20150430《靜思妙蓮華》方便妙權解脫知見(第555集)
（法華經•譬喻品第三）
⊙「佛心覺海慈父愛，思惟作念救子心，設法妙權說三乘，霍然雲消煩惱除。」
⊙「爾時，長者即作是念：此舍已為大火所燒，我及諸子若不時出，必為所焚。」《法華經譬喻品第三》
⊙「我今當設方便，令諸子等得免斯害。」《法華經譬喻品第三》
⊙我今當設方便，令諸子等得免斯害：長者年邁，急念與子速出，以保安全，免受火傷害。
⊙此釋思惟方法，拔濟眾生諸著煩惱重障。昏煩之法，惱亂心神，不能顯發妙明真性，是名煩惱障。
⊙喻佛世緣將盡，三乘行者未盡取得解脫知見，唯恐救拔不及。
⊙喻眾生失念，貪著執迷於所緣境，而不能明記人初之善，迷失本性，佛心不忍。
【證嚴上人開示】
「佛心覺海慈父愛，思惟作念救子心，設法妙權說三乘，霍然雲消煩惱除。」
佛心覺海慈父愛
思惟作念救子心
設法妙權說三乘
霍然雲消煩惱除
「佛心覺海慈父愛」。意思是要告訴大家，佛陀那個覺悟，佛陀的心就是，包容天地一切萬物，所以我們稱佛陀是，「宇宙大覺者」，在宇宙間，佛陀的智慧包含了一切。哪有這麼大的智慧呢？因為他有無限量的愛，所以叫做悲智。悲就是慈悲，這種的悲智與宇宙為一體，堪稱為慈父的愛。
這種的慈父與世間父母是不同，光是譬喻世間的父母，就知道天下的父母心，再壞的孩子，父母還是用寬大的心，原諒子女，期待他的孩子能夠浪子回頭。父母還是不斷盼望，不論他如何的父母心，就是一生一世而已，這一生為親子的緣。但是，慈父，佛心覺海，這種慈父的愛，那就是生生世世。
宇宙有多大，佛的心就有多大；宇宙有多久，佛的覺性就有多久。所以，佛這種的慈心，四生之父，這個心是永恆，不是我們人間，一生一世的慈父，是我們眾生恆久的慈父，所以他對天下眾生那個愛，那就是永恆的。
所以我們常常都會說，無緣大慈，同體大悲。到底「同體」到什麼程度呢？那就是像自己的身體一樣。佛陀的覺海、佛陀的慈愛，他那種對眾生，好像貼在他的身體一樣，這樣的關懷，眾生的苦，是佛陀所體會入心的苦。
所以我們在這個人世間，不斷地，眾生煩惱、造業，已經業累積了、共業了。世間已經時時都是發出了警訊，在警告大家的訊息，看，已經是這樣了，這大乾坤災難不斷，水、火、風、地震，你看四大不調頻傳，一直在這個時代裡。所以，佛陀的感觸，二千多年前預知在未來，我們的現在，所以他不斷「思惟作念」：三界之內，四生如己子，怎忍心在這個三界之內，天地之下，這麼多的災難，都是人心濁惡！
我們人間的眾生，就是這樣，不斷造作、破壞大地，去攝取很多天地間的寶物，不斷挖大山、挖土地，開大山、挖土地。一個非常安全的地球，卻是受到人類為了利，不斷去開、去挖等等，不斷破壞。
不打緊，普通的人，就只是一直想要如何來享受，還這樣在作樂、嬉戲，儘管父親在外面很著急，一直叫啊叫，傻傻的，只是「視父而已」，不懂得要反應。這已經是現在天下眾生，受這個煩惱覆藏了我們的智慧，這樣被遮蓋掉了，所以那個反應的智慧很遲鈍，總是只是這樣貪著。
所以，佛陀不斷就作思惟，開啟了很多妙權來說三乘，卻是眾生還是一樣慢慢來。但是，到現在法華會的時候，佛陀就開始緊急疾呼，「說怖畏事」，開始向世間人說，這個世間的可畏、可怕，真的是怖畏。這個已經開始呼籲了，也向大家說，趕緊快回歸，回歸真如的本性。不要再做世間的凡夫，在那個火宅內，不知道四面災難全都逼近了。要及時趕緊覺悟，那個無明就像烏雲一樣，趕緊把這個雲若可以撥開，煩惱才能去除。
所以希望我們人人，將佛陀所說三乘法，其實就是妙權，妙權的意思，「妙」就是真理在裡面，只是根機無法直接接受，我們也有成佛的真如本性，我們不知道，如何將它拿出來，佛陀就要用種種的方法。
最好的方法，那就是要將「我相」去除，將心胸打開，將天地宇宙萬物，我們全都要珍惜；珍惜了萬物，才能夠瞭解萬物的真理。與人最接近的、最能夠感覺的，就是人群，我們要走入人群中去，體會人群的苦難，若能夠這樣，道理才會清楚，所以這樣才能夠，「霍然雲消煩惱除」。
爾時長者即作是念
此舍已為大火所燒
我及諸子若不時出
必為所焚
《法華經譬喻品第三》
所以，前面的經文，「爾時，長者即作是念」，這個大宅已經，火全都包圍過來，「我及諸子若不時出，必為所焚」，不能再等了，來不及了！不要慢慢地來、慢慢地聽、慢慢地覺悟，不可以。已經沒時間了，要及時覺悟的時刻了。
下面這段(經)文再說，「我今當設方便，令諸子等得免斯害。」
我今當設方便
令諸子等
得免斯害
《法華經譬喻品第三》
本來佛陀覺悟之後，要將他覺悟心靈的境界，與大家分享，但是眾生愚鈍，無法很快就接受，所以他不得不用方便，來救拔眾生這種無明習氣。講方法，讓大家好好趕快，自己撥除了，這個煩惱、這個無明。
所以二千多年了，到底我們眾生經過了幾生幾世，是不是有接受到佛法？接受了佛法，是不是有體解到？所以佛陀不斷設方便。我們就是接受了，佛陀的方便(法)，漸漸誘引，不過，到現在就不能漸漸地來，要趕緊的。
所以佛陀到他，將要入滅前的七年，那就是講《法華經》。佛陀光是《法華經》就講七年，何況我們凡夫，我們現在的時代，現在人的生活，與佛陀的時代是不同。所以每天這樣在說，是不是大家有體會到？所以要趕緊，災難頻傳，我們要趕緊立時，要如何脫離這個火宅？要如何能夠覺悟佛法？讓我們的心靜下來，讓我們能夠好好來考慮，如何才能夠與天地之間共生息？這就是我們應該要好好，反省、覺悟。
我今當設方便
令諸子等
得免斯害：
長者年邁
急念與子速出
以保安全
免受火傷害
