D: We are very honored to have Venerable Cheng De as our guest speaker, as our teacher of the day. We will conduct this forum on a Q&A basis. Everyone is encouraged to have questions beforehand as announced so that we can pick your questions in a queue and bring them up for discussions. This discussion should be open for everyone, not just for Venerable or the host. I'm honored to be the host today and I will be the translator today as well. Feel free to bring up your questions as we speak.
V:
很高興有我們這麽多年輕人，還有這麽多同修，大家一起來互相切磋。
D:
I am very happy to see a lot of young people and a lot of Dharma practitioners together here today to exchange ideas, exchange our heartfelt words.
V:
尤其看到這麽多年輕人肯來學習我們老祖宗五千年的智慧，這個是令我們很歡喜的事情，尤其他們現在的年齡是屬於人生的黃金時段。老法師說：二十嵗以前是春天，二十到四十嵗是夏天，四十到六十是秋天，六十到八十是冬天。他們是人生最黃金的時段。他們假如好好珍惜，他們的人生會活得比我們更幸福更有意義。
D:
I’m very happy to see everyone taking part in learning about 5,000 years of traditional Chinese history, Chinese culture and values. As we say, youth is the most cherished golden period in one's life because it's full of possibilities. I think Laozi, the ancient sage, once said: (A person who is) before 20 years old, it’s like spring. Everything is full of life, blossoming. From 20 to 40, it's like summer, it's time to put in our work. From 40 to 60 is like Autumn. It's time for harvesting, to reap what we have sown. The last one is 60 onwards, it's like the winter, it's time to preserve our energy to prepare for what's to come.
V:
我自己人生的過程，在十幾、二十幾歲的時候，也有很多人生的疑惑，但是，并沒有找到很好的解答。畢竟後來有遇到老和尚、遇到老祖宗五千年的智慧，其實裡面都有解決的方法。我們人生走過的這個彎路，也不希望後面的人再走。所以，也是借由今天這個機會，我們年輕的這些朋友們，大家可以提出來，所面對的這些問題。我們有老和尚可以指導我們、有祖先的經典可以指導我們。包含大家一起來參與，這個都是良師益友，有這些好朋友大家可以互相切磋，如切如磋，如琢如磨。所以，待會提出的問題，大家都可以暢所欲言，仁者見仁，智者見智，都可以把自己的領會分享出來。大家就達到這個切磋、集思廣益的效果出來了。那我們的人生路，就有一群良師益友作伴了。
D:
Ven. Cheng De, when he was in his 20s, in his youth, he had a lot of questions, seeking answers, but he couldn't find them. But after encountering the wisdom of 5,000 years of accumulated wisdom, in Traditional Chinese Culture and text and also Master Chin Kung, he managed to pull himself through this period of confusion. Why do we rely on the wisdom of the sages, our ancestors? Because they have gone through what we haven’t gone through. They are like an experience, also a cautionary tale of what not to do, what to do. So that we don't have to repeat the same mistakes. Those who fail to remember history are bound to repeat it.
Also we are not alone. Another key message from Venerable is that we are not alone on this journey called life, because firstly, we have the wisdom of the sages in the past, right? To speak of the sages, the Buddha, Confucious, Laozi and secondly, the wisdom of our ancestors, our parents, our great grandparents and also we have each other, friends, teachers, family, brothers and sisters. So please open your heart, open your mind, feel free to talk about what's troubling you in an orderly manner, feel free to share what's troubling you in the form of questions as we have heard how people see things is based on their experience. 仁者見仁，智者見智。So feel free to share the questions you have in your mind and bringing it out here we will share our experiences, our perspectives with each other.
Kenny has questions about Buddhist practice cultivation. The first one is: He has the Diamond Sutra. He has been diligently chanting the Diamond Sutra. Can he go to the Pure land with these merits? The second question is: Leng Yan Sutra（Surangama Sutra）, he also cultivates earnestly on the teachings of (Surangama) Sutra. Sorry I forgot the Sanskrit word, but same question as well: Can he achieve the merits to go to the Pure Land with that?
V:
首先，我們能不能往生，我們依照經典的教誨來思維。
D:
Whether we can go to the Pure Land or not depends on how well we follow the mindset taught by the Sutra.
V:
我們都是依照經典，而不是我們本來容易產生的擔憂。
D:
It's based on the Sutra’s teachings and not the worries that are produced in our mind.
V:
我們學佛是心去作佛，所以，我們學佛的過程也是改心、改性格。
D:
When we practice Buddhism, what do we use to become Buddha? We use our heart to become Buddha, we transform our attitudes, our hearts. That's how we become Buddha.
V:
比方說，我們本來容易擔心，你在學佛的過程，你本來這個容易擔心的習慣也會出現。
D:
For example, our bad habit is that we are easily worried. This will show up in your Buddhist cultivation, we become worried whether we can go to the Pure Land when we cultivate Buddhism.
V:
所以，我們修行首先要隨順聖賢佛菩薩經典的教誨，不隨順我們的一些，煩惱的習慣。
D:
To learn this path of sages, to learn to be enlightened, we need to first follow the teaching of the sages, of these people who are enlightened, not our existing wandering thoughts and afflictions and troubles.
V:
我們假如依《無量壽經》、依《阿彌陀經》，就是依淨土的經典，我們來思維，怎樣才能往生？
D:
Knowing that principle, now if we talk about the Pure Land, if we want to go to the Pure Land, we should follow the mindset, the system structure of the Pure Land Sutras, only then do we have a clear idea how to go to the Pure Land.
V:
比方説《無量壽經》講的，上品、中品、下品，要發菩提心，一向專念阿彌陀佛。
D:
As what the Infinite Life Sutra have said: the upper level of attainment of rebirth in the Pure Land or middle level or the lower level attainment, they all rely on: first invoking the Bodhi Vow and then second one-mindedness, one-heartedness, single-mindedness on the chanting of Amituofo, the name of Amituofo.
V:
《阿彌陀經》是讓我們要真信切願，老實念佛，信願行，這個標準。
D:
The standard set by Amitabha Buddha himself is to use our most sincere, most earnest, most concentrated mind on the name of Amituofo. In summary, it's called: faith (confidence) vow and action.
V:
《觀無量壽經》是教導我們要修淨業三福，尤其是第一福：孝養父母，奉事師長，慈心不殺，修十善業。
D:
(Acording to) another Sutra, Pure Land Sutra, is the Sutra of Observing the Infinite Life Buddha, (the standard) is to cultivate the Three Foundational Merits. The First Foundational Merit is to be filial to your parents, love and respect your parents, listen to the teachings of your elders and teachers, be compassionate by not killing and cultivate the Ten Virtuous Deeds.
V:
因爲淨業三福，第一福做到了，就是《阿彌陀經》裡面講的善男子善女人了，你就符合這個資格了。
D:
As we're familiar with the sutra’s wording: kind male practitioners, kind female practitioners. Kind, to be qualified as kind, in Buddhist standard, one must attain at least the First Foundational Merit which is what we mentioned before, respect your parents, etc.
V:
這一位仁者，他提到了他修學的方式，是《金剛經》念三部，還有念《楞嚴咒》，他這個修持是屬於【持大乘經典】，這個是屬於《無量壽經》裡面講的【若有眾生。住大乘者。以清淨心。向無量壽。】等於是說，他要把他一生修學大乘的功德要迴向西方極樂世界，不求世間的福報，他這樣可以往生。當然，因爲他持的是大乘經典，他處事待人接物也要慢慢把《金剛經》能夠落實到生活處事裡面去，這樣應該跟《無量壽經》就符合，就能往生。對，離四相，不簡單。你離【我相】了，那就得是，你要在一切境界當中把自私自利要放下，要不斷放淡，不是說你馬上放下，要放淡。人我的對立要放下來。包含你看一切衆生，視若自己，這個【人相】你就慢慢能夠比較淡了。其實，主要是從你，有這個【我】了，它就有人跟衆生的對待了；壽者相就是時間的一個執著，所以，你對時空這個執著慢慢放淡，對人我跟衆生的這個對待，能夠慢慢放淡，都是愛一切人、禮敬一切物，這個就是把四相慢慢放淡了，就跟《金剛經》的教誨比較能相應了。感恩師父！阿彌陀佛！
D:
As our brother Kenny has mentioned about this, Venerable says: If he's practicing based on the Mahayana Sutra, Diamond Sutra and also chanting the Mantra of Leng Yan (Shurangama Mantra) and this is a Mahayana teaching. In the Infinite Life Sutra, they did mention those who practice the Mahayana teaching, that means they follow the teachings of Mahayana path, as long as they dedicate all their merits towards the Pure Land, they shall be reborn in the Pure Land.
