"It”s hard to obtain a human body. It”s hard to be able to hear the Buddhadharma. It”s hard to be born in a Buddhist country. It”s hard to meet a Good and Wise Advisor. It”s hard to encounter a good Way-place." If you can”t find a good Way-place, then even if you want to cultivate, you won”t be able to. So a good Way-place is essential. Now at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, there is a place for holding Chan Sessions, there is a place for reciting the Buddha”s name, and there is also a place for bowing repentances. You can do anything you like, as long as you cultivate and seriously apply effort and don”t waste time.
无论哪一位愿意用功，我都愿意做你们各位的护法，来帮助你们用功。因为当初我想用功，但找不到一个好的地方用功，到处都有很多细节皮毛的事要做。譬如在禅堂，你要学会敲引磬、打钟板，到时当值、巡香，如何给人倒茶、喝茶、收茶杯，啰啰嗦嗦的一大堆。你想用功都用到喝茶、收茶杯上；用到巡香、当值上，用到敲钟板、鱼鼓这些皮毛上了，这些琐事最低限度要三个礼拜才能学会，而通常打七也不过打一两个礼拜，这些零碎的皮毛事就够你学的了。
If any of you are willing to apply effort, I am willing to be your Dharma protector to aid you in applying effort. That”s because when I first wanted to work hard on cultivation, I couldn”t find a good place where I could do it. In every place I went, there was a lot of detailed, superficial work that had to be done. For example, in the Chan Hall, you had to learn to use the handbell, hit the boards, serve as a proctor who makes rounds, pour tea for people to drink, collect the teacups－a whole bunch of fussy details. You wanted to apply effort, but all your effort went into the trifling matters of serving tea, collecting teacups, making rounds as a proctor, and hitting the bell, boards, wooden fish, and drum. These petty jobs took at least three weeks to learn, and usually the Chan Session only lasted one or two weeks. These miscellaneous tasks were more than enough to keep you busy learning.
现在在万佛圣城，无论你参禅、念佛、翻译经典、研究经典，做什么都好，总而言之，你若专心去研究，则一切都很方便，没有一些繁文细节，要你当这个值、当那个值，皮毛事多得令你头昏脑胀。这里是很简单，做维那只要止静、开静就可以。你在这儿还不知用功，那就不知还有什么地方可以用功的了？这里是最可以用功、最方便的地方，你不要一边用功，一边打妄想：今天的斋饭不好吃，天气又冷，今晚又如何去睡觉……。尽打这些无用的妄想，这只是空过时光啊！应该专心致志，拼命用功才是。
Now at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, you may investigate Chan, recite the Buddha”s name, translate the sutras, study the sutras, or engage in other practices. In general, if you practice with a concentrated mind, then everything will be convenient for you. There won”t be any of the complicated regulations and petty details requiring you to do this job or that job, making you dizzy with so many superficial matters. It”s very simple here. The proctor (wei no) only has to start and end the periods of silent sitting. If you are here and you still fail to apply effort, then I don”t know if there”s any place where you can apply effort. This is the best place where you can apply skill and have the most convenience. Don”t be applying skill and at the same time having idle thoughts, such as: "Today”s lunch was awful. It”s really cold. How am I going to sleep tonight
" Don”t have all these useless idle thoughts, and let the time pass by in vain! You should concentrate your mind and focus your attention, and apply effort as if your life depended upon it.
舍不了死，换不了生；
舍不了假，成不了真。
If you can”t renounce death,
then you can”t exchange it for life.
If you can”t renounce the false,
then you can”t realize the true.
不单单在念佛堂、禅堂要用功，随时随地也都要用功。用功就是眼不被色尘转，耳不被声尘转，鼻不被香尘转，舌不被味尘转，身不被触尘转，意不被法尘转。都不被境界转，而能转境界，这才叫用功。
You should be applying effort not only when you are in the Recitation Hall and the Chan Hall, but at all times and places. Applying effort means your eyes are not turned by sights, your ears are not turned by sounds, your nose is not turned by smells, your tongue is not by turned by flavors, your body is not turned by sensations of contact, and your mind is not turned by dharmas. If you remain unmoved by all those states, and can instead turn those states around, then you are applying effort.
行住坐卧不离这个，离了这个便…
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