Disclaimer: My translations are not official nor endorsed by 2OR, so please just treat it as a ‘fan-based’ translation based on my understanding of his teachings. The Buddha-Dharma is profound. No matter how you convey it, it won’t be completely perfect. Because the Buddha-Dharma is an experience, it’s an awakening 【佛法深奥无比，怎么写，都不会是究竟圆满。佛法是一种悟】. I am not an enlightened being like Master Lu, but I will treat his teachings with my utmost respect and do my best to convey and translate it to the best of my (limited) abilities for my friends and people who can’t read Chinese. Please enjoy, and I hope it serves as a good filler until the official English version comes out.
接下来要记住，追求佛性，看见佛性，见证佛性。佛性就是要看到佛的本性，追到了之后，才能够看见，然后见证佛性。举个不恰当的例子，追求男女朋友也是这样的，先听说这个女孩子良心很好，就打电话约她出来，不就是追吗，等看到后，真的很善良啊，等到和她好了，得到她的帮助了，开心了，就是见证了。
Following on, please take note of these three things to do: to seek the Buddha-nature, to pursue the Buddha-nature and to realise the Buddha-nature. The Buddha-nature is about finding the inherent nature of the Buddha. Only when you seek, can you see and finally realise the Buddha-nature. I’ll illustrate with a slightly inappropriate example. When you’re pursuing a boyfriend or girlfriend, the same applies. You first heard that this girl was kind-hearted. Hence you called her to ask her out, isn’t this called ‘pursuing’? After you met her, you found out that she really was kind-hearted. Then when your relationship developed and you gained her support, and you’re happy, isn’t this ‘realisation’?
接下来，讲讲有功德和没功德。很多人喜欢讲，你做了这件事情，功德无量。师父给你们讲过，什么叫有功德，你讲你有功德了，你就是没有功德。你说你没有功德了，你就是有功德。被人说一句“哎呀，功德无量”，好开心啊，好了，功德没了。有功德就是没功德，没功德就是有功德。师父告诉你们，功德不能够随便讲的，真的东西都不能多讲。要尊敬师父，要敬师重道勤修炼，这些都是有功德的。
Next, I’ll talk about what has merit-virtues and what doesn’t have merit-virtues. Many people like to say, “You’ve done this, so you have boundless merit-virtues.” Master has said this before, what are merit-virtues? When you say you have merit-virtues, then you have no merit-virtues. When you say you have no merit-virtues, then you have merit-virtues. When somebody says to you, “Oh, you have merit-virtues”, and you’re very happy about it, alright then you have no merit-virtues. To have merit-virtues is to have no merit-virtues, to have no merit-virtues is to have merit-virtues. Master tells you, merit-virtues must not be said casually, what is real can’t be said excessively. You must respect the Master. Pay respects to master and pay respects to the Way, and diligently cultivate, these are all meritorious deeds.
生即是苦。因为生出来了，就是苦的开始。人来到世界的第一个声音就是哭声，人生就是苦难的基础。人到人间来就是受苦的。举个例子，就是脸上长个痘痘都会觉得苦。军人立正时背后奇痒，汗流浃背，又动弹不得，你说苦不苦。现在很多旅游景点，有人装扮成那种雕塑似的，立在那儿不动，为的就是一点小费，你说苦不苦。哪个工作不苦啊。在人间哪儿没有苦啊。人生就是生离死别。人活着就是空，苦等于空无常，就是说这个世界你来的时候是空的，走的时候也是空的，吃了这么多的苦，得到的是一个空，什么都是无常的。人死的时候，黑白无常会来抓的，为什么称为无常啊，没有长久的，你没有了。
Birth is suffering. That’s because the moment of our birth is the beginning of suffering. When humans first came into this world, the first sound they make is the sound of crying. Life is the foundation of hardships. Humans came to the human realm to experience suffering. Here’s an analogy, even if you got a few pimples on your face, you already suffer. When soldiers stand up straight and their backs itch, they’re sweating a lot and unable to make a move, don’t you think that this is hard? Nowadays there are many tourist spots where people pretend to be wax statues, and they have to stand there and not move just for small earnings, isn’t this hard? Which job isn’t hard? Where in the human realm is there no suffering? Life is about separation from the people you love. Life is emptiness; suffering is emptiness and impermanence. In other words, when you came to this world, you were empty, and when you depart from this world, you’ll also be empty. You have endured and suffered so much, but in the end, all you receive is emptiness. Everything is impermanent. When humans die, Black and White Impermanence will catch them. Why is it called impermanence? It’s because it’s not long-lasting, you will disappear.
