感恩

卓格永丹嘉措仁波切

佛教認爲：因果不可思議，每一個人的一舉一動都是因果規律；所以，無論遇到好、壞之事，僅存於感恩之心，這樣的話好與壞的因緣自然會煙消雲散！感恩、再感恩，最好不要只是挂在口頭上！

“感恩偉大的金剛上師！您的慈悲和護持的恩德無法用言語來表達。如要表述，我等只能說一句：因爲遇見了您，我等沒白來人間一趟；因爲有了您，我等的人身光明無限。與您一起是我等生命中最寶貴的時光！感恩，再感恩！南無古日白”！

“感恩是一種美德，也是令我們常保一顆尊敬之心和擁有與他人之間真誠的友誼的源泉。所以懷有感恩之心的人，常常可以感受到內心的快樂與美好。阿彌陀佛”！

“有的人爲了得到快樂而增長控制、稱霸、和擁有的欲望，結果得到的卻是無窮的痛苦。實際上，感恩才會使我們從心底裏體會到快樂，它是我們得到真正的幸福和福慧資糧的點金術。感恩所有的，包括害我的及被我害的一切衆生”！

“做任何事情，要先想清楚以後再做。若已做最好不要放棄，總會有結果的。不要特別地在意其結果的好壞，因爲經歷過的總會給我們帶來很多驚喜。它應該會成爲我們將成功的序幕。成功之時不要太激動，而要感恩生活中的每一件事！”

"我們最好做好自己。如果每個人做好自己這個世界自然會和平吉祥！國家也會安寧，衆生也得幸福！但何爲幸福呢？有人認爲開心是幸福；有人認爲知足是幸福；有人認爲健康長壽就是幸福。到底什麽是幸福呢? 還得看個人的需求。事實上，沒有永恒的幸福，但時時保有一顆感恩的心，就會常常感覺到幸福。"　

“有人問到底什麽叫幸福？說不清楚啊！健康是幸福？不愁吃穿是幸福？自由職業是幸福？有了名利是幸福？雖然從個個角度看似幸福，但是，應該是暫時的！因爲當你擁有上面的每一件事的時候，一開始有幸福感，但時間一長幸福感就消失了，這只能怪我們生在欲界了。我覺得要想成爲知足常樂的人，應多感恩生活中的每一件事。”

“感謝上師三寶的恩德，因爲我有幸還活著，賜予給我和衆生得到了暇滿人身！感恩！嗡哈恰嘛拉瓦熱央梭哈！”

“今天是非凡的日子，應該珍惜生命中的每一刻，以及人生的酸甜苦辣！用平等的心態面對一切，只要是能夠增加一沙的善業，也要盡力去做。阿彌陀佛！”

“你想得到幸福嗎？如果想，那就放棄想幸福的念頭。你想放棄想幸福的念頭嗎? 如果想，那就放棄不幸福的執著。你想放棄不幸福的執著嗎? 如果想，那就無條件地知足對現在的生活吧！阿彌陀佛！”

“我們人類的非常明顯的毛病就是：對已擁有的任何東西一般都不珍惜，知道珍惜的時候已經沒有機會了，正如民間的諺語‘寶在手中不知寶，失去寶時悔無意’。包括我們的人身、生活、兄弟、姐妹、財富、家庭、父母等等，都得善待才有質量，知足才有幸福，常樂才會圓滿。總之能做到知足常樂，才會健康長壽。”

“我們應當對自己有害的所有行爲看成自己的福。因爲，它給我們帶來很多有意義的事，所以，我們感恩生活，感恩一切。”

“我們剛遇到好事時，對這個事應該有感恩的心，這一般誰都認可。但是遇到不好的事時，很多人都爲此煩惱，其實我們應該也是同樣的感恩！爲什麽呢?因爲它給我們帶來的是消業的機會，當特別高興地接受這件事的刹那間，我們的心相續當中生起一個從未感受過的快樂和感激。也許我們這時候才能真正感覺到真善美。”

“生活在感恩的世界：感激傷害你的人，因爲他磨煉了你的心志。感激欺騙你的人，因爲他增進了你的見識。感激鞭撻你的人，因爲他消除了你的業障。感激遺棄你的人，因爲他教導了你應自立。感激絆倒你的人，因爲他強化了你的能力。感激斥責你的人，因爲他助長了你的智慧。感激所有使你堅定成就的人。阿彌陀佛！”

Your mind won’t be found elsewhere. It is the very nature of this moment-to-moment thinking. Regard nakedly the essence of this thinking and you find present awareness, right where you are.

-- Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye

The Wisdom of Discernment

by Khandro Rinpoche

In the Buddhist Sutras, we find that the Buddha's students requested him not to enter into mahaparinirvana. At that point, the Buddha gave his most essential teaching on the experience of death. The essence of the instruction is this: Everything that is born dies; everything that is generated goes through degeneration and destruction.

We can do no greater harm to ourselves than not to think about impermanence. Where impermanence is not properly understood, everything samsaric becomes important and a seemingly reasonable cause to accomplish, when in fact life is as fragile as a bubble. We cannot really say whether the next moment will bring the experience of the next moment or the next life. In the time between inhaling and exhaling, we cannot guarantee that breath will not stop. The causes of impermanence and death are many; at this very moment, we could do something to cause destruction or death to arise. We cannot really plan ahead as far as tomorrow, let alone the next ten or twenty years.

If the mind is obscured by ignorance at the time of death, it will create more ignorance. If we respond to the experience of impermanence with complete openness and selflessness, however, our understanding will be the foundation of liberation from suffering.

Contemplating impermanence gives rise to the wisdom of discernment. With this we can truly discern between useful activities that bring about genuine goodness and useless activities that are of no benefit to anyone. Seeing the enormous amount of time and energy we spend in useless activities, we can turn our mind toward Dharma, which is an activity that is truly fruitful and beneficial for sentient beings.

In such a fragile and changing existence, what distraction, laziness, or ignorance is important enough to dismantle the awareness needed to rest in your fundamental nature? Contemplating impermanence, focus your mind on this: If death occurs at this moment, what is most essential? What will truly benefit yourself and others? Will any of the concepts, hesitations, or distractions that you allow to rule your life truly make any sense at the moment of death? And if holding on to such things won't help you or anyone else at that moment, why would any sensible human being with such precious endowments continue to be enslaved by them?

At this moment, you have the potential for control. You can take this opportunity to bring your potential to fruition. To do this, you must let go of any stubbornness and grasping at notions of solidity where there is none — and bring whatever arises into genuine awareness inseparable from buddha mind, your enlightened essence.

It is not only in death that we see constant change: time is constantly changing; thoughts are constantly changing. Constant movement prevents the mind from ever coming to rest with complete certainty that it is not subject to impermanence. Nevertheless, we continue to assume that time is solid, thoughts are solid, our movements are solid, and this "self" is solid. Mistaking that which is impermanent to be permanent, we come up with a mistaken view, based on which we try to solidify things that are constantly in flux.

Time is a simple example of this. We usually think of time in terms of past, present, and future time. Each of these notions requires the existence of one moment that stays still. We base our solid sense of time on a single solid moment called present time, and any other moment is past or future. Proving this, however, is impossible, since there is no such thing as "present time." The stream of time is constantly changing and not solid: as soon as we think of the present it is already past.

In the same way, thoughts are constantly in flux. As soon as we think a certain thought — and then busily base our judgements on it — its inner essence has already moved on. The movement of the initial thought creates a second thought; and by the time we recognise it, the second thought arises as a third thought, and so on.

And what about this seemingly solid self? Nagarjuna describes how even the great and massive civilisations of this earth are completely dismantled, changed, and, impermanent as dust particles, blown away by the wind. Whole world systems collide and collapse and become extinct. Compared to that, any arrogance based on the seeming solidity of a single, impermanent self would be quite unnecessary and a mark of ignorance.

But we have come to believe in the solidity of our emotions and to base our judgements on them. From the belief in a solid self — which can't even be posited from the standpoint of impermanence — grasping and the logic of grasping arise. Because we think we have cause for grasping and an object to grasp, endless displays of selfishness and emotions create further distraction from the fundamental ground. We will continue to generate selfishness and unkindness as long as we maintain some cause: jealousy has a cause, hatred has a cause, aggression has a cause. These are the depths of ignorance to which the minds of sentient beings can go.

Although selfishness has no actual cause or location, we still feel that ultimately, somewhere inside, there's a secure storeroom where attachment is quietly hidden and all of the things we want to hold on to are stacked and inventoried. But if everything is in a constant state of flux, what could we possibly find to protect or maintain? And how could we possibly "store" anything? All of the emotional displays that we try to maintain are nothing but suppositions of mind — a mind that hasn't understood change.

Allow your mind to go further into a sense of death arising in each passing moment. Every move you make is an indication of change and impermanence. Each moment you sit in meditation, manifold degeneration, destruction, and change take place. In light of this, any tendency to still feel separate from impermanence and change would be absolute ignorance, which would prevent clear understanding from arising in the mind. Remain in meditation with a genuine awareness of constant impermanence and the urgency arising from this.

If impermanence is true, however, we can actually give rise to positive tendencies. If change is the very nature of all outer and inner phenomena, there is no basis for any confidence in a solid self and no need for any logic to defend or protect it. Why then would we generate anger, for example? Anger is generated solely to protect a self that has to retain its identity and defend its ground — a self that is not really there. Contemplating our various experiences of impermanence, we can understand how unnecessary and useless it is to grasp at a self — at which point genuine selflessness arises.

There are fewer and fewer trustworthy people in this degenerate time, so we should be discreet in our actions and restrain from idle talk, to keep ourselves away from unnecessary troubles.

-- His Holiness Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche

烦恼与解脱

文珠法师

世间没有绝对的快乐，也没有永远的痛苦；快乐与痛苦，是相对的。所以人有时会乐极悲生，有时会苦尽甘来。不过，人生际遇往往是可乐者少，可悲者多，因此，人生的烦恼也就无量。尽管人类不断追求快乐，咒诅痛苦，意图摆脱烦恼；但快乐并不会因人的追求而降临，烦恼也不会因人的咒诅而消除。相反的，烦恼像电子般浸溶在空气里，弥漫着整个大地，好象罗网一样，重重笼罩着人生舞台，令人苦恼；又像钢锁一般，深深紧扣着人的心弦，使人成为烦恼的俘虏。

真的，芸芸众生，谁无烦恼？

个人有个人的烦恼，家庭有家庭的烦恼，社团有社团的烦恼，政治也有政治的烦恼，乃至学术界亦有学术界的烦恼。特别是当今百犬争吠，群蛙乱鸣的时代，社会越来越紊乱，人事也越来越复杂，人的处境，遭遇，都在无穷无尽的变更中，故人的烦恼也特别多，谁都不能粉碎烦恼的枷锁，取消烦恼的束缚。

烦恼究竟是什么呢？究竟可不可以解脱？在佛经说：烦恼是可以解脱的。释迦牟尼佛不是彻底解脱了烦恼的束缚，亲证自由自在的真理生命？只要我们肯信受佛所指示的方法去实践，必可像佛一样解脱烦恼。因此，笔者特别提出「烦恼与解脱」来研究，希望找出烦恼的根源，及解脱烦恼的方法。

一、烦恼的含义

烦恼，是佛教圣典里的术语，又名无明、有诤、缠缚、染污法，有漏法、生灭法等，简明的说，烦恼就是一种热恼、昏烦、焦燥、逼迫而能破坏人心灵的安宁与愉快的毒素，亦是一种顽冥无知又能障覆人性的麻醉剂。《大智度论》说：「烦恼者，能令心烦，能作恼故，故名烦恼。」僧肇法师亦说：「七使九结，恼乱众生，故名烦恼。」不错！烦恼是毁坏幸福乐园的氢气弹，也是战争的导火线，和平的死敌。有了它，人类就会毁灭幸福，社会也无法安宁。今日世界的战火处处，就是导源于人类内心无明烦恼的驱使。

