【靜思妙蓮華】20150113 - 善聽聞法音 - 第0478集 Listen Well to the Sound of the Dharma

⊙「心最安穩住真如，授證正覺可成佛，自心肯定信受用，意念清澄如鏡明。」

⊙「我悉除邪見，於空法得證，爾時心自謂，得至於滅度，而今乃自覺，非是實滅度。」《法華經 譬喻品第三》

⊙「佛於大眾中，說我當作佛，聞如是法音，疑悔悉已除。」《法華經 譬喻品第三》

⊙舍利弗聞佛於大眾中說我當作佛，甚自慶喜。雖證小乘之果，初不自信終當作佛。

⊙而今聞佛親口法音，說過去所說是應機權教，而今顯實。自慶今得，疑悔悉已除。

⊙修行應學如何聽聞，是要善聽，不論惡聲、罵聲、吵聲、怪聲，若能如觀菩薩，化為清淨之音；將粗言惡語，解為善意，即是「善聽法音」，即能除疑念。

⊙「諸求三乘人，若有疑悔者，佛當為除斷，令盡無有餘。」《法華經 序品第一》





【證嚴上人開示】

「心最安穩住真如，授證正覺可成佛，自心肯定信受用，意念清澄如鏡明。」



心最安穩住真如

授證正覺可成佛

自心肯定信受用

意念清澄如鏡明



能夠常常住在我們真如的心，那就是最安穩的心。



眾生，無始以來養成了，這種凡夫習氣，所以佛陀慈悲，從頭說起，要如何讓大家，這個習氣一一消除，能夠回歸我們的正覺、真如本性。所以佛陀用了四十多年的時間，一直到靈山會上，那就是《法華經》這個道場，開始不斷稱讚一乘實相，無非就是要，啟發我們人人發大心、立大願，能夠得受佛陀，棧為我們證明、授記，讓我們相信我們自己，人人本具佛性，這條正覺的道路，人人可成佛。



只是我們迷途不知返，不知要如何回來。佛陀只是引導我們的路，不要再走往分叉的路，應該要趕快回歸這個菩提直道，所以不斷呼喚，不斷希望人人，迷途能夠趕快回來，應該要面向正道走。所以，走是要我們自己要走，所以叫做修行。



我們自己要肯定、我們自己要相信，相信我們有真如本性。真如本性，能夠讓我們發揮很大的用途，那就是發大心、立大願，入人群中付出，這個心不受人群擾亂。這樣這念心安穩，最安穩的心，就是回歸到真如本性來，人人群中，不受人群擾動了我們的心。



這必定我們要自心肯定、信受大用，我們若有那念信心，我們用在人群中，不受人群影響。就像這面鏡子，看到形形色色的境界，境若過了，還歸鏡子的清淨。應該我們人人要趕快，將這個心鏡擦得乾淨，自然前面的境界就會很明朗。就像我們的心已經,是在安穩，住於真如本性中，不受凡夫來擾動我們的心，這就是修行最重要的。所以我們最近，一直一直要告訴大家，要回歸如來本性。佛陀的慈憫，聲聲呼喚，我們應該要迷途知返，要趕快回來。



所以前面的(經)文，我們說過了，舍利弗他說「我悉除邪見，於空法得證，爾時心自謂，得至於滅度，而今乃自覺，非是實滅度」。



我悉除邪見

於空法得證

爾時心自謂

得至於滅度

而今乃自覺

非是實滅度

《法華經 譬喻品第三》



也就是說聽法，過去有種種的邪見，那就是執著在偏，「偏空」，以為這樣我已經得證了，我已經心清淨，我不受外面的境界來污染我們，這樣就是修成正果。是嗎？過去是這樣想，以為已經斷生死了，其實，現在才知道，才知道自己過去是錯誤，「非是實滅度」。



人一定要有自己反省、自覺，才有進步的希望。我們若沒有反省、自覺，我們永遠都沒有進步的空間。所以，人人都有習氣，這個習氣常常都是自我來擾亂，不是別人擾亂我們，是我們自己的執著習氣在擾亂我們。



