师父今天给大家讲，不以物喜，不以己悲。什么是不以物喜？就是不要以为自己做了很多的事情，或对所看到的世上的一切事情不要特别高兴。因为任何事物都是虚幻的，并且会变化。比如明明看见这个东西好像是真的，好像是很开心的事情，实际上它不一定是真的，不一定给你带来欢乐，也并不能够让你得到欢喜。因为你们看到的事物可能是表面上的，它不一定是真的实质性的事物存在于人间。比如说你中了六合彩了，就算钱再多你慢慢也会用完的。如果你中到一个大奖了，也有可能会惹来一些杀身之祸。就是说不要因为外在的环境而让你内在的心而受到影响，也就是说不要让你的喜怒哀乐来影响你的感情和生活。大家要明白，我们做人有时会因为不懂而拿社会上的一些事情来作为自己的喜怒哀乐。比如在外面有开心的事情，回到家也开心；如果在外面碰到一些不开心的事情，回到家就很不开心。实际上你的情绪已经被别人和物质控制住了。所以最好的方法是不要被人家控制住，也就是说不要被世界上所有的物质所利用、所控制住。明白了吗？大家一定要记住，不以物喜，不以己悲。不以物喜，就是不以所有的物质上的东西，所有你所看到的、见到的东西为喜乐，要实实在在的懂得这一切都是假的。不以己悲，就是说不以为自己接受了现实痛苦而想到悲伤。不以己悲是无我的境界，是不感觉自己一直在受世间的一切所影响。不以己悲就是说因为这个世上给你带来了很多的悲伤，你不要以为自己已经在受这些悲伤、这些苦难了。就是让你要忘我，让你摆脱自己，自己要离开这个悲伤。
Today I want to share with you the teaching: “Not being delighted by external things, and not being sorrowful about oneself.”
What does it mean to not be delighted by external things? It means you shouldn’t feel overly happy just because you’ve done something, nor become excessively excited about things you see in the world. Everything in this world is illusory and constantly changing. Something may look good or seem joyful on the surface, but it may not be real, and it may not truly bring you happiness. What you see may only be an appearance; it may not be something real or lasting in the Human Realm. For example, if you win the lottery — no matter how large the prize — eventually the money will be spent. Winning a big prize may even bring danger or trouble into your life. So the teaching is this: do not let the external environment dictate the state of your inner mind. Don’t allow your joy, anger, sorrow, or delight to be controlled by external conditions.
Due to our ignorance, we sometimes let society condition us into emotional turbulence. Something pleasant happens outside and we bring the happiness home; something unpleasant happens and we carry the gloom home as well. In fact, we’ve already allowed other people and external circumstances to steer our mind. The best approach is to stop handing over the steering wheel — don’t let the world’s conditions use you or control you. Understand? So remember: not being delighted by external things, and not being sorrowful about oneself.
Not being delighted by external things means not taking joy in material things or anything you see with your eyes. You must truly understand that all of it is unreal. Not being sorrowful about oneself refers to the state of non-self. It means not feeling that “I” am the one constantly battered by life’s suffering. When sadness arises, don’t fall into thinking, “I’m the unfortunate one suffering all of this.” It is about forgetting the self — letting go of the “I”. Step outside the sadness altogether.
因为我们在世上都会有很多的悲伤，所以我们要不受世间一切色受想行识影响。也就是说我们所感受到的一切，我们所想到的一切，我们所看到的一切和意识形态的东西，所有这些东西我们不要顺着它去。不要感到自己“哎呀，我这个悲了，我就很悲了。这个事情我受了苦了，就是很受苦了”。你不要把这些东西从精神上来承受它，因为精神上承受它，说不定你的精神上是在用它。也就是说你这个空性自然体，这个空性自然体其实就是让你能够接受这个意识形态方面的东西。
We all face plenty of sorrow in this world, so we must avoid being influenced by the five aggregates—form, feeling, perception, mental formations and consciousness. In other words, whatever you experience, whatever you think, whatever you see, whatever arises in consciousness — don’t simply follow along with it. Don’t say to yourself, “Oh, I’m sad — I truly am sad,” or “I’ve suffered so much — I really have suffered.” Don’t let these burdens settle into your mind. Because once the mind takes them in, you may unknowingly allow them to consume you. Your inherent nature — empty by nature — is precisely what gives mental phenomena a place to land.
