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.
人生的理念、高境界的理想是怎么来的？因为你心中有佛。所以，要佛子齐心，普度众生。所有的佛菩萨和我们一心一意，佛子一心，普利有情，普度利益有情众生。广开善门，积功累德，人心齐，泰山移。
Where do one’s high spiritual ideals and thoughts come from? It comes from the Buddha that resides within you. You must unite your inner Buddha with your mind and save and spiritually awaken other sentient beings. That way, we are of the same mind as all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and we benefit all sentient beings far and wide, open up all doors of wholesomeness, accumulate merit-virtues. When people are of one mind and heart, they can overcome anything.
学佛人要自皈依。其实所有的佛学让你先看到的都是外相的，真正学佛学得好的人，是修学自己内心的本性佛。所以跟别人学佛都是暂时的，学佛学到最后就是把自己本性的善良拿出来，最后成佛还是你自己成佛，不是别人。很多人做给外面的人看，“你看我在做功德，我在做好事，我拜佛的时候是多么的虔诚”，这些表面的东西是没有用的。用你自己的佛性来成就自己，才能让自己心中的佛菩萨（心佛）出现。很多坏人做了很多坏事，总有一天他会良心发现，那个时候就是他的佛性出现。
Buddhists must seek refuge within themselves. In reality, all knowledge of Buddhism lets you see the exterior forms first. Then when the Buddhist has practised well, then they start focusing on cultivating their inner Buddha, their inherent nature. That’s why learning Buddhism from others is temporary. You will reach a point where you must introspect and contemplate your inherent nature and wholesomeness. In the end, you’re the one who becomes a Buddha, not others. Many people just do things for the sake of showing off to others, “Look at how much meritorious deeds I did. I’m doing good deeds. I’m very sincere when I’m praying to the Buddhas.” These superficial acts are useless. You must use your Buddha-nature to fulfil your accomplishments so that your inner Buddha manifests. People who have done many evil deeds in the past may, one day, discover that what they did was wrong. That’s when their Buddha-nature starts to appear.
皈依是什么呢？就是皈依你自己身上的佛性。很多人去皈依这个、皈依那个，有什么用？举个简单例子，我今天跟这个老师学，明天跟那个老师学，学到最后，自己没体会，你一点都没有学出来，你学了这么多有什么用呢？你皈依自己，靠自己的努力，听从老师的指导，经过你自己的努力就能成才。你们去看很多成名的人，他们的老师不一定很有名，但是他的学生为什么能够成名呢？他们靠的是自性啊，皈依自性，他们是靠自己的努力成功的。
What does it mean to seek refuge? It’s to seek refuge in your Buddha-nature. Many people seek refuge in this and that, what’s the point? To illustrate this with an example, today, you learn from this teacher, and then tomorrow, you learn from that teacher. In the end, you have experienced nothing, and you didn’t comprehend anything. So what’s the point of learning from so many people? You should seek refuge within yourself and depend on your own efforts. Take your teacher's advice, but you still have to put in the effort yourself to become accomplished. Look at other accomplished individuals. Their teachers might not be accomplished, but why are their students accomplished? It’s because they depend on their self-nature, they sought refuge within themselves, they relied on themselves to succeed.
修心的人不能放任自己，要坐有坐相，站有站相，听佛法的时候就是犹如菩萨在场。学佛人要规规矩矩，严格看着自己的行为，包括身体行为和心理行为。学佛做人要学会看事情的两面性，要多看别人的优点，少看别人的缺点。看什么事情都要两面性，学会刚柔相济，不能对别人太刚，对自身的戒律要刚：我坚决这样，我不能违背戒律，我不杀生，我不妄语，我不邪淫，我不喝酒，我不偷盗，没有什么客气的，这些都是做人要做到的；但对众生的习性，则要柔和地加以劝说。
Cultivators mustn’t let themselves too loose. When they sit, they should sit properly. When they stand, they should stand properly. When they are listening to the Buddha-Dharma, they should behave as though the Bodhisattvas are present. Buddhists must behave orderly and be strict towards their actions. That includes their physical and mental actions. Buddhists should learn to see both sides of something and focus more on other people’s strengths than other people’s flaws. One should learn to be both firm and soft. You mustn’t treat others too hard, but you should be hard with your discipline in observing the precepts. “I’m determined to be like so. I mustn’t go against the precepts. I mustn’t kill, I mustn’t lie, I mustn’t commit sexual misconduct, I mustn’t intoxicate myself, and I mustn’t steal.” There’s no excuse; these are all things that a morally upright person should do. But when you see the deep-rooted bad behaviour of other sentient beings, you should softly persuade them to change.
