The One Hundredth Letter 第一百封
| 2022-10-21 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 第一百封 |
One Hundredth Letter |
| 恭敬顶礼师尊： |
With reverence, I bow to the Venerable Master: |
| 顶礼佛，顶礼法，顶礼僧。 |
I bow to the Buddha, I bow to the Dharma, and I bow to the Saṅgha. |
| 这位曾爆脱的张某某，竟生就的不喜吃肉。饭馆用肉，市场买上，并不自已宰杀，现已停业关门，不再开饭馆，回老家他爸的工厂里服务了。他开饭馆不到一年的时间，之前在矿上经营工业用品。 |
This Mr. Zhang, who once suddenly broke free, was by nature disinclined to eat meat. His restaurant used meat purchased from the market; he did not slaughter animals himself. The restaurant has now closed, and he has returned to his hometown to work at his father's factory. He ran the restaurant for less than a year; before that, he dealt in industrial supplies at a mine. |
| 【随缘消旧业，更莫造新殃，修大道者，曷当如斯乎！】海南的甲师兄，是在某某法师未出家前，与某某法师同在乙师兄处受心中心法者，据他介绍，海口市共有三位受过心中心法，另两位是丙某某，丁某某。 |
[Follow conditions to eliminate old karma; do not create new misdeeds. How could one who cultivates the great Way behave in this manner?] Brother A in Hainan received the Heart-of-Heart Dharma from Brother B together with a certain Dharma master, before that Dharma master became a monastic. According to him, three people in Haikou have received the Heart-of-Heart Dharma; the other two are Mr. C and Mr. D. |
| 这三人修法均有间断。甲师兄多次打来长途电话，现接受劝告从头修起，决心不再间断。【知过即改，善莫大焉！】和丁某某通过两次信，丁似欠信力，近乎狂禅。【自以为是，狂妄自大，则不可救药矣。 |
All three have interrupted their practice. Brother A has called long-distance many times. He now accepts the advice to begin again from the start and is determined not to interrupt his practice any longer. [To recognize one's error and correct it is the greatest good.] I have exchanged two letters with Mr. D. He seems to lack faith and is close to wild Chan. [If one is self-righteous, arrogant, and conceited, then one is beyond remedy. |
| 】原住庙里康姓老人现已不住庙。距庙近处，有一村曰“庵子沟”，某主妇与康姓老人是亲戚，村人对他二人借庙相会颇多微词，所以我说他“并未有许多群众基础”。 |
The elderly man surnamed Kang, who had been living in the temple, no longer lives there. Near the temple is a village called “Anzi Valley.” A certain housewife is related to the elderly Mr. Kang, and the villagers have voiced considerable criticism of the two of them meeting at the temple they borrowed. This is why I said that he “does not have much popular support.” |
| 【借清净伽篮作幽会之所，来日火烙铜床之报，种于是矣，可不惧哉？！】 现在某某师与戊师兄均住洞，均禁语。戊住大洞，某某师住小洞。白天，某某师回庙里略事照顾。 |
[To use a pure monastery as a place for secret trysts is to plant the seed of future retribution on a red-hot copper bed. How could one not fear this?!] At present, both a certain teacher and Brother E live in caves and observe silence. Brother E stays in the large cave, while the teacher stays in the small one. During the daytime, the teacher returns to the temple to attend to a few matters. |
| 现他二人决定中午11时至1时开禁语，他们的禁语期均拟百日。我曾说过，须有一人不禁语。【为什么？】我说的“用得着便来，用不着便不来”，并非靠神通，而是这种感觉。并举出发生过的实事。 |
The two of them have now decided to lift their silence from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Their respective periods of silence are each planned for one hundred days. I once said that one person must not observe silence. [Why?] What I meant by “come when needed; do not come when not needed” does not rely on spiritual powers, but on this kind of feeling. I also cited actual events that had occurred. |
| 因钱不足，要误事时，财源忽来——有人请我技术服务，举以秀明，旨在免她“人生不满百，常为千年忧”之虑。以上所说是生活中事。道场事也是这样。【不可以为训。 |
When a lack of money was about to delay matters, funds would suddenly arrive—for example, someone would ask me to provide technical services. I mentioned this to Xiuming in order to free her from the worry that “human life does not reach a hundred years, yet people are always concerned about a thousand years hence.” What I have said above concerns matters of daily life. Matters at a practice center are the same. [This must not be taken as a model. |
