六龜靈象山．般若精舍

2010年12月21日星期二

中英版：護僧的基本認知（十）

護僧的基本認知（十）

開仁法師著

九丶同續佛慧命

護僧的意義非常深遠，除了本身要對佛法有正確的認知以外，更要瞭解出家人修行清淨梵行之禁忌。莫還未完成護衛出家人的使命，反倒過來令大有前途的修行人夭折，那可真是本末倒置了。

身為在家眾要懂得護僧，這除了能夠幫助出家人安心辦道以外，其實同時也是在令三寶繼續住世。佛陀在入滅前曾對弟子交代說：只要往後有佛弟子實踐佛法，正法即可以淵源長流不息。再加上佛陀建立僧團的最終目的，就是為了正法久住，而出家人又是僧團的一份子，我們豈可不全心盡力的護持出家眾呢？

在解脫的觀點上，出家與在家也許不會有什麽差異，但只要論及所投入的用心丶時間與耐力，不消說彼此亦心知肚明的。當然，對於悍衛佛教丶續佛慧命的責任，出家在家是平等的，只是各別所展現的能力與範疇不太一樣罷了。但在現實上，由於出家人是沒有經營生產的，且加上有弘法利生與修戒定慧的工作，故很多生活上的瑣碎事情無暇處理，這才必須要有在家眾人力丶財力丶心力的護持。

探究佛陀出家修道的用心與動機，不難發現一個出家人對於修行與度生的工作是責無旁貸的，單是這一點就值得居家者尊敬護持了。護僧，看起來是護他人，實則同時也是在護持自己的法身慧命，以及讓正法有人延續下去。因為僧眾若是可以安心辦道的話，我們就可以有聽聞佛法的機會；有人在修道，正法自然能流傳下去。

The Fundamental Knowledge in Safeguarding the Sangha Members（十）

By Ven Kai Ren

9. Continue the life of Buddha together

There is great significance in safeguarding the Sangha members because one should have correct perspective on Buddhism but also the taboos of the Sangha. Otherwise one may ruin the future of the monks.

Lay Buddhist should know how to safeguard the Sangha members as such action could let the Sangha members have a peace of mind to concentrate with their noble cause. Buddha did tell his disciples before his Nirbana that genuine Dharma would stay forever as long as His disciples could put the Dharma into practice. The ultimate objective of setting up the Sangha by Buddha was to let the Dharma to stay forever. And the monks and nuns or Bhikkhus or Bhikkhunis are part and parcel of the Sangha, how could we not go all out to safeguard the Sangha members?

There is no doubt that both the Sangha and lay Buddhists equally share the responsibility in shouldering the task of defending Buddhism and continue with the life of Buddhism. In real life, the monks and nuns or Sangha did not indulge in any productive activities and concentrate only in Dharma propagation and meditation. Therefore, lay Buddhists are needed to help them to manage the trivial issues in daily life.

When we study the intention and motive of Buddha to renounce the household to look for Nirbana, the complete cessation of suffering, it’s not difficult for us to discover that a Bhikkhu is duty bound to practise the Dharma and help the sentient beings. Such merit is worth every lay Buddhist to support. It looks as if we are safeguarding another person by safeguarding the Sangha, in reality, we are also safeguarding our life in the Dharma and genuine Dharma could be propagated endlessly. When Sangha members could have a peace of mind in running the temple affairs, lay Buddhists will have the opportunity to listen to Dharma.

