If you seek realisation, be a practical practitioner

by Anyen Rinpoche

This is an interesting phenomenon, since Western society and culture tend to be both practical and pragmatic. Why do we lose our heads when it comes to the Dharma? If we do not cultivate a practical attitude focused on creating the best possible conditions to support our practice, an attitude of willingness to cut through all inner and outer distractions, then the Dharma will not penetrate our heart and mind.

The practical practitioner puts forth all the effort necessary to bring about meaningful change. We must support our practice by being mindful, deliberate, and undistracted. These qualities help us integrate the dharma in every situation we might face. Beyond developing these supports, if we wish to achieve realisation, we need to increase our spiritual capacity and deepen our practice.

Left to our own devices, many of us find that our spiritual practice doesn’t deepen. We try all kinds of things to wake ourselves up. Like dharma tourists, we chase after different spiritual teachers. We sit weekend retreats. We practice daily. We listen to CDs and read books. We do cleanses and work with healers. Sometimes, when we are in the presence of a spiritual teacher, we may feel we understand the practice of meditation, but when we get home that understanding eludes us. This brings us to an even bigger question:

IS REALISATION EVEN POSSIBLE FOR WESTERN BUDDHISTS?

Logically speaking, it must be possible, since we all possess buddhanature. provided that we rely on the right methods, realisation is possible for everyone.

I, myself, follow the methods of the tradition called the secret Mantrayana Vajrayana. This Tibetan tradition has led countless yogis, both ancient and modern, to realise and manifest completely omniscient wisdom. I find it pragmatic to follow a tradition that other yogis who came before me have followed in order to achieve realisation. I would hesitate to follow a tradition that has been changed or modernised, because the results of following such a path are unknown.

In our culture, we have a certain affinity for doing things our own way and for doing things that have never been done before. This is just the sort of impractical attitude that can cause obstacles in our dharma practice, because if we were to follow methods other than those taught and practiced by the lineage holders, we would have no idea what the results of our practice would be.

CERTAINTY IS KEY TO BEING A PRACTICAL PRACTITIONER

The tradition of the secret Mantrayana Vajrayana teaches that spiritual capacity can only be developed on the bedrock of certainty. Certainty is the topic of one of Mipham Rinpoche’s most famous texts, Beacon of Certainty. The theme of certainty also permeates the tantric, or Vajrayana, tradition as a whole.

Whether we are on the path of sutra or tantra, we benefit from:

- being certain of our practice,

- being certain of the instructions for the practice and,

- being certain of the way practice should unfold when done correctly.

When we’ve developed certainty, we become a practical practitioner, because we become mindful and cognisant of our entire experience and our progress on the path.

INTELLECTUAL CERTAINTY

Certainty is an ever-deepening principle. When we work with developing certainty, we have to start right at the very beginning, with intellectual certainty. We relate to the ordinary world around us with our intellect, so it makes sense that we also connect with practice using our ordinary, everyday mind and intellect. We use our intellect to analyse the words of a teaching and to try to make sense of the nuts and bolts of it. This is how we glean some understanding of the practice. But many of us mistake this basic understanding, this intellectual certainty, for wisdom and realisation. They are not the same.

We could say that this intellectual process we go through is an aspect of wisdom, but it is ordinary, everyday wisdom rather than transcendental wisdom. That means it is based in dualistic mind. When we apply intellectual certainty, we see that it is quite practical, but it is not enough to cut through our deeply ingrained habits of doubt and skepticism.

For example, the root of the entire mahayana path is the development of bodhichitta, the awakened mind that experiences compassion for all beings. In the beginning, we need to develop intellectual certainty in bodhichitta as a concept, so we investigate. Bodhichitta is divided into the classifications of conventional and ultimate. Conventional bodhichitta is the twofold wish to attain enlightenment for the benefit of self and others. Using our intellect, we can learn more about bodhichitta and deepen our certainty about what it means. We need at least a functional idea of bodhichitta to get beyond the charade of pretending to practice with it.

EXPERIENTIAL CERTAINTY

But to go beyond doubt and skepticism, we need to deepen our experience so we can change from having mere intellectual certainty to having experiential certainty. How does intellectual certainty give rise to experiential certainty? Intellectual certainty can be described as “understanding.” It can even be a deep and profound understanding of our practice. Taking again the example of awakening bodhichitta, we may develop the intellectual certainty that bodhichitta is beyond any partiality and contrivance; however, bodhichitta isn’t an intellectual experience. It is a genuine experience of feeling completely connected to each and every sentient being.

As ordinary practitioners, we can’t expect to experience the meaning of the dharma directly at every moment, but we may have glimpses of genuine experience. In the beginning, we may think to ourselves, “I understand what conventional bodhichitta is. It means that I could feel the same impartial compassion for each and every living being.” Sometimes, when we are sitting on the cushion or engaged in daily activities, we come across a situation or state of mind that moves us very deeply, and in those moments, we may actually have the experience of impartial compassion for sentient beings.

We’re able to recognise those experiences because we have the support of intellectual certainty. Without the support of our intellectual understanding, we could have an experience like that, but the moment might pass by without our being aware of it. So intellectual certainty is the basis for both an experience and the ability to recognise the experience. Catching a glimpse of the true meaning of our practice in this way gives rise to experiential certainty.

REALISED CERTAINTY

We should also know that experience is not the same as realisation, however. These glimpses help us genuinely experience our practice, but they are limited, undeveloped, and seen through the lens of our dualistic vision.

Realisation is possible if it is based on both intellectual certainty and experiential certainty. Without these two, realisation is just something that we read about in a book or hear about in a teaching. It isn’t within our reach at all. How do intellectual and experiential certainty give rise to realisation? Based on intellectual certainty, we are able to sit down and focus on a practice such as bodhichitta and catch glimpses of uncontrived and impartial loving-kindness and compassion. However, this experience is fleeting and unpredictable; we encounter it only by accident or by chance. Although it is larger than our ordinary, day-to-day state of mind, it is limited. We cannot sustain it, and we forget what it feels like when it isn’t there. According to the canon of Buddhist teachings, our momentary, uncontrived experience falls short of authentic realisation, which is a thorough, complete, and lasting transformation of our ordinary mind.

Another way to understand the difference between experience and realisation is that in the beginning we may feel the experience of the practice in our body. For example, when cultivating bodhichitta, we call to mind a being who is suffering and we may have a visceral reaction. We may feel a deep sense of connection and compassion toward that being, which we can extend outward to other beings. However, this is not true realisation. Realisation penetrates the mind. It colours our entire physical, mental, and spiritual experience, and does not simply arise from a visceral experience. It is, by definition, all pervasive.

APPLYING THREEFOLD CERTAINTY:

We can apply threefold certainty — intellect, experience, and realisation — to any practice. For example, when we learn about tonglen practice, we receive teachings and reflect on how the practice works. Then, based on listening and contemplation, we start to engage with the practice by working with the breath. As we exhale, we send out our root of virtue to all sentient beings. We say “root of virtue” because this virtue has the ability to nurture and ripen happiness in ourselves and others. As we breathe in, we take in all of the suffering and negativity of sentient beings, with the wish that we may alleviate their pain. Through practicing tonglen more and more, we begin to experience glimpses of what it means to actually do tonglen. The practice is accompanied by the physical feeling of sending our root of virtue to others and actually taking in their suffering, hardships, and negativity. Probably some of us have had this feeling while practicing ton-glen. Over time, if we practice diligently, we will perfect the paramita of generosity based on this practice, and we will realise an unlimited ability to share everything we have, including our own body, loved ones, and wealth, with every sentient being without exception — without even a hair of doubt.

We can apply threefold certainty to ordinary shamatha techniques and even to tantric practices such as generation and perfection stages. In fact, we must apply threefold certainty to these practices; otherwise, perfectly pure realisation of the path will not arise in us.

There is freedom from desire and sorrow at the end of the way. The awakened one is free from all fetters and goes beyond life and death. Like a swan that rises from the lake, with his thoughts at peace he moves onward, never looking back. The one who understands the unreality of all things, and who has laid up no store - that one's track is unseen, as of birds in the air. Like a bird in the air, he takes an invisible course, wanting nothing, storing nothing, knowing the emptiness of all things.

-- The Buddha, Dhammapada

三主要道 (第一天)

智敏上师

第一天

今天，我在这里跟大家在法上结一个缘，那么因缘是在经过成都的时候，你们的监院师他邀请给大家讲一些开示。那么我就选了一个佛教里边最重要的、关于修行最不可少的——三主要道，给大家说一下。那么这个三主要道到底是什么东西？就是说我们修行，佛教里边我们佛教徒皈依三宝，要修行，发心成佛度众生的。那么我们修行到底怎么修？修的内涵到底是哪些？佛说的三藏十二部经那是多得不可数，里边说的法门八万四千，每个所说都是非常殊妙的，但是中间如何联系起来，它们中间的主要的关键在哪里？共同的点在哪里？这个我们一般智慧薄弱的是探讨不出来的，所以说经典呢，要我们通过有修有证的那些高僧大德，他们在经里边阐发，作了些极可贵的论说，把这些佛的真正的深的密意告诉我们。那么，这一部书把整个佛的三藏十二部经里边扼要地把修行最重要的几个要点提出来了。那么这三点呢，如果我们离开了这三点，就谈不上修行，如果这三点我们把它抓住了，按了这个方法去做的话的呢，不但是修行上路了，就是成佛也能够达到这个要求。

那么，这三个要道是非常重要的，所以它的名字叫三主要道。三主要道他到底是哪三个呢？第一个是出离心。我们修行，如果说在世间上的一些安乐依然是放不下，单是求一点人天福报，要求自己身体健康，家庭圆满，事业顺利，这样子做是不是佛教徒呢？我们说，也可以叫佛教徒，皈依三宝的，但是严格的说，还不能叫一个佛教徒。真正的佛教徒要依佛的法修行的、方向有一定出离的，这才是够得佛教徒的资格。如果我们仅仅是希求世间上的安乐、那些享受，那么其他的宗教、其他的哲学也在讲这些，这跟佛教的根本旨趣还是不太符合的。因为我们佛教看法，这个世界彻底是苦，在这个苦的中间你要求安乐是做不到的。那么整个宇宙以佛教的眼光来看呢，是六道，六道里边三恶道是苦，这个大家都知道。地狱的苦、饿鬼的苦，虽然我们是不能够亲自看到，但是听说，有些感应，事实上也是证明这是有的。那么畜生的苦，大家都是亲眼看到的，给人杀了吃了，而且杀得很惨了。尤其广东人吃猴脑，活的猴子把它的头剃了，就在桌子上当下打开，活的把那个酱油、辣椒就灌进脑子里去了，这个痛苦我们想一想，谁也受不了。还有山东，最近，为了招徕顾客，就把全驴上市，把一个驴，整个的驴活的，把它的腿夹住，然后顾客指定哪一块肉要吃的，他们就把这块肉活活地割下来，煮了给顾客吃，这个驴还没有死掉，拼命地叫。这样子大家想一想，畜生的苦，不过是举两个例，是够苦的。

那么人间，我们说应当是快乐的，离开恶道了，但是上了年纪的人想一想，人间的苦，也是相当的严重的。有人说，天上是享乐的，很多宗教认为生了天堂了，什么苦都没有了，但是这个肤浅的看法，以佛教的智慧来看呢，至少是不确当的。天上还是有天上的苦，而且天上又不能保持他永远不掉下来，当他的福报享完了，天上还是要下来，或者直接到地狱去了。

所以这个轮回的苦，如果我们真的想一想，贪着世间对我们来说一无好处。佛经上讲的，我们无始以来流转生死，天上我们不晓得去了多少次了，地狱里边去的时间更多。一般就是说，从好的方面说，我们所能想象的享受我们过去都享受过，一切男女饮食等等，上天的时候，人间的时候，我们都享受过，但是我们在恶道受的苦更长的时间我们也尝过；做人的时候，我们的头，因为冤案而被杀的头，无始以来积聚起来比须弥山还要高；我们给仇人杀死流出来的血，无始以来集中起来比四大海还大，还多。

