我们要废除人世间无止境的争议、争吵、争执、冷嘲热讽。因为在人间这些冷嘲热讽、这些争议、争执它是无止境的，也就是说它是永远不会停止的。我们人有什么能耐能够逆流而行呢？我们人有什么能耐能够违背潮流而行呢？人人都具有恶习，而且有顽固性。也就是说我们每一个人都有很多不好的习惯，而且这些习惯都充满着顽固性。什么叫顽固性？就是不容易改。师父教你们要把佛菩萨植在你们的心中，要根深蒂固，这样你们才能挡掉所有人间的一切烦恼。我们要在自己的心中建立一堵城墙，我们要支配自己的灵魂。而这堵城墙是什么呢？如果师父单单这样讲你们可能听不懂，师父给你们举个简单的例子你们就明白了，比如我有一堵城墙，这个城墙就是戒定慧，这个城墙就是克制贪瞋痴，这个城墙就是我不去恨人家。所以当很多恨的事情来的时候，你就能够很快地挡掉；当人家用钱来引诱你的时候，你很快地也能挡掉。听得懂吗？今天你周先生相信观世音菩萨，这堵城墙已经在你心中扎根了，所以不管人家怎么说，你心中只要想到观世音菩萨，你一定能活。如果该你走，你也就走了。你要有这堵城墙，明白吗？
We must put an end to the endless disputes, arguments, conflicts, and cynicism of the human world. In this world, such arguments, conflicts, and cynicism are endless—they never truly stop. What ability do we, as human beings, have to go against the tide? Everyone has bad habits, and these habits are incredibly stubborn. What does “stubborn” mean here? It means they are extremely difficult to change.
I am teaching you to plant the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in your heart so that they take deep root; only then can you ward off all the afflictions of the human world. We must build a fortress within our hearts and take command of our own souls. And what is this fortress? If I speak only in metaphors, you might not understand, so let me give you a simple example. This fortress is precepts, concentration, and wisdom; it restrains greed, hatred, and delusion; it is the resolve not to hate others. When things that trigger hatred come your way, you can quickly block them; when people try to tempt you with money, you can quickly block that too. Do you understand? Mr Zhou, because you believe in Guan Yin Bodhisattva, this fortress has already taken root in your heart. No matter what anyone says, as long as you think of Guan Yin Bodhisattva, you will surely survive. And even if it truly were your time to go, you would leave in peace. You must have this fortress. Do you understand?
你们要记住，不能遮住原来存在的般若。般若大家都知道，师父曾经给你们都讲过，是佛菩萨的智慧。我们不能把这个般若给遮住，因为这是人的本性。那么什么样的情况之下人才会没有智慧呢？般若会被遮住呢？那就是当你贪瞋痴的时候，还要加一个慢、疑。“慢”是什么？就是傲慢。“疑”是什么？就是怀疑（猜疑）。怀疑人家，自己的智慧就没有了。师父曾经给你们讲过莎士比亚的剧集里有个叫奥塞罗的人，他很爱他的妻子，最后就是因为怀疑他的妻子，他把妻子给杀死了。如果一个人怀疑人家太多，他会杀死人家，也会杀死他自己。一个傲慢的人能把自己的善缘全部拒之门外，所以叫贪、瞋、痴、慢、疑。你们要记住，要分解生命的本质。“分解”是什么？就是把自己生命的本质慢慢地把它化解出来。比方说，想一想我们今天活在这个世界上到底是为什么呢？我们来到这个人间又是为什么？如果你想通了，“哦，我来到这个人间就是为了生个孩子，我现在生好了，我很开心了。我来到这个人间我是为了孝顺母亲的，我孝顺过了，我很开心了……”把自己慢慢地分解。而我们学佛的人就不应该用这种分解法。应该想：我们来到这个人间，我们闻到了佛法，这辈子也知足了。我闻到了佛法，我能够救度众生，我能够成为菩萨的千手千眼，我知足了。对不对啊？所以要分解自己生命的本质。我们的本质实际上就是在人间好好地过，当过完了之后我会上天。知道了这些本质，把它分开理解了之后，你就会得到很多的法喜。明白不明白？当你受苦的时候，你知道这是在还我前世的债，你是不是会舒服一点？当你被人家欺负的时候，想一想这是我应该受的。为什么？可能前世我就是这样欺负他的。这就叫分解啊，分解生命的本质。明白了吗？师父告诉你们，要让自己在人间的瞬间要变得丝毫没有意义。这个人间的瞬间是什么？就是你们在动坏脑筋的瞬间要变得丝毫的没有意义。比如突然之间恨了，一刹那我想通了，我不恨了；刚刚想拿自己不该拿的东西时，我忽然明白了，想通了，我不拿了；刚刚想去贪，我想通了，我不贪了；刚刚想去偷偷摸摸做事，我一想我不能这样偷偷摸摸的，这个一瞬间在你学佛的历程当中就变得毫无意义了。听得懂吗？师父是反过来给你们讲的，这叫反思维。
You must remember not to cloud your inherent Prajna. You all know Prajna; I have taught you before that it is the wisdom of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. We must not obscure this wisdom, for it is our inherent nature. Under what circumstances does a person lose their wisdom and cloud their Prajna? It happens when one succumbs to greed, hatred, and delusion, and adds arrogance and doubt. What is arrogance? It is conceit. What is doubt? It is suspicion and mistrust. When you are constantly suspicious of others, your wisdom vanishes. I have told you about the character Othello from Shakespeare’s play: he loved his wife deeply, but in the end, because he was consumed by suspicion, he killed her. If a person is too suspicious, they can destroy others and ultimately destroy themselves. Likewise, an arrogant person shuts the door on all their wholesome affinities. This is why we speak of greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance, and doubt.
