其实学佛了，我们应该从最基础的入手--“孝亲报恩”

我们应该从最基础的入手

--“孝亲报恩”

As a Buddhist follower, we should begin with the very basic------‘Be filial to parents and repay their kindness’

“时觉华定自在王如来告圣女曰。汝供养毕。但早返舍。端坐思惟吾之名号。即当知母所生去处。时婆罗门女。寻礼佛已。即归其舍。以忆母故。端坐念觉华定自在王如来。经一日一夜。”

“但早返舍”，这个“舍”是指什么？从俗谛上说赶快回家，回到你的房子里。从修行角度上说，赶快回光返照，回归自性，回归自性之后，以念母的悲心和孝心来念觉华定自在王如来。孝心和悲心是人心当中最美的心，在自性里要充满这种情感，在这个基础上再来念佛。

‘Return home quickly’. What does the ‘home’ refer to? From the point of view of Relative Truth, ‘Return home quickly’ means ‘go back to your house quickly’, while from the point of view of cultivation, that means ‘Return to the light and shine inwards quickly, go back to your self-nature’. When returning one’s self-nature, one is mindful of Enlightenment-Flower Samadhi Self-Mastery King Thus Come One in a mind state of filiality and compassion towards one’s mother. A heart of filiality and compassion is the most beautiful heart, and one’s self-nature should be infused with such feelings, which in turn serves as a foundation for practice of being mindful of the Buddha.

知母恩、念母恩、报母恩，是菩萨菩提心修法里非常重要的部分。观想一切众生无量劫来都做过我的父母，每一世做我父母时都对我具足了恩德。然后不忍众生苦，要给众生乐，就是悲心、慈心。我们这样去修，就会达到俗谛的菩提心，最后现前胜义谛的菩提心，就是十方诸佛都能见到了。

Appreciating, recollecting and returning the kindness of mother is an essential part of practice of Bodhicitta. First visualize that all sentient beings have been our parents in countless kalpas. In each past life when they were our parents, they showed kindness and did favors to us. Then generate a mind of compassion and a mind of kindness -- not bearing seeing beings suffer while desiring to give joy to all beings. We practice with this in mind and we will gradually attain Relative Bodhicitta, eventually realizing Absolute Bodhicitta, which means being able to see all the Buddhas in the ten directions.

 “经一日一夜。忽见自身到一海边。其水涌沸。多诸恶兽。尽复铁身。……时婆罗门女。以念佛力故。自然无惧。有一鬼王。名曰无毒。稽首来迎。……圣女问曰。我今云何得到狱所。无毒答曰。若非威神。即须业力。非此二事。终不能到。圣女又问。此水何缘。而乃涌沸。多诸罪人。及以恶兽。无毒答曰。此是阎浮提造恶众生。新死之者。经四十九日后。……三业恶因之所招感。共号业海。其处是也。”

为什么地狱在大铁围山内？这个铁围山，对凡夫来说，贡高、我慢、我执就是铁围，贪嗔痴慢疑就围着这个铁围山，造作种种业海。我们自己造了业海，自己再沉没其中，自作还要自受。

Why are hells in The Great Iron Ring Mountain? For ordinary beings, haughtiness, self-arrogance and self-attachment is the iron ring which is surrounded by greed, anger, delusion, conceit and doubt, thus various karmic seas are being created. We ourselves have created the karmic seas, sinking in the seas, bearing all the sufferings self-inflicted.

以念佛的力量，婆罗门女看到这些恐怖的场景，但因为有正觉力，她能够无惧，

The Brahman woman saw these horrible scenes through the spiritual power of being mindful of the Buddha and she was fearless in virtue of the power of proper enlightenment,

无毒鬼王还出来迎接她。她问：我怎么会到这个地狱所在之处？无毒鬼王说：“若非威神。即须业力。非此二事。终不能到。”

诸佛菩萨来我们这世间，不是业力，是愿力，是威神之力。

Buddhas

and Bodhisattvas come to this world not by power of karma but by power of aspiration, the awesome spiritual strength. 

