88《廣結善緣 隨喜功德》不要跟人家結惡緣 結惡緣對你沒有什麽好處。釋迦牟尼佛常常勸導我們【善惡之報 如影隨形】就是好像我們的影子一樣 我們走到哪裡 就跟著到哪裡 隨著自己的因果都在受報的

尊敬的諸位同修 諸位護法 大家吉祥 阿彌陀佛 首先 跟大家祝福: 聖誕節吉祥 今天我想跟大家來 做一個簡單的 談談一些佛法 今天 要跟大家分享的 就是 佛在世的時候 常勸導我們 特別是學佛的人 一定要 廣結善緣 隨喜功德 這個廣結善緣 隨喜功德 對於我們學佛的人 對於這個社會 對於人生 可以說是 最貴的一件事 爲什麽可貴呢 因爲它能夠帶來 給自己 一種生活的快樂 也能夠帶來給大家的幸福 更廣來講 能夠帶來這個社會的安定 這個國家的和諧 所以 在佛法裡面 【廣結善緣 隨喜功德】 是一個最重要的 修行的科目 特別是我們念佛的人 這一生 你能不能順利 往生西方淨土 你這一條路 能不能 順順利利的 達到我們的心願 就是親近 阿彌陀佛 往生西方極樂世界 關鍵在你 在處事待人接物 對人 對事 對物 無論是有情的衆生 無情的衆生 包括這些動物 如果你能夠廣結善緣 那你臨終的時候 你就沒有很大的障礙了 所以我們每一個月 爲什麽要做這個大迴向 這個大迴向裡面有一段話 就是【願我臨終 無障礙】 願我臨終無障礙 就是教你要廣結善緣 你要廣修供養 廣修布施 讓你修行的道上 能夠(不)產生嚴重的障礙 那你往生西方極樂世界 那就容易了 如果我們在這個社會上 在這個 生活裡面 處事待人 對人 對事 對物 常常跟人家結惡緣 將來就是你的障礙了 不但能夠障礙你往生西方淨土 而且也能夠障礙 影響你將來 能夠墮在三惡道 所以佛法裡面告訴我們 廣結善緣 是一個非常的重要 你不跟衆生結惡緣 衆生就不會跟你 結惡緣 結了惡緣 那這很麻煩 真的很麻煩 所以我們無量劫以來 爲什麽我們的 冤親債主 無量無邊 是什麽樣原因 就是因爲你種的這個因嘛 大家一定 要知道 冤親債主 不是那麽容易化解的 除非你很有修養 你的德行 你真的有 修行 就容易化解了 如果你真的這一生 只是重在形式 不重在你的真正的實質 就是說 你沒有真實的用功 你怎麽能夠化解 你的冤親債主 現在我們健康 念佛容易 當你的冤親債主找上門 那就很麻煩 很難化解的 你看 最明顯的 就是 悟達國師 這個例子 十世 他的冤親債主跟著他 到了第十世 才有機會來報仇 你想一想 跟著他十世 第十世 才會有機會來報仇 所謂的【人面瘡】差一點 他的命就沒有了 什麽原因呢 過去生所種的惡因 所以 今生 所受這樣的果報 那今天 我們也是一樣 尊敬的諸位同修大德 我們一定要知道 要廣結善緣 將來這些善緣 會來幫助你 幫助你的道業成就 幫助你在世間法也好 出世間法也罷 都能夠 幫助你成就的 但是 你如果常常跟人家 結惡緣 那就很麻煩了 那你想一想 你天天有沒有 跟人家結惡緣 幾乎天天 你想一想 你的起心動念 言語造作 你想一想 你有沒有 每一天 跟人家 結惡緣 今天 有人莫名其妙 對你不喜歡 來駡你 侮辱你 傷害你 甚至於 可能來想盡辦法來破壞 或者讓你家破人亡 種種的 爲什麽會有這樣的因緣 所以我們佛經 裡面常常 告訴我們 就是佛常告訴我們 【未成佛道 先結人緣】諸佛菩薩要成佛 在因地修行的時候 他要廣結善緣 將來 來到這個世間 無論在哪一個世界 他要度衆生 那就容易了 你不廣結善緣 將來誰來護他的法 誰來聼他的法 是不可能的 所以尊敬的諸位同修大德 你看看 釋迦牟尼佛一生 他的常隨弟子有多少 一千兩百五十五個人 然後 不在他的 旁邊的 那是不計其數啊 很多 而且釋迦牟尼佛 在過去的時候 印度 還沒統一 國家有多少 大大小小 有一百多個國家 而這一百 多個國家 總共有十七個國家 大國 這些大國的國王 都是釋迦牟尼佛 的弟子 都是釋迦牟尼佛的護法 最明顯的就是 給孤獨長者 二十二年 將近二十三年 護持釋迦牟尼佛 建立了 這個 祇樹給孤獨園 讓釋迦牟尼佛 以(及)釋迦牟尼佛的弟子 在這個地方弘法 你想一想 那個不是 那麽容易的一件事! 釋迦牟尼佛 過去 如果 沒有跟人家 廣結善緣 沒有跟一切衆生廣結善緣 他來弘法 那就會有問題 沒有人護法 而且 也沒辦法度衆生 因爲障礙太多了 所以 你要多跟人家結 好緣 跟人家結善緣 你的緣才能夠好 如果 你跟人家結惡緣 你想要成就自己 有可能嗎 不可能的 所以有人問我說：師父 我念佛就好了 將來往生到西方極樂世界 我沒必要修布施 可不可以 你説呢 可不可以？ 你只是說: 我要念佛 我不想修布施 我不想供養 你將來 來到這個世間 沒人護持你 沒人供養 你會餓肚子的 大家一定要知道 我們往生西方極樂世界 最主要的 它不是去享受的 到西方極樂世界 我的目標就是要成佛的 成佛之後 我要度化衆生 度化衆生 你在因地修行的時候 你不跟衆生 廣結善緣 你是不能的 沒人聼 你不肯跟人家結善緣 誰來聼你的法 沒有啊 你只能乖乖一個人在大殿這樣 向著誰講法 墻壁 或者這些無形的衆生 無形的衆生 也看跟你有沒有緣 所以 你説很多人就是有這樣的想法: 師父 我不想修供養 我不想修布施 我念佛就好了 如果這樣的話 西方 極樂世界 從《彌陀經》你就看得到 《彌陀經》有一段經文非常的重要 大家有沒有去留意 那一段《彌陀經》說【常以清旦 各以 衣祴盛眾妙華 供養他方十萬億佛 即以食時 還到本國】什麽意思呢 就是説 在西方極樂世界的那些衆生 每一天去做什麽 去十方諸佛國土 廣結善緣 是修福修慧 將來他度化衆生 那就容易了 有人護持 今天比方説 我想要建道場 沒人供養 你怎麽建啊 你今天想要出家 你沒跟人廣結善緣 誰來護持你 沒有人來護持你 你不要以爲 每一個出家人 都有每個出家人的福報 有時候有一些出家人 真的沒有福報 真的 沒人供養 你看過去 有一位老和尚 跟大家講一個故事 有一位老和尚 他住在山上 不管人家 的事情 有一個道場 裡面有幾個法師 發現他這個道場 已經開始破落了 壞掉了 佛像也是一樣 所以發大誓願: 我要來重建這個道場 重建這個道場 要怎麽辦呢 他一定要下山去化緣 沒想到 這個老和尚 一下山 到處化緣 沒人供養 真的沒人供養 然後有一天 遇到了 一個 大富裕人家 那個房子很有錢 在那一帶的時候 所以跟他敲門 請這個護法 希望能夠來護持 不但得不到這個護法的護持 而且 被這個護法 這個大戶人家 駡了一頓 狠狠的駡了一頓 罵這個老和尚 這個老和尚也沒辦法 乖乖回到山上 怎麽辦呢 反省自己 我爲什麽 會有這樣的結果 爲什麽沒人供養 所以他反省 反省自己 錯在哪一個地方 後來 去探聽了 這個大富裕人家 以前他是一個高官 已經退休了 而這個高官的名 姓梁 所以 這位老和尚 因爲沒有跟人家 結善緣 而且又被人家批評 而且講了一些語言 講得非常的難聽 所以不怨天 不尤人 反省自己來懺悔 然後 為這個大官 這個大富裕人家 或者一些衆生 立了這麽一個排位 什麽排位呢 消災延壽眾等 就是希望這個大官 他能夠 怎麽樣呢 他能夠將來種了 這個佛的種子 來護持三寶 就是天天迴向給他 天天迴向給一切衆生 自己 又用功修行 斷惡修善 天天這樣幹 沒想到 他的至誠心 感召來這位大官 有一天突然間 要到山上 去散步 走到這個廟 這個廟裡面 雖然 很破落 但是蠻整齊 也蠻乾淨的 所以對裡面的僧團 非常的歡喜 但是 沒想到 這個大官 已經退休的這個大老闆 走到大殿的時候 看到了他自己的名字 立在這個消災大排位 而且 非常的好奇 誰爲他立的這個排位 所以問那些沙彌 出家人: 你爲什麽這個大殿 有我的名字 所以尊敬的諸位同修大德 《地藏菩薩本願經》常常教導我們 做每一件事情的功德 無論你念哪一句佛號 你念一句佛號 或者一句觀世音菩薩的名號 或者 佛菩薩的名號 無論你做什麽樣的善事 你一定要迴向給 虛空法界一切衆生 你要跟衆生結善緣 今天我們在這邊共修 我們 爲什麽要迴向 迴向的意義是什麽 就是希望 跟一切衆生 結善緣 希望一切衆生 能夠離苦得樂 希望這些累劫的冤親債主 過去 有意無意的 得罪了他們 傷害了他們 或者讓他們受到了 種種的煩惱痛苦 今天我懺悔 我統統 我把所有的功德 迴向給你們 讓你們能夠快樂幸福 身體健康 沒想到 以至誠心 他的真誠心感召了 這位梁居士 就是這個大官 退休的大官 後來聽到這一些法師的講解 因爲 老和尚沒有修好 沒有跟人家結善緣 而且又被梁居士罵了一頓 所以 他發露懺悔 要跟大家來結個善緣 沒想到 感動了 他這個梁居士 後來他自己三皈依 三皈依之後 又來護持 這位老和尚 所以 尊敬的 諸位同修大德 真的 太多事情 我們很多事 我們有沒有去 檢討反省 今天爲什麽我們莫名其妙 我的生活 在這個環境裡面 爲什麽這麽多障礙 爲什麽我的生活 沒辦法 幸福 爲什麽我的生活 這麽痛苦 爲什麽我在這個生活裡面 這麽多的 冤親債主 讓我這個身體很多事情 有時候不健康 甚至於常常去 看醫生 沒有一個醫生能夠把我的病 治好 這個叫做什麽 業障病 所以釋迦牟尼佛告訴我們 有果必有因 有因必有果 釋迦牟尼佛 常常勸導我們 【善惡之報 如影隨形】就是好像我們的 影子一樣 我們走到哪裡 就跟著到哪裡 隨著自己的因果 都在受報的 尊敬的諸位同修大德 佛法最主要的 都是在講因緣法 這個因緣是怎麽來的 今天你得什麽樣的人身 你今天獲得 什麽樣的人身 都是跟你過去生有關係 所以 你要 廣結善緣 不要得罪人 不要傷害一切衆生 因爲你傷害它 將來總會有一天 它會來報復你的 它會來報仇的 將來你往生 西方極樂世界 那就變成 你自己的障礙了 所以大家一定要懂得 這個道理 爲什麽佛 要我們 常常去廣結善緣 就是這個原因 你看 過去釋迦牟尼佛在世的時候 有一天 他帶著阿難跟舍利弗 到了一個村莊 遇到了一個老婦人在挑水 然後 佛就告訴阿難: 你跟這位 老婦人去化緣 去化什麽呢 化一碗水 沒想到 你看 阿難尊者 當他走過去的時候 遇到這位老婦人 阿難尊者長得非常的莊嚴 但是 這位老婦人 老人家看到阿難尊者 一看到阿難尊者 非常不喜歡 討厭他 而且瞋恨的駡了他一頓 不但不給他水 用這個水來冲他 而且 告訴阿難尊者: 不要說 我給你 我寧願 把這些水倒在地上 也不給你 甚至於罵阿難 罵得很難聽 甚至於 要打阿難尊者 你想一想 我們常常 在這個社會上 常常會遇到這樣 有時候我們遇到一個人 看到這個人 我很討厭他 我看他很不順眼 我對他很不滿 我真的 不高興不歡喜 看到這一個人 甚至於有時候要駡他的 反正 看到這個人 我對他很不好感的感覺 甚至於別人莫名其妙 我也不認識他 突然間來駡我 來侮辱 毀謗 甚至於來毀滅 來傷害你的 常常 我們在這個社會上 常常有這個因緣 在這個社會上有這樣的 有時候 甚至於 讓你家破人亡 或者 甚至於 讓你事業失敗 或者 甚至於讓你 在這個生活上 你會感覺苦 痛不欲生的 苦不堪言 阿難尊者被這個老人家一駡 … 不但 沒辦法化緣 化到這個水 然後回到佛的旁邊 佛有沒有説一句話 佛沒有講話 叫阿難尊者好好坐在旁邊 然後 沒想到 釋迦牟尼佛派舍利弗 請舍利弗跟這位老人家化緣 沒想到 舍利弗見到了這位老人家 這位老人家非常的恭敬 非常的虔誠 而且請舍利弗坐著 頂禮 然後供養 給舍利弗 歡歡喜喜來供養給他 而且 這位老人家又告訴舍利弗: 這個水 我是供養給你 你千萬不能讓給阿難尊者來喝 恨阿難尊者 恨到這種入骨 阿難尊者是釋迦牟尼佛的侍者 也不是一般人 她爲什麽對阿難尊者 有這樣的瞋恨 這樣的抱怨呢 釋迦牟尼佛才給舍利弗 阿難尊者 講這個因緣 什麽因緣呢 這位老人家過去生中 她是在畜生道 一隻老鼠 不小心被撞死了 那個時候阿難是做一個商業人 看到了 這一隻老鼠 不但不幫忙把它埋起來 而且又嫌這一隻老鼠很臭 死的活該 因爲講了這幾句話 結了這個惡緣 舍利弗過去生那是不一樣 舍利弗 剛好也走過 看到這一隻老鼠很可憐 歡歡喜喜的 把它埋起來 然後 給它講了幾句的好話 讓它能夠早日生在 一個很好美好的環境 就是因爲這樣的因緣 舍利弗跟這位 老菩薩結下來的 一段的因緣 所以我們來到這個世間 都有因緣的 有因有緣 有因有果 有果有因的 今天 我們受到什麽樣的生活 都是跟我們的因緣的... 