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「去聖遠兮」，去聖就是離佛很遠了。「邪見深」，人人都有邪知邪見，沒有正知正見了，邪見太深了。「魔強法弱多怨害」，這時侯魔是很強盛的，這佛法是很軟弱的。「多怨害」，互相你害我，我害你，這麼互相怨害。「聞說如來頓教門」，要是聽見佛所說的正法眼藏這頓教的法門。「恨不滅除令瓦碎」，就恨不能即時把它都消滅了。好像那一塊瓦，把它拽碎了那麼樣，對佛法就仇視得這個樣子，我們現在就是這樣子。
所以我們在萬佛城住的人，每一個佛教徒的家庭裏不要有收音機，不要有電視，不要有音樂的唱片，把這個都要改了它。在萬佛城住的人，在百忙之中，無論怎麼忙，都應該參加早晚課、講經，不應該缺席的。在家人如果不能到廟上做，你可以在家裏做，也做早晚課、念念經、研究研究佛法。不要有空就看電視、聽收音機，搞得和一般外邊的人一樣。
萬佛城和外邊的世界不一樣，我們要不隨流俗所轉，各位在萬佛城，以佛法為主，以習經為主。誰能把《楞嚴經》先背會了，那我是特別高興的。在家也要讀誦《楞嚴經》、《法華經》，《華嚴經》。不然，你跑到萬佛城來，這有什麼意思，一點意思也沒有。你對佛法一點都不懂，說起什麼，你都不懂，那你在這地方是太可惜了。
讚歎婬欲。破佛律儀。先惡魔師。與魔弟子。婬婬相傳。如是邪精。魅其心腑。近則九生。多逾百世。令真修行。總為魔眷。
「讚歎婬欲」：怎麼能分別出他是魔呢？他不讚歎正修，讚歎婬欲。公開宣佈這個婬欲。「破佛律儀」：他說佛這個戒律都沒有用的，不要守佛的戒律，那是給小乘人守的。我們都是大乘菩薩、大乘佛。我們既然已經成佛了，所以不要守戒律了。「先惡魔師」：前面講的那些惡魔法師，「與魔弟子」：和魔王的弟子，「婬婬相傳」：互相宣婬，互相讚歎婬欲說：「啊！這是最好的、最妙的一個法門，真空妙有就在這裏頭啊！就是這個道理。」「如是邪精」：像這一類的邪精，哪一類呢？就讚歎婬欲的這個邪魔。「魅其心腑」：因為有邪魔迷住他的心竅，所以他就貪圖婬欲，也就公開宣婬。就是因為魔入他的心竅，被魔魔住了。
「近則九生」：往近來說，就是九生。什麼叫一生呢？說人由生到死是一生？不是的。這一百年算一生，這九生就是九百年。「多逾百世」：往多了說，就超過一百世。多少是一世呢？這一世就是三十年，三十年算一世。那麼這一百世就是三千年。那個九生就是九百年，這個百世是三千年。
「令真修行，總為魔眷」：要是往近來說就是九生，這個修道人就會做魔的眷屬了；要是往遠了來說，就要一百世以後，才做魔眷屬。因為雖然他被魔迷住了，要經過多幾個生世，時間久一點，他才能正式參加這個魔的眷屬。若不夠這個時候，他的性還沒有完全變成那個魔性。你知道魔是什麼變的？魔也就是這些個不正當的人去做的。他們不正當就會做魔的，但是沒有那麼快。那個魔王追他、跟著他、迷他，近就是九生，遠就是百世。
上人於一九八三年一月補述
所以方才果地說是正定要守戒，這也是很正確的一種理論。你若想有正定，一定要先持戒，持戒就是幹什麼來著？就是打地基呢！先要把那個基礎打好，打堅固了它。打堅固了它，你再把柱子立到那個地方，那柱子就是一個定力，那基礎就是個戒力。一定要嚴持戒律，很精嚴的，這是很要緊、很要緊的。你基礎若是打不好，柱子立到那個地方，也立不住的，就變成邪定，不是正定了。
至於慧，什麼叫慧呢？因為那有個柱子立住了，然後又有牆壁，就可以把這個房子造成了。房子有什麼用呢？這裏邊可以拜佛，可以講經說法，可以教人改過自新，這就是慧的用。
戒就是個體，定就是個相，慧就是用，這叫體、相、用。所以我們大家一定要很清楚這種的道理。你沒有戒力，就沒有定力；沒有定力，就不發生慧力。好像你基礎打不好，就立柱子，那個柱子就不會堅固，那個牆就房倒屋塌的，一點用也沒有。所以戒定慧這是缺一不可的，這叫三無漏學──戒、定、慧，我們要特別注意這一點。
待續
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“Far indeed from the Sages of the past.” They are
very far from the Buddhas. “Their deviant views are deep.” Everyone has
deviant knowledge and deviant views; no one has proper knowledge and
proper views. Their deviant views are too deep. “Demons are strong, the
Dharma is weak.” In this age the demons prosper and the Dharma is very
feeble. “Many are the wrongs and injuries.” You hurt me, and I hurt
you. We hurt each other out of resentment. “Hearing of the door of the
Tathagata’s Sudden Teaching.” If they hear of the Buddha’s Proper
Dharma Eye Treasury, the Dharma-door of the Sudden Teaching, “they
regret not destroying it as they would smash a tile.” They regret not
being able to wreck it immediately, as they would smash a tile to bits.
