In order to overcome any and all attachments to the phenomena of samsara, you should meditatively cultivate the intention definitely to leave cyclic existence, meditating on impermanence and suffering.

Also, you should abandon taking to mind your own welfare and inculcate in your continuum the altruistic intention to become enlightened.

-- Taranatha

修行就是修心

普巴扎西仁波切

       我相信从初次进入佛门开始直至今天，无论是身作礼拜，还是朝拜各地神山以及谒见诸多导师，或者持诵不同的经文咒语，乃至修行禅定等等，总之，我们都已经行持了许多的善法。

　　那么我们从事诸多善行具有多少功德呢？这就要反观自己的内心，看看自己的内心有了多少改善。如果我们仅仅是在表面上从事善法，而实际当中并没有调伏自己的内心，那么我们所做的一切善法有多少功德，就很难所言了。

　　我等历代传承祖师无垢光尊者曾经说过：“自心与法不相融契，仅具道貌之形相，则无实义可谈。”也就是说，即便我们独自跑到幽静山林之中去闭关多年，或者平常在家念诵很多遍经文，若是我们的修行并没有对治自己的内心，内心烦恼仍旧如同往昔一般炽盛，那么即便我们行持诸多善行，见解可能仍旧停留在原地。

　　要知道，我们是否信仰佛教，并不在于我们的手中是否时时拿着一串念珠，也不在于家中的佛堂布置得有多么精美，而在于我们的内心有多么地改善。

　　即便我们时时宣称自己是佛教徒，但内心烦恼却依旧与庸俗同道，那么只能说自己是一个形象的修行者，甚至可能一点都没有修行。因为我们所谓的修行，修的是心。若自己的心没有改变，无论从事的善行数量有多么多，恐怕对解脱都没有多少利益。

　　当然，在修行之初，我们的确是需要寻求诸多方便去调伏自己的内心。即便一开始由于自己烦恼沉重或者自己内心力量不够的原因，做得不是很圆满，但还是要时时要针对自己的内心而做调伏为妙。

　　现前在汉地有很多信众会向我汇报见解，当然见解提高是多方面的，但从世间角度而言，我们就可以观待一下自己的性格与往昔相比是否有所改善？

　　例如在现在这个时代，由于工作压力大，生活节奏很快，竞争也很激烈，因此情绪难免还是会因此而有所波动。那么此时就可以反观一下，面对同样的对境，自己的性格与学佛前相比是否越来越调柔？家庭是否越来越和睦？与周围的人相处，磕磕碰碰的事情是否越来越少？如果是的话，那就说明你的见解就在逐渐增上。因为你时时都带着一面镜子在反观自己的内心，因此很多事情就不会再去计较，生活也越来越和谐，内心就觉得越来越快乐。

　　曾经有人问我，“修行最高的境界是什么？”当然我们可以从不同的角度来回答这个问题。但从面对生活的角度而言，当我们面对生活之时，生活不再束缚自己的内心，这就是佛教最高的境界。也就是说，我们现在所从事的一切善法就是为了达到这个目标，因此我们时时要观待自己的内心而作修行，这一点非常重要，一定要牢记于心。

When there is never any fear or despair no matter what adversity or suffering is encountered, when difficulty is taken as an aid to mind training and you always have the help of a joyful mind, then you have acquired proficiency in mind training. When adverse conditions come, meditate joyfully and, in addition, learn to take joyfully all the adversity others experience.

-- Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye

How Am I Doing?

by Anyen Rinpoche

It has been almost fifty years since many lamas of my parents’ and grandparents’ generation crossed the borders of Tibet and changed the spiritual face of the West forever. The early students of Tibetan Buddhism here in the United States, now my adopted home, are advancing both in their practice and in their years. While death can surely arrive at any moment, for many the truth of impermanence is just now beginning to dawn with some clarity, with some certainty. The true test of their faith and practice is beginning.

While there is much debate and legitimate concern about how Buddhism has adapted to the West — and vice-versa — it seems timely and useful now, regardless of our age, to focus on our personal progress since taking up the Buddhist path. How have we changed? How have we worked with obstacles that have arisen along the way? Have we slipped back into any unwholesome habitual patterns and not even noticed? What kind of faith do we find in our hearts right now? What is our current commitment to practice? Where do we want to be as dharma practitioners at the time of our death?

These are not just rhetorical questions. Please ask yourself these questions right now. Take an honest look inside and recognise what you need to do to fulfill your spiritual aspirations in whatever time you have left. All of these questions together are what is meant by the question, What is your dharma vision? What kind of practitioner are you truly willing to become so that the moment of death fulfills the hopes you have for enlightenment — or at the very least your hopes for a rebirth that allows you to continue your practice and be in the presence of authentic teachers again?

