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lingshanhermit · 4 days ago

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Lingshan Hermit:The Greatest of the Xia (Knights-Errant): Breaking the Ignorance and Duality for All Sentient Beings

In ancient times, those known as great knights-errant possessed extraordinary skills and noble character. With their superhuman martial arts, they could rescue people from immediate peril, relieve people from urgent difficulties, save many lives, protect women and children, uphold righteousness, and eliminate great evil. As the saying goes: "The greatest of the knights-errant serve their country and people." Take the great knight-errant Guo Jing for example - though he defended Xiangyang against the Mongol invasion and could temporarily halt the Mongol iron cavalry, he ultimately could not eliminate human greed and ignorance, nor could he uproot the source of evil deeds.

What we call evil deeds are all extensions of evil thoughts and ignorance. From birth, we are clouded by ignorance, believing in a self, claiming "my skin and flesh," "my beloved," and subsequently generating various attachments to self, giving rise to love and hate, friend and foe, concepts of self and others and all beings. To protect and enrich the self, we harm and damage others, giving rise to evil deeds, and commit various foolish acts to assert ourselves. Those who command millions of troops, driven by greed and the desire to realize their grand ambitions, ignite the flames of war that spread thousands of miles, dragging millions of Europeans and Asians into disaster, leaving thousands of miles without cooking smoke and countless corpses lying everywhere. At its root, all this stems from ignorance and attachment to self. Therefore, while great knights-errant can protect their country and people temporarily, the greatest of knights-errant can eliminate the source of warfare, accumulate merit and wisdom for all sentient beings, break through ignorance, and eliminate the duality of subject and object.

The Mongol Great Khan, seeking to display his military might and territorial conquests unprecedented in history, disregarded millions of common people, forcing them into a realm of slaughter. Later, when he sought the Dao from Qiu Chuji (Master Changchun) and inquired about the method for longevity, Qiu advised him to kill and fight less. However, how could the ambition of such a great conqueror be stopped by a single word from Changchun? After his death, his descendants carried on his will, continuing endless killing and conquests.

Worldly knights-errant protect one country or race; transcendent knights-errant protect not just one country, race, or surname, but encompass all beings in heaven and earth. Worldly knights-errant can eliminate tangible evil, but can only recognize and stop it after it manifests. Transcendent knights-errant can eliminate the cause of evil. They recognize it before it manifests, skillfully eliminating the seeds and soil of evil, preventing its growth. Although Guo Jing's defense of Xiangyang and Yang Guo's killing of Möngke with rocks could solve immediate problems, without eliminating ignorance and duality, without establishing the teachings of sages, enemies may temporarily retreat but will inevitably return. Worldly great knights-errant can resist and eliminate great evil, but are powerless against its causes. Without removing the cause of evil, only cutting its branches, though evil may be temporarily subdued, it will surely return through another vessel someday. With the power of worldly knights-errant, one can prevent a few from doing evil but not thousands, can destroy the body of evil people but not their will, can stop evil acts but not sever evil's roots.

Therefore, the chivalry of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and sages lies in approaching through morality and propriety, establishing the teachings of sages, and using both teaching and realization methods to guide practitioners gradually to the state where self and others both cease, where subject and object are both empty, eliminating the root of our evil thoughts. Once the root is removed, greed and anger have no place to land, and evil deeds cannot arise. Even if the masses haven't eliminated their evil minds, being born in an era where Confucian and Buddhist teachings flourish, everyone knows to restrain themselves. When everyone practices self-restraint, self-attachment doesn't manifest, there are fewer acts of attacking and harming others, people don't endanger themselves, and when people don't endanger themselves, all evils naturally dissolve. This can transform Murong into Duan Yu, King Zhou into a wise king, prevent wars from starting in the human realm, and stop all evils from arising.

Written by Lingshan Hermit on January 30, 2025. First published on February 1, 2025.

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灵山居士：侠之巨者，为众生破无明诛能所也

古有称大侠者，皆身负绝艺，品德高洁。凭其超人武艺，可解人一时之厄、可脱人一时之困、可救众人之命、可护妇孺平安、可维道义亦可诛巨恶。坊间有言：侠之大者，为国为民是也。大侠如郭靖者，驻守襄阳抗击蒙古入侵，虽能阻蒙古铁蹄于一时，然终不能绝人之贪欲无明，不能掘恶行之根。

吾人所谓恶行者，皆恶念无明之延伸也。吾人生来即无明，自谓有我，谓吾之发肤，吾之皮肉，吾之至爱，而后生诸我执，生诸爱憎，生诸敌我，生我相人相众生相，为护我丰我而伤他损他，令诸恶行生，又为彰显自我而作出诸般愚行。有手中握百万兵者，为贪念所驱为展其宏图之志而开启战端，其战火延烧万里之遥，拖欧亚万民入水火，令万里无炊烟，千里皆伏尸。究其原因，皆无明我执所致也。是以，侠之大者，可护国护民于一时，然侠之巨者，可绝征战之源，可为众生积福慧破无明诛能所也。蒙古大汗为彰显其武功之盛占地之多功业冠绝古今而不顾百万黎民，令其皆入于修罗屠场。后其向长春子丘处机问道，询求长寿之法，丘处机劝其少杀少伐。然一代天骄之志岂是长春一言可止。其薨逝后其后代亦承其志，杀伐征讨不断。

世间之侠，所护者乃一国一族；出世之侠，所护者不拘于一国一族一姓，乃涵盖天地万物一切含识。世间之侠，可灭有形之恶，然需恶行彰显方能觉之阻之。出世之侠，可灭恶之因也。于恶未彰时即觉，善灭恶之种子土壤，不令生长。如郭靖之驻守襄阳，杨过以碎石击杀蒙哥，虽可解一时之困，然若不诛无明能所，不立圣贤之教，敌人纵使一时退却，终必再来。世间大侠可阻巨恶，亦可诛巨恶，然于恶因尽皆束手。恶因不除，只除枝蔓，恶虽伏诛，他日亦必借体再来矣。以世间大侠之力，可防少许作恶而不可防万千人作恶，可废恶人之体而不可亡恶人之志，可阻恶之行而不可断恶之根也。是以，佛菩萨诸圣贤之侠义，在于以道德礼义入手，树圣贤之教，又以教证二法牵引，令行者渐至人我双亡能所俱无之境，诛吾人恶念之根，根既除已，贪嗔无落处，恶行则无从生。纵使大众恶心未除，然生于儒法佛法盛行之世，人人皆知束己，人人束己则我执不彰，则少有伐人戕人之举，则人人不自危，人不自危则百恶自消解，辄令慕容成段誉，商纣成贤王，令人间战端不启，百恶不生矣。

灵山居士写于2025年1月30日。首发于2025年2月1日。

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lingshanhermit · 12 days ago

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Lingshan Hermit：When Confucius and Shakyamuni Meet Voltaire and Simone de Beauvoir

I am not a perfect person, but I am an extreme perfectionist. As such, I hold both myself and others to extraordinarily high expectations and demands. Sometimes this creates slight tension in my relationships with those around me. As an extreme perfectionist, I have little tolerance for others' foolishness. Even more than others' foolishness, I cannot tolerate my own inaction, and what I find most intolerable is wasting time. My WeChat public account tells me that in 2024, I wrote 346,000 characters, averaging nearly a thousand characters per day. This comes close to meeting my personal standards. Over the past few years, I have been busy with dharma practice and writing. I've performed over nine hundred grand offering ceremonies and written hundreds of articles, which gives me some comfort that I haven't wasted my time. Because I've been so occupied with these matters, I rarely have time for other activities. So when someone asked me about my thoughts on that Hong Kong film, all I could tell them was that I hadn't seen it yet - I knew about the film and had wanted to watch it, but couldn't find the time. A few days ago, I finally found a gap in my schedule to watch this highest-grossing film in Hong Kong's history.

I quite liked this film—but don't misunderstand, when I say I liked it, it doesn't mean I agree with the messages it conveys. I liked it because I could see in it the state of many practitioners, witness the collision between Eastern tradition and Western thinking, and observe what happens when Confucius and Shakyamuni encounter Voltaire and Simone de Beauvoir. Hello Brother represents the state of many practitioners. Although he has spent his whole life as a Namo master performing traditional rituals to help the deceased escape from hell, he has never truly understood the meaning behind these traditional rituals. He simply follows the traditional requirements blindly, without knowing their true significance. Because the patriarchs said so, he says so; because the patriarchs did it that way, he does it that way. He has never questioned whether these words are correct or delved into their deeper meaning. From my observation, if a person doesn't want to deeply investigate the truth or falsity of something, it indicates that they don't actually believe it's true—subconsciously, they feel it wouldn't stand up to scrutiny.

Therefore, people like Hello Brother, although engaged in traditional professions, are easily led astray by seemingly reasonable but false teachings and easily conquered by Dao Sheng's apparently logical arguments. This is because they have never established true faith. I've met many people like Brother Hello. They don't truly understand Buddhist dharma, yet they practice it. Although they don't understand it, they don't know that they don't understand. When Buddhist dharma faces questioning, they still defend it. They defend it not because they're certain it's right, but because Buddhism has become part of them, become part of their "self," merged with their identity. In others' eyes, they are Buddhism, and Buddhism is them. Defending Buddhism means defending their face and dignity, their authority—that's why they persist.