That’s how much they hate the Buddhadharma. This is the way we are now.
Therefore, we Buddhists who live at the City of
Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB) should not keep radios, televisions, or
musical records in our homes; we should get rid of these. No matter how
busy we are, we should attend the morning and evening ceremonies and
the Sutra recitations. We should not be absent from these activities.
If you are a layperson and you cannot make it to the temple, you may do
the morning and evening ceremonies, recite Sutras, and investigate the
Buddhadharma at home. Don’t spend your spare time watching television
or listening to the radio, being no different from people of the
outside world.
CTTB is different from the outside world, and we
should not let ourselves be influenced by the common crowd. All of you
should devote your attention to the Buddhadharma and to studying and
practicing the principles in the Buddhist Sutras. If you memorize the
Shurangama Sutra first, that will make me extremely happy. Even at
home, you should read and recite the Shurangama Sutra, the Dharma
Flower Sutra, and the Avatamsaka Sutra. What’s the point of coming to
CTTB if you don’t understand the Buddhadharma at all? It’s meaningless.
If you don’t understand anything and you have no idea what people are
talking about during discussions, then your being here is too pitiful.
They
praise lust and break the Buddha’s moral precepts. The evil demonic
teachers and their demonic disciples that I just discussed transmit
their teaching through licentious activity. Such deviant spirits take
over cultivators’ minds, and after as few as nine lives or as many as a
hundred generations, they turn true practitioners entirely into
followers of demons.
They praise lust. How can one tell if someone is a
demon? Demons do not praise proper methods of practice. They praise
lust and openly advocate sex. And they break the Buddha’s moral
precepts. They say, “The Buddha’s precepts are useless. Don’t keep
them. The Buddha’s precepts were for adherents of the Small Vehicle to
practice. We are Great Vehicle Bodhisattvas, Great Vehicle Buddhas.
Since we have already become Buddhas, we don’t need to hold the
precepts.” The evil demonic teachers of Dharma and their demonic
disciples, the disciples of the demon kings, that I just discussed
transmit their teaching through licentious activity. They practice lust
with each other and praise it, saying, “It is the finest and most
wonderful Dharma door. The principle of true emptiness and wonderful
existence lies right within this.” Such deviant spirits, that is, those
who extol lust, take over cultivators’ minds. Because the cultivators’
minds are confused by the deviant demons who have possessed them, they
crave sex and openly advocate lust. It’s all because the demons have
taken over their minds.
And after as few as nine lives or as many as a
hundred generations, they turn true practitioners entirely into
followers of demons. At the minimum, it takes nine lives. What does one
“life” mean? Is it the period from a person’s birth until his death?
No. Rather, it refers to a period of a hundred years. Therefore nine
lives is nine hundred years. At the most, it takes over a hundred
generations. One generation represents thirty years, and so a hundred
generations is three thousand years. It takes a minimum of nine lives
to turn a true cultivator completely into a member of the demon’s
retinue.
At the other extreme, it might take as long as a
hundred generations from the time the demon confuses him until he
becomes part of the demon’s retinue. Although he has been confused, he
still has to pass through several more lives. Only after a long time
does he officially join the demon’s retinue. Before that time, his
nature is not totally demonic. Do you know what demons are transformed
from? Demons were originally people. A person who is not upright may
become a demon, but it doesn’t happen that fast. The demon king hounds
him, follows him, and keeps confusing him. The process takes from as
short a time as nine lives to as long as a hundred generations.
[January 1983] If you want to have proper samadhi,
holding the precepts is certainly a prerequisite. It sets the
foundation. Once we have a firm foundation, we can erect pillars on top
of it. The pillars represent samadhi, and the foundation represents
precepts. We must strictly uphold the precepts. This is very, very
important. If you don’t set a good foundation, then the pillars will
not stand, and your samadhi will be deviant.
What is meant by wisdom? Once the pillars are
erected and the walls are put in, the house can be built. What’s the
use of a house? It can be a place for people to bow to the Buddhas and
to hear lectures on the Sutras. We can teach people to change their
faults and renew themselves. That’s the function of wisdom.
Precepts are the substance, samadhi is the
appearance, and wisdom is the function. We should be very clear about
this. If you lack precepts, then you won’t have any samadhi. Without
samadhi, you cannot develop wisdom. Likewise, if you don’t set the
foundation well, the pillars you erect will not be stable, the walls
will cave in, and the house will collapse and be useless. Therefore,
the three nonoutflow studies of precepts, samadhi, and wisdom are all
indispensable. We should pay close attention to this.
To be continued
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