实际上，一个良心好的人，是不用去忍辱的。为什么？因为良心好的人用不着忍辱。你本来没害人家，人家骂你的时候你心里会难过吗？实际上，忍辱精进说明你已经有毛病了。因为你忍辱，可能是你做错了。“他骂我，我咬咬牙吧”。虽然这里面你可以有很多理由可以解释，但是你还是有做错的地方。真正的心用不着忍辱的，因为我是真的对你好。你今天骂我，“这个人怎么这样啊，我是真心对他好，算了，算了”。用不着忍辱的，你不会吃他的恶气的。什么叫忍辱？夫妻俩吵得一塌糊涂。女的嗓子好，男的实在吵不赢了就找个借口说“我忍辱吧”。讲不过人家就忍辱了，讲得过人家的话，他能忍辱吗？师父就喜欢挖根，把人的毛病全部挖出来，那你的心才会越来越干净啊。你没有这么干净的心，你怎么能够把心放到宇宙这么大啊？身上全部是黑黑点点，你能够把你的心放得像宇宙这么大吗？嘴巴不讲，难道他的心就是干净的吗？听佛法，要明理。
In reality, a person with a good conscience doesn’t need to practise forbearance. Why? Because someone with a good conscience has nothing to endure. If you haven’t harmed anyone, would you feel upset when someone scolds you? In fact, the need to “forbear and be diligent” suggests there’s already something wrong. You might be enduring because you’ve done something wrong. “He’s scolding me—fine, I’ll grit my teeth and bear it.” Sure, you might have many reasons to justify yourself, but somewhere along the line, you still made a mistake.
If your heart is true and pure, there’s no need to endure. If I’ve genuinely treated you well and you insult me, I might think, “What’s wrong with this person? I was sincerely kind to him… never mind, just let it go.” There’s no need for forced forbearance—you’re not swallowing resentment. So what does it mean to “endure”? Imagine a couple fighting furiously. The woman has the louder voice, and the man, unable to win the argument, backs down and says, “I’ll just endure it.” If he had the upper hand, would he still be so “forbearing”? That’s not a true sense of forbearance.
What I like to do is dig deep—to uncover people’s faults at the root. Only by doing that can your mind truly become clean. If your heart isn’t that pure, how can you possibly expand it to be as vast as the universe? If your mind is full of dark, blotchy stains, can you truly make your heart that boundless? Just because someone doesn’t say anything out loud, does that mean their mind is clean? When listening to a Dharma talk, you must understand the principles behind it.
断烦恼尽，断烦恼要尽。就是说，你要把烦恼完全干净地断掉。如果留有一点点烦恼，你都是没修好。家里出事了，什么地方出事了，不开心了，就说明你的烦恼还没有尽。你干净了，你就不会认为这些事情是出事了。家里再有什么事情，“哎呀，因果又来了。果来了，我怎么样把它修掉呢？”因果如影随形，你永远不会没事情的。“哎呀，师父，这个事又来了”。最好把师父绑在你们的腰上。实际上这个烦恼，这个人的心，不增也不减，固有完全平等。心没有增加，也没有减少，我还是这颗心，我对你还是真心，这就是慈悲心。有一颗平等心，你才能接受更好的东西。如果你对这个人心不好，你就不能体谅他。如果你不认为他是好的，他讲话你听得进吗？很多夫妻吵架，明明老婆是对的，老公就不听。最后到师父这里来，师父骂一通，两个人都听师父的。这个就是因为长期的不和，一定会有偏见，心中有不平等你才会不能接受人家的意见。如果你把他看成一样平等的，你就能接受他的意见。总说人家搞不清楚，实际上他自己也搞不清楚；总说人家不好的人，他自己也不好；总说人家脑子有问题，这个人脑子肯定有问题。修心就是要明理。
Cut off afflictions entirely. That’s what it means—to eliminate your afflictions completely. If even the slightest trace of affliction remains, your spiritual cultivation is not yet complete. If something happens at home or elsewhere and you feel unhappy, it shows that afflictions are still present in your heart. But if you are completely clean inside, you won’t see those things as problems. When something arises at home, you’ll simply say, “Ah, karma has ripened again. Since the effect has come, how should I work to transform it?”
Karma follows you like a shadow—you’ll never be entirely free from challenges. “Oh, Master, another issue’s popped up!” You might as well tie me to your waist! In reality, afflictions—like your mind—neither increase nor decrease. The mind is inherently equal and unmoving. My mind hasn’t grown, nor has it diminished. It’s still the same mind, still genuinely sincere towards you. That’s what compassion is.