有因緣的 大家一定要明白這個道理的 不要去怪別人 也不用去抱怨 不用 這個都是自己的問題 關鍵就是在你自己本身 不在於別人 所以 這個道理 我們一定要知道的 你要廣結善緣 一個人的成就 在這個社會 不是因爲他的聰明 是因爲他 無量無邊 都是跟人家 廣結善緣 因爲一個人的成就 不是一個人的成就 因爲一個人的生存 (離開)這個社會 是沒辦法生存的 所以 廣結善緣 在佛教裡面的解釋 是什麽呢 就是要建立 建立跟一切衆生 能夠融合的關係 能夠良好的溝通 這個就是廣結善緣 因爲很多事情 在這個社會上 都是因爲溝通不良產生的衝突 因爲溝通的不良 產生的這個社會的動亂 像夫妻 爲什麽常常一些 常常影響夫妻的關係 不能和睦相處 什麽原因 就是溝通的關係 太多事情 很多如果我們能夠反省 都不是在別人 都是在自己 所以 我們老師 常常指導我們: 要常常【靜坐 常思己過】 你要常常去反省 常常去懺悔 常常 去改進 常常去檢討 檢討自己的過失 檢討自己的習氣 檢討自己的毛病 然後【閑談 莫論人非】 不談別人的過失 我今天只談我自己的過失 這樣來修行 你就懂得廣結善緣 隨喜的功德 這個真的非常的重要 所以 尊敬的諸位同修大德 我們人與人之間 都是靠著緣分 在維持關係的 所以 人際關係 其實就是因緣法 都是有因緣生 因緣滅的 像一對夫妻 他能夠 成爲夫妻 都是有因緣的嘛 所謂【一日夫妻 百日恩】 這個恩 講的就是因緣 所以 爲什麽一些夫妻 感情都很好 有一些夫妻感情都不好 都有這個緣的 這個緣 有一些人 他真的 他是來報恩的 有一些人 是來報怨的 來報仇的 所以 一結下去 天天吵架 從頭吵到尾 你看 很多 我們出家人 做法師的人 常常遇到一些家庭夫婦: 師父啊 我爲什麽生活這麽苦啊 種種的 過去生沒有跟他結善緣 今生又遇到了 我來報仇了 所以 尊敬的諸位同修大德 要跟人家 廣結善緣 不要跟人家結惡緣 結惡緣 真的很麻煩 真的很麻煩 你看 我們來到這個世間 都有因緣的 真的 來到這個世間都有因緣 你看 我們 師父上人常常講 我們來到這個世間 有四種緣 不是 報恩就是報怨 這個我們一定要知道 所以 你要結善緣 你結善緣 你遇到很多事情 人 就會主動來幫助 來護持你 像我們法師 我們法師爲什麽出家 就是要弘法利生的 就是要跟大家 結一個法緣 爲什麽我們要講經 就是要跟衆生來結法緣 為什麽要結法緣 因爲在一切供養中 法供養是最大的 爲什麽法供養 是最大 因爲法能夠幫助我們了生死 因爲法 能夠幫助我們 超越六道輪迴 因爲法 能夠幫助我們 離苦得樂 因爲佛法 才能幫助我們 這一生 能夠親近阿彌陀佛 往生西方極樂世界 因爲佛法 才能夠幫助我們 將來能夠 成佛道 所以 一切供養 爲什麽法供養 福報是最大的? 就是這個原因 要怎麽樣法供養最大 獲得 這個法供養 的功德呢 你跟人家念一句阿彌陀佛 也是跟人家結善緣 你今天在這個地方念佛 迴向給累劫冤親債主 你也跟這些無形的衆生結善緣 這個道理我們一定要懂得 你要怎麽樣來修法供養 你能夠 把自己念佛做一個好榜樣 做一個楷模 做一個好樣子 讓人家能夠增加信心 讓大家對於念佛法門 對淨土法門 對西方極樂世界無盡的莊嚴 能夠起了一個信心 然後來念佛 這個供養是最大的 那你的福報 是真的 功德不可思議了 所以 佛家常講 【同舟共渡 要修五百年】 對於人與人之間 聚散離合 就是一種很美的 我們一定要明白 這個道理 所以 尊敬的諸位 同修大德 我們這個故事 剛才跟大家講 廣修福德 就是非常重要的 大家希望 能夠在這個生活裡面 資財豐足 我們作爲佛的弟子 也是一樣 財富從哪裡來的 從布施 財富從哪裡來 從修福 財富從哪裡來 結緣而來的 你沒有去廣結善緣 你怎麽能夠得到呢 就是這個道理 師父 我們要怎麽樣 跟人家廣結善緣 你要布施 布施有三種 財布施 法布施 無畏布施 什麽叫做無畏布施 你不傷害別人 你的語言 你的行爲 你不傷害別人 什麽叫做法布施 用你自己的德行 來供養一切衆生 只有用你的德 用你修行的道德 你才能夠 真正幫助一切衆生 這個就是 法供養最大了 沒有修布施 布施能夠幫助我們 所以 諸佛菩薩 他要示現 到這個世間 他一定要把布施做圓滿 菩薩沒把布施做圓滿 是不能成佛的 成佛之後 他還是要把布施 修圓滿 所以 廣結善緣 關鍵就是在 你能不能 對這個布施的精神 對一切衆生 對人 對事 對物 無論是有情無情的 你就能夠 來愛護 來關懷 跟他們培養 好的關係 你將來得人身 就算你不到西方極樂世界 你將來得人身 你的福報真的很大 第二 用什麽方法 就是要善護你的口業 我們無量劫以來 生生世世的 這一些累劫冤親債主 從哪裡來的 從你的 口業來的 很多 只是我們自己 不知道而已 你看 最容易得罪人的 是你哪裡 從你的六根裡面 最容易得罪人的 就是你的口業 你沒有善護你的口業 你將來你這個口業 會帶來很多的麻煩 所謂【禍從口出 病從口入】這個病 不僅僅身體的生病 還有 你心的生病 所以 爲什麽 覺明妙行菩薩 教我們 【少説一句話 多念一句佛】 就是叫你 不要去造口業 我們今天你想一想 不但 你口在造業 你的手指都在造業 你看現在的人 天天離不開什麽 離不開你的手機 對不對 睡覺之前也看手機 起床也看手機 走路也看手機 吃飯也看手機 連上厠所 也看手機 走到哪裡 (都)看手機 你想一想 看的就是什麽 殺盜邪淫 你看 除了你自己口業 每一天都在造 你自己 你的手指 每天都在造 很多人不發現這個 甚至於 有人知道 但是 習氣重 改不過來 那怎麽辦呢 懺悔 所以 講話要小心 最好少説一句話 沒事 話講多了 很多事情就來了 很多人 就是因爲 這個原因 得罪人 最後人家來 毀謗你 來毀滅你 來傷害你 爲什麽他來傷害 就是因爲 你的口業的關係 所以修德 首先 先修你的口業 因爲 口業是關鍵 所以 最容易犯的 就是你的口業 你看 阿闍世王的父親 頻毘娑羅王 頻毘娑羅王你看 他死得很慘 他是 釋迦牟尼佛的 一個得力弟子 是一個護法 很有修養 修行非常好 但是 你看 他死得很慘 被阿闍世王 打入監獄 而且地下的監獄 不給他吃 虐待 慢慢的虐待他 到最後把他殺死 但是 頻毘娑羅王最後 還沒死之前 請佛開示 後來證果了 爲什麽頻毘娑羅王 他是一個很護持 釋迦牟尼佛 他福報修的很大 但是他敵不過他的業力 他是一個 很大的護法 對三寶非常的 虔誠恭敬 但是很可惜 他敵不過 他的業力 到了最後 他才真正 修行證果了 所以 逆緣裡面 不一定不好 順緣裡面 不一定是好 爲什麽他會這樣 因爲他一句話 阿闍世王過去 他是一位老修行者 但是 頻毘娑羅王 因爲他結婚 跟韋提希夫人 很多年沒得子 所以求子心切 問這一些高僧大德 來給他算命: 我什麽時候能夠得子 被算出來 他說: 在山上有一位老修行者 這位老修行者 再過幾年 他(就要)圓寂了 然後 來做你的兒子 但是 頻毘娑羅王 因爲求子心切 如果等得太久 他說: 那我就老了 誰來繼承我的王位呢 所以 派這些皇宮的這些人 去找這個老修行者 告訴老修行者: 你知道你壽命結束 你會做誰的兒子 這位老修行者知道 我會做 你國王的兒子 而且 做這個國王的太子 但是 因爲 皇帝求子心切 所以 希望你能夠 趕快解決 你這個生命 只有 倆個選擇 一個就是你自殺 或者我來殺 就是說 自己解決 就是說 你要自殺 或者來我幫你解決 就是把他殺掉了 你想一想 左右爲難 都是逼著他 死路一條 所以 這個老修行者 因爲 他那一句話 未死之前 自殺之前 發了一個毒誓 什麽毒誓呢: 將來我生到... 你既然 逼著我死 那我就將來 我也逼著你死 會死得更慘 頻毘娑羅王 就是因爲那句話: 你可以選擇 你自己自殺 還是我幫助你 把你殺掉? 就是那一句話而已 多少人 尊敬的諸位同修大德 在這個社會上 我們多少人 天天都在造口業 自己不知道 今天 我們吃衆生肉 也是 跟衆生 結惡緣 所以 今天 我們爲什麽吃素 沒有別的 吃素的原因 就是要跟衆生 少結惡緣 所以 尊敬的諸位同修大德 這個就是我們說 你要跟衆生結善緣 言語跟大家 結善緣 用財布施 來幫助一切衆生 看到貧窮的人 我們幫助 看到生病的人 沒有能力看病 沒有錢 我們來幫助他 看到有人要放生 我們也放生 看到人家 沒有能力 或者 一些需要幫助的 我們來幫助 這些 將來 就是你的 好的善緣 能夠來 幫助你成就的 不但在世間法 或者出世間法 都能夠 來成就 你自己的 所以 今天 簡單來給大家 做一個簡單的 一種分享 像今天 我們 來為大衆服務 我們來敲木魚 來做維那 來敲鼓 或者來誦經 來念佛 都是為大衆服務的 這個 也是為大衆 跟大衆 廣結善緣 所以 很多 在佛法裡面 太多太多了 佛常常 勸導我們 就是要 這樣修 這樣行持 將來 對你 有很大的好處 不要跟人家 結惡緣 結惡緣 對你沒有什麽好處 不但 沒有好處 將來會來干擾 來障礙 甚至於 可能來障礙你 讓你 這一生 沒辦法 能夠 往生西方極樂世界 這個 就是 釋迦牟尼佛 在世的時候 用我們的身體 用我們的行爲 用我們的言語 用我們的精神 用我們的 種種的能力 能夠跟一切衆生 無論有情無情的 你能夠 跟他們結善緣 那這個 對我們 太大的好處了 這個 大家一定要知道 只要有機會 我們要幫助 只要有能力 我們 一定要 想盡辦法來幫助 這個就是 我們學佛的弟子 最大的好處 今天 我簡單 來給大家分享 現在澳洲 疫情也蠻嚴重的 你看雪梨 每天五六千 從來沒有這樣的 所以大家要小心 大家要謹慎 如果不重要的 就少出門 出門盡量戴口罩 不但 能夠保護自己 也能夠保護別人 因爲這個生命太脆弱了 我們這個生命 真的很脆弱 說倒就倒 說病就病 說老就老 説死就死 沒辦法 自己 做得了主的 所以 釋迦牟尼佛 教我們 要快快覺悟 怎麽覺悟呢 就是覺悟:人生無常 這個人生:是無常 每一分 每一秒 可能都在發生 什麽樣的事情 我們 沒辦法 預料的 所以 多念佛 斷惡修善 能夠 幫助我們的 避免這些災難 避免 這些不該 將來 發生的 這些大災難 這個就是簡單 給大家 一種鼓勵 我們天天 一定要用功 天天 要真實的去修行 不能在 表面上 下功夫 一定要重在實質 真正去修行 真正去斷惡修善 真正是念佛 不是口在念佛 但是 你的心 有沒有 真正在念佛 這樣修行佛法 才能夠得力 不然的話 佛教變成迷信了 這個簡單 給大家 做一個簡單的介紹 我們下一次 再跟大家 可能開始 要講經了 講經 就是選擇《地藏菩薩本願經》 在每個星期六 講第一品 希望我們經過學習 《地藏菩薩本願經》能夠幫助我們 幫助我們什麽呢 你要願 要真正發願 發什麽願呢 下面會跟大家來分享 在這一部經裡面 在佛法裡面 特別在淨土 是一個非常重要的一部經典 今天簡單 跟大家 講到這個地方 祝大家老實念佛 身體健康 謝謝大家 阿彌陀佛 阿彌陀佛