生命是以生老病死轮回交替的。举个例子，人生出来了，老了，病了，死了，轮回了。任何事情实际上就是一个交替啊。今天生了，明天老了，后天又生病了，再后天又死了，到了地府又投胎成了一个人，新一轮轮回开始了。人生就是这么轮回转动的。所以，不要以为我投人了，可以享受了，其实是烦恼苦难的开示，而且这个世界没有永恒的东西。
Life is the place where birth, old age, sickness and death and rebirth alternates. Here’s an analogy, a person is born, then becomes old, then becomes sick, dies then become reborn again. Anything, in reality, is just an alternation. Today we’re born, tomorrow we become old, the day after tomorrow we get sick and then the day after that we die. Then we arrive in the Underworld and wait to be reborn again as a human, then a new rebirth cycle starts. Life is just part of the rebirth cycle. That’s why don’t think that just because we are reborn as humans, we can enjoy life. In reality, it’s just the start of afflictions and hardships, and also nothing in this world is permanent.
今天师父给你们讲一个很简单的道理，但是要透彻地分析给你们听，叫“以苦为乐”。以苦为乐是实修的一种境界。实修就是实实在在地修心。怎样才能够把苦转换成乐呢？寡欲才可以清心，乐天知命无所求。一个人欲望少了，心才可以得到清净，要懂得知足长乐，就不会那么苦了。其实我们在祈求事业、身体、家庭好的时候是用我们的功德在求，是会抵消功德的，就像我们念经、念小房子是在还债一样。用功德去求人间的钱财、求福报是最傻的了，会失去功德。用功德去求财，也不一定能发财，因为钱财是前世所修的。
Today Master will tell you a very simple principle, but it will be thoroughly analysed for you. That principle is ‘finding happiness in suffering’. To find happiness in suffering is a state of mind that arises from wholehearted cultivation. Wholehearted cultivation is to sincerely and honestly cultivate the mind. How does one transform suffering into happiness? Only by minimising desires can our mind become pure and possess an optimistic and non-seeking attitude to life. Only when a person’s desires are minimal, can their mind become pure. One must understand that contentment leads to long-lasting happiness, then you won’t suffer as much. To be honest when we are praying for a good career, good health and improvement in our family’s well-being, we are using our merit-virtues to pray. So it will expend our merit-virtues, just like how we are reciting sutras and offering Little Houses to repay karmic debts. To use merit-virtues to pursue wealth and worldly blessings is the most foolish action, it will create a loss of merit-virtues. Also, using merit-virtues to pursue wealth may not certainly lead to riches because wealth comes from one’s cultivation in the previous life.
天地宇宙之间有一个道理。什么道理？师父用白话讲给你们听。人在吃苦的时候，业力就会得到转化，我们的孽障就在得到消除。吃苦可以把我们的业力消掉。这就是为什么师父叫你们要把苦转为乐的原因。当你的业力得到消除以后，你不就开心了吗？吃苦越多的人，业力消得越快。业力消除了，福分就自然来了。所以有一句话叫“苦尽甘来”。吃苦怕什么，人到人间来就是吃苦的。每天吃点苦，又怎么样呢？很多人就是憋不住，憋不住的人就是没有定力。如果大家能够咬牙多吃点苦，同时拼命做功德，祈求菩萨就会很灵的。
There is a principle among heaven, earth and the universe. What is that principle? Master will explain using layman terms. When somebody is experiencing suffering, karmic forces will gradually transform, and our karmic obstructions can be gradually be diminished. Experiencing suffering can diminish karmic forces, thus this why Master tells you that you must transform suffering into happiness. When your karmic forces are diminished, don’t you become happier? The more somebody suffers, the quicker their karmic forces can diminish, then the worldly blessing will naturally come. That’s why there’s a saying called ‘when bitterness end, sweetness begins’. What’s so scary about experiencing suffering? People are here in the human realm to experience suffering in the first place. So what if you have to experience a bit of suffering every day? Many people aren’t able to endure it, people who can’t endure can't concentrate. If everybody can grit their teeth and experience a bit more suffering, and at the same time exert their utmost strength to perform meritorious deeds, then their prayers to the Bodhisattvas would be efficacious.