Just as all of us make great effort to maintain our everyday lives, we should make similarly great effort in our preparations for death. If we are living and practicing the essence of the dharma teachings, there should be no difference between our spiritual practices while we are living and those that we engage in at the time of death. One practice that we all share on the path, no matter what other teachings we have received or practices we have committed to, is training in mindfulness to ensure that in our last moments we will be able to make good use of our death.

We all seek to be the best human beings we can be. And regardless of our beliefs, death will come to all of us. Everyone can benefit from preparing for death as a spiritual practice. Additionally, if we learn how to support a loved one while they are dying, we will be giving them a great gift by helping them fulfill their own spiritual aspirations.

THE NEED FOR A DHARMA VISION

Many of us on the Buddhist path have heard from our teachers that “the path is the goal” and that we should cut through any attachments to results. This is most true specifically on the path of meditation; we should not have hope for any particular experiences or signs of realisation in our meditation. Hungering for such experiences will only bring us obstacles. Nevertheless, without earnest self-reflection and a vision for ourselves as practitioners, we will not really know how to take up the path.

In Tibet, few monks and nuns receive the teachings of Dzogchen, and even fewer laypeople are introduced to them. Here in the West, we expect the highest teachings to be given freely even if we have made little effort in the foundational practices. But it is the yogis who spend years training their minds, using self-reflection as a tool to further their progress, who become the highly realised practitioners.

We must be careful about having only the appearance of a dharma practitioner. Some students who have received many teachings tell me they are “on and off” practitioners; they “sort of” practice and have little experience. Sometimes they are very passionate about their practice for a short period of time. They may burn like fire, but then something or other happens and they stop practicing. They lack certainty about what is the perfectly pure path. We need to abandon this habit of being an “on and off” practitioner. If we let our energy get too high, we can expect a counter balancing low to follow when we lose our enthusiasm. Thus, in terms of dharma practice, having a tempered passion is a more useful quality.

Because it is so easy to deceive ourselves about our practice, it is very important to have a relationship with a spiritual friend who will help cut through any self-deception. But we must do our part to be prepared for and to nurture such a relationship; we must be diligent in our practice and have a realistic idea of our spiritual goals. Self-reflection can bring a new level of trust and mutual respect to an established relationship with a teacher by demonstrating that we are suitable spiritual “vessels,” worthy of receiving profound lineage teachings. We can transform our outer trust in the three jewels — in the Buddha, in the teachings, and in the community of noble practitioners — into authentic confidence that develops unshakeable faith in the Buddhist path to enlightenment.

I consider the dharma vision, what we might call our spiritual aspirations, to be an evolving meditation on living and dying. It makes no difference what stage of life we are in. Practitioners need a guide for living as well as for dying that we can skillfully rely on during our lives as well as at the moment of death.

It’s also important to include others in our dharma vision. Many of us, wishing to increase our expressions of loving-kindness and compassion, also want to help friends, loved ones, pets, and strangers alike die with the same opportunities for a “good death” that we wish for ourselves. If we do have the wish to help others through the dying process, we must first train ourselves to understand how our own lives move toward death. We must gain knowledge and wisdom about the process of dying that will enable us to use one of the most important moments of this incarnation wisely. Then we can make a serious commitment to becoming practitioners who take responsibility for accomplishing the vision of helping ourselves and others to die well.

THE DHARMA WILL, ENTRUSTED DHARMA FRIENDS, AND THE DHARMA BOX

When we understand the importance of the dying process and the potential we have for liberation during and after our death, it will be easy to see how essential it is to prepare properly for death. I would like to plant seeds here first for the idea of a dharma will and also for what I call entrusted dharma friends.

I encourage students to form core groups of entrusted dharma friends who agree to help each other through the dying process according to the wishes written down in each person’s dharma will. The dharma will allows us to record our spiritual directives, so family and friends will know the kind of death we wish to experience and how it can be accomplished. Our entrusted dharma friends should at least be familiar with phowa [the transference of consciousness at the time of death] and other Buddhist practices. Once each person has written a dharma will, he or she can share it within the core group as part of training in recognising the signs of death, mastering phowa, and learning how to skillfully help someone through the dying process.