二、烦恼的来源

佛说：众生的心灵－自性，本来是圣洁清净而无染，快乐而宁静的，为什么现在会烦烦恼而且恼不得安宁呢？无他，只因众生无始以来一念不觉，忽起无明，迷蒙了本来明觉而清净的真如自性，俄然兴起纵横交错，颠倒杂乱的妄念。妄认四大为自身相，六尘缘影为自心相，内计人我，外生分别取舍，遂为妄境所转，造种种业，以致招来生死的苦果。依苦果又起惑，又造业，又招感苦果，所谓：「无明爱取三烦恼，行有二支属业道，从色至受并生死、七支同名是苦道。」惑、业、苦，如连环钩锁般相连不绝，生生不已，众生的烦恼与痛苦，也就无穷无尽，是以无明，该是一切烦恼与痛苦的根本。

《楞严经》说：「性觉必明，妄为明觉。觉非所明，因明立所（无明业相）；所既妄立，生汝妄能（能见相）；无同异中，炽然成异（境界相）。异彼所异，因异立同（虚空）；同异发明，因此复立，无同无异（众生）。如是扰乱，相待生劳（智相），劳久（相续相）发尘（执取相），自相浑浊（计名字相），由是引起（起业相），尘劳烦恼（业系苦相）。

又说：「晦昧为空，空晦暗中，结暗为色，色杂妄想，想相为身，聚缘内摇，趣外奔逸，昏扰之相，以为心性，一迷为心，决定惑为色身之内。」都是说明众生因无明不觉，将灵明觉照的真空，变为冥顽晦昧的虚空，而成为无明业相。再由无明的力量，转本具的智光，成为能见的妄见，是为转相。复由能见的见相，而幻生山河大地，诸有为相，因此而成立境界相，于是智相、相续相、执取相、计名字相、起业相、业系苦相，随之俱来。所谓：「一念不觉生三细，境界为缘长六粗。」三细六粗一切一切的烦恼，无不是从无明而产生，怪不得《楞伽经》第三卷说：「贪爱名为母，无明为父。

由此可知，一切烦恼的产生，皆导源于无明；无明是众生流转生死的根本，也是人生苦恼的来源。

三、烦恼的种类

关于烦恼的种类，在大乘分为五住，名为五住地烦恼；因为根本烦恼，能生枝末烦恼，故名住地。《胜鬘经》「能生为地，令所生成立名住。

五住是：

见处住地 - 指三界见惑；

欲爱住地 - 指欲界九品思惑；

色爱住地 - 指色界四地三十六品思惑；

有爱住地 - 指无色界四地三十六品思惑；

无明住地 - 指三界九地的无明烦恼。

前四住地，属枝末无明；后一住地，属于根本无明。又前一住地，见道位能断；后四住地，修道位能断。

天台宗则分为见思烦恼、尘沙烦恼、无明烦恼三大类。《俱舍论》则分为大烦恼地法（痴、逸、怠、不信，昏沉、掉举）；大不善地法（无惭、无愧）；小烦恼地法（忿、覆、悭、嫉、恼、害、恨、谄、诳，憍）；及不定地法（贪、瞋、慢、疑、寻、伺、恶作、睡眠）。现在根据唯识宗说：有根本烦恼，以及随烦恼等种类不同：

（一）根本烦恼

根本烦恼是贪、瞋、痴、慢、疑，恶见等六种。

贪、梵语「啰识」，译名贪，又名贪欲或名贪爱。《成唯识论》言：「于有有具染着为性。」有，就是我执，指众生现实的生命；有具，指法执，是众生对世间一切物质的享受贪爱执着。众生不但贪爱自己的生命、地位、权威、名誉，以及一切物质享受，甚至得陇望蜀，贪之不厌；往往为了满足自己的欲望，为了使自己生命的延续和发展，于是展开剧烈搏斗，唯利是图，只要达到自己目的，不顾公理与正义，不顾人情和友谊。可是，人之所欲无穷，而物之可以满足人的欲望有限，结果失望者多，而偿愿者少；因此，由贪欲转为瞋恚、忿怒、敌视、仇恨、怨结、残酷而酿成世界混乱，何只个人烦恼丛生，同时导致战争，破坏和平，给历史填写下无数可悲可泣的故事，给人类带来无边苦恼。所以贪，委实是极恶的罪魁祸首，被视为根本烦恼之一。

瞋、梵语「讫罗驮」，译名瞋恚，是对他人或面临不如意的逆境时，有恨于内，而发于外的形态。论云：「不安稳住，恶行所依为性。」瞋恨确是一切恶行的主力，一个动了瞋恨心的人，不但使自己身心焦燥不安，理智丧失，做出种种不道德的事情；同时亦忿恨与恼害他人。试看，世间怒目狰狞，破口相骂，举拳相打，甚至杀人放火或拔刀相向等种种罪恶行为，那一种不是瞋恨心所主使呢！故经言：「一念瞋心起，百万障门开。」又说：「瞋恚之火，能烧功德林。」可知瞋心为害甚大，是三毒中最毒的一种。

痴、梵语「慕何」，译名痴，有理痴和事痴之别。理痴，是迷于谛理，不能明白心性，而幻生我法二执，属于根本无明。事痴，是迷于事相，不明因果，不辨邪正，因而产生种种邪知谬解，属于枝末无明。《瑜伽师地论》说：「痴异名者，亦名无智，亦名无见，亦名非现观，亦名惛昧，亦名愚痴，亦名无明，亦名黑暗。」《成唯识论》说：「诸烦恼生，必由痴故。」真的，痴是一种最昏迷愚昧的心态，亦是一切烦恼的根本；它，不特对于一切事理、性相、是非、好恶和曲正，缺乏正确的理解和明辨的分析，反而认妄为真，认物为己，以苦为乐，以无常为常，以无我为我，以不净为净。积年累月，都在昏迷的黑夜里摸索，使自己的生活失去意义和价值，使生命失却平衡的力量；因此，贪、瞋、慢、疑、一切烦恼，都由此而生。

慢、慢是傲慢、憍慢，即是「恃己凌他，高举为性，能障不慢，生苦为业。」佛经说慢有七种不同：慢、过慢、慢过慢、我慢、增上慢、下劣慢、邪慢等。或有说九慢，如《阿毗达摩发智论》二十卷说：「此见取见苦所断，有九慢类，谓我胜，我等，我劣；有胜我，有等我，有劣我；无胜我，无等我，无劣我慢。」虽然，但概括而言，不出三种，即于胜我者，不生恭敬；于劣我者，轻视侮辱；于与我等者，心不谦下。或恃己凌他，贡高我慢，或仗自己的金钱、地位、权势、声誉、智识、学问而于内心浮起一种卑贱他人、轻蔑他人、鄙视他人的狂态。有这种心理的人往往目空一切，盛气异常，不特恼乱他人，同时对自己本身的改良和进取，亦不能提升，甚至招来无穷的损失。

疑、这是一种不能当机立断，不能信任他人，永远犹豫不决的心理病态。《成唯识论》说：「于诸谛理，犹豫为性，能障不疑善品为业。」《大乘义章》云：「疑者于境不决，犹豫曰疑，有二种：一者疑事，如夜观树，疑为是人、非人等。二者疑理，疑诸谛理，小乘法中，唯取疑理，说为疑使，大乘通取，皆须断故。」一个有猜疑心的人，无论对任何事情或真理，都缺乏理智的分析和进取的决心，而陷于狐疑的迷网中，进退维谷，不独障碍一切善法的修学，错过许多良好机会，还会因怀疑真理，不信真理，甚至毁谤真理而妄作恶业，沉溺三界，永为生死所缠缚。

恶见、见是心理上或知识上的一种概念，梵语「捺喇舍囊」，即是思虑、推求、审详、决择事理的观察力。然为什么说名恶见呢？因为这种见解，是不正确是乖理的，不合乎逻辑的成见、偏见、倒见和邪见。《成唯识论》说：「于诸谛理，颠倒推度，染慧为性，能障善见，招苦为业。」这里约其业用边说，可分为五种：

萨迦耶见，译为有身见，身即是众生现前这个五蕴四大和合幻现的色身，此色身原是众缘和合，本无实我，但众生不解，妄于此虚幻不实的色身，生起种种计度，计有我、我所。我及我所的知见，起于自身，故名身见。如《成唯识论》言：「于五取蕴，执我我所，一切见趣，所依为业。」

边见，众生既然以为实有一个我的存在，那么，我死了以后究竟怎样？是断灭？或常住不灭？有些人说，人死是断灭的；但也有人说，人死是常住的；仁者见仁，智者见智，各有各的固执，各有各的倾向。《成唯识论》云：「即于后随执断常，随处中行，永离为业。」总之，无论是执断或执常，都是虚妄的推测，愚痴的武断，亦是乖违中道的妄想执着，故名边见。

邪见，《成唯识论》言：「谤因果作用实事，及非四见，诸余邪见。」因果定律，原是宇宙人生的轨则；宇宙间万物都逃不出因果定律的范畴。可是没有智慧的人，不但不信因果，还拨无因果。如现代的唯物论者，一致认为宇宙等如一所庞大的工厂，而人生则等如工厂内部的机械；恶不足惧，善不足珍。发出这样邪知谬解的言论者，便是思想上犯了严重的毛病，佛名之为邪见。

见取见，这是一种固执自己的见解为正确的心理。主观特别强的人，做人处世，都缺乏客观的态度；每每以为自己是对的，而排斥他人的见解，致使人生是非烽起，一切烦恼与斗争，亦接踵而来。故《成唯识论》说：「于诸见及所依蕴，执为最胜，能得清净，一切斗争，所依为业。」

戒禁取见，主观特别坚强的人，往往不轻易接受他人的指导与劝谏，反而自作主张，妄制纪律，强人遵守，以遂一己的领导欲。如古代印度一般无益苦行的外道，非因而计因，非果而计果，以歧途为正轨，以系缚为解脱，自误误人，自迷迷人，自害害人，因名恶见。《成唯识论》言：「于随顺诸见戒禁及所依蕴，执为最胜，能得清净，无利勤苦，所依为业。」

以上十种，不但是一切烦恼的根本，亦是滋润生死的根源，故名为根本烦恼，又名见思二惑。前五种名为五钝使，属于生活上的心理病态。原因是迷于事相而产生的，故名思惑，亦名所知障；于三界九地中，共有八十一品，必须见道已去，直至无学道后心，始可断尽，故又名修惑。后五种名五利使，属于知识上的心理毛病；是迷于谛理而起的，故名理惑，又名见惑，断此比较容易，只要能觉悟真理，于十六心证入见道位，便可以顿断此八十八使的烦恼障。不过，这是就小乘的一般说法，若根据大乘而论，必须登初地，才可以断除见惑，自初地已去，至金刚喻定以还，于其中间无明分分断，法身分分证，直到金刚道后异熟空，断尽最后一品生相无明，获证无上正知的果海，然后能究竟断尽思惑，永离分段、变易两种生死。

然于此十根本烦恼中，唯识宗分「有分别而起」，和「俱生而起」两种。贪瞋痴，慢、身见、边见等六种，是与人有生俱来的；这在心理学家说，是人生的本能。疑、邪见、见取见、戒禁取见等四种，是后天依邪教、邪师、邪思维分别而起的；这在心理学家说，是学习得来的。但这是大乘的说法，小乘就不同了，现录大小乘各一偈，便可知大乘和小乘的分野。

