..續本文上一頁verything occurs due to prior causes and resulting consequences. Therefore, instead of owning up to their inescapable karmic debts, sometimes they don”t even acknowledge their debts to others; instead, they try to renege. Such unreasonable actions cause many troubles in the world -- you have your trouble, I have mine and they have theirs. Everyone has both wholesome and unwholesome causes and conditions, which are entangled and difficult to separate. Once in a while, when people encounter Buddhism, they will understand the truth a bit. 可是今天明白了，明天又糊塗了；後天又想明白，大後天又糊塗了。于是變成智愚平等的局面，智慧和愚癡平均，糊塗時便不想修道，明白時便想修道。可是修道的時候很少，糊塗的時候很多，因此所修的不及所丟的，智慧也一天不如一天；而愚癡卻一天比一天增加，在無明驅使之下，便做出很多糊塗事。心裏糊塗，進一步身上也糊塗了；心裏有貪瞋癡，身上便犯殺盜淫，這些都是糊塗賬，根本算不清！
However, while being clear about the truth today, they get confused by tomorrow; being clear the day after tomorrow, but a day later they get all mixed-up again. They go back and forth between clarity and confusion until they have as much wisdom as delusion. When muddled, they don”t want to cultivate the Bodhi Path; in moments of clarity, they are willing to cultivate. Unfortunately, the time spent cultivating is a lot less than the time spent being confused. As a result, what they gained from cultivation is a lot less than what they lost due to confusion. Day by day, their wisdom decreases as their delusion increases. Driven by their ignorance, they end up engaging in all sorts of mixed-up conducts. With confused minds, their bodies also become confused; harboring greed, hatred and delusion in their minds, they use their bodies to commit killing, stealing and sexual misconducts. They create an innumerable amount of karmic debts while they are confused, and these debts are really hard to repay! 所以，有時家庭眷屬不和，父子不和、母女不和、夫婦不和、兄弟不和、姊妹不和、兄妹不和，種種問題就發生了。發生了，自己還不承認、不認賬，反而覺得很受委曲。其實這都是前因後果的定律，以前種下的因，如今結果了，有什麼好怨呢？所以“是故知命者，不立岩牆之下”，“不怨天、不尤人，下學而上達。”首先要明白因果，不要再種糊塗因果，要種清淨的因果，要是道則進，非道則退。不要再把善惡混淆不清，是非夾雜不明，若能黑白分明，真假了然，便有機會返本還原，回複到本有的性淨明體、妙真如性。
Given all these debts, sometimes disharmony arise among one”s family members -- between father and son, mother and daughter, husband and wife, elder brother and younger brother, elder sister and younger sister, or a brother and a sister. However, despite these family problems, one still refuses to acknowledge one”s mistakes and settle one”s debts; instead one feels he or she has been wronged somehow. Actually, all of this can be explained by the unchanging principle of cause and effect -- due to the causes one planted in the past, one reaps the consequence now. So, what is there to complain about
It is said that “If you understand cause and effect, you would not stand next to a crumbling wall.” In fact, we should not “complain to the heavens or blame others” for our misfortunes. Instead, we need to understand the principle of cause and effect, and plant pure and wholesome causes instead of confused ones. When our actions accord with the Bodhi Way, we should proceed; otherwise, we should retreat. Do not confuse good with evil any longer, or mix up the right with the wrong. If we can distinguish black from white and be clear on what”s true and what”s false, then we have an opportunity to return to our inherent nature, our wondrous Buddha nature, which is pure and bright.
十二因緣
Twelvefold Conditioned Arising
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◎節自《心經非臺頌解》．宣化上人講述
Excerpt from The Heart of Prajna Paramita Sutra with Verses without A Stand and Prose Commentary by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua 十二因緣，就是說“我們人怎麼樣受生，怎麼樣死的這個道理”。
Twelvefold Conditioned Arising tells us that, "The way we die depends on the way we live."
《心經》中的“無無明，亦無無明盡，乃至無老死，亦無老死盡”，這是說“十二因緣”的道理；由這十二種的緣作爲助緣，幫助人生了死，死了生。這“十二因緣”就是：無明緣行，行緣識，識緣名色，名色緣六入，六入緣觸，觸緣受，受緣愛，愛緣取，取緣有，有緣生，生緣老死。
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