【靜思妙蓮華】20141031 - 三七日思惟 - 第426集 The Twenty-one Days of Contemplation

20141031《靜思妙蓮華》三七日思惟 (第426)
（法華經•方便品第二）

⊙「立誓坐道樹下，靜思得成菩提，默慮度眾應機，佛慈宏恩啟迪，觀樹經行道場，感樹恩念地德。」
⊙「我始坐道場，觀樹亦經行，於三七日中，思惟如是事：我所得智慧，微妙最第一」《法華經方便品第二》
⊙佛成道後三七日間，觀樹經行、思惟，如何說妙法化度眾生。三七日思惟，第一七日思惟：我法妙，無能受者；第二七日思惟：眾生上中下根；第三七日思惟：誰應先聞法？即至波羅奈，為五比丘說四諦法等。
⊙我所得智慧，微妙最第一：佛智慧微妙，為無上正等覺，知俗諦曰智，照真諦曰慧。是希有難解之法，微妙最第一。

【證嚴上人開示】
「立誓坐道樹下，靜思得成菩提，默慮度眾應機，佛慈宏恩啟迪，觀樹經行道場，感樹恩念地德。」

立誓坐道樹下
靜思得成菩提
默慮度眾應機
佛慈宏恩啟迪
觀樹經行道場
感樹恩念地德

和大家分享，佛陀修行時，一直到因緣成熟後，就在菩提樹下，開始坐定下來時，發這個誓願：在這個金剛座上，不成正覺，永遠就不離開那個地方。開始每一天把握住分秒時間，靜思，思考天地之間萬事物理，還有宇宙人間的事相，靜靜默默來思考。終於他的一心專念，透徹了宇宙萬物真理，所以叫做「靜思得成菩提」。

菩提就是覺道，將他的心和宇宙之間的道理，通徹了、得了道，了解了宇宙間一切的真理，就要開始默慮度眾生的方式。了解了道理，佛法覺悟後的法，浩瀚啊！這麼大的法，這要如何開始向眾生來教導？法要如何來施教，施展讓眾生能接受呢？這是佛陀的慈悲，所以「佛慈宏恩啟迪」。

佛陀的慈悲，無非就是要大家，眾生人人能體悟本具佛性這個道理；人人若明心見性，在人間就沒有這些是非人我，貪、瞋、癡種種無明煩惱，造了很多的業力，亂了世間一切的次序，這都是眾生的無明。要如何能讓眾生這些無明去除，回歸人人本具的佛性？到底用什麼方法？眾生有無量無數的煩惱，佛陀就要開啟無量無數的法門，所以就要默慮，度眾生要投眾生的根機，這是佛陀的慈悲，用方法來啟迪眾生的心。

佛陀念他本身是受眾生恩，所以他一直要付出，如何來度化。換句話說，我們應該更要感念佛慈宏恩，累生世就是這樣要來化度。

就從這一生因緣成熟，現相人間，出生(在)皇宮這樣的過程，體會了人間的苦，要來找出苦的根源，要如何來濟度眾生。覺悟了，靜思默慮，然後觀樹經行，看樹、看周圍…等等，無不都是感恩──感樹恩、念地德。

看，佛陀對這環境，開始他就是滿懷感恩，滿懷著感念大地之德，所以大家對這句(經文)，大家要很用心。我們要警惕我們自己，我們在這樣的環境在修行，是不是時時感恩呢？感恩周圍的環境，讓我們衣食住行無慮，沒有擔心之處；每一個角落都讓我們遮風避雨。在這個大地上讓我們自由生活，我們更加要感恩。

我們昨天說過了，佛陀說：「我始坐道場，觀樹亦經行」。佛陀開始坐那個道場，覺悟的時候，三七日間，在那個環境中觀樹經行，他用三七日的時間，用心來思惟，「思惟如是事：我所得智慧，微妙最第一」。

