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　　況且禮佛，又包含了專一其心，恭敬其身的意思，並且禮佛更能消除業障，所謂「佛前頂禮，滅罪恒沙。」罪，幸虧是無形的，若是有形的東西，便會把恒河沙那麼多的世界都充滿了，所以，我們要夙興夜寐地去禮佛、念佛，爲求消滅罪障，爲法忙。

　　When we bow to the Buddhas, we should concentrate single-mindedly and show respect with our bodies. Bowing to the Buddhas can eradicate obstructions which result from offenses. It is said“To bow before the Buddhas can eradicate offenses as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges.” It is a good thing offenses are formless. If they were solid objects they would fill up worlds as numerous as the Ganges” sands. Therefore, from morning till night, we should bow to the Buddhas and recite the Buddhas” names to eradicate our obstructions from offenses, and we should be busy for the sake of the Dharma.

　　可是衆生的品性，是極其難測的，譬如他歡喜吃甜的，給他酸的便不高興；歡喜酸的而給他甜的，他也不高興。諸如此類，若是不認識衆生的性，就無法去度衆生了。可是佛有智慧，他能夠熟知衆生的根性，所以便能隨類應化，時常奔走跋涉，不辭勞苦地去度衆生。不過衆生並不因此而感動，反而不肯接受佛、菩薩的度化，所以說：「衆生難度頗堪傷」，傷就是悲傷，爲了衆生的愚昧顛倒而悲傷；佛菩薩是常常生大悲心的。

　　But living beings” dispositions are extremely difficult to fathom. For instance, if they like to eat sweets and you give them something sour, it makes them unhappy. But on the other hand, if you give sweet things to people who like to eat sour things, then they get upset. That”s the way they all are. If you don”t understand each inpidual”s disposition, you will have no way to save people. Only the Buddha”s wisdom is sufficient to be familiar with living beings” basic natures, and because of that, the Buddha can offer teaching that is appropriate to each one. He constantly travels and roams about, accepting toil and suffering in order to save living beings. But even that doesn”t suffice to move living beings. They still will not accept the teachings of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. So it is said, “Living beings are hard to save: it”s pretty sad.” “Sad” means deep regard to the point of grief. Because living beings are so stupid and upside-down, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas constantly give rise to hearts of great compassion on their behalf.

　　爲什麼衆生會這樣難度呢？「迷諸塵勞性顛倒」，這就是一個答案。因爲衆生在無量劫裏頭深染六塵，于是便在苦海中，頭出頭沒，輾轉沈淪，弄得顛顛倒倒，以苦爲樂，以非爲是。譬如現在的人，明明知道服裝太時髦了，就不莊嚴，也會生出不良的後果來，可是呢？人人都明知故犯，互相比賽競爭，卻不知道「苦海無邊，回頭是岸。」又譬如戰爭中所用的武器，人類不但不把它消滅，反而「精益求精」，努力尋求發明一些愈多愈妙的殺人武器。你說！這不是顛倒是什麼？

　　Why are living beings so hard to save

　　 “Confused by the wearisome dust, their natures are upside-down.” That”s one answer. Because throughout limitless eons, living beings have become deeply stained by the six defiling objects, the six dusts, they constantly bob around in the sea of suffering, sinking, thrashing, totally upside-down. They take suffering for bliss and the false for the true. Thus people of today become so caught up in “fashion,” that even when the current styles are unattractive and may lead to undesirable reactions, they still compete to stay in fashion. People don”t know that the sea of suffering is boundless, but a turn of the head is the other shore. Take military weapons for instance: not only do people fail to get rid of them, they seek to break their own records. Great effort is exerted as they seek to invent new weapons for killing people─the more outrageous the better. If that isn”t upside-down, what is

　　爲了衆生的顛倒，一切聖人、善知識都苦口婆心地諄諄勸導我們這般可憐的衆生，像長輩提著小輩的耳朵來當面訓導一樣，可是呢？衆生卻置若罔聞，甚至還千方百計地隱瞞自己的罪過，不被師長們知曉，這真是「耳提面命化無方」了。

　　In order to put an end to living beings” upside-downness, sages and wise advisors earnestly admonish us and repeat their exhortations over and over in order to guide us pitiful creatures. They are like elders who pull on the ears of their youngsters and admonish them directly. But living beings ignore those messages as if they hadn”t even heard them, to the point that they employ thousands of methods and hundreds of schemes to hide away their offenses so their teachers and elders won”t find out about them. This is truly a case of “boxing their ears and commanding them directly, there is still no way to teach them.”

　　啊！衆生犯罪的本領，可謂至矣！盡矣！連佛、菩薩也感到難以化度我們這般可憐的衆生，你說這不是很值得悲哀嗎？

　　Ah! The talent living beings have for committing offenses is truly endless! Even the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas feel it is hard to save us pitiful creatures. What a sad situation!

　　一九五八年六月十六日上午開示

　　A talk given on the morning of June 16, 1958

《早起晚睡爲誰忙 Rising Early and Retiring Late, for Whom Are We Busy

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