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眾生在無量劫以來一起受苦、受樂、受凍、受餓，不知多少劫，可是還都不厭倦這個無有眾樂、但受諸苦的世間。仍然習以為常，留連忘返，以為這裡比極樂世界好。每個人都是身歷諸苦而不覺悟，捨不得離開這種苦，這是迷得太深，染苦為樂，背道而馳，背覺合塵。背覺就是違背光明覺性，合塵就是合到六塵、五欲上了，忘了清淨本源的道理，這實在可悲。
我不懂旁的，只知娑婆很苦，有三苦、八苦、無量諸苦。你看小孩子一出生就知道哭，這就是苦。無論東方人、西方人、紅人、黑人、白人，沒有小孩子一出生就不哭的，他們都會喊：苦呀！苦呀！但是，等一長大，又把苦忘了。就只愛錢，單單這一張花花綠綠的錢，誘得人迷糊顛倒，做殺、盜、淫、妄。現代人都是向錢看。這錢，古時候是用金、銀、銅做的，現在是用紙做的，這和鬼用的紙錢有什麼分別呢？錢字是：
二戈爭金殺氣高，
人人因它犯嘮叨；
能會用者超三界，
不會用者孽難逃。
兩個人拿著戈矛要決一死戰，就為了爭金。國與國戰，家與家戰，人與人戰，自己與自己戰，也都是為了爭金。為什麼這麼不要命地爭呢？都是因為想佔有對方的財富，所以人與人就如同水火般不相容。財是第一，色是第二，所謂「房子、地不讓人，老婆、孩子不讓人」，人人把這個看做是生命的根本和活力，如果沒有了，就以為生命沒有意思了。就這樣被財色迷得什麼都不顧，把聖人的道理都忘了。
名就比財色輕一點。食，人人願意吃好東西，不合口味就吃不下去了，把口腹之欲儘量享受，每天山珍海味、雞鴨魚肉，還要變方法弄美味，填這個窟窿，為口腹做奴隸。一不如意，做得不好吃，就大發雷霆，比那原子彈還厲害。有人就說，財色名食，我不要，但不夠睡是不行的。你看！人抓著這地獄五條根緊緊不放，這不苦嗎？
窮有苦苦，富有壞苦，又有行苦，人執著三苦不捨，這是何苦來哉？天下本無事，庸人自擾之。有首西江月說得好：
富貴五更春夢，
功名一片浮雲；
眼前骨肉已非真，
恩愛反成仇恨。
莫把金枷套頸，
休將玉鎖纏身；
清心寡欲脫紅塵，
快樂風光本分。
來時兩手空空，死時也是兩手空空，帶也帶不去，留也留不住。「兒孫自有兒孫福，莫為兒孫做馬牛。」賺了很多錢留給子孫，就是看不起子孫，這若不是傻瓜，便是個苦瓜。
「養子強如父，留財做什麼？」這是欺負你兒子沒出息。做父母是還債，做子女是討債，眾生都不明白，還以為這很好玩的。「有子不如父，留財做什麼？」你給他再多，他都揮霍光了，都化水淌出去了，你說是傻瓜？是苦瓜？錢是假的，為它造業，這是幹什麼？
→待續
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For countless eons, living beings have been together undergoing misery, happiness, cold, and hunger. It's not known how many ages this has been going on, but they are still not weary of the world, in which they suffer all kinds of misery without experiencing any real joy. Accustomed to it and accepting it as normal, they think it's better than the Land of Ultimate Bliss. They keep lingering and forget to return home. Each person undergoes all kinds of suffering without realizing it, and cannot bear to part with the suffering. They are so deeply deluded that they take suffering to be bliss, turn their backs on the Way, turn away from enlightenment and unite with defilement. To turn away from enlightenment means to go against the bright, enlightened nature. To unite with defilement means to join with the six sense objects and the five desires, and to forget the truth of the pure origin. This is truly sad.
I don't understand anything except that the Saha world is a lot of suffering. There are the three sufferings, the eight sufferings, and the limitless sufferings. As soon as they're born, children know to cry—that's suffering. Whether it's Easterners, Westerners, red people, black people, or white people, there isn't any child who doesn't cry at birth. They all know how to bawl in misery. But once they grow up, they forget about the suffering, and fall in love with money. Those green bills entice people until they are so head over heels in their infatuation that they will engage in murder, robbery, licentious conduct, and false speech. Nowadays people all look up to money. Ancient money was made of gold, silver, and copper. Now we use paper money--how is that different from the paper money burned for ghosts? The Chinese character for "money" is described in the verse:
Two spears contending over gold, the killing energy is high.
For its sake, everyone chatters too much.
Those who know how to use it can transcend the Triple Realm.
Those who don't will have difficulty escaping
their evil retribution.
Two people armed with spears are ready to fight to the death, in a struggle for gold. Countries fight with countries, families fight with families, people fight with people, and each person fights with himself, also for the sake of gold. Why do we fight even at the cost of our lives? People clash like fire and water because everyone wants to seize the wealth of the others for himself. Wealth is number one, and sex is number two. There is a saying, "When it comes to my house and my land, my wife and children, I'll never surrender to anyone." People all regard these things as the basic necessities and vital force of life. Without them, they think life is meaningless. They are so infatuated by them that they care about nothing else. They've forgotten the teachings of the sages, and are deluded by wealth and sex.
The desire for fame is slightly less. As for food, everyone likes to eat good things. If it doesn't agree with their taste, then they cannot swallow it. They indulge the desires of the palate, always cooking up different gourmet dishes of fowl, fish, and meat to fill up that hole. Slaving for the appetite, they appease it with delicacies from the hills and sea. If the food is not cooked to their liking, they rage like thunder, more violent than the atomic bomb. Someone says, "Wealth, sex, fame, and good food I can do without, but I must get enough sleep." You see how tightly people grab onto these five roots of the hells, without letting go? Is this not suffering?
The poor have suffering within suffering, the wealthy have the suffering of decay, and there is also the suffering of process. People are so attached to the three kinds of suffering that they cannot relinquish them. Why do they subject themselves to such suffering? Basically there are no problems in the world, but people stir up trouble for themselves. There is a poem entitled "Moon in West River" which puts it well:
Wealth and honor are but a springtime dream at dawn.
Merit and position are a wisp of floating cloud.
The blood relations of the present are temporary.
Love and affection soon turn to hate.
Don't drape your neck with golden chains,
Or bind the body with shackles of jade.
With a pure mind and few desires, transcend the world.
The scenes of happiness are originally yours.
We come to the world empty-handed, and we leave it empty-handed, too. We can't bring anything with us, and we can't keep anything. Our sons and grandsons have their own blessings, and we shouldn't slave on their behalf. If we make a lot of money to leave to our children and grandchildren, that means we look down on them. If we aren't being fools (literally "dumb melons"), we must be bitter melons.
"If we raise our children to be as capable as their parents, why should we leave them money?" We would simply be belittling them as not being able to stand on their own feet. We become parents in order to repay debts, and we become children in order to collect debts. Living beings don't realize that, and think it's a lot of fun. "If children grow up to be less capable than their parents, why should money be left to them?" No matter how much you give them, they will waste it all, and it will flow away like water. Would you call that being a dumb melon or a bitter melon? Money is false. Why do you create karma for its sake?
→To be continued
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