我始坐道場
觀樹亦經行
於三七日中
思惟如是事
我所得智慧
微妙最第一
《法華經方便品第二》


既然覺悟了，已得如是理，再出在就要回歸回來，修行的目的就是為了要度眾生，拔除眾生的苦難。「如是事」就是開始，佛法要如何走入人間，去弘揚、教化的事情；道理都清楚了，現在就是要教育，所以「思惟如是事」。

「我所得智慧，微妙最第一」。佛陀當時的心境，就是充滿了智慧，宇宙萬物的真理、人事、世間等等，無一不微妙，無一不體會，這種微妙的境界，完全收攝在佛陀的內心，心的境界。不過，這麼微妙的道理，要如何來和眾生分享呢？佛陀就用了三七日，三個七日的時間，好好來思考，所以於三七日中，思惟如是事。

佛成道後
三七日間
觀樹經行 思惟
如何說妙法
化度眾生
三七日思惟
第一七日思惟
我法妙 無能受者
第二七日思惟：
眾生上中下根
第三七日思惟：
誰應先聞法
即至波羅奈
為五比丘
說四諦法等

第一七日的思惟：那就是「我法妙，無能受者」，這樣考慮。這個法這麼的微妙，觀眾生機，所有的眾生要來接受這個法，不容易啊！實在是不太可能。儘管眾生人人本具佛性，但是眾生這個佛性，受無量數的無明、煩惱，已經覆蔽得很深，煩惱很厚重，要如何將這個法，和這個真如本性啟動起來？好像遙遙無期。所以「我法妙，無能受者」，儘管要施教出去，沒辦法有能接受的人。

是啊！常常也會這樣想：法脈如何傳？如何能感觸到這個法？所需要在人間，我們如何將這個法，人我們的心，又有辦法身體力行，走出去，帶領著人走？這也是常常在思考。

人間事要來會道理，就這麼不容易了，何況佛心懷的境界？儘管我們常常說：「靜寂清澄，志玄虛漠」，這環境多麼美啊！多麼妙啊！那種微妙的心靈境界，我們是文字這樣讀，但是那個心情，我們有辦法體會得到嗎？即使有體會到，也是瞬間而已。我們日常的生活中，還是很粗重的煩惱，覆蔽在我們的心裡。所以難怪佛陀在那時候，用七天的時間，要如何將他的心境這樣完全，啟迪眾生那個真如本性。能夠來會契，這是佛陀第一七日的思考。

第二七日佛所思惟的，是眾生的根機，不整齊，所以佛陀決定要開啟方便法，用妙權來度化眾生，這第二個七日已經思考好了。第三個七日，到底是要從哪裡開始？什麼人能第一個來聞法？所以思考之後，想，應該是多年來，跟隨在他的身邊，五年參訪、六年苦行，隨在他的身邊，這樣在修苦行那五個人。

五個人，就是他的親族，是他的父王派出來保護太子，隨太子修行的人，那就是憍陳如等五個人。就這樣開始決定，要向五個人先說法，所以他就到波羅奈鹿野苑去。

去到鹿野苑，五個人，遠遠看到佛的時候，大家就說：「你看，太子一個人生活不下去了，又回來找我們了。」大家就做一個決定，「這樣，這種失去了道心的人，不值得他來和我們接近，我們就別理他。」但是這位已成佛的太子，已經是佛陀了，大覺者了，這五個人的表情，他怎麼會不知道呢？他還是緩緩地向前走，將他的威儀、他的莊嚴形象、那種道德的形象，讓這五個人，不由自己攝住了他們的心。

看到他們的太子這個威儀動作，這個身形的莊嚴，就像從他的身體上，發出了一道道的毫光一樣。不由自己，大家起了恭敬心，從遠遠的地方，這樣一直靠近過來，到佛的面前，不由自己，不約而同就向著佛頂禮、膜拜。佛陀歡喜了，就開始坐下來，開始向這五個人來解釋，他的修行的過程、心靈的境界，體會天地萬物微妙的事相。五個人趕緊就要求：「佛陀啊！您已經，已經大覺悟者了，您所覺悟的，是不是能趕快來向我們教化，施教給我們？」佛陀慈悲！開始就以「四諦法」。先向大家說人生是苦嗎？「苦啊！」佛陀就這樣問出了，人人體會人生的苦，佛陀開始分析苦；苦、集、滅、道。