You must also learn to deconstruct the essence of life. What does “deconstruct” mean? It means to gradually break down and analyse the true nature of your existence. For example, think about why we are living in this world today. Why did we come here? If you see through it, you might think, “Oh, I came here to have a child; I’ve done that now, so I’m happy,” or “I came here to care for and repay the kindness of my mother; I’ve done that, so I’m content.” This is one way of deconstructing your life.
But as Buddhist practitioners, we should not analyse life in this limited way. Instead, we should think: “I came to this world and I have encountered the Buddha-Dharma; for this, I am satisfied with this lifetime. I have heard the Dharma, I can guide and awaken sentient beings, and I can serve as the thousand hands and eyes of the Bodhisattva—I am content.” Right? This is how we should deconstruct the essence of our lives. Our purpose is to live well in this world, and when our time is up, we shall ascend to the heavens. Once you understand these essentials and break them down, you will experience great Dharma Joy. Do you understand? When you are suffering, if you know that you are simply repaying karmic debts from a past life, won’t you feel a bit better? When you are bullied, think to yourself, “This is something I ought to endure; perhaps in a past life I bullied them.” This is what it means to deconstruct the essence of life.
I tell you, you must make the “worldly moments” in your life utterly meaningless. What are these moments? They are the instants when an unwholesome thought arises. The moment hatred arises, you immediately awaken and let it go. The moment you want to take something that is not yours, you suddenly understand and stop. The moment greed arises, you think it through and let it dissolve. The moment you consider doing something in a sneaky or dishonest way, you immediately realise you cannot do that. At that instant, that impulse becomes “meaningless” in the journey of your Buddhist practice. Do you understand? I am explaining this from the opposite perspective; it is called reverse thinking.
让心灵不要破碎。因为你不明白道理，所以你的心灵才会破碎。不要沉醉在欲望的意识中间。如果我们每一个人活在人间仅仅是存在于欲望的意识中间，那这个人就活得很痛苦了。比如你今天想买一个房子，当你有这个欲望的时候你就很痛苦；当你追求这个人没有追到的时候，就非常非常的痛苦；当你想要钱，而这个钱没有得到的时候，就非常非常的痛苦；当你想做官的时候，没有做成官，这个时候你就是沉醉在欲望之中。听得懂吗？不要让自己沉醉在欲望之中。而我们现在很多的徒弟也好，学佛人也好，都是沉醉于自己的欲望之中，都是有目的的学佛。有目的的学佛就是沉醉在自己的欲望当中。你们有本事今天学佛修心不是为自己，我就是学佛，那就没有欲望了。
Do not allow your heart to break. It is only because you do not understand the underlying principles of life that your heart breaks. Do not allow yourself to be intoxicated by a consciousness of desire. If we live in this world solely immersed in desire-consciousness, we will live in great suffering. For example, if you want to buy a house, the moment that desire arises, you suffer. When you are interested in someone but fail to win them over, you suffer immensely. When you want money but cannot obtain it, or when you crave status or power but fail to achieve it, you are again trapped in desire. Do you understand? Do not let yourself be consumed by it. Yet many of our disciples and practitioners today are drowning in their own desires; they practise Buddhism with ulterior motives. To practise Buddhism with a hidden agenda is to be intoxicated by one’s own cravings. If you are truly capable, you should practise Buddhism and cultivate the mind not for your own gain, but simply for the sake of practising Buddhism itself. That is how one lives without desire.
