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1975年8月21日星期四晚
世界上，一切一切都在演說妙法；山就演山的妙法，河就演河的妙法；海就演海
的妙法，江就演江的妙法，平地就演平地的妙法。所謂有情無情都在說法；人就說人的法，狗就說狗的法，貓就在那兒說貓的法，所以說一切萬事萬物都在那兒說法。貓牠要吃老鼠，牠說牠在往昔生中就歡喜殺生，那麼今生牠還願意殺生；老虎也是在那兒演說牠的妙法。你要明白牠在那兒說法，你就不會學牠那一種行為了。
這狗，牠為什麼做了狗呢？狗就是很貪，牠捨 不得，所以狗就給人看門口。看著門口，一有人來
，牠就吵起來了。為什麼咬人呢？這就是牠那種慳貪的表現。牠不喜歡生人，不認識人，所以牠就要咬。為什麼牠要咬呢？牠就怕人偷牠的財，牠的寶貝，所以牠總看著門口，也可以說是守財奴一一守財的奴才。好像人有錢，捨不得，一個仙(分)也捨不得，你叫他做布施，他是最反對的。像中國人
，有錢給兒子留著，給女兒，做了一輩子馬，一輩子牛，賺了一點錢就給子女，這是太愚癡的一種行為。所謂「兒孫自有兒孫福，莫為兒孫做馬牛。」不要為子女做馬做牛。
西方人呢？就比中國人聰明得多，他不給子女留下很多錢財，留下錢財也把它布施出來，那麼這樣子來生更富貴，更會有錢。說：「我不相信來生
。」那我們不要講來生，我們講明天，你信不信有明天？你信不信有昨天？因為你不相信那麼遠，那麼長的時間，我可以把他縮短了，叫你明白。〈翻譯時上人補充：〉昨天就是你的前生，今生就是你現在的生，明天就是你未來的那一生，那你不信有來生，昨天、今天、明天，你總要信。
你不能說沒有昨天，沒有今天，沒有明天，那麼這是有的，就由這個昨天、今天、明天、就有前生、今生、來生，這是一定的道理。說：「我怎麼不知道呢？」你要知道，你要知道了，你早就成佛了；你就因為糊糊塗塗的，從無量劫以來到現在就是不知道有前生，也不知道有來生，所以就做顛倒的事，所以就做守財奴的事情，就像那個狗，儘看著門口，就怕不認識的人來搶，來偷東西。
在佛住世的時候，有這麼一件事。他到一個居士的家要去應供，但是這個居士家裏就有一隻狗。這隻狗白天、晚間時時刻刻都在床底下守著，任何人不准接近這個床；誰要接近這個床，牠就咬誰，或者是主人的太太、兒子，牠就不咬，外邊來的人，誰也不准接近這個床。甚至佛來了
，牠也不准佛接近這個床。家裏的人故意來試一試，看看這個狗咬不咬佛。牠一樣咬，見著佛也一樣咬。家裏的人就問佛，這種是什麼因緣，誰也不准接近這個床呢？佛就說了：「你知道嗎？這個狗的前生就是你的父親。你父親他一生賺了大約有三百兩黃金，他就愛這個黃金。他在生的時候，就把黃金埋在床底下，等到他有病病死了
，也沒有告訴你他有三百兩黃金埋在床底下，所以他死後，趕快回來作狗，就趴在他埋黃金的上面。你要不信，你把士挖開，那黃金還在那。」這個家裏的人果然把狗搬到別的地方，就把這個地方一刨，刨開果然有三百兩黃金。
由這個公案來證明，人有慳貪心就很容易做狗，所以狗在那兒說狗的法，貓在那兒說貓的法，我們人就演說人的法。所以世界上一切一切的都是在那兒講他所要講的法，就看你認識不認識
。你認識，它就是說法，叫你明白；你要不認識，在那兒就做夢，要你糊塗。
待續
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Thursday, August 21,1975 (evening)
In this world, everything proclaims the
wonderful Dharma. The mountains proclaim the wonderful
Dharma of the mountains. The rivers announce the wonderful
Dharma of the rivers. The seas proclaim the wonderful Dharma
of the seas. The streams and plains report the wonderful
Dharma of the streams and plains. It is said, "Both sentient
and insentient things are speaking the Dharma." People speak
the dharma of people. Dogs speak the dog-dharma. Cats are
speaking the cat-dharma. And so, all the myriad things are
speaking the Dharma.
For example, cats eat mice. They say that
in past lives they liked to kill and in their present life
they still like to kill. Tigers are the same way. They
proclaim their own wonderful Dharma, and if you understand
that they are speaking the Dharma you will not imitate their
conduct.
How did dogs get to be dogs? Dogs are
very stingy. They can't give anything away, so they guard
the door. When someone comes, they bark and bite. Why do
they bite? It shows their stinginess. They don't like
strangers, so they bite because they are afraid someone will
steal the valuables. You could say that they are
"wealth-guarding slaves."
There are people who share this attitude
towards money. They can't give up a single cent. When you
tell them to give, they object violently. In China, many
people keep their money for their sons and daughters. They
turn into beasts of burden, scraping together a pittance to
leave to their children. This is utterly foolish. A verse
says,
Sons and grandsons have their own
blessings.
Don't slave like an ox on their behalf
Don't be a draft-horse for the sake of
your kids. Westerners are much more intelligent than the
Chinese in this respect. They also accumulate money, but
after they have accumulated it, they give it away. As a
result, in their next lives they can be even wealthier.
You might say, "I don't believe that
there are future lives." Then let's not talk about future
lives. Let's talk about tomorrow. Do you believe tomorrow
will come? Do you believe that yesterday happened? Then,
because you cannot believe in such a distant time, I'll
shrink the time period so that you can understand. [The
Master added the following during translation]
Yesterday was just your former life and
today is your present life. Tomorrow will be your future
life. If you don't believe in future lives, you still can't
deny that there was a yesterday, is a today, and will be a
tomorrow. Can you seriously object to this? Yesterday,
today, and tomorrow exist and in the same way so do past,
present, and future lives. That's a fact.
"Then why don't I know about it?" you
ask.
If you knew, you would have become a
Buddha long ago. But because you've been muddled and
confused through limitless eons until the present, you
haven't known your former or your future lives. Thus, you
did mixed-up things, like acting as a "wealth-guarding
slave," watching the door, afraid that some stranger would
come to steal your goods.
When the Buddha was in the world, he once
went to a layman's house to accept offerings. In the house
there was a dog that stayed under the bed, day and night. He
wouldn't allow anyone except members of the family to get
near the bed. Anyone else who approached got bitten. Even
the Buddha was not allowed near the bed. The household
experimented to see if the dog would bite the Buddha, and,
sure enough, it snapped at him. They asked the Buddha why
the dog was so protective of the bed. The Buddha said,
"Don't you know? In its last life the dog was your father.
Your father spent his whole life earning about three hundred
ounces of gold and loved it so much he buried it under the
bed. Then suddenly he got sick and died before he could tell
you what he had done with it. After his death he hurried
right back as a dog to guard the pile of gold. If you don't
believe me, start digging and you'll find the gold." They
dragged the dog away and did, in fact, uncover three hundred
ounces of gold. This proves that stingy people can easily
turn into dogs.
Dogs are speaking the dog-dharma. Cats
relate the cat-dharma. People expound the people-dharma. In
the world, everything speaks the dharma it wants to speak.
The important point is whether you understand it or not. If
you understand it, the dharma is spoken so you may
understand more. If you don't understand it, you're
dreaming, and the dharma simply makes you muddled.
~ To be continued
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