Only with a mind rooted in equanimity can you truly embrace better things. If you hold ill will towards someone, you can’t empathise with them. If you don’t believe they’re good at heart, how could you truly listen to what they have to say? In many marriages, the wife may clearly be right, but the husband refuses to listen. Eventually, they both come to see me—I give them a talking-to, and both of them end up listening to me. Why? Because long-standing discord creates bias. When your mind lacks equanimity, you won’t be able to accept others’ views. But if you see others as your equals, you’ll be able to accept their opinions. People who are always saying others are confused are often confused themselves. Those who constantly criticise others aren’t usually much better off. And those who accuse others of being mentally unstable are often the ones with real problems themselves. Cultivating the mind is about understanding the truth.
心无有起。就是你的心从来没有起念头，你的因缘俱灭。因为你的心从来没有念头，你的因缘哪来啊？因缘是怎么来的？因果是怎么来的？是你的心造的。“我恨他”，好了，你造了这个因，对方来恨你了——果来了。例如我喜欢吃糖，造了这个因了，血糖高了，果来了。你的心没有念头，你哪来的什么因果啊！人生只是一个现象，因缘俱灭。因果没有的，都是你心中造的。什么叫因果的真相啊？什么叫轮回的真相啊？为什么人死后可以投畜生？可以关到地狱里去？很多人骂人，说他要下十八层地狱。师父告诉你们，你们都没看见那些酷刑啊，很厉害的。拿一把刀把脑子锯开一半，把手割掉，把人往刀山下摔，那种感受跟真的一模一样，但是这个灵魂还是死不掉，一会儿又醒了。在下面，醒过来是看时辰的。昏过去后，一个时辰不到他们就会醒过来。你们不要以为做坏事人家不知道，不要以为做坏事不会受报应，所以懂因果最好的方法就是不要去做坏事。
Let the mind remain non-arising. This means your mind does not generate any thoughts, and your karmic causes and conditions are extinguished. If your mind has never produced a single thought, where would karmic causes and conditions even come from? How are karmic causes and conditions formed? How does cause and effect arise? It’s all created by your own mind. If you say, “I hate him,” then you’ve created a karmic cause. When that person starts hating you in return, that’s the karmic result. Or say I really enjoy eating sweets—I’ve planted that cause, and when I develop high blood sugar, that’s the result. But if your mind doesn’t give rise to thoughts, how could there be any cause and effect at all?
Human life is just a phenomenon. Once karmic causes and conditions are extinguished, there is no more cause and effect. It’s all created by the mind. So what is the truth of cause and effect? What is the truth of the cycle of rebirth—samsara? Why can people be reborn as animals after death? Why can they fall into the Hell Realms?
Many people swear at others and say they’ll end up in the Eighteenth Level of Hell. Let me tell you—those punishments are real and terrifying. Imagine a knife sawing open someone’s skull, hands being chopped off, or people being thrown down a mountain of blades. The pain feels exactly the same as it would in the human world, but the soul does not die. After a short while, it wakes up again. Down there, how quickly one regains consciousness depends on the timing. After fainting, they usually wake within an hour or so. Don’t assume that just because no one sees you doing wrong, you’ll get away with it. Don’t think that doing bad things has no karmic consequences. That’s why the best way to understand cause and effect is simple: don’t do bad things.
