Real Buddhist Practice Lies in Believing and Practicing

 

Real Buddhist Practice Lies in Believing and Practicing

 

Everything is created by one’s own mind; Suffering or difficulties are what you feel in your mind. Suppose a horse has been tied to a hitching post since it was born. Even if it is able to free itself without much effort, it may not make that attempt; for it is hard for it to break loose the hitching post in its mind. That is to say, we are bound up only by our long-established opinions and habits.

 

Apparently, to enlighten one’s mind and see one’s nature is as difficult as climbing up to heaven, but to someone with great faith, it is as easy as turning their hand. With some proper methods to help dissolve deluded thoughts and desires, the true mind will eventually give out its pure light. So don’t regard everything as difficult. Many difficulties are self-made and self-imposed. Why does a baby become so happy when it merely sees colorful things? It is because they don’t have all sorts of desires nor future plans. No desire, no suffering.

 

According to our forefathers, everything is created by one’s own mind; Suffering or difficulties are what you feel in your mind. Suppose a horse has been tied to a hitching post since it was born. Even if it is able to free itself without much effort, it may not make that attempt; for it is hard for it to break loose the hitching post in its mind. That is to say, we are bound up only by our long-established opinions and habits.

 

If you think it is very difficult to change one of your opinions, the difficulty you think you have will become another obstacle. Likewise, if you always hold the opinion that you can never be enlightened, that thought will bind your mind and put you under a lot of pressure.

 

Let me give you an example. A person has always detested the smell of the durian, which remind him of excrement. One day, however, he has a sudden feeling that he wants to taste the durian. When he makes up his mind and tries a little bit, he probably will find that the durian is not as detestable as he had imagined, or he might take to it. As a matter of fact, it’s the same with everything. If you think it is hard to achieve something, you will feel painful or treat it as a torture when you are actually dealing with it.. But if you can get rid of that idea and focus on what you are doing, you will find that it isn’t as hard as you had thought and that it is not that painful to stick it out. As you carry on with it, you will succeed.

 

Some practitioners think they have great hindrances of karma, so they get up to practice at midnight every day. They are afraid of falling into the hell owing to their carelessness, so they practice as hard as if they were treading on thin ice. The fear imposes a heavy burden on their minds, and it is this burden that makes them fall into the hell when they die – for the so-called hell is a creation of their minds.

 

The so-called understanding is seeing clearly that the difficulties and sufferings you have experienced, as well as hindrances of karma, are the creation of your own mind. However, though some practitioners understand all this in principle, they will feel furious when they are abused; even if they refrain from quarreling on the spot, they will complain about it afterwards to their friends or relatives. This is because they fail to apply principles to daily life and bring about the marvelous functions of wisdom.

 

The understanding of one’s own nature is not the acquisition of some supernatural powers or the obtaining of something outside one’s mind; it is the realization of one’s ultimate independence. For a practitioner who has awakened and entered, there is nothing for him to enter into or go out of; he has only discovered his native scenery and his original face. At that time, the self is at once present and absent; it is real and perfect, in one with the great existence; yet it has nothing to be gained, nothing to be attached to. After the understanding not only in principle but in phenomena, you will find that a lot of temptations originate from your own mind. As long as you care nothing about them, they are meaningless and can’t tempt you.

 

Some writers rack their brains to win some awards. In order to do so, they are in a constant state of anxiety. They don’t understand that only their competitors will remember the awards they receive and that no reader will care about such things. However, their minds are fettered by such an illusory thing.

 

As a matter of fact, an award is as impermanent as fame and gains; it has no everlasting entity, no self-nature, and it won’t remain unchanged. It is created from one’s momentary thought and is a vague and insubstantial concept, a game created by those within in a circle. The reason why this game of concept can fetter one’s mind is that the writers can’t resist the temptation of fame and gains.

 

Of course, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t take part in games and competitions and win awards. What I mean is that it is good if you win an award and that it doesn’t really matter if you don’t. When you don’t care about it, you are always happy whether you get it or not. Only in this way can you lead a carefree life.

 

So, don’t regard everything as difficult; the so-called difficulties are created by your own mind. If there is no difficulty in your mind, you won’t feel difficult when you deal with a problem. Be happy at the present moment, understand at the present moment, and accord with conditions at the present moment.

 

You see, the liberation and joy of your mind is a matter of the present moment. No more excuses. Understand at the present moment, and then see if there is difficulty in your mind. You will find that there is none. Now your problem is that your understanding at the moment is that in principle and that you can’t do some things by means of it. When you come across a trivial matter you can no longer stay cool, for at that time you forget your understanding completely.

