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阿姜蘇美度:
我走到了生命的這個階段，己感受到修行的極大好處，因為我一直過著持戒生活，在修學佛法，以突破自心與業力所造成的一切障礙困難。我認為其中的益處，在於對於欲望無法控制改變的東西，能夠有機會放下，對於和尚尤其如此。我認為這對美國人非常重要，因為許多痛苦都起因於只關注自己，執迷我見、感情習性和欲望，由此產生的痛苦也是極大的。
我在泰國北部生活了多年。那裏不富庶，許多物品缺乏，生活水準極低，可比起富裕的歐洲國家或美國，我感覺那兒的人心中，苦惱反倒比較少。因此思考一下佛的教導很重要，通過專注、正念，對這個世界，這個星球承擔起責任，每個人都可以達到證悟的境界。
依我看，寺院生活的價值在於 - -
它限制了人們對習性欲望的追隨程度。我感到非常需要這種約束，因為在我們的社會中,「享樂」、「自由」是我們這一代的主流思想。在美國文化中，「克制」與「放下」幾乎沒有地位；在寺院生活中「克制」與「放下」使我們得以過簡樸的生活，讓我們有機會由修行，而看到我們的痛苦是由欲望，由對法的無知而產生的；經由面對自己的苦惱，你開始見到道，見到捨棄之道；凡是不趨向於和平、和諧，體悟真理的習性、因緣、條件都要捨棄。
現在在萬佛聖城大家相聚一堂，在這個機緣，我們再次確認我們求道的誓願，確認我們生命的短暫；年紀越大，就越感到到人生的短促。將這次得生為人的機會，浪費在愚癡、自私，與無意義的事上，實在是太悲慘了。現在西方學習佛法的機會增加了，各處都出現了佛法、佛寺、禪修中心、佛教團體。這是因為佛陀慈悲傳受給我們的心靈訓練之法，正是人所急需的。
對於宣公上人，我是懷著極大的尊敬與感激之情。我的師父阿姜查激勵我過出家生活，他1992年去世了。我也視上人為我的一位師父，他激勵鼓舞我，指點我身為比丘所應行的道：他是比丘的楷模。兩位大師都已去世，這都是「人生課堂」所教授的部份內容。我們因此會想到有為法界的無常性。
回想過去，每想到阿姜查或宣公上人時，我胸中都湧起感激之情，年齡越大，這種感恩心越強，如同心胸敞開了一樣。像我這麼一個人，能夠遇到這樣兩位有證悟的智者，實在是太幸運了。兩位大師都大公無私，以弘揚佛法，將佛教的智慧傳至全世界為己任；兩位大師都來自亞洲，而他們的影響，以身作則所表現出的人生智慧，完美行持，卻贏得了全世界的讚賞和認同。
我是從自己在泰國北部生活的經驗瞭解到這一點的。那是泰國很偏遠，最貧窮的地區，阿姜查雖然身材矮小，卻影響巨大，不僅在泰國如此，隨著向他學道的西方人的到來，他的名聲傳到了美國、歐洲，以及亞洲各地區。在我看來，他是一位確實過著智慧生活的人，一位非常快樂的人。他與我若處於同樣環境，他看上去就沒有苦惱；
他知道怎樣避免陷入消極的心境，怎樣持續地關注，以敞開的心胸來經驗不可避免的，川流不息的種種境界。
待續
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AJAHN SUMEDHO:
At this stage of my life, I feel the excellent result of
having lived under the Vinaya discipline and trained with
Dharma in order break through all the obstructions and
difficulties that one creates through one's mind, through
the karma of one's life. I think the benefit, especially in
being a monk, is the opportunity to surrender to something
that you cannot control and bend through your own desires. I
think this is very important in America where much of the
suffering is caused through just thinking about oneself,
obsession with one's own views, opinions, emotional habits
and desires; the suffering that results from that seems
immense.
Having lived in northeast Thailand for
many years where conditions are not so bountiful, where
material wealth is not so available and where people live in
much lower standards of living, I don't detect their mental
suffering to be any greater than that found in the more
affluent European countries or the U.S. So it is an
important reflection that the Buddha was pointing to - a
direct realization that each human being is capable of
realizing for him/herself through paying attention, through
being mindful and through being responsible for how he/she
lives in this world, this planet.
I found the value of monastic life being
that it limits one ability to follow one's habits and one's
desires. I felt a great need for this kind of restraint
because I came from a society where hedonism and the ideal
of freedom were the dominant attitudes of my generation. The
American culture gave little room for restraint or
renunciation. In monastic life, of course, restraint and
renunciation are the opportunities to simplify and to
develop in a way that you perhaps begin to see the suffering
you create through your own desires, through your ignorance
of the Dharma. Through that confrontation with your own
suffering you begin to see the path, or the Way of
relinquishing or renouncing those habits and conditions
which are not conducive toward peace, toward harmony, and
toward realization of the truth. Today at the City of Ten
Thousand Buddhas is an occasion for all of us gathered here
to reaffirm our commitment to this path, and to recognize
that a human life does not actually last a very long time.
The older you get, the briefer the human life span seems. To
waste it on foolishness, selfishness, and triviality seems
to be a very sad and tragic way to use this human
opportunity that we have. Chances to do something else
instead are now more available in the western world. The
teaching of the Buddha, Buddhist monasteries, meditation
centers, Buddhist groups are popping up all over the place
because of the great need for the kind of mental training
that the Buddha so compassionately gave to us.
I've always felt enormous respect and
gratitude for the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua. My own
teacher, Ajahn Chah was the inspiration for my monastic
life, and he passed away in 1992. I also regard Venerable
Master Hsuan Hua as one of my teachers, an exemplary monk
who inspired me and encouraged me, showed me the way on this
path as a Buddhist monk. That both of these masters have
died is part of the lessons in life. We may reflect on the
impermanent nature of the conditioned realm.
When I reflect on the past, I feel a
sense of gratitude arising every time I think of Ajahn Chah
or Master Hua. The older I get the more this gratitude seems
to be; it's like an opening of the heart. It's an enormous
gift to someone like myself to have been fortunate enough to
have met two such enlightened and wise human beings. Both of
these masters have lived very unselfish lives and have
devoted themselves to the teachings of the Dharma, making
the wisdom of the Buddha available worldwide. Both came from
the Asian continent, yet their influence, the wisdom of
their lives and their examples of human perfection are now
appreciated and recognized all over the world.
I know from my own experience in
northeast Thailand, which is rather remote and the poorest
part of Thailand, that Master Ajahn Chah was very small in
stature but enormous in influence. He had an impact both on
the country of Thailand and on Western people who came to
Thailand to study with him. His fame spread through to
American, European countries and to various places in Asia.
For me, the experience with him was an opportunity to see a
human being actually living very wise ways- a very happy,
joyful human being. He was not someone that seemed to be
suffering, and yet he was experiencing the same conditions,
the same things that I was.
~ To be continued
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