所以下面再下來這(段)文，「佛於大眾中，說我當作佛，聞如是法音，疑悔悉已除」。



佛於大眾中

說我當作佛

聞如是法音

疑悔悉已除

《法華經 譬喻品第三》



這段(經)文，我們就知道佛陀的慈悲。眾生根機參差不整齊，佛陀所看的人人，都還有這個執著的習性在，所以無法一下子，就直接直指明心見性，所以佛陀過去是這樣，用種種權巧妙權的方法來引導。慢慢已經到現在來了，法華會上，佛開始在大眾中，準備就是將要授記了，法華會就是要向所有的弟子，做一番的證明。雖然現在人人還有餘習，還有遺留下來的習氣，所以佛陀還是為弟子，做長遠的未來授記。所以佛陀他在大眾中，「說我當作佛」，「我」就是舍利弗，舍利弗聽到。



佛在大眾中這樣說，只要發大心、立大願，只要人人能夠去除了，這個偏、執的邪見，不是只偏在「空」。還有「妙有」，妙有真如本性，向我們說妙有真如本性，能夠讓我們大受用，在人群中進出無障礙，這叫做中道。你能夠瞭解世間一切，幻化，無常、苦、空、無我，你知道這些事情，但是你有一個，可以大受用的真如本性，可以入人群中，不受人群，凡夫的濁氣，污染你的心，所以這叫做「妙有」。



這就是佛陀已，經在《法華經》開始點出來，舍利弗開始有想要，作佛成佛的心理準備了。所以舍利弗說，「舍利弗，聞佛於大眾中說我當作佛，」人人都能成佛，「甚自慶喜」。歡喜，原來我也有成佛的希望。



舍利弗

聞佛於大眾中

說我當作佛

甚自慶喜

雖證小乘之果

初不自信

終當作佛



雖然證小乘的果，「初不自信終當作佛」。這就是證果之後，那個小乘對一切，無常、苦、空、幻化的道理，只住著在那個地方，所以他開始不相信，總有一天也能夠成佛。他開始沒有這樣的相信，這是舍利弗他的心態。



再來就說，「聞如是法音，疑悔悉已除」。現在舍利弗，已經聞佛親口所說的法，佛陀的音聲，舍利弗耳聞，用耳朵聽，開始就是入心了。



而今聞佛

親口法音

說過去所說

是應機權教

而今顯實

自慶今得

疑悔悉已除



佛說「過去所說是應機權教，而今顯實」。已經是很明朗告訴大家說：「過去我所說的，是因為適應人人心的機。你的程度就是這樣，你還有多大的執著，所以無法直指明心見性。」



雖然說人人本具佛性，這個大道理還是含在「權」，就是方便法之中，不過，有執著的人就聽不出來。所以到現在，佛陀就開權顯實，讓你們人人將這個世間所有的執著去除了，教我們，回來我們自己的內心，找我們的真如道路。



所以現在已經瞭解了，舍利弗終於聽懂了，要找出我們的心的道路，那就要自己先肯定，自己要先有自信。所以，有自信、肯定，這就是自慶」，自己很慶幸，自己很歡喜，總是知道要找出了迷途知返，一條的心路出來，這樣內心「疑悔悉已除」。



我們要知道，修行應該就要學，要學什麼呢？要學如何聽聞。我們要如何來聽，要如何知道這是真法、實法，我們要學會聽。就是要說，善聽。我們在經典之中，若有人來請佛說法，佛陀會說「善聽、善聽，我為汝說」──這要好好地聽，聽清楚，我現在要為你解說；我要為你解說，你也要很認真聽進去，所以叫做「善聽」。



修行

應學如何聽聞

是要善聽

不論惡聲 罵聲

吵聲 怪聲

若能如觀菩薩

化為清淨之音

將粗言惡語

解為善意

即是「善聽法音」

即能除疑念



「善聽」，也是要教育我們，不論世間什麼樣的聲音，是人說話的聲音，有的人是惡聲、罵聲，或者吵鬧之聲；或者是有的境界，境界，有的是機器的聲音，有的是雞啼、狗叫的聲音，有的是鳥叫蟲鳴的聲音，很多種的聲音，我們人是要，選擇什麼樣的聲音來聽呢？



