Buddhist Verses & Silent Readings For Reflection (静思语） - Part 6

[waterbright]

Unbinding​

We have encountered the term unbinding (nibbāna) many times as the name for the goal the bodhisatta sought in the course of his quest for awakening. When a path of practice did not lead to unbinding, that was grounds for rejecting it. When it did, that was grounds for accepting it as right and true. The term itself seems to have been a common one for the spiritual goal sought by a wide variety of seekers in his time. Literally, it meant the extinguishing of a fire, but what did an extinguished fire represent to the Indians of the Buddha’s day? Anything but annihilation.

According to the ancient brahmans, when a fire was extinguished it went into a state of latency. Rather than ceasing to exist, it became dormant and in that state—unbound from any particular fuel—it became diffused throughout the cosmos. When the Buddha used the image to explain the goal of his practice to the brahmans of his day, he bypassed the question of whether an extinguished fire continues to exist or not, and focused instead on the impossibility of defining a fire that doesn’t burn: thus his statement that the person who has gone totally “out” can’t be described as existing, not existing, both, or neither.

When teaching his own disciples, however, the Buddha used unbinding more as an image of freedom. A common Indian belief at the time saw burning fire as agitated, dependent, and trapped, both clinging and being stuck to its fuel as it burned. To ignite a fire, one had to “seize” it. When fire went out, it let go of its fuel and so was “freed,” released from its agitation, dependence, and entrapment—calm and unconfined. In this way, the Buddha used the term unbinding to indicate the freedom that comes when letting go of the clinging that constitutes suffering.

Knowledge of unbinding came to the Buddha as a result of developing right view, but is separate from right view because right view—like all the other factors of the path—is fabricated, whereas unbinding is not. Not only does unbinding lie beyond right view; it lies beyond space and time altogether. Although a person totally unbound cannot be described—given that people are defined by their clingings and cravings, whereas a person unbound has gone beyond clinging and craving—the Buddha stated clearly that unbinding does exist, and that it is permanent and unchanging. In fact, he gave it many names and illustrated it with many similes to show that it was the highest, most desirable goal possible. These names and similes fall into five groups, conveying five important facets that anyone curious as to whether it’s a worthwhile goal should know.

The first is that it’s not a blank of nothingness. Instead, it’s a type of consciousness. But unlike ordinary consciousness—as included in the aggregates or in dependent co-arising—it’s not known through the six senses, and it doesn’t engage in fabricating any experience at all, unlike, for example, the non-dual consciousness found in formless levels of concentration. The Buddha described this consciousness as “without surface” and “unestablished.” His image for it is a beam of light that lands nowhere. Although bright in and of itself, it doesn’t engage in anything, and so can’t be detected by anyone else. Because this consciousness is totally unrelated to the six senses (MN 49), it will not end when the arahant’s six senses grow cold at death (Iti 44).

The second facet of this dimension is bliss: unadulterated, harmless, and safe. An important aspect of this bliss is that it is peaceful, entirely conflict-free.

The third facet is truth: Because it’s outside of time, it doesn’t change, doesn’t deceive, doesn’t turn into something different. And because the bliss of unbinding is permanent, unchanging, and true, it puts an end to all desires for further-becoming.

The fourth facet is freedom: from hunger, from suffering, from location, from restrictions of any kind.

The fifth facet is excellence, higher than anything known in even the highest heavens. In the Buddha’s own words, it’s amazing, astounding, ultimate, beyond.

“There is that dimension, monks, where there is neither earth, nor water, nor fire, nor wind; neither dimension of the infinitude of space, nor dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, nor dimension of nothingness, nor dimension of neither perception nor non-perception; neither this world, nor the next world, nor sun, nor moon. And there, I say, there is neither coming, nor going, nor staying; neither passing away nor arising: unestablished,36 unevolving, without support [mental object]. This, just this, is the end of stress.” — Ud 8:1

 

[viethai]

命裡有的，騙不走 命裡無的，留不住

 

[viethai]

【星云大师点智慧】
以大自然为师
　　“从自然界学到宝贵的道理…”
　　所谓自然界，是宇宙间所有生物与无生物的总称，包含有动物、植物和矿物三界。人类因进化快速，才取得领导世界的权利，然而，自然界的奇妙，人不见得了解多少，可以学习的地方太多了。

《星云大师点智慧》系列，每天在《新明日报》刊登。完 整内容请看11月6日《新明日报》。
《星云大师点智慧15》以及《点智慧·漫画9》已经开始出售，读者可到全岛各大书局及ZShop集品店购买。

 

[viethai]

天下什麼人最有福？
淨空老法師:

