【靜思妙蓮華】20140219 - 深植大信斷疑契悟 - 第244集

20140219《靜思妙蓮華》深植大信  斷疑契悟



⊙欲解疑念需至精勤，當深植大信根願力，體解佛智深入法海，究竟大乘真實妙法。

⊙爾時，舍利弗知四眾心疑，自亦未了，而白佛言：世尊，何因何緣殷勤稱歎諸佛第一方便，甚深微妙難解之法？《法華經方便品第二》

⊙我自昔來，未曾從佛聞如是說。今者四眾咸皆有疑，唯願世尊敷演斯事！世尊何故殷勤稱歎甚深微妙難解之法？《法華經方便品第二》

⊙諸佛智慧，甚深無量，其智慧門，難解難入。《法華經方便品第二》

⊙於諸實理猶豫不決之心也，故非契悟諦理不能絕疑。

⊙云何為疑？於諸諦理猶豫為性，能障諸善法為業。謂猶豫者，是令善難生故。



【證嚴上人開示】

「欲解疑念需至精勤，當深植大信根願力，體解佛智深入法海，究竟大乘真實妙法。」



欲解疑念需至精勤

當深植大信根願力

體解佛智深入法海

究竟大乘真實妙法



也就是要告訴大家，我們若要解開疑念，必定要有至誠精勤之心。「信為道源功德母」，疑是很障礙道心，所以有信就不能有疑，有了疑念，就無法相信真實甚深之妙法。所以，疑就是障礙道，所以我們的內心不能有疑念。



我們若要解開疑，這個疑念，必定要從我們的內心，至精、至誠、至勤，就是用最虔誠、勤修的心念，所以我們必定要，深植大信根願力。我們這個信根，必定要很深、很闊，要鋪開、展開，如此我們才能，將佛陀甚深微妙的道理，入我們的心，我們才能從我們的心，體解佛的智慧。我們若能體解佛陀的智慧，自然我們就能深入法海。



我們若在作三皈依時，不就是有一句「體解大道」。我們要「體解大道」，就是我們要深入佛的智慧海，這就是我們所追求。皈依佛、法、僧三寶，就是為了要「體解大道」；要發無上心，這個無上心就是大信根力的心。



我們若是皈依法，我們就要深入佛陀的智慧海，我們才能真正，將佛陀的教法全都接受，信受入我們的心，我們才能「智慧如海」，這是經藏，這麼多的東西，我們要如何將它吸收進來？唯有「信」，這個大信根力，我們才能吸收佛陀智慧之法。法、多，深如大海，但是我們既入大海，就要吸收甚深廣大的妙法。



這是我們不可空過時間，所以我們要走的，就是究竟大乘真實的妙法，這是我們的一乘法，希望我們人人能夠體會。



前面我們說到人人心中有疑，在那當中，舍利弗也是知道，全場的人，四眾的心境通通有疑念。過去四十多年來跟隨佛陀，佛陀的教育，我們通通接受，現在佛所說的，難知難解，甚深的妙法，到底是什麼呢？心有疑，所以因此，舍利弗來代替大家，要來請(示)佛。



爾時

舍利弗知

四眾心疑

自亦未了

而白佛言

世尊

何因何緣殷勤稱歎

諸佛第一方便

甚深微妙難解之法

《法華經方便品第二》



「而白佛言」，就是代替大家要來向佛請法，所以「白」。「白佛」是一種的恭敬。來向佛這樣說：「世尊，何因何緣，殷勤稱歎諸佛第一方便？」。佛陀怎麼一直在稱歎，稱歎諸佛他第一方便的法。



過去釋迦佛就是用方便法，來教育眾生，隨機。佛陀就是要表達，不只是我用方便法隨機逗教，過去的佛也是如此，還是同樣用方便法來度眾生，這種的法是權巧妙法。佛陀，釋迦佛一直在稱歎，表示引過去諸佛來證明自己，同樣這樣施，施教的方法用方便法，隨機逗教。