师父下来是领有使命的，在人间也是在修心。我在帮助人家的同时，也是在帮助我自己。很多人在救人的时候、给别人讲法的时候，他自己也是在学习和进取啊。
Master came down here with a mission, and am here to cultivate the mind in the human realm. At the same time when Master is helping you, Master is also helping himself. Many people learn and advance when they save others and propagate the dharma to others.
人在享福的时候，就是在享用自己的福分。一旦福分用完了，这期间又没有吃苦、行善，还造了业，接下来就是倒霉和灾难。要记住，吃苦实际上是在转你的心。人只有吃苦了，才会想到去改变自己的命运，才会想到去求菩萨保佑。转心等于转业，把生活中的一切苦转化为乐。有一句话叫，“苦中有乐，其乐无穷”。以苦为乐是一个很高的境界，苦是乐的之因，乐是苦之果。上班很辛苦吧，但是当你拿到工资的时候，就乐了，这些钱可以付房贷了，可以度假了。种了这个苦的因，才想到祈求菩萨，求菩萨灵验了，乐了，果不就出来了吗？
When people are enjoying their worldly blessings, they are depleting their blessings. When it’s gone, and during the period if they haven’t experienced suffering, haven’t performed wholesome deeds but created negative karma, what follows is misfortune and calamities. Take note, when experiencing suffering, you are transforming your mind. Only when people are suffering, would they think about changing their destiny, would they think of praying for Bodhisattva’s blessings. Transforming the mind is equivalent to transforming karma, and to take all the suffering in their everyday lives and transform it into happiness. There’s a saying that ‘there’s happiness within suffering, and that happiness is endless’. To perceive suffering as happiness requires a very high level of spirituality in the state of mind. Suffering is the cause of happiness; happiness is the consequence of suffering. It’s very hard going to work, but when you receive your salary, then you become happy, you can use the money to pay for the mortgage or go on a holiday. Only when you have planted the cause of suffering, would you think about praying to the Bodhisattvas, then when it becomes efficacious, you become happy, then doesn’t that mean that consequences have appeared?
学佛是理于事。理是理论上学佛法，是口，是用嘴巴讲的。事是实修的一种境界，是心，是用行动去做的。我们现在学的是理论，那么怎样体现在行动上呢？怎样体现在弘法救人上呢？大家要懂得，理事要圆融，就是心想和实做要圆融，心和口要合一。修心的人心里想的和嘴巴上说的、行为上做的要合一。这些都是人间的东西，说简单一点，就是言行要一致。口与心的结合很重要。
To practise Buddhism is to be understandable of involvements. It’s by understanding that we practise Buddhism and expound it. Involvements require a kind of cultivated state of mind that propels us to take action. What we are learning right now are theories, so how do we manifest this in our actions? How do we manifest it when we are propagating the dharma and spiritually awaken others? Everybody must understand, that our understanding and involvements must be done in harmony. In other words, what we think and what we do must harmonise with each other, where mind and words unite as one. Practitioners must be able to perfectly express verbally and in action what they are thinking in their mind. To put simply, words and deeds must be consistent, that is very important.