Kenny has followed up and said that what he learned from the Diamond Sutra and caught his attention the most is the Leaving the Four Attachments of forms, the idea of myself, the idea of others, the idea of the world, 衆生 the idea of the world, things that formed due to condition and the last one is the idea of time. So, the ego of myself, others, the world and time. So these are the mindset, the path laid down by the teachings in the Diamond Sutra. It all came from the attachment of the idea of self, from a sense of self. Once we let go of this attachment of ego, we will be able to fully treat others as if they are ourself, be fully compassionate, be fully respectful, really respect people, really love people and so on and so forth. So following this kind of mindset, your mentality aligns with the teachings of the Pure Land and that's why you'll be able to go to the Pure Land. Amituofo!
V:
修學大乘，《華嚴經》裡面有講【佛法無人說，雖智莫能解】。所以，受持大乘經典，要有明師來指導。所以，建議這一位仁者能夠聼淨空老和尚講《金剛經》。他在聼的過程就懂得把《金剛經》能落實在生活工作、處事待人接物當中。而且，他這麽年輕就很重視修行，這個是很難得的善根。當然，修行也不是一蹴可及，所以，我們在修的過程，也不能着急，這個心也要能調伏，要穩扎穩打，步步爲營，修行是急不來的。感恩師父！感恩師父！
D:
Thank you, everyone! Thank you, Venerable! Thank you, Kenny! Venerable says: As per the Flower Adornment Sutra, one of the big Mahayana Sutras. There's a saying in there that Buddhism needs to be preached by people, needs to be shared by people, otherwise, even though we might have all the smarts and intelligence in the world, but if we haven't encountered these teachings through the sharing of others, we will never be able to be enlightened, be aware of the reality. So we need to vigorously share the teachings. Also Venerable kindly advises Kenny to try to look up Venerable Master Chin Kung's teachings on YouTube or any other medias. But, remember: it's such a fortunate thing to be able to learn Buddhism at such a young age. However, we should be steady, not rushing our progress, so that we actually achieve long-term results, not falling off halfway.
D:
There is a question from Joanne: In day-to-day life which is busy and hectic for all people of all ages: the middle-aged people, the younger people and the elderly people, how do we invoke the Bodhi Vow and stay concentrated on reciting Amituofo? That's question number one. Number two: If we do not invoke a Bodhi Heart, can we go to the Pure Land by just chanting Amituofo? Can we even have any results chanting Amituofo?
V:
我們處在這個繁忙的生活環境，當然修行比古代更不容易了。首先，我們接觸佛法，我們要瞭解到，佛開悟的第一句話：【一切衆生皆具如來智慧德相，但以妄想執著不能證得】。佛開悟的一句話，其實就是他四十九年教導的總綱領。我們從這一句話就體會到：我們本來是佛，因為一切衆生皆具如來智慧德相。我本來是佛，我不恢復我本有的佛性，那就變成是自己糟蹋自己了。自己願意枉受這個輪迴的痛苦了。所以，真正明白自己本來是佛，那要發菩提心就不難了，因爲我尊重自己的佛性了。我也瞭解到一切衆生是佛；我也瞭解到一切衆生，像《梵網菩薩戒經》說的【一切男子是我父，一切女人是我母】。我明白這個真相了，我們衆生無邊誓願度，這個心就不難發出來了。所以，你明理了就容易發出來了。
D:
The first one, in response to the question, in the current society, it is harder to cultivate compared to the people in the ancient times because it is busier.
The first phrase we learned from Buddha's story is: “All beings have the same wisdom, merits as the Buddha.” But because of wandering thoughts, because of afflictions, they are not able to attain the same level as Buddha. If we recognize ourself, our Buddha nature, everyone IS a Buddha but we lost it in our thoughts, wandering thoughts. If we don't open up to this reality, we are denying ourselves the chance to live a better life, which is a wasted opportunity. However, if we acknowledge that we are originally Buddha, we have Buddha nature, we are able to take the stances of, or we’re able to see the world from what an enlightened being sees which is all sensient beings, all men are my father, all women are my mother or my family, you're able to treat them with kind and love as you would to your own family.
V:
問題當中有提到說如何發菩提心一向專念阿彌陀佛，其實我們知道，我們有跟佛一樣的本心，可是我們要把它恢復，我們得好好念佛。【洪名正彰自性】【聲聲喚醒自己】因爲一不念佛就打妄想了，這個菩提心就不能保持了。所以，體會到這一點，就像三時繫念說的【須臾背念佛之心。剎那即結輪迴業之所】。有這個體會了，那就不敢不好好念佛，不願意打妄想了。
D:
The other question is: Since invoking the Bodhi Heart is important, how do we invoke it? How do we bring it up? How do we invoke the Bodhi Heart? First we need to use a method called chanting Amituofo to awaken that nature which is already in us, that Buddhahood is already in us, the ability to awaken that is already in us. That way, the more time we spend on chanting Amituofo the less time we allow ourself to be lost in wandering thoughts. Also, everyone's familiar with the Thrice Yearning Ceremony. In there, we sing about a clause like this: one… or one slither of time forgetting to chant Amituofo, forgetting the name of Amitabha Buddha, we immediately create the Six Realms in our mind again and again. The moment we do not put our mind on Amituofo, we immediately create the scenario of Six Realms at that very moment. So that's how minute the difference is between awakened and lost.
V:
而且我們這個菩提心要保持，你不一向專念阿彌陀佛，實在講，很難保持。理上，我們很想保持，但是，事相，你不念，很容易就打妄想。這樣你念佛的功夫不能得力。你在工作、你在家庭生活當中，你也很難用真心。你用真心，就是積功累德，因爲我們這一生成就，正助雙修。正修是念佛，助修用真心去處事待人接物，斷惡修善、積功累德。這個是助修。假如我們不用真心去生活處事，那我們就變成造輪迴業了。所以，我們在跟家人相處，我們是造輪迴業，還是在積功累德？我們在工作當中是在造輪迴業，還是積功累德？關鍵就是我們有沒有用真心。你平常不念佛，你真正跟人家一相處，那個脾氣上來了，你怎麽用真心啊？可是，你平常常念佛了，你平常就念佛，你突然有情緒上來，你很容易觀照，很可能佛號就把這個情緒給調下去了。
D:
To maintain the Bodhi Heart is an entirely different matter. To be honest, practically speaking, when you practice, putting it on the ground and testing it, chanting Amituofo is the easiest way to maintain that Bodhi Heart, the state of clarity without the muddy wandering thoughts because without chanting Amituofo, we would definitely give rise to a lot of thinking, a lot of thoughts and we might get lost into them if we attach to them. So in other words, we want to maintain a heart of sincerity, (a heart) of genuine purity. Using the sincere heart, this kind of sincerness in dealing with our day-to-day (affairs) is very crucial. In Buddhism we always have what is the main practice course, for us, practitioners of the Pure Land School is to chant Amituofo. That's the main course. The elective course, so to speak, the side course or appetizer, is to do good deeds, volunteer, help people, give them a smile or anything that is in accordance with your pure heart, the heart of kindness, the heart of sincerity. Because of that, you are able to build momentum and you are able to maintain the Vow to go to the Pure Land.