On the surface, they appear to be traditional practitioners who act according to tradition, but due to a lack of genuine practice and guidance, they haven't truly and thoroughly embraced Buddhist dharma in their hearts. Therefore, when they encounter the alluring Western culture, they are quickly drawn to it. There are many such people in both Chinese and Tibetan regions. Though they may outwardly appear to be disciples of the Buddha, wearing Buddhist robes, their hearts have long since become followers of Voltaire and Steve Jobs.

For thousands of years in the past, practitioners in Tibet lived in seclusion from the mundane world, but circumstances have changed now. Today's monastics are no longer the isolated mountain dwellers of the past who were removed from worldly affairs. Mobile internet has become widespread even in remote monastery areas. Even if you're staying in a deep mountain monastery in Sichuan, you can still see the latest trending topics and receive mobile greeting messages. Compared to waking up at four in the morning to chant the monotonous Kangyur in the main hall all day, scrolling through TikTok is certainly more entertaining. Mobile internet has brought convenience and Buddhist teachings, but it has also brought the Devil and his daughters.

Compared to practitioners living in the deep mountains of Sichuan, those living in cities are exposed to even more new ideas and concepts. If they don't have firm right view, they will almost certainly be conquered by the demons. Many modern popular ideas can be traced back to Voltaire and Simone de Beauvoir, and we are fed these Voltaire flakes and Beauvoir nutrition drinks through our phones every day. This is why many practitioners, though seemingly practicing, are simultaneously individualists and social Darwinists (they probably don't realize these systems are completely opposite to Buddhist dharma). This is probably because the fruits of spiritual practice don't come as quickly as becoming an individualist or social Darwinist.

The results of spiritual practice usually manifest in subtle ways; sometimes you can't even feel the so-called results at all. After practicing dharma for several years, you can neither fly nor become wealthy, your interpersonal relationships remain as bad as ever, when you have a cold for several days chanting sutras doesn't help and it's only after taking a few pills of Molnupiravir that you get better, and your wife pressures you every day. This can't help but make you doubt the efficacy of Buddhist dharma. Most people's practice bears no fruit because they neither understand practice nor know how to practice, yet they don't attribute this to their lack of understanding—instead, they doubt the dharma and their teachers. Compared to practice, everyone can experience the benefits and immediate pleasure brought by Western culture. Because Western products are designed for the general public, even children and housewives can easily use them, while the threshold for Buddhist practice is quite high.

Many people prefer visible happiness, prefer precisely designed electronic products, prefer the convenience brought by technology, because most of us are shallow people—compared to the subtle changes produced by Buddhist practice, SUVs and Coca-Cola can provide more direct pleasure. Therefore, many people, while maintaining their Buddhist identity, have long since surrendered in their hearts to the civilization established by Aristotle, Shakespeare, and John Locke—that is their true refuge, their true object of devotion.

I know someone who immigrated to Australia. Once, for some reason, he suddenly started telling me about his faith in Buddhist dharma and his teachers, speaking at length about it. I asked him, "If that's the case, why did you go to Australia? So far from your teacher?" He said it was because they have a better social security system there. This really left me speechless. If you believe that good medical care or social welfare systems are your true security, then your thinking is no different from ordinary people. Your entire value system is not Buddhist.

It's like if you agree with Western medicine's claim that bone broth has no nutritional value, you would similarly believe that negative energy and dampness don't exist, would consider post-partum confinement a backward custom and think it's fine to eat ice right after giving birth. Likewise, you would have doubts about the existence of reincarnation and samsara. Because these concepts all come from the same source, they all belong to the same system. This system, since ancient Greek times, has only used that clumsy method to explore the world—only using test tubes and quantum computers to explore the world—they can only observe and analyze observable material phenomena, and are completely helpless when it comes to intangible things like qi, so they can only dismiss it as ancient people's imagination.

There are many people like him. They practice Buddhism, recite Guru Rinpoche's prayers, while simultaneously seeking security from the Western system. For such people, praying for the guru's blessings is a joke. Unlike them, Brother Hello didn't immigrate to America or Canada; he stayed in Hong Kong. Although he didn't emigrate to Canada, although he stayed in Hong Kong and continues to help people escape from hell, it doesn't mean he has no doubts about the traditions passed down from the patriarchs. Therefore, when the traditional culture he inherited encountered Western civilization's opposition, although he appeared to be defending and counterattacking, because he didn't truly understand tradition nor ever verify its correctness, his defense appeared powerless and pale. So when his daughter Man-yue questioned him, "Didn't the patriarchs have mothers?" all he could do was repeatedly mutter those few phrases.

His son went even further. This man who grew up in 1980s Hong Kong received a completely Western education. He merely treated the family inheritance as a business venture. From beginning to end, he had no faith in these ancient rituals, didn't believe these rituals could help the deceased, and didn't care whether they could help the deceased. He wasn't even interested in whether people continue to exist after death. To him, it was just a way to make a living, no different from selling furniture at Wing On Department Store in Sheung Wan. Because of his education, he would feel that selling furniture at Wing On would be more respectable than his inherited traditional profession. Therefore, he could convert to Catholicism for his son's extra school admission points and then convert back later.

There are actually many such people now; I can see many of them in Buddhist circles. These people grew up in a social environment completely opposite to Buddhist culture. They don't believe in Buddhist dharma or karma; they practice because their family members believe in Buddhism or because they inherited this profession. As for Dao Sheng, he represents those self-proclaimed clever secular businessmen who treat everything as a business from start to finish. To make more money, he thought up many clever reasons and excuses, telling Brother Hello that while the dead need to be saved from hell, the living need it even more.

To help the living escape hell, he could violate professional ethics by secretly letting the deceased's same-sex partner into the makeup room for a final meeting and even secretly giving them a portion of the ashes, could let Man-yue preside over the hell-breaking ritual, could break through all traditions—just to make clients feel he's a good person so they'll come back to him next time. The clients are pleased, but the effectiveness of saving souls from hell becomes quite questionable. While the feelings of the living certainly need to be respected, the focus of hell-breaking is not the living but the deceased. You can't jeopardize the deceased's future just to make the living happy.

Under such pretexts, you can do anything; all rules will be broken, all traditions will be destroyed, and eventually, all dharma lineages will cease to exist. It appears humanistic but is actually destroying the transmission. It seems considerate of others but is actually only for profit. And the underlying logic of all his actions is that death is the end of everything. This is what the devil wants to convey.

What Dao Sheng says seems reasonable but can only fool those who don't understand. I've met many people like him, and their common characteristic is that they know nothing about Buddhist dharma. Besides knowing nothing about Buddhist dharma, they also know nothing about themselves. They read a few books and think they've grasped the essence of Buddhist dharma, then question things based on their limited understanding. They think Buddhism is wrong about this and that, that it should change. According to their thinking, Buddhism shouldn't have so many restrictions on monasticism, shouldn't restrict who can become a monastic—anyone should be able to become a monastic. They even want to teach those who teach them dharma how to teach them dharma.

Usually, I ignore such people because they're just seeking attention. What they need is education from 0 to 10,000. And I am an impatient person, so this task should be done by someone more patient and compassionate. I bet even those patient and compassionate people would lose their patience and compassion with them. If they had basic logic and intelligence, they should know that a tradition that has been passed down for thousands of years must have profound reasons, because this is something verified by countless people who were smarter, more logical, and more critical than them, and every seemingly unreasonable rule might be based on the lessons of predecessors, so these are not things that can be overturned by someone who has just read a few books.

At Brother Hello's funeral, Dao Sheng announced that Man-yue would preside over the hell-breaking ritual. This decision was opposed by all the Namo masters present. Then Dao Sheng presented his reasons, which were quite shallow—so shallow that I couldn't take them seriously. He insisted that hell-breaking was just a ritual, with the main purpose being to comfort the living. When an outsider is too much of an outsider, what they say will leave all insiders speechless. Because it's too easy to refute and leaves people with no desire to refute it.

There are many such people in Buddhism. They don't understand Buddhist dharma, don't believe in it, and don't cherish it. Buddhist dharma is just a tool for them to seek profit. Such people only want to please others, only want others to think well of them. They use Buddhist dharma to do favors, and for this, they can sacrifice any tradition. This is probably what is meant by "convenience leading to degradation."

Over the past century, the spread of Western education has given many people the illusion that they can judge everything (they not only think they can judge right from wrong but also believe they can control destiny). Because most of the ideas they've received come from the tradition of Voltaire and Simone de Beauvoir, they tend to think many things in traditional culture are ancient people's imagination. For instance, Brother Hello's constant talk about women being impure, women having menstruation, and the patriarchs not liking it. Most modern people won't like such concepts because they have already been bound by Voltaire's ideas and consider these to be discrimination against women. I don't know if these are ancient people's imagination, but I have seen evildoers' faces grow increasingly dark, seen mandala jewels become covered in black ash when touched by those who seriously violate samaya, seen many things beyond your imagination and logic, so if someone tells me that negative energy is just ancient people's imagination, I can only feel compassion for them.

Brother Hello, as an inheritor of this profession, although he has spent his whole life helping people escape from hell and moving in traditional cultural circles, still faces the impact of Western culture and can feel the intense shock to his own faith. It's just that in traditional East Asian society, most people are bound by face—even if they have doubts, they won't show them, burying these doubts deep in their hearts for the sake of face. Especially people like Brother Hello; as a locally famous Namo master who breaks hell, he can only insist on the patriarchs' teachings, though he himself might not deeply believe them. No one knows if he might think at midnight about whether what he does has any meaning, whether people still exist after death, whether what he does actually helps them or if it's really as Dao Sheng says—that hell-breaking is just to help the living get rid of their psychological knots. This is an issue that exists for all practitioners, but most people are unwilling to touch this awkward question.

