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Global Lamrim II

Lecture No. 0169

Tape: New Version 02 44:09 ~ 45:21

Date: 2019-11-11 ~ 2019-11-13

Topic: Topic: Joyous perseverance is supreme among virtues

English Lamrim Volume 1, page 34

【All those fortunate ones who are unobscured by the darkness of partisanship,
    Who have the mental capacity to differentiate good and bad,   
    And who wish to make meaningful this good life of leisure       
       Should listen with one-pointed attention.】 

Master’s discourse Feng Shan Si Version Vol 1 P52-LL1 ~ P53-L8

Again, I wish to let everyone listen to Master’s commentary on the new version of Lamrim with regards to the word “wish” in the verse “who wish to make meaningful this good life of leisure”. [00:09]

[Newer version 02 44:09 ~ 45:21]

Moreover, not only are the practitioners endowed with such mental capacity, but they also have a passionate yearning – “wish”. “Wish” can be applied for something both virtuous and non-virtuous. “Wish” means I want this, or I must have something, a strong desire. For ordinary worldly beings, they have a strong attachment to fame, profit, food and sleep; however, for us, what does the word “wish” indicate? It is the aspiration for virtues: I want to learn from Buddha, and I want to strive for excellence! There is one essential quality in learning Buddha Dharma: joyous perseverance, which is extremely important. Without the stamina of joyous perseverance, it is absolutely impossible for one to have any achievement in terms of Dharma practice, as exemplified in a later chapter [in Lamrim], “Joyous perseverance is supreme among virtues” [v.2 p.182]. No matter how intelligent one is, if one is short on the stamina of joyous perseverance, it is definitely impossible for one to have any achievement on the path to Buddhahood! So where does joyous perseverance come from? It comes from the “wish” – the powerful aspiration for virtues: “I want or must obtain something!” With such a strong and passionate yearning for virtues, naturally, such yearning would make us exert every effort to strive for it and overcome all sorts of obstacles we are facing now. [01:24]

In this paragraph, Master explained that “wish” is applicable to both virtuous and non-virtuous. However, the worldly heart – covets fame, money, food and sleep, which is rather detrimental and thus non-virtuous. The “wish” in this context is the aspiration for virtues; it is the yearning for learning from Buddha and striving for excellence! It is a very strong yearning, with a great joyful attitude. Master said: practitioners need to have a passionate yearning – the “wish”. May I ask what is this “passionate yearning”? Have you ever experienced a strong and passionate yearning for something? Within our hearts? It is not something that you feel rather lukewarm or unconcerned about; rather it is a driving force, a blazing flame that you must achieve the goal, we would term it as a passionate yearning, right? That is, you devote your entire being to accomplish something and you want to obtain it.  [02:20]

Master followed by explaining: “There is one essential quality in learning Buddha Dharma….” Do you remember what Master said? He said, “joyous perseverance, which is extremely important. Without the stamina of joyous perseverance, it is absolutely impossible for one to have achievement in terms of Dharma practice!” Surprisingly, Master used the phrase “absolutely impossible”! He continued, “as exemplified in a later chapter [in Lamrim,] ‘Joyous perseverance is supreme among virtues’. No matter how intelligent one is, if one is short on the stamina of joyous perseverance, it is definitely impossible for one to have any achievement on the path to Buddhahood!” This statement is quite alarming! [02:56]

“So where does joyous perseverance come from?” What is the driving force that propels you to joyously persevere? We have to rely on this wish for virtues. Do you still recall the definition of joyous perseverance? Is it being courageous for the virtuous? [Yes,] it is a joyous driving force for virtues. Master continued, “I want or must obtain something! With such strong and passionate yearning for virtues, naturally, ”such yearning would make us “exert every effort to strive for it and overcome all sorts of obstacles we are facing now.” [03:24]

Master explained the word “wish” both very broadly and in depth! We should be able to apply it now, right? For example, “passionate yearning”, we can examine ourselves; do I have a passionate yearning for studying Lamrim? Do I have a passionate yearning for studying the Five Great Treatises? Master said, “There is one essential quality in learning Buddha Dharma: joyous perseverance, which is extremely important”! Here, “essential” and “extremely important” are used to describe joyous perseverance. Without such stamina for joyous perseverance, Master said, “it is absolutely impossible for one to have any achievement in terms of Dharma practice!” No matter how intelligent one is, if one lacks joyous perseverance, the achievement is out of the question. Moreover, the driving force that propels one towards joyous perseverance is having delight for the virtuous. Hence, the word “wish“ in “who wish to make meaningful this good life of leisure” is a very profound knowledge.[04:21]