有時候會聽到別人讚歎我們，讚歎，我們會很歡喜，歡喜得飄飄然欲仙，也是一項的危機。為什麼呢？會貢高驕傲，增長我們的煩惱，複製我們的無明。



看看小小的年齡，誠愿，這麼小的孩子，因為他真的有智慧，智慧很高。他聽來的法，句句入心、句句善解，所以人家在讚歎他，他自己就懂得會自我警惕：「不要有傲慢的心。我不是最優秀的，我還有再求學的空間。」不要說人家對我讚歎一下，就這樣滿滿，很自滿，所以，若這樣，會障礙我們前進的道法，所以我們要自我警惕。



而若是聽到人的惡聲，我們明明做得很辛苦，這個聲音很中傷我的心；若這樣，我們要精進的路，也會受阻礙。或者是聽到人家在罵我們，不只是在前面罵，說不定在後面中傷我們，聽到了，也會起心動念。



就是修行者，佛陀的時代，看看佛陀與羅睺羅，所說的話是很輕，但是輾轉相傳，舍利弗聽進來，好像很重，所以障礙了舍利弗的道心。這是在僧團中也有這樣的情形。



所以，我們學佛必定要在人群中，不論是什麼聲音都不會障礙我們，不論是惡聲、罵的聲音，或是在很吵鬧的境界之中，我們全都要好好警惕。我們就要修，修什麼行呢？觀世音的行。



對我們讚歎，我們要警惕；對我們辱罵，我們要感恩。「無風不起浪」，可能我們哪裡有缺失，別人是直心，這樣好像一面鏡子，讓我們看到我們的臉上，哪裡有(污)點，有髒。



或者是前面的境界，就像我們在開車，十字路口有鏡子，我們稍微停一下、看一下，清楚了，前面有來車，我們就稍微停一下，車子過了，我們向前走。人家在說我們的話，不論是在前面說、後面評論我們，評頭論足，我們也要有這個反省的機會，這叫做善解。



我們若沒有錯，自己要有自信，感恩。對方還不瞭解，我們要想方法，如何讓他明白、清楚、瞭解，這就是善解。瞭解自己、瞭解他人，這樣化惡為善，這叫做「善解」。



再來就是「包容」。假如有這些惡聲、罵聲，或者是吵鬧聲等等的聲音，這世間本來就是這樣，所以我們要包容它。希望他能夠瞭解我們，假如真的不瞭解，我們也要包容。因為佛陀的覺悟是宇宙，包容萬法，所以「心包太虛」，世間沒有我們不得包容的事情。



再來就是「感恩」。世間有形形色色、種種的聲音，我們善解過來，無不都是法音。所以這個善解，就是「善聽法音」。我們若懂得善解，這個世間，大地萬物的聲音，無不都是在為我們說法，何況說人的聲音呢？所以，必定要有善解，若這樣，心才不會有疑念。



所以，「疑悔皆已除」，前面的這段(經)文，「聞如是法音，疑悔皆已除」。這個法音，佛陀的時代，舍利弗所聽的，是佛所說的法。其實佛是要教我們，聽大地人間一切的聲音，我們都要即聽、即解、即除疑念。



《法華經》在<序品>中，有這段經文：「諸求三乘人，若有疑悔者，佛當為除斷，令盡無有餘。」



諸求三乘人

若有疑悔者

佛當為除斷

令盡無有餘

《法華經 序品第一》



這是在<序品>之中，有這段(經)文，那就是因為佛陀，在《法華經》就已經開始，要將大家的疑悔，這個懷疑、後悔，都要讓大家清除，所以必定要說出了，如何能夠在迷途中回返回來，回歸我們心靈正確的道路，來找出了我們心靈中的真如。



各位菩薩，真的每天在生活，不離開人的聲音，形與色，形形色色、種種的聲音，讓我們的心歡喜，或者是不歡喜。歡喜，也是障礙我們的道；不歡喜，也斷我們的善根。所以，我們在聽法，必定要善解，善聽聞法音。這很重要，請大家要時時多用心。





Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan

Subject: Listen Well to the Sound of the Dharma (善聽聞法音)

Date: January.13. 2015



“When our mind is very peaceful, we will abide in True Suchness. With a prediction of perfect enlightenment, we will attain Buddhahood. With self-confidence, we can faithfully apply this teaching. When our mind is pure, it can reflect like a clear mirror.”