小乘：疑及五见，唯分别起；四通俱生及分别起。

大乘：疑后三见，唯分别起；六通俱生及分别起。

（二）随烦恼

随是随顺，随从的意思，如子女随从父母，如奴仆随顺主人。烦恼，是指六根本烦恼以外的一切烦恼，此在大乘百法中说有二十种，此二十种烦恼，随逐于心，随心而起，或随根本烦恼而起，所以又名枝末烦恼（随惑）。此可分为三大类：

一小随烦恼：即忿、恨、覆、恼、嫉、悭、诳、谄、害、憍等十种。

二中随烦恼：无惭及无愧二种。

三大随烦恼：指掉举、惛沉、不信、懈怠、放逸、失念、散乱、不正知等八种。

《成唯识论》说：「唯是烦恼分位差别，等流性故，名随烦恼。此二十种类别有三：谓忿等十种，各别起故，名小随烦恼。掉举等八，遍染心故，名大随烦恼。」此外还有四不定烦恼，即是悔、眠、寻、伺。总之，唯识宗分析烦恼的种类，有根本烦恼、大随烦恼、中随烦恼、小随烦恼及不定等四类。

四、烦恼的数量

烦恼究竟有多少？佛经说：佛为了要对治众生八万四千的烦恼，所以权巧方便地于一乘教法中，特别开示出八万四千种不同的修行方法；由此可知，众生的烦恼，是有八万四千之多。然而这许多烦恼，是从那里来的？是上帝赐的？或那一个冤家故意制造的？不！这许许多多烦恼，并不是天赐或人予，完全是由于人的心中所蕴储着贪瞋痴等根本烦恼所产生的。

《三藏法数》说：「论其尘劳（烦恼）根本，不出十使；于十使中，随以一使为头，余九使为助，遂成一百。约三世各有一百，共成三百。而现在时促，不论相助；于过去、未来二世二百，又各各以一使为头，九使为助，共成二千；合前现在一百，共成二千一百。又约多贪、多瞋、多痴、等分四种众生，各有二千一百，共成八千四百。又约四大、六衰各有八千四百，总成八万四千尘劳。

众生具足如许繁多的烦恼、怪不得在日常生活中，无论是在思想上或行为上，甚至举手投足，扬眉瞬目，迎宾送客，俯仰屈伸，一切动作都受烦恼的威胁与牵制，受烦恼的搔扰和支配，使人没有片刻的宁静，更没自由可言。

五、解脱的意义

解脱，同样是佛经的一种术语，梵言木底或木叉，译名解脱。顾名思义，可知解脱是一种远离人间的纠纷扰乱及束缚的宁静而美妙的精神境界。在佛经里，我们常见到三解脱，八解脱，或不思议解脱等名词，但这里我们要说的，是有为解脱及无为解脱。有为解脱，指无学圣人的真实智慧，亦可说是根本智；无为解脱，是涅盘的别名。无学圣人以根本智照彻四谛理，而断灭三界见思烦恼，证得我空真如，获得身心解放，不只逍遥自在，而是清凉、寂静、轻松、愉快的境界；自此，不再被一切有为法缚束，永远享受真理生命的快乐，故名无为解脱，也可以说是涅盘的别名。涅盘，有四种不同的区别：

有余涅盘：梵语「涅乐」，又名「泥洹」，译名灭度或寂灭、解脱。意思是，到此境界，已经灭尽滋润生死根苗的烦恼，所谓「大患永灭，超度四流。」而回到湛然寂静的真理故乡，恢复身心的自由，故名灭度。

又名「波利晒缚男」，译为圆寂，圆是指我们本性充塞法界，德备尘沙，所谓：「三觉圆，万德备。」寂是指众生的真如自性，明妙殊绝，湛然常住，所谓：「寂寂惺惺，惺惺寂寂。」本来没有烦恼，也没有悲哀，古德说得好：「真本圆，妄本寂。」不过这是就性具方面说，若根据修证方面说，就是福慧具足，众德俱备名圆；五住已脱，二死永亡，不再为主观或客观的环境所缠缚，而超然自在名寂。

这在《涅盘经》说得特别详细，如该经二十五卷说：「涅者言不，盘者言织，不织之义，名为涅盘。又盘言覆，不覆之义，乃名涅盘。盘言去来，不去不来，乃名涅盘。盘者言取，不取之义，乃名涅盘。盘言不定，定无不定，乃名涅盘。盘言新故，无新故义，乃名涅盘。盘言障碍，无障碍义，乃名涅盘。善男子，有优楼佉迦毗四等弟子言，盘者名相，无相之义，乃名涅盘。善男子，盘者言有，无有之义，乃名涅盘。盘名和合，无和合义，乃名涅盘。盘者言苦，无苦之义，乃名涅盘。」由此看来，涅盘就是人身心的解放，是精神寄托的自由天地，也是一个清净、庄严、壮丽、雅致、幽美的乐园。但这乐园并不是世间的人工和材料所建筑的，更不是什么精巧的工程师所能计划或梦想得到的，这完全是利用伟大的精神来计划，获得无生的真理生命，无须再来三界受生；等如拔截多罗树根，不会再萌芽、开花、结实一样。不过，宿业所招感的异熟果－色身还在，「子缚已断，果缚尚存」。故名有余依涅盘。

无余依涅盘：此涅盘所断的烦恼，所见的谛理，与前有余涅盘完全相同，所不同的是到此境界，不仅精神上获得自由的解放，就是众苦积聚的现实生命，也获得自由的归宿，所谓「灰身泯志」，此后没有五阴炽盛的逼迫和恼害。大智度论说：「圣人今世，所受五众尽，更不复受，是名无余涅盘。

以上二种仅就小乘言，若据大乘论，虽然变易生死之因－所知障已尽，但变易生死的果报仍在，故名有余，必须连变易生死的果报亦亡，「五住净尽，二死永亡」，始可叫无余依涅盘。

自性涅盘：是就众生本具的良知良能－清净自性方面说，众生本来具足湛然寂静，清净无染的真如自性，是不生不灭，法尔平等，圣凡无二，常常时，恒恒时如此，不迁不变，不假修成，不假外求，故名为自性涅盘。

无住涅盘：这是大乘圣者以智慧的宝剑，斩断界外无明烦恼，而证得法空真如的境界。也可说是大乘学者，向着遥远的菩提觉道果，敢迈进最后胜利的收获，亦是菩萨们三大阿僧祗劫勤苦修学，无上光荣的结果。到此真穷惑尽，事理交融，四智具足，五眼圆明，不再被分段和变易生死缚束，不再被尘沙和无明烦恼纠缠，而获得真正生命的自由与解脱，享受一种最高超，最微妙，最愉快的妙乐。

但慈悲为怀，不舍有情的菩萨，念念不忘地愍念着苦恼的众生，决不忍心自我陶醉于清净无染的涅盘境界，独自享受特殊妙乐。因此，不住涅盘，倒驾慈航，随流九界，出生入死，示同迷情来指示众生，抢救众生。如《维摩经》说：「菩萨于生死而不舍。」这无非是大悲心使然。诸佛菩萨虽入生死，但菩萨有深邃的智慧，照彻事理，所以不为生死烦恼所染，如莲花出污泥而不染，出清水而不沾，如皎洁明月，虽处在漫长的黑夜里，而不为黑暗的势力所遮蔽，反而冲破黑暗的帐幕，给人类带来无边光辉与清凉。《维摩经》说：「在于生死，不为污行；住于涅盘，不永灭度。」诸佛菩萨，以大悲故不住涅盘，以大智故不住生死，亦不住中流，穷未来劫，常往来于生死之间，利乐有情，教化有情，故名无住涅盘。

以上四种涅盘，除了第三种是性具不假修得外，前二后一，皆由修行而获得。不过由于智慧有广狭，见理有深浅，修行有勤怠，因此所获的效果，也就有胜劣的等级之别。例如前二后一，虽同名涅盘，同是一种轻安，宁静的解脱境界，但后一种较之前二种的胜妙，却有天壤之别，绝非前二种之所能比拟的。譬如，前二种等如最贫贱，最痛苦的乞丐，骤然获得十万八万的财宝，解除一切贫穷困苦的苦恼，当然是感到惬意和愉快，但在大富长者看来，他的财宝是多么渺小和有限，而后者等如富可敌国的长者，但他的财宝决非偶然侥幸而得，而是积年累月惨淡经营中蓄储得来的。菩萨亦尔，由三大阿僧祗劫修福、修慧而积集得来的无量功德法财，故财宝是无穷无尽，是富裕而充实的。可见前二种解脱是狭小，是有限，是不究竟的；而后一种解脱才是伟大，是无限而且究竟的。前者偏重于自利，后者偏重于利他；前者是佛教的一部份皮毛，后者是佛法的骨髓和整体。前者是假设的解脱，有如化城；后者才是真实的解脱，有如宝所。是以前后涅盘的境界，胜劣与精粗，诚不可同日而言。

六、解脱的证得

在漫长的黑夜里，谁不渴望光明降临？在这战祸蔓延，人心徨徨的杂乱世纪中，谁不向往安宁、寂静与永久和平的天国？在烦恼痛苦的牢笼里，谁不希望获得生命的真正自由与解脱？可是，安乐的天国在那里？自由与解脱在那里？尽管人不断在追求自由，渴望解脱，但自由与解脱始终不因人的盼望和祈祷而降临。致使人不是被内心的烦恼系缚，便是被外在环境束缚，永远陷于苦恼中，过着悲惨的生活，这究竟是什么原因呢？原因是众生缺乏闻、思、修三慧所致。由于不闻则不知；不知，如何进而思而修？既不思不修，解脱又从何而证得？故若想证得无住涅盘的解脱妙乐，非从闻、思、修三慧下手不可。

然什么是闻思修？闻思修又名闻慧、思慧、修慧。

闻慧：闻是人耳根的听觉，亦是耳根对外界一切音声的收录。不过这里并不是收录一切歌唱的音声，或听取不合理的邪说，而是亲近善知识，听闻如来正法，或对佛陀的一切言教，见闻读诵，由是而萌智慧芽，抽智慧枝，开智慧花，因名闻慧。闻慧对学佛的人是非常重要的，可以说是对三宝启发信心的基石。《起信论》说：「一者信根本，所谓乐念真如法故；二者信佛有无量功德，常念亲近供养恭敬发起善根，愿求一切智故；三者信法有大利益，常念修行诸波罗密故；四者信僧能真正修行自利利他，常乐亲近诸菩萨众，求学如实行故。」一般众生，不学无闻，所以迷本有而不知，经尘劫而莫近，现在由亲近善友，听闻正法，获知自己本具有灵明不昧的真如自性，获知佛法僧三宝具足无量功德，是黑夜的明灯，是迷途的指南，是爱心伟大的慈母，是导心殷切的严父；能够给予众生无上的安慰，能够破除众生烦恼的枷锁，能够领导众生越过荆棘险径，跨过波浪涛涛的生死苦海，走向光明而平坦的菩提觉道，回归解脱的乐园。因此油然向往，生起志诚的信仰，无限的恭敬，喜欢亲近，乐于供养，从此奠定学佛的基本信念，开辟证得解脱的要道，故闻慧该是学佛信解行证四阶段中，最初的阶段－正信。

思慧：思是思惟、拣择、决断，或讨论和研究。孔子说：「学而不思则罔」，儒教如此，佛教又何独不然？我们听闻正法之后，应该深思熟虑，将所见、所闻、所读、所诵的佛经，和经典中所诠的义理，透过自己冷静的头脑，以自己清醒的理智加以分析，明辨是非，决择邪正，解剖虚实，以求获得正确的判断和合理的答案，是名思慧，亦名正解。