Most practitioners facing various new things coming at them are not prepared. They don't know how to respond, don't know how to reconcile the conflicts between their practice, faith, and modern ideas. Many people who are accustomed to self-deception will feel they don't have this problem—self-deception helps them cover up this issue, making them feel they don't have such problems. But no matter how you cover it up, the problem still exists.

When a freedom-loving individualist comes to a Buddhist community to practice, when they see the "Fifty Verses of Guru Devotion," see various precepts and requirements, they will feel that Buddhist practice is full of anti-freedom elements. You have to share the teacher's leftover food with your dharma brothers and sisters because that is the guru's siddhi and has blessings; you have to wash the teacher's socks, endure their bad temper; you must obey them completely, and if they tell you to quit your job and beg on King's Street, you have to do it. You must admit these things conflict greatly with what you learned at Princeton University.

In the past two hundred years, traditional culture has been shattered by modern Western civilization. Even practitioners and those who make a living from traditional culture are no longer firm in their beliefs—they just don't voice it. I understand why this situation has occurred. We face our phones every day, face girls dressed in anime style, face gene editing therapy, Trump coins and Hirokazu Kore-eda, face city trains speeding past on elevated bridges, face a drastically changing new world. Growing up in such an era, the scenes described in Buddhist sutras seem as unreal as dreams.

All along, I have believed that the root of most people's problems in modern society lies in their respecting what should be despised while despising what should be respected, respecting what shouldn't be respected while not respecting what should be respected—this is the root of many of our problems. From this perspective, this film is no different from those feel-good movies; it's also a feel-good movie, the only difference being that its feel-good nature is deeply hidden. It trampled and humiliated things we should respect in a special artistic way.

Dao Sheng and Man-yue probably represent the Hong Kong younger generation's understanding of this. They grew up in a Hong Kong society where English is the official language, and in their view, many traditional rules are just outdated garbage. Although she was raised on Brother Hello's work as a Namo master, this doesn't prevent her from seeing that system as merely a remnant of the old era. This isn't surprising—she grew up in Hong Kong society, using Octopus cards and drinking Yakult, with planes flying overhead every day. Although Hong Kong society has preserved much traditional culture, it still cannot resist the erosion of Western culture. Compared to the deceased, they believe the living are most important—actually, this isn't just their thinking, it's most modern people's thinking. You can find people who think this way in any city in mainland China. They are also followers of Voltaire and Simone de Beauvoir.

The terrifying aspect of this thinking is that it denies the existence of the deceased, making traditional rituals like hell-breaking lose their meaning, becoming mere formal cultural heritage—perhaps relics. In the letter left for Man-yue, Brother Hello told his daughter, "I didn't know those words were hurting you all along." He was referring to words about women being impure and such. These final words undoubtedly revealed his true values. Although he had been engaged in hell-breaking work and maintaining tradition, deep in his heart he had always been a modern person (someone with a Voltaire brain) rather than a traditional Chinese person. That's why he would feel those words hurt her.

East Asian culture, after more than 2000 years of fermentation and misinterpretation among ordinary people, has finally manifested as an extremely unskillful education method. East Asian parents are accustomed to educating their children with stern faces; they never praise their children, always pick at their faults, and are extremely strict with them. I can't say this is wrong, but it easily pushes children to the devil's side. The devil loves to collect those who lack love—it will appear beside them, praise them, provide them with abundant security. With it, even if you punch a hole in the sky, it doesn't matter; it will make you feel it's the one who truly loves you.

Basically, if you want to hear pleasant words, words that don't hurt you, you should go find deceivers—only deceivers can provide you with full emotional value. The words of sages are never pleasant to hear. Laozi said the sage is not benevolent and treats the people as straw dogs. Shakyamuni Buddha said women have five obstacles. Jesus said let him who is without sin cast the first stone. In today's world where individualism runs rampant, we have all been spoiled. We can't bear to hear any truth; any truth makes us feel offended and hurts our fragile hearts. Even TV dramas like "As If in Hell" can make many people feel greatly hurt. What you need to know is that any truth is unpleasant to hear, but unpleasant words are what you should hear. Because only those who love you will risk offending you by saying those truths you don't like to hear. As for those who don't care even if you make a huge mistake—of course they don't care, because you're the one who has to take responsibility, not them. If you ruin your life, what does it matter to them?

In today's world where Western culture sweeps across the globe, traditional East Asian education methods have been severely questioned, and new-generation parents are taught not to be harsh with their children, to use "Western," "civilized" methods to educate children. Hong Kong, as one of the earliest regions to be baptized by British civilization, appears on the surface to perfectly combine the essence of East and West, maintaining the appearance of traditional culture, but many people have actually long abandoned tradition. Traditional culture inheritors like Brother Hello perform traditional rituals in the most traditional way while feeling they've failed their daughters—this is a manifestation of internal Westernization.

As they say, Confucianism and Buddhism never invented phonographs or chrome film, didn't create shower heads and central air conditioning, didn't write "The Wealth of Nations," didn't invent supermarkets—so what did they do for thousands of years? As far as I know, our ancestors, these great sages, like the Indians, were doing the most important things: studying how to solve our fundamental afflictions, researching the root of all human problems, examining the ultimate questions we must face. Therefore, they were doing what matters most. For us, the most important things are how to solve our suffering, how to transcend life and death, how to attain happiness. There are many less important matters, such as who becomes the U.S. president, how to conquer AIDS, how to make goods circulate quickly, how to train large language models, and how to make toothless people grow new teeth. These are all less important matters. Studying these things not only fails to solve our problems but adds to them. Yet most people become addicted to these unimportant things. They think if planes could fly ten times faster, if we could grow new teeth, we would be happier.

Of course, I never fantasize that the general public could understand these things. Most people can only see the convenience and happiness brought by Voltaire, Simone de Beauvoir, and Adam Smith. They cannot see the price they must pay for these conveniences, nor can they see that these external things will ultimately fail their expectations. Therefore, people like Brother Hello, although still following and even defending tradition, have already been conquered by Simone de Beauvoir in their hearts. I don't mean to blame him—he's just an ordinary person, and in this era, it's almost impossible not to be conquered by the Voltaires. There are few people in this world who can see the problems and ultimate results brought by Western culture; there are even fewer who can understand these things, and fewer still who would support Eastern culture while Western culture dominates the world. After all, that means risking being seen as a spokesperson for backwardness and decay by the whole world. However, regardless, you must know that the theories of Voltaire, John Stuart Mill, and Simone de Beauvoir may bring you temporary happiness and prosperity, but ultimately, it is an endless path of suffering because it is an erroneous theory built upon a non-existent "self."

Written by Lingshan Hermit

January 14, 2025

First published January 20, 2025

Revised January 22, 2025

灵山居士：当孔子释迦牟尼遇到伏尔泰和西蒙.波娃（修订）

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lingshanhermit · 16 days ago

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When Confucius and Shakyamuni Meet Voltaire and Simone de Beauvoir

By Lingshan Hermit

I am not a perfect person, but I am an extreme perfectionist. As such, I hold both myself and others to extraordinarily high expectations and demands. Sometimes this creates tension in my relationships with those around me. As an extreme perfectionist, I have little tolerance for others' foolishness, even less tolerance for my own lack of effort, and least of all can I tolerate wasting time. My WeChat public account tells me that in 2024, I wrote 346,000 characters, averaging nearly a thousand characters per day. This comes close to meeting my personal standards. Over the past few years, I have been busy with dharma practice and writing. I've performed over 900 grand offering ceremonies and written hundreds of articles, which gives me some comfort that I haven't wasted my time. Because I've been so occupied with these matters, I rarely have time for other activities. So when someone asked me about my thoughts on that Hong Kong film, all I could tell them was that I hadn't seen it yet, though I had wanted to but couldn't find the time. A few days ago, I finally found a gap in my schedule to watch this highest-grossing film in Hong Kong's history. I quite liked this film—don't misunderstand, when I say I liked it, it doesn't mean I agree with the messages it conveys. I liked it because I could see in it the state of many practitioners, witness the collision between Eastern tradition and Western thinking, and observe what happens when Confucius and Shakyamuni encounter Voltaire and Simone de Beauvoir.

Hello Brother represents the state of many practitioners. Although he has spent his entire life in a profession helping the deceased escape from hell, he has never truly understood the meaning behind these traditional rituals. He simply follows the traditional requirements blindly, without knowing their true significance. Because the patriarchs said and did things a certain way, he does the same, never questioning whether these words are correct or delving into their deeper meaning. Therefore, people like him are easily led astray by seemingly reasonable but false teachings, easily conquered by Dao Sheng's apparently logical arguments. This is because he has never established true faith.

I have met many people like Hello Brother. They don't truly understand Buddhist dharma, yet they practice it. Although they don't understand it, they don't know that they don't understand. Sometimes they even stubbornly defend tradition. They persist in tradition not because they are absolutely certain it is right, but because tradition has become part of them, become part of their "self," merged with their identity. In others' eyes, they are tradition, and tradition is them. Defending tradition means defending their face and dignity, which is why they persist.

