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过五关度六将证菩提【连载之二】

Passing Through Five Barriers and Enlightening Six Generals to Gain Bodhi【serial 2】

Master Yin Guang

目录

Catalogue

【连载之一】【Serial 1】

▍开堂白

Opening Statement

▍有没有来世

Whether There's Afterlife?

【连载之二】【Serial 2】

▍过关前言

Introduction

▍第一关 四大假合

The First Barrier: The False Compound of Four Great Elements

▍第二关 非同非异

The Second Barrier: Neither Identical nor Different

▍第三关 随心应量

The Third Barrier: Quantity and Quality in accord with

the Mind's Capacity

【连载之三】【Serial 3】

▍第四关 心现识变

The Forth Barrier: Manifestation of the Mind,

Transformation of the Consciousness

【连载之四】【Serial 4】

▍第五关 一心三藏

The Fifth Barrier: Three Treasuries of One Mind

【连载之五】【Serial 5】

▍第六关 无情亦情

The Sixth Barrier: The Non Sentient Being Is the

Sentient Being

▍圆教精髓

The Essence of the Perfect Teaching

【连载之六】【Serial 6】

▍顿证菩提

Sudden Enlightenment of Bodhi

·过关前言

·Introduction

下面进行实质性的探讨。对于修行人而言,最敏感的问题就是:什么是佛?我们能不能成佛?怎样成佛?佛为了开示这个问题,讲了无量的经典来方便引导。要明白,佛讲无量的方便法是出于无奈。因为一开始就讲真法的话——这个茶杯就是释迦牟尼,这个石头就是观世音,这个魔鬼就是阿弥陀佛,茶杯就是石头、就是魔鬼、就是诸佛,没有谁不是谁——谁都不会相信,而且认为这个悉达多是骗 子,是造谣,是说疯话,是神经病。可这就是正法,这就是真话。

The following is substantive discussion. The most sensitive questions for dharma practitioners are "What is Buddha"? "Can we become a Buddha”? “How to become a Buddha"? In order to enlighten us on these questions, Buddha taught countless classics as skillful means to guide us. Which, we need to know, are nothing but the Buddha's expedients. He would have otherwise been considered as a liar and psycho if he had told the truth from the very beginning—saying things like "This teacup is Shakyamuni, the stone Avalokitesvara, the devil Amitabha, and the teacup is a piece of stone, also a devil or Buddhas, and no one is not the other." Nobody would believe it, but that is the Proper Dharma! The truth!

无论是谁,首先在情感上就不能接受;其次,在世间法上也不能接受;即使是修行人,也是执着善恶,而不懂真心。所以佛无可奈何才讲了《华严经》《阿含经》《金刚经》《地藏经》《无量寿经》等等等等——慢慢地把修行人引导过来、哄过来,然后佛把门一关,桌子一拍,「我要灭度了,现在给你们讲真话」,这就是《法华经》,是佛最后八年所讲。

No matter who he is, this is hard to accept emotionally in the first place. Secondly, it is also unacceptable in the worldly sense. Even a practitioner who is attached to good and evil doesn't understand the true mind. Hence Buddha had to teach, in a skillful way, the Avatamsaka Sutra, the Agama Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, the Ksitigarbha Sutra and the Infinite Life Sutra, etc.—to get together all practitioners by guiding and coaxing. Then he shut the door, banged the table and said: "I'm about to Nirvana, now let me tell you the truth." That is the Lotus Sutra taught by Buddha in the last eight years of his life.

《法华经》云:世尊法久后,要当说真实。也就是说,我讲法已经41年了,也快涅槃了,现在不得不跟你们讲老实话啊。然后再讲:十方佛土中,唯有一乘法,无二亦无三;又讲:唯此一事实,余二则非真——不光是我娑婆世界,在十方佛土,唯有这部经是真经,是了义的,是最上乘的,有第二部经就是方便说,不是佛的本怀!

The Lotus Sutra says: The World Honored One has been imparting dharmas for such a long time, it's time to tell the truth. That is to say: I've been teaching you for 41 years and my Nirvana is approaching, now I must tell you the truth. And here are more statements: "In the ten directions of Universe, only One Vehicle is the ultimate truth. There is no second vehicle, let alone a third." Again: "Only One Vehicle is the ultimate truth, if there's the second one, it is not true."—not only in Saha Land, but throughout the worlds, only this sutra is complete and supreme which tells the ultimate truth. If there were a second sutra, that would be the expedient teaching of Buddha rather than his original intention.

