Everyone has feelings and senses. The makeup of the human body is nothing short of miraculous, as we all have feelings and perceptions and our body’s composition is entirely controlled by our state of mind. Our minds control all our bodily functions and abilities. Therefore, if our minds are focused, these functions and abilities will bring forth their full effect. Conversely, if our state of mind is not concentrated, all of our bodily functions and abilities will stop working.
人活在世界上都会有感觉和感官，因人体的结构是非常奇妙的，因此人活在世上都会有感觉和感观，因人体的结构，它是完全靠精神来控制的，人的精神可以控制人体所有的机能，精神一集中他的机能就全部发挥作用，如果精神松散，人体机能全部失去作用。
As devotees of Guan Yin Bodhisattva, what keeps you moving forward? The answer: your mental strength. You can then transform your mental strength into faith. If you do not have faith, you will never succeed in anything. Without faith, you will never see the light and you will not see a future. That’s why faith plays a significant role in cultivating the mind. It’s because of faith that you can courageously charge forward. When you lose faith, you will not be able to do anything well. For example, imagine a family that is on the verge of breaking apart. If the couple wishes to preserve their relationship and keep the family intact, they will need to rely on their faith and mental strength to sustain and support it. They need to believe that their marriage will take a turn for the better; that it will move in a positive direction. However, whether such faith can be maintained depends on their perceptions. Specifically, it depends upon their perceptions about their past and their future. But the key point to look at is whether a person is cultivating their mind. If that is the case, they will have faith, and hope. Otherwise, there will be none. After all, feelings and perceptions are void and illusory.
你们今天拜观世音菩萨靠的是什么力量？靠的是精神的力量，有精神力量才能转为信心，没有信心什么事都做不成功，没有信心，你就永远看不到光明，看不到前途。所以一个人的信心对修心非常重要，因为有了这种信心你才能勇往直前。当你没有信心时，你什么事情都做不好。比如：当一个家庭面临崩溃时，如果这对夫妻不想解体，就要靠信心和精神来寄托支撑，认为婚姻一定会转好的，婚姻就会朝着好的方向发展。但是这种信心能否维持是要靠感观，感观就是看他的过去，靠他的将来，最主要的是看他这个人是不是在修心。若这个人今天在修心就一定会有信心和希望，若不修心，就没有希望，感觉和感观也是虚空无实的。
Now, I want to talk about how to cope with favouritism and humiliation. On the face of it, both favouritism and humiliation conjure a feeling of being frightened. For example, a person who is constantly favoured will be frightened at the prospect of future abandonment. Another example: an ordinary employee was told unexpectedly by his supervisor that he will be made manager on the very next day. The employee would be shocked and yet happy. However, there would be a kind of frightened feeling as well. Therefore, being both favoured and humiliated is associated with being frightened, bringing the greatest misery to our psyche.
今天给大家讲“宠”与“辱”。宠与辱实际上都是惊恐的现象。比如：有人整天被宠爱，也会很惊恐，因他不知道哪天会被不宠爱抛弃了。又如：一个普通工人，老板忽然过来对他说：“我明天提升你做经理。”他会一下子吃惊了，会很开心。实际上这是一种惊恐。受宠与羞辱都是一种惊恐，这种惊恐是带给自身最大的忧患。
As the saying goes, “Endure humiliation and be unaffected”, or; “Remain unaffected by favouritism or humiliation”. If you are promoted by your superior today, remain unmoved. Then, if tomorrow you are reprimanded and demoted, you continue to remain unmoved. This is a healthy way of thinking. The situation we should avoid is the feeling of exhilaration when promoted today, and the feeling of hopelessness when demoted tomorrow. Therefore, don’t allow misery to linger in your mind.
常言道：“忍辱不惊”，“宠辱不惊”。今天被老板提升了，我不惊。明天被老板骂了，降职下台，我也不惊。这样的人心态好，不要今天上台，开心。明天下台，伤心。
Normally, when one is presented with favours or humiliation, the result is a significant internal contrast. In this context, let me further explain the idea of favour and humiliation. Here, humiliation doesn’t merely refer to shame or insult. It also refers to when a person fails to accomplish a certain task. Being favoured would normally refer to a situation in which a person of a relatively lower status, or lacking something in substantive value, is suddenly elevated to a higher status. In such a scenario, one may mistakenly believe that they are receiving genuine affection and feel pleasantly surprised. However, these feelings of pleasure are only temporary. In the movie, “Man with a Million”, a destitute character living hand-to-mouth was presented with a one-million-pound banknote. Ultimately, however, the banknote was returned to its rightful owners. When a person finds themself in a favourable situation, they might become startled and wrongly believe that the world has given them a pleasant surprise. However, what comes next is a sense of loss. Once that is experienced, they will become mired in consternation. For example, in ancient times, the Emperor may say: “I will promote you to Grand Chancellor (a position in ancient China equivalent to the prime minister today), as the incumbent has failed in carrying out his responsibilities.” If you don’t have what it takes to be Grand Chancellor, you will live in fear every day upon assuming this role, not knowing when you’ll be replaced. Who knows? Maybe your fate will be even more tragic than your predecessor, as you run the risk of execution. Therefore, do not hastily conclude that your temporary gain is a good thing. That is simply a display of foolish consternation.