 

Lots of people are in the habit of making excuses and leaving things to be dealt with tomorrow. For example, some people think they have heavy burdens, so they decide not to start practice until their business gets stable. Some girls think that they have to get married within a certain period of time, and then give birth to children, take care of their husband, and show filial obedience to her parents and parents-in-law; there are so many defilements and so many trivial matters that they don’t have time to think about life, not to mention time to practice. Never pose such absurd obstacles in the path of yourself. Don’t wait till you become a man to be happy. No more excuses for yourself.

 

Everyone can find excuses at any time. An excuse is the easiest thing to be produced in the world. There are too many excuses in our life. For example, a man who is supposed to quit smoking may say to himself, “I’m so bored, I must smoke a cigarette; I’ll quit smoking tomorrow.” A woman who wants to lose weight may say to herself, “I’m too tired to do any exercise. I’ll do it tomorrow.”

 

If you want to be happy, clear-minded and free, do it now. Only dull people constantly find excuses for themselves.

 

Everything we do is to conquer ourselves. If you keep on feeding yourself with lame excuses, when can you conquer yourself? You see Xue Mo is conquering himself, and you find it to be a great enterprise and you know you will be very happy after you have done it. But why can’t you conquer yourself then? Learn from Xue Mo, be happy at the present moment, put down everything, accord with all conditions, be carefree, and illuminate your mind with bright light.

 

In lots of sutras, there is such a sentence, “having heard what the Buddha said, all the monks received his teaching with conviction and understanding and then truly practiced it.” What does it mean? It means that all the monks were happy after they heard what the Buddha had said and put it into practice.

 

A man with mere belief is hard to achieve liberation. In order to be liberated, you must act out your belief, that is, behave according to the truths you believe in. Not only has the Buddha said that, but almost all the classics have said that. If the Buddha spends so much time teaching but people don’t practice accordingly, the Buddha won’t bother to teach any more. Likewise, after you have read my book, you think it is very illuminating. But if you go on with your old ways after you wake up the next morning, the book is rendered meaningless.

 

So I hope that all my audience are happy to receive and practice what I have said, and then sing light-heartedly on their way home. I hope you have a restful sleep and become more and more peaceful and happy.

 

Real Buddhist practice lies in believing and practicing.

 

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第四辑：再送几条锦囊妙计

 

信受奉行才是真正的修行

 

一切东西都是自己的心制造出来的，烦恼也罢，困难也罢，都是自己心里面的感受。假如一匹骏马从小就被拴马桩拴着，即使有一天它长大了，稍稍一挣，就可能挣脱那桎梏，但它不一定会去尝试，因为它很难摆脱自己心中的拴马桩。许多时候，我们其实只是被长期形成的观念和习惯所束缚。

 

明心见性看似难于登天，实际上，对于大信心者来说，也易如反掌。只要你通过一些恰当的方法，消解妄念，破除欲望，真心自然会绽放出它纯净的光芒。所以，你不要把一切想得那么难，好多难度都是自己“想”出来的，是你自己为自己设置了难度。为什么婴儿仅仅看到彩色的东西都会那么开心？因为他们心中没有杂七杂八的欲望，没有对将来的设想。没有欲望，便没有烦恼。

 

按老祖宗的说法，一切东西都是自己的心制造出来的，烦恼也罢，困难也罢，都是自己心里面的感受。假如一匹骏马从小就被拴马桩拴着，即使有一天它长大了，稍稍一挣，就可能挣脱那桎梏，但它不一定会去尝试，因为它很难摆脱自己心中的拴马桩。这就是说，许多时候，我们其实只是被长期形成的观念和习惯所束缚。

 

如果你认为改变一种观念很困难，那么你说的这个困难又会构成一种新的障碍。就像假如你始终认为自己无法明白，这种观念就会捆住你的心，给你造成非常大的压力。

 

我举个例子，有的人一直觉得榴莲很臭，那种臭让他每次闻及都联想到粪便，但是当他某天突然想要尝尝榴莲的味道，于是狠下心来试一口的时候，也许就会发现它并不如想象中那么招人讨厌，甚至还有可能会喜欢上它。实际上，所有事情都是这样，你一旦觉得某事很难成功，做的时候就会觉得很痛苦，甚至把它当成一种折磨。但是如果你把这个念头放下，只是专注于做事的过程，就会发现一切并不如你想象中那么难，坚持起来也并不是那么痛苦，长此以往就会成功。

 

有些人觉着自己业障重重，每天半夜三更起来苦苦地修，怕稍不注意就会堕入地狱，修行修得如履薄冰。这种恐惧造成了他们心理上巨大的束缚，这种束缚反而会让他死后堕入地狱。因为所谓地狱也是他的心所造成的。

 