2010年12月18日星期六

記憶中的旅程──臺灣

惠娟2010/12/19

回顧十天的臺灣之旅，記憶已經逐漸模糊了。或許是年紀大了，抑或是已漸漸地回到了現實生活吧！努力回想的過程中，記憶裡只浮現了青草、涼風、大樹和鳥叫蟲鳴──風景如畫。說來我們這行──十行人並不簡單，尤其是顧及家中老少，更是讓人多費了點力氣。我尤其喜歡臺灣的官方語言，就連道路上都漆上華文字樣，是件讓我新奇的事！

我們的第一站就去了鶯歌，鶯歌是購買精品的好地方，其中我最想擁有的瓶中花──確實與我無緣。

花博與故宮的人山人海，是我這次臺灣之旅見過最多人的地方。若想在賞心悅目之下多加停留的話，可說並不是一件簡單的事。外婆尤其喜歡花博，畢竟是性情中人。想必這是外婆在這個旅程中拍得最開心的一張照片吧！

故宮的紀念品是我最優勢的收穫，輕巧、美觀讓我們這些“遊者”得心應手。

風景最美的地方非“合歡山”莫屬。清境農場與挪威森林民宿，可是我歷經了長途拔涉才來到的地方，吸吸涼涼的風，舒緩了我暈車的不適。“武嶺”卻讓人為之發抖，倘若讓我從新來過的話，臉上的口罩肯定是多餘的。不過夜晚的民宿卻靜得讓人難以入睡，再加上各房的廚子都不能打開，讓我發揮了遐想的空間。

後來的幾天都是往寺廟裡去，看看各寺廟的宏偉建築設計，更襯托了佛像的莊嚴。當時，我可真費了好大的體力，才能讓我家小孩稍且安靜。哈…也算功德一小樁啦！

最後一站是六龜，住在般若精舍裡就像回家一樣，大家一起做飯，一起打掃，一起聊天、喝茶。每個人都有事做，事事有人做，這才像一家人。再者，又像是一家人參加了某生活營一樣，有找回了小時候參加生活營的感覺哦！

回鄉之際總讓人不捨，展望下一次的臺灣之旅，也不是一件

不可能的事。

2010年12月14日星期二

中英版：護僧的基本認知（九）

護僧的基本認知（九）

開仁法師著

八丶依法不依人

佛陀開示四預流支之親近善知識時，同時一道配合四依之依法不依人來詮述，這有什麽特殊意義呢？意義可深遠了。從這可以看出佛陀的大智慧，因為佛法的學習不能缺少善知識，尤其是末世的眾生，智慧淺福報薄，不太可能靠一點自己的生得慧或聞思慧就可以修出一個春天來。所以，在初基階段，必定要多多親近好的老師，才能認清及建立自己未來的修道學程。

不過，大家都知道尚未入聖流的行者，行為不但有很多缺憾，甚至還會夾雜煩惱在裏頭。這個時候我們又如何平衡及抉擇它呢？上述的問題佛陀早已預料到了，故才會在開示親近善知識的法門後，即刻緊接著闡釋親近善知識的目的，主要是為了求學佛法而已。因為老師的責任只是把方法教授給你，至於實修與體驗則需靠自己的用功了。不要因為老師還有習氣而煩惱，也莫為了一個好的老師而難以割捨，我們親近他的目的是為了獲得解決煩惱的方法，千萬不能倒果為因，本末倒置了。

為什麽我們要先建立依法不依人的知見呢？現實上有很多問題的嚴重化，就是因為忘掉佛陀所教導的這項準繩，弄到一天不來寺廟看看師父就內心不安，最後造成家庭出現問題，乃至家離子散。有的則像將自己的身心送給寺院，看起來真的很發心，實則遺忘伴侶丶孤立朋友丶拋棄社會，但又不願意落發出家，兩頭不到岸。不但自己煩擾，也傷害了佛教，更是害苦了那位出家眾。從這裏我們可以知道，護持僧眾如果方法不恰當的話，即達不到相互增上的意義，也促使佛教受到傷害。

The Fundamental Knowledge in Safeguarding the Sangha Members（九）

By Ven Kai Ren

8. Rely on the Dharma or truth itself, not the false interpretation of men

When Buddha professed on sotāpattiyanga (the 4 preliminary conditions to Stream-entry) about approaching the learned one, He also talked about the four of the Dharma, i.e. the truth, which is eternal, rather than the men, even its propagator. What is the significance behind it? It manifests the wisdom of the Buddha. As we aware, we need learned ones to guide us to learn about Dharma especially when we are in the last of the three periods of the Buddha-law, it’s impossible for us to attain any high level of accomplishment in the practice without the guidance of the learned ones. Therefore, it’s very important, during the initial stage of learning, to frequently approach the learned ones.

