心道法師開示 很榮幸與大家探討一些佛法的問題，大家可以暢心地說。我如果能夠幫助大家解答一些問題，那當然很好；如果解答得不怎麼樣，你們也不要抱怨。哈哈。 其實，佛法有兩個層次嘛，一個是理念，一個是實修。把道理搞通了，再去做。做的時候，搞不通了，就去修，慢慢就悟出來了。把“行”跟“解”，配合起來。如果理解了不做，那等於是個妄念，不是真實的。你一定要去實踐它，才有證量。信解行證，是相當符合邏輯的。 大家要好好聊一聊，不要浪費和師父相見的時間，看看大家有什麼疑難雜症——應該是沒有，呵呵。好啦，謝謝大家！ 《廣論》告訴了我們一個學佛的層次，到什麼層次，有什麼樣的見解；到什麼層次，具備什麼樣的見解，它講得蠻清楚的，不用摸著石頭過河。除了《廣論》之外，在紅教裏，有一個《功德藏》，在實修方面，和它有一樣的地方。 開始吃飯吧。我先吃？好吧，但是不知道從何吃起。哈哈。要不先做個供養，你們如果學《廣論》，就應該這個樣子：“供養上師，供養本尊，供養護法，供養般若波羅蜜多，供養般若波羅蜜多，供養般若波羅蜜多。”感謝大家。（眾曰：感謝師父） 問題：師父，我學禪修，已經學過很多法門了，…… 開示：學禪修的法門只有一個，叫做觀照，……怎麼讓心的光明現前。 問題：生命無限的問題，除了從《廣論》上學習外，是否必須修證才能認識到？ 開示：學法要理解，你不理解的時候叫觀。就是對每個事件，觀察它的本質，四念住嘛，慢慢心就脫落，苦集滅道。我們人為什麼會生死？生死是一個妄念，可是妄念又很真實，所以要去瞭解，妄念非真實，才能淨化。 這樣好了，我們從般若講。一切法都離不開般若，不管怎麼講，我們的佛法離開般若就不是佛法 了。般若有文字般若，這是一個理念；還有一個觀照般若，這是一個實踐；實相般若就是證悟。在理念方面，我們現在學《廣論》，大概就是這樣子，文字般若。再 做第二層，就是觀照般若，就是法本。大藏、密乘修的，就是六法，那洛六法，就是這六種要訣光明，夢修，如幻，拙火。（那洛六法：靈熱/拙火、幻觀/幻身、 夢觀、光明/淨光、中有/中陰、轉識/往生。）
密乘是這個樣子的，上來就修四加行，慢慢就修本尊，本尊修完了就修護法。大部分人修護法的時候，就有空性的道理出來。母系的地方，就講空性；父系的地方， 就講道理、思路、方便，這叫做摩訶瑜伽，也就是四相。阿努瑜伽，（密三乘：嘛哈/摩訶瑜伽、阿努瑜伽、阿底瑜伽。）就是修氣功，氣脈明點，這個就是觀照般 若的。再下來，就是大圓滿，這個就是心性，如何把氣脈、障礙明點觀清楚，慢慢就進入實相般若了，心性的修法，大手印，或者是大圓滿。就是這樣下來的。
問題：法師，關於理論的部分，也就是集的部分，學習也需要一定的時間。依您的經驗，是否在理論都學通了之後，再開始修的過程；還是說一邊學理論，一邊修？ 開示：這要看你的時間。實際上，先學一個全貌，再去修。比如說“四加行”，這個是打基礎的，一定要去做。像我身邊有些人，忙得要死，他們還是在做“四加行”。“四加行”要做，這是最基礎的，要做。那麼下來，就可以修本尊了。 問題：是不是先要有個瞭解整體框架，再開始修“四加行”，因為它也是讓你調整意樂的過程。 開示：“四加行”首先讓你皈依、發心；然後是懺悔，四力懺悔、百字明；再下來是獻曼達， 與上師相應。這個東西，你就慢慢做下來。它的意義呢，就是讓你慢慢對佛有信心，拜久了，自己跟佛的關係，就密切了。你現在光想的話，與佛的關係密切是不夠 的。皈依的時候，他觀想，要時時的觀想，佛跟你的關係。那個百字明，金剛薩埵的十地觀想，來懺悔，是很真實的，不是方便。它也就是練你的信心。你把“四加 行”做完，大體上佛法的基礎，都有了。一個“四加行”修很多次，他覺得蠻好的，他又接下來修本尊啦，就很容易，基礎打好了。 上面的內容，我們是從密宗講的。那我們再從顯教這方面看，有很多法門，我們八大宗，都可以修，每一宗都有它的方法，主要是證悟心性，也沒有什麼大的差別。 比如說像禪宗，它不會經過這些階段，它從頓悟上慢慢進入，它就是大手印嘛，從實相上修。比如說參話頭，是一個不二的修法，在這個當中，又止又觀，又觀又 止，它是同時止觀雙運的。這就是禪宗的修法，止觀。剛開始是止，慢慢地把心拉得能夠專心，慢慢地把止弄好了，就開始觀。觀就是觀察、理解到真實，等到你對 心性有瞭解的時候。這個還是要下功夫的，還要下很長一段時間，然後才能夠契入這個心性，才能夠了脫生死的。坐脫立亡呀，生命是隨時可以掌控的，修不夠是沒 法掌控的。 佛法怎麼講呢？主要的是“三摩地”要出來。“三摩地”不出來的話，什麼都是想法，不太真實的，它是一個妄動的東西。
During one of our meetings, a question was raised, “What is Buddhism to you in one word?”
We went around the room and came up with about three general answers: compassion, awareness, and awakening or enlightenment.
After that we went around explaining our answers. Compassion, although definitely a part of Buddhism, was thrown out as not being exclusive to practice. We can be compassionate and be Christian, atheist, or whatever faith we want to bring up. There really wasn’t such a thing as Buddhist compassion, as much as there was simple empathy for our neighbors.