举个简单例子，如果你有物品，你家里又有一个仓库，你可以堆放起来。对不对？但是如果是一个空无一物的东西，你应该拿什么来接受呢？要用气球吧？那你也应该有一个气球来接受这些空性物体。但是当你接受了这些东西之后，你有两个不同的东西，一个是用像器皿一样的东西来接受这些物品；还有一种是意识形态的东西，它是空的，它是幻觉。就像你有一个气球，那这些东西就会装进你的心里。师父现在教你们学佛的人不要有这个气球，而是要把这个气球给它弄爆掉，要无我。要在你们心灵深处没有这么一个让你接受一种心灵受伤的东西，你的心灵就不会受伤。听得懂吗？因为心灵受伤是进到了你的心灵之后才停住，才让你受伤的。明白了吗？真正当心灵受伤的时候，是因为你有这么一个东西来接受它，所以你的心才会受伤。如果你连这个心都没有的话，你说你的心怎么会受伤呢？
Let me give you a simple example. If you have physical items and a storage room at home, you can stack them away, right? But if something is empty in nature, what would you use to “hold” it? You might imagine using a balloon to contain something intangible. But once you use a balloon to hold something empty or non-physical, you’ve created two different kinds of containers: One is a physical container that holds real objects. The other is a mental container—something empty and illusory, like that balloon—capable of holding emotional or mental impressions. These impressions then settle inside your heart. What I’m teaching you today is this: Buddhist practitioners must not keep this “balloon”. You must burst it. This is the cultivation of non-self. Deep within your mind, there must not be a container that absorbs emotional wounds. If there is no vessel to hold hurt, then your heart cannot be hurt. Do you understand? A heart is wounded only when we let something in and allow it to stay. When someone hurts you, it’s because you had an inner container that received that hurt. But if you no longer have that “heart” that clings to things—how could you be wounded?
所以外围是一个空间物体，内在是一个空性物体，而这个空性物体实际上就是让你忘我，忘却自己，让你把它捅破掉，没有这个东西。所以你讲我也好，骂我也好，你讽刺我也好，你让我很伤心也好，我都没有这个接受它的能量体，所以我就不会悲伤，我也不会难过，我也不会激动，我也不会伤心。受伤的人就是因为他心中有东西了。因为你骂了他之后，他接受了你的这个臭骂。对不对？举个简单例子，你们在生活当中，人家说要来打你了，你脑子里只要一想到他可能会打我，你马上会感觉浑身不舒服了。因为你心中有这么一个装着“打你”的，这个能够承受意识形态一样的一个器皿，你把他接受进来了，接下来你心里就难过了，你就发呆了、发痴了。如果你没有这个东西，人家骂你你会伤心吗？如果你没有这个东西，你根本无所谓，不在乎他说什么。什么时候会没有呢？神经病骂你的时候，你会不会生气呀？因为你知道他是神经病，你的这个器皿那个时候是没有的，是不存在的。而当你这个器皿存在的时候，实际上你就受伤了。明白了吗？
The outer world is defined by physical space, whereas our inner world is defined by a different kind of space—one of emptiness. This inner emptiness is where we must forget the self and let go, like bursting a “balloon”. Once that balloon is gone, whether someone praises you, scolds you, mocks you, or tries to hurt your feelings, nothing will be absorbed. With no inner container to hold it, nothing can enter—so you won’t feel sad, upset, agitated, or hurt.
A person feels wounded only because the mind is holding something. When someone insults you, you take in their harsh words — and that is why you feel hurt. Think about everyday life: if someone threatens to hit you and the thought arises, “He might hit me,” your whole body tightens with discomfort. Why? Because your mind has created a container that holds that fear — a psychological vessel that accepts the idea of “being hit”. Once you accept it, your mind becomes uneasy, frozen, and confused. But if that container isn’t there at all? Someone shouts abuse and it passes straight through — does it hurt? Of course not. You simply don’t take it in. When would such a container be absent? For example, if a mentally unstable person yells insults at you, do you get angry? Of course not — you know they’re unwell. In that moment, your inner container doesn’t exist. But when the container does exist, you take things in and are harmed. Do you understand?
