师父今天给大家讲：要学会包容，任何杂念来了不要让它留在心中。你们每一个人都有许多杂念，如果把这些杂念留在心中，你就会产生颠倒梦想。如果你离开了杂念妄想，吉祥顺利才会到。为什么说是颠倒梦想？因为人常常把正的看成反的，把反的看成正的，这就是颠倒。比方说，每个人都说要活得好好的，但是想不想好好活呢？很多人的毛病就是自己想活得平安，但嘴巴又喜欢惹人家，最后人家搞他了，他又活得不自在了。这就叫颠倒。每个人都知道生命很重要，但是现在的人把生命看成什么了？把它颠倒过来了。明明知道身体很重要，他却偏偏抽烟，把自己的肺抽坏了，就活得不自在了，这就是颠倒了。明明知道肝最重要，他却天天喝酒。这是不是颠倒了？我们活在人间很多思维全是颠倒的。人家说是好的事情，他却说是坏的；人家说是坏的事情，他却偏偏说是好的。人家好好地做人，他说这种人是傻瓜，这种老老实实、规规矩矩的人是个笨蛋。他倒好，不做好事，他被抓进去了，被判刑了。这不就是颠倒了吗？梦想是什么？做不到的事情要去想去做，明明这个事情做不到，他非要去做，这就叫梦想；没钱拼命去赚钱，没有名拼命去追求名，这就叫颠倒梦想。如果我们离开了这些颠倒梦想，我们就会一切吉祥如意。
Today, I want to talk to you about learning to be inclusive and tolerant. When distracting thoughts arise, do not let them linger in your heart. Every one of you has many distracting thoughts; if you allow them to take root, you will fall into “inverted views and dreamlike delusions”. Only when you distance yourself from these distracting thoughts and delusions can auspiciousness and success come your way.
Why do we call them “inverted views”? It is because people often see things upside-down—mistaking the right for wrong and the wrong for right. For example, everyone says they want to live a good life, but do they actually strive to live well? A common flaw is that people want to live in peace, yet their mouths love to provoke others. When people eventually retaliate, they no longer feel at ease. This is what it means to be “inverted.” We all know life is precious, yet how do people treat their lives today? They have turned their priorities upside down. They know their health is vital, yet they persist in smoking until their lungs are ruined, losing their vitality—that is being inverted. They know the liver is crucial, yet they drink every day. Is that not inverted?
So many of our perspectives in this secular world are completely inverted. When something is good, people call it bad; when something is bad, they insist it is good. When someone lives an honest and upright life, others call them “foolish,” mocking those who are sincere and well-behaved as being stupid. Yet they themselves refuse to do good deeds and end up being arrested and sentenced—is that not inverted? And what about “dreamlike delusions”? It is wanting and doing things that are clearly impossible. When you desperately chase money you can’t earn, or fame that is out of reach, you are falling into inverted views and dreamlike delusions. If we can distance ourselves from these delusions, we will find that everything becomes auspicious and goes our way.
师父继续给大家讲，世间的一切全都是幻化的。今天你认为对的事情也好，不对的事情也好，它全都是在梦幻般的变化。也就是说，你今天所得到的不等于你明天所拥有的，你今天所拥有的并不代表你明天不会失去，这就叫幻化无常。大家知道，学佛经常讲到“无常”，“无常”就是什么事情都不是长久的。你的年龄没有长久的，你的钱没有长久的，你的房子没有长久的等等，所有的一切都是没有长久的，这些无常却给你带来的都是痛苦，都是虚幻的。因为它没有长久，所以就是虚的东西，是假的，不是实实在在的。当你拥有了这些无常的东西之后，实际上你就进入了你的幻梦世界，梦幻世界就是像做梦一样。幻觉是怎么来的，就是今天做过的事情，明天没有了，这就是产生幻觉。比如今天明明还拥有他，但是明天他死了，这就叫幻。幻就是不实在的东西。所以生住异灭。也就是说一个人生出来之后，和他能够住足在这个世界当中，异灭就是变化的毁灭。生住异灭就是都是会灭掉的，都是会没有的。你今天吃的饭，明天就没有了，明天又要吃了。你今天家里所拥有的一切，说不定过几天都没有了。所以生出来常住在这个人间都是处于异变。
Everything in this world is illusory. Whether you think something is right or wrong today, it is all in a state of dreamlike flux. In other words, what you gain today does not mean you will possess it tomorrow; what you own now does not mean you won’t lose it later. This is the illusory and impermanent nature of everything. In Buddhism, we often speak of “impermanence” (Anicca)—the truth that nothing lasts forever. Your age isn’t permanent, your money isn’t permanent, your house isn’t permanent. Everything is transient, and this impermanence is precisely what brings suffering, because it is all illusory. Since it doesn’t last, it is hollow and unreal—it is not a solid reality.