那么这样子，虽然暂时享了一点福，最后还是要掉下去受苦，一般是苦的时间长，受乐的时间很短，同时在乐的当中本身还有苦的因。这个比较深了，就是说，我们在以真正佛教的眼光看呢，所谓的乐还是一个苦，坏苦，本身就是坏苦。那就是打个比喻说，我们长了一个疮，这个疮很痛，这是苦苦；但是我们把这个疮上涂一点清凉油，或者涂点冷水洒一下，这个苦减轻了，感到很舒服，这个就是所谓乐，我们认为乐，就是苦的减轻我们就是快乐了，但是这个疮还在，你要追求这个苦暂时停一下的乐，你实际上是苦的因，根子并没有除掉。

所以说，整个的三界，恶道里边苦苦是很厉害，人间里边苦苦也有，但是总的来说，在色界天以上，该没有苦了吧？但是有行苦，行苦是苦苦、坏苦的根子，这个流转生死的行苦不断的话，一切的苦难都会到我们头上来。什么时候来，不知道！那么，我们在这样的情况之下，在真正皈依了三宝之后，难道我们就仅仅求一点很暂短的人天安乐就满意了吗？这个绝对不是佛的本怀！佛是要我们永远离开这个苦难的。所以严格的说，单求一点人天福报还够不上修行的人，你说是一个佛弟子，也可以勉强的算，因为你皈依三宝了，是佛弟子，但是你说修行的话，还够不上！

那么，真正要修行呢，我们说要至少要有个出离心。这个出离心我们说有两种，最肤浅的，就是说对于三恶道的苦，我们是不愿受的，这个是哪个都同意这个想法，三恶道的苦有谁愿意去受呢？那么脱离恶道这个出离心该每一个人都有吧？如果这个心有了，我们就一切行动、思想依了佛的戒律，要求的不是我们现世的人天福报，这个享受，而是追求下一辈子能够再得到一个圆满的身体来修行佛法，这个起点就算修行人了。这个是最起码的修行人，就是说能够放弃现世的享受，而追求下一辈子再得一个圆满的人身能够碰到佛教好好修行，这样子开始是一个修行的人了。此外，在这以下，尽管你也算一个佛弟子，但是没有上修行的路，还在轮转里边。所以说，真正我们要修行，大家都知道要了生死啦，要度众生啦，要达到这个要求的话，最低的出离心一定要生起。那么，这个出离心生起之后，然后经过不断的陶炼，把真正出离三界的心也能生起。这个真正够格的出离心，这个有了，那是真正我们修行的人了。

但是我们说，出离心有了之后，我们可以出离三界了，是不是就够呢？这个还是不够的。因为一切众生和自己是一体的。一切众生他过去都是我们的父母，他现在在地狱、饿鬼，这些恶道受难，我们难道就自己走了就不管了吗？这个从理上说，说不通，从我们整个的法身来说，他们就在我们体上，他们没有解决，我们自己也没有解决。那我们的党有一句话，要解放全人类，才能够解放自己。这个话跟我们一样的，我们要解放一切的众生才能真正地解放自己。就是有一个众生没有解放的话，没有度的话，我们自己成佛的可能就没有了。所以说我们要发这个心，要救度一切众生，然后自己才能真正圆满自己的菩提，真正地达到圆满的境界，这是说要发菩提心了。

从出离心基础，我们推到一切众生，自己害怕受苦，那推到一切众生都是父母，他们也害怕受苦，那么我们就是要救他们，父母哪有不救的呢？自己就跑了，没有这个话。所以说我们要发心，把一切父母的苦难，都要把他们救出来，甚至于自己承受，让他们先脱离苦难。那么这个心就是菩提心。

道之三要，第一个心是出离心，是够上格的成一个修行人；第二是菩提心，是说真正修行要圆满呢，非发这个菩提心不可，否则的话你学佛，学了半天，成佛是成不到的。因为菩提心是佛的因，没有这个因，果从何来呢？所以说，我们发了这个菩提心之后，成佛的可能性才有，自己才能圆满一切功德。那么这两个是我们要发的心。

发的心是对了，心是好了，但是你出离三界度一切众生的方法如何呢？就是你如何出离三界？如何度一切众生呢？这个要一定的善巧方便了，这个就是空性的正见。一切法自性空，这个见生起之后，本来我们的苦难就是如幻如化的，正因为我们众生执着才感到自己受苦。这个比喻经常我们经里这么打，你睡着的时候，感到老虎来了，狮子来了，把你抓住吃了，感到很痛苦很害怕，但是你醒过来了，什么都没有！所以说你把空性修成功了，证到空性了，一切轮回，哪个在轮回呢？这个“我”，补特伽罗，它有没有体？没有的。能够轮回的人，这个主宰本身是空的，受轮回的世界也是空的，所度的众生也是空的，这样子，一切苦难就除了。《心经》里边说，“照见五蕴皆空，度一切苦厄”，如果五蕴照不空的话，苦也度不完的，度不了的。那么所以说，出三界也好，度众生也好，我们的唯一的武器、就是说我们的工具、方法就是要知道一切法自性空，这就是中观正见。

这三个东西有了，不但自己解脱有希望，有成功，度一切众生、一切苦难、成佛都能够成办。这三个东西是我们佛教里边修行所不可缺的，同时也是足够的，一个也不能缺，缺一个就不是修行人。而这三个完备的话，好好地照它做的话，成佛有余。所以说，一切宗派，管你是净土宗也好、华严宗也好、天台宗也好、密宗也好、显教也好，都离不开这三个东西－－出离心、菩提心、中观见。

我们说修行，我们汉地现在最流行的是净土宗，净土宗要不要出离心，净土宗如果没有出离心的话，你娑婆世界放不下，你怎么往生西方呢？我们净土宗的方便就是说要对娑婆世界生厌恶的心、厌离的心，这就是出离心。娑婆世界是苦的地方嘛，苦难的世界，我们要离开它，这就是出离心。

那么菩提心呢？在《无量寿经》里，三品往生都不离发菩提心。阿弥陀佛四十八愿是从菩提心里边产生出来的，我们要给阿弥陀佛的四十八愿所接引，吸引到西方去，我们一定要跟阿弥陀佛的四十八愿相应，就像磁吸铁一样的，阿弥陀佛的四十八愿是磁，那么你是一个铁，那你好好地念佛嘛就吸过去了。如果你是一个木头，再强的磁的力量，一个木头，毫无影响，就是说你没有菩提心的话，对阿弥陀佛没有缘了，那么你要生西方成问题。这个不是我乱说了，《无量寿经》有的了。不管你哪一品往生，上品的或者是中品的，下品，都不能离开菩提心，这是经上有的话，因为你跟阿弥陀佛相应嘛。我们大家知道净土宗是大乘宗派之一，大乘都是发菩提心的，既然称为大乘，离开菩提心你还怎么称大乘呢？所以说，我们净土宗也离不开出离心、菩提心。

同时中观见就是说，你要真正证到唯心净土、自性弥陀的话，你这个空性的道理一定要知道。当下如果现在我们能够证到自性净土的话，这里就是西方极乐世界。因为我们是妄想执着，分了东了、西了，十万亿佛土，这都是我们自己妄想太多了，执着太多了，隔了远远的了。如果能把一切的妄想、执着都空掉之后，当下就是。所以说，真正我们说要圆满净土，成就自性弥陀的这三个要道，出离心、菩提心、中观的见是一个也少不了的。其他宗派也一样也不能少。

我们现在修的是格鲁巴的教派了，我们的根本也是出离心、菩提心、中观见。有的人对密法误解，认为密法对于显教是另外一个宗派，好象它修的法很怪，甚至一般人无法接受的一些法。实际上，在《印光法师文钞》里边，我们以前年轻时候也看过了，他也提出很多，这都是密宗里边的流弊，并不是密宗的正规。真正地修密法，我们要把显教全部修好了，才能进入密院，就是说才可以进入修密法的。这些都没有修过了，你照密法去修，那就要出毛病的，就要乱干的。所以说我们其他的，在密法的部分我们就不说了，但是我们强调的是说，一切宗派都离不开这个三个要道，这三个要道呢，是一切修行的宗派也好、什么道也好，它就是根本的核心。你不管修显教的、修密宗的，离开这个三个要道是都不成功的，都需要这三个要道来支持我们。

这里所说的出离心，我们说修行嘛求解脱啦，了生死嘛是解脱啦，那么解脱的因是什么？就是出离心！没有出离心你解脱的果从何而来？一切都是因果，无因就没有果。所以说我们要求解脱，一定要有出离心。

菩提心是我们一切智慧的因。我们要成佛的一切智慧，佛是圆满的大觉，要成就他的智慧呢，他的根本的因是菩提心。所以说，我们要成佛圆满佛的大觉，因就要从菩提心开始。

正见，空性见是什么呢？是一切超脱轮回的方法。不管那个宗派都是空性见，没有空性见的话你想超脱轮回的话不可能的。这个逻辑在佛教里边是经常辩论的，凡是有的东西你不能使它无，没有的东西不能使它有，这个是客观的规律。科学也发现诸如物质不灭、能量不灭的这些定律，有的东西要它没有是不可能的，没有的东西要它生出来也是不可能的。如果我们说，轮回世界、有情真正有的，你要想把他苦难消灭掉，把众生度掉这是不可能的。正因为这个身心世界跟我们的补特伽罗，那个主宰的人——流转生死的主宰者，它都是妄想执着而有的，自性是空的，这才能度出轮回的苦难。所轮回的世界，能轮回的补特伽罗，都是自性空。那么本来是空的，谁在轮回？谁在受苦难？那当下就空了。所以我们真正要脱离轮回呢，就要知道一切法自性本来是空的。流转生死的补特伽罗是空的，所受的苦难，所受的苦难的世界也是空的，这个见从中观正见而来。

所以说这三个东西得到之后，我们成佛有余。这个话不是夸张的，这从逻辑上推论出来的：我们要解脱就必须要出离心，要圆满佛的正觉一定要有菩提心，要超出轮回，自己超出轮回，一切众生超脱轮回，度脱轮回的苦，唯一的方法、对治的方法就是空性见。所以这三个东西呢是绝对重要的。假使我们没有这三个主要的要道呢，不管你修什么法，假使我们说修行，修很高的气脉、明点、什么大圆满、生圆次第等等，他如果说内心里边目的不是为了出离，不是为了度众生的菩提心，也没有中观的见，也没有空性的见，那么他再怎么修也是轮回的因，甚至于因为不知道空性会着魔走火。

离开了菩提心、出离心和正见，一切修法跟外道可以说是差不多的。佛法里边尽管有很多深的修法，但是你把这个主要的三要道抽掉了之外，那就是说也跟外道也差不多。反过来说，我们世界上的一切事情，如果你用出离心、菩提心跟中观的空性见掺进去的话，世间法就是佛法。只要这三个东西有的话，一切都能转成佛法，所以说我们修行对这三个主要道的重要性可想而知了。这是非常重要的事情。

这里我们书上就介绍一些：有一个师父问他的徒弟，他说假使有两个情况：一个是一切学问都能精通，什么三摩地都能得到，神通也有，八大悉地也有，这样一个情况；另外一个，你好好地修三主要道，那么这两个你欢喜哪一个？他的徒弟很聪明，说：不要说这个是三主要道，只要是里边有一点点气味的，我也情愿这个（三主要道）。那些神通也好、三摩地也好、什么八大悉地也好，这些我们无始以来不晓得得到多少次了，但是并没有解除我们轮回的苦难，这个对于我们出生死、度众生没有帮助的。所以说，现在很多的人对于修行的人看到一点点小的神通，气功师也好，什么也好，就认为稀奇得不得了，把自己珍贵的佛法就一下子抛了，去学那些东西去了，这个我们看了是非常可惜的事情。因为这些东西你再修永远不能超越轮回的，而我们这个三主要道哪怕你学一点点，慢慢地积累起来，将来成佛的可能性完全可以做到。那么，这一比较呢，当然了，三主要道是绝对重要的了，一些神通、什么三摩地等等毫不足道。这是外道都有的，有什么稀奇呢，外道还不是流转生死。我们过去谁敢担保我们没有做过外道呢，我们也有神通，也有三摩地，但是我们还是凡夫，现在并没有超出轮回啊，那么这些对我们有什么好处呢？所以说，三主要道的重要远远超出那些神通啦、这个什么三摩地等等。

文殊菩萨对我们格鲁巴的教主——宗喀巴大师说，他说你如果不能够以止观看到轮回的过患，以及解脱的利益的话——就是说，假使对轮回的过患，轮回的过失，以及解脱的利益还没有产生定解的话，出离心是生不起来的。

