20141024《靜思妙蓮華》淨澈明見度六道苦(第421集)
(法華經•方便品第二)
⊙「佛眼淨澈明見,法如水滌心濁,知見六道苦趣,導向安穩樂處。」
⊙「舍利弗當知,我以佛眼觀,見六道眾生,貧窮無福慧,入生死險道,相續苦不斷。」《法華經方便品第二》
⊙佛示具五眼:肉眼、天眼、慧眼、法眼、佛眼。
⊙一、肉眼:凡夫眼,遇昏暗或物體阻礙,就不能見知。
⊙二、天眼:是天人眼,遠近晝夜都能見知。
⊙三、慧眼:是聲聞眼,能看破假相,識得真空見知。
⊙四、法眼:是菩薩眼,能徹了世出世間的一切真諦,法門知見。
⊙五、佛眼:徹見宇宙真諦實相,能於世出世法,無不知、無不見,一切法中佛眼常照。」
⊙見六道眾生貧窮無福慧:見六道,乃眾生造作隨業輪迴之道,趣向曰:六道。貧窮之苦難深廣,譬之為海。施為堅牢船,能度貧窮海。
⊙「已生善令增長,未生善令速生;已生惡令速斷,未生惡令不生。」
【證嚴上人開示】
「佛眼淨澈明見,法如水滌心濁,知見六道苦趣,導向安穩樂處。」
佛眼淨澈明見
法如水滌心濁
知見六道苦趣
導向安穩樂處
佛眼的清澈,所見到的就是宇宙、人間、天下萬事物理,無不都是透徹清淨。我們凡夫眼睛所見到的,只不過形形色色的事相而已,真正真相透徹的道理,我們都無法了解。所以我們學佛,就是要學得佛的知見。
佛陀的「知」,是要知宇宙的真理,人生生命的真諦;佛陀要知道的,就是我們的生死輪迴。但是我們眾生,只要知道這輩子我能夠得多少。這就是眾生與佛陀的「知」,所知道的,有差那麼多。
何況佛陀所見的是真理,是我們看不到,但是隱含在宇宙萬物之間,非常透徹微細的物理。卻是,我們凡夫所看到的,是物的形象,佛陀所了解的是「事出必有因」。世間的事情怎麼會這樣呢?我們只知道,怎麼會這樣?佛陀卻知道是,因為這樣,所以才會這樣。
所以,佛陀所見、所知,都希望全部所有的眾生都一樣,知道佛所知的境界,見佛所見的真諦道理,這是佛陀對眾生的期望。眾生就是這樣愚鈍,所以佛陀只好用種種的法,所以,施法教育,所以「法如水」,將這個法像水,要來洗滌我們眾生心靈的濁氣,所以要說很多法,讓我們如何能將污濁無明,能夠撥除掉。
佛陀因為他的知見,所以能夠了解六道的趣向,「知見六道苦趣」,六道苦趣,六道都是苦。天人是不是樂呢?享受過後,也是一樣,福享盡,五衰相現,還是要再墮落人間,或者是畜生、地獄道。這就是極善,善非常旺,報在天堂,這麼強力的善在天堂享受,不斷享受,久了也有享盡之時,業盡也是要墮落。所以「知(見)六道苦趣」。
所以,佛陀要用盡心機,用心來觀機逗教,要循循善誘,將眾生「導向安穩樂處」。在人間裡,佛陀一一來向大家分析,讓大家的心透徹了解,善、惡二途要很分明。這是善的,我們一定心要顧好善的方向。更要讓大家知道,這是惡的,我們就更要常常提高警覺,否則墮落三途,那就苦不堪。
接下來的經文說:「舍利弗當知,我以佛眼觀,見六道眾生,貧窮無福慧,入生死險道,相續苦不斷。」
舍利弗當知
我以佛眼觀
見六道眾生
貧窮無福慧
入生死險道
相續苦不斷
《法華經方便品第二》
舍利弗是佛的弟子中智慧第一,人人都肯定。舍利弗能夠相信,人人應該也能夠相信。所以佛陀,特別就叫著「舍利弗」,意思就是說:舍利弗,你應該都相信了,相信佛有佛眼。佛眼,舍利弗,要知道,佛陀的見解與其他人、凡夫不同。所以,以舍利弗,要讓大眾能夠知道,舍利弗體會到佛的佛眼的境界,大家應該也要如舍利弗一樣,都能夠體會佛的見解。所以,佛陀在這個地方就說「舍利弗當知」,舍利弗,你要知道,我用佛眼來觀一切。
佛示具五眼:
肉眼、天眼、
慧眼、法眼、
佛眼
佛眼是什麼?佛眼,有五種。第一、這是肉眼,這個肉眼,就是與我們都一樣。因為佛陀出現在人間,與一般人全都是一樣,同樣有生、老、病、恐時間,這是佛陀身體的肉眼。
一、肉眼:
凡夫眼
遇昏暗
或物體阻礙
就不能見知
身體與肉眼,與凡夫都一樣,若是看到天黑了,或者是物體障礙著,用這個身體的肉眼,同樣也是看不到。佛陀若天黑時,也要說:「點起燈火來。」這叫做肉眼。佛陀與我們人生的身體、五官都是一樣,所以他有生,也有老時,老了,也有病痛之時,總而言之,與我們人體一樣。
第二、佛陀就比我們凡夫的肉眼,更加清楚,那就是天眼。
二、天眼:
是天人眼
遠近晝夜
都能見知
天眼,天人有,他們的眼光就是遠近、晝夜都看得到,不論多遠,天眼,眼力很好,能夠看很遠,而且不分是夜晚或者是白天,全都是一樣,夜晚在看東西,與白天看東西一樣,這就是「天眼」。
第三、就是慧眼。
三、慧眼:
是聲聞眼
能看破假相
識得真空見知
「慧眼」就是聲聞,因為聲聞,他已經聽佛說法,瞭解了,不是用眼睛看,而是用心眼。佛陀用佛法來教育他,已經掃除了凡夫的迷執,那種的無明、煩惱去除,心眼啟開了。所以慧眼,就是聲聞,能夠看破、徹破,徹破假相,識得真空的見知。人生分析到底,一切都是空。這聲聞心靈的境界,叫做慧眼。
第四、叫做法眼。
四、法眼:
是菩薩眼
能徹了世出世間的
一切真諦
法門知見
法眼那就是菩薩。菩薩不只透徹了,我們人間一切的假相,不只,他是徹了世出世間,一切真諦法門的知見。因為,菩薩他接受了佛陀的教育,覺悟之後,透徹了人間真假的道理。真空,不只是了解一切都是空,何必執著呢?但是,菩薩更加透徹妙有,這個妙有,因緣果報循環。
