【靜思妙蓮華】20141223 - 斷諸疑悔安穩泰然 - 第463集 Take the Dharma to Heart to Eliminate All Doubts

20141223《靜思妙蓮華》斷諸疑悔安穩泰然 (第463集)
（法華經•譬喻品第三）

⊙「聞法入心解大道，音教入耳心中會，信行菩提大直道，心與道會斷疑悔。」
⊙「然我等不解方便隨宜所說，初聞佛法遇便信受、思惟、取證。」《法華經 譬喻品第三》
⊙「世尊！我從昔來，終日竟夜每自剋責。而今從佛聞所未聞未曾有法，斷諸疑悔，身意泰然，快得安隱。」《法華經 譬喻品第三》
⊙世尊！我從昔來，終日竟夜每自剋責：即舍利弗自疑，何以獨受小乘之度脫，並悔當日不早從大乘法修習也。
⊙斷諸疑悔，身意泰然，快得安隱：安隱快樂者，則寂靜妙常。世事永息者，則攀緣心斷。

【證嚴上人開示】
「聞法入心解大道，音教入耳心中會，信行菩提大直道，心與道會斷疑悔。」

聞法入心解大道
音教入耳心中會
信行菩提大直道
心與道會斷疑悔

各位，學佛，我們必定要為我們自己，真正是修行者，時時要好好用心，守住我們這念心。修行者守好心，自然我們的行為就端正，方向就不會偏差，能夠這樣身心合一，這叫做修行，這叫做精進者。

學佛也要守佛的教法。在家五戒、十善，這就是守佛戒法，也是學佛的在家修行者，在家有在家的規戒，出家有出家的軌道，我們若是脫離了規戒、偏離了軌道，若這樣，聽法就沒有用了。所以我們必定法要度入心來，將法聽入心去，了解道理，行動在我們的身，這叫做法入心、法在行中。這種心行合一，才是真正聞法者、修行者，這才是真正「體解大道」。我們若沒有「體解大道」，法絕對是不在心中，因為法不在心中，所以我們的行為偏差、懈怠、墮落，這和我們名稱說是學佛』，完全是脫離。

所以「音教入耳」，所聽的法，雖然從耳朵聽進去，其實是心中要體會，所以「音教入耳心中會」。這邊聽，那邊漏過去，心中就沒有法了。所以聽在耳，要入於心，這個法與我們的意要會合，這樣聽法才是真正聽懂。聽懂，我們就能行動得出來，行動不出來，就是聽不懂，聽不懂就是不用心，所以音聲這樣與心不契合。

所以大家還是要時時，自己要自我警惕，同樣的法這樣說，大家一起這樣聽，有的人聽入耳，很精進，守護這念心；有的人就是這樣就放過去，放蕩形態、懈怠、墮落，千萬不可！「人身難得，佛法難聞」，我們要好好記住，時光一過，不再回來，佛法有（漏）失，難得會合，所以還是要把握當下。

要相信「信行菩提大直道」。我們一定要信，而且要深信；不只是信，我們要身體力行，向著這條菩提大直道，這是一條覺道。覺與迷是兩項對待。我們若甘願迷，人生懵懵懂懂，，這樣每天在過，這種迷失的人生，你就不會去信念，不會去實行所聽的教法；而你若是有聽，願意入心，身體力行，這樣這個迷就能消除。所以，有迷，就沒有悟；有悟，迷就失。所以我們若能夠將迷轉為悟，心中有悟、有覺，那就不會這個迷，來亂了我們的心。