那么你要把轮回的一切的苦难的事情都能够看清楚、解脱的好处也要看清楚了，这个正知正见有了之后，那么你可以把世间的一切，财色名食睡，生死的那些事情都能够把他看淡了，然后生起真正的出离心。假使出离心没有生起的话，不管你修布施、持戒、忍辱、精进也不会解脱的，因为解脱根本的因素在于出离心，离开了出离心你尽量培那些福，功德去做，那个得到的果还是生死轮回的果，最多是人天享受一下，单是享受一下果报，最终还不是要到三恶道去了。所以说，离开了出离心，你修最大的福德，最大的持戒、最大的布施、禅定，不会成就，解脱不了的。

我们一般人都会自私自利了，利益他人都是在不妨碍自己利益之下稍微做一点，彻底的利他把自己忘掉了，这个一般人是做不到，这个要发了菩提心的人才能做到。没有菩提心的人，稍微做一点做利他的事情就了不得了，把自己丢开，专门利他，那谈不上。“我自己都没有拿到好处，我给你干什么？”这个一般人都这么说。但是，我们说假使自利的心不放下，对于自利的害处没有看到，对于利他的功德，这个正知见没有生起来，那么不管你修什么法都不会成大乘，因为你大乘的心，菩提心没有。

所以说，这三个东西如果抽掉的话，一切法你怎么修呢？离开出离心就不能解脱的，离开利他的菩提心你不会成佛的，不会成大乘道的。所以我们说现在大家不要盲目地去追求那些稀奇的东西，什么神通了、什么高胜的、什么大圆满、什么生圆次第了、什么拙火定了，一开始就要求这些东西。这些东西如果你没有菩提心、没有出离心，那么你再怎么修，不会解脱，还是轮回之因。这个话不是我说的，是我们的宗大师、帕绷喀大师根据经典上总结出来的一个结论，对我们说非常重要的。

所以我们要心里边修行呢，要好好地观察，观察轮回的过失，解脱的好处，观察自利的坏处、利他的好处，这样子我们才有可能生起菩提心，生起出离心。生起出离心才有可能解脱，生起菩提心才能成佛，所以说这个是非常重要的事情。我们修行的人一定要把这些问题好好观察好好研究，在心里生起定解。决定如此，不是泛泛的，噢，这么回事，等到真的事情来了，你忘掉了。我们说，我们要成佛了，成佛的重要靠什么呢？一个靠方便、一个靠智慧，这个方便和智慧，方便就是依菩提心了，智慧就是甚深的空性见，这两个东西有了，成佛就能成功，假使这两个没有，就不能成功。也就是深广两个般若了，深般若是一切法自性空，广般若要广度众生，要六度四摄，一切法要去行起来，这样子成佛才有可能性。我们要把这两个生起来，第一个要求把自己在轮回里边不想出来的心要反过来，自己要解脱轮回，这个心假使不生的话，那么前面所谓的方便也好，智慧也好，是生不起来的。所以说我们一定生了出离心之后，自己要出离，那么想到众生不想受苦，也要出离，菩提心才生起来。要使他们脱离苦难，就要求智慧，智慧就是要知道一切法空，空才能度一切苦厄。

所以说我们真正地要修行的话，这三个东西是一体的，从出离心里边才能生出菩提心，从菩提心里边再去修中观见，得到正见。这个里边是一定的联系的，不能越级，也不能缺一个支分。这里我们就简单地讲一下，不能说得太多，我们讲的时间不能太多。把重点给大家介绍一下。下边我们把三主要道，我们前面略略地说一下，对我们修行是极端的重要，这个概念希望大家能够在心里刻记下去。就是说，我们要修行的话，不管哪个宗派，出离心、菩提心、真空的见是不能少的。

这个心有了之后，这个主要的概念有了，才知道三主要道的重要性。下边我们可以把三主要道慢慢地介绍。什么叫出离心，什么叫菩提心了等等，如何生起了，怎么样子的出离心够量了，这些下边我们慢慢地说。这部论是宗大师造的，一共只有十几个颂，一个颂四句，但是一切成佛的方法都包括在里头了。所以说，绝对重要，也是绝对精要的一部书。

敬礼诸至尊上师

开始的时候，我们要敬礼上师，所以说，“敬礼诸至尊上师”，这个表示什么？表示我们的法流不是自己想出来的。我们是从文殊菩萨教下来的，等流的一代一代的上师，他们都有修有证这样子传到作者的身上。那就是说法是有源的，它有清净的法源，并不是自己杜撰出来的，那就表示法的清净，是从释迦牟尼等流过来，文殊菩萨教下来的。宗大师他是亲自见了文殊菩萨，修行的时候亲自见了文殊菩萨教他的，所以这个法呢是非常殊胜。在这个里边，要修行，我们佛教里边就是说，要使我们修行生起来，总得要一个师父了，没有师父你怎么修行呢？我们世间上要学一个手艺，要学一个学问都要有个师父，何况我们要成佛，这个道路无始以来没有走过的路，陌生的路，你没有师父带路你如何走这条路呢？所以，我们修行第一个要求师父，就是上师。

这个上师还是要有条件的。不是随便找一个人，你作我的师父好不好？我教你怎么怎么？这个不行的，要合格的。这个我们就不仔细说了。因为在《菩提道次第广论》里，大家都熟悉嘛，就是要具足十个功德，调伏寂静断伏惑，要有戒有定有慧，有学问，佛教的智慧要渊博，有悲心，要有勇气调伏弟子，要能够见甚深空性的义，证到的就更好了，这些十个条件具足的，找这些人做我们的师父。那么当然了，现在末法时期要找这么完备的师父从何而找呢？我们是找不到了，找不到那我们就不学了吗？当然也有方便，根据我们的传承，康萨仁波切的教授教诫，就是说，这十个功德里边全部具足的找不到的话，有两个是不能少的，其余八个呢没有也没有关系。哪两个不能少的？第一是持戒是不能少的。这个师父不持戒的，学问再好，神通再大，不敢去亲近他；第二个，有悲心。纵然你持戒了，但是悲心不大，专为自己，不想利众生的，那你找他也得不到好处的，他没有悲心，他不一定肯教你。有悲心有戒的，这两个有了之后，这个师父管他学问不太大，神通没有等等，这个可以依止他学法。如果这两个没有，而其他八个都有，学问又大、神通又大，又是有勇气，说话口气很大，也有定，这样的人若没有戒、没有悲心，能不能亲近？不能亲近！这是康萨仁波切的教诫。我们在选择师父的时候这个标准大家要注意，不要迷惑于神通啦什么东西，说些大话了。这个人了不得了，就拜他为师了。在佛法里边，你拜了师之后，就不能随便离开师，离开师了，不听师的话，那是有很大过失的。《菩提道次第》就说了，你不能把你自己，就象这个牛的鼻子一样，绳子随便叫哪个拴起，牵起就走了，这个是有危险的。当我们要修行，第一个是要找师父教我们，这个师父找的时候要好好地用心，好好地观察。《菩提道次第》的标准是十个，康萨仁波切的抉择是这十个里边不能少的是悲心、持戒，其余八个有，更好；没有，问题也不大。这个标准希望大家记住，要找师父，就找一定要有持戒的，一定要有悲心的。其他的或多或少有，很好，即使没有，也可以暂时依止也不会出毛病的。那么这是我们找的师父就应该这样子的找。

下边就是说，我们找的师父，如果找对之后要好好按依止法去做了，否则的话就是后果很不好的。如果违背依止法的话，不但是下辈子下地狱受苦，这辈子也会生各式各样的灾难，会生各式各样的怪病。这个现实很多事情，你们仔细观察就会发现这个是客观存在的事实。我们说，有了师父之后，就可以学法，你要学什么法呢？当然最重要的就是我们前面说的，三主要道。这里我们就开始介绍三主要道。

一切佛经心要义，是诸菩萨所赞道。

有缘求解脱津梁，我今随缘而宣说。

第一个颂，是发心造论：“一切佛经心要义，是诸菩萨所赞道。有缘求解脱津梁，我今随缘而宣说。”这是宗大师自己发愿要造论的一句话。这就是说，这个法并不是自己想出来，或者从其他地方收得来的，是一切佛经最精要的里边提炼出来的。我们这里介绍一下，佛说的三藏十二部经，有的时候说显的，有的时候说密的，有的时候说空，有的时候说有，有的时候赞叹大乘，有的时候又鼓励大家出离修声闻。那么一会儿这么说，一会儿那么说，那么到底该怎么做？没有智慧的就弄得头头转。我记得欧洲一个学问家，他研究佛教，研究了半天，三藏十二部那么大一部藏经，里边这么说，那么说，说的方式很多，最后他的智慧不够了，他就得了一个结论：佛经里边充满了矛盾，没有体系的，没有办法学的，就退了。他搞对没有了呢？搞错了！佛说法，大家知道，都是对机说法的，对这个人在这个地位要给他这么说，对那个人在更高的地位又那么说。也是跟我们学校一样的，给小学、幼儿园的学生，该怎么说呢？排排座，吃果果，给你吃一点点心，果果了。你到大学、研究班里了，再排排座，吃果果那不对了嘛。所以说，跟人的根基，他修行的次第、高低不同、善根有没有的不同，各方面的关系。

所以说的法呢对某人这么说，对那个人又那么说，看起来好象是有矛盾，实际上是一贯的。小孩子给说小孩子的话，小学生有小学生话，中学生说中学生的话，大学生说大学生的话，这个中间的关系能够把体系理清楚的，这个很难。过去的大德们祖师们，他们要么宣扬显宗，空宗，要么是讲有的，唯识，要么讲显教，要么讲密宗，都偏于一边。而我们说，藏地的宗喀巴大师，所以称第二法王，他把佛的一代时教，显的、密的、大的、小的、空的、有的，全部用一个体系来把它贯穿起来了。在你修这个时候，你该要出离，好好修，就叫你修声闻法，等你声闻法修了有成就了，赶快要度众生了，就给你说大乘法，当你显教修的基础有了，你要继续成佛、要快快成就的话，就给你说密法。所以说这个按了次第来的话，这中间一点也不矛盾。在某个时期，该给你说这个，在某个时期给你说那个；在你还要造罪的时候，对于因果还不太明白的时候给你说有；当你因果一切明白了，你该要再上进一层了，就要给你说空了。所以说，在一个人修行，从他起步一直到成佛中间所有的方法是有次第的，不是杂乱无章，一会儿有了，一会儿空了，一会儿显了，一会儿密了，都是按了这个次第安排好的。

那么发现这个关键的体系的，这个伟大的祖师就是宗喀巴大师。把佛的一代时教整个有机地结合成一个正规圆满的体系，这样子的人呢历史上还没有，所以说他叫第二法王，第二个佛嘛。并不说宗大师超过文殊菩萨了，他实际上是文殊化身了，就他的功勋来说是超过一切祖师的。祖师们宣扬空的，就讲空的，讲有的，就讲有。但是把显密、大小、空有全部一个体系聚合起来成一个完整的教理的，在佛以后就是宗大师，所以说我们对宗大师这一方面的功勋非常之赞叹，他对后代的众生极大地利益。把佛教的一些说空说有的“矛盾”全部扫清了。

学过宗大师教法的人，绝对不会对佛教里边持一点怀疑，同时也不会谤法，一切法都是成佛所需要的。就是看你地位不同，这个时候该修这个法，那个时候该修那个法，都不矛盾的。这样子我们不会谤法。否则的话，过去的例子就有嘛，讲有的讲唯识，就说中观不对；讲中观的又说唯识是不到家，互相地辩论；显教的说密教是婆罗门教；密宗又说显教太肤浅了，很多的成佛的要义还不知道，互相地毁谤，互相地污蔑。如果把宗大师的圆满教理学了之后，这些谤法的罪都会避免。所以说我们说学宗大师的教有这么大的好处。