| 】鹤壁的白某某曾在戊师兄所住的大洞里打过一个七 ，今拟再打七 ，秀明也拟去。我劝秀明剪短长发，一身男装，假小子相，老实打七去。【夏天实不宜打七。】戊、白、魏一处修持，也便于照顾。 |
Mr. Bai of Hebi once held a seven-day retreat in the large cave where Brother E lives, and now plans to hold another one. Xiuming also plans to go. I advised Xiuming to cut her long hair short, dress entirely in men's clothes, and go honestly to undertake the seven-day retreat looking like a tomboy. [Summer is truly not suitable for a seven-day retreat.] Brother E, Bai, and Wei will practice in the same place, which will also make it easier to care for one another. |
| 秀明还想问打七的仪规，坛场等事，请师尊开示。【仪规坛场可繁可简。总而言之，钞票多可多供养，钞票少，不供养亦可。但须要死心塌地，如大死人相似，方能相应，如情见不忘，家事萦怀，虽镇日打坐，亦无效果。 |
Xiuming also wishes to ask about the rules for a seven-day retreat, the altar setting, and related matters. May the Venerable Master offer instruction. [The ritual rules and altar setting may be elaborate or simple. In short, if one has plenty of money, one may make many offerings; if one has little money, it is also acceptable not to make offerings. But one must be utterly resolute, like one who is already dead, before one can accord with the practice. If emotional attachments and views are not forgotten, and household affairs continue to weigh on one's mind, then even if one sits in meditation all day, there will be no result. |
| 下座既不可说话，也不可昏睡，须绕佛经行，最好有人讲开示，指点悟道的关键与悟后向上的要点。】【即日即赴青岛，勿再来函。】 |
After getting off the cushion, one must neither talk nor doze, but should circumambulate the Buddha in walking meditation. It is best if someone gives Dharma instruction, pointing out the crucial key to awakening and the essential points for further progress after awakening.] [Set out for Qingdao at once; do not write again.] |
| 弟子志明顶礼 |
Disciple Zhiming bows in reverence |
| 1994年6月23日 |
June 23, 1994 |
| 【永寿童子】狂妄自大，指得是某某师兄？如何纠正？请老师开示。 |
[Yongshou Tongzi] Does “arrogant and conceited” refer to a certain Dharma brother? How should it be corrected? Please offer instruction, Teacher. |
| 【LVM】建议把信中姓氏隐去，用甲师兄、乙师兄可也。如何纠正？现在谈不上了，因为缺少一个前提。这个不可缺少的前提就是：他自己发心纠正。你看现在有这个前提么？ |
[LVM] I suggest concealing the surnames in the letter and using Brother A and Brother B instead. As for how to correct it, that cannot be discussed at present, because a necessary prerequisite is lacking. This indispensable prerequisite is that he himself resolve to correct it. Do you see that prerequisite now? |
| 【永寿童子】“如情见不忘，家事萦怀，虽镇日打坐，亦无效果”，呜呼哀哉！ |
[Yongshou Tongzi] “If emotional attachments and views are not forgotten, and household affairs continue to weigh on one's mind, then even if one sits in meditation all day, there will be no result.” Alas! |
| 【LVM】这是说的打七。古人打禅七是告生死假的——向师父告假，这次入七，拼着一死，也要明此大事！若无此等坚韧不拔的毅力，若不经历几度死去活来，岂是轻易可陵的么！如今常听到这儿疼了、哪儿痒了，便要求个加持什么的，若如此，还是及早“以净土为归”的好。 |
[LVM] This refers to undertaking a seven-day retreat. In ancient times, when people undertook a seven-day Chan retreat, they requested leave for life and death—that is, they informed their teacher that, in entering the retreat, they would risk death itself in order to resolve this great matter. Without such unyielding perseverance, and without undergoing several rounds of dying and coming back to life, how could this be easily attained? Nowadays, one often hears people complain that this hurts or that itches and then ask for some blessing or another. If that is the case, it would be better to make the Pure Land one's ultimate destination as early as possible. |