On the surface, they appear to be traditional practitioners, but due to a lack of genuine practice and guidance, they haven't truly and thoroughly embraced Buddhist dharma in their hearts, nor can they resist the impact of Western civilization. Therefore, when encountering the alluring Western culture that promises immediate results, they are quickly drawn to it. There are many such people in both Chinese and Tibetan regions. Though they may outwardly appear to be disciples of the Buddha, wearing Buddhist robes, their hearts have long since become followers of Voltaire and Steve Jobs.

For thousands of years in the past, practitioners lived in seclusion from the mundane world, but circumstances have changed now. Today's monastics are no longer the isolated mountain dwellers of the past who were removed from worldly affairs. Mobile internet has become widespread even in remote monastery areas. Even if you're staying in a deep mountain monastery in Western Sichuan, you can still see the latest trending topics and receive mobile greeting messages. Compared to waking up at four in the morning to chant the monotonous Kangyur in the main hall all day, scrolling through TikTok and playing games is certainly more entertaining. Mobile internet has brought convenience and Buddhist teachings, but it has also brought the Devil and his daughters.

Compared to practitioners living in the mountains, those living in cities are exposed to even more new ideas and concepts. If they don't have firm right view, they will almost certainly be conquered by the demons. Many modern popular ideas can be traced back to Voltaire and Simone de Beauvoir, and we are fed these Voltaire flakes and Beauvoir nutrition drinks through our phones every day. This is why many practitioners, though seemingly practicing, are simultaneously individualists and social Darwinists. This is probably because the fruits of spiritual practice don't come as quickly as becoming an individualist or social Darwinist.

The results of spiritual practice usually manifest in subtle ways; sometimes you can't even feel the so-called results at all. You practice dharma for many years but can neither fly nor become wealthy. When you have a cold, chanting sutras for several days seems less effective than taking a few pills of Molnupiravir. This can't help but make you doubt the efficacy of Buddhist dharma. Most people can't clearly feel the benefits brought by spiritual practice, but they can clearly experience the benefits and immediate pleasure brought by Western culture. Therefore, many people, while maintaining their Buddhist identity, have long since surrendered to Western civilization in their hearts—that has become their true refuge.

I know someone who immigrated to Australia. Once he told me about his faith in Buddhist dharma, speaking at length about it. I asked him, "If that's the case, why did you go to Australia?" He said it was because they have a better social security system there. If you believe that good medical care or social welfare systems are your true security, then your thinking is no different from that of ordinary people. Your entire value system is not Buddhist. It's like if you agree with Western medicine's claim that bone broth has no nutritional value, you would similarly believe that negative energy and dampness don't exist, and would consider Western lifestyle superior to Eastern. Likewise, you would have doubts about the existence of reincarnation and samsara. Because these concepts all come from the same source, they all belong to the same system. This system, since ancient Greek times, has only used that clumsy method to explore the world. They can only observe and analyze observable phenomena, and are completely helpless when it comes to intangible things like qi, so they can only dismiss it as ancient people's imagination.

There are many people like him. They practice Buddhism, recite Guru Rinpoche's prayers, while simultaneously seeking security from the Western system. For such people, praying for the guru's blessings is a joke. Unlike them, Brother Hello didn't immigrate to America or Canada; he stayed in Hong Kong. Although he didn't emigrate to Canada, it doesn't mean he has no doubts about the traditions passed down from the patriarchs. Therefore, when the traditional culture he inherited encountered Western civilization's opposition, although he appeared to be defending and counterattacking, because he didn't truly understand tradition nor verify its correctness, his defense appeared powerless and pale. So when his daughter Man-yue questioned him, "Didn't the patriarchs have mothers?" all he could do was repeatedly mutter those few phrases.

His son went even further. This man who grew up in 1980s Hong Kong received a completely Western education. He merely treated the family inheritance as a business venture. From beginning to end, he had no faith in these ancient rituals. He didn't believe these rituals could help the deceased, nor did he care whether they could. To him, it was just a way to make a living, no different from selling furniture at Wing On Department Store in Sheung Wan. Because of his education, he would feel that selling furniture at Wing On would be more respectable than his inherited profession. Therefore, he could convert to Catholicism for his son's extra school admission points, and then convert back later.

There are actually many such people now; I can see many of them in Buddhist circles. These people grew up in an environment completely opposite to Buddhist culture. They don't believe in Buddhist dharma or karma; they practice because their family members believe in Buddhism, because they inherited this profession. As for Dao Sheng, he represents those self-proclaimed clever secular people who treat everything as a business from start to finish. To make more money, he found a grand excuse for himself, telling Brother Hello that while the dead need to be saved from hell, the living need it even more.

To help the living escape hell, he could violate professional ethics by stealing ashes to give to the deceased's same-sex partner, could let Man-yue preside over the ritual to help Brother Hello escape hell, could break through all traditions—just to make clients feel he's a good person so they'll come back to him next time. The clients are pleased, but the effectiveness of saving souls from hell becomes quite questionable. While the feelings of the living certainly need to be respected, the focus of hell-breaking rituals is the deceased. You can't jeopardize the deceased's future just to make the living happy. Under such pretexts, you can do anything; all rules will be broken, all traditions will be destroyed, and eventually, all dharma lineages will cease to exist. It appears humanistic but is actually destroying the transmission. It seems considerate of others but is actually only for profit.

What Dao Sheng says seems reasonable but can only fool those who don't understand. I've met many people like him. They know basically nothing about Buddhist dharma; they just read a few books and question things based on their limited understanding. They think Buddhism shouldn't be this way or that way, that it should change. According to their thinking, Buddhism shouldn't have so many restrictions on monasticism; anyone should be able to become a monastic. They want to teach those who teach them dharma how to teach them dharma. Usually, I ignore such people because they're just seeking attention. What they need is education from 0 to 10,000. And I am an impatient person, so this task should be done by someone more patient.

If they had basic logic and intelligence, they should know that a tradition that has been passed down for thousands of years must have profound reasons. This is something verified by countless people who were smarter, more logical, and more critical than them, so it's not something that can be overturned by someone who has just read a few books. At Brother Hello's funeral, what Dao Sheng said to Brother Hello's colleagues was quite shallow, so shallow that I couldn't take it seriously. He insisted that hell-breaking was just a ritual, with the main purpose being to comfort the living. When an outsider is too much of an outsider, what they say will leave all insiders speechless. Because it's too easy to refute and has no value in refuting.

There are many people like him in Buddhism. They don't understand Buddhist dharma, don't believe in it, and don't cherish it. Buddhist dharma is just a tool for them to seek profit. Such people only want to please others, only want others to think well of them. They use Buddhist dharma to do favors, and for this, they can sacrifice any tradition. This is probably what is meant by "convenience leading to degradation."

Over the past century, the spread of Western education has given many people the illusion that they can judge everything. Because they have all received traditions from Voltaire and Simone de Beauvoir, they tend to think many things in traditional culture are ancient people's imagination. For instance, Brother Hello kept saying women are impure, women have menstruation, the patriarchs don't like it. Most modern people won't like such concepts because they have been bound by Voltaire's ideas and believe these are discrimination against women.

I don't know if these are ancient people's imagination, but I have seen evil-doers' faces grow darker and darker, seen that when people who seriously violate samaya touch mandala jewels, they become covered in a layer of black ash. So if someone tells me that negative energy is just ancient people's imagination, I can only feel compassion for them. Brother Hello, as an inheritor of this profession, although he spent his whole life helping others escape hell, he also faced the impact of Western culture and felt his faith being challenged. It's just that in East Asian society, most people are bound by face; even if they have doubts, they will bury these doubts deep in their hearts for the sake of face. As a locally famous hell-breaking Taoist priest, he could only insist on the patriarchs' teachings, although he himself might not deeply believe them.

No one knows if he might think at midnight about whether what he does has any meaning, whether people still exist after death, whether what he does actually helps them or if it's really as Dao Sheng says—that hell-breaking is just to help the living get rid of their psychological knots. This is an issue that exists for all practitioners, but most people are unwilling to discuss this awkward question. Most practitioners facing various new things coming at them are not prepared. They don't know how to respond, don't know how to reconcile the conflicts between their practice, faith, and modern ideas.

When a freedom-loving individualist comes to a Buddhist community and sees the "Fifty Verses of Guru Devotion," sees various precepts, they will feel that Buddhist practice is full of restrictions on freedom. You have to share the teacher's leftover food with your dharma brothers and sisters because it has blessings; you have to wash the teacher's socks, endure their bad temper; if they tell you to quit your job and beg on the streets, you have no choice. You must admit these things conflict greatly with what you learned at Princeton University.

In the past hundred years, traditional culture has been shattered by modern Western civilization. Even practitioners and those who make a living from traditional culture are no longer firm in their beliefs. For many people, it's just their way of making a living. I understand why this situation has occurred. We face our phones every day, face girls dressed in anime style, face gene editing therapy and Trump Coin, face city trains speeding past on elevated bridges. Growing up in such an era, the scenes described in Buddhist sutras seem as unreal as dreams.

All along, I have believed that the root of most people's problems in modern society lies in their respecting what should be despised, while despising what should be respected, respecting what shouldn't be respected, while not respecting what should be respected. This is the root of many of our problems. From this perspective, this film is no different from those feel-good movies; it's also a feel-good movie, the only difference being that its feel-good nature is deeply hidden. It humiliated things we should respect in a special artistic way. Dao Sheng and Man-yue probably represent the modern Hong Kong younger generation's understanding of this. In their view, many traditional rules are outdated garbage. They believe the living are most important. This isn't just their view; it's the view of most modern people. The underlying logic of this view denies the existence of the deceased and also makes traditional rituals like hell-breaking lose their meaning, becoming mere cultural heritage devoid of substance.

