20150616《靜思妙蓮華》貪著五欲徒勞心苦(第588集)
（法華經•譬喻品第三）
⊙「五欲財利本是苦而不知，眾生以為娛樂歡喜遊戲，貪著追求本是徒勞心苦，眾生貪之無厭不畏業累。」
⊙「後受地獄、畜生、餓鬼之苦，若生天上，及在人間，貧窮困苦、愛別離苦、怨憎會苦。」《法華經 譬喻品第三》
⊙眾生心身沒入於苦海中，不以為苦，反以為樂。以不觀苦集，故不生厭離，不觀四諦法，故不求解脫。
⊙三途極苦無代受者，若生天上，壽福有盡還墮落人間或入三途；及在人間，貧窮困苦，人間道善惡參半，但苦多樂少，煩惱複製造業多。
⊙生活，衣、食、住三者以為依止；故須求衣、食與房舍，以為求無止境之苦。而人心之苦由是遂生，從此已為以苦代苦。世人愚惑，貪著五欲，至死不捨，為之後世受無量苦。
⊙求不可得，由於非分之求而生貪、瞋、癡之煩惱，造種種殺、盜、淫、妄之罪業，以務得此虛幻不實之五欲財利。
【證嚴上人開示】
「五欲財利本是苦而不知，眾生以為娛樂歡喜遊戲，貪著追求本是徒勞心苦，眾生貪之無厭不畏業累。」
五欲財利本是苦
而不知
眾生以為娛樂
歡喜遊戲
貪著追求
本是徒勞心苦
眾生貪之無厭
不畏業累
最近一直向大家提起五欲，真的是苦不堪！尤其是前面也一直提起說過，三界如大火宅，火從四面起了。五欲如刀蜜，財利如浮雲，這過去也是這樣向大家說過了。
世間，這三界，尤其是我們的心靈三界——欲、色、無色，都是在我們的心理在造作。起了一念欲心，財、利，我們貪之無厭，一直貪，沒有一個止境。這一有了貪念，想想看，我們所造作的有多少！整個三界，整個世間，就像一個火宅一樣，什麼樣的災難都完全集中了，從四面起了，這都是我們這個欲。
欲就如刀塗蜜一般，孩子無知，看到那個蜜，應該是甜的，不知道那把刀是利的，所以用舌頭去舔，想要去吃那個蜜，真的是危險。我們人貪的欲念就是這樣，在貪的當中，裡面已經就像藏著利刀，在蜜的裡面。
所以說來，財利就像浮雲，覺悟的人能瞭解，迷的人就無法瞭解。像白雲浮在藍天一樣，看白雲，就是慢慢、慢慢地這樣過，你手去摸那個它，根本就是空的。這人生迷的時候，就將這個空的東西當作是真的，很愛玩。這眾生就是在癡暗中，不斷追求，這種的無明、愚癡，不斷在追求，所以造成天地間，這五濁八苦的火災，就是災難，很多的災難從這樣四面而起。
所以說來，五欲財利本來是苦，就是眾生不知。不知，就是因為癡暗，我們的心地愚癡，我們全都黑暗了，不知道前面的境界步步陷阱。我們都不知，所以眾生這個欲，以為是最快樂的，所以為了娛樂，享受一時、紙醉金迷，這樣在人間為所欲為，這樣說是娛樂，這樣歡喜，這樣在遊戲。這種的追求，說實在，這都是徒勞心苦，眾生就是貪之無厭，不怕這個業來拖累。
常常這樣說，有一缺九，「夠了嗎？」「不夠！」「九，再加零、零、零，夠了嗎？」「還不夠！」再加下去，上「兆」。「兆」，這個中國字的「兆」，旁邊若再多一個「走馬邊」，那叫做「逃」。等到你認為夠了，其實是人到死了，還說不夠，所以最後由不得你自己，那就是「逃」，就是逃了。
逃什麼呢？逃債，逃債了。逃什麼債呢？你已經建立了，世間很多的物資、財產等等，都很多，哪有什麼債務呢？有啊，人間，看你造多少的家「業」、多少的事「業」、多少的名利，有多少，就是因為你用心計較，取了很多的資源。如開發，不斷地開發生產、不斷地生產，這些生產出來的東西，不都是發出來的資源嗎？
資源，那就是在大地，大自然的土地上所有的一切。山上的樹木不斷地砍，山的礦不斷地挖，地底下的石油不斷地抽。天地萬物，有形的東西都受到這種開發，資源不斷消耗掉了，這豈不是破壞大地、污染空氣等等。尤其是在破壞這山河大地，是大乾坤，損傷了大乾坤，比損傷小乾坤的「業」更重，所以這個業累累。
不過，眾生因為貪而無厭，所以「不畏業累」，這個業，這一生過了之後，世間的東西帶不去，卻是「業隨身」，來生還債還不完。破壞山河大地、破壞了人間大乾坤的一切，想想看，造成了多少的災難，這個業重不重？所以，「眾生貪之無厭，不畏業累」，真的是苦不堪！
我們前面的經文裡面，就這樣說，在那個大火宅裡面，眾生真的是愚癡闇鈍，還是不斷在追求。三界中，這些眾生不明白道理，除了不斷在造業以外，沒有覺醒到生老病死、憂悲苦惱等等，全都沒有感覺，所以因為這樣，眾生永遠永遠都是，在那分苦難中。
下面接著我們看，「後受地獄、畜生、餓鬼之苦，若生天上，及在人間，貧窮困苦、愛別離苦、怨憎會苦。」
後受地獄、
畜生、餓鬼之苦
若生天上
及在人間
貧窮困苦
愛別離苦
怨憎會苦
《法華經 譬喻品第三》
各位，這些苦，不是常常在說嗎？這種人生，不論你是在天堂，福壽享盡，同樣要墮在人間，既然在人間，難免就有貧窮、困苦，天福享盡了來到人間，是不是還有人間的福呢？天人，福享盡了，當然就是業力要來受報了，福若享完了，現在來的就是貧窮、困苦，加上人與人之間，愛別離苦、怨憎會苦，很多很多的苦，這在經文中，也時時浮現出來，所以眾生的心身是沒入苦海中。
眾生心身
沒入於苦海中
不以為苦反以為樂
以不觀苦集
故不生厭離
不觀四諦法
故不求解脫
其實所有所有的眾生，那個心與身都不斷沉在那個苦海之中，但是不以為苦，不覺得這是苦。我們剛剛說，「眾生以為娛樂歡喜遊戲」，在這個人間其實是苦，不過他不斷認為，這是快樂的，這是娛樂的，「我擁有所有一切的一切。來人間一趟，我不玩，是不是白來人間呢？」有的人是這樣想，所以不斷在享受。
所以這就是眾生凡夫，那個心就是與身，心與身平齊的造作。心這樣想，身是這樣的造作，所以沉沒，沒入於苦海中，一直沉下去，「不以為苦，反以為樂」。
「以不觀苦集」等等，就是我們沒有好好用心。佛陀既然告訴我們，「四聖諦法」：苦、集、滅、道。像這樣，我們根本沒有將它收進來，我們沒有將佛的教法，引度進入我們的心，我們自己不自度、不覺醒，自己不自度、不覺醒，你要如何用法去度他人呢？這種不觀苦、集、滅、道的道理，所以「不生厭離」。