我们必须要约束自己，克制自己，要关注自己心灵的成长。一个人的约束很重要，一个人的克制也是很重要的。如果你能克制自己，你就成功了；如果你能约束自己，你也成功了。最难的就是不能克制、不能约束自己的人，那就得不到成功。听得懂吗？我们要关注自己心灵的成长，就是时刻看看自己心里想的东西。比方说你一共想了三十个事情，而这三十个事情里面你想的好的事情多呢还是坏的事情多？如果你今天很恨，这孩子怎么教育不好呢？你恨这个老公怎么又这样了？你又很恨，我不想做这些事情了等等。如果你很开心，因为你闻到佛法了；你很开心你有时间念经了，你很开心……你想一想你的心灵到底是恶大于善，还是善大于恶？就能计算出你以后上哪个道。如果这三十个事情，你恨了二十个事情，开心了十个事情。你算一算，如果一天是这样，那你 365 天，你是恶越来越大，还是善越来越大？这样就能计算出自己在心中存在的恶多，还是善多。如果你把三十件事情全部都想成是善的，那你这个人一定是善良的人。如果你今天恨这个人，愚痴那个，想要这个，贪着这个，那你这个人就成不了善良的人。听得懂吗？
We must restrain ourselves, exercise self-discipline, and focus on our spiritual growth. Self-restraint is crucial; self-discipline is equally crucial. If you can restrain yourself, you will succeed. If you can discipline yourself, you will also succeed. The most difficult people are those who cannot restrain themselves and cannot discipline themselves—such people will never succeed. Do you understand? We must pay attention to our spiritual growth by constantly observing our inner thoughts. Suppose you have thirty thoughts in a day—how many are wholesome, and how many are unwholesome? If you spend the day resenting that your child is difficult to teach, or hating that your husband behaves the same way again, or begrudging daily chores—these are unwholesome thoughts. Conversely, if you are happy because you have encountered the Dharma, or joyful because you have time to recite sutras, then your heart is light. Reflect carefully: does goodness outweigh negativity in your mind, or does negativity outweigh goodness? From this alone, you can already discern which realm you are heading towards. If among those thirty thoughts, twenty are filled with resentment and only ten are joyful, then consider this over 365 days—will negativity increase, or will goodness increase? In this way, you can clearly see whether unwholesomeness or wholesomeness predominates in your heart. If all thirty thoughts are wholesome, then you are truly a kind-hearted person. But if today you resent this person, despise that one, crave this, and cling to that, then you cannot become a truly kind person. Do you understand?