修慧：修是修学、修习或实践，也就是人在生活上，身心的一切行动。我们把所见、所闻、所思维的真理－佛法，应用到我们整个生活上，甚至推广到社会、国家、全世界去，以佛法来改造自己与他人的思想和行为，使自他的思想与行为都趋向于合理，进而止于至善；使烦恼罪恶的不轨行为，没机会产生。这样久而久之，烦恼的种子，自然失去它的活动力，甚至枯死、消灭。这样，自然证得无住涅盘，获得宁静和谐、自由自在的解脱境界。

但佛所说的法门，有八万四千那么多，我们应该运用那一种法门作为日常生活的准则？根据那一法门修习，始可抵达解脱的乐园？这在《起信论》说修行有五门：「一者施门，二者戒门，三者忍门，四者进门，五者止观门。」即是人以六度四摄等法门为解脱的前方便，其实，佛陀所说的八万四千法门，门门都可以入道，都可以证真，只要我们肯专心去研究修学，无不超凡入圣，皆可进入解脱的乐园。是以有人专修净土法门而悟道，也有人专习禅定而获解脱。总之，随个人根性的大小和爱好而定，如果是小乘根性的众生，当然是爱好小乘佛法，或修习戒定慧无漏三学，或修习观四谛十二因缘，即可断除三界见思烦恼，抵达化城的有余依与无余依涅盘，证得我空真如理。若然是大乘根机的众生，自然好乐大乘佛法，广修六度，四摄，四无量心等大乘法门，引导无量众生，向着菩提觉道迈进，直至断尽尘沙、无明等烦恼，即可截断变易生死的洪流，到达解脱的乐园，证得无住涅盘的境界。

闻思修三慧，如鼎的三足，缺一不可；亦如人的目与足，缺一不行。故《华严经》言：「譬如贫穷人，日夜数他宝，自无半钱分；于法不修行，其过亦如是。」《楞严经》佛对阿难说：「汝今虽得多闻，不成圣果。」阿难亦说：「今日乃知，虽有多闻，若不行修，与不闻等，如人说食，终不能饱。」故学佛修行，应当由闻而思，由思而解，由解而行，由行而证，否则「有教无观则罔，有观无教则殆」。必须教观齐修，解行并重，始可以证得佛果无住涅盘的解脱妙乐。

七、结论

由上可知，烦恼与解脱，都是唯心所造。众生的心，可以幻生无明烦恼，使自己陷于黑暗而苦恼的深渊；也可以开辟光明的觉道，使自己证得涅盘的解脱妙乐。所谓「三界唯心，万法唯识。」假如众生的心清净无染，妄念不起，烦恼不生，涅盘解脱即在眼前，怎会被痛苦束缚呢？众生所以被烦恼束缚，不得解脱，原因是心中充满无明烦恼，污染重重，产生无量烦恼的子孙，永远陷于烦恼深渊，不能自拔；如果想消除烦恼的束缚，证得涅盘的解脱，非多闻佛法不可。因为多闻佛法，思惟修习，就可以挥动般若智慧的宝剑，杀灭无明烦恼贼，控制烦恼子孙的繁殖，停止恶业的操作，将所有的心力运用到闻、思、修三慧方面去努力，无上涅盘的解脱妙乐，保证不求自得。

It is said that form is not the self, that the self does not possess form, that the self does not dwell on form, and that form does not dwell on the self. Please realise that the remaining four aggregates are empty in the same way.

-- Nāgārjuna

Don’t Always Trust Your Perceptions

by Thich Nhat Hanh

Near the mountain, there is a lake with clear, still water reflecting the mountain and the sky with pristine clarity. You can do the same. If you are calm and still enough, you can reflect the mountain, the blue sky, and the moon exactly as they are. You reflect whatever you see exactly as it is, without distorting anything.

Have you ever seen yourself in a mirror that distorts the image? Your face is long, your eyes are huge, and your legs are really short. Don’t be like that mirror. It is better to be like the still water on the mountain lake.

We often do not reflect things clearly, and we suffer because of our wrong perceptions. Suppose you are walking in the twilight and see a snake. You scream and run into the house to get your friends, and all of you run outside with a flashlight. But when you shine your light on the snake, you discover that it isn’t a snake at all, just a piece of rope. This is a distorted perception.

When we see things or listen to other people, we often don’t see clearly or really listen. We see and hear our projections and our prejudices. We are not clear enough, and we have a wrong perception. Even if our friend is giving us a compliment, we may argue with him because we distort what he says.

If we are not calm, if we only listen to our hopes or our anger, we will not be able to receive the truth that is trying to reflect itself on our lake. We need to make our water still if we want to receive reality as it is. If you feel agitated, don’t do or say anything. Just breathe in and out until you are calm enough. Then ask your friend to repeat what he has said. This will avoid a lot of damage. Stillness is the foundation of understanding and insight. Stillness is strength.

Formerly this mind went wandering where it liked, as it wished and as it listed. Today with attentiveness I shall completely hold it in check, as a mahout (holds in check) an elephant in must.

-- The Buddha

未曾说一字

文｜陈旦

未曾说一字，简称“一字不说”，是指佛所证之法远离文字语言之相，唯佛与佛始能知见。所以，真相无法言说，若强加解释，则有如指月之指、渡海之舟。

在《指月录》中有一段论述：世尊临入涅槃，文殊大士请佛再转法轮。

世尊咄曰：“文殊，吾四十九年住世，未曾说一字，汝请吾再转法轮，是吾曾转法轮耶？”

世尊在即将进入涅槃时，文殊菩萨为了让大众能听到世尊最后的说法，因而恭请世尊再转法轮。令文殊菩萨感到意外的是，世尊并没有直接讲经说法，而是告诉文殊菩萨，说自己成道四十九年，未曾说一字，如何再转法轮。世尊在菩提树下悟道后，明明先到鹿野苑为乔陈如等五比丘说四谛法，此后，又开启说法四十九年，谈经三百余会的弘法历程。很多人都认为，世尊明明有所说法，而临入涅槃又说自己未曾说一字，岂不是世尊也在说妄语。其实，这不是世尊说妄语，而是世尊为让学佛者破除对语言文字的执著，通过观照自心，去除妄想，明心见性。

可见，世尊所证悟的境界，非语言文字所能表达，唯佛与佛乃能彻底了解。犹如以手指月，其指非月，一切语言文字也不全等于诸佛证悟之内容。

同样的观点，在《楞伽经》也有解说，曰：“我从某夜得最正觉，乃至某夜入般涅槃，于其中间，乃至不说一字。”

据《联灯会要》卷一云： 世尊在灵山会上拈花示众，众皆默然，唯迦叶破颜微笑。世尊云：“吾有正法眼藏，涅槃妙心，实相无相，微妙法门，不立文字，教外别传，付嘱摩诃迦叶。”这则著名的禅宗公案不仅表示禅家注重正法相传，亦表示禅宗不滞教门之文字语言，直接洞见心地了悟之意。这种不依语言文字，直接证悟佛陀所悟的境界，就称为“教外别传”。

世尊不让学徒执著语言文字，但自己又针对众生的八万四千种烦恼，讲说八万四千法门。对于世尊所讲说的法，《金刚经》中说：“是故不应取法，不应取非法。以是义故，如来常说：汝等比丘，知我说法，如筏喻者，法尚应舍，何况非法？”世尊将自己所说的法比喻为船筏。

人们结筏渡河，既至彼岸，则当舍弃船筏。世尊所说的一切法，不过是为了令众生破迷开悟，成就佛道而方便施设，一旦众生悟道了，世尊所说的法也应当舍弃。世尊以筏喻来劝诫众生，世尊所说的法不过是标月之指，众生不可认指为月，而应当因指见月（明心见性）。

为了破除众生对法的执著，世尊特意强调自己未曾说法。如《金刚经》云：“须菩提！汝勿谓如来作是念，我当有所说法，莫作是念。何以故？若人言如来有所说法，即为谤佛，不能解我所说故。”

世尊认为，自己说法不过是度化众生的权巧施设，如果有人执著于语言文字，认为世尊有所说法，则与世尊本怀相违背，是没有真正了解世尊之本怀，所以，如果有人认为佛有所说法，就是诽谤世尊。

在《指月录》卷二中，释迦世尊的大弟子须菩提尊者也有未曾说一字的观点。文曰：须菩提尊者在岩中宴坐，诸天雨花赞叹。尊者曰：“空中雨花赞叹复是何人？云何赞叹？”

天曰：“我是梵天，敬重尊者善说般若。”者曰：“我于般若未尝说一字，云何赞叹？”天曰：“如是，尊者无说，我乃无闻，无说无闻，是真说般若。”

须菩提尊者认为，真正的般若是通过自证自悟而证，并不是通过语言文字的讲说而获得。对于梵天对语言文字的执著，须菩提尊者说自己从未对般若说一字，因而用不着赞叹。梵天最后觉悟到：“无说无闻”，方才是真正的般若。

须菩提这段言说告诉我们，真正的获得智慧是靠内心观照，自证自悟，而不是靠语言文字并所能言说。类似般若不可言说，《大般若经》亦云︰“我曾于此甚深般若波罗蜜多相应义中不说一字，汝亦不闻，当何所解，何以故？诸天子，甚深般若波罗蜜多相应义中，文字言说皆远离故，由此于中说者、听者及能解者皆不可得。”

Mind, conceptual thought, and dharmakāya: these three are innate at the outset. Because through instruction one gains contact with these as one, wouldn’t you call this “gaining contact with the innate nature”?

-- Gampopa

Chenrezig - Bodhisattva of Compassion 

by Ken Holmes

Universal love and compassion are the very foundation of every bodhisattva's spirituality yet nowhere are they more evident than in Chenrezig. In many ways, he is the archetypal expression of compassion, which is the sine qua non for attaining enlightenment. He occurs throughout mahayana Buddhism, either as a specific being or, more commonly, as an archetypal bodhisattva who is the quintessential expression of every Buddha's love.

THE LEGEND OF CHENREZIG AS A SPECIFIC BEING

Whether it be plain fact or apocryphal legend, the story of Chenrezig as a specific being is also the tale of compassion as it develops in the mind. Compassion is first born through a sincere wish for enlightenment and a vision of life's meaning which puts others first. The initially heroic approach towards helping others mellows and deepens as the infinite vastness of the task unfolds and the underlying nature of samsara becomes clear. One also comes to recognise the diabolical skill of ignorance in eluding the truth and thwarting attempts at its destruction. This forces one to learn how to tackle it from many angles simultaneously. After long experience of the battle between good and evil, one finds a need to draw closer to the real heart of the problem and to befriend and understand it rather than attacking it. For this, one must learn how to mobilise both the masculine and feminine aspects of mind's innate loving compassion, and be both dynamic yet responsive in one's dealings with the myriad manifestations of mind. These steps are all reflected in the traditional story:

"Countless ages ago, a thousand young men vowed to become Buddhas, each offering up a different resolution. One resolved to become Gautama Buddha, in what was a far distant time in the future and which has now become our era. Another, Chenrezig, resolved not to become enlightened until all the others had succeeded, promising to assist them all in their task and to be the servant of any being wishing to attain enlightenment, anywhere in the universe. He would both teach them and put questions on their behalf to the Buddhas, as humans often find it difficult to formulate their enquiries clearly.

Feeling great compassion for all beings, he made many journeys into their various domains of existence, from the highest realms of the gods to the most pitiful hells. The more he saw of the confusion and suffering that predominated everywhere, the more he longed to be of help. He prayed to the Buddhas, May I help all beings. Should I ever tire of this great work, may my body be shattered into a thousand pieces. Subsequently he visited the worst hell (avici hell) and liberated as many beings as were receptive to his teachings. Progressively he worked his way up through the worlds until he reached the deva realms. Surveying the universe, he saw that although he had released thousands from the sufferings of the three lower realms — animals, spirits and hell-beings - thousands more new entrants were pouring in to take their place. Distressed by this and despondent, his resolve waned and he flew into a thousand pieces, like the seeds of a pomegranate. He cried out to all the Buddhas who, like a fall of snowflakes, came to his rescue and made him whole again through their beneficent influence. Thereafter, he had a thousand arms and nine heads, to which Amitabha Buddha added a special head along with the blessing of his higher wisdom. Then Bodhisattva Vajrapani added a wrathful head symbolising the special powers of all the Buddhas. This is why Chenrezig is sometimes depicted with a thousand arms and eleven heads.

