Disclaimer: The translations are not official nor endorsed by 2OR, so please just treat it as a ‘fan-based’ translation. 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】. Please enjoy, and I hope it serves as a good filler until the official English version comes out.
“千年暗室，一灯即破”。我们心中的无明，我们心中的不明白，犹如千年暗室，只要点上一盏明灯，全部可以照亮。在安徒生的童话集里有一篇《卖火柴的小姑娘》，她每点燃一根火柴，就会看到一些以前或将来的东西，每点燃一根火柴， 就会看见灵界的东西或看见天上的东西，等她把火柴点完了，就什么东西都看不见了。而我们需要的不是一根火柴，也不是一盒火柴，我们需要的是永久的明灯， 永久的明灯是靠菩萨给我们点燃，而不是靠自己的微薄力量能点燃的。
"A-thousand-year old dark room could be illuminated by a single lamp". The ignorance within our mind is just like a thousand-year-old dark room. However, with a single beacon, everything can become illuminated. In Andersen's Fairy Tale, there is a story called "The Little Match Girl". Each time when she lit a match, she would see something in the past or the future. Each time when she lit a match, she would see things in the spiritual world or heaven. When the match extinguished, she couldn’t see anything anymore. What we need isn’t a match, nor a box of matches. What we need is a permanent beacon lit by the Bodhisattvas, not lit by using the limited energy that we possess.
造了恶业，要真诚忏悔，如果造了恶业，犹如在暗室里什么都看不见一样。但是你真诚忏悔，犹如一盏明灯，可以把你过去所做的很多恶事忏悔掉。但一定要真诚忏悔，真诚忏悔之后你的心就开始清净了。谁没有做过坏事？谁没有做过错事？只要是人，就会做错事。但是要懂得忏悔，不懂得忏悔，就永远找不到方向。我们生活中有一句话叫：“不撞南墙不回头”。多少人在婚姻上，事业上，明明做错了，明明撞墙了，还要向前走，明明知道做这些事情会有业障，非要去做， 明明知道自己的孩子，如果再这样宠下去，早晚会走上邪路，但还要继续宠他， 这是为什么？就是因为心中有无明和障碍。
Once you have created negative karma, you must sincerely repent. If you created negative karma, it’s likened to being confined inside a dark room where you’re unable to see anything. But when you sincerely repent, it is like a beacon that can purify all the malicious deeds that you did in the past. But you must repent sincerely. Only after sincere repentance could your mind start to purify itself. Who hasn’t done any bad things in their life? Who hasn’t made any mistakes before? As long as you’re human, you will make mistakes. But you must know how to repent. If you don’t, then you can never find the right direction. There’s a saying that ‘people won’t turn back unless they hit the wall’. There are many people who ‘hit a wall’ in their marriage and their career but still charges forward. They clearly know that the thing they are doing will create negative karma, yet continue to do it. They clearly know that if they continue to spoil their child, they will walk on a deviated path sooner or later. Yet they continue to do so. Why is that? It is because of ignorance and obstacles within their mind.
师父常教你们修身养心，必须先寡欲，要清心寡欲，不要追求名利。只有清心才能寡欲，欲望少了，心就清净了。修心真的很难，把心和体修到一致，这个人才能成功。就像人间常讲身心健康，心为上，心比什么都重要，而身是后天所造的，只有身心一致，才能健康，才能产生智慧。
Master often teaches you how to cultivate and nourish the mind. You must first limit your desires to cleanse your mind. Stop pursuing fame and fortune. Only a pure mind can subdue desires. When desires are reduced, the mind gets closer to a state of equanimity. Cultivation of the mind is difficult, but if both mind and conduct could act in unison, then this person is successful. Just like how many people nowadays propagate about the importance of a healthy body and a healthy mind. The mind is the most important, while the body comes second. Only when our body and mind are in harmony, would we enjoy good health, and then develop wisdom.
如果你们在生活中遇到恶人，这个人很坏，我们应该怎么办？当视为是来考验我的，应该想这个人是来考验我的，当你知道这是个恶人的时候，你能控制自己不与他发生矛盾，不与其争吵，把他当成好人，这样才会提高你的修养。如果一辈子碰不到恶人、坏人，就不会有这种修养。就像医学界讲的，如果碰不到这种细菌，就研究不出这种抗体。如果碰到坏人，你要感谢他，因为他让你懂得世界上还有这种坏人，下次再碰到另外与他一样的坏人时，你就不会上当，所以你要感谢他，其实就是要学会克制自己，要学会忍辱。遇到魔，也是一种考验，如果你从来没有遇到过魔，你的誓愿就会不坚定、不坚固，因为没有魔考，你这个人就不会下定决心去改习性，因此碰到魔，可能对你是一种考验。比如：今天让你摔一跤，你知道这是魔来了，就要提防他，要明白这是因为你过去没有好好修， 还没有还清过去生中的业障。所以才有今天这个报应，而且报应是一定要承担的。只有一个常存感恩心的人才能驱除邪魔和恶业障。
In your everyday life, if you encounter a malicious people, what should you do? You should consider it as a trial - this person is there to test you. When you know that they are malicious, and you can restrain yourself from conflicting with them, from quarrelling with them, and you can regard them as a good person, then this will alleviate your level of moral cultivation. If you never had the chance to encounter these kinds of people in your whole life, then you won’t attain the same level of moral cultivation like the ones who do. To illustrate this with an example in the medical field, if our bodies don’t encounter with a certain bacteria, then we won’t be able to develop antibodies to resist it. If you encounter a bad person, you must be thankful towards them because they help you become aware that these kinds of bad people exist in this world. So the next time you encounter somebody like them, you won’t be fooled. Be thankful. You need to learn how to exercise self-restraint, learn to forbear. When you encounter an inner-demon, it’s also a trial. If you have never encountered one before, your vow won’t be as firm. If it’s not firm, it’s because you haven’t encountered a trial from it yet. Then you won’t be as determined to change your habits. Thus encountering with one is a kind of trial to you. For example, if you had fallen today, you know that is the work of the demon, so you’ll guard against it. You must understand that this is because you didn’t cultivate well in the past and had not fully paid off the negative karma from the previous life. Hence it created today’s karmic retribution, of which you must bear. Only a person who constantly maintains a state of gratitude within their mind can get rid of malice and negative karma.
师父曾经给你们讲过，如果脑子里有妄想，就是心中有了魔，而这个魔就是贼，你把这个贼放在了心里，偷你的心，为什么叫偷心？因为把你善良的东西全都偷光了，这个贼，天天偷你的心，让你天天心里难过啊，恨啊，让你天天心不定，心不宁。你们想一想任何的难过和心里的不舒服都是从哪里来的？都是从这个心开始的，所以你们要把自己心中的这个“贼”彻底除掉，这个贼就是你们的 妄想。每个人都有妄想，去除妄念的最好方法，是不要理它，正念提起，你心中只要有正念，你的妄念才会减少，正念是去除妄念的最好方法。
Master once said, if you have deluded thoughts, it means you possess a demon within your mind. This demon is a thief. Why? If you keep this thief inside your mind, it will rob away all the good thing that you possess within you. Every day, it robs away your happiness, makes you feel sorrowful and resentful, makes you anxious and unable to stay calm. Think about it. Whenever you feel sad or feel discomfort, where does the feeling originate from? It all stems from the mind. That’s why you must remove this thief from your mind completely. This thief is your deluded thoughts; everybody possesses it. The best method of removing deluded thoughts is to ignore it and think positively. If you have positive thoughts, then deluded thoughts are reduced, hence it’s the best method to remove it.
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