佛曰:如实修行是真供养故。如果你们用心以佛菩萨为榜样修行的话,那就是真的修佛修心了,“如实”就是实实在在,没有半点虚假的用真心修,你就是真的在供养佛菩萨。想想看,你们学观世音菩萨救度众生,是不是在供养菩萨?你们学观世音菩萨讲经说法,让大家获益,改变自我,弘法利生,每个人都在感谢观世音菩萨,个个都在求观世音菩萨救救我,这是不是在供养佛菩萨,观世音菩萨的誓愿就是闻声救苦,救苦救难,大慈大悲,你们这种行为就是法布施,就是在供养佛菩萨。
The Buddha said: Authentic cultivation is a true offering. If you practise diligently, with the Buddha and Bodhisattvas as your role models, then you are genuinely practising Buddhism and cultivating the mind. “Authentic” means real, with not a hint of deceit. When you cultivate sincerely, you are truly making offerings to the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. Consider this, when you emulate Guan Yin Bodhisattva’s dedication to awakening and liberating sentient beings, aren’t you making offerings to the Bodhisattva? You learn from Guan Yin Bodhisattva’s Dharma teachings, benefiting others, encouraging them to transform themselves, spreading the Dharma for the benefit of all beings. Each person is expressing gratitude to Guan Yin Bodhisattva, praying to the Bodhisattva for salvation. Isn’t this also an act of making offerings to the Buddha and Bodhisattva? Guan Yin Bodhisattva’s vow is to respond to cries for help, to alleviate suffering, and to embody great compassion. Your actions, in this manner, represent the offering of the Dharma, and in itself, it’s an act of making offerings to the Buddha and Bodhisattva.
接下来给大家简单讲讲,修行必须要有的十大行愿。
Now, let me give you a brief introduction to the Ten Great Conducts and Vows that are essential in the path of cultivation.
1. 礼敬诸佛,就是对诸佛菩萨要非常的尊敬,有礼貌、礼节,用心来恭敬佛,这是行愿。
1. Paying Homage and Respect to All Buddhas: This vow involves giving utmost respect to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, observing appropriate etiquette and manners, and honouring the Buddha with sincerity. This is a ‘conduct and a vow’.
2. 称赞如来,如来菩萨犹如是所有的菩萨,你要有一种称赞。如拜观世音菩萨时,你的心里要称赞观世音菩萨:您这么伟大,救苦救难度我们众生,我们无法用语言来感恩您,我们赞颂菩萨。就如你们看见师父,“师父好”,那种向师父的问候感受不是假的,不是做给人家看的,是一种内心存在的由敬重产生的法喜。
2. Praising the Tathagatas: Tathagata is a term used to describe all the Bodhisattvas. You should foster a spirit of praise. For example, when praying to Guan Yin Bodhisattva, your heart should be filled with adoration: “You are truly magnificent, rescuing us sentient beings from suffering. Words can’t adequately express our gratitude towards you, we praise you, Bodhisattva.” Similarly, when you see me, your sincere greeting of “Master” is not for show, but a genuine manifestation of Dharma joy rooted in deep respect.
3. 广修供养,也就是前面给大家讲的八种供养。要多修多供养,供水果、供鲜花、布施功德费、供油、叩拜等,都是供养,要供养佛法僧,就是大喜舍,喜舍的功德很大,能开智慧,去烦恼,积功德。
3. Extensively Cultivating Making Offerings: This refers to the practice of the eight types of offerings discussed earlier. You should strive to cultivate and make more offerings – such as fruits, fresh flowers, donations, oil, prostrations, etc. These are all forms of offerings. You should offer these to the Triple Gem (the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha). This is the practice of abundant joyous giving. The merits and virtues of such joyous giving are vast and can lead to the awakening of wisdom, elimination of afflictions, and accumulation of merits and virtues.
4. 忏悔业障,要经常忏悔自己的业障,才能进步,明白道理才能修得好。如果认为自己什么缺点都没有,你说能修得好吗?业障如影随行,丝毫不差,只有忏悔,才能消除。
4. Repenting of Karmic Obstacles: One should regularly repent for their karmic obstacles to improve and better comprehend the truth. If you think you have no faults, how could you possibly improve? Karmic obstacles shadow us without fail. Only through repentance can these obstacles be removed.
5. 随喜功德,就是随喜他人做功德。就是不强求别人做事,一切随喜。如果你今天经济上不好,多做些法施,三施里面法施为最。如果你有钱可以供养一点,随喜功德,一定会有功德回报的,但也不要说自己连饭都没吃,把钱全部拿出来供养,那也是不可以,是执著。
5. Rejoicing in Merit and Virtue: This involves taking joy in the merit and virtue that others accumulate. It’s not about coercing others into action, but finding joy in their deeds. If you’re in a tough financial spot, engage more in the giving of the Dharma, the highest of the three kinds of giving (i.e., giving of wealth, giving of the Dharma, and giving of fearlessness). If you’re affluent, you can make offerings as you see fit, rejoicing in the merit and virtue. You’ll surely gain reciprocal merit and virtue in return. However, you should avoid donating all your money to the point of personal hardship; that would be a form of attachment.