We can ponder on it, if Master had not accentuated “wish” in such minute detail and explanations, particularly drawing our attention to it, we would just read it over, and that is it. This word “wish” would not leave any deep, vivid imprint in our mind; nor would we become aware that if we don’t have a strong yearning for not squandering this life, and base on this to study Buddha Dharma, developing joyous perseverance, chances are we might accomplish nothing in this lifetime, frittering this lifetime away. [04:48]

So, in a very short passage, Master had very clearly illustrated the word “wish”. We can use it as the goal, or apply it as a yardstick to examine our current state of mind, can we make a strong and explicit aspiration to study Lamrim and the Five Great Treatises? Because only by studying Lamrim and the Five Great Treatises, and only by studying and contemplating in accordance with the methods illustrated in the Five Great Treatises and Lamrim, then we would be able to “make meaningful this good life of leisure”, this is a starting point. [05:18]

“With such strong and passionate yearning for virtues,” Master emphasized the strong and passionate yearning for virtues. Let me ask all of you, is the wish “to make meaningful this good life of leisure” equivalent to the strong yearning for virtues? What can practitioners do so that they can make meaningful this good life of leisure? They must persevere in doing virtuous deeds delightfully! If they can joyously persevere in doing virtuous deeds, they will obtain happiness in the future. With the happiness, these practitioners would not have wasted their good life of leisure, right? [Yes!] It is because we have made good use of this good life of leisure to eliminate suffering [causes] and to attain [future] happiness. [05:49]

So, Lama Tsong-kha-pa said we must “make meaningful this good life of leisure” in the hope that we can obtain happiness to improve our lives as well as others. We must make good use of this life of leisure and opportunity to obtain lots of happiness so as not to fritter this life away. [On the other hand,] if we take this opportunity of human life of leisure to engage in many non-virtuous deeds, then this life of leisure and opportunity is squandered! [Why?] Because [whether we will make meaningful this good life of leisure] is still dependent on [whether we can reap the effects of] suffering or happiness. Therefore, up to this point, we should be able to sense the intention that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have - to lead us to happiness. [06:20]

Master continued to explain: “naturally such yearning...”; take heed! Do you still remember what were the words that followed after? He said, “would make us exert every effort to strive for it” we are willing to strive at it! After having strong yearning, we are willing to strive for it; what are we striving for? “overcome all sorts of obstacles we are facing now.” May I ask: would we encounter challenges when we wish to make meaningful this good life of leisure? Yes, we would! We would encounter obstacles, all sorts of obstacles while studying, contemplating and meditating on the teaching. However, we are willing to overcome all of them. What is the driving force that propels us to overcome the difficulties? It is the passionate and strong yearning for doing virtuous deeds that motivates us to overcome all sorts of challenges. [07:04]

讲次 0169

标题 资粮善中进第一

音档 新版 02 44:09 ~ 45:21

日期 2019-11-11 ~ 2019-11-13

广论段落 P2-L2 诸有偏执暗未覆……诸具善者专励听

手抄页/行 凤山寺版：第1册 P52-LL1 ~ P53-L8

手抄段落 然后呢，不但具足......克服我们现在种种的难关。

我想给大家再听一下师父在新版《广论》里讲的“欲令暇身不唐捐”的“欲”。 [00:09]

然后呢，不但具足这种力量，而且还有一个强烈的希望──“欲”，欲。欲是共通的，善恶都通的。欲，就是我要这个、我要这个，一个强烈的愿望。如果说普通一般世间人来，强烈的贪名、贪利、贪吃、贪睡，坏的。现在我们这个欲是什么？善法欲，我要学佛，要力争上游！佛法当中有一点非常重要，精进是绝端重要，没有这精进力量的话，佛法是绝无可能。所以后面说“资粮善中进第一”，不管你脑筋多好，如果没有精进的力量的话，你绝不可能有佛法上面成就的！那么这个精进要靠什么呢？要靠这种“欲”，它有这种很强盛的善法欲──我要，要得到这个东西！有了这种对善法的强盛的好乐之心，那自然这种好乐之心，愿意去努力，克服我们现在种种的难关。 [01:24]