第一次說，說法，但是五個人當中，其中才有一位覺悟，體會到佛陀所說的四諦道理，那就是憍陳如。再來，其他四位雖然是聽了，不過內容，那個真諦的道理還無法很清楚，很坦然來回答佛陀。佛陀就說：沒關係。再一次，苦、集、滅、道。了解嗎？二個人說：「我體會到了，人生的苦難，來自很多煩惱的集合。」另外二個說：「還沒有很清楚，還是像霧裡看花一樣。」佛陀就說：沒關係，再來一次。苦、集、滅、道。了解嗎？五個人異口同聲滿懷的歡喜，得到法喜了，人人了解了！這才叫做三轉四諦法輪。這就是佛陀覺悟後，首先聞法就是這五比丘。

所以佛已成（就佛果）、法已就（宣說），比丘眾也已經有（證果）了，所以佛、法、僧三寶完全具足，這是佛陀三七日的，思惟之後，走入人間成就三寶。三寶成就，開始就有僧眾了，三位(比丘)以上叫做僧眾。所以從此開始，佛法就走入人間來了。

下面這段(經)文說：「我所得智慧，微妙最第一」。

我所得智慧
微妙最第一：
佛智慧微妙
為無上正等覺
知俗諦曰智
照真諦曰慧
是希有難解之法
微妙最第一

「佛智慧微妙為無上正等覺」。佛的智慧，佛陀所得到的是智慧，這智慧微妙是無上正等正覺。就是我們大家念經時，阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，意思就是無上正等正覺，這是佛的智慧。

所以，知，所知的「知」，就是俗諦，叫做「智」，世間一切人、事、物，這都叫做「俗諦」。照真諦曰慧。真諦，就是佛的真理；俗諦，是人間的事物。智是「分別智」，分別人間一切人我是非等等，這叫做智；慧是真諦，就是真理，無為法，這種真諦，它就是平等，叫做「平等慧」。我們人人修行，修到慈悲等覺時，那個時候就是平等慧現前時，所以這叫做智慧。智是「分別智」，慧是「平等慧」。已經天地之間人我平等了，與眾生是共同體，這叫做「平等慧」。

「是希有難解之法，微妙最第一」。這就是佛的智慧，是很希有，不是眾生我們普通凡夫，能夠體會佛的境界，真的是法是微妙第一。就是說，佛法是在人間中，去體會一切的道理，所以我們必定要學佛，他這分的感恩心。剛剛說過了，我們開始修行就要立誓願、坐道場，我們人人就是這樣，要立誓願──我要修行，我若不成功，我絕對不罷休。

我們就是要用精進的心，心時時保持很平靜，才有辦法道入心。平靜的心，對人、我、事物，我們要時時真正的默慮，好好考慮，凡事就不要衝動。我們很抱持著堅定的心，但是不要很剛強，還是凡事要好好來默默思考，什麼樣的人應什麼樣的根機，我們才有辦法契會佛心。

看看佛陀他的心態，他不斷就是感眾生恩，我們眾生更要感佛宏恩。所以他只在一個環境中，觀樹經行，他就是時時感樹的恩、念地德。所以我們要學佛，從這種生活心態中，我們就能學到很多；所以日常生活和道理，是不脫離的，所以人人只要時時多用心。

Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan

Subject: The Twenty-one Days of Contemplation (三七日思惟)

Date: October. 31. 2014

“The Buddha vowed to sit in mediation under the tree and engage in still contemplation until He attained Bodhi. Then He silently contemplated ways to transform sentient beings according to their capabilities and inspire them with loving-kindness and tremendous grace. He contemplated the tree, walked in meditation, and was grateful for the kindness of the tree and the virtue of the land.”