「長者年邁」，這個意思譬喻，譬喻這個火宅裡面的主人，這位長者已經是年邁了，所以他愈來愈著急，看到孩子愈來愈放蕩。所以他愈著急，尤其這個大宅是愈來愈舊，愈來愈敗壞，所以「急念與子速出」。不論孩子是如何，能夠趕緊出來最好。這就是解釋佛陀的思惟，用他的智慧要如何來設方法，如何來救拔眾生，「諸著煩惱重障」。
此釋思惟方法
拔濟眾生
諸著煩惱重障：
昏煩之法
惱亂心神
不能顯發妙明真性
是名煩惱障
眾生所執著的是什麼？就是欲念；因為這個無明欲念，使得了我們癡迷。有了欲念就癡迷。看看很多的國家，現在天災、人禍，都是在癡迷中，惹來了很多天災、人禍，這全都是從欲念、佔有心，變成了癡、迷、執著，這種重重的障礙；我們一般的人與這樣相同。
「昏煩之法」。這個煩惱，就是昏，昏沉，不懂得要覺醒，還像在打瞌睡一樣。法，在聽，就開始睡，這樣睡到，法，說完了才清醒，這叫做「昏煩」，昏沉、煩惱。這是我們的凡夫，對法很鈍，清淨的妙法，因為我們缺少了智慧，所以對法就是很鈍、很昏、很煩，這種來障礙。這叫做煩惱，這個煩惱，就是「惱亂心神」，惱亂了我們的心，讓我們的心不專，雖然是在聽法，但是心不專。
「不能顯發妙明真性」。因為我們的心還不很專，戒、定、慧，還是在漏失，所以我們這個「三無漏學」，還未很堅固，所以法入心，很快就又漏掉了，因為這樣，「不能顯發妙明真性」，所以這樣叫做「煩惱障」。
每天的早上，聽完了法，(唱誦<回向偈>)，願消三障諸煩惱，願得智慧真明了，普願業障盡消除，世世常行菩薩道。心就是「願消三障諸煩惱」，日常的生活，我們心裡有雜念嗎？充滿了雜念，這個雜念是誰的？自己的。自己的雜念，誰能替你清除？自己。
所以，自己願消，卻是不要動、不想要清掃它。裡面骯髒了，希望裡面能乾淨，但是自己不肯拿起清掃的工具，來清理，誰會替你清呢？除非菩薩來替你清。但是，菩薩能來替你清，是身外的東西。慈濟菩薩，常常去替人清掃家裡，但是，他要如何能夠，清，到人的心呢？不過，唯有菩薩身體力行，他自己將內心先清乾淨，然後用愛投入，去清別人的家庭環境，這樣感動人、去教導人。
所以，「體解大道」、「智慧如海」、「統理大眾」，我們若沒有「體解大道」，我們沒辦法消除三障；我們若沒有智慧，我們無法成長，我們若沒有深入經藏，心中無法沒辦法成長智慧；我們若不成長智慧，我們就無法修德；我們若無德行，我們就無法將煩惱去除，無法度眾生。
所以，我們必定「願消三障諸煩惱」，要時時掃除我們內心的雜念，將我們的戒、定、慧，住在心中，才有辦法真正入人群。
這也是譬喻佛的世緣，我們一直說來不及、來不及，是真正的來不及。
喻 佛世緣將盡
三乘行者
未盡取得
解脫知見
唯恐救拔不及
看佛陀出現在人間，壽命八十，在這個八十年的時間，四十九年的說法，四十九年也很快就過了。佛陀「世緣將盡」，「三乘行者」他在說法，因為眾生的根機，無法直接接受到佛陀，那個覺悟的境界，是人人本具，要與大家分享，無人有辦法能夠體會到，不得不說「三乘」，所以用這個三乘法，說了四十年的時間，但是法從口出，大家聽進去，一分的法進來，九分的煩惱再生。
所以還是同樣在六道中，「四生」的裡面，這樣不斷(輪迴)。這就是佛陀很擔心，來不及了。現在的時代，五濁惡世了，誘引人去造煩惱的機會，愈來愈多。我去了那個愛、倫理的情，這些一直漏失掉，所以佛陀會很著急。
尤其是到晚年來，開始「世緣將盡」，所以「三乘行者，未盡取得解脫，解脫知見」，都還是不清楚，所以，恐怕「救拔不及」，所以佛陀心也會急。就像那位長者，要趕緊再設法，要看看大家要趕緊出來。大家若能夠出離火宅，長者，父親的心才會安。
喻 眾生失念
貪著執迷於所緣境
而不能明記
人初之善
迷失本性
佛心不忍
「喻眾生失念，貪著執迷於所緣境」，都是在緣這個境界，這個境界，六根緣著六塵，意去取境，開始思惟、開始造作，造了很多的業。這就是凡夫。而若是有聽佛法的人，還是同樣在那個境，緣著這個境界，雖然是聽法，不過還是執迷所緣的境，無法「明記人初之善」，已經忘記了「人之初，性本善」，因為這樣，迷失了本性，佛不忍心。
各位，佛陀是這麼慈悲，希望孩子能夠趕緊，具足世、出世，能夠有這個無漏智，自己自度，還能夠度諸眾生。
各位，時間是不斷分秒一直過，法是還有那麼多尚未說。各位，現在的人間，生活中無不是法，我們都不知不覺，將它當作這與我們，我們身外的事情，與我們無關。其實，是同一片的天地，天地間有災難，我們要如何能安穩呢？所以我們必定要及時覺悟。度人，當然要先度己。所以要人人時時要多用心。
Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Developing Liberated Understanding and Views (方便妙權解脫知見)
Date: April.30. 2015
“The Buddha, with an ocean of enlightenment and the love of a kind father, contemplated and had thoughts about how to save His children. He established wondrous provisional teachings by teaching the Three Vehicles. Like clouds suddenly dispersing, afflictions will be eliminated.”