我們凡夫就是這樣，不懂得要好好修行，重視道理，用在生活的修養。所以這就是「不生厭離」；甘願要在人間、三途，地獄、餓鬼、畜生，這種三途甘願這樣來回，或者是來人間又受很多的苦。這就是我們眾生的愚癡，所以不厭這種三途五趣的苦。
所以「不觀四諦法，故不求解脫」。你要求解脫、要修行，這最根本的道理，你都不接受了，哪有路可走呢？所以我們要好好用心，要不然，三惡道是極苦，沒有人會替我們去代受。
三途極苦無代受者
若生天上壽福有盡
還墮落人間
或入三途
及在人間貧窮困苦
人間道善惡參半
但苦多樂少
煩惱複製造業多
就如我們肚子餓，儘管有愛心的人說：「可憐！他怎麼肚子餓。沒辦法送到那個地方去，是不是我替他吃，讓他吃飽。」可能嗎？不可能！他在病痛，再孝順的孩子說：「我替他承受。」也不可能。再怎麼有慈愛的母親，也不可能替孩子受病痛。這都是同樣的道理，「無代受者」。
所以「若生天上，壽福有盡」，同樣會再墮落，所以人間或者是三途，這個「三途」，地獄、餓鬼、畜生，那種的苦不斷在這個五趣，天、人、地獄、餓鬼、畜生，五趣之中，除了天是樂；做人，苦是這麼多，樂的時間也是有限，人間不斷又在人間造業。「三途」是在人間造出來的，為什麼會墮落地獄？因為做人的時候貪之無厭，破壞大乾坤、傷害小乾坤等等，這是做人累積的業，所以才有地獄、餓鬼、畜生。所以人，實在是罪的源頭。
所以「人間貧窮困苦」。人間都有善惡，善與惡一半一半，不過，現在應該是惡比善更多。但是「苦多樂少」。因為善的比惡的少，惡的比善的多，所以「苦多樂少」，這是在人間。煩惱不斷複製，造業很多。我們既然有煩惱，我們還一直在製造煩惱，所造的業是愈來愈多。若想到這樣，實在是心很擔憂，也很怕。
因為這個三惡道，生活就是在衣、食、住這三項。我們生活中，最不能欠缺的就是要穿衣服，你當人一定要穿衣服，不論多麼熱，你還是要要穿衣服，這是人的特色。所有的眾生，唯有人要顧廉恥，所以我們一定要穿衣服。
除了穿衣服以外，還要吃。我們若沒有吃，你們想，我們的生命如何維持下去？飢、寒、餓是很痛苦。
還要有地方住。像現在的人間天災、人禍，住在帳篷裡的人，是多麼苦！還有氣候，在那個帳篷已經破了，霜雪在下，地下的水，土地上，霜雪的水、泥土，破的帳篷上面、周圍，都下霜雪。你們想，沒地方住，苦不苦啊？
所以說起來，人生這三項是很重要，就是「三者以為依止；故需求衣、食與住、房舍。」這就是我們人必須要活在人間，必需的東西，不過，求無止境，那就是苦了。
生活 衣 食 住
三者以為依止
故須求衣食與房舍
以為求無止境之苦
而人心之苦
由是遂生
從此已為以苦代苦
世人愚惑
貪著五欲至死不捨
為之後世受無量苦
我們剛剛好，該用、該穿、該吃、該住的，剛剛好就好。不要想，一件衣服二百元就買得到，不需要同樣的衣服，去買二萬元的，那只是一塊牌子；說這叫做名牌，這就是人心靈的虛榮心，這就是求過頭了。
所以，我們要知道人心的苦，由這樣不斷在心裡，無窮盡一直產生，要追求流行、追求虛榮，不斷一直追求。所以，因為這樣，開始「以苦代苦」，這種用苦再加上苦，很多。
這就是世間人，愚惑，愚迷、愚癡，這就是惑，這個惑、業，有這個惑，所以無明就去造業，這種種「貪著五欲」，一直到死都不捨，所以這叫做苦。這種的求，求這個五欲，到死了，他想不想捨，後世再帶去受苦。
剛剛在說，說「逃」，逃了、死了之後，接著就要還債了。因為在世間造很多的業，所以在這還債當中，就浮現出愛別離、怨憎會等等，人與人之間互相討債，我折磨你、你折磨我等等。所以「求不可得，由於非分之求而生貪、瞋、癡之煩惱」，所以「造種種殺、盜、淫、妄之罪業」，這樣，所以造作這麼多的業，所得到的，只是一項——虛幻。
求不可得
由於非分之求
而生貪瞋癡之煩惱
造種種殺盜淫妄
之罪業
以務得此虛幻不實
之五欲財利
過去就過去了，你的享受過去了，你現在再想有什麼用呢？享受的東西也是虛幻。這種不踏實的人生，就只是一昧追求，說我一定要得到。這種的「虛幻不實之五欲財利」，這就是我們的人生。
或者是一直一直到了最後，你求得的東西是在，但是，最後還是不可得，因為唯有業隨身，「萬般帶不去，唯有業隨身」，這只是暫時暫得而已，但是又過了以後，也是失去。
或者是還沒有失去，還有的時候，這到底過了之後，還是一樣，人沒了，東西在，像這樣也是要捨，你不捨也要捨。全都捨完，唯有「往昔所造諸惡業，皆由無始貪瞋癡」，不是嗎？所以，所做的，招感就在三惡道裡。
各位菩薩，好好用心修行。要不然，你們想，苦的事情是這麼多，想不開的煩惱，不斷製造出來，那是苦不堪！所以我們要時時多用心！
Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Replacing Suffering with More Suffering (貪著五欲徒勞心苦)
Date:June.16. 2015
“The five desires, wealth and advantage are in essence suffering, but we do not know this. Sentient beings believe these bring pleasure, so they happily play. Greed, attachment and pursuit are fundamentally futile and taxing. Sentient beings have insatiable greed, so they do not fear the accumulation of karma.”