Review 5 Ven Master Xue Wu 086 《Understanding Buddhism》 The roots of a happy human existence, a happy human life is being grateful.



Let us join our palms. Let us chant the name of our Founding Teacher Shakyamuni Buddha.

Namo Founding Teacher Shakyamuni Buddha (Three Times) May we cherish the chance, this rare chance of encountering the Dharma. A one in a million kalpas opportunity, so that we can truly understand and practice the teachings of the Buddha. Respectful fellow practitioners, good evening to you all. Amituofo! Today we will continue our practice, giving my speech to you on the topic of Understanding Buddhism. Originally it was supposed to happen yesterday, Wednesday, but because yesterday my body, my physical condition had a little bit of issues, I called in sick a bit. So today I would like to make up for yesterday to explain how we understand Buddhism. If during this speech, if I make any mistakes or mention anything that doesn't sound right please do not hesitate to give me feedback. Last week we briefly talked about the imageries of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and their purpose, their meaning. What are they trying to represent and to understand that there are vast meanings packed behind these images and names. In fact it is infinite and it's not too much to describe it as having infinite meanings. So to categorize everything there are two meanings. Last week, we talked about those two meanings but of all the meanings we must understand why we have so many names and so many images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. There's only one purpose behind it. Be it Shakyamuni Buddha, Amituofo Buddha, Medicine Buddha, Avalokitesvara, Guan Yin Bodhisattva or Manjushri Bodhisattva, all these only have one purpose, it's to benefit all sentient beings, that's what they're trying to do. So from here we understand that all Buddhas from all directions, each Buddha when they become enlightened and attained full Buddhahood their methods are infinite, there's a lot of ways to gain (Buddhahood) but they never left the principle of filial piety, of love and respect. Last week we learned briefly about that, about the names and images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas but I would like to re-emphasize it and also later on I will add in anything left out last week. We talked about making offerings to the images of Buddha and Bodhisattvas. There are two main meanings, number one is to repay their kindness , being aware of the kindness we received and repaying it with gratitude. So we must know who we received this kindness from and who we are repaying with gratitude. In fact it's actually our teachers, not just Buddha as the teacher but all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and all teachers who have contributed to our wisdom and our knowledge. So we must be truly grateful to all of our teachers. Hence, the phrase: Reaffirm the roots and retrace the beginning of our lineage, our education and who gave us that foundation. So this is what we talked about last week. So as a student of Buddha, how do we repay his kindness? How do we repay all of them? In fact, the merits of our teachers, the kindness that we receive from our teachers and the benefits are vast. In the Sutras, Shakyamuni Buddha has categorized them into four kinds of kindnesses. We all know number one is to repay our parents kindness. We have heard of these four kinds of kindnesses above but what do they mean? Some of us might not have heard of it before so we need to get more in depth on it. So the first people we need to be grateful for are our parents, number two is the teacher's kindness, (the third is) the country's kindness and then (the fourth is) repaying all beings’ kindness. The beings are not just sentient beings but also non-sentient beings, for example, like sunlight, oxygen and our home. To repay our parents' kindness, how do we repay them? If our parents or grandparents are still with us, as children, grandchildren, how do we repay their kindness, how do we repay them? In fact we all know the best way to repay them is to advise them, to encourage them to recite the name of Namo Amitabha Buddha. Because you help them to plant the seeds for their full happiness in the future, to no longer suffer. So this is one of the best and most well-rounded ways to repay them because you help them to truly liberate themselves from the sufferings of life and death, aging and sickness. No more six realms for them. No more of these tortures. If they can chant Amituofo in this lifetime, all the way to their last breath and be born in the Pure Land, this is the biggest gift and the biggest gratitude we can repay. What about our teachers? How do we repay them? Buddha is not here anymore, right? Our teacher, our original teacher, but he left a lot of sutras, such a vast collection of teachings. How do we practice, how do we repay him in light of all the teachings he left behind? For example, if you can bring this Understanding of Buddhism to other people so that other people can truly understand Buddhism's essence, so that they can revert from the misunderstanding towards Buddhism and most importantly they can truly benefit in a practical way from these teachings not just to the individuals but also to their families, their communities, their countries and the world so that everyone can live happily with each other without doubt, without suspicions against each other. They can all live in true peace and prosperity, so that's the best way to repay Buddha's kindness. One way of reaching this noble goal is to explain it to other people whoever it is, no matter where you are. If you have this opportunity and if you can see they are interested in receiving this, just tell them, just say it, on the spot, as much as they can take in. So for example, if what the person needs to know is how do I bring my family towards happiness, how do I achieve happiness not just myself for my family and you have heard of these teachings and then you tell them how you did this, how you achieved happiness with your family and this is what I learned from Buddha that enables me to achieve this result and then you show it to them and so they too will learn from the teachings of Buddha and so will their families and they can all live happily together. That's the best way to repay Shakyamuni Buddha's kindness or Buddha's kindness. In summary, be a role model of one who truly benefited and cultivated these teachings and show it to them and help them to achieve the same thing as you have, the same benefits, but even more, in the bigger way, is the benefit for the future. The biggest benefit is to go to the Pure Land and become a Buddha or a Bodhisattva. Through yourself as an example they will see how powerful and how beneficial Buddhism is towards them, the world, this is something we need to know. So moving on to our country's kindness. How do we repay the kindness of our country and countrymen? The first thing is to build a nation, it's a very long and arduous process. How many people had to die, how many sacrifices had to be made, how much blood had to be shed to build your nation? So how do we repay all of these people, the people that fought and died for your nation or died in the process of building your nation? So how do we repay them? The first thing are the governors and the governed. If the people who govern are not being virtuous, if they use laws for their own selfish means then how can the people in this nation be happy? For the governed, start with the law, everyone needs to obey the law. So that everyone can live peacefully together, not in fear, and from there we use Buddhism to spread all the moral teachings and virtuous teachings, do not be greedy, do not be corrupted, put nations and people above yourself. So the last one is the beings, so not just sentient beings, not just living beings but also non-sentient beings, all of the environment that we are living in, we call it environmentalism. We all rely on it to have a proper life, right? We need sunlight, we need oxygen, we need shelter and of course, other living beings, without (other people performing) services how can we have a comfortable life? Without people picking up your garbage how can we have a clean environment? So those are all the beings whose kindness we need to repay. If you understand and are truly aware, if we all understand and are aware of these kindnesses, do we have the heart to harm them through our speech, through our thoughts and through our actions? Impossible, you can't, you just can't because once you see the world from this perspective, understanding the kindnesses that you have received are immeasurable. Then you will understand that no matter what happens to you, good or bad, favorable or adverse, you remind yourself of these four kinds of kindnesses, four types of kindnesses to be repaid, then we would not allow the hatred to grow, our compassion will be stronger. So this is what Shakyamuni Buddha's mission was in this world, to educate us through role modeling. What did he try to teach? What role did he model? Being a human, how to be a decent human being. For example, when we see an image of Buddha or Guan Yin Bodhisattva in front of us, they are there to teach us, to remind us of how to become a decent human being. The roots of a happy human existence, a happy human life is being grateful. For example, for a family, if you want a family to live harmoniously, coexist harmoniously, if we cannot be grateful and we cannot be thinking of the kindness from our family, how can we live with them every day? Expand this from family to society members and countries, if we can't think of each other's kindness, each other's contributions or the good side of them, how can we have a peaceful society? So for us, as Buddhist practitioners, if you want to be a Buddha or a Bodhisattva or as a Pure Land practitioner, you want to go to the Pure Land, if you can't even be a decent human being we need to ask: do we deserve it? I mean, do we have the guarantee to be reborn in the Pure Land? It's very hard, right? That's why it all starts from the roots, from being a decent human being and to build up a happy life, a happy family, a happy, harmonious society and a peaceful, prosperous country, we need to start with these four (types of kindnesses to be repaid) and this one word, gratefulness. If we see everything from the perspective of being grateful and looking back at the Buddha's image then we understand that Buddhism is truly not a superstition, it's not telling you to worship a sort of deity that grants you something, it's to ask you to be this role model. The reason we have a statue, an idol, in any era is because this is something we look up to, so this has the same meaning. If everyone is taught to be a decent human being and practice it through role modeling from parents, teachers and each other, it's very easy to achieve what we call World Peace that has been out of reach for so many years. With this education starting with gratitude toward each other only then can we not allow any hatred or any jealousy to overcome our rational mind, our kind heart. So this is Buddhism. Gratefulness is Buddhism. Number two, learn from the best role models. Let’s think about it, this phrase and then relate it to Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha in particular. As a prince, the crown prince to his father's kingdom he could have had a very lavish life, he could have had a better life that anyone could dream of. Why would he leave all of that behind and go through this arduous journey of living under the trees every day, back in India? He didn't even have proper shelter every day and had to find food by seeking alms, basically begging for food in a frank manner. So his shelter was the trees. Let's not talk about 10 years, 20 years or decades like Buddha did, look at one day for us to bring it back to reality, to put it in perspective. If we try to do what he did for just one day, not outside, not other countries, not different cultures but in your own country, in your own backyard not outside of your property, under the trees let's go under the trees. Sleep under the trees for one night, exactly how Buddha did. Can you imagine that you can do that without any problem to your body, not even sickness, the comfort, can you imagine the lack of comfort, how uncomfortable it would be? Before he attained enlightenment, he was under the trees, not eating, not drinking, what was it for? Why did he go through all of this suffering? For himself? No. He was trying to find a way out of life and death, not just for himself, but for everyone, otherwise he wouldn't stay there and teach us this. All he thought about was how he could lead all beings from his era to the future, many many thousand years from his time towards the liberation of life and death, toward liberation of these fundamental sufferings. On the other hand, most of us, ordinary people mostly think about ourselves or our little groups, our families, we can't think big. We must understand the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas images, their statues are meant to ask us to reflect, to remind us to reflect. They didn't talk to you and tell you to reflect, they showed it to you to, let you decide to reflect on what kind of person do I want to be and that’s why we have image offerings, why we make offerings to the images, make offerings to the statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. When we look at the image of the Buddha his peaceful face and serene (composure). What do we think of? Before I sleep, I pray to Buddha three times. Every time I think of Buddha and Bodhisattvas I always reflect back on myself, what do I reflect in relation to the Buddha and Bodhisattvas? I always ask myself: Have my thoughts turned kinder, purer, better, are my actions better, purer, kinder? Is the way I handle things thoughtful, considerate towards others? That's the whole point of making offerings to the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas. Because humans are not saints. We are not saints; humans make mistakes, we all make mistakes. We definitely have committed and will commit mistakes but just because we're making mistakes doesn't mean we don't have a chance to overcome them and change for the better or improve. Back in my childhood, my Mom told me all the time it's not a problem for humans to make mistakes, humans should not fear making mistakes, but do fear the unwillingness to change for the better. So every day when we look at images or statues of Buddha and Bodhisattvas, we educate ourselves each time: I must change my speech, my thoughts and my actions from unwholesome, evil, lustful, greedy and hateful into something pure, kind, wholesome and beneficial to everyone. So that is why we have imagery, to sculpt ourselves into the best version of ourselves with a role model in front of us. It's not superstitious from this angle. Do not treat Buddha and Bodhisattvas as deities, as gods, it's wrong and it's disrespectful towards the Buddha if we do that. Because it defeats the purpose of them trying to educate us. Even though there are so many meanings behind their images, their names, it never departs from this goal to be grateful towards, not just towards them, towards their contributions, towards human beings and all beings. Their contribution is huge, humongous, vast. This is the brief introduction in this chapter on imagery of Buddhism. So knowing this, when we pray to the Buddha we must understand that we're actually praying to ourselves, the best version of ourselves! If you just pray to sculptured Buddha and Bodhisattvas images, it's superstition, because they're made of wood, they're made of clay, sand. The point of doing this prostration every day is to say I want to be the best version as shown in front of me, as shown by the images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. There are so many Buddha names, Amitabha Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha, Medicine Buddha and Bodhisattvas as well, when we look at their names we are reminded of their virtues and remind ourselves to cultivate these virtues. Let's continue to the next slide. So there are many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Last week, I mentioned that in the Tripitaka, the Collection of Buddhist Sutras, there are so many names, they even have a sutra dedicated to naming the names of Buddhas and it's tens of thousands in volume. If we truly dig deep into the merits and virtues represented by the name of Shakyamuni Buddha, there is no limit, it is infinite. A very important point is that the names of the Buddhas represent the infinitude of our virtues, capabilities, wisdom, good fortune and talent in you, your True Nature, that's the point. You have endless, there's no boundary to your wisdom, there is no boundary to your good fortune, there's no boundary to your capabilities, to your virtues or to your talents, that's the truth they're trying to bring across. However, why are we stuck in our current predicaments, trapped from achieving our full potential? There's a saying in the Thrice Yearning Ceremony: I am Amitabha Buddha, Amitabha Buddha is me. That is the truth, the ultimate reality and that's the point of why there are so many names of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas because they are asked to tell you that you have such a vast range of, an endless range of meritorious deeds and meritorious qualities, in the truest sense of words, there are no limits. For example, nowadays in this society when we want to introduce ourselves as a person with a high position, with great capabilities, with great wealth and talents, we will give out our business card that says: I am the CEO of this company, I'm the director of that board and I hold many positions, important roles in these companies. Why doesn’t it just say I am a CEO of many companies? It doesn’t, right? The business card brings up so many titles of this person to show that he has a lot of capabilities, doesn’t it? It is the same for the names of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in multitudes. So back in Indonesia, we also had the same thing like this, you know Business Cards in the Dharma Place, they also tried to do that for my name: You have this many Dharma Centers and are the president of whatever associations. I asked: Is that important? It's not important. It's good to keep a low profile. It's good advice, the best advice says we should keep a low profile otherwise you will attract a lot of obstacles if you have a high profile, if everyone knows you, that means you lose your freedom in many ways. So back to the point. Take Shakyamuni Buddha for example, Shakyamuni Buddha is only one of his titles, it's not just one Shakyamuni Buddha, there’s tens of thousands of names behind it, there are so many names to describe (him) and all of them are to remind us that our true heart, our True Nature, our Buddha Nature, our Awakened Nature has infinite virtues, capabilities, infinite wisdom, infinite good fortunes and infinite talents. That's it, that's the point. When you chant Amituofo every day, it is to remind yourself that your capability is the same, equal to Buddha, which are all of the above-mentioned qualities. If we use the modern terms to describe the names of Buddhas they are all talking about yourself, all the sutras in the Tripitaka are talking about yourself. When you chant Amitabha Buddha, you are actually chanting the names of the Amitabha Buddha’s qualities in yourself, when you chant Shakyamuni Buddha’s name, you are chanting his qualities in yourself, when you chant Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva’s name, you are chanting his qualities in yourself, same with Manjushri or Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, etc. So in short, it's all about how you reflect and how you change your life. It has nothing to do with other people. Why do you have such an afflicted life, why do you have such a stressful life or a depressed life? It has nothing to do with anyone else, it's all about yourself. The key to change is all in yourself, we must believe that. Do you understand? Have you heard it clearly? When someone asks you: who are you? You must answer: I am Amitabha. Who are you? I am Guan Yin Bodhisattva. Don't say: I'm Mr. Chai or I'm Joe or John or something. No! You must be clear about your True Nature! What does it mean? If you can answer, I am Amitabha, that means you have transcended the “me”, you know the ego, the shell that we are living in now, the illusion that we are in now. So if I am asked: Who are you? I answer: I am Venerable Xue Wu. I'm still not there yet. It's all about yourself. We can talk about it in relation to others but ultimately everything is surrounding this True Nature, yourself, as in your True Nature, not the illusionary shell. So by saying the names, by reciting the names, by recognizing the names of these awakened people (you realize that) you can do that, you are like that, you are able to achieve that. The most important thing Buddhas and Bodhisattvas names represent is to educate us to cultivate our virtues. When we chant Avalokitesvara, Guan Yin, Manjushri, Ksitigarba, they're all telling us to cultivate the virtues they represent. Each of these bodhisattvas have virtues that they have mastered and tried to represent. Buddha represents your True Nature, your potential, your full rounded qualities. Bodhisattvas represent the cultivation of virtues, to shine the light upon this True Nature, that means the True Nature appears when you cultivate these virtues. Bodhisattvas represent the merit of cultivating our virtues. One name of a Bodhisattva represents one virtue that we should cultivate. If we don't cultivate these particular virtues we can't be shown the light of our True Nature. Our True Nature cannot come out. If we do not cultivate our capabilities of good fortune, wisdom, and your special gifts (talents) properly, you cannot break through this threshold and you will be stuck in your illusory shell. That's why we need to cultivate our virtues. If you want to go to the Pure Land, we must cultivate our infinite qualities. If we don't cultivate properly, if we don't chant his name properly to the depth of our heart, you can't achieve the happiness of the Pure Land. A lot of people say I want to live a long life, I want to be healthy, I want to be wealthy and prestigious. Some people say I want to have a good death. If one achieves these, especially a good death they'll have a good life beyond that. So where do all of these good qualities come from? How do we cultivate them? How do we achieve this? All these things we trust, all this knowledge we learn, they are just a way, they’re a method. A few days ago someone asked me: How do I achieve longevity? I told him as long as you hold the precept of No Killing then you will achieve longevity. Back in Shakyamuni Buddha’s time, there was a Venerable who lived to be 160 years old. How did he achieve this longevity, this merit? Because in his past life he held the precept of No Killing. The Bodhisattva's name represents the merits of cultivating the virtues. Buddha represents our True Nature, the inherent qualities of our True Nature. Bodhisattvas are asking you to cultivate and to improve. Buddha represents and reminds us of our inherent qualities which are well-rounded, there's no imperfection in them. However you must go through what the Bodhisattvas did which is cultivating virtues to shed away the darkness that shrouds this True Nature and the person they're trying to talk to is yourself, no one else, yourself, just you, there's no second person in this. You must remember that. It's a very clear point they're trying to bring across in the sutras, all the names of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are used to describe your True Nature. So right now, on knowing that when we cultivate Buddhism, what's the point? To be enlightened, enlightened of our qualities and the need to cultivate them. Once we understand this meaning, we understand the way of Buddha teachings, we use the modern terms, sophisticated art, the way they teach is sophisticated, they don't just blab and talk all the time, it’s sophisticated art. We must understand that. The pedagogy (the method and practice of teaching) which you will see in the slides when we get there is high level wisdom pedagogy as in the way they educate, the method used to educate is sophisticated, it’s high level wisdom. Once we understand, have achieved the correct understanding of Buddhism, only then are we benefited from Buddha's teachings. This is a simple introduction so that we can all understand, really get in depth, everything goes back to education truly. Is it easy to understand if I explain it in this way? Is it okay or is it too fast? Because what I'm trying to achieve here is just a simple overview because we all make offerings to the image of Buddha. Don't just pray every day without knowing why. Don't always think about: I want to be rich and wealthy in front of them. Trust me, the more you ask, the less you get. Don't ask (Buddha), ask yourself, have I achieved the qualities, have I paid the cost needed, the Cause and Effect, have I achieved the qualities required to (gain and) retain the wealth, position, and longevity? That's the point of offering to the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. So in Buddhism there are, like Buddha and Bodhisattva, there are titles in Buddhism conferred upon the Sangha members like Acarya and Upadhyaya. In Chinese Buddhism, we say He Shang和尚, which is Sanskrit for upadhyaya. Another title used in Chinese Buddhism is Dharma-bhanaka, or Dharma-Master, an Instructor of Buddha Dharma. Especially when we take the precepts or the Eight Precepts, when a Venerable chants the rites, they start with Acarya, (they say:) May Acarya know my meaning, May Acarya witness this. In Buddhism, the titles of Acarya, Upadhyaya or He Shang和尚 are reserved for education, not religion. These names are not used in religions. So what does Acarya and Upadhyaya mean? They are the most commonly used titles. Number 1 is Upadyaya, it is Sanskrit for mentors who personally mentors us or takes charge in mentoring our educational development. In modern society, in modern educational terms, it’s a mentor. So we call these people, Upadhyaya, personal mentors. For myself, every time I go back to Indonesia I always go and see my teacher in the mountains. I call him Upadhyaya, Elder Upadhyaya. He is 90 years old and very healthy. He's my teacher, he's my mentor. like Master Chin Kung is also our Upadhyaya, He Shong和尚, our personal mentor. So what's the difference between this teacher and the common teacher? This teacher is the one who affects you, who influences your educational development, and personally takes charge of your educational development. So the meaning of Upadhyaya is very deep. In everyday life, do you have a teacher? Yeah, I have a teacher even though he is not a monk, he is a lay person you can also call him Upadhyaya, they are also your He Shang和尚 even though they are not monks, because they are your teachers, they take care of your educational development. In a school, the person who's in charge of educating or implementing the curriculum and administration is called the Principle. The Principal is the Upadhyaya. All of the teachers are only performing educational tasks under his direction. Therefore an Upadhyaya is actually a Principle put in a modern way. So the Principle is very important because he is responsible for the success of the education program. So if you put the Principle of modern day in Buddhism terms they are an Upadhyaya, a He Shang和尚. Again, He Shang和尚 and Upadhyaya are not exclusive to monks. Everyone thinks He Shang和尚 must be a monk, no, it doesn't have to be a monk, it's not necessarily a monk. Upadhyaya and He Shang和尚 are also called Koshan in different geographical regions. There was a case where an Upadhyaya was not doing his job and as a result Buddhism was being misunderstood by the society as superstitious, religious and as the Koshan, as the Upadhyaya, they are the same words, as the Upadhyaya, if this educational group, we call it the temple members, are not achieving positive results in educating themselves and societies, especially in Buddhism, the Upadhyaya’s karmic repercussion is very heavy as they are responsible for the failure of the education and as a result they will go to Avici hell, so this is very serious. So Upadhyaya is not even exclusive to Buddhism, it's just like saying

