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.
要想得到大觉大悟、正觉正悟,记住啊,需要修成佛的因。怎么样正觉?怎么样正悟?需要因啊。天天做好人、做好事,时间长了,你把因种下了,你出来就是好人。古时候有一个礼部尚书,相当于现在部长的职位,你们知道他是怎样来改自己身上的毛病吗?他有一个盘子,只要他动了一个坏念头,做了一件坏事,做错一件事情,他就往盘子里放一颗黑豆。如果他做对一件事情,动了一个善念,他就往盘子里放一颗黄豆。开始的时候,盘子里几乎全部是黑豆,黄豆很少,他知道他的念头太坏了,他着急了,他就天天改,慢慢地盘子里的黄豆和黑豆持平了,到了最后,黑豆几乎没有了,全部是黄豆,也就是说,他战胜了自己的邪念,他心中几乎没有一点坏的念头了,最后他做了丞相。
If one wants to attain great enlightenment and great comprehension, right enlightenment and right comprehension, one must cultivate the karmic causes to attain Buddhahood. What is right enlightenment? What is right comprehension? It’s to be a good person and do good deeds regularly. You are truly viewed as a good person after enough time has passed and you have sowed enough wholesome karmic seeds. In ancient times, there was a Director of the Board of Rites, which is similar to the minister's position today. Do you know how he changed his shortcomings? He took out a tray. Whenever he had an unwholesome thought or did an unwholesome deed or mistake, he would place one black bean onto the tray. Whenever he did the right thing or had a wholesome thought, he would place a yellow bean onto the tray. In the beginning, the colour of basically all of the beans on the tray was black. Very few were yellow. So he knew that his thoughts were really unwholesome, and he became anxious. He corrected himself every day, and gradually, the number of yellow beans and black beans on the tray were equal. And then, in the end, there were no black beans on the tray, only yellow. In other words, he managed to overcome his evil thoughts and his mind basically never develops any unwholesome thoughts. In the end, he became a Prime Minister.
我们今天身上的毛病这么多,你们自己感觉到了危险没有?师父跟你们讲过,结婚之前就要自律,就要好好学佛,想想看,你们现在结了婚,麻烦来了吧?为什么很多人结婚了都会吵架呢?都要闹离婚呢?就是在结婚之前没有自律,不知道自己在干什么,才会种下这个因,得到这个果。要想大觉大悟,就必须种善因,不能有一点杂念。菩提因就是种下菩提心的种子,也就是说,做什么事情都要先想到我是在学佛,菩萨会这么做吗?菩萨会这么占人家的便宜吗?菩萨会偷东西吗?菩萨会撒谎吗?菩萨情愿不讲,也不会撒谎。天天种下不好的因,心里想着果不要发出来,可能吗?所以,从化身里要产生最清净的佛性,也就是说,你要有非常纯洁清醒的脑子,你才会产生清净的佛性。
We have so many shortcomings today; don’t you feel any danger at all? Master had previously told you that you should have some self-discipline before marriage and properly practise Buddhism. Think about it, now that you’re married, aren’t you experiencing problems? Why is it that people still argue when they’re married to the point where they threaten to divorce? That’s because they lacked self-discipline before their marriage. They didn’t know what they were doing, sowed various karmic seeds, and ultimately gained their karmic rewards. If you want to attain great enlightenment and comprehension, you must sow karmic seeds and not harbour any distracting thoughts. The karmic causes for Bodhi are to sow the karmic seeds for a Bodhi mind. In plain terms, whenever you want to do something, you should think that since you’re a Buddhist, how would the Bodhisattvas act? Would Bodhisattvas take advantage of others? Would Bodhisattvas steal? Would Bodhisattvas lie? The Bodhisattvas would rather stay silent than tell a lie. If you keep sowing unwholesome karmic causes, do you think that it’s possible that you won’t bear any unwholesome consequences? That’s why one must develop a pure Buddha-nature in one’s Transformation-body. In other words, you must have a very pure and clear mind in order to develop a pure Buddha-nature.
化身是什么?人家对你的评论,就是你的化身。哦,这个人很好,那个人很好,人家讲谁啊,你又不在,不就是讲你的化身吗?这个人真的很善良,你如果把做好人这个因种下去了,人家说你是雷锋,大家一讲到雷锋,就说好人啊,雷锋是本人,但是雷锋精神就是他的化身。所以,要常在化身里,经常要让自己的化身干净、善良,要成菩提,你就是在修行。今天做出来的事情,讲出来的话,动出来的脑筋,全部都是你的化身,都会给人家留下烙印的。如果给人家留下一个好的烙印,那就是你善良的化身。
What is the Transformation-body? Your Transformation-body is the recipient of all the comments that you receive. “Oh, this person is very good; they’re kind-hearted.” Who are they talking about? You’re not present, so aren’t they talking about your Transformation-body? If you could sow the karmic seed of being a good person, then others might compliment you that you’re like Lei Feng. Whenever people comment about Lei Feng, they will say that he’s a good person. Lei Feng has already passed away, but his spirit can be viewed as his Transformation-body. That’s why you must regularly think about your Transformation-body and how to make it pure, kind-hearted, and let it attain Bodhi. Then you are cultivating. When you are doing good deeds, saying and thinking about good things, it will benefit your Transformation-body as you leave others an impression. If you leave others a good impression, then your Transformation-body is wholesome.