I have been talking about how the five desires really are unbearable suffering. In particular, I have previously brought up how the Three Realms are like a great burning house. The fire arose from all four sides. The five desires are like honey on a knife blade. Wealth and advantage are like floating clouds. This is what I told everyone before.
In this world, the Three Realms, especially the Three Realms of our minds, desires, forms and formless [thoughts] are all constantly creating karma in our minds. When a thought of desire arises, our greed for wealth and advantage is insatiable. There is no end to our greed. When a greedy thought arises, think about how much karma it leads us to create! The Three Realms, this entire world, is like a burning house. All kinds of disasters are concentrated here, like fire arising from all sides. This is due to our desire.
Desire is like a honey on a knife blade. An innocent child sees the honey and , thinking it must be sweet and not knowing how sharp the knife is, tries to lick it off with his tongue. This is really dangerous. This is what our desirous thoughts are like. Contained in our greed is [something dangerous], like a knife covered in honey.
We also say that wealth and advantage are like floating clouds. Awakened people can understand this; deluded people are not able to understand. These are like clouds floating in the blue sky. We see the clouds as they slowly pass by. If we reach out to touch them, they are fundamentally empty. When we live in a deluded state, we treat empty things as real, solid things and enjoy playing with them. Sentient beings, in the darkness of ignorance, pursue them endlessly. Out of ignorance and delusion, we never stop pursuing them. This causes the world to burn with the fire of the Five Turbidities and the Eight Sufferings. This is a disaster; many disasters are arising on all sides.
We also say that wealth and advantage are, in essence, suffering. But sentient beings are unaware of this. We are unaware because of the darkness of ignorance. When we are foolish and deluded, we are in a state of darkness, unaware that on the path ahead of us there are traps beneath every step we take. We are completely unaware. Sentient beings think satisfying their desires will bring them the greatest happiness, so for the sake of enjoying temporary pleasure, they indulge in a life of extravagance. In this world, they do whatever they want. They say this brings them pleasure so they can be happy and continue to play. This kind of pursuit, honestly, is completely futile and taxing.
Sentient beings have insatiable greed and are unafraid of the burden this karma brings. I often say, “Having one, people lack nine.” Is that enough? No. If they keep adding nine’s to get more zeros, would that be enough? It is still not enough. They keep adding zeros until they reach a “trillion”. When the Chinese character for “trillion” has the radical for “go” added to it, we get the character for “flee”. We are waiting until we have enough, but actually, even up to the moment we die, we will still say this is not enough. In the end, things are beyond our control, so we must flee. What are we fleeing from? From a debt. From what debt? We have already amassed so many material assets in this world, how could there be any debts? There are! In this world, we can build up our family enterprise, a large business, recognition and profit to a great extent only by putting our hearts into fighting over everything and exploiting many natural resources. We constantly expand our development and production. In order to manufacture all those things, won’t we have to exploit natural resources?
Natural resources include everything in the earth and on top of the land. We constantly cut down forests in the mountains, excavate and mine for ores and extract oil from the ground. All things in the world, all tangible things, are [exploited] for the sake of development. If we constantly consume these resources, aren’t we harming the earth and polluting the air?
The mountains, rivers and land we harm are part of the macrocosm of the world. The karma of harming the macrocosm of the world is more severe than that of harming the microcosm. In this way we are amassing much karma. But we sentient beings have insatiable greed, so “We do not fear the accumulation of karma.”
With karma, when our current life is at an end, we cannot take anything from this world with us, but our “karma will follow us.” We cannot fully pay off this debt in out next life. We harmed the mountain, rivers and land, everything in this macrocosm of the world. Think of how many disasters we have caused. Doesn’t this create severe karma?
“Sentient beings have insatiable greed, so we do not fear the accumulation of karma.” This suffering is truly unbearable.
The previous sutra passage stated that, inside the burning house, the minds of sentient beings are truly foolish and in the darkness of ignorance, so, they are in a state of endless pursuit. Sentient beings in the Three Realms do not understand the principles. In addition to endlessly creating karma, they have not awakened to birth, aging, illness, death, worry, sorrow, suffering and affliction, etc. They do not recognize them. For this reason, sentient beings are forever [trapped] in this suffering.
Next, we read, “They then dace the suffering of the hell, animal and hungry ghost realms. If they ascend to the heaven realm or remain in the human realm, they face the suffering of poverty and hardship, the suffering of parting with those they love, and the suffering of meeting with those they hate.”
Everyone, aren’t these sufferings what we constantly discuss? Even if we are born in the heaven realm, when that life ends and we deplete our blessings, we will fall into the human realm again. Once in the human realm, poverty and hardship are unavoidable. After we deplete heavenly blessings and come to this world, will we enjoy blessings here? After heavenly beings deplete their blessings, they will course experience karmic retribution. When blessings have been depleted, what comes next is poverty and hardship.
Moreover, in our interpersonal relationships, we suffer from parting with those we love and meeting those we hate. All these many kinds of suffering constantly appear in the sutra text constantly appear in the sutra text. The minds and bodies of sentient beings.
The bodies and minds of sentient beings are immersed in the sea of suffering, but instead of seeing it as suffering they think it is joyful. By not contemplating suffering and causation, they have no desire to be rid of them. By not contemplating the Four Noble Truths, they do not seek liberation.
In fact, all sentient beings’ bodies and minds are constantly immersed in the sea of suffering. But they do not recognize it as suffering; they do not feel they this is suffering. As we just mentioned, “Sentient beings believe these bring pleasure, so they happily play.” This world is actually full of suffering, but we continue to believe that everything is happy and fun. “I possess all this. Since I was born human in this lifetime, if I don’t have fun, won’t I have wasted this life?” Some people think this way, so they endlessly indulge themselves. This is what sentient beings think and how they act; their thoughts and actions are in concert. They think in this way, so their bodies act in this way. Thus they become submerged in the sea of suffering and keep sinking. “Instead of seeing it as suffering, they think it is joyful. By not contemplating suffering and causation, we are not being mindful”. The Buddha taught us the Four Noble Truths, suffering, causation, cessation and the Path. But in this way, we have no absorbed them at all. We have not taken the Buddha’s teachings into our hearts and have not transformed or awakened ourselves. If we do not transform or awaken ourselves, how can we use the Dharma to transform others? We do not contemplate the principles of the Four Nobel Truths, so we “have no desire to be rid of [suffering]”.