In his new form, Chenrezig became even more powerful than before but he was still moved to tears by the manifold sufferings of samsara. Again he took a solemn vow before all the Buddhas, May I not attain enlightenment until every last being has been liberated. At one time, his tears of compassion fell to the ground and caused two lotuses to spring up. From each of these emerged a form of the female Bodhisattva Tara, one white and the other green. Tara (dolma in Tibetan) means the Saviouress, the One Who Carries Across the Ocean of Samsara. The two Taras pledged to be Chenrezig's sisters in dharma and to help him bring beings to enlightenment."

The mahayana scriptures also recount that Chenrezig offered his mantra Om mani padme hung to the Buddha, who advised him to use it a a very special means for liberating beings. The Enlightened One blessed the mantra, pronouncing that it embodied the compassion of all the Buddhas combined. At that time the gods rained flowers on the worlds, the earth quaked with soft rumblings and the air was filled with the sound of celestial beings chanting the mantra.

CHENREZIG — THE GUIDING LIGHT OF TIBET

It is not unusual for one buddha, or even bodhisattva, to be placed centre stage by a particular sect, as is the case, for instance, with Buddha Amitabha in the teachings of the Japanese Pure Land school. But the fact that a whole nation — possessing the greatest diversity of Buddhism found anywhere on Earth - considers itself to be guided and protected by Chenrezig is a tribute to him indeed.

The early kings who brought Buddhism to Tibet are believed by Tibetans to have been emanations of Chenrezig and Mañjushri. Since then, some of the greatest reincarnate lamas, such as the seventeen generations of Karmapas and, more latterly, the fourteen Dalai Lamas, are also considered to be his emanations. More strikingly, almost every Buddhist in Tibet recited Chenrezig's mantra om mani padme hung on a daily basis, to such an large extent that a popular saying recounts that Tibetan children pick up the mani mantra before learning to say mama or papa.

CHENREZIG THE COSMIC BODHISATTVA

Mahayana Buddhism offers a wealth of techniques for transmuting the negative into the positive. At the heart of them all is compassion. Chenrezig the bodhisattva is the symbolic expression of all these forms of compassion in action. As the Discourse on Chenrezig's Realisation says:

Were one thing and one thing alone to represent every enlightened quality, as though it were in the palm of one's hand, what would it be? Great compassion.

The light of compassion shines wisely and with timeliness. It illuminates things appropriate to a particular disciple. It shows the family person how to bring peace, wisdom and harmony into the household. It shows the solitary meditator how to relate lovingly yet firmly to the complexities of his or her own mind. It shows the ruler how to govern and the afflicted how to cope with their suffering. Some of the techniques of compassion are superficial and remedial. Others are extremely profound and radical. Of the more profound techniques, Chenrezig is particularly associated with the use of the power of sound as a gateway to liberation.

The Suramgama Sutra tells how, in ages long gone by, the bodhisattva followed a certain Buddha Avalokitesvara, from whom he took his name, who instructed him to focus his meditation on the faculty of hearing. By analysing what at first seemed to be two things - external sound and the inner faculty of hearing — the bodhisattva soon recognised their inseparability; their non-duality. Neither could be found to have existence on its own and hence each was devoid of existence. By then pursuing this voidness, with direct awareness rather than intellectual analysis, the bodhisattva understood the whole question of consciousness and attained successive degrees of enlightenment, thereby acquiring extraordinary powers to help others. We find these powers, which are embodied in his mantra om mani padme hung, also mentioned in the Lotus Sutra. They enable him to manifest to anyone, in forms having direct relevance to their needs. He appears as the Buddha to teach bodhisattvas, as a disciplined monk to those seeking the Four Noble Truths, as a mighty dharma warrior to those wishing to protect the weak, as a wise civil elder to those wanting to learn government, as a nun to women weary of their worldly lot, as a powerful Brahmin to those wishing to master natural energies and so on and so forth.

Praying to Chenrezig, reciting the mani mantra and practising profound meditation on the nature of sound is believed to save people in dire situations, such as shipwrecks, fires and armed attacks. Some hold that reciting a million such mantras can enable the blind to see. Sometimes such claims are meant to be taken at face value but fuller explanations show them to be more reasonable, since they work over a period of lives. The general theme of such explanations is that misfortunes are caused by bad karma and that such karma is more often than not habitual, and therefore likely to produce the same misfortune in future lives. Meditation on Chenrezig and his mantra not only radically ruptures these negative habits but also opens the inner floodgates of compassion, spontaneously giving rise to their opposites, replacing aggression with love and tolerance and so forth.

Chenrezig takes on many forms in the tantras, having one, three, five, seven, nine, eleven and so on up to 84,000 faces, with two, four, six, eight, ten twelve and so on up to 84,000 arms. Some of his forms are gentle, kind and merciful. Others show the wrathful face of compassion. The extraordinary quality of the most common form — that with one face and four arms — is to be the only tantric practice which bears no element of risk and which can be practised by anyone and everyone. In general, mahayana Buddhists believe the grace of Chenrezig to be so powerful that even one sincere recitation of his mantra or one open-hearted look at his kind face is enough to sow a seed of future illumination in the mind.

Also widely practised is the eleven faced, one-thousand-armed form associated with the two-day uposita fasting ritual, known as nyungné by Tibetans. Involving an austere first day and total abstention from food or drink during the second day, this ritual is one of continuous prayer, humility and generation of compassion. It is aimed at helping wretched ghosts and spirits and, in the process, eliminating some of the participants' bad karma, caused through greed and avarice. More wrathful than this form is the red standing form of Chenrezig known as 'He who shakes the very foundations of existence'.

This nobility and gentleness alone, this nonviolence of thought and action, is the traceless path of all Buddhas. To walk this all-embracing way is the bliss of Buddhahood.

-- Tilopa

修定的资粮

梦参老和尚

修道的时候要有助道因缘，什么是助道因缘呢?

你修道的时候要穿衣，也要吃饭，也得有个住处。这就是助道因缘，资助你修道的缘。

　　

没有所依的资粮，这样去修行是成功不了的。你要想修定，得先备办资粮，得先准备好，这是修道的前方便。你要想得定，得先有一个处所啊!但是这个处所烦乱是不行的，必须得有个处所。

还得有人护持。你得有护法啊!你要修定，就说闭关，把你关到屋子里头去了，得有人给你送饮食。闭关了，你是清净的，衣食住行有了，不要操心了，还得有人照顾。这样子才能够使你不再起心动念，不要有杂务的干扰，心里头不要胡思乱想，把杂乱的都能放得下，这就是行道的资粮。

还有法。更重要的是法的资粮，你要修定，得先修四加行。修任何法，要先修加行法。加行是说你证道之前要修定，或者四禅八定，或者楞伽大定。受过戒的人，回照一下，你连五戒三归都清净不了，那更不要说比丘戒、比丘尼戒。即或是没有违犯根本戒，细行都有犯的。忏悔掉没有?忏悔清净没有?在修定前一定要先修忏悔法，不然你修定是修不成的，会有扰害的。

还得把业障消除，停止一切作业。

假使没有资粮的话，处所不净，干扰会很厉害。没有人照顾你，你心里就生起妄想了，不能不想啊!有妄想了，你修定要怎么修啊!心里不能有一点的妄想!环境的关系，修定的环境，那你就得准备好。你不准备好啊!定修不成的了。你饿着肚子，你能修道吗?吃了这顿没下一顿，心里不想吗?你还要自己去打水，还要自己去烧锅，自己做饭，那定要怎么修啊?这是客观的环境。

你静坐的时候，静下来什么都不想，衣食住行都不想。闲静其心，这是第一个。找一个寂静处，安闲的没有干扰，这还不是住山林哪!在佛说的比丘住山林的时候，修道的时候，如果没有定力的话，你就去住山林，你会恐怖啊，你修不成啊!除了野兽的恐怖，还有很多的恐怖现相。

我们过去的祖师以他修道的经验说，没破参不住山。你没破参的时候，没明心见性的时候，不能住山。那个山是指着住茅棚，没有人烟的地方，不是我们这山里的大庙，是那样的住山。山林是寂静处。山林的干扰很厉害，有野兽，有这类的干扰，让你的定得不到。

想修定，要戒根清净!如果破了戒，戒根不清净，身口意三业不清净。如果三业不清净的时候，你会有热恼。在你修的时候，会生起烦恼的。犯了戒，你所行的破了律仪了，破了戒就是行恶行了。那还能得定吗?行恶行不能得定的。怎么办呢?把那业忏悔掉!怎么证明我忏悔清净了呢?要见相好。《占察忏》就告诉我们，能见到相好，或者见到地藏菩萨，你所有的罪业都清净了!這不止一个业了，还包括意业。

戒是什么意思呢?防非止恶，保护你的，犯了戒了，破了戒了，保护的没有了，那叫行恶行。行恶行的，要想修定是不可能的。

我们看见过去的大德们，入定得了三昧，入定了还能犯戒吗?他以前没有犯戒，现在能入定了。戒里头微细的很，不是只讲戒条，主要的是心。因为你修定的时候，要用心去修。先使你的心清净，没有什么烦恼。没有什么烦恼才行，有烦恼了，定不下去的。有污染心，杂乱心，那怎么能得定呢?

As one lamp serves to dispel a thousand years of darkness, so one flash of wisdom destroys ten thousand years of ignorance.

-- Venerable Hui Neng

Compassion without Illusions 

by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche

As we go through our lives, we undergo tremendous struggles; yet we do not seem able to accomplish or achieve what we would like. In addition, there are a great many undesirable things that we would like to avoid, but we are unable to do so. As a result of these conflicts, we experience a great deal of pain and suffering.

Yet the simple truth is that each and every one of us inherently possesses powerful resources. Each of us has the potential to experience true wisdom, or, for that matter, transcendent awareness; we have the potential to express gentleness and genuine compassion; we have the potential to generate great warmth and kindness towards ourselves and others; we have the potential to engender openness and patience. Nevertheless, we have misconceptions about ourselves and the world around us. We wrongly assume that that which we all desire — a true sense of well-being and contentment — comes from external situations, things outside of ourselves.

Armed with this erroneous notion, we try to solve our internal conflict and dissatisfaction externally. But the truth of the matter is that no matter how much we try to manipulate external things to secure a complete sense of well-being for ourselves, we will never have complete control over external reality. All along, we have been working with the wrong tools, overlooking the actual, workable potentialities and concentrating on superficial things, hoping something genuine and unconditioned will come out of that. But whatever is superficial runs counter to that which is genuinely true. This seems to be our basic problem, confusing our external situation with our own potential for internal well-being and mental harmony.

Another serious delusion we have is the unyielding primacy of our egocentricity, our "I for myself" attitude. We limit our perspective to our own happiness, our own satisfaction. We are concerned only with how we can make things better in our lives, and if it creates problems or inconveniences for anyone else, it doesn't matter, because we need this or that for ourselves. Thus we create a fence, or an enclosure, around ourselves. Once this egoistic mechanism has been constructed, it causes an upheaval of conflicting emotions, such as jealousy, aggression, and so forth.