如果佛当年不讲无量方便法,我跟大家讲啊,到最后可能没有一个人跟他来听《法华经》。问题是,有些人读了方便法以后,便执此一处,你再给他讲究竟法,他不接受,还振振有词:「我读的这部经就是佛讲的,佛讲的就是没有错。」这就麻烦了。佛在讲《妙法莲华经》时拍桌子打板凳,把自己讲的其它经典判为「诸法戏论之粪」(出自《法华经·信解品第四》),可是现在无量的修行人死死抱住「诸法戏论之粪」当作黄金白银。如果这样修行可以成就,那《法华经》岂不是打妄语?但佛是真语者,实语者,一切知者啊!

If Buddha hadn't given so many expedient teachings, to be honest, there would have been none left till the very end to listen to the Lotus Sutra. The problem is that some people will become attached to these expedient means they learned and will not accept the ultimate truth when you try to tell them. They would argue: "The sutra I read was told by Buddha, everything from him won't be wrong." That would be a problem. When Buddha taught the Lotus Sutra, he belittled his former classics by labeling them as "the dung of frivolous discussions of dharma,"(quoted from the Lotus Sutra Chapter 4: Belief and Understanding) which are embraced by numerous practitioners today as gold and silver. If these kinds of practices could be achieved, the Lotus Sutra would be a lie. But Buddha is a truth teller, fact teller and all-knower!

回到开头,不能全怪社会大众看不起念佛人。几千年以来,「求道者多如牛毛,得道者凤毛麟角」。原因即在于求道者误解了佛法,把佛所讲之方便法执著为「真实」,当然会使社会大众对佛法产生误会。

Back to the beginning, it is not right to blame entirely the general public who disrespect Buddhists. For thousands of years "The truth seekers are as many asthe hairs on an ox while the enlightened one is as rare as the hair of a phoenix and the horns of a kylin." The reason lies the fact that the practitioners were attached to the Buddha's expedients without truly understanding the truth, this of course will result in the public's misreading of dharma.

当我们翻开《法华经》一看,你会耳目一新。因为《法华经》反反复复讲——修行人听佛讲了几个小时《法华经》、几十分钟《法华经》、乃至几句《法华经》,当下「蒙佛授记」!也就是当下明心见性而出轮回苦海。这是不可思议的,不是凡夫可以妄加揣测的,也不是修行人可以随便测度的。因为这是最上乘的教义。既然是最上乘,必定是最难遇、最难信,却又最简单、成就速度最快。所以,面对这样的妙法,来不得半点浮躁,来不得一丝轻慢。

Just a glance at the Lotus Sutra, you are bound to be refreshingly new. Because the Lotus Sutra keeps saying over and over that after hearing Buddha's teaching of the Lotus Sutra for several hours, minutes, even a few words, the listeners immediately "gained Buddha's prophecy of Buddhahood attainment"! In other words, they are enlightened and free from the bitter sea of the cycle of birth and death in the moment. It is incredible, which can be speculated or measured by neither ordinary people nor practitioners. Since it is the best ever teaching, it must be the most difficult to encounter, the hardest to believe but the simplest to learn and the fastest to achieve. Consequently, facing such a wonderful Buddhadharma, not even a slight of impetuosity, disrespect or negligence can be tolerated.

那么怎样印证自己开悟呢?我们以下讲的六个问题,就是步步深入,开示什么是佛,什么是我,什么是宇宙人生本来面目。一灯能破千年暗,一智能灭万年愚。这是一个根本的转变。大家一道关一道关地通过,突破最后一关,你便是从漫长的无明黑夜中走到了黎明!从此住入佛家,成入流圣人。

Then how to certify our enlightenment? We will go further to the next six questions and will reveal "What is Buddha? Who am I and what is the original face of the universe and life"? One lamp can dispel a thousand years of darkness, and one thought of wisdom can end ten thousand years of ignorance. This will be a fundamental change. Let's pass through the barriers one by one, after breaking through the last barrier, you will be out of the endless night of ignorance and faced with dawn! You will be enlightened, you will enter the flow and become a sage since then.