In the letter left for Man-yue, Brother Hello told his daughter, "I didn't know those words were hurting you all along." These words revealed his true values. Although he had been engaged in hell-breaking work and maintaining tradition, deep in his heart he had always been a modern person, which is why he would feel those words hurt her. After more than 2000 years of fermentation and misinterpretation, East Asian culture has developed extremely unskillful education methods among ordinary people. East Asian parents are accustomed to educating their children with stern faces; they never praise their children and are extremely strict with them. I can't say this is wrong, but it easily pushes children to the devil's side. The devil loves those who lack love; they will appear beside them, providing them with abundant self-satisfaction. It doesn't matter if you make mistakes; they will make you feel they are the ones who truly love you. Basically, if you want to hear pleasant words, words that don't hurt you, you can only find them from deceivers. Only deceivers can provide you with full emotional value. The words of sages are never pleasant to hear.

Laozi said the sage is not benevolent and treats the people as straw dogs. Shakyamuni Buddha said women have five obstacles. Jesus said let him who is without sin cast the first stone. In today's world where individualism runs rampant, we have all been spoiled. We can't bear to hear any truth; any truth will make you feel offended and hurt your fragile heart. Even TV dramas like "As If in Hell" can make you feel greatly hurt. What you need to know is that any truth is unpleasant to hear, but unpleasant words are what you should hear.

In today's world where Western culture sweeps across the globe, traditional education methods have been severely questioned, and new-generation parents are taught not to be harsh with their children. Hong Kong, as one of the earliest regions to be baptized by British civilization, appears on the surface to perfectly combine the essence of East and West, maintaining the appearance of traditional culture, but many people have actually long abandoned tradition. Even traditional cultural inheritors like Brother Hello can fall into this trap.

Imagine one day when Confucius and Shakyamuni meet Voltaire and Simone de Beauvoir. This is what happens to everyone in the film. Some are followers of Voltaire and Simone de Beauvoir from the start, while others struggle between Confucius, Shakyamuni, and Voltaire. Because of what we have been taught, all our standards for measuring advancement come from Voltaire's legacy. Using Voltaire's cognition and standards, you certainly won't conclude that Chinese culture is advanced. Western society has been devoted to material civilization since the Renaissance, and today material civilization has reached unprecedented abundance. Millions of trucks and cargo ships deliver goods around the world daily to satisfy our greed. You can drive to the supermarket and buy a week's worth of food, open your phone to watch people dancing worldwide, and walk into the bathroom to find hot water waiting for you. Most people will like such a life and consider it advanced. Even followers of Shakyamuni won't refuse a hot shower. As they say, Confucianism and Buddhism never invented phonographs or chrome film, nor did they create shower heads and central air conditioning—so what have they been doing for thousands of years? As far as I know, they have been doing the most important things: studying how to solve our fundamental afflictions, researching the root of all human problems, examining the ultimate questions we must face. Therefore, they are doing what matters most. For us, the most important things are how to solve our suffering, how to transcend life and death, how to attain happiness. There are many less important matters, such as who becomes the U.S. president, how to conquer AIDS, how to make goods circulate quickly, or how to make shower water gentler. These are all less important matters. Studying these things not only fails to solve our problems but adds to them. Yet most people are addicted to these unimportant things. Of course, I never fantasize that the general public could understand these things. Most people can only see the convenience and happiness brought by Voltaire, Simone de Beauvoir, and Adam Smith, but cannot see the price they must pay for these conveniences. Therefore, people like Brother Hello, although still following and even defending tradition, have already surrendered in their hearts. I don't mean to blame him—he's just an ordinary person, and in this era, it's almost impossible not to be conquered by Western culture. Few people can see the problems brought by Western culture; even fewer can understand these issues, and fewer still would support Eastern culture while Western culture dominates the world. After all, that risks being seen as a spokesperson for backwardness and decay by the whole world. However, regardless, Voltaire and Simone de Beauvoir may bring you temporary happiness, but ultimately, it is an endless path of suffering because it is built upon a non-existent self.

Written by Lingshan Hermit on January 14, 2025

First published on January 20, 2025

灵山居士：当孔子释迦牟尼遭遇伏尔泰和西蒙.波娃

我不是个完美的人，但却是个极端的完美主义者。作为极端的完美主义者，我对自他都有着超乎寻常的期待和要求。有时候这会让我和周围人的关系变得紧张。作为极端的完美主义者，我不太能容忍别人的愚蠢，更不能容忍自己不努力，而最不能容忍的则是空耗时光。微信公众号告诉我在2024年我写了34·6万字。平均每天接近一千字。这比较接近我对自己的要求。在过去的几年时间里，我一直在忙于修法和写作，我修了900多座大会供，写了几百篇文章，这让我稍觉宽慰，觉得自己并未虚度光阴。因为一直在忙于这些事情，我就很少有时间干别的，所以当某天有人问我对那部香港电影有什么看法的时候，我能告诉他的是我还没看，虽然我一直都想看，但是一直都没找出空闲的时间。前几天我偶尔找了个空档，去看了一下这部香港史上票房最高的电影。我很喜欢这部电影，不要误会，我说喜欢并不表示这部电影所传递的东西是我所赞成的。我喜欢这部电影是因为我能从电影里看到很多修行者的状态，能看到东方传统和西方思维的碰撞，能看到当孔子释迦牟尼遭遇伏尔泰和西蒙波娃所发生的事。Hello文哥代表了很多修行者的状态，虽然他一辈子都在从事为亡人破地狱这样的职业，但是他却并未搞清楚这些传统仪轨的含义，他只是稀里糊涂��照传统要求去做，却并不知道这些要求真正的含义。因为祖师爷是这么说这么做的，所以他也这么说这么做，他从没想过这些话对不对，也从未深究这些话的内涵，所以像他这样的人很容易被那些看似有道理的邪说带着走，很容易被道生那些貌似有理的话征服。因为他从未建立起过真正的信心。我见过很多像Hello文哥这样的人，他们并不真正了解佛法，但是他们却在修持佛法。虽然他们并不懂佛法，但是他们并不知道自己不懂。甚至在某些时候他们还会很坚持传统。他们会坚持传统，并不是因为他们非常确定那是对的，而是因为传统已经成为他们的一部分，已经是他们“自我”的一部分，已经和他们合二为一，在别人眼里他们就是传统，传统就是他们，维护传统就是维护他们的面子和尊严，所以他们才会坚持。从表面上看他们是传统的修行人，但是因为缺乏真正的修行和指导，他们内心深处并没有真正彻底信服佛法，也无法抵御西方文明的冲击。所以当遇到极具魅惑力能提供即时结果的西方文化，他们很快就被吸引过去了。这样的人在汉地藏地都有很多，表面上看他们还是佛陀的弟子，穿着佛陀的法衣，但是内心却早已经是伏尔泰和乔布斯的追随者。在过去的几千年里，修行者一直都是远离尘嚣，但是现在情况已然改变，现在的出家众早已不再是过去深山里不闻世事的人，移动互联网已经在很多边远地区的寺庙普及，即便你是待在川西的深山里也能看到最新热搜能收到移动的问候短信。相对于每天凌晨四点起来在大殿里念一整天枯燥的《甘珠尔》，刷抖音打游戏当然要好玩的多。移动互联网带来了便捷，带来了佛法开示，同时也带来了魔王和他的女儿们。比起生活在深山里的修行者，那些生活在城市里的修行人，他们所接受的新想法新观念只会更多，假如他们没有坚固的正见，他们几乎必然会被魔女们攻陷。现代很多流行思想的源头都可以追溯到伏尔泰和西蒙波娃，而我们每天都在通过手机被喂食这些伏尔泰麦片和波娃营养液，这就是为什么很多修行人虽然貌似在修行，但是他们同时又是个人主义者和社会达尔文主义者。这大概是因为修行的成果并不像当一个个人主义者或是社会达尔文主义者那样来的迅捷。修行的成果通常会显现的比较细微，有时候你甚至根本感觉不到所谓的成果。你修了很多年的法，但是既不能飞天也没有暴富，感冒了几天念经也不管用还没有吃几片玛巴洛沙韦管用。这不能不让你怀疑佛法的效力。大多数人并不能明显感受到修行所带来的好处，但是却能明显体验到西方文化所带来的好处和即时快乐，所以很多人虽然还保持着佛教徒的身份，但是在内心深处早已经拜服于西方文明，那才是他真正的依怙。我认识一个移民澳大利亚的人，有一回他跟我说他对佛法的信心，他说了一大堆。我问他既然如此你为何会去澳大利亚？他说因为那边有更好的社会保障体系。如果你觉得好的医疗或是社会福利系统才是你的保障，那么你的想法和大多数普通人并无不同。你的整个价值体系就不是佛教的。就像是如果你同意西医的说法认为骨头汤毫无营养，那你同样也会认为晦气和湿气是不存在的，会认为西式生活方式优于东方，同样的，对于是否存在转世轮回你也会存疑。因为这些观念都师出同门，都是出自同一体系。这一体系从古希腊时期开始就只会用那种笨笨的方法来探索世界，他们只能对可观测到的现象作观察分析，对于气这种无形的东西他们完全束手无策，所以只能把它归为古人的臆想。像他这样的人其实很多，他们一边做着佛教徒，一边念着莲师祈祷文，一边又想要西方体系的保障。这样的人祈祷上师加持就是个笑话。和他们不同的是，文哥没有移民美国加拿大，他还待在香港。虽然他没移民加拿大，但并不表示他对于来自祖师爷的传统毫不怀疑。所以，当他所继承的传统文化在遭遇西方文明阻击的时候，他虽然看起来是在坚守是在反击，但因为他并不真正明白传统也没有验证过传统的正确性，所以，他的坚守显得毫无力度又苍白无比。所以当他女儿文玥反问他“祖师爷没有妈吗？”的时候，他能做的就只是反复念叨那几句话。而他儿子比他更进一步，这个生长在八十年代香港的男人，他所接受的完全就是西式的教育，他只是把家族的传承当成一种生意在做，从头到尾他都对这些古老的仪式毫无信心，他并不相信这些仪式能帮助到亡人，他也并不关心这些仪式能不能帮助到亡人，对他而言，那只是他讨生活的一种方式，和在上环永安百货卖家具并无二致。因为他所受的教育，他会觉得比起他所继承的职业在永安百货卖家具会更有体面。所以，他可以为了儿子加分而去改信天主教。之后还能改回来。这样的人现在其实很多，我能在佛教圈看到很多这样的人。这些人生长在一种和佛教文化完全相反的环境里，他们不相信佛法，不相信因果，他们去修行是因为家里人都信佛，是因为他继承了这个职业。而道生则是那种自以为聪明的世俗人，他自始至终都是把这件事当成生意在做，为了能赚更多的钱，他给自己找了个伟大的借口，他对文哥说亡人需要破地狱，活人更需要破地狱。为了帮活人破地狱，他可以不顾职业道德偷骨灰给死者的同性爱人，可以让文玥主持帮文哥破地狱的仪式，可以突破所有的传统，只是为了让客户感觉他是个好人，下次再来找他。客户是被讨好了，但是破地狱的效果却相当堪忧。活人的感受当然需要被尊重，但是破地狱的重点是亡人，你不能为了让活人高兴而罔顾亡人的前途。在这样的借口之下，你可以去做任何事，所有的规矩都会被打破，所有的传统都会被破坏，最后所有的道统都将不复存在。看似人性化实质却是在破坏传承。看似为他人着想其实只是为了利益。道生所说的那些话貌似有理，却只能哄哄那些不懂的人。我见过很多像他这样的人，他们对佛法基本上是一无所知，他们只是看了几本书，就以自己的那点认知去质疑。认为佛教不应该这样不应该那样，应该做出改变。按照他们的想法，佛教不应该对出家有那么多限制，应该什么样的人都可以出家。他们想要教那些教他们佛法的人如何教他们佛法。通常这样的人我都不予理睬。因为他们是在寻找存在感。他们需要的是从0到10000的普及。而我是个缺乏耐心的人，所以这件事应该由更有耐心的人去做。假如他们有基本的逻辑和智商，就应该知道，一个传承了几千年的传统必然有它深刻的道理，这是无数比他更聪明更有逻辑更有批判性的人所验证过的东西，所以不是看了几本书的人就能推翻的。在文哥的葬礼上，道生对文哥那些同行所说的话相当浅薄，浅薄到我都无法认真对待。他坚持破地狱只是一个仪式，最重要的目的是安抚活人。当一个外行太外行的时候，他说出来的话会让所有的内行都无语。因为太容易驳斥而毫无驳斥的价值。佛教里有很多像他这样的人，他们不懂佛法，也不相信佛法，更不珍惜佛法，佛法只是他们谋利的工具，这样的人他们只想讨好别人，只想让别人觉得自己好，他们拿佛法做人情，为此他们可以牺牲任何传统。所谓方便出下流，大概就是这个意思。