We ordinary people are like this; we do not earnestly engage in spiritual practice or value the principles and use them to enhance our spiritual refinement. When we “have no desire to be rid of [suffering]”, we are willing to remain in the human realm and the Three Evil Realms, the hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. We are willing to return to the Three Evil Realms or to the human realm to experience more suffering. This is the state of delusion we are in.
So, we do not try to get rid of our suffering in the Three Evil Realms and Five Destinies. “By not contemplating the Four Noble Truths, [we] do not seek liberation”. If we seek liberation, we engage in spiritual practice. This is the most fundamental principle. If we cannot even accept this, then how can we find a path to walk? So, we must always be mindful. Otherwise, we will face extreme suffering in the Three Evil Realms. No one else can face it on our behalf.
“As for extreme suffering in the Three Evil Realms, no one can take on another’s suffering. Even if born in heaven, one’s longevity and blessings are still limited. One will still fall back to the human realm or the Three Evil Realms. In the human realm, one faces the suffering of poverty and hardship. The human realm is a mix of good and evil, but there is more suffering than joy, more afflictions being reproduced and more karma being created.”
If we are hungry, even if a loving person says, “That is so said! He is hungry. I have no way to send him food, but maybe I can eat on his behalf, so he can be full”, is this possible? If a father is sick, and his filial child says, “I will suffer on your behalf”, that is also not possible. Likewise, no matter how loving a mother is, she cannot endure her sick child’s pain for him. This is all the same principle; “No one can take on another’s suffering”. So, “Even if born in heaven, one’s blessings and longevity are still limited”. One will fall into a lower realm again, whether into this world or the Three Evil Realms.
The Three Evil Realms are the hell, hungry ghost and animal realms.There is endless suffering in the Five Destinies, in the heaven, human, hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. In these Five Destinies, only in heaven is there happiness. As humans, we experience so much suffering, and our happiness is limited. We also endlessly create more karma. The karma that leads to the Three Evil Realms is created here. Why do people fall into hell?
Because humans, out of their insatiable greed, damage the environment and themselves. This is how humans accumulate karma, leading them to the states of the hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. So, it is as humans that we commit those wrongs. “In the human realm, one faces the suffering of poverty and hardship”. There is both good and evil in this world. Good and evil are evenly matched; however, now there seems to be more evil than good. “There is more suffering than joy”. Because there is less good than evil, and more evil than good, “There is more suffering than joy”. This is the human realm.
So, we endlessly reproduce afflictions and create much karma. Because we have afflictions, we are continuously reproducing them and creating and amassing more karma. If we think about this, we will be very worried and frightened because these lead to the Three Evil Realms. We need food, clothing and shelter to live.
In our lives, it is more necessary to wear clothes. As humans, we must wear clothing. No matter how hot it is, we still have to wear some clothes. This is a special characteristic of humans. Of all sentient beings, only humans have a sense of propriety, so we wear clothes. Besides wearing clothing, we also have to eat. If we did not eat anything, think about it, how would we sustain our lives? Hunger and freezing cold cause suffering. We also need a place to live. When a natural or manmade disaster happens, people end up living in tents, which makes for a very harsh life.
Then there is the weather. Their tents may be damaged and in a place where the snow is falling and there is water on the ground, so there is both freezing water and mud. The broken tents may be covered in frost and snow. Think about it, don’t people suffer if they have no place to live? Therefore, we can say that these three things are critical to our lives.They are “the three things we depend on.”
We need clothing, food and shelter. These are the things that humans need in order to survive in the world. However, desire knows no bounds, and that brings suffering.
In our lives, clothing, food and housing are the three things we depend on. Thus we must seek clothing, food and housing, but endless pursuit brings suffering, and the suffering in people’s minds arises from this. From this we replace suffering with suffering. The foolishness of people in the world is that they are greedily attached to the five desires and do not let go until death, thus in their next life they face boundless suffering.
When it comes to what we should use, wear and eat and where we should live, we just need what is sufficient. If we can buy a shirt for NT$200, we should not buy a shirt for NT$20,000. That is just because of a label which makes it a designer brand. This is the vanity that people have; we want more than what we need. We must understand that the suffering in our minds unceasingly arises without end because of this. People want to be fashionable and satisfy their vanity, so they keep pursuing more.
For this reason, they “replace suffering with [more] suffering;” they add suffering to their existing suffering, this is how people are deluded.
Our confusion leads to delusion. With delusion comes karma. Because of our delusions, we create karma out of ignorance and are “greedily attached to the five desires.”We do not want to let go even when we die. This is suffering.
We pursue the five desires and do not want to let go even when we die. Thus we continue to suffer in our future in our future lives. Earlier we spoke of the Chinese character for “flee.” After we die, when we return, we must repay our debts. We have created so much karma in this world. As we repay our debts, we face the suffering of parting of parting with those we love, meeting those we hate, etc.
We own karmic debts to each other, “The suffering of not getting what we want comes from pushing things that are not ours. This gives rise to the afflictions of greed, anger and ignorance.” So, we “commit all kinds of transgressions like killings, stealing, sexual misconduct and lying.”
In this way, we have created so much karma, yet what we have obtained is illusory.
The past is in the past. Once something we enjoyed is in the past, we wonder, “Is there anything left?” The things that we enjoy are also illusory. If our lives are not grounded, we just keep pursuing things and keep saying. “I must have it.” Pursuing these “illusory goals of the five desires, wealth and advantage” becomes the life we live. Perhaps we have constantly been pursuing things and have obtained the things we want, but in the end, we cannot keep them forever, as karma is the only thing we take with us. “We cannot take anything with us when we die, only our karma will follow us to our next life. We only possess these things temporarily. When we pass from this life, we will lose them. Perhaps we have not lost them yet, but in the end, the result is the same.
We are gone, but the object remains. In this case, we still have to let it go. Even if we do not want to, we have to. We are forced to let go of everything, except “all the bad karma created in the past roots in greed, anger and ignorance since Beginningless Time.” Isn’t this the case?