我們若不肯受法、用法，來找回我們的本性，永遠就是受這個迷念，將我們覆蓋住。所以時間沒有多少，人人要把握當下，信而要入行，行，精進在這個大菩提道。

心與道會，那就斷疑悔。我們這個疑、後悔，光是一直後悔，為什麼後悔呢？就是對法沒有很信感，因為有疑，就是因為有疑，所以才會發生後悔的心。常常說，「最大的懲罰就是後悔」。我們怎麼不要有機會，及時趕緊把握呢？好的法要入心，用心去思考，我們的心與道來會合，自然我們的疑就會斷除，斷除了疑，就沒有再後悔的事情。趕緊把握當下，信行合一，這樣就是在菩提道中。所以我們必定要時時自我警惕，不要放縱我們自己。

最近開始從<譬喻品>，舍利弗開始表達他的內心，過去的心情。大家也應該將心比心想，過去的(經)文，就是在表達舍利弗，從過去佛陀講的法，他的停滯，那分的悔，沒有真誠的信心，展開心胸接受大法。對他來說，是一項很後悔的事。過去就是信心不堅固，所說的「信心」，就是說「我怎麼可能當菩薩呢？」，這就是對自己有疑，所以接受的法，那個信的根不大。這是舍利弗的疑悔。

所以上面那段(經)文說，「然我等不解方便隨宜所說，初聞佛法遇便信受、思惟、取證。」

然我等不解方便
隨宜所說
初聞佛法
遇便信受
思惟取證
《法華經 譬喻品第三》

初聽到的法，他就開始信受：法從因緣生，法從因緣滅。法的因緣很多，佛陀常常在說法，都不離開，舍利弗怎麼聽法，也不離開這其中。其實，法之中的妙權，他只是執在「權」，還未體解到「妙」的道理。這是舍利弗的疑悔。

現在這段(經)文，又再說：「世尊！我從昔來，終日竟夜每自剋責。而今從佛聞所未聞未曾有法，斷諸疑悔，身意泰然，快得安隱。」

世尊 我從昔來
終日竟夜每自剋責
而今從佛聞所未聞
未曾有法
斷諸疑悔
身意泰然
快得安隱
《法華經 譬喻品第三》

這是舍利弗表達了他的心情，過去、現在，還是這樣在表達。我過去，「昔」就是過去，數十年來，「終日竟夜」，不論是白天一直到晚上，自己就在自責、自己在反省，到底我這麼長的時間聽佛說法，一直停滯在這樣中、小乘。

常常聽佛在說三乘法，這個大乘法，對我的根機，我有辦法接受嗎？面對著芸芸眾生，我有辦法去付出嗎？舍利弗不是聽不懂，是一直自己在考慮，自己是不是能夠投入人群？是不是能夠去度化眾生？他就是一直日夜在思考，思考這個大、中、小乘的法。

世尊 我從昔來
終日竟夜
每自剋責：
即舍利弗自疑
何以獨受
小乘之度脫
並悔當日不早從
大乘法修習也

舍利弗一直就是知道，中乘，再有大乘，自己也一直在想：在這個中、小乘，到底我能夠接受大乘嗎？對自己一直在測量自己，不敢向前走出去。所以「而今從佛聞所未聞，未曾有法。」現在既然聽到了，以前，過去佛陀是有這樣說，但是我自己的心門還沒有打開，所以現在所聽到的，好像我過去沒聽到，或者是過去聽到沒用心，所以「未曾有法」。

我現在聽到的，已經是過去聽，但是心裡沒有接受到，現在已經聽到了，聽到那時候佛陀所說的，和現在所說的，我的心已經接受了，所以自己表達「未曾有法」。「未曾有法」，不是佛沒有說過，是他的心沒有去接觸到，所以「未曾有法」，過去自己的心沒有去接受回來。

「斷諸疑悔」。我若有接受到這個大法，我的心就沒有疑了，不必在現在有這個悔恨。後悔自己，過去佛陀同樣說法，因為同聞佛法、同(入)法性，現在知道，就是行大乘法的人、小乘法的人，都是平等的法性，就是一起這樣聽，共同都有各人有這樣的，法性存在，卻是自己還沒有去接受過來。