A mind that abides in True Suchness is the most peaceful. Sentient beings have, since Beginningless Time, developed unenlightened habitual tendencies. Thus, the Buddha compassionately started teaching at the beginning. He taught us all how to eliminate our habitual tendencies, one by one in order to return to perfect enlightenment, to our intrinsic nature of True Suchness.

So, the Buddha spent over 40 years doing this, until the Vulture Peak Assembly, the Lotus Sutra Dharma-assembly. Then the Buddha began to continuously praise the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle, for the sole purpose of inspiring us to form great aspirations and vows so He can bestow on us a prediction of attaining Buddhahood. He helped us believe that we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature. On this path to perfect enlightenment, everyone can attain Buddhahood. It is just that we are lost and do not know the way back. We do not know how to return. The Buddha is providing us with the path, so we must avoid going down side roads or taking the wrong fork. We should quickly return to the direct Bodhi-Path. So, He constantly calls to us, hoping that those who have lost their way will be able to quickly come back and walk on the correct path. We must walk this path ourselves; this is spiritual practice.

We must affirm and believe that we have a nature of True Suchness. Our nature of True Suchness can enable us to make the most of our potential. We do that by forming great aspirations and vows and by going among people to help them. We must not let this resolve be disturbed by others. Our minds must remain peaceful. A very peaceful mind indicates that we have returned to our nature of True Suchness. As we interact with people, we cannot allow them to affect our resolve, so we must have a sense of self-confidence and faithfully apply the teachings. If we have faith [in our Tathagata-nature], we can apply this in [our interactions] with people and thus not be influenced by them. Then we will be like a mirror, which reflects phenomena of all sorts but returns to a state of purity once they pass. So, we should all quickly polish the mirror of our mind so that it is clean. Then naturally, the phenomena before us will be reflected clearly.

Similarly, when our mind is peaceful and abides in our intrinsic nature of True Suchness, it will not be disturbed by sentient beings. This is most important in our spiritual practice.

Recently, I have been continually telling everyone to return to our intrinsic awakened nature. The Buddha is calling to us out of compassion. We should recognize that we are lost and that we need to quickly return.



So, in the previous passage, Sariputra says, “I was freed of all my deviant views and realized the Dharma of emptiness. Then I told myself I had reached the state of Nirvana but now I realize that it was not true Nirvana.”



This is saying that, after hearing the Dharma, [he realized] that he held deviant views, such as an attachment to and “bias toward emptiness.” He thought that he had attained realizations, that his mind had already been purified and that he would not be defiled by external conditions.He thought he had attained the fruits of spiritual cultivation, but had he really?In the past, this was what he had thought.He thought he had put an end to his transmigration.Only now did he realize that he had been mistaken.“It was not true Nirvana.”

Only through self-reflection and self-awareness do we have the hope of improving ourselves.Without self-reflection and self-awareness, we will never be able to improve.Everyone has habitual tendencies, and with these habitual tendencies we often disturb ourselves.It is not other people who disturb us; it is our own habitual tendencies of attachment that disturb us.



The next passage states, “The Buddha, among the assembly, has declared that I shall become a Buddha. Hearing the teachings of this Dharma, all my doubts and regrets were dispelled.”



In this passage, we understand the compassion of the Buddha.

Sentient beings’ capabilities varied greatly.The Buddha saw that everyone still had the tendency to form attachments, so He could not directly [guide us to] understand our minds and realize our true nature.

So, in the past, the Buddha had used a variety of skillful and provisional means to guide us.Now, here at the Lotus Dharma-assembly, He began to bestow predictions of Buddhahood.At this assembly, He wanted to verify this for all His disciples.