the Principle of a school. It can be used in common societies which was the case back in Buddha's time, as long as this person is in charge of your educational development they are your Upadhyaya, they are your He Shang和尚. When people call you He Shang和尚, or ceremoniously call you He Shang和尚, you are responsible, even for that ceremony to go well. Do you have the merits, qualities to be revered as an Upadhyaya? That's very important. We always remind ourselves when we are called this name, He Shang和尚. It's not a monk exclusive term, as long as this teacher is involved in teaching you or of developing your educational skill or developing you, educating you so that you can be beneficial to the society, then they are your Upadhyaya. Is this explanation easily understood? So from now on we understand what He Shang和尚 or Upadhyaya means. Let’s continue to the next one, Acarya. In modern terms Acarya is the Sanskrit equivalent of Professor. It is a professor of a discipline however in Buddhism it goes beyond just simply professor because Acarya has an even more well-rounded meaning. Why? Why does it have a different meaning? Because it's not a normal professor who transmits just the knowledge or technical skills. What distinguishes an Acarya from a professor, is an Acarya must have manners of speech, of deeds, of virtues deserving of a role model, they deserve to be our role model. Everything they say, everything they do is virtuous, you can follow them. They go beyond just knowledge, they are teachers but this teacher has virtues, real virtues, from their speech, from their thoughts, from their actions, they are worthy to be emulated, worthy to be exemplified. A common professor does not necessarily have these qualities, these virtues, they may be smart but they may not have virtues. But as an Acarya, one must have that level, that quality. He or she can be an example to you, the student or to society, making a contribution to society. Do you understand? When we receive the Eight Precepts: May Acarya witness this, or may we be in Acarya's thoughts. That means my action and speech must be in accordance with the precepts, hence an Acarya. May I be an Acarya. So today, Shakyamuni’s Buddhism has been transmitting for 3000 years according to the Chinese calendar. Are there a lot of Buddhists who follow his teaching? Yes. Why is it still acceptable in modern society? It is because of his virtues, if he just only talked and did not walk the walk, could anyone accept his teachings? No way, because he's not real, right? If he didn't practice what he preached no one would follow him. A person who was well loved, well cared for, well respected, to be honest it's not all about money, it's not all about positions, if that person is worthy to be respected, to be loved, to be respected by the nation, it's because of his virtues, it's because of his contributions to society, his virtues, his role modeling towards the society. If a person is worthy of respect, they must be a self-respecting person, you must be a role model. If you don't want to anger other people, we must have virtues especially in this society nowadays where people get easily angered, we must have good virtues. It's not because I am number one and you're number two or because I'm the boss and you're my subordinate, no, it's because you have achieved the quality of Buddha or anyone of virtuous nature and people naturally respect you, flock to you and revere you as a role model. So from all these titles, Acarya, Upadhyaya or He Shang和尚 we understand Buddhism is an education, not a theism (deity-worshipping). It is not about worshiping a certain god. A blunt way of putting it, religions are superstitious. Why do I say that? I will explain it in the next session. This is a simple way of understanding Buddhism, explaining it simply so that we understand all the terminologies used in Buddhist Communities. From today's lesson, we learned that Acarya means to be an Acarya, my speech, my thoughts, my actions have to be up to standard, have to be a role model, only then can I be an Acarya. People called Acarya need to reflect that, same for Upadhyaya or He Shang和尚. So this was a simple introduction to the terms. So in the next session we will learn about why religion is superstitious. There is a very big reason, a big meaning behind why religion has become superstitious. So we'll continue that in the next session because next week we have the seven day retreat, the Amitabha-Name-Chanting Retreat. So we would like to take a break during the seven day recitation, so next week we'll take a break. I will continue after, which is a fortnight, two weeks after. If I have mentioned anything not right, please give me criticism and feedback, point it out to me. Thank you! Amituofo! So let us dedicate our merits. I, the student of Buddha, would like to dedicate these merits towards my karmic creditors to be born in the Pure Land. Dedicate the merits to all beings, sentient beings, to liberate from sufferings. Repay the four kinds of kindnesses above, relieve the suffering of those in the three paths below. May those who see and hear of this, aspire to invoke the Bodhi heart and cultivate the teachings for the rest of this life, then be born together in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Thank you! Amituofo! Let us all pay respect to Buddha and the teacher by three prostrations and the Venerable says it is okay. Thank you.

20H 你沒有持戒的功夫 你就有障難 對一切法 一切萬物 不要去留戀 因爲留戀就是痛苦的根源 是爲了人生最高的享受 這種的享受 就是自在而解脫 這個自在解脫從哪裡來得到 從這個智慧 從經教裡面而得來的