·第一关 四大假合

·The First Barrier: The False compound of Four Great Elements

这个「四大假合」,是作为基础课来认识万法。在佛法里把万法分为「实法」和「假名」。比如我这个「人」,「人」就是「假名」。那叫鬼不行吗?叫猪、叫牛,随便叫一个名都可以,这是「假名」。怎么个「实法」呢?这个「人」这个身体到底是怎么回事?也就是《心经》讲的「五蕴」——色﹑受﹑想﹑行﹑识。「色」就是四大,「受、想、行、识」是讲「心法」,暂且放到后面再讲。

"The False Compound of Four Great Elements" is a basic course to learn about everything. In Buddhadharma, all things are pided into the "entity" and the "false name". For example, "I am a human being," "a human being" is a "false name". Can we call a human "a ghost", "a pig", or "a cow"? Any name will do, this is the "false name", then what about the "entity"? What on earth is the body of a human being? Namely, so-called "five aggregates" mentioned in the Heart Sutra, including form, perception, cognition, mental formations and consciousness. "Form" is the Four Great Elements; perception, cognition, mental formations and consciousness are about "mental process", we'll discuss it later.

所谓「地大」,就是我们的皮、肉、筋、骨等固体物;所谓「水大」,就是汗水、血液、唾沫、便溺等液体;所谓「火大」,就是体温、热量等等;所谓「风大」,就是呼吸和动作。《楞严经》云:身中坚相为地,润湿为水,暖触为火,动摇为风。那么,有没有哪一个人能离得开这四大啊?既然人体是四大假合(假合:一切事物均由众缘和合而成,暂时聚合,终必离散),牛马猪羊等一切飞禽走兽有没有离开这四大呀?没有。

So-called "the Great Earth” is our skins, flesh, tendons, bones and other solid substances; "the Great Water" is liquid such as sweats, bloods, saliva, urine, etc.; "the Great Fire" is body temperature and body heat, etc.; "the Great Wind" is breath and movement. According to the Shurangama Sutra: In your body, what is solid is of earth, what is moist is of water, what is warm is of fire, and what moves is of wind. So is there anybody who could exist without these four elements? Since a human body is the false compound of four elements (the False compound: All things manifest when the causes and conditions are ready. It is a temporary get-together and will fade away eventually). Do birds, beasts, like cattle, horses, pigs and sheep have any exceptions? No, they don't.

好,刚才讲的这个人啊、牛马猪羊、包括鬼道众生、天道众生,在佛法里叫「有情」,就是有生命、有灵魂、有知觉的众生——都是四大假合。那么再看看花草树木、泥巴瓦块、香蕉西瓜……这些无情是不是四大假合。

Okay, all human beings, animals, including ghosts and celestial beings mentioned just now, are called "sentient beings" in Buddhadharma. They are creatures who have lives, souls and consciousnesses—they are all the false compound of the Four Great Elements. Then let's see whether flowers and trees, mud and tiles, bananas and watermelons... are the false compound of the Four Great Elements or not.

我随手拿起一个茶杯盖,这个铁块是不是地大?地大是坚固之相。它有没有温度啊?一定有,哪怕零下十度也是温度。这是火大。那它这里有没有水分啊?没有水分它不能成型,没有温度它不能坚固。这地、水、火都有了,最后看风大。我们肉眼看不到它呼吸,看不到它在动,是不是?细心想一想,这个茶杯盖10年以后,或者说100年以后,它会不会永远坚固?不会,它最后一定要风化为一堆铁粉。是不是从现在开始,每年、每月、每天、每分、每秒、每一念都在变化?对。既然在变化,是不是动呐?动是不是就是风啊?所以这个茶杯盖当下也是「地、水、火、风」四大假合。由此推论,我们所能耳闻、目睹、身受这一切的万法,无非是四大假合而有,四大分散而灭。这是最基础的一关。

Let's look at this teacup cover, isn't this iron "the Great Earth"? "The Great Earth" is the manifestation of solidity. Does it have temperature? It certainly does, even -10℃is a temperature, this is "the Great Fire". Is there any water in it? Without water it cannot be shaped, without temperature it cannot be solid. Hence it has "earth", "water" and "fire". The last one is "the Great Wind", our eyes cannot observe its breathing or moving, right? But think it carefully, is it possible for this cover to remain solid forever, say in 10 or 100 years? Impossible. It'll definitely be weathering to a pile of iron powder at last. It starts from now and keeps changing every year, every month, every day, every minute, every second, every thought, doesn't it? Yes. Since it is changing, isn't it a movement? Does wind appear when there is a movement? Therefore, this teacup cover is also the false compound of the Four Great Elements of earth, water, fire, wind in the moment. In conclusion, everything that we can hear by ears, see by eyes, experience by senses is nothing but manifestations when the Four Great Elements gather and they will vanish when the Four Great Elements separate. This is the most basic barrier to break through.

