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.
你们今天坐在这里，师父没有看见你们一个人把脚翘在上面的，这不叫修行吗？你们看看哪尊菩萨是把脚翘在上面的？你们坐在这里规规矩矩、端端正正，不就是在生活中修行吗？你们现在修得好了，给人家一看，非常的端庄、大方，男有女相，女有男相，这就是阴阳调和。过去在命相当中讲了，男身女相非常好，女身男相的人也是非常有能力的人，很多年纪大的老伯伯看起来像一个老妈妈，这种人的缘非常的顺。师父讲这一点给你们听，并不是叫你们看什么东西，而是叫你们要学会放松，要懂得修行要修出真正的生活出来。看到大家把双腿放在下面，规规矩矩的多好啊，认认真真地做笔记。
When you are listening to Master’s lecture, and none of you is resting one leg on top of the other, isn’t that cultivation? Do you see any Bodhisattva statues sitting with one leg resting on top of the other? When you are sitting upright and orderly, isn’t that cultivation? When you are cultivating well, others would think that you look dignified and magnanimous. When men have subtleties of a woman and women have subtleties of a man, then it implies a balance of yin and yang. In the past on destiny reading, it expounded that guys with subtleties of a woman are very good while women with subtleties of a man are very capable. Old men that looks like an old aunt usually have good relationships with others. Master mentioned it not to teach you how to observe things metaphysically but to tell you to learn to relax and know how to integrate cultivation into your daily lives. Isn’t it good to see people orderly sit while keeping their feet on the ground and take note earnestly?
天上听课也是这样的，佛陀讲课，阿弥陀佛讲课，唯一不同的一点就是，坐在西方极乐世界的菩萨，佛陀给予他们智慧，菩萨说的所有话，他们全部能够听得懂。菩萨看见这么多人的脸不一样，菩萨为了让大家相互尊敬，相互都得到一种菩萨心的流露，意念涌动，所有人的脸全部都是菩萨的脸，大家看着每个人，都是菩萨的脸，没有男女之分。为什么很高的天上没有男女之分呢？因为四圣道没有欲望，没有男女这种欲望。到处都是黄金、琉璃，你们还愿意去要吗？如果我们现在的马路上都是黄金的话，谁还会去捡黄金啊？道理就是这样的。
The lectures are the same in Heaven when Gautama Buddha teaches. The only thing different is that all the listeners are Bodhisattvas that reside in the Western Pure Lands. The Buddha gives them wisdom, and everything that the Greater Bodhisattvas say is entirely understood. When the Bodhisattvas see that everybody’s face look different, for the sake of mutual respect and for everybody treating each other as though they are the same, everybody’s face is that of a Bodhisattva. There is no differentiation between males and females. Why is there no differentiation between males and females in the higher levels of Heaven? It’s because there’s no desire in the Four Sagely Realms, then are no sexual desires. If everywhere you go is littered with gold and jade that are as common as pebbles and stones, would you still pick it up? The principle is the same.
要懂得，在修行的生活当中我们没有刻意地去追求，完全是在自然中。你们今天要学佛，你们是不是很自然地学啊，没有逼着自己学。人间在学佛当中心像幻影一样，一会儿这样，一会儿那样，看到什么，心就变成什么样。所以，明镜台那首诗你们都知道的，心如镜啊，这个心像镜子一样，看见坏的，他的心里面就坏了，看见好的，他的心里就有好的，看见脏的东西，他的心就脏了。人的心就像一面镜子，照到好的，反射到他心里就是好人好事，所以这个心就是幻，幻是什么？就是变幻不定，所以人的心就是一天到晚都在变，今天这么想，明天那么想，搞来搞去，想来想去，为什么？因为它是镜子啊，不开心的时候因为他想到了不开心的事情，所以照到他心里了。他开心的时候因为通过自然反射进入他心田的都是很开心的事情，所以他开心。
You must learn that when we are cultivating ourselves, we mustn’t do things intentionally. We must completely turn it into a natural habit and behaviour. When you are practising Buddhism, are you practising it naturally, or are you forcing yourself to do it? When you are practising Buddhism, you will notice that your mind is in a state of flux, where sometimes it’s like this, sometimes it’s like that. Your mind changes according to what you see. You have all heard of the stanza that expound that the mind is like a mirror, right? When it sees something bad, the mind becomes bad. When it sees something good, the mind becomes good. When it sees something dirty, the mind becomes dirty. The mind is like a mirror. When it faces something good, then the mind reflects goodness. That’s why the mind is illusionary and always changing. Today, one thinks of this. Tomorrow, one thinks of that. The mind keeps on thinking this and that, why is that? It’s because it’s a mirror. One is unhappy because they are thinking about unhappy thoughts, which is why it’s reflected on their mind. And one is happy because they are thinking about happy thoughts.