This tells everyone that after the Buddha’s enlightenment, His mind encompassed all things in the world. Therefore, we refer to the Buddha as the Great Enlightened One of the Universe. The Buddha’s wisdom encompasses all things in the universe. How could His wisdom possibly be so great? Because His love is limitless. This is why we talk about compassion and wisdom.
[That love] is His compassion. With His compassion and wisdom, He is one with the universe and has the love of a kind father. This “kind father” is different from ordinary parents. Once we make the comparison parents, we think about how parents hearts are such that no matter how badly their children behave, they will generously forgive them, hoping their children can return to a proper path. These parents never stop hoping. But, no matter how great their parental love is, it only lasts for one lifetime, they only have the karmic conditions to be parents to their child in this life. However, the Buddha is a kind father with an ocean of enlightenment in His heart. The love of such a kind father lasts lifetime after lifetime.
However vast the universe is, His heart is just as vast. However long the universe lasts, His enlightened nature will last just as long. The Buddha’s loving-kindness makes Him the father of the four kinds of beings, and this state of mind is everlasting. He is not only our kind father for one lifetime, but will be the kind father of sentient beings forever. His love for all sentient beings in the world is everlasting. This is why we always talk about unconditional loving-kindness and universal compassion.
How “universal” is His compassion? He treats all people as He would His own body. With the Buddha’s ocean of enlightenment and His loving-kindness, He treats sentient beings as if they were a part of His own body. This is how much He cares for them. The suffering of sentient beings is suffering that the Buddha experiences as His own. As we live in this world, we unceasingly give rise to afflictions and karma. We have accumulated so much collective karma. The world is already giving us constant warnings. These warnings tell us, “Look at the state we are in!” In the macrocosm of the world, there have been endless disasters of water, fire, wind and earthquakes. See how an imbalance of the four elements results in frequent disasters in this era.
The Buddha sensed this, so over 2000 years ago He made predictions about what things would be like now. He continuously “contemplated and had thoughts about [this].” The four kinds of beings in the Three Realms, are like His children. How could He bear for them to stay in this world, in the Three Realms? All these disasters in the world are caused by the impurity and evil in the human mind. We sentient beings in this world just continue to create karma and do things to harm the land all in order extract the earth’s resources. People continuously mine mountains and dig into the earth. This planet was once very safe, but humans, for their personal gain, unceasingly excavate and destroy the land.
Yet regular people do not care about this and only think about their own comforts, and continue to enjoy themselves and play.Even if a father is anxiously waiting outside, repeatedly warning [his children], they are foolish and “merely look at their father”.They do not know how to react.This is because the world’s sentient beings have let afflictions cover their wisdom; their wisdom has been covered, so their ability to react slows down greatly.They are always greedily attached.This is why the Buddha continued to engage in contemplation, devising many provisional teachings to teach the Three Vehicles.
But sentient beings were still slow to understand.Now, at the Lotus Dharma-assembly, the Buddha urgently called out to them to “tell them of these fearful matters”.He began to tell the people in the world that this world is truly frightening and fearsome.He began to call out to them and also say to them, “Come back quickly. Return to your intrinsic nature of True Suchness. Do not be an unenlightened being any longer, trapped in that burning home, not knowing disaster is closing in from all sides. You must immediately awaken. Ignorance is like a black cloud. Only when that cloud is swept away can afflictions be eliminated.”
So, I hope that everyone will [understand] that the Three Vehicles the Buddha taught are in fact wondrous provisional teachings.These teachings are called “wondrous” because they contain true principles.
It is just that we lack the capabilities to directly accept them.
We also have the intrinsic nature of True Suchness that enables us to attain Buddhahood, but we do not know how to bring it out, so the Buddha taught us various methods.
The best way is to eliminate our sense of self.We must open up our hearts and minds and cherish all things in the world.Only by cherishing all things can we understand their true principles.
The most accessible way for us to experience this is by going among people.We must go among people and experience their suffering.Only by doing this can we clearly understand principles.In this way, “Like clouds suddenly dispersing, afflictions will be eliminated.”
At that time, the elder had this thought, “This house is already burning with great flames. If I and my children do not get out now, we will certainly be burned.”
The previous passage stated, “At that time, the elder had this thought,” that this house already had flames surrounding it on all sides.“If I and my children do not get out now, we will certainly be burned.”
They could wait no longer; time was running out.There was no time to take things slowly, to listen gradually and gradually awaken, no.He was already out of time. It was time for them to awaken right away.
The next sutra passage states, “I should now devise skillful means to allow my children to avoid this harm.”
After the Buddha had attained enlightenment.He wanted to share the state of mind He realized with everyone.
But sentient beings are foolish and dense, so they could not embrace it immediately.Then He had no choice but to use skillful means to save them from their ignorance and habitual tendencies.He taught methods to help them to quickly sweep away their ignorance and afflictions.
So, in over 2000 years, how many lifetimes have we gone through?Have we been able to accept the Buddha-Dharma?If we have accepted the Buddha-Dharma, have we attained any realizations?
So, the Buddha endlessly devised skillful means, and we have accepted the Buddha’s skillful means and have been gradually guided by them.
However, our progress can no longer be gradual; it must happen quickly.So, seven years before He entered Parinirvana, the Buddha gave the Lotus teachings.It took the Buddha seven years just to teach it, to say nothing of us unenlightened beings.The era we live in now and the way people live now are different from the Buddha’s lifetime.
As I expound these teachings every day, have you comprehended them?As disasters occur more frequently, we must immediately discover ways of escaping this burning house and awakening to the Buddha-Dharma so we can still our minds and earnestly consider how we can live in harmony with all things in the world.This is why we must make an effort to reflect on ourselves and awaken.
“I should now devise skillful means to allow all my children to avoid this harm: The elder, in his old age, worriedly thought about how to quickly get the children out, to protect them and help them avoid being injured by the fire.”
“The elder, in his old age”, refers to the master of this burning house. This elder was already advanced in years, so he felt more urgency. Seeing his children becoming more undisciplined, his sense of urgency grew, especially as the house had become older and more dilapidated. “He worriedly thought about how to quickly get the children out”. No matter what the children were like, he just wanted to get them out quickly. This illustrates the Buddha’s thinking. With wisdom, He devised methods for relieving sentient beings from “severe hindrances of attachments and afflictions”.