Once you possess these impermanent things, you actually enter a dream world. Illusions arise because what you have today is gone tomorrow. For instance, you might clearly have someone in your life today, but if they pass away tomorrow, that reality becomes an “illusion.” It is not lasting. This is the cycle of birth, existence, transformation, and cessation. From the moment a person is born and stays in this world, they are heading toward transformation and cessation—the destruction of that state. Everything will eventually cease to exist. The meal you eat today is gone tomorrow, and you must eat again. The things you own today might be gone in a few days. Therefore, living in this world means being in a constant state of transformation and change.
人因为执著得失而产生妄念。然而人是怎么会注重自己的得失而产生妄念的呢？因为这个妄念是由你的得失而来的。比如你今天赚了一点钱了，你觉得你得到了，你就开始有妄念产生了。什么妄念呢？我要用这点钱去赚更多的，这就是妄念。今天有人说“你还很年轻，实际上你还可以去选美呢”，她就产生妄念了。实际上她已经是很老的人了。因为人家讲了几句，她就觉得自己很年轻，还要去选美，最后人家连报名的机会都没有给。因为她忘记了自己的年龄，不知道自己是在干什么的。因为你的思维得失、你的幻觉，梦幻妄念就开始来了。比如你失去了孩子，你就想“我应该怎么样怎么样”；当你失去了老公了，你想“我应该怎么样怎么样”……都是由一种心的变化，一种妄念而产生的。什么叫妄念？妄念就是本来应该没有的事情，被你硬想出来的。因为你的得失心重，今天失去了，你就开始乱想了；因为你得到了，你也开始乱想了。所以得失都不要太当回事情，你就不会有妄念产生了。要记住，这是很重要的。
People develop deluded thoughts because they are attached to gain and loss. But how do these delusions arise from focusing on gain and loss? It is because the deluded thought itself is born from your attachment to the concept of gain and loss. For example, if you make a bit of money today, you feel you have “gained,” and a deluded thought arises: “I want to use this money to make even more.” That is a deluded thought. Or if someone tells an older lady, “You’re still so young, you could enter a beauty pageant,” she might develop a deluded thought. In reality, she is already quite elderly, but because of a few words, she feels young enough to compete—only to find she isn’t even eligible to sign up. She forgot her actual age; she is out of touch with reality.
Your deluded thoughts and dreamlike fantasies stem from this mindset of gain and loss. When your child turns their back on you, you think, “I should have done this or that”; when your husband leaves you, you think, “I should have done this or that.” These are all born from the shifts in your mindset and your deluded thoughts. What is a “deluded thought”? It is obsessing over something that shouldn’t even exist in the first place. Because you are so attached to gain and loss, you start overthinking when you lose something, and you also start overthinking when you gain something. If you don’t take gain and loss so seriously, deluded thoughts will not arise. Remember, this is very important.