所以师父给你们讲叫不以己悲，就是自己不要悲伤，不要承受世间的一切色受想行识对你的影响，你没有感觉，你没有受，你就没有痛苦。比如现在我明明心里很痛苦，但是我没有感受，我没有觉得痛苦。本来这个事情你要拼命去想的，而你现在没有去想。因为这个事情本来就不该你想的，对不对？行识就是你行为和意识，你的行为没有去做，就不会给你带来所有的果；你的意识不去想，你的意识就会很干净。你的意识为什么不干净呢？就是因为你想了，你想得到某一样东西，你想得太多了，你没有得到，你就开始伤心了。这个意识要受到自己的控制，这个行为也要受到自己的控制。但是真正能够控制它的是什么呢？是没有。什么都没有，你控制什么？连意识都没有了，你控制什么？神经病是没有意识的。我们不是神经病，我们有意识，但是我们要把它修炼成像无意识，就是说大智若愚。明明是一个很有智慧的人，但是他像傻傻的一样。要有聪明，要有智慧，而不能真正的傻。听得懂吗？所以要大智若愚。要修到一定的时候，你的大智慧已经超过了你的愚痴，超过了你的傻，这个人才是装傻。虽然有的人会装一点，但是装得不够像，经常被人家看出来，那就算真傻。你有本事不是装的，是自然的，是很自然的一种流露。就是我没有意识，我真的没有想，那你的脸出来的是真的没有想东西。如果你想过了之后，你把它掩盖起来了，比如你挖了一个坑但没有埋地雷，只想吓人家，和你真的埋上地雷，虽然导火线没有放，这两个感觉是不一样的。就像很多人到你家里来，你根本没有想请他吃饭，但是你说“饿了吧，来来来，饭准备好了，来吃饭吧”，但实际上你厨房间没有菜，和你准备有菜，这是两个概念。
This is why I teach you “not to be sorrowful about yourself”—not to be saddened by your own circumstances, and not to let the five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness affect you. If you do not feel it, if you do not register it, then you will not suffer. For example, you might ordinarily feel deep pain in your heart, yet if you do not register that feeling—if you refuse to let your mind dwell on it—there is no pain. Perhaps it is something you would usually obsess over, but now you don’t. Why? Because it was never something you should have been thinking about in the first place, right?
Mental formations and consciousness refer to your actions and your thoughts. If you don’t take an action, the karmic result of that action will not arise. If your mind does not think, your consciousness remains clean. Why is your consciousness impure? Because you think; you crave something; you think far too much. And when you don’t get what you want, you become upset. Your consciousness must be under your own control, and your actions must also be under your control. But what truly enables you to control them? Nothing. When there is nothing—what is there to control? If even consciousness is absent—what is left to control?
A person with mental illness has no functioning consciousness. We aren’t mentally ill—we do have consciousness. But through cultivation, we must refine it to a state resembling non-consciousness—what we call “great wisdom appearing as foolishness”. A truly wise person appears simple, natural, unassuming—almost naïve. You must be intelligent, you must have wisdom, but you must not be genuinely foolish. Understand? This is “great wisdom that looks like foolishness”. So cultivate great wisdom that appears simple. When your wisdom finally surpasses all ignorance and delusion, you are able to “act simple” naturally. Some people try to “act simple”, but not convincingly—others see through it at once. That’s genuine foolishness. True mastery isn’t an act; it flows naturally. There is simply no conscious thought arising, and that absence shows on your face—pure, unforced, transparent. If you’ve already had the thought and then try to cover it up, it’s different. The difference is like digging a hole without burying a landmine—just trying to frighten someone—and actually burying one, even if you never light the fuse. People can feel the difference. Or when guests come to your home: you can say, “You must be hungry—come, dinner’s ready!” but your kitchen is empty, or you can say the same words when the pots are full and the meal is ready. Guests instantly know which one is genuine.
