Month: October 2022

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。

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

We are following Master Hsuan Hua’s teaching here with the English version Translated by the Buddhist Text Translation Society:

Preface:

When the World Honored One had attained the Way, he thought, “To leave desire behind and to gain calmness and tranquillity is supreme.” He abided in deep meditative concentration and subdued every demon and externalist.

In the Deer Park he turned the Dharma-wheel of the Four Noble Truths and took across Ajnata-kaundinya and the other four disciples, who all realized the fruition of the Way.

Then the Bhikshus expressed their doubts and asked the Buddha how to resolve them. The World Honored One taught and exhorted them, until one by one they awakened and gained enlightenment. After that, they each put their palms together, respectfully gave their assent, and followed the Buddha’s instructions.

经序：世尊成道已。作是思惟。离欲寂静。是最为胜。住大禅定。降诸魔道。于鹿野苑中。转四谛法錀。度憍陈如等五人。而证道果。复有比丘所说诸疑。求佛进止。世尊教敕。一一开悟。合掌敬诺。而顺尊敕。

The Dharma of the Four Noble Truths is the first Dharma that the Buddha spoke in our world. It’s said that the Dharma-wheel of the Four Noble Truths was turned three times. The first time was the Turning of Revelation. The turning of the Dharma-wheel of revelation, Buddha revealed what the dharmas of the Four Noble Truths are about. The Buddha said, “There is suffering. Its nature is oppressive.” What kinds of suffering are there? There are: the Three Sufferings, the Eight Sufferings, and the Limitless Sufferings. 第一转是示转，因为你不懂，那么我要指示你，我要告诉你，这叫示转法錀。就是指示这四谛法都是什么。示转又叫初转，就是一开始转法錀，就说‘此是苦，逼迫性’

The Three Sufferings are:

1. the suffering within suffering 苦苦
2. the suffering of decay 坏苦
3. the suffering of process 行苦

The Eight Sufferings:

1. the suffering of birth 生苦
2. the suffering of aging 老苦
3. the suffering of sickness 病苦
4. the suffering of death 死苦
5. the suffering of being apart from what you love 爱别离苦
6. the suffering of being near what you detest 怨憎会苦
7. the suffering of not getting what you seek 求不得苦
8. the suffering of the raging blaze of the five skandhas 五阴炽盛苦

Beyond these forms of suffering, there are also limitless kinds of suffering that we undergo. That is why the Buddha said, “There is suffering; its nature is oppressive.”

“There is accumulation; its nature is to beckon.” What accumulates are afflictions. The accumulation of afflictions is a kind of beckoning. Once you have afflictions inside you, afflictions will accumulate from outside. If inwardly you harbor greed, hatred, and stupidity, then outwardly things will not go your way. That is why the Buddha described it as accumulation, with a nature that beckons. ‘此是集，招感性’，这个集就是集聚烦恼。集聚烦恼这是一种招感的。你内里边有烦恼，外边烦恼才来；你内里边有贪嗔痴，外边这不如意的事情才来了，所以说此是集，招感性。

“There is cessation; by nature it can be realized.” This is saying that cessation, or still quietude, brings joy. This can be realized. You can realize the joy of this stillness and quietude. 　‘此是灭，可证性’，说这寂灭为乐，这是可证的。此是灭，可证性，可以证得这寂灭之乐。　

“There is the Way; by nature it can be cultivated.” The Way is a Way of precepts, a Way of concentration, and a Way of wisdom. In detail it refers to the Thirty-seven Limbs of Enlightenment, which are: the Seven Shares of Bodhi, the Noble Eightfold Path, the Five Roots, the Five Powers, the Four Stations of Mindfulness, the Four Right Efforts, and the Four Bases of Psychic Power. Together, they make up the Thirty-seven Limbs of Enlightenment. The Way, by its nature, can be cultivated. 　‘此是道，可修性’，这个道是戒定慧的道：戒道、定道、慧道。戒定慧这个道，要是往多了说呢，就是三十七道品。七菩提、八正道、五根、五力、四念处、四正勤、四如意足，合起来就是三十七道品。道是可修性的，你可以修道，这是初转四谛法錀，也就是示转。

The second turning of the Dharma-wheel of the Four Noble Truths was the Turning of Exhortation. The Buddha said, “There is suffering, you should recognize it. There is accumulation, you should cut it off. There is cessation, you should realize it. There is the Way, you should cultivate it.” 第二是劝转四谛法錀。佛说：‘此是苦，汝应知；此是集，汝应断；此是灭，汝应证；此是道，汝应修。’