The other two, awareness and awakening were generally agreed to be unique to Buddhism, but we were unsure exactly what it meant. I went with awareness, awareness of my actions, impulses, compulsions and how they affected myself and others. I was pretty satisfied with this answer for a while but felt that it still wasn’t complete. With such an awareness, I could choose to be more compassionate, although it was not necessary. Without the goal of compassionate living, a person can be very self-aware but still act maliciously. Awareness or awakening in itself was only part of the answer.
So now I’m wondering, aware of what? Awakened to what? What was it that the Buddha was awakened to, that led to his freedom from suffering, his turning of the wheel of dharma, and the beginning of his teachings that still persist 2500 years later?
I put off answering this question, but came up on something during my summer reading that could answer it. On the night of his awakening, the Siddartha Gautama awakened over the three watches of the night. In the first watch he gained knowledge of his past lives and of the cycle of death and rebirths. In the second watch, he awakened to karma and the effects it had on people’s rebirths. In the third watch he awakened to dependent origination. Since I don’t have much of a penchant for the supernatural, I only garner significance from the last two. Gautama, in the second and third watch of the night, became aware of the karmic conditions of suffering and to dependent arising, or dependent origination, or the contingency in everything. From there, Siddartha was awakened and declared himself the Tathagata.
These conditions of suffering came from the karmic result of our actions, of which the Buddha put emphasis on our intentions. He puts so much emphasis on intention that he equates it to karma. Awareness of our selves, of the mind, then becomes of prime significance to living a good life. Ethics and morality are centered more in the quality of our intentions, which we each can have control over, rather than in ritual deeds over which a priest-class has monopoly.
The third watch makes the most sense to me, not only because it is lacking any overtly supernatural cause, but because it puts the whole message of Buddhism in an understandable context. Karma, emptiness, impermanence, interdependence, the four noble truths, and other things make sense in light of the awakening in the third watch. They all seem to be ways of stating the doctrine of dependent origination which is nothing more than this:
When this is, that is
This arising, that arises
When this is not, that is not
This ceasing, that ceases.
What could be simpler than that? So this is what I think the Buddha awakened to. Of course, I could be overlooking something. But that’s what this blog and teachers are for.