师父跟大家讲，心既然是幻动的，就像幻灯片一样，一切俱幻，所以你眼睛看见的东西都是不真实的。因为你们的本性是一面镜子，你照到了不干净，你的心不干净，实际上这些不干净是假的吧？不是真实的你吧？照到了真实的东西，你觉得好好的，照见不好，你的心就是不好，这个时候你的心里面是照到了善良的东西，所以你接受了善良的东西。一切都是幻影，所以你的心也是幻影。
Master tells you, the mind is illusionary and changing just like a slideshow. That’s why what you can see might not be real. That’s because your inherent nature is like a mirror. If it faces impure things, then your mind becomes impure. But in fact, these impure things are fake, isn’t that right? It’s not the real you, right? If it focuses on real things, then your mind is good. If it focuses on bad things, then your mind turns bad. If your mind is focusing on wholesome things, then you are accepting wholesome things. Everything is illusionary; that's why your mind is also illusionary.
要懂得，心空也，一切皆空。我们今天不去看坏的，也不去看好的，心完全空掉，师父问你们，你们这个心是不是你们本来的心啊？今天这间房间，本来里面有很多人的，坏人好人都有，如果经常聚集的都是坏人，那么这间房间就是肮脏的坏人的窝点了。如果我们观音堂来的都是好人，都是学佛人，观音堂就变得这样慈悲。房子还是房子，观音堂还是观音堂，但这个房子怎么会变成好和坏呢？因为不好的东西进入了你的心田，所以你这个房子就变成恶的了。如果这个房子里进来的全部都是学佛人，那你的心一照出来，这个房子就是善良的人待的地方。师父问你们，这个房子是不是空的啊？没有人啊，现在我们把坏人全部赶出去，把你认为的好人也全部赶出去，因为很多你认为是善的并不是完全是善的事情，听得懂吗？佛法说，不思善，不思恶，你才能心空。很多人听不懂的，认为不思恶，那是对的，为什么菩萨说要不思善呢？因为这个善也是幻觉啊。
You must understand that when your mind is empty, everything becomes empty. If we don’t look at the bad or the good, then our mind is completely empty. Master asks you, is your mind the original version? For example, in a room with many people, there are both good and bad people. But if the room is filled with bad people only, then the room becomes a den of evil. If the room is filled with good people and fellow Buddhists, then the room is likened to the Guan Yin Temple. The room is still just a room, but how could this room be perceived as good or bad? That’s because bad things have entered into your mind, so you see the room as unwholesome. If the room is filled with fellow Buddhists, then what you see is a room where kind-hearted people gather. Master asks you, is the room empty? When there are no people. Now we have driven all the bad people out of the room and also all the people we think are good. That’s because what you think is wholesome may not be completely wholesome, do you understand? The Buddha-Dharma expounds that one should not think about wholesome or unwholesomeness in order for their mind to be empty. Many people don’t understand. They think that it’s correct not to think about unwholesomeness, but why did the Bodhisattvas tell us not to think about wholesomeness as well? That’s because wholesomeness is also an illusion.
很多人说，我推销一样东西给人家，我是不是善心啊？是的啊。完全善吗？没有，因为我要赚你的钱，对不对？夫妻之间，我现在嫁给你，善吗？善啊，但是我看重你的钱，你能帮我买房子，帮我买车子，帮我买各种各样的东西，善吗？因为善里面有一个叫纯善，就是一点都不夹带私心的善，我就是喜欢你，你没有一分钱，我也嫁给你，那么就是纯善。今天学佛人的这种善，如果是有目的的，就不是纯善，所以就不成为善。所以佛法讲，不思善，不思恶，就是把这些搞不清楚的以为是善的人和事全部赶出去，把那些坏人全部赶出去，这间房间就是我的心，空了，那我真的是善了。师父现在是在打比方，大家听得懂吗？
Some people ask, “When I promote something to somebody, am I doing an act of kindness?” Yes, it is. But is it completely wholesome? No. That's because they want to make money, isn’t that right? Even between couples, when a person wants to marry, isn’t that wholesome? Yes. But the motive might be because they want their spouse to buy property for them, buy a car for them, or buy other material objects for them. Is that wholesome? That’s because there’s a kind of wholesomeness that is pure, and it doesn’t harbour any shred of selfish motives in it. “I just like you. Even if you have no money, I’ll still marry you.” That is pure wholesomeness. If there are Buddhists who harbour kindness that have a degree of selfish motives behind it, then it isn’t pure kindness and would not be perceived as wholesomeness. That’s why the Buddha-Dharma expounds that one shouldn’t think about wholesomeness or unwholesomeness. That way, you are likened to driving away all the people and things that you thought were good. And when you also drive out all the bad people as well, then the room and our mind become empty. That way, we are truly wholesome. Master is illustrating it as an example, do you understand?