要圆满地觉行,才是正道。什么意思呢?就是要非常周到地考虑,觉是感觉、觉悟,觉悟是思维上的觉悟,我什么都明白,我要做好事、做好人,叫觉。行是什么?就是行为,圆满地觉行,你才是正道。你们问问自己,你现在走不走正道?你看看自己的觉悟,看看自己的行为是不是对的,跑出去就讲别人不好,这个行为对不对啊?天天嘴巴里说人家不好,这个人有觉悟吗?这个人会是正道吗?所以,觉行要圆满,就是要非常地注意当心。
One must completely take awakened action to walk on the right path. What does it mean? It’s to be extremely thoughtful and considerate. Awakenment can mean one’s feelings and one’s realisation in their mental awareness. “I know everything now. I must do good deeds and behave like a good person.” That is awakenment. And then act according to one’s awakenment. To completely take awakened actions is the right path. Ask yourself, are you walking on the right path? Look at what you have awakened to, and introspect whether your actions are right or not. When you go out and criticise others, is that conduct right? If a person constantly badmouths others, are they awakened? Are they walking on the right path? That’s why one’s awakened conduct must be complete. It’s to be careful and prudent.
性中各自离五欲,也就是说,你在本性当中要自己能够离开五欲六尘,你自己的心中必须把欲望全部抛开,贪欲,连睡觉的欲望都要离开。睡觉都有欲望的,我就不想起来,我就想多睡一会儿,这是懒啊。离开五欲,就是没有欲望,慢慢地将五欲统统修掉,把贪瞋痴慢疑全部修掉。一会儿悟,你就是一会儿佛;一念悟,你就是一念佛。你们现在坐在下面听师父这么讲了,马上想,我一定要痛改前非,好了,你现在这一个念头就是佛了,开悟了,过一会儿又来了。见性刹那即是真,当你想到和看到那些觉悟的事情觉得是真的时候,那你已经是得到真谛了。哎呀,我为什么要这样害人啊,我真的不应该,我这辈子再也不会做这些事情了,好了,你真性了,刹那之间才是真啊。
‘In one’s nature, separate itself from the five desires’. In other words, within your inherent nature, you must be able to leave the five desires and six defilements. You must be able to abandon all your desires in your mind, even your greed and desire to sleep. Even sleep is a desire. “I don’t want to get up; I want to lie in bed and sleep for a while longer.” That is laziness. To leave the five desires is to have no desires so that you gradually correct and reform yourself from it and eliminate your greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance and doubts. The moment you are enlightened, you are a Buddha., The moment you have enlightened thoughts, you have thoughts of a Buddha. When are you reading attentively, you might immediately think that you must repent thoroughly of your past misdeeds. Then at that moment, you are thinking like a Buddha. You have awakened. But then, after a while, you return to being normal. ‘The nature that you briefly see is true’. When you think and see things after you have awakened and think that it’s true, you have gained the eternal truth. “Oh, why did I hurt him? I shouldn't have done that. I will never do it again.” You have touched your true nature, and for that moment, you are in a state of suchness.
当你看到佛时,你就是看到本性真如。什么意思啊?想想看,你是怎么会看到佛的呢?你们看得到佛吗?你们以为用眼睛看啊?师父教你们一个方法怎么看好吗?不是用眼睛看的。做一件事情刚刚想去贪,马上说,不能贪啊,贪会出事的,这件事情本来不是我的,我为什么要去贪啊?这就是佛心来了,这就是看到佛了,这样做才是用心看见佛,就是看见你们的本性啊。
When you see the Buddha, you see the suchness of the inherent nature. What does that mean? Think about it, how do you see the Buddha? Could you see the Buddha? Do you think that you use your physical eyes to see Him? How about Master teaches you a method to see Him? You don't use your physical eyes. When you are doing something and develop a thought of greed, you immediately say to yourself, “I can’t be greedy. Greed will cause trouble. Originally this didn’t belong to me anyway; why should I desire it?” That’s when your Buddha-mind manifests, and that’s how you see the Buddha. When you do that, you are using your mind to see the Buddha, which is the same as seeing your inherent nature.
我们在念佛、念经、学佛的时候,一念中我要成佛,观世音菩萨,人间真的很苦啊,我不能再待下去了,我真的要好好修,我要脱离六道,我真的在人间太苦了,我受不了啊,我真的要脱离六道,这个时候你就是佛啊。祈求观世音菩萨,在走之前我要多度人,人生很短暂,就这么几十年,我要多带一些人学佛,我要把他们带到天上去,这个时候你就是真佛了,那你就成就圆满了,其实只不过在你的一念当中啊。所以要多想想自己是佛啊、佛啊,然后多念为真。就是说,当一个人动一个好脑筋的时候,你是一个好人,因为你只有一个善良的念头;当你每天都是善良的念头的时候,你一定是好人,一定是善人。
When reciting Buddha’s name, reciting Buddhist scriptures and practising Buddhism, and thinking, “I must attain Buddhahood. Guan Yin Bodhisattva, the Human Realm is really painful. I don’t want to stay here anymore; I must cultivate properly and liberate myself from samsara. I’m really suffering a lot in the Human Realm; I can’t stand it anymore. I really want to leave samsara,” then, at that moment, you’re a Buddha. When praying to Guan Yin Bodhisattva, “Before I pass away, I must spiritually awaken many people. Life is short and lasts only for a few decades. I must sway people to practise Buddhism so that they can go to Heaven with me.” At that moment, you are a true Buddha, and you will fulfil completion. In reality, all of it is just a thought. That’s why you must regularly see yourself as a Buddha and develop more Buddha thoughts to make you closer to suchness. In other words, when a person develops wholesome thoughts, they are a good person because they only have kind-hearted thoughts. When you develop only kind-hearted thoughts, then you must be a good and kind person.
所以多念为真,你脑子里全部是好的念头、善良的念头,你就真的是一个好人了。师父跟你们讲过,多想想你每天是坏脑筋动得多,还是好脑筋动得多?你们应该用黑豆和黄豆自己试试看,例如:真的。我很恨他,放一颗黑豆进去,不知不觉地你的黑豆就满了;我很恨他,又放一颗黑豆进去;这个东西我应该去买啊,便宜啊,贪啊,再放一颗黑豆进去。如果想这个人也蛮可怜的,我要去帮助他,放一颗黄豆,就是这样的。人的心犹如电脑,如果电脑里存放的都是不好的东西,电脑就会死机。
That’s why many thoughts make it real. When your mind only develops wholesome and kind-hearted thoughts, then you are a good person for real. Master once said this before; you should regularly introspect yourself and see what kind of thoughts you develop daily. Are there more unwholesome thoughts than wholesome, or more wholesome thoughts than unwholesome? You can use the method with the black and yellow beans to see. For example, if you think, “I hate him,” then put a black bean in a bowl. “I should buy this. It’s so cheap.” When you’re greedy, place another black bean in the bowl. If you think, “This person is quite pitiful. I should help him,” then put a yellow bean inside the bowl. Do it like so. A person’s mind is like a computer. If only bad things are stored inside the computer, it’s only a matter of time before it dies.
要记住,怎么样为自己建造一个非常善良的基础呢?那就是你们种下的菩提因啊。要慢慢地将五欲全部修掉,念念为真,所有的东西都要真,绝对不能被滚滚红尘中的欲望所左右,一天一天地沉沦下去,心胸要开阔,要有大愿,我一定要成为观世音菩萨的千手千眼,救度有缘众生。你们年纪大的人想想看,你们的太太跟了你一辈子,心疼她一点吧,慈悲她一点吧,不要不在乎别人。多一点菩萨心肠,就多一点菩萨慈善的根基在你的身上;那么再大一点,看见周围的人都很可怜;再大一点,这个世界上的人都很可怜,那你的慈悲心就大了。珍惜别人吧,好好地珍惜,不懂得珍惜别人,就是不懂得珍惜自己。
How do we build a very wholesome foundation for ourselves? It depends on the karmic seeds you sow for Bodhi. You must gradually eliminate all of your five desires and make all thoughts you develop as suchness. Then everything around you will be in its ultimate nature. You must not let yourself be swayed by the desires of the secular world and sink gradually into depravity. You must be broad-minded and possess great vows like, “I will become one of Guan Yin Bodhisattva’s thousand hands and thousand eyes and save and spiritually awaken sentient beings with a karmic affinity with me.” Older readers should have a think; your wife has been your companion for almost a whole lifetime; shouldn’t you love her dearly or be more compassionate towards her? Don’t act so indifferent. Have more of a Bodhisattva’s kindness. Then you have more of a Bodhisattva’s foundation of compassion with you. Then when we expand the scale, you should pity everybody around you. Expand the scale a lot further; then you see that everybody in this world is pitiful. That way, your compassion will be great. Properly cherish others. Those who don’t know how to cherish others will not know how to cherish themselves.
With gratitude