Venerable also mentioned: What would happen if we do not chant Amituofo? It is that we can't control our temper when things happen in front of you, you get angry instinctively, when things don't go your way, you get angry. With the habit of chanting Amituofo, you will still have anger and all that, that’s already there, but you're able to see it, you're able to have more of an opportunity to figure out what (emotion is stirring). Once you get used to figuring that out and when you put yourself to the ground, face to face with real life, you're able to not get overwhelmed by anger as easily as people who do not practice chanting Amituofo or meditation.
V:
昨天，有同修問道：夏蓮居老居士如何念佛，如何處事，跟我們這個發菩提心一向專念，還是很相關。處事也用菩提心去處理事情。如何念佛？這一段法語，知道的仁者可以把這一段發上來，這樣大家都看得到。而這一句法語，其實就包含了一切境界了。我們沒有事的時候，我們要把佛號提起來，這是老和尚教我們的，而且提起來，我們要會念。我們真的要辦事了，我要很好的去思維、去觀照了，我可以先把佛號放下來，但是，我還是用真心在處理事情。
D:
There's another question from another practitioner. She said: How to chant Amituofo? How to manage daily affairs? Like the Master Xia Lianju, Mr. Xia, he is a very famous practitioner in the earliest nationalist era. Venerable says: We'll share a clause of his teachings after this. What he said essentially means that when you have nothing to do, (when) you're free of your obligations, chant Amituofo. Master Chin Kung also mentioned we need to know how to chant Amituofo, no wandering thoughts, no mixing in with other thoughts. When you're dealing with your daily affairs, your day-to-day business, you need to use sincerity. Be genuine, be sincere in dealing with people and things. Only then you have that kind of right mindset, right condition to move towards the Pure Land.
V:
當然，年輕、中年、老年，他面對的生活工作情境還是有點不一樣。所以，老人可能就是要放得下。兒孫自有兒孫福，不要亂操心。
D:
Of course, when we talk about daily affairs, it's very different for different people. To make it easier for us to understand: Youth, people who are in the mid-age and people who are elderly have different things they have to encounter, they have to deal with. For elderly people, the most important thing they need to be aware of is the attachments to their young ones, to their loved ones, their children and grandchildren. There's a saying that the younger generations have their own merits and faults. We need to let them figure it out themselves. Don't overcompensate, get over involved in their life. They have their own path to tread, so to speak, as you did. So right now your focus is to let go of the attachments.
V:
這一句法語，就包含一切境緣，我們要不是念佛，要不是就在處理事，提醒我們【要用第一念】，其實就是用真心。【勿用第二念】，就是不要用分別執著的心。
念佛的時候，【一切莫管】，就不要去想其他的事了，要萬緣放下。然後，一字一句，念清楚，字句分明，平平常常，用平常心去念，老老實實的念去，這個就是第一念，所以，不是很複雜。不要把修行搞複雜了，但是我們在念的過程，假如沒有用平常心，反而有【若矜躁卜度】，這個【矜】就是要裝一個很有修行的樣子給人家看；【躁】就是急躁，急於求成。【卜度】就是常常在那想東想西的：我還要念多久才會一心不亂啊？才會阿彌陀佛來接我啊？都在那裡想，這個都是夾雜了。【希冀玄妙】就是希望看到瑞相，這個都是有求的心，這個很容易執著的。【或計功求速】就是你很想趕快成就，這個就很容易，我們說，你太急了，走火入魔了。這個不能急的。【或背境向心】就是我們起個念頭：“我不要管外面了，我就管我的心吧！”連這樣的念頭都不要起來了，都是夾雜，就老實念，字句念清楚就好了，不要有這麽多念頭，因爲起了這些念頭，你就有分別執著，就有煩惱了，就流入第二念了。第一念是智慧，第二念就是情識，就是分別執著了。你隨自己的分別執著就染污了。你依照智慧，慢慢就越來越清淨了，你隨著一句一句老實念，心就會慢慢靜下來。
D:
Amituofo! Venerable explains the clause from Master Xia Lianju, Mr. Xia, he has such a very good, simple, yet deep method to help us to get to the state of invoking our Bodhi Heart. How it goes is: The basic principle is no matter what you're doing, either chanting Amituofo or dealing with your daily affairs, daily business, always use the first thought, not the second thought. What does that mean? When you chant Amituofo, scenario number one, chant Amituofo, you do not need to put anything in your heart other than the name of Amituofo. Every (syllable:) A-mi-tuo-fo has to be clearly (pronounced). (You) have to follow the rhythm as it is, don't add or reduce (any). It is what it is. Chant earnestly. Just be there. Don't think about the past, present and future. Don't think about this and that, just Amituofo and that's what Master Xia means “by first thought”. Follow your first thought.
Venerable also expanded on the second sentence which is a negative example. We are trying to act diligently, acting as if we are a very good practitioner, very highly trained, trying to show off. If there’s a thought of showing off or if there's a thought of rushing about when am I going to meet Amituofo or when can I attain enlightenment, you find yourself in the state of trying to show off that you are a good practitioner or in the state of looking at your clock and say: When can I meet Amituofo? Or keep asking: When can I attain enlightenment? Please tell me! This is not the mindset that helps you to actually achieve the target of going to the Pure Land.
Master Xia went further and said: If we are asking for miracles: like oh please show me some special effects, special situations in my mind so that I have confidence. Do not ask for that. Also if we’re trying to accumulate like tally up trying to say: Oh! How much have I accumulated? How can I speed this up? That kind of mindset is also against achieving the Pure Land. Last one is, also surprising to me, to close your mind from the world. That means you shut your mind and say I'm not going to worry about the world, so I'm just going to focus on Amituofo. I don't care about the world. The mindset of I don't care is also against chanting Amituofo, against achieving the Pure Land. These negative scenarios are what Master Xia meant by second thoughts.
V:
就這兩件事情，要不念佛，要不處理事情。我們大公無私去做，事情來了，我們就真心的去面對它。事情還沒來，我們不要去擔心，不用去挂礙這個事情。因爲老和尚常常說用心如鏡。真心像鏡子，這個境界還沒來，這個鏡子不會在那裡擔心；這個境界走了，鏡子也不會把它留在鏡子上面，留在心上。這個可以用【用心如鏡】來體會一下【事未至勿將迎】【事已過】事情過了，就不會還留在心上【勿留滯】。然後就【坦坦蕩蕩】，然後心呢，都是放空的，空才會靈啊。你心裡很多事，事情一來你頭昏腦脹了，你很難處理好的。所以，能夠【大公無私】，然後境來不拒，境去不留，這個就是用第一念了。但是，若是我們在面對事的時候，我們的心產生了計較誰對誰錯，人我是非，跟人對立了；或者是，【瞻顧得失】就是我們有患得患失的心去處理事；或者，我們感情用事了，或者我們情緒、脾氣、意氣用事了，這樣就流入第二念了。第一念是理智，第二念是隨順我們的欲望了。你隨順欲望，隨順這種得失心，隨順這種感情意氣了，你看什麽事情就【闇】就是看不清楚了，都被自己的欲望情緒障礙住了。但是，你循著理智，你看事情就明白了。
D:
Thank you Venerable! Venerable continues with the second half of the clause. Sorry I have left out the conclusion of the first. Basically, following the first thought is wisdom, following the second thought is differentiation, we call it mind, differentiation. Following the wisdom is pure; following the differentiation, the mind, is impure. That means we get more troubled, more worried. The second half of the sentence goes like this: When we encounter matters, the first half talks about chanting Amituofo; the second half talks about the scenario of dealing with everything, your everyday stuff. Because there's only two things in our world, one is when we cultivate during quiet (time) when nothing happens; second one is when we have things going on, arise in front of us, we have to deal with them, with or without matters, right? The second scenario when we deal with daily affairs uses the mindset of mirrors. How does that work? Be like the mirror, because the mirror, when nothing appears in front of it, it is not going to worry about when it’s going to come in front of me? It's just a mirror, empty as a mirror, clear as a mirror, pure as a mirror. When matters are affected, that means matter appears in front of the mirror, the mirror does not say: “I don't like this! I like this!” The mirror is just a mirror. A mirror reflects what's in front of the mirror. It shows as it is, the matter as it is. It does not try to color anything on top of it. So this is how we should approach things or when things that approach us what we should do. When it has not come, we do not give rise to any wandering thoughts, we just be natural, just chant Amituofo if you can and keep our mind pure and empty.
