念佛如同打電話
Reciting the Buddha”s Name Is Like Making a Phone Call
如果你自己不打電話，又有誰來接你的電話？
If you don”t make the call, then who”s going to answer the phone
念念真誠念念通，
默默感應默默中；
直至山窮水盡處，
逍遙法界任西東。
Thought after thought is true and sincere;
thought after thought penetrates.
Working quietly, there”s a response
in the midst of the quiet work.
Go straight to the place beyond the
mountains and streams,
And you will be free to roam the Dharma Realm,
going east or west as you please.
剛才所說的偈頌，大家能否了悟其中的真義？
Has everyone awakened to the true meaning of the above verse
「念念真誠念念通」：第一個念，是心中所發出的念。第二個念，是有之于心，而形之于口，從口中發出的；若只存有第二念，口念的「念」，便不能算是真誠的念了，所以「心」、「口」俱要真誠，這是對念菩薩或念佛而言。我們要念到心口合一，一而不二。我們不可隨便地念，也不可散亂地念，也不可夾雜其他的妄想來念，如果能做到這幾點，便可以稱爲「真誠」了。
The first “thought” refers to the thought produced from the mind. The second thought comes from the mouth. It originates in the mind and takes form in the mouth. If you only keep the secondary thought of the mouth, it doesn”t count as a thought of true sincerity. Therefore, the mind and the mouth must both be sincere in reciting the name of the Buddha or Bodhisattva. We should recite until the mind and mouth unite into one, and are no longer two. We should not recite casually or with a scattered mind, nor should we entertain idle thoughts while reciting. If we can fulfill these conditions, then we can be considered sincere.
有了真誠的意念，一定會有感應的，這感應是什麼呢？就是凡夫的心和佛菩薩的光相通，所謂：
光光相照，
孔孔相通。
If our thoughts are sincere, we will certainly obtain a response. What kind of response
Our common mind will interpenetrate with the light of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, as in the saying,
The lights shine upon one another;
The holes mutually connect.
爲什麼會有這種感應呢？譬如打電話，號碼打通了，對方一聲「喂！」于是乎就可以暢所欲言，有了連絡。念菩薩聖號也如同撥電話號碼，到時菩薩就會問你：「善男子(善女人)，你想求些什麼？」于是你就可以有求必應了。若是沒有誠心，這就好像是五個號碼，你只撥叁個號碼就住手了，那又怎能把電話打通呢？念菩薩亦複如此。假使你念一會兒又不念了，這就沒有誠意，那是一定不會通的。
Why will such a response occur
It”s like making a phone call: after you dial the number, the other person answers, “Hello
” Then you can say what you need to say and communicate with each other. Reciting the Bodhisattva”s name is like dialing the number. Then the Bodhisattva will ask you, “Good man (Good woman), what do you seek
” At that point, you will obtain whatever you seek. But if you aren”t sincere, it will be like dialing only three digits of a five-digit phone number. How can the call go through
Reciting the Bodhisattva”s name is the same. If you recite for a while and then stop because you lack sincerity, your recitation certainly won”t go through.
這種光光相照的感應，是只有身受的人才能感覺到的。譬如打電話，也只有拿起聽筒收聽的人才能清楚對方的話，凡夫的肉眼是無法看到聲波的去來，所以說：「默默感應默默中」。
The response of lights shining upon one another can only be felt by the people who personally do it. Similarly, when there”s a phone call, you have to pick up the receiver in order to hear the caller clearly, because the eyes of ordinary people cannot see the sound waves. So it is said, “Working quietly, there”s a response in the midst of the quiet work.”
這種光光相照的感應，是只有身受的人才能感覺到的。譬如打電話，也只有拿起聽筒收聽的人才能清楚對方的話，凡夫的肉眼是無法看到聲波的去來，所以說：「默默感應默默中」。
“Beyond the mountains and streams” refers to the state of: “At the top of a hundred-foot pole, take another step. Let go in midair and another world appears.”
「山窮水盡」是「百尺竿頭重進步，撒手天空另有天。」的境界，念至山窮水盡時，簡直是念而不念，打成一團、念成一片了，那時就可以「逍遙法界任西東」。若是我們要往生西方極樂世界，就可以應念而往；若想倒駕慈航，回來廣度衆生，也可以應念而回到極樂世界之東的娑婆世界，乃至一切法界，也皆可應念而往，所以說「任西東」，所謂：
一如意一切如意，
一自在一切自在。
When you recite to the point that the mountains and streams have vanished, you are basically reciting, yet not reciting. You are reciting with a single mind, in a state of uninterrupted mindfulness. At that time, "you will be free to roam the Dharma Realm, going east or west as you please." If we want to be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss in the West, we can recite and obtain the response of being…
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