這個「因」,就是要好好去透徹,我們若不了解「因」,我們不斷亂了心,結了善、惡緣。惡緣滿滿皆是,要如何去結善緣?看能否斷惡緣,才能夠結善緣,而有善緣,才能夠轉惡成善的因。
菩薩都知道,不只是透徹,他還要真諦法門的知見,這就是菩薩。行菩薩道,就是要接近佛大徹大悟的境界,依照這個法,依循法,道理,去身體力行,見苦知福,所緣「緣苦眾生」。這就是菩薩,明知道人世間是這麼苦,他願意,像觀世音菩薩,倒駕慈航,人間化度眾生,這都叫做法眼。見到人間的疾苦,或是六道輪迴苦,所以這全都叫做法眼。佛陀具足了法眼。
還有,第五、是佛眼。這就是所有五眼之中的「總」,最透徹就是佛眼。佛眼是徹見宇宙真諦實相。這已經透徹宇宙了,法眼,是透徹人間世出世的道理、法,但是佛眼,已經是徹見宇宙真諦的實相。「能於世出世法,無不知,無不見,一切法中佛眼常照」。
五、佛眼:
徹見宇宙真諦實相
能於世出世法
無不知 無不見
一切法中
佛眼常照
這所有在宇宙萬物,六道一切的真相,佛眼所知見。
所以,佛陀的覺,明明了了,圓覺自性,好像一面透徹的大鏡子,全部森羅萬象,都是同一時間,容入他的內心,他的覺性之中。這就是佛眼。佛眼,隨時照見一切宇宙萬物的道理,全都了解。所以佛眼,這是我們凡夫離佛眼是非常遠,所以我們必定要好好用心。
凡夫的肉眼實在苦不堪,怎麼常常看到東西濛濛的呢?這叫做凡夫,這個身體都有六根衰墮的時刻。但是,天眼、法眼、慧眼,以及佛陀他的佛眼,這全都要我們很用心來修,所以大家要用心。
所說的眼,也是與我們的心,除了人間與天人用他的眼光,再來,聲聞、菩薩,都是講究於內心的見解,其實,這叫做見解,內心所見,不是身體的眼光所看,是我們的見解。
佛陀已經是這樣在「五眼」中,佛眼這麼透徹,「見六道眾生,貧窮無福慧」,所見六道的眾生,以佛眼看來,實在是很貧窮。也是常常說過,人生再怎麼的有錢,他也是有一缺九,永遠都是在貧窮中。若不懂得造福,錢再多有什麼用?不過,凡夫看不開。佛陀認為六道之中,哪怕是天人,光會享受,不會造福,這也是貧窮中之一,所以叫做「六道眾生,貧窮無福慧」。這在佛的境界來看,哪怕是天人,還是離福慧還很長遠,所以,天人也要來皈依佛,也是要聽佛法。
見六道眾生
貧窮無福慧:
見六道
乃眾生造作
隨業輪迴之道
趣向曰:六道
貧窮之苦難深廣
譬之為海
施為堅牢船
能度貧窮海
所以,「見六道」,六道剛剛說過:天、人、地獄、餓鬼、畜生、阿修羅,這都是在「六道」之中。這個六道的境界,是眾生造作隨業輪迴的道路,他的趣向。我們自己造的因,惡因,就是在人間受盡折磨。人間的折磨,這樣盡了嗎?一輩子還沒有盡,說不定還要(輪迴)畜生,說不定還要到(到)地獄。因為人間,來這個地方受苦,還不覺悟,還在苦中再造業,這種苦,不斷複製這個苦,苦上再加苦,這就是六道趣向。
若是稍微有因緣,得到善知識,那就能將我們度化。所以我們要常常要記住,「已生善令增長,未生善令速生;已生惡令速斷,未生惡令不生」。
已生善令增長
未生善令速生
已生惡令速斷
未生惡令不生
你們想,世間都是很貧窮,欠缺德行、欠缺福與慧,所以我們要趕快用心,在人間要好好造福,而且要造大福。付出無所求,無所執著,「三輪體空」,這種心寬念純的大愛,這才是真正的造福。
這種貧窮之苦,深、廣,這種的苦難,真的又深、又廣,像大海一樣。所以佛陀,為了要度這些苦難的眾生,他就要施堅牢舟船。我們《無量義經》也有這樣說,經文中,為了要度眾生,渡過這種的煩惱海,就要做很多種的船,小船、中船、大船。不論大、小船,要很堅固,很牢固。在這個煩惱波濤的大海中,不要一點的波動,船就被翻倒。所以我們學法就像在水中,在船上,我們要很謹慎,同舟共濟。
大家同在這艘船上,要怎樣能夠平平安安,度過了煩惱的無涯大海那邊去?因為我們凡夫所做的無明愈多,煩惱的波濤愈強,看來是愈廣愈大,什麼時候才能到達彼岸呢?所以大家要用心,要讓海昇平,很快就能見到彼岸,唯有我們要用心。法入心,隨著佛陀所指引的道路、方向,這樣我們才能安穩,得到安穩樂處。
所以常常說:「做得很幸福?」「是啊!很美滿。」這雖然是很辛苦,但是轉一個念,是很幸福。看到完成了,很美滿,這叫做法喜。能夠在這六道中,雖然佛陀的眼光來看,我們六道的眾生,真的是貧窮。不過,我們要趕緊捨去貪念,要趕緊立定我們的志向,行在菩薩道中,若是這樣就安穩了。所以我們要時時多用心。
Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: With Clear Views We can Transform Suffering (淨澈明見度六道苦)
Date: October. 24. 2014
“The Buddha’s eyes are pure and see clearly. The Dharma, like water, can cleanse the mind of turbidity. Knowing and seeing that suffering is the destiny of those in the Six Realms, He guides them toward a safe, stable and joyful refuge.”