現在已經心打開了，接受到這個法，因為佛陀已經很懇切、明瞭說：「過去我說的都是方便法。」這種開權，將權撥開了，現在顯實，已經舍利弗看到佛陀心所保護的法，已經心對心，體會到了。所以因為這樣說：「現在的心，所得到的是過去，不曾有過的那個法，已經入心了。」所以「斷諸疑悔」，已經將疑全都斷掉了，我再也不要再疑、不要再後悔了，現在已經又聽到了，真實法入心。所以因為這樣，「身意泰然，快得安隱」。我現在的心很舒暢，展開了，心都通了，沒有疑來阻礙著。這是舍利弗的身意表達。不是佛沒有傳法，是自己的根機就不肯去接受。

當日，就是過去佛陀所說的法，那個時候、當初。就是沒有早早，從這個大乘法來修行。同樣佛陀說的，三根普被，我怎麼自己選擇在這個小，小乘、中乘，要當一個自了漢呢？悔不當初。當初應該我要早早，就從大乘法來修習、來修行，我何必等到(現在)。過去和所有凡是佛的弟子，都是「同入法性」，為何我怎麼停滯？自己自我停滯。

「而今從佛聞所未聞」。現在佛陀再次，將這個大、小乘法，從小乘、中乘，佛陀已經很明瞭說，這小乘、中乘，是一個階段性的接引，因為眾生根機無法一下子，就接受大乘法，說：「你本來就有佛性，你有這樣充足的智慧，來，你能夠去度眾生。」沒有那麼簡單。一定要讓他從這個法，一切因緣生，一切因緣滅，一切法就是在因緣中。

過去，不論是在講《水懺》，或者是《法華經》，都一直向大家說，因核果海，這個因緣果報是在這個佛法中，是很普遍，我們一定要重視因緣，重視因緣，我們要相信那個真諦的道理，一切的大乘法，離不開因緣。但是小乘法更是完全說因緣，以因緣、譬喻等等，讓眾生的根機來會合這個法。

所以在法華會這當中，佛陀就是明說：過去是小乘、中乘，從今天開始，我要取用大乘。要向你們說明，過去是一種方便，現在大家要聽的，就是要行菩薩道的法，大家的目標就是到覺悟，會合覺性慧海，要展現出來，人人心中都「有法度」，這個覺性慧海，要度入人人的心來。

所以舍利弗現在終於瞭解了，所以「斷諸疑悔，身意泰然，快得安隱」。這時候，所有的疑和後悔，後悔沒有用，但是把握當下，就恆持剎那，從現在開始，就是要好好把握。這個時候，自己做決定：我應該要向大乘法走。

所以自己決定之後，這個大乘法是他的方向。這當中開始「身意泰然」決定的方向已定，所以每天歡喜，這種的「快得安隱」，「快」就是很快樂，每天就是很快樂，從聽到這個法之後，就是很快樂，因為方向對準了，我要發心，向大乘法前進，這樣就「身意泰然」，非常的安穩，叫做泰然，尤其是快樂，快樂、安穩，這個身心自在。這種的安穩、快樂，就是我們的心已經能夠靜下來。

斷諸疑悔
身意泰然
快得安隱：
安隱快樂者
則寂靜妙常
世事永息者
則攀緣心斷

有疑、有悔的心，就是心中還有煩惱。這個心中的煩惱起伏，這個心還定不下來。我們現在既然是決定了，方向是對準了，自然就「寂靜妙常」。這個妙法穩定了我們的心，就是「常」，再也不會有這樣起伏的事情。

對這個「世事永息」。世事，不論是在人群中，世間的事情，我們既然決心要入人群去，所接觸的世事一定會很多。但是，我們大乘心既發，安頓了我們的心，我們的心永遠都要很寂靜，不受到這個世間事，人，人我是非來影響我們，所以「世事永息」，就是再也不去攀緣。這個攀緣的心，我們完全斷除，能夠這樣才是我們的道心堅固。

