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Global Lamrim II

Lecture No. 0179

Tape: 3B 08:24 ~ 09:50

Date: 2019-12-16 ~ 2019-12-18

Topic: There is no Bodhi fruit that falls from the sky

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 Vol 1 P84-LL4 ~ P85-L6 (NanPuTuo Version Vol 1 P84-LL4 ~ P85-L7)

Before listening to the next paragraph, everyone please reflect on what was explained in the previous section [Global LamRim 2 discourse #177]: if we listen to the teaching with an inattentive attitude, we plant one virtuous root. When would the virtuous root ripen to maturity? “It won't come into fruition until incalculable eons later; that is, not until one goes around in a big circle and waits for the seed to sprout eventually will one then attain [Buddhahood]”. In the next paragraph, Master continued explaining this matter, he mentioned: even with such attitude, the virtuous seed would nevertheless sprout and bear fruits; it just takes more time, isn’t it? Let’s listen to what is Master’s view towards such a perspective. [00:40]

[3B 08:24 ~ 09:50]

Here let me specify it as well: we may claim that the seed will sprout and bear fruits sooner or later, so we might as well take our time. Remember! Always remember this: taking your time does not mean that after you plant the seed, the seed will gradually mature in the course of time as if it took no effort whatsoever and when the time comes, then [the attainment of Buddhahood] will suddenly present itself as if it would fall from the sky and instantly make you a Buddha. There is no such thing! Rather, no matter what, you still have to go through the necessary and systematic process of meditation practice accordingly before you can attain Buddhahood. However, before you have the ultimate attainment, where will you be while making such a big circling? You will be submerged in the three lower realms. Do keep this in mind! Since in the end you still have to apply the practice accordingly to attain Buddhahood. Then may I ask, why would you rather bear so much suffering before attaining it? Thus, with this understanding, naturally, we would surely stay focused [while listening to the teaching] and strive hard for it. On the other hand, if you are able to do so, that is because of your virtuous root!

So, right here, Lama Tsong-kha-pa told us how rare it is to listen to these instructions! Now you have the opportunity to hear them; you are truly a person endowed with the virtuous roots. You have accumulated many virtuous roots from the past lives, and now there is this opportunity, right in front of you, to advance further; do strive hard for it! How hard should one strive for? One should strive with one pointed attention! This is the exhortation Lama Tsong-kha-pa earnestly and tirelessly gave us at the end [of the Prologue in Lamrim]. [02:08]

Well! In this passage, Master gave us an answer to such thoughts that we harbour: the virtuous seed will sprout and bear fruits sooner or later, but what will happen to us in the lengthy course of time? Before Master explained further, he said these words, “Remember! Always remember this;” what did Master want us to remember, and we should always remember? What is to be remembered? He said, “taking your time does not mean that after you plant the seed, the seed will gradually mature in the course of time as if it took no effort whatsoever and when the time comes, then [the attainment of Buddhahood] will suddenly present itself as if it would fall from the sky and instantly make you a Buddha. There is no such thing! Rather, no matter what, you still have to go through the necessary and systematic process of practice accordingly before you can attain Buddhahood.” So even as the seed sprouts after the long course of time, we still have to go through the complete process of striving hard. [03:02]

“However, before you have the ultimate attainment, where will you be while making such a big circling? You will be submerged in the three lower realms.” Right after this statement, Master repeated, “Do keep this in mind!” He repeated it one more time. Pay attention! The preceding reminder is, “Always remember this”, and what should we remember? While the seed gradually ripens to maturity, we need not go through the process of practicing the teachings in the meanwhile? No, it is not like that. When the seed is beginning to ripen, we still need to go through the process of applying the teaching. Thus, the meditation practice is still required; it is impossible to skip this stage. Take “how to listen to and explain the teaching” [v.1 chapter 3] for instance. Without putting it into practice, how can you move on to [the next stage]? You simply can’t skip this stage. If you can skip this stage, [Lamrim] won’t be called the stages-of-the-path, right? Hence, even if we want the seed to grow to maturity in a gradual manner, we still need to undergo the systematic process of meditation practice, and then reach an attainment. By no means will the attainment automatically fall from the sky -- Master said this is what we have to keep in mind! [03:55]

