不要貪神通靈異

　　Do Not Crave Spiritual Powers or Supernatural Experiences

　　好奇心，根本就是一個貪心。奇奇怪怪的事，追究根本，都是由貪心而現出來的；沒有貪心，就不需要標異現奇讓人看他有什麼靈驗和異端。

　　Curiosity is nothing but greed. Bizarre things manifest because of greed. Someone who is not greedy won”t need to act special to show people that he has spiritual skill and can do miracles.

　　在這個世界上奇奇怪怪的事情，多得數不過來那麼多，爲什麼有這麼多奇怪的事情呢？因爲人的心裏好奇。人有一種好奇的思想，所以世界上奇奇怪怪的事情就出來了。一旦出來，就誘惑人，令你失去真正的主宰，令你把主人翁丟了。沒有主人，不管是家也好、國也好，一切就都亂了。

　　There are all kinds of strange occurrences in this world, too many to count. The reason there so many weird events is that people are curious. Due to people”s curiosity and liking for strange things, all the bizarre things appear in the world. Once they appear, they fascinate and delude people, causing them to lose control and forget who they are. Once they forget themselves, their families, countries, and everything else fall into disarray.

　　這一亂，這些標異現奇的人就各顯神通，令人東奔西跑，顛顛倒倒，各處去找奇妙的事情。貪神通，找靈驗，這都是被境界所轉了。爲什麼會被境界轉呢？因爲有好奇的心。

　　Once there is chaos, sensationalists start manifesting spiritual powers, causing people to run around in a frantic and deluded search for supernatural phenomena. People who crave spiritual powers and seek spiritual experiences are simply being influenced by external states. They are influenced by these states because of their curiosity.

　　好奇心，根本就是一個貪心。這些奇奇怪怪的事發生，你若追究它的根本，也是由貪心而現出一種奇怪的樣子；若是沒有貪心，就不需要標異現奇，讓人看他有什麼靈驗和異端。而人也因爲有貪心，才被這種奇怪的事情所吸引、所攝持。奇怪的異端，是不正當的事情。不正當的事情，就屬于魔業；正當的事情，就是佛業。所以現在有很多人失去正知正見，你對他講真正的法，他聽得格格不入，總聽不進去，甚至左耳聽進去，右耳就出去了。可是你對他說邪僻的事情，邋遢的事情，他就永遠都記得，不會忘了，這就是證明人的貪心在作怪。正經的事情，爲何人都不記得？因爲他覺得沒有什麼好處，對他沒有利益，其實這才是真正的利益。

　　Curiosity is nothing but greed. Whenever something bizarre happens, if you look into its origin, you”ll find that it”s simply greed manifesting in strange forms. Someone who is not greedy won”t need to act special to show people that he has spiritual skill and can do miracles. People are mesmerized by these strange events out of greed. Strange events are not proper. Demons do improper things, while Buddhas do proper things.

　　Nowadays, many people have lost true knowledge and views, and if you speak true Dharma, they cannot accept it. It goes in one ear and out the other. On the other hand, if someone talks about perverted and defiled things, they will always remember it. This is their greed acting up. Why doesn”t anyone remember the respectable things

　　 Because they think such things won”t benefit them in any way. Actually, these are the things that bring true benefit.

　　我們人在世界上都是認假不認真，認賊作子。所以你對一個人說幾句忠言實語，他不願意聽；你對他拍馬屁，他就很高興。所謂：

　　In this world, we all pay attention to what is false and overlook what is true. We mistake a thief for our son. If you speak honestly, people don”t listen. If you flatter them, they are pleased.

　　忠言逆耳利于行；

　　良藥苦口利于病。

　　True words are hard on the ear,

　　 but help one”s cultivation.

　　Good medicine is bitter to the taste,

　　 but cures the illness.

　　多數人都是不接受忠言，都不肯吃良藥。良藥苦了一點，他便把眉頭一皺，說：「這真難吃！」可是你覺得難吃，病也就不會好。這個時代就是這個樣子，我們現在講佛菩薩的事情，人不願意聽。若講魔裏魔氣的話，譬如男女不要守規矩，可以隨便，放任自在，規矩是最不好的，人聽了便很高興，因爲他們不願意守規矩。這就是下流的思想。

　　Most people are not receptive to the truth, and they do not want to take good medicine. If the medicine is a little bitter, they grimace and complain, "This tastes awful!" But if you don”t take the medicine, you won”t get well. That”s how it is in this day and age. When we discuss the doings of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, some people don”t want to listen. If we were to talk like demons, saying, for instance, that men and women can be promiscuous and that rules are abominable, some people would be very happy to listen, because they don”t want to follow the rules. But these are vulgar ideas.

　　所以有些人到萬佛聖城，受不了住不下，就跑了。爲什麼呢？他就是沒有這種犧牲性，沒有真正爲法忘軀的思想。真正爲法忘軀的人，你攆他，他也不走；你打他、罵他，他也不走。因爲他覺得這兒是正法住世的地方，他要接近正法。我們現在所研究的〈五十陰魔〉，對于這個時代是最有用的。我們想要弘揚佛法，就要做大犧牲，不要貪小便宜，看見人家封一包果儀，就眉開眼笑，這真是太沒出息了！

　　Some people come to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, but find that they cannot take it, so they run away. They don”t want to devote themselves to the Dharma. People who wish to dedicate their lives to the Dharma will not leave even if you scold, beat, or kick them. They feel that the True Dharma is here, and they want to be near it. The Fifty Skandha-demon States which we are investigating is extremely important in the present time. If we want to propagate the Buddha”s teachings, we must be truly dedicated and not be greedy for petty gains. If we smile with delight when someone gives us an offering, we have no self-respect.

　　一九八叁年四月十九日開示

　　A talk given on April 19, 1983

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