各位，我們聽經之後，好好再反省、思惟：我們的心是不是受這個世事、物質、人我是非影響，誘引我們像在世俗人的生活？有這樣嗎？我們是不是開始當一個人群典範？聞法有入心嗎？有解大道嗎？我們現在一直鼓勵人人，要發大心，行菩薩道，修行者在這個道場，為天下人的典範。天下世俗人接聞到佛法，耳朵聽法，眼睛來看修行者的行儀，讓他們能夠堅固道心，對人間有益人群。

應該修行者應該要有這樣，法要入心，解大道，我們真正要開闢一條的菩提道，不是還在鋪人間路而已。現在，我們菩提道趕緊鋪起來，讓在家人了解，他們去鋪人間路，趕緊來接我們的菩提道，才能夠到佛的境界。所以「音教入耳」，心中要會合起來。否則只是聽、聽、聽，但是，法沒有在內心裡，一邊聽，一邊過。

「信行菩提大直道」，心要直，來聽法、受法。心若能夠與道相會，這樣我們才不會再起心動念，我們才能夠安穩、快樂，我們才能夠寂靜妙常，我們才能夠世事、人我是非，在我們的內心安息下來，不再起心動念。若能夠這樣，我們的行儀就能夠端正，用身教來度眾生。請大家要時時多用心。

Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan

Subject: Take the Dharma to Heart to Eliminate All Doubts (斷諸疑悔安穩泰然)

Date: December.11. 2014

“Listen to the Dharma and take it to heart to understand the great path. When the sounds of teachings enter our ears, the mind will understand. Faithfully walk the great, direct Bodhi-path. When our minds converge with the path, we can eliminate doubts and regrets.”

Everyone, in learning the Buddha’s Way, we must see ourselves as true spiritual practitioners. We must always be mindful and safeguard our minds. If we can safeguard our minds, we will naturally behave properly and not deviate in our direction. When our minds and bodies are in harmony, we are engaging in spiritual practice; we are diligently advancing. As Buddhist practitioners, we must also abide by the teachings of the Buddha. Lay practitioners have the Five Precepts and the Ten Good Deeds so they can abide by the Buddha’s precepts. These are for lay Buddhist practitioners; they have their own rules and precepts. Monastics also have their own course to follow. If we do not follow these precepts, if we deviate from this course, then listening to the Dharma is useless. 

So, we must take the Dharma to heart. We must accept the Dharma into our minds, understand its principles and then put them into action. This is taking the Dharma to heart and putting it in into practice. Only when our minds and actions are in harmony are we truly spiritual practitioners of the Dharma. This is how we truly “comprehend the great path”. 

If we do not “comprehend the great path,” the Dharma will definitely not be in our hearts. If we do not take the Dharma to heart, our behaviors will deviate from it. We will become indolent and will degenerate. Even if we claim to be learning the Buddha’s Way, we will have gone completely off track. So, “when the sounds of teachings enter our ears,” though the teachings are entering through our ears, it is really our minds that must comprehend them. So, “when the sounds of teachings enter our ears, the mind will understand.” If it goes in one ear and leaks out the other, there will be no Dharma in our minds. It must go into our ears and then enter our minds. This Dharma must resonate with our minds for us to truly understand it. Upon understanding it, we can put it into practice. If we do not practice it, we did not understand it. If we did not understand, we were not mindful. Thus the sound did not resonate with our minds. 

So, we must always remind ourselves to be vigilant of this. As the Dharma is being expounded and everyone listens together, some listen carefully, practice it diligently and safeguard their minds. Others just let it go by and do not care about their behavior. This indolence and deterioration is something we must avoid at all costs. “It is rare to be born human and rare to hear the Buddha-Dharma.” We must be careful to remember that once time passes, we cannot turn back the clock. Once we let the Dharma pass by, it will be difficult to encounter it again. So, we must seize every moment. We must believe and “faithfully walk the great, direct Bodhi-path.”