所以舍利弗就說：佛陀為何一直稱歎過去諸佛，是第一方便之法，到底這甚深微妙、難解之法，又是什麼法呢？



我自昔來

未曾從佛聞如是說

今者四眾咸皆有疑

唯願世尊敷演斯事

世尊何故殷勤稱歎

甚深微妙難解之法

《法華經方便品第二》



「我自昔來」，未曾從佛聞如是說。在過去都不曾聽過，不曾聽過釋迦佛，讚歎其他過去諸佛的第一方便，甚深微妙難解之法，從來也不曾聽過佛這樣說。



「今者四眾咸皆有疑」。現在我才聽到，其實大家也是與我一樣，都是現在才聽到，釋迦佛這樣在讚歎，稱歎過去佛的方便，甚深難解之法。不只是我有疑，其實大家都同樣有疑。第一次聽到，所以心中無法瞭解，所以「唯願世尊，敷演斯事。」希望世尊您，能在此時，向我們大家公開，很開闊的來為我們開示。



我們來瞭解到底是什麼法呢？「難解之法」，難解，就是難知，難解、難知，悟入也是很困難。既然無法去理解，那就是因為我們還不知道，不知道就不瞭解，就是因為不瞭解，無法去體會佛的知見，所以無法體會佛的知見，所以要悟，要能夠覺悟、體悟，更難。大家的心都是差在這一點，難解、難知，悟入困難，就是差在這裡。



所以，這段(經)文也是這樣說：「諸佛智慧，甚深無量，其智慧門，難解難入」。



諸佛智慧

甚深無量

其智慧門

難解難入

《法華經方便品第二》



我們已經說過了，因為佛陀的智慧很深，這種無量，不只是深，又闊，又是無量的智慧之門，我們還無法打開這一道門，所以，難解、難入。佛陀說開，開、示，就是要開眾生的心門，才能夠讓大家瞭解此道理。



我們眾生凡夫，我們的心門就是關得很緊，我們的真如本性，我們用一道障礙的門，這樣將它障礙住了。佛陀就是要來開啟這道門，讓人人能夠瞭解，在這一道門內，那就是真如的本性。所以佛陀為這樣的一大事，來人間，要來開啟這一道門，叫做「開、示」。讓大家知道，我們人人原本都具有如來智性。但是這道門，佛陀自己本身是開了，但是其他的人，智慧門還未開，所以難解、難入。



這個智慧門，真的是無法瞭解，因為我們大家全都是向外追求，要去看佛陀的那個心門。其實，佛陀是要來為我們開啟我們的心門。所以這就是只差這一點。我們若能反觀自性，自性本來就是如來的本性。但是我們人人，總是一直無法自己反觀自性，只一直向外、向外去追求。



所以，佛陀的智慧門，佛陀自開，佛陀自己瞭解，他自己瞭解之後，知道方法，所以要教我們大家，自開我們的門。但是我們，還不懂如何回歸回來，開我們的心門，所以難解難入。



「四眾咸皆有疑」。舍利弗還是在此處說：因為佛陀說，佛陀的智慧門難解難入，因此大家還是都有疑。



「於諸實理，猶豫不決之心，故非契悟諦理，不能絕疑。」



於諸實理

猶豫不決之心也

故非契悟諦理

不能絕疑



還在那裡猶豫。因為，佛陀告訴我們，人人本具佛性，而我們還無法真切體會，還無法大信力，相信我們自己本身，還是有真如本性。所以於此真實理，諸實的道理，真實的道理中，我們還在我們的門外，在那裡猶豫，還無法下決心說：「對，我與佛一樣。我只要這道門打開了，我的真如本性在其中。」



我這道門是什麼門呢？那就是無明的門、障礙的門。我們這無明、障礙，這道門，我們還無法打開。所以無法打開，就是因為有猶豫不決的心，「故非契悟諦理，不能絕疑」。我們一定要去契悟，佛陀在說，你要相信。要契佛心，必定要有大信力，你真正相信佛，才能去契悟佛的心。



佛心就是諦，真諦的道理。佛陀他的內心所護念的、所保護著的，心心念念，那就是真諦的道理。我們若沒有去體會佛陀，用這分真諦道理，我們若無法契悟，我們就是，這個疑無法去絕，無法去除。所以，我們第一要大信力，大信心，才能夠相信佛的道理；我們相信佛的道理，我們才能將它去除。「絕」就是完全斷絕了疑。