This tells everyone that when the Buddha engaged in spiritual practice, He waited until karmic conditions had matured, and then sat under the Bodhi-tree. As He began to sit in meditation, He made the following vow. “As I sit upon this Diamond Throne, if I do not achieve perfect enlightenment I will never leave this place.” He made use of every single second to engage in still contemplation of the principles of all things in the world, as well as the phenomena of this world and of the universe. He engaged in silent contemplation, and finally, through wholehearted concentration, He penetrated the truth of all things in the universe. 

So, “He engaged in still contemplation until He attained Bodhi.” Bodhi is the path to enlightenment. He connected His mind to the path of the universe and thoroughly understood it. Having attained Bodhi, He understood all truths of the universe. Then He silently contemplated the methods of transforming sentient beings. Upon understanding the truths, the Dharma He realized was so expansive. This is such great Dharma; how could He begin to give this great teaching to sentient beings? How should He teach the Dharma in a way that could be accepted by all beings? This shows the Buddha’s great compassion. 

So, He “inspired them with loving-kindness and tremendous grace.” Out of His compassion, the Buddha wanted all sentient beings to realize that they intrinsically have Buddha-nature. If sentient beings could understand their minds and realize their true nature, then there would be no interpersonal conflicts, greed, anger, delusion or various kinds of ignorance and afflictions. We create tremendous karmic forces that disturb the order in the world. This is caused by the ignorance of sentient beings. How could He help them eliminate their ignorance and return to their intrinsic Buddha-nature? What method could He use? Since sentient beings have countless afflictions, the Buddha had to start by opening infinite Dharma-doors. 

So, He engaged in silent contemplation. To transform sentient beings, He had to teach in accord with their capabilities. This shows the great compassion of the Buddha. He utilized different means to inspire us. The Buddha was mindful of the grace. He had received from sentient beings, so He continued to work to transform sentient beings. To put it another way, we must be even more grateful for His tremendous grace in transforming us over so many lifetimes. In that lifetime, when karmic conditions matured, He manifested in this world by being born into the palace. Upon experiencing the suffering of this world, He wanted to discover the source of suffering so He could help and transform sentient beings. He became enlightened and engaged in still contemplation, then contemplated the tree and walked in meditation. 

He observed the tree, the environment and so on, keeping in His mind a sense of gratitude for the kindness of the tree and virtue of the land. Do you see how the Buddha treated the environment? From the beginning He was filled with gratitude for the virtue of the land. So, we must be mindful of these words. We must remind ourselves to be vigilant. As we engage in spiritual practice in this kind of environment, do we constantly feel grateful?From the beginning He was filled with gratitude for the virtue of the land.

So, we must be mindful of these words.

We must remind ourselves to be vigilant.As we engage in spiritual practice in this kind of environment, do we constantly feel grateful?We are grateful that in this place, we do not need to worry at all about clothing, food, shelter and transportation.We are sheltered from the wind and rain.Since we can live freely upon this land, we must be even more grateful.

Yesterday we discussed how the Buddha said, “When I first sat in this place of enlightenment, I contemplated this tree and walked in meditation.”After the Buddha first sat there and attained enlightenment, for three periods of seven days, He contemplated the tree and walked in meditation.For three periods of seven days, He diligently contemplated.“I thought over matters such as these. The wisdom which I attained is foremost in its subtlety and wondrousness.”

After He became enlightened and realized true principles, He went back to the original goal of His spiritual practice, which was to transform sentient beings and relieve their suffering.“Matters such as these” refers to bringing the Buddha-Dharma into the world and how to spread and teach it.After He clearly understood the principles, He now wanted to teach them.

Thus He “thought over matters such as these. The wisdom which I attained is foremost in its subtlety and wondrousness.”The Buddha’s mind at that time was filled with wisdom and the truths of the universe, of people and matters, of the world and so on, all of which were subtle and wondrous, all of which were realized by the Buddha.In this subtle and wondrous state, everything was fully taken in by the Buddha’s mind.But how could these subtle and wondrous truths be shared with all sentient beings?The Buddha spent three periods of seven days to really thing about this.