近一个世纪以来，西式教育的普及让很多人产生了一种自己能判断所有事的错觉，因为所接受的都是来自伏尔泰和西蒙波娃的传统，所以他们会觉得传统文化里很多东西都是古人的臆想。譬如文哥一直在说的女人污秽，女人有月经，祖师爷不喜欢。大多数现代人不会喜欢这样的观念，因为他们早已被伏尔泰的理念捆绑，认为这些都是对女性的歧视。我不知道这些是不是古人的臆想，但我见过作恶的人脸色越来越黑，见过严重违反三昧耶的人所触碰的曼扎宝石都会蒙上一层黑色的灰，所以如果有人告诉我晦气只是古人的臆想，我只会悲悯他。文哥作为这个行业的传承人，虽然他一辈子都在为人破地狱，但他同样面对西方文化的冲击，同样也感受到自己信仰受到冲击。只是在东亚社会里大多数人拘于面子，即便是有疑问，为了面子他们也会把这些疑问深埋于心。作为当地著名的破地狱道士，他只能坚持祖师爷的说法，虽然他自己也未必深信。没有人知道他会不会在午夜梦回时想一下自己这么做到底有没有意义，想一下人死了到底还有没有存在，想一下自己所做的对他们到底有没有作用还是真的像道生说的那样破地狱只是为了帮活着的人摆脱心结。这同样是存在于所有修行者身上的问题，只是大多数人不愿去讨论这个尴尬的问题而已。大多数修行者面对着各种扑面而来的新事物，他们并没有准备好。他们不知道如何应对，不知道如何理顺自己的修行信仰和现代理念之间的冲突。当一个向往自由的个人主义者来到佛教团体看到《事师五十颂》，看到各种戒律，他会觉得佛教修持里充满了各种不自由。你要去和师兄弟们分享老师吃剩的食物，因为那样有加持；你要去给老师洗袜子，要忍受他的暴脾气；如果他让你辞掉工作沿街乞讨，你也别无选择。你必须承认这些和你在普林斯顿大学学到的东西存在着很大的冲突。在过去的一百年里，传统文化已经被现代西方文明冲击的支离破碎。即便是那些修行者和以传统文化为生的人也都不再坚定，对很多人而言，那只是他们��生的方式。我理解为何会出现这样的情况，我们每天都对着手机，对着二次元打扮女生，对着基因编辑疗法和川普币，对着高架桥上飞驰而过的城市列车，生长在这样的时代，佛经里所描述的场景都像是梦一样虚幻。

一直以来，我都认为，现代社会多数人所遭遇的问题根源在于他们尊敬那些该鄙视的，却鄙视那些该尊敬的，尊重那些不应该尊重的，却不尊重那些应该尊重的，这是我们很多问题的根源。从这个意义上来说，这部电影和那些爽片并无差别，它同样是爽片，区别只在于它是那种隐藏的很深的爽。他把那些我们应该尊重的东西以特殊的文艺方式羞辱了一番。道生和文玥大概代表了现代香港年轻一代对此的认知。在他们看来，很多传统的规矩都是过时的垃圾，他们认为活着的人才最重要，这不只是他们的想法，这也是大多数现代人的想法。这种想法的底层逻辑否定了死者的存在，也让破地狱这种传统仪式失去了存在的意义，成为了徒具形式的文化遗产。在留给文玥的信里，文哥对女儿说：“我不知道那些话一直都在伤害你。”这些话暴露了他真实的价值观，虽然他一直在从事破地狱的工作，一直在维护传统，但在内心深处他一直都是个现代人，所以他才会觉得那些话伤害了她。东亚文化经过2000多年的发酵和曲解，在普通人身上展现出了极不善巧的教育方式，东亚父母们都习惯于板着脸教育孩子，他们从不赞美孩子，对孩子极为严格。我不能说这是错的。但是这很容易把孩子推到魔鬼那边。魔鬼最喜欢那些缺爱的人，他们会出现在他们身边，为他们提供充裕的自我满足感，你犯了错也无所谓，他会让你觉得他才是爱你的。基本上，如果你想听好听的话，不伤害你的话，只有去找骗子，只有骗子能提供你满满的情绪价值。圣人的话都不太好听。老子说圣人不仁以百姓为刍狗，释迦牟尼佛说女人是五漏之身，耶稣说你们中间谁是没有罪的谁就可以去砸她。在个人主义泛滥的今天，我们每个人都被惯坏了，我们听不得任何真话，任何真话都会让你感觉被冒犯，都会伤害你的玻璃心。连《宛如阿修罗》这样的电视剧都能让你感受到巨大的伤害。你要知道的是，任何真话都不好听，但是不好听的话才是你该听的。

在西方文化席卷全球的今天，传统的教育方式受到了严厉的质疑，新生代的父母被教导不可以对孩子疾声厉色。香港作为最早被英国文明洗礼的地区，从表面上看他完美结合了西方和东方的精髓，保持着传统文化的表象，但是很多人其实都早已弃离了传统。连文哥这样的传统文化继承者都会踩进这个坑。

