Sutra of Forty-Two Sections Spoken by Buddha -Section 2 to 11 with Excerpt from Master Hsuan Hua’s Commentary

Namo Fundamental Teacher Shakyamuni Buddha !(three times) 南无本师释迦牟尼佛（三称）

Section  2 Eliminating Desire and Ending Seeking 断欲绝求
The Buddha said, “Those who have left the home-life and become Shramanas cut off desire, renounce love, and recognize the source of their minds. They penetrate the Buddha’s profound principles and awaken to the unconditioned Dharma. Internally they have nothing to attain, and externally they seek nothing. They are not mentally bound to the Way, nor are they tied to karma. They are free of thought and action; they neither cultivate nor attain certification; they do not pass through the various stages, and yet they are highly revered. This is the meaning of the Way. “佛言：出家沙门者，断欲去爱，识自心源，达佛深理，悟无为法。内无所得，外无所求，心不系道，亦不结业，无念无作，非修非证。不历诸位而自崇最，名之为道。

They penetrate the Buddha’s pro-found principles and awaken to the unconditioned Dharma. They understand the Buddha’s most profound principles, which are neither conditioned nor unconditioned. Internally they have no-thing to attain, and externally they seek nothing. If you want to talk in terms of yourself, you have no understanding and no attaining. Inside, you obtain nothing. Outside you seek nothing and obtain nothing. Obtaining nothing inside is the unconditioned Dharma; seeking nothing outside is also the unconditioned Dharma.

When they reach the state of there being nothing to obtain inside, and nothing to seek outside, they are not mentally bound to the Way. They don’t necessarily say to themselves that they are cultivating the Way. At the same time you can always find them cultivating. Nor are they tied to karma. They also find it impossible to create any kind of bad karma.

They are free of thought and action.They have no false thoughts; all they have are proper thoughts. They don’t have even a single false thought, so they are free of thought. Since they perform no false or superfluous actions, they are “free of action.” They don’t do anything in particular. They neither cultivate nor attain certification. They have done what they had to do, they have already cultivated to the ultimate point. There is nothing left that they can cultivate. They don’t certify because they have already obtained the fundamental substance of the Way. They have already realized the fruition of their cultivation.

They do not pass through the various stages.It is unnecessary to go through all these positions: from the Ten Dwellings to the Ten Practices, to the Ten Transferences, to the Ten Grounds. You need not go through them. You suddenly transcend them. And yet they are highly revered. The position that Shramanas occupy is lofty. This is the meaning of the Way. That is what a Shramana who has attained the Way is like.

你达到内无所得，外无所求这种境界上，是‘心不系道’：你这心也不一定说是要修道，但总是在修道上。‘亦不结业’：但是也不造业，不造一切恶业。

　　这时候‘无念无作’：你没有一切的妄念了，只有一个正念。所以一个妄念也没有了，这叫无念。一点虚妄的行为也没有了，这叫无为、无作。‘非修非证’：这时候所作已办，已经修到了极点，所以无可修了。修无可修，这叫非修。证无可证，已经得到道的本体，已经证果了，不用再证了，这叫非证。

　　‘不历诸位’：最初十住、十行、十回向、十地，这一切的位置都不必经历，豁然间就超越了。‘而自崇最’：而自己这种的果位是很崇高的。‘名之为道’：这叫什么呢？这是一个得道的沙门，

Section  3 Severing Love and Renouncing Greed 割爱去贪

The Buddha said, “Shaving their hair and beards, they become Shramanas who accept the Dharmas of the Way. They renounce worldly wealth and riches. In receiving alms, they accept only what’s enough. They take only one meal a day at noon, pass the night beneath trees, and are careful not to seek more than that. Craving and desire are what cause people to be stupid and dull.” 佛言：剃除须发而为沙门，受道法者，去世资财，乞求取足。日中一食，树下一宿，慎勿再矣。使人愚蔽者，爱与欲也。

People who leave the home-life shave off their beards and the hair on their heads, and they become Shramanas,  left-home people, who accept the Dharmas of the Way. To accept the Dharmas of the Way means a cultivator should accept the Way in his mind and cultivate the Dharmas of the Way. A person who cultivates the Dharmas of the Way should renounce worldly wealth and riches; he doesn’t want the riches of the world. All the fighting in the world is due to wealth. Take a look: countries fight with countries, families feud with families, and people battle with people because of personal benefit. He can renounce worldly wealth; he doesn’t want any worldly valuables.

