造命之學

　　Be the Master of Your Own Fate

　　命運是活動的，不是死板板的，一切都操在自己的手上。

　　A person”s fate is flexible, not fixed. Everything is in his own hands.

　　古人說：

　　An ancient saying goes,

　　君子有造命之學，

　　命由我立，福自己求。

　　A superior person is the master

　　of his own fate.

　　He determines his own destiny,

　　And creates his own blessings.

　　禍福無門，

　　惟人自召。

　　Calamities and blessings are not fixed;

　　We bring them upon ourselves.

　　天、地、人是所謂的「叁才」，所以人是天地的代表者，天不說話，地也無言，只有我們人有言語動作。人生來這個命運不是一定的，但也可以說是一定的。怎樣說是一定呢？好像我們分東西，你分一份，我分一份，這是一定的。怎樣說不一定呢？譬如你這一份你很快就用完，而我這一份完全不用，這就是不一定了。所以才說「君子有造命之學」，你生來並沒有人教你去做惡，然而你做惡了，如此一來就改變你的命運；你生來並沒有人教你去做善，而你去做善，這也能超出命運。好像人走路，願意向東走，就會到東；願意向西走，就會到西邊。所以君子的命運是活動的，而不是死板板的，一切都操在自己的手上，故說君子有造命之學。

　　Heaven, Earth, and Mankind are known as the three powers. Mankind is the representative of Heaven and Earth. Heaven does not speak, and Earth has no words either. Only people are endowed with the capacity to speak and act. A person”s destiny is not fixed at birth. Yet, in a certain sense, it is. In what way

　　 One”s fate is similar to splitting something into portions and giving a portion to each person. How is destiny unfixed, then

　　 You may use up your portion completely, while I don”t use mine at all. That”s how it is unfixed. Thus, we say, “A superior person is the master of his own fate.” When you were born, no one told you to do evil, and yet you went ahead and committed evil deeds, thus altering your fate. When you were born, no one told you to do good, and yet you did good deeds. With such acts you can transcend your fate. Similarly, if a person wants to walk east, he will go to the east; if he wants to walk west, he will go to the west. The fate of a superior person is flexible, not rigidly fixed. Everything is in his own hands. Hence a superior person can be the master of his own fate.

　　「命由我立」，命是我的，我能造命、立命，我也能改變自己的命運。譬如你有病，若能小心一點，就不會有生命危險，這都是由自己把握，不是依賴他人。本來你有生死，應該輪轉于六道之中，然而你能修道，就能超出命運，能了生死，這就是造命。

　　“He determines his own destiny.” My fate belongs to me; I can determine my own destiny and alter my own fate. Even if you get sick, you can take extra precautions so as to not endanger your life. You must be responsible for this; you cannot rely on others. Basically, you are supposed to undergo endless rounds of rebirth. However, if you cultivate, you can transcend your fate and put an end to birth and death. Then you are the master of your fate.

　　「福自己求」，你若修福就有福，修慧就有慧，能福慧雙修更好。這個福是向裏邊求的，反求諸己，看看自己有沒有德行？有，就有福；若是無德行，就無福。君子求諸己，小人求諸人，小人才盡向外找。

　　“And he creates his own blessings.” If you cultivate blessings, you will obtain blessings; if you cultivate wisdom, you will obtain wisdom. To cultivate both blessings and wisdom is even better. Blessings come from yourself. If you perform good deeds, you will have blessings. Otherwise, you will not. A superior person makes demands on himself, while ordinary people make demands on others and always seek outside themselves.

　　「禍福無門，惟人自召」，所謂

　　“Calamities and blessings are not fixed; we bring them upon ourselves.” There is another saying:

　　病從口入，禍從口出。

　　Sickness enters through the mouth; Calamities come out of the mouth.

　　人遇到種種飛災橫禍，多因亂講話而引起。若盡吃肥膩、有滋味，或者雞、鴨、魚、肉、海鮮這類的佳肴，爲了享一時的口腹之欲，吃得太多，就惹來很多病痛。吃的時候覺得很美味，可是時間一久，就慢性中毒，到時便無藥可醫了。現在所有衆生肉都有一種毒，是無藥可醫的，人一旦吃了畜生的肉，毒就跑到人的身上。我們若是吃蔬菜，因爲它無生命，雖然有毒質，但是輕得多。肉類的毒是百分之百，而蔬菜只有百分之一，可以說是天淵之別。

　　When you are beset with calamities on all sides, careless talking may very well be the cause. You may temporarily enjoy the flavor of rich, fattening gourmet foods such as steak, chicken, duck, and seafood, but if you eat too much, you will end up very sick. These foods taste delicious at the time of eating, but in the long run, they will slowly poison you until you are beyond hope of medical cure. Nowadays, animal flesh contains a kind of poison for which there is no antidote. When we eat the flesh, the poison enters our bodies. Vegetables are also contaminated, but to a much lesser degree, because vegetables are not sentient. If meat is one hundred percent poisoned, then vegetables are only one percent poisoned. They are at opposite extremes of the spectrum.

　　所以各位學佛法，不要貪好味、貪口福，這樣時間久了，就可以將體內的毒排泄出來，而不會生怪病。這些話的意思，各位應該研究研究，現代的時代太壞了，所以人人應該大聲疾呼，盡量勸人戒殺護生，免得造成全人類滅亡的慘局。戒之！慎之！

　　Therefore, if we Buddhists do not crave good flavors, the poison will eventually leave our systems and we won”t contract any strange diseases. All of you should investigate the meaning of these words. Since the present age is very evil, we should do our best to encourage people to stop killing and to protect living creatures instead. Then we may keep the human race from becoming extinct. Be careful!

　　一九八二年十月七日開示

　　A talk given on October 7, 1982

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