师父接下来给大家讲妄境和妄心。妄境和妄心要相互转化。妄境是什么？就是你看到的境界是虚妄的。比如你今天看见这么多的弟子在这里特别开心，大家都很开心。但这是虚妄的，待会儿都走了就没了。又如你今天摆一个宴会，布置得很好，人家说恭喜你，谢谢你了。大家都喝酒、唱歌、跳舞啊，而这些镜头随着时间的流逝，一会儿全部转为泡影，没了。难道这些镜头和那些环境不是一种虚妄吗？谁能保证这宴会会永久辉煌下去，会永远开心呢？这就是妄境和妄念相互的转化。妄念是什么？就是虚妄的念头，不实在的念头，以为这个事情还存在的念头。实际上所有的一切都是妄境、妄念，是没有的。比如这个地方我以前来过了，过去我在这里很豪华很富有，但是我现在怎么没有了。因为你落魄了，你什么都没有了。过去你有钱可以住一个高级饭店，但现在你没有钱了，你就不要去想它了。所以，境和念它是相互在转化的。当你看见这个境，这个环境的时候，会触景生情就是这个道理。如果两个人过去感情很好，一旦分开之后，等到哪一天只要看见这个地方马上就会想起过去他俩的情景，这就叫触景生情。所以境能转化你的念，而念头又能让你回忆起你过去的镜头。如果夫妻两个一个过世了，另一个一定要搬家，否则很快就会得神经病了。为什么呢？很简单：因为她只要看见这张桌子是他过去用的，这个椅子是他过去坐过的，这个锅是和他一起吃饭用的，她会24小时里都可以看见想起和他一起生活过的点点滴滴。那个时候她真的就给自己找麻烦了，她的念头随着她的境在转，而环境给她看见了，她的念头又是顺着境在走。
Next, I will talk to you about delusive circumstances and the deluded mind. These two are constantly influencing and transforming one another. What are delusive circumstances? They are the illusory situations you see before you. For example, today you see so many fellow practitioners gathered here, everyone looking happy and joyful. Yet this happiness is illusory—once everyone leaves, it is gone. Or take another example: today you host a banquet, beautifully arranged, and people congratulate you and thank you. Everyone drinks, sings, and dances, but as time passes, all these scenes soon vanish like bubbles. Are these scenes and settings not illusory? Who can guarantee a banquet will remain glorious forever or that the joy will never end? This is how delusive circumstances and deluded thoughts transform into one another.
What are deluded thoughts? They are unreal thoughts—thoughts that assume something still exists when in fact it no longer does. In truth, everything consists of delusive circumstances and deluded thoughts; ultimately, they do not exist. For instance, you may recall that you once came to this place and were prosperous and well-off, yet now you have nothing. In the past, you had the means to stay in luxury hotels, but now that you no longer do, there is no point clinging to those memories. This shows how circumstances and thoughts constantly transform into one another. When you encounter a particular setting, emotions are triggered—this is what is meant by “feelings arising from contact with the scene.” If two people were once deeply in love and then separate, seeing a particular place one day will immediately trigger memories of their past together. This is the power of circumstances shaping the mind; and the mind, in turn, makes you relive those past scenes. This is why, if a spouse passes away, the survivor should move house; otherwise, they risk a mental breakdown. The reason is simple: every time she sees the table he used, the chair he sat in, or the pot they cooked in, she will be reminded of every tiny detail of their life together, twenty-four hours a day. She is effectively creating trouble for herself because her thoughts are being dragged along by the environment she sees.