Craving and desire are what cause people to be stupid and dull. A person’s stupidity is like weeds growing in his mind: the sod and rocks cover over the mind, making him dull. Like the sun obscured by clouds, we don’t understand things; we can’t fathom how to do things. And what causes this? Craving and desire. They make us stupid. 

This is what Buddha’s Discourse on Ten Wholesome Way of Actions teaches. We had mention this when study Ksitigarbha Sutra Chapter 10, where Master Jing Kong told us this being the foundation of Buddhism practices.

The Buddha said, “If a person has many offenses and does not repent of them…” The category of offenses includes all kinds of mistakes and wrong deeds. If you don’t change and repent of offenses, but conceal them and hide them away because you don’t want anyone to see them or know about them, that’s called not being repentant. The person cuts off all thought of repentance. You don’t realize that you should repent. You abruptly put a stop to any thought of repentance. That is, you have no intention of changing your errors. If you stop your thoughts of repentance, then when the offenses come down upon you, they will engulf you. The offenses will engulf him, just as water returning to the sea will gradually become deeper and wider. It will be like a small stream flowing back into the sea. Gradually the small offenses will grow deeper and broader, and will turn into big offenses. Even tiny transgressions will become huge. Light karmic obstructions will become heavy karmic obstructions.

This illustrates that no matter how bad an evil person is, the evil belongs to him and will bring him harm in the end. If you pay no attention to him, there will be no problem. As soon as you start paying attention to him, though, what happens? You fall in with his ilk; you become an evil person yourself.

Section  7 Evil Returns to the Doer 恶还本身
The Buddha said, “There was a person who, upon hearing that I observe the Way and practice great humane kindness, intentionally came to berate me. I was silent and did not reply. When he finished abusing me, I asked, If you are courteous to people and they do not accept your courtesy, the courtesy returns to you, does it not?’ “It does,’ he replied. I said, Now you are scolding me, but I do not receive it, so the misfortune returns to you and must remain with you. It is as inevitable as an echo that follows a sound, or as a shadow that follows a form. In the end you cannot avoid it. Therefore, be careful not to do evil.’ ” 佛言：有人闻吾守道，行大仁慈，故致骂佛。佛默不对。骂止，问曰：子以礼从人，其人不纳，礼归子乎？对曰：归矣。佛言：今子骂我，我今不纳，子自持祸归子身矣。犹响应声，影之随形，终无免离，慎勿为恶。

The Buddha said, “There was a person who, upon hearing that I observe the Way and practice great humane kindness, intentionally came to berate me.” The Buddha is a person who observes and cultivates the Way. He also cultivates the practice of great kindness. On hearing this, a person came right up to the Buddha and started scolding him. The Buddha heard him, but was silent and did not reply. He remained silent and did not say anything. When he finished abusing me, once the person stopped berating him, I, the Buddha, asked, “If you are courteous to people and they do not accept your courtesy, the courtesy returns to you, does it not?”

“It does,” he replied. “Right,” he said. “It comes back to me. If they do not accept my courtesy and respect, then I take those back.”
I said, “Now you are scolding me, but I do not receive it.” “Now, sir,” the Buddha said, “You are scolding me. You berate me, but I remain thus, thus, and unmoving. Whether you scold me or not, it’s all the same to me. I’m not affected by your scolding; I simply won’t accept it.

Section  8 Abusing Others Defiles Oneself 尘唾自污
The Buddha said, “An evil person who harms a sage is like one who raises his head and spits at heaven. Instead of reaching heaven, the spittle falls back on him. It is the same with someone who throws dust against the wind. Instead of going somewhere else, the dust returns to defile his own body. The sage cannot be harmed. Misdeeds will inevitably destroy the doer.” 佛言：恶人害贤者，犹仰天而唾，唾不至天，还从己堕。逆风扬尘，尘不至彼，还坌己身。贤不可毁，祸必灭己。

This is to say that an evil person is really unable to harm a sage. He may think of a way to harm him, but in the end he’s still actually harming himself. In this world there are underlying principles of justice which govern all things, and which make it wrong to harm people.