The third turning of the Dharma-wheel of the Four Noble Truths is known as the Turning of Certification. The Buddha said, “Not only am I telling all of you to recognize suffering, cut off accumulation, long for cessation, and cultivate the Way, I am also telling you, there is suffering; I have already recognized it. There is accumulation; I have already cut it off.’ 第三是证转四谛法錀。证，就是说我不是单单教你们要知苦，要断集，要慕灭，要修道。我告诉你们：‘此是苦，我已知，此是集，我已断，此是灭，我已证，此是道，我已修’，那么现在我希望你们也都知道‘知苦、断集、慕灭、修道’这个法。

Besides being patient and endurance, one must possess wisdom and a discriminating eye. That is why a Bhikshu has a world-transcending appearance. If a Bhikshu is able to cut off delusions and to realize the Truth, if he can cut off the delusions of the Triple Realm, then he will realize Arhatship.

“Bhikshu” is a Sanskrit word; it has three meanings:

1. destroyer of evil
2. frightener of Mara
3. mendicant

The three meanings of Arhat are:

1. Killer of thieves.
2. Worthy of offerings.
3. Free of rebirth.

Section 1 Leaving Home and Becoming an Arhat 出家证果

The Buddha said, “People who take leave of their families and go forth from the householder’s life, who know their mind and penetrate to its origin, and who understand the unconditioned Dharma are called Shramanas. They constantly observe the 250 precepts, and they value purity in all that they do. By practicing the four true paths, they can become Arhats.” 佛言。辞亲出家。识心达本。解无为法。名曰沙门。常行二百五十戒。进止清净。为四真道行。成阿罗汉。

People who know their mind and penetrate to its origin means knowing your own fundamental mind and recognizing that when the mind arises, every kind of dharma arises. When the mind is gone, every kind of dharma ceases. There are no dharmas beyond the mind, and there is no mind outside of dharmas. Mind and dharmas are one. If you understand that there is no mind outside of dharmas, then you understand the nature that is everywhere calculating and attaching, our ordinary conscious mind.

In penetrating to the origin, if we understand that the mind and nature in fact have no real substance, nor any form or appearance, if we can understand this principle, then we will understand that the nature which arises dependent on other things is false and illusory. The nature that is everywhere calculating and attaching is fundamentally empty as well. The nature that arises dependent on other things is also false and illusory. Neither of these natures actually exists. That is what is meant by knowing the mind and penetrating to its origin. ‘识心达本’：识自本心，认识自己的心。你要知道：‘心生种种法生，心灭种种法灭。’心外无法，法外无心，心、法是一个的。你若知道这个法外无心，你就明白这个遍计执性，这就叫识心。达本，达本是你若明白了这心性本来没有实体，没有形相的，你明白这个道理了，你就会明白依他起性是虚幻的。遍计执性本来是空的；依他起性也是虚妄的、虚幻的，没有什么实在的，这叫识心达本。

And who understand the unconditioned Dharma. To understand the unconditioned Dharma is to understand the Dharma of True Suchness. True Suchness and all dharmas are not one, but at the same time they are not dual. If you understand this doctrine, that True Suchness and all dharmas are not one and yet not different, then you can understand the perfectly accomplished real nature. You can awaken to your basic substance. That is what is meant by “understand the unconditioned Dharma.” 　‘解无为法’：解无为法是你明白了真如的法：真如和一切法，不是一个，但是也不是两个。你若明白这道理，真如和一切法是不一不异。明白了这个道理，你就会明白圆成实性，悟得本体，所以这叫解无为法。

When the Buddha spoke the three turnings of the Dharma-wheel of the Four Noble Truths, Ajnata–kaundinya immediately became enlightened and realized the fruition of his cultivation. Thereafter he was called the one who understands the fundamental limits of reality. He was also known to posterity as the first one to understand.

Why did Ajnata-kaundinya awaken first? Because in the past, when the Buddha was at the stage of causation, he was incarnated as the Patient Immortal. King Kali sliced off all four of his limbs and demanded to know whether the Immortal felt any hatred towards him. He replied, “No, I don’t hate you.” King Kali asked, “What proof is there that you feel no hatred?” The Patient Immortal said, “If I do hate you, then my four limbs will not grow back as they were before. If I bear you no ill will, then the four limbs that you have severed will grow back just as they were.” With those words, his four limbs did grow back as they had been. After that, the Patient Immortal made a vow: “When I become a Buddha, I will take you across first, because you are my Good and Wise Advisor.”

In that previous lifetime, Ajnata-kaundinya was King Kali, and the Patient Immortal was Shakyamuni Buddha. So when the Buddha accomplished Buddhahood, he looked around to see whom he should take across first. “Whom should I take across first? I should first rescue the man who cut off my hands and feet.” Hence, when the Buddha spoke Dharma for him, Ajnata-kaundinya immediately became enlightened.