因果轮回的真相是这样的——是你的心在造作。因果为什么会轮回啊？因为你的心在动坏意念、动好意念，才产生因果在动。你的心在想善良的东西，在做功德了，你的因果就动了，上天了；你的心在做坏事情了，在动很多不好的脑筋，你的果出来了，你就轮回到下面去了。所以你的心可以上天，也可以入地。心很重要。所以良心一坏这个人就没救了。再要加上心念不要妄动，不能动不动妄想就出来了。做不到的事情你去想，就叫妄念。如果你今天能够做到，就叫正念；如果你今天做不到的事情，就叫妄念。师父为什么不叫你们去买六合彩啊？因为你们中不到六合彩的啊。妄念一起，贪心就来，接下来麻烦事情就到了，颠倒了，妄想又来了，执着又来了，然后烦恼又来了，然后什么都看不见了。因为为了钱他什么都愿意做，那个时候他就看不见正念了。
The truth of karma and the cycle of rebirth is this: it’s all created by your mind. Why does karma keep cycling through rebirth? Because your mind keeps generating good and bad intentions. That’s what sets karma in motion. If your mind focuses on kindness and you’re performing meritorious deeds, your karma moves upward—you ascend to Heaven. But if your mind is engaging in negative thoughts and harmful actions, then the karmic result manifests, and you descend into the lower realms. So your mind has the power to rise to Heaven or fall into the Underworld. The mind is incredibly important. That’s why, once a person’s conscience is corrupted, they’re beyond saving. On top of that, you mustn’t let your thoughts wander recklessly. You can’t just allow delusions to arise at any moment. If you’re constantly imagining things you can’t realistically achieve, that’s called delusion. If you’re thinking about something achievable today, that’s a right thought; if you’re thinking about something unrealistic, that’s a deluded thought. Why don’t I ever tell you to go and buy lottery tickets? Because you’re not going to win the jackpot! The moment delusion arises, greed follows. Then trouble sets in. Your thinking becomes muddled, delusions pile up, attachments form, afflictions increase—and eventually, you can’t see anything clearly. At that point, you’ll do anything for money—and in that state, you completely lose sight of right thoughts.
“心不妄念，性自本无”。因为我的心没有妄念，我的心本来什么都不想的。“无明不能解脱”。你不清不楚，你心中不明白这些道理的话，就是无明。你如果不能解脱的话，才是轮回的大祸害。你怎么会轮回呢？因为你的心一天到晚动坏脑筋；你怎么又会上天呢？因为你的心一天到晚在帮助人家，所以心念最重要。“己事己明，自然解脱”，就是说自己去做的事情自己要明白，你就自然解脱了。现实生活中，很多人自己做的事情自己都不知道的，而且做的事情都不知道好坏。人家老板来问：“这件事情是你做的吗？”“哎呀，我想不起来了。”你们以为你们每天做的事情自己都明白吗？你都不知道自己讲的话会有什么效果？嘴巴出门不认货。要记住，讲话、动作、言行出来前在自己脑子里先转一转，不转不要出来。肮脏的东西稍微要过滤一下。好话随便讲，但是讲过头也不行，讲过头人家就觉得你是假的。一个人的好坏，指的是他心的好坏。“故一切法生，若心无生，法无从生，亦无名字”。所有的人生，如果你没有用心去想这些事情，法从来没有生出来过，犹如人连名字也没有，这叫忘我，修心修佛要忘我。连我都没了，那你说，你还有什么？
“The mind is free of deluded thoughts; the nature is inherently empty.” Because my mind is free of deluded thoughts, it originally holds no thoughts at all.
“Ignorance prevents liberation.” If you remain confused and unclear—if you don’t understand these principles—then that’s ignorance. And if you cannot attain liberation, that becomes the greatest danger in the cycle of rebirth. Why do people fall into the cycle of rebirth? Because their minds are constantly filled with unwholesome thoughts. And why do some ascend to Heaven? Because their minds are constantly focused on helping others. That’s why your thoughts matter so much.
“When one is clear about their own actions, liberation comes naturally.” This means you must understand the things you do—then you’ll naturally be liberated. In daily life, many people have no idea what they’ve done. They don’t even know whether their actions are right or wrong. For example, when the boss comes and asks, “Did you do this?” they respond, “Oh… I can’t remember.” Do you really believe you’re aware of everything you do each day? Do you even realise the impact of the things you say? Words come out of your mouth, and you no longer take responsibility for them.
Remember: before you speak or act, let the thought pass through your mind first. If it doesn’t pass that internal check, don’t let it come out. Impure things must be filtered. Good words are fine, but if you overdo it, people may think you’re being insincere. When we say someone is good or bad, we’re referring to the state of their heart.
“All phenomena arise from the mind. If the mind gives rise to nothing, then phenomena (dharma) do not arise, and even names do not exist.” Everything in life stems from the thoughts of the heart. If you don’t entertain those thoughts, no phenomena arise—it’s as if even your name does not exist. This is what’s called forgetting the self. To cultivate the mind and practise the Buddha’s teachings, you must forget the self. If the notion of “self” disappears, then tell me—what remains?