下边，我们就把宗大师为什么要讲这个的大概说一下。我们这里宗大师的教理把一切佛经都摄在里边了，是三藏十二部里边的总的要点，就在这个三主要道里边。这个方式也并不是说宗大师特别创造的，是过去一些祖师，他或多或少地也这么做了，但是没有做得那么圆满。我们说修行的人是一定要把重点抓住，那么修行才能上路。我们很多人，我也看了很多了，他一出家就欢喜住山去了，他要去闭关去了。如果你手里边没有一个圆满的没有错的修法呢，那你是冒险去了，修法都没有，你闭了关住在山上，你修什么呢？山上那些非人之类扰害修行人的那些很多的，你弄得不好就会着魔。有人告诉我，T山有位师父，他是G寺的（在以前，现在怎么样不知道，是以前告诉我的），他说T山上面的住茅棚的师父很多，修行，我们说这个精神很好，但是很多就是说真正修行的方法方式呢没有拿到，就是凭自己的一股勇劲蛮干。他说山上经常发现住茅棚的人，从这个山头跑到那个山头，边跑边叫，哗——这么叫，那就是着魔了，这个事情经常发生的有。那就是说，我们要修行、闭关住茅棚是好事，但是你必定要有真正的一套修法、一套教理，这才可以保证你成功，否则的话修行成功成问题，着魔的可能性却是会有。

这也是说，我们修行要有智慧，要把真正的法拿到，然后把勇气加上去，那么就会成功。单是凭匹夫之勇，这样子的勇气呢，没有真正的方式那会出毛病的。那么我们说这个法该修什么法呢？现在佛教也比较盛，各式各样的法都有，甚至法轮功这样的外道也套了佛教的牌子来打招牌，我们如何鉴别应该修的法和不该修的法，它们的区别在哪里？哪些该修的？哪些不该修的？所以书上就介绍了三个要点。符合这三个要点的，我们就可以放心地去修，不符合三个要点的，尽管它打着佛教什么牌号，尽管它说这个法怎么的殊胜，怎么能够快速成佛，什么什么的讲了很多，我们是不敢问津，这是冒险的事情。那么赌博是用钱来冒险，输了么钱就没有了，打仗是用生命来冒险，死掉了就是生命没有了。但是生命没有了，可以下辈子又来，钱没有可以再去赚，而我们修法的赌博却是以法身慧命来搞赌博，如果法身慧命搞坏了，那就是入了魔道之后，永世不得翻身了，成佛就没有希望了。所以这个修行一定要特别谨慎。

我们修的法，不管是哪个宗派，要符合这三个条件的我们说是可以放心修的，如果不符合的，希望大家还是提高警惕，好好的考虑一下，再去修那个法。现在你们看看，修法轮功的，不是上了当了嘛。就是看了那些新奇，或者有了小小的鬼通，就进去了，那么上当了。这个很奇怪，我们知道，有的大学教授、研究生都在信法轮功，它们这样子搞，连知识分子都会上当，那么我们一般人就更要注意。

下边我们说，符合哪些条件的法我们才可以修的。第一个条件，释迦牟尼佛亲口所说的。我们的经都是印度翻过来的。经都是佛说的，“如是我闻”，从佛那里闻来的。这个法门不能从自己创造出来，或者从哪里造出来一个，无中生有，某个人创造了一个宗派出来，这个我们不敢相信。我们一定要从释迦牟尼佛亲口说的法等流下来的，这个是第一个条件。这是根本的本师是释迦牟尼佛嘛，怎么能够离开他呢？

这个法我们是从释迦牟尼说了，中间到现在经过两千多年了，很可能掺杂一些不正的见进去。那么，因为这个经每个人有每个人的解释方式，正规的解释是符合佛的原意的，没错，如果你以邪知邪见夹在里边，人家智慧不够又看不出来，那就是有毒的东西，再好的饮食夹了一点的毒吃下去会死的，那就麻烦了。那么我们这个法要检查里边是不是有其他的东西掺杂在里边，那就是要观察，这个法是不是经过历代的大祖师辩论、抉择、一切邪见的杂质都排掉的。藏地经常地辩论，就是辩论这些东西，就把佛说的经里边掺杂的那些邪的东西，辩得很细，一点点都把它找出来，排掉。这一个是第二个条件。虽然源头是释迦牟尼佛说的，但是中间等流下来，那么多年，两千多年，是不是有其他的杂的邪见掺了进去，那么就要经过历代祖师的辩论，没有（邪见），就是有也排除了，这样子的教法我们是可以吸收的，否则还有危险。

那么，这两个条件有了，该够了吧？还不行！教是教，是嘴里说的，还要证，就是要实践，通过实践，那么我们这个法经过一切有成就的祖师们，经过闻思修，心里生起一定的定量的证德的。就是说，依了这个法修，能够兑现的。

符合这样条件的法我们可以修的，没有符合这三个条件的法，不能修的，差一个都不行。那么希望大家记住。第一个，是释迦牟尼佛亲口说的，第二个是经过历代祖师不断的辩论把一切邪见都清除出去的，第三个是经过历代的祖师依这个法修行，有修有证的。这样子的法我们修了，绝对放心的，如果这三个条件差一个的话，就值得考虑，如果三个都没有的话，千万不要上当。法轮功上当的人就是不知道这个标准。如果知道之后，他就不去了。但是要知道这个标准的人，我们说毕竟还是少数了。所以今天，这本书上讲了很清楚了，我们给大家介绍一下，希望以后就再也不上当。法流的清净，这个是我们需要的。

那么在佛的法里边我们的看法，前面说过了我们真正要出离轮回，度一切众生，要空性，要“行深般若波罗蜜多”了。所以说，藏地、印度的看法是佛教的核心就在般若波罗蜜多里边。般若波罗蜜多分两个，一个是广行的，一个是甚深的。甚深是讲空的，它的自性空，空性的方面；广行（广般若）就是讲修行的方式方法这些，那么这两个有了之后，成佛的道就全了，也就是我们说的，空有二宗。空有二宗，在过去是互相排斥、互相斗争，在宗大师的教下空有二宗是相辅相成了，单有空性没有修法也不行的，有了修法执着了有实在的东西，不知道自性空也不行，这两个合起来了，又有修法、又知道自性空，那就成佛了。所以说，我们佛教里边，最重要的是讲一切法自性空，同时也讲广般若，就是一切修行的方便方式，这两个都要。虽然究竟的是自性空，但是方法方式没有的话也成不了佛。如果这两个都有，那就是圆满成佛的道也就有了。我们现在第一个，就是要有清凈的法流，该学什么法要知道，同时要知道一切佛教的核心是般若波罗蜜多。

这个颂子是什么意思呢？就是说，宗大师造这个三主要道的颂，它的意思就是说一切佛菩萨都赞叹的最好的菩提道，没有错误的，是求解脱的桥梁，这个最上入门的三主要道，宗大师说我将随我的力量给大家说一点。那么就是说，造论的一个开端，这个里边解释很多，我们大概就这么说了。一切佛经的最精要的意思、是一切菩萨都赞叹的菩提道，有缘求解脱者唯一的津梁，这样的法，宗大师说，我现在随我的力量给大家解释一下。

于三有乐不贪着，为暇满义而精进，

志依胜者所喜道，诸有缘者净意听。

下边就是讲什么呢？第一个就是讲出离心了，在开始讲以后呢，还要大家好好地听，就是说，他讲是讲得很好，但是我们心不在焉，听的时候打瞌睡，打妄想，甚至于怀疑你说的话对不对，我的看法是这样子的，跟他辩论起来了，那就好处得不到了。那么下面就是说该听的人呢好好听。

“于三有乐不贪着，为暇满义而精进，志依胜者所喜道，诸有缘者净意听。”那些对这些法有缘的人，是说对三界的享受不贪着的，如果贪着三界享受的，像现在跳舞厅的那些男女，你说你在听经，或你讲三主要道，他不要听，他说我正在喝酒，正在高兴，你把我拉过来干啥呢？他还发脾气，跟你吵架了。所以说，我们讲法还是有缘了，有缘接受这个法的人才能够接受这个法，没有缘的人他因缘不够，再好的法教给他，不起作用。

所以说我们要学三主要道的人，我们应该要以怎样的根器才能接受呢？第一是要对三界的快乐、享受不贪着的，这是最重要的。第二个，知道自己暇满大义。就是说，我们得到圆满的有暇的身，就是我们既不是盲聋喑哑，也不是生在边地，也不是三恶道，也不是世智辩聪不接受佛法的人，也不是长寿天，听不到佛法的那些人，就是离开八难的人。我们已经离开八难，同时内外都圆满，生在有佛教的地方，自己也耳根、意根都能够聪明接受佛教的。这样子的身体得到之后，应该怎么办？你去享受吧，搞世间快乐吧，那就糟蹋你人身，好容易过去培了很多福、持了很多的戒，发了很多的愿，得到现在这个身体，这是千劫难遇的身体，你把它轻轻错过了，那不是太可惜嘛。所以说我们真正对于三有的快乐不贪着的，对暇满的大义要真正认识得到不要浪费的，要做些真正有意义的事情的人，那么要好好精进，依了胜者——佛所欢喜的出离的三主要道，好好地跟着去精进。

对于这些有缘的人你好好地谛听谛听，听宗大师给你好好要说了。这是说，对于听经的人要有一定的意乐心，一定的条件。如果够这个因缘的人，也能够静下心来听的呢，那决定得好处。听经的一些要诀《菩提道次第》讲过了，要断器三过：不要打瞌睡，不要去痴心打妄想，也不要心里有邪见等等；还要具六想：把说法的法师当医生想，自己当病人想，说的法就是我的药等等这个六想。以这样的心态去听经就得好处了，否则的话，即使他讲得再好，我们还接受不了。那么既然谛听，那听什么呢？下边就要说了，就是要生起出离心来了，那么这本书的重点要讲的就是，解释这个三主要道了，出离心、菩提心、正见了。那么第一个介绍就是出离心。

无出离心无息灭，希求有海乐果法，

由贪有乐缚众生，故先寻求出离心。

“无出离心无息灭，希求有海乐果法，由贪有乐缚众生，故先寻求出离心。”没有出离心，不发心把三界的贪着的心灭掉的话是不能解脱的，所以说被三有系缚住，那就是解脱不了，所以说真正希望解脱三有脱离一切苦难的人首先要把出离心生起来，这是一个纲领性的总结的文字，具体它下面有解释。

我们说为了脱离轮回要求解脱，解脱就要先生起出离心，如果要求解脱的心都没有，你要想脱离轮回当然是不可能的。我们做什么事情都有一个目的，你目的都没有的，你怎么得果？成果是得不到的。所以说我们现在来说要生起出离心，我要出离，我要生起来，它就生起了，那么听话，那不可能。要好好观察，就是要观察我们在轮回里边到底是怎么回事。我们在轮回里边，有漏的五蕴一会儿投这个道，一会儿投那个道，生来死去，中间都在受苦，这个苦要知道。如果不知道轮回苦，认为很快乐，那就不想出去。生生世世不断的轮回，什么东西把我们捆在轮回里边，我们这个轮回的苦都不愿意受，那么哪个逼得我们受呢？是烦恼造业，你要起烦恼，造了业了，那就是轮回里边的苦很多了，解不了。那么这个也很简单了，你要脱离轮回的话，你就要断烦恼，那就是要放下贪欲了，这个就是一刹那之间了。我们先说要解脱轮回，一定要知道轮回的自性都是苦的，三恶道是苦苦、人间有八苦、天上有天上的苦、五衰相的苦，总的来说三界里边都有行苦。行苦是一切苦的根本，行苦在，苦苦、坏苦是免不了的。行苦表面上看起来很微细，但是实际上这个苦在圣者——证果证道的人的眼光来看，行苦的苦超过地狱的苦，这是《俱舍》里讲的。我们凡夫心很粗，就是说，一个沙子摆在手心上，找也找不到，但是圣者心很细，一个沙子放在眼睛里，那就很难受，一定要把它去掉。就是行苦在凡夫的份上，看起来好象没有关系，在圣者的身上一看行苦是最难受的，一定要把行苦除了，一切解脱三界才可以达到。