所以要入佛門、契佛理，一定要先斷絕疑心；要斷絕疑心，一定要有大信力；要有大信力，要有大根，要有大根機的人，才能有大信力。若是小乘預流果，就是在小乘，才開始準備要再進階，這樣(初果)以上的人，(以及)菩薩初地以上，這樣的人更要用心斷疑。



在這會中，很多人還有疑，這都是在小乘初發心，要行菩薩道，這樣的人，四眾弟子。所以他們的心還有疑，舍利弗是代替這些人，再來請問佛。



云何為疑

於諸諦理

猶豫為性

能障諸善法為業

謂猶豫者

是令善難生故



「云何為疑？」什麼是疑？「於諸諦理，猶豫為性」，就是這樣無法下決心的人。我們大家若說：「這個人怎麼這樣起起落落？」

「他就是這樣猶豫不決。」如這種猶豫的人，他就是那個性就是這樣的習性，就是無法下決心的人，他會障礙諸善法。



這種疑心，不懂得要決定下(定)信心，這樣的人，他是自我障礙，他會障礙所有的善法。這就是業，就是猶豫。這個善難生，現在要生起一念善法，也很為難。我們一般的人就這樣猶豫不決，善的法，他無法把握當下，恆持剎那，無法這樣下這麼堅定的決心，所以他的心，就在那裡起落不安定，這就是我們的凡夫心。



現在舍利弗就是代替大家，這樣來懇請佛陀，向大家公開，開闊，更開闊向大家開示，讓人人能瞭解，佛陀過去的方便法，與過去諸佛開方便的門，到底如何適應眾生的根機，現在眾生，要如何將過去方便的法，回歸入一乘妙法。所以大家心有疑，請佛慈悲，開啟大家的疑念，要如何讓大家更能相信、瞭解。這也是舍利弗的慈悲，代替大家。他說：「我也還不是很瞭解，大家還有疑。」所以請佛開示。



總而言之，我們要用心聽法，聞、思、修，最重要的，周圍的益友、善友也是很重要，能夠幫助、助益。所以我們要時時多用心。



Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan

Subject: Plant the Root of Great Faith to End Doubts (深植大信 斷疑契悟)

Date: February. 19. 2014



“The resolve doubts, we need to be diligent, deeply plant the great Root of Faith and vows, internalize and understand the Buddha’s wisdom, and deeply penetrate the Dharma-sea to realize the Great Vehicle of the true and wondrous Dharma.”



This is telling everyone that if we wish to resolve doubts, we must have utmost sincerity. “Faith is the source of the Way, mother of merits.” Doubt greatly hinders spiritual aspirations. If we have faith, we will not have doubts. If we have doubts, we will not believe the true and extremely profound wondrous Dharma.

Therefore, doubt obstructs the Way, so we cannot have doubts in our minds. If we want to resolve our doubts, from the bottom of our hearts, we must be focused, reverent and diligent. That is, we must very reverent and diligently practice. Therefore, we must deeply plant the great Root of Faith and vows.

Our Root of Faith must be deep and extensive; it must open up and spread out. Only then will we allow the Buddha’s profound, subtle and wondrous principles to enter our hearts. Then, we can comprehend the Buddha’s wisdom. If we can comprehend the Buddha’s wisdom, naturally we will deeply immerse ourselves in the Dharma-sea. When we take refuge in the Three Treasures, we vow to “comprehend the great path.” To “comprehend the great path,” we must deeply immerse ourselves in the Buddha’s sea of wisdom. This is what we seek when we take refuge in the Three Treasures, the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. We do this to comprehend the great path and form the supreme aspiration, which is one of great Root and Power of Faith.

When we take refuge in the Dharma, we must deeply immerse ourselves in the Buddha’s sea of wisdom. Only then can we truly accept the Buddha’s teachings completely. Only with faithful acceptance can we have “wisdom like the sea.” The Sutra Treasury contains so much, how can we absorb all of it? Only through “faith”. Only with great Root and Power of Faith can we absorb the Buddha’s teachings of wisdom.

