V 11-46 Know about Suffering and understand about Happiness 知苦懂乐 离苦得乐
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.
“常乐我净”的这个“乐”，就是为众生着想，心胸要宽阔。弥勒佛的大度告诉我们一个很大的道理，就是人的心量要大。常常快乐的人心量大不大？整天笑嘻嘻的人就是心量大。有些人眯着眼睛看人，不讲话，你稍微一讲话，他就要骂你，难听的话就出来了，总怕别人伤害自己，别人每说一句话，就感觉到别人在讽刺他，这种人不讲不笑的，这种人有气量吗？经常笑嘻嘻的人、胖胖的人，要是被别人讲几句，想得开，问题就不大。经常快乐的人才会干净啊。境界到了一定的时候，你对滚滚红尘的人间道就会保持快乐，天天开心，到了快乐道。这个“道”的意思就是一种模式，一个心理平衡的方法，是一个进和退的方法。想保持快乐道的话，实属不容易，要从心里解脱后才能一直真的很开心。
The happiness from ‘permanence, happiness, true self and purity’ comes from thinking about other sentient beings' well-being and having a mind of magnanimity. Maitreya Buddha’s magnanimity tells us of a great principle, which is that people must be tolerant. Aren’t those who are always happy and smiling have great tolerance? Some people glare at others and don’t speak, but when you comment about them, they start to scold you and say awful things about you. They’re constantly afraid of being hurt by others. When somebody says a word about them, they feel as if they were sarcastic. They don’t speak nor smile; do they have tolerance? When you make a comment about somebody who is always cheerful, they’ll just brush it off, and the problem isn’t big. Only cheerful people are pure. When one’s spirituality reaches a certain level, one could maintain happiness and cheerfulness no matter what one encounter in the Human Realm. They have found their path of happiness. This ‘path’ refers to a kind of mental thought process, a method to adjust one’s state of mind, a method where one could advance or retreat. To maintain one’s mental state of happiness is, in fact, uneasy to do. But one must be mentally liberated for them to become truly happy.
你们去看生意人的脸，笑一笑，一会儿笑容就从他们的脸上消失了。你们再看看师父，师父跟佛友讲话的时候，如果开心，脸真的在笑，因为师父的心中一直在笑。你们要真正地去理解人间的境界，而不是仅仅在嘴巴上说说而已。要学会放下，去体悟和领会人生的真谛。为什么要去体悟和领会？很多人担心自己晚年怎么办，很多爸爸妈妈为什么常常苦闷呢？例如，因为他们看到自己的孩子在自己死后是不会为他们念经超度的。
Look at the faces of business people. They smile for a moment, but that smile would disappear very quickly. Then look at Master when he’s speaking to the fellow Buddhists. If he’s happy, his face is always smiling. That’s because that smile is genuine. You must truly know about the Human Realm’s level of spirituality and not just speak about it superficially. You must learn to let go, then experience and comprehend the truth of life. Why must you experience and comprehend it? Many people are still worried about what they'll be like during their later years. Why do fathers and mothers feel stress constantly? It may be because, for example, that they could see that their children wouldn’t recite sutras and help them to spiritually ascend when they pass away.
要理解人生，因为无所得、无所住。因为人生的一切都是无所得，得不到；也没有一件东西在人间是留得住的。懂得了这个道理，你才会觉得这个世界上的一切都是无所谓的，你才会快乐。不快乐的人，就是因为把什么事情都罣碍在心中了。快乐的人要像济公活佛一样，快乐走天下。无所住、无所得、无所谓，你才会快乐，心净常知足。你一定要感到很知足，心不能乱动。念一动，心就慢慢地动起来。对人间的欲望不要妄动，心不要去想，想了身体就会不健康。为什么呢？你们想想看，想的事情有几件是一帆风顺的？想了之后没有得到，你会开心吗？
You must understand about life because there’s nothing to gain and nothing to stay attached to. There’s not a single thing in the Human Realm that you could keep. Once you understand this reason, you would begin to feel indifferent about everything in the Human Realm, and then you’ll find happiness. People become unhappy because they keep obstructing their mind with attachments about everything. Happy people should learn from Jigong Bodhisattva – not attached to anything, not desiring to gain anything and indifferent. Then you’ll be happy, and your mind would be pure and content. You must feel content so that your mind doesn’t casually develop distracting thoughts. If it does, then your mind would start to move. One’s desires mustn’t keep fluctuating. Don’t fantasise about it; otherwise, your health would grow worse. Why is that? Think about it, how many of your fantasies actually go the way you thought they would go? After you don’t get the outcome you thought it would go, are you happy?
