Cultivators shouldn”t be selfish or seek to benefit them-selves. They should benefit others. They should neither hurt nor look down upon others. They should reflect mindfully upon themselves in regard to the past and present, and then contemplate the future. If you can be mindful in thought after thought, and maintain your conscience and integrity in every moment, your good roots will naturally grow. Your Bodhi resolve will expand and you will be able to practice the Bodhisattva Path to benefit all living beings. These functions are all interrelated.
人不要怕魔，而退失菩提心，魔障是考驗。好像學生剛開始讀書，覺得課程很難，可是時間一久，讀得入門了，就不覺得困難了。你讀小學、中學、高中、大學，開始的時候，都有這種情形發生。所謂：
You should take care not to retreat from your Bodhi resolve out of fear of demons. Demonic obstacles are tests. By analogy, when a student first enters school, he may find the courses difficult. But after a while, they become easier. This happens in elementary school, high school, and college.
不經一番寒徹骨，
怎得梅花撲鼻香？
If the plum tree did not endure
the winter”s freeze,
How could her blossoms
smell so sweet
十年寒窗無人問，
一舉成名天下知。
For ten years, he studies by the window in
the cold, and no one inquires of him.
When suddenly he rises to fame,
the whole world comes calling.
在修行時，不要盡想出風頭。出家後，還求名求利，是最要不得的。我們出家之後，一定要認真，腳踏實地來修行，栽培修植福慧。修福，就要利益人；修慧，就要多研究經典。常做利益人的事，就會生出福德。
When you cultivate, don”t try to get into the limelight. It”s totally wrong to seek fame and gain after you”ve left the home-life. After leaving home, you should apply your-selves seriously to cultivation with your feet planted on solid ground. You should foster blessings and wisdom. To cultivate blessings, you must benefit others. To cultivate wisdom, you must frequently investigate the Sutras. If you are always doing things to benefit others, your blessings and virtue will grow.
有人問：「要如何利益人？是否要用錢去做功德？」不需要。只要你心裏沒有殺心、盜心、邪淫心、打妄語心，不飲酒了，這都是培福的地方。所謂：
"How can I benefit others
" you ask. "Do I have to spend money to perform meritorious deeds
" No, that”s not necessary. All you have to do is free your mind of thoughts of killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and lying, and refrain from taking intoxicants－these are all ways of fostering blessings.
慈悲口，方便舌；
有錢無錢都作德。
With kind words and skillful speech,
You can create merit whether or not
you have money.
你在口頭上不罵人了，不說粗言暴語傷害他人，這也都是功德。我們處處要惜福，處處不舍福，處處修福修慧。修福慧非一朝一夕所成，而是時時刻刻、朝朝夕夕、年年月月，都要繼續做下去，不能「一日曝之，十日寒之。」你若是這樣子，永遠不會有進步。所以我們要認定宗旨，勇猛精進，不要向後退，這是每個修道人應該具有的條件。
If you don”t scold or berate others, you create merit and virtue. We should cherish our blessings and cultivate wisdom at every opportunity. The cultivation of blessings and wisdom, however, cannot be accomplished in a single day. The effort must continue moment-by-moment, morn-ing and evening, month after month and year after year. We cannot "sun it for one day and freeze it for ten." If you do that, you”ll never make progress. Therefore, we must confidently set our goals, advance with vigor, and never retreat. These are the qualities that every cultivator should possess.
一九八二年六月十九日開示于萬佛聖城
A talk given on June 19, 1982
at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas
《萬魔不退菩提心 In the Face of Ten Thousand Demons, Dont Retreat from the Resolve for Bodhi》全文閱讀結束。