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我常給你們講「堅、誠、恆」這三個字；沒有做到、沒有恆心，不能放下執著妄想，所以我們現在還沒有成佛。你想不想成佛？你若想成佛，就趕快把你的妄想、執著放下，就可以了！
「得成最正覺」：佛在菩提樹下，得成無上正等正覺──沒有比這再高上的正等正覺；「正等」、「正覺」，再加上「無上」，這就是佛的果位。開了悟、證了佛果，他轉「轉無上法輪」：最初轉「四諦」法輪，以後又轉「十二因緣」的法輪，以後又轉「六度萬行」的法輪。
最初轉「大華嚴」法輪，佛一看，這一般人不能接受這種大法；所以又轉「阿含」的法輪，然後轉「方等」的法輪，然後轉「般若」的法輪；最後才轉這「法華」的法輪──這叫「妙法輪」。轉法華，是佛的本懷；他本來的意思，就想說《法華》；不過看眾生的根機沒有成熟，，所以就先轉阿含、方等、般若，以後才轉法華。這轉法華的時候，時候成就了，所以才轉無上法輪。「爾乃教化之」：在這個時候，就教化這一切的大菩薩。「令初發道心」：令他們都發這無上的菩提道心。「今皆住不退」：這些無量多的菩薩，現在都住到「位不退、念不退、行不退」這三不退上了。「悉當得成佛」：他們完全都應該成佛的。
「我今說實語」：在以前我對你們所說的法，都是方便語；方便語，就是為真實語說的。那麼現在，我和你們說真話、說實實在在的話了。「汝等一心信」：我說真實的話，你們都應該專一其心，來信受我所講的這個法。「我從久遠來」：我不是僅僅今生在這娑婆世界成佛，我在無量劫以前，已經就成佛了！「非生示生，非滅示滅」──本來不生，而示現出一個生，這叫「非生示生」；本來不滅，而示現入涅槃，這叫「非滅示滅」。在《梵網經》上說：「我來此娑婆世界八千返。」已經有八千次那麼多了。《梵網經》上是這麼說，若是你有天眼通，用道眼觀察，你看一看釋迦牟尼佛到這個世界上，不止八千返，八萬返、八百萬返都不止了！無量無數那麼多的次數！所以在此，說真實語了！「教化是等眾」：這一些無量無數、算不出來這麼多的大菩薩，充滿三千大千世界的虛空，這都是我在以前因地──在過去生中，過去成佛那個時候，我所教化的。你以前問：「他是跟著哪一位佛發的心？誰教他們的？他們修行的甚麼方法？念甚麼經？」他們所修的就是「法華」的法門；他們所念的就是《妙法蓮華經》。現在我告訴你：這一些大眾，都是由我教化而成就的。
釋迦牟尼佛說了這個偈頌之後，這彌勒菩薩──就是那個大肚子菩薩；那個肚子裏頭，把虛空都裝滿了。不是盡喫好東西才肚子大，他那個肚子，像虛空那樣子，包羅萬有，甚麼都在裏邊。這菩薩本來甚麼都知道、甚麼都明白，不要人告訴他，他也懂了；但是現在，他就糊塗了。糊塗甚麼呢？就是釋迦牟尼佛所說這個偈頌，他就不明白了。他說，豈有此理呢！這些個菩薩都這麼大的年紀，釋迦牟尼佛現在才七十多歲的時候；你這麼年輕，這一些菩薩這麼老，怎麼他們是你的徒弟呢？
待續
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I often tell you to be firm, sincere, and
constant, but you haven’t been able to do so yet. Without a constant
mind, you have not been able to put down your attachments and false
thinking. Therefore you haven’t yet become a Buddha. Do you want to
become a Buddha? If you do, then quickly put down your false thinking
and attachments, and you will do fine.