Entire sanghas, or spiritual communities, can also pledge to help entrusted dharma friends within their community fulfill their commitments. Each core group will need others from the spiritual community to assume some of the tasks involved in supporting the dying person’s wishes, such as informing the sangha about appropriate prayers and rituals, practicing phowa together, and helping with funeral arrangements. This will be a wonderful way to strengthen our spiritual relationships and gain confidence in using the dying process for spiritual practice. Once we are skilled in phowa, a monthly or bi- monthly group practice session can support the entire community’s effort.

I also advocate creating a “dharma box,” an actual box which will contain everything we and our entrusted dharma friends will need to help us through the dying process. The dharma box will include copies of our dharma will and legal papers, ritual items, dharma practice texts, and instructions for family and friends. Once the dharma box is complete, we can return to our dharma vision and engage fully in the practices we have committed to through the creation of that vision, with the assurance that we have put everything in place for the time of death.

CREATING YOUR DHARMA VISION THROUGH CONTEMPLATION 

There are many traditional meditations on death and impermanence in the foundational practices of all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. We can think about how the seasons change and how the elements of the world around us transform; we can look at how our bodies have changed from the time we were born until now; we can contemplate how our minds are constantly transforming. Reflecting on impermanence is the best way to prepare ourselves for the moment of death. Please take some time to reflect on the contemplations below.

Here, I will suggest some specific questions for you to contemplate. It would be best to set aside a personal retreat day or weekend without interruptions for these practices, or to do this with your entrusted dharma friends in a group retreat. You may want a journal to write down insights and ideas that arise as you do these practices. Some students have also found journaling helpful in tracking their progress in meditation and conduct over a period of a month or so and they use that as a basis for further reflection. You should decide what tools will help you the most in making this assessment of your dharma practice.

Again, I encourage you to take an honest look at yourself as a Buddhist practitioner on the path. Sit quietly and cultivate a proper motivation. Generate bodhichitta — the wish to become enlightened in order to help others attain enlightenment. I suggest you begin by reading one of the contemplations below to yourself several times. Take time to consider it fully, keeping your mind focused but open to all ideas that arise. When you feel ready, rest in meditation free of reference points for as long as you can. When you finish your meditation, if you like, take time to write about your insights and experiences. Then continue with the next contemplation in the same way.

When you’ve thoroughly explored each of the contemplations below, you can begin to incorporate what you have learned about yourself as a practitioner into your dharma vision. Even if you have been practicing for a long time, you may be surprised at what you find lacking in your practice when you have taken an honest look. Many of my students find great inspiration in this process to increase their diligence and to focus on areas needing attention. Don’t forget to practice compassion for yourself. Appreciate the past efforts you have already made and include the efforts you are willing to make to become the excellent practitioner you have envisioned.

One of the biggest obstacles we might find we have as practitioners is that we lack a sense of urgency about the need to practice. This is caused by our strong experience of self-attachment. Self-attachment is expressed in many different ways. For example, we might think, “Let me just enjoy my life right now; let me enjoy this particular moment.” We put off practice for a later time, which we fail to realise may never come. The best time to practice, the best time to prepare for the reality of death, and the best time to clarify our own dharma visions, is the present. Don’t waste a moment.

Having a sense of urgency about practice could cause us to overestimate ourselves, or to want to skip over the hard work of developing a solid and stable base of daily practice. As you create your dharma vision, make an effort to balance idealism with realism. We may all wish to be great yogis like Milarepa or Longchenpa, but our capacity is more likely to be one of an ordinary practitioner. So we should reflect realistically on where we are now in our practice and what kind of practitioner we wish to become that is not beyond our reach. We must be honest about our capacity and realistic in our goals. As I have stated above, we must also continually be mindful of life’s impermanence and the reality of impending death. We may not have all the time we think we will have for practice.

We can aspire to such goals as receiving profound instructions from authentic teachers of all lineages and gaining experience and certainty in their meaning and in the primordially pure view of Dzogchen. We can always aspire to increase our bodhichitta and can do so by daily employing such practices as tonglen, in which we take in the suffering of others and send out positive wishes for healing and happiness in exchange. We all should wish to become proficient at practicing phowa for ourselves so that we may use it effectively at the time of our deaths, to die without regrets and with altruistic motivation for our next life. We may wish to become a practitioner who can sit with confidence with people who are dying and support them during the dying process. We may think about how we may help our teachers accomplish their dharma activities and where we can contribute our talents.

Regardless of how we regard our talent for writing, we can all compose an aspiration prayer for the time of our death and include it at the end of the dharma vision. We can read this aspiration prayer before sleep each night so its meaning fully enters our hearts. Then, as we are dying, an entrusted dharma friend can read this to us to remind us of what we are trying to accomplish and of our bodhichitta. A copy of this prayer can be kept in our dharma box, and buried or burned with us after we die.

