所谓“受苦是了苦，享福是消福。”我们修道人为什么要修苦行？一天只吃一餐，就为要了苦的缘故。苦了了，便是乐。
A saying goes: "Enduring suffering puts an end to suffering; enjoying blessings exhausts blessings." Why do cultivators of the Way want to cultivate? We eat only one meal each day because we want to end suffering. Happiness remains once suffering is gone.
福，有应享的福和不应享的福。应享的福，是自己工作所得来的代价，能够住好房子，穿好衣服，吃好东西，坐好汽车，可以享受一番。可是，要知道享完之后，就消福了，而在福报的银行就没有存款了。
Blessings come in two varieties: those we should enjoy, and those we shouldn't enjoy. Blessings we should enjoy are those which come as rewards for work we ourselves have done. Such things as living in a nice house, wearing nice clothes, eating good food, and riding in nice cars are blessings we can enjoy. We should recognize, however, that once these blessings have been enjoyed to their fullest, they will be gone, and our bank account of blessings will be all out of capital.
不应享的福，就是在本分之外求享受，由侥幸得来的福。好像强盗，抢人家的钱，自己享受，这是不讲道理的享受，必定会受到法律的制裁。在福报银行的户头就透支了。
Blessings we should not enjoy includes things gained by seeking beyond one's rightful share: blessings that come through scheming and trickery, such as money stolen from others. If we enjoy such blessings, then it's unrighteous pleasure, and the law will punish us. We will have overdrawn our bank account of blessings.
应享的福，享完之后，福就消了，何况不应享的福，硬要勉强享受，这不但消福，而且还要亏本。因为这种关系，所以福不可享尽，享尽就没有福了；苦可受尽，受尽则没有苦。我们做人要明白这种道理。在困难的环境中，欢喜接受逆境，这样便无怨恨，也没有不满现实的心在作祟。
Once we enjoy all the blessings that are rightfully ours, our blessings will be used up. How much more is it so with blessings that are not rightfully ours? Should we demand to enjoy those as well? Not only will we burn up our blessings that way, we'll even go bankrupt. For that reason, we should not enjoy our blessings to their end, or else, we will have no blessings left. On the other hand, we can endure suffering to its end, for then there will be no more suffering. We should understand this principle, so that when we find ourselves in distressing circumstances, we happily accept the discomfort. In this way, we avoid all resentment and we don't become dissatisfied or discontent.
研究佛法的人，其思想和行为，与世俗人正好相反。世俗人是顺着生死去造业，修道人是逆着生死来消业。无论在什么境界上，处之泰然，心安理得，便不觉得苦。所谓“吃得苦中苦，方为人上人”，这是至理名言。
The thinking and behavior of people who study Buddhism is exactly the opposite of worldly people. Ordinary worldly people flow with birth and death as they create more karma. Cultivators of the Way oppose the flow of birth and death as they wipe out their karma. No matter what situations arise, they calmly endure them, resting securely in their knowledge of the principles; thus suffering does not seem painful to them. A saying goes, "Only one who has tasted bitterness to the ultimate degree can become an extraordinary person." How true it is!
现在讲一个受苦的公案，做为参考。明朝最后一位皇帝，名叫崇祯。他虽有皇帝的智慧，可是没有皇帝的福报。为什么？因为他的苦没有受尽。他前生是个沙弥，因为未到受具足戒的时候，就死了，所以还是个小沙弥。他做沙弥的时候，凡是搬柴运水的苦工，都由他来做，任劳任怨，天天做苦工，来护持道场。
I'll now tell you a story of one who endured suffering. The last Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was known as Congzhen ("Noble Portent"). Although he possessed the wisdom of an emperor, he lacked the blessings that an emperor needs. Why was this? Because his suffering had not come to an end. In an former life, he had been a novice monk, but he died before receiving complete ordination as a Bhikshu. Thus he remained a Shramanera (novice). As a novice monk, he had to perform all the menial jobs, such as gathering wood and toting water. He simply endured the toil and swallowed his resentment. Every day he engaged in these strenuous chores in service to the monastery.
有一天，他到房顶修理屋瓦，不慎失足，坠地而死。师兄弟就去报告方丈和尚。老和尚知道前因后果，想成就小沙弥，替他了苦，于是乎，对大家宣布：“这个小沙弥做事不小心跌死，对道场有很大的损失。因为他犯了侵损常住的过错，要惩罚他。你们用马把他的尸体拖散为止，免得买棺材埋葬。”大家一听方丈的话，不以为然，师兄弟们发恻隐之心，不听方丈的命令，因为不忍心这样去做。他们于是共议：“我们是师兄弟，同修一场，应该把他安葬，不可以用马拖尸。”大家就出钱买棺材，把他安葬在荒山中。
One day, he climbed onto the roof of a building to patch tiles, carelessly slipped off, and fell to his death. His Dharma-brothers reported the mishap to the Abbot. Knowing the prior causes and later consequences involved, the Abbot wished to bring the novice to accomplishment and end his suffering. Thereupon, he announced publicly, "This novice was not cautious while working, and he fell to his death. He caused this Way-place a major loss. For this offense of incurring loss to the monastery, he deserves serious punishment. Tie his dead body behind a team of horses and drag him around until he is pulled to pieces! This way we can avoid the cost of buying him a coffin." When the monks heard the Abbot's pronouncement, they simply couldn't carry it out. They pitited their Dharma-brother and decided to disobey the Abbot's order, because they couldn't bear to treat the dead one in such a harsh manner. They talked it over: "We are all brothers, fellow cultivators in the monastery, and by rights we should bury him; don't let horses drag his corpse to bits." Then they chipped in contributions to buy the novice a coffin, and buried him out on the mountainside.
这个小沙弥因为替庙做苦工，积有功德，来生为人，做了皇帝，身为崇祯。可是只做了十六年的穷皇帝，他在位的时候，天下大乱，内有李自成造反，外有清兵侵境，从来没有过一天好日子，都是在忧患煎迫中度日。这就是被好心的师兄弟害了，使他的苦未能了尽。如果他们当时听方丈的话，用马来拖尸，苦便了了，不会害得崇祯在煤山自缢，而为国殉难。
Since the young novice had amassed great merit and virtue by doing menial labor for the monastery, he was able to be reborn as a human, as the Emperor Congzhen, in fact. But his reign lasted only sixteen years and was characterized by disaster. While he ruled, China experienced great chaos; Li Zicheng staged his revolt, and the Qing Dynasty armies invaded from abroad. Not knowing a single day of peace, he passed sixteen years in continuous worry and torment. This was because his well-meaning fellow monks had actually harmed him by not allowing him to endure his suffering to the end. Had they followed the Abbot's instructions and dragged his corpse behind horses, his suffering would have been finished then and there, and Emperor Congzhen would not have been forced to commit suicide on Mei Mountain as a national martyr.
