3月4日

無盡因緣
佛光星雲 ( 1927~ )

一片菜葉值幾何？凡夫的心用少許銅錢去計量，
聖賢的心則以無盡的因緣去愛惜。一生的困乏亨通，
點點滴滴都是有因有緣，當怨尤果報時，應當思惟，
昨日種下的因緣。

惜福是愛惜我們開墾的福田，不被貪瞋癡三惡牛踐
踏禾苗；結緣則是為我們聚合春風雨露的資糧，使我
們的心田開花結果。

愛惜自己的福報，就是珍惜自己的現在；廣結人間
的善緣，就是豐富自己的未來。

玫瑰一時虛榮滿足，松樹久藏曖曖光采，我們應如
松的生命，懂得把外境的侵犯和毀傷，轉換成煦陽的
溫暖、和風的清涼。

──選自《人生的階梯》

March 4th

Infinite Causes and Conditions
Venerable Master Hsing Yun (1927 - , Fo Guang Shan)
English translation: Zhi Yue and Sasha Lyapina

How much value is there in a vegetable leaf?
An ordinary person would say it costs only a few
dollars, but the wise would cherish it as a product of
infinite causes and conditions. Every aspect of life,
from difficulties to prosperity, all have numerous
causes and conditions. Before complaining about
results, we should reflect on our own past causes
and conditions.

Cherishing our blessings can be likened to loving
and caring for a plot of land. It also prevents the
three poisons─greed, aversion, and ignorance─from
smothering the seedlings that we have planted.
However, forming positive karmic connections
embraces the merits of the spring breeze, bountiful
rain, and dew, causing the field of our mind to
blossom and bear fruits.

To cherish our blessings is the loving cultivation
of the field of our virtues, while forming affinities
with others fosters future conditions.

While the rose indulges in the vanity of an
instant’s beauty, the unpresuming pine preserves
its glory against the test of time. In life we should,
like the pine, learn to transform the challenges and
harshness of the environment into the warmth of the
sun and the coolness of the breeze.

── from Rensheng De Jieti (The Stairway of Life)