我们的生命如何置身于文殊菩萨的智慧宝钵中
每天如是，
不论到哪，我们都在文殊菩萨的智慧宝钵里
Being as such every day – wherever we roam, we are always in the precious wisdom alms bowl of Bodhisattva Manjusri
我们的心就像房子，
Our mind is like a house,
不用心建造，好房子不会凭空出现，
Without setting our mind to construct it in earnest, a fine house would not just come into being out of nowhere.
不精心装修，房子无处得庄严。
Without setting our mind to renovate and decorate it with great care, there is no way that a house would appear to be greatly adorned.
修行也是如此，
The practice of the Dharma is also like this,
不修就是凡夫的状态，
When one does not engage in practice, one is in the state of a worldling.
不积累资粮就无法转凡成圣。
Without building up a store of merits, there is no way one can be transformed from a worldling into a saint.
虽然众生都有佛性，你不领悟祂也在那里，佛性的本性是不会消失的；但如果你不修祂，你也不会成佛。也就是说，佛性的本性是无为的，但成佛是要有为的，不仅要有为，还要有大勇猛、大精进、大雄大力、难行能行、难忍能忍！不是一点点小的有为，而是坚定的，理性的，持续不退的。
Although all sentient beings possess Buddha-nature which always remains in you and does not disappear just because you do not realize its existence, you will still be unable to attain Buddhahood if you do not cultivate this Buddha-nature. This is to say, the essence of Buddha-nature is non-conditioned (non-fabricated) while attaining Buddhahood requires the making (fabrication) of an effort. Not only does one need to make an effort, one has to have great courage, great diligence, and great capability and strength; as well as the ability to conduct oneself in the most trying of circumstances, and to bear the most unbearable! It is not just merely making a small effort but making an effort that is persistent, rational, and non-retrogressive.
药王菩萨祂老人家就是这方面的典范：在菩提心的关照下，完全地奉献自己的身口意。这种奉献，既医治我们烦恼的病，也医治我们身心的病，令我们快速地消除业障，快速地集聚功德，快速地成就佛道。
Medicine King Bodhisattva is the archetype in this sense. Guided by Bodhicitta (Enlightened Mind), he fully gives up his body, speech and mind as offering to not only treat our mental obscurations, but to also cure us of our physical and other mental afflictions, so that we can swiftly get rid of our karmic obstacles, accumulate merits rapidly, and attain Buddhahood fast.
我们有多少人一辈子就执着在自己的身体上。光那双手，护手霜就要不停地抹。但抹得再好又有什么用呢，时候一到，火葬场里几分钟就烧完了。所以要想一想，我这生命应该拿来干什么，干什么才真正有意义？
How many are there of us who get very attached to our own bodies? Just our hands alone, we apply hand lotion on them without end. However, what is the point even if we use the best lotion? When the time comes, a few minutes in the crematorium and they are incinerated. Therefore, we need to ponder over it: what should I do with this life of mine to make it truly meaningful?
没有意义的苦不要去做，有意义的苦要勤而行之。我以前去其他地方参学时，各方面条件都很苦，但因为融入在法中，那种苦就是有意义的，是让人心生喜悦的。那时候虽然没多少钱，我还是很努力地修供养，供米、供茶。
We should not engage in any suffering that is not meaningful, and diligently engage in any suffering that is. When I visited other places to conduct my learning in the past, the conditions in every sense in those places were very difficult. But as I had already immersed myself in the Dharma, the suffering was meaningful and joy-inducing. I did not have much money at that time, but I was still working very hard to practice offering - the offering of rice and tea.
特别是在为僧众倒茶的时候，在精勤中还要提起正念：过去心不可得，现在心不可得，未来心不可得，不忘菩提心，不忘空性见。这样做的时候，你会感受到生命真的如行云流水，体验到什么叫“犹如莲花不着水，亦如日月不住空”。
Especially when I poured tea for the monastics, I had to give rise to the following right thought at the same time as I was being diligent: I should not abide in the mind of the past, nor should I in the minds of the present and the future; and I should keep Bodhicitta, as well as the perception of emptiness in mind. When you do this, you will feel life as truly flowing effortlessly and fluidly like cloud and water， and experience that which is known as being “untouched by water like the lotus flower, and non-abiding in space like the sun and the moon”.
诸供养中，法供养最。
一样的，我们在建寺院，大家也是很辛苦，但这是为了佛的事业，是以殊胜的三宝为对境，这就是有意义的。诸供养中法供养最。我们来到五台山复建古文殊寺，就是希望安住于正法，广集资粮，将生命投入到文殊菩萨的智慧火中来作供养。在这个过程中，离三心——过去心、现在心、未来心，去四相——无我相、人相、众生相、寿者相。
In the same vein, when we are building a monastery, it is really tough on everyone; but this is work that we perform for the Buddha, the object of which are the auspicious Three Jewels. This is something meaningful. Among all the offerings, the offering of the Dharma is the most significant. Our coming to Mount Wutai to restore the ancient Manjusri Monastery is exactly to aspire to abide in the Right Dharma and extensively accumulate merits, and to immerse our lives into the wisdom fire of Bodhisattva Manjusri as offering. During this process, we abandon the three minds – of the past, the present and the future – and get rid of the four appearances – of the self, the individual, sentient beings and longevity.
所以我也想劝大家，在劳作时，如果条件允许你可以一边干活一边念佛，让生命超越当下。真正超越之时，你恍然之间就会认知到我在五台山、我在五台山！
As such, I would like to encourage everyone to be mindful of the Buddha if conditions permit, at the same time you are labouring, so that your life transcends the present moment. When the time of transcendence comes, you will realize all of a sudden, “I am in Mount Wutai! I am in Mount Wutai!”
你会清晰地知道，当下的五台山不是游客心中的五台山，不是土石所成的五台山，是文殊菩萨的金色净土，而你的心就在这般若空性的光照之中。
You will know clearly that Mount Wutai at that moment is not the Mount Wutai depicted by the tourist information centre. It is not the Mount Wutai made of earth and rock, but a golden Pureland that is home to Bodhisattva Manjusri.
