第124集 — 直通無上菩提大道的方法是什麼

「念佛法門乃修行之徑路」。佛門有個小冊子，《徑中徑又徑》，我初學佛的時候喜歡看這個。徑路跟誰比？大乘小乘比，大乘是徑路，小乘距離遠；大乘跟禪宗比，禪宗是徑路，一般大乘教修學起來很難；禪宗跟淨土比，淨土又是徑路，禪就難了。

“The Buddha-name chanting is a shortcut in cultivation.” There is a Buddhist booklet called the Shortest Shortcut Among All Shortcuts. I liked to read this booklet when I first learned Buddhism. Who did they compare the shortcuts with? They compared between Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism, whereby the former is a shortcut and the latter is a long distance. When Mahayana Buddhism is compared with Zen Buddhism, the latter is a shortcut while the former is generally very difficult to practise. When Zen Buddhism is compared with Pure Land Buddhism, the latter is a shortcut while the former is difficult to practise.

淨土裡面有四種念佛，實相念佛難，不是普通人能做到的，觀想念佛就比較容易，但是觀想要很細心的人、很有耐心的人，心浮氣躁觀想觀不成。你要不相信實驗一下看，十六觀第一觀觀太陽，「落日懸鼓」。觀成功是什麼？

There are four types of Buddha-name chanting in Pure Land Buddhism. Real Mark Buddha-name chanting is difficult to practise; it is not something ordinary people can do. Visualization is easier to practise, but one has to be very attentive and patient to do it successfully. People who are impetuous would not be able to do so. You can experiment with it if you do not believe my words. The first of the sixteen visualizations is contemplating the sun setting. When will your contemplation be considered successful?

睜開眼睛太陽在面前，閉著眼睛太陽也在面前，無論什麼時候你一觀想，太陽就在面前。你試試看，你能不能觀成，觀成了，用這個功夫念佛決定往生。再有觀像念佛，你喜歡的佛像你天天看著它。這要很有福報，為什麼？

Your contemplation is considered successful when you see the sun in front of you whenever you visualize it, regardless of whether your eyes are open or closed. You can try and see if you can contemplate it successfully. If you can, then you can apply this effort to reciting Amitabha Buddha’s name, and you will surely attain rebirth in the Pure Land. Another type of Buddha-name chanting is contemplation of Amitabha Buddha’s image, whereby you keep on looking at your favourite Amitabha Buddha’s image every day. However, you have to be a very blessed person in order to do this. What is the reason?

你不需要工作，白天晚上對著佛像；不對著呢？不對著就觀不成，一定不離佛像。現在我們用的方法就用照片，我們早年在華藏圖書館，供的一尊藍底白的瓷像，阿彌陀佛像，現在我們都用，我這一生沒改。

Because you do not need to work, so you can look at Amitabha Buddha’s image day and night. What happens if you do not look at the image? You would then fail to contemplate the image. In other words, your eyes must not leave the Amitabha Buddha’s image. The method we are using now is looking at the picture of Amitabha Buddha. The Amitabha Buddha’s image that we offered in Hwa Dzan Library in the early years was the picture of a white porcelain statue on a blue background. We are still using it now and I never changed it in my life.

把這個像照相放大了，非常莊嚴。這張像自己細心去觀察，阿彌陀佛很少現這種面相，童子的面相，我們供的童子的面相。心裡想阿彌陀佛，這個相就會現前，叫觀像念佛。但是最方便的，持名，四種念佛裡頭是最方便的，捷徑當中的捷徑，直通無上菩提大道，不拐彎的，叫易行道。

You can see the dignified look of Amitabha Buddha in this magnified picture. If we observe carefully, we will notice that Amitabha Buddha has the face of a young boy in the picture. Amitabha Buddha rarely shows this look. The image that we offered is the youthful look of Amitabha Buddha. Whenever we think of Amitabha Buddha, this image will appear in our mind. This is called ‘contemplation of Amitabha Buddha’s image.’ However, the most convenient method among the four types of Buddha-name chanting is oral and mental recitation of Amitabha Buddha’s name. It is the shortest shortcut among all shortcuts because it leads one directly on the path to Supreme Enlightenment without taking a tortuous path. It is thus called ‘an easy-to-cultivate method.’