收益

Helpful Teachings

吃完中饭，关上院门，在佛堂前点上香、供上灯，一切收拾妥当，即坐下来开始我最喜欢的工作——看书。

After lunch, I closed the gate and made offerings of incense and butter lamps at the shrine. When everything was in order, I sat down and began my favorite thing to do—reading.

心情如同今天的天气一般，既不阴也不晴，窗外鸟雀的叽喳声、花间蜜蜂的嗡嗡声、桌上闹钟的滴答声，更衬托了四周的寂静。

The sky was neither cloudy nor sunny, mirroring my mood of the day. The chirping of birds and the buzzing of bees among flowers outside the window, as well as the tick-tock of the clock on the desk accentuated the quietness of my surroundings.

翻开《勇施等持经》，一段话映入了我的眼帘：“我应于一切众生作本师想。何故？因我不知谁之相续成熟，谁之相续不成熟故。”的确如此，作为具缚凡夫，我们没有辨别相续成熟的大成就者与凡夫的能力，但很多佛菩萨却是显现出各种身形来度化众生的，在不具备辨别能力之前，我们应将一切众生若佛观待，对其恭敬承侍。

Turning a page of The Sutra of Fearless Offering Samadhi, a passage caught my eye:

I should regard every being as the Supreme Teacher. Why? It is because I have no knowledge as to who among them has successfully mastered his or her mind or who has not done so.

Indeed, as ordinary beings we are incapable of telling a realized great siddha from a common being. Many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, in order to tame sentient beings, often manifest in many forms. Therefore, until we gain that ability of discerning who they really are, we should regard all beings as Buddhas and treat them with respect.

《宝积经》也云：“迦叶，吾与同吾者可了知法与补特伽罗，凡夫不了知法与补特伽罗。否则，会堕落之故。”作为凡夫，我们无法了知法与补特伽罗，故应对一切众生起真佛想。

The Jewel Heap Sutra (Ratnakūṭa Sutra) states: “Kasyapa, only I and others of the same caliber can really comprehend phenomena and sentient beings. Ordinary people are incapable of doing so. Acting on false assumptions will cause their downfall.” As we are but commonplace people who comprehend neither phenomena nor living beings, we therefore should regard all beings as real Buddhas.

更何况，一切众生，皆具佛性，只因迷悟迥异，才有天渊之别。但终有破开迷雾，彻见晓月之机。对这些未来佛，我实应恭敬礼待。

Moreover, all sentient beings are endowed with the Buddha nature; it is due to the degree of confusion that their appearances vary greatly. Nonetheless, clouds of confusion will eventually be dispelled and the wisdom moon will emerge in full view. For this reason, we ought to treat all future Buddhas with respect and kindness.

短短的一句话，让我受益无穷。不知我以后能否时时按此行持，反正我今天已发此愿。

This short passage benefits me tremendously. Will I be able to conduct myself according to it from now on? At the very least, I have made my aspiration to do so today.

一阵敲门声打破了刚才的寂静，我又不得不出去办事了。

A knock on the door broke the silence of moments ago. Well, it’s time for me to go out and take care of business.

壬午年六月初三　　
2002年7月13日 　

3rd of June, Year of RenWu
July 13, 2002