“This explains how He contemplated the methods for saving sentient beings from severe hindrances of attachments and afflictions: Lethargy and afflictions will disturb our minds and spirits so that we cannot reveal our wondrous and bright nature. This is the obstruction of afflictions.”
What are sentient beings attached to? To our desires. Our ignorance and desires have brought about our state of delusion. With desires come delusions. Look at the many countries which are experiencing natural and manmade disasters. Sentient beings, in their delusion, have brought about many natural and manmade disasters. This is because people’s desires and possessiveness give rise to delusion, confusion and attachments. These are very serious obstacles. Most of us are just like this; we experience “lethargy and afflictions”.
These afflictions cause us to become lethargic so that we cannot awaken. We seem to keep falling asleep. As soon as we listen to the Dharma we nod off. Then we remain asleep until the teaching is over. This is a lethargic and afflicted state. This happens because we unenlightened beings are dense when it comes to pure, wondrous Dharma. Because we lack wisdom, we are slow when it comes to the Dharma, very lethargic and afflicted. These obstructions are afflictions.
These afflictions “disturb our minds and spirits”. They have disturbed our minds so that we are unable to concentrate. Though we listen to the Dharma, our minds are not focused. “We cannot reveal our wondrous and bright nature”. Because we still cannot focus, our precepts, Samadhi and wisdom continue to leak away. So, our practice of the Three Flawless Studies is still not very stable. As soon as we take the Dharma to heart, it quickly leaks out again.
Because of this, “We cannot reveal our wondrous and bright nature”. This is the obstruction of afflictions.
Every morning after listening to the Dharma, we chant, “I vow to eliminate the Three Obstructions and all afflictions. I vow to attain wisdom and true clarity. I universally vow to eliminate all karmic obstacles and life after life follow the Bodhisattva-path”.
For our minds, we “vow to eliminate the Three Obstructions and all afflictions”. In our daily living, are there discursive thoughts in our minds? We are filled with discursive thoughts. Whose discursive thoughts are these? They are ours. Who can eliminate your discursive thoughts? Only you can.
So, if we vow to eliminate them but do not actually make the effort to clear them away, that is like hoping a filthy place will become clean but refusing to pick up any cleaning tools to tidy things up. Who will do it for you? Perhaps a Bodhisattva will come and clean for you. But, a Bodhisattva can only clean the things that are around you. Tzu Chi Bodhisattva [-volunteers] constantly help people clean their house. But now can they clean the inside of someone’s mind? They have to put the Bodhisattva Way into practice and first purity their own minds before dedicating themselves with love to clean other people’s living environments. This is the way they move people and teach them.
So, we vow to “comprehend the great path”, have “wisdom like the sea” and “harmoniously lead the assembly”.
If we do not “comprehend the great path”, we cannot eliminate the Three Obstructions. If we do not have wisdom, then we cannot mature. If we do not penetrate the sutras, there will be no Dharma in our hearts to nurture our wisdom. If we cannot develop our wisdom, we cannot cultivate virtue. If we have no virtue then we will be unable to eliminate our afflictions and will be unable to deliver sentient beings. So, we must “eliminate the Three Obstructions and all afflictions”. We must constantly clear out our discursive thoughts and hold fast to precepts, Samadhi and wisdom in our minds. This is the only way we can go among the people. This is also an analogy for the Boddha’s karmic affinity for being in this world.
We always say that time is running out. Indeed, there is not enough time left.
This is an analogy for how the Buddha’s affinity with the world was almost over. The Three Vehicle practitioners had not fully attained liberated understanding and views, and His only fear was not saving them in time.
The Buddha lived in this world for 80 years. Out of these 80 years, He spend 49 teaching the Dharma. Those 49 years passed quickly and His “affinity with the world was almost over.”
The Buddha taught [the Three Vehicle] because sentient beings’ limited capabilities prevented them from directly accepting that the Buddha’s enlightened state of mind is intrinsic to everyone. He wanted to share this with everyone but there was no one who could comprehend it, so He had to teach the Three Vehicles. He taught with the Three Vehicles for 40 years.
But though they heard the Dharma that was taught, they would take in one part of Dharma but give rise to nine parts of afflictions. This is why they remained in the Six Realms and among the four forms among the four forms of birth, transmigrating endlessly.
This was what worried the Buddha most. Time was running out. We are now in the evil world of Five Turbidities. There are more and more opportunities for us to be tempted to create afflictions. We keep losing the sense of love in our hearts and the compassion in our relationships.This is why the Buddha felt a sense of urgency, especially as He was in His later years, His “affinity with the world was almost over, and the “Three Vehicle practitioners had not fully attained liberated understanding and views.” They still did not clearly understand.
So, He feared “not saving them in time.” This is why the Buddha felt a sense of urgency. He was like the elder who quickly devised more methods to see if he could quickly get everyone out. Only if everyone could escape the burning house would the elder, the father, felt at ease.
Sentient beings had lost focus and were greedy for, attached to and deluded by all the external conditions they connected with. Thus they could not remember their original goodness. They had lost sight of their nature. The Buddha could not bear for this to happen. He compared [the children to] “sentient beings who had lost focus” and were greedy form attached to and deluded by all the external conditions they connected with.”
This is because they come in contact with external conditions. When the Six Sense Organs connect with the Six Sense Objects, the mind takes in external phenomena and begins to engage in thinking, leading us to act and create much karma. This is the mind of unenlightened beings.
If those who hear the Dharma are still attached to their external conditions, if they hear the Dharma but still stubbornly cling to all the external phenomena they have encountered, they cannot remember their original goodness. They have already forgotten that people are inherently good. This is how they lost their intrinsic nature and the Buddha could not bear this.
Everyone, the Buddha is so compassionate that He hoped that His children could quickly perfect all the ways of living in and have the flawless wisdom to transform themselves and all sentient beings. Everyone, time is passing by with every second, yet there is so much Dharma left to teach. Everyone, in this world that we live in, everything is the Dharma. But we are not consciously aware of this, so we treat everything as something separate from and unrelated to us. In fact, we are all part of the same world.