IDEAS TO CONTEMPLATE

CONTEMPLATE IMPERMANENCE FROM THE OUTER POINT OF VIEW

Reflect on how your outer environment has changed during the past year. Recall how the seasons changed: how the plants, flowers, and trees transformed over time; how the daylight increased and decreased. Think about it in terms of your own personal living environment and throughout the globe as well. Think about the natural catastrophes that occurred around the world. Reflect on all the births and deaths of people, animals, and insects. Allow the enormity of these changes to reach you on a deep level until you feel with certainty that not even one thing remained the same.

CONTEMPLATE IMPERMANENCE FROM THE INNER POINT OF VIEW

Imagine yourself as a small baby. See the physical changes you have gone through until now. Sometimes looking at photos of yourself from childhood to the present can be a poignant way to examine your own physical impermanence. Look at the transformation that has occurred in you physically. Then think about your physical being from last year until now, from last month until now, from yesterday until today. See that your body is changing even from moment to moment.

CONTEMPLATE IMPERMANENCE FROM THE SECRET POINT OF VIEW

Reflect on the wild nature of your own mind. Remember yourself as a child and how your intelligence developed over time. Look at how your mind changes moment by moment as it fills with entertaining distractions or follows after different sensory experiences. Contemplate how you are constantly transforming mentally and how the mind is also impermanent.

CONTEMPLATE YOUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

Reflect on your daily practice. Are you practicing regularly and for as long as you would like? Are you able to incorporate all the practices you wish to master into your daily practice? Reflect deeply on what type of practitioner you really want to be. What are the obstacles that stand in your way? Think about any tendencies you have that prevent you from practicing in this way. What is the main cause? Identify the things that cause you to put off practicing.

CONTEMPLATE THE IMPERMANENCE OF THINGS TO WHICH YOU ARE ATTACHED

If you are attached to material objects in the world around you, reflect on their changing nature. If you are attached to a person, reflect on him or her growing old and dying. Actually envision his or her physical and mental changes. If you are attached to your own life, as we all are, go through your body from the ends of the hair on your head to the tips of your toes and try to find anything that is lasting or permanent in your body. Do a very thorough examination, looking from outside to inside to see if you can find anything that is unchanging. Do this until you are confident that you, too, are actually going to die, and that you cannot hold onto this life forever.

CONTEMPLATE THE SIX PARAMITAS, OR TRANSCENDENT ACTIONS

Starting with this past month’s practice of generosity, look at how you practiced during the past month and how you have integrated practice into your daily life by examining how you have expressed generosity. Were you able to give love, emotional support, or material goods without attachment? Was your heart open unconditionally? If you compare this month to the previous month, was your generosity different or the same? If you compare last year to this year, have you been more generous? Less generous? The same? If you are the same, what will you do to increase your expression of generosity? If you have been less generous, reflect on why have you changed.

CONTEMPLATE THIS PAST MONTH’S SPIRITUAL PRACTICE IN TERMS OF THE REMAINING PARAMITAS

In the same way, examine your progress in virtue and morality; patience and tolerance; diligence and enthusiastic effort; meditative concentration; and wisdom. Take time to look at each quality and how you express it in your daily life. If you find yourself lacking in the expression of these enlightened qualities, make a plan to work on them. For example, make an effort to stay mindful of one quality over the next month and look for ways to enhance it. You will find many opportunities. Over time you can become habituated to remaining mindful and increasing the practice of each quality. You will find your daily practice improving greatly.

CONTEMPLATE THIS PAST MONTH’S SPIRITUAL PRACTICE IN TERMS OF ANGER

It is very important to similarly contemplate your recent expressions of anger and resentment. These are the hardest to purify. Compare your expressions of anger and resentment in the past to how you feel currently. As a general trend, is it becoming easier to let go of them and generate compassion? If not, how will you work on this? Again, focus on anger or resentment by remaining mindful as these emotions arise. Work with any methods you have been given to cut through afflictive emotions. If this is difficult for you, ask your spiritual friend for advice.

CONTEMPLATE THIS PAST MONTH’S SPIRITUAL PRACTICE IN TERMS OF THE VIEW

If you have received instructions from your teacher on abiding in the view, or the nature of mind, assess your progress during the past month. Were you able to remember to abide in the view one hundred times a day? Twenty-one times a day? Three times? Have you increased the number of times you remembered to practice? Has it become easier? If not, how will you improve your practice?