《八關齋戒功德利益》

尊敬的諸位法師: 慈悲 尊敬的諸位同修 護法 大德: 慈悲 大家早上好 阿彌陀佛 今天末學 先來跟大家説一聲祝福 今天是我們 進入第七天的佛七 而在佛七當中 我們發願 深信 佛陀的教誨 來發願 受持八關齋戒 然後用萬德洪名 這一句名號 來斷除 我們種種的煩惱 那要怎麽樣 才能夠念佛 在這一生當中 獲得彌陀的加持呢 念佛是一種手段 我們念佛 最重要的就是求智慧 而這個智慧 建立在我們能不能 從定功的功夫 而開慧 我們念佛 是不夠的 因爲我們的心 起心動念 不如以前的 古人 所學佛的 所以需要經教 來破我們的迷惑 而 來開發我們的智慧 所以 聼經聞法 是一個很重要的 不管你現在 在哪裡 在世間法 在這個社會上 你跟人家在相處 處事待人接物 如果我們沒有用智慧 所遇到的 所看到的 所聽到的 所謂 六根接觸六塵 都在起心動念 這個起心動念 都是《地藏菩薩本願經》 裡面所講的【無不是罪】 所以 今天 跟大家來講一下 祝福 因爲我們 今天有這樣的因緣 是稀有難逢的因緣 所以 要真正 把這一次的因緣 落實在生活 所以 我每一次 這幾天 常常提醒大家 佛法 是要在生活裡面 去悟出的 念佛 也是要從 生活裡面去培養的 所以 念佛跟生活 是缺一不可的 所以 從念佛 融入到生活 融合而一 這樣來念佛 我們才會悟出 釋迦牟尼佛 所講的 宇宙人生的真相 宇宙人生的真相是什麽呢？ 是無常的 確實 真的 是無常 所以 爲什麽 我們常常看到 祖師大德 每一次佛七當中 必定提醒我們 萬緣要放下 一切隨緣 而不攀緣 這樣來念佛 而學佛 才獲得 無量無邊的 功德利益 這個功德 就是講: 清淨心 所以 今天我們有這種的因緣 請大家要珍惜 所以 這幾天 我常常 以 《地藏菩薩本願經》用一段的經文 常常提醒我們 哪一段經文呢 聞佛法的機會【聞】就是活在當下 你能夠活在當下 以佛法來自覺 幫助自己自悟 不但自悟 也能夠度他 這個就是佛法的原則 沒有別的 教我們覺悟而已 只要你覺悟 接下來 你學什麽樣的法門 就容易了 這是原則上的 只要你覺悟了 對於 宇宙人生的真相明白了 這個真相 你學什麽樣的法門 都能夠成就 而且我們在世間法 也能夠幫助我們 獲得 無量無邊的幸福 快樂與人生 佛法就是這個的 覺悟的 所以今天 我們有這樣的因緣 非常殊勝 也稀有難逢的機會 所以 我每次把這幾天 八關齋戒 用短短的時間 半個小時 來跟大家講講話 該講的 我已經講了 該説的 我已經説了 接下來 就看大家的虔誠而恭敬 怎麽樣把這個佛法 應用在生活裡面 這幾天 該説的 我已經説了 該講的 我已經講了 明天 是我們最後一天 就是最圓滿的 最後 我們要做一個大迴向 這種的因緣 非常的殊勝 所謂【師父引入門 修行在個人】 所以 我常常說 【該怎麽生死 就怎麽生死】 你要這一生當中 我們的方向 與目標 能夠把自己 定下來一種功課 而清楚 而明白 那將來 我們的 方向 那就非常 一片的光明 學佛的好處 就是在這裡 所以 昨天 跟大家介紹 周老太太念佛往生的故事 周老太太 距離我們 才三個多月啊 而且示現神通 讓她的 未信佛的媳婦 看到這樣的情形 對她的 未信佛的媳婦 生起對佛法的信心 而對淨土 念佛往生 極樂世界 這個道理 而產生了信心 那他老人家 周老太太 她的秘訣在哪裡 我們大家都相信 相信有阿彌陀佛 相信有 西方極樂世界 相信【過十萬億佛土 有世界 名曰極樂 其土有佛 號阿彌陀】 我們都相信 爲什麽我們的效果 而不能像周老太太 這樣的殊勝呢 她的秘訣在哪裡 沒有別的 就是在於 放下而已 只要你肯放下 你學佛 有一半的成就了 所以 尊敬的諸位同修大德 昨天 用周老太太的這個故事 從周老太太 往生之前 爲我們開示一段話 我今天 又再重複 跟大家講 你能夠悟出這一段話 那就恭喜你們 周老太太講 還沒往生之前 她告訴我們: 師兄 師姐 世間是苦的 人生是無常的 世間一切的萬物 都是假的 不是真的 那我們今天 來念佛 往生西方極樂 世界 那個才是真的 啥都是假的 所以對一切法 一切萬物 不要去留戀 因爲留戀 就是痛苦的根源 這一句話 有多少人 能夠悟出 説實話 不是講我們 但是 確實真的 周老太太所講的 世間真的 是苦的 一個人得到 他所想要的 這種的追求 欲望的快樂 是建立痛苦的... 所以 我們看到: 爲什麽一個人 得到 他想要的 心裡非常的快樂 為什麽 因爲他所想要 得到的東西 他都得到了 但是樂中 又建立 樂中有苦啊 爲什麽 總有一天 你會失去的 既然會失去 那這個 不是我們的 既然不是我們的 何必再執著呢 所以 人的痛苦 就是過於執著 而放不下 所以 釋迦牟尼佛 告訴我們: 你要發願 往生 西方極樂世界 首先你要放下 就是這個道理 所以周老太太 用這一句話 來提醒我們 教我們要提醒 每一分每一秒 一定要 提醒自己: 世間 真的 是苦的。 所以 尊敬的諸位同修大德 我們一定要明白 這一件的事情 這幾天 就是明天 既然我們 今天 有受持這個八關齋戒 那我用這個 兩天的時間 就是 佛對於阿難 在《阿難問事佛吉凶經》裡面 有一段經文 來跟大家分享 讓我們這一次 爲什麽 十方諸佛 如來 一切諸菩薩眾 祖師大德 重重 把我們學佛的 最重要的 基本 定在【持戒】這一堂課 你學佛 你沒有持戒 就如同 我們建一棟房子 沒有基礎 不管這一棟房子 有多豪華 有多美 有多好看 如果它的基礎 沒有建穩的話 那我們所學佛的 容易動搖 那爲什麽 諸佛如來 十方諸佛如來 以及 諸菩薩衆 祖師大德 把這個持戒 作爲一個 非常重要的課程呢 就是教我們先來斷惡 消我們的業障 業障消除了 你學什麽樣的法門 就容易了 就很順利 因爲 我們無量劫以來 生生世世 到現在 不知道 造了多少的惡緣 所以 現在 在這個生活裡面 遇到種種 不順意的事情 看到種種 障礙 對我們菩提道業上的 這個路上 所以 這個是一個非常重要 我們要學佛 我們要念佛 所以 昨天 我跟大家講過了 像我每一次 要拜佛的時候 我就觀想阿彌陀佛 因爲 我念佛 我要跟阿彌陀佛 是一樣 加持 祈請彌陀 來加持 從我們發自内心 那一種流露出來的 跟阿彌陀佛說: 我要跟您一樣! 我將來 也要建立 我所要的 我要來度化 無量無邊的衆生 弟子祈求 彌陀的加持 我們每一天拜佛 就是這樣的觀想 希望阿彌陀佛 加持弟子 就是這樣的 因為我們明白 現在 在這個 末法期間 要找到一個大善知識 在我們的旁邊 來指點我們 來教導我們 是非常難的 所以 持戒 是一個方法 是一個手段 沒有持戒 我們怎麽能夠 得大智慧呢 沒有大智慧 怎麽能夠 來破除 我們的無明煩惱呢 沒有大智慧 怎麽能夠來幫助 我們斷除 我們種種的煩惱呢 所以 求佛 就是求佛的智慧 這個智慧 從哪裡來學 只要 你能夠發一個願 就是 從發自内心 那種流露出來 對於一切人 對一切事 對一切物 用慈悲的心態 來對待一切人 自自然然 你的智慧就開了 而這個 慈悲 建立在哪裡 建立在戒律當中 所以《阿難問事佛吉凶經》 一開端 就告訴我們 所以 今天 來跟大家來分享 因爲明天是最後一天 講比較...一點 大家如果 聼不明白 那你們的事情了 這幾天 很簡單 來跟大家用 《地藏菩薩本願經》的内容的大意 已經跟大家說很多 而且 這一部《地藏菩薩本願經》 就是 我們學戒律的基本 《阿難問事佛吉凶經》 有一段經文 我們來看 【有人奉佛 從明師受戒 專信不犯 精進奉行 不失所受 形像鮮明 朝暮禮拜 恭敬燃燈 淨施所安 不違道禁】 大家要注意聼 接下來 這一句話 很重要 【齋戒不厭 心中欣欣 常為諸天 善神擁護 所向諧偶 百事增倍 為天龍 鬼神 眾人所敬 後必得道】 最後一段 大家要注意聼 釋迦牟尼佛 而說 【是善男子 善女人 真佛弟子也】 這一段經文 爲我們説明 非常的清楚 你沒有持戒的功夫 那你就有障難 所以 釋迦牟尼佛 最後那一句話 告訴我們: 你是不是善男子 善女人 你是不是真佛的弟子 那今天 我們問 我們自己 釋迦牟尼佛 爲什麽稱呼 【善男子 善女人】 這個【善】的標準在哪裡 建立在哪裡 大家都明白 所以 西方極樂世界 爲什麽 諸上善人 聚會一處呢 爲什麽 什麽原因 這個【善】從哪裡來的 怎麽建立的 記得: 我們要行善 首先要明白 我何要行善 我行善 爲了什麽 我們一定要明白 這個道理 今天我來念佛 我念佛 是爲了什麽 我們一定要搞清楚 才不會 把我們的方向與目標 而搞錯方向了 然後 我們今天學佛 是爲了什麽 今天學佛 對我們現在 末法的衆生 生活 而在這個世間 有什麽幫忙呢 對我們現在 這個衆生 種種的煩惱 種種的困擾 種種的痛苦 這個 學佛 能夠幫忙嗎 所以先要搞清楚 今天 我們 爲什麽在《彌陀經》 裡面 釋迦牟尼佛 告訴我們: 諸上善人 聚會一處 這種【善】 是以 哪一樣 爲標準呢 那我們現在來看 這一段經文 分爲三個階段 我先跟大家來分析 第一個階段 就是 【有人奉佛 從明師受戒 專信不犯 精進奉行 不失所受】 這個是第一個階段 第一個 階段的 是爲我們 説明什麽呢 就是從明師受戒 信行 而所謂 所講的 是師承 這個就是講師承 你要學佛 你要受戒 首先 你要找一個 好的老師 真的 你沒有一個大善知識 在我們的旁邊 來指點 我們現在 學佛好難 在《地藏菩薩本願經》裡面 我們看到了 大長者子 他是怎麽樣學佛的 大長者子就是地藏王菩薩 過去 還沒學佛之前 身爲大長者(子) 大長者(子)就是我們 現在講的 就是富家公子 很有錢 不但很有錢 而非常 有禮貌 對人 非常有恭敬 對父母 而非常的孝順 但是 你看 現在 富家公子 有這樣的態度嗎 亂七八糟的 我常常看到 仗著 父親的 權力勢力 來欺壓別人 這種 很多人 以爲爸爸很了不起 有多錢 有地位 有權力 仗著父親的權力 來欺壓別人 現在 就是這種的社會 對呀 像末學 遇到一個 很有錢的... 態度很不好 很多 所以 地藏王菩薩 身爲大長者子 他還沒學佛 開始學佛 他也是找到一個明師 他的老師 是誰? 師子奮迅具足萬行如來 這個是他 剛開始學佛的 他爲什麽 他要學佛呢 他爲什麽地藏王菩薩 初學佛的時候 他爲什麽 對於佛法 這麽樣的信心呢 他沒有別的 因爲他看到佛 【見佛相好 千福莊嚴】 他看到佛 非常的莊嚴 而非常的帥 我要跟佛一樣 像佛那樣 所以 請教 師子奮迅具足萬行如來: 我要怎麽樣修 我要怎麽樣來修行 才能夠 得到 像您 這麽好的相好 我今天 問你們 如果今天 你看到 一個法師 長得很莊嚴 長得又很帥 你們心裡 會不會羡慕啊 會不會? 當然會啊 像我們年輕人的時候 女生: 我找一個很帥的男朋友 像男生的: 我要找 一個很美的女生 我跟你講 人越帥 越難照顧 好辛苦 人越長(得)帥 好辛苦! 因爲我常常遇到：師父 我好辛苦 我很後悔 以前 我不應該找這麽帥哥 我每天很辛苦 反正他超過 十點還沒回來 我很起煩惱 所以 要聰明一點 像我這個 剛剛好 師父這個 剛剛好 長得不好 也不是 不很好 長得太帥? 也沒有太帥 剛剛好 起碼 我自己給自己鼓勵嘛 不需要人家的鼓勵 今天如果 學悟法師 長得很醜陋 然後 在這邊 講經説法 我相信 今天來的 不到十個 是真的 所以 衆生很著相 而且 這種的著相 是非常嚴重的 所以 佛 沒辦法 用這種的果報 來度衆生 所以 地藏王菩薩 剛學佛的時候 遇到好老師 來指點: 請教老師 我要怎麽樣 來學佛 我要怎麽樣 來拜佛 才能夠得到 像這種 您一樣老人家 的果報: 相好莊嚴 千福莊嚴? 他的老師 就跟他講: 沒有別的 那現在 我借用過 師子奮迅 具足萬行如來 來告訴你們 你要不要相好 千福莊嚴? 要不要? 我教你一個方法: 也不需要化妝 怎麽化妝 跟佛也比不了 你看現在的人 越化妝 越看 越不自然 對不對 爲什麽 整容的 不天然的 我們是天然的 Go Green的 環保的 我們也不需要化妝 你看 你看我們學悟法師 長得這麽莊嚴 對不對 先講麽 鼓勵一下麽 對不對 所以 這個 師子奮迅具足萬行如來 怎麽教 地藏王菩薩呢 他説: 沒有別的 你發一個願 發什麽願呢 度一切衆生 離苦得樂 生生世世 來度無量無邊的衆生 所以 一聼到這一句話 地藏王菩薩 生生世世 無量劫以來 都是在度衆生 到現在爲止 都從來沒有停過的 是不是地藏王 菩薩 追求相好 千福莊嚴? 不是的 是因爲他 從他的自心 流露出來 那種慈悲心: 怎麽樣來幫助衆生 怎麽樣用那種慈悲 流露出來 那種慈悲的心態 來服務一切衆生 自自然然相好 千福莊嚴了 我們要從果上去修 尊敬的諸位同修大德 一個人長得 帥不帥 就是因爲過去的因緣 所以 你要今天 長得莊嚴 你要長得 人家對你的愛護 羡慕 那種敬愛 那你首先 要發這個願 所以後來 地藏 王菩薩 無量劫以來 示現已經成佛了 那爲什麽 示現菩薩的身份 爲了要補助 釋迦牟尼佛 在這個娑婆世界 來度化衆生 就是這個道理 就像文殊 師利菩薩 過去已經成佛了 爲什麽 示現成菩薩的身份 爲了補助 釋迦牟尼佛 對於 娑婆世界的衆生 來幫助 破迷開悟 所以 明師很重要 我們再下來看 世饒王 聽到世間自在王如來 聞到之後 心裡非常的法喜 後來出家 稱為法藏比丘 經過老師的指點 教導 後來 經過五劫 的時間 修行成果 建立自己的佛國 成爲極樂世界 現在就是 阿彌陀佛 五劫時間 太短了 我們都知道 在經典裡面 告訴我們 一個菩薩示現成佛 需要多長的時間 三大阿僧祇劫 才能夠示現成佛 但是 法藏比丘 他能夠有這樣的 爲什麽? 有老師的指導 那現在 我們要去哪裡找呢 我介紹給你們: 阿彌陀佛 那阿彌陀佛 我們要 怎麽樣 聼阿彌陀佛的教誨 淨土經裡面 有五經一論 你選擇一部 從《無量壽經》 《觀無量壽佛經》然後 《彌陀經》在《華嚴經》裡面 【普賢十大願王】然後從 《楞嚴經》裡面 有一品 叫做 《大勢至菩薩念佛圓通章》 然後一論 就是 天親菩薩的 所製造的 叫做《往生論》 你從這五經一論 你去選一部 從這 一部的經典 你去依教奉行 一門深入 我告訴你們： 我們都會成就的 你説: 阿彌陀佛太遠了 那我找誰 (做)老師 我又介紹給你們一個 是誰? 誰呀 講清楚一點 是誰呀 我以爲 學悟法師 不好意思! 師父 對不起 真的 就是師父上人 他老人家 有修養 聼他的經 比較穩固 我今天 來學習講經 是因爲 要跟佛菩薩一樣 就是每一天 跟佛菩薩 接近 所以 從這一段裡面 《阿難問事佛吉凶經》 【從明師受戒】而信 才能夠 有一個果報 這個叫做師承 這種的師承 非常的重要 這個明師 不是出名的 不是名聲 很有望的 而這個明師 所指的 就是 有德行的 有修行的 可以作爲我們的榜樣 可以作爲我們的 一個 善知識 這個叫做明師 所以 受戒 接受佛的教誨 接受佛的教誨 不容易 比如說 我們今天 在受八關齋戒 裡面 這受八關齋戒裡面 有一條戒 我們一定要注意 要不然 我們 會產生 對於我們無量劫以來 或者今天 生生世世 或者辛辛苦苦 我們所修的功德 一下子就沒有了 這一條叫做什麽【不虛誑語】 不虛誑語裡面 分爲四大類 從惡口 兩舌 綺語 妄語 這個我們一定 要知道 那爲什麽這一段經文 釋迦牟尼佛告訴我們 一定要從明師 才能夠受戒 而從受戒 然後落實在生活 所以 在《華嚴經》裡面 有為我們 列出來一段話 它說【善男子 若欲成就一切智智 應決定求真善知識 勿生疲懈 勿生厭足 皆應隨順 勿見過失】所以 你看《華嚴經》裡面 有一個故事 就是我們講的【善財童子 五十三參】他是怎麽學佛來的 他用什麽心態 來學佛 他用什麽態度 來對待一切人 用什麽態度 用讚歎的態度 對一切人 對一切事 都是用 讚歎的心態 來對待別人 但是這種的讚歎 要有智慧 看人家在造業 我們不能讚歎的 我們一定要來幫助 看人家在行善 我們一定要讚歎 來鼓勵 【善財童子五十三參】就是用這種的 態度 來學佛 所以他現在 成就自己 而現在來度化衆生 一個人對我們 有恩德 我們很容易 對他讚歎 但是今天如果有一個人 對我們 毀謗 傷害 而常常的 來侮辱 我們要對於 這種人 來讚歎 可能 在這個世間 也不多 有 也不多 只能一兩個 爲什麽 因爲 衆生的著相 非常的嚴重 所以 菩薩在這裡 告訴我們 不管在善 或者惡的 都是相等的 所以 尊敬的諸位同修大德 從這裡 我們一定要來看 一定要精進 才能夠【不失所受】 我們一定要努力 天天受持戒律 才不會 讓我們今天所學的 不會白費 這一段 是第一段 爲我們説明 從明師受戒 信行 就是我們 學佛一定 要好好 照顧到老師 孔老夫子裡面 雖然也爲我們說 【三人行 必有吾師】三人行, 是誰? 第一個是我 第二個是誰 是好人 第三個是誰？是壞人 不管是壞人 (還)是好(人) 他們都是我的老師 最重要的 老師 就是自己能夠自悟 今天阿彌陀佛 在你的旁邊 但是 你還不自悟 而且執迷不悟 那阿彌陀佛 在我們的旁邊 也沒有用處 所以 老師最大的效果 就是自己能夠自悟 然後來度他 這個學佛 就是我們 所需要的 第二段的 這一段經文 是教我們什麽呢 就是教我們 裡面所講的 【形像鮮明 朝暮禮拜 恭敬燃燈 淨施 所安 不違道禁 齋戒不厭 心中欣欣】 這個叫做禮拜 供養 齋戒 意思說 就是 用修學的方法 來幫助我們 用什麽方法呢 用拜佛 不要輕視這個 拜佛的動作 這個拜佛的效果 非常之效 簡單跟大家來比喻 你看我們師父上人 幾十年下來 用什麽方法 每一天 三百拜! 而且這個拜佛 能夠培養 我們的心清淨 而從這個清淨 能夠得生 極樂 健康 確實是真的 老人家已經九十三歲 到現在 到處 都在弘法 從來不間斷的 所以 他老人家 每一天用什麽方法 來鍛煉他的身體 培養他的心呢 每一天拜佛 而每一天講經 講經 就是 每一天 跟諸佛菩薩在一起 這種的動作 對他來講 所以 有人問: 師父 您學佛是爲了什麽? 簡單的說: 是爲了人生最高的享受 這種的享受 是什麽享受 就是自在 而解脫 這個自在 解脫 從哪裡來得到 從這個智慧 智慧從哪裡來的 從經教裡面 而得來的 所以 我常常 提醒大家 常常也提醒 這些菩薩們 很多人說: 師父 我念佛就好 不聽 經了 師父 我念佛就好了 不誦經了 這個是不可以的 這一句話 以後 也不能講 爲什麽 斷人家的善根 這種的果報 墮在地獄的 所以尊敬的 諸位同修大德 爲什麽我們要聼經 沒有別的 幫助我們增上緣 這個 上緣是什麽 幫助我們 覺悟而已 就是這個樣子 第三段是什麽呢 就是講 果報 這個果報怎麽説呢 明天 最後一天 來跟大家講講 明天 是我們最後一天 我每一次 經過 傳八關齋戒 跟大家 用這個短短的時間 跟大家講講話 最重要的就是 我們要把 《地藏菩薩本願經》來學習 今天 我也跟大家來報告 幾段落的 經文的 重要部分 而且非常重要 明天 是我們最後一天 希望大家 好好用功 記得【啥都是假的】記得! 什麽都假的 帶不走的 什麽都帶不走的 不用執著 一切隨緣 能夠隨緣 生活就比較 自在一點 生活自在 人生就比較快樂 比較幸福 所以一個人的幸福和快樂 從哪裡來的 從他 對於世間的執著 慢慢 一點一 滴的放下 所謂古人講【知足常樂】 只要我們抓住它的原則 你要過 幸福快樂 圓滿的人生 要懂得: 該知足的時候 要知足 該捨得的時候 你要捨得 這樣來學佛 這樣 來到這個世間 才有意義 要不然 每一天活著 痛苦而煩惱 那我們做人 沒有意思了 記得: 【啥都是假的】包括我們的身體 總有一天 也會離開 何況 外面的 身外之物 都是假的 謝謝大家 阿彌陀佛

 

淨空老法師：我們念佛就有佛光注照，我們自己沒有感覺，鬼神有感覺，那些凶神惡煞看到佛光照你，他離你遠遠的，不敢傷害你，這個事情是真的。我們如果了解事實真相，你就會念佛不間斷，念佛有這麼多的好處。

二零一四淨土大經科註　　（第二六三集）　　2015/10/14　　香港佛陀教育協會　　檔名：02-041-0263

所以我們念佛就有佛光注照，我們自己沒有感覺，鬼神有感覺，那些凶神惡煞看到佛光照你，他離你遠遠的，不敢傷害你，這個事情是真的。我們如果了解事實真相，你就會念佛不間斷，念佛有這麼多的好處。我們念佛，佛光照我，阿彌陀佛知道，不是不知道；我們不念佛就打妄想，阿彌陀佛也看到了，你還有這麼多妄想、還有這麼多雜念。如果我們能在這個經文上體會佛光注照沒有間斷，不分晝夜，我們能放下念佛嗎？自然佛號就相續了。而是對經文不熟悉，忘掉了。這是我們每一個眾生，六道眾生，跟阿彌陀佛聯繫，現在的術語叫熱線。我們每個人跟阿彌陀佛有熱線，你只要一心專念，念念跟阿彌陀佛通信息，就連上了，養成習慣了，你就見到極樂世界、就見到阿彌陀佛。

　　海賢老和尚給我們做榜樣，他能做到，我們也能做到，他就是個生活簡單，萬緣放下。我們今天講生活簡單還不行，你還有房子、有房屋，你還有財產，這些東西你不掛念嗎？雖然沒有念在口裡，心上真有。這個東西就是障礙，讓我們分心，讓我們生貪戀，讓我們真正去關懷它，把佛號常常丟掉。海賢老和尚他表演給我們看的，他往生了，他的衣服就在房間的旁邊，他把它疊得好好的，放在那裡，他所有衣服就是那一堆。好像我們旅行一樣，帶個旅行箱子一樣，全部財產就那麼多，什麼時候走都帶走。他不是搬家，他沒家。所以世尊給我們做的好榜樣，出家人的財產三衣一缽，太簡單了，不需要箱子，打個包袱，往身上揹著就走了。你說他多自在，這叫真放下了。我們雖然講放下，只是放下局部，還有一大半沒放下。佛教給我們得徹底放下，你的清淨心、平等心才能現前。清淨心，阿羅漢，沒有染污。我們放不下就是染污，心裡常常念著，常常放在心上，這就叫染污。真正覺悟了，徹底放下，有，別去想它，別去理會它，這就放下了。