When matters approach us, do not hesitate, do not get overly worried or get overly troubled. Look into the issue, into the eye of the issue and deal with it accordingly. That kind of state of mind is the first thought. However, if we let our mind empty, not muddy with a lot of thoughts, then, that's what we call awareness, right? You're aware because you are not coloring your lenses with a lot of prejudices or stuff like that. You're clear that's how you become aware, smart. On the other hand, if we start to give rise to (wandering thoughts like) who's right, who's wrong, judgmental, trying to be a judge or if we’re trying to say: “Oh, how much did/will I gain? Oh, no, how much did/will I lose, the gain and loss. In the worst case, you involve emotions: I hate this! I love this! I really need this! I don't want this! So you like or dislike it. You love, you hate or you give rise to anger or give rise to lust or give rise to anything that is disturbing your mind, then it's called the second thought. In summary, first thought is rational, it is clarity; second thought is desire, it's yearning. If we follow our desires, everything is dark, muddy and unclear. If we follow our rationality, our peaceful mind, our clear mind, then everything becomes clear, apparent as it is. Amituofo!
V:
當然，這個念佛處事用第一念，也不是我們一用就能達到這樣的效果，它一定有一個過程。我們也是在念佛跟處理事的過程能夠觀照到：我有得失心了，我有求快的心了。不怕念起，只怕覺遲。趕快提起佛號，提起正念。它是有一個過程，這個也急不來，急不來。
D:
Of course, to ask ourselves suddenly to be able to maintain the first thought and not be swayed by the second thought is not achievable in a short amount of time, short breadth of time, alright? Because there is progress in this, as in checklists, as in when you encounter matters, how much have you fallen into, have you fallen more into the second thought or more into the first thought. It's not something you can just suddenly say: “Hey! I can do my first thought, no problem in one go. It's a matter of how much more can you lean towards the first thought, how much less would you be able to stop yourself from falling into the second thought. It's a progress thing.
V:
我想，這個接下來，我們有不少年輕人上來。看大家要不要提出問題，那也有很多年輕的朋友，大家可以集思廣益，針對他提的問題，大家可以切磋一下，然後成德在後面再給一些小意見。
D:
Does anyone else have any questions? Because I've seen a lot of young people in the group as well. If you have any questions, just open up your mic and ask or just drop your message in English or in other languages.
師父，我們在等待大家問的時候，迪倫先抛磚引玉。I'll be the bait, guys, hopefully we can bring more topics out! Venerable, just now I heard you say: To close our mind is also a problem because I always think: when we chant Amituofo, we shut everything out. We just focus on Amituofo. Isn't that what we are supposed to do? But, here, Master Xia says that if we shut our mind towards what's going on around us is also a form of wandering thoughts rather than being aware. So how do I avoid myself falling into the mindset of hey I close my mind. Is focusing on Amituofo the same as not worrying about anything going on outside?
V:
你專心的時候，就不要有其他的念頭，叫制心一處，就很專注，其實我們可以很敏銳的去感受一下，當你很簡單、很專注的一字一句佛號念，跟你再產生一個念頭：“我不要管外面了，我就管我的心就好了！”你敏銳的話，你就感覺到，這個夾雜進來，對你自己的心也是一個干擾。這個你可以慢慢自己去感受感受。雖然，這個念頭好像比我們去想這些人我是非好一點，但是，它畢竟還是一個夾雜的念頭。你自己感受到了，你就會更願意就是老老實實一字一句就好，別搞複雜了。你就會有身心的受用了。
D:
阿彌陀佛，謝謝師父！So in response to my question, Venerable says that the principle of being able to recite Amituofo well is to be clear on every (syllable) we chant and be present. The issue of having the thought of I don't care or I don't want anything else disturbing me when I’m chanting Amituofo, itself is a disturbance from us focusing on the name of Amitabha. It's very subtle but we need to pay attention to this subtle difference. The basic principle is don't complicate it, don't overthink it, don't try to add things on top of it or not act on top of it. It's all detrimental to our practice in achieving one-mindedness on Amituofo. Thank you, Venerable! Does anyone have any questions guys? It doesn't have to be Buddhism Buddhism, it can be daily life, everything, even relationships. Don't forget we have Venerable Cheng De here! He's very wise!
V:
這個看你實際的情況，比方説你發覺你念了，出現妄念了，你能提醒自己，專注在佛號上，把它拉回來，因爲出現妄念太正常了。你只要那個妄念不越來越厲害就好，你能把它拉回來，慢慢慢慢你就比較能拉得回來，提起這個佛號。但是假如，你很想拉回來，反而這個妄念實在止不住，或者越來越多，你可以轉變一下，比方説，我先聼經，我專注聼經，這個也是一個把妄念可以伏下來的方法。就是我們可以念佛、聼經、讀經、拜佛，這些修行的方法，可以適當的運用一下。尤其，這個聼經，你越明白這一句萬德洪名的受用，對你自己的利益，你可能念的心，信心會更足，會更懇切。你念的時候有妄念，這個是很正常，這個我們平常心去對待，然後可以不斷的提醒自己，還是拉回來，字句分明，假如效果不是很好，也可以調整一下，我現在聼經的話比較容易專注，我聼一段時間，再來念，或者我讀一段《無量壽經》，我再來念，這個是可以調整的。只要是憶佛、念佛，你在讀經的時候是在讀這個西方極樂世界阿彌陀佛的莊嚴，菩薩的莊嚴，整個西方極樂世界的莊嚴，你這個都是屬於憶佛。你只要是憶佛念佛，那你就是在道中了。都對我們修行有很大的幫助。憶佛念佛可以現前當來了。只要讓我們憶佛念佛的功夫，能夠不斷提升，就很好。這個看自己怎麽來運用。
D:
Thank you so much, Venerable Cheng De! Thank you, Sally! In response to Sally's question, Venerable responded: It's normal, it's very normal to have wandering thoughts as long as we are alive. The key is to be able to pull back as soon as possible, not wandering too far from our concentration, from chanting Amituofo. However, there are scenarios where we can't stop ourselves from overthinking, from falling into that loop, from the thoughts overpowering our concentration on Amituofo. We can use different methods. There are many methods and some of them are: prostrating to Buddha, listening to the Dharma and listening to the talks from the Venerables, tailoring it according to our condition, tailoring it to the condition we are facing at the moment. Say, if you find yourself not able to focus at all, just go ahead and do some exercise, do the prostration to the Buddha as an exercise until your mind is back to normal a little bit, then you start listening to the Sutra, to the Dharma and then slowly back to the Amituofo chanting. It's flexible. As long as you're able to achieve these two targets, the first is to remember about Buddha(by chanting his name) or (the second is to visualize) the Buddha's Pure Land, because we all read the Infinite Life Sutra. We can remember, we can visualize how the Pure Land is made: the Seven Jeweled Trees and the Eight Meritorious Pond (Water), all the things that are described vividly in the Sutra. We can use that tool to help us remember about Buddha and his Pure Land or think about Buddha by chanting his name. As long as we're able to achieve these two targets, then we’re still able to control our wandering thoughts, and return back to our Pure Mind.