·第二关 非同非异

·The Second Barrier: Neither Identical nor Different

既然这一切的万法都是由地、水、火、风所合成,为什么形成了诸佛菩萨、天人鬼畜、泥巴瓦块、树木花草,还有风雨寒暑?我们一步一步跟踪追击,研究宇宙人生的本来面目。第二关叫作「非同非异」。

Since earth, water, fire and wind are the roots of all existing matter, then why are there Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, celestial beings, humans, ghosts, animals, tiles and mud, trees and flowers, wind and rain, winter and summer? Let's follow the trail step by step to study the truth of universe and life. The second barrier is called "Neither Identical nor Different".

举例来讲,同样是人,这里有男人、女人、穷人、富人﹔有健康的人,有多病的人﹔还有黄种人、黑种人、胖人、瘦人……更不用说还有泥巴瓦块、桌椅板凳……是不是存在这种种的万相?为什么会造成这种现相呢?

For example, there are men and women, rich and poor, healthy people and sick people among human beings. Moreover, there are also yellow race, black race; overweight and thin people, etc. Not to mention mud and tiles, tables and chairs... aren't they in different forms and shapes? Why does this phenomenon happen?

打个比方:我们用面粉、牛奶、香蕉、苹果、油、盐、酱、醋这八种原材料来做食品。如果每一种食品中的这几种原材料配比都不一样——比如有的一两面粉、二两糖、三两盐、五两香蕉、六两苹果;另外一种食品是八两面粉、一两糖、半两盐、三两香蕉、四两苹果……那食品的味道一样不一样?不一样。

Let's say we use eight ingredients which are flour, milk, bananas, apples, cooking oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar to cook food. If the mixture ratios of these ingredients for each type of food is different—for example, type one is made up of 50g flour, 100g sugar, 150g salt, 250g banana, 300g apple and the other is of 400g flour, 50g sugar, 25g salt, 150g banana, 200g apple...do these two types of food taste the same? No, they don't.

现代化学里,把每一种物质的基本组成以分子式的形式表达出来。比如,水的分子式是H2O,也就是说水是由两个氢原子、一个氧原子组合而成。依此类推,任何一种物质都有固定的分子式。如果组成的元素相同,但是它们的原子数不同,那么它们组合的物质及质量就不一样。比如说它不是H2O,而是H4O3,由四个氢原子、三个氧原子组成的物质,可能就不是水,可能就是醋,或是葡萄酒之类(这是打比方)。

Modern chemistry expresses the basic composition of every substance by the form of molecular formula. For example, the molecular formula of water is H2O, which means water consists of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Likewise, every substance has its fixed molecular formula. When they are the same in elements but different in atom quantity, the combined substances and their quality will be different. Suppose it's not H2O but H4O3, which shows one molecular of the substance consists of four hydrogen atoms and three oxygen atoms, then it might not be water but vinegar or something like grape wine (This is only an analogy).

所以佛在《楞严经》讲「非同非异」,你如果说这一切的万法不一样吧,可它都是地、水、火、风和合而有啊!如果讲一样吧,却是森罗万象、千变万化。你不能讲它是「同」,也不能讲它是「异」,叫做「非同非异」。参照前面的食品加工原理与水分子式的概念,我们来组合两个事物,比如:1地2水3火4风组成人,2地4水2火5风组成牛,依此类推,天地万法森罗万象,无非是这四种物质的比例不同而已。

Consequently, the Buddha presents it as "Neither Identical nor Different" in the Shurangama Sutra. If you say all things are different, they are all the temporary compound of earth, water, fire, wind. But if you say they are all the same, they have different looks and are constantly changing. So you cannot regard it as "identical" or "different", you can only call it "Neither identical nor Different".

Using the theory of food processing and the conception of water molecular formula, let's combine two things, for example: 1 earth 2 water 3 fire 4 wind combine to form a human, 2 earth 4 water 2 fire 5 wind combine to form an ox, so on and so forth, all things and the myriad appearances are nothing more than the different proportions of these four elements.