所以不要在心中留下忧患。当你受到宠爱和受到羞辱时，通常会给自己造成太大的反差。辱，在这里作一解释，“辱”并不是完全指羞辱，而是你想做一件事，没有做成，实际上没做成也就是一种羞辱。受宠一般是指比较低下的人或比较没有实质性的事情，忽然之间一下子提升，就会误以为是受宠，就会惊喜，而这种惊喜都是暂时性的。大家看过电影《百万英磅》，一张百万英磅让一个穷人拿到，最后这一百万英磅的支票还是被人家拿回去了。一个人碰到一件好事情时会吃惊，误以为世界上的东西真的给自身带来了惊喜，惊喜之后随之而来的就是失去，当你失去之后，又是惊恐万分。譬如：皇上说：今天提升你做宰相，因为某某宰相不好，不尽职。当你做了宰相之后，如果你没有能力做宰相，接下来你就会天天惊恐，不知道哪一天会下台？可能会比下台的前宰相还要惨，说不定还会有被杀头的危机。不要以为暂时得到的是好事情，这叫愚昧惊恐。
When a favour comes, you are happy – but when it leaves, you are desolate. When humiliation comes, you are sad – but when it leaves, you are relieved of a heavy burden. If your mind is in this state of perpetual flux, you will never obtain inner peace. After all, everybody wishes for a life of serenity. However, if your mind is always susceptible to such sudden fluctuations, how will tranquillity be achieved? For example, a person in good health may toil over work-related matters, obsessed with thoughts about how their boss or colleagues treat them unfairly, or preoccupied with work hurdles. On the other hand, if this person is struck with severe illness and loses their job, they are now free of work worries but will start worrying about health issues. So when will our minds be settled and at peace? Without inner serenity, one is temperamental and moody, leading a life that seems sick all of the time. Despite being free of physical sickness, it will be apparent that you have developed a sickness in your mind. Why? Because when others praise you, you are frightened. When others slander you, you are also frightened. People are very sensitive these days. When they hear a compliment, the first thing that comes to their minds is whether it was meant to be sarcastic. Isn’t that a sign of mental illness? That’s why modern society promotes the importance of both physical and mental health. Having physical health alone is insufficient, as mental health is just as essential. Therefore, we must regard being favoured and humiliated indifferently. If you lose your job today, it is alright as you may find another one. If you are unexpectedly diagnosed with an illness, it is equally fine as you may be cured.
宠来了，就高兴。宠走了，就失落。辱来了，就伤心。辱走了，如释重负。一颗心在这世上永远飘来飘去不得安宁。大家都希望有一个宁静的生活，而这颗心却每天漂浮不定，如何能宁静？比如：一个人没有病时，为工作上的事情整天烦来烦去，一会儿老板或同事对我不好了，一会儿工作上不顺利出问题了。如果生了重病工作没了，工作上不烦了，而身体上又开始烦来烦去，说说看，这个心哪一天才能安宁。没有宁静，喜怒无常，悲欢不定，人活在世上永远就像生病一样，看看你的肉身，虽然现在没有病，而你的灵魂已经生病了。为什么？因为天天怕啊，被人说好话怕，被人说坏话也怕，现在的人都很敏感，听一句好话，第一个想到的是会不会是在讽刺我？这不是心理有病吗？所以现今世界提倡人要身心健康，仅身体健康还不够还要心灵健康。对受宠和受辱都要平平淡淡地看待，今天工作没了没关系，总能找到，今天忽然查出身体有病了也没关系，总会治好的。
A person who is free of attachments is a truly selfless person. This may be hard to comprehend and reconcile in one’s mind – why is a person who is free of attachments a selfless person? Look at it from a different perspective, being free of attachments means being free of self-serving thoughts and the notion of self. If you are constantly filled with concerns about yourself, such as work, your future, your family, and the like, aren’t these attachments selfish? One must learn to see things from a flipped perspective. If somebody is filled with all kinds of attachments, they must be utterly selfish. Guan Yin Bodhisattva comes to the Human Realm to save sentient beings and help them spiritually awaken. But if she thinks about other Bodhisattvas in Heaven all the time, or about returning after all the hardships she has been through in the Human Realm, how will the Bodhisattva be able to achieve her goal? Many monastics vow to save sentient beings. For this noble cause, they choose to cultivate as Buddhist monks and nuns, and wish to return to the Human Realm in their next lives to save even more sentient beings. Indeed, this is also a form of altruistic devotion.
