Cultivators shouldn”t be selfish or seek to benefit them-selves. They should benefit others. They should neither hurt nor look down upon others. They should reflect mindfully upon themselves in regard to the past and present, and then contemplate the future. If you can be mindful in thought after thought, and maintain your conscience and integrity in every moment, your good roots will naturally grow. Your Bodhi resolve will expand and you will be able to practice the Bodhisattva Path to benefit all living beings. These functions are all interrelated.
人不要怕魔，而退失菩提心，魔障是考验。好像学生刚开始读书，觉得课程很难，可是时间一久，读得入门了，就不觉得困难了。你读小学、中学、高中、大学，开始的时候，都有这种情形发生。所谓：
You should take care not to retreat from your Bodhi resolve out of fear of demons. Demonic obstacles are tests. By analogy, when a student first enters school, he may find the courses difficult. But after a while, they become easier. This happens in elementary school, high school, and college.
不经一番寒彻骨，
怎得梅花扑鼻香？
If the plum tree did not endure
the winter”s freeze,
How could her blossoms
smell so sweet
十年寒窗无人问，
一举成名天下知。
For ten years, he studies by the window in
the cold, and no one inquires of him.
When suddenly he rises to fame,
the whole world comes calling.
在修行时，不要尽想出风头。出家后，还求名求利，是最要不得的。我们出家之后，一定要认真，脚踏实地来修行，栽培修植福慧。修福，就要利益人；修慧，就要多研究经典。常做利益人的事，就会生出福德。
When you cultivate, don”t try to get into the limelight. It”s totally wrong to seek fame and gain after you”ve left the home-life. After leaving home, you should apply your-selves seriously to cultivation with your feet planted on solid ground. You should foster blessings and wisdom. To cultivate blessings, you must benefit others. To cultivate wisdom, you must frequently investigate the Sutras. If you are always doing things to benefit others, your blessings and virtue will grow.
有人问：「要如何利益人？是否要用钱去做功德？」不需要。只要你心里没有杀心、盗心、邪淫心、打妄语心，不饮酒了，这都是培福的地方。所谓：
"How can I benefit others
" you ask. "Do I have to spend money to perform meritorious deeds
" No, that”s not necessary. All you have to do is free your mind of thoughts of killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and lying, and refrain from taking intoxicants－these are all ways of fostering blessings.
慈悲口，方便舌；
有钱无钱都作德。
With kind words and skillful speech,
You can create merit whether or not
you have money.
你在口头上不骂人了，不说粗言暴语伤害他人，这也都是功德。我们处处要惜福，处处不舍福，处处修福修慧。修福慧非一朝一夕所成，而是时时刻刻、朝朝夕夕、年年月月，都要继续做下去，不能「一日曝之，十日寒之。」你若是这样子，永远不会有进步。所以我们要认定宗旨，勇猛精进，不要向后退，这是每个修道人应该具有的条件。
If you don”t scold or berate others, you create merit and virtue. We should cherish our blessings and cultivate wisdom at every opportunity. The cultivation of blessings and wisdom, however, cannot be accomplished in a single day. The effort must continue moment-by-moment, morn-ing and evening, month after month and year after year. We cannot "sun it for one day and freeze it for ten." If you do that, you”ll never make progress. Therefore, we must confidently set our goals, advance with vigor, and never retreat. These are the qualities that every cultivator should possess.
一九八二年六月十九日开示于万佛圣城
A talk given on June 19, 1982
at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas
《万魔不退菩提心 In the Face of Ten Thousand Demons, Dont Retreat from the Resolve for Bodhi》全文阅读结束。