想像有一天当孔子释迦牟尼遇到伏尔泰和西蒙波娃。这就是发生在电影里每个人身上的事。有人从一开始就是伏尔泰西蒙波娃的信徒，有人则挣扎在孔子释迦牟尼和伏尔泰之间。因为我们一直被教导的内容，我们所有衡量先进与否的标准来自伏尔泰的传承，用伏尔泰的认知和伏尔泰的标准，你当然不会得出中国文化先进的结论。西方社会从文艺复兴时期开始就致力于物质文明，发展至今物质文明已经达到前所未有的丰富，每天有数百万辆卡车货轮把货物送到世界各地以满足我们的贪欲，你开车去超市就能买到一个礼拜的食物，打开手机就能看到全世界的人跳舞，走进浴室就有热水等着你。大多数人会喜欢这样的生活，会觉得这样的生活很先进。即便是释迦牟尼的追随者，也不会拒绝热水澡。正如他们所言，儒家佛教未曾发明过唱片机和克罗姆胶卷，也没有做出花洒和中央空调，所以他们几千年都做了些什么？就我所知，他们在做最重要的事，在研究如何解决我们的根本烦恼，研究人类所有问题的根源，研究我们最终要面对的问题，所以，他们是在做最重要的事。对我们而言，最重要的事是如何解决我们的痛苦，如何超越生死，如何得到快乐。而不那么重要的事有很多，譬如谁去当美国总统，怎么才能攻克艾滋病，如何让商品快速流通如何让花洒出水柔和。这些都是不那么重要的事。研究这些不但解决不了我们的问题，还会增加我们的问题。但是大多数人都沉迷在这些不重要的事情上面。当然，我从不幻想社会大众能理解这些，大多数人只能看到伏尔泰、西蒙波娃、亚当·斯密们所带给他们的便利和快乐，而看不到为了这些便利所要付出的代价。所以，像文哥这样的人，虽然还在遵循传统，甚至还在坚守传统，但是内心也早就已经沦陷。我没有指责他的意思，他只是个普通人，生在这个时代，想不被西方文化征服几乎不可能。没有几个人能看出西方文化所带来的问题，甚至都没有几个人能听懂这些，更没几个人会在西方文化统御全世界的时候还能力挺东方文化。毕竟，那是要冒着被全世界视为落后腐朽代言人的危险。但是，无论如何，伏尔泰和西蒙波娃会带给你一时的快乐，但是最终，那是一条无尽的痛苦之路，因为它是建立在一个不存在的自我之上。

灵山居士写于2025年1月14日，首发于2025年1月20日

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lingshanhermit · 21 days ago

Text

Lingshan Hermit: The Clever Fools of the World

A squid was floating on the surface of the sea when someone tried to catch it with a net. The squid, sensing danger, darted left and right, trying to avoid the net from above. Then it released ink into the water, spreading like black smoke all around. However, the person was in a boat, and the squid was near the surface - all its actions were clearly visible from above. In moments, it was caught. The squid released ink to confuse creatures in the water, but while its ink might confuse other aquatic creatures at its level, it cannot deceive humans, much less heaven. From above, all its actions are visible, just as humans observe ants.

In ancient times, Lord Indra, using his divine powers, foresaw his own bad karma ripening. Frightened, he searched heaven and earth for escape, eventually hiding inside a clam shell, but still could not avoid the consequences. If even Lord Indra with his powers could not escape, how could ordinary people with abilities far inferior to his? The name "squid" (which contains the character for "thief" in Chinese) existed since the Tang and Song dynasties, showing how the ancients despised its character.

The clever fools of the world are just like this squid. They think their schemes are so ingenious that no one knows about them. They exhaust themselves setting up elaborate traps, quietly stealing others' livelihood, and taking wealth from thousands of households without raising waves. Though people might not understand their schemes, heaven and earth understand, and spirits know. These people try to blind heaven and deceive karma, their wisdom matching that of the squid. The squid releases ink wanting to blind people's eyes to escape. The clever fools of the world do the same, but while they might deceive people, how could they deceive karma?

In the eyes of the celestial beings, bodhisattvas, and the ten kings of hell, all their lifetime's actions are crystal clear, even down to a single unwholesome thought arising when they're alone. Heaven cannot be deceived. Those who try to deceive heaven will surely be devoured by heaven. No matter how exhaustively they calculate, how clever their schemes, how thoroughly they try to cover their tracks, to heaven it's all futile.

Lingshan Hermit

Written on January 15, 2025, first published on January 15, 2025.

灵山居士：世间之聪慧愚者

有乌贼浮游于海面，人欲抄网捕之。乌贼觉，左突右闪，为避天网。后喷墨于水，周边如黑烟廓散。然人处船中，鱼浮于水面，鱼所作为人皆能尽收眼底。须臾，即为人所获。乌贼喷墨于水，为惑水中物也，然其墨可惑水中同维之物，不可惑人，更不可惑天，于高处观之其所作为尽收眼底，如人观蚁虫。

昔帝释天以神通观见己之恶业将熟，心生怖畏，上天入地以求避之，后藏于蚌壳之中亦不能得免。以帝释之能，尚不能避，世人之神通能耐较帝释天若何？乌贼之名，唐宋时已有之，其名含一贼字，可见古人鄙薄其德。世间之聪慧愚者，皆如此乌贼也，谓自家做的巧妙人皆不知，费尽心机设局下套，于无声处夺他人赖生之资，不起波澜而取万户之财，人虽不解其局然天地解鬼神知，此辈欲遮天之目、瞒哄因果，智与乌贼齐矣。乌贼喷墨为欲遮人眼目，以遁其身。世间之聪慧愚者亦是如此，然世人可瞒，因果岂受汝欺。于诸天菩萨十殿阎君眼中，汝生平所为者，皆历历可见，乃至于无人处暗生一念亦昭昭然。天不可欺也，欲欺天者天必遭天噬，饶你机关算尽，机巧诡谲，百般遮盖，于天而言皆徒劳也。

灵山居士写于2025年1月15日，首发于2025年1月15日。

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lingshanhermit · 24 days ago

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Lingshan Hermit: For Spiritual Practitioners, Doubt Leads to Failure in All Things, Doubt Brings Everything to an End

Chinese characters, among all the world's writing systems, stand uniquely distinguished. I often marvel at the ingenuity of ancient Chinese in creating characters, where one can see their profound insight into worldly affairs and human nature everywhere. Take the character "碍" (obstruction) for example - its traditional form "礙" is a combination of "stone" (石) and "doubt" (疑). The greatest obstacle in one's spiritual practice is doubt. When merit is insufficient, various doubts arise; with doubt comes lack of faith; without faith, one cannot follow the teachings, reducing spiritual practice to mere formality, leaving an empty shell without spirit, which will inevitably be exploited and overwhelmed by demons.

Such practitioners often doubt their teachers, suspecting them of ulterior motives, questioning their attainment, doubting whether they are withholding the profound teachings, and suspecting them of favoring others while slighting themselves. Harboring such thoughts causes their field of merit to dry up, and the virtuous inheritance accumulated over many lifetimes is completely squandered. Therefore, for spiritual practitioners, doubt leads to failure in all things, doubt brings everything to an end. Doubt is like a massive stone blocking the path, preventing the completion of spiritual practice. Without removing doubt, the path will surely be lost. However, this matter relates to past karma, personal character, and merit, and cannot be easily changed by human effort alone.

Over the years, I have observed that those who are pure in thought, with little doubt and deceit, typically come from regions influenced by Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. These places are prosperous, their people are less greedy, and their ancestors maintained spiritual practices, resulting in descendants who are wise and less doubtful. The opposite is true for those prone to doubt - they come from places untouched by Buddhism and Confucianism, where predators roam freely, and they witness only deceit in their youth. When they grow up, they consider themselves worldly-wise but are actually ignorant and cunning. In their eyes, everyone is a fraud, everything is a scheme, all actions are self-serving, and even sages and bodhisattvas are merely people in disguise. For such people to eliminate doubt is as impossible as removing the blackness from a crow or the fishiness from a fish.

Lingshan Hermit

Written on January 11, 2025, first published on January 12, 2025.

灵山居士：修道之人，疑则诸事败，疑则万事休

中华之文字，于万国文字中卓荦超群也。余常叹古汉人造字之巧妙，处处可见其于世事人心洞察之深。如碍之一字（礙），其正体字为石疑二字之合。吾人修道之大障碍，疑也。福不足则生诸疑，有疑则无信，无信则不能依教而行，令修道流于形式，徒具形而无神，后必为魔所趁、为魔所覆。此类修道者常疑于师，疑师有私，亦疑师修证，疑师不以妙法相授，疑师重他而轻己。常怀此等心思，令其福田干涸，累世所积功德家业，尽数败光。是以，修道之人，疑则诸事败，疑则万事休。疑之一事，如大石阻路，令修道不成。不除疑则道必亡丧。然此事关乎宿业人品福德，非人力可轻转。余历年所见心思纯正少疑少诈者，皆生释儒道所覆之地，其地富庶，其人少贪，祖上又有香火之德，令子孙多智而少疑。多疑者则反之，其所生处释儒不覆，虎狼纵横，幼时所见皆诡诈，及长成时自谓通透畅达实则蒙昧鸡贼。其人眼中，人人皆骗徒，处处皆套路，所行皆为己，圣贤菩萨亦是人装扮。此等人若要除疑，如鸦之去黑、鱼之去腥，渺不可得也。

灵山居士写于2025年1月11日，首发于2025年1月12日。

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lingshanhermit · 26 days ago

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Lingshan Hermit: Is There No Truth in This World, Only Perspectives?

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche said: "There is no truth in this world, only perspectives." I don't know if Nietzsche actually said this, and I'm too lazy to check. Perhaps Barbara Streisand or Clark Gable said it. It doesn't matter. If this is Nietzsche's view, it perfectly demonstrates the limits of secular philosophical thinking. In the West, due to the lack of meditation traditions and experiential practice, even top philosophers like Nietzsche appear inadequate when confronting such matters. In their era, they only encountered ordinary people who interpreted things from their own perspectives, never meeting those who had broken through the limitations of the six senses (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind) to directly perceive the essence of phenomena as non-dual with phenomena themselves.