CONTEMPLATE THE IMPORTANCE OF MASTERING THE MIND

Your mind must deal with every experience. Think about how attaining mastery over the mind will enable you to lose any fear of death. Come to the certainty that you must master your mind in order to die with confidence.

CONTEMPLATE THE DEATH OF A PET OR ANIMAL YOU LOVE

Imagine that an animal you love very much is ill and close to dying. Or, considering what is happening in our world today, think that the last of an entire species you love is about to die. Recognise that animals have no way to take care of themselves spiritually or mentally in this situation. It is not that they do not want to; they are simply incapable of doing so. With compassion for their suffering, also reflect on your good fortune in being born as a human being who can take care of yourself emotionally and spiritually at the time of death.

CONTEMPLATE THE DEATH OF A PERSON YOU LOVE

You may have already experienced the death of someone you were close to. Perhaps they did not have all the spiritual support they needed to die without fear or regret. If so, recall the experience of their death and again reflect on the good fortune that you are able to prepare well for your own death. If you have not had someone close to you die, imagine the death of someone you love and reflect deeply on your wish that they will experience no suffering and have all the support they need to die mindfully.

CONTEMPLATE THE CAUSES AND CONDITIONS THAT LED TO YOUR BIRTH AND WILL LEAD TO YOUR DEATH

Recognize the long chain of positive and negative actions that brings you to this very moment. Search for a deep understanding of karma, causes and conditions, and how you can affect your spiritual path with mindful actions from now until death. Then consider the type of practitioner you wish to be at your death and what kind of spiritual support you will want from others. Take time to imagine yourself in the dying process. Do you have the confidence to die well? Are you ready?

Also, reflect on the idea that you may die suddenly, or during an accident. How can you be spiritually prepared for that experience?

CONTEMPLATE DIFFICULTIES WITH YOUR DEATH

As you imagine yourself dying, do any obstacles arise in your mind that would prevent you from having the kind of death you wish? What are they and what can you do to remove them?

CONTEMPLATE YOUR IDEAL DEATH

What will your mind be like? What qualities will you have developed? What practice will be most important for you to do or hear at that time? Who do you want to be there to help you stay focused on your practice as you are dying?

CONTEMPLATE YOUR LEVEL OF PRACTICE

What changes do you need to make in your daily practice to best ensure you become the type of practitioner you want to be?

CONTEMPLATE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH A SPIRITUAL FRIEND

If you have had the good fortune to meet and make a strong connection to a lama or spiritual teacher, reflect on this relationship and what it is like now. Have you developed the kind of relationship you envision? If not, what can you do to develop this relationship further?

REVISING YOUR DHARMA VISION

The dharma vision is a living and evolving meditation. We are always changing and growing in our understanding. I recommend that each year, perhaps at the new year or on your birthday, you commit to reviewing your vision as a dharma practitioner, assessing your progress, and seeing if there is anything new you want to add. You may want to again return to the contemplations above. If you have done any of this work in a group retreat, it would be fruitful for everyone to meet again to review and share both your progress and your obstacles. Support each other with kindness and appreciate the efforts everyone has made. Your sangha and entrusted dharma friends are most precious!

One should live with few possessions and dwell with one’s back turned to the things that cause grasping. Be as a wanderer in foreign lands taking food as it is found like the birds in migration.

-- Atiśa

供养凡夫僧

文｜智海

经常会遇到一些在家人，没事的时候喜欢评论出家人的是非对错，用佛教戒律来衡量出家僧人，看到个别僧人的不良行为，就把所有的僧人否定了，就失去供养、恭敬和赞叹僧人的信心，更可笑的是竟然有信徒说：“我们不要皈依佛、法、僧三宝了，我们只皈依佛、法二宝。”要知道佛、法、僧三宝，犹如鼎之三足，缺一不可，佛陀为何成立僧团，目的就是为了正法久住。众生觉悟当成佛，正法弘扬本在僧，僧人是佛法的弘扬者、传播者，没有僧宝佛法就无法延续下去。是故僧团是佛陀慧命所寄，出家人的责任重大，他的使命非常神圣。例如教育信众，护持道场。因此供养出家修行人，其所得的功德，当然是极其殊胜！

凡夫僧是三宝之一，既然是宝，那就不同于木石瓦砾，有别于愚夫愚妇。一个再不好的僧人，一个破戒的比丘，他依然还是一块宝。比如一块金银首饰或珠宝玉器，既使它坏了，但是它依然是宝。譬如一块砖头或瓦砾，即使它完整无缺、毫发无损，那它也只能是一块砖头瓦砾，绝对不是黄金珠宝，这个道理很简单，我相信人人都能明白。