在这一段里，师父解释欲是共通的，善的和恶的都是这样，但是世间的心——贪名、贪利、贪吃、贪睡这些是坏的，这不是好的。此处的“欲”是善法欲，是要学佛，要力争上游！它是一个强烈的希望、强烈的欢喜心。师父说：要有一个强烈的希望——“欲”。请问什么是“强烈的希望”？有感受过强烈的希望吗？我们的内心？不是一个淡淡的、可有可无的，而是必定要达到的、很炽盛的，那叫强烈的希望吧！就是你全身心地都想要实现那个、想要得到那个。 [02:20]

师父讲到这里，接着说了一个事情：“佛法当中有一点非常重要，”还记得师父讲什么了吧？ “精进是绝端重要，没有这精进力量的话，佛法是绝无可能。”师父居然用了四个字——绝无可能！ “所以后面说‘资粮善中进第一’，不管你脑筋多好，如果没有精进的力量的话，你绝对不可能有佛法上面成就的！”这句话挺震撼的！ [02:56]

“那么这个精进要靠什么呢？”推动你精进的那个力量是什么？就要靠这个善法欲，大家还知道精进的定义吗？勇于善吗？就是一个欢喜趣入的力量。说：“我要，要得到这个东西！有了这种对善法的强盛的好乐之心，那自然这种好乐之心”，我们就“愿意去努力，克服我们现在种种的难关。”[03:24]

师父解释这个“欲”，非常地深透啊！现在我们可以用得上吧！比如说“强烈的希望”，我们就可以观照一下：我对于学《广论》有没有强烈的希望？对于学五大论有没有强烈的希望？说：“佛法当中有一点非常重要，精进是绝端重要！”出现了“非常重要”和“绝端重要”，都是形容精进的。如果没有这个精进力量的话，师父就说：“佛法是绝无可能！”不管脑筋多好，如果不精进的话，都不可能有成就。而这个精进的推动力就是对善法的欢喜心，可见“欲令暇身不唐捐”的这个“欲”字，蕴含了一个很大的学问。 [04:21]

我们可以想一想：如果师父不这样把这个“欲”用重彩描绘出来，让我们能够强烈地注意到它的话，其实念过去就念过去了。这个“欲”字不会在我们的心中留下非常深刻、醒目的力量，也不会让我们注意到：如果我没有强烈地想要这一生不虚度的心趣入佛法、产生精进的话，有可能这一生会一事无成、会虚度此生。 [04:48]

所以师父用了很小的段落，把这个“欲”字描绘地非常非常清晰。我们可以把它当作目标，也可以把它当作一个尺子，观察一下自己的现行：我们是否能有强烈清晰的愿望趣入《广论》、趣入五大论？因为只有趣入《广论》、趣入五大论，用五大论的方式、用《广论》的方式闻思修，才能够“令暇身不唐捐”，因为这是一个开始。 [05:18]

“有了这种对善法的强盛的好乐之心”——师父又特别强调对善法的强盛的好乐之心。那我问一下：“欲令暇身不唐捐的心”是对善法的强烈的心吗？请问怎样令暇身不唐捐呢？就一定要精进于善吧！精进于善将来就会有快乐，有快乐是不是就令暇身没有白白地浪费？因为我们用它去除了痛苦、得到了快乐。 [05:49]

所以宗大师说一定要“欲令暇身不唐捐”，是希望我们要为自他的生命争取到快乐。一定要用这个得到暇身的机遇得到很多快乐，才能够暇身不唐捐；如果用这个得到暇身的机会造了很多痛苦，那这个暇身就白白地浪费掉了！它还是建立在苦乐上的。所以到此处，可以感受到佛菩萨想让我们快乐的那种心意。 [06:20]

接着说：“自然这种好乐之心”，注意！接下去那几个字，还记得吗？ “愿意去努力”，愿意去努力！有了这个强盛的好乐之心之后，就愿意去努力。努力什么呀？ “克服我们现在种种的难关”。请问“欲令暇身不唐捐”会遇到问题吗？会呀！闻、思、修都会有困难的，种种难关，都是愿意去努力的。那个愿意的推动力到底是什么？就是强盛的对善法的好乐之心，会推动我们克服种种困难。 [07:04]