我们要懂得不能执著，我们要常在得失中生出苦忧心。得失中生出苦忧心是什么意思？比方说我今天赚钱了，又觉得自己很苦、很担忧。为什么？因为这个钱是暂时的，是不长久的，说没有就没有了。比如你今天生了个孩子，你开心了。如果你能生出苦忧心，你就会比较好的把孩子养好，因为你想到这个孩子以后会跟我们吃很多苦，会有生老病死的苦，爱别离的苦，这个时候你会有点担心。这就是师父接下去给大家讲的：只有有苦忧心的人才懂得学佛修心念经。很多人就是看不见，以为这个环境是好的，对他非常好才会恋恋不舍。殊不知这些都是让你造成你更大灾害的陷阱，因为真心完全被遮住了。如果苦忧心生不出的人，你的真心就会完全被遮住了，你每天为境界所转。今天环境一变，不开心了；明天环境一变，你开心了。你哪有自己的心境呢？你的境界就是随着环境在变化。今天人家骂你了，你马上不开心了，伤心了，还要骂还人家，不然就难过。当人家说你几句好话了，你马上连家都不认识了。你说这种人有没有境界？是没有境界的，根本不知道怎么回事。你的心永远随着环境走。你想开心，环境对你很不好，你马上开心不起来。举个简单例子：你今天早上起来心情很好的，窗户一开——阴天，下雨了，你马上心情就沉下来了。你这个心情永远被环境所累赘，所绑住。你在公司里不开心了，你一天就不开心了；今天你在公司里开心了，你会一直开心了；今天你虽然做老板，但是在公司里一看见有的员工脸板着，你自己就不开心了。为什么？你想到“我养你，你还给我这个脸看”。想想看，你们自己的心情都被人家所锁住。人家让你们不开心，你们就不开心。任何人脸一板，你老板算什么，我照样让你开心不起来。所以大家要明白，要懂得不要被境界所转。
We must understand the importance of non-attachment. We should develop a sense of spiritual concern amidst gain and loss. What does this mean? For instance, if you make money today, you should still feel a sense of concern. Why? Because that wealth is temporary; it doesn’t last and could vanish in an instant. Or if you have a child, you are happy, but if you maintain this sense of concern, you will do a better job of raising them, because you realise that this child will, like yourself, face much suffering in the future—the suffering of birth, ageing, sickness, and death, and the pain of being parted from loved ones. This concern keeps you grounded. This is what I want to convey next: Only those who possess this sense of concern truly understand why it’s important to practise Buddhism, cultivate the mind, and recite sutras. Many people are blind to this; they think their current environment is perfect and become deeply attached to it. They don’t realise that these very comforts are traps leading to even greater disasters, because their true mind is completely obscured. If you cannot give rise to this sense of concern, your True Mind remains covered over, and you will be led by the nose by your circumstances every day.
If the environment changes for the worse, you become unhappy; if it changes for the better, you are elated. Where is your own state of mind in all of this? Your state of mind is simply fluctuating with the wind. If someone insults you today, you immediately feel hurt and want to retaliate; otherwise, you feel miserable. If someone praises you, you become so puffed up with pride that you forget who you are. Does such a person have any spiritual standing? No, they have no standing at all; they have no idea what is actually happening. Your heart is forever following the environment. You want to be happy, but when the environment is unfavourable, you cannot remain happy. For example, you wake up in a good mood in the morning, open the window and see gloomy skies and rain, and immediately your mood sinks. Your happiness is constantly burdened and shackled by external conditions. If things go badly at work, you are unhappy all day; if things go well, you remain happy. Even if you are the boss, seeing an employee with a sour face makes you upset. You think, “I pay your wages, and you give me this attitude?” Think about it—your emotions are being locked up by other people. You let others dictate whether you are happy or unhappy. Anyone with a scowl can ruin your day, even if you are the boss. Therefore, you must understand the importance of not allowing yourself to be swayed by external circumstances.