While making such a big circling, where will we be during that long period of time? We will be submerged in the three lower realms. And Master repeated again, “Do keep this in mind!” Since eventually one has to apply the teaching in order to attain Buddhahood, why would one rather go through such great hardship before attaining it? Master said, “Why would you rather bear so much suffering”; let’s replace the word “you” with “I”: why would I let myself bear such great sufferings, be submerged in the miserable realms, etc. and endure the unbearable suffering? Now we are merely talking about the miserable realms. For the beings who dwell in there for one day or even for one second, the suffering can be extremely excruciating! Now we are comprehending the great pain by making inferences, but if we think about it seriously, it is truly unbearable! [Why?] Because the mental continuum does not cease, so even excruciating and unbearable sufferings will not be annihilated, hence, it is compulsory to have to endure all these sufferings. Then why do we want to create such grave hardship for our future, and then endure them, with no place to escape, no way to get out, and not able to practice the teaching once we enter the miserable realm? So why should we let it happen? This is a great grievance, so unworthy! This is why Master said consecutively, “Remember! Always remember this.” [05:17]

Master asked: Why is that we rather bear so much suffering before reaching the ultimate goal? That is because we lack understanding. Thus, once we recognize this, naturally we will surely stay focused and strive hard for it. So let’s ask ourselves honestly: Each time we adopt a perfunctory and inattentive attitude towards listening the teachings, have we ever seriously considered the consequences of listening in this manner? Of course, it still helps us plant virtuous root, which is better than not listening at all. However, since we are already listening, why do we not go for the best, not pursuing the brightest future for ourselves? Why do we want a gloomy, fearful, and appalling future? [06:02]

Listening to the teaching definitely brings us happiness, right? Because by means of study, contemplation, and meditation, we can transform our entire cyclical existence and the entire present state of suffering in our life. We don’t need to hit someone, yell at anybody, or snatch anything. Just by listening to the teaching and abiding by Buddha’s teaching, we can eliminate our suffering. Dealing with such an important task, why do we handle it with a perfunctory attitude? We have invested time and energy, the purpose which is also to listen to Buddha’s teaching; then why should we have such perfunctory attitude? Isn’t this very strange? Given that listening to the teaching holds such an important meaning to us, why do we not take it seriously? Is it because we have forgotten about it? [06:44]

So in this passage, Master repeated it several times, “Remember! Always remember this…Do keep this in mind!” This repetition is to remind us over and over again: listening to the teaching perfunctorily will bring about a consequence that we do not want to face and are unable to face. Eventually we still need to do proper preparation prior to listening to the teaching; that is, we need to faithfully abide by the teaching of “how to listen to and explain the teaching,” it is not possible to skip this stage! [07:11]

讲次 0179

标题 没有天上掉下来的佛果

音档 3B 08:24 ~ 09:50

日期 2019-12-16 ~ 2019-12-18

广论段落 P2-L2 诸有偏执暗未覆……诸具善者专励听

手抄页/行 第1册 P84-LL4 ~ P85-L6 ( 2016 南普陀版：第1册 P84-LL4 ~ P85-L7)

手抄段落 那么这个地方也说一下......告诉我们。

在听下一段之前，大家想一想，上一段讲了：要是浮浮泛泛地听闻的话，那么就种一个善根。这善根什么时候熟啊？就要等到无量阿僧祇劫以后，转了一个大圈，到最后这个种子起现行的时候成就。下一段师父就再讲了一下这个事情，说：浮浮泛泛地听，到最后还是会成熟啊，只不过是慢了一些吧？听听师父对这种想法的看法。 [00:40]

那么这个地方也说一下。说：那么最后还是成熟嘛，那我就慢慢地好了。记住！始终记住这个话，慢慢地不是说你等它慢慢地种了个种子，到那时候它自己天上掉下来，一口气让你成佛了。没有这件事情！到那时候还是啊仍旧经过如此这般修行，然后成就。而在你没有经过这个修行成就之间转个大圈子，在哪里？都在三恶道当中。记住哦！既然到最后你还是要这样地修行了再成就，请问你为什么要让它受尽了千辛万苦才成就？所以呀我们了解了这个，自然而然必定会专心、努力。反过来说，你之所以能够这样做的话，这个是善根哪！