The Dharma is as vast and deep as the sea, and upon entering it, we must absorb extremely profound, vast and wondrous teachings. We cannot waste any time, so [the Path] we walk must be that of the ultimate, true, wondrous Great Vehicle Dharma, which is also called the One Vehicle Dharma. Hopefully, we can all comprehend it. Previously, I said that everyone had doubts. At that time, Sariputra also knew that all who were present, the fourfold assembly, were filled with doubts. “For over 40 years, we have followed the Buddha and fully accepted His teachings.”

“What is this difficult-to-understand and extremely profound, wondrous Dharma He is now teaching?”They had these doubts, so Sariputra stepped forward on their behalf to request teachings from the Buddha.



At that time, Sariputra, Knowing the fourfold assembly’s doubts, and his own lack of understanding, addressed the Buddha, “World-Honored One, for what reason do You earnestly praise the supremely skillful, extremely profound and difficult-to-understand Dharma of all Buddhas? ”



“[He] addressed the Buddha” means he requested the Dharma on their behalf.So, “addressed” is respectful way of asking He stepped toward the Buddha and asked, “World-Honored One, for what reason do You earnestly praise the supremely skillful means of all Buddhas?”

Why was the Buddha constantly praising the supremely skillful Dharma of all Buddhas?

In the past, Sakyamuni Buddha used skillful means to teach sentient beings according to their capabilities.The Buddha wanted to show that He was not the only one to use skillful means to teach according to capabilities; past Buddha also did the same.

They also used skillful means to transform sentient beings.

These means were provisional teachings. Sakamuni Buddha repeatedly praised them, citing past Buddhas to affirm that, like Them, He also used skillful means to teach according to capabilities.So, Sariputra asked the Buddha why He was praising all Buddhas for their supremely skillful teachings.So, what is this extremely profound, subtle, wondrous and difficult-to-understand Dharma?



In the past, I have never heard the Buddha speak in such a way.Presently, the fourfold assembly all have doubts.I only pray that the World-honored One can expound upon this subject of why He is earnestly praising this extremely profound, subtle, wondrous and difficult-to-understand Dharma.



“In the past, I have never heard the Buddhas speak in such a way.”In the past, he had never praise past Sakyamuni Buddhas praise past Buddhas for using supremely skillful, extremely profound, subtle, wondrous and difficult-to-understand Dharma.He had never heard the Buddha talk about it.“Presently, the fourfold assembly all have doubts.”This was the first time he heard this.

Indeed, this was also the first time everyone else had heard.Sakyamuni praise the skillful, profound and difficult-to-understand.Dharma of past Buddhas.Not only did he have doubts, in fact, so did everyone else.This was their first time hearing this, so they could not understand it.

“I only pray that the World-Honored One can expound upon this subject.”He hoped the World-Honored One would now speak to them very openly.We must understand what kind of teaching this is “Difficult-to-understand Dharma” means it is difficult to know and learn.Realizing and entering it is also very difficult.We cannot comprehend it because we still do not know it.If we do not know it, we cannot understand it.And because we do not understand it, we cannot comprehend His knowledge and views.

If we cannot comprehend it, realizing it would be even more difficult.Their minds all fell short right here; it was difficult to know and learn, to realize and enter.This is where they were lacking.



So, a passage also states, “The wisdom of all Buddhas is extremely profound and far-reaching.This wisdom-door is difficult to understand and enter”.



I have already talked about this. The Buddha’s wisdom is very profound. Not only is it deep and vast, there are infinite wisdom-doors. We still cannot open this wisdom-door, thus it is difficult to understand and enter. When the Buddha said He “opened and revealed,” that meant He wanted to open people’s minds, so they could understand these principles. We ordinary people shut the door to our hearts very tightly. We use this door to close off the True Suchness of our intrinsic nature. The Buddha came to open this door so we can all see that behind this door is the True Suchness of our intrinsic nature. So, the Buddha came to the world for this one great cause, to open this door. Thus, He “opened and revealed” to help us all understand that we originally had the Tathagata’s wisdom. The Buddha has opened this door in Himself, but others have not opened their wisdom-door. So, we find [this Dharma] difficult to understand and enter. This wisdom-door is very difficult to comprehend because we are all looking outward to seek the door in the Buddha’s mind.

