第八十六集視頻文字檔如下:
Please find the full texts of Ep 86 below：
(This text is free for sharing and distribution, BUT no alterations should be made to it for further circulation. Thank you for your kind co-operation).
What is the standard for virtue?
善的標準是什麼-第86集
《彌陀經》裡頭的一段話，「若有善男子、善女人，聞是經受持者，及聞諸佛名者，是諸善男子、善女人，皆為一切諸佛之所護念」。這個裡頭要特別注意的就是善字，怎樣才是善男子、善女人，這個善的標準是什麼？
One of the phrases in the Amitabha Sutra states, “If there are virtuous men and women who hear this sutra, accept and uphold it, and also hear the names of all buddhas, these virtuous men and women will be mindfully supported and protected by all buddhas.” We must pay special attention to the word ‘virtuous’ here. How can one be qualified as ‘a virtuous man or woman’? What is the standard for virtue?
就是淨業三福的第一福，「孝養父母，奉事師長，慈心不殺，修十善業」，這個人就是善男子、善女人。我自己是以為自己善，這個不行，這用自己的標準，得要用佛的標準。
It is the first of the Three Conditions of pure karmas, i.e., be filial to and supportive of one’s parents, serve one’s teachers and elders, compassionately abstain from killing, and practise the Ten Virtuous Acts. Such a person is a virtuous man and woman. It is wrong to consider ourselves virtuous because we are using our own standard. We must use the Buddha’s standard.
佛的絕對標準就是十善業道，十善業道不容易做到。為什麼我們不容易，而古人很容易？古人的基礎深厚、穩固，所以十善業很容易做到，受了三皈、五戒，他真做到了，真正是佛弟子。
The Buddha’s absolute standard is the Ten Virtuous Acts, which are not easy to practise. Why do we find these acts difficult to practise but the ancient people had no problem putting them into practice? Because the ancients had a deep-seated and firm foundation, so they were able to practise them very easily. They were indeed true students of the Buddha because they had taken and really observed the Three Refuges and the Five Precepts.
我們現在受三皈、五戒、菩薩戒，都是有名無實，不是真的，為什麼？沒做到。天台大師的話，名字位中，有名無實。所以首先要把善字拿到。
People today taking the Three Refuges, the Five Precepts and the Bodhisattva-precept are just formality (nominal) without true practice (substance). Why is that so? Because they failed to practise them. Great Master Zhiyi (the founder of the Tiantai school) described it as nominal without substance. That’s why one must first be qualified for the word, ‘virtuous.’