大乘教裡頭佛有補充說明，為什麼？我們會懷疑。完全沒有宗教信仰，臨終聽說，他怎麼能往生？我們懷疑。佛在大乘經上說明白了，凡是往生淨土的人，無論什麼方式他往生了，往生是真的，這個人過去生中無量劫裡面，曾經供養無量諸佛如來。

他今天一聽，得到諸佛如來的加持，他就能信、就能願，他就能一念、十念往生。這是佛在大乘經上說了多次，事實真相在這個地方看到了。所以，不是偶然，這一生沒有機會遇到佛法的人很多，不能說他過去世不是修行人。

尤其念這句佛號，無量無邊功德，修什麼樣的功德都抵不過一句佛號。《金剛經》上說得好，以大千世界七寶修布施，不如為眾生說一句偈，沒有這個功德大。為一切眾生說一切經，說《大藏經》，沒有教人念一句佛號的功德大。為什麼不念佛？

佛號功德不可思議，為什麼？阿彌陀佛融入常寂光了，這個名號是常寂光的名號。阿彌陀佛這個名號翻成中國的意思是無量光、無量壽，常寂光就是無量光壽，沒有限量。無量光壽這個意思是佛在《阿彌陀經》上說的，不是祖師大德說的，釋迦牟尼佛說的。

天下什麼人有福？念佛的人有福。念佛的人當中誰最有福？一般人忽略了，都瞧不起，你看鄉村裡頭，不認識字的阿公阿婆，一天到晚拿著串念珠，阿彌陀佛、阿彌陀佛、阿彌陀佛，他沒間斷。

痴痴呆呆，你跟他說什麼話，他跟你笑咪咪的，就是一句阿彌陀佛，好像他不會講第二句話。那個功德最大，不可思議！我們不能不知道，應當向他們學習。

 

[viethai]

【今生遭到果報，如何才能互不相欠？】
夢參老和尚：

我們要相信因果，現在受的都是因果報應，有什麼好抱怨的呢？
譬如過去生破壞他人家庭，今生遭人破壞時，就想：好吧，這一切都是自己的業果，正因爲自己過去生曾破壞他人，今生才遭此果報，現在歡喜來還，從此彼此互不相欠。假使你在還的過程中，還不斷地反駁或反擊，雖然老本是還了，但利息又生了不少。

無始劫來，生生世世，六親眷屬經常不停地輪轉，這其間的因緣說也說不清楚。要到了自己真正明白自己的心、明白他人的心、明白一切衆生的心時，才看得清善因惡因。善惡因果業報就是這樣來的。

佛菩薩加持與否，就看自己是否心誠。
至於如何求呢？用一顆誠誠懇懇的心去求。求消業障，業障消失了，福報自然現前。這些道理看似淺顯，真正做起來卻很深刻。

例如同一件事，看他人做起來，覺得輕而易舉，不費吹灰之力，等自己真正去做，才知道困難，並不容易。
再以叩頭爲例，叩頭很簡單，人人都會，若與佛無緣者，你要他在佛前叩頭，那可是比什麼都難。同樣的，信了佛的，對三寶非常恭敬；不信的，就有不同的看法。

由此觀照我們的煩惱，這一連串心的活動，從受、想、識乃至善惡的心境，你就能明白一半了。
知道自己現在所受的，都是自己過去生所做的；現在想解決問題，從今後別再做就好了。

不做就不再受，以前的，我今生受了，還了；還了之後不再做，就不再受。
再舉個例子，譬如我們誦《地藏經》，或觀音的經，或《金剛經》，就不再墮入三途，因爲我們的心念及所有意識的活動，都沒有墮三途的念頭。念頭沒有了，身不行，怎麼會再墮入三途呢？

有人曾問我：「老法師啊，監獄裏頭是什麼味道？」我回答說：「你想嘗一嘗嗎？想嘗的話，你造點罪就去啦！你一犯罪，警察就來捉你入牢；你沒造罪，自然沒有進監獄的因。」

所以《地藏經》第一品，婆羅門女問無毒鬼王：我怎麼到地獄來的呢？無毒鬼王說到地獄有兩種力量，一是業力，另一種是諸佛的威神力。一切的業都是自己所做，都是自己現前這一念心所起。

修行就是把心看好，看看自己一天之中起了多少好念頭、起了多少利益他人的念頭？又起了多少個壞念頭、起了多少害他人的念頭？我們的身若是清淨，心也清淨，這樣進佛堂拜佛，都是清清淨淨的。

反之，身不清淨，也許多天沒沐浴，或幾天沒換衣服，渾身散發異味，又帶了一顆煩惱的心，這樣進了佛堂，想求佛菩薩加被、替你解決問題，那是不可能的。這種人最好先解決自己的身心問題，再進佛堂。