The True Spirit of the Buddhadharma 佛法的真精神
Master Wang Xianglu | 2018-06-23 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 人生的悲欢苦乐只是心的作用，一切造作也是心的作用，佛度众生，只是要人觉悟，心上再来个心，了解人生的所以然。 |
The joys and sorrows, sufferings and pleasures of human life are merely functions of the mind; all contrivances likewise are functions of the mind. When the Buddha liberates sentient beings, he merely seeks to awaken them, so that mind may illumine mind and they may understand the reasons underlying human life. |
| 觉是感觉环境的幻化，悟是悟到自心的缘妄，外不被环境所惑诱，内不被妄心所转辗，明白自己天然有个自主独立性体，虽然一时糊涂妄作，一觉便回到本来。所谓悲欢苦乐，和一切一切，都是梦幻泡影，不再上当，这是个自主独立的伟大精神。佛不自称是佛的功能，是一切人无贤无愚无大无小自有的功能。佛法的真精神就在此。 |
Awakening is to perceive the illusory transformations of circumstances; realization is to realize that one’s own mind conditions delusion. Outwardly, one is not beguiled by circumstances; inwardly, one is not carried along by deluded thought. One understands that one naturally possesses an autonomous and independent essential nature: though one may temporarily act deludedly in confusion, with a single awakening one returns to the original source. So-called joy and sorrow, suffering and pleasure, and all things whatsoever, are dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows; one is no longer deceived by them. This is the great spirit of autonomy and independence. The Buddha does not claim that Buddhahood is a capacity belonging to himself alone; it is a capacity inherently possessed by all persons, whether worthy or foolish, great or small. Herein lies the true spirit of Buddhadharma. |
| 人生欲解决这个大问题，借佛的导力是一二，靠自己的努力是八九，若全然想靠佛或定要靠自己不依佛法，这都是大迷信，不是佛子。 |
If human life is to resolve this great question, reliance upon the Buddha’s guiding power accounts for one or two parts, while one’s own effort accounts for eight or nine. If one wishes to rely wholly upon the Buddha, or insists upon relying only upon oneself without depending on Buddhadharma, both are forms of great superstition; such a person is not a Buddhist disciple. |
| 佛说因果，不是有了佛才有因果，佛说平等，不是有了佛才有平等，佛说众生与佛，本来不二，不二即是平等，是众生自己本来平等，特地做来不平等。 |
When the Buddha speaks of cause and effect, it is not that cause and effect came into being only with the Buddha. When he speaks of equality, it is not that equality came into being only with the Buddha. When he says that sentient beings and Buddhas are originally nondual, nonduality is equality. Sentient beings themselves are originally equal; they deliberately make themselves unequal. |
| 论到外相，自然有大小高下美丑种种的不同，不同就不平等了，但一切相是缘生缘灭，幻起幻落，同一不实，这是平等的，所以平等是实，不平等是幻，而世人总是执取有相，久久成为习惯，于平等的真理，忘之久矣。 |
As regards outward appearances, there are naturally all kinds of differences—great and small, high and low, beautiful and ugly. Where there are differences, there is inequality. Yet all appearances arise and perish through conditions, illusorily arising and illusorily falling away; all alike are unreal. This is equality. Therefore equality is real, while inequality is illusory. But people invariably cling to appearances, and over time this becomes a habit; thus they have long forgotten the truth of equality. |
| 独有觉悟的人，不受这个束缚，自己能别具见解，由理想上推出这个真理来，觉知一切众生，性体与我不二，何以我一定是好是对，他人就一定是坏是不对呢？那不明这个平等真理的人，先立了个人我之见，我要好，你不必要好 |
Only those who are awakened are not bound by this. They can form their own insight and infer this truth from principle: they realize that the essential nature of all sentient beings is nondual with their own. Why must I necessarily be good and right, while others must necessarily be bad and wrong? Those who do not understand this truth of equality first establish the Personal-self view: I must prosper; you need not prosper. |