If there is a disaster anywhere, how can we feel at peace? So, we must awaken right away. To transform others, of course we must first transform ourselves. Therefore, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
（法華經•譬喻品第三）
⊙「佛心覺海慈父愛，思惟作念救子心，設法妙權說三乘，霍然雲消煩惱除。」
⊙「爾時，長者即作是念：此舍已為大火所燒，我及諸子若不時出，必為所焚。」《法華經譬喻品第三》
⊙「我今當設方便，令諸子等得免斯害。」《法華經譬喻品第三》
⊙我今當設方便，令諸子等得免斯害：長者年邁，急念與子速出，以保安全，免受火傷害。
⊙此釋思惟方法，拔濟眾生諸著煩惱重障。昏煩之法，惱亂心神，不能顯發妙明真性，是名煩惱障。
⊙喻佛世緣將盡，三乘行者未盡取得解脫知見，唯恐救拔不及。
⊙喻眾生失念，貪著執迷於所緣境，而不能明記人初之善，迷失本性，佛心不忍。
【證嚴上人開示】
「佛心覺海慈父愛，思惟作念救子心，設法妙權說三乘，霍然雲消煩惱除。」
佛心覺海慈父愛
思惟作念救子心
設法妙權說三乘
霍然雲消煩惱除
「佛心覺海慈父愛」。意思是要告訴大家，佛陀那個覺悟，佛陀的心就是，包容天地一切萬物，所以我們稱佛陀是，「宇宙大覺者」，在宇宙間，佛陀的智慧包含了一切。哪有這麼大的智慧呢？因為他有無限量的愛，所以叫做悲智。悲就是慈悲，這種的悲智與宇宙為一體，堪稱為慈父的愛。
這種的慈父與世間父母是不同，光是譬喻世間的父母，就知道天下的父母心，再壞的孩子，父母還是用寬大的心，原諒子女，期待他的孩子能夠浪子回頭。父母還是不斷盼望，不論他如何的父母心，就是一生一世而已，這一生為親子的緣。但是，慈父，佛心覺海，這種慈父的愛，那就是生生世世。
宇宙有多大，佛的心就有多大；宇宙有多久，佛的覺性就有多久。所以，佛這種的慈心，四生之父，這個心是永恆，不是我們人間，一生一世的慈父，是我們眾生恆久的慈父，所以他對天下眾生那個愛，那就是永恆的。
所以我們常常都會說，無緣大慈，同體大悲。到底「同體」到什麼程度呢？那就是像自己的身體一樣。佛陀的覺海、佛陀的慈愛，他那種對眾生，好像貼在他的身體一樣，這樣的關懷，眾生的苦，是佛陀所體會入心的苦。
所以我們在這個人世間，不斷地，眾生煩惱、造業，已經業累積了、共業了。世間已經時時都是發出了警訊，在警告大家的訊息，看，已經是這樣了，這大乾坤災難不斷，水、火、風、地震，你看四大不調頻傳，一直在這個時代裡。所以，佛陀的感觸，二千多年前預知在未來，我們的現在，所以他不斷「思惟作念」：三界之內，四生如己子，怎忍心在這個三界之內，天地之下，這麼多的災難，都是人心濁惡！
我們人間的眾生，就是這樣，不斷造作、破壞大地，去攝取很多天地間的寶物，不斷挖大山、挖土地，開大山、挖土地。一個非常安全的地球，卻是受到人類為了利，不斷去開、去挖等等，不斷破壞。
不打緊，普通的人，就只是一直想要如何來享受，還這樣在作樂、嬉戲，儘管父親在外面很著急，一直叫啊叫，傻傻的，只是「視父而已」，不懂得要反應。這已經是現在天下眾生，受這個煩惱覆藏了我們的智慧，這樣被遮蓋掉了，所以那個反應的智慧很遲鈍，總是只是這樣貪著。
所以，佛陀不斷就作思惟，開啟了很多妙權來說三乘，卻是眾生還是一樣慢慢來。但是，到現在法華會的時候，佛陀就開始緊急疾呼，「說怖畏事」，開始向世間人說，這個世間的可畏、可怕，真的是怖畏。這個已經開始呼籲了，也向大家說，趕緊快回歸，回歸真如的本性。不要再做世間的凡夫，在那個火宅內，不知道四面災難全都逼近了。要及時趕緊覺悟，那個無明就像烏雲一樣，趕緊把這個雲若可以撥開，煩惱才能去除。
所以希望我們人人，將佛陀所說三乘法，其實就是妙權，妙權的意思，「妙」就是真理在裡面，只是根機無法直接接受，我們也有成佛的真如本性，我們不知道，如何將它拿出來，佛陀就要用種種的方法。
最好的方法，那就是要將「我相」去除，將心胸打開，將天地宇宙萬物，我們全都要珍惜；珍惜了萬物，才能夠瞭解萬物的真理。與人最接近的、最能夠感覺的，就是人群，我們要走入人群中去，體會人群的苦難，若能夠這樣，道理才會清楚，所以這樣才能夠，「霍然雲消煩惱除」。
爾時長者即作是念
此舍已為大火所燒
我及諸子若不時出
必為所焚
《法華經譬喻品第三》
所以，前面的經文，「爾時，長者即作是念」，這個大宅已經，火全都包圍過來，「我及諸子若不時出，必為所焚」，不能再等了，來不及了！不要慢慢地來、慢慢地聽、慢慢地覺悟，不可以。已經沒時間了，要及時覺悟的時刻了。
下面這段(經)文再說，「我今當設方便，令諸子等得免斯害。」
我今當設方便
令諸子等
得免斯害
《法華經譬喻品第三》
本來佛陀覺悟之後，要將他覺悟心靈的境界，與大家分享，但是眾生愚鈍，無法很快就接受，所以他不得不用方便，來救拔眾生這種無明習氣。講方法，讓大家好好趕快，自己撥除了，這個煩惱、這個無明。
所以二千多年了，到底我們眾生經過了幾生幾世，是不是有接受到佛法？接受了佛法，是不是有體解到？所以佛陀不斷設方便。我們就是接受了，佛陀的方便(法)，漸漸誘引，不過，到現在就不能漸漸地來，要趕緊的。
所以佛陀到他，將要入滅前的七年，那就是講《法華經》。佛陀光是《法華經》就講七年，何況我們凡夫，我們現在的時代，現在人的生活，與佛陀的時代是不同。所以每天這樣在說，是不是大家有體會到？所以要趕緊，災難頻傳，我們要趕緊立時，要如何脫離這個火宅？要如何能夠覺悟佛法？讓我們的心靜下來，讓我們能夠好好來考慮，如何才能夠與天地之間共生息？這就是我們應該要好好，反省、覺悟。