When we limit our minds to a selfish notion of happiness and well-being, obstacles of all kinds will seem to arise spontaneously in order to thwart our plans or destroy what we have created around ourselves. Consequently, we respond to these obstacles with aggression or with jealousy, feeling that our private enclosure is being threatened or jeopardised. And we know from personal experience that when conflicting emotions are constantly running rampant in our lives, there is no possibility of experiencing or even appreciating any sense of well-being, goodness, or true sanity.

When we stop to think about it, we find our lives full of uncomfortable experiences. We all know certain individuals whose lives seem to be constantly plagued with problems, no matter where they are. Their relationships with other people do not work out, nor do their living or job arrangements. They try to find new acquaintances, or they move to another place, and that does not work out either. They find themselves in situations where it seems as if the world is isolating them. They feel as though they were excluded from the world, in some sense. In this way, wherever they go they have very painful experiences. This is caused by the tremendous expectations they have of others and of the world at large. Instead of recognising that they have the inherent potential to experience this for themselves, no matter who they are or what their current situation is, it is as if they believe the world owes them the experience of well-being and goodness. Failing to acknowledge their own resourcefulness, they indulge in this deception and develop a sense of total deprivation about themselves.

There are other individuals who seem to have an atmosphere of pleasantness or friendliness around them, who have endearing personalities and are well mannered and cultured. Wherever these individuals go, they feel good about themselves and have healthy, positive attitudes about things. They can generously extend genuine warmth and offer others a genial smile. They are able to do this because there is an element of stability and gentleness, maybe even clarity, about their minds.

Our lives can be led in the same fashion. Since we basically experience our lives through the filter of our minds, the makeup of our minds will determine the quality of our lives. For instance, when we experience a very gentle, easy mind, we then allow ourselves to feel good about who we are, and the things that we do become enjoyable. We are able to enjoy the food we eat, and our interactions with others are very good. On the other hand, when we have a disturbed mind, a mind of aggression and jealousy, subject to the upheaval of conflicting emotions, we are not able to fully enjoy anything. Even if we are surrounded by the best of things — good companions, good food, and various other luxuries — we cannot enjoy them. In this case, it would not be too far fetched to say that our minds have flipped upside down, because all priorities are completely inverted. While we have the potential to be totally free from deception and to experience genuine love for ourselves and others, we still entertain ourselves with the illusion of limitations. We believe that our only resort is to change the phenomenal world outside of ourselves.

Hence, while we strive for well-being and an experience of life that is free of suffering, as long as we are not free from conflicting emotions such as aggression and jealousy, we are never going to be free from dissatisfaction of one kind or another.

As you begin to understand this predicament, you may start entertaining various solutions to it in your mind, thinking that perhaps you should retreat to a secluded place where you would be free of the objects that arouse aggressive and jealous tendencies. But this would not solve the problem. These conflicting emotions are mental patterns, and even if we go to a place of seclusion, we are going to take these habits with us. And just as we usually do, we will then open up a world of speculation (What went wrong in the past? What good or bad things might happen in the future?) and create a mental world that will become the basis for further intensification and amplification of these conflicting emotions.

The solution to our problem is basically quite simple. Since the problem begins with the mind, we must go where the problem is, and work with the mind. As was mentioned earlier, although our minds have become weakened by conflicting emotions and habitual tendencies, we do have the potential to become completely self-liberated of these conditionings and to express our inherent freshness in the true, unconditioned heart of compassion and loving-kindness. Loving-kindness, or maitri, is a Buddhist term denoting the sincere desire for others to experience happiness and well-being. And when this happiness is achieved, there is genuine rejoicing.

Most of us are vaguely familiar with this attitude, because we are able to feel that way when our friends or relatives experience good fortune, and when something is going well for them, we want it to continue. We are also familiar with the attitude of compassion in a general sense. When friends or relatives are experiencing difficulties, we genuinely wish for them to become free of these sufferings. We have these basic qualities, but our experience of loving-kindness and compassion is, shall we say, tainted. It is something like the toy we call a yo-yo: you play with it and make it spin, but there is always a string attached. Similarly, we can afford genuine sympathy, concern, and loving-kindness for these people because they are our relatives, our friends, because they somehow seem to fit within our territory. There is a string attached; the pull is back towards ourselves. Therefore, egocentric tendencies and fixations remain, so these experiences are contaminated and are not free from deception. Still, although we have not worked on developing these qualities, we have glimpses of them because they are inherent potentialities.

At present, our experience of the mind has the shortcomings and defects of habitual conditionings. At the same time, our mind has the potential to become completely free of defects and limitations. The difference between the defects and the potential is great; the defects are entirely extraneous to the mind, while the potential is inherent. Therefore, no matter how serious our present limitations may be, we can work with our minds and achieve a state completely free of such limitations.

To put it another way, as long as we are experiencing a defect like jealousy or envy, we cannot experience loving-kindness. And when we are experiencing loving-kindness, we cannot experience jealousy or envy. The two cannot happen at the same time. To be jealous is to desire someone else's well-being and success for yourself. To experience loving-kindness, on the other hand, is to be happy for others and rejoice when you witness their well-being and success, whether it be of a material or a spiritual nature. Jealousy runs completely counter to this disposition. In a similar fashion, when you experience genuine compassion, you cannot simultaneously experience hatred, anger, or aggression. As long as there is the one, it will displace the other.

The Buddhist teachings instruct us to practice true loving-kindness and compassion, but, in order to genuinely do so, perhaps you should first sit down and allow yourself a few moments of reflection. Become aware of the fact that each day is spent in constant restlessness, constant striving, constant preoccupation. This is how it has always been, because you do not want to experience suffering, pain, or discomfort; you want to experience well-being and contentment. You want to feel good about your life, you want your life to be meaningful. Your experience of life is meaningful to you; that is why you are continuously striving, constantly busy.

Just as you want to avoid the experience of suffering, and just as you want to experience happiness and well-being, so too does each and every being want to avoid suffering and to experience its own well-being. This is a fundamental truth, no matter what their way of life is or how it may appear. This being so, how could you then cause suffering to anybody else? Knowing that you would not like others to inflict sufferings upon you, how could you inflict suffering upon others?

This is why it is necessary to work with the mind. You may not immediately be able to wipe away the sufferings of others on any grand scale, or immediately be able to permeate the lives of each and every being with happiness and well-being. But you can certainly cease to harm yourself and others. To brush it aside just because the results are not immediately tangible, and then continue to harm yourself and others, would reveal an attitude lacking in true understanding and compassion.

As we have seen, the conflicting emotions jealousy, anger, aggression, and so forth — cause harm, and genuine loving-kindness and compassion bring about well-being and happiness. As is said in the teachings, "The best protection, for oneself and for others, is true loving-kindness and compassion." Again, since we have the potential, we must begin to work with our minds and use the mind's potential to free itself of defects. Furthermore, we have to scrutinise our lives and what we feel to be the purpose of our lives. Then, if we have achieved any level of clarity, we will realise that an adjustment of our minds is essential. We must become more thoughtful and considerate. We cannot afford to act on impulse, driven by the upheaval of conflicting emotions, causing harm to ourselves and others both in the present and in the future.

It is not, however, easy to become victorious over our confusion and illusions. It is as if our minds have walled themselves in. We must begin to break through the barriers of our conditionings. In the teachings of the Buddha, the way to generate an accommodating, open mind is through the practice of sitting meditation, known in Tibetan as shinay. Shi means stability, tranquillity, or harmony. Nay means to dwell or to stay. So, shinay literally means to dwell in stability, in tranquillity. Although we may understand the importance of experiencing a noble heart of compassion and loving-kindness, when it comes to actually practising it, our egoistic patterns will invariably obstruct or deflect our intentions. This is why we must first train our chaotic and constantly distracted minds through the practice of basic meditation. This will help us to develop a habitually centred and tranquil mind. One of the most seriously detrimental attitudes we can take is to view ego's negative habitual patterns as permanent aspects of our personalities, to attribute such defects as anger or jealousy to our natures. It is very harmful and destructive to make no effort, to simply say, "I can't do anything about it because it's my nature." From the point of view of Buddhist psychology, and even of basic common sense, this is faulty reasoning. The experience of anger, jealousy, or aggression is an experience of the mind. It arises because of habitual patterns, because of mental conditionings. When we say something is a part of our nature, it makes it seem to be a permanent, unchangeable thing. But the mind is the easiest thing to change.

On the other hand, if we were talking about the body, maybe that would be harder to change. For instance, Rinpoche says, now that he has become an old man, no matter how much he wants to be a young person, it is not going to happen. It is difficult to change these physical things. But the mind is the easiest thing to change. As we know from experience, just one little thing can make someone extremely happy. And just one little thing can make someone raging mad. It does not take anything major to set the mind reeling in one direction or the other, because it changes so easily. So we cannot make excuses and claim that limitations are a part of our "nature," because they are not, and there is no way to prove that they are.

Patience of Unconcern with Harming is, when all beings rise up as enemies and abuse you, on top of analysing and not getting angry, to practise helping them, in return for the harm. Patience of Willingly Bearing Suffering is to accept with joy being lacking in food and clothing, dwelling and so on; unwanted things, such as disease; and sufferings that arise for the sake of the Dharma. Patience of Certain Thought about Dharma is to generate heartfelt confidence and conviction about such devotion-objects as the Three Jewels. Henceforth I shall train with diligence in the practise of these three aspects of Patience. Please inspire me so that I can do this!

-- Kongpo Lama Yeshe Tsondru

慈悲無障礙

懺雲老法師

第一、慈悲不可思議

第二、結的緣不可思議

第三、願力不可思議

佛開始說法，轉四諦法輪，度阿若憍陳如。阿若憍陳如，在《金剛經》中就是歌利王。釋迦佛在因地做菩薩的時候，專修忍辱法門，就叫忍辱仙人。這時候歌利王，領著些宮女、嬪妃到山裡射箭、打獵玩兒。等著國王疲乏了，在帳幕裡就打盹兒、打瞌睡。打瞌睡起來一看，怎麼嬪妃宮女都沒有了呢？一找，那些宮女嬪妃在洞裡，看一個人，頭髮長長的，身上穿得很襤褸，在那兒修行。

歌利王就問：「你是什麼人？」「我是修忍辱法門的，忍辱的行者。」「你能忍？你能忍？」「能忍」。「那麼，胳臂伸出來！」一刀給砍斷了，說「能不能忍？」「還能忍。」另個胳臂也給砍斷，腿也伸出來，也給砍斷，四肢都給砍斷了。這時候忍辱仙人就說：我將來成佛的時候，我先度你。好比歌利王這時候還是不服氣：｢你還成佛怎麼的！｣這時候就飛沙走石，天地昏暗。歌利王害怕了，就跪在地上懺悔。

忍辱仙人說：｢我對大王，心裡一點沒有瞋恨。我要有瞋恨，叫我四肢斷了就斷了。我要沒有瞋恨，諸佛加被，叫我四肢復原。｣說完，馬上四肢復原。

文天祥被殺的時候也有飛沙走石。天下有特別的些事，有時候有飛沙走石奇異的現象。不過大多數都是嚇唬人、降伏人，才現這個現象。這時候歌利王害怕了、懺悔了，忍辱仙人就說：｢我成佛先度你、度大王。｣佛就這麼慈悲。

《論語》中有大弟子問孔子，說是：有怨我們就報怨，那個意思，以怨報怨對不對？孔子說是：｢以直報怨。｣恩呢？是以恩報恩。要佛法呢？有時候遇著這個緣，就是以恩報怨了。不過平常有時候也不必勉強，也可以以直報怨。佛這是以恩報怨，我成佛先度你。果然，一切唯心造，這第一、慈悲不可思議。以後佛成佛就先度歌利王，歌利王這時候就是阿若憍陳如。

第二、結的緣不可思議。普通佛門弟子都講：「結緣哪！結緣！」都是大家結善緣，將來好度化，結緣。

第三、願力不可思議。地藏菩薩的願、阿彌陀佛的願，這個願不可思議。釋迦佛的願是先度這個殺他的人，這願力不可思議。再是看出佛法高超、不可思議。

The essential practice of meditation is to allow the mind to express itself freely without fear or judgment. In each moment of awareness we encounter impressions of the outer world through our sense perception as well as our inner world of thoughts, feelings and emotions. When, through the process of meditation, we are able to let this incredible array of experience be, without trying to reject what we fear or pull in what we feel attracted to - when we relax into experience without trying to manipulate it in any way - we have a complete experience of mind, naked and unaltered. Art, when it is free of such notions of beauty and ugliness, ‘shoulds’ and ‘shouldn’ts’ can be used to express this complete experience of mind. When art evolves from this understanding it provides the possibility for those who see it to also experience the natural and unfabricated nature of their own awareness.

-- Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche

High Status and Definite Goodness

by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Leh, Ladakh, J&K, India, 7 July 2014 - Before leaving his residence to resume teachings preliminary to the 33rd Kalachakra Empowerment this morning, His Holiness the Dalai Lama met with almost 200 Chinese. He began by congratulating them simply for being there, because of the difficulty of making the journey. He said that relations between Tibet and China were more than 1000 years old. In the 7th century, the powerful Tibetan Emperor Songtsen Gampo married Princess Wencheng, who brought to Tibet the Jowo statue, which is now the main object of worship in Lhasa.

He said that historically Chinese are Buddhists and that he has often observed that Chinese are the senior disciples, while Tibetans are junior. However, he mentioned with a chuckle that in terms of training, the junior disciples haven’t done so badly. A few years ago, a survey conducted by the University of Beijing revealed that there were 300 million Buddhists in China and since then the number is thought to have grown to 400-500 million. His Holiness reported that recently in France, Xi Jinping had remarked that Buddhism was crucial to China’s cultural revival. He noted that in the Chinese canon there are more translated sutras than in the Kangyur, but the Tibetan Tengyur contains more volumes than the Chinese collection.

However that may be, His Holiness said that Buddhist teaching includes a complete description of reality and that to be a Buddhist it’s important to study.

“I often tease Chinese friends,” he said, “that repeating the name of Amitabha over and again is not sufficient. If you only rely on that, there’s little to differentiate your practice from Christians and Muslims who aspire to go to heaven. The Buddha made quite clear that enlightenment takes place within; in the heart.”

Laughing some more, His Holiness remembered being described by a Chinese official as a demon, but said it made no difference to him whether he was called a demon or Chenrezig. To him what is much more important is to be a follower of the Buddha.

His Holiness told his rapt listeners that he likes the idea of a People’s Republic, because the words themselves suggest a sense of equality. He mentioned meeting Mao Zedong many times, recalling that he had been a great advocate of equality who scorned nationalism and Han chauvinism. He said that true equality today would overcome most problems.

Repeating a familiar theme, His Holiness asserted that 1.3 billion Chinese people have a right to know the truth. If they know reality, they have the ability and intelligence to judge right from wrong. The censorship imposed in China would be impossible to maintain in India or Japan. He said:

“Because it makes it very difficult for people to assess reality, censorship is immoral. What’s more it shows a basic lack of respect for the people. As China grows she has opportunities to make a positive contribution to the world, but to do so she must first earn the world’s trust and respect.”

Under warm sunshine, His Holiness once again walked to the pavilion from which he teaches and in which the Kalachakra Sand Mandala is steadily taking shape. On arrival he is greeted each day by a band of Ladakhi musicians playing drums and the local reed instrument the surna. After greeting Lamas and organizers who sit around the throne and saluting the audience, he took his seat and said:

“Whatever kind of discourse is being given, it’s very important that teacher and students generate a good motivation. We should take refuge in the Three Jewels unencumbered by such emotions as attachment and anger, and unsullied by the eight worldly concerns. For a Dharma to be Mahayana, the person must be Mahayana.”

His Holiness said that the way we are led out of cyclic existence involves the Buddha’s fundamental teaching of the Four Noble Truths, which entails cessation of the causes of suffering. Soon after his enlightenment the Buddha first presented this teaching in Varanasi. He taught the Noble Truth of Suffering, the Noble Truth of its Cause, the Noble Truth of Cessation and the Noble Truth of the Path. He explained that suffering must be known, its cause must be abandoned, cessation must be actualized and the path cultivated. However, once suffering is known there is nothing to be known, nothing to be abandoned, nothing to be actualized and nothing to be cultivated.

His Holiness explained that each of the Noble Truths has four attributes: they are impermanent, suffering, empty and selfless. Regarding impermanence he said there is gross and subtle impermanence. When something simply comes to an end, that is gross impermanence, but the momentary change that affects a thing is subtle impermanence, impelled by its own causes. Ignorance is, for example, to hold onto a permanent self although there is no such self.

Entering into the path involves the Three Trainings in morality, concentration and wisdom, which lead to the practice of the Six Perfections and in due course to the practice of the Vajrayana. To start with Tantra will not be so effective. To understand what liberation is we need to understand the Perfection of Wisdom teachings. Meanwhile, as part of the Third Turning of the Wheel of Dharma the Tathagata-garbha-sutra reveals the subjective mind, the clear light mind, which is the essence of the Highest Yoga Tantra. In his teaching the Buddha first laid the foundations, then raised the walls of the structure, finally topping it with a roof. His Holiness remarked that Tibetans tend to begin with the roof.

He said that when the Three Trainings are developed on the basis of understanding selflessness, this renders them the Three Higher Trainings. The 37 factors of Enlightenment include the Four foundations of mindfulness; Four right exertions; Four bases of power; Five faculties; Five powers; Seven factors of Enlightenment and the Noble Eightfold Path. His Holiness explained that the Four Mindfulnesses included mindfulness of the body, mindfulness of feelings, mindfulness of the mind and mindfulness of phenomena.

“Understanding the nature of the mind is clarity and awareness,” he said, “we can see how disturbing emotions can be overcome. Buddhist teaching is not about threatening people with dire consequences if they don’t behave in a certain way. Instead, by understanding the advantages of liberation, they will be inspired to achieve it.”

His Holiness commented that in today’s world people are more interested in their physical comfort and sensory pleasure, and yet love and compassion are developed within and are more durable. Beginning to explain Nagarjuna’s text the ‘Precious Garland’ he spoke of high status or good rebirth and definite goodness or liberation. He reiterated that Dharma, to protect us from suffering, entails not harming others but helping them, often expressed as abandoning the ten unwholesome deeds and fulfilling the ten virtues. In this connection, all faults come from self-cherishing and coming under the sway of the mental factors known as the three poisons. Suffering is not dispelled by reciting prayers, only by overcoming ignorance, the misconception of self.

As he completed the first chapter of the ‘Precious Garland, His Holiness said:

“Although it can be difficult it is worth studying these texts, comparing them to each other and trying to understand what ideas like emptiness really mean.”

Impermanence isn’t just about death, it has many refreshing and positive aspects. For example, understanding the philosophy of impermanence is an antidote to afflicting emotions because it dispels ignorance. Since our mind is constantly changing, we can see that anger, arrogance, jealousy, pride, attachment, and so forth are just momentary mental defilement. Application of this knowledge reduces the power of these thoughts and eventually leads us to eliminate them completely. When truly we know that everything passes with time, we won’t need to hold onto resentment and can learn forgiveness. Impermanence teaches us to endure hardships while we’re developing good qualities, because hardship, too, will eventually disappear. Without an awareness of impermanence, we tend to waste our lives thinking that there will be time for Dharma practice later. These are just a few of the great qualities and strengths we can build from reflecting on impermanence.

-- Khenchen Konchok Gyaltsen Rinpoche

佛教徒快乐的秘诀

惟贤法师

大乘菩萨行的安乐行，不但要自己求安乐，还要所有的众生也得到安乐。有人问，佛教徒真的知道快乐的秘诀？是的，我们佛教徒拥有快乐的秘密。现代科学就可以证实这一说法。现代西方科学家对虔诚的佛教徒的脑部扫描发现，他们促进快乐与平和的脑部区域异常活跃。最近在美国的一项研究已经发现，虔诚佛教徒脑部的“快乐中心”经常处于活跃状态。这就解释了佛教徒能保持平和知足心态的原因。

神经科学家认为，初步研究结果能够为证明宗教修炼能改变大脑对某种环境的反应提供最初的证据。美国威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校的研究小组对一些已经皈依佛门多年的人的大脑进行扫描时，特别留心对感情、情绪和性格具有重要影响的区域。他们发现佛教徒左脑的“快乐中心”经常处于高度活跃状态。杜克大学的欧文•弗拉纳根教授在《新科学家》周刊中写道：“我们现在能比较有把握地假设，人们经常碰到的那些看上去很快乐平和的佛教徒心里真的很快乐。”

佛教徒的这种良好心态能一直保持着，不光在坐禅时如此。这表明，佛教徒的生活方式能改变大脑的工作方式。其他研究也表明，佛教徒处理恐惧和焦虑的大脑区域的活动比一般人要缓慢。这些研究成果最终能帮助研究人员继续深入研究用于治疗抑郁症的坐禅方法。看来佛教的安乐行还是很有科学价值。

下面我就详细解说四安乐行。

身安乐行

佛说我们的身应当远离十种之事：一、远离豪势；二、远离邪人邪法；三、远离凶险嬉戏；四、远离旃陀罗；五、远离二乘众，妨修大乘之行故；六、远离欲想；七、远离不男之人；八、远离危害之处；九、远离讥嫌之事；十、远离畜养。既远离已，常好坐禅，修摄其心，是名身安乐行。

第一种，远离豪势。你不要处处讲究与豪权者接近。豪门，豪势之门。修行人要注意，攀权附势并不好。如果你经常攀权附势，他将来得祸你也得祸，累及你身。关键的是，豪势即依仗权势或财产而作威作福，他们不知道修善，不知道修福，只是一味贪心不足。在原始资金积累阶段，昧着良心赚钱，不知要害多少人，要搜刮多少人的财富，他们才能跻身富豪的行列。但他们不满足，还想拥有更多的财富。钱就像滚雪球一样，越滚越大，他的钱也越来越多。但他不是用这个财富去利益人民，而是贪婪成性，有一千想一万，有一亿想百亿，贪心没有止境。有的人想做官，他做官不是要为老百姓做事，做人民的公仆，而是以此为资本，搞权钱交易，腐败堕落。最后贪官和奸商勾结，就成了豪势。你跟这种人交往会有好处吗？肯定是因果报应，丝毫不爽。所以要远离豪势，才能得到身心的安乐。远离豪势，这是促进身安乐的第一种现象。

第二种，不要崇拜邪神邪鬼。因为这些不但对你没有好处，反而会害死你。魔子魔孙与魔王相近，外道徒、邪徒则与邪神邪鬼相近。那些自称有神通骗人的“教主”，骗财骗色，搞得你家破人亡还不知道为什么，因为你中了他的毒，迷了窍，连自已的本性都失去了。比如现在的“*轮-功”就是这么回事，他嘴上说提倡“真、善、ren”，走来走去想上天国，就自杀、焚身。美国的外道搞集体自杀、集体跳水、集体纵火，造成很多人间悲剧。

邪人讲神讲鬼，害得你妻离子散，切切不要亲近。邪法不要去学。他讲神通，但他是邪道，不能正修，不能清净三业，不能正式走解脱道，千万不要亲近。我们佛呢，不以神通论，而是以法论。远离邪人邪法，可以得到身安乐。