So, “for three periods of seven days,” He “thought over matters such as these”.After the Buddha attained enlightenment, for three period of seven days, He contemplated the tree and walked in meditation to ponder how to teach the wondrous Dharma to transform sentient beings.He contemplated for three periods of seven days, 

In the first period of seven days He thought:My Dharma is wondrous; no one can accept it.

In the second period of seven days He thought:Sentient beings have great, average and limited capacities.

In the third period of seven days He thought:Who should be the first to hear this Dharma?

So, He went to Varanasi to teach the Four Noble Truths and so on to the five bhiksus.

During the first period of seven days He thought, “My Dharma is wondrous; no one can accept it.”He thought about how subtle and wondrous the Dharma was, and based on His observation of their capabilities, He knew that for all sentient beings to accept this teaching would not be easy.It was very unlikely.All living beings intrinsically have Buddha-nature, but this nature has already been deeply buried underneath boundless ignorance and countless afflictions.The layers of afflictions are so thick.How could He use the Dharma to truly awaken their intrinsic nature of True Suchness?He felt like they were such a long way off.

So, “My Dharma is wondrous; no one can accept it.”Even if He wished to give teachings, there might not be anyone who could accept it.Indeed, I often wonder, “How do I transmit this Dharma-lineage?”In order to experience these teachings, we must be in this world.How can we take the Dharma to heart, put it into practice and then lead others onto this path?This is what I constantly contemplate.

Realizing the principles behind worldly matters is already quite difficult, let alone understanding the Buddha’s state of mind.We constantly say it is “tranquil and clear, with vows vast as the universe.This is such a beautiful and wondrous state!We can read about this subtle and wondrous state of mind in the text of the sutras, but can we experience this feeling?Even if we experience it, it only lasts for an instant.

In our daily living, our minds are still covered by tremendous afflictions.So, it is no wonder that the Buddha spent seven days contemplating how to use His enlightened state of mind to fully inspire sentient beings’ intrinsic Buddha-nature to resonate with His. This was what He contemplated over the first seven days. For the second period of seven days, the Buddha contemplated sentient beings’ varying capabilities. So, the Buddha decided to establish skillful means and use wondrous provisional teachings to transform them. This was decided during the second seven days. During the third period of seven days, He wondered where to begin. Who should be the first to listen to the Dharma? 

After careful consideration, He concluded that He should begin with those who had stayed by His side during those five years of traveling and six years of ascetic practice. Those five were still engaged in a ascetic practice. They were His relatives, sent by the king to protect the crown prince and they engaged in spiritual practice with Him. This was Kaundinya and the others. This was how He decided to teach these five people first. So, He set out for Deer Park in Varanasi. 

When He arrived at Deer Park, those five people saw Him from afar and said, “Look, our prince cannot survive on his own, he is coming back to look for us.” Together, they decided, “A person who has lost his spiritual aspirations is not worthy to be around us. Let us simply ignore him.” But the crown prince had attained Buddhahood and become the Great Enlightened One. From the expressions on their faces, how could He not know what they were thinking? Still, He approached them unhurriedly and His dignified and majestic presence, His virtuous appearance, captivated them in spite of themselves. Seeing their prince’s dignified demeanor and His majestic appearance, it seemed as if His body was radiating beams of light. They could not help but feel respect for him as He slowly approached them from afar. When the Buddha was in front of them, together they spontaneously prostrated to Him. 

The Buddha was joyful and sat down. He began to explain to these five the path of His spiritual cultivation, the state of His mind and His realizations about the subtle and wondrous appearances of all things in the world. The five of them quickly made a request, “Venerable Buddha! You have already become the Great Enlightened One. Can you promptly teach us your realizations? Please teach us!” Out of His compassion, He began teaching the Four Noble Truths. 

First He asked, “Is life suffering?” “Yes it is!” Through this question He elicited the response that they had all experienced suffering. So, He proceeded to explain to them suffering, its causation, cessation and the Path. This was the first time He taught the Dharma, but among those five people, only one became awakened and realized the principles of the Four Noble Truths. That was Kaundinya. 

