..續本文上一頁f what you cultivate at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, you have a lot of freedom. No one will order you around, because this is a democratic country, and this Way-place should be the most democratic of the democratic, and the freest of the free. So whatever you want to cultivate is fine, as long as you are able to "pick it up" and "put it down" when you culti-vate; that is, you work seriously, with single-minded concentration. That”s the right way.

　　再說說萬佛聖城的六大宗旨：

　　(一)不爭，就不會殺生。殺生就因爭心作怪，一爭就你死我活，死傷無數。

　　(二)不貪，就不會偷盜。爲什麼要竊盜他人之物？就因爲貪。你要是沒有貪心，就算人家給你，你也不會要，所以要把貪心去除，才不會偷。

　　(叁)不求，就不會有淫欲心。淫欲心就因爲有所求，女的求男朋友，男的求女朋友，都是追求異性。不單求，還要「追」求，就好像把頭削得尖尖的，往裏頭鑽。若是無所求，還有什麼淫欲心？英俊的男人有什麼用？漂亮的女人也只是個蓋肉的臭皮囊，有什麼值得貪戀的？假若無所求了，淫戒就不會犯。

　　(四)不自私，就不會打妄語。人打妄語，就因爲怕失去自己的利益，自私心作怪，所以騙人撒謊，想令人不認識自己。

　　(五)不自利，就不會犯酒戒。人爲什麼喝酒？就想迷亂自己的身體心性，弄得它恍恍惚惚，以爲自己成了神仙，在天上逍遙。喝醉酒又會罵人，又會爲所欲爲，又增長淫欲心。有人想用酒來助血氣流通快點，喝了酒可以忘記一切，好像抽鴉片煙一樣過瘾。這都是自利心作怪，所以才去喝酒。

　　As to the Six Great Principles of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas:

　　1. If you don”t contend, then you won”t kill. Killing occurs because thoughts of contention take control. When you start contending, you have the attitude of "Get out of my way or die!" The casualties that result are beyond count.

　　2. If you are not greedy, then you won”t steal. Why do you want to steal others” things

　　 It”s because of greed. If you are not greedy, then even if people want to give you something, you won”t want it. So you should get rid of greed, and then you won”t steal.

　　3. If you seek nothing, you won”t have thoughts of lust. Thoughts of lust arise because you seek something. Women seek boyfriends, and men seek girlfriends. Not only do they seek, they plunge headlong into the pursuit as if nothing else mattered. If they didn”t seek anything, then how could they have thoughts of desire

　　 Of what use is a handsome man or a pretty woman

　　 They are just stinking skin-bags containing flesh. Are they worth hankering after

　　 If you seek nothing, you won”t violate the precept of sexual misconduct.

　　4. If you”re not selfish, then you won”t tell lies. People tell lies because they”re afraid of losing personal benefits. Overcome by selfishness, they cheat people and tell lies, hoping to hide their true face from others.

　　5. If you don”t seek to benefit yourself, then you won”t violate the precept against taking intoxicants. Why do people take intoxi-cants

　　 It”s because they want to mess up their bodies and confuse their minds, bewildering themselves to the point that they think they”ve become gods or immortals, enjoying them-selves in the heavens. Once intoxicated, they will scold people and do as they please, and their lustful desires increase. Some people also want to use intoxicants to speed up their blood and energy circulation. After taking them, they forget everything. It”s as exciting as smoking opium. It”s all because they are overcome by the wish to benefit themselves that they take intoxicants.

　　所以這六個宗旨，就是五戒的別名。爲什麼不說五戒？因爲我們人聽慣了五戒，你跟他講：「不殺生、不偷盜、不邪淫、不妄語、不飲酒。」他說：「我知道了！聽你的做什麼？」所以把它變個名詞，「不爭、不貪、不求、不自私、不自利、不妄語」。這個名詞本來人人也都聽過，也都懂得，但是真能去做的少之又少，所以就再提醒大家：

　　不爭，就是不殺生；

　　不貪，就是不偷盜；

　　不求，就是不邪淫；

　　不自私，就是不打妄語；

　　不自利，就是不飲酒。

　　Thus, these six principles are just another name for the five precepts. Why don”t I talk about the five precepts

　　 It”s because everyone is so used to hearing about the five precepts. If I say to a person, "Don”t kill, don”t steal, don”t engage in sexual misconduct, don”t lie, and don”t take intoxicants," he”ll reply, "I already know that! Why should I listen to you

　　" So I changed the names to be: don”t contend, don”t be greedy, don”t seek, don”t be selfish, don”t try to benefit yourself, and don”t lie. Actually, everyone has also heard these terms before and understands them, but very few can truly practice them. That”s why I”m reminding everyone:

　　Don”t contend means don”t kill;

　　Don”t be greedy means don”t steal;

　　Don”t seek means don”t engage in sexual misconduct;

　　Don”t be selfish means don”t tell lies;

　　Don”t try to benefit yourself means don”t take intoxicants.

　　一九八二年十二月五日開示于

　　萬佛聖城

　　A talk given on December 5, 1982,

　　at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas

《六大宗旨即是五戒 The Six Great Principles Are in Fact the Five Precepts》全文閱讀結束。