中国近代高僧印顺导师曾开示过一首法偈：“敬僧莫呵僧，亦莫衡量僧，随佛修行者，住持正法城。”意思是说我们信佛的居士，要依教奉行，依法修行，赞叹和恭敬僧人，不能讥嫌、嘲笑和轻慢僧人，也不要用镜子或戒尺来衡量僧人的好坏对错，凡是跟随佛陀出家的人，就是正法久住的使者，我们应当恭敬至诚、供养礼拜！

印顺导师还非常感慨地说：“近代中国，信佛敬法的还有，而信敬僧伽的实在太少。或是但敬归依师，或是敬一二人，三宝的归敬不具足，难怪佛法的希有功德，不易生起来。” 供养戒行庄严、德才兼备的比丘僧，或老实念佛修行的出家人，当然功德无量；假使供养不学无术，恶行比丘，岂非罪过无边？

不然，依地藏十轮经说：“出家者虽破戒行，而诸有情睹其形相应生十种殊胜思惟，当获无量功德宝聚：念佛、念法、念僧、念戒、念施、念忍、念出家、念远离、念智慧、念宿植出离善根。”如今科技发达、经济腾飞、物欲昌盛，人人沉迷于声色之乐，能够发心出家者实在难得。如来慧命寄托出家僧人身上，住持三宝中的僧宝，其地位和责任也就显得更加重要了。

昔日唐太宗问玄奘大师说：“我本欲供僧，但听说许多僧人无有修行，应当如何？”又问：“供养凡僧也能求福吗？” 玄奘大师说：“能啊！’接着玄奘大师又开示说：“昆山有玉，但是混杂泥沙；丽水产金，岂能没有瓦砾？土木雕成的罗汉，敬奉就能培福；铜铁铸成的佛像，毁坏则会造罪；泥龙虽不能降雨，但祈雨必须祈祷泥龙；凡僧虽不能降福，但修福必须恭敬凡僧。”

意思是说你不要以为出家人也是个凡夫，和俗人没有什么两样，供养凡夫僧就没有功德，其实凡僧虽不是罗汉，也不是菩萨，但他现的是僧相，他有三衣（福田衣）披搭在身，既然是僧相那就是三宝相，既然福田衣在身，那他就可以为众生种福田， 这就值得人天供养、求大福报。

唐太宗听后恍然大悟说：“我从今以后即使见到小沙弥，也应如同见佛一般。”

凡夫僧虽然没有证罗汉果，仍有贪嗔痴三毒，可是他已经脱离了红尘，远离了人我是非、六亲眷属，每天都在吃斋念佛、用功办道。许多凡夫僧肩负着重任，为社会和谐、世界和平、寺院建设、弘扬佛法等默默无闻地奉献着自己，为佛教事业的健康发展作出贡献！

即使是菩萨再来、活佛转世，也是现的凡夫相，如果我们轻慢了就有很大罪过。又凡夫僧因有念佛、修持、利人的功德，所以能堪受人天供养，令供养者得福，恭敬者受益，由此因缘，使人由声闻乘到菩萨乘，从菩萨道入解脱道，得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提，证得无上正等正觉。

从此可以看出，供养凡夫僧，一样功德大！经常看别人的错误，挑僧人的毛病，那是因为我们修行不够，一个真正的大修行人，念佛修持的时间都不够，哪里还有时间去对僧人评头论足呢？学佛要明白广修供养的道理，不能有分别心，每一个凡夫僧都是我们求福田、行供养的对象，其功德与供养十方三世一切分的功德一样大，人生难得，佛法难闻，切莫错过良好时机！

The foundation of devotion is confidence in your essence. If you don’t have confidence in your essence, you cannot have true devotion; it becomes more like fear than devotion.

-- 12th Tai Situ Rinpoche

Emptiness and Existence

by Venerable Sheng Yen

How we perceive “existence” and “emptiness” can reveal how shallow or deep our practice is. We need to understand this to avoid getting stuck, and to be able to make progress. Before we have gained some real benefit from practice, we perceive phenomena as real and existent. In this ordinary state of mind, the “self” is still deeply embedded in things: “my” body, “my” house, “my” friends, and so on. After practicing well, we may reach a state of concentration where there are only a few thoughts in our mind. At this time, the sense of self is lessened, and we may feel that we have finally cast away the world and everything in it. “I have thrown off all thinking.” “I am enjoying the bliss of liberation.” “I feel so carefree and light.” Dwelling on feelings of liberation and happiness like this only means that one’s perception of “emptiness” is false and one still sees phenomena as existent.