Though the other four listened attentively, they could not understand those principles. They told Him this honestly. The Buddha said, “That is fine, I will explain it again”. Did they then understand the Four Noble Truths? Two of them said, “I realize now that suffering in life is caused by the accumulation of many afflictions”. The other two people said, “It is still not clear to us. It seems very hazy and indistinct”. Then the Buddha replied, “That is fine, I will explain it a third time”. Did they then understand the Four Noble Truths? The five spoke in unison, “We are very happy. We have attained Dharma-joy”. All of them now understood. This is the Three Turnings of the Dharma-wheel of the Four Noble Truths. After the Buddha attained enlightenment, the first to listen to the teachings were these five bhiksus. 

The Buddha was enlightened, the Dharma established, and there was a group of bhiksus, so the Three Treasures were complete. After the Buddha’s contemplation over those three periods of seven days, He went into the world and completed the Three Treasures. Upon their completion, the Sangha came into being. Three or more bhiksus is a Sangha. So, from that moment on, the Buddha-Dharma was in this world. 

The next sutra passage states, “The wisdom which attained is foremost in its subtlety and wondrousness.

The wisdom which I attained is foremost in its subtlety and wondrousness: The Buddha’s wisdom is subtle and wondrous, as it is supreme and perfect enlightenment. He knows Worldly Truth through discerning wisdom. This Dharma is extraordinary, difficult to understand, and foremost in its subtlety and wondrousness.

“The Buddha’s wisdom is subtle and wondrous, as it is supreme and perfect enlightenment.” This describes the Buddha’s wisdom. The wisdom that the Buddha attained is the subtle and wondrous, supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment. In the sutras we recite “Anuttaraa-samyak-sambodhi,” which means supreme, perfect and universal enlightenment. This is the wisdom of Buddha. So when we speak of “knowing,” we are referring to Worldly Truth. 

People, matters and objects in the world are part of Worldly Truth. He illuminates Absolute Truth with impartial wisdom. Absolute Truth is the Buddha’s true principles.

Worldly Truth is worldly matters.With discerning wisdom, we can discern right from wrong in all things. This is discerning wisdom.

Impartial wisdom is Absolute Truth, the true principle and unconditioned Dharma. Absolute Truth is impartial so we speak of impartial wisdom. In our spiritual practice, when we attain compassion for all equally, we have manifested impartial wisdom. So, we need to develop wisdom. There is discerning wisdom and impartial wisdom. When we do not discriminate between ourselves and others and see ourselves as one with all sentient beings, we have impartial wisdom.

“This Dharma is extraordinary, difficult to understand, and foremost in its subtlety and wondrousness. The Buddha’s wisdom is extraordinary. It is something we ordinary people can [fully] comprehend. Indeed, the Dharma is foremost in its subtlety and wondrousness.

So, the Buddha-Dharma requires that we be in the world to realize all principles. Therefore, we must learn to cultivate the Buddha’s sense of gratitude.

As I just mentioned, when we begin to engage in spiritual practice we must make great vows and sit in a place for spiritual cultivation. We must all make great vows, “I will engage in spiritual practice. I will never give up until I succeed.” We must be diligent and always remain calm. Only then can we take the Path to heart. If we are calm, we can face people and matters by engaging in true silent contemplation. We must consider things carefully and not react impulsively. We must maintain our determination without becoming too stubborn. We must silently and carefully contemplate what is suitable for people’s various capabilities. Only then can we resonate with and understand the Buddha’s mind. 

Look at the mindset of the Buddha He was always grateful for sentient beings. We sentient beings must be even more grateful for His boundless grace. The Buddha, in that particular place, contemplated the tree and walked in mediation. He was constantly grateful to the tree and mindful of the virtue of the land. We can learn a lot from His attitude toward life. Thus, our daily living is inseparable from principles. So, we must always be mindful.

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