The Buddha’s eyes are pure; what He sees are the principles of all things in this world and in this universe. Everything is pure and clear to him. What we ordinary people see are simply the superficial appearances of things. We are unable to understand and penetrate the workings of their true, underlying principles. So, we learn the Buddha’s Way to attain the Buddha’s understanding and views.
The Buddha’s “understanding” [encompasses] the true principles of the universe and the truths of life. He understands our cyclic existence of birth and death, but we sentient beings can only understand how much we can attain in our current lifetime. This difference between the understanding of the Buddha and that of sentient beings is so great. Moreover, the true principles seen by the Buddha cannot be seen by us. Hidden within all things in the world are the subtle and intricate principles of matter. However, we ordinary people can only see the appearance of matter. The Buddha understands that “all things that arise have causes.” Why do things in the world happen this way? We only know to ask, “Why is this happening?” The Buddha can say, “This is what caused that to happen.” With His understanding and views, He hopes that all sentient beings can understand what He understands and see the true principles that He sees. This is His hope for sentient beings.
However, sentient beings are foolish and stubborn, therefore He had to use various teachings. Thus, He teaches them the Dharma. So, “The Dharma is like water.” He uses the Dharma like water to cleanse the turbidity from the minds of sentient beings. Therefore, He gave us many teachings to help us find a way to eliminate our ignorance and turbidity. The Buddha, with His understanding and views, can know the density of those in the Six Realms. He “knows and sees that suffering is the destiny of those in the Six Realms.” All Six Realms lead to suffering. Are heavenly beings living happily? After they have depleted their blessings, they will manifest the Five Forms of Decay and once again descend to the human realm, or even the animal or hell realm. These were people who did the most good and were rewarded by being born in heaven.
The strength of their goodness allowed them to enjoy heavenly comforts. However, their blessings will eventually run out. Once their [blessed] karma is depleted, they fall. So this is “knowing and seeing that suffering is the destiny of those in the Six Realms.” Therefore, the Buddha did all He could to teach according to beings’ capabilities and patiently guide these sentient beings. “He guides them toward a safe, stable and joyful refuge.” In this world, He analyzes things for everyone, one by one, so we can have a thorough understanding of the clear distinction between good and evil. If something is good, we need to orient our minds in that direction. He also wanted to tell us what is evil so we can be very vigilant against it. Otherwise, we will fall into the Three Evil Realms and face unbearable suffering.
The following passage in the sutra states, “Sariputra, you should know,with my Buddha-eyes I observe that living beings in the Six Realms are impoverished and lacking blessings and wisdom. They enter the treacherous path of cyclic existence and suffer unremittingly.”
Sariputra was foremost in wisdom among the Buddha’s disciples; this was widely acknowledged.If Sariputra could believe, then everyone else could believe as well.
Thus, the Buddha specifically called to Sariputra.In doing this, He was implying, “Sariputra. We should already believe that the Buddha sees with Buddha-eyes.”
He should know that the Buddha’s eyes and the Buddha’s views and understanding are different from those of ordinary people.Thus, Sariputra was [an example] to let everyone know that since he had come to an understanding of the Buddha’s Buddha-eyes, they should all, like him, be able to realize the Buddha’s view and understandings.
So here, the Buddha says “Sariputra, you should know to indicate that Sariputra should know that He observes everything with His Buddha-eyes.”
The Buddha is endowed with five kinds of eyes: physical eyes, heavenly eyes, wisdom-eyes, Dharma-eyes and Buddha-eyes.
What are the Buddha’s eyes?There are five aspects to His eyes.The first is His physical eyes.The Buddha’s physical eyes are the same as the ones we all have.When the Buddha was born into this world, He was entirely like us and also experienced birth, ageing, illness and death.These are the physical eyes of His body.
1.Physical Eyes:
These are the eyes of ordinary people.
When they encounter confusion and darkness or the obstruction of physical objects, they cannot see or understand.
The Buddha’s physical eyes are the same as those of ordinary people.If night falls, or if something is obstructions the light, He cannot see with His physical eyes either.After the sun sets, the Buddha has to say, “Please light the lamps.”This is how His physical eyes work.
The Buddha’s body and five sense organs work much like ours.Thus, He also experienced birth and aging, With aging comes illness and pain.In conclusion, His body was the same as ours.
Second, the Buddha has eyes that can see more clearly than the eyes of ordinary people, These are His heavenly eyes.
2.Heavenly Eyes:
These are the eyes of heavenly beings.
Near or far, day or night, they can see and understand.
Heavenly eyes are what heavenly beings have.Heavenly eyes can see near or far, day or night.No matter how far away something is, they can see it because of their superior eyesight.Day or night makes no difference.They can see just as well.For them, looking at things at night is the same as looking at things during the day.These are heavenly eyes.The third eyes are His wisdom-eyes.
3.Wisdom-Eyes:
These are the eyes of Hearers.
They attain their views and understanding by seeing through illusory appearances and recognizing true emptiness.
“Wisdom-eyes” are the [eyes of] Hearers.Heareres have already listened to and understood the Buddha’s teachings so they do not see with their [physical] eyes, but with their mind’s eye.The Buddha taught [Heareres] the Buddha-Dharma to help eliminate their confusion and attachments.Once their ignorance and afflictions are gone, their mind’s eye opens.Therefore, wisdom-eyes allow Hearers to see through illusory appearances and recognize true emptiness in their views and understanding.
In the final analysis, all things are empty.This state of mind of Hearers is called having wisdom-eyes.The fourth eyes are Dharma-eyes.
4.Dharma-Eyes:
These are the eyes of Bodhisattvas, which can penetrate the understanding and views of all worldly and world-transcending.
Dharma-paths to absolute truth.
Dharma-eyes are[possessed by] Bodhisattvas.Not only do Bodhisattvas penetrate all illusory appearances in life, they have also attained the understanding and views of all worldly and world-transcending.Because they accepted the Buddha’s teachings and became awakened, they penetrated the world’s principles of the true and the illusory. Not only have they realize true emptiness, that all things are empty and not worthy of attachment, Bodhisattvas have also penetrated wondrous existence. Wondrous existence is the cycle of the karmic law of cause and effect. This “cause” is something we must work to understand. If we cannot understand the “cause”, our minds will constantly become confused and form both good and bad karmic connections. If we create negative affinities everywhere we go, how will we create positive connections? We must try to eliminate negative affinities so that we can create good ones. And only good connections can be the causes that turn evil into goodness.