These things that we do lead us to the Three Evil Realms. Dears Bodhisattvas we must earnestly engage in spiritual practice. Think about this; all this suffering is caused by afflictions we cannot let go of. Thus we face unbearable suffering. So, 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）
⊙「五欲財利本是苦而不知，眾生以為娛樂歡喜遊戲，貪著追求本是徒勞心苦，眾生貪之無厭不畏業累。」
⊙「後受地獄、畜生、餓鬼之苦，若生天上，及在人間，貧窮困苦、愛別離苦、怨憎會苦。」《法華經 譬喻品第三》
⊙眾生心身沒入於苦海中，不以為苦，反以為樂。以不觀苦集，故不生厭離，不觀四諦法，故不求解脫。
⊙三途極苦無代受者，若生天上，壽福有盡還墮落人間或入三途；及在人間，貧窮困苦，人間道善惡參半，但苦多樂少，煩惱複製造業多。
⊙生活，衣、食、住三者以為依止；故須求衣、食與房舍，以為求無止境之苦。而人心之苦由是遂生，從此已為以苦代苦。世人愚惑，貪著五欲，至死不捨，為之後世受無量苦。
⊙求不可得，由於非分之求而生貪、瞋、癡之煩惱，造種種殺、盜、淫、妄之罪業，以務得此虛幻不實之五欲財利。
【證嚴上人開示】
「五欲財利本是苦而不知，眾生以為娛樂歡喜遊戲，貪著追求本是徒勞心苦，眾生貪之無厭不畏業累。」
五欲財利本是苦
而不知
眾生以為娛樂
歡喜遊戲
貪著追求
本是徒勞心苦
眾生貪之無厭
不畏業累
最近一直向大家提起五欲，真的是苦不堪！尤其是前面也一直提起說過，三界如大火宅，火從四面起了。五欲如刀蜜，財利如浮雲，這過去也是這樣向大家說過了。
世間，這三界，尤其是我們的心靈三界——欲、色、無色，都是在我們的心理在造作。起了一念欲心，財、利，我們貪之無厭，一直貪，沒有一個止境。這一有了貪念，想想看，我們所造作的有多少！整個三界，整個世間，就像一個火宅一樣，什麼樣的災難都完全集中了，從四面起了，這都是我們這個欲。
欲就如刀塗蜜一般，孩子無知，看到那個蜜，應該是甜的，不知道那把刀是利的，所以用舌頭去舔，想要去吃那個蜜，真的是危險。我們人貪的欲念就是這樣，在貪的當中，裡面已經就像藏著利刀，在蜜的裡面。
所以說來，財利就像浮雲，覺悟的人能瞭解，迷的人就無法瞭解。像白雲浮在藍天一樣，看白雲，就是慢慢、慢慢地這樣過，你手去摸那個它，根本就是空的。這人生迷的時候，就將這個空的東西當作是真的，很愛玩。這眾生就是在癡暗中，不斷追求，這種的無明、愚癡，不斷在追求，所以造成天地間，這五濁八苦的火災，就是災難，很多的災難從這樣四面而起。
所以說來，五欲財利本來是苦，就是眾生不知。不知，就是因為癡暗，我們的心地愚癡，我們全都黑暗了，不知道前面的境界步步陷阱。我們都不知，所以眾生這個欲，以為是最快樂的，所以為了娛樂，享受一時、紙醉金迷，這樣在人間為所欲為，這樣說是娛樂，這樣歡喜，這樣在遊戲。這種的追求，說實在，這都是徒勞心苦，眾生就是貪之無厭，不怕這個業來拖累。
常常這樣說，有一缺九，「夠了嗎？」「不夠！」「九，再加零、零、零，夠了嗎？」「還不夠！」再加下去，上「兆」。「兆」，這個中國字的「兆」，旁邊若再多一個「走馬邊」，那叫做「逃」。等到你認為夠了，其實是人到死了，還說不夠，所以最後由不得你自己，那就是「逃」，就是逃了。
逃什麼呢？逃債，逃債了。逃什麼債呢？你已經建立了，世間很多的物資、財產等等，都很多，哪有什麼債務呢？有啊，人間，看你造多少的家「業」、多少的事「業」、多少的名利，有多少，就是因為你用心計較，取了很多的資源。如開發，不斷地開發生產、不斷地生產，這些生產出來的東西，不都是發出來的資源嗎？
資源，那就是在大地，大自然的土地上所有的一切。山上的樹木不斷地砍，山的礦不斷地挖，地底下的石油不斷地抽。天地萬物，有形的東西都受到這種開發，資源不斷消耗掉了，這豈不是破壞大地、污染空氣等等。尤其是在破壞這山河大地，是大乾坤，損傷了大乾坤，比損傷小乾坤的「業」更重，所以這個業累累。
不過，眾生因為貪而無厭，所以「不畏業累」，這個業，這一生過了之後，世間的東西帶不去，卻是「業隨身」，來生還債還不完。破壞山河大地、破壞了人間大乾坤的一切，想想看，造成了多少的災難，這個業重不重？所以，「眾生貪之無厭，不畏業累」，真的是苦不堪！
我們前面的經文裡面，就這樣說，在那個大火宅裡面，眾生真的是愚癡闇鈍，還是不斷在追求。三界中，這些眾生不明白道理，除了不斷在造業以外，沒有覺醒到生老病死、憂悲苦惱等等，全都沒有感覺，所以因為這樣，眾生永遠永遠都是，在那分苦難中。
下面接著我們看，「後受地獄、畜生、餓鬼之苦，若生天上，及在人間，貧窮困苦、愛別離苦、怨憎會苦。」
後受地獄、
畜生、餓鬼之苦
若生天上
及在人間
貧窮困苦
愛別離苦
怨憎會苦
《法華經 譬喻品第三》
各位，這些苦，不是常常在說嗎？這種人生，不論你是在天堂，福壽享盡，同樣要墮在人間，既然在人間，難免就有貧窮、困苦，天福享盡了來到人間，是不是還有人間的福呢？天人，福享盡了，當然就是業力要來受報了，福若享完了，現在來的就是貧窮、困苦，加上人與人之間，愛別離苦、怨憎會苦，很多很多的苦，這在經文中，也時時浮現出來，所以眾生的心身是沒入苦海中。
眾生心身
沒入於苦海中
不以為苦反以為樂
以不觀苦集
故不生厭離
不觀四諦法
故不求解脫
其實所有所有的眾生，那個心與身都不斷沉在那個苦海之中，但是不以為苦，不覺得這是苦。我們剛剛說，「眾生以為娛樂歡喜遊戲」，在這個人間其實是苦，不過他不斷認為，這是快樂的，這是娛樂的，「我擁有所有一切的一切。來人間一趟，我不玩，是不是白來人間呢？」有的人是這樣想，所以不斷在享受。