所以这个地方告诉我们，你要听到这个真不容易呀！你们现在有幸听见了，这是真正具足善根的人，你现在因为宿生积了这么多善根，现在眼看着可以上去了，千万要努力啊！现在怎么样努力法？专心、努力！这是他最后又特别地谆谆叮嘱，告诉我们。 [02:08]

好！师父在这一段里回答了我们那种想法：最后还是成熟，慢慢地会怎样呢？师父先说了两个字：“记住！始终记住这个话，”师父要我们记住什么呢？而且要始终记住这个话，记住什么呢？说：“慢慢地不是说你等它慢慢地种了个种子，到那时候它自己天上掉下来，一口气让你成佛了。没有这件事情！到那个时候还是啊仍旧经过如此这般修行，然后成就。”所以慢慢地那个种子发芽的时候，还是要经历所有的努力过程。 [03:02]

“而在你没有经历这个修行成就之间转个大圈子，在哪里？都在三恶道当中。”师父讲完这个之后，又说了一遍：“记住哦！”又说了一遍。注意！前一个记住，说：“记住这个话”，什么话？种子慢慢地成熟的时候，不需要经历那个过程吗？不是的，当开始成熟还要经历那个修行的过程，所以还是要修行，不可能不修行。比如“听闻轨理”，你不修行的话有没有可能跨过去呢？是跨越不了的。如果能跨越就不叫次第了，对不对？所以要慢慢地成熟还是要经历如此这般的修行，然后成就，绝对不会从天上自己掉下来——师父说要记住这个！ [03:55]

转了一个大圈子，那么长的时间在哪里？都在三恶道中。又说一句：“记住哦！”既然到最后还是要修行再成就，为什么要让它受尽千辛万苦才成就？ “让它受尽千辛万苦”，这个换成自我，为什么我要让我自己受尽千辛万苦、堕恶道等等，经历那么多难以忍受的痛苦？我们现在只是说说恶道，恶道的有情过一天、过一秒钟可能都很痛苦喔！我们现在是推断挺痛苦的，但是实际去想一下，真的是很难堪忍的喔！因为心续是不会断灭的，很难堪忍也不会终极断灭，所以那一切苦都是要硬忍受过来的。那么为什么要给自己的未来铸造一个那么大的苦，然后再去承受，又无处可逃，没办法逃了，一入恶道就没法修行？那为什么要变成那样子呢？这是一个天大的委屈、冤枉的事情呀！所以师父连着说：“要记住啊！要记住啊！”[05:17]

说：为什么受尽千辛万苦才去成就？因为不了解。所以我们了解了这个之后，自然必定会专心、努力。那我们可以扪心自问一下：对每一次的浮浮泛泛、不专心听闻的状态，我们有没有认真地考虑如此这般听闻的后果？当然还是会种善根，比不听闻好，但是既然听闻了，为什么不要最好的、不给自己最辉煌的未来？为什么要有一个那么暗淡的、可怕的、令人怖畏的未来？ [06:02]

听闻一定是铸造幸福的，对吧？因为闻思修就可以改变整个轮回、整个生命现状的苦状，我们不需要去打别人、不需要去骂别人、不需要去抢什么，就是听闻、受持佛陀的语教，痛苦就可以消灭了。那么这么重要的一件事，为什么用浮浮泛泛的态度去完成呢？时间花下了、精力花下了，目的也是为了听闻佛法，那为什么要有浮浮泛泛的状态呢？这不是很奇怪吗？这件事对我们那么重要，为什么不认真呢？是忘记了吗？ [06:44]

所以师父在这里边连讲了几个：“记住啊！始终记住啊！记住啊！”连讲这个，就是一再地告诉我们，那样浮浮泛泛地听闻，它所感得的结果是我们不愿意面对、无法面对的，到最后还得要做听闻前行，把听闻轨理好好地做好，是不可能跨越这个次第的！ [07:11]