修道人，好像眼睛那样地清净，不能容纳一粒沙子。如果眼中有沙子，一定不舒服，总想找个法子把它拿掉，否则身心不安宁。修道也是这样的情形，这粒沙子是什么？就是贪心。有了贪心，事事起变化，本来是清净，有了贪心的念头，便起了化学作用，将清净的水变成秽水，不能利人，反而害己。
Cultivators should be clean and pure, like our eyes, which cannot stand even a grain of sand. If a grain of sand gets into your eye, it causes immediate discomfort and you have to remove it or you cannot be at ease. Cultivation is the same way. What does the grain of sand represent? Greed. Once greed arises, everything changes. Originally there was purity, but when greed arises, it triggers a “chemical reaction” that makes clean water turbid. The greedy mind cannot benefit others; on the contrary, it even harms one’s own self.
修道人，有一分诚心，便有一分成就和感应；若有十分诚心，便有十分成就和感应。有了成就，有了感应的时候，就不要执着，不需要放在心头上，应无所住，把它忘掉。我们修道的主要目的是为了脱生死，不是为求感应而修道。
切记！不可有所企图而修道，为求成就，为求感应，那是大错特错。这一点，大家要弄清楚。你专一其心来修道，功夫到了炉火纯青的时候，自然会有成就和感应。有企图的修行，永远得不到成就和感应现前，所谓“有心是妄想，无心是感应”，感应是可望而不可求的。
For every bit of sincerity, a cultivator gains a corresponding bit of attainment and responses. With a full share of sincerity, one will have a full share of attainment and responses. When we have some attainment and responses, we shouldn’t become attached and dwell on them continually. We should forget about them and not have anything on our minds. The main purpose of our cultivation is to end birth and death, not to seek responses. We shouldn’t have any ulterior motives in our cultivation; it’s a great mistake to seek any sort of achievement or response. Everyone should be very clear about this. If you concentrate single-mindedly on your cultivation, you will naturally have some attainment and responses when your skill is sufficient. But if you hope to gain something from your cultivation, you’ll never have any attainment or responses. As it’s said, “If something happens because you think about it, it’s merely a product of false thinking. If something happens without your thinking about it, it’s a response.” You may hope to have responses, but you must not seek them.
修道人，要有“只问耕耘，不问收获”的心理，无论做什么事情，尽力而为之，不管后果如何。反正光明磊落，出发点为公不为私，不存私心用事，成败不去计较，给公家做事，亦复如是。不要前怕狼，后怕虎，有事发生，谁也不敢担当一面，互相推卸责任，小事如此，大事可想而知。
Cultivators should “concern themselves only with tilling and weeding, not with reaping a harvest.” In everything we do, we should try our best and not worry about the outcome. We should be open and aboveboard, work for public rather than private gain, have unselfish intentions, and not worry about whether we succeed or fail. We should also be like this when working for the public. We shouldn’t be afraid, as if there were a wolf facing us and a tiger behind us. It shouldn’t be that when problems come up, no one dares to come out and take care of them and everyone tries to evade responsibility. If we act like this with petty matters, imagine what will happen when it comes to big issues.
不要有痴人妄想的念头，没有念书，就想得博士学位；没有种田，就要收五谷；没有买马票，就想中头奖，哪有这样的便宜事。在春天要播种、耕耘、灌溉、施肥，秋天才能有所收获，所谓“一分耕耘，一分收获”，这是自然的道理。
Don’t indulge in foolish fantasies, thinking you can receive a Ph.D. without studying, reap a harvest without planting, or win first prize at the horse races without buying a ticket. There are no free lunches. You have to sow in the spring, then till, weed, irrigate, and fertilize the fields, before you can expect to reap a harvest in the fall. As it’s said, “For every share of tilling, you reap a share of harvest.” This is a principle of nature.
各位注意！不要有贪求之心，贪成就，贪感应，那是梦中之梦，渺茫之至！不要骗自己。如果认不清目标，舍本逐末，把大好时光空过，那是一无所得的！
Everyone, pay attention! Don’t be greedy or seek for anything. If you’re greedy for attainments and responses, you’re just dreaming within a dream－it’s nothing but fantasy. Don’t fool yourself. If you don’t see your goal clearly and lose the substance for the shadow, then you’ll have wasted all your time and have nothing to show for it.
一九八四年五月十七日开示
A talk given on May 17, 1984