一个没有牵挂的人，才是一个真正无私的人。听起来不太好理解，会感觉不对，没有牵挂的人怎么会是无私的人呢？换个概念来想一想，不牵挂就是没有私心，没有我自己啊。如果整天为自己牵挂，工作啦，前途啦，家人啦，等等，这是不是存有私心？要学会反过来理解，一个人牵挂这个，牵挂那个，就是私心很重。观世音菩萨到人间来救度众生，如果整天牵挂天上的菩萨或想我到人间吃这么多苦该回去了，这样怎么能救度众生呢？多少和尚法师发愿，要救度众生，愿出家修行，以后再来救度更多的众生——乘愿再来。这也是无私奉献。
A person who is free of attachments is a truly selfless person. Through such altruistic devotion, one becomes unconcerned with themself, unconcerned with family obligations, their career, their prospects, their wealth and so on. They are truly practising the virtue of giving. Only those who are willing to give are truly selfless, so in helping others, we should aim to practise altruistic devotion. If you help others with the motive of using it for your personal gain or for reciprocal benefits for your family, isn’t this kind of help actually selfish? It is because you have concerns for yourself and for your family members that you wish to help others. This is also known as help with strings attached. Of the many role models in our society who have helped many people, have they thought about themselves or asked for anything in return? Their help is free of obstructions, their compassion is unconditional, and their devotion is altruistic.
一个没有牵挂的人，才是一个真正无私的人。因为他奉献了，不牵挂自己，不牵挂家庭，不牵挂所有的事业、前途、钱财等，他这是在舍，因为能舍的人，才是无私的人，帮助别人要无私奉献。如果你帮助人家是为了利用人家，为的是将来也能帮助到你或你的家人，你们说这种帮助是不是自私的。因为你有牵挂，牵挂自己、家人，希望我今天帮助你之后，将来你也能帮助我，这叫有偿回报的帮助。雷锋帮助了那么多人，他想过自己没有？想过回报没有？这叫无罣碍的帮助，无缘慈悲，无私的奉献。
Only those who genuinely free themselves of attachments can become truly fearless. First, to be fearless, you must be selfless. That is because only those who can give everything away will have nothing left to fear. A common plot in the movies is when bad guys kidnap children, knowing that parents are so concerned about their children. They take advantage of this mentality to cause fear, in the hope of achieving their goal. From another perspective, if your child or family member is kidnapped, will you feel concerned? How can you show great fearlessness under such circumstances? As a matter of fact, this is a misconception. When you are selfless, you possess the spirit of great fearlessness, and you cultivate well, Bodhisattvas will protect you. Your children and family members won’t be kidnapped, but instead remain safe and sound. But if your family isn’t safe and sound, it’s an indication that your cultivation is falling short and you lack blessings, which leads to suffering and chaos within your family. Only someone who is fearless can become a person of great vision and achievement – and it is only people such as these who may take on the great responsibilities conferred from Heaven.
一个真正没有牵挂的人，才能成为一个真正无畏的人。首先，无私之后才能无畏，因为什么都舍的人，才会什么都不怕。多少电影里都可以看到，那些坏人绑架孩子，是因为他们知道你牵挂孩子，用这种方法来让你怕，来达到他们的目的。从人间的角度上来讲，自己的孩子或家人被绑架，你会没有牵挂？怎么还变成了大无畏？实际上你理解错了，当你有无私大无畏精神之后，当你修得好的时候菩萨会保佑你，你的孩子或家人就不会被绑架，你的家人才会很安定。家人不安定，实际上就是你修得不好，没有福报，才会造成家人的不安和痛苦。一个无畏的人，才是一个真正大有作为的人。一个大有作为的人，才能真正接受上天托付给的重任。
发表于 2022-4-25 07:25:08
