..續本文上一頁 else. The residents of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas are all wholesome and good people. Any evil-natured person, sooner or later, will voluntarily remove himself from the commu-nity. Such a person will not be able to remain here.

　　萬佛聖城在西方從地湧出，將來全世界所有的佛教徒，都聚會到一起，共同在此地修行，共同研究佛法，令佛教發揚光大。既然能在萬佛聖城出家修道，將來一定會成佛。爲什麼？所謂「近水樓臺先得月」，你先到了萬佛聖城，會先得道；後來的，便會晚一點。

　　The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas has welled up from the ground here in the West. In the future, Buddhists from around the world will assemble here to cultivate and investigate the Buddhadharma together. The Dharma will flourish and grow great. We who are able to leave the home-life and cultivate at the City of Ten Thou-sand Buddhas are guaranteed to become Buddhas in the future. Why

　　 There”s a saying that captures it: "Those who draw near the pagoda at the pond will get to see the moon”s reflection first. "Those who arrived first at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas will attain the Way first. Those who come later will attain it a little later.

　　有些人來到萬佛聖城，覺得住不下來，因爲他們覺得這個城市沒有很多活動，很呆板，沒有很多娛樂。但是你應該知道，只向外求娛樂，反而把你真正的快樂耽誤了。在這世界上，要找假的，會把真的丟了；要找真的，先要放下假的。不可以又想修出世法，又放不下世間法，腳踏兩條船，又要到江北，又要到江南，這是辦不到的。

　　Some people come to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, but they feel they cannot stay. They may feel that there aren”t enough activities going on, or that the rules are too inflexible, or that there”s not enough entertainment. But you should realize that any entertain-ment that you seek outside of yourself will interfere with your own true happiness. In this world, those who seek what”s false will lose what”s true. If one wants to find what”s true, the first step is to put down what is false. It won”t work to cultivate world-transcending dharmas on one hand, and still be unable to put down mundane dharmas on the other. Such a person has one foot in each boat. He wants to go to the northern bank and also to the southern bank of the river, but that”s impossible.

　　現在打佛七，要一門深入，憑著真心、誠心、虔心，修念佛法門，不要空過一時一刻。要知道一寸光陰，是一寸命光，不用功，便增長罪業；真用功，便增長善根。要老老實實地念佛，才不致浪費光陰，生命才有點價值。

　　We are now holding a Buddha Recitation Session, and our goal is to concentrate intensively on this one method. We cultivate the method of reciting the Buddha”s name with a true, sincere, earnest mind. We don”t want to waste even a minute of time. We should realize that "an instant of time is an instant of life." If we fail to work hard, then our karmic offenses will increase. If we do work hard, then our good roots will increase. If we honestly recite the Buddha”s name, then we can say we haven”t wasted this time, and our lives will have some real value.

　　一九七九年冬開示于萬佛聖城

　　A talk given in winter of 1979

　　at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas

《彌陀佛七開示 Instructions During an Amitabha Buddha Recitation Session》全文閱讀結束。