Although everyone still has residual habitual tendencies from the past, the Buddha bestowed predictions for them in the distant future.So the Buddha, among the assembly, “has declared that I shall become a Buddha”.The “I” refers to Sariputra, Sariputra heard the Buddha say this in front of everyone.All he needed to do was form great aspirations and make great vows.So, we must eliminate our deviant, biased views and not remain biased towards “emptiness”.

There is still “wondrous existence,” which is our intrinsic nature of True Suchness.He taught us about the wondrous nature of True Suchness so that we can apply this to go among people without hindrances.This is the Middle Way.

We understand that every aspect of this world is illusory and impermanent, suffering, empty and without a self.We know these things, but we also have a nature of True Suchness, that is very useful.It allows us to go among people without our minds becoming polluted by their turbidities.This is “wondrous existence”.

This is what the Buddha pointed out at the beginning of the Lotus Sutra.Sariputra began to mentally prepare himself for attaining Buddhahood.



So, Sariputra said, “I heard the Buddha say among the assembly that I shall become a Buddha, that everyone can attain Buddhahood.”He “felt very fortunate” that he also had the hope of attaining Buddhahood.Although he had attained the fruit of the Small Vehicle, he had not believed that he would attain Budhdahood in the future.



After attaining realizations, he lingered in the Small Vehicle understanding of impermanence, suffering, emptiness and illusoriness.He continued to remain in that state.He began to lose faith that one day he too would attain Buddhahood.He began to lose that faith.This was Sariputra’s mentality at that time.

But then he said, “Hearing the teachings of this Dharma, all my doubts and regrets were dispelled.”This was after Sariputra had personally heard the Buddha teach this Dharma.Sariputra’s ears heard the sound of Buddha’s voice.Thus he took the teachings to heart.



And now, hearing the Buddha personally teach this Dharma, explaining that in the past He had given provisional teachings according to capabilities and was now revealing the true teachings,.I feel fortunate that I have attained it and all my doubts and regrets were dispelled.

“In the past, He gave provisional teachings according to capabilities and was now revealing the true teachings.”



He told everyone very clearly, “What I taught in the past was adapted to everyone’s various capabilities. You are at this stage because you still have all those attachments. So, I cannot guide you to understand your mind and realize your true nature”. We all intrinsically have Buddha-nature, and this great principle was also included in the “provisional” teachings, which are skillful means. However, those with attachments cannot understand this. So, now the Buddha opened up the provisional to reveal the true and guide everyone to eliminate all their attachments. He taught us to look within ourselves and find our own path to True Suchness.

So, now he understood this; Sariputra finally understood that to seek out this road in our minds, we must first affirm and have faith in ourselves. With self-confidence and self-affirmation, we will feel very fortunate and happy, we will feel very fortunate and happy.

Once we know we are lost, we must look for a road that leads us back. Thus, “All my doubts and regrets were dispelled”. We should know that spiritual cultivation is about learning. What do we need to learn? We must learn to listen. How must we listen so that we can identify what is the True Dharma? As we learn how to listen, we must learn how to listen well.

In the sutras, we find that when someone requests the Dharma from the Buddha, He always says, “Listen well, listen well. I speak for your sake”. We must listen carefully, because the Buddha is about to explain something. Since he is going to explain, we must listen very earnestly. This is what is meant by “listen well”.



“As we engage in spiritual practice, we should be learning how to listen. We must listen well, even to sounds that are ugly, argumentative, noisy or strange. If we can be like Guanyin Bodhisttva and transform them all into purifying sounds, we can understand the good intentions behind rude and negative words. Thus, “listening well to teachings of the Dharma can immediately resolve our doubts.”



“Listening well” teaches us to listen to all the sounds we hear in the world. We may hear the wound of a person speaking, the sound of harsh or angry words, or the sound of an argument. In our surroundings, we may also hear the sound of machines whirring, the sound of chickens clucking, dogs barking, birds calling or insects chirping. There are so many sounds. How do we humans choose which sounds to listen to? At times we will hear others praise us. We are quite happy when we are praised, as if we are walking on clouds. This is very dangerous: why is that? We may become arrogant and proud, which adds to our afflictions and increases our ignorance.