我今當設方便
令諸子等
得免斯害：
長者年邁
急念與子速出
以保安全
免受火傷害
「長者年邁」，這個意思譬喻，譬喻這個火宅裡面的主人，這位長者已經是年邁了，所以他愈來愈著急，看到孩子愈來愈放蕩。所以他愈著急，尤其這個大宅是愈來愈舊，愈來愈敗壞，所以「急念與子速出」。不論孩子是如何，能夠趕緊出來最好。這就是解釋佛陀的思惟，用他的智慧要如何來設方法，如何來救拔眾生，「諸著煩惱重障」。
此釋思惟方法
拔濟眾生
諸著煩惱重障：
昏煩之法
惱亂心神
不能顯發妙明真性
是名煩惱障
眾生所執著的是什麼？就是欲念；因為這個無明欲念，使得了我們癡迷。有了欲念就癡迷。看看很多的國家，現在天災、人禍，都是在癡迷中，惹來了很多天災、人禍，這全都是從欲念、佔有心，變成了癡、迷、執著，這種重重的障礙；我們一般的人與這樣相同。
「昏煩之法」。這個煩惱，就是昏，昏沉，不懂得要覺醒，還像在打瞌睡一樣。法，在聽，就開始睡，這樣睡到，法，說完了才清醒，這叫做「昏煩」，昏沉、煩惱。這是我們的凡夫，對法很鈍，清淨的妙法，因為我們缺少了智慧，所以對法就是很鈍、很昏、很煩，這種來障礙。這叫做煩惱，這個煩惱，就是「惱亂心神」，惱亂了我們的心，讓我們的心不專，雖然是在聽法，但是心不專。
「不能顯發妙明真性」。因為我們的心還不很專，戒、定、慧，還是在漏失，所以我們這個「三無漏學」，還未很堅固，所以法入心，很快就又漏掉了，因為這樣，「不能顯發妙明真性」，所以這樣叫做「煩惱障」。
每天的早上，聽完了法，(唱誦<回向偈>)，願消三障諸煩惱，願得智慧真明了，普願業障盡消除，世世常行菩薩道。心就是「願消三障諸煩惱」，日常的生活，我們心裡有雜念嗎？充滿了雜念，這個雜念是誰的？自己的。自己的雜念，誰能替你清除？自己。
所以，自己願消，卻是不要動、不想要清掃它。裡面骯髒了，希望裡面能乾淨，但是自己不肯拿起清掃的工具，來清理，誰會替你清呢？除非菩薩來替你清。但是，菩薩能來替你清，是身外的東西。慈濟菩薩，常常去替人清掃家裡，但是，他要如何能夠，清，到人的心呢？不過，唯有菩薩身體力行，他自己將內心先清乾淨，然後用愛投入，去清別人的家庭環境，這樣感動人、去教導人。
所以，「體解大道」、「智慧如海」、「統理大眾」，我們若沒有「體解大道」，我們沒辦法消除三障；我們若沒有智慧，我們無法成長，我們若沒有深入經藏，心中無法沒辦法成長智慧；我們若不成長智慧，我們就無法修德；我們若無德行，我們就無法將煩惱去除，無法度眾生。
所以，我們必定「願消三障諸煩惱」，要時時掃除我們內心的雜念，將我們的戒、定、慧，住在心中，才有辦法真正入人群。
這也是譬喻佛的世緣，我們一直說來不及、來不及，是真正的來不及。
喻 佛世緣將盡
三乘行者
未盡取得
解脫知見
唯恐救拔不及
看佛陀出現在人間，壽命八十，在這個八十年的時間，四十九年的說法，四十九年也很快就過了。佛陀「世緣將盡」，「三乘行者」他在說法，因為眾生的根機，無法直接接受到佛陀，那個覺悟的境界，是人人本具，要與大家分享，無人有辦法能夠體會到，不得不說「三乘」，所以用這個三乘法，說了四十年的時間，但是法從口出，大家聽進去，一分的法進來，九分的煩惱再生。
所以還是同樣在六道中，「四生」的裡面，這樣不斷(輪迴)。這就是佛陀很擔心，來不及了。現在的時代，五濁惡世了，誘引人去造煩惱的機會，愈來愈多。我去了那個愛、倫理的情，這些一直漏失掉，所以佛陀會很著急。
尤其是到晚年來，開始「世緣將盡」，所以「三乘行者，未盡取得解脫，解脫知見」，都還是不清楚，所以，恐怕「救拔不及」，所以佛陀心也會急。就像那位長者，要趕緊再設法，要看看大家要趕緊出來。大家若能夠出離火宅，長者，父親的心才會安。
喻 眾生失念
貪著執迷於所緣境
而不能明記
人初之善
迷失本性
佛心不忍
「喻眾生失念，貪著執迷於所緣境」，都是在緣這個境界，這個境界，六根緣著六塵，意去取境，開始思惟、開始造作，造了很多的業。這就是凡夫。而若是有聽佛法的人，還是同樣在那個境，緣著這個境界，雖然是聽法，不過還是執迷所緣的境，無法「明記人初之善」，已經忘記了「人之初，性本善」，因為這樣，迷失了本性，佛不忍心。
各位，佛陀是這麼慈悲，希望孩子能夠趕緊，具足世、出世，能夠有這個無漏智，自己自度，還能夠度諸眾生。
各位，時間是不斷分秒一直過，法是還有那麼多尚未說。各位，現在的人間，生活中無不是法，我們都不知不覺，將它當作這與我們，我們身外的事情，與我們無關。其實，是同一片的天地，天地間有災難，我們要如何能安穩呢？所以我們必定要及時覺悟。度人，當然要先度己。所以要人人時時要多用心。
Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Developing Liberated Understanding and Views (方便妙權解脫知見)
Date: April.30. 2015
“The Buddha, with an ocean of enlightenment and the love of a kind father, contemplated and had thoughts about how to save His children. He established wondrous provisional teachings by teaching the Three Vehicles. Like clouds suddenly dispersing, afflictions will be eliminated.”