When one reaches the state of only one thought, or one-mind, one may feel unified with the universe and that one’s powers are unlimited. One also feels great sympathy and compassion for all sentient beings. At this point one is at the stage of “double affirmation,” or a deeper level of existence. Although there is an expanded sense of self, this sense is not “selfish” but rather, one feels a sense of energy and responsibility. The degree of mental power depends on the strength of one’s previous practice. One who is not backed up by a strong practice can still reach one-mind but will not have as great a sense of energy and responsibility — will not likely give rise to the feeling of being a saviour. Therefore great religious leaders are a rare occurrence in human history.

At the next stage of no-thought, or no-mind, one is said to be in the state of “double negation” in that one takes emptiness itself as empty. If a person is attached to emptiness (as in stage two), it is called “stubborn emptiness” or “illusory emptiness.” But at the stage of no-mind one actually recognises that even this emptiness is empty. Since one has emptied out emptiness, then existence is re-asserted, but it is an existence of non-attachment. One will definitely not feel that his world is meaningless, nor, if asked “How is your practice doing?” will one give a reply like “Oh, It doesn’t really matter if I practice or not.”

We usually feel something “exists” when we have strong feelings about it. If emptiness is also based on feelings and emotions, then it is not true emptiness. It is only when, not bound by feelings and emotional attachments, one genuinely experiences things as existing just as they are, that is, at the same time genuinely existent and also genuinely empty. For practitioners, only this can be considered the first level of entering the door of Chan.

Question: Can progress in practice be described as a series of negating one’s previous stage of attainment and affirming something new?

Venerable Sheng Yen: In actual fact the previous stage and what you are affirming now are not two different things. We say that vexations are just bodhi — that is, they are not two separate things. So “negation” is not saying that you have to detest or get rid of vexations before you give rise to wisdom. Nor can you achieve nirvana by negating samsara — they are one thing. It is only that in the process of the practice one’s perception of it varies [according to one’s experience].

When we create the space for happiness in our minds and our lives, we are able to see situations from all the different angles, rather than clinging to one rigid view of how the world or our lives should be.

-- His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa, Jigme Pema Wangchen

世间人讲公平，事实上并不究竟圆满

惠空法师

中国传统思想讲到，做人处事要“谦让”。“谦”，就是把自己的姿态放低；“让”，就是不往前去争取。当然佛法的思想比这个更深刻，但这里我们先从传统的说法谈起。我常常提醒同学，与人相处，不要去争，但如果退一步求事情公平可不可以呢？当然什么事情一定有道理可说，有公平可期，但是真实中，事情不是你这样做，它就一定会呈现这样的结果，它还牵涉到佛法理论中因果业报的问题。虽然现在做的是公平的事，也许所得到的却会是一个不公平的待遇，当我们在诉诸公平的时候，因为彼此的处理角度有很大差别，这时因果业报问题就出现了。

这种问题相当复杂，何况有的时候，公平很难有一个很明确的标准。例如老人年金，如果每个老人都发给三仟块，很公平吗？表面上是公平，实际上不公平，因为有的老人他有钱，一天就要花几仟块，甚至一、两万块，你还要发给他？有的老人三仟块真的是他一个月的生活费，没有这些钱他的日子无法过下去，这样是否公平呢？所以，很多事情是牵涉到众生业报的复杂问题，但也不是要我们以后不要去论究有无公平。最主要是要大家开展眼界，对于问题的看法要更深入、透彻，使我们在思考问题时不会狭隘，因为佛法是最讲公平的。佛法所说的公平就是平等心，平等心是彻底的公平。佛法没有我、人、众生、寿者相，没有能布施的人、所布施的对象与布施的事情，没有公平不公平的问题，佛法的思想就是这个层次！

从不同的角度来谈，平等就是世俗所说的公平、公正。佛法讲平等，但并不否定世俗的公平性。论公平，自在人心，但若就事情而言、就每个人所遭受的结果而言，并不尽然会公平。譬如，家中有五、六个兄弟姐妹，要爸爸妈妈让每个小孩都读到大学、硕士，公平不公平？实在难以求数量化之公平！因为有的孩子读到国中、高中阶段，他就不读了，难道孩子可以要求爸爸妈妈把没有念的教育费折算给他？可以这样算吗？给了就公平吗？大家都读亦有家庭经济状况先后差别。所以，我们在思考问题的时候，要学习从更超远的立场、更全面的角度来思考。