所以這就是眾生凡夫，那個心就是與身，心與身平齊的造作。心這樣想，身是這樣的造作，所以沉沒，沒入於苦海中，一直沉下去，「不以為苦，反以為樂」。
「以不觀苦集」等等，就是我們沒有好好用心。佛陀既然告訴我們，「四聖諦法」：苦、集、滅、道。像這樣，我們根本沒有將它收進來，我們沒有將佛的教法，引度進入我們的心，我們自己不自度、不覺醒，自己不自度、不覺醒，你要如何用法去度他人呢？這種不觀苦、集、滅、道的道理，所以「不生厭離」。
我們凡夫就是這樣，不懂得要好好修行，重視道理，用在生活的修養。所以這就是「不生厭離」；甘願要在人間、三途，地獄、餓鬼、畜生，這種三途甘願這樣來回，或者是來人間又受很多的苦。這就是我們眾生的愚癡，所以不厭這種三途五趣的苦。
所以「不觀四諦法，故不求解脫」。你要求解脫、要修行，這最根本的道理，你都不接受了，哪有路可走呢？所以我們要好好用心，要不然，三惡道是極苦，沒有人會替我們去代受。
三途極苦無代受者
若生天上壽福有盡
還墮落人間
或入三途
及在人間貧窮困苦
人間道善惡參半
但苦多樂少
煩惱複製造業多
就如我們肚子餓，儘管有愛心的人說：「可憐！他怎麼肚子餓。沒辦法送到那個地方去，是不是我替他吃，讓他吃飽。」可能嗎？不可能！他在病痛，再孝順的孩子說：「我替他承受。」也不可能。再怎麼有慈愛的母親，也不可能替孩子受病痛。這都是同樣的道理，「無代受者」。
所以「若生天上，壽福有盡」，同樣會再墮落，所以人間或者是三途，這個「三途」，地獄、餓鬼、畜生，那種的苦不斷在這個五趣，天、人、地獄、餓鬼、畜生，五趣之中，除了天是樂；做人，苦是這麼多，樂的時間也是有限，人間不斷又在人間造業。「三途」是在人間造出來的，為什麼會墮落地獄？因為做人的時候貪之無厭，破壞大乾坤、傷害小乾坤等等，這是做人累積的業，所以才有地獄、餓鬼、畜生。所以人，實在是罪的源頭。
所以「人間貧窮困苦」。人間都有善惡，善與惡一半一半，不過，現在應該是惡比善更多。但是「苦多樂少」。因為善的比惡的少，惡的比善的多，所以「苦多樂少」，這是在人間。煩惱不斷複製，造業很多。我們既然有煩惱，我們還一直在製造煩惱，所造的業是愈來愈多。若想到這樣，實在是心很擔憂，也很怕。
因為這個三惡道，生活就是在衣、食、住這三項。我們生活中，最不能欠缺的就是要穿衣服，你當人一定要穿衣服，不論多麼熱，你還是要要穿衣服，這是人的特色。所有的眾生，唯有人要顧廉恥，所以我們一定要穿衣服。
除了穿衣服以外，還要吃。我們若沒有吃，你們想，我們的生命如何維持下去？飢、寒、餓是很痛苦。
還要有地方住。像現在的人間天災、人禍，住在帳篷裡的人，是多麼苦！還有氣候，在那個帳篷已經破了，霜雪在下，地下的水，土地上，霜雪的水、泥土，破的帳篷上面、周圍，都下霜雪。你們想，沒地方住，苦不苦啊？
所以說起來，人生這三項是很重要，就是「三者以為依止；故需求衣、食與住、房舍。」這就是我們人必須要活在人間，必需的東西，不過，求無止境，那就是苦了。
生活 衣 食 住
三者以為依止
故須求衣食與房舍
以為求無止境之苦
而人心之苦
由是遂生
從此已為以苦代苦
世人愚惑
貪著五欲至死不捨
為之後世受無量苦
我們剛剛好，該用、該穿、該吃、該住的，剛剛好就好。不要想，一件衣服二百元就買得到，不需要同樣的衣服，去買二萬元的，那只是一塊牌子；說這叫做名牌，這就是人心靈的虛榮心，這就是求過頭了。
所以，我們要知道人心的苦，由這樣不斷在心裡，無窮盡一直產生，要追求流行、追求虛榮，不斷一直追求。所以，因為這樣，開始「以苦代苦」，這種用苦再加上苦，很多。
這就是世間人，愚惑，愚迷、愚癡，這就是惑，這個惑、業，有這個惑，所以無明就去造業，這種種「貪著五欲」，一直到死都不捨，所以這叫做苦。這種的求，求這個五欲，到死了，他想不想捨，後世再帶去受苦。
剛剛在說，說「逃」，逃了、死了之後，接著就要還債了。因為在世間造很多的業，所以在這還債當中，就浮現出愛別離、怨憎會等等，人與人之間互相討債，我折磨你、你折磨我等等。所以「求不可得，由於非分之求而生貪、瞋、癡之煩惱」，所以「造種種殺、盜、淫、妄之罪業」，這樣，所以造作這麼多的業，所得到的，只是一項——虛幻。
求不可得
由於非分之求
而生貪瞋癡之煩惱
造種種殺盜淫妄
之罪業
以務得此虛幻不實
之五欲財利
過去就過去了，你的享受過去了，你現在再想有什麼用呢？享受的東西也是虛幻。這種不踏實的人生，就只是一昧追求，說我一定要得到。這種的「虛幻不實之五欲財利」，這就是我們的人生。
或者是一直一直到了最後，你求得的東西是在，但是，最後還是不可得，因為唯有業隨身，「萬般帶不去，唯有業隨身」，這只是暫時暫得而已，但是又過了以後，也是失去。
或者是還沒有失去，還有的時候，這到底過了之後，還是一樣，人沒了，東西在，像這樣也是要捨，你不捨也要捨。全都捨完，唯有「往昔所造諸惡業，皆由無始貪瞋癡」，不是嗎？所以，所做的，招感就在三惡道裡。
各位菩薩，好好用心修行。要不然，你們想，苦的事情是這麼多，想不開的煩惱，不斷製造出來，那是苦不堪！所以我們要時時多用心！
Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Replacing Suffering with More Suffering (貪著五欲徒勞心苦)
Date:June.16. 2015
“The five desires, wealth and advantage are in essence suffering, but we do not know this. Sentient beings believe these bring pleasure, so they happily play. Greed, attachment and pursuit are fundamentally futile and taxing. Sentient beings have insatiable greed, so they do not fear the accumulation of karma.”
