..續本文上一頁ust discipline and reform yourself. Left-home people must take charge of themselves at all times and accord with the moral precepts in every word and deed. Don”t act so wild! Be serious! Don”t just do what you please. Don”t you know the proverb:

　　Without using a compass and a T-square,

　　You”ll never draw good circles and corners.

　　所以佛在入涅槃時，告訴阿難尊者說：「以戒爲師」，這是出家人的座右銘。

　　That”s why before the Buddha entered Nirvana, he told Ananda, "Take the precepts as your teacher." This phrase can serve as a motto for every left-home person.

　　我們在吃飯的時候，要存叁念五觀。

　　施主一粒米，重如須彌山；

　　吃了不修行，披毛戴角還。

　　While we eat, we should make the Three Recollections and the Five Contemplations. There”s a saying,

　　A single grain of donor”s rice,

　　Is as weighty as Mount Sumeru.

　　If one should eat it and then fail to cultivate,

　　One will have to repay the debt by wearing fur and horns.

　　這是多麼危險！所謂「袈裟底下，失去人身。」所以，出家人處處要嚴守戒律。我們在生死未了的時候，欲心未斷的時候，時刻不能懈怠，處處不能馬虎。所以普賢菩薩說：

　　是日已過，命亦隨減；

　　如少水魚，斯有何樂？

　　大衆！當勤精進，如救頭然，

　　但念無常，慎勿放逸。

　　How dangerous this situation is! This is called "losing one”s human body while wearing the precept sash." So left-home people, wherever they may be, must sternly guard their precepts. Before we”ve put an end to birth and death, before our thoughts of desire have been severed, we may not be even the slightest bit lax or careless. Samantabhadra Bodhisattva exhorts us:

　　This day is already done,

　　Our lives are that much less.

　　We”re like fish in evaporating water,

　　What joy can there be in this

　　Great Assembly!

　　We should be as diligent and vigorous,

　　As if our own heads were at stake.

　　Never forget impermanence!

　　Be careful, and never be lax!

　　我們出家人，一分一秒也要愛惜，所謂「一寸光陰一寸金，寸金難買寸光陰。」光陰如此地寶貴，不可浪費時間。每個人要用功修行，精進再精進，才能有所成就。凡是用功修行的人，沒有時間說話，沒有時間打閑岔。關于這一點，我希望每個人都要注意。我見到不修行的人，覺得非常痛心，這豈不是辜負自己當初出家時所發的願嗎？這種口是心非的出家人，焉能爲僧寶？盼望各位自己尊重自己！

　　We who have left the home-life must cherish each passing minute and second of time. Remember: "An instant of time is worth an ounce of gold. Even an ounce of gold can”t buy back an instant of time." Time is just this precious, so don”t waste it! Work hard at your cultivation. Be ever more vigorous. Only then can you expect success. There”s never been a hard-working cultivator who had time to hold casual conversations or disturb others. I hope all of you will pay attention to this. It hurts me deeply to see people fail to cultivate! Aren”t you letting down the vows you made upon first leaving home

　　 Can this kind of left-home person who says one thing and does another consider himself part of the Sangha Jewel

　　 I hope you”ll all learn to respect yourselves!

《認真修行莫放逸 Cultivate Diligently and Dont Be Lax》全文閱讀結束。