We must have faith, deep faith. And not only must we believe in the Dharma, we must also put it into practice so we can walk toward this great, direct Bodhi path, which is the path to enlightenment. Awakening and delusion are opposites. If we are willing to remain deluded, we will live each day in a state of confusion. In a deluded life, we will not have faith in or apply the teachings we have heard. However, if we hear them and are willing to take them to heart and put them into practice, we can eliminate our delusions. 

So, if we are deluded, we are not awakened. If we are awakened, our delusions disappear. If we can turn from delusions toward awakening, if our minds can awaken, then delusions will not disturb our minds.

If we are unwilling to accept the Dharma and use it to find our intrinsic nature, our minds will forever be covered by delusions.So, we do not have much time; we must seize each moment to develop faith in and practice the Dharma.Our practice is to diligently advance on this Buddha-path.When our minds converge with this path, we can eliminate doubts and regrets.

Yet we keep having doubts and regrets.Why do we have regrets? Because of our lack of faith in the Dharma, we have doubts.Because we have doubts, we end up doing things we regret.

I often say, “The greatest punishment in life is regret.”How can we be presented with this opportunity and not quickly seize it?We must take good teachings to heart and mindfully contemplate them.When our minds converge with the path, we can naturally eliminate doubts.When we eliminate our doubts, we will no longer do things we will regret.When we seize each moment to unite our faith and practice, then we are walking the Bodhi-path.So, we must always be vigilant of ourselves; we must not become self-indulgent.

At the beginning of the Chapter on Parables, Sariputra began to share what he felt in the past.Let us put ourselves in his position.The previous sutra passage describes how Sariputra, after hearing the Buddha’s teachings in the past, stooped at that point, and how he regretted it.This was because he lacked the genuine faith to open his mind to accept the Great Dharma.To him, this was something he deeply regretted.

In the past, his faith had not been firm.His [lack of] faith led him to wonder, “How can I possibly become a Bodhisattva?”He had this doubt about himself.So, he did not have deep faith in the Dharma that he received.These were Sariputra’s doubts and regrets.

Thus, the previous passage states, “But I and others like me did not understand that skillful means were taught according to what was appropriate.So,when we first heard the Buddha-Dharma ,we immediately believed and accepted it, thinking we had attained realizations.”

When Sariputra first heard the Dharma, he believed and accepted that things arise due to causes and conditions and things cease due to causes and conditions.There are many causes and conditions in the Dharma; when the Buddha taught the Dharma, he always talked about them.Whenever Sariputra listened to the Dharma, he was focused on these.

Actually, when he heard wondrous provisional teachings, he clung to their “provisional” aspect and did not realize how they were “wondrous” truths.These were Sariputra’s doubts and regrets.

Now this passage continues to state, “World-Honored One, for a long time, I have, day and night, continually reproached myself. And now, from the Buddha, I have heard what I never heard before, this Dharma which I have never known before. Now all my doubts and regrets have been eliminated, my body and mind are at ease, and I feel a sense of peace and stability.”

This was Sariputra expressing his feelings from the past and from the present.“I, for a long time.” “A long time” refers to the past several decades.“Day and night,” whether it was day or night, he had reproached and reflected on himself.“For so long I have heard the Buddha’s teachings, yet I stopped at the Middle and Small Vehicles. I always listened to the Buddha talk about the Three Vehicles. Could I accept the Great Vehicle Dharma with my capabilities?. When I face multitudes of sentient beings, can I give of myself for their sake?”

It was not that Sariputra did not understand it was that he was still contemplating it.Could he really dedicate himself to other people?Could he really transform sentient beings?

Day and night, he contused to contemplate the Great, Middle and Small Vehicles.

World-Honored One, for a long time, I have, day and night, continually reproached myself:Sariputra questioned himself on why he had only received the Small Vehicle for attaining liberation.He regretted not beginning his practice of the Great Vehicle Dharma earlier.