所以说，我们要脱离轮回，要出离三界了生死，单知道苦苦是不够的，有些人出家了，修行了，为什么？“哎呀，世间上苦得很，我一辈子受了苦。”他认识到的是苦苦，坏苦还没有认识到。一旦他的运气来了，什么东西来了，他的家里打电话来了，给他找到好的工作了，赶快去干了，他又走了，那是不坚固的。真正地要出离心生起，苦苦固然要认到，坏苦也要认到，行苦也要认到，三界里边彻头彻尾都是苦，你认识到之后你才说出离心才坚固了，否则的话都靠不住。这三个苦，凡夫怎么认得到呢？没有佛的眼光，我们怎么看得到呢？就是我们看细菌要靠显微镜，我们肉眼是看不到的。我们要认识苦，除了从经典里吸取佛的那些教授教诫之外，你从何而来呢？所以说，这个重要性要听闻正法。我们成了佛弟子了，不能说什么经都不要听了，“啊，我这么修就对了。”你怎么修啊？你道理也搞不清除，苦也认不清楚，你怎么解脱呢？你怎么求离苦呢？今天人家打你骂你了把你关起来，你感到很苦；明天把你捧上去了，做大官，你感到很高兴了。那你怎么解脱得了？所以说，对于真正修行的人第一个是听闻正法。前面我们不是说要依止善知识吗，依止善知识干什么？就是要听闻正法，所以说闻法是很重要的。

这里说我们出离心的生起来，一定要把轮回的真相知道，中间烦恼、造业，三界里边受的是什么？苦苦、坏苦、行苦，是这样彻头彻尾的苦的话，哪个还要贪着轮回呢？所以这中间是要经过这一番的闻、思、修的过程，没有这个过程我们苦是认不清楚的，我们的出离心也是不坚固的，是停留在嘴巴上的，是不踏实的。如果说，你苦认不清楚的话，那么清净的出离心也生不起来，清净出离心生不起来的话，要贪着三界的心也断不了。那么你要出轮回，那就是也不可能的。所以说，我们要出轮回，第一要把清净的出离心生出来，什么叫清净出离心呢？干干净净的、一点没有带这些烦恼痕迹的、彻底要脱离三界的心，这要生起之后，解脱才有希望。一切法都是有因有缘，你因都没有，果从何而来呢？有的人说，出离心是声闻道，出离三界我们不要，我们是学大乘的，出离心不要，我们要菩提心就够了，这个话对不对呢？这个话绝对不合逻辑。你自己都不想出三界，你为什么要把众生度出去呢？等于说，这个屋子很好，我自己想享受，我把他们都赶出去，这个哪是菩提心呢？正因为这个地方太苦了，我自己都受不了，我要把众生都度了，这个才是菩提心。所以说，菩提心的基础是从出离心来的，自己感到三界的苦受不了，要把一切父母众生同样是解脱苦难，这个心才是菩提心。所以说，我们大乘修菩提心，二乘修出离心，发了大乘菩提心的人就不能生出离心了，一生出离心就是二乘了，这个话绝对不合逻辑。出离心跟菩提心是不能分割的，有了出离心才能生长菩提心，没有出离心的话，菩提心没有根子的，没有根子的不会长苗，不会长芽，也不会开花，也不会结果。所以说，出离心和菩提心不是对立的，是互相有联系而有层次的，有出离心的基础，再扩大到一切有情，我们才能生起菩提心。这一点我们要搞清楚。我们汉地经常有人说，出离心是声闻的事情，我们是大乘，菩萨修菩提心就够了，出离心不能要了，要了就退到声闻去了，这个话是错了。应当说，有了出离心才能生起菩提心，出离心没有，菩提心无从生起。这个就是说，出离心跟菩提心不能割裂开来。

暇满难得寿无常，串习能除此生欲。

那么现在就是要介绍了。我们要断除三界的执着，这也不是一件容易的事情，要分两步走。一下子你说我要脱离三界，出离心生起来了，哪有这么简单呢？一切法都有因缘和合才能成功，你因没有，缘也没有，出离心就生起了，这是不合逻辑的，是虚妄的一些的想法。我们要介绍真正要生起出离心要分两步走。第一步呢，我们要把现世的享受放下，追求下一辈子。这个人家说你这个贪心大，有人说老太婆念佛贪心大，她要追求下一辈子的大福报，所以修行了，这个说法对不对？这不对的！

我们说，要把对三界的执着的心一下子放下，这是很困难的，那就分两步走，先把现世的放下，追求下一辈子。下一辈子那不是追求到天上享福了，追求下一辈子的，在佛教的法相来说就是增上生，就是下一辈子圆满的身体，能够修行，碰到佛教，发这个愿，因为成佛不是一辈子成就的，这一辈子我好好修，对于世间的五欲一切都除开，不要他，不执着。那么什么都不执着以后呢，一个凡夫他没的抓了，他心里空荡荡的难过了，给你一个抓的，求下一世的圆满身体。下一世的健康的、聪明的、寿命也很长的一个身体干什么？来修行，以这个来转移我们对于现世的贪着，这是一个方便了，而真正能够达到这个的，才算上了修行道路了，这是我们前面介绍的，开始成了一个修行的人，从这里起点。为了下一世的享受，为了现世的福报，这些佛徒也能称为佛弟子，但是不能成修行的人。修行的人最起码的，要把现世的享受放下，因为现世追求放下了，你难受了，没有一个抓的，就给你一个梯子，求下一辈子圆满的身体，再来修佛法。所以藏地的转世，藏地转世就是这样子的，这一辈子什么享受都不要，自己修行。下一辈子怎么样？把一切功德回向下一辈子，再做一个圆满的人，碰到佛教又好好修行。这样子一个方便，把你现世的放下。这里的颂就这么说，第一个就是说，消除现世贪着的方法：

“暇满难得寿无常，串习能除此生欲。”就是说，你要把现世的执着先放下，这是第一步，出离心第一步。然后把下世的放下。分两步走。那么你要把现世的贪着世间五欲放下怎么呢，要修两个法，就是两步走，就是说以两个方法来修这个。一个暇满大义难得，一个是寿命无常。

就是说，我们这个身体来之不易。大家知道人身难得嘛。人身难得有人就怀疑了，世界上不是人很多嘛？我们不是节制生育嘛，不要他生出来，怎么人身难得呢？多得很，我们还不要他呢，太多了。我们说，人身难得是指这一辈子人下一辈子再得人身，这样子极难的。那么现在那些多的是从哪里来的？天上享福享完了掉下来的，地狱里边受苦受完了出来的，畜生、饿鬼里边受苦出来的，修罗报完了到人间来的，他方世界来的，来源是很多。但是这一辈子是人，下一辈子再要做人，经上说的就是盲龟值木了：一个瞎的乌龟在海底见不到天日的，它要跑出来，一个浪头打下去了，好容易碰到一个木头，这个木头是有一个洞洞，乌龟头伸出来，这才呼吸到海面的空气，这个多难呢？一个瞎乌龟，要碰到一个木头，木头又有一个孔孔，这个孔孔它又碰上了，能够钻出去了，这极难的，这是一个比喻。另外一个比喻就是说，从须弥山顶放一根线下来，在须弥山脚下一根针，把它穿进去，这个好困难。经上就是说，这一辈子是人，下一辈子再做人难得是这样子。我们现在已经做到人了，以前的善根福德不晓得积累了多少，千万不要糟蹋，先要把暇满大义知道，我们人身是很不容易得到的，好不容易得到这个人身了，要好好利用了，就是这个话。

我们说我们的法是从佛清净等流下来的，是从佛经里边经过祖师传下来的，不是自己想出来的。那么这个法是成佛的最重要的法，一共是分三个，一个是出离心，一个是菩提心，一个是正见。

第一个出离心，就是说对三界不要贪着，这是解脱的因。但是我们要对三界不贪着，这个要修才能得到，这个心里想一想它是不会出来的，那么要分两步修。第一步，把现世贪着五欲的心放下，追求下一世有暇圆满的身体，要达到这个要求也要修，该修什么呢？修圆满的有暇的人身来之不易。第二个人身虽然得到了，（但是）无常随时随刻都会来，你如果不好好利用它修的话，一旦无常来的话来不及了，这千载一遇的人身失掉之后，下一辈子要得到人身来修行的话不知道哪一辈子了，千万亿劫是否能碰得到还不知道。以这两点来修，就把现世的五欲享受能够减轻，减轻到最后把它放下。具体的修无常我们只好明天再给大家介绍一下。今天因为他们还要上殿，我们就讲到这里。

In order to obtain a peaceful mind, one should eliminate attachments and greed at best. The more you eliminate, the more calmness you have. Otherwise, your mind is irritated by those aggregates and you spend most of your money on them. So you can realise that sickness, irritation, depression, even good or bad life are created by yourself. In this case, you are the most creative 'artist' in the world.

-- Droge Yonten Gyatso Rinpoche

Pure, Clear, and Vibrant

by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche

The technique of visualisation is employed throughout the Vajrayana practices of Tibetan Buddhism. Its use of our imagination makes it quite different from other meditations, such as shamatha, or calm abiding. Imagination also plays a major part in our deluded experience of life. Everything we encounter and perceive in our daily life is a product of our imagination, but because we believe in the illusions we create, they become such deeply rooted mental habits that we completely forget they are little more than fantasy. The imagination is therefore one of our most powerful tools, and working with it by changing the ways we look at our world is what we call the practice of visualisation.

One small problem for beginners is that the English word visualisation can be misleading. Most people think visualisation means focusing on an image and then holding it in their mind’s eye. But physical appearance is only one element of visualisation practice, and by no means the whole story. Peoples’ attitudes and understanding change according to their situations and education. Until very recently, Buddhist masters brought up in Tibet would have looked on salad and green vegetables as animal fodder and would never have willingly eaten it themselves. Now that Tibetans have become familiar with food outside of Tibet, their attitudes have changed, and it is precisely this kind of shift in our perception that we work with in our visualisation, which is also called “creation meditation.”

Another example of the way we adapt our attitudes to situations can be found on the World Wide Web. Most erotic pictures are usually quite small — certainly nowhere near life-size. Logically, it is hard to believe that such tiny images could cause living, breathing human beings to become aroused, but they do. Our habits are so entrenched that, having programmed ourselves to respond to a specific kind of image, it will consistently have the power to turn us on or make us angry, sad, or even depressed, even when we see it on a tiny YouTube screen. To a certain extent, this is how visualisation works, and neither size nor so-called realism have anything to do with it.

Were you to tell a worldly friend that everything we see around us — the houses, cars, trees, and shops — does not truly exist as we believe we see it, he would most likely think you had finally lost it. Yet, according to Vajrayana theory, your perception of this world is unique; it is not seen or experienced in the same way by anyone else because what you see does not exist externally. Vajrayana students who were born and brought up in the modern world often have dif­ficulties with visualisation practice. Part of the problem, I think, is that Tibetan teachers like myself assume all sentient beings process things the same way Tibetans do. We teach you to picture the Buddha the way he is traditionally depicted in Tibet, adorned with ornaments that are valued by Tibetans and convey specific mean­ings to them. But becoming a perfect Tibetan iconographer is not the point of visualisation practice.

The main purpose of visualisation practice is to purify our ordinary, impure perception of the phenomenal world by developing “pure perception.” Unfortunately, though, pure per­ception is yet another notion that tends to be misunderstood. Students often try to re-create a photographic image of a Tibetan painting in their mind, with two-dimensional deities who never blink, surrounded by clouds frozen in space, and with consorts who look like grown-up babies. Practicing this erroneous version of visualisation instills in you a far worse form of perception than the one you were born with, and in the process the whole point of pure perception is destroyed.

What, then, is really meant by the terms pure perception and impure perception? “Impure” does not mean that the object of our visualisation is covered with dirt or is polluted or defiled in any way; the impurity isn’t “out there.” “Impure,” in this context, means that the problem is “in here” — that is, we look at the world through emotional filters that we label “desire,” “jeal­ousy,” “pride,” “ignorance,” and “aggression.” Everything we perceive is coloured by myriad variations of these five emotions. For example, imagine you go to a party, and as you glance at someone you find attractive, your passion filter quickly clicks into place and you immediately label that person “desirable.” If someone else gets in the way, your aggression filter is activated and you label this other person “hideous.” As the evening wears on, other people provoke your insecurities, causing you to sit in judgment of them, make comparisons, defend your choices, and bolster your personal pride by denigrating others — all of which is triggered by the filter of profound ignorance. And the list goes on and on.

These different perceptions arise in our very own mind and are then filtered through our emo­tions. In fact, everything we experience, big and small, will always lead to disappointment because we perpetually forget that everything we perceive is a product of our own mind. Instead, we fixate on perceptions “out there” that we are convinced truly exist. This dynamic is what we work with in the Vajrayana practice of visualisation.