I have been talking about how the five desires really are unbearable suffering. In particular, I have previously brought up how the Three Realms are like a great burning house. The fire arose from all four sides. The five desires are like honey on a knife blade. Wealth and advantage are like floating clouds. This is what I told everyone before.
In this world, the Three Realms, especially the Three Realms of our minds, desires, forms and formless [thoughts] are all constantly creating karma in our minds. When a thought of desire arises, our greed for wealth and advantage is insatiable. There is no end to our greed. When a greedy thought arises, think about how much karma it leads us to create! The Three Realms, this entire world, is like a burning house. All kinds of disasters are concentrated here, like fire arising from all sides. This is due to our desire.
Desire is like a honey on a knife blade. An innocent child sees the honey and , thinking it must be sweet and not knowing how sharp the knife is, tries to lick it off with his tongue. This is really dangerous. This is what our desirous thoughts are like. Contained in our greed is [something dangerous], like a knife covered in honey.
We also say that wealth and advantage are like floating clouds. Awakened people can understand this; deluded people are not able to understand. These are like clouds floating in the blue sky. We see the clouds as they slowly pass by. If we reach out to touch them, they are fundamentally empty. When we live in a deluded state, we treat empty things as real, solid things and enjoy playing with them. Sentient beings, in the darkness of ignorance, pursue them endlessly. Out of ignorance and delusion, we never stop pursuing them. This causes the world to burn with the fire of the Five Turbidities and the Eight Sufferings. This is a disaster; many disasters are arising on all sides.
We also say that wealth and advantage are, in essence, suffering. But sentient beings are unaware of this. We are unaware because of the darkness of ignorance. When we are foolish and deluded, we are in a state of darkness, unaware that on the path ahead of us there are traps beneath every step we take. We are completely unaware. Sentient beings think satisfying their desires will bring them the greatest happiness, so for the sake of enjoying temporary pleasure, they indulge in a life of extravagance. In this world, they do whatever they want. They say this brings them pleasure so they can be happy and continue to play. This kind of pursuit, honestly, is completely futile and taxing.
Sentient beings have insatiable greed and are unafraid of the burden this karma brings. I often say, “Having one, people lack nine.” Is that enough? No. If they keep adding nine’s to get more zeros, would that be enough? It is still not enough. They keep adding zeros until they reach a “trillion”. When the Chinese character for “trillion” has the radical for “go” added to it, we get the character for “flee”. We are waiting until we have enough, but actually, even up to the moment we die, we will still say this is not enough. In the end, things are beyond our control, so we must flee. What are we fleeing from? From a debt. From what debt? We have already amassed so many material assets in this world, how could there be any debts? There are! In this world, we can build up our family enterprise, a large business, recognition and profit to a great extent only by putting our hearts into fighting over everything and exploiting many natural resources. We constantly expand our development and production. In order to manufacture all those things, won’t we have to exploit natural resources?
Natural resources include everything in the earth and on top of the land. We constantly cut down forests in the mountains, excavate and mine for ores and extract oil from the ground. All things in the world, all tangible things, are [exploited] for the sake of development. If we constantly consume these resources, aren’t we harming the earth and polluting the air?
The mountains, rivers and land we harm are part of the macrocosm of the world. The karma of harming the macrocosm of the world is more severe than that of harming the microcosm. In this way we are amassing much karma. But we sentient beings have insatiable greed, so “We do not fear the accumulation of karma.”
With karma, when our current life is at an end, we cannot take anything from this world with us, but our “karma will follow us.” We cannot fully pay off this debt in out next life. We harmed the mountain, rivers and land, everything in this macrocosm of the world. Think of how many disasters we have caused. Doesn’t this create severe karma?
“Sentient beings have insatiable greed, so we do not fear the accumulation of karma.” This suffering is truly unbearable.
The previous sutra passage stated that, inside the burning house, the minds of sentient beings are truly foolish and in the darkness of ignorance, so, they are in a state of endless pursuit. Sentient beings in the Three Realms do not understand the principles. In addition to endlessly creating karma, they have not awakened to birth, aging, illness, death, worry, sorrow, suffering and affliction, etc. They do not recognize them. For this reason, sentient beings are forever [trapped] in this suffering.
Next, we read, “They then dace the suffering of the hell, animal and hungry ghost realms. If they ascend to the heaven realm or remain in the human realm, they face the suffering of poverty and hardship, the suffering of parting with those they love, and the suffering of meeting with those they hate.”
Everyone, aren’t these sufferings what we constantly discuss? Even if we are born in the heaven realm, when that life ends and we deplete our blessings, we will fall into the human realm again. Once in the human realm, poverty and hardship are unavoidable. After we deplete heavenly blessings and come to this world, will we enjoy blessings here? After heavenly beings deplete their blessings, they will course experience karmic retribution. When blessings have been depleted, what comes next is poverty and hardship.
Moreover, in our interpersonal relationships, we suffer from parting with those we love and meeting those we hate. All these many kinds of suffering constantly appear in the sutra text constantly appear in the sutra text. The minds and bodies of sentient beings.
The bodies and minds of sentient beings are immersed in the sea of suffering, but instead of seeing it as suffering they think it is joyful. By not contemplating suffering and causation, they have no desire to be rid of them. By not contemplating the Four Noble Truths, they do not seek liberation.
In fact, all sentient beings’ bodies and minds are constantly immersed in the sea of suffering. But they do not recognize it as suffering; they do not feel they this is suffering. As we just mentioned, “Sentient beings believe these bring pleasure, so they happily play.” This world is actually full of suffering, but we continue to believe that everything is happy and fun. “I possess all this. Since I was born human in this lifetime, if I don’t have fun, won’t I have wasted this life?” Some people think this way, so they endlessly indulge themselves. This is what sentient beings think and how they act; their thoughts and actions are in concert. They think in this way, so their bodies act in this way. Thus they become submerged in the sea of suffering and keep sinking. “Instead of seeing it as suffering, they think it is joyful. By not contemplating suffering and causation, we are not being mindful”. The Buddha taught us the Four Noble Truths, suffering, causation, cessation and the Path. But in this way, we have no absorbed them at all. We have not taken the Buddha’s teachings into our hearts and have not transformed or awakened ourselves. If we do not transform or awaken ourselves, how can we use the Dharma to transform others? We do not contemplate the principles of the Four Nobel Truths, so we “have no desire to be rid of [suffering]”.