I realized the most proper enlightenment. The
Buddha, beneath the Bodhi Tree, certified to Unsurpassed, Proper and
Equal, Right Enlightenment. There is nothing higher than this Proper
and Equal Right Enlightenment. This is a Buddha’s fruition. Having
enlightened and become a Buddha, one is certified as attaining the
fruition of Buddhahood. And then he turned the supreme Dharma-wheel. In
the beginning he turned the Dharma-wheel of the Four Truths; later he
turned the Dharma-wheel of the Twelve Causes and Conditions. After
that, he turned the Dharma-wheel of the Six Paramitas and the myriad
practices.
At the very beginning, he turned the great
Dharma-wheel of the Flower Adornment. When he saw that ordinary people
could not accept this great Dharma, he turned the Dharma-wheel of the
Agamas. Then he turned the Dharma-wheel of the Vaipulya. Then he turned
the Dharma-wheel of Prajna. At the very last, he finally turned the
Dharma-wheel of the Dharma Flower. The Wonderful Dharma-wheel—the wheel
of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma Flower—is the basic aim of the
Buddha. His original intent was to speak the Dharma Flower. But, upon
seeing that living beings’ faculties were not mature enough, that it
wasn’t time yet, he first turned the Agama, Vaipulya, and Prajna
Dharmas, and after that he turned the Dharma Flower. When he spoke the
Dharma Flower, the time was right. The time had come. Therefore he
turned the unsurpassed Dharma-wheel.
Only then did I teach and transform them. At that
time, I taught and transformed all the Great Bodhisattvas, causing them
to first bring forth their resolve for the Way. I enabled them to bring
forth the Unsurpassed Bodhi Way-mind. Now they all dwell in
irreversibility. These limitless, limitless, limitless Bodhisattvas all
abide at the level of irreversibility. They are irreversible in
position, in mindfulness, and in practice. They abide in those three
kinds of irreversibility. And all shall become Buddhas.
I now speak the truth; the Dharma I taught you
before was expedient. It was spoken to prepare you for the full truth,
which I am now speaking to you. You should believe it with a single
mind. You should turn your minds to become one in order to accept this
true Dharma. From remote time past to now, / I have taught and
transformed these multitudes. It’s not just now, in this life, in this
Saha world, that I have become a Buddha. Limitless eons ago I became a
Buddha. The Buddha is said to be “not born and yet born, not extinct
and yet extinct.” Although he was not born, he manifested birth.
Basically, he did not become extinct, but appeared to enter Nirvana. In
the Brahma Net Sutra, the Buddha says, “I have come to this Saha world
eight thousand times.” If you obtain the Way eye—the penetration of the
Heavenly Eye—and take a look into how many times Shakyamuni Buddha has
come into this Saha world, you will see that it’s not just eight
thousand times. It’s not even eighty thousand times, or eight hundred
thousand times, but limitless, countless times. So the Buddha is
telling the real truth here.
These limitless, countless Great Bodhisattvas
filling up the empty space of three thousand great thousand worlds are
all those whom I taught when I was on the causal ground during my
former lives as a Buddha. You asked under which Buddha they resolved to
cultivate the Way, who taught them, and by what methods. They
cultivated the Dharma-door of the Dharma Flower. They recited the
Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra. I am telling you now that I
taught, transformed, and brought to accomplishment this great assembly.
When Shakyamuni Buddha had finished speaking his
verse, Maitreya Bodhisattva spoke up again with a question. Maitreya
Bodhisattva is the Bodhisattva with the huge belly. His stomach
contains all of empty space. He didn’t get that way from eating good
food, however. His belly is simply like empty space and includes all of
existence within it. This big-bellied Bodhisattva basically knows all
there is to know and has complete understanding of everything. He
doesn’t need to ask people to explain things to him. But now he’s
confused. What’s he confused about? About the verse Shakyamuni Buddha
just spoke. Maitreya Bodhisattva doesn’t understand it.
“Absolutely impossible,” he thought. “These
Bodhisattvas are so old. Shakyamuni Buddha has only been alive for a
few decades. He’s in his seventies. You are so young and these
Bodhisattvas are so old. How can they be your disciples?
To be continued
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