所以师父教大家要明白，要经常看看自己的心灵，关注自己心灵的成长，要回归本真，就是回归本原。回归本真，我们本原真心实心，我们要回到那个地方去。就像很多人在写诗的时候，经常写到看见自己两鬓苍苍，看见花园里那些孩子在天真地跳舞唱歌，我多想回到我的童年。这就是回到本真。因为你的童年没了，你才去想；因为你的童年找不到了，你才想去寻找它，才去追求它。我们现在的本原已经找不到了，已经被肮脏的灵魂，被人间所有的污垢所遮住了，所以找不到自己的良心和本性了。师父曾经看过一个电视剧，就是在打抗战中缅边境之战的时候，日本军队被打得一塌糊涂，最后只剩下一个人了。这个日本人自己在海边唱日本歌曲，唱了一个晚上。那些中国军队就守住他，守了一个晚上，不忍心去杀他一个人。因为他已经穷途末路了，到了海边没有办法回到他的家乡了，所以他唱的都是那些家乡的歌，他在回忆、他在寻找他年轻时候的生命，寻找他失去的灵魂，最后他倒下了。当那些中国军队冲上去看到他的时候，实际上他早已经在唱歌之前用刀把肚子剖腹了，就这样一直流着血唱了一个晚上，等血流尽了，他倒下了。人的本真在哪里？就是当他走到穷途末路的时候、绝路的时候，他才想到我要找找我原始的本真。也就是说当一个人要死的时候，他才能想到我要找回我的老家。这就是师父今天第一句话讲的“我是谁？我要到哪里去？”你们听得懂吗？
Therefore, I teach you to frequently examine your own heart and focus on your spiritual growth. You must return to your original truth—return to your original source. Returning to the original truth means returning to our original, genuine, and sincere mind. That is where we must return. It is like poets who, upon seeing their own hair turn grey, watch children dancing and singing in a garden and long to return to their childhood. They long for it because it is gone; they seek it because it can no longer be found. Our original source is now lost to us, obscured by a defiled soul and by all the impurities of the human world, making it impossible for us to find our conscience and our inherent nature.
I once saw a television drama about the border battles in Burma during the war. A Japanese unit was decimated until only one soldier remained. That soldier stood by the sea all night, singing traditional songs from his homeland. The Chinese soldiers surrounded him and waited the entire night, unable to bring themselves to kill a man who had reached such utter desperation. He had nowhere to go and no way back to his village, so he sang those songs, searching for his youth and his lost soul. Finally, he collapsed. When the Chinese troops rushed forward, they discovered that he had already committed seppuku before he even began singing. He had been bleeding all night as he sang, and collapsed only when his blood ran dry.
Where is a person’s original truth? Often, it is only when someone reaches the end of the road—a complete dead end—that they begin to look for it. It is only when a person is facing death that they think, “I must find my way back to my old home.” This is exactly what I meant by the first question I asked today: “Who am I, and where am I going?” Do you understand?
我们对人间所有的看法都是偏执的，没有一个不是执着的。世间的一切都是假的，都是空的，没有真的东西在里面的，听得懂吗？这是第一个。第二，它是似是而非的。也就是说让你们不要看得太重，不要认为这是真的东西。要知道，你认为这个世界上的东西和你自己所感受的东西，与真相是不同的。因为你认为世界上很多东西是真的，其实它是假的。真相的东西和你认为的东西，那完全是南辕北辙，根本不是一样的。所以周先生你要想清楚，师父今天晚上给你上课要让你明白，你今天所想到的事情、你所认为的事情，并不是真的东西。你要看到它的实质。因为灵界的东西会走，因为细胞它会变，癌细胞会变的。如果你在肝上真的长了一个什么东西，是硬碰硬损伤的，那你动个手术可以把它这个地方切掉，缝一缝都是可以的。但是这个细胞它只是暂时的藏存在你的胃上，你可以通过其他的方法把它赶走。如果单单因为这个东西到这里来了，你就把它拿掉，那它跑到另外一个地方去了，你再把那个地方拿掉，让我想起了小时候看过的一个故事。是说一个人家里飞进来了一只苍蝇，当苍蝇落到这边墙上，他就拿起一个东西砸过去。苍蝇没砸到，把家具倒砸坏了，苍蝇飞走了。他看到苍蝇又落到那个地方，他又拿起一个东西砸过去，没砸着，苍蝇又飞走了。就是说这些都是表面的现象，而真正的细胞在变化。为什么要调节心身呢？为什么要调节生理、心理？实际上这些都是能调节的，并不是说一割就能割掉的。明白吗？
Our perceptions of the human world are entirely biased; there is not a single one that is not rooted in attachment. Everything in this world is illusory and empty; there is nothing truly real within it. Do you understand? That is the first point. The second point is that it is half-true and half-false. I say this so that you do not take things too seriously or mistake them for ultimate reality. You must understand that what you believe the world to be, and what you personally experience, are not the same as the true reality. You believe many things in this world are real, but in fact they are false. The true reality and your perceptions are poles apart; they are not the same at all.