Next the Buddha explained about holding precepts and giving. How does one uphold the precepts? How does one practice giving? How does one get reborn in the heavens? He warned about desire, saying, “Having thoughts of desire is wrong; it is impure. If you leave desires behind, only then can you become pure, only then can you gain true happiness.” At that time Ashvajit (Horse Victory) Bhikshu and Subhadra (Little Worthy) also became enlightened. They were the next two to awaken.

Third, the Buddha went on to explain other Dharma-doors, and at that time Mahanama-kulika and Dashabala-kashyapa also became enlightened. Those five men were the first to leave home and become Bhikshus. They were the first ones to become enlightened and to realize the Fourth Stage of Arhatship.

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。

This Sutra was translated by two Honorable Elders from Indian Kasyapa Matanga and Dharmaratna in Han Dynasty. Master Hsuan Hua told us a long story of how the sutra came into being. 本经是一部既概括简短，而又十分重要的经典。读者试想：汉明帝自从永平三年某夜梦见“金人”以后，为什么对此便念念不忘？后来经过大臣们四年多郑重其事地历史查考和研究分析以后，确认在西方印度有佛出世，并留有与中国儒、道之教有所不同的教理。因而明帝特地组织了一个具有十八人之多的探访团，西去印度求法；结果在中印度的地方，遇到了二位神通广大的高僧迦叶摩腾和竺法兰。请问读者：佛经种类数量浩大：真是汗牛充栋，为什么这两位神异高僧，会首先选择这部《佛说四十二章经》把它传到中国来呢？

In 62 C.E.,  Emperor Ming of Han (r. 58-75 C.E.) had a dream. He dreamt of a golden man who had a halo of light which shone forth from the crown of his head and streamed out through space into the palace where the emperor was sitting. The next day he questioned his officials about the dream, and an astrologer name Fu-yi said to the emperor, “I have heard that in India there was a Holy One whom people called ‘Buddha’. Your dream, Your Majesty, certainly was of the Buddha.” Master Hsuan Hua told us a vivid story of how this Sutra came into being.

A scholar named Wang-dzun also spoke to the emperor. “In the Jou Dynasty, there was a book written, which was called Records of Strange Events. In that book it was stated: The Buddha was born in the Jou Dynasty, during the twenty-sixth year of the reign of King Jau (c. 1025 B.C.). At that time, the creeks and rivers overflowed their banks, the entire Earth quaked, and a five-colored light pierced the heavens.”

At that time, there was an astrologer, also a diviner, named Su-yu. He consulted the yi-jing and got the hexagram jyan (乾), nine in the fifth place, “flying dragon in the heavens,” and he knew that it meant a great sage had been born in the West, in India. That sage would transmit a teaching which, after a thousand years, would be transmitted to China. That is what the astrologer Su-yu divined.

At that time, King Jau of Jou ordered that the details of the event be carved in stone as a record and then buried at a certain spot south of the city to await the predicted event–that a thousand years hence the Buddhadharma would actually be transmitted to China. Later, in the Jou Dynasty, during the reign of King Mu, there was a massive earthquake that moved heaven and earth. A white rainbow with twelve rays arched through the sun.

At that time,there was another astrologer, by the name of Hu-to, who also used the Yi-jing for divination, and he announced that “A great sage from the West has entered still quiescence. In India, during the Jou Dynasty of Junggwo, in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of King Jau, this great sage came into the world, and now he has entered Nirvana.” And so, although the Buddha entered the world and went off to extinction at a place very far from Junggwo, the people of Junggwo knew about those events. The Buddha’s appearance in the world was not a chance occurrence.

From the time of King Jau of Jou to the time of Emperor Ming of the later Han Dynasty was about a thousand years, and so when the Emperor Ming of Han had the dream about the Buddha, he commanded Tzai-yin, Chin-jing, Wang-dzun, and others to go to India to seek the Buddhadharma. In India, they met Kashyapa Matanga and Gobharana, and these two gentlemen returned to China with Tzai-yin, Chin-jing, and Wang-dzun, arriving in Loyang in the tenth year of the Yung Ping reign period (69 A.D.). They came on white horses, carrying with them the sutras.
Thereupon, the Emperor of Han established White Horse Monastery. There they translated The Sutra of Forty-two Sections, Spoken by the Buddha, making it the first Sutra transmitted to China.

At that time Dauism flourished in China. When Buddhism arrived in China, the Dauist masters became jealous. By the fourteenth year of the Yung Ping reign period they had had enough. On New Year’s Day they met with the emperor and told him that Buddhism was false, that it was a barbarian religion, not of Junggwo, and therefore it should not be permitted to spread through China. “You should abolish Buddhism,” they urged. “If you will not abolish it, then you should at least have a contest in order to compare Buddhism with Dauism.” How did they suggest the contest be held? They suggested that the texts spoken by the Buddha and those written by the Dauists be put together in a pile and burned. Whichever texts did not burn would be the true ones.

