"我們自己要全心全力培養七寶池中，自己的蓮花，那是真的。世間人不管什麼，不要去跟人家比，那個沒用處，怎麼比到後來都是一場空，都落空。唯有比蓮花大小是真的，這個不是假的。經上所講的蓮花，小的有十由旬、百由旬、千由旬，大小不一，光色不一樣，視乎修行人的功夫。我們在這個世間除了念佛之外，每一天三餐飯能吃得飽，衣服可以遮體、可以穿暖，有一個小房子能遮避風雨，足夠了。一心念佛，求生淨土，自己在這個世間身心清淨，一塵不染，身就是蓮花，你的住處，你的座位都是蓮花座。你出去走路，步步都是踏著蓮花，我們凡夫見不到，有神通的人能看到。你一步一蓮花，舉足、下足，就是念頭生、念頭滅，念頭生也不染著，念頭滅也不染著，就好像舉步、下步都是清淨無染，與二空之理相應。"

-摘錄自淨空法師演述之華嚴演義【冊一】

楞嚴經之摘錄

經云: 「若棄生滅，守於真常，常光現前，根塵識心，應時銷落」
法師說這段要畫雙紅線，謂「修行一定要抓到重點，若棄生滅，就是放下，只要你看到是無常的，記得！統統放下。守於真常，守住這個放下的不生不滅的如來藏性，守得住它，也就是說：我對生滅無常的世間，徹底沒有意見，絕對不會因為假相，而引起了種種情緒的變化，什麼委屈，今天過了，明天早上一醒過來，就完全歸零，每天都在歸零，久了，他的煩惱自然就沒有。如果不做這一層功夫，先勉強行之，一下子要進入自然放下，沒有辦法！因為這個修行是真槍實彈的，你沒有那個忍辱、空性的忍辱，你忍不下就是忍不下！」

唯心所現、唯識所變

人在夢中, 以為夢境是真;
夢醒時分, 安知人生亦夢?
迷則夢, 悟則醒!
人生當以提早醒悟為目的!


(最近研修唯識宗唯識的學說,有大夢初醒之感,故藉此一隅抒發感言,願各位同參佛友,共勉之)

隨想

很久沒來這裡更新了, 這段日子常聽慧律法師的開示, 知道聽經聞法固然重要, 但還是應該把多數時間拿來精進念佛以期臨命終時能把持正念往生淨土, 但知道歸知道, 如果不付諸於實踐任由自己無始以來的業力蹉跎歲月以致耽誤自己的生死大事, 那也是枉然的。正如法師所說, 臨終時得遇善知識宣說淨土法門之殊勝功德並及時提起正念, 發起念佛之心是極其困難的, 其機率不亞於中樂透那般, 千萬人中才有一人有此福報, 聽了真令人感到惶恐。所以平常的功夫很重要。法師也說生於世間如不懂佛法則等於白活, 因為不管幹什麼再偉大的事業如果不開悟也逃不過輪迴, 那就算得到再多的財富又有何用? 富貴終歸一場空!
我之前在這部落格裡談自己對經典禪語的感想, 其實如果不是大徹大悟的人, 是不應該胡亂置評的, 以免誤導眾生, 果報很重的, 所以我想還是就此打住, 大家好好地修行, 如果於佛學有任何疑問應請教有正知正見的法師或善知識, 利用業餘時間好好念佛求生西方極樂世界方為正途。

Money No Enough

Today I came across an article Not Perfect, But It's Home on Weekend TODAY, which has been delivered to my house FOC for many years. An interesting read as the author tries to compare the lifestyles between Singapore and Australia, in particular the perceptions of money and how different the Aussies deal with money matters compared to our countrymen.

I agree with the author that we Asians are more obsessed with money than the Aussies. It is little wonder that "Money No Enough 2" by Jack Neo won the top box office (among all Asian films) in Singapore last year. Our parents all expect us to study hard so that we can become doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants etc and make more money when we grow up. Having more money naturally lead to more comfortable and happier lives, as we were told. More often than not we tend to judge the social status of a person by his wealth rather than his heart. Even the government indirectly promotes the importance of money by benchmarking our top civil servants' pay to a basket of top earners in the six professionals in the private sector. We hear them saying things like "You need top money to draw top talent and curb corruption." and "You pay peanuts, you get monkeys", etc etc.

However, as the recent Global Financial Crisis shows, money is never enough, for those top-salary drawing bankers, more money paid to them may work in the opposite direction and blind them into making wrong decisions (i.e. creation of toxic assets). They are still human beings afterall and they still succumb to the power of greed. Human greed inevitably creates a bubble and then a crisis ensues.

In the distant future, will money ever become history? As we know, many wealthy people are actually not happy. They have no purpose in life and all they have left in this world is their money. A happy life does not have to be materialistic. In our usual pursuit of wealth, we must not forget that many simple things in life actually cost nothing. I hope to lead a simple life that is free from money woes, i.e. to achieve financial freedom as early as possible.