, “In the future, my world must surpass any other world.” Even the heavens are not as wonderful as his world. Thus, when we recite the Buddha’s name, we must definitely resolve to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Once we are born there, the lotus flower will bloom so that we will see the Buddha and awaken to patience with the nonarising of dharmas. All of our friends and relatives will also be nonretreating Bodhisattvas. What are nonretreating Bodhisattvas? There are three kinds of nonretreat: nonretreat in position, nonretreat in practice, and nonretreat in thought. Nonretreat in terms of position means one does not retreat to the Two Vehicles but that one follows the Great Vehicle. Nonretreat in terms of practice means one always practices the Bodhisattva Path and never wants to quit no matter how difficult it is. Nonretreat in terms of thought means one never entertains any false thoughts, such as: “I’ve been practicing for so many years, and I still haven’t attained any results from reciting the Buddha’s name.”
To be continued
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