On the fifteenth day of the new year, Dauist Master and leader Chu Shan-syin and five hundred other Dauist Masters assembled at the southern gate of White Horse Monastery. They put the Dauist texts and the Buddhist texts together and then prayed to the Old Man of Mount Tai, saying, “Divine Lord, Virtuous One of the Way, please grant us an efficacious response to insure that our Dauist texts will not burn and that the Buddhist sutras will.” At that time, there were many Dauist Masters with spiritual penetrations. They could “mount the fog and ride the clouds.” They could fly through the heavens and hide in the earth. They could vanish into thin air. They used the charms and spells of the Dauist religion to gain spiritual powers.

But when the fire was lit, guess what happened. The Buddhist sutras did not burn. Instead, they emitted light. The shariras of the Buddha emitted a five-colored light as bright as the sun, illumining the whole world. The light shone into empty space and formed a great canopy, which covered over everyone in the great assembly. As soon as the Dauist texts were set on fire, they burned. And those who had been able to “mount the clouds and ride the fog” were no longer able to do so. They had lost their spiritual penetrations. Those who had been able to fly could no longer fly. Those who had been able to hide in the earth could no longer hide in the earth. Those who had been able to vanish could no longer vanish. And at that time, when they spoke their charms, the charms were no longer efficacious. There wasn’t any response. The Dauist texts burned to a crisp and the Dauist Masters, Chu Shan-syin and Fei Jeng-ching, just about died of rage. In the midst of the fury of the Dauist masters, two or three hundred of their disciples shaved their heads on the spot and became Buddhist monks.

And so, the first time Dauism and Buddhism came to grips, the Dauists were defeated. After the book burning, the two venerable ones, Kashyapa Matanga and Gobharana, ascended into space and manifested the eighteen transformations of an Arhat. The upper parts of their bodies emitted
water, the lower parts of their bodies emitted fire; the upper parts of their bodies emitted fire, and the lower parts of their bodies emitted water; they walked about in space; they lay down and went to sleep in space, and so on. Because of those manifestations, the emperor and the people
all came to believe in Buddhism.

And so, this sutra, The Sutra in Forty-two Sections, Spoken by the Buddha, was the first sutra to be translated when Buddhism was transmitted to China. It was compiled after the fashion of the Confucian Analects to suit the Chinese and therefore each section begins with “The Buddha said（佛言）,” which corresponds to the Confucian “The Master said.(子曰）” Although the text is relatively short, its contents encompass the essence of the Buddha’s teachings, making this sutra an optimal entry point to the profound Buddha Dharma. Apart from helping people to establish their own ways of thinking and norms of personal conduct, it guides practitioners in their contemplative practice. This sutra makes use of simple teachings to convey profound principles to promote the ideas of bringing purity to our every thought, giving with joy, and benefiting oneself and others. The first chapter clearly illustrates the sequence we should follow in our spiritual practice, the second and third chapters are mainly written for monastics, while the subsequent chapters thereafter provide general guidelines for all spiritual practitioners.

In the Sutra there are aspects of Theravada and Mahayana; expedient means and ultimate reality; gradual cultivation and sudden enlightenment. Even more importantly, all of the various teachings in the Sutra of Forty-Two Chapters are ultimately one single vehicle pointing to one single goal – enlightenment. 这部经典，佛并不是在一个专门的法会上说的，而是在佛涅槃以后，由他的弟子们，把他一生所说的一些警句，择要系统编集而成。也就是宣化上人所说的：这是一部‘佛的语录’。把佛所说的某一段话称为一章，共选集了四十二段话，编集成了这部《佛说四十二章经》。因此，这部经典实在既不能说单只是小乘佛法，也不能说单只是大乘佛法；而是综合佛一生所说的大小乘全部佛法。

这部经典，实在集结得很好，充分反映了佛说法的全部过程。从小到大，由浅入深。从小乘的须陀洹、斯陀含、阿那含和阿罗汉四果开始，而至申述‘念等本空’：‘念无念念，行无行行，言无言言，修无修修’，‘言语道断，非物所拘’；强调‘真假并观’：‘念非常，观灵觉，即菩提’；以及‘无著得道’：‘不为情欲所惑，不为众邪所娆，精进无为’；进而阐明中道要义：‘处中得道’‘清净安乐’；最后则归结于佛法的根本真理：‘生即有灭’以及‘达世如幻’。通过有生有灭如幻如化的相对真理，而达到真实不虚、如如不动，乃至动静一体的大乘绝对真理。