学佛茹素与健康 广声大和尚

面对当前的环境，拥有强健的免疫系统是抵抗各种各类毒素和病毒的关键。茹素，即使只能一天一餐吃素或者吃全素，仍对身体非常有益。

研究发现素食能减低患上心脏病、癌症、二型糖尿病、肥胖和其他慢性疾病的风险。无论处于任何人生阶段，都能通过营养均衡的素食而使健康受益。而且，素食也比肉食更具可持续性，给地球造成较少的破坏。

戒荤茹素除了可以获得被科学认证的显著健康利益，一个人若以纯真的心发愿食素，也有助他的修行。

佛陀的所有教诲都不离慈悲、大爱和智慧。世尊以无漏智察觉到所有的众生皆是平等的，没有生命是独立存在的，所有的生命都息息相连。也就是说，人类、动物和植物，都无法分隔，所有的生命是互相联系共存的。我们也可以通过这次传播至全球各地的疫情，体会到这一点。

佛陀是大慈大悲的导师，万物的保护者。世尊教导我们修持慈爱，拥护众生，不伤害任何的生命。世尊向那些愿意聆听和向他学习的人，开示迈向觉醒的法门；即：诸恶莫作，众善奉行，自净其意。就是教我们克制自己不要恶意去伤害任何生命，反而要努力不懈积极地行善，并不断检讨清净自己的心念。

我们所有的起心动念，都会收到相应的感应。如果出自贪、嗔、痴，我们起了负面的念头，便种下了一颗种子。我们所有的举止行为，无论大小，终会有回归我们的一天。也许我们现在看不到后果，可是等到有一天，时机成熟时，种子就会发芽生长。所以无时无刻静观因果轮回的定律，发广大无边的菩提心，来修炼自己的心，是非常重要的。

愿整个世界和所有的众生离苦得乐。

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Sentient beings are like silkworms, create their own traps and die in them.

— Dzongsar Khyentse Jamyang Rinpoche

Nothing Is Wasted by Ruth Ozeki

When you’re a writer or an artist, nothing is wasted. Even the most painful and difficult situations in life can be recycled into material for a project, and it’s the artist’s job to be awake, aware, and opportunistic. This attitude might sound a bit cold and calculating, but it’s not. Quite the opposite. Art, when it comes from dark and difficult places, gives us a means to fully feel our most powerful human emotions and transform our suffering into something meaningful.

The death of my grandmother was a painful and difficult situation. My mother didn’t want to go to Japan for the funeral, so I went instead. I arrived too late for the cremation, but in time for the interment of my grandmother’s remains in our family plot at the temple cemetery. On the morning of the ceremony, my aunt took me into the living room where my grandmother’s urn was waiting. Using a pair of disposable wooden chopsticks, she picked out three or four of my grandmother’s white bones and put them into a small Tupperware container. This she sealed and then handed to me, instructing me to take the bones home to my mother.

This tradition, called hone wake — “dividing the bones” — is pretty common in Japan but not in America, and fulfilling my aunt’s wish was not easy. My mother, while ethnically Japanese, had spent most of her life in the United States. She had no use for these old Japanese customs, and in addition, my relationship with her was strained and difficult at the time. When I called to tell her that I had brought her mother’s bones back from Japan and wanted to take them to her, she did not sound happy. So I dropped the subject, and the little Tupperware container ended up on a shelf at the back of my closet. Years passed, and my grandmother’s bones, this skeleton in my closet, began to haunt me. Finally, I decided the only way to deal with the situation was to turn it into an art project.

I made a film called Halving the Bones. I bought a camera and filmed myself and my mother as I finally delivered the bones to her. We talked about our family, our history, my grandmother, and death. During the editing, I continued to interview her and ask her questions, and when I finished, we watched the film together.

This process brought us closer, so much so that later on, when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, she agreed to move in with me and my husband and allowed us to take care of her, and then to be with her when she died. I don’t think any of this would have been possible if we hadn’t made the film together. I realise this was a ridiculously complicated way of dealing with what ought to have been a fairly simple problem. I could have just gone and talked to my mother. We could have gone into family counselling. But that solution never occurred to me.

