..续本文上一页living beings” attachments to external states, arising from greed, hatred and stupidity.
Living beings need the Buddhadharma to purify their minds. As Great Master Shen Syou of the Tang Dynasty said in verse, "The body is a Bodhi tree, the mind like a bright mirror stand. Time and again brush it clean, and let no dust alight." This is ”the state of ordinary people. The ultimate state of the Vajra Sutra is no-self, and the Buddhahood is merely a name. Nothing is certified to; only the self-nature is discovered. As the Sixth Patriarch Hwei Neng said inverse, "Originally Bodhi has no tree; the bright mirror has no stand. Originally there is not a single thing; where can dust alight
" Since there is nothing, how can there be defilement
Ultimately, even the Dharma must be renounced.
Although these are two different Dharma doors, in practice they require the same motivation of faith. In the Vajra Sutra, the importance of the faith is emphasized--if a person makes offerings with as many bodies as the sands in the Ganges River, his merit and virtue is not as great as that of a person who hears the Vajra Sutra and believes in it. From this, we can know that it difficult to have faith in the Vajra Sutra, especially since the Sutra tells us to put everything down. A worldly person without wisdom can hardly believe and follow such a principle. Since this Sutra is rather abstract, it stresses the importance of faith.
Faith is also of key importance in cultivating the harma door of reciting the Buddha”s name. This Dharma door is both supreme and easy. All you have to do is chant "Namo Amitabha Buddha" without stop and sincerely bow in homage. But perhaps since it is so easy and its merit and virtue is that special, people do not believe in it. Or even if they do, they still have a little doubt in their minds. Therefore, although it appears to be simple, you need firm faith and persistence in order to be successful.
以我个人经验来说吧，我在参加佛七前擦伤了左膝，扭伤了右膝，在拜佛打坐时伤口流脓，假如不是一股信心支持着，依照往常的惯例，我早就倒下去了。不要说我这个特殊的例子，就是其他人也是靠着一股信念直到最后一刻。不必讲别的，单是七天过午不食，早上四点起来做早课，一天一千拜，都是不容易的。信心是一个很大的力量，当你有信心时，不论是再苦的事情，都不再觉得苦，反而甘之如饴，会感到很快乐，会心甘情愿地继续下去。
我个人对信心本就有一些认识和经历，因为在还未成为佛教徒之前，我是一个基督教徒。我之所以信教，是因为向往《圣经》中描写的天堂，我觉得和西方净土很相近，只是人换成耶稣的彼得，而不是西方三圣，那里的人也是享有无量寿。所以在我听到西方净土后，我便立刻生起信心并且时常考验自己，这种信心是从自己内心发出来的，而不是在别人逼迫下才产生的，那才算真正的信心。
像我们这些凡夫俗子，有时常会对经典不明白之处产生怀疑，像有人在阅读《金刚经》空的法门，再去看佛七中，以诚心念越多越好，拜越多越好的法门时，心中可能会产生怀疑－既然一切要看空了，为什么拜佛，念佛却要越多越好呢？为什么还要修福德呢？师父在《金刚经浅释》中有回答这个问题，最主要是不种福德时就会造业，所以福德还是要修，只是在修时不要执着于福德相。我个人的想法是对我们这些凡夫俗子而言，没有足够的善根、福德、因缘，是没办法悟到空的境界，所以我们一定要靠做善事来修善根、福德、因缘。到了哪天悟了空了，那时事事都行中道，做善事便成了自然的举动，不会着相，也不会有我在修福德的心。所以虽然一切皆空，但是福德还是要修的。
说到功德，精进佛七功德是很殊胜的，但有时在法会中起了争念，要和别人比，谁拜最多，念最多，又时常将自我的利益做为佛七的目的。这种人有时不但没有修到功德，反而还会造业。当人起争心或把自我利益放在前头时，贪瞋痴三毒就现在心头，把自性都蒙盖过去，因此容易造罪业，起烦恼。在佛七时，心中甚至不能有一个求的念头，要为其他人想，自己拜或念的数目，只是自己的进度、和别人没关系。自己虽然把功德回向给众生，但心中不可以起布施心，不能着布施相，更不能为己，正如《金刚经》所讲的，「菩萨无住相布施，福德亦复如是，不可思量。」大家应以此偈为示，行真布施，修真功德。
经过粗浅的分析后，我们可以说这两个法门是殊途同归，大同小异，只是一些名字，而自性都是同一个。我们可以把《金刚经》看成是一个理论，精进佛七看成是个实行的方法，目的都是要我们众生放下外务牵挂、放下执着，恢复本来的佛性，好能了生脱死，离苦得乐。我们只要有足够的善根、因缘和信心，再依照法门好好实行，终可以了脱烦恼，发现自性，最后终可证得佛果。
Let me talk about my personal experience. Before the Session started, I scraped my left knee and twisted my right knee. Pus flowed from the wounds when I was bowing and sitting in meditation. If I didn”t have the inner faith to endure, I would soon have left the Session. All of us relied on this faith to persist until the last moment. During the seven days, it was already not easy to not eat after noon, get up early for the Morning Recitation, and bow one thousand bows a day, not to mention anything else. Faith has great strength. If you have faith, then no matter how difficult something may be, you will no longer suffer. On the contrary, you will be delighted and willing to continue.
I ha…
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