Bodhisattvas know this: not only do they understand this, they also have the understanding the views of the Dharma-paths to absolute truth. This makes them Bodhisattvas. They walk the Bodhisattva-path so they can approach the Buddha’s state of great understanding and great realization. They follow the Dharma by putting its principles into action.
Seeing suffering, they recognize their blessings, and feel [a desire to help] suffering beings. This makes them Bodhisattvas. They clearly know that the world is suffering, but they are willing, just like Guanyin Bodhisattva, to return to this world on the ship of compassion to transform sentient beings. Because of their Dharma-eyes, they see the suffering of the world, or the suffering of cyclic existence in the Six Realms. This is because of their Dharma-eyes.
The Buddha is endowed with Dharma-eyes. His fifth kind of eyes are the Buddha-eyes. These encompass all of these five kinds of eyes. The Buddha-eyes are the most penetrating and can see the ultimate reality of the universe. These have already penetrated the universe.
Dharma-eyes can [only] penetrate worldly and world-transcending principles, but Buddha-eyes can fully penetrate the ultimate truth of the universe.
“As for world and world-transcending phenomena, there is nothing They do not know, nothing They cannot see. All things are always illuminated. In the Buddha’s eyes”.
Thus the true appearance of all things in the universe and the Six Realms is seen and understood with Buddha-eyes. Therefore, the Buddha’s enlightenment, His perfectly clear and enlightened nature, is like a great clear mirror. All the myriad forms in the world were taken into His enlightened mind at once. This happens with Buddha-eyes. Buddha-eyes can see and understand the principles of all things in the universe at once. Ordinary people are not anywhere close to having Buddha-eyes. So, we must be very mindful. As ordinary people, our physical eyes are poor. Why can’t we see things clearly? Because we are ordinary people. There will be a time when our Six Roots will deteriorate. However, we must put our effort into cultivating heavenly eyes, Dharma-eyes, wisdom-eyes and the Buddha-eyes that the Buddha has. Therefore, we must be mindful.
When we talk about eyes, we are also talking about our minds. Humans and heavenly beings use their eyesight, and as for Hearers and Bodhisattvas, they use the perspective of their minds. Indeed, our perspective is what we can see with our minds, now what we see with our physical eyes. This is what we call our perspective.
Among the five kinds of eyes, Buddha-eyes are the most penetrating. “He observed that living beings in the Six Realms were impoverished, lacking blessing, wisdom”.
In looking at sentient beings of the Six Realms through Buddha-eyes, they seem truly impoverished. I have always said, no matter how much money people have, if having one they feel they lack nine, they will always live in poverty. If they do not create blessings, it does not matter how much money they have. However, ordinary people cannot see this. The Buddha believes that within the Six Realms, even heavenly beings who enjoy pleasure without creating blessings will be among the impoverished. So it is said, “[He] observed that living beings in the Six Realms were impoverished and lacking blessings and wisdom”.
Looking at things from the Buddha’s state, even heavenly beings are far from [being with] blessings and wisdom. Therefore, heavenly beings must take refuge with the Buddha and listen to the Dharma.
“[He] observed that sentient beings in the Six Realms were impoverished and lacking blessings and wisdom: He saw that the Six Realms were the paths of sentient beings who created and then followed their karma. The [Six] Destinies: The Six Realms. The suffering and hardship from poverty are as deep and vast as the ocean. The act of giving is a solid boat that can cross the sea of poverty.”
Therefore, “He saw the Six Realms. We have just spoken about the Six Realms, the heaven human animal, hell, hungry, animal and asura realms. These are all part of the Six Realms. The realm sentient beings transmigrate into is determined by the karma they have created. That is their destiny.
If we create negative causes, then we will suffer greatly in this world. But will this torment end in this world? it will not in one lifetime. Perhaps we may transmigrate into the animal realm or into the hell realm. If we come into this world, face suffering and still do not awaken, we will create karma as we suffer. When this suffering is endlessly multiplied, there is even more suffering. This is the destiny of those in the Six Realms.
With even the weakest causes and conditions, we may encounter a virtuous friend who can transform us.
So, we must always remember to “nurture any goodness that has already arisen. Encourage future goodness to quickly arise. Eliminate any evil that has already arisen. Prevent future evil from arising.”
Think about it, this world is full of poverty and is lacking ethics, blessings and wisdom. So, we must put our hearts into create blessings in this world. Furthermore, we want to create great blessings. We must give unconditionally and without any attachments, according to the Three Spheres of Emptiness. Only with the great love that comes from a broad mind and pure thoughts can we truly create blessings.
The suffering from poverty is deep and expansive. Truly, these difficulties are deep and expansive like the sea. So, the Buddha, to transform suffering beings, built a very durable vessel. As stated in the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, in order to transform sentient beings and deliver them across the sea of afflictions, He must build many kings of vessels. Small vessels, medium vessels and large vessels. Each vessel, regardless of size, must be built to be durable so when it sails across this sea of afflictions, it will not be capsized by a slight wave.
Learning the Dharma is like being on the water. Aboard the ship, we must be very cautious and pull together in times of trouble. As we sail on this ship together, how so we ensure a safe voyage across this boundless sea of afflictions? The more ignorant things we ordinary people do, the stronger the waves of affliction will be. We see the sea growing wider and wider; when will we reach the other side? So, everyone, we must be mindful, and work to calm the sea, then we will quickly see the other side. As long as we are mindful we can take the Dharma to heart and follow the path and course laid out by the Buddha. Only then can we reach a safe, stable and joyful refuge.
So, I always say that doing this work make us feel fortunate. Indeed, we feel happy and fulfilled. It might be hard work, but if we shift our mindset, we feel very happy. When a task is accomplished, we will feel happy. This is called Dharma-joy.