　　我們年輕的時候，李老師有一次講經，我們有個同學許炎墩，家裡失火了。家裡的人來報告他，他在聽經，星期三，老師在講經，許炎墩沒有理會，還是在聽經，好像沒事一樣，聽完經之後再回去。李老師就把他這個例子給我們提醒，像這樣放下就是真放下，也知道是聽聞經教比那個重要，房子燒了無所謂，課不能缺，這是大事，人身難得，佛法難聞，給我們做出了榜樣。平常根本就不放在心上，心上只放一句阿彌陀佛，除阿彌陀佛之外什麼都沒有，這叫放下，真放下了，它才管用。我們這一般人，家親眷屬，親情最難放下的；財物，都很不容易；再名聞利養，不但不放下，念念在追求，這佛怎麼會念得相應？怎麼相應？徹底放下就相應了，為什麼？念佛要用真心，這是辦大事，不是小事，超越六道輪迴的事情，超越十法界的事，還有什麼事比這個更大的？所以這是大事。大事就得認真，不能輕慢。

Subtitles Text Dylan's Review 2 on Liao Fan's Four Lessons



Two weeks ago,

we talked about Chapter Three. After we reform ourselves, how we change for the better. How do we do good deeds? After we reform, we stop our bucket from leaking. So we (begin to) accumulate goodness like, after the bucket is fixed, we accumulate the merits on top. Liao Fan had a very interesting way of doing this, like any good speakers, or any good, best sellers, they always start with stories. He gave you the cases they had in his time, in the Ming Dynasty. He talked about a gentleman, his surname was Yang. There was a case where the people had a lot of floods, the dam had broken the flood was killing a lot of people, because back then, the irrigation was not as good. Mr. Yang, instead of being like normal people who always loot, because when people and their property were being washed away, everyone looted the property around them, because finders keepers, that kind of mindset. But he himself was quite unique, he didn't choose to loot, even though he was not going to get caught, he chose to save lives. There were a lot of bodies flowing down the flooded river, and he saved as many as he could, resuscitating them (if necessary). This is one case of how Liao Fan demonstrated the good deeds done by (others), I mean, how people cultivated good deeds. Most of the cases are about being real, being true. So, instead of trying to do it for the sake of publicity, as we know, nowadays, the celebrities do it for a PR stunt. This action is done, even when people are not looking at them, or even when people are criticizing them. They go against the flow, when the flow is going towards the bad guy. This is one case, Mr. Yang, and, what's the effect? He has committed a good cause. Cause and Effect, right? We keep saying good cause, what's the effect? The effect is, it might not be shown in his life, but in his own offspring, which is Mr. Yang's son, and grandson. Mr. Yang, when he was middle aged, he and his son saved a lot of lives during the flood, even though everyone else was looting, but the result, just like fruit, right? It bore fruit in his grandson. His grandson became as high as a normal human could get in Imperial China. So he became the advisor to the Emperor, basically, in Australian terms he would be Governor General, in a sense. So he reached a very high position, and obviously, his whole family was lifted. So this is one case of people who act out of the kindness of their heart, get repaid. In fact, Master Chin Kung talks about this, these are just Huabao(花報), these are the leftovers. These effects are leftover good karma already so high in terms of the human realm. You can imagine the gentleman himself who committed these deeds, I don't think this world can sustain his good karma. So he has to go up to heaven. So there are many cases. Like, for example, there was a very poor government official. We keep seeing a lot of corruption nowadays, right? Not just nowadays, back then until today. We see corruption in Venezuela, in African countries, even in the US, they legalized the corruption, they call it lobbying. I study politics, I see that this is basically just corruption. But what they want is more money and a lot of people change their principals because of money. Right? They BianJie(變節). They don't hold on to their principals. (There are) very few, very precious people who do not do that, and we respect them a lot. So this was one case. There was a gentleman named Ying Zi Cheng. Okay, so Ying is a place and he's also Young. What happened is: he was one of the assistants to the district county or something. So his job was to do the paperwork on the legal matters in that county, very small, but he was, you can imagine, his salary was not really much, barely enough to feed his children. However, he saw his boss was being excessive in his punishments, you know, use of excessive force, as you can see nowadays, like the police overusing guns and all that. And it caused a lot of commotion in the court, and he just went and knelt in front of his boss, who was the judge, the district judge, the county judge and then he pleaded: Holdback you force, Sir, because these people who are guilty, these criminals, maybe petty thieves, or, you know, they steal stuff, or break into a house or something like that. They didn't mention it here. But he said that the reason why the people, the common folks were committing crimes was because the people who were in a higher position were not setting a good example. So in some sense it is a slap in the face, but what it means is that there's no example for them. Families breaking up maybe, the position is not great, so he just knelt in front of him, and he pleaded, pleaded mercy from him and said that we need to reflect on ourselves if people were not doing good stuff. So all the common kids, so to put it in a modern example, like you know, the unfortunate school shootings, or that in Australia, there's a lot of break-ins, with, you know, hostages and all that. The whole point is because of the people who they look up to, their parents, supposed to look up to their teachers, and everything, they don't have any more examples for them, to glue them together, to keep them on the right track. So these are the things that we need to reflect on as a community, as a society. So this is what he tried to present, the whole society is already breaking down. So what's that like? These people are just simply the effect of symptoms, like a cold, right? You just sneeze and all that. Yes, they need to be caught and punished, but you only catch the shoots, but you didn't go to the root of the matter. So why did that happen in the first place? So that's what he's trying to present in a simple action of kneeling and pleading for mercy. So this is how sages educate the world by example. So not just that, okay, he was poor, but when he met those prisoners, it's common to say he is a bad guy, we don't need to worry about him. But he saw this prisoner. I mean, back then they didn't have enough to eat. So the prisoner was so hungry. They were starving and maybe they were forced to go,... because he's starving, that prisoner is starving and he's like, I only have this much, like half a bag of rice. If I give it to the criminal, I mean to the prisoner, I wouldn't have anything else for my wife. So he talked to his wife and his wife agreed to cook porridge, because you know, porridge, you can cook more than rice. And he scooped up half of it, gave it to the prisoner, half of it for themselves. So this is kindness. And it's not, there's no Instagram, there's no Facebook or news report saying it's good or something, only done out of his heart, it is only heard through word of mouth, through Liao Fan. So, yeah, this was a very simple kindness, but, what happened when he did that. Also, all these cases usually focus on one life, which means that you might not see that person getting a good karma in the next life, because human realm we can't see beyond past, present, future, normal humans. They talk about something you can see. So his children, the good karma is obvious in his children. So he had two children, and both of his children have gone beyond his rank. So he had gone through the Imperial Examination, he got selected, and then he got to the higher position. So his whole family was better. The condition was better. So that's how it works. Then not just his children, his grandchildren went even higher. So, it’s like, the father was the county secretary, and then his children became something like a state (official), and then his own grandchildren became federal level (officials), very high ranking officials, so their lives got better and better and better. Yeah. It's a very good example. So these are all usually on the civilian side. There is also a case for military, military people, like people who serve as the armies and soldiers and all that. So, in Fujian, back in the Ming Dynasty, there's a person called Deng. he had a situation where he was assigned by the Emperor to overtake, to pacify Fujian because there were a lot of bandits like that. There were a lot of people becoming bandits, maybe because of poverty and stuff. And there were a lot of common folks who joined the bandit ranks. He was assigned by his superior to capture them. So kill or capture, something like that. He was attached to another person in command of the area. So before he operated, he commenced another operation to reduce collateral damage, to reduce unnecessary killing of the wrong people. He already had a list of those people who joined the ranks of bandits, so these people would be punished by death. So the rest were common folks, because they mixed together, right? They didn't have a clear rank and said ... or something. So what they did was they identified who the innocent people were, and he secretly sent one of their soldiers and gave each of them a piece of white cloth, and told them to put it on a pole, a flagpole and put it in front of the house on the night of the operation. So on that night, he commenced the operation of clearing the bandit camp, and this bandit camp was mixed in with the common folks home. So those households who were innocent or cleared, they were told exactly when to put the flag. So they put the flag out on that night. So when the soldiers came, when they saw a white flag, they kept going because the bandits wouldn’t hide in there. So the white flag Okay, good people. So ... everyone about 10,000? I think, yeah, there was a lot, there was at least 10,000 I think. And, they didn't say how many they captured, but how many people survived from this operation. Up to 10s of 1000s of people survived . So he saved a lot of killing. So, obviously, his children immediately went up and became Zhuang Yuan(狀元), in Chinese terms, this would be akin to something as high as high distinction. And this high distinction is not just, because back then China, when you get Exam pass is so rare, everyone who passed would immediately have a job, you would not have to go to a job interview. Right? Like, nowadays, we have a lot of people who get the ... , so the asset is more worthy. Okay, in the sense they secure a job immediately. So they got the high level and they became assistant to the Prime Minister. So Deputy Prime Minister in a sense, that means really high. There's so many, I can't keep going. But yeah, those stories can be reflected in modern times because good deeds do not have an era, like they don't have a time limit. This is hard, right? 我們老和尚(淨空老法師)講... this kind of thing is not restricted by era or whether you're poor or rich, it doesn’t matter, if you can do it. You just do it. You don't think about it. So these are all Liao Fan’s examples, beautiful, beautiful examples and all of them center around sincerity, they did them out of their real heart, and they all used their position. Some people were as low as a county secretary, some were like a normal scholar. Some were just normal folks like us, and they helped whenever they could. So everyone can commit good deeds, as long as they do it out of their heart. Not for show. So, after telling these stories, Liao Fan then talked about the principles, the underlying principles. So he talked about how you categorize kindness, those things are for us to understand what is true, how do we cultivate goodness to its fullest potential, without leaking it with our selfishness or our Xi Qi(習氣) our bad habits. So, Liao Fan's has listed eight pairs, so basically eight opposites. So first is real and fake(真假). Real kindness, fake kindness. The second one is Duan and Qu(端曲) is appropriate and inappropriate. The third is obvious and not obvious (陰陽), so obvious, is Yang(陽), not obvious, is hidden(陰), we call it hidden kindness, is Yin(陰). (是跟非), right and wrong, basically what appears to be right, it's actually wrong, what appears to be wrong in the first place, it is right in the long run. It's that deep. (The next) one is crooked. Not good enough or it diverted from the point. One is straight to the point that actually served the purpose. So crooked and straight,(端曲) direct translation. Another one is half kindness and full kindness. (半滿) So it's well rounded or half, halfway there, not enough. The last two: The second to the last is big and small.(大小) And the last one is easy and hard.(難易) So, you have eight (of kindness)(善有八種), real and fake(真假), inappropriate and appropriate(端曲), hidden and obvious kindness(陰陽), right and wrong(是非), diverted or straight to the point(偏正), half and full(半滿), big and small(大小), easy and hard(難易). So this is quite hard to put in English because all of them seem similar. So to do that, Liao Fan was very kind. He said that we need to go in depth. So these are really like a recipe, right? You need to know the grams and all that. So once we know that, the first thing you already get to the point and before he even said that, it is important to know this because if we just do blind kindness, out of blind, like a ... like oh, I want to be a good guy. So you might end up committing a bad deed. So Liaofan said that we need to know and the first thing, he goes straight to the point like what Master Chin Kung might say 真誠清淨 so the first thing is 真 假 and the best one is our dear Venerable Zhong Feng(中峰國師), who was the one who made 三時繫念 (Buddhist Thrice Yearning Service) for us, Dear Venerable 中峰禪師 (was from) the Yuan Dynasty. All these Confucius scholars asked him: What is good and bad? Real and fake, the real kindness is when people are not doing it for the sake of publicity and show, as I have mentioned. Venerable Zen Master Zhong Feng had been asked by all the dear Confucius scholars. Confucius scholars represent the worldly view. They asked him: Buddha says that there are Karmic consequences for everything we do, Cause and Effect, just like the shadow follows your body, it will always be there. but they don't seem to have a prosperous household, they do good stuff(deeds). Why don't they get respected or have a good ending? Some people did bad deeds, like as you can see in the modern world, you can already put yourself in that situation. Some people do a lot of bad deeds, the cartels and all that you know and they're rich. They are very flashy, their life is very good, as you can see from the media. So what Buddha says has no point. What Buddha says does not have logic and does not have a following. Then Master Zhong Feng replied, because we're ordinary beings our heart is not clean, that means our lense is not clean, we are not seeing things clearly. Our eyes are not open, our eyes of wisdom, which means we can't see things clearly, just like a mirror blocked by the dust they cannot reflect exactly as what’s happening outside. It's not accurate. They think the good is bad. They think the bad is good. They see things on the surface, they don't see beyond the surface, they don't see through the surface. It's unfortunate and very common for ordinary beings to reverse the truth. They diverted from the truth and ended up blaming the Gods, blaming the Heavens, blaming the teachers. They blame outside. They didn't see the reality. They thought they were talking about superstitious stuff. Little did they know, they actually talked in depth. People ask: Then how did that happen? Why is the result different? Shouldn't the good get the good and the bad get the bad? As you can already see from the question, Zhong Feng had wisdom. The next time when people ask you hard questions, don't reply straight away. So what Master Zhong Fong did was he asked them back. Just like Aristotle, Socrates and Buddha, he didn't answer straight away, he asked them back: what do you think about it? That's very good. What did he ask these scholars? There's a person, if someone did this action: hit people, scold people and oh NO, Venerable Zhong Feng says: What do you think about good and bad, kind and unkind? These common people replied: If a person hits people, scolds people, it's bad. If a person is respectful and appears courteous, it is kind. Venerable Zhong Feng says: Not necessarily. Then that person continues with another case: if a person hoards the wealth to themselves and take without permission, that is bad. A person who is very clean in their tenor as one of the officials or company staff, if they're being clean and follow the law, the rules are good. Venerable Zhong Fong says something very surprising: Not necessarily. These people keep saying all the common occurrences in the world. Venerable Zhong Feng says: Not necessarily. He doesn't say no. He says it can be right, but it's not always right. It’s more complicated than that. Everyone's like why? Venerable, why is that so? Venerable Zhong Feng replies: The demarcation, the standard of being good and bad is actually based on the effect. If you actually benefit the people, then you can call it kind (good). If what you do is only benefiting yourself, even though it appears good, it's bad. His standard is really high, selflessness basically. If you actually benefit people, do it for the sake of the people. Then even when you hit people, scold people, it's kind (good). If you only benefit yourself, even if you put up a face of respect or courtesy, being very, very, very polite, it's not full-kindness (goodness). What he is saying (or doing) is only for show basically. Therefore, a person who commits good deeds, it's based on what is their purpose, what's the intention. If they truly want to benefit the public, then it's good. If it benefits the public, it means it's true. You're benefiting everyone, not just yourself. If you only do it for yourself and only yourself, then it's called selfish. If it's selfish, then it's not true. We can put it in Buddhist terms: Who are you, right? Who am I? Buddha already threw out this question right away: Is there an “I” in this body? No. 10 year old Dylan is not the same as 20 year old Dylan. 20 year old Dylan will always change, when he reaches 30. Every second I'm changing. Which one is me? Second: Is my mind “mine”? My mind keeps changing. How is that me? If it's “I”, it will not change, which I can control. If I can control, I can make myself rich. I can make myself smart. But I'm not. Or I can make myself 18 years old forever. Master Chin Kung says: You cannot make yourself 18 years old forever. You have to go on and move on with 生老病死 (birth) illness, aging and then death. So this is the reality. So there's no “I”. So the whole point is: if you benefit yourself, this is a fake self. What's the point? You, yourself is in everyone, you know. Everyone is you, you are everyone. So that's why you benefit everyone equals to benefit yourself. Benefit yourself is not. It's fake. He even goes further: A person who follows their heart and does it because it's right. They don't even think, they don't even have a plot or anything. It's real. People who follow other people to do kindness, like he does kindness, so I will do it. If you don't do it, I don't do it. That is fake. This is what he meant by following the heart. I don't care what people say as long as I see that person is in need, I do it. Because it's right. I don't do it, because people approve or disapprove. I do it because it's my duty and I need to do it. This is true. People who just follow the others, they're just like this person's doing good, so let's just join in. Then when that person stops doing it, you just don't do anything. No. You're not controlling yourself on that. He's going really deep. 無為而為者真 He's going into Taoism which is very deep. It's like: Do without doing, is real. 有為而為者假 If you do it for the sake of doing, it's fake. Sometimes doing nothing is also real, it's also good. Like say: Your children are jumping around and asking for (things and) throwing tantrums or anything. You don't do anything, you sit there, you let them chill down and calm down. This is real, this is how you educate them, tell them to know when to 收斂他的脾氣 when to reflect on themselves, because you're not replying them, their tantrum is not answered and they are educated on that day. 有為而為者假 You just do it for the sake of doing it without knowing why you're doing it. There's no thought in it, there's no purpose in it. So those are very good metrics. Just by number one: 真跟假 It goes that deep. I can't cover the extent of it. But I also want to go back to one case that Yun Gu said “Not necessarily” is 貪財妄取。 So first part of 貪財, a lot of people think people who hoard wealth or take money is bad. But there was a case, for us as a Pure Land practitioner, very close to us: ( 永明延壽大師) I think. When he was a layperson he was an official and he worked for the Treasury actually. He actually committed, not corruption, embezzlement of funds. He took the money out. Every time he calculated the cash and stuff and he took the money out himself! Oh my God! How could he do that? What did he do? He spent none of those funds on himself, he used all of it to help the people. Maybe he saw the government is not helping much. So he took out the money, like Robinhood basically. He spent everything on the people. He didn't get rich or anything. When he was caught, he was being sentenced to death basically back then when you corrupt. Even now China also has that. You get capital punishment. The Emperor has been hearing a lot of cases of corruption. But this kind of corruption was weird. A lot of corrupt people use the money to benefit their children, their own family, themselves, right? They spend big. They eat a lot of fine dinings. But this guy, he's still living poorly. After stealing so much money and what did he do (with the money)? He spent it on the people. The emperor's like: I have never seen this in my whole tenure as the ... basically of china. He talked to his judge and said when you are going to execute him, which is beheading, look at his face, if he has no sense of fear, do not execute him. He’s just like, as you can see in Chinese Drama, they tie up and take out the board and they’re going to chop. Before they chop his head off, they just see his face and he's smiling. As you can see, this is not a normal person. So as in a good way, he's the same. They were like, “Okay stop stop!” Because the Emperor also studied Buddhism. 都是受過聖賢教育的 Guys, please invite him in front of the Emperor. The Emperor looked at him and said: Why do you steal the money and give it to the people, not yourself? I'm doing what is right. Why do you not fear death? Who am I? I'm not real. So I don't mind. If I lose my life for (helping) the people, then it doesn't matter. Oh my God! The Emperor was like: Nah nah. Send him to the temple. Let him become a monk. which is our dear Yong Ming Yan Shou Da Shi (永明延壽大師). So guess who is our (永明延壽大師)? (He was) Amitabha Buddha reincarnated in this world. So he's teaching us: Don't look at the surface. This is why Master Yun Gu says: Not necessarily! There's a case behind this. This is the first part of the eight pairs of (goodness) opposites. I think I'll stop here, so that we all can continue to think about it. So far do you have any questions or anything you want us to focus on Liao Fan, topics or issues? Oh Amituofo! This thing is very deep actually. When I first read this, I thought it's just about being a good person. But what is a good person? Before even being a good person, are you sure you are 100% pure and good? Not really, right? We still need to fix, we still need to be real about things. We are always in the middle, right? A bit of good, a bit of bad. It's human. So I think Liao Fan is good in this way. He tells us what it is. Instead of what we thought it is. Not telling us like a lot of self-help books nowadays, they just say: Oh just do it. Be good. Be strong. But they didn't give you that hard look into yourself and let ourselves be real, be true. A good person doesn't sit there and say: I'm good, I'm good! They just do it. They don't say: I'm good! They just do it! They don't have the attachment and say: I'm a good person. That's the mark of a good person! If you like it, or your friends or anything, feel free to share this session with them. They can come every… What time is it in the U.S.? Right now it's 12 in Australia. That's good then, more time to... you know. I saw you in Gong Xiu (Amituofo Chanting Group) in New South Wales. I'm very happy we got online, because it opens up to the world, not just Sydney. I think this is much needed. I think it's a blessing, Covid, in a sense, it connects everyone together, brings everyone into here. Even for Liao Fan it opens up as well, for example, you're from the U.S. So thank you so much. I'll do my best. But Master Chin Kung(淨空老法師) is the one whom to go back to if you guys want to use a standard. I mean he's very smart. He's very good. The way he talked to the audience, you know, like back in China, back then in early times, they don't really understand this 傳統文化 because of the unfortunate incidents, cultural revolution. He goes back then and talks about something very logical, very everyday... he doesn't touch the 鬼神 and all that. He's focused on human experience and I just got impressed by how wide his range is. You know like we need Whitney Houston to sing eight octaves. It’s like he can reach a lot of people as well. Amituofo! All the best to you and family!