凡夫因得失被环境所转。为什么？我们是凡夫啊，我们今天为了一点钱，我们只能顺着环境走。明明不愿意做的事情，我们只能去做；明明我们想做的事情，我们不能去做。因为你是凡夫，你被境界所转，你为得失而转。你想得到这些，你必须低头哈腰、低三下四，甚至做一些违背自己意愿的事情和违背自己人格的事情。因为你们要“得”啊，你们要“失”啊！等到你失去的时候，你又难受了，你又必须跟着境界走；等到你得到的时候，你开心了，你又跟着环境在走。比如很多男孩子为了追求女孩子，自己必须要装着有钱，把自己整理整理干净，每句话都怕得罪女朋友，而且还要讨好她。这不就是随着境界转吗？很多女孩子为了讨好男孩子，怕把她甩了，这男孩子要她做什么她就做什么，她就跟着他转，到了最后还是被人家甩了。这不就是你永远去做被动的事情？你被情所牵着走，为人的所有得失所转，得到某些东西、失去某些东西都能影响你的心境，让你的心和人在转变。这就是菩萨为什么让我们不要为物所动、为情所动。我们的情不要被事物所动，我们的物质也不要被情所动。你再有钱，我们看到你，我们也是这样；你再没有钱的人，我们看见你也是这样——你就不为它所动。你们就是因为得失心太重。我要让孩子考上大学，所以我必须要怎么样怎么样……好了，一连串的妄念都出来了。就像某些人为了自己的虚荣，为了在电视台签约，把自己说得怎么样怎么样有钱，要把什么艺术团体请到澳洲来。其实他自己根本就没有什么钱，最后他没有办法去贩毒了，结果被关进监狱到老死。想想看，他是不是为了得和失来残害他自己？这就是他没有学佛，他不懂道理，所以永远是被人家牵着走的，永远是为了自己心中那么一点点得失而损失了自己更多的东西。
Ordinary people are constantly led by their environment due to their attachment to gain and loss. Why? Because we are mere mortals; for the sake of a little money, we have no choice but to follow the lead of our circumstances. We end up doing things we clearly don’t want to do and find ourselves unable to do the things we truly desire. Because you are an ordinary person, you are swayed by your environment and driven by the fear of loss and the craving for gain. To get what you want, you humble yourself, act subserviently, and even go as far as betraying your own will and integrity. You do all this because you want to “gain”! Then, when you eventually “lose,” you feel miserable and once again find yourself at the mercy of your circumstances. When you gain, you are elated, and once more, you follow the environment.
Consider how many young men, in pursuit of a girl, feel they must pretend to be wealthy, tidy themselves up carefully, and watch every word they say for fear of offending her, constantly trying to please her. Is this not being led by one’s environment? Similarly, many girls, fearing they will be dumped, will do whatever a man asks of them, revolving their entire lives around him, only to be discarded in the end anyway. Are you not forever playing a passive role? You are pulled along by your emotions and tossed about by every gain and loss. Whether you gain or lose something, it dictates your mental state and causes both your heart and your character to shift. This is why the Bodhisattvas teach us not to be affected by material things or by emotional attachments. Our emotions should not be moved by external objects, nor should our material life be dictated by our feelings. Whether a person is incredibly wealthy or has nothing at all, we should view them with the same equanimity—that is what it means to be unmoved.
The root of the problem is an overly strong attachment to gain and loss. You think, “I want my child to get into university, so I must do this and that…” And just like that, a whole chain of deluded thoughts arises. Some people, for the sake of vanity, boast about having money and influence, claiming they can sign contracts with TV stations or bring major performing arts groups to Australia. In reality, they have no money at all. In the end, they turn to drug trafficking and spend the rest of their lives in prison. Reflect on this: did he not destroy himself for the sake of gain and loss? This happens because he hasn’t practised Buddhism and doesn’t understand the truth; thus, he is forever being led by the nose, sacrificing far more valuable things for the sake of a tiny, perceived gain.
