The Happiness of Adepts and the Happiness of Worldlings

“Mahamudra: Essence and Practice” ( Book II)

The Happiness of Adepts and the Happiness of Worldlings

◎Yixin Chen: A practitioner needs to be clear not only about principles but about phenomena. In my opinion, one should get rid of defilements, cast off all attachments in life, and not be obsessed with anything. But there are so many things in the world – the many trivial matters in life, for instance – that seem very hard to deal with when I try to handle them according to “principles.”

●Xue Mo: Mahamudra focuses mainly on two aspects. The first is instant solicitude, which means awakening, clear-mindedness, happiness, and awareness at the present moment, regardless of both the past and the future. Many people can do that, but that alone is not enough. Mahamudra requires that one achieve transcendence and instant solicitude at the same time. That transcendence, also known as ultimate transcendence, is what we call “casting off and shattering attachment.”.

Casting off everything does not mean doing nothing. Rather, it means not being attached to what you are doing. In other words, when you do something, enjoy the happiness and wisdom that the whole process brings you, but don’t treat it as a burden.

For a practitioner of Mahamudra, everywhere he is is his home, whether he is going home or going away from home, whether by bus or on foot. He is happy if a bus comes, but he is not unhappy if there is no more room for him on the bus, because that happiness comes from inside, and it has nothing to do with the outside world. Nowadays, people build their spiritual happiness upon the material world. Changes in the outside world affect their happiness.

After the basic problems for survival have been solved, the happiness of a Mahamudra practitioner is his inner brightness, which has nothing to do with the outside material world.

◎Yixin Chen: Do you mean that to be happy is to feel at ease under all circumstances?

●Xue Mo: Yes, that is a kind of happiness. However, what to worldlings is the result of having no alternative is a free choice by Mahamudra practitioners.

islet me illustrate my point with a simple example. a goatherd who has received no formal education at all may feel very happy when herding goats every day. But his happiness is probably a kind of ignorance. For when he loses a goat or begins to know what the outside world is like and thus has comparisons and desires, he probably won’t be happy any more. But a Mahamudra practitioner is always happy, even when he has experienced all the joys and sorrows of life, because he has no discrimination or attachment. The happiness of an adept and the ignorant happiness of a goatherd are different. The former is unconditioned and the latter is conditioned. An adept remains happy after he has seen how big and rich the world is with open eyes; an ignorant person is content with the limited happiness he feels with his eyes closed.

◎Yixin Chen: Someone would say: Many people nowadays make merry while they can; nice food, wine, and women make them happy, falling in love make them happy, and drinking alcohol make them happy, too.

●Xue Mo: But their happiness is based on the outside world. When one has lost his love, he becomes unhappy; when one, for one reason or another, has no alcohol to drink, he becomes unhappy.

◎Yixin Chen: But you know, some people can adjust themselves soon after disappointment in love. They would think that there will always be fish in the ocean and then they become happy again.

●XueMo: It is greediness. One day, when his health deteriorates, when he no longer has the material means and good health to chase women, he will not be happy again.

◎Yixin Chen: And there are still a few of them who won’t feel unhappy because they would think that they are satisfied with themselves since they have been young and have enjoyed everything they could. In your opinion, they are stupid, but in their own eyes they are pretty smart.

●Xue Mo: Of course, this kind of happiness is due to their ignorance, just like the goatherd’s. In Buddhism, those who want to find happiness by pursuing desires are likened to those who bite off their own tongue to drink their own blood or who try to quench thirst by drinking seawater – the more they drink, the thirstier they become.

This kind of happiness is that of mediocre people or that of worldlings. It vanishes soon. When material needs are satisfied, when one gets the woman he’s been chasing, when that woman is gone, or when one health is gone, or, indeed, when one’s desires can’t be satisfied, happiness evaporates like frost in the sun.

Any happiness, as long as it is sought outside of one’s mind, is not ultimate happiness. That is to say, happiness based on something outside of the illumination of one’s mind is subject to the external world. When one’s heart is subject to the temporal material world, one’s desires can hardly be satisfied.

The happiness of Mahamudra practitioners is uncompounded happiness, or unconditioned happiness, produced by the light of the soul; whereas the happiness of ordinary people is dependent on the material world.

No matter how happy worldlings may feel, no matter how they adjust themselves, they are bound to be unhappy when they are confronted with death.

A person who has achieved Mahamudra, however, is not afraid of death. Death to a real practitioner can be a festival and it is the most precious opportunity for liberation. I have dealt with this topic in one of my books, which is titled Let Death Become an Golden Opportunity for Liberation.