5 Subtitle Text Ven Master Xue Wu 086《認識佛教 Understanding Buddhism》 translation by Dylan Lee （李迪倫）To build up a happy life, we need to start with this one word: gratefulness.

Let us join our palms. Let us chant the name of our Founding Teacher Shakyamuni Buddha. Namo Founding Teacher Shakyamuni Buddha (Three Times) May we cherish the chance, this rare chance of encountering the Dharma. A one in a million kalpas opportunity, so that we can truly understand and practice the teachings of the Buddha. Respectful fellow practitioners, good evening to you all! Amituofo! Today we will continue our practice, giving my speech to you all on the topic of Understanding Buddhism. Originally it was supposed to happen yesterday, Wednesday, but because yesterday my body, my physical condition had a little bit of issues, I called in sick a bit. So today I would like to make up for yesterday to explain how we understand Buddhism. If during this speech, if I make any mistakes or mention anything that doesn't sound right please do not hesitate to give me feedback. Last week we briefly talked about the imageries of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and their purpose, their meaning. What are they trying to represent and to understand that there are vast meanings packed behind these images and names. In fact it is infinite and it's not too much to describe it as having infinite meanings. So to categorize everything there are two meanings. Last week, we talked about those two meanings but of all the meanings we must understand why we have so many names, so many images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. There's only one purpose behind it. Be it Shakyamuni Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, Medicine Buddha, Avalokitesvara(Guan Yin) Bodhisattva or Manjushri Bodhisattva, all these only have one purpose, it's to benefit all sentient beings that's what they're trying to do. So from here we understand that all Buddhas from all directions, each Buddha when they become enlightened and attained full Buddhahood their methods are infinite, there's a lot of ways to gain that (Buddhahood) but they never left the principle of filial piety, of love and respect. Last week we learned briefly about that, about the names and images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas but I would like to re-emphasize over here and also later on that I will add in anything we left out last week. So we talked about making offerings, right, to the images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, there are two main meanings, number one is to repay our gratitude, being aware of the kindness we receive and repaying the gratitude. So we must know who are we aware of their kindness and who are we repaying the gratitude. In fact, it's actually teachers, not just Buddha as the teacher but all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and all teachers who have contributed to our wisdom, our knowledge. Hence we must truly be grateful to our teachers. Hence the words reaffirm the roots and retrace the beginning of our lineage, our education and who gave us that foundation. So this is what we talked about last week. So as a student of Buddha, how do we repay his kindness? How do we repay them? In fact, the merits of our teacher, the kindness that we receive from our teacher and the benefit is vast. In the Sutras, Shakyamuni Buddha has categorized them into four kinds of kindnesses. We all know, number one is to repay our parents' kindness. We have heard of these four kinds of kindnesses above but what do they mean? Some of us might not have heard of it before so we need to get more in depth on it. So the first people we need to be grateful for are our parents, number two is the teacher's kindness, (the third is) the country's kindness and then (the fourth is) repaying all beings’ kindness. The beings are not just sentient beings but also non-sentient beings, for example, like sunlight, oxygen and our home. To repay our parents' kindness, how do we repay them? If my parents or grandparents are not here anymore, as children, grandchildren, how do we repay the kindness towards them, their kindness, how do we repay them? In fact we all know to repay, the best way to repay them is to advise them, to encourage them to recite the name of Namo Amitabha Buddha. Because you help them to plant the seeds for their full happiness in the future, to no longer suffer. So this is one of the best and most well-rounded ways to repay them because you help them to truly liberate themselves from the sufferings of life and death, aging, sickness, illness. No more six realms for them. No more of these tortures. If they can chant Amituofo in this one lifetime, all the way to their last breath and be born in the Pure Land, this is the biggest gift, kindness and the biggest gratitude we can repay. What about our teachers? How do you repay them? Buddha is not here anymore, right? Our teacher, our original teacher, but he left a lot of sutras, such a vast collection of teachings. How do we practice, how do we repay him in light of all the teachings he left behind? For example, if you can bring this Understanding of Buddhism to other people so that other people can truly understand Buddhism's essence, so that they can revert from the misunderstanding towards Buddhism and most importantly they can truly benefit in a practical way from these teachings not just to the individuals but also to their family, their communities and their countries and the world so that everyone can live happily with each other without doubt, without suspicions against each other. They can all live in true peace and prosperity, so that's the best way to repay Buddha's kindness. One way of reaching this noble goal is to explain it to other people whoever it is, no matter where you are if you have this opportunity if they're interested, you can see they are interested, they could receive this, just tell them, just say it, on the spot, as much as they can take in. So for example what the person need how do I bring my family towards happiness, how do I achieve happiness not just myself for my family and you have heard of these teachings and then you tell them how I do this, how I achieved happiness with my family and this is what I learned from Buddha that enables me to achieve this result and then you show it to them and so they too will learn from the teachings of Buddha and so will their families and they can all live happily together and that's the best way to repay Shakyamuni Buddha's kindness or Buddha's kindness. In summary, be a role model of one who truly benefited and cultivated these teachings and show it to them and help them to achieve the same thing as you have, the same benefits but even more in the bigger way is from this current benefit also to the benefit for the future. The biggest benefit is to go to the Pure Land and become a Buddha or a Bodhisattva. Through yourself as an example they will see how powerful and how beneficial Buddhism is towards them, the world, this is something we need to know. So moving on to our country's kindness. How do we repay the kindness of our country and countrymen? The first thing is to build a nation, it's a very long and arduous process. To build a nation, how many people had to die, how many sacrifices had to be made, how much blood had to be shed? So to repay all of these people, the dead people that fought for your nation or as a process of building this nation they died. So how do we repay them? The first thing are the governors the governors and the governed, the people who govern if they are not being virtuous, if they use laws for their own selfish means then how can the people in this nation be happy? Start with the law, everyone needs to obey the law, right? So that everyone can live peacefully together not in fear and from there we use Buddhism to spread all the moral teachings and virtuous teachings, do not be greedy, do not be corrupted, put nations and people above yourself. So the last one is the beings, so not just sentient beings, not just living beings but also non-sentient beings, all of the environment that we are living in, we call it environmentalism. We all rely on it to have a proper life, right? We need sunlight, we need oxygen, we need shelter and of course, as a living being, without their services how can we have a comfortable life? Without people throwing your garbage how can we have a clean environment? So those are all the beings whose kindness we need to repay. If you understand and are truly aware, if we all understand and are aware of these kindnesses, do we have the heart to harm them through our speech, through our thoughts and through our actions? Impossible, you can't, you just can't because once you see the world from this perspective, understanding the kindnesses that you have received are immeasurable. Then you will understand that no matter what happens to you, good or bad, favorable or adverse, you remind yourself of these four kinds of kindnesses, four types of gratitude to be repaid, then we would not allow the hatred to grow, our compassion will be stronger. So this is what Shakyamuni Buddha's mission was in this world, to educate us through role modeling. What did he try to teach? What role did he model? Being a human, how to be a decent human being. See for example. we saw an image of a Buddha in front of us or Guan Yin Bodhisattva in front of us, they are all there to teach us, to remind us of how to become a decent human being. The roots of a happy human existence, a happy human life is being grateful. For example, for a family, if you want a family to live harmoniously, coexist harmoniously, if we cannot be grateful and we cannot be thinking of the kindness from our family, how can we live with them every day? Expand this from family to society members and countries, if we can't think of each other's kindness, each other's contributions or the good side of them, how can we have a peaceful society? So for us, as Buddhist practitioners, if you want to be a Buddha or a Bodhisattva or as a Pure Land practitioner, you want to go to the Pure Land, if you can't even be a decent human being we need to ask do we deserve it? I mean, do we have the guarantee to be reborn in the Pure Land? It's very hard, right? That's why it all starts from the roots, from being a decent human being and to build up a happy life, a happy family, a happy harmonious society and a peaceful, prosperous country, we need to start with these four (types of kindnesses to be repaid) and this one word: gratefulness. If we see everything from the perspective of being grateful and looking back at the Buddha's image then we understand that Buddhism is truly not a superstition, it's not telling you to worship a sort of deity that grants you something, it's to ask you to be this role model. The reason we have a statute, an idol, in any era is because this is something we look up to, so this has the same meaning. If everyone is educated to be a decent human being and practice it through role modeling from parents and teachers and each other, it's very easy to achieve what we call World Peace that has been out of reach for so many years, right? and with this education starting with gratitude toward each other only then can we not allow any hatred or any jealousy to overcome our rational mind, our kind heart. So this is Buddhism. Gratefulness is Buddhism. Number two, learn from the best role models. Let’s think about it, this word and then relate it to Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha in particular. As a prince, the crown prince to his father's kingdom he could have had a very lavish life, he could have had the best life that anyone could dream of. Why would he leave all of that behind and go through this arduous journey of living under the trees every day, back in India? He didn't even have proper shelter every day and had to find food by seeking alms, basically begging for food in a frank manner. So his shelter was the trees. Let's not talk about 10 years, 20 years or decades like Buddha did, look at one day for us to bring it back to reality, to put it in perspective. If we try to do what he did for just one day, not outside, not other countries, not different cultures but in your own country, in your own backyard all right? in your own backyard, not outside of your property, under the trees, let's go under the trees. Sleep under the trees one night, right? exactly how Buddha did, okay? Can we imagine that we can do that without any problem to our bodies, not even sickness, the comfort, imagine the lack of comfort, how uncomfortable it would be. Before he attained enlightenment, he was under the trees, not eating, not drinking, what was it for? Why did he go through all of this suffering? For himself? No, he was trying to find a way out of life and death, not just for himself, but for everyone, otherwise he wouldn't stay here and teach us this. All he thought about was how he could lead all these beings from his era to the future, many many thousand years from his time towards the liberation of life and death, toward liberation of these fundamental sufferings. On the other hand, most of us, ordinary people mostly think about ourselves or our little groups, our families, we can't think big. We must understand the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas images, their statutes are meant to ask us to reflect, to remind us artistically to reflect. They didn't talk to you and tell you to reflect, they showed it to you to, let you decide to reflect on what kind of person do I want to be and that’s why we have image offerings, we make offerings to the images, make offerings to the statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. When we look at the image of the Buddha his peaceful face is serene (composure). What do we think of? Before I sleep, I pray to Buddha three times. Every time I think of Buddha and Bodhisattvas I always reflect back on myself, what do I reflect in relation to the Buddha and Bodhisattvas? I always remind myself, educate myself, have I turned my thoughts, have my thoughts turned kinder, purer, better, are my actions better, purer, kinder? Is the way I handle things thoughtful, considerate towards others? That's the whole point of making offerings to the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas. Because humans are not saints. right? We are not saints; humans make mistakes, we all make mistakes. We definitely have committed and will commit mistakes but just because we're making mistakes doesn't mean we don't have a chance to overcome them and change for the better or improve. Back in my childhood, my Mom told me all the time it's not a problem for humans (to make mistakes), humans should not fear making mistakes, but do fear the unwillingness to change for the better. So every day when we look at images or statues of Buddha and Bodhisattvas, we educate ourselves each time: I must change my speech, my thoughts and my actions from unwholesome, evil, lustful, greedy and hateful into something pure, kind, wholesome and beneficial to everyone. So that is why we have imagery, to sculpt ourselves into the best version of ourselves with a role model in front of us. It's not superstitious from this angle. Do not treat Buddha and Bodhisattvas as deities, as gods, it's wrong and it's disrespectful towards the Buddha if we do that. Because it defeats the purpose of them trying to educate us. Even though there are so many meanings behind their images, their names, it never departs from this goal to be grateful towards, not just towards them, towards their contributions, towards human beings and all beings. Their contribution is huge, humongous, vast. This is the brief introduction in this chapter on imagery of Buddhism. So knowing this, right, when we pray to the Buddha we must understand that we're actually praying to ourselves, the best version of ourselves! If you just pray to sculptured Buddha and Bodhisattvas images, it's superstition. If you think just like that, oh I pray to some sort of image, because they're made of wood, they're made of clay, sand, The point of doing this prostration every day is to say I want to be the best version as shown in front of me, as shown by the images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Say, there are so many Buddha names, Amitabha Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha, Medicine Buddha and Bodhisattvas as well, when we look at their names we are reminded of their virtues and remind ourselves to cultivate these virtues. Let's continue to the next slide. So there are many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, right? Last week, I mentioned them. In the Tripitaka, the Collection of Buddhist Sutras, there are so many names, they even have a sutra dedicated to naming the names of Buddhas and it's tens of thousands in volume. A very important point it is trying to make is to inform us of our true nature, the infinitude of our virtues, capabilities, wisdom, good fortune and talent (hidden) in you, your True Nature, that's the point. You have endless, there's no boundary to your wisdom, there is no boundary to your good fortune, there's no boundary to your capabilities, to your virtues or to your talents, that's the truth they're trying to bring across. However, why are we stuck in our current predicaments, trapped from achieving our full potential? There's a saying in the Thrice Yearning Ceremony: I am Amitabha Buddha, Amitabha Buddha is me. That is the truth, the ultimate reality and that's the point of why there are so many names of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas because they are asked to tell you that you have such a vast range of, an endless range of meritorious deeds and meritorious qualities, in the truest sense of words, there are no limits. For example, for now in this society we have someone with a high position, with great capabilities, with great wealth and talents, so when we want to introduce this kind of person of great talents, they will bring up their business card and say: I am the CEO of this company, I'm the director of that board, I have held so many positions, important roles in these companies and different companies. Why doesn’t he just say I am a CEO of many companies? He doesn’t, right? He brings up so many titles of this person to show that he has a lot of capabilities, doesn’t he? It is the same for the names of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in multitudes. So back in Indonesia, we also had the same thing like this, business cards in the Dharma Place, they also tried to do that for my name: You have this many Dharma Centers and are the presidents of whatever associations. Is that important? It's not important. It's good to keep a low profile, right? It's a good advice, the best advice says we should keep a low profile otherwise you will attract a lot of obstacles if you have a high profile, if everyone knows you, that means you lose your freedom in many ways. So back to the point. Shakyamuni Buddha for example, Shakyamuni Buddha is only one of his titles it's not just one Shakyamuni Buddha, there’s tens of thousands of it behind it, there's so many names to describe and all of them are to remind us our true heart, our True Nature, our Buddha Nature, our Awakened Nature has infinite virtues, capabilities, infinite wisdom, infinite good fortunes and infinite talents, that's the point. When you chant Amituofo every day to remind yourself your capability is the same, equal as Amitabha Buddha which are all the above mentioned qualities. If we use the modern terms to describe the names of Buddhas they are all talking about yourself, all the sutras in the Tripitaka are talking about yourself. When you chant Amitabha Buddha, you are actually chanting the name of the Amitabha Buddha’s qualities in yourself, when you chant Shakyamuni Buddha’s name, you are chanting his qualities in yourself, when you chant 南無大悲觀世音菩薩 Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva’s name, you are chanting her qualities in yourself, same with Manjushri or Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, etc. So in short, it's all about how you reflect and how you change your life. It has nothing to do with other people. Why do you have such an afflicted life, why do you have such a stressful life or a depressed life? It has nothing to do with anyone else, it's all about yourself. The key to change is all in yourself we must believe that. Do you understand, have you heard it clearly? When someone asks you: Who are you? You must answer: I am Amitabha. Who are you? I am Guan Yin Bodhisattva, Avalokitesvara Don't say: I'm Mr. Chai or I'm Joe or John or something. No! You must be clear about your True Nature! What does it mean? If you can answer, I am Amitabha Buddha, that means you have transcended Me, you know the ego, the shell that we are living in now, the illusions that we are in now. So if I am asked: Who are you? I answer: I am Venerable Xue Wu then I'm still not there yet. It's all about yourself. We can talk about it in relation to others but ultimately everything is surrounding this True Nature, yourself as in your True Nature, not the illusionary shells. So by saying the names, by reciting the names, by recognizing the names of these awakened people … you can do that, you are like that, you are able to achieve that. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas names, the most important thing they represent is to educate us to cultivate our virtues. When we chant Avalokitesvara, Guan Yin, Manjushri, Ksitigarba, they're all telling us to cultivate the virtues they represent. Each of these Bodhisattvas have a flat or a point of virtues that they have mastered and tried to represent. Buddha represents your True Nature, your potential, your full rounded qualities. Bodhisattvas represent the cultivation of the virtues, to shine the light upon this True Nature that means the True Nature appears when you cultivate these virtues. The merits of cultivation, that's what Bodhisattva means. One name of a Bodhisattva represents one virtue that we should cultivate. If we don't cultivate these particular virtues we can't open, be shown the light of our True Nature, our True Nature cannot come out. If we do not cultivate our capabilities properly, what capabilities? Your good fortunes, your wisdoms, your special gifts (talents), you cannot break through this threshold, you are stuck in that illusory shell, delusional shell, that's why we need to cultivate the virtues if you want to go to the Pure Land we saw the meritorious qualities infinite if we don't cultivate properly, if we don't chant his name properly to the depth of our heart, you can't achieve the happiness of the Pure Land. A lot of people say I want to live a long life, I want to be healthy, I want to be wealthy and prestigious. So you don't want to have sickness and also some people say I want to have a good death. If one achieves this especially good death they'll have a good life beyond that. So where do all of these good qualities come from? How do we cultivate them? How do we achieve these? All these things to trust, all this knowledge we learn, they are just a way, they’re a method. A few days ago someone asked me: How do I achieve longevity? I told him as long as you hold the precepts of No Killing then you will achieve longevity. Back in Shakyamuni’s time, there was a Venerable who was 160 years old. How did he achieve this longevity, this merit? Because in his past life he had held the precept of No Killing. The Bodhisattva's name represents the merits of cultivating the virtues. Buddha represents our True Nature, the inherent qualities of our True Nature. Bodhisattvas asking you to cultivate you have to improve. Buddha is to represent, to remind us of our inherent qualities which are well-rounded, there's no imperfection in there. However you must go through what Bodhisattvas did which is cultivating this virtue to shed away the darkness that shrouds this True Nature and the person they're trying to talk to is yourself, no one else, yourself, just you, there's no second person in this. You must remember that. It's a very clear point they're trying to bring across in sutras: all the names of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are used to describe your True Nature. so right now unknowing that when we cultivate Buddhism what's the point to be enlightened, enlightened of our qualities and needs to cultivate for it. Once we understand this meaning, we understand the way of Buddha teachings, we use the modern terms, sophisticated art, the way they teach is sophisticated, they don't just blab and talk all the time, (it's) sophisticated art. We must understand that. The pedagogy which you will see in the slides when we get there is high level wisdom. Pedagogy as in the way they educate, the method used to educate is sophisticated, it’s high level wisdom. Once we understand, have achieved the correct understanding of Buddhism, only then are we benefited from Buddha's teachings. This is a simple introduction so that we can all understand, really get in depth, everything goes back to education truly. Is it easy to understand if I explain it in this way? Is it okay or is it too fast? Because what I'm trying to achieve here is just a simple overview because we all make offerings to the image of Buddha, right? Don't just pray every day without knowing why, don't always think about: I want to be rich and wealthy in front of them. Trust me, the more you ask, the less you get. Don't ask (Buddha), ask yourself, have I achieved the qualities, the cost needed, the Cause and Effect, have I achieved the qualities required to retain the wealth, position, and longevity? That's the point of offering to the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. So in Buddhism there are, like Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, there are titles in Buddhism Acarya and Upadhyaya, so when we say He Shang和尚, which is Sanskrit for Upadhyaya, we say the name He Shang和尚, in Chinese Buddhism... mentioned a lot. Especially when we take the precepts or the Eight Precepts, when a Venerable chants the rites, they start with Acarya, (they say:) May Acarya know my meaning, may Acarya witness this. In Buddhism, the titles of Acarya, Upadhyaya and He Shang和尚 are reserved for education, not religion. These names are not used in religions. So what does Acarya and Upadhyaya mean? They are the most commonly used titles. Some (other titles used) in Chinese Buddhism, we also have the core Dharma-bhanaka法師, a Master and Instructor of Buddha Dharma. Number 1 is Upadyaya, What does Acarya and Upadhayaya mean? Number 1 is Upadhayaya. it is Sanskrit for mentors who personally mentor us or take charge in mentoring our educational development in modern society, in modern educational terms. It’s a mentor. So we call these people, Upadhyaya, personal mentors. For myself, every time I go back to Indonesia I always go and see my teacher in the mountains. I call him Upadhyaya, Elder Upadhyaya. He is 90 years old and very healthy. He's my teacher, he's my mentor, like Master Chin Kung(淨空老法師) is also our Upadhyaya, He Shong和尚, our 親教師, our personal mentor. So what's the difference between this teacher and the common teacher? This teacher is the one who affects you, who influences your educational development, and personally takes charge of your educational development. So the meaning of Upadhyaya is very deep. In everyday life, do you have a teacher? Yeah, I have a teacher even though he is not a monk, he is a lay person you can also call him Upadhyaya, they are also your He Shang和尚 even though they are not monks, because they are your teacher, they take care of your educational development. In a school, the person who's in charge of educating or implementing the curriculum and administration is called the Principle. The Principal is the Upadhyaya, all of the teachers are only performing educational tasks under his direction. Therefore the Upadhyaya is actually the Principle put in a modern way. So the Principle is very important because he is responsible for the success of the education program. So if you put the Principle of modern day in Buddhism terms they are the Upadhyaya, the He Shang和尚. He Shang和尚 and Upadhyaya are not exclusive to monks. Everyone thinks He Shang和尚 must be a monk, no, it doesn't have to be a monk, it's not necessarily a monk. Actually Upadhyaya and He Shang和尚, there's a process of translation through geographical region and they call it ... hence the name is different. There was a case where an Upadhyaya was not doing his job and as a result Buddhism was being misunderstood by the society as superstitious, religious and as the ..., as the Upadhyaya, they are all the same words, as the Upadhyaya, if this educational group, we call it temple, is not achieving positive results in educating themselves and societies especially in Buddhism their karmic repercussion is very heavy as they are responsible for the failure of the education and as a result they will go to Avici hell, so it's very serious. So Upadhyaya is not even exclusive to Buddhism, it's just like saying the principal of a school. It can be used in common societies which was the case back in Buddha's time, as long as this person is in charge of your educational development they are your Upadhyaya, they are your He Shang和尚. When people call you He Shang和尚, or ceremoniously call you He Shang和尚, you are responsible, even for that ceremony to go well. Do you have the merits, qualities to be revered as an Upadhyaya? That's very important. We always remind ourselves when we are called this name, He Shang和尚. It's not a monk exclusive term, as long as this teacher is involved in teaching you of developing your educational skill or developing you, educating you so that you can be beneficial to the society, then they are your Upadhyaya. Is this explanation easy or is it understood? So from now on we understand what He Shang和尚 or Upadhyaya means. Let’s continue to the next one, Acarya. This one is quite close, it's quite direct in tone, so in modern terms 阿闍黎 or Acarya is the Sanskrit equivalent of Professor It is a professor of a discipline however in Buddhism it goes beyond just simply professor because Acarya has an even more well-rounded way of saying, or describing it. Why? Why do we have a different approach? Because it's not a normal professor who transmits just the knowledge or technical skills. To be an Acarya, one must, so what distinguishes an Acarya from a professor, an Acarya must have manners of speech, of deeds, of virtues deserving to be a role model, deserve to be our role model. So it's 規範師 in Chinese or in English, a role model. Everything they say, everything they do is virtuous, you can follow them. They go beyond just knowledge, they are teachers but this teacher has virtues, real virtues, from their speech, from their thoughts, from their actions, they are worthy to be emulated, worthy to be exemplified. A common professor does not necessarily have these qualities, these virtues, they may be smart but they may not have virtues. But as an Acarya, one must have that level, that quality. He or she can be an example to you, the student or to society. Just like Australian of the Year, in a sense, making a contribution to society. Do you understand? When we receive the Eight Precepts, (Monks say:) May Acarya witness this, may Akarya, may we be in Acarya's thoughts. That means my actions and speech must be in accordance with the precepts, hence an Acarya. May I be an Acarya. So today, Shakyamuni’s Buddhism has been transmitting for 3000 years according to the Chinese calendar. Are there a lot of Buddhists who follow his teaching? Yes. Why is it still acceptable in modern society? It is because of his virtues, if he just only talked and did not walk the walk, could anyone accept his teachings? No way, because he's not real, right? If he didn't practice what he preached no one would follow him. A person who was well loved, well care of, well respected, to be honest it's not all about money, it's not all about positions, if that person is worthy to be respected, to be loved, to be respected by the nation, it's because of his virtues, it's because of his contributions to society, his virtues, his role modeling towards society. If a person is worthy of respect, they must be a self-respecting person, you must be a role model. If you don't want to anger other people, we must have virtues, especially in this society nowadays, people get easily angered, so we must have good 德行 which is virtue. It's not because I am number one and you're number two or because I'm the gangster Mafia boss, you're my subordinate. No! It's because you have achieved the quality of Buddha or anyone of virtuous nature that does things virtuously, they think virtuously, and people naturally respect them, flock to them and revere them as a role model. So from all these titles, Acarya, Upadhyaya or He Shang和尚 we understand Buddhism is an education, not a theism (deity-worshipping). It is not about worshiping a certain God or even a blunt way of putting it, religions are superstitious. Why do I say that? I will explain it in the next session. This is a simple way of understanding Buddhism, explaining it simply so that we understand all the terminologies used in Buddhist Communities. From today's lesson, we learned that Acarya means to… My speech, my thoughts, my actions have to be up to standard, have to be a role model, only then can I be an Acarya. People called Acarya need to reflect that, same for Upadhyaya or He Shang和尚. So these are the simple introductions to the terms. So in the next session we will learn about why religion is superstitious. There is a very big discipline behind this, a big meaning behind why religion has become superstitious. So we'll continue that in the next session because next week we have the seven day retreat, the Amitabha-name-chanting retreat. So we would like to take a break after the seven day recitation, so next week we'll take a break. I will continue after, which is a fortnight, two weeks after. If I have mentioned anything not right, please give me criticism and feedback, point it out to me. Thank you. Amituofo! So let us dedicate merits. I, the student of Buddha, would like to dedicate the merits towards the karmic creditors to be born in the Pure Land Dedicate the merits to all beings, sentient beings, to liberate from suffering. Repay the four kinds of kindnesses above, relieve the suffering of those in the three paths below. May those who see or hear of this, aspire to invoke the Bodhi heart and cultivate the teachings for the rest of this life, then be born together in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Thank you Amituofo! Let us all pay respect to Buddha and the teacher by three prostrations and the Venerable says: It is okay. Thank you!