So, Mr Zhou, you must think clearly. I am giving this Dharma talk tonight so that you understand that the things you are worrying about and the assumptions you are making are not real. You must see their essence. Things in the spiritual realm can come and go; cells can change; cancer cells can change. If something grows in your liver, or if you suffer a physical injury, surgery can remove it and stitch it up. But these cells are only temporarily residing in your stomach; they can be driven away through other means. If you simply remove an organ because something has appeared there, what happens when it moves elsewhere? Do you remove that as well?
This reminds me of a story I read as a child. A fly flew into a man’s house. When it landed on a wall, he threw something at it. He missed the fly but smashed his furniture, and the fly simply flew away. When it landed elsewhere, he threw another object—again missing the fly, which flew off unharmed. These are all superficial phenomena. In reality, it is the cells that are changing. This is why we speak of regulating the mind and body, and why we talk about managing physical and mental states. These conditions are adjustable; they are not problems that can simply be solved by cutting something out. Do you understand?
师父给大家讲，你们要懂得当你越来越知道（懂得）真相，你就会越来越感觉自己的无知和愚痴。你们在没有学佛之前，你们不知道自己是多么的无知，不知道自己是多么的愚痴，不知道自己过去做错了多少事情，而现在你们慢慢地越来越明白这些道理了，所以你们会觉得自己越来越聪明，埋怨自己，诅咒自己，那就是你们明白了道理。你们恨自己的过去，埋怨自己为什么过去做错那么多事情？如果你不学佛，你这个埋怨仅仅是停留在你的智商发展的聪明的基础上，而不是用在佛法的般若智慧上。我不知道你们听得懂听不懂？这个世界犹如江河一样终归大海。江河它一定会回归大海，这是一个规律。我们人总会要走的，我们的灵魂总有一天不是上去就是下去。要明白归入大海实际上就是归入原始，原始的本性。所以人生太渺小了，像过眼云烟一样。今天我给几个青年团的小朋友讲，师父看你们就像看蚂蚁一样，看到你们叽叽喳喳地讲来讲去，就觉得你们像是蚂蚁在讲话、忙啊。如果你们不相信，哪一天你们蹲下来看看那些蚂蚁在下面忙啊。搬一根火柴，搬过来，搬过去，巢筑好了。等到第二天早上，被打扫卫生的人清理了，全部家底都没有了。就跟我们人一样，天天在忙啊、讲啊、说啊……师父看你们可怜、可笑、可悲。明白吗？有些人跑到我这里来，讲讲这个讲讲那个，可悲啊，可笑啊。我就笑笑。就像现在很多学佛的人一样，这里在学佛要懂得慈悲予人，那里又叽叽呱呱讲人家不好。这种人你们说能学得好佛吗？没有智慧啊。
I tell you all: the more you come to understand the true reality, the more you will recognise your own ignorance and folly. Before you learned Buddhism, you had no idea how ignorant you were; you did not realise how many mistakes you had made in the past. Now that you are gradually beginning to understand these principles, you may feel that you are becoming wiser, yet at the same time you feel full of self-reproach. That self-reproach is precisely a sign that you have understood the principles. You regret your past and lament the many wrong things you once did. However, if you had not learned Buddhism, such self-reproach would merely reflect intellectual awareness, not the Prajñā wisdom of the Buddha-Dharma. I am not sure if you follow me? This world is like a river that eventually flows into the sea. It is a law of nature that rivers return to the ocean. We, too, will one day depart; our souls will either ascend or descend. Returning to the ocean is, in fact, returning to the original source—to our original nature.
Human life is extremely insignificant, fleeting like passing clouds. Today, when I spoke to some members of the Youth Group, I told them that when I look at you, it is like looking at ants. I see you chattering endlessly, bustling about, and you resemble ants busily at work. If you do not believe it, find a day to crouch down and observe ants. They carry a matchstick back and forth, building their nest, only for a cleaner to come along the next morning and sweep it all away—their entire livelihood gone in an instant. It is exactly the same with us humans: busy every day, talking, arguing, and struggling. From my perspective, it is pitiable, laughable, and tragic. Do you understand? Some people come to me complaining about this and that—it is pitiful and laughable, and I can only smile. It is like those practitioners who speak of compassion one moment, yet gossip and speak ill of others the next. Do you think such people can truly succeed in practising Buddhism? They lack wisdom.