你不快乐，你的心神就不会安宁，你的心就不会安定。当你想通了，你的心才会定下来，你就无所谓了。佛法界有一句话叫“身轻安”。你的身体会感觉很轻、很平安，你就会产生一种自然的快乐。心里的快乐不是装出来的，自然快乐，心就安宁。如果你不能自然地快乐，你的理智就会大乱，因为有太多求不得的苦，还有太多放不下的心。我们一辈子有多少心放不下？我们一辈子有多少心求不得啊？师父有时候要你们过一些孤苦的日子，过一些苦难的日子，是对你们有好处的。有时候叫你们吃点苦，你们就受不了，那怎么能够把心修好啊！
If you’re unhappy, your mind would be in a state of unrest. Only when you have thought through it, would your mind calm back down and you’re indifferent. Your body would feel light and peaceful, and then you would develop a natural sense of bliss. Happiness from within can’t be made up. Natural bliss comes from peace of mind. If you aren’t happy naturally, your rationality would be messed up because you’re suffering from too much pain of not getting what you wanted, and you have too many things that you can’t let go of. How many things can’t we let go of in our lives? How many things that we wanted but can’t get in our lives? Sometimes, Master wants you to experience times of solitary hardship. You would benefit from it. If you can’t even tolerate a slight bit of adversity, how could you cultivate your mind well?
举个简单例子，如果你的腿从来没有痛过，你就不会觉得现在腿不痛是一种幸福。就像你们现在牙齿很好的时候，你怎么能想到牙痛时的那种难受呢？如果你的牙现在很痛，过两天你的牙不痛了，你就会很开心。忆苦思甜不是一件坏事情。看看佛陀当年为我们吃了多少苦，才有我们现在的佛法，看看我们现在是多么地享受啊。要让自己心中多余的贪念全部去除。你觉得这个事情是多余的贪念，不应该有的，就马上不要了，这叫做放下。比方说，你今天有一个贪念，非常想买一样好东西，可是没钱，那么你马上把这个贪念去除，否则接下来你就会痛苦。
To illustrate this with an example, if your leg wasn’t hurt before, how could you feel the sense of bliss with your leg doesn’t hurt? Just like when your teeth are healthy, would you think how painful toothaches are? If you currently have a toothache, when you visit the dentist two days later and fix it, wouldn’t you be happy? Recalling bitter memories so that the present seems blissful isn’t a bad thing. Look at how many hardships Gautama Buddha faced during his time to propagate Buddhism to how it is now. Look at how comfortable we are now in comparison. You must eliminate all excess greed from your mind. If you feel that something is excessive and shouldn’t be possessed, then immediately get rid of that thought of wanting it. That is letting go. For example, you really want to buy something, but you don’t have enough money for it. Then immediately get rid of the thought of buying it; otherwise, you will regret it.