大家要明白，学佛的人要懂得克己，要忘我的境界，就是要克制自己，把自己的境界完全忘掉，要不受世间的一切影响，然后靠个人自身的坚持和毅力。那么你怎么来坚持呢？我的这位弟子，老妈妈最有感受。你说你这几年开始的时候辛苦不辛苦？非常的辛苦。你克制得难过不难过？非常的难过。但是你有毅力，你坚持下来了，你就成功了。在这个当中你有很多次克制不住，对不对？差一点自己想不通出走，还想我自己一个人住还挺好的，你这种想法当时都有过的。但是你坚持克制自己，最后你胜利了，因为你有毅力。如果你现在是一个人住的话，你想想，到时你死在家里都没有人知道，多悲惨。这是一个很现实的问题。那么反过来讲第二点，你想想看，如果你恨孩子的话，孩子能不能给你最起码的帮助？他做不到，甚至连孙子都不给你看。对你来讲一个老人家脾气倔有什么好处？
You must understand this: as Buddhist practitioners, you must practise self-discipline and cultivate the state of non-self—restraining yourself, letting go of the ego completely, and remaining unaffected by anything in the world. From there, you rely on your own perseverance and determination. So how do you persevere? One of my disciples here—this elderly mother—understands this deeply. Tell me: in those first few years, was it tough? Extremely tough. Was it painful to restrain yourself? Very painful. But you had determination. You persisted—and because you persisted, you succeeded. There were many times you almost broke down, weren’t there? Times you wanted to pack up and leave, thinking, “I’d be better off on my own.” Those thoughts did arise. But you kept reining yourself in, and in the end you prevailed—because you had perseverance. Just imagine if you had given in and were living alone now. If you passed away at home, no one would even know. How tragic would that be? That’s a very real possibility. On the other hand, if you hold resentment towards your children, do you think they will give you even basic care? They won’t. You might not even see your grandchildren. What good does stubbornness bring an elderly person?
所以学佛的人知道自己错了，要坚持地改正，要坚持有毅力地改正。有毅力不但让你往好的方向努力要有毅力，实际上这个毅力还包含着你很痛苦的坚持，你很痛苦的和坚强的信念。就像很多人碰到困难的时候他能坚持吃苦，他吃过苦了，苦尽甘来。对不对？你看病也是这样的。医生给你打针的时候，你痛不痛？但打完了之后你就不痛了。牙科医生给你磨牙的时候你痛不痛？磨完牙之后你就不痛了。难道就是因为磨牙很痛，你连这个牙都不要补了吗？就是这个道理。学佛也是这样。如果一个人不能坚持，不能有毅力地去修行、去改正自己身上的毛病，这个人学佛就有很大的问题。所以坚持和毅力非常重要。因为等你坚持住了，你越过了障碍；你有毅力的话，困难将不会是困难了。举个简单的例子，你爬山困难不困难？等你爬到了山顶，接下来往下走的时候还困难吗？你就没有困难了。所以自己要明白，一定要懂，我们克服了困难，我们就能坚持和有毅力地活着。
That’s why Buddhist practitioners, once they recognise their own faults, must keep correcting them—steadfastly and with perseverance. Perseverance is not only about pushing yourself towards what is good—it also includes the painful endurance required in the process, holding on to a firm conviction through suffering.
Many people, when hardship arises, grit their teeth and push through it. After enduring hardship, sweetness follows, doesn’t it? It’s the same with illness. When the doctor gives you an injection—does it hurt? Yes. But once it’s done, the pain is gone. Does the dentist drilling your tooth hurt? Absolutely. But once the tooth is fixed, the pain disappears. Are you going to leave the tooth to rot just because the drilling hurts? The principle is the same. Buddhist practice works this way too. If a person cannot persevere—cannot muster the determination to keep cultivating and correcting their flaws—then their practice is in serious trouble. That’s why perseverance and determination are essential.
Once you push through and cross the hurdle, the obstacle is gone. With real grit, difficulties stop being difficulties. Think of climbing a mountain—was it hard? Yes. But once you reach the summit and start coming down the other side, is it still hard? Not at all. So we must realise this: once we overcome difficulties, we gain the strength to continue—and to truly live.