V:
我們這個念佛，分幾種方式。有實相念佛，這個太高了，我們一下子辦不到。有觀像，你盯著一個像，念佛，觀像念佛。還有觀想，你去想，極樂世界依正莊嚴，觀想。第四個是持名念佛。所以，我們假如是專一持名念佛，那當然主要的就是執持這個名號，字句分明的來念，以這個爲主。你要在這個字句分明當中功夫不斷提升。有可能比方，你在念的時候，可能妄念起來了，假如這個時候你字句分明就拉回來了，那挺好的。假如這個時候拉不回來，你觀想，比方説，極樂世界圖，你一觀想這個境，你很容易就把那個妄念拉回來，這個可以用一下，但是你還是以持名念佛為主。比方説，我持名念佛，我感覺我好像妄念起來有點拉不回來了，我就觀想阿彌陀佛，【黃金臂晝夜常垂】在我面前，要接我了，我一想那個感覺，好像那個念佛的懇切就會比較拉回來了，那我就繼續老實再念佛了。就是主伴圓融，主一定是持名念佛，因爲這是我們主修的方式方法。其他的，假如説用一下可以幫助我們，用一下是沒有問題，但這個主次還是要清楚的。
剛剛有提到說，我們可以用念佛、讀經、聼經、拜佛這些修行的手段來調整自己的狀態，甚至包含你去服務大衆，也是一種調整的狀態，因爲往往我們煩惱起來的時候，都跟【我】有關，我貪、我瞋、我痴、我慢，這個時候你去服務別人，你很愿意，你可能這個做的過程，本來心情不大好，做著做著你心情就轉過來了。這些方法看你自己的狀況了，可以很靈活的來運用、調整。阿彌陀佛
我們聼經的目的也是爲了明理，也爲了對這一句佛號更有信心。我們說信解行證，你聼經是解，解了之後要行，那就要發菩提心一向專念了。而，當我們花更多的時間在念佛的時候，我們自己感覺：我的煩惱少了，我的智慧提升了，這個就很有受用了。所以，師父領進門，修行要靠個人，自己去檢查了。比方説，我念佛多了，可是妄念沒有減少，我在境界當中處理事，還是很多煩惱跟情緒，可能我們還要再多聼一點經。因爲聼了經，明了理，在處理事的時候，能夠用聼的這些教理來調伏這些煩惱。假如我佛號越念越多，我處理事情也越來越多，用對心，都處理的好。那當然，佛號越念越多，這個也是很好的，很有受用的。所以，這個還得自己檢查一下，自己的狀態。阿彌陀佛。
D:
阿彌陀佛！感恩師父！The first question is: “What should we do in concentrating on the four characters or should we visualize the Buddha himself and the Pure Land?”
The Venerable’s response: There are four levels of cultivating to get to the Pure Land. The first one is the highest one, (which) is very hard to do. Basically, like a Zen Master discerning things as they are. 實相念佛。 It's something most people can't achieve. The second one is 師父，實相念佛下面是觀像和觀想是吧？觀像。你有一個像，一直看，觀像念佛。第三個是觀想，你自己想象極樂世界。The first one is to discern reality as it is. That's the first level of the Pure Land practice. The second one is to visualize the Buddha (by looking at the Buddha Image). The third one is to imagine the Pure Land as per the Sutra. The fourth one is to chant the name of Amituofo which is what we are used to doing. Here's how we do it, if visualization of the Pure Land can help, use it. If it gives you a booster, it helps you pull yourself back from these seas of wandering thoughts back to your most sincere, most pure and most calm self, the center, use it. However there's a matter of main dish and side dish as we mentioned earlier. What is the main and what is the side? One's the main, one's the auxiliary. The main will always be chanting the name of Amituofo, it is the most accessible way, easiest to remember. That's what we follow. Once we stabilize ourselves from drowning in the sea of wandering thoughts, so to speak. We immediately switch back to the main gear and go back to Amituofo chanting. It's a very flexible thing. We just need to know which one is the main dish or main path, so to speak, which is the chanting of Amitabha’s name, Amituofo. If your wandering thoughts are overpowering you, if chanting is not working, then use visualization( or other methods) as you wish, as you see fit (whichever other methods works). It's a very flexible thing. Also we just talked about the primary and secondary. Primary is to chant Amituofo, secondary is to use the sincere heart to be sincere with people, be sincere with your task at hand, your responsibilities, relationships etc. Another way you can use is servicing or volunteering. Serve the public as a way to help you get back on track because you feel lighter and happier as you connect with people through serving them. You might be angry one day, drowning in your anger, drowning in your sorrow, depression etc. but if you're able to use this opportunity volunteering in the community, be part of a community, it helps you to get back on track. You feel lighter, happier and thus you'll be able to go back to your main path which is to chant Amituofo. That's the answer for the first question.
The second question is: Should I listen more to sutras or should I chant Amituofo? Which one is more important?
Venerable responds: The whole point of listening to sutras is to understand what's going on. Why are we doing this? Why is this happening? How do we get along with this? How do we manage this issue, this problem, this emotion, this scenario? It helps us to understand and after understanding we need to put it into practice, to act, to do it. For us, we chant Amituofo. For us, we cultivate the Three Foundational Merits. These two help each other and we need to understand this concept of education in Buddhism. The teacher leads you to the door steps. They guide you where to go, but the act of going relies on yourself and only yourself. You need to be able to walk to the door even though the teacher points the door to you. It's not going to work if you're not walking to the door.
So using that principle, put it in daily life, for example: if our anger is still heavy or desire, lust, etc. all these greed, hatred, ignorance are very strong, even though we have been earnestly chanting Amituofo every day, it's time to go back to Master Chin Kung's teachings. Just sit down and listen to his teachings again so that we can get a deeper understanding of what he meant. He might repeat, you might hear this many times, but this time, you have a different scenario and it might reflect a different perspective for you so that you open up. Then you can go back to chant Amituofo. On the other hand, if chanting Amituofo helps you to concentrate better at your work, use it. So use this understanding and action side by side as you see fit. Amituofo.
V:
現在還有差不多半個小時，看看是不是年輕人的問題可以提一下？
D:
We have half an hour left. Does anyone have any questions regarding young people?