要懂得请观世音菩萨加持根本。你们可以说：“请观世音菩萨加持我的根本。”根本是什么呢？根本就是你的本性、本性佛。观世音菩萨一加持你的根本，你就能得到菩萨的慈悲，本性佛就会出来，你就会有智慧去解决一切问题。然后，你要守护自己的根本，成就自己的根本，你才会见到自己的自性佛，要开悟明心，这就是明心见性，见到自己的佛性。
You must learn to pray to Guan Yin Bodhisattva to bless your fundamental core. You could say, “Guan Yin Bodhisattva, please bless my fundamental core.” What is your fundamental core? It’s your inherent nature and Buddha-nature. After Guan Yin Bodhisattva has blessed your fundamental core, you would gain the Bodhisattva’s compassion, and your Buddha-Nature will manifest. You would then have the wisdom to resolve everything. Then, you must protect your fundamental core to nurture it. Then you will see your Buddha-nature. That is ‘clearing your mind to discover your Buddha-nature’.
要皈依你自己的觉悟。佛法讲的根本就是开悟，要皈依自己修行的正法。什么叫正法？很多人的心中都有一个正念和邪念，自己做过的事情知道这个是对的还是不对的。当一个人不知道自己是不是对的时候，这个人已经邪了。举个简单例子，今天你想坐飞机来澳洲，你上飞机的时候至少要看看“悉尼”吧？你今天上飞机去悉尼看台长师父，你不知道自己要上哪个门，那么你这个人已经是偏了，已经找不到门了。如果你很容易地看到，就是这个门，我就是上这架飞机，好了，你这个人就是学到了正的东西。你今天学的是佛法，所有的一切都是如理如法的，慈悲不就是本性吗？
You must seek refuge in your enlightenment. The Buddha-Dharma’s fundamental core is enlightenment, so you should seek refuge in your cultivation of the right Dharma. What is the right Dharma? Many people’s mind possesses both right and deviated thoughts. When they recall all the things they did in the past, they could distinguish whether what they did was right or wrong. But if the person doesn’t know whether what they did was right or wrong, it indicates that their minds have already deviated. To illustrate this with an example, you want to fly to Australia. At the very least, you need to book a flight to travel to Sydney because you wanted to visit Master. But you don’t know where to start and how to book it, so you just randomly go to whoever can help you do it. Then it means you’ve already deviated. If you are confident that you should book the flight that way, then it means that you have learnt the right thing. Everything you learn from the Buddha-Dharma is in accordance with reason and the law. Isn’t compassion your inherent nature?
要皈依你自身的戒律。比方说，什么叫正？不贪瞋痴慢疑，不就是正吗？学佛学到后来，越来越贪了，“我要赚钱，我要恨别人，我天天就是想得到这个、得到那个”，这不就是走偏了吗？“在大家面前，我要成为一个有面子的人。在大家面前，错了，我也是死要面子”，你这一定是走偏了，这就不是正。
You must seek refuge in your precepts. For example, what is considered right? If you don’t have greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance and doubt, aren’t you right? If you become greedier after learning and practising Buddhism, “I must make money. I hate him. I want this and that.” Haven’t you deviated? “When I’m in front of others, I need to be respected. Even if I’m wrong, I can’t admit it. I must save face.” If you think like that, that isn’t right.
知道什么是佛吗？佛的翻译就是觉悟、正、干净，觉而不迷，正而不邪，净而不染，所以叫“觉、正、净”。我们要到西方极乐世界去成就佛果，就是要脱离六道。那么脱离六道靠的是谁啊？要靠你们自己。哪一个成功的人不是靠自己啊？获得诺贝尔医学奖的屠呦呦，靠的是谁啊？她靠的就是自己，不停地在努力，她终于成功了。
Do you know what the term ‘Buddha’ means? Its translation means enlightenment, right and pure. Enlightened and not deluded, right and not deviated, pure and not tainted. We must go to the Western Pure Lands and gain fruition in our cultivation of Buddhism. In other words, we must liberate ourselves from samsara. Who should we rely on to liberate from it? We must depend on ourselves. Is there any successful person who didn’t rely on themselves? Who did Tu Youyou, a Chinese pharmaceutical chemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, rely on? She relied on herself. She constantly worked hard, and finally, she succeeded.