| ，我有钱是阔，你没钱是贫，不知是钱的问题，于人有什么相关，我的钱给了你，我就贫，你就阔了，就是我不给你，我用完了，我也就贫了。本来钱是外相，根本靠不住的，但是患得患失的习性已久，要永久保持它，忘记了因果和平等的真理，所以多争，以至残杀抢夺，枉受诸苦，佛法的真精神，就是要打破你这个迷见。 |
If I have money, I am wealthy; if you have none, you are poor. They do not understand that this is merely a question of money—what essential relation does it have to the person? If I give my money to you, I become poor and you become wealthy; even if I do not give it to you, once I have spent it all, I too become poor. Money is originally an outward appearance, wholly unreliable. Yet the habit of anxious grasping and fearful loss has endured for so long that people seek to preserve it forever, forgetting the truths of cause and effect and equality. Hence contention proliferates, even to slaughter and plunder, and people suffer vainly all manner of pain. The true spirit of Buddhadharma is to shatter this deluded view. |
| 人有了这个迷见，一迷再迷，势力越大，迷的力量也越大，迷人越多，迷的团体也越多，一步步的演进到了糊涂的极点，反说佛法是迷信了。 |
Once a person has this deluded view, delusion follows upon delusion. The greater one’s power, the greater the force of one’s delusion; the more deluded people there are, the more groups of deluded people arise. Step by step, this develops to the utmost extreme of confusion, until people instead declare Buddhadharma to be superstition. |
| 世上的一切一切，无不是示我的教训，人事的种种幻变，即是告我以无常种种的不定，即是教我勿固执。世上一切恶业无不由我执所起，天下最苦闷的人就是刚愎自是，总是我的不错，一直迷到底，至死不悟。 |
Everything in the world is an instruction shown to me. The myriad illusory changes in human affairs tell me of the many uncertainties of impermanence; they teach me not to cling obstinately. All evil karma in the world arises from self-attachment. The most anguished people under heaven are those who are stubbornly self-righteous: always insisting that they cannot be wrong, they remain deluded to the end and die without awakening. |
| 我人看了他是真苦，他自己也苦，苦于不知道自己的苦。但我人自己，又何尝真明白呢？处于旁观是明白的，一轮到自己被虚荣货利所引诱，也许一样会刚愎自是。所以佛要你彻底觉悟。朱子只说到不为外物所诱，不知外物是什么，就是我自心的缘妄。不从心上下手，是不会彻底得到佛法的真精神。 |
To us, such a person truly suffers; he himself also suffers, suffering because he does not know his own suffering. Yet how can we ourselves be said truly to understand? As onlookers, we understand clearly; but when it is our own turn to be enticed by vanity, wealth, and profit, perhaps we too will be equally stubbornly self-righteous. Therefore the Buddha asks you to awaken thoroughly. Master Zhu spoke only of not being enticed by external things, without knowing what external things are: they are the delusions conditioned by one’s own mind. Unless one begins with the mind, one will never fully attain the true spirit of Buddhadharma. |
| 佛教和佛法，本无所别，所教的就是法。但到现在，所可见的只是佛教的形式，所不明的却是佛法的真理。佛子四众，上焉者，闭门自修，不问社会上的疾苦，中焉者，好出风头，勤作有相功德；下焉者，犯奸作恶，无所不为。 |
Buddhism and Buddhadharma are originally without distinction; what is taught is precisely the Dharma. Yet at present, what can be seen is only the outward form of Buddhism, while the truth of Buddhadharma remains unknown. Among the four assemblies of Buddhist disciples, the highest close their doors and cultivate themselves, taking no concern for society’s sufferings; those in the middle delight in attracting attention and diligently perform meritorious deeds with form; the lowest commit licentious and evil acts, stopping at nothing. |
| 一班学佛的，不是死气沉沉，就是妖形怪气，社会上只见其害，不见其利，叫人如何信仰得起。 |
Among those who study Buddhism, some are lifeless and dispirited, while others affect bizarre and grotesque manners. Society sees only its harm and not its benefit; how then can people be expected to embrace it in faith? |
| 现在更进一步，连一班自修的人们，门也关不住了，东奔西走，更无暇把真正的佛法精神，介绍予社会，所以愈离愈远，人的怀疑也愈深，此佛教之衰落也。 |
Now matters have gone a step further: even those who cultivate themselves can no longer keep their doors closed. They rush here and there, with still less leisure to introduce the true spirit of Buddhadharma to society. Thus the distance grows ever greater and people’s doubts ever deeper. This is the decline of Buddhism. |