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《光明大手印：实修心髓》下

成就者的快乐与凡夫的快乐

◎陈亦新：修行者不仅要“明理”，而且还要“明事”。我认为一个人活着就要消除烦恼，任何东西都要放下，并且对于任何事都不要执著。但世间有那么多的事情，我用“理”作为事的参照去做的时候，总觉着会行不通，比如生活中出现的很多细小的问题。

●雪漠：大手印最主要侧重两个方面。第一是当下关怀，也即觉醒、清明、快乐、明白于当下，过去的不管，未来的不管，专注于当下该做的事。这一点，好多人都可以做到，但仅仅有这一点是不够的。大手印要求的就是在做到“当下关怀”的同时，还要实现一种超越。这种超越，也叫“终极超越”，也就是我们常说的“放下”和“破执”。

所谓放下，不是不去做事，而是在做事的同时不执著于所做的事，也就是在做事的过程中，享受做事本身带来的快乐和明白，但不可把做的事当做一种负担。

对于大手印修炼者来说，上车也好，走路也好，回家也好，不回家也好，他的眼中无处不是家。如果这时候有辆车坐，他很快乐。但是，要是他自己不在这登车的十个人之内，他也会很快乐。这种快乐源于自心，与外面的世界没有关系。如今，活在世间的人把自己心灵的快乐，建立在心灵之外的外部世界上。当这个外部世界一有变化，他的快乐也就会随之变化了。

在基本的生存问题解决之后，大手印修炼者的快乐是自己内心的光明，与外部世界的物质没有关系。

◎陈亦新：那这种快乐就是随遇而安？

●雪漠：随遇而安也是一种快乐。但凡夫俗子的随遇而安是一种无奈，而大手印行者的随遇而安是一种自在的随缘。

举一个很简单的例子：一个从来没有上过学的放羊娃在放羊时，他认为很快乐，但对于他来说，这种快乐也许是一种愚昧。当他丢了羊，或是知道了外部世界、有了对比和欲望之后，他就不一定快乐了。但大手印行者的快乐，即使在阅尽红尘之后，他也仍然会快乐，因为他没有了分别心，没有了执著。成就者的快乐和放羊娃愚昧的快乐是不一样的。前者是无条件的快乐，后者是有条件的快乐。成就者睁开眼睛看到世界之大之富后仍然会快乐，而愚者是闭着眼睛看不到世界、所感受到的那种小富即安的快乐。

◎陈亦新：有人会说，现在很多人都是及时行乐，那些吃喝嫖赌的人也觉得很快乐，张三谈谈恋爱也觉得很快乐，李四喝喝酒照旧也很快乐。

●雪漠：但是，这些人的快乐都建立在外部世界的基础上。当张三在失恋之后就不快乐了，李四因各种原因没有酒喝时也会不再快乐。

◎陈亦新：可有些人在失恋之后立刻就会调整过来。他们会认为：女人嘛，没了这个，还会有另外一个。这时的他们仍然也会快乐。

●雪漠：像这种情况就叫做贪婪，当有一天，这个人在追逐一个女人的同时，或是健康出现问题的时候，他再也没有物质基础和生理基础去追逐女人的时候，他就会不快乐了。

◎陈亦新：有一小部分人也不会不高兴，他就会想：我反正也年轻过了，也享受过了，现在这样也很满足了。在你的立场来说，他的确很愚昧。可在他自己看来，自己也很高明。

●雪漠：当然，这种快乐就是我刚才讲到的放羊娃不明白的快乐、愚痴的快乐。对于那些追求欲望想得到快乐者，佛教中比喻为咬断自己的舌头饮自己的血；或是他们想喝大海之水来解渴，喝的海水越多，反倒越渴了。

这种快乐叫庸人的快乐，被称为红尘中凡夫的快乐。这种快乐很快就会消失。因为在物质满足之后、追逐到女人之后，或者在女人消失之后、健康消失之后，更或者说欲望得不到满足之后，快乐也就消失了。那份快乐就好比太阳下的霜，是很容易被蒸发的。

任何快乐只要在自己的心灵之外去寻找的时候，都不属于究竟的快乐。换一句话说，如果这种快乐是建立在心灵明白之外的快乐，那么它就会受制于外部世界。当这颗心受制于外部的物质世界时，他的贪婪是很难满足的。

大手印的快乐和修行人的快乐是一种无为的快乐，也即一种无条件的快乐，是心灵的光明所焕发出的一种无条件的快乐。而凡夫的快乐是依托于外部世界物质的快乐。

那些凡夫无论怎么快乐，无论怎么自身调理，但是在死亡来临的时候，他又会相应的不快乐。

而如果是一个真正证得了大手印的人，是不怕死亡的。因为对于真正的修行人来说，死亡也是一种节日，是解脱的最好机会。我写了一部书，叫《让死亡成为解脱的良机》，就讲了这个道理。

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