Look at little Christopher [Yang]. He is so young, but he is truly wise, so when he hears the Dharma, he takes every word to heart and understands it. When others praise him, he reminds himself to be vigilant, to not become arrogant. “I am not the most outstanding. There is still much for me to learn. I cannot allow other people’s praise to make me feel self-satisfied”. As sense of self-satisfaction will be a hindrance to our progress on the Path.

So, we must remind ourselves to be vigilant. If we hear people say critical things about us, we may feel, “But I made such a great effort, the things they said really hurt me.” When this happens, our way forward on this road may be obstructed. We may hear people yell at us [and think], perhaps they are not only yelling at us to our face, but are [slandering] us behind our backs as well. Thinking these things, we may become [afflicted]. This even happened to spiritual practitioners in the Buddha’s lifetime.

When the Buddha spoke to Rahula, He made the remark very lightly. But when it spread through the Sangha and reached Sariputra, the comments felt very harsh. Thus they hindered Sariputra’s spiritual aspirations. Things like this happened even in the Sangha. As we learn the Buddha’s Way we must not allow anything we hear from other people to hinder us.

Whether we hear harsh or scolding words, or bothersome noise in our surroundings, we must always be vigilant. We must constantly practice. What are we practicing? The practice of Guanyin Bodhisattva. When we hear praise, we must be vigilant. When we hear harsh words, we must be grateful. “Waves do not arise where there is no wind”. Perhaps we really did fall short. The person who points it out to us is like a mirror that helps us see that there is a smudge on our face. [A mirror can also help us] see what is ahead.

For instance, when we are driving, there may be mirror at a [blind] intersection. We will pause for a moment to look into it .

If we can see a car coming, we will stop and wait for it. After the car passes, we will continue forward. When people talk about us, whether is to our face or behind our backs, even if they find fault in every little thing, we must see it as a chance for self-reflection. This is how we can be understanding. If we have not done anything wrong, We must be grateful. Perhaps the other party lacks an understanding [of the situation].We should think of a way to help them to understand more clearly. This is how we can be understanding.

By being understanding of ourselves and others, we can transform a negative situation into a good one. This comes from “being understanding”.

Next, we must be “accommodating.” This sounds of [slander], yelling, arguing and so on, are just some of the things that are in the world. So, we should be accommodating of them. We hope that others will understand us. If they really cannot understand us, then we must accommodate them.Because the enlightenment of the Buddha is universal and accommodates all things, His “mind encompasses the universe.” There is nothing that we are unable to accommodate.

Next is being “grateful.” There are all manner of shapes and sounds in the world. When we are understanding, we hear everything as teachings of the Dharma. So, being understanding means “listening well to the teachings of the Dharma.” If we can be understanding, the sounds of all things in the world impart to us the teachings of the Dharma, including the sounds of human beings.

So, being understanding is essential. This is the only way for our minds to be free of doubts. Thus, “All my doubts and regrets were dispelled”.

The previous passage of the sutra states, “Hearing the teachings of this Dharma, all my doubts and regrets were dispelled.” The teachings of the Dharma that Sariputra heard in the Buddha’s lifetime were the Buddha-Dharma. Actually, the Buddha wanted to teach us to listen to all the sounds in the world and use them to immediately hear, understand and eliminate our doubts.



In the Introductory Chapter of the Lotus Sutra, there is a passage that states, “Those who seek the. Three Vehicle teachings, should they have doubts or regrets, will have them resolved completely by the Buddha so that none remain.”



This passage is in the Introductory Chapter. It appears because in the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha had already begun to the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha had already begun to help everyone eliminate their doubts and regrets. So, He had to explain to them how they could find their way back from being lost to return the correct spiritual path and discover their nature of True Suchness.

Dear Bodhisattvas, our daily living is indeed inseparable form hearing all kinds of sounds and seeing all kinds of appearances. The way things look and sound may bring us happiness or make us unhappy. Happiness can be an obstruction on our path; unhappiness can sever our roots of goodness. So when we listen to the Dharma, we must be understanding and listen well to the teachings of the Dharma. This is very important. Everyone, please always be mindful.



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