Section  9 By Returning to the Source, You Find the Way 返本会道
The Buddha said, “Deep learning and a love of the Way make the Way difficult to attain. When you guard your mind and revere the Way, the Way is truly great!” 佛言：博闻爱道，道必难会。守志奉道，其道甚大。

The Buddha said, “Deep learning and a love of the Way make the Way difficult to attain.” Deep learning here refers to being well-read. Ananda, for instance, was foremost in learning. He could be called deeply learned. But someone who has only studied the Dharma and has not contemplated it as it is taught will never be able to understand the principles it contains. He relies on only rote memory and intellectual ability. Even if he has a sharp memory and can memorize a sutra, he won’t get any response. If he fails to contemplate the meaning and fails to cultivate according to it, it will ultimately be of no use to him.

“Love of the Way” refers to cultivators who know that the Way is really excellent, but who don’t realize that originally the Way is just their own mind. It is not apart from their own mind. Those people go searching outside their mind for another Way. Although they long for and cherish the Way, yet if they seek outside, they will go wrong. That “makes the Way difficult to obtain.” By seeking outside, they will not understand the Way, nor will they be able to encounter it. Since they won’t encounter it, even less will they understand the Way. The longer they run, the farther away they will get.

When you guard your mind and revere the Way, the Way is truly great! What does it mean to guard your mind? To guard your mind means to guard it from indulging in false thinking; it means not to seek outside. It is said, “Look within yourself; don’t seek from other people. Seek within; don’t seek outside.” Seek within; in thought after thought, you must awaken; in thought after thought, you must understand; in thought after thought, you must aspire toward the Bodhi-mind.

Having no thoughts of seeking fame or benefits is to guard one’s mind. What does it mean to “revere the Way”? It means to respectfully uphold the Way, never allowing it to be absent from your thoughts, and to comprehend the source of your mind in thought after thought. You merge with the essence of the mind, and you do not seek outside for it. That’s called “revering the Way.” Then the Way is truly great! If you cultivate like that, then quite naturally your accomplishment will be great.

Section  10 Joyful Charity Brings Blessings 喜施获福
The Buddha said, “When you see someone who is practicing giving, aid him joyfully, and you will obtain vast and great blessings.”
A Shramana asked, “Is there an end to those blessings?”
The Buddha said, “Consider the flame of a single torch. Though hundreds and thousands of people come to light their own torches from it so that they can cook their food and ward off darkness, the first torch remains the same. Blessings, too, are like this.” 佛言：睹人施道，助之欢喜，得福甚大。 沙门问曰：此福尽乎？ 佛言：譬如一炬之火，数千百人各以炬来分取，熟食除冥，此炬如故。福亦如之。

Again we had mention this when study Ksitigarbha Sutra Chapter 10, where Master Jing Kong told us giver is more blessed.

Blessings, too, are like this. The reward of blessings is also like this. The analogy explains that someone who cultivates the Way by practicing giving can realize the fruition in the future. Cooking the food is analogous to realizing the fruition of one’s cultivation. Warding off the darkness is analogous to warding off the delusions caused by the threefold obstacles: the obstacle of karma, the obstacle of retribution, and the obstacle of afflictions.

What is being said is that the merit and virtue of your acts of giving will enable you and others to realize the fruition in the Way. You will be able to wipe out the three obstacles, and other people who joyfully support you will also be able to purge them. This merit and virtue will be shared by all alike.

We should realize the various principles involved in making offerings and the advantages of making offerings to each particular type of individual. Therefore, we should draw near to Good and Wise Advisors. If you draw near to evil advisors instead, you will learn their deviant knowledge and viewpoints. If you keep company with Good and Wise Advisors, you will learn right knowledge and viewpoints. If you make offerings to evil people, you are committing offenses; if you make offerings to good people, then you create merit and virtue. This is something that we should all know.

To be continued ……

Dedicate Merits:

May the precious bodhicitta 
That has not yet arisen, arise and grow,
And may that which has already arisen not diminish,
But increase more and more.

回向偈：
愿以此功德，庄严佛净土。 
上报四重恩，下济三涂苦。 
若有见闻者，悉发菩提心。 
尽此一报身，同生极乐国。