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.
师父跟大家讲四种着魔人的情况，哪些人会着魔，大家好好地对照自己看一看。
In this chapter, Master tells you about four symptoms that people who are possessed by their inner demons would show. Try and compare it with yourself to see.
第一种，喜怒无常，经常恨自己，这种人就是着魔了。一会儿开心，一会儿伤心，突然之间发脾气，过一会儿又没有事了，经常恨自己——着魔了，被魔控制住了。
The first symptom is that one is moody. They also regularly hate themselves. In one moment, they’re happy; in the next moment, they become sad. They would suddenly lose their temper and then act normally after a short while. These kinds of people are possessed by their inner demons.
第二，行为夸张。明明只做了一点点事情，可是行为夸张得不得了。着魔的人要自己醒悟是很难的，一个人着魔之后，你跟他说：“你不要这样。”“我就是这样。”什么样的行为是夸张的呢？做一件事情夸张得不得了，却说：“其实，我这个人是很安静的，不乱跳的，但是别人搞我，我一定跳起来。”夸张了吧？其实这种人平时就是天天一碰就跳的。
The second symptom is that they tend to exaggerate their behaviour and actions. They may only have done some small thing, but they overreact. It’s difficult for those who are possessed to awaken. If you tell them, “Don’t do that.” They will reply, “I’m like that, so what?” What kind of actions are considered overreacting? For example, if they say, “In reality, I’m a peaceful guy. But if somebody provokes me, I make sure to make it hell for them.” Isn’t that quite an overreaction? In truth, these kinds of people regularly lose their temper.
第三，以为自己都是对的，不愿意和别人沟通，这也是着魔了。师父看你们很多人都是这样的，至少是相对魔。总以为自己都是对的：“哎呀，你别跟我讲，我这个意见一定是对的。”不愿意跟别人沟通，时间长了，魔心上身，就会着魔。很多人很执著，别人是劝不醒的：“我就是这样的”，“他一定是这样的”。别人说：“不是的，你听我的话，别人没有说你。”“不可能的，一定是他说的。”“爸爸，你不要这样，妈妈在我面前没有说你不好。”“她一定讲我了。”“妈妈，爸爸没有讲你的不好。”“他不讲我？那是太阳从西边出来了。”这就是着魔了，不可能听别人的意见的。
The third symptom is that they always think that they’re right and are unwilling to communicate with others. They are also possessed by their inner demons. “Don’t talk to me about it anymore; I know I’m definitely right.” If one remains to be unwilling to communicate with others for long enough, their mind will be possessed. Many people are too attached that others can’t persuade them anymore. “I’m like that, and?” “She’s definitely like that.” Others reply, “No, listen to me. Nobody talked about you.” “Impossible; she definitely said something about me.” “Dad, don’t be like that. Mum didn’t talk anything bad about you.” “She must have.” This is what’s it like to talk to somebody who’s possessed. They’re unwilling to listen to the opinion of others.
还有一些人，整天觉得别人在跟自己作对，在害自己。师父在备课的时候，一边写，一边在笑，有太多这样的人了，太可笑了，笑天下可笑之人啊。你们谁没有这个毛病？总觉得别人对他不好，这不就是神经病吗？这就是着魔了。还有一种人总觉得别人在害自己。有忧郁症的人，会经常觉得别人在害自己。你们听过相声吗？“他在害我啊！我听到他在跟领导讲我，要把我一分为二。”别人在说要把他的缺点一分为二地看待，他认为别人要拿刀把他砍成一分为二，总觉得别人在害他。
Some people also constantly feel that others are out to get them. When Master is preparing for his class, he sometimes laughs while he’s preparing. There are too many of these kinds of people. It’s too ridiculous. Who doesn’t have this kind of shortcoming where they feel that others are mistreating them. Isn’t that a mental illness? That’s what happens when they’re possessed by their inner demons. There’s also a kind of people who think others want to hurt them. They suffer from paranoia. It’s like when they hear something and put it out of context. “He wants to hurt me! I heard that he told the manager to split me into two.” In reality, the colleague said to split his shortcomings into two to look at. But he thought that he wanted to split him in two physically.
师父跟你们讲，这些都是害死自己的魔，一定要去除，学佛人永远要谦卑地学习。谦卑地学习是什么意思呢？你们双手合掌，你们看见师父和佛友就鞠躬，这些不是做给师父看的，是你们自己在成全道业啊。你们是学佛人，你们是很有修养的人，你们谦卑合十很尊重师父、尊重菩萨，就是尊师重道，就是尊重你们自己。要明白，骄傲是人的劣根性，一个人只要一骄傲，看不起别人，他就有劣根性了。
Master tells you these are all inner demons that could ruin you. You must eliminate them. Buddhists should always stay humble and learn. When you bow when you see Master and fellow Buddhists, you’re not bowing to show Master, but you’re doing it to accomplish your cultivation. You are a Buddhist, so you are a cultured and refined person. When you humbly put your hands together and bow, you are respecting Master and the Bodhisattvas, but you are also respecting yourself. You must understand, arrogance is a very deep-rooted bad habit. As long as one act proudly and look down on others, then that’s bad behaviour.
