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三月二十九日，我在大齋堂吃完了飯，正想收拾碗筷，一位美國年輕居士從身後走過，被我的椅子拌了一下，只聽硜噹一聲，金黃色的咖喱煮馬鈴薯，還有不知名的青菜灑了一地。因我不大認識他，只愣了一下，沒有能下決心，幫助他收拾這些菜，心想他自會妥善處理的。一會兒，只見他拿來了掃把和畚箕，幾下子就把菜掃了進去了。事情沒過幾分鐘，就聽到喇叭箱裡傳來上人的聲音，「愛護常住物，如同眼中珠。」
我在學校當老師多年，早年學生的精神與現前的學生不太相同。記得有一次學生把一糰飯掉在地上，因為我是老師，我該處理這件事，沒想到另一位學生走過來對我說：「老師，我會處理。」只見他一把抓起那糰飯，一口就吃了下去；動作之快，連我叫他用水先沖洗的機會都沒有，那情形教我永遠都忘不了。
第二天（三月卅日），在家聽上人講《涅槃經》，有一段講到清朝的寄禪法師，他很會做詩。他原是很笨的一個人，住山時，有位老先生想教他做詩，可過了幾年，他一首詩也寫不出來。這位法師食量很大，每次吃很多。當時廟上養了很多狗，寄禪法師就拿剩的食物餵狗。有時食物太多，狗也吃不了。有一次被方丈和尚看見狗食盆子裡的飯，就罵他：「你這樣糟踏常住的東西，不怕錯因果。你去把這些飯吃了！」他就用水把狗的剩飯洗洗吃了。吃了以後，他就開大智慧了，沒執著了。以後，詩做得特別好。講完這段公案，上人接著說：「修行要真正明白怎樣得到真東西，不要儘在假的上面用功！」這時自己真後悔前一天的疏失了。
我們都應問問自己：「怎樣得到真東西？」每個人的答案可能都不同。我覺得發菩提心的修行人，在面對自己的執著煩惱，行持上要有一種大雄力才能與初發心相應；否則，分別心佔的地位越多，菩提心立足之地就越少。
我這裡有個公案提供各位參考。大陸有個廟的齋堂裏，多數法師都已用齋完畢，準備結齋，有位客僧似乎總也吃不完。廟上的一位法師就走過去問怎麼回事，客僧說稀飯裡有砂子，挑出缽內的砂子頗費時間。廟上的法師聽了端起缽，一口喝光，捧著空缽問：「哪裡有砂子？」
我們天天吃東西，要有吃東西的哲學；
穿衣服，要有穿衣服的知識；
睡覺，要有睡覺的智慧。
你若是不懂得這些問題，就很容易
或者太過，或者不及；
若能做得恰到好處，這就是很平常的事情。
這吃飯、穿衣服、睡覺是每天的三大要訣，
我們都要懂；
但是人人不一定都做得對，因為做得不太對，
人就會生出毛病來了！
─ 宣公上人
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On March 29th, after finishing eating in the dining hall, I was about to put my bowl and chopsticks away. There was a young American Upasaka who walked by behind me. He was tripped by my chair and then the next thing I heard was “ta-lung,” his food was all over the floor; besides curry potatoes, there was some unknown green vegetable in it. Because I did not know him, I froze for a short moment and could not decide if I should help him pick up the food. I was thinking, “Maybe he knows how to take care of this properly.” After a short while, he came back with a broom and dustpan. He quickly swept the food away into the dustpan. Few minutes later, I heard the Venerable Master’s voice from the speaker saying, “Treasure the possession of the temple, just as if you would your eyeballs.”
I have been a teacher for many years. The spirit and attitude of students today are not quite the same as those students in the early days. I recall one time there was a student who dropped a ball of rice onto the floor. Because I was a teacher, I did not hesitate to help take care of the matter. Then another student came to me and said, “Teacher, I will take care of it.” He picked the rice up from the floor and ate it right away. Because his action was so quick, I did not have a chance to ask him to rinse it first. I can never forget that incident.
The next day, I was listening to the Venerable Master’s commentary on the Nirvana Sutra at home. There was one section in which he talked about Dharma Master Ji Chan in the Ching dynasty. He was a poet-monk, very good at writing poetry. However, he was originally very unintelligent. When he first started living in seclusion in the mountains, there was an old monk who wanted to teach him how to write poetry. A few years later, he still couldn’t manage to write one. The master was a big eater. He always ate a lot. During that time, the temple raised a lot of dogs. He always fed the dogs with the leftovers. Sometimes there was so much leftover, even the dogs could not finish it. One time, the Abbot saw that the dogs ate rice from a big pot. The Abbot then scolded him, “That’s how you waste th possssions of the ‘permanently-dwelling’. Are you not afraid of karma? Go finish that rice.” Master Ji Chan used water to rinse the rice left in the pot by the dog, and ate it. After he finished eating it, his wisdom suddenly unfolded and was rid of attachment. Since then, he became very good in writing poems. After telling the story, the Venerable Master said, “You need to know how to attain the truth by cultivating the Way. Do not put all your effort into merely getting the false.” As I reflected on these dharmas, I began to feel regretful of my remissness in the past.
We should all ask ourselves, “How can we attain the truth?” Everyone’s response probably will be different. I feel that those who cultivate and bring forth the Bodhi resolve, need to have extreme determination to uphold their practice, whenever facing their own attachments and afflictions. Only then will they be able to align with their initial vow. Otherwise, the more they dwell on differentiations, the less they will be able to bring about the Bodhi resolve.
Here I would like to share a story with you. There was a temple in China. One day, people were having their meal and it was about to end. Most of the Dharma Masters had already finished their meal. There was a guest monk who seemed unable to finish his meal. One of the resident Dharma Masters came to check on him. The guest monk said, “There is sand in the porridge. It’s very time consuming to pick them out from my bowl.” The Dharma Master took the alms-bowl and drank all the porridge. And then he held the empty alms-bowl and asked the guest monk, “Where is the sand?”
Everyday we eat things and we should have a philosophy of eating. In wearing clothes we should have an understanding awareness of wearing clothes. And in sleeping we should have wisdom with respect to sleeping. If you don’t understand these, then it will be easy for you to go to the extremes of having too much or too little. If you are able to do these things in a proper way, it is still a very ordinary matter. Eating, wearing clothese and sleep are the three essentials ofr our daily life, so we should understand them all. However, it’s not for sure that everyone can do them in the right way. Because people do not do them in the right way, they give rise to faults.
─ Venerable Master Hua
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