有相布施比无相布施功德少很多。当着很多人的面说：“我布施给你”。佛法上讲，任何人站在一个比受布施人高的角度去布施，实际上你的心已经不对了，你已经没有功德了。你这叫施舍，而不叫布施。施舍是把人家当乞丐。所以布施要把自己的名去掉，连自己是谁都不知道，那就是忘我地布施、忘我地慈悲、忘我地劳动，忘我的功德就来了。什么东西都把自己放在前面，“我牛得不得了，什么事情都离不开我的”，那你的功德就少很多。
Giving with attachment yields far less merit and virtue than giving without attachment. If you announce in front of a crowd, “I’m giving this to you,” the Buddha-dharma teaches that when you give from a position of superiority, your heart is already off track—you’ve lost the merit and virtue. That’s not true giving; that’s charity born of pity, treating the recipient like a beggar. True giving means letting go of your name—even forgetting who you are while giving. When you give selflessly, show compassion selflessly, and make effort without a trace of “me,” that’s when real merit and virtue arise. If you always put yourself front and centre, thinking, “I’m amazing; nothing happens without me,” your merit and virtue will be greatly reduced.
因果是自己做，自己受。你今天所承受的任何事情，都是你自己做出来的，不要怪人家。你今天板着脸，讨厌得不得了，是你自己做的因；你今天开心了，也是你自己造的因好；你今天事情顺利了，也是你的因造得好。你今天给老婆买一样礼物，她对你好得不得了，这不就是因果吗？活在世界上，中午你吃了不该吃的东西，晚上肚子不舒服；你中午种的因，晚上果不就出来了吗？
Cause and effect is something you create and something you bear. Whatever you’re experiencing today—good or bad—is the result of your own actions. Don’t blame others. If you’re walking around today with a sour face, being unpleasant to everyone—that’s because you created that cause. If you’re happy today, it’s because you planted a positive cause. If things are going smoothly, it’s due to the good causes you created in the past. If you buy a gift for your wife and she treats you with great warmth in return—isn’t that cause and effect? In this world, say you eat something you shouldn’t at lunch, and by evening your stomach feels uncomfortable. Isn’t that just the result of the cause you created earlier in the day?
身口意的善恶业力。你身口意所有的善恶都是你的业力。身体做坏事，嘴巴讲坏话，意念动坏脑筋，实际上就造成了你的善和恶的业力。有听众问师父：孽障和业障，孽力和业力有什么区别？“孽”已经是形成不好的东西了。孽力是贬义词。“业”，有共业，善业和恶业。当你的善念和恶念从你的心中发出来的时候，就是制造着你的业力，形成六道轮回的业源，再来世酬业。因为你的身口意已经造成了你六道轮回的业力，你来世还要来受。这个也是你自己做出来的。人之所以有三世因果，是因为我们仍然在十二个因缘当中，没有远离。师父过去给你们讲过十二因缘的。要记住，因为人没有脱离十二因缘，所以你还要在里面转啊转，没有转出来。
The karma of the body, speech, and mind—whether wholesome or unwholesome—comes from you. Everything you do with your body, say with your mouth, and think with your mind generates karma, whether good or bad. If your body engages in harmful acts, your mouth speaks harsh words, and your mind is filled with unwholesome thoughts, then you are actively creating karmic force. Karmic force can be either wholesome or unwholesome. Some people have asked me, “Master, what’s the difference between negative karmic force and karmic force?” Negative karmic force refers to something bad that has already taken shape—it carries a strongly negative connotation. Karma, however, includes collective karma, wholesome karma, and unwholesome karma. When wholesome or unwholesome thoughts arise from your heart, you are generating karmic force. That karmic energy becomes the cause of your continued rebirth in the Six Realms—and you’ll return in the next life to repay it. Because your body, speech, and mind have already generated the karmic forces that bind you to the Six Realms, you will have to come back again to bear the consequences. And this, too, is something you created yourself.
The reason we speak of cause and effect across three lifetimes—past, present, and future—is because we remain entangled in the Twelve Links of Conditioned Origination (dvādaśāṅgapratītyasamutpāda). I’ve already taught you about the Twelve Links of Conditioned Origination. Remember—because human beings have not broken free from these twelve links, they continue to revolve within them, again and again, without escape.