It’s all a matter of training the mind. One of the many methods offered within the three yanas of the Mahayana teachings is that of the Shravakayana, the “path of the listener.” In the Shravakayana, the student relinquishes clinging to “self” by disciplining body and speech using particular methods — for example, shaving the head, begging for alms, wearing saffron-coloured robes, and refraining from worldly activities like getting married or having sex. Training the mind in the Bodhisattvayana is also about practicing discipline in body and speech as well as meditat­ing on compassion, arousing bodhichitta, and so on. Lastly, the Vajrayana not only trains the mind through discipline and meditation on compas­sion, but it also offers methods for transforming our impure perception into pure perception.

THE DISSOLUTION OF A VISUALISATION

Ultimately, the most important goal of buddhad­harma, particularly the Bodhisattvayana, is the realisation of nonduality. One of the most effec­tive methods for accomplishing that realisation is the practice of visualisation, central to which is the dissolution of the deities or gurus as they merge to become one with the practitioner.

But how does the practice work?

Imagine the reflection of the moon in a mirror or on a lake. Although the reflection is pristinely clear, it is still just a reflection, not a direct view of the moon that has somehow been submerged beneath the water or inserted into the mirror. Another example is a rainbow: even though we can see the rainbow quite clearly, at the same time it is empty of intrinsic reality. Similarly, even though a rainbow is empty, we can still see it. Both the reflection of the moon and the rainbow are simultaneously empty and visible.

So, the meaning of nonduality here is the absence of separation, or the absence of dif­ference, between appearance and emptiness. In other words, nothing we perceive — not the guru, the student, or anything else — truly exists externally. And until we fully realise nonduality, the exercise of dissolving or merging the deity or guru with ourselves is an extremely useful tool.

It is also a method that works well if you want to receive blessings, empowerments, or even inspiration.

Often, however, practitioners have difficulties with this part of the practice because they tend to turn over in their minds all the theories about visualisation and dissolution that they have learned (while they are supposed to be practic­ing). This is a good example of how stuffing your mind with too many concepts can hinder your spiritual progress, and this is why we are told to put theory aside altogether when we practice.

The best advice here is to keep it practical. Spiritual practice is a bit like riding a bicycle: once you have learned how to cycle, there is no need to go over the theory behind how the gears work or to think about the best height for your seat every time you go for a ride. All you have to do is get on your bike and start pedaling. The key to visualisation is to do the best you can and not worry too much about whether what you are doing is right or wrong; eventually you will get the hang of it.

The pith instructions are extremely prag­matic — just do it! — which makes realising non-duality a little like learning to drive. However preposterous it may sound when you start out, having spent weeks learning about where all the different buttons and levers are in your car, there will come a time when you have no choice but to put the manual aside, turn on the engine, and drive. The same goes for visualisation prac­tice. At first, the dissolution may be more like dropping an apple into a bag than merging with the guru, but unless you take a risk and try it, nothing will change. With practice, though, your guru will become less like an apple and more like a glass of water that you then pour into a bucket of water — which is an indication that you are beginning to understand the process of nondual­ity a little better.

Eventually, you will come to realise that the dissolution happens in the same way that the space inside a container mixes with the sky and the whole atmosphere — and this is the part of the practice that many students misunderstand. Imagine a clay pot. It is both surrounded by and filled with space. When the pot breaks, the space that had been inside the pot mixes with the space that had been outside of it and the two become inseparable. It is not possible to tell the “inside” space from the “outside” space; space is just space and there is no way of knowing where any part of it originated. This is how the practitioner and the guru dissolve into each other to become inseparable.

Right now, because you cannot help seeing the guru or the Buddha as an independent entity separate from yourself, try to remember that what you see is exclusive to you, and everything that any of us sees, hears, or thinks is based on our own personal interpretation. This is the prin­ciple that not only forms the basis of all Buddhist philosophical theory but is also the reason that visualisation practice works. Louise may think of herself as “Louise,” but she would never describe herself as a “visualisation of Louise,” even though that is precisely what she is. In fact, every one of us is a visualisation of ourselves.

Questions often come up about whether or not visualisation is a method that’s effective only for people in certain cultures, or if it involves some kind of theistic worship. But as I have said, to visualise Guru Rinpoche or Vajradhara as they appear in a Tibetan thangka is a mistake. Even if it were possible for everyone to use exactly the same thangka, each individual’s perception of it would be different, and probably wouldn’t even come close to what the thangka’s artist had in mind. So, as we visualise Guru Rinpoche, or any deity, we might as well be bold about it. Guru Rinpoche is a sublime and superior being, and one aspect of “sublime” is usually beautiful, or at least very good-looking. But good-looking to one person is ugly to another, because, again, our interpretations are so very different. Surely there is no need for Americans and Mexicans and Bul­garians to have to learn the Tibetan definition of “good-looking.” All we can do is make the best use of our own interpretation. Don’t forget that even as you read these words, the mind inter­preting this text is your mind, and its interpre­tation is based on your habits and perceptions. You may think that you have understood what I mean by “good-looking,” but you haven’t; all that has happened is that you have developed your own version of what you think I mean by “good-looking.”

Another important point is that we do not visualise deities holding a vajra (a symbolic weapon or scepter) or kapala (a human skull­cap used as a ritual bowl) for aesthetic reasons or because ritual objects are especially useful. Some students wonder whether they should visualise deities holding something more modern, such as an iPad or an iPhone. But the attributes, orna­ments, and implements associated with each deity all hold important symbolic significance and should therefore remain intact, just as they have been described in the sacred texts.

The teachings on ngöndro — the founda­tional or preparatory practices that students are required to accomplish before going on to further Vajrayana teachings — tend not to emphasise one key point about visualisation. This point is usu­ally only mentioned in the context of sadhana practice, which is introduced after the student completes ngöndro. This key instruction is that as you create an image in your mind, the deity you picture should be clear, vibrantly alive, and sealed with an appreciation of nonduality. To give you some idea of what this means, take the example of visualising Guru Rinpoche as small as a sesame seed, sitting in a palace as large as Mount Meru. The palace you envision could even be as large as the whole universe. It may sound awkward and ugly, but in practice it works perfectly because the container is neither too big nor the contents too small. The difference in size between the sesame seed and Guru Rinpoche presents no problem at all. Other visualisations involve imagining the palace to be as small as a sesame seed and Guru Rinpoche as the size of the whole universe, still fitting into his tiny palace quite comfortably. This is an exercise in nondu­ality and it is used in visualization a great deal.

As the twentieth-century Tibetan scholar-monk Gendun Chöpel pointed out, Vajrayana practitioners must get used to believing in the unbelievable. Tantric methods of visualisa­tion might involve creating a raging inferno in your mind’s eye, in the midst of which sits a deity on a fragile lotus flower and a cool moon seat, embracing a very passionate consort, and surrounded by an unruly mob of angry deities wielding deadly implements. Yet the heat and the flames do no harm whatsoever and no one gets hurt. A rational analysis of such a situa­tion can only result in disbelief, since everything about this scene is contradictory and nothing in it could possibly exist in our ordinary reality. But the point is that tantric practitioners have to get used to believing in the unbelievable. Our aim is to unite and dissolve subject and object so that they are one. We unite desire and anger, dissolv­ing them into one, just as we do heat and cold, clean and dirty, body and mind. This is known as “the union of jnanas and kayas,” and is the ultimate kind of union.

Gendun Chöpel also said that the reason we cannot grab hold of inexpressible notions like that of dharmadhatu is not because we strongly believe in what exists. On the contrary, it is because we strongly disbelieve in what does not exist. But it will take quite some time to insert this new knowledge of nonduality into our very stubborn system of duality.

FIELD OF MERIT

To visualise effectively, we usually need to begin by creating a field of merit, the details of which will depend on the ngöndro tradition you are following. If you are a beginner, try not to get too paranoid about each and every detail of the visualisation — unless, of course, details inspire you. Remember that whatever you visualise is itself an illusion, a figment of your imagination based on your mind’s interpretation of various bits of information. The bottom line here is that illusions do not truly exist.

What is a “field of merit”? Imagine that you want to get rich and need some form of capital to invest. A farmer with such an aspiration will need a field in which to plant seeds or graze ani­mals; a business person will need a loan or inves­tors to finance a new venture. Likewise, those who follow a spiritual path, because they long to liberate themselves and all other suffering beings from this net of samsara, will need to accumulate merit. To do so, two fields of merit are used, one of sublime beings and the other of sentient beings. It is through these two that we are able, ultimately, to harvest the fruit of enlightenment.

Both fields of merit are employed throughout ngöndro practice. We visualise the sublime field of merit of the buddhas and bodhisattvas and imagine that they support us by providing all the power, compassion, and omniscience we need to bring all sentient beings to enlightenment. We visualise sentient beings in the ordinary field of merit and feel compassion for every one of them. In this way, we accumulate merit through both fields. Practitioners should therefore bear in mind that as we accumulate merit through visualisation practice, we will always either be praying to the buddhas or offering compassion to sentient beings, and in one form or another, these two fields of merit will be part of each of our practices.

Realisation is not knowledge about the universe, but the living experience of the nature of the universe. Until we have such living experience, we remain dependent on examples, and subject to their limits.

-- Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche

谈梦

太虚大师

一、梦的意义

佛学上说“梦”是什么东西？佛学谓一切众生有八种识：一、眼识，二、耳识，三、鼻识，四、舌识，五、身识，六、意识，七、末那识，八、阿赖耶识。梦既不是前五识，也不是末那及阿赖耶两识，乃是第六意识在睡眠时的心心所相应活动，这种活动就是梦。所以梦是睡眠相应的第六意识心心所，而与他识无关。在第六意识有有漏无漏之分，在诸佛圣人的意识是无漏的，在平常人类的意识是有漏的。有漏之意识，又有五俱及独行之分；五俱意识是眼识乃至身识之五官感觉之一，与第六意识同起的作用，此在醒时才有，如见色、闻声等。独行意识乃离开眼、耳、鼻、舌、身五官感觉之后，单独构成的。但独行意识的范围亦甚宽大，又分三位：一、清醒的时候，心力分散而非集中统一的为散位独行意识；二、经过修定工夫而增加许多超越的力量，为定位独行意识；三、梦时前五识不起现行，唯是第六意识之分别现忆，为梦位独行意识。而不称为睡眠意识者，因平常所谓睡眠，只是指血液的休息状态，而梦是睡眠时的意识现起活动，此可知梦是第六意识在睡眠中现出来的。有了梦位意识的见分相分同时现起，就是有梦了。

二、睡眠心所

梦是在睡眠中演成的。要知道梦是什么，兼要知道睡眠。通常所谓睡眠，但是生理的；而佛典所谓睡眠心所，则是心理的。成唯识论云：“眠谓睡眠，令身不自在昧略为性，障观为业”。“谓睡眠位身不自在，心极□劣，一门转故。昧简在定，略别寤时，令显睡眠非无体用，有无心位假立此名，如余盖缠心相应故”。睡眠心所，乃第六意识作用之一，谓意识心理作用与定心所合作，则成定位意识；与睡眠心所共起活动，就成为梦。

三、梦的来源

睡眠不定就成为梦。佛典善见律说梦的来源有四种，大智度论、毗婆娑论说有五种，内容所讲大同小异。今用毗婆娑论的五种：第一种、是由“诸病”：即身体上四大不调发生出来的病态，如身体在冷则梦水，身体感暖则梦火，即由生理关系而生梦。第二种，是由“思惟”：即心理有所希求，因感情和思想的不安宁就生梦，略同前心理说中的观念复起及想像二说。第三种，是由“曾更”：即前所经过留下来的习气，在梦中重演出来；凡人生的经验，都谓之曾更。第四种、是由“当有”：这种、在现代科学没有讲到，所谓当有，就是将来要实现的事情，先在睡眠的梦中发现出来。到了某时某月某日所发现的事情，果如睡眠的梦中所梦见的。余从前在湖北听一个人说，他在武汉起义前，有一晚上梦见许多人没有辫子，过了几天果然革命军政府成立，大家都剪了辫子，这是由当有的梦底一个例证。这种梦的性质，虽然有时发现，不过不是常有的。第五种、是由“他引”：由人心力底关系，所引生的梦，简名之曰“他引”。他字所包括的很广，凡他心等关系皆属之。譬如母亲爱子的关系，心理上有种像磁石相引的力一样，子女远别，常常梦见母亲的现状。从前伍廷芳说：可由梦中和朋友通信会晤，亦是“他引”的功用吧！