Actually, the Buddha has come to open the door in our minds. So, this is where we fall short. If we reflect on our own nature, we can see our intrinsic Tathagata-nature. However, we have all been unable to contemplate our own nature and keep looking outwards. So, the Buddha opened His own wisdom-door, thus He achieved full understanding. After He Himself understood, He knew how to do so. Therefore, He can teach us to open our own doors. But we do not know how to turn inward to open the door in our own minds, so, we find [this Dharma] difficult to understand and enter. “The fourfold assembly all have doubts”. Here, Sariputra was saying that because the Buddha said His wisdom-door was difficult to understand and enter, everyone still had doubts.



“As for true principles, they felt hesitant and uncertain. Therefore, without realizing the Absolute Truth, they could not eliminate their doubts”.



We may be hesitant because the Buddha told us that we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature. However, we have not clearly realized this, so we still do not have great Power of Faith. We still do not believe that we have this intrinsic nature of True Suchness. Therefore, when it comes to seeing these true principles, we still hesitate to open the door. We cannot fully accept that, “Yes, I am the same as the Buddha. I just need to open this door to see my intrinsic nature of True Suchness within”. What is this door made of? It is made of ignorance and obstruction. We are still unable to open this door. We cannot open it because we feel hesitant and indecisive.

“Therefore, without realizing the Absolute Truth, they could not eliminate their doubts”. We must realize what the Buddha told us to believe. To awaken our Buddha-minds, we must have great Power of Faith. Only when we really have faith in the Buddha can we realize the Buddha-mind.

The Buddha-mind holds the principles of Absolute Truth. What the Buddha guards and retains in His mind, what He protects with His every thought, are the principles of Absolute Truth. If we do not comprehend how comprehend the Buddha used these principles of Absolute Truth, then we cannot attain realizations because we cannot end or eliminate our doubts. So, having great Power of Faith is paramount. We must have great faith to be able understand His principles. Only when we have faith we have faith in the Buddha’s principles can we completely eliminate our doubts.

So, to enter the Buddha-door and realize His principles, we must first completely eliminate our doubts. In order to do so, we must great Power of Faith. And, we need great capabilities in order to have great Power of Faith. If we are Small Vehicle stream-enterers, which means we have just, started practicing the Small Vehicle, then we and people beyond the initial fruit or the first Bodhisattva-ground must put even more effort into eliminating doubts.

At this assembly, many people still had doubts. They were Small Vehicle practitioners who had just aspired to walk the Bodhisattva-path, disciples of the fourfold assembly. Therefore, they still had doubts. Sariputra, on their behalf, asked the Buddha these questions.



What are doubts? When it comes to Absolute Truth, people are hesitant by nature. They obstruct virtuous Dharma and create karma. Therefore, those who are hesitant find it hard to give rise to goodness.



“What are doubts?” What does it mean to have doubts?“When it comes to Absolute Truth, people are hesitant by nature.” These are people who are indecisive. We may ask, “Why do they constantly waver like that?” They are just hesitant and indecisive; that is one of their habitual tendencies. But those who are unable to make decisions are hindered [in learning] virtuous Dharma. If they have doubts, they cannot be firm in their faith.

People like this hinder themselves from [learning] all virtuous Dharma, This is karma. By hesitating, they find it difficult to give rise to goodness, they find it difficult to give rise to goodness, to do good deeds. We ordinary people are indecisive like this. When it comes to virtuous Dharma, we find it hard to seize and sustain it forever, and we cannot be resolute in our determination.

Therefore, our minds constantly waver. This is what ordinary minds are like. At this moment, Sariputra, on behalf of everyone, sincerely asked the Buddha to give extensive teachings. He asked the Buddha to more broadly teach and help everyone understand the skillful teachings He gave in the past and how those doors suited the capabilities of sentient beings.How do sentient beings relate the skillful means of the past to the wondrous One Vehicle Dharma? They were all wondering about this, so [Sariputra] appealed to the Buddha’s compassion to resolve their doubts, to help them have faith and understand.This also [showed] Sariputra’s compassion.

On everyone’s behalf, he said, “I still do not understand.” “Everyone still has doubts, so venerable Buddha, please teach us”. In the end, we must mindfully listen to the Dharma Listening, contemplating and practicing are very important. Helpful and virtuous friends are also very important; they can help and benefit us. Therefore, we must always be mindful.



(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)