师父要大家明白这些道理，不要因得失所转，也不要因得失而迷惑再造业。因为很多人在迷惑当中就会造业。为什么？因为我想得到的东西，我没有得到，开始拼命地追，然后开始作孽了。因为我失去了，我要报复。好了，造孽了吧？失去了朋友，这个朋友不跟他好了，就拿硝镪水去打人家的脸，把人家的脸弄坏。这种事情在社会上还少吗？所以大家要懂得一个道理：我们不要为得失而造业。因为你想得到那些虚幻的东西，你必须要付出很多的代价，而且这些东西本身就是虚幻不实在的，为这些事物所付出，你得到的一定是空的、是虚幻的东西，而你付出的代价是业、是造业。是人在造业。一个人为什么会造业？一个人的业是怎么来的？因为他迷惑，他不知道，他不懂，他就开始造业了。如果他懂了什么可以做，什么不可以做，他就不会造业了，也不会因造业之后而会受苦。你不造业，你不会受苦；你的业来了，你一定有业报。我们迷惑的事情还少吗？我们过去不懂的时候做得还少吗？今天以为是对他好，是在救他，实际上你是在害他。你们懂吗？什么叫为他好？什么叫为他不好？你自己本身就是迷惑的人。你认为对他好，实际上是害他。你以为这个房间是暗的，没有灯光的，你迷惑了，你告诉人家本来这个房间就是暗的，没有灯光的。人在光亮当中看得到前途，而在黑暗当中看不见前途。所以你跟人家说这个房间本来就是暗的，这个世界本来就没有前途，你也不要去修了，修什么东西啊。当人家在一个亮光充足的地方，你看得见阳光，看得见光明，所以你就应该告诉人家你好好地修下去，一定能够找到光明，你也会和我一样，一定会好的。
I want you all to understand these truths. Do not be swayed by gain and loss, and do not let them delude you into creating more karma. Many people create karma while in a state of delusion. Why? Because they desperately chase what they want but cannot have, and in that pursuit, they begin to commit unwholesome acts. Or perhaps they have lost something and seek revenge—and there you have it: more karma created. Take, for example, a person who was rejected because a girl no longer wanted to be with him; he then threw acid in her face. Are such incidents not common in our society? Therefore, we must understand one thing: we must not create karma for the sake of gain and loss. Because you crave illusory things, you are forced to pay a heavy price—and since those things are inherently empty and unreal, what you eventually receive is nothingness, yet the price you paid was the creation of karma.
Why does a person create karma? How does it happen? It is because they are deluded; they are ignorant and don’t understand, so they begin to create karma. If they knew what was permissible and what was not, they wouldn’t do it, and they wouldn’t have to suffer the consequences later. If you don’t create karma, you won’t suffer; but once karma is created, the retribution is inevitable. Have we not been deluded many times before? Have we not done many wrong things in the past when we were ignorant? You might think you are acting for someone’s benefit or trying to save them, but in reality, you are harming them. Do you understand? What does it truly mean to act “for their own good”? You are a deluded person yourself. You think you are helping them, but you are actually leading them astray. It is like telling someone that a room is dark and has no light, simply because you yourself are confused and cannot see clearly. One can see a future in the light, but not in the dark. So, if you tell others that the room is naturally dark and that this world has no future, and that there is no point in spiritual practice, you are leading them astray. When you are in a place filled with light, where you can see the sun and the brightness, you should tell others to keep practising diligently—that they will surely find the light and that, just like you, they will eventually be well.
要记住：当一个人迷惑的时候，他一定颠倒。以为是对的事情，实际上是错的；以为是错的事情，实际上是对的。所以，造业一定受苦，而且造业的人永无休止，是没有休止的。为什么？他今天造了业，他一定会有恶报；恶报来的时候，他又会造业。因为他不懂，他造了业之后，受到恶报的时候，他又会再造业，再受报——这就叫轮回。今天你骂了我了，我一定不开心，我明天想办法骂还你；骂还后，你开心了；后天他又骂还你，你又不开心了……哪有止尽啊？争斗哪有止尽啊？自古以来有多少帝王将相个个都是能力无比，到了最后都是白骨一堆。他们能得到什么？他们得到的是虚幻的东西，空名，不是实在的体悟。
Remember: when a person is deluded, they will inevitably have inverted views. They think what is right is wrong, and what is wrong is right. Creating karma always leads to suffering, and for those who create karma, there is no end to it. Why? Because today’s karma leads to a negative retribution; when that retribution arrives, they will create even more karma. Because they don’t understand, the suffering they endure leads them to react with more unwholesome actions, leading to further retribution—this is the cycle of Samsara. If you insult me today, I will be unhappy and look for a way to insult you back tomorrow. Once I do, you become unhappy, and the day after, you insult me again… where is the end to it? Where is the end to conflict? Since ancient times, countless rulers and great leaders possessed immense power, yet in the end, they are nothing more than a pile of white bones. What did they actually gain? All they attained were illusory things and empty fame—not a true, solid realisation of the truth.