师父现在教你们的法门不是空谈的，要修正自己心中的宇宙天地。每个人心中有一个宇宙，就是我们平常讲的胸怀大志，胸怀祖国，放眼世界。师父叫你们修的是你们自己心中的宇宙，要做一个敢于走出去、放眼全世界的人。昨天有位听众，台长叫他许愿，他说，“台长啊，我要是许愿后做不到，怎么办呢？”这样的人，本身就是没有很好许愿的基础。如果你许愿，心里想我一定能够做到，就可以许。地藏王菩萨说，“地狱不空，誓不成佛”。现在地狱空了吗？但是就是因为这么大菩萨的愿力，使多少人可以投生啊。但是他实实在在的许了这个愿，他成了佛。如果你们许愿，心里一定要想我一定要怎么做，要怎么去救人，当然要真的去做的，做不成那是另外一回事情，你用实实在在的行动去做了，你就是菩萨。
The Buddhist practice and methods that Master is teaching you aren’t empty words. We must correct the universe, heaven and earth within our mind. Inside everybody’s mind resides a micro-universe, which is what we normally refer to as broadmindedness where we possess great aspirations, and great concern to our motherland, and great concern to the world. What Master is telling you is to cultivate the universe within you and become somebody who dares to venture to new territories and see how great the world is. Yesterday there was a listener, Master advised him to make a vow, and then he responded, “Master, what if I can’t fulfil the vow that I make, then what?” For these kinds of people, they lack the mental foundations to make vows. If you wish to vow, and your mind is confident that you’re able to fulfil it, then do so. Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva vowed, “Until hell is empty, I will not attain Buddhahood.” Is hell empty now? But because of this vow from a Great Bodhisattva, it allowed many spirits to be freed and reborn. But He has sincerely and honestly vowed, and he has attained Buddhahood. If you make a vow, your mind must be thinking that you can fulfil it. If you vow that you would do something to save others, then you must put it into action. If you aren’t able to accomplish it, that’s a different matter. But you must sincerely and honestly put your vow into practice; then you’re a Bodhisattva.
师父说了，我在有生之年，只要活一天，我一定要弘扬佛法，救度全世界有缘人。这就是我的愿力。你们敢不敢天天在观世音菩萨面前这样讲？师父天天跟观世音菩萨这么讲，“我要救全世界的有缘之人”。我可以用自己的生命来许愿弘法。愿力越大，得到的功德越大；愿力越大，得到的反馈越大。师父现在的法力这么大，你们知道怎么来的吗？这就是功德所为。救的人越多，愿力越大你的法力和功德都是正增长。
Master once said that as long as I live, as long as I still have a day to live, I must propagate the Buddha-Dharma, and spiritually awaken everybody in this world who has a karmic affinity. That is the power of my vow. Do you dare to say this in front of Guan Yin Bodhisattva every day? Master tells Guan Yin Bodhisattva every day that I must save all sentient beings in this world that has a karmic affinity. I can offer my life to make the vow to propagate the dharma. The greater the vow, the greater the merit-virtues one receives. The greater the vow, the greater the feedback. Master’s dharma powers are so great, do you know where it came from? That is the result of merit-virtues. The more people you save and the greater the vow, then your dharma powers and merit-virtues will increase in the same proportions.
修心修行就是要修自己心中的宇宙。如果你没有经过实修和实证，就是说如果你没有经过实实在在的修心和验证修心后得到的果，你感觉你修成功了，那你还是局限在一个“理”字，局限于嘴巴里的道理，没有实践的东西。单修法门而不修心的人，是越修越执著，入魔不知道。比如某个人经常会说，这个人能够看见了，那个人也能够看见了，我最好也能够看见。法有两种，一种是佛法，还有一种是魔法。单修法的人，你能够知道是佛法还是魔法吗？如果修不到佛法，不就是魔法了吗？你修魔法了，不就得不到佛法了吗？正和魔就差那么一点点，尤如钟不准时，不是好的钟。所以，一定要修心而不能单修法。
Cultivating mind and behaviour is to cultivate the universe within our mind. If you haven’t experienced what real cultivation and what realisation is like, in other words, if you haven’t sincerely and honestly cultivated your mind nor realised the consequences of the cultivation, but you feel that you have cultivated successfully, then you are still limited to the bounds of understanding. You are still limited to just understanding theories, but you haven’t yet applied it in real life. Solely practising the techniques in the Buddhist practice but not cultivating the mind, will make one become more attached the more they cultivate. They won’t even know that they have deviated. For example, there was somebody who frequently says, “This person can see (something supernatural), that person can see, it would be great if I can also see.” There are two types of dharma; one is the Buddha-dharma, the other one is the demon-dharma. Just solely cultivating one aspect of the dharma, how do you know whether it’s the Buddha-dharma or the demon-dharma? If you don’t cultivate the Buddha-dharma, then doesn’t it imply that it’s a demon-dharma? If you cultivate the demon-dharma, then doesn’t it imply that you can’t possess the Buddha-dharma? The difference between right and deviations are very minute, likened to a clock, if it’s inaccurate then it’s not a good clock. That’s why you must also cultivate the mind and not just solely cultivate techniques.