From the viewpoint of the Buddha, sentient beings who live in the Six Realms are truly impoverished. However, let us quickly set aside our greed and quickly point ourselves in the direction of walking the Bodhisattva-path. If we can do this, we will feel very peaceful. Therefore, we must always be mndful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
(法華經•方便品第二)
⊙「佛眼淨澈明見,法如水滌心濁,知見六道苦趣,導向安穩樂處。」
⊙「舍利弗當知,我以佛眼觀,見六道眾生,貧窮無福慧,入生死險道,相續苦不斷。」《法華經方便品第二》
⊙佛示具五眼:肉眼、天眼、慧眼、法眼、佛眼。
⊙一、肉眼:凡夫眼,遇昏暗或物體阻礙,就不能見知。
⊙二、天眼:是天人眼,遠近晝夜都能見知。
⊙三、慧眼:是聲聞眼,能看破假相,識得真空見知。
⊙四、法眼:是菩薩眼,能徹了世出世間的一切真諦,法門知見。
⊙五、佛眼:徹見宇宙真諦實相,能於世出世法,無不知、無不見,一切法中佛眼常照。」
⊙見六道眾生貧窮無福慧:見六道,乃眾生造作隨業輪迴之道,趣向曰:六道。貧窮之苦難深廣,譬之為海。施為堅牢船,能度貧窮海。
⊙「已生善令增長,未生善令速生;已生惡令速斷,未生惡令不生。」
【證嚴上人開示】
「佛眼淨澈明見,法如水滌心濁,知見六道苦趣,導向安穩樂處。」
佛眼淨澈明見
法如水滌心濁
知見六道苦趣
導向安穩樂處
佛眼的清澈,所見到的就是宇宙、人間、天下萬事物理,無不都是透徹清淨。我們凡夫眼睛所見到的,只不過形形色色的事相而已,真正真相透徹的道理,我們都無法了解。所以我們學佛,就是要學得佛的知見。
佛陀的「知」,是要知宇宙的真理,人生生命的真諦;佛陀要知道的,就是我們的生死輪迴。但是我們眾生,只要知道這輩子我能夠得多少。這就是眾生與佛陀的「知」,所知道的,有差那麼多。
何況佛陀所見的是真理,是我們看不到,但是隱含在宇宙萬物之間,非常透徹微細的物理。卻是,我們凡夫所看到的,是物的形象,佛陀所了解的是「事出必有因」。世間的事情怎麼會這樣呢?我們只知道,怎麼會這樣?佛陀卻知道是,因為這樣,所以才會這樣。
所以,佛陀所見、所知,都希望全部所有的眾生都一樣,知道佛所知的境界,見佛所見的真諦道理,這是佛陀對眾生的期望。眾生就是這樣愚鈍,所以佛陀只好用種種的法,所以,施法教育,所以「法如水」,將這個法像水,要來洗滌我們眾生心靈的濁氣,所以要說很多法,讓我們如何能將污濁無明,能夠撥除掉。
佛陀因為他的知見,所以能夠了解六道的趣向,「知見六道苦趣」,六道苦趣,六道都是苦。天人是不是樂呢?享受過後,也是一樣,福享盡,五衰相現,還是要再墮落人間,或者是畜生、地獄道。這就是極善,善非常旺,報在天堂,這麼強力的善在天堂享受,不斷享受,久了也有享盡之時,業盡也是要墮落。所以「知(見)六道苦趣」。
所以,佛陀要用盡心機,用心來觀機逗教,要循循善誘,將眾生「導向安穩樂處」。在人間裡,佛陀一一來向大家分析,讓大家的心透徹了解,善、惡二途要很分明。這是善的,我們一定心要顧好善的方向。更要讓大家知道,這是惡的,我們就更要常常提高警覺,否則墮落三途,那就苦不堪。
接下來的經文說:「舍利弗當知,我以佛眼觀,見六道眾生,貧窮無福慧,入生死險道,相續苦不斷。」
舍利弗當知
我以佛眼觀
見六道眾生
貧窮無福慧
入生死險道
相續苦不斷
《法華經方便品第二》
舍利弗是佛的弟子中智慧第一,人人都肯定。舍利弗能夠相信,人人應該也能夠相信。所以佛陀,特別就叫著「舍利弗」,意思就是說:舍利弗,你應該都相信了,相信佛有佛眼。佛眼,舍利弗,要知道,佛陀的見解與其他人、凡夫不同。所以,以舍利弗,要讓大眾能夠知道,舍利弗體會到佛的佛眼的境界,大家應該也要如舍利弗一樣,都能夠體會佛的見解。所以,佛陀在這個地方就說「舍利弗當知」,舍利弗,你要知道,我用佛眼來觀一切。
佛示具五眼:
肉眼、天眼、
慧眼、法眼、
佛眼
佛眼是什麼?佛眼,有五種。第一、這是肉眼,這個肉眼,就是與我們都一樣。因為佛陀出現在人間,與一般人全都是一樣,同樣有生、老、病、恐時間,這是佛陀身體的肉眼。
一、肉眼:
凡夫眼
遇昏暗
或物體阻礙
就不能見知
身體與肉眼,與凡夫都一樣,若是看到天黑了,或者是物體障礙著,用這個身體的肉眼,同樣也是看不到。佛陀若天黑時,也要說:「點起燈火來。」這叫做肉眼。佛陀與我們人生的身體、五官都是一樣,所以他有生,也有老時,老了,也有病痛之時,總而言之,與我們人體一樣。
第二、佛陀就比我們凡夫的肉眼,更加清楚,那就是天眼。
二、天眼:
是天人眼
遠近晝夜
都能見知
天眼,天人有,他們的眼光就是遠近、晝夜都看得到,不論多遠,天眼,眼力很好,能夠看很遠,而且不分是夜晚或者是白天,全都是一樣,夜晚在看東西,與白天看東西一樣,這就是「天眼」。
第三、就是慧眼。
三、慧眼:
是聲聞眼
能看破假相
識得真空見知
「慧眼」就是聲聞,因為聲聞,他已經聽佛說法,瞭解了,不是用眼睛看,而是用心眼。佛陀用佛法來教育他,已經掃除了凡夫的迷執,那種的無明、煩惱去除,心眼啟開了。所以慧眼,就是聲聞,能夠看破、徹破,徹破假相,識得真空的見知。人生分析到底,一切都是空。這聲聞心靈的境界,叫做慧眼。