学佛要学到究竟。佛经上经常讲“究竟”，“究竟”就是到底了。这个事情你究竟是什么意思呢？就是说，这个事情你到底是什么意思呢？“究竟”就是完全明白自己的一切。那么自己是什么呢？就是本初，也就是最原始的本性，自皈依佛。
We must perfect our knowledge of Buddhism. The sutras regularly expound about ‘exactness’, which means to be completely thorough and knowledgeable about everything about themselves. So what is it about themselves? It’s one’s original inherent nature and refuge in their self-Buddha.
修心要学禅定。心定不下来，哪里会有开悟的境界呢？心清净，才能调伏自己散乱的心；心中杂念太多，静不下来，智慧就没有了。有智慧的人，心一定能够定得下来。所以佛法界讲“制心一处”，把自己的心放到一个地方，念经就是念经，吃饭就是吃饭，睡觉就是睡觉。师父在槟城法会上讲了，一位比丘问他的师父：“师父，你现在修心是觉悟了，在你开悟之前，你干什么？”那位师父回答说：“我是念经、睡觉、吃饭。”“那你现在开悟之后呢？”“也是念经、睡觉、吃饭。”“那你的开悟和没有开悟有什么区别啊？”师父告诉小和尚：“开悟之前，我睡觉的时候想着念经，念经的时候想着吃饭，吃饭的时候想着睡觉。现在我开悟了，念经的时候就是念经，睡觉的时候就是睡觉，吃饭的时候就是吃饭。这就是一心一意、全心全意，这就叫开悟啊。”
One must learn about Zen concentration when they’re cultivating their mind. If their mind can’t concentrate, then how would you reach the spiritual level of enlightenment? Only when your mind is pure could you adjust your frantic mind. If your mind has too many distracting thought, you can’t calm down, and your wisdom would be lacking. Wise people can concentrate if they will it. The Buddha-Dharma calls it ‘compartmentalising one’s mind’ – compartmentalise your mind to one place; when you recite sutras, you concentrate on doing so. When you’re eating, you concentrate on doing so. When you’re sleeping, you concentrate on doing so. Master had mentioned a story before, a monk asked his master, “Master, currently you’re enlightened. What did you do before you were enlightened?” His master replied, “I recited sutras, I slept, and I ate.” “What about after you became enlightened?” “I still recite sutras, sleep and eat.” “Then what’s the difference between before and after you were enlightened?” The master told the monk, “Before I was enlightened, when I was sleeping, I was thinking about reciting sutras. When I was reciting sutras, I was thinking about what I should eat after. And when I was eating, I was thinking about when I should sleep. Now that I’m enlightened, when I recite sutras, I recite sutras. When I sleep, I sleep. When I eat, I eat. I am now single-minded when I’m doing something. That is enlightenment.”
你们现在在观音堂听师父讲课，如果你们的脑子里还在乱想，你们的心不就是散乱的吗？那么怎么开悟啊？你们坐在这里听师父讲课，就要把其他事情全部忘记。年纪大的要忘记自己的年龄，觉得自己和大家一样都是菩萨，自己学得很开心，学佛学得忘了年纪。这样就是用禅定来调伏自己的心，制伏一切累世的恶习。很多人的习惯都是累世积累的，每个人的今世都跟自己的前世有关系，就是因为前世的业，今世才会这样。
You are currently reading this chapter; if your thoughts are elsewhere, doesn’t it indicate that your mind is scattered? Then how could you become enlightened? When you are reading and learning from Master, you should forget about everything else. The elderly should forget about their age and feel that they are a Bodhisattva like everybody else, learn without any mental inhibitions so that you forget about your age. That way, you are using the method of Zen concentration to adjust your mind and overcome all the unwholesome habitual behaviours that you have developed over your past lifetimes. Many people’s habitual behaviours are developed from many lifetimes. Everybody’s current life has connections with their previous lives. It’s the karma accumulated over the previous lifetimes that cause you to be who you are in this life.