第三种，远离凶险的嬉戏。世间的许多游戏是很危险的，比如那个杀人比赛，什么斗鸡、斗狗，以众生的生命换来你一时的快乐，其实很残忍。最严重的是那些政治骗子，用人民的生命做游戏，那更是罪过无量。还有世间的走钢丝，很危险，高空作业。还有欧洲的拳王赛，拳王对拳王，两个互相比，不合适就把你打倒，昏迷不醒，生命都有危险。这种无意义的嬉戏不要搞，不要接近。佛陀要求佛教徒不要做这些凶险的事，要做对身心有帮助的事，这样才能得到身心的安乐。

第四种，远离旃陀罗。就是要远离严炽、暴厉、执恶、险恶人、执暴恶人、主杀人等，也就是要远离那些凶杀成性、残暴好斗的、流氓之类的人。因为这些人杀心盛大，恼害众生，见者伤慈，能坏善法的根本。对于险恶的人要远离，免得迟早身受其害。有的人跟他玩，要么是受害，要么是近墨者黑，也变成流氓。所以你看到吊儿郎当的人要注意，没有好的生活习惯，好逸恶劳，或不务正业，甚至伤风败俗，违法乱纪。如果你是有能力的大菩萨则不在此例，你可以用慈悲心去度化他，但你要有这个能力，否则他会伤害到你的。

第五种，对二乘之人要远离。二乘之人即只顾自己的人，他们不愿意与别人分享幸福和快乐，崇拜个人主义，只知道自私自利，忽略了大众利益。这种人很难和你同甘共苦，在困难面前就退缩。远离二乘之人，与具有同样菩萨精神的人交往，才与道业有益，才能得到身心的安乐。

第六种，远离欲想。欲想就是六尘境界，具体就是五欲境界，财、色、名、食、睡，你不要在中间去贪恋，有些地方就不要去参加啦。你们看世间上那些娱乐场所、歌舞场所，出好多事情。那些跳舞的，男的也变了，女的也变了，要离婚，产生很多社会悲剧、家庭悲剧。这是无意义的嬉戏，对修行没一点好处。

第七种，远离不男之人。不男之人，就是不男不女的人，虽然佛教不主张歧视同性恋或变态的人，但我们提倡做常态的人。

第八种，远离危害之处。我们这个社会，很多危害性的东西就在我们的身边，比如战乱、斗争的地方，水湿容易生病的地方，干燥上火的地方，水中含有不良元素的地方，有放射性物质的地方，等等。远离这些危害人身安全的地方，融入到有益于身心健康的环境，这样才能使得身心健康、安乐。

第九种，远离讥嫌之事。凡是引起讥嫌的地方要避免，不然产生痛苦。避讥嫌在佛教戒条中是有的，比丘、比丘尼戒都是有的。远离讥嫌可以使佛教的整体形象和个人形象不至受损。因此作为一名佛教徒，能够在生活中时时刻刻观察自己、检点自我，洁身自好，就可以避免别人说坏话，避免别人对自己的讥嫌。

当然若是众生误会我们的好心，我们的善行被他认为是个人的利益使然什么的，那没有关系，不能因为他讥嫌我们就不做好事了。就像你捐助佛教的慈善事业，小人之心的人会说你肯定有罪过，不然你怎么会舍得捐款呢？或说你做了坏事良心发现，才拿点钱来骗人。也有的人说你是为了名誉才捐款的……这是嫉妒的魔鬼在他心中作祟，他自己做不了主，所以他来诽谤你，讥嫌你，你就不能因为魔鬼的嫉恨而退行善之心！不能因为别人讥嫌你而放弃你的善行！

第十种，远离畜养。基于慈悲心来说，畜养有一定的过失，因为你强迫囚禁众生，并以此为乐。有的人养小狗、小猫，把大量的学习时间、工作时间花在逗乐去了，这就是不务正业，玩物丧志。况且动物身上有一些我们不了解的传染病，跟动物接触太紧密，很容易得怪病，什么狂犬病之类的，得了就活不成了。应该把精力花在学习正法上，而不是玩弄弱小的动物。

以上是关于身体力行方面应该注意的事情。假使能够注意这些事情，你身体就能够得到安乐，你的安全就能得到保证。这叫做“身安乐行”。

口安乐行

上面介绍了身安乐行，现在进一步讲口安乐行。口业应远离四种非法语，以防止因口业造成的过失。因此应该：一、不乐说人及经典过；二、不轻慢，谓不倚大乘而轻蔑小乘也；三、不赞他亦不毁他；四、不生怨嫌之心。善修安乐心法，是名口安乐行。

第一，不乐说人及经典过。不要喜欢专门说别人的过失，不要毁谤经典，背后说小话，说张三李四不对，结果起是非。这一点我们学佛的人要注意。你到了学佛的地方，好好念佛，好好参拜，不要两个之间唧唧喳喳的，说这个不对，那个不对，师父不对。这个要不得，那个要不得，结果最要不得的是自己。在家居士菩萨戒里有一条，叫“不说四众过失”。说人过失实际是自己最大的过失，因为你的心境整天停留在过失上，当然不可能进步了。

我们佛教徒要说人好话，这在菩萨行里叫“爱语”。应该多赞叹别人的功德，而不是说三道四。说话时要隐恶扬善，宣扬众生的优点，赞叹他所做的好事，你的心就与善道相应。祸从口出，首要是管好自己的嘴，要多说利人的话，少说是与非。

不要毁谤经典。佛陀宣说的经典是为了方便度化众生的，不能以成见说某某经某某典的不是。比如，学密宗的偏偏说显教经典不彻底、不究竟，学显教的低等，密宗高一筹；学禅宗的，说念佛的太简单、太浅，或说学密是说食数宝，只有禅宗才是究竟；学了些经教的就说别样修行的只讲修，不讲研究教理；专门修行的就毁谤研究经典的……这样彼此毁谤。其实经典、各种修法都是佛说的，这不成了毁谤佛法是啥嘛？佛根据众生的根机说出各种法，因机施教、应病与药，你何必彼此毁谤呀？我们太虚大师智慧很高，他判摄佛法，就不采取宗派与宗派相对立的态度，提出了大乘“八宗平等”的思想。你们有些读过太虚大师文章的人都晓得。

哪八宗呢？就是流行于唐代的律宗、华严宗、天台宗、三论宗、法相宗、真言宗、禅宗、净土宗等。太虚大师把八个宗派归拢，融入“三宗”，即“法性空慧宗、法相唯识宗、法界圆觉宗”。太虚大师以此三宗来判摄一切佛法，这三宗也是平等的，各有特点，都是佛说的法，都是导归诸法实相的。

今天我们也不能分什么宗派，现在我们是统一的佛教，没有大小乘的歧视，没有显与密的区别，所有的佛法都是平等一如的。平等一味的佛法是今天对佛教教法的看法，至于对佛学的学习，可以根据众生的根性，授以律禅净密等。

所以口业不能说毁谤他人的话，更不要对经典毁谤非议。

第二，不轻慢他。轻慢就是看不起别人，只有自己很了不起，目中无人，说话狂妄、傲慢。轻慢别人要不得，这也是犯口业。轻慢心也是学佛的障碍，我们要努力克服，才能得到身心的安乐。佛家的语言是真实话、正直话、和合话，要戒除妄语、粗恶语、离间语、下流语，轻慢别人或对别人的过失加以毁谤，都是要不得的。

第三点，不赞他亦不毁他。这说的是中道思想。有的人不是毁人就是说些无益的话，如平常说的溜须拍马屁。我们要赞叹也要有根据，不能光闭着眼睛乱吹，把拍马屁当成赞叹人。错了，做好好先生不是佛教徒的行为，我们要善恶分明，对于恶人恶事，敢于反对制止，对于好人好事，我们赞叹随喜。

第四点，不生怨嫌之心。不单是在语言上不说这些，而在心里也不要生怨恨，除了不要在背后叽叽咕咕以外，心里面都不要生怨，要慈悲、谦和、对人平等。纵然有怨，也要化怨为亲，不要出诸口上，连心里头都不要这样子想。

这个叫做“口安乐行”。你这样子做就可以安乐了。否则就要惹是非，俗话说，“病从口入，祸从口出”，你看历史上很多大臣，有时一句话不对头，就被关监、被杀头。清朝设了文字狱，那些议论皇帝、议论朝庭的人，就会被关进监狱、被杀头。文化大革命更不消说，说错了就被斗争，都是嘴巴引起来的祸事。

意安乐行

“意”嘛，就是意识，我们内心。我们有身口意三业，这意业最重要，因而要使意业清净，让我们身心安乐。第六意识如何得到安定？如何得到心安？

因此意应弃四种恶：一、嫉谄；二、轻骂；三、以大行呵骂小行之人；四、争竞。意远离此四种，则得常好安乐，修养其心。故名意安乐行。

第一，不嫉谄。你内心要远离嗔恨和嫉妒的障碍，不要骄慢，不要自以为是；对于有能力的人不能谄曲，应好好向他学习，而不是去迎合奉承他。不嫉恨，不嫉妒，不谄曲，是我们佛教徒做人的基本原则。

第二，不轻骂。即内心不要轻视别人，要尊重人。言语出之于口，不要骂人，对人要友好互爱。不要认为他不行就轻视他，这不是佛教徒做人的态度。睦邻友好，尊重他人，不轻视任何人，这是佛教徒的传统美德，我们今天要继承和发扬这个美德，才能创建新的社会道德品质与社会秩序。

第三，不要以行大行而呵骂小行之人。不要以大行呵斥小行，不要自以为是，见小行就毁谤。这中间也包括不要毁谤念佛人，不要毁谤修禅的人，对于修密法的人也不要毁谤，不要呵斥，都要尊重，心存平等。一方面我们对于逆境不要恼羞成怒，要学会涵养一切，做一个有修养、有道德品质的佛教徒；另一方面对于行菩萨道的人，要随喜赞叹，不能以嫉恨之心去毁谤。我们应该去学习大行之人，跟着有德行的善知识，学习他们的为人处世，学习他们的道德风范，学习他们精勤修学的精神，学习他们自度度人的高尚人格，这样我们才能走上涅槃寂静的道路。

第四，不要竞争名利。佛教徒不但表面上不要与人争斗，在内心上也不要起竞争之心。竞争之心表现在行动上就有是非得失，内心不平衡，行动上就要惹事生非，就要遭祸。不竞争并不是没有竞争能力。你踏踏实实地工作，不跟人争名争利，但你辛勤劳动的回报一定不会少的。名利是身外之物，有的时候不一定是好事，做事低调一点对你是有好处的。当然菩萨为了利益众生，以大名闻世，大建法幢，那是为众生的缘故。

能做到这四点，就可以令人身心安乐，这个叫“意安乐行”。

誓愿安乐行

誓愿安乐行，又作慈悲接引安乐行、梦中成就神通智慧佛道涅槃安乐行。即菩萨愍念众生于法华一乘不闻、不知、不觉、不问、不信、不解，于是自誓欲得无上菩提，以神通力、智慧力引导众生，入于此法；菩萨发此誓愿，而安乐行法华之法，称为誓愿安乐行。这个誓愿就是菩萨誓愿。

你发了“众生无边誓愿度，烦恼无尽誓愿断，法门无量誓愿学，佛道无上誓愿成”四宏誓愿，就要坚持不懈地落实在我们的行动上。愿力不可思议，有愿力必得佛菩萨加持。这种愿力就是对于众生不起厌离心，不起舍弃心，时时要起悲悯心，摄受他们修行，要以悲心摄受一切，要有这个坚固的誓愿。有这个誓愿，你的精神就愉快，诸天神就护持你，你就能度过任何困难，任何艰难困苦都难不倒你，因为你的心念强大，与菩萨无异。因发四宏誓愿，行于四宏誓愿，可以得到安乐。这就是“誓愿安乐行”。