As we are aware, we have a lot of shortcomings and worries when we have not achieved the holy position. So how are we going to balance it and choose? The Buddha had sighted all these problems and that’s why He, after explaining ways in approaching the learned ones, He immediately taught us the objectives of approaching these learned ones. The responsibility of the Sangha who acted as teachers/preachers is to tell us the way and it needs our own effort to put into practice and experience it. Our objective in approaching the learned ones is to know the way to get rid of our worries. If we get agitated just because of certain habits of the Sangha/Bhikkhus or attached so much to the Sangha/Bhikkhus, then we are putting the cart behind the horse in the course of our learning Dharma.

Why should we establish the right view of relying on the Dharma or truth itself, not the false interpretation of men? In real life, a lot of issues are getting out of hand because many people have forgotten this criterion taught by the Buddha. Some indulged too many of their time in the temple and felt uneasy for not seeing the Master and at last, gave rise to family problem. Some treated the temple as their home, it looked as if they were very committed, in actual fact, they had forgotten about their life partners, isolated their friends, abandoned the society and yet they were reluctant to renounce the household life and in the end, not only they gave problem to themselves, they also hurt the Buddhism and the Master in particular. From here, we can see that if the method is not handled properly, it would cause damage to many parties.

2010年12月13日星期一

生命就是這樣

生命就是這樣

沒有流過眼淚的傷，不會深刻

沒有疼痛過的心，不會成長

從古至今，人生就是這樣

沒有忍耐過的痛，不會記得

沒有放下過的重擔，不會輕安

生命的過程，本來就是這樣

河流的水，不斷往前流逝

生命的推移，原來真的就是這樣

一去永不復返

開仁

2010年12月12日星期日

剎那定

問：「剎那定」(khaṇikasamādhi)能幫助我們修得「毗婆舍那」嗎？

答：請記住《清淨道論》明確地提到，依據《念處經》的〈界作意章〉，觀照四界時生起的「近行定」能夠去除五蓋。《清淨道論大疏鈔》(Mahātīkā I 436)解釋說，這不是真正的「近行定」，因為它不會引生色界「禪那」；但是，由於這種定和真正的「近行定」一樣，能夠鎮伏五蓋，所以藉由所謂“sadisūpacāra”的類喻方式，稱它為「近行定」。就毗婆舍那修行的場合而言，此種定應被稱為「剎那定」(khaṇika- samādhi)。這也就是，為何我常稱它為「觀剎那定」(vipassanākhanikasamādhi)的原因。有些人無法了解剎那定，他們認為：剎那定無法引發毗婆舍那；若能夠的話，則一般的學生也有毗婆舍那智了。

關於這一點，我認為，如果學生們依照《大念處經》的教法，觀照當下的身心現象，因而修得足以去除五蓋的定力，他們便能獲得毗婆舍那智。然而，很清楚的是，推理或思考、分析算數等，並不足以降伏五蓋，同時，學生們也未實際地觀照當下的身、心現象。所以說，提出此諍辯的人，必然不懂或不甚了解真正毗婆舍那的修行過程。在《清淨道論》中，「剎那定」被稱為「剎那的心一境性」(khaṇika- cittekaggatā)，《大疏鈔》將它定義作：「僅住剎那的定」。基於注、疏，我稱它為「剎那定」。如果他們能了解這一點，就不會感到困惑了。(◎摘自《轉法輪經講記》)