V:
年輕人經營事業，因爲他有家庭的責任，當然，在經營這個事業的過程，也沒有離開修行，因爲我們剛剛說的，你都用第一念，都用真心去經營，跟當生往生成佛這個是一，不是二。當然這個要隨著他對道理的明白，他就懂得這樣去用心。
假如這個問題，我們只針對，他現在希望能多得一些財富，這個問題。我們可以跟他交流到：古代的財神是誰？現在最有錢的是誰？可以跟他交流一下。古代財神是陶朱公，范蠡。他爲什麽那麽有錢？現代，老和尚在講經的時候，有提過李嘉誠。你看，李嘉誠工作很認真，有沒有人比他認真？可能有啊。可是，不見得有錢。所以，關鍵是：李嘉誠本身的財庫的滿出來的。他有一個老師叫陳朗。在他很年輕的時候，問他說：你想多少錢？他說：我三千萬就好了！他說：不止！你看，那麽年輕就已經看出來他以後那麽有錢。所以，有沒有錢是修來的，不是說你現在努力，你就能很有錢了。所以，以古代跟現代的一個例子，給他參考。甚至於，你跟他很熟悉的人，你也可以舉。你看我們某某同學，他也沒有很認真啊，但是，你看他耳垂那麽大，都輕輕鬆鬆賺到錢；你看我們某某同學，那麽認真學習，都比他努力，可是他反而沒有賺到錢。因爲，你舉的例子假如是你們都熟悉的也很好。那就可以點出來：萬法因緣所生。他努力，那是一個緣；因，是他有財布施的因，他又努力了，這個緣，所以，他的財富現前是結果。你同時把【萬法因緣生】，供養給你的朋友。進一步，可以介紹一本理論，就是《了凡四訓》，你怎麽改造命運，這個講得非常清楚。
我們的老師，他命中只有四十五嵗，結果他改造命運了，翻了一倍還超過！包含他老人家的財富，他本來也是命中，也是沒有財富的。結果，你看他後來財富那麽自在，這三種布施，他老人家都證明了。當然，你自己改變命運，你給他現身説法，那更有力量了。這個是針對財富來回答。
另外一個重點，你可以問他：你這麽想追求到財富的目的什麽？真的有錢人就幸福嗎？你有沒有去觀察過，現在是有錢人得憂鬱症的多，還是沒錢人得憂鬱症的多？這又是另外一個問題了。就是他的追求，他問什麽想有錢，你假如是希望跟人家比，那完蛋了！這個繼續下去，一定越來越痛苦的，【人比人氣死人】。這個是可以延申出來：真正的快樂不是你獲得多少，不是擁有的多，是計較的少，是感恩的多。所以，快樂是從内而外出來的，這是真的快樂。從外面，這個都叫刺激。刺激一下，就好像吸毒一樣，刺激一下好像舒服了，但長時間有痛苦了，所以，我們別搞那個要用欲望刺激我們的那種快樂，那個越陷越深。所以，現在的人憂鬱症越來越多，你看，人拼命賺錢，爲什麽後面結果是這樣？這個值得我們深思了。努力有結果，不一定會有好結果，一定要努力的方向要正確。阿彌陀佛！
D：
Amituofo！Thank you, Venerable! Thank you, Brother Fook! Now we have a question about wealth. We all work so hard, over time, to try to make money. A lot of people get stressed about (making) money. So, for those of us who have the opportunity to learn Buddhism, we know the Cause and Effect of wealth. How do we help people around us to gain wealth, to understand the meaning of wealth, to reduce the stress essentially, to lighten their load? Venerable responds: Even young adults nowadays, they all have careers, family on their shoulders. It still does not leave the cultivation part out of their life. In fact, one may argue, they need it more. Like what we talked about with the first thoughts. If we use the sincere heart to deal with others, to deal with the jobs at hand, to deal with people around us, to treat them sincerely, that's how we should go about our cultivation.
Another question is wealth. If you want to spread it to the people around you, how to help them with that. Ask them: Who is the richest person in our times and who was the wealthest person in ancient times? What did they do to achieve that kind of wealth? We have heard that in ancient times, the Chinese God of Wealth was Fan Li. He was very famous for giving, three times of giving, three times of getting his cost plus profit back in business and then when he earned much he gave back again. So that's the context.
In Master Chin Kung’s time, it was Mr. Lee Jia Cheng, (he was the) richest, wealthiest person in Hong Kang. Of course, now, there are more people wealthier than him. He has a person next to him who has the ability to calculate the oracles. He asked Mr. Lee: “How much do you think is enough for you in this life? What's your goal of wealth in this life?” He(Mr. Lee) said: “About 30 million.” He(the medium) responds: “No, no, you will get more than that! You will get way more than that!”
This shows us: There are a lot of people who might work much harder than Mr. Lee, the wealthiest man in Hong Kong but they are not necessarily richer than him. So this shows us that hard work is not the very cause of wealth, it's rather the cultivation. Cultivation of what? The cultivation of giving. If you can, try to use examples close to you like your colleagues or your friends, someone they know, someone they see. Say, hey! John has not really worked hard at his job but he earns a lot of money by just sitting there for 3 hours. On the other hand, Adrian works hard, OT every day, but the wealth he gains is not as much as John. You can use close examples around you to illustrate the fact. So what is the cause then if not the hard work?
The cause is the giving of wealth, the act of giving. The condition is the hard work, the career, the job you have right now. That's the condition and the effect is the accumulation of wealth. Venerable recommends Liao Fan’s Four Lessons as a base, as a book to look for if you want to achieve wealth or achieve changing your destiny.
Master Chin Kung is an example. He was supposed to pass away at the age of 45 as proven by his grandfather, (father and uncle), the male members of his family, but he made it to 96. He made it that far, he doubled it. That is a very live, raw example of one’s destiny being changed.
Another question we have to ask: Why do you need so much money? What do you need this money for? What is the point of this rat race? What's the whole point of all this grinding? If the purpose is to compare, to show off: I'm wealthy, then it's very bad. It's not going to end happily ever after with that kind of mindset. Because what is happiness? There is happiness that comes from the inside, from gratitude, from giving, serving people, helping people. There is also another kind of happiness that (comes from) buying very expensive stuff, getting stimulated by external excitements, external sources. You get (happiness by being) excited.
So if we follow the happiness from the inside, it's longlasting. If we allow ourselves to drown in the drugs of excitement. It doesn't have to be the drug itself, like anything, that's from the outside, that excites us, then we are hooked. We will get more and more miserable as we go because we will get desensitized. You will need more excitement, more thrills, more fun. It's like a drug essentially. So that is why it makes us think about depression. Why do some people earn so much money but end up even more depressed? Why can't they find that sort of happiness even though they have five riverside or seaside properties or Ferraris? Every effort has a result, but that result is not necessarily a good result. Amituofo.
I think we have (just heard) something very deep and very practical as well. Venerable, thank you so much!
師父，您有總結語嗎？
V:
我們不好意思晚了十分鐘，所以，看還有沒有哪個年輕的朋友，可以再提一個問題？
D:
Venerable is very kind to extend another 10 minutes for us. So we have about 18 minutes left to talk about any questions that we encounter in daily life. Guys, any questions? Please ask.
V:
謝謝Yue Jia。剛剛她回應了一個例子。所以，大家同參道友，集思廣益，很有效果！
D:
Thank Sister Yue Jia for sharing the story of the actor who listened to the Dharma and learned about giving and eventually changed his life. This is the point of this forum. It helps to gather everyone and then people who know share examples and to achieve the goal of reminding us this teaching works! It actually works! Giving us confidence!
V:
這個例子的主人翁，我們都認識。
D:
We all know the main character of the story.
V:
成德也有請他分享了。我是想說可以翻成英文。到時候再供養給大家。這個特別能彰顯這個真的是：【布施得財富】。
D:
This person, actually, we all know him. I’d like to have it translated into English to share with everyone so that we all know that the giving of wealth really gets us wealth and changes destiny in terms of wealth.
V:
現在Yue Jia有提出來，很喜歡傳統文化，但是在當前修學跟工作，我們怎麽來安排，來抉擇。她提出的這個問題，不知道諸位仁者有沒有你自己的體會呀，角度呀，可以提供給Yue Jia仁者？
D:
About balancing between propagating the Traditional Chinese Culture and the Dharma and taking care of your own family, your parents, your obligations. Does anyone have any ideas of how to balance two of these?
Regarding this question, I’d like to share. When we talk about balance, balance between this Dharma commitment, commitment to propagate and our job, our family etc. They do not exclude each other, right? I think we can have a schedule. For example, if you have a family of your own, every Sunday is for the temple, every Saturday is my own family time. So that's based on my experience how I differentiate these two better. 就是有一個順序，這樣子，排表這樣子，時間表，這樣子。
V:
每一個人人生階段，都有他可能要比較努力的地方。比方説，當學生，就比較要努力在學業上。
D:
In each of life’s stages, every person has an area on which to focus their efforts. For example, as a student, we need to focus on our studies.
V:
也能夠去關心到父母，盡我們爲人子的本分。
D:
In addition, there's always a need to take care of our parents, to make sure they're happy with where we are at the moment. That's our obligation as a child.
V:
盡到孝，不是說你要很多時間，而是你很真心，父母都能感受到的。
D:
To be filial, to love and respect your parents is not just simply to set aside time for them but also when you are with them that you actually put your heart and love into it, spend quality time with them.