第四、叫做法眼。
四、法眼:
是菩薩眼
能徹了世出世間的
一切真諦
法門知見
法眼那就是菩薩。菩薩不只透徹了,我們人間一切的假相,不只,他是徹了世出世間,一切真諦法門的知見。因為,菩薩他接受了佛陀的教育,覺悟之後,透徹了人間真假的道理。真空,不只是了解一切都是空,何必執著呢?但是,菩薩更加透徹妙有,這個妙有,因緣果報循環。
這個「因」,就是要好好去透徹,我們若不了解「因」,我們不斷亂了心,結了善、惡緣。惡緣滿滿皆是,要如何去結善緣?看能否斷惡緣,才能夠結善緣,而有善緣,才能夠轉惡成善的因。
菩薩都知道,不只是透徹,他還要真諦法門的知見,這就是菩薩。行菩薩道,就是要接近佛大徹大悟的境界,依照這個法,依循法,道理,去身體力行,見苦知福,所緣「緣苦眾生」。這就是菩薩,明知道人世間是這麼苦,他願意,像觀世音菩薩,倒駕慈航,人間化度眾生,這都叫做法眼。見到人間的疾苦,或是六道輪迴苦,所以這全都叫做法眼。佛陀具足了法眼。
還有,第五、是佛眼。這就是所有五眼之中的「總」,最透徹就是佛眼。佛眼是徹見宇宙真諦實相。這已經透徹宇宙了,法眼,是透徹人間世出世的道理、法,但是佛眼,已經是徹見宇宙真諦的實相。「能於世出世法,無不知,無不見,一切法中佛眼常照」。
五、佛眼:
徹見宇宙真諦實相
能於世出世法
無不知 無不見
一切法中
佛眼常照
這所有在宇宙萬物,六道一切的真相,佛眼所知見。
所以,佛陀的覺,明明了了,圓覺自性,好像一面透徹的大鏡子,全部森羅萬象,都是同一時間,容入他的內心,他的覺性之中。這就是佛眼。佛眼,隨時照見一切宇宙萬物的道理,全都了解。所以佛眼,這是我們凡夫離佛眼是非常遠,所以我們必定要好好用心。
凡夫的肉眼實在苦不堪,怎麼常常看到東西濛濛的呢?這叫做凡夫,這個身體都有六根衰墮的時刻。但是,天眼、法眼、慧眼,以及佛陀他的佛眼,這全都要我們很用心來修,所以大家要用心。
所說的眼,也是與我們的心,除了人間與天人用他的眼光,再來,聲聞、菩薩,都是講究於內心的見解,其實,這叫做見解,內心所見,不是身體的眼光所看,是我們的見解。
佛陀已經是這樣在「五眼」中,佛眼這麼透徹,「見六道眾生,貧窮無福慧」,所見六道的眾生,以佛眼看來,實在是很貧窮。也是常常說過,人生再怎麼的有錢,他也是有一缺九,永遠都是在貧窮中。若不懂得造福,錢再多有什麼用?不過,凡夫看不開。佛陀認為六道之中,哪怕是天人,光會享受,不會造福,這也是貧窮中之一,所以叫做「六道眾生,貧窮無福慧」。這在佛的境界來看,哪怕是天人,還是離福慧還很長遠,所以,天人也要來皈依佛,也是要聽佛法。
見六道眾生
貧窮無福慧:
見六道
乃眾生造作
隨業輪迴之道
趣向曰:六道
貧窮之苦難深廣
譬之為海
施為堅牢船
能度貧窮海
所以,「見六道」,六道剛剛說過:天、人、地獄、餓鬼、畜生、阿修羅,這都是在「六道」之中。這個六道的境界,是眾生造作隨業輪迴的道路,他的趣向。我們自己造的因,惡因,就是在人間受盡折磨。人間的折磨,這樣盡了嗎?一輩子還沒有盡,說不定還要(輪迴)畜生,說不定還要到(到)地獄。因為人間,來這個地方受苦,還不覺悟,還在苦中再造業,這種苦,不斷複製這個苦,苦上再加苦,這就是六道趣向。
若是稍微有因緣,得到善知識,那就能將我們度化。所以我們要常常要記住,「已生善令增長,未生善令速生;已生惡令速斷,未生惡令不生」。
已生善令增長
未生善令速生
已生惡令速斷
未生惡令不生
你們想,世間都是很貧窮,欠缺德行、欠缺福與慧,所以我們要趕快用心,在人間要好好造福,而且要造大福。付出無所求,無所執著,「三輪體空」,這種心寬念純的大愛,這才是真正的造福。
這種貧窮之苦,深、廣,這種的苦難,真的又深、又廣,像大海一樣。所以佛陀,為了要度這些苦難的眾生,他就要施堅牢舟船。我們《無量義經》也有這樣說,經文中,為了要度眾生,渡過這種的煩惱海,就要做很多種的船,小船、中船、大船。不論大、小船,要很堅固,很牢固。在這個煩惱波濤的大海中,不要一點的波動,船就被翻倒。所以我們學法就像在水中,在船上,我們要很謹慎,同舟共濟。
大家同在這艘船上,要怎樣能夠平平安安,度過了煩惱的無涯大海那邊去?因為我們凡夫所做的無明愈多,煩惱的波濤愈強,看來是愈廣愈大,什麼時候才能到達彼岸呢?所以大家要用心,要讓海昇平,很快就能見到彼岸,唯有我們要用心。法入心,隨著佛陀所指引的道路、方向,這樣我們才能安穩,得到安穩樂處。
所以常常說:「做得很幸福?」「是啊!很美滿。」這雖然是很辛苦,但是轉一個念,是很幸福。看到完成了,很美滿,這叫做法喜。能夠在這六道中,雖然佛陀的眼光來看,我們六道的眾生,真的是貧窮。不過,我們要趕緊捨去貪念,要趕緊立定我們的志向,行在菩薩道中,若是這樣就安穩了。所以我們要時時多用心。
Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: With Clear Views We can Transform Suffering (淨澈明見度六道苦)
Date: October. 24. 2014
“The Buddha’s eyes are pure and see clearly. The Dharma, like water, can cleanse the mind of turbidity. Knowing and seeing that suffering is the destiny of those in the Six Realms, He guides them toward a safe, stable and joyful refuge.”
