"It”s hard to obtain a human body. It”s hard to be able to hear the Buddhadharma. It”s hard to be born in a Buddhist country. It”s hard to meet a Good and Wise Advisor. It”s hard to encounter a good Way-place." If you can”t find a good Way-place, then even if you want to cultivate, you won”t be able to. So a good Way-place is essential. Now at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, there is a place for holding Chan Sessions, there is a place for reciting the Buddha”s name, and there is also a place for bowing repentances. You can do anything you like, as long as you cultivate and seriously apply effort and don”t waste time.
無論哪一位願意用功，我都願意做你們各位的護法，來幫助你們用功。因爲當初我想用功，但找不到一個好的地方用功，到處都有很多細節皮毛的事要做。譬如在禅堂，你要學會敲引磬、打鍾板，到時當值、巡香，如何給人倒茶、喝茶、收茶杯，啰啰嗦嗦的一大堆。你想用功都用到喝茶、收茶杯上；用到巡香、當值上，用到敲鍾板、魚鼓這些皮毛上了，這些瑣事最低限度要叁個禮拜才能學會，而通常打七也不過打一兩個禮拜，這些零碎的皮毛事就夠你學的了。
If any of you are willing to apply effort, I am willing to be your Dharma protector to aid you in applying effort. That”s because when I first wanted to work hard on cultivation, I couldn”t find a good place where I could do it. In every place I went, there was a lot of detailed, superficial work that had to be done. For example, in the Chan Hall, you had to learn to use the handbell, hit the boards, serve as a proctor who makes rounds, pour tea for people to drink, collect the teacups－a whole bunch of fussy details. You wanted to apply effort, but all your effort went into the trifling matters of serving tea, collecting teacups, making rounds as a proctor, and hitting the bell, boards, wooden fish, and drum. These petty jobs took at least three weeks to learn, and usually the Chan Session only lasted one or two weeks. These miscellaneous tasks were more than enough to keep you busy learning.
現在在萬佛聖城，無論你參禅、念佛、翻譯經典、研究經典，做什麼都好，總而言之，你若專心去研究，則一切都很方便，沒有一些繁文細節，要你當這個值、當那個值，皮毛事多得令你頭昏腦脹。這裏是很簡單，做維那只要止靜、開靜就可以。你在這兒還不知用功，那就不知還有什麼地方可以用功的了？這裏是最可以用功、最方便的地方，你不要一邊用功，一邊打妄想：今天的齋飯不好吃，天氣又冷，今晚又如何去睡覺……。盡打這些無用的妄想，這只是空過時光啊！應該專心致志，拼命用功才是。
Now at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, you may investigate Chan, recite the Buddha”s name, translate the sutras, study the sutras, or engage in other practices. In general, if you practice with a concentrated mind, then everything will be convenient for you. There won”t be any of the complicated regulations and petty details requiring you to do this job or that job, making you dizzy with so many superficial matters. It”s very simple here. The proctor (wei no) only has to start and end the periods of silent sitting. If you are here and you still fail to apply effort, then I don”t know if there”s any place where you can apply effort. This is the best place where you can apply skill and have the most convenience. Don”t be applying skill and at the same time having idle thoughts, such as: "Today”s lunch was awful. It”s really cold. How am I going to sleep tonight
" Don”t have all these useless idle thoughts, and let the time pass by in vain! You should concentrate your mind and focus your attention, and apply effort as if your life depended upon it.
舍不了死，換不了生；
舍不了假，成不了真。
If you can”t renounce death,
then you can”t exchange it for life.
If you can”t renounce the false,
then you can”t realize the true.
不單單在念佛堂、禅堂要用功，隨時隨地也都要用功。用功就是眼不被色塵轉，耳不被聲塵轉，鼻不被香塵轉，舌不被味塵轉，身不被觸塵轉，意不被法塵轉。都不被境界轉，而能轉境界，這才叫用功。
You should be applying effort not only when you are in the Recitation Hall and the Chan Hall, but at all times and places. Applying effort means your eyes are not turned by sights, your ears are not turned by sounds, your nose is not turned by smells, your tongue is not by turned by flavors, your body is not turned by sensations of contact, and your mind is not turned by dharmas. If you remain unmoved by all those states, and can instead turn those states around, then you are applying effort.
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