This tells everyone that after the Buddha’s enlightenment, His mind encompassed all things in the world. Therefore, we refer to the Buddha as the Great Enlightened One of the Universe. The Buddha’s wisdom encompasses all things in the universe. How could His wisdom possibly be so great? Because His love is limitless. This is why we talk about compassion and wisdom.
[That love] is His compassion. With His compassion and wisdom, He is one with the universe and has the love of a kind father. This “kind father” is different from ordinary parents. Once we make the comparison parents, we think about how parents hearts are such that no matter how badly their children behave, they will generously forgive them, hoping their children can return to a proper path. These parents never stop hoping. But, no matter how great their parental love is, it only lasts for one lifetime, they only have the karmic conditions to be parents to their child in this life. However, the Buddha is a kind father with an ocean of enlightenment in His heart. The love of such a kind father lasts lifetime after lifetime.
However vast the universe is, His heart is just as vast. However long the universe lasts, His enlightened nature will last just as long. The Buddha’s loving-kindness makes Him the father of the four kinds of beings, and this state of mind is everlasting. He is not only our kind father for one lifetime, but will be the kind father of sentient beings forever. His love for all sentient beings in the world is everlasting. This is why we always talk about unconditional loving-kindness and universal compassion.
How “universal” is His compassion? He treats all people as He would His own body. With the Buddha’s ocean of enlightenment and His loving-kindness, He treats sentient beings as if they were a part of His own body. This is how much He cares for them. The suffering of sentient beings is suffering that the Buddha experiences as His own. As we live in this world, we unceasingly give rise to afflictions and karma. We have accumulated so much collective karma. The world is already giving us constant warnings. These warnings tell us, “Look at the state we are in!” In the macrocosm of the world, there have been endless disasters of water, fire, wind and earthquakes. See how an imbalance of the four elements results in frequent disasters in this era.
The Buddha sensed this, so over 2000 years ago He made predictions about what things would be like now. He continuously “contemplated and had thoughts about [this].” The four kinds of beings in the Three Realms, are like His children. How could He bear for them to stay in this world, in the Three Realms? All these disasters in the world are caused by the impurity and evil in the human mind. We sentient beings in this world just continue to create karma and do things to harm the land all in order extract the earth’s resources. People continuously mine mountains and dig into the earth. This planet was once very safe, but humans, for their personal gain, unceasingly excavate and destroy the land.
Yet regular people do not care about this and only think about their own comforts, and continue to enjoy themselves and play.Even if a father is anxiously waiting outside, repeatedly warning [his children], they are foolish and “merely look at their father”.They do not know how to react.This is because the world’s sentient beings have let afflictions cover their wisdom; their wisdom has been covered, so their ability to react slows down greatly.They are always greedily attached.This is why the Buddha continued to engage in contemplation, devising many provisional teachings to teach the Three Vehicles.
But sentient beings were still slow to understand.Now, at the Lotus Dharma-assembly, the Buddha urgently called out to them to “tell them of these fearful matters”.He began to tell the people in the world that this world is truly frightening and fearsome.He began to call out to them and also say to them, “Come back quickly. Return to your intrinsic nature of True Suchness. Do not be an unenlightened being any longer, trapped in that burning home, not knowing disaster is closing in from all sides. You must immediately awaken. Ignorance is like a black cloud. Only when that cloud is swept away can afflictions be eliminated.”
So, I hope that everyone will [understand] that the Three Vehicles the Buddha taught are in fact wondrous provisional teachings.These teachings are called “wondrous” because they contain true principles.
It is just that we lack the capabilities to directly accept them.
We also have the intrinsic nature of True Suchness that enables us to attain Buddhahood, but we do not know how to bring it out, so the Buddha taught us various methods.
The best way is to eliminate our sense of self.We must open up our hearts and minds and cherish all things in the world.Only by cherishing all things can we understand their true principles.
The most accessible way for us to experience this is by going among people.We must go among people and experience their suffering.Only by doing this can we clearly understand principles.In this way, “Like clouds suddenly dispersing, afflictions will be eliminated.”
At that time, the elder had this thought, “This house is already burning with great flames. If I and my children do not get out now, we will certainly be burned.”
The previous passage stated, “At that time, the elder had this thought,” that this house already had flames surrounding it on all sides.“If I and my children do not get out now, we will certainly be burned.”
They could wait no longer; time was running out.There was no time to take things slowly, to listen gradually and gradually awaken, no.He was already out of time. It was time for them to awaken right away.
The next sutra passage states, “I should now devise skillful means to allow my children to avoid this harm.”
After the Buddha had attained enlightenment.He wanted to share the state of mind He realized with everyone.
But sentient beings are foolish and dense, so they could not embrace it immediately.Then He had no choice but to use skillful means to save them from their ignorance and habitual tendencies.He taught methods to help them to quickly sweep away their ignorance and afflictions.
So, in over 2000 years, how many lifetimes have we gone through?Have we been able to accept the Buddha-Dharma?If we have accepted the Buddha-Dharma, have we attained any realizations?
So, the Buddha endlessly devised skillful means, and we have accepted the Buddha’s skillful means and have been gradually guided by them.
However, our progress can no longer be gradual; it must happen quickly.So, seven years before He entered Parinirvana, the Buddha gave the Lotus teachings.It took the Buddha seven years just to teach it, to say nothing of us unenlightened beings.The era we live in now and the way people live now are different from the Buddha’s lifetime.
As I expound these teachings every day, have you comprehended them?As disasters occur more frequently, we must immediately discover ways of escaping this burning house and awakening to the Buddha-Dharma so we can still our minds and earnestly consider how we can live in harmony with all things in the world.This is why we must make an effort to reflect on ourselves and awaken.
“I should now devise skillful means to allow all my children to avoid this harm: The elder, in his old age, worriedly thought about how to quickly get the children out, to protect them and help them avoid being injured by the fire.”
“The elder, in his old age”, refers to the master of this burning house. This elder was already advanced in years, so he felt more urgency. Seeing his children becoming more undisciplined, his sense of urgency grew, especially as the house had become older and more dilapidated. “He worriedly thought about how to quickly get the children out”. No matter what the children were like, he just wanted to get them out quickly. This illustrates the Buddha’s thinking. With wisdom, He devised methods for relieving sentient beings from “severe hindrances of attachments and afflictions”.