The Buddha’s eyes are pure; what He sees are the principles of all things in this world and in this universe. Everything is pure and clear to him. What we ordinary people see are simply the superficial appearances of things. We are unable to understand and penetrate the workings of their true, underlying principles. So, we learn the Buddha’s Way to attain the Buddha’s understanding and views.
The Buddha’s “understanding” [encompasses] the true principles of the universe and the truths of life. He understands our cyclic existence of birth and death, but we sentient beings can only understand how much we can attain in our current lifetime. This difference between the understanding of the Buddha and that of sentient beings is so great. Moreover, the true principles seen by the Buddha cannot be seen by us. Hidden within all things in the world are the subtle and intricate principles of matter. However, we ordinary people can only see the appearance of matter. The Buddha understands that “all things that arise have causes.” Why do things in the world happen this way? We only know to ask, “Why is this happening?” The Buddha can say, “This is what caused that to happen.” With His understanding and views, He hopes that all sentient beings can understand what He understands and see the true principles that He sees. This is His hope for sentient beings.
However, sentient beings are foolish and stubborn, therefore He had to use various teachings. Thus, He teaches them the Dharma. So, “The Dharma is like water.” He uses the Dharma like water to cleanse the turbidity from the minds of sentient beings. Therefore, He gave us many teachings to help us find a way to eliminate our ignorance and turbidity. The Buddha, with His understanding and views, can know the density of those in the Six Realms. He “knows and sees that suffering is the destiny of those in the Six Realms.” All Six Realms lead to suffering. Are heavenly beings living happily? After they have depleted their blessings, they will manifest the Five Forms of Decay and once again descend to the human realm, or even the animal or hell realm. These were people who did the most good and were rewarded by being born in heaven.
The strength of their goodness allowed them to enjoy heavenly comforts. However, their blessings will eventually run out. Once their [blessed] karma is depleted, they fall. So this is “knowing and seeing that suffering is the destiny of those in the Six Realms.” Therefore, the Buddha did all He could to teach according to beings’ capabilities and patiently guide these sentient beings. “He guides them toward a safe, stable and joyful refuge.” In this world, He analyzes things for everyone, one by one, so we can have a thorough understanding of the clear distinction between good and evil. If something is good, we need to orient our minds in that direction. He also wanted to tell us what is evil so we can be very vigilant against it. Otherwise, we will fall into the Three Evil Realms and face unbearable suffering.
The following passage in the sutra states, “Sariputra, you should know,with my Buddha-eyes I observe that living beings in the Six Realms are impoverished and lacking blessings and wisdom. They enter the treacherous path of cyclic existence and suffer unremittingly.”
Sariputra was foremost in wisdom among the Buddha’s disciples; this was widely acknowledged.If Sariputra could believe, then everyone else could believe as well.
Thus, the Buddha specifically called to Sariputra.In doing this, He was implying, “Sariputra. We should already believe that the Buddha sees with Buddha-eyes.”
He should know that the Buddha’s eyes and the Buddha’s views and understanding are different from those of ordinary people.Thus, Sariputra was [an example] to let everyone know that since he had come to an understanding of the Buddha’s Buddha-eyes, they should all, like him, be able to realize the Buddha’s view and understandings.
So here, the Buddha says “Sariputra, you should know to indicate that Sariputra should know that He observes everything with His Buddha-eyes.”
The Buddha is endowed with five kinds of eyes: physical eyes, heavenly eyes, wisdom-eyes, Dharma-eyes and Buddha-eyes.
What are the Buddha’s eyes?There are five aspects to His eyes.The first is His physical eyes.The Buddha’s physical eyes are the same as the ones we all have.When the Buddha was born into this world, He was entirely like us and also experienced birth, ageing, illness and death.These are the physical eyes of His body.
1.Physical Eyes:
These are the eyes of ordinary people.
When they encounter confusion and darkness or the obstruction of physical objects, they cannot see or understand.
The Buddha’s physical eyes are the same as those of ordinary people.If night falls, or if something is obstructions the light, He cannot see with His physical eyes either.After the sun sets, the Buddha has to say, “Please light the lamps.”This is how His physical eyes work.
The Buddha’s body and five sense organs work much like ours.Thus, He also experienced birth and aging, With aging comes illness and pain.In conclusion, His body was the same as ours.
Second, the Buddha has eyes that can see more clearly than the eyes of ordinary people, These are His heavenly eyes.
2.Heavenly Eyes:
These are the eyes of heavenly beings.
Near or far, day or night, they can see and understand.
Heavenly eyes are what heavenly beings have.Heavenly eyes can see near or far, day or night.No matter how far away something is, they can see it because of their superior eyesight.Day or night makes no difference.They can see just as well.For them, looking at things at night is the same as looking at things during the day.These are heavenly eyes.The third eyes are His wisdom-eyes.
3.Wisdom-Eyes:
These are the eyes of Hearers.
They attain their views and understanding by seeing through illusory appearances and recognizing true emptiness.
“Wisdom-eyes” are the [eyes of] Hearers.Heareres have already listened to and understood the Buddha’s teachings so they do not see with their [physical] eyes, but with their mind’s eye.The Buddha taught [Heareres] the Buddha-Dharma to help eliminate their confusion and attachments.Once their ignorance and afflictions are gone, their mind’s eye opens.Therefore, wisdom-eyes allow Hearers to see through illusory appearances and recognize true emptiness in their views and understanding.
In the final analysis, all things are empty.This state of mind of Hearers is called having wisdom-eyes.The fourth eyes are Dharma-eyes.
4.Dharma-Eyes:
These are the eyes of Bodhisattvas, which can penetrate the understanding and views of all worldly and world-transcending.
Dharma-paths to absolute truth.
Dharma-eyes are[possessed by] Bodhisattvas.Not only do Bodhisattvas penetrate all illusory appearances in life, they have also attained the understanding and views of all worldly and world-transcending.Because they accepted the Buddha’s teachings and became awakened, they penetrated the world’s principles of the true and the illusory. Not only have they realize true emptiness, that all things are empty and not worthy of attachment, Bodhisattvas have also penetrated wondrous existence. Wondrous existence is the cycle of the karmic law of cause and effect. This “cause” is something we must work to understand. If we cannot understand the “cause”, our minds will constantly become confused and form both good and bad karmic connections. If we create negative affinities everywhere we go, how will we create positive connections? We must try to eliminate negative affinities so that we can create good ones. And only good connections can be the causes that turn evil into goodness.
