關於修行1
沛宏居士問了一些有關於《法句譬喻經·卷第四·愛身品第三十二》
的內容，是佛陀講述一個在家弟子的一生。
沛宏大約說了一下內容，
我說：這種問題只有佛陀能解答，
比如說；
勸請一個人出家，目前我個人的看法，如果你沒有辦法教他什麼，你沒有辦法讓他證悟佛法，
事實上，是沒有資格勸請別人放棄一切修行的，
佛陀本身修行已經成就，祂可以看出個人的根器能否教授成功，
所以祂可以勸請他出家修行，
我們一般人其實是不能這樣做的，
勸請別人出家修行，卻沒有辦法教授別人佛法，這也是一種罪過吧！
（當然，自願修行出家者不在此列。）
說一個不完整的故事，
我還在找一個居住處的時候，
曾經在山區遇見一位比丘尼，我問她好像很急，到底要去哪裡？
她說：要去幫她先生已經出家的比丘送飯，她與前夫同時在不同的道場出家3年後，
前夫比丘在閉關，沒有人可以送飯，她挑起責任，印象中每天有半個小時的山區交通。
她爲這事已被懲處過，再被發現，只怕連住處也沒了！
我當時年紀很輕，也害怕修行無所收穫，
只能祝福！
當時，只有一種直覺，兩個人沒小孩，離了婚去出家，如果沒有成功代價太大了！
我們這個旁人能說什麼呢？
而是否每個人內心對生命的茫然，都讓許多人們焦慮。
很慶幸的，我在這個問題上獲得了解決，
等我年紀稍長，完全可以理解那是她們夫妻一家子的事，
他們付出這樣的代價出家，
當然希望及焦急能有所收穫，旁人除了認知規矩外又可以理解什麼？
經文雖然都是傳述修行是至高無上的，但是我個人還是想說：
你要做勸請修行出家，這樣的事的時候，必須有能力可以教導跟隨者有所收穫，
不然耽誤學習者一生，這也是一種很無言的苦。
半寄
On Spiritual Practice1
Pei-Hong raised some questions regarding The Dhammapada with Parables, Volume Four, Chapter on Attachment to the Body.
This text is a discourse by the Buddha that recounts the life of a lay disciple.
After Pei-Hong briefly summarized the story, I responded::
Questions of this kind can only truly be answered by the Buddha himself.
Take the matter of encouraging someone to leave the household life and ordain.
My current view is that unless you are capable of teaching that person something genuine—unless you can guide them toward realization of the Dharma—you are, in fact, unqualified to persuade them to abandon everything in order to practice.
The Buddha had already perfected his cultivation.
He could discern whether a person possessed the appropriate faculties and conditions for success.
For this reason, he could rightfully encourage certain people to renounce worldly life and enter the path.
But ordinary people cannot presume to do the same.
To urge another to ordain while being unable to transmit the Dharma—
would this not also amount to a kind of karmic fault?
(This does not, of course, apply to those who freely and voluntarily choose ordination.)
Allow me to share an incomplete story.
When I was still searching for a place to live, I once encountered a bhikṣuṇī in a mountainous region.
She appeared hurried, so I asked where she was going.
She explained that she was delivering food to her husband, now a bhikṣu in retreat.
After both she and her former husband had ordained—at different monasteries—for three years, he entered seclusion. With no one else to bring him meals, she assumed the responsibility. Each day required about half an hour of travel through the mountains.
She had already been punished for this once.
If discovered again, she feared she might even lose her place to stay.
At the time, I was quite young and also fearful that my own practice might yield no results.
All I could do was offer silent blessings.
One thought arose instinctively:
they had no children, divorced, and renounced worldly life—
if their practice failed, the price paid would be immense.
What could an observer possibly say?
Perhaps it is precisely this uncertainty about life itself
that leaves so many people restless and anxious.
Later in life, I was fortunate to find my own answer to this question.
As I grew older, I came to understand fully that this was a matter belonging solely to their family.
Having paid such a price to ordain,
it was only natural that they hoped—and anxiously wished—for results.
Beyond understanding the formal rules, what more could outsiders truly comprehend?
Although the scriptures repeatedly proclaim spiritual practice to be supreme, I still wish to add this personal reflection:
When you encourage someone to ordain and take up spiritual practice,
you must have the ability to teach in a way that allows your followers to gain real benefit.
Otherwise, delaying or wasting a learner’s entire lifetime
is itself a silent and profound form of suffering.
Master Banji
關於修行2
沛宏最主要的問題，想問那個在家居士沒有出家，後來佛陀說他變笨了，
導致於他「摩訶盧」（Mahālu）已沒辦法證果了？
沛宏說：不出家會讓福報喪失嗎？
我說一般男、女在家要養家活口，
當然會讓福報喪失，（蔡醫師聽了大點頭），
而出家眾沒有辦法修證也一樣在耗損福報，
所以現在的寺廟大部分都是勸善布施，
植自己的福。
活著的意義，不管是誰一樣都是有著耗損、有修補、有植福，也不可能是單方向的前進，
修行除了腦袋要靈活，聽得懂佛陀在講的佛法哲理，還要具備福報才能進入那個世界，根本上就是不容易的事，
等年老，頭腦鈍了，福報耗光，再談修行其實也沒有意義，
這經文應該是實質的紀錄，
佛陀大概是感於修行人才的不能造就吧！
個人認為短期出家去先做理解，其實是一個比較好的方法，
沛宏也在南傳的道場，接受過短期出家修行訓練。
半寄
On Spiritual Practice 2
Pei-Hong’s central concern was this:
the lay follower did not ordain, and later the Buddha stated that he had become intellectually dull, to the extent that “Mahālu” was no longer capable of attaining any fruit of realization.
Pei-Hong therefore asked whether remaining a layperson leads to the loss of merit.
I said that ordinary lay men and women have to make a living and support a family,
and this naturally uses up merit.
(When Dr. Tsai heard this, he nodded repeatedly in agreement.)
In the same way, monastics who fail to cultivate and realize the path are also steadily consuming their merit.
This is why contemporary temples largely emphasize moral conduct, charity, and donations— encouraging people to cultivate merit for themselves.
The meaning of life is the same for everyone:
there is always loss, repair, and the planting of blessings.
Life never moves forward in only one direction.
Practice requires not only a clear and flexible mind that can understand the Buddha’s teachings, but also enough merit to even step into that world.
Basically, this is not easy at all.
When one grows old, the mind becomes dull and merit is exhausted;
to speak of cultivation at that point is, in fact, meaningless.
This sutra should be seen as a factual record of such reality.
Perhaps the Buddha spoke in this way out of regret that a person with potential for practice could no longer be nurtured.
From my personal perspective, temporary ordination as a means of gaining understanding is a more appropriate method.
Pei-Hong himself has also received short-term ordination training
at a Theravāda Buddhist center.
Master Banji