Later, I started writing novels about the difficult situations in my life. When I was confused about workplace ethics, or sad about the deaths of my parents, or angry about corporate malfeasance, or anxious about the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, I used the long process of writing stories or novels to sit with my discomfort and investigate it deeply. I’d ask myself questions: What does this feeling feel like? What kinds of stories am I telling myself? What would that person think or do? What would it feel like to be inside his mind? Her skin? Writing is not unlike meditation in this way. In meditation, you become intimate with your stories in order to see through them and let them go. In writing, you become intimate with your stories in order to let them go, too. But first you must capture them and make them concrete.

There’s no need to be a professional artist or writer to transform difficult situations into creative work. Poems, or journal writing, or quilts, or collages, or songs need never be made public. They can be utterly private, because in privacy is where the work is done, even for the so-called professional artists. Humans, all of us, are boundlessly creative beings, and as long as we recognise this and give ourselves permission to respond to our difficulties artistically and intuitively, not just medically or practically or rationally, then we can access this way of transforming suffering into something meaningful, which may benefit us all.

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Mind, Buddha, and sentient beings: there is no difference in the three.

— Avataṃsaka Sūtra

Standards of proficiency in the mind training by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

All Dharma has a single goal.

The Buddha gave eighty-four thousand different teachings, all of them designed to subdue ego-clinging. This was the only reason why he set them forth. If they do not act as an antidote for our attachment to self, then all practice is in vain, as was the case with the Buddha’s cousin Devadatta. He knew as many sutras as an elephant could carry on its back, but because he could not shake off his clinging to self, he went to hell in his next life. The extent to which we have been able to overcome our self-attachment will show the degree to which we have used the Dharma properly. So let us try very hard.

Rely upon the better of two witnesses.

If we have succeeded in making a sufficiently good impression of ourselves so that others say, ‘This person has practised Bodhichitta very well,’ then this may be regarded as one kind of testimony. But if we think about it, we can see that unless such people have the ability to read our minds, our mental processes are hidden from them; they cannot know whether or not we have applied all the antidotes. Therefore we should examine ourselves, to see whether in fact we are less angry, less attached to ego, and whether we have been able to practise the exchange of happiness and suffering. That is the main testimony that we should rely on. We should live in such a way that we always have a clear conscience.

Milarepa said: ‘My religion is to have nothing to be ashamed of when I die.’ But the majority of people do not give any importance to this way of thinking. We pretend to be very calm and subdued and are full of sweet words, so that ordinary people, not knowing our thoughts, say, ‘This is a real Bodhisattva.’ But it is only our outward behaviour that they see.

The important thing is not to do anything that we might have to regret later on. Therefore we should examine ourselves honestly. Unfortunately, our ego-clinging is so gross that, even if we do possess some small quality, we think that we are wonderful. On the other hand, if we have some great defect, we do not even notice it. There is a saying that, ‘On the peak of pride the water of good qualities does not stay.’ So, we should be very meticulous. If, after thoroughly examining ourselves, we can put our hands on our hearts and honestly think, ‘My actions are all right,’ then that is a sign that we are getting some experience in Mind Training. We should then be glad that our practice has gone well, and determine to do even better in the future, just as did the Bodhisattvas of former times. By every means, we should try to generate the antidote more and more and to act in such a way that we are at peace with ourselves.

Always be sustained by cheerfulness.

On account of the strength of their Mind Training, the Kadampa Masters were always able to look on the bright side of things no matter what happened to them. Even if they contracted leprosy they would continue to be cheerful, happy in the knowledge that leprosy brings a painless death. Of course, leprosy is one of the worst of all diseases, but we should be resolved that, even if we were to catch it, we would continue to practise the exchange of happiness for sorrow, taking upon ourselves the sufferings of all who have fallen victim to that affliction.

Strengthened by this attitude, we should decide that, by virtue of the Mind Training, we will be able to take onto the path whatever difficult situations arise. If we are able to do this with confidence, it is a sign that we are experienced in the practice; and we will be happy come what may. In addition, we must take upon ourselves, and experience, the sufferings of others. When others are having to endure physical and mental illness, or are confronted with all sorts of adversity, we should want to take it all upon ourselves. And we should do so without any hope or fear. ‘But if the sufferings of others really do come upon me, what shall I do? Second thoughts like this should be completely banished from our minds.

With experience you can practise even when distracted.