再者，当我们在内心里建立起这样的知见以后，碰到问题时内心就会不争，就不会从别人的行为上来思考事情，而会从自己的因果业报上来思考。因为如果老是从别人的举动或做事来看问题，那就会去评断“这个人做得对、那个人做得不对；这个人对我好、那个人对我不好！”。如此一来，你就会因为人家对你的好坏而起心动念，一天到晚烦不胜烦，你的烦恼永远无法止息。如果我们从业报上来看，则内心时时都会觉得宁静，对于人家所加诸于自己身上的好坏不会去在意它，也绝对不会去问别人到底做得对不对，而是问自己：“我有没有这个福报呢？”如此思考就会变得单纯：就是因为没有福报，所以人家才会欺负我；就是因为没有福报，本来要给我的东西，结果阴错阳差别人给拿去了，所以才会吃不到、拿不到！这样就不会怪分配的人没有注意，或故意跟你作对了。

就像我们吃饭的时候，我一再提醒大家，先把盘子里分给你的剩菜吃掉，再去夹别的菜，先把桌上分给你的水果吃完，再去拿供众的水果。不要自己桌上还有水果，就把大众的水果拿一堆放在自己面前，怕等一下去拿就没有了。事实上，如果没有了，那就是自己的福报不够。我们从这样的小事情中，慢慢养成良好 “不争”的习惯。如果大家都想要赶快把好吃的先拿到自己的面前，自然就有一种争的心态。假如大家持有一种“有就吃，没有就算了”的心情，那么在其他事情上就会有一种不争、随缘的心情。又比如，有的人胃不好，很多东西不能吃，想多吃一点，就是吃不下，想要比别人多吃一碗饭都争不过，这就是福报不够、条件不够。这时候，我们就要想：“我就是没有福报，所以要赶快好好修福报。”如此，内心就不会起很多烦恼，并且会更积极促进人与人之间和谐的相处。这就是佛法的一种思惟。

另外有一个思惟的方法，拿最明显的金钱来说，世界首富比尔盖兹有几百亿美金，一天利息就有好几百万美金，你要如何去和人家争财富、争名位呢？再想到：我们生生世世都曾经当过国王、升到天上去，也下过地狱、在饿鬼道待过，如此反覆思惟就会把争名争利的心给化解掉。对于名利的追求，每个凡夫都会有，包括我自己在内，那么我如何去面对它呢？我就是常常去思惟，争取这些一点点小小的东西太不值得了，因为世间的福报、可追求的东西虽然多，却多不过永恒无穷无尽的福德智慧！我们如果老是看着那一丁点，目光可说比豆子还小。我们能够时常仔细体会反省这其中的道理，必然就会把与同侪间的计较心放舍掉。如果老是把心思放在与同侪之间的计较，那实在是一件很愚蠢的事情。

我也和大家一样，有过和师兄弟、同事、同学计较的心，因为大家都是凡夫。所以提出这个问题主要是希望藉由这种思惟方法，来导正我们的知见，慢慢化解内心里那一份烦恼的贪欲、嗔恨、愚痴，这些都是心中的毒啊！透过正确的思惟方式，即使这些毒素会再凝聚再凝聚，可是我们马上可以再化解，反覆的从凝聚中去化解……，慢慢心情自然就会打开。有时候和同学们讲话，同学会内心情绪丢给我，就好像洒了我一身毒水；每天如果一个人丢一点毒水，我就淹死了。所以，希望大家要常常用正思惟来洗涤自己的心情，随着洗涤力道一点一点地加强，自己的心就会逐渐净化，内心的毒气自然就会淡化，不要一出口都是用毒气把人给喷死了。

佛法的可贵就在于它把世间最究竟彻底的道理告诉我们，当我们按照这个道理思惟、行为时，自然可以省掉很多烦恼。因此，世间人讲公平，事实上并不究竟、圆满，而佛法讲平等、因果业报，这才是究竟、圆满的。希望各位要一再以佛法去思惟，不要以为我这是老生常谈啊！如果你一直用自己的烦恼在思考，那么你将永远会是一个小孩子、一个小人，一天到晚苦苦恼恼的。你如果接受并真正能在内心里体会这个道理，将会生生世世受用，省掉很多烦恼，可以使你脱胎换骨成为一个真正有着超越思想的人，会使你变成一个非常清净、庄严，行为举止、动作思惟非常中肯的大丈夫，因为在你的心性里面已经成为道德、思惟模式清净的道人了。