这条路上，师父也只是配角

每一个参加羯磨的净人，他的发心，我们都要去感受、去随喜。平时一个居士来，说他想要出家，我就不敢轻慢。哪怕他资质再差，能生起一念出家之心都是不可思议的。他想出家，那就是老佛爷跟他之间的事了。

We ought to share and rejoice in the aspiration of each and every one of the purified being here who participate in this karman system (jiemo).Typically,should a layperson step forward to convey his intention to be a monk, I won’t take this lightly. However poor his qualifications may be, it is still incredible to give rise to that thought of being a monk. He wants to be a monk – this matter now falls into the hands of himself and the Buddha. 

但不是穿身衣服、剃个头发就叫出家，出家是要出离自己。出家后，一方面为常住服务，另一方面又要马上清零，什么都没有。提起的时候认认真真，放下的时候干干净净。我是啥？啥也不是，放得彻彻底底。就如一根草一把火烧了，剩一点灰还一阵风吹了，这才是修行人。

However, being a monk does not mean donning the robes and shaving the head bald. Being a monk means the renunciation from own self. After becoming a monk, not only does one need to service the long-staying residents, one should go back to square one immediately as well, not possessing anything at all. Lift up in all seriousness, let go and make a clean break. What am I? I am nothing, letting go of everything in its entirety. Just like a blade of grass that has been reduced to ashes by a fire, blown away by the wind. This is a practitioner. 

剃度后，大家可以在这里听经闻法，养育自己的法身慧命。但是是养得有了智慧，建立了概念，坚定了信心，变得勇猛，还是越来越脆弱，顺境会修、逆境就不会修，这一点我们自己随时都要去反思。

After taking the tonsure, everyone can listen to the dharma here, nurturing one’s body of dharma and life of wisdom. However, as one’s wisdom rises, grasps hold of the concept, stabilizes the faith and becomes courageous, or turns more fragile, being able to practice only when circumstances are favourable and not so during times of adversity – we have to reflect upon this point at all times. 

说到底，僧团只是助缘，无法帮你去除自我；作为师父也一样，能送给你们多少就送你们多少，但很难直接送你们去极乐世界。三宝能为你做的，只是尽量送你们离解脱近一点，离轮回远一点。

After all, the Sangha assembly is just an aiding nidana, it does not have the ability to aid you in renunciation from yourself; likewise, it is the same as a Master. A Master can only give you this much, and it is tough to send you to the Pure Land directly. What the Triple Gem can do for you is to try their best to inch you closer to liberation, and slightly further away from Samsara. 

但其实三宝地和极乐世界是一样的，你如果对在三宝地里负责的事马马虎虎，你的极乐世界的缘分就会薄。修行就在这个当中，天天在三宝地里，处处都是修行，要认真对待。

But in fact, the ground of the Triple Gem is the same as that of the Pure Land. On the ground of the Triple Gem, if you were to do the things you were supposed to do half-heartedly, your affinity with the Pure Land gets weaker. Practicing is built upon this. Being on the ground of the Triple Gem every day and every spot call for ones’ practice and this has to be taken seriously. 

三宝的功德什么时候能显现在你心里？一定是你身心清净的时候。不清净时，烦恼就像乌云一样把月亮遮住了。戒定慧就是帮助我们恢复清净的，“众生心垢净，菩提影现中。”尤其出家后，与僧团共住，肯定比世间清净得多。即使还有烦恼，也是天天在了烦恼。

When can the merits of the Triple Gem manifest in your heart? When your heart is purified & peaceful. During times when the heart is not purified & peaceful, worries are likened to the dark clouds that cover the moon. Precepts, Samadhi & Wisdom are meant as an aid to restore our purity and peacefulness, “Bodhi emerges when the minds of sentient beings are purified and peaceful”. Living with the Sangha assembly after becoming a monk, in particular, is definitely more peaceful than the outside world. While there might still be worries, one eliminates worries on a daily basis, too. 

这里就有一个问题值得我们每一个人扪心自问：假设哪一天把你打一顿，再赶你出庙门，你心里还会有三宝吗？那时你是“我”没有了还是三宝没有了？如果是“我”的魔大起来了，三宝没影了，那你感受到的三宝就是这么脆弱的吗？别人打两下骂两句就没了，你还怎么了生死？

Here’s a question that is worth us asking ourselves: Suppose there comes a day when you are given a beating and banished from the monastery – would you still have the Triple Gem in your heart? At that point of time, do you wipe off this “Me” or the Triple Gem? If the Mara of “Me” grows, the Triple Gem will be overshadowed. So, is the Triple Gem that you have felt this weak? If a mere beating or rebuking will have it wiped out, how then, do you break free from life & death? 