Experienced riders do not fall off their horses. In the same way, when unexpected harm or sudden difficulties befall us, if love and compassion, rather than annoyance, come welling up in us of their own accord-in other words, if uncomfortable situations can be used to advantage in our lives, that is a sign that we have accomplished something in the Mind Training. So it is vitally important for us to continue in our efforts.

Experiences like this indicate a familiarity with the Mind Training; they do not, however, mean that the work is finished. For even if such signs occur, we should continue in our endeavour, becoming more thoroughly adept and always joyful. A mind, moreover, which has been subdued and calmed through practice will naturally reveal itself in external activities. As with the different proverbs, ‘When you see the ducks, you know the water’s near’ and ‘No smoke without fire.’ So too, Bodhisattvas can be recognised by outward signs.

Calmness and serenity
Will show your wisdom;
Freedom from defiled emotions
Will display your progress on the path;
Your perfection will be manifest
Through virtue done in dreams.
A Bodhisattva is revealed by what he does.

Signs like this will arise in us as well, but they do not mean that there is nothing more for us to do.

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道不学不明本源，戒不守不知过错；禅不参不识自性，迷不悟不能解脱。

— 星云大师

命中注定无常改 明一法师

宿命的人总是在研究自己的命运，认为命中注定的有无问题是真实的。佛教从因果的关系来看，也赞同这样的观点。但是从无常的观点来看，这又是错误的观点。这样看来佛教岂不是自相矛盾了吗？那么正确的佛教观点到底是什么呢？因果还存在吗？

自己曾经写过很多有关命运的日记，主要是讲在我们的生活中命运存在的因果关系。今天种了如是的因，明天的命运就会有如是的果出现，这是必然的。尽管有的时候会延迟或者是暂时看不到果，但是都以不是不报时候未到来说明了。事实上，这是非常科学的解释。

因为因果规律就是自然规律，是必然存在和运行的规律，也可以说是目前的科学认同的规律。尽管这个规律有的时候从眼前来看似乎还有些出入，但是从长久来看是不会有出入的。从这个角度看来，佛教是认可命中注定这一说法的。因为命运是我们自己一手造成的，也就是命中注定的。

换一个角度，佛教的最基本的真理是无常，也就是说一切的事物是变化不定的。那么这个与命中注定这一说法就有些矛盾了。在以前自己有关命运的日记里面也提到这样的事情，比如现世的人做好事却得不到好报，而做坏事的人却非常风光，这在我们的日常生活中也是常见的。

当然，在进一步的分析中有我们看不到的原因。归结为以前的因太强大，以至于短期中还在延续以前强大的因，还有一部分原因是因为无常的原因。从长远来说，命运的流转还是会顺从因果规律的。只是当事人不知道延续目前这个情景的办法——转过来行善，兑现以前的善因得善果。

这实际上就是无常在起作用。因为一切是无常的，是变化不定的，所以，使得我们的命运由命中注定变化为可以自己掌握了。掌握的方法就是行善，兑现以前的善因得善果。这实际上就是从一个场景转变为另外一个场景了，或者说是由一个时空换到另外一个时空了。

这里面说明了两个大问题，一个固定不变的因果规律，一个是无常的变化不定。佛教的因果发展是按照在某个场景或者叫时空而发展的，所以在这个场景或者说是时空是固定不变或者说是命中注定的。当场景或者说是时空改变的时候，命中注定就被打破了。

从无常的这一点来说，我们知道要好好应用无常的法则就应该改变自己的行为，突破自己以前行为的规律，这样我们就能跳出循环，佛教叫轮回。比如命运这个循环，要想跳出命中注定的循环或者叫轮回，那么就要应用无常的法则，改变自己的行为，这样就能跳出以往的循环或者叫轮回。

所以，佛教认为命中注定是对的，认为命运是可以把握的也是对的。只是场合或者叫时空不同而已。在命运的问题前面是如此，在其他的事物面前也是如此。要擅长于根据不同的场合，用不同的善法去面对。这就是佛教教导我们的相当有操作性的修行方法。也可以说是佛教教导我们的“折腾”的方法与艺术。

如果我们能够这样来面对命运等等一切的事物，我们就能成为一切事物的主人，就不会被一切事物牵着鼻子转，就能把握事物的发展方面，就能轻松面对我们这个人生，就能……这就是《楞严经》里面讲的“若能转物，即同如来”。“如来”两个字本来就是不确定。

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For those who have achieved Realisation of fundamental reality, to see that those who have not are subject to suffering naturally gives rise to compassion.