迷时人逐法，悟时法由人。这两句话是什么意思呢？当一个人迷惑颠倒，在修心的时候搞不清楚，这个人是跟着法在走的，哎呀，这个法门很好，去修修，因为他过去迷惑，他不知道。刚刚学习心灵法门没几天，开始念经了，又听人家说那个法门很好，他就又去学那个法门了，这种人叫迷。悟时法由人，当你完全开悟了，你明白了，这个时候所有的法门是由着你自己来做的。我今天行正道，行正法，所有的法门里面都有一些共性，都有它善的、好的东西，所以这个时候就是法为你用啊。师父讲得很深，你们学佛法要学这些啊。很多人去跟人家说，心灵法门如何如何好，心灵法门就是念小房子，于是很多人就对心灵法门有误解，什么小房子啊？搞都搞不清楚。过去就有人说，小房子就是心灵法门，心灵法门怎么就是小房子呢？你们听师父讲的这些佛法才叫心灵法门啊，开启你们的心灵啊，小房子只是功课，这是不一样的，每一个法门都有一整套系统的道理啊。
‘When confused, one pursues the Dharma. When awakened, the Dharma follows them.’ What does it mean? When a person is confused, and their values are inverted, and they don’t understand what they are cultivating, they are being led by Dharma. “Oh, that Dharma door looks decent. I’ll go and cultivate it.” Because they are lost and ignorant, they have just learned and practised Guan Yin Citta for a few days and began reciting sutras. They then hear about other Dharma doors that are good. So they go and learn the other Dharma door. These kinds of people are confused. ‘When awakened, the Dharma follows them.’ When you are completely awakened and understanding, all Dharma doors follow your will. “I am practising the right way, the right Dharma, all Dharma doors have something in common, and all have their good points and advantages.” This is when Dharma follows your will. Master is talking about more advanced topics, which, as a Buddhist, you should be aware of. Many people go and tell others how good Guan Yin Citta is and how Guan Yin Citta is about reciting Little Houses. That’s why people misunderstand it. What are Little Houses? It’s not articulated clearly. Some people in the past said that Little Houses is Guan Yin Citta. How is Guan Yin Citta about Little Houses? The Buddha-Dharma that you learn and hear from Master is called Guan Yin Citta. It’s about revitalising your soul. Reciting Little Houses is just homework. It’s not the same. Every Dharma door has its own set of principles and values.
百川众流，至海而极。就是说，学佛人要心胸宽大，海纳百川啊，那么多河流，最后都流向大海，我们不管学什么，善全部都要归于功德。我们不管学什么法门，到最后全部都要归于佛法。再多的法门，最后就是两个字：佛法。再多的医疗器械，儿童医院、肿瘤医院、妇产医院，所有的医院归于两个字：医疗。要懂得，一个人自己学了一点东西，要像河流的分支一样，慢慢地走啊走，最后归入大海。
‘Hundreds of different rivers flow to the same sea in the end’. Buddhists should be tolerant and broad-minded. Regardless of what we have learnt, all wholesome deeds that we do are due to our good morals. Regardless of what Dharma door we have learnt, in the end, it is still categorised as the Buddha-Dharma. No matter how many Dharma doors there are, it’s still known as the Buddha-Dharma. No matter how many more medical tools, children’s hospitals, cancer hospitals and maternity hospitals there are, it’s still known as medical treatment. You must understand, when you have learnt something, it’s like following a river. As you gradually follow it, you will end up at sea in the end.
很多人说，归入大海，我们到底了？大家看一看，大海有边吗？这才是真正的开始，学佛在小河川里面，慢慢地学啊学，学到最后，海纳百川，进入了佛海当中，然后你才能真正地理解，原来这个世界的海是这么大，是无边无际，天和海，是海天连在一起的，那才是我们的佛法啊。所以在学河流的时候，在流动进入大海当中，在没有找到真正佛法之前，你永远觉得我这条河就这么大，以为自己这条河是最大的，等到你海纳百川，进入了大海之后，你才知道，原来佛法无边啊。
Many people say, “When we end up at sea, have we reached the end?” Take a look. Does the sea have a limit? It’s actually the real beginning. So Buddhists should gradually learn as though following a river until finally, the sea meets all rivers, and you enter into the sea of Buddhism. Then you can truly comprehend how vast the ‘sea’ is. It’s boundless and unlimited. That is the Buddha-Dharma. That’s why when you first learn before you encounter the true face of the Buddha-Dharma, you would think that your ‘river’ is so vast and think that it’s the greatest. But when you finally reach the sea, you realise that the Buddha-Dharma is boundless.
真希望以后有机会，师父跟高僧大德一起讲法，师父会跟那些非常有悟性的人讲佛法，那些法师听师父讲这些道理明心见性，开悟至极，他们毕竟是在佛学院学习过的，他们真的很开悟，师父一句话讲下去，他们不会听不懂的，然后写一篇东西给师父，就是他对师父讲课的体会，你们写得出来吗？你们听过了，这只耳朵进去，那只耳朵出来，听了很开心的，把师父讲法当成朗诵一样，学佛要真正地往心里去啊，要明心见性，要真正地想明白，才能无所畏惧。
Master wishes that there will be a chance where some very enlightened individuals would join his class with other venerable monks. Those venerable monks can truly and thoroughly understand what he says because they have previously learned it from other Buddhist theological institutes. Some even wrote a letter to Master as feedback about the class. Can you write one? After you hear it, it goes in one ear and out the other ear. When you hear it, you’re very happy. But you treat Master’s lectures as though he’s reciting poems. When practising Buddhism, you must truly take it to heart. You must clear up your mind and see your nature. By truly understanding, you become fearless.
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