V:
而且，她的努力，他學習也沒有離開孝道。因爲她學得越好，她父母越歡喜了。她學得好，她以後有能力可以找到好工作，去服務，這個都是安父母的心。
D:
Studying does not deviate from our obligation to our dear parents. As you progress well in your studies, you also make them happy. That's how you put their heart at ease and with good results you're able to access more opportunities in your career. You're doing well there and thus making them even happier. So these are closely related things.
V:
看剛剛Yue Jia提出來的問題，還有沒有朋友要給她回應的。
D:
Back to the original question from Sister Yue Jia, does anyone have any comments on that?
V:
謝謝吳居士的分享。老法師教導我們，我們學佛一定讓家庭越來越和樂。假如讓家庭不和樂，就學錯了。
D:
Thank Mr. Wu for sharing the story, the real life story of himself. How his family got happier and more complete with Buddhism. This is how it should be. A good example of learning Buddhism right! This is a good example of answering the question of balancing between family and the commitments to the Dharma propagation. It should be helping each other, bettering each other.
V:
修行的路上，一定會有起起伏伏，不可能是一帆風順的。就像吳居士講到的，我們能夠堅定我們的信心，這些關卡，都能夠通過的。
D:
It's normal to have ups and downs and adversities on the path of cultivation as Mr. Wu has illustrated. The most important thing is to persist and stay on the path. Don't sway from it. We'll get there one day!
V:
佛法是圓融的，是事事無礙的。這個精神我們要在自己的人生當中去體會。
D:
Buddhism is well rounded. It's all encompassing. There is no blockage in any angles. But the thing is, we need to use our day-to-day life to experience it, experience its well-roundedness and all-encompassing nature.
V:
就像善財童子五十三參，就説明了，菩薩道在各行各業，在男女老少，甚至於是我們的一個角色。比方説，我們是家庭主婦，都可以行菩薩道，這個沒有礙。沒有障礙的。
D:
Just like the example in Flower Adornment Sutra, Bodhisattva Shan Cai, the one who can amass wealth. He is the example of encountering 53 different people from all walks of life that become his teacher. No matter who they are, what they are. It shows us that Bodhisattvas are everywhere, in every corner of the world. We can learn from each of them. We can learn from every one of them, good and bad.
V:
我們舉一個例子，他是商人，稻盛和夫先生。他在從商，他把老祖宗的教導，就是儒釋道聖人的教導，用在他的企業裡面，他就是在企業行菩薩道了。而當他做出成績的時候，他現身説法，那他的影響不輸給一個傳統文化弘法的老師。但是，他卻在他的那個領域裡面也產生了對社會教化的效果。
D:
For example, we can relate alot to Inamori Kazuo, Mr. Inamori Kazuo was such a person: he was a businessman but he used the teachings of Confusious, the Buddhist teaching in his management of the business. He founded two companies, he saved the Japanese Airline from the brink of bankruptcy. The way he treated people, the way he built up a company without asking for compensation. These are real examples of Bodhisattvas existing anywhere in our world, in our life. His influence can also be even more influential if you do well like him, even more influential than a teacher who is dedicated to this traditional culture. So you, everyone can be a good role model.
V:
當然，假如你的願望，你還是很希望要像老和尚這樣，專門走弘法的路，【佛氏門中，有求必應】。還是求得到。但不能着急，欲速則不達。我們要順著因緣走，就是你當下，我們把學的東西，用在我們的家庭當中，用在我的工作當中，因爲，你下的這些功夫，都跟你弘法利生是分不開的。等到因緣成熟了，你自然有機會做專職弘法利生的工作。
以成德自己來講，我自己學了老和尚的教誨，覺得教育很重要，剛好我有機會去做小學老師。那幾年，我也是很認真教。我沒有說我在教小學的時候，我說：“我不要！我要跟老和尚一樣，我要出來弘法！”我也沒有這個念頭。
然後，你發了願，這是好的，但是，因緣要水到渠成。我們也要把那個太着急、太强求的個性要調伏下來。相信佛菩薩安排，自己不生煩惱，不着急。
剛好，教了幾年書了，後來考試也考不上了，剛好就開始跟大衆有這個機會交流傳統文化了。也因爲我這些年，很認真的在自己的工作、家庭裡面去落實老和尚教的東西，我才有東西可以去供養給社會大衆。
所以，一切安住當下，好好解行相應去落實經教。我們這個利眾的願很切，希望做專職弘法利生的工作，時機到了，佛菩薩自有安排，也不操心。
D:
Thank you, Venerable! If one of us wishes to be like Master Chin Kung, vowing to be on the path of propagating Dharma (full time), 100%. Remember, Buddhism always has a clause: Ask and you shall receive. You will receive what you ask. However, there is one thing we need to be careful of. Do not rush the progress. Do not feel agitated if you are not seeing any results yet, once you have the vow, what you need to do around is to focus on the present moment, what your job is, what your current position is, what you need to do at the moment. That's the very important thing. Do it well. Do it earnestly. Do it as well as you can. It will come when the time comes. When time comes, when opportunity comes, it will present itself. Once you are prepared as it presents itself you're able to fit into this opportunity naturally.
For example, from Venerable Cheng De himself, he was a teacher before he encountered the teachings of Master Chin Kung. When he encountered the teachings of Master Chin Kung, he continued on his daily job as a teacher. He continued to put effort into his day job. He did not suddenly say: I want to be 100% propagating Dharma all of a sudden. He continued on his own path at the time. Because of all the efforts he put into his job and his vow to go towards the path of Master Chin Kung. Naturally, time comes and calls for his help and he has the expertise, he has the experience to do that. So it naturally put him in that position to lead the teachings of Traditional Chinese Culture and that's where he was and then gradually lead to where he is now. So it will come by itself. We need to focus on the present.
V:
所以，現在貢獻最大的就是我們把中華文化教的落實在各行各業，讓大家都有信心。這個是最大的貢獻了。
D:
The best thing we can do right now is to use this teaching, the Traditional Chinese Culture we learned today, the values, put it in our work, put it in our daily encounters, daily affairs. That's the biggest contribution we can make right now.
V:
包含落實在你每一個角色，你是一個好丈夫、好妻子，這個都能給社會非常好的帶動。
D:
Applying it in our daily role, daily life, you will be a good husband, good wife, good worker, good boss, good child.
V:
今天感謝大家的踴躍參與，我們有信心：【有佛法、有老祖宗的教誨，就有辦法】，什麽問題都能解決得了。
D:
As long as there is the wisdom of Buddhism and our ancestors, there is a way to solve whatever problem we encounter.
V:
她就是問道：假如說工作當中有供應冷凍的肉，這樣算不算殺生。
D:
If in the job, we have to deal with frozen meat, does it count as killing?
V:
我們參與的也算是共業，那看你參與的深入，或者參與的是主要的因素，那這個業就重；不是主要的因素，這個業就輕。
D:
Participation, it's based on how deep, how widely we are involved in this act. If you deeply participate (you are the main cause) in the act of killing, of course your karma will be heavier. If, like this one, you are just at the site, you do not really directly participate in it. You're not deep in it, deeply involved in it, then your karma will be lighter.
V:
當然，我們，比方年輕人，選擇行業，這個也是很重要的。比方説，你選擇醫生，可以救很多人的命。或者你選擇老師，你可以開發很多人的慧命。這些行業，很有價值，我們就盡量不要從事可能會造成殺業的這些行業。
D:
So I think choosing a job or a career is important. Like being a teacher, being a doctor, you save people's life, you enlighten people, you help them be smarter, and make their life better. These are very honorable and great jobs to choose from. Especially for young people who are stepping into a career, try to avoid those jobs that involve killing and harming.