— Khenpo Tsultrim Rinpoche

The Six Realms: Not Solid — and Not to Be Taken Lightly by Khandro Rinpoche

Contemplating the Six Realms is not just about seeing the diverse experiences of sentient beings. It is also about letting go of the intense arrogance that thinks the world begins and ends with “me.” By not only creating a favourable karmic ground for ourselves but also appreciating the suffering of others, we begin to generate selfless generosity and compassion without bias. To appreciate that sameness, we contemplate the six realms.

The modern world, East and West, tends to solidify the six realms and their suffering too much. We may think, “I got angry, I have such aggression, now I’m sure to go to the hell realm” and give up on the reasoning behind this. The point is not that we all go the hell realms for a million years. Is it? The point is to understand that suffering will exist as long as grasping and karmic patterns exist. Failing to understand our true nature, we revert again and again to the seeming reality of appearances. By solidifying appearances, we make our creations seem real.

The same grasping and elaborating of perceptions happens in all the realms. The six realms are created from one moment of distracted grasping, which creates karma, which comes to fruition as a particular environment-with the emotions, perceptions, and formations of a particular kind of experience. Therefore, the nature of all realms is illusory: every realm is a dream state, with the same fundamental essence as our own.

So the solidity or reality of the six realms is entirely up to us. The most fundamental and true Buddhist view sees the six realms to be no more real than a dream. Reality runs parallel with our grasping at the solidity of appearances-the solidity of sounds, tastes, feelings, thoughts, concepts, and so on. It’s entirely up to us how much “reality” we bring to whatever we perceive at this moment. The six realms are just that real; the hell realm is just that real. When we genuinely let go of grasping at each and every concept — even the tiniest concept, even the most subtle grasping we realise that the core essence of reality is based on the grasping mind itself. When the grasping mind can let go and remain within its true nature, there isn’t any such thing as samsara, nirvana, six realms, or sentient beings. At that point, everything dissolves into the fundamental ground of awareness. This is the view from the very beginning.

One way to realise your own ground potential is to let go of grasping at the solidity of your perceptions. But how does this ultimate view of true nature compare with your own ability? At this point, your potential may still be stuck in the relative reality of distinguishing between samsara and nirvana. If that sense of separation is still there, you are still solidifying your perceptions — sights, sounds, thoughts, and so on. It’s essential to see every appearance in the same way, as having the same consistency and same reality. This is another way to contemplate the reality of the six realms.

The main thing to know about the six realms is that they should not be solidified. They should not be seen as solid states of existence in which we’re trapped in inexhaustible suffering. This view can lead to a state of fear. And while fearing the six realms is not a problem from the point of view of practice, ultimately it is not necessary.

On the other hand, we cannot take the suffering of the six realms lightly. If Tibetan practitioners have a serious quarrel among themselves, one might say, “If I can get my point across, I’m not afraid to go to vajra hell”-which is the lowest depth of the lowest hell. Saying this casually is a clear indication of not understanding the tremendous suffering and confusion of samsara. If understood as a state of torment, the hell realms do exist.

We are talking about good, compassionate, responsible minds that shift from awareness in a moment of self-indulgence. As a result of that single karma, we could wander endlessly in a specific environment of suffering. From that perspective, when we talk about a million years burning in fire or boiling in molten lava, we’re really talking about a million years lost in ignorance through a single moment of not understanding our innate essence. Greater than the suffering of the six realms is the complete waste of our time, energy, and abilities, in that we’re unable to help ourselves or anyone else.

From that perspective, we cannot take the six realms and their relative sufferings lightly. We enter into the realms when our mind shifts away from the ground of awareness and begins to churn out negative karmas. At that point, hell realms and all the rest are possible. More important is the awareness we bring to this very moment. In this moment, we need not create suffering if we don’t want to — which brings us to the next reminder, karma.

A mind that wastes even a moment indulging in hesitation and non-awareness is simply unaware of the pain and suffering of others — and therefore incapable of generating genuine compassion. To be free from that ignorance, we must contemplate the suffering of the six realms and truly value this present moment. Now is the time to develop the ground of positive karma. Even if it’s not possible to save or benefit billions of beings, we can at least do that.

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Learn to tame your mind, and never spoil the mind of others.

— His Holiness Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche