佛法上一字之差，会落什么因果？

佛法上一字之差，会落什么因果？

英文翻译：张蜜

英文朗诵：贤淑老师

佛陀在世的时候，有两亿（此处为古印度计数之亿）人听说过佛的名字，有两亿人亲自见过佛陀，还有两亿人不知道世界上有佛陀存在。虽然跟佛陀共同生活在天地间，但是对佛不闻不知。

When Buddha abided in this world, two kotis（kotis here is a measure word in ancient India, meaning 100 million） of people heard of his name, while another two kotis saw him with their own eyes. Yet, despite living under the same sky, there were still two kotis of people who had no idea that Buddha existed.

同样的，佛陀的真理之身已经在这世界住下来了，三宝已经住世了，但是这世界上还有人不知道，还有人不理解，还有人误解。要改善现状！这就是我们的工作责任所在。

Likewise, the Buddha's Body of Truth has remained in the world, and the Three Jewels have abided in the world. Yet, there are still those who are unaware of it, those who fail to understand it, and those who misunderstand it. It is our duty to change this situation!

弘法利生，原是我们的家务，但首先我们佛弟子自己要修行，要理清这个思路。如果了解得少，就拣自己懂的说一点，不要多说，多说要是说错了就不行。

Spreading the Buddha Dharma and benefiting sentient beings is our duty. However, first and foremost, we, as Buddha's disciples, must cultivate ourselves and clarify this principle. If we only know a little, then speak about what we truly understand. It’s better not to say too much and risk getting it wrong.

大修行人落因果吗？“因果”两个字囊括了世出世间一切法则，就是解脱也是有因果的。大修行人了生脱死，就有了生脱死的因和了生脱死的果。生死有生死的因果，出生死有出生死的因果。怎么能说不落呢？

Are great practitioners beyond cause and effect? The concept of “cause and effect” encompasses all the laws of mundane and supramundane realms, including liberation. Great practitioners, who are free from birth and death, have sown the seeds and reaped the fruits of ending birth and death. Both birth and death and the ending of birth and death are subject to cause and effect. How can it be exempt from it?

大修行人本身就是因果，哪怕了生脱死也是属于因果。不能简单地理解生死轮回才叫因果，了生脱死了就没有因果了。了生脱死有了生脱死的因果。小乘有小乘的因果，大乘有大乘的因果，藏、通、别、圆都有它的因、它的果。因果是普遍的。

Great practitioners themselves embody cause and effect. Even their attainment of ending birth and death is a cause and effect. Cause and effect cannot be simply interpreted as being confined to the cycle of birth and death in samsara. Ending birth and death does not mean the cessation of cause and effect. Ending birth and death has its own cause and effect, as do Theravada, Mahayana, and the four paths of Dharma practice —Pitaka, Common, Distinctive, and Round. Cause and effect are universal.

这些道理不是很深的，虽然是老和尚，但他没有亲近过善知识，没有深刻思考过，有时候还是要回答错的。就这么一个缘故，做了五百世的狐狸。

These points are not that profound. Though he was an old monk, he had never had access to virtuous teachers, never reflecting on his practice, and thus sometimes giving wrong answers. Because of this, he was reborn as a fox for five hundred lives.

到这一世遇到百丈禅师在百丈山开堂讲法，这狐狸就求百丈禅师为它转语。

In this lifetime, when Zen Master Bai Zhang was spreading the Dharma teachings at Bai Zhang Mountain, the fox asked him to turn his words.

转语，就是转这一句错误的话的因果。于是，百丈禅师就说：“那你把那个问题再提出来问我吧。”他就把原话再搬出来：“大修行人还落因果否？”这时百丈禅师就回答了两个字：“不昧”。“不昧”和“不落”，差一个字，实际上就不一样了。

“To turn one’s words means to help someone transcend the karmic consequences of a mistaken statement. Then, Zen Master Bai Zhang said, ‘Ask me the question again.’ The fox repeated the question: ‘Are great practitioners beyond cause and effect?’ Zen Master Bai Zhang replied with two words: ‘Not obscured.’ It’s just a single word difference between ‘not obscured’ and ‘not restricted,’ but the meaning is worlds apart.

佛法上的一字之差，有什么区别，会落什么因果，不听经闻法就不会知道。所以每天都要珍惜，用惭愧心听。

The distinctions and consequences that a single word difference in Buddha Dharma can bring about are unknown to us unless we listen to the Dharma teachings. That is why we should cherish every day spent here, listening to the teachings with a mind of shame.

有这样的心态，我们就不会轻慢法、轻慢说法场合、轻慢说法者，就不会犯错。然后一句一句法语，就既能消除业障，又能让我们提前成佛。

With such a mindset, we won’t despise the Dharma, the Dharma teaching, or the Dharma teacher, and thus be free from making mistakes. In turn, each utterance of Dharma not only eliminates our karmic obstacles but also hastens our attainment of Buddhahood.