| 佛教既经过许多年的残破，然而佛法的精神潜势力，非但不见削改，反而日见膨胀，想研究真理的人，日见其多，这就是人心苦闷的反动，无形中把佛教和佛法分了家。 |
Although Buddhism has undergone many years of devastation, the latent force of the spirit of Buddhadharma has not merely remained undiminished; it has expanded day by day. Those who wish to investigate truth are increasingly numerous. This is a reaction to the anguish within human hearts, which has imperceptibly separated Buddhism from Buddhadharma. |
| 有智识的人，自然不取佛教的形式庄严，而尊重佛法的精神自在。佛法的有相功德，原为一班初入门的方便引导。 |
Those possessing knowledge naturally do not prize the formal adornments of Buddhism, but respect the spiritual freedom of Buddhadharma. Meritorious deeds with form in Buddhadharma were originally expedient guidance for those first entering the gate. |
| 至于根本上，佛原来不取于相，要人自觉，最正宗的，是自他两利，化敌为友，让他自动的驯伏，使各人明了自身的本来面目，把大智辅助大悲，做救世的工作。第一不许贪，能够不取于相，那贪污之风，自然灭了。 |
At the root, the Buddha never clung to appearances, but sought to bring people to self-awakening. The most orthodox path benefits both oneself and others, transforming enemies into friends and allowing them to be naturally tamed. It enables each person to understand his own original face, to support great compassion with great wisdom, and to undertake the work of saving the world. First, greed must not be permitted. If one can refrain from grasping at appearances, the fashion of corruption will naturally cease. |
| 第二勿嗔，能够平等慈视，了解互助之义，那诈伪残杀之习，自然止了。第三勿痴，能够阐明真理，开大觉慧，打破迷信，那刚愎自用，颠倒妄作之行，自然少了。总之要他自动的感化。可见无一人不有心，心即是佛。 |
Second, do not become angry. If one can regard others with equal compassion and understand the meaning of mutual aid, the habits of deceit, slaughter, and killing will naturally cease. Third, do not remain deluded. If one can elucidate truth, open great awakening and wisdom, and shatter superstition, then stubborn self-will and the conduct of inverted, deluded action will naturally diminish. In sum, people must be transformed of their own accord. Thus it is evident that there is no person without mind: mind itself is Buddha. |
| 无一心不有理，理即是法。佛法的伟大作用，在不争自己佛教的门面，和其他宗教论短长，而在使人个个自己觉悟真理，学佛的平等救世精神。 |
There is no mind without principle: principle itself is Dharma. The great function of Buddhadharma lies not in contending for the outward prestige of one’s own Buddhism or disputing the merits and defects of other religions, but in enabling every person to awaken personally to truth and to learn the Buddha’s egalitarian spirit of saving the world. |
| 救不在衣食住的满足，而在人人能得衣食住的平等享受，以为衣食住是维持这个身，身是维持这个大悲心。要去做大悲利众的事业，不是焦芽败种的罗汉，而是智悲双运的菩萨，正合乎现世所倡的平等主义。倘有刚愎自是的人，他自会众叛亲离，不打自倒，为天下人作个大榜样，大教训，这才是佛法的真精神。 |
Salvation does not lie in the satisfaction of food, clothing, and shelter, but in everyone being able to enjoy food, clothing, and shelter equally. Food, clothing, and shelter sustain this body; this body sustains the great compassionate mind. One must undertake the work of benefiting sentient beings through great compassion—not become an arhat with scorched sprouts and spoiled seeds, but a bodhisattva in whom wisdom and compassion operate together. This accords precisely with the egalitarianism advocated in the present age. If there are those who are stubbornly self-righteous, they will naturally become abandoned by all; without being struck, they will fall of themselves, serving as a great example and profound lesson for all under heaven. This is the true spirit of Buddhadharma. |
| 佛法是重实干的，是重自然性的，先自克己，取得定力，由定力增长识力，体力自然加强，这是人生的三力。用三力以应付社会上一切事业，自得游刃有余，处于今日狂风暴雨之局势下，没有心力的把持，必定被外境所冲动。 |