有时候，暂时的痛苦可以让我们回避和离开人间的愚痴。但很多人天天喝酒、开心玩闹，实际上他们非常愚痴，这样会加剧他们的痛苦。当我们身体不好了，就觉得要赶紧好好修心，再不修心就是浪费时间，以后的痛苦会更多更厉害。所以，痛苦并不是一件坏事，只有在痛苦当中你才会了悟生死。很多有钱人在境况好的时候是不会去布施的。师父这次在印尼讲了一个故事，一个人很慈悲地去找富人捐点钱给镇上的穷人，大家过冬都没有煤炭，天很冷，穷人家里的暖炉都生不起。结果，这个教会的人在门口跟这个富人讲了很长时间，富翁冻得吃不消了，然后教会的人说：“你能不能捐一些钱出来给镇上那些没钱买煤生炉子的穷人呢？”富翁马上说：“好啊，我捐。你刚才在房间里怎么不跟我讲啊？”“我想让你有点挨冻的体会，可能你会更爽快地答应。”
Sometimes, temporary pain can help us avoid and get away from the foolishness of the Human Realm. But instead, many people choose to intoxicate themselves with alcohol or divert their attention by fooling around. In reality, that is very foolish and would only aggravate their pain. When our health is bad, we must feel the urge to hasten our cultivation. Those who don’t cultivate their mind are wasting their mind. In the future, their suffering will only increase. That’s why pain isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s only in pain where we enlighten ourselves about life and death. In times of fortune, many rich people don’t do any charitable deeds. Master once told a story, there was a compassionate priest who looked for wealthy people who could donate to the impoverished people in his town. It was wintertime, so the temperature was freezing. If the families didn’t have any coal, their house wouldn’t get warm. The priest knocked on the doors of the wealthy households and would speak with the homeowner outside the house. The person naturally couldn’t stand the cold, and then the priest said, “Could you donate some money to the impoverished people in the town so that they could buy some coal to last through the winter days?” The wealthy individual replied, “Ok, I’ll donate. Why didn’t you mention it sooner?” “It’s because I wanted you to experience the frigid cold so that, perhaps, you might agree with alacrity.”
要知道，人没有亲身体会是不会心诚到这个地步的。很多人不知道痛苦的话，他是不会知道什么叫快乐的；很多人痛了之后，才珍惜快乐。只有在痛苦当中才会沉思，想着要去掉自私、执著和固执。虽然是难事，但是如果你下定决心，准备吃点苦把自己身上的毛病去除，那么你虽然吃点苦，但就会把你自己身上的执著和自私去除。因为很多人用自私和贪瞋痴的心在人间生活，贪不到就生恨，恨了之后就做出愚痴的事情来，而且整天很自私，他哪一天能够得到别人的帮助啊？师父告诉大家，一个人整天自私，用贪瞋痴的心活在人间，那么，这个人就是一个大愚痴。
You must understand that if people haven’t personally experienced something unpleasant, they wouldn’t be so sincere and ready to help others who are experiencing the same thing. If people don’t know what pain is, then they won’t know what happiness is. It’s only after people had gone through the days of hardship where they cherish their happiness. During times of hardship, we contemplate and think about changing our selfish behaviour, attachments, and stubbornness. Although it’s difficult, if you are determined and prepared to face hardships to get rid of all your shortcomings, then even though you’re suffering, but you will remove your stubbornness and selfishness. Many people live selfishly, filled with greed, hatred and delusion. When they don’t get what they want, they begin to hate, and then when they hate, they begin to do many foolish things. Also, they are constantly thinking about themselves. When would they find help from others? Master tells you, only seriously foolish people live like that.
要学会粗茶淡饭过日子，再有钱我也吃得很节省。过去的僧衣为什么要用长衫啊？当时没有衣服做，长衫就是用来遮体的。南传佛教全部是把胳膊露在外面的，当时就是用一块布披一披，遮遮身体，挡挡寒热。粗茶淡饭过日子，只有吃苦，你才能留住幸福，因为有点苦，才能体会到快乐，你才明白人生的幸福所在。如果能够把修行融入在生活当中，那么修行就如工作一样，每天要做，这个时候你才是一个大圆满，这样你在整个世界当中才不会沦落为庸俗和空洞。
You must learn to live on a simple diet. Even if you have the money, you should eat thriftily. In the past, why do the monks only wear a gown? It’s because they didn’t have any clothes, so they used a gown to cover up their body while they uncover only one arm. Only by facing hardships, you could keep some of your blessings. That’s because only through hardship would you experience happiness and understand what the true blessings in life are. If you could integrate cultivation with your daily life, it will be the same as work for you, where you have to do it every day. That way, you would achieve completeness in your life. That way, you won’t sink into depravity.