佛法

　　Aspects of Dharma

　　如今，能夠真正了解佛法並如理行持的人實在寥若晨星。有些所謂的修行人，對佛法不但沒有系統的認識，連一些基本常識都不具備，卻口口聲聲宣稱自己在行持佛法，豈不贻笑大方？

　　An authentic practitioner should understand Buddha”s teaching and put it into real practice. But these days such people are as rare as stars in the morning sky. Some alleged practitioners, lacking not only systemic studies but also foundational knowledge, still proclaim themselves as Dharma practitioners. Aren”t they making a laughingstock out of themselves

　　在佛教曆史上被稱爲第二佛陀的世親論師在《俱舍論》中曰：“佛之妙法有二種，教法證法之體性，持教法者唯講經，持證法者唯修行。”也就是說，以聽聞講說的方式獲取教法，以修持的方式攝取證法，教法與證法，涵蓋了佛法的一切內涵。

　　Master Vasubandhu, who is revered as the second Buddha in Buddhist history, says in Abhidharma-kosa Shastra: “There are two aspects in Buddhism: the Dharma of transmission and the Dharma of realization. The Dharma of transmission relies on language while the Dharma of realization requires practice.” In other words, the Dharma of transmission is made possible by teaching and listening, while the Dharma of realization is attained through actual practice. These two Dharmas, transmission and realization, include everything in Buddhism.

　　爲了佛法能長住于世，必須借助于經論，《天子如意持請問經》中雲：“諸法經論兩種攝，善說乃其密意釋，以之于此世界中，佛法能得長久住。”無數的前輩，爲受持弘揚佛法，剝皮爲紙、析骨爲筆、刺血爲墨，爲我們留下了無數珍貴的叁藏教法，使我們得以聞聽佛性之義，而得了悟：衆生因由一念無明，障蔽心源，不知六塵境界，當體本空，以致由惑造業，因業受苦。

　　For the Dharma to long remain in this world, we must rely on sutras and shastras. In The Sutra Requested by Deva Ruyi it says: “The Dharma is held by sutras and shastras that are respectively the wonderful teachings from the Buddha and the commentaries on their implicit meanings. Through such means the Dharma can long remain in this world.” Numerous sublime beings in the past, in order to hold the Dharma and to spread it, strived in peeling their skins for paper, using bones as pens, dripping blood for ink, and so on, to pass down to us the precious Tripitakas. These teachings reveal to us the meaning of the Buddha nature and help us to realize that due to a flicker of ignorance, all sentient beings have had their original minds obscured. Unable to recognize that the phenomena perceived by the six senses are empty by nature; sentient beings commit negative actions through delusion and suffer as a consequence of their actions.

　　如果沒有教法的指引，則如同沒有日月燈光作爲航標，使我們只能無休止地輾轉于輪回生死苦海之中；也使我們如同沒有向導的盲人，只能在叁有的荒漠中徘徊，即使精疲力竭，也永無出期。

　　Without the guidance of the Dharma, it”s like setting off on the road without the sun, the moon, or other light to navigate our course; as a result we will forever cycle in the suffering torrent of samsara”s death and rebirth. We will be like a blind person without escort, forever wandering in the barren desert of the three worlds. Try as we may to the point of total exhaustion, there is still no escape whatsoever.

　　當了悟輪回緣由之後，就應當實修實證，令戒、定、慧叁種證法與心相融，以之消除惑業，增長福慧。

　　Once we comprehend the root cause of samsara, we should study and practice the Dharma in authentic ways. Melding the Threefold Training––virtue, concentration, and wisdom––in our being, our obscuration and confusion will be eradicated, and our merit and wisdom will grow remarkably.

　　佛性雖然本具，卻如同礦石中的黃金，木柴中的火焰，稻谷中的稻芽，如果不經過一番冶煉、鑽磨與種植，則永遠不能獲得其成果。如果了知其理而不實修，終如說食數寶，不能得其受用。于長劫輪回苦海中，輕易地將千載難逢的解脫大舟放棄，始終不得解脫。

　　The buddha nature is innate to us. Yet it is like the gold in the ore, the flame in the unlighted match, or the seedling in the rice grain; without the process of smelting, striking, or planting, no outcome is ever attainable. Without practicing what we know intellectually, we are like someone who describes delicious food without personally partaking of it, or who counts others” money without owning any himself. There is no real benefit at all. Having been cycling in the suffering ocean of samsara for countless eons, this boat of liberation we have now is utterly rare and extremely difficult to obtain. Should we bargain it away lightly, we will never be liberated.

　　教法與證法，二者不得偏廢，通過教法獲得正見，並在此基礎上實修證法，才是真正的行持佛法。

　　We should neglect neither the Dharma of transmission nor the Dharma of realization. Through transmission we establish the right view, and on this basis we engage in practices to attain realization. This, then, is the authentic way to abide in the Buddhadharma.

　　壬午年四月二十七日　

　　2002年6月7日

　　27th of April, Year of RenWu

　　June 7, 2002

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