歲尾反思  林鈺堂       簡繁轉換 - 繁體

 

 

今年由於新冠病毒疫情氾濫,全球許多區域都被悲情及不景氣籠罩,大家的日子都很難過。然而,從佛法修行的觀點看來,大家面臨的困境卻是檢討修行堅實與否的契機。

學佛者雖然知道「無常」,在日子好過的時候,還是輕鬆地因循渡日。今年天天有許多人病故,不分年紀與身份,而病毒又是看不見的,防不勝防;直逼得人人自危,個個憂鬱——令人對「無常」逼近與迫切的感受勝過久修者纔有的警覺。

在日常生活裡,大家習於掛念;要修「放下」,談何容易。今年那麼多人忽然病逝,讓人覺得,平日裡執取的那麼多東西及事情,其實一點都不可靠——不由得需要面對「做為一個有情」到底是怎麼一回事的問題。這樣的放下一切的思考,在疫情之前,其實是很難升起的。

佛法修行,基本上是自修,因為境遇及別人都是無從掌控的。從上述的舉例,有心者可以自己想想,今年的困局提供了哪些佛法修行的借鏡及砥礪,從而踏實自己的修行。

 

二○二○年十二月卅一日
養和齋     於加州


 

 

Reflection at Year End

Yutang Lin

 

This year, due to wild flooding of the Covid-19 pandemic, many regions on earth are clouded under tragic sadness and economic recession, people all suffered bad days. However, from the perspective of practicing Dharma, the difficult conditions facing all of us offer opportunities for examining the concreteness of Dharma practices.

Even though Buddhists have learned about ″Impermanence″, while days are good it is common that we take it easy and continue to live as usual. This year daily there were many people passed away in sickness, regardless of age and social status, and viruses are invisible, and hence could hardly be ward off; it forced each and every one of us to sense danger and feel depressed—causing keen and pressing feeling of ″Impermanence″ which could surpass the awareness to impermanence of an adept.

In daily life, we are used to worrying about matters; to practice ″letting go″ is easier said than done. This year so many people suddenly died of illness, causing one to feel that, so many things and matters that we grasped in daily life are, in fact, not dependable—one, therefore, naturally needs to confront the question of what it actually is the case to be a ″sentient being″. Such pondering beyond all grasping, in times prior to the pandemic, was indeed exceedingly difficult to rise up.

Dharma practice, basically, is a self-cultivation because environments and others cannot be controlled. From examples mentioned above, interested persons may ponder on their own as to what kinds of reflection and polishing this year′s hardship could offer for one′s solid Dharma practices. 

 

Written in Chinese and translated into English on December 31, 2020
El Cerrito, California

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