四、梦位意识与其他七识及五根关系

做梦的本身固然是第六意识睡眠相应心心所的活动，但是第六意识与眼识，乃至末那、阿赖耶识及五根亦有间接底关系。第七识与第八识是永不相离的，平常经验的印象，普通心理学以为是藏在脑府，在佛典则谓藏在第八识里；可知“曾更”及“思惟”的梦，都是与七识或八识所受熏的习气有关系。至于与前五识所依的五根底关系，不过没有十分显明，譬如以磨墨的声音影响到梦舂米，尤其是与身根的关系更切。由此可知梦位意识与七八二识一定有关系，与前五根识亦有相当的间接关系。

五、梦的空有及俱非

在佛典或说梦是空无的：如一般的经论多用梦来讲空，如人生如梦等说。或说是实有的：一切有部以为除自我是空，其余一切法都是有的；如现代“新实在论”所说，不惟具体的事物是有，即概念也是有的。这一切有部以为梦的事物虽有时不合事实，其实梦的构成是实在的；如梦有角之马，乃从角与马相加而成。或说非有非无的，如二十唯识的即空即有说：以梦喻天地人物都是唯识所现，如梦位意识所现的宇宙万有一样。然实际上，南普陀有一定的处所，开花有一定的时节，如何是唯识？故二十唯识以梦的功用来显唯识，以平常根身、器界都是共不共业所感所变的，都是如幻如化没有实体的，故二十唯识以梦位意识所现，既不是实有，亦不是全空，构成即空即有、非有非空的如幻有说。但照二十唯识论所说，则醒时的世界与梦时的世界殆无分别。然则前所言梦的几种特徵，不几可以推翻吗？以醒与梦既无分别，自无特徵可言了。故应进一步更讨论到梦与醒觉！

六、梦与醒觉

梦位的意识比较醒觉时与五根身同时现起来的五俱意识薄弱。复次、醒觉的根身、器界乃是第八识共同变现，梦时只第六意识睡眠相应心心所活动而有。更简单的说：醒觉位乃八个识所现，梦位但意识所现，范围之大小自不全同。在佛典上以醒觉时人生为“业识所现的梦”，经相当的训练修证，也有再醒的希望，所谓大梦然后大觉。乃指无明业力空掉了，成为大觉而言，犹之睡眠亦可醒觉一样。无如睡眠，业识所现如梦中境象；不过吾人破无明的盲动，完成大觉，与睡眠后的醒觉是不一样的。佛学的目的，端在求破无明后的大觉。

Since actions do not arise by way of their own essential nature, they also do not cease. It is also possible for a result to originate from an action that has not disintegrated. Therefore, since actions do not disintegrate, the connection between actions and results is completely tenable.

-- Chandrakirti

Overcoming Prejudice and Self Dwelling

by Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo

His Holiness the Dalai Lama meets people every day – new arrivals from Tibet with ghastly stories of their suffering and the suffering of their families and communities. He has to hear these accounts continually. He is the Leader of Tibet yet he’s powerless, so imagine the pain he feels. Then, since he is regarded as such a figure of peace he is connected with other aid agencies and communities in many countries. Everyday he hears heartrending tales from all over the world. His Holiness is continually besieged by people coming not only from Tibet but also from India and around the world, many of whom dump their sorrows in his lap, so he’s always concerned with the troubles of others. But is he miserable? If we tell him something sad he will weep because he really cares. But the next minute, he’s laughing again! Look into his eyes – they are sparkling. In most of the photos of the Dalai Lama, he is smiling.

A mind which is very obsessed with itself, which is controlled by the relative ego – its likes, dislikes, opinions, biases and ideas of how things or people should or should not be – is a mind which is rigid, judgmental and prejudiced. We all have it. We absorb prejudices with our mother’s milk. Even people who have dropped out from society have their strong biases. In fact, they are often the most rigid of all. People in alternative societies also have their own opinions, ideas, judgments and standards! They are not free.

Our mind is very conditioned. To a certain extent until we are totally enlightened, it is impossible not to have a conditioned mind because that is the way we think. But we should be conscious of the fact that we are very prejudiced and judgmental about everything. Everyone has their opinions. We think, “This is my opinion”, but usually it isn’t. It’s either the general opinion of the media or what program we have watched on television last night which was crafted very carefully to get us to agree with its viewpoint, or else it is the outlook of the particular group we hang out with. However, we take it as our own opinion. We stick by it and think this is truth and any other view is erroneous. Then a few years down the line, general opinions change and everybody goes the other way. It’s quite interesting. If we are old enough we can observe this happening.

When we are young, we imagine that what we think is the only way there is and anyone who thinks differently is crazy. The current trend is the ultimate truth, the final statement, and everything that went before it is old-fashioned and stupid. Then a short time later, everything’s changed again and our current style has become outmoded. All you young ones – you just wait! The way you are dressing now will make you laugh ten years down the line. When you look at photos of yourselves later, you’ll think, “Did I really look like that when I was that age – goodness!” But at that time, it was the height of cool.

We are all prejudiced, biased, and full of opinions and judgments, most of which are untested, most of which we have inherited either from our families and our social contacts, or from the books we read, or from the programs we watch.

Very few of them have been genuinely examined in the light of reason and understanding. But when we hold an opinion, we will die for it. People die for their ideas all the time, not that they are brilliant ideas. Instead, very often, they are stupid ideas. These beliefs, these opinions and judgments colour everything we see. They are not just innocuous or harmless.

Some opinions are pretty harmless – whether we take sugar in our tea or not, whether we think we should be eating only grain or fruit. These might affect our body but basically, they are innocuous. However, there are some prejudices which are very harmful for one’s own mind and for society. Obvious ones are religious and racial prejudices. They have caused so much harm in our world. Millions of people are killed because they don’t believe what we believe or because they belong to a different race, and for no other reason. They are not bad people, but “If you don’t believe what I believe, you deserve to die”.

So, this question of our opinions and our beliefs is not a small question. Most of our own beliefs and prejudices are indeed totally unexamined. Where do they come from? Have we really thought them through? Have we talked intelligently to people with different views? Have we read books about other ways of thinking? Usually, when we believe in something, we will only read books which enhance our beliefs. We don’t read books or watch programs which give a different point of view. If we watch someone saying anything we don’t agree with, we watch it with a prejudiced mind. It’s very interesting to observe that mind, because we are filtering experience all the time, and this also alienates us from what is happening around us.

So, what do we need to do? We cannot live without opinions and ideas while we are in an unenlightened state. The very fact that I’m a Buddhist nun shows that I have opinions and beliefs! But we have to understand that these are just beliefs -- they are just opinions. In themselves, they have no external verity. They are just judgments and ideas, which can change. There are certain ideas which have been going on for millennia and which definitely need to be examined anew. Certain qualities which we have always admired (which may or may not be admirable) should be examined with fresh eyes even though they have lasted all this while.

The important thing is not to identify ourselves with our thoughts and feelings, but to see that thoughts and opinions are just mental factors. Even a belief system in itself is a mental artefact. The Buddha, when speaking of the Dharma, said, “This is a raft , it’s a boat. It can take you from this shore of relative reality to the other shore of absolute reality”. Now, while we are mid-stream, we would be foolish to discard our raft , but when we get to the other shore, we would be equally foolish to then place the raft on our shoulders and carry it around out of respect. When we reach the other shore we no longer have need of the raft . The Dharma is just a device; it is the path, but it isn’t the goal.

All belief systems and religions are just relative. In themselves, they are not the truth but they can help us to realise the truth. Without them, it would be hard to gain spiritual realisation. We may be able to get a glimpse, but to stabilise that experience is quite difficult without some kind of spiritual discipline. Even the highest and noblest of opinions, ideas and judgments have to go in the end. Meantime, we should understand that all our prejudices, all our conceptions and biases should be understood as being just a passing phenomena. They do not possess ultimate validity from their own side, they are just mental states and not ‘me’ or ‘mine’.

We all appreciate that a truly enlightened mind would not discriminate. We know that a master who embodied genuine wisdom and compassion would be totally open and accepting of everyone. How could an enlightened master say, “Yes, I accept this person but I don’t accept that person”? It’s not possible to even imagine that. Therefore, the more we close our hearts to certain sections of society or religion or race, the less we are embodying our genuine enlightened nature. The more judgmental and rigid we feel, the more we are caught up in our likes and dislikes, the further we are away from an enlightened state, because an enlightened state is non-discriminating.

We come back to this question of the ego again. The ego leads us very much astray. In a society like ours which is so based on self gratification, we are far away from the true path. That’s why people are often so empty inside and feel so lost. We have to embody a way of life which shows us the way back home, back to our true selves, so that we are living from the point of view of our true nature and not from this false ego.

In the Dharma there are two ways to do this. First is the way of inner introspection, of learning how to calm the mind, of making it one-pointed. Then looking into the mind’s own nature so that we can distinguish between that which is false and that which is true. This way we can begin to let go of all our false identifications, especially our very strong identification with the ego. At the same time, we can begin to open out towards others through generosity. Not just generosity in the giving of material things but also giving time, giving understanding, giving space for people, being there when people need us. We cultivate non-judging, being open and being patient, understanding, tolerant, and not reacting angrily when things don’t go our way and when people don’t do what we want them to do. We gradually learn to accept things and take these difficulties of life onto the path, using them skilfully instead of reacting adversely and becoming angry. We develop kindness – what the Dalai Lama calls the good heart, – a heart that cares about others, not just about ourselves.

There are people who are desperately concerned about wild animals, trees, our environment. That’s wonderful. But sometimes these same people are rude to their parents and cause them much pain and worry. We have to start from where we are, and with whom we are. That starts with our parents, our partners, our children and our colleagues. Make them happy! Practice kindness, generosity, love, tolerance with those who are around us, towards those with whom we work, towards people we meet. Just be there for them, be kind to them, think that they also want to be happy. Try not to cause unhappiness to anyone. Try to make people a little happier; a smile or a kind word goes a long way. Stop being so self-absorbed. Think about others. What we want doesn’t really matter so much.

Usually we’ve been trying so hard to find our happiness by getting what we want for ourselves, that we stop thinking about what others want and how to make others happy. The irony is that if we genuinely think more about others than about ourselves, we become happy. We find that one day we wake up and realise that we feel good without even looking for it. It’s one of the paradoxes: the less we think about ourselves and the more we think about others, on the whole the happier we will be. The more we are obsessed with our own happiness and couldn’t care less about others, the more miserable we will make ourselves and all those around us.

There are so many things we can do. First of all, we start with trying to make happy those people around us. That’s our challenge. It’s much easier to sit and think, “May all beings everywhere be well and happy!” And when we think of those dear kangaroos, possums and wallabies jumping around, tears come to our eyes. But then, if we are planning to go out just as our mother wants us to do the washing up, we’re so angry. However our mother is a sentient being, our partner is a sentient being, our children are sentient beings and they are the sentient beings in front of us. They are the ones we have to wish to be well and happy.

In the Tibetan tradition, when we are meditating on all sentient beings, we have our father on the right and our mother on the left and then our enemies in front of us. We put all those people we don’t like right in front of us, followed by our family and friends. This is skilful because it reminds us that it’s not just sentient beings in general out there – those little specks on the horizon – who are important, it’s the people we have to deal with right now. That’s who we are talking about – people we are associated with and with whom we have a karmic connection. Whether we like these people or not, they are sentient beings wanting to be happy and it’s our responsibility to make them happy.

We come back again to the first thing we started with which was the sense of inner connection with the family and with the tribe, and then with one’s culture. This is very important. We have to strike a balance between being totally subjected to parental and tribal restrictions and being so free that we don’t connect anymore with anything. One way to do this is to develop a sense of inner centeredness. From this we can begin to radiate out towards all the beings around us. We don’t feel lonely any more because we know that at a profound level, we are connected with those beings. We are no longer concerned with what other people think about us; we are only concerned with how we can benefit other beings.

Society has become so distorted. It doesn’t give us what it promised it was going to give us. It doesn’t give everlasting happiness or peaceful joy. It just gives us a sense of despair, separation, frustration and this insatiable longing which can never be filled, a great hollowness within. Many people feel that everything is meaningless and they despair totally. There is so much depression – look at how many people are on medication like Prozac. Tibetans have never even heard of things like Prozac.