在覺照的剎那所引生的定，稱為「剎那定」，此乃禪修者觀照之時才能持續的定。若無此定，便不能修得毗婆舍那。所以，我們必須令此定的力量強大到足以引生觀智。就未得禪那而純粹修習毗婆舍的禪修者而言，此「剎那定」將一路引導他，直到他證得道、果。「毗婆舍那」的修行，並不專注在單一的所緣，而是需要觀照當下生起的種種所緣。無論現象如何變化，心仍能時時刻刻專注在這些所緣上。實際修習過的禪修者，對這件事是很清楚的。 (◎摘自《減損經講記》)

中英版：護僧的基本認知（八）

護僧的基本認知（八）

開仁法師著

七丶多求法滋潤

身為在家眾，有心來親近出家人，一定要多多求問佛法，尤其難得遇見有出家僧眾的地方。出家人通常到一個全新感覺的地方時，開始是會觀察周遭的人事物，若身為白衣的曉得掌握機會請示法師學法心得的話，一般的出家眾都會喜出望外，因為有想學法的人，此處才是有希望的地方；莫談了老半天，只是把口舌浪費在沒意義的課題上，那就會令出家人大失所望了。

在家人學佛，有的是上班制的，意思是只在佛寺或佛教會的那段時間把佛法來實踐，一踏出這個範圍就把佛法暫時交還師父，下次來再繼續。有的是看法師而定，喜歡相應的法師，可以廢寢忘食的粘著不放；看不上眼的，就讓他一個人生活一個人寂寞，直到他離去。有的是以心情丶天氣好壞而定。有的是因為身份不得已，不陪法師可能連鐵飯碗也保不住。有的是因面子問題，大家都來了，若缺席以後怎麽混下去。有的是為了一睹風采，開開眼界。有的是因為法師的師父是某某長老大師，有名望，順便來沾沾光。有的是因為來試探出家人的斤兩……真是不勝枚舉！

身為在家人，要多珍惜向出家人求法的機會，除了請示法義外，亦應邀請法師帶領共修，以便對一法門有一確實的練習，深入體會佛法甚深的法味。很多人是業餘佛教徒，假使還不精進學法的話，久而久之會俗裏俗氣。不要只管辦活動去輔導度化別人，有時也要照顧自己尚未清淨的心靈。世間善法的事務，一定要做，但不是去捨身喂虎，走上泥菩薩渡江的不歸路，有時還是需要充充電源，以讓這條付出的路走得更加穩健及安全。

The Fundamental Knowledge in Safeguarding the Sangha Members（八）

By Ven Kai Ren

7. Hanker for Dharma

One should always ask questions from the Bhikkhus about Buddhism if one is eager to know more about Buddhism. More often than not, a Bhikkhu who is new to a place (temple or monastery), is eager to share his knowledge with anyone if one can grasp the opportunity to approach him. Of course, the Bhikkhu would be dispappointed if one only asks about trivial issues.

As for lay Buddhists, some only practise Buddhism when they are in temple or Buddhist association and will temporarily leave the Dharma to the Master when they are out of the temple or Buddhist association. Some will stick to a Bhikkhu day and night when some find that the Bhikkhu can fulfill their needs. Some lay Buddhists would leave the Bhikkhus alone when they have prejudice on them. Some acted on their sentiment, some are forced to entertain the Bhikkhus because they need the Bhikkhus for survival. Some are because of own reputation and some just want to have a glimpse of the famed Master, some are there to see how good and knowledgeable the Master is … too many to mention one by one.

As lay Buddhists, they should treasure the opportunity to seek Dharma from the Bhikkhu. Besides seeking Dharma, one should also invite the Bhikkhu to lead them for retreat so that they can indulge deeper onto particular way of practice. Many of the lay Buddhists can be considered as amateur Buddhist, they will talk like common people if they don’t indulge in Buddhism diligently. Lay Buddhists who are contribution much of their time in Buddhist activities and charity works should also take time to attend retreat to upgrade themselves spiritually.