Sariputra had always known of the Middle Vehicle, as well as the Great Vehicle.He also thought to himself, “I am practicing the Small and Middle Vehicles; can I really accept the Great Vehicle?”He was always evaluating himself and did not dare to move forward.“and now, from the Buddha, I heard what I have never heard before, this Dharma which I have never known before.”At this moment, he really heard it.Even though the Buddha had given these things before, his mind had not been open to them.

So, what he heard now felt like something he had never heard before.Perhaps he had heard it but was not mindful of it. So, it was Dharma “never known before”. What he had heard now was something he had already heard before, but he did not take it to heart then. Now that he really heard what the Buddha had been saying and what He was now saying, Sariputra accepted all of it. So, he described it as “this Dharma which I have never known before”. This does not mean that the Buddha had never taught it before, just that Sariputra had not connected with it. 

So, “never known before” means it had not been taken into his heart. “Now all my doubts and regrets have been eliminated”. If he had accepted the Great Dharma, his mind would now be free of doubts and he would not have these regrets now, his regret that [he did not realize that] the Buddha had taught this same Dharma before. They had all listened to the same Dharma and have the same Dharma-nature. Now, he understood that those who practiced the Great Vehicle Dharma and those who practiced the Small Vehicle Dharma have the same Dharma-nature. They all listened to the Dharma together and each also had this Dharma-nature within them. But he had just not accepted it yet. 

Now, he opened his mind and accepted this Dharma, because the Buddha sincerely and clearly said, “What I taught before were skillful means”. In this way, He set aside the provisional and now revealed the true teachings. Thus Sariputra could see the Dharma that had been safeguarded in the Buddha’s mind, and could connect it to his mind and realize it. Because of this, he said that now his mind had attained the Dharma that he had never known before. He had already taken it to heart, so “all [his] doubts and regrets have been eliminated”. He had eliminated all his doubts and no longer wanted to give rise to further doubts or regrets. Now that he had heard it again, he took the True Dharma to heart. 

Because of this, “[his] body and mind were at ease, and [he] felt a sense of peace and stability”. He felt a great sense of freedom and his mind was open and unobstructed. He was not hindered by doubt. This was what Sariputra expressed with body and mind. It was not that the Buddha did not teach him, but that he did not have the capacity to accept it. When the Buddha taught this Dharma in the past, at that time early on [in his spiritual practice], Sariputra did not start practicing the Great Vehicle. 

“The Buddha taught for all three capabilities, why did I choose the Small Vehicle and the Middle Vehicle, and focus only on attaining self-realization?” He regretted this. “I should have, early on, begun to practice the Great Vehicle Dharma. Why did I wait until know?” “In the past, I and all of the Buddha’s disciples likewise realized the nature of things. Why did I stop with [limited] state?” 

But now, from the Buddha, I have heard what I never heard before.” Now, the Buddha once again explained the Great and Small Vehicles. Beginning with the Small and Middle Vehicles, the Buddha had already clearly said that the Small and Middle Vehicles were what He initially used to guide people because sentient beings’ capabilities did not allow them to immediately accept the Great Vehicle teachings, such as, “You intrinsically have Buddha-nature”. “You have amole wisdom. You can transform sentient beings”. They would not be able to easily accept this, so He began by teaching them the principle that all things arise with causes and conditions and cease with causes and conditions. Everything is related to causes and conditions. 

In the past, whether I was talking about the Water Repentance or the Lotus Sutra, I have always said to everyone, “A seed contains an ocean of fruits”. The law of karmic cause and effect is taught universally in the Buddha-Dharma. We must place great importance on karmic causes and conditions, we must believe this true principle. All Great Vehicle Dharma is inseparable from causes and conditions, but Small Vehicle teachings are wholly focused on them. Causes and conditions, parables and so on were used to help sentient beings [of different] capacities connect with this Dharma. So, during the Lotus Dharma-assembly, the Buddha clearly said that, in the past, He had taught the Small and Middle Vehicles. From this point forward. He would teach the Great Vehicle to explain that the past [teachings] were skillful means. Now everyone would hear about the way to walk the Bodhisattva-path. Everyone’s goal is to attain enlightenment to be united with and manifest their awakened nature and ocean of wisdom. Everyone can be “transformed by the Dharma”. This awakened nature and ocean of wisdom must enter everyone’s minds.