Due to the lack of methods for investigating reality, Western society, since ancient Greece, could only use crude methods like test tubes and petri dishes—now quantum computers—to understand the world. They never explored true reality—at most only reaching its edges. Therefore, from Aristotle to Voltaire to Nietzsche, then to Emmanuel Mounier and Wittgenstein, they could only contemplate the world within their limited cognition. What they could see was that everyone interprets and explains phenomena from their own perspective, but they never experienced phenomena without interpretation—phenomena uninvolved with the six senses' interpretation, phenomena unpolluted by concepts, those manifestations embracing emptiness.

All manifestations are inherently thus: they are neither yellow nor sky blue, neither round nor square, they have no size, no inside or outside, nor any value you assign to them. They are not human, not stone, not amphibian, not anything you define them to be. All these classifications and definitions are human-created labels, forcibly attached, having nothing to do with things themselves. Westerners are very keen on naming everything they can find. If they discover a new species, they immediately name it; even asteroids millions of kilometers away aren't spared. They are eager to distinguish things by color, size, shape, function, category, and value. They easily forget that these definitions were created by themselves or their ancestors, not inherent to the things themselves. They also rarely remember that a so-called car is just 25,000 parts assembled together. Such cultural and thinking habits undoubtedly deepen our ignorance and reinforce our notion that things exist independently and truly.

We might think a grouse has always been called a grouse, even before human civilization emerged. From Buddha's perspective, all phenomena are constantly arising and ceasing, changing, so nothing has ever truly existed as we think it does. Therefore, naming something that constantly changes and has no essence, and developing the illusion of its continuous existence, is the root of our suffering. Nietzsche's idea that different perspectives lead to different interpretations of the world, hence there is no truth but only perspectives, is a recognition made under ignorance. It already confirms that all things truly exist, only differing in the interpretation of their relationships, superiority, and inferiority. To Buddhist enlightened ones, this interpretation is an error built upon error, fiction built upon fiction, thus having no possibility of being correct. Because nothing has ever truly existed.

If you want to say a flower is beautiful or ugly, there must first be a flower existing. But there has never been a flower. Just as a dress is just fabric sewn together, a wine glass is just glass shaped in a particular way, a bed is just assembled wooden boards and paint. Therefore, they are neither dress, nor glass, nor bed, so any right or wrong occurring on these never-existed things becomes even more illusory. But we recognize them as dress, glass, bed, as men and women, and then create various stories in the world composed of dresses, glasses, and beds. By the way, all theories developed by Western society over thousands of years—from individualism to feminism to social Darwinism—are all built upon this illusory, baseless foundation.

Like the general public, Western philosophers are also confined by the six senses and various human-made concepts. Although they appear smarter than most people, from an enlightened person's perspective, they are equally ordinary people enslaved by the six senses and deceived by the "self." All their philosophical thinking is built on an incorrect foundation—that all things truly exist. I've seen some of the best philosophers doubt the true existence of things, their thinking touching upon the various causes and conditions that existence depends on, but their understanding is limited to the thinking level. Having never experienced the emptiness of things, they soon forget all this. Therefore, what they can see is that everyone interprets phenomena according to their karma and habitual cognition, but they have never seen the omniscient ones who transcend these, never seen those who can hear with their eyes and see with their ears, using the six senses interchangeably. From this perspective, Western philosophers are also a group of people in urgent need of broadening their horizons.

Lingshan Hermit

January 9, 2025, first published on January 10, 2025.

灵山居士：这个世界没有真相，只有视角吗？

弗里德里希·尼采（Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche）说：这个世界没有真相，只有视角。我不知道这句话是不是尼采说的，我也懒得去查。也许是芭芭拉·史翠珊或是克拉克·盖博说的也不一定。这不重要。如果这是尼采的观点，这恰好证明了世俗哲学家思考所能达到的极限。在西方，因为缺乏修行的传统和体验，即便是尼采这样的顶级哲学家遇到这种事情也会显得捉襟见肘。在他们生活的年代，他们只见过从自己的角度去解释事物的凡夫，而从未见过那种冲破眼耳鼻舌身意局限直视现象本质与现象无二的人。因为缺乏探究事物的方法，西方社会从古希腊时期开始只能用烧杯培养皿——现在变成了量子计算机——这类笨方法来了解世界，他们也从未探究到真正的实相——最多只是探究到边缘。所以从亚里士多德到伏尔泰到尼采再到艾曼纽·穆尼埃、维特根斯坦，他们只能在有限的认知里去思考世界。他们所能看到的就是每个人都是从自己的角度去解读现象，去诠释现象，但是他们却从未体验过那种未经解释的现象、那种没有被眼耳鼻舌身意参与解释的现象、没有被概念染污的现象、那些拥抱空性的显现。一切显现本来就是如此，他们既不是黄色也不是天蓝色、既不是圆形也不是四方形、他们没有大小、没有内外、也没有你所赋予的所谓价值。他们不是人类，不是石材，不是两栖动物，不是你所定义的任何样子，所有这些分类定义都是人类创造的标签，强制贴上去的，与事物本身毫无关系。西方人非常热衷于给所有的事物命名，他们命名所有能找得到的东西，假如他们发现了一个没见过的物种，他们马上就会给它命名，连几百万公里之��的小行星也未能幸免。他们热衷于把事物从颜色大小形状用途所属科目以及价值来做区分。他们很容易就忘掉了那些东西都是自己或自己祖先定义的，而不是它们本身自带的。他们也很不容易想起来所谓汽车只是2.5万个零件堆在一起。这样的文化和思维习惯无疑加深了我们的无明，��固了我们认为事物是独立真实存在的观念。我们会以为松鸡一直都是叫松鸡，远在人类文明出现之前它也是叫松鸡。从佛的角度来看，所有的现象都在不断地生灭变化，因此没有任何事物如我们所认为的那般真实存在过。所以命名一个不断变化且毫无本质的东西并对它生起持续性的存在幻觉是我们痛苦的根源。而尼采所谓的因为视角不同，所以对世界的认知解读不同，因此没有真相只有视角。这种认知则是在无明之下，已经确认了万事万物真实存在，只是对万事万物互相之间关系万事万物优劣高下的解读不同而已。在佛教证悟者看来，这种解读是建立在错误上的错误，是建立在虚构上的虚构，因此没有任何对的可能性。因为从来没有任何事物真实存在过。如果你要说一朵花美或是丑，首先要有一朵花存在才可以。但是从来就没有过一朵花。就像是裙子只是缝合在一起的布，酒杯只是玻璃被打造成特定的形状，床只是拼合在一起的木板和油漆，所以它们既不是裙子、也不是杯子、更不是床，所以在这些从未存在过的事物上面所发生的是非对错就更加虚无缥缈。但我们会认为它们是裙子是杯子是床、是男人和女人，然后在裙子杯子和床组成的世界里生起各种故事。顺便提醒一句，西方社会这几千年所发展出来的所有理论无不是建立于此——从个人主义到女性主义再到社会达尔文主义，它们全都建立在这个虚无缥缈毫无基础的基础上。

和社会大众一样，西方哲学家也同样受困于眼耳鼻舌身意、受困于各种人造的概念。虽然他们看上去比大多数人聪明，但从证悟者的角度来看，他们一样是被眼耳鼻舌身意奴役、被“自我”欺骗的普通人，他们所有的哲学思考都建立在一个错误的基础上——也就是万事万物真实存在——我见过有些最优秀的哲学家曾经怀疑过事物存在的真实性，他们的思维触及到了事物存在所要依赖的各种因缘，但他们的认知也仅限于思维层面。因为从未体验过事物的空性，他们转头就会忘了这一切。所以他们所能看到的是每个人都按照自己的业力和习惯性认知去解读现象，却从未见过超越这些的遍知者，从未见过用眼睛听用耳朵看六根互用的人。从这个角度来说，西方哲学家也是一群亟需见见世面的人。

灵山居士2025年1月9日，首发于2025年1月10日。

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lingshanhermit · 28 days ago

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Lingshan Hermit: Most Rebellious Behaviors Are Just Alternative Expressions of Human Greed, Anger, and Ignorance

Usually, what we call rebellious behavior is merely an alternative expression of human greed, anger, and ignorance. Due to greed, you don't get what you want, or you feel what you get isn't enough—you feel you haven't received enough love and attention, haven't got enough sense of security. Due to ignorance, you believe that getting enough love and attention will make you happy, so you seek it in various ways. Due to anger, you become enraged when you don't get what you want and do things to attract the other person's attention—like sleeping with their best friend or using their credit card to buy a bunch of useless things—this is the origin of most rebellious behaviors. All such rebellion stems from an unfulfilled "ego," stems from greed, anger, and ignorance. Most rebellious behaviors contain an element of spite; the rebels feel they haven't received enough attention, they hope you will understand, they express their dissatisfaction by dating punks, or getting nose piercings and tattooing Shaquille O'Neal on their arms, sometimes even urinating on your iPad to attract your attention—my cat does this. If it wants food and happens to find its bowl empty, it will jump onto the table and then onto the clothes rack, indicating its bowl is empty. Humans are the same way; when their "ego" isn't fulfilled, they become anxious and agitated, they can't stand seeing you in peaceful contentment, can't tolerate seeing you appearing