灭烦恼是自己的事，想长养清净也是自己的事。在寺院，饭大家一起吃，大寮里烧好了，观堂里去过堂，平等地受用。但清净没有办法平等地受用，你的清净别人给不了。这就是佛法里面讲理论时所说的，佛不能以手来赐功德，也不能拿水去洗罪业。水没有办法洗净你的罪业，需要靠你自己的心去觉悟。

Annihilating troubles and nurturing purity & peacefulness are all in your own hands. Everyone eats together in this monastery, once cooking is done in the kitchen, everyone proceeds to the Contemplation Hall for dining where food is equally provided for all. But there is no way for all to consume purity and peacefulness equally, your purity and peacefulness cannot be provided by others. This is the theory preached in the dharma – the Buddha cannot gift you merits with his own hands, neither can sins be washed away with water. Water will not be able to cleanse your sins and this realization can only take place on your own. 

修行的主人翁是我们自己。师父也好、道友也好，都是在给你演戏，是为你做配角的。哪怕就是打你一顿骂你几句把你赶走了，这也是属于配角的戏，关键看你这个主人翁，你面对这个情境时怎么去消化它，怎么能把“我”降服住，还依然忆念三宝。

We are our owners to practicing. Regardless of the Master or fellow practitioners, they are all putting on a show for you, assuming supporting roles for your sake. Even if it means to beat you up or to give you an earful and send you packing, these are all scenes played out by the supporting roles. It is up to you, the owner, to digest this whole situation and to subdue the “Me” and still keep the Triple Gem in your mind.

当你能把我执、把贪嗔痴降服、化解，从而越来越柔软时，人就像水一样，像空气一样，极乐世界挡都挡不住地就现前了。反之，一个我执很重、烦恼很重的人，你想把极乐世界塞给他都塞不进。不要说现前的善知识了，就是释迦佛陀、阿弥陀佛亲自来，也给不了他。

When you subdue the Atma-graha (stubbornly holding on to ego), subdue and get rid of the greed, hatred and ignorance, and becoming gentler in the process, you will then be like the water, like the air – the Pure Land cannot be obstructed and will manifest itself. Conversely, if one is laden with Atma-graha (stubbornly holding on to ego), laden with worries, you cannot even shove the Pure Land right into his face. Let alone the Kalyāṇa-mitta (wise master) who manifests right before him. Even if Shakyamuni Buddha or Amitabha were to do it personally, they will not be able to pass it to him. 

所以我们能如法修行，戒定慧庄严，产生了功德体之后，像这一次念《大般涅槃经》就非常地殊胜。大般涅槃是什么，三宝的体性是什么，我们如果能体受到一分，就有一朵莲花可以安住了。只要你得法份，五浊恶世也好末法时代也好，都跟你没有关系了。

Thus, the merits produced by our proper practice and solemnified by the Precepts, Samadhi and Wisdom is like reciting a round of the Mahā-ParinirvāṇaSūtra, which is extremely magnificent. What is Maha-Pari-nirvana, what is the true (fundamental) nature of the Triple Gem – if we were to experience even just a percentage of it, it would be like abiding in a lotus. So long as you gain the dharma, the evil World of Five Turbidities and Era of Declining Dharma will no longer have anything to do with you. 

这是佛陀祂老人家示现八相成道度化众生的真正目的，也是我们辞亲割爱随佛出家的目标所在。只要你的“我”没有了，跟法相应了，再多的魔王来也挡不住你去极乐世界。

This is the true intent of his elderly, the Buddha to liberate sentient beings through manifestation of the eight signs of attaining the Way. It also sets the stage for us to bid our loved ones farewell, to part with our cherished possessions and to pursue monkhood with the Buddha. So long as your “Me” is gone, you will correspond with the Dharma, and regardless of being outnumbered by the Mara Kings, you will no longer be obstructed by them on your path to the Pure Land. 

——摘自传喜法师开示

--Extracted from the preaching of Master Chuanxi, 

Year 2020, Huiri Dharma Hall

学习佛教英文词语：

菩提– Bodhi

居士– layperson

出离– renunciation 

剃度–to take the tonsure

法身慧命– body of dharma and life of wisdom

僧团– Sangha assembly

缘分– affinity

观堂– Contemplation Hall

释迦佛陀- Shakyamuni Buddha

《大般涅槃经》- Mahā-ParinirvāṇaSūtra

体性– true (fundamental) nature

五浊恶世– The World of Five Turbidities

末法时代– The Era of Declining Dharma