Now Sariputra finally understood, so “all [his] doubts and regrets were eliminated, [his] body and mind were at ease, and [he] felt a sense of peace and stability”. At this time, all of his doubt and regret [were gone]. Regret is not helpful anyway. But, now he had to seize this moment and sustain it forever. From then on, he had hold on to [this aspiration]. At this time, he decided that he must move toward the Great Vehicle Dharma. After making that decision, the Great Vehicle Dharma was his course to follow. At this occurred, “his body and mind were at ease”. The direction he chose was set, so he was happy every day. 

Having “a sense of peace and stability” means having great happiness. Every day he felt very happy. After hearing this Dharma, he was very happy because he was heading in the right direction. He aspired to advance in the Great Vehicle, so “his body and mind were at ease.” Being very stable brings a sense of ease, as well as happiness. This feeling of happiness, stability and freedom of body and mind means the mind has reached a state of stillness. 

Now all my doubts and regrets have been eliminated.My body and mind are at ease, and I feel a sense of peace and stability: Those who are peaceful, stable and happy will always be in a tranquil and wondrous state. Those who are never affected by worldly matters will no longer cling to conditions. 

If we feel doubts and regrets, then there are still afflictions in our minds. As afflictions appear and disappear, our minds cannot be focused. Since we have now decided on a direction, naturally we “will always be in a tranquil and wondrous state.”

The wondrous Dharma steadies our minds so we are “always [tranquil]”, we will not go through ups and downs and will “never [be] affected by worldly matters.” Whenever we interact with people, things will come up. Since we have resolved to go among people we will certainly face many challenges. But since we formed Great Vehicle aspirations and calmed our minds, we must always remain in a state of tranquility so that we will not be affected by worldly matters or interpersonal conflicts.

Thus, we are “never affected by worldly matters, which means we will no longer cling to conditions.” We must completely eliminate our desire to cling to conditions. Only then can our spiritual aspirations be firm. Everyone, after we listen to the teachings, we must earnestly reflect on and contemplate whether our minds are tempted by worldly things such as material objects and interpersonal conflicts that keep us living a mundane life. Is this the case?Are we role models to other people? Have we taken the Dharma to heart? Have we comprehended the great path? 

We are constantly encouraging people to form great aspirations and walk the Bodhisattva-path. Practitioners at this spiritual community must be role models for everyone in the world. If people who hear the Buddha-Dharma can also see our dignified demeanor as spiritual practitioners, this can help solidify their spiritual aspirations and be of benefit to humanity.Spiritual practitioners must take the Dharma to heart and comprehend the great path. We truly must open up this Bodhi-path, not just build a road in this world. Now, we [monastics] must pave the Bodhi-path to help laypeople understand that they should be paving a road in this world that connects to our Bodhi-path. Then they can reach the state of Buddhahood. 

So, “when the sound of teachings enter our ears, it must come together with our minds.” Otherwise, if all we do is listen, if we do not take the Dharma to heart, it will continue to pass us by it will continue to pass us by.

We “faithfully walk the great, direct Bodhi-path.” We must directly listen to and accept the Dharma. If our minds can converge with the path, We will not give rise to discursive thoughts. Then we will feel stable and happy and will always be in a tranquil and wondrous state. Worldly matters and interpersonal disputes will no longer affect our minds. We will not let them cause afflictions to arise in us. If we can do this, our demeanor will be dignified and we can transform sentient beings by setting an example. Everyone, please always be mindful.

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