Buddhadharma values practical action and values naturalness. First restrain oneself and acquire samadhi-power; from samadhi-power, the power of discernment grows, and physical strength naturally increases. These are the three powers of human life. Use these three powers to meet every undertaking in society, and one will naturally act with ample ease. Amid the tempestuous circumstances of today, without the sustaining power of mind, one will inevitably be swept about by external conditions. |
| 即如一班贪污的人，本性并不愿贪污，只因环境的诱惑，前途没有希望，眼下即有恐怖，自己又无把持，逼迫往贪污的路上走。贪是人人本具的劣性，污是一时的妄作，一人作俑，众人效尤，遂成了公开的流行病。如果要改造这个劣性，应先使其自觉，生活一安定，此风自然而止，此是佛法的真精神。 |
Take those who engage in corruption: by their original nature, they do not wish to be corrupt. Yet because of environmental temptations, because they see no hope ahead and immediate fear is before their eyes, and because they themselves lack inner mastery, they are driven onto the path of corruption. Greed is an inferior propensity innate in everyone; corruption is a momentary deluded action. Once one person sets the example, others imitate it, and it becomes an openly prevalent disease. If this inferior propensity is to be transformed, people must first be brought to self-awareness. Once livelihood is secure, this tendency will naturally cease. This is the true spirit of Buddhadharma. |
| 一个人贪，可以引得许多人贪。以贪为本位，欲壑自然难盈，必至多数人受逼迫没饭吃。反动过来，自己所贪得来的根本就靠不住。倘早知贪得的危险，自不至深入自杀一途。 |
One person’s greed can draw many others into greed. Taking greed as one’s foundation, the gulf of desire naturally cannot be filled, and many people will inevitably be driven to have no food to eat. In reaction, what one has greedily acquired is fundamentally unreliable. Had one known early on the dangers of greedy gain, one would not have gone so deeply down the path of self-destruction. |
| 平安二字，是要人人平了，我才得安，有一个人不平，即有一个反动，即是自己的危险。我尝说世界要真正平安时，锁和保险柜，是用不著了。用到这两件东西时，即是心怀疑忌，四面都有了反动的恐怖。 |
The two words peace and security mean that only when everyone is treated equally can I myself be secure. If even one person is treated unequally, there is a reaction, and this is one’s own danger. I have often said that when the world has attained true peace and security, locks and safes will no longer be needed. Whenever these two things are needed, it means that the mind harbors suspicion and fear, and the terror of reaction exists on every side. |
| 那反动即是不均平，心和物质都不均平，而不均平的主因，还是个贪。贪的主因，仍是由于恐怖。恐怖的主因，由于不觉。不觉所以见理不明，不肯施舍。 |
That reaction is precisely inequality: both mind and material circumstances are unequal. Yet the chief cause of inequality is greed. The chief cause of greed is still fear. The chief cause of fear is lack of awakening. Because of this lack of awakening, one does not clearly perceive principle and is unwilling to give. |
| 佛说一切法，首重布施，布施是放弃的意思，不但金钱物品要布施去，连我的迷见也布施去，放大眼光，勿固执劣见。使人人有饭吃，即是我的无上保险，最大安乐，所以布施是佛法最伟大的精神。 |
In expounding all dharmas, the Buddha gives foremost importance to generosity. Generosity means relinquishment: not only should money and possessions be given away, but even my deluded views should be given away. Broaden your vision and do not cling stubbornly to inferior views. If everyone has food to eat, that is my supreme insurance and greatest peace and happiness. Therefore generosity is the greatest spirit of Buddhadharma. |
| 佛法只是要把世事翻个身，我所执持的且放一下，看是如何。我所看重的且看贱他看是如何，我所爱的不爱，取的舍去，惊奇的不惊奇，其苦自断，并且处事灵活面面玲珑矣。 |
Buddhadharma merely seeks to turn worldly affairs around. Set aside for a while what I cling to, and see what it is like. Regard as lowly what I regard as important, and see what it is like. Do not love what I love; relinquish what I grasp; do not marvel at what I marvel at. Then suffering ceases of itself, and in dealing with affairs one becomes flexible and consummately adept in every direction. |