So, it’s up to us. No one can do it for us. We each have the responsibility for our own lives, to really get our lives centred and well-oriented. The methods are there, but we alone can implement them. When it’s clear in our mind, when we really see things with some clarity, then everything falls into place. Then it is very obvious what we need to do. But nobody can do it for us. It’s like swimming upstream. Society is flowing downstream to the swamps, flowing down to the wastelands of despair. If we go in that direction, that’s where we are going to be shipwrecked. So we have to swim upstream and that takes a lot of effort. So we are going in the opposite direction to the general flow but strangely enough that doesn’t alienate us.

Somehow once we really connect with our inner centeredness, far from feeling disconnected from all the beings around us, we feel intimately related in a deep sense. When we can direct our own lives in the right way we can then help guide others. We will attract like-minded people who are also beginning to question the modern ethos. Soon we may enjoy the society and friendships of many compatible people.

The Buddha praised friendship very much. There’s a curious dialogue in the Sutras where Ananda, the Buddha’s attendant, says to the Buddha, “I think that good companionship is half of the spiritual path”. And the Buddha replies, “Don’t say so, Ananda. Good companionship is the whole of the spiritual path”. Companionship with minds which are supportive, understanding and helpful is very important. In our lives as we travel in this new spiritual direction, these people will come to us. They are drawn like magnets.

The nature of reality is devoid of the extreme notions of existence and nonexistence, so it corresponds to the madhyamaka view. Reality cannot be fully expressed in language, so it is in keeping with the teachings of prajnaparamita. Everything is perfect within its own natural condition within the realm of reality, both in terms of samsara and nirvana, so it is in keeping with the views of dzogchen. In reality, nothing is intrinsically evil or intrinsically good, so it is in keeping with the views of the mahamudra teachings. To understand that reality is all pervading and that there is no need to abandon defilements because they can be used to enhance your spiritual practice is in keeping with the teachings of tantra.

-- Phagmo Drupa Dorje Gyalpo

高尚者高尚

文｜勿用

世間不解佛教之人，對於佛教常有消極避世之譏。略可分為三類：

態度尊重者，不能不承認佛法理想高、道理深，但用於積極改進整體世間，建構社會事業，則認為不夠。動輒譏之為：「孤高之絕體，無敷榮之大用。」

態度平和者，則認為佛教不外是宗教，談談因果道理也頗有教化人心、勸善遠惡之作用。對於出家人不事生產這件事，他們有些不滿意；兒女們若想出家，那絕對不可以；但自己老來若能到廟裡去安養，似乎也不是個壞主意。

惡意誹謗者，往往批評出家制度是違反綱常倫理，出家人成為社會的負擔，乃至指佛教為亡國之教者有之。

以上這三種態度，惡意誹謗者固不足論矣。但有第一及第二種想法，即使在佛教徒之中，恐亦不乏其人。就算是教界人士，對於選擇遠離人間，著重沈潛靜處的修行人，評價似亦不高。對於像筆者一樣，已捨俗出家，身為住持佛教僧團中的一分子而言，難免要碰到以上的問難。如何解釋與回答呢？實則，這個問題牽涉到了個人的價值觀是否建立得穩固；更與自己對於僧涯規劃有無明確的方向有關。不管是向外發為言說以服人；或者是向內真能從佛法的實踐中，為人生開出更光明的出路；這都是一個必須加以深思的問題。

的確，我們無法直接用三藏十二部經來解決現實的國防、外交、兩岸統獨、交通，乃至愛滋病等種種問題。屬於社會上的問題，還得交由世間的政治學、軍事學、社會學，或醫學來處理。所謂「佛法不與世間諍」，即此之謂歟！所以天台智者大師也說過：俗學世典屬於安人民、立社稷之法，不可無也。但是我們若能深思，即會發現，自有人類歷史以來，再強的軍事外交，也無法免於興亡更替；再好的律法制度，不能保證長治久安；再貴的醫藥，不能使人不老病死。因為，所謂「世間」者，正是遷流無常之義。一切世間之法，即使號稱為天經地義的三綱五常，都無所遁逃於無常的鐵則之外。

諸法因緣生，諸法因緣滅；

我佛大沙門，常作如是說。

佛陀對於人生的觀察是如此深刻而徹底。世間生生滅滅的這一切，無非是無常、是苦、無我、是空。但是人們迷惑顛倒，以為真實，在所執著的一切事相中又起種種造作，使得紛爭苦惱相續沒有終止。

佛陀從深徹的思惟觀察與自證的境界中，以大慈悲心為我們開示緣起的道理，並指示出種種修行的途徑。佛弟子們聽聞之後，依之而思惟、實踐，最後亦能如佛一般，趣入遠離一切諍執熱惱的大安樂境界──涅槃寂靜。這時候才能真正地、根本地、徹底地解決一切世間紛爭與人生的痛苦。這是「出世」真正的意義，

並非與世間對立而「厭世」或「棄世」。佛教所說的「出世」是更積極地超越與融攝，是不染而又不捨的。所謂：「般若將入畢竟空，絕諸戲論；方便將出畢竟空， 嚴土熟生。」有甚深的般若空智，了達世間幻化的真實相，所以能超越而又不染；有無量的慈悲喜捨，以種種善巧來接引眾生，所以能融攝而不離。般若智甚深，菩薩行廣大，誰說佛法沒有敷榮之大用？

然而，要成就如此甚深無礙的般若慧，以及廣大無礙的方便行，豈是易事？要「優入聖域」畢竟非一蹴可幾，若不能多學而識，如何能一以貫之呢？世間學問尚且要求盡一生之力來達到致廣大而盡精微，極高明而道中庸的境界；何況菩薩自利利他的大事業，豈是幾十年寒窗苦讀就可以成辦的呢？

《大智度論》中，人問龍樹菩薩：「菩薩法以度一切眾生為事，何以故閑坐林澤，靜默山間，獨善其身，棄捨眾生？」

龍樹菩薩回答說：「菩薩身雖遠離眾生，而心常不捨；靜處求定，得實智慧以度一切。」譬如服藥將身，權息眾務，氣力平健，則修業如故。菩薩宴寂亦復如是。以禪定力故，服智慧藥，得神通力。還在眾生，或作父母妻子，或作師徒宗長，或天，或下至畜生，種種語言方便開導。」

又云：「菩薩……發大悲心，欲以常樂涅槃利益眾生。此常樂涅槃，從實智慧生；實智慧從一心禪定生……若無禪定靜室，有智慧其用不全；得禪定則實慧生。以是故，菩薩雖離眾生，遠在靜處求得禪定，以禪定清淨故，智慧亦淨。」

無論自度或者度他，禪定與智慧缺一不可。所謂：「非禪不智，非智不禪」也。佛教的崇高理想與廣大理論，必須落實在最細微嚴謹的實踐中。因為，佛法師子之乳，匪琉璃瓶無以貯之。凡任重致遠者，亦必先求其器識；捨俗出家學道，遠離五欲塵勞，廣集福智資糧，歷聞思修以成就自身道器，是絕對必要的。

是以，一位初發菩提心的行者，身雖遠離，絕非為獨善而忘世，而是為了養深積厚。誠所謂：「道高而志愈勤；心明而事彌慎」；「不忍聖教衰，不忍眾生苦」。懷著這樣的憐憫心，於「水邊林下，長養聖胎」，於「深山絕谷，獨自修行」。不畏過程之艱難，不怕時間之長遠，發願為眾生而修學一切。

《般若經》云：「無量人發菩提心，少有至阿惟越致地者。」智者大師云：「大事未辦，彌須安忍。」明白這樣的道理，面對譏誚時，心中自然坦蕩無愧；遭遇質問時，再也無須啞然以對。更重要的是，先掌握住這樣的精神，在考慮自己的僧涯規劃時，看清楚自己還是未斷煩惱的凡夫，明了何者應急急以求之，何者應待時方乃成辦，也就能有比較適切的安排了。

〈慧思大師誓願文〉云：擇！擇！擇！擇！祈與一切有識者共勉！

Compassion is the very soul of your Dharma practice. It's compassion that brings you to the resultant state of Buddhahood, and so allows you to perform wonderful enlightened activities for the welfare of others.

-- Ribur Rinpoche

Beginning Anew

by Thich Nhat Hanh

Beginning Anew is not to ask for forgiveness. Beginning Anew is to change your mind and heart, to transform the ignorance that brought about wrong actions of body, speech, and mind, and to help you cultivate your mind of love. Your shame and guilt will disappear, and you will begin to experience the joy of being alive. All wrongdoings arise in the mind. It is through the mind that wrongdoings can disappear.

At Plum Village, we practice a ceremony of Beginning Anew every week. Everyone sits in a circle with a vase of fresh flowers in the center, and we follow our breathing as we wait for the facilitator to begin.

The ceremony has three parts: flower watering, expressing regrets, and expressing hurts and difficulties. This practice can prevent feelings of hurt from building up over the weeks and helps make the situation safe for everyone in the community.

We begin with flower watering. When someone is ready to speak, she joins her palms and the others join their palms to show that she has the right to speak. Then she stands, walks slowly to the flower, takes the vase in her hands, and returns to her seat. When she speaks, her words reflect the freshness and beauty of the flower that is in her hand.

During flower watering, each speaker acknowledges the wholesome, wonderful qualities of the others. It is not flattery; we always speak the truth. Everyone has some strong points that can be seen with awareness. No one can interrupt the person holding the flower. She is allowed as much time as she needs, and everyone else practices deep listening.

When she is finished speaking, she stands up and slowly returns the vase to the center of the room.

In the second part of the ceremony, we express regrets for anything we have done to hurt others. It does not take more than one thoughtless phrase to hurt someone. The ceremony of Beginning Anew is an opportunity for us to recall some regret from earlier in the week and undo it.

In the third part of the ceremony, we express ways in which others have hurt us. Loving speech is crucial. We want to heal the community, not harm it. We speak frankly, but we do not want to be destructive. Listening meditation is an important part of the practice. When we sit among a circle of friends who are all practicing deep listening, our speech becomes more beautiful and more constructive. We never blame or argue.

Compassionate listening is crucial. We listen with the willingness to relieve the suffering of the other person, not to judge or argue with her. We listen with all our attention. Even if we hear something that is not true, we continue to listen deeply so the other person can express her pain and release the tensions within herself. If we reply to her or correct her, the practice will not bear fruit. We just listen. If we need to tell the other person that her perception was not correct, we can do that a few days later, privately and calmly. Then, at the next Beginning Anew session, she may be the person who rectifies the error and we will not have to say anything. We close the ceremony with a song or by holding hands with everyone in the circle and breathing for a minute. Sometimes we end with hugging meditation.

Hugging meditation is a practice I invented. In 1966, a woman poet took me to the Atlanta Airport and then asked, “Is it all right to hug a Buddhist monk?” In my country, we are not used to expressing ourselves that way, but I thought, “I am a Zen teacher. It should be no problem for me to do that.” So I said, “Why not?” and she hugged me. But I was quite stiff. While on the plane, I decided that if I wanted to work with friends in the West, I would have to learn the culture of the West, so I invented hugging meditation.

Hugging meditation is a combination of East and West. According to the practice, you have to really hug the person you are hugging. You have to make him or her very real in your arms, not just for the sake of appearances, patting him on the back to pretend you are there, but breathing consciously and hugging with all your body, spirit, and heart. Hugging meditation is a practice of mindfulness. “Breathing in, I know my dear one is in my arms, alive. Breathing out, she is so precious to me.” If you breathe deeply like that, holding the person you love, the energy of care, love, and mindfulness will penetrate into that person and she will be nourished and bloom like a flower.

At a retreat for psychotherapists in Colorado, we practiced hugging meditation, and one retreatant, when he returned home to Philadelphia, hugged his wife at the airport in a way he had never hugged her before. To be really there, you only need to breathe mindfully, and suddenly both of you become real. It may be one of the best moments in your life.

After the Beginning Anew ceremony, everyone in the community feels light and relieved, even if we have taken only preliminary steps toward healing. We have confidence that, having begun, we can continue. This practice dates to the time of the Buddha, when communities of monks and nuns practiced Beginning Anew on the eve of every full moon and new moon. I hope you will practice Beginning Anew in your own family every week.