未达究竟。如果修心还没有达到究竟，就是还没有修到正，还没有修到底，你的心已经变异，甚至已经把你的心修到丢失了。你要找到的是迷失的心，否则，你要永远在六道中轮回。一个人为什么很喜欢某个特定的人，就是有一种痴迷在里面。迷，没有关系，但是迷过头了，就是痴迷，就找不到真正的自己了。师父叫你们不要丢掉自己迷失的心。
If your cultivation of the mind has not yet been completed, in order words, it has not yet been corrected completely, then your mind is still transfigured, or even worse you might have gotten lost from the right path of cultivation. So you must constantly pay attention to it and keep your mind from being lost. Otherwise, you will always be trapped within samsara. Why is it that somebody can be so enthusiastic towards a certain person? They become kind of like in an obsessed state. Enthusiasm is fine, but when it’s in excess, it becomes an obsession, then one won’t be able to find their real self. Master tells you that you mustn’t let your mind become lost.
实际上，修心比修法更重要。修法是表面的东西，比如，嘴巴里讲起佛法一套一套的，说这个法门好，那个法门不好，今天去这个庙里拜拜，明天去那儿烧烧香，等等。如果不修心，连做人最基本的道理都不懂，能够真正地懂法吗？师父情愿你们把心修得好一点，也不要只做表面的东西给师父看。修法不如修心，因为万法唯心造，所有人间的东西可以称为人间法，都是由心造成的。心在想什么，这个世界就会变成什么样子。
In reality, cultivating the mind is more important than cultivating the dharma. Cultivating the dharma is just something on the surface, for example, you can articulate the Buddha-Dharma fluently, sometimes you compliment this Buddhist practice, sometimes criticise another Buddhist practice, today you went to this temple to pay respects, tomorrow you offer incenses etc. If one doesn’t cultivate their mind, they won’t even know the most basic principles to be a moral person, then how can they truly understand the dharma? Master would rather prefer that you cultivate your mind than putting on a superficial show in front of Master. Cultivating the dharma is inferior to cultivating the mind because all dharmas stem from the mind. That’s why things that exist in the human realm are known as human-realm dharmas, all of it is created from the mind. What your mind thinks determines how your world appears to be.
举个例子，过去有些人开会之前就会想，今天要挨领导批评了，一进会场，看到别人的脸，都会觉得别人要斗他了。世界上所有的东西都是你心中想出来的。你今天想生意很好，实际上生意今天就是好。有些人觉得风水不好，在家里搬来搬去的，还是觉的不好，他们就是不懂去念经调节和改变。风水的问题，人的心也是很重要的。有一句话叫，“福人住福地”，就是这个道理。人的心不好，住地风水再好，也是没有用的。心即是法，法即是心。
I’ll illustrate this with an analogy, some people, when they go to a meeting, they might think to themselves, “Today, I have to bear with the leader’s criticisms.” When they enter the meeting room and sees other people’s faces, they would feel that everybody in the room is ready to gang up on them. Everything in this world is created from your mind. When you think that business is good, in reality, business is really good. Some people feel that their Feng Shui is bad, so they keep moving around objects inside their house and still feel uncomfortable about it. They don’t know that they should recite sutras to adjust and make changes. There’s a saying called ‘blessed people live in a blessed location’, that’s the principle. When a person’s mind is bad, no matter how great their Feng Shui is, it’s still useless. The mind is the dharma and dharma is the mind.