所以，我们为什么要“南无阿弥陀佛，

南无阿弥陀佛”，就是要跟佛的这个愿力相应，千万不能跟我们自己的业力相应。

‘Namo Amitabha Buddha’ means being in accord with the aspiration of the Buddha, and by no means should we correspond to our karmas. 

“三业恶因之所招感。共号业海。”这个“业海”，是身、口、意三业所造出来的，是身、口、意造十恶业所招感的，所以叫业海。我们自己画了个地狱，自己还在里面受苦。明白这个道理之后，我们就要按照佛的教导，在身口意上断十恶业、修十善业。

“圣女又问鬼王无毒曰。地狱何在。……圣女又问大鬼王曰。我母死来未久。不知魂神当至何趣。……无毒合掌。启菩萨曰。愿圣者却返本处。……非唯菩萨之母。得脱地狱。应是无间罪人。此日悉得受乐。俱同生讫。鬼王言毕。合掌而退。婆罗门女寻如梦归。悟此事已。便于觉华定自在王如来塔像之前。立弘誓愿。愿我尽未来劫。应有罪苦众生。广设方便。使令解脱。佛告文殊师利。时鬼王无毒者。当今财首菩萨是。婆罗门女者。即地藏菩萨是。”

婆罗门女以大孝之心，为母亲广修功德，从外财的布施、供养，到内财的供养、精进。这里不仅说她的母亲已经生天三天了，同时所有在地狱当中受苦的人，都蒙她的福而得生天，所以喊她作“圣女”。

The Brahman woman, with a heart of great filial piety, cultivated extensive merits, ranging from outer wealth giving, making offerings to inner wealth offering, practicing vigorously. Here (in Sutra of Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva) means not only her mother but also all the other offenders suffering in the hells received the blessings cultivated by her and were reborn together in the heavens three days before. That’s why she was called ‘The Worthy Woman’.

鬼王无毒非常恭敬圣女，叫她不用再担心了，“却返本处”。因为禅定，婆罗门女在自性之处以大孝心忆念觉华定自在王如来，所以，“寻如梦归。悟此事已。”然后又在如来塔像之前，立弘誓愿。

《地藏经》读到这里，我们要深生惭愧。我们每一个人，都被地藏菩萨救过，而且不止一两次。多少次我们都是刚被地藏菩萨救上来，又下去了。不要说无量无边的人，地藏菩萨就是救你一个人多少次，都算不过来的。

地藏菩萨累劫救我们，我们都刚强难化啊！其实学佛了，我们应该从最基础的入手，身为人子，对父母要有孝心。你怎样有孝心，怎么报亲恩？除了赚钱供养父母，你要修法，忏悔业障、布施、持戒、忍辱、精进、禅定、般若，乃至慈悲喜舍。

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva has been rescuing us over the past numerous kalpas, but we have been so stubborn and hard to transform! As a Buddhist follower, we should begin with the most basic, as a son or daughter, be filial to our parents. How can we practice filial piety and how are we expected to repay their kindness? Besides earning money, making offerings to support our parents, we should also practice the Buddha Dharma, repenting of karmic obstacles, practicing giving, upholding the precepts, cultivating patience, vigor, meditative concentration and wisdom as well as kindness, compassion, joy and giving.

不爱其亲而爱他人者，

谓之悖德

----《孝经》

你不要对这些法不屑一顾，光想着我怎么样修高法。这些都是跟佛一模一样的，你要修到了马上就见佛了，但是你见得到佛吗？婆罗门女这样子，才听到佛的声音。我们现在实际上该做的不老老实实做，尽想着这些美事，还是一种变相的贪。佛法都是很尊贵的，但是对机者良啊！

Don’t shrug off these Dharma practices while impractically wondering about how I can cultivate ‘high-dharmas’. These Dharma pracitces are identical to Buddhas, and if you practise properly, it won’t be long before you see the Buddha, but can you really see the Buddha? With all such practice did the Brahman woman hear the Buddha. Now that we fail to do what we are supposed to apply ourselves to while we are always thinking about what is too good to be true, actually this is a disguised form of covetousness. All the Buddha Dharmas are precious, but only the ones that are appropriate will be benefitted.

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