“This explains how He contemplated the methods for saving sentient beings from severe hindrances of attachments and afflictions: Lethargy and afflictions will disturb our minds and spirits so that we cannot reveal our wondrous and bright nature. This is the obstruction of afflictions.”
What are sentient beings attached to? To our desires. Our ignorance and desires have brought about our state of delusion. With desires come delusions. Look at the many countries which are experiencing natural and manmade disasters. Sentient beings, in their delusion, have brought about many natural and manmade disasters. This is because people’s desires and possessiveness give rise to delusion, confusion and attachments. These are very serious obstacles. Most of us are just like this; we experience “lethargy and afflictions”.
These afflictions cause us to become lethargic so that we cannot awaken. We seem to keep falling asleep. As soon as we listen to the Dharma we nod off. Then we remain asleep until the teaching is over. This is a lethargic and afflicted state. This happens because we unenlightened beings are dense when it comes to pure, wondrous Dharma. Because we lack wisdom, we are slow when it comes to the Dharma, very lethargic and afflicted. These obstructions are afflictions.
These afflictions “disturb our minds and spirits”. They have disturbed our minds so that we are unable to concentrate. Though we listen to the Dharma, our minds are not focused. “We cannot reveal our wondrous and bright nature”. Because we still cannot focus, our precepts, Samadhi and wisdom continue to leak away. So, our practice of the Three Flawless Studies is still not very stable. As soon as we take the Dharma to heart, it quickly leaks out again.
Because of this, “We cannot reveal our wondrous and bright nature”. This is the obstruction of afflictions.
Every morning after listening to the Dharma, we chant, “I vow to eliminate the Three Obstructions and all afflictions. I vow to attain wisdom and true clarity. I universally vow to eliminate all karmic obstacles and life after life follow the Bodhisattva-path”.
For our minds, we “vow to eliminate the Three Obstructions and all afflictions”. In our daily living, are there discursive thoughts in our minds? We are filled with discursive thoughts. Whose discursive thoughts are these? They are ours. Who can eliminate your discursive thoughts? Only you can.
So, if we vow to eliminate them but do not actually make the effort to clear them away, that is like hoping a filthy place will become clean but refusing to pick up any cleaning tools to tidy things up. Who will do it for you? Perhaps a Bodhisattva will come and clean for you. But, a Bodhisattva can only clean the things that are around you. Tzu Chi Bodhisattva [-volunteers] constantly help people clean their house. But now can they clean the inside of someone’s mind? They have to put the Bodhisattva Way into practice and first purity their own minds before dedicating themselves with love to clean other people’s living environments. This is the way they move people and teach them.
So, we vow to “comprehend the great path”, have “wisdom like the sea” and “harmoniously lead the assembly”.
If we do not “comprehend the great path”, we cannot eliminate the Three Obstructions. If we do not have wisdom, then we cannot mature. If we do not penetrate the sutras, there will be no Dharma in our hearts to nurture our wisdom. If we cannot develop our wisdom, we cannot cultivate virtue. If we have no virtue then we will be unable to eliminate our afflictions and will be unable to deliver sentient beings. So, we must “eliminate the Three Obstructions and all afflictions”. We must constantly clear out our discursive thoughts and hold fast to precepts, Samadhi and wisdom in our minds. This is the only way we can go among the people. This is also an analogy for the Boddha’s karmic affinity for being in this world.
We always say that time is running out. Indeed, there is not enough time left.
This is an analogy for how the Buddha’s affinity with the world was almost over. The Three Vehicle practitioners had not fully attained liberated understanding and views, and His only fear was not saving them in time.
The Buddha lived in this world for 80 years. Out of these 80 years, He spend 49 teaching the Dharma. Those 49 years passed quickly and His “affinity with the world was almost over.”
The Buddha taught [the Three Vehicle] because sentient beings’ limited capabilities prevented them from directly accepting that the Buddha’s enlightened state of mind is intrinsic to everyone. He wanted to share this with everyone but there was no one who could comprehend it, so He had to teach the Three Vehicles. He taught with the Three Vehicles for 40 years.
But though they heard the Dharma that was taught, they would take in one part of Dharma but give rise to nine parts of afflictions. This is why they remained in the Six Realms and among the four forms among the four forms of birth, transmigrating endlessly.
This was what worried the Buddha most. Time was running out. We are now in the evil world of Five Turbidities. There are more and more opportunities for us to be tempted to create afflictions. We keep losing the sense of love in our hearts and the compassion in our relationships.This is why the Buddha felt a sense of urgency, especially as He was in His later years, His “affinity with the world was almost over, and the “Three Vehicle practitioners had not fully attained liberated understanding and views.” They still did not clearly understand.
So, He feared “not saving them in time.” This is why the Buddha felt a sense of urgency. He was like the elder who quickly devised more methods to see if he could quickly get everyone out. Only if everyone could escape the burning house would the elder, the father, felt at ease.
Sentient beings had lost focus and were greedy for, attached to and deluded by all the external conditions they connected with. Thus they could not remember their original goodness. They had lost sight of their nature. The Buddha could not bear for this to happen. He compared [the children to] “sentient beings who had lost focus” and were greedy form attached to and deluded by all the external conditions they connected with.”
This is because they come in contact with external conditions. When the Six Sense Organs connect with the Six Sense Objects, the mind takes in external phenomena and begins to engage in thinking, leading us to act and create much karma. This is the mind of unenlightened beings.
If those who hear the Dharma are still attached to their external conditions, if they hear the Dharma but still stubbornly cling to all the external phenomena they have encountered, they cannot remember their original goodness. They have already forgotten that people are inherently good. This is how they lost their intrinsic nature and the Buddha could not bear this.
Everyone, the Buddha is so compassionate that He hoped that His children could quickly perfect all the ways of living in and have the flawless wisdom to transform themselves and all sentient beings. Everyone, time is passing by with every second, yet there is so much Dharma left to teach. Everyone, in this world that we live in, everything is the Dharma. But we are not consciously aware of this, so we treat everything as something separate from and unrelated to us. In fact, we are all part of the same world.
If there is a disaster anywhere, how can we feel at peace? So, we must awaken right away. To transform others, of course we must first transform ourselves. Therefore, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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