所谓的明白，就是看清楚过去的那种困难和痛苦，其实还是自己心造的，业障也是心念造就的。不过，有的人虽然在道理上都明白了，但被人骂了还是会火冒三丈，即使当场不和对方吵架，事后也必定在友人、亲人面前抱怨。这就是因为他们不能把道理运用到日常生活中去，让智慧生起妙用。

 

明白自性不是获得了什么神异，不是得到了心外的东西，而是实现了真正的自主。真正的悟入者，实无所入，亦无所出，只是发现了自己的本地风光和本来面目。这时的“我”，有我非我，真实圆融，与大存在合一，却无所得，更无所执。不但理上明白，事上也明白之后你就会发现，好多诱惑实质上还是你自己的心构成的。如果你不在乎它，它就没有意义，不对你构成诱惑。

 

有的作家为了获个奖而费尽心机，惶惶不可终日。他根本不知道，只有竞争对手才记得他获了奖，普通读者谁去管那些东西。但这么一个虚无的东西，仍然把他的心灵束缚住了。

 

其实，奖项就跟其他名利一样，是个无常的东西，没有永恒不变的“本体”，是没有自性，不会永恒不变的。它因人一时的念头而诞生，仅仅就是一种虚无缥缈的概念，是一种圈内人制造的游戏。之所以这个概念的游戏能够束缚人的心灵，是因为作家们受到了名与利的诱惑。

 

当然，我也不是说你不能去参加比赛，不能得奖。我的意思是，得奖很好，不得奖也没什么；有奖金很好，没奖金也好。当你不在乎它的时候，得到很好，得不到也改变不了你的快乐，这样你才能活得自由自在。

 

所以，不要觉得做什么事都很困难，所谓的困难都是心造的。心里没有困难，做事的过程中就不会感到困难。要当下快乐，当下明白，同时也随缘于当下。

 

你要明白，心灵的解脱和快乐就在当下，再不要给自己找任何借口。当下明白了，你再想一想，此刻你的心中有困难没有，就会发现其实没有困难。你目前的问题是，这时候的轻松明白只是理上的明白，不能用它来做一些事情。遇到一点小事，你就不清凉了，就把这份明白抛到九霄云外了。

 

许多人总是给自己找借口，把事情留到“明天”去做。比如有的人认为自己负担很重，等事业稳定了才能开始修行；有的女孩子还认为，女人要在一定的时限内把自己嫁出去，而且还要怀孕生子，照顾老公，孝顺父母公婆，太多烦恼太多琐事，没时间思考人生，更没时间修行。永远不要为自己设置这种莫名其妙的障碍，不要等着你以后变成男人再快乐。不要再给自己找任何借口。

 

任何人，任何时候都可以找到借口。借口是世上最容易产生的东西。生活中有太多的借口。例如有的人明明要戒烟，但是他会对自己说，今天我太烦了必须抽一根，明天我一定不抽；有的人明明想减肥，但又会对自己说，今天工作好累，我没有精力做运动了，明天再做吧。

 

想快乐、清明、解脱，就要当下快乐，当下清明，当下明白。只有一些非常无聊的人，才总在给自己找借口。

 

我们所做的一切就是为了战胜自己，如果不断给自己找借口的话，你什么时候才能战胜自己呢？你看到雪漠在战胜自己，就觉得战胜自己非常伟大，战胜自己之后非常快乐，那为什么你就不能战胜自己呢？要像雪漠那样，快乐于当下，放下一切，触目随缘，快乐无忧，让自己的心灵一片朗然光明。

 

释迦牟尼佛的很多经卷中都有一句话：“诸比丘闻佛所说信受奉行。”这句话是什么意思呢？它是说，所有和尚听完之后都非常欢喜，然后马上照着去做。

 

单纯拥有信仰是很难让一个人解脱的，要想解脱，必须把你的信仰用行为表现出来，照着你虔信的真理去做。不只佛陀这样说，几乎所有的经典中都这样说。如果说了大半天，人家都不照着去做，释迦牟尼佛就没意思再去说了。正如你看完了我的这本书之后，心里觉得很有道理，但一觉睡醒之后，还是照以往的老路子去走，那看书就失去了意义。

 

所以，我希望所有听我说话的人也是欢喜奉行，然后轻快地唱着歌，回到家坦然入睡，一天比一天更加宁静快乐。

 

信受奉行才是真正的修行。

 

声明：本文系文化志愿者试译，非专业人才翻译，错误定然不少，如出现疏漏及错误，敬请读者见谅。如有任何翻译上的建议及修正意见，欢迎及时与我们取得联系，我们会加以校对、修改，并希望有专业才能的朋友也能加入我们志愿者群体中来。

 

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