Bodhisattvas know this: not only do they understand this, they also have the understanding the views of the Dharma-paths to absolute truth. This makes them Bodhisattvas. They walk the Bodhisattva-path so they can approach the Buddha’s state of great understanding and great realization. They follow the Dharma by putting its principles into action.
Seeing suffering, they recognize their blessings, and feel [a desire to help] suffering beings. This makes them Bodhisattvas. They clearly know that the world is suffering, but they are willing, just like Guanyin Bodhisattva, to return to this world on the ship of compassion to transform sentient beings. Because of their Dharma-eyes, they see the suffering of the world, or the suffering of cyclic existence in the Six Realms. This is because of their Dharma-eyes.
The Buddha is endowed with Dharma-eyes. His fifth kind of eyes are the Buddha-eyes. These encompass all of these five kinds of eyes. The Buddha-eyes are the most penetrating and can see the ultimate reality of the universe. These have already penetrated the universe.
Dharma-eyes can [only] penetrate worldly and world-transcending principles, but Buddha-eyes can fully penetrate the ultimate truth of the universe.
“As for world and world-transcending phenomena, there is nothing They do not know, nothing They cannot see. All things are always illuminated. In the Buddha’s eyes”.
Thus the true appearance of all things in the universe and the Six Realms is seen and understood with Buddha-eyes. Therefore, the Buddha’s enlightenment, His perfectly clear and enlightened nature, is like a great clear mirror. All the myriad forms in the world were taken into His enlightened mind at once. This happens with Buddha-eyes. Buddha-eyes can see and understand the principles of all things in the universe at once. Ordinary people are not anywhere close to having Buddha-eyes. So, we must be very mindful. As ordinary people, our physical eyes are poor. Why can’t we see things clearly? Because we are ordinary people. There will be a time when our Six Roots will deteriorate. However, we must put our effort into cultivating heavenly eyes, Dharma-eyes, wisdom-eyes and the Buddha-eyes that the Buddha has. Therefore, we must be mindful.
When we talk about eyes, we are also talking about our minds. Humans and heavenly beings use their eyesight, and as for Hearers and Bodhisattvas, they use the perspective of their minds. Indeed, our perspective is what we can see with our minds, now what we see with our physical eyes. This is what we call our perspective.
Among the five kinds of eyes, Buddha-eyes are the most penetrating. “He observed that living beings in the Six Realms were impoverished, lacking blessing, wisdom”.
In looking at sentient beings of the Six Realms through Buddha-eyes, they seem truly impoverished. I have always said, no matter how much money people have, if having one they feel they lack nine, they will always live in poverty. If they do not create blessings, it does not matter how much money they have. However, ordinary people cannot see this. The Buddha believes that within the Six Realms, even heavenly beings who enjoy pleasure without creating blessings will be among the impoverished. So it is said, “[He] observed that living beings in the Six Realms were impoverished and lacking blessings and wisdom”.
Looking at things from the Buddha’s state, even heavenly beings are far from [being with] blessings and wisdom. Therefore, heavenly beings must take refuge with the Buddha and listen to the Dharma.
“[He] observed that sentient beings in the Six Realms were impoverished and lacking blessings and wisdom: He saw that the Six Realms were the paths of sentient beings who created and then followed their karma. The [Six] Destinies: The Six Realms. The suffering and hardship from poverty are as deep and vast as the ocean. The act of giving is a solid boat that can cross the sea of poverty.”
Therefore, “He saw the Six Realms. We have just spoken about the Six Realms, the heaven human animal, hell, hungry, animal and asura realms. These are all part of the Six Realms. The realm sentient beings transmigrate into is determined by the karma they have created. That is their destiny.
If we create negative causes, then we will suffer greatly in this world. But will this torment end in this world? it will not in one lifetime. Perhaps we may transmigrate into the animal realm or into the hell realm. If we come into this world, face suffering and still do not awaken, we will create karma as we suffer. When this suffering is endlessly multiplied, there is even more suffering. This is the destiny of those in the Six Realms.
With even the weakest causes and conditions, we may encounter a virtuous friend who can transform us.
So, we must always remember to “nurture any goodness that has already arisen. Encourage future goodness to quickly arise. Eliminate any evil that has already arisen. Prevent future evil from arising.”
Think about it, this world is full of poverty and is lacking ethics, blessings and wisdom. So, we must put our hearts into create blessings in this world. Furthermore, we want to create great blessings. We must give unconditionally and without any attachments, according to the Three Spheres of Emptiness. Only with the great love that comes from a broad mind and pure thoughts can we truly create blessings.
The suffering from poverty is deep and expansive. Truly, these difficulties are deep and expansive like the sea. So, the Buddha, to transform suffering beings, built a very durable vessel. As stated in the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, in order to transform sentient beings and deliver them across the sea of afflictions, He must build many kings of vessels. Small vessels, medium vessels and large vessels. Each vessel, regardless of size, must be built to be durable so when it sails across this sea of afflictions, it will not be capsized by a slight wave.
Learning the Dharma is like being on the water. Aboard the ship, we must be very cautious and pull together in times of trouble. As we sail on this ship together, how so we ensure a safe voyage across this boundless sea of afflictions? The more ignorant things we ordinary people do, the stronger the waves of affliction will be. We see the sea growing wider and wider; when will we reach the other side? So, everyone, we must be mindful, and work to calm the sea, then we will quickly see the other side. As long as we are mindful we can take the Dharma to heart and follow the path and course laid out by the Buddha. Only then can we reach a safe, stable and joyful refuge.
So, I always say that doing this work make us feel fortunate. Indeed, we feel happy and fulfilled. It might be hard work, but if we shift our mindset, we feel very happy. When a task is accomplished, we will feel happy. This is called Dharma-joy.
From the viewpoint of the Buddha, sentient beings who live in the Six Realms are truly impoverished. However, let us quickly set aside our greed and quickly point ourselves in the direction of walking the Bodhisattva-path. If we can do this, we will feel very peaceful. Therefore, we must always be mndful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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