V:
當然，因爲你本身，你有你的過去今生修的福報，你幹哪一行都可以賺到這個錢，可是假如這個行業本身會造殺業，或者會造不好的業，有可能就把你的福報會有折損。所以，假如這一點你看清楚了，那你就可以盡量選擇不造惡業，甚至於是這個工作本身又很有意義，還能夠不斷積累你自己的福報的行業來做。
但是，不要一下子，很激動，今天我跟大家一講完，你馬上就辭掉工作。家裡人都不理解，一下子開始擔心，下個月沒錢了，你們家一下子煩惱都起來了，我就罪過罪過了，不要太衝動，要先跟家裡人溝通好了，然後再來做這個調整。還沒有調整好以前，我們用很真誠的心念佛，做功德，迴向給這一些在我們工作當中，可能造成的傷害的這些衆生，我們都給它迴向。把這一個緣，轉成法緣。
D:
Everyone has their own merits from the past and this reveals itself through your job and how much you earn in your job. It's always good to avoid any act or any job that invokes negative karma like killing etc. Because doing that will harm, will exhaust your past merit faster and will hurt you as well in the long run. Of course, after you hear this teaching from Venerable, you immediately quit your job and then cause you financial hardships. That is not wise because it will worry your family, it will worry people who rely on you for financial help. So what you can do now, after (being) aware of this is to dedicate your merits back to the sensient beings, those beings that were being harmed. You can turn around this relationship into one that is based on Dharma rather than vengeance and retaliations, use your sincere heart and dedicate your chanting merits to them.
V:
我想我們諸位，尤其是年輕的朋友們，你們可以有問題的時候，提供到我們雪梨淨宗學會，假如有超過五個問題了，我們就可以在網上，大家再聚。所以，這個時間我們不定時，就是說有大家提問了，我們就儘快，可以大家一起來互相探討、互相切磋。
結束以前，要跟大家介紹一篇教誨，是我們黃念祖老居士，他送一批年輕人，他們剛好要到日本去拿博士學位。老人家在他們出行前，給了他們一段很好的開示。這一段開示包含了，針對他們的學業，他們往後的職業，包含他們找對象，成立家庭。這個教化非常圓滿，我們現在把它翻成英文，快要完成了。我們儘快提供給大家，大家在學習工作之餘，能夠把它看完之後，我們下一次聚會的時候，可以針對這些内容，我們進一步可以再做探討。比方説，黃老這些教誨很好，可是我可能實際上在操作的時候，是不是有哪些困難，這個我們都可以拿出來，再探討。這個就有切磋的效果了。
D:
Thank you, Venerable! Next round, we will form this forum again when we have more than five questions accumulated from everyone, especially the Youth Group. Please send them to the Amitabha New South Wales Gmail if you have questions. Also Venerable would like to share the teachings from Master Huang Nian Zu, for these exchange students from China to Japan. He gave them a series of teachings, Q&A, like what we have today, regarding everyday life i.e. finding partners, careers, cultivations. His team is working hard to translate this into English. It's almost done. When it's done, we’ll use this as a template for our next discussion. So hopefully we'll bring out points of view or questions that you encounter and so that you can ask in the next forum.
V:
俗話説，站在巨人的肩膀上看得更遠。所以，相信我們能珍惜像黃老這樣大慈悲的善知識的教誨，我們能珍惜我們祖先五千年的智慧，那我們的人生少走很多彎路，然後，一定能夠獲得我們人生的幸福，甚至於是這一生大圓滿。
D:
As the saying goes: Standing on the shoulder of a giant allows us to look at the horizon we never imagined that we could see. So hopefully, we can use a giant like Master Huang Nian Lao’s teachings to help us to achieve what we want in our life and even perfect the very end of our life, as we reach its end. So thank you!
V:
再次感謝我們鄭總賢伉儷，還有我們迪倫，還有我們雪梨諸位同修的協助幫忙，還有大家的參與，謝謝大家！阿彌陀佛！
D：
Thank you, Venerable! Thank you, everyone! Amituofo!
V:
最後，跟大家推薦一本書。《群書治要360》前三冊的菁華，把它節取出來了，編出這一本【《群書治要》中修齊治平的智慧】。現在英文版出來了。所以，你可以從修身齊家治國平天下這四個角度去查這個書，挺方便的。這個對於我們包含華人或者是其他越南日本韓國，這些對於漢文化覺得很認同的，都可以跟他們結緣。我們看雪梨淨宗學會需要多少，我們再寄。哪邊需要多少，我們可以用寄的。
這個是我們馬來西亞校長職工會印的，這邊的中華文化教育協會印的。
D:
Venerable sharing this book: Quotes from Qun Shu Zhi Yao 360, Wisdom of Self-cultivation, Family Management, Governing a Country and Bringing Peace to the World. Venerable would like to share it with everyone. If you're interested, bring it up to Uncle James by email and we will get a certain amount of books for our Sydney Book Distribution Center. Amituofo.
So prepare your questions, so we can see Venerable sooner. The more questions you have the sooner we will be able to see Venerable again.
V:
然後，這邊還看到我們越南的同修，越南同修學習的這種認真，也是值得我們效法！他們對中華文化的珍惜，我覺得比我還恭敬。老和尚有説，受漢文化影響最大的四個地方，中國之外，日本、韓國，還有越南。所以，我們可能很快會組織用越南話，來交流中華傳統文化。今天是以英文爲主，之後，那個是以越南文爲主，只有我講中文，其他都講越南話，我們可以再來交流。把這些地區，我們盡一點力，慢慢慢慢帶動起來。
因爲這個世界需要中華文明的智慧。我們最近也看到，這一兩年戰爭，烏克蘭，現在又以色列，這些情況，這是世界的情況，包含個人身心的問題，都越來越多，憂鬱症越來越多了，真的很需要我們的東方文明，來利益這個世界。所以，我們身爲佛弟子，我們要【為眾開法藏 廣施功德寶】，這個【於諸眾生，視若自己，拯濟負荷，皆度彼岸】，我們來盡一點心力。阿彌陀佛！
D:
Venerable said: I have seen so many dear Vietnamese brothers and sisters, practitioners here, their sincerity, their reverence towards the teachings of Chinese Culture, the values of the Traditional Chinese Culture is even more than I have, if I dare say. Because of that, I think we’ll try to initiate another discussion group in Vietnamese about the teachings of Confusious, the Buddha and Chinese Culture in upcoming sessions. Also there are four countries or four civilizations that are heavily influenced by Traditional Chinese Culture, one is China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam. These four regions, countries have been deeply affected by these value systems.
In light of recent two or three years of Warfare being invoked in Ukraine, now Israeli-Palestinian, conflicts we have also seen a rapid rise in depression, we have noticed a very urgent need for this kind of Eastern Wisdom, the wisdom from the East, the way to deal with people relationship from the East into that part of the world. It's our job and Duty as a Buddhist, as the inheritors of this culture, to pass on this wisdom, share this with them, with everyone else. So this is what we're trying to do at the moment. All the best! Amituofo!
V:
剛好老和尚在台灣成立了至善基金會，有資助了一位越南的法師，而且他是漢學方面的博士學位，現在在台灣做博士後，專門翻譯，老和尚講的經教，所以，我們辦這個交流會，他會親自來做翻譯。
D:
Venerable Master Chin Kung sponsored a Vietnamese monk to learn Chinese Culture in Synology studies. He's now currently translating the talks given by Master Chin Kung from Chinese to Vietnamese. In our upcoming session in the forseeable future, (which will be) conducted in Vietnamese, we'll invite this Venerable to the session as Venerable Cheng De’s translator.
師父，請問這位法師是怎麽稱呼？
福祥法師。他自己在越南也有他的道場，
He has a Dhama place in Vietnam.
V:
當然希望我們越南同修，在這個因緣當中，多切磋，跟這個法師多學習。我們以後雪梨淨宗學會用越南文來弘法。
D:
Hopefully, we have more chances to cooperate between Venerable Fu Xiang and the Vietnamese brothers and sisters in Sydney, New South Wales so that we can propagate Dharma better from Sydney.
阿彌陀佛！謝謝師父！
V: 大家一切平安吉祥！再見！
B: 希望很快再見到師父！
V: 好的，好的！再見！