We ordinary people are like this; we do not earnestly engage in spiritual practice or value the principles and use them to enhance our spiritual refinement. When we “have no desire to be rid of [suffering]”, we are willing to remain in the human realm and the Three Evil Realms, the hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. We are willing to return to the Three Evil Realms or to the human realm to experience more suffering. This is the state of delusion we are in.
So, we do not try to get rid of our suffering in the Three Evil Realms and Five Destinies. “By not contemplating the Four Noble Truths, [we] do not seek liberation”. If we seek liberation, we engage in spiritual practice. This is the most fundamental principle. If we cannot even accept this, then how can we find a path to walk? So, we must always be mindful. Otherwise, we will face extreme suffering in the Three Evil Realms. No one else can face it on our behalf.
“As for extreme suffering in the Three Evil Realms, no one can take on another’s suffering. Even if born in heaven, one’s longevity and blessings are still limited. One will still fall back to the human realm or the Three Evil Realms. In the human realm, one faces the suffering of poverty and hardship. The human realm is a mix of good and evil, but there is more suffering than joy, more afflictions being reproduced and more karma being created.”
If we are hungry, even if a loving person says, “That is so said! He is hungry. I have no way to send him food, but maybe I can eat on his behalf, so he can be full”, is this possible? If a father is sick, and his filial child says, “I will suffer on your behalf”, that is also not possible. Likewise, no matter how loving a mother is, she cannot endure her sick child’s pain for him. This is all the same principle; “No one can take on another’s suffering”. So, “Even if born in heaven, one’s blessings and longevity are still limited”. One will fall into a lower realm again, whether into this world or the Three Evil Realms.
The Three Evil Realms are the hell, hungry ghost and animal realms.There is endless suffering in the Five Destinies, in the heaven, human, hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. In these Five Destinies, only in heaven is there happiness. As humans, we experience so much suffering, and our happiness is limited. We also endlessly create more karma. The karma that leads to the Three Evil Realms is created here. Why do people fall into hell?
Because humans, out of their insatiable greed, damage the environment and themselves. This is how humans accumulate karma, leading them to the states of the hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. So, it is as humans that we commit those wrongs. “In the human realm, one faces the suffering of poverty and hardship”. There is both good and evil in this world. Good and evil are evenly matched; however, now there seems to be more evil than good. “There is more suffering than joy”. Because there is less good than evil, and more evil than good, “There is more suffering than joy”. This is the human realm.
So, we endlessly reproduce afflictions and create much karma. Because we have afflictions, we are continuously reproducing them and creating and amassing more karma. If we think about this, we will be very worried and frightened because these lead to the Three Evil Realms. We need food, clothing and shelter to live.
In our lives, it is more necessary to wear clothes. As humans, we must wear clothing. No matter how hot it is, we still have to wear some clothes. This is a special characteristic of humans. Of all sentient beings, only humans have a sense of propriety, so we wear clothes. Besides wearing clothing, we also have to eat. If we did not eat anything, think about it, how would we sustain our lives? Hunger and freezing cold cause suffering. We also need a place to live. When a natural or manmade disaster happens, people end up living in tents, which makes for a very harsh life.
Then there is the weather. Their tents may be damaged and in a place where the snow is falling and there is water on the ground, so there is both freezing water and mud. The broken tents may be covered in frost and snow. Think about it, don’t people suffer if they have no place to live? Therefore, we can say that these three things are critical to our lives.They are “the three things we depend on.”
We need clothing, food and shelter. These are the things that humans need in order to survive in the world. However, desire knows no bounds, and that brings suffering.
In our lives, clothing, food and housing are the three things we depend on. Thus we must seek clothing, food and housing, but endless pursuit brings suffering, and the suffering in people’s minds arises from this. From this we replace suffering with suffering. The foolishness of people in the world is that they are greedily attached to the five desires and do not let go until death, thus in their next life they face boundless suffering.
When it comes to what we should use, wear and eat and where we should live, we just need what is sufficient. If we can buy a shirt for NT$200, we should not buy a shirt for NT$20,000. That is just because of a label which makes it a designer brand. This is the vanity that people have; we want more than what we need. We must understand that the suffering in our minds unceasingly arises without end because of this. People want to be fashionable and satisfy their vanity, so they keep pursuing more.
For this reason, they “replace suffering with [more] suffering;” they add suffering to their existing suffering, this is how people are deluded.
Our confusion leads to delusion. With delusion comes karma. Because of our delusions, we create karma out of ignorance and are “greedily attached to the five desires.”We do not want to let go even when we die. This is suffering.
We pursue the five desires and do not want to let go even when we die. Thus we continue to suffer in our future in our future lives. Earlier we spoke of the Chinese character for “flee.” After we die, when we return, we must repay our debts. We have created so much karma in this world. As we repay our debts, we face the suffering of parting of parting with those we love, meeting those we hate, etc.
We own karmic debts to each other, “The suffering of not getting what we want comes from pushing things that are not ours. This gives rise to the afflictions of greed, anger and ignorance.” So, we “commit all kinds of transgressions like killings, stealing, sexual misconduct and lying.”
In this way, we have created so much karma, yet what we have obtained is illusory.
The past is in the past. Once something we enjoyed is in the past, we wonder, “Is there anything left?” The things that we enjoy are also illusory. If our lives are not grounded, we just keep pursuing things and keep saying. “I must have it.” Pursuing these “illusory goals of the five desires, wealth and advantage” becomes the life we live. Perhaps we have constantly been pursuing things and have obtained the things we want, but in the end, we cannot keep them forever, as karma is the only thing we take with us. “We cannot take anything with us when we die, only our karma will follow us to our next life. We only possess these things temporarily. When we pass from this life, we will lose them. Perhaps we have not lost them yet, but in the end, the result is the same.
We are gone, but the object remains. In this case, we still have to let it go. Even if we do not want to, we have to. We are forced to let go of everything, except “all the bad karma created in the past roots in greed, anger and ignorance since Beginningless Time.” Isn’t this the case?
These things that we do lead us to the Three Evil Realms. Dears Bodhisattvas we must earnestly engage in spiritual practice. Think about this; all this suffering is caused by afflictions we cannot let go of. Thus we face unbearable suffering. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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