·第三关 随心应量

·The Third Barrier:Quantity and Quality in accord with the Mind's Capacity

为什么会造成四大比例的不同?我们到底从哪里而来啊?这就开始第三关,叫做「随心应量」。前面两关只是讲五蕴中的「色法」,从第三关就涉及到「心法」。《楞严经》讲,随众生心,应所知量。也就是「随心应量」。我们生生世世的因果报应,上天堂、下地狱,做佛菩萨、做人、做鬼、做畜生、做穷人富人、做泥巴瓦块乃至树木花草,都是由自己把握自己,都是由我们的心所决定。这叫「命自我立」,所以要修行。这个量无非是两个问题:一是质量,二是数量。这就是马列主义辩证法中的量变与质变的规律问题。

What caused the different proportions of the Four Great Elements? And where on earth do we come from? Here comes the third barrier, with the name of "Quantity and Quality in accord with the Mind's Capacity". Since the previous two barriers discuss only about "form”, “mental process" is to be dealt with from the third barrier. The Shurangama Sutra says: "It accords with living beings' mind, in respond to their capacity to know." Namely, "quantity and quality in accord with the mind's capacity." The karma we have for many lives, whether we go to heaven or hell, be Buddha or Bodhisattva, be human beings, ghosts or animals, be poor or rich, be mud and tiles or even be trees and flowers, is all decided by our own minds and grasped in our hands. This is called "We decide our own destiny", and that's the reason why we need to cultivate. This capacity is nothing but two questions: One is quality, the other is quantity. This is the question of the law of the transformation of quantity into quality and vice versa in Dialectics of Marxism and Leninism.

所谓「质量」,就是看我们这个心,你一天到晚是想着为人民服务,还是为己谋私?你一天到晚想的是行善,还是行恶?你想着是成佛作祖,还是要升官发财?是讲真还是讲妄?至于「数量」,是看起心动念、言语、行为的积累。你用的是十分真心?还是三分真心七分作秀?同样作恶,你是无法无天还是被逼无奈?一切众生就是随着用心的「质量」和「数量」而受报应。「随心」就是讲因,「应量」就是讲果,这就是因果报应。你在因地如何用心,如何言行,必然受何果报。一切众生就是在这因果报应中循环。我们在今生今世如果用的是真心、善心,你来世必得真报、善报;你用的是伪心、恶心,来世必得恶报。起心动念不同,你的言谈举止就不一样,都是受世界观指导。正所谓,言为心声,行为心使,身为心役。

The so-called "quality" depends on what is in our minds, is it all about how to serve the people or seek personal gain? Do you do good or evil all day long? To attain Buddhahood or to get promotion and become rich? Do we talk about truth or falseness? As for "quantity", it is the accumulation of our everyday thoughts, words and behaviors. For example, when you do something, are you 100% sincere, or just 7 out of 10 sincere and 3 out of 10 for acting? Even do the same evil, are you lawless or forced? Thus all beings get different consequences by the quality and quantity of the mind they put into it. "In accord with the mind" is about the cause while "Quantity and Quality" are about the effect, this is karma. All your thoughts and behaviors will bring retribution. And all beings are in this karmic cycle. If you are true and kind in present life, you will be truly and kindly rewarded in your next life; if you are hypocritical and cruel, you will experience the effects of bad karma hereafter. Different thoughts lead to different behaviors, all of which is guided by personal worldview. This is what we call: Words are the voice of the heart; behaviors the messenger of the heart; body the servant of the heart.

那修行人为什么要正信佛法,追求真理?你今生今世把《法华经》《楞严经》学明白,生生世世得大福报、大自在,永远解脱轮回之苦。若只是在唸佛、拜佛……做种种的善事,你今生来世一定得大福报;但是,到第三世就很难说了——因为你有可能会因为自己来世福报很大而忘记修行,轻慢三宝,认之为迷信,乃至享乐造业不修福德;如此,第三世必定堕落。修人天福报叫「三世冤」。

以上这三关你能认真修证,可以超越六道轮回——证阿罗汉、辟支佛果位;但是很难,成就的概率是万分之一而已。这在佛法里叫「小乘因缘法」。(文/印广法师)

Why do we need to believe in Proper Dharma and pursue the truth? If you can learn and understand the Lotus Sutra and the Shurangama Sutra in this life you'll get huge merit and liberation now and forever, and free from the suffering of the cycle of birth and death. However, if you only chant the name of the Buddha, bow to the Buddha and do good deeds, you'll get huge blessings in your present and next life, but it is hard to say what will happen in your third life— maybe you will be too greatly blessed to remember the Buddhist cultivation for a lack of respect for the ThreeJewels and regarding Buddhism as superstition. You may even indulge in the pleasures and produce negative karma instead of cultivating merit and virtue, in this way you will definitely degenerate in the third life. Accumulating blessings is called "a three lives' trick"!

If you learn above three topics earnestly, you can overstep the six realms samsara and gain the fruition of the Arhat, or the Pratyekabuddha, but it's so difficult to achieve for the probability of success is merely one in ten thousand. This is called "causes and conditions" in the view of Hinayana Buddhism. (By: Master Yin Guang)