..續本文上一頁ople who raise dogs and spend a lot of time with dogs may also develop asura natures, so be careful! Don”t run off to join the asuras.

　　(七)人法界

　　人道和合，功罪相間；

　　德升孽降，豈有他焉！

　　(7) The Dharma Realm of People

　　The way of people is harmony,

　　With merit and offenses interspersed.

　　On virtuous deeds you rise, offenses make you fall;

　　It has nothing to do with anyone else at all.

　　人道也有善，也有惡。人的性情很溫和的，和誰都能合得來，所以說「人道和合」。「功罪相間」：人也不是完全善，也不是完全惡。完全善就升到天上去了，完全惡又去做畜生、做餓鬼、墮地獄了。所以又有一點功，又有一點罪；或者功多過少，或者功少過多。功多罪少的，就生在富貴的家庭；功少罪多的，就生在貧困的家庭。在這裏邊千差萬別，隨著各人所造善惡業的多少而有分別。不是純陰，也不是純陽。純陰者就會變鬼去，純陽者就升天了，不會做人了。「德升孽降」：你做善功德，就向上升一升；你若造罪孽過，就向下降一降。「豈有他焉」：其他人不會教你墮地獄，不會教你去做餓鬼，不會教你去變畜生，都是你自己造的，所謂「自作自受」，自己做自己就去受去，這是人道。

　　There are good people and bad people. Human beings are harmonious by nature and can get along with anyone, so the verse says, The way of people is harmony. / With merit and offenses interspersed. People are neither completely good nor completely bad. If they were completely good, they would ascend to the heavens. If they were completely bad, they would become animals or hungry ghosts, or fall into the hells. They have a bit of merit, but they also have a bit of offenses. Either their merit exceeds their offenses, or their offenses exceed their merit. When a person”s merit is greater than his offenses, he will be born in a rich and distinguished family, but with little merit and many offenses he will be born into a poor family. Between these two extremes are myriad differences and distinctions, based on the amount of good and bad karma each inpidual has created. People are neither totally yin nor totally yang. Those who are totally yin may become ghosts, while those who are predominantly yang will ascend to the heavens, instead of remaining as people. On virtuous deeds you rise, offenses make you fall. If you perform deeds of merit and virtue, you will ascend. If you commit heavy sins, you will descend. It has nothing to do with anyone else at all. Other people cannot make you fall into the hells, become a hungry ghost, or turn into an animal. That happens only because of the offenses you yourself committed. As it”s said, "You commit the offenses yourself, and you also undergo the retribution yourself." That”s the human realm.

　　(八)畜生法界

　　畜生好貪，多而無厭；

　　將黑作白，是非莫辨。

　　(8) The Dharma Realm of Animals

　　Eager animals feed on greed,

　　Never sated by a lot.

　　Because they make what”s black white,

　　They don”t distinguish wrong from right.

　　前邊所講的七個法界，都是好一點的法界，可以試一試，到那兒去做一做戲去。唯獨現在這叁個法界，這不可以嘗試的，你試試看就恐怕跑不出來了，否則「一失人身，萬劫不複」，所以這是很危險的。

　　The seven Dharma Realms discussed above are relatively good ones, and you can try them out. You can enter them as if taking part in a play. But you shouldn”t try out the three Dharma Realms which will be discussed now. If you try them out, you might not be able to get out again. It is said, "Once you lose your human body, you may not regain it for ten thousand eons," so this is very dangerous.

　　現在這個畜生道，不是一類的畜生，畜生也有百千萬億種類不同。你看就單那飛的畜生，就有百千萬億種不同類的樣子。那麼走的畜生呢？也不少。小的老鼠是很小的畜生，大的大笨象是大的畜生，鹿、熊、馬、牛，都是大的畜生，這在陸地上的畜生，也有百千萬億種。在水裏的畜生也有百千萬億種，有水狗、水牛、水馬。就是研究物理、化學、生物學、動物學的這些個人，無論你是個博士，是個專家，都沒有法子完全一定知道畜生的種類。

　　Now, the realm of animals does not merely consist of only one kind of animal. There are billions of different species of animals. If you consider just the flying animals, there are already hundreds of thousands of myriads of varieties. Animals that walk and crawl are also quite numerous. They may be as small as mice, or as large as elephants. Deer, bears, horses, and cows are also large animals. These are all land animals, of which there are also hundreds of thousands of myriads of species. Aquatic creatures, such as seals, water buffaloes, and sea horses, are also infinite in variety. Even physicists, chemists, biologists, zoologists, or other specialists or Ph.D.s canno…

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