学法的人，想着要修出各种花样来，实际上修出各种花样并不是好事。只有佛菩萨是先天无级正法，修出来就是正法。这个已经跳出三界，不在五行之中了。学法的人，想学这些东西，就变成魔了。因为这个东西对于他们来讲太高深了。比如说，中学生想学博士的课程，是读不了的。但是我偏要读，能读吗？可以读，读偏了。最后跟大家讲，一个念头，清净心，把你的心放平静，什么事情都没有了。
People who learn the dharma think of cultivating a variety of different things, but in fact, that’s not a good thing. Only Buddha-Bodhisattvas possess an innately-classless-right-dharma, so whatever dharma they cultivate are right. That is something beyond the three realms, and not confined within the bounds of the five elements. If a person who learns the dharma also learns these things, they will turn into a demon. It’s because this knowledge is too profound for them. For example, if middle school students want to learn in a class catered for PhD students, they wouldn’t be able to understand. But they insist on doing so, can they still learn? Yes, they can, but they will deviate. Finally, let me say this, a single thought, a pure mind, calm your mind down then everything will seem to have never happened.
修心得成就全在于一个心地。心地善良的人才能够修正，心地不善良的人就算修，修出来的也是歪东西。为什么有的人修善良还是出邪恶，功夫在于心。修心的人要懂得用心来控制善良、阻碍邪恶，用佛的智慧来观照自己的良心。观照就是用眼睛看着自己的良心，看看自己今天是在行善事，还是在做恶事，是否充满恐惧，等。按照佛陀的法意，探讨你自身的佛识。你自己要经常想想，我所学的佛菩萨的意识在不在，我今天做的这件事情是否有佛菩萨的意识在里面呢？
To attain any level of success in cultivating the mind, it depends on the base of the mind. Only when a person’s mental base is kind-hearted could they be reformed. If a person’s mental base isn’t kind-hearted, no matter how much they cultivate, what they get is something deviated. Why is it when somebody is trying to cultivate benevolence what they cultivate out of it is malevolence? The crucial area that one must put most effort on is the mind. Cultivators of the mind must know how to use their mind to manage their benevolence and obstruct their malevolence and use Buddha’s wisdom to practise mindfulness of their conscience. Mindfulness is to your our mind’s eye to keep a close eye on one’s conscience and see whether the deeds one had done today were wholesome, unwholesome, or filled with fear etc. ‘Follow Buddha’s dharma-intentions and investigate one’s Buddha-consciousness’. One must regularly think to themselves, “Are the thoughts of the Buddha-Bodhisattvas present? Did the deeds that I performed today embody the consciousness of the Buddha-Bodhisattvas?”
意识就是意念。如果你今天做了一件事情，你的意识认为我这样做是好的，是修心，是做功德，那就是有佛菩萨的意识，叫佛识。要注意自己心的动态，做任何事情心都在动。人的意识是超控人的肉体的。所以要记住，佛的意识时刻在你心中。你要控制住自己心中的意识和心的行为、心的动态，要懂得调心、制心，那么你就能够净化、转化和度化你的心。度化就是慢慢地把自己不好的东西去除掉。每个人身上都有魔，就像每个人身上都有癌细胞一样，只有战胜自己身上的魔，才能够使自己成为佛。
Consciousness is thoughts. If you performed a deed today and your consciousness thought that what you did was good, for example, you were cultivating the mind, performing meritorious deeds etc., then you had embodied the consciousness of the Buddha-Bodhisattvas, called Buddha-consciousness. You must pay attention to your state of mind; the mind fluctuates when something occurs. A person’s consciousness is the thing that controls the physical body. That’s why you must remember to retain Buddha’s consciousness within your mind. You must take control of the consciousness and the behaviour within the mind. You must take control of the state of mind; you must learn how to adjust your mind, control it, then you can purify, transform and spiritually awaken your mind. To spiritually awaken is to gradually get rid of contaminants of the mind. Everybody possesses a demon within them, just like how everybody has some cancerous cells within their body. Only by defeating the demon within us, can we attain Buddhahood.