6. 法物常转,师父给你们讲的法物常转,比如佛珠、念珠,是不是法物啊?要不要转?念经的时候佛珠是不是随着你的手在转?法物,如法器、念的经文等,你在念经的时候,一遍一遍地在念,是不是随着你的眼睛和大脑在转?善念一动,消灾吉祥。
6. Constant Turning of Dharma Objects: I’ve spoken about the constant turning of Dharma objects, which include things like Buddhist beads and prayer beads, etc. When you recite sutras, aren’t you rotating your prayer beads with your hand? When reciting sutras, time after time, with Dharma objects like ritual tools or sutra texts, they also move with your eyes and mind, right? With every wholesome thought, disasters are eliminated, and good fortune arrives.
7. 请佛住世,恭敬菩萨,见到各种形式来世间救人的菩萨,供养他,做一个好护法,为了救度众生,请菩萨常住在人世间,帮助人们找回本性。
7. Requesting the Buddhas to Remain in this World: As you show respect to the Bodhisattvas, make offerings to those who manifest in various forms to save beings in this world. Be a diligent Dharma protector. For the purpose of liberating all beings, request the Bodhisattvas to continue living in this world, assisting people to rediscover their inherent nature.
8. 常随佛学,就是要紧跟着佛菩萨来学,这就叫常随佛学,学佛的行为,学佛的思维,学佛的智慧,学佛的悟性。你们要勤修戒定慧,息灭贪瞋痴。
8. Consistently Following the Buddha’s Teachings: You should continuously adhere to and learn from the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. This is referred to as consistently following the teachings of the Buddha—studying the Buddha’s actions, thinking, wisdom, and enlightenment. You must diligently cultivate morality (precepts), concentration, and wisdom, and extinguish greed, anger, and ignorance.
9. 恒顺众生,要顺着众生来修学佛法,就是要不厌其烦地去教化众生,以慈悲喜舍心去救度众生。比如这个人很喜欢讲话,我度他的时候,首先我要学会讲话,要顺着人家的缘才能把人家度上来,师父现在就是恒顺众生,顺着众生的要求来救度,如现在人需要健康,平安,学业,生意顺利,师父就顺着众生的需求来度化他们,等他们一 切顺利的时候,境界提升,增长佛菩萨的智慧,自然修心修性,圆成佛道。
9. Always Accommodating the Needs of Sentient Beings: When learning and practising the Buddha-dharma, you should align yourself with sentient beings, tirelessly educating and transforming all beings with a heart filled with loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. For example, if a person enjoys speaking, when you guide them, you first need to become proficient in speaking. You need to adapt to their circumstances to effectively guide them. Take me for example. I continuously accommodate sentient beings, responding to their needs, such as health, safety, academic success, or business prosperity. I guide them according to their needs. When everything goes well for them, their spiritual state improves, they grow in the wisdom of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, they will naturally cultivate their mind and character, and fulfil the path to Buddhahood.
10. 普皆回向,我修心,我修行,我将功德、善业普遍地回向,我对谁都爱护,我把大爱回向人间,叫普皆回向。
10. Universal Dedication of Merit and Virtue: When I cultivate my mind, when I practise Buddhism, I dedicate my merit and virtue, my good deeds, universally. I extend love to everyone and dedicate this expansive love to the world – this is what is known as universal dedication.
人要常存正念,要经常有正的念头,不要有邪的念头,人很可怜的,如果没有正念,犹如在茫茫大海上漂泊不定,找不到自我,这个人就没有办法礼佛了。如果心中想的都是歪的,不正的东西,就是跪在这里磕头都是假的,所求的均属虚妄,做功德是让人家看的。
People should always maintain right mindfulness, continually cultivating virtuous thoughts and shunning perverse ones. It’s pitiful if people lack right mindfulness, like aimlessly drifting in the vast ocean, unable to find themselves, unable to pay homage to the Buddha. If your thoughts are twisted and perverse, even your prostrations here are in vain; what you pray for is delusional, and your meritorious deeds are merely for show.
人间的常理、伦理道德犹如是一种人间的烟云。比如,儿子对我不好,用人间的常理来说,只不过像烟云一样是假的,迷惑一下,不要以为是儿子真的对你不好,其实这一切都是你与儿子前世的冤结有关系,而你看到的是今世儿子对你不好,所以用正常的伦理是不能解释,你也是不能解脱的,因为都是前世的因果,等时间到了就没有了,像烟云一样,会变的,会过去的,要常想到都是因缘果报。学佛就是要让你们看开,放下,随缘。师父给你们现在讲的这些道理就是要让你们看开,放下,随缘。
Worldly conventions and moral ethics are akin to smoke and clouds in the Human Realm. For example, if your son treats you poorly, through the lens of worldly convention, it’s merely like smoke and clouds – illusory and fleeting. Don’t believe that your son is genuinely treating you poorly; in reality, everything is connected to past karmic conflicts between you and your son. What you perceive now is your son treating you poorly in this life. Therefore, ordinary morality cannot explain this, and you cannot find liberation, because it all comes down to past karma. When the time comes, it will dissipate like smoke and clouds, subject to change and passage. Always remember, it’s all about cause and effect. Practising Buddhism is about helping you to see through, to let go, to go with the flow. The truths that I am now sharing are to help you see through, let go, and go with the flow.
任何的缘分都是促使你修好的增上缘,是坚定你上进的一个源泉。永远要时时刻刻生出慈悲心。随缘修心,随缘结缘,随缘布施,随缘成缘,这个“缘”就是佛缘。
Any type of affinity is a beneficial condition that encourages you to cultivate well, a source to strengthen your progress. You should always cultivate compassion. Cultivate the mind according to conditions, form relationships according to conditions, give according to conditions, fulfil affinity according to conditions – this “condition” or “affinity” here refers to the affinity with Buddha.