要断惑证真。就是说要断除迷惑来验证真的东西。要断掉你搞不清楚的事情，要证实真的东西。“修心”这两个字是无价之宝，是不能用价值衡量的宝贝。只要你修了心，这个价值是无法用任何金钱来衡量的东西。所以当你在修心的时候，实际上你是捡到了一个无价之宝。不修心的人就是没有无价之宝。如果你的心是宝藏的话，因为你把你的心当成一个宝藏，可以藏很多好的东西，你就一切具足了，更加没有欠人家少的东西，即更无欠少。比如说你有一个仓库，里面藏的全是宝藏。你的心这么好，做了这么多善事，你说你还会欠人家的债吗？然后呢，使用自在。你就使用很自在。没钱的时候，拿点宝藏出来。就像很多人，灵性一来，赶紧把小房子拿出来烧烧。因为你平常都在做功德，你拿得出来啊。功德每个人都能做出来。从数字上讲是有差别，但是从质地上来讲，就是量变和质变的问题。在质量上，全是一样的。师父问你们，你们的功德大，还是师父的功德大？功德都是一样的。如果功德是从心里发出的都是一样的。举个例子，你吃饱了和我吃饱了，概念是不是一样啊？问题是你比我块头大，你吃五碗，我吃两碗。道理是一样的吧？疏惑了心的人，如果你不用良心去做好事情，转世一千次就是一千次的失误。就是说，如果你不知道用自己的心去修心修行，你就会不停地轮回。为什么说一千次呢？就是说如果你对你过去的失误不重视，就算你投胎一千次，你还是一千次搞不懂，会一千次的人生失败。
We must eliminate delusion and realise the truth. This means removing confusion in order to verify what is real. You need to let go of things you don’t understand and affirm what is true. “Cultivating the mind” is a truly priceless treasure—something beyond any measure of value. As long as you are cultivating your mind, you’ve found something beyond price. Those who don’t cultivate the mind miss out on this treasure. If your heart is a treasure trove, and you treat it as such, it can hold countless good things. That means you have everything you need and owe nothing to anyone—you are free from karmic debts. It’s like having a warehouse filled with treasures. If your heart is full of goodness and you’ve done many wholesome deeds, would you still be in debt to others? And then—you can use it freely. When you’re short of resources, you can draw from your inner treasure. It’s like how, when spiritual disturbances arise, people quickly burn a Little House—because they’ve been regularly accumulating merit and virtue, they have something to offer.
Everyone can accumulate merit and virtue. There may be differences in quantity, but in terms of quality, it comes down to the relationship between quantity and quality. On a qualitative level, it’s the same. Let me ask you: is your merit and virtue greater than mine? Or is mine greater than yours? The truth is, merit and virtue are the same—if they genuinely arise from the heart. Here’s an example: if both of us are full from eating, doesn’t that mean the result is the same? The only difference is that if you’re bigger, you might eat five bowls, while I eat two. The principle is the same.
If someone’s mind is clouded by delusion and they fail to act with conscience, then even if they reincarnate a thousand times, they will make the same mistakes a thousand times. In other words, if you don’t use your heart to sincerely cultivate and practise Buddhism, you will remain trapped in the endless cycle of rebirth. Why do we say “a thousand times”? Because if you never take your past mistakes seriously, even if you’re reborn a thousand times, you’ll still fail to understand—and your life will fail a thousand times over.
师父今天给你们讲得精彩吧？就是帮你们挖啊。白话佛法就是好在明白、明心见性，听了之后马上会用了。听了之后，马上对自己说：“我的心不要乱起念头，不要做坏事。”刚刚念头出来，“不行，这个心念不能有”。一灭掉，好啊，马上就没事了。最坏的就是顺着里面钻下去，起了一个不好的念头，越钻越深、越钻越黑。有一句话叫“钻牛角尖”。牛角尖能钻吗？钻得不痛吗？往牛角尖里钻，是越钻越黑暗，越钻越狭窄。要记住，不要去钻牛角尖，什么事情都要想开，一觉睡醒就没了。在这个人间，命都是在呼吸间，还有什么东西可以比生命更重要？
Did you find today’s teaching insightful? That’s because I’m digging deep for you. That’s the power of Buddhism in plain language—it helps you understand your mind and realise your true nature. Once you hear it, you can apply it straight away. You’ll tell yourself, “I must not let random thoughts arise. I must not do bad things.” As soon as a wrong thought surfaces, you catch it: “No, I can’t allow this thought to exist.” And the moment you eliminate it—wonderful! Nothing happens. But the worst thing is to follow that bad thought and indulge it, letting it drag you deeper and deeper into darkness. There’s a Chinese saying: “drilling into the tip of an ox’s horn.” Can you actually drill into an ox’s horn? Wouldn’t it hurt? The deeper you go, the darker and narrower it becomes. So remember—don’t get stuck in tunnel vision. Whatever it is, let it go. Sleep on it, and it will pass. In this human world, life hangs on a single breath. What could possibly be more important than your own life?