学佛人要尽悟佛性，就是说，无论如何要尽自己所有的一切能力和智慧来开悟佛性。要尽知佛法，就是要尽一切努力去知道所有的佛法。所以很多人学习佛法永不退转，一天都可以把一本《白话佛法》看完。要尽去无明，尽自己所有的力量去除自己身上不明白的事情，要多问啊。要尽度众生，就是要度尽一切众生，要帮助别人。学佛学了半天，只会自己修，还不能帮助别人，那就度不了众生。
Buddhists must completely comprehend their Buddha-nature. In other words, you should use everything within your power and wisdom to awaken your Buddha nature no matter what. You should also use most of your effort to be completely knowledgeable about the Buddha-Dharma. That way, Buddhists could keep on practising the Buddha-Dharma without retreating. They could read a complete volume of ‘Buddhism in Plain Terms’ in one day. You must also use everything within your power to get rid of your ignorance completely. So you should ask questions more. You must do your best to spiritually awaken all sentient beings around you and help others more often. If you learnt Buddhism for a long time yet, you only cared about cultivating yourself and don’t go and help others; then you could never spiritually awaken sentient beings.
要想净化心灵，不是净化一点皮毛，而是要深挖心中的障碍。障碍是什么？就是心中的痛。这个事情越是痛，你越要去挖掘：“我为什么会这样呢？我为什么会痛呢？我要挖根啊，我要知道自己做错事情了，我以后接受教训，不能再这么做了。”只有深挖自己的痛处，以后才不会再痛。痛挖比开刀要好一点，很多人的肠胃痛，痛到后来开刀把肠胃剪掉了三分之二。这就是为什么要深挖，虽然很痛，还是要深挖。
You must think about purifying your spirit. It’s not just about purifying something superficial, but it’s about digging out the mental obstructions that exist within your mind. What are these mental obstructions? It’s mental pain. The more painful something is, the more you need to dig it out. “Why am I like that? Why do I feel pain when I recall it? I need to get to the bottom of it. I must realise what mistake I made so that I can learn the lesson and never do it again.” It’s only when you dig out the roots of your pain deeply that you will never be in pain again. It’s like going through a surgical operation. Some people suffer intestinal pains to the point that the problem develops into colon cancer and requires a surgeon to remove parts of the colon. That is why you must dig it out. Although it’s painful, you still have to do it.
自己离婚了，心里很痛，为什么会离婚啊？痛啊，但是下次不会再痛了。第一次婚姻不把别人当回事，很快你就跟别人结束了。第二次结婚找到人了，如果不接受教训，不改自己的毛病，没有深挖自己的痛处，再结婚，还是会很快离婚的。师父跟你们讲，挖自己心中的障碍，就是挖自己的病根，要从自己的心里去挖，要转识成智，转变你的意识成为你的智慧。刚刚想发脾气了，突然之间一想，“学佛人不能发脾气，一发脾气工作马上保不住了”，意识转变了之后，认识转变了，马上就变成智慧了。明白了吗？
For example, you had a divorce that left you with a painful memory. “Why did I divorce?” It’s painful, but you won’t be in pain the next time. In your first marriage, you belittled your partner, so your relationship quickly ended. Then, you didn’t learn your lesson for your second marriage, and you didn’t change your shortcomings because you didn’t dig out and find the cause of the pain. So even when you remarry, you’ll quickly divorce again. Master tells you, when you are digging out your mental obstructions, you are digging out the root of your pain. You must introspect deeply and turn what you know into wisdom. So just when you’re about to lose your temper, you suddenly think to yourself, “Buddhists shouldn’t lose their temper. If I did, I wouldn’t be able to keep my job.” When your consciousness changes, what you also understand changes, and it becomes a kind of wisdom. Do you understand?
要化解心中的疑虑和疑惑，心中的疑惑不能常放在心中，师父教你们两个方法：一个方法是尽快地去了解清楚，把它化解；还有一个方法就是不要去了解，慢慢地就化解掉了，不要去查盘根错节，不要去理解，不要去解释，什么都不要去想、不去做，慢慢地就化解心灵的烦恼。要刨根问底的话，那你思维一定就会出事。
You must resolve all the doubts and suspicions in your mind. You mustn’t allow it to linger there. Master teaches you two methods. The first method is to quickly find out about it clearly so that it’s resolved. The second method is to not resolve it and allow it to gradually resolve itself. Don’t investigate what went wrong, don’t try to understand, don’t think about it, nor do anything to provoke those doubts. Then gradually, the afflictions borne from those doubts and suspicions will fade away. If you keep on insisting on getting to the bottom of things, problems will eventually develop with your thought process.
师父跟你们讲过，很多事情不要去刨根问底，刨根问底是让自己痛。有些事情师父比你们总要清楚吧？师父怎么会不知道自己的弟子做了什么事情啊？有时候他们跑过来跟师父见面，跟师父讲这事那事，不管欧洲同修也好，美国同修也好，师父难道会不知道吗？师父只是不讲罢了，师父不会刨根问底的，师父就会多多鼓励他们，因为他们不在师父身边。那些总觉得师父不知道事情真相的人，实际上是最傻的，就像幼儿园的小孩子一样，说自己没有做，难道老师会不知道是谁做的？要懂得这些道理。
Master mentioned it before, don’t keep on trying to get to the bottom of things. It would only further cause you pain. There are things that Master is clearer about than you, is that right? How wouldn’t he know about what his disciples are doing? Sometimes, they would go to meet Master and talk about this and that. Regardless of whether it’s about the fellow practitioners in Europe or the USA, how would he be aware of things? Master only didn’t mention it. He won’t try to get to the bottom of things; he would only encourage them because they’re not by his side. Those who think that Master is aware of the truth are foolish. Just like how some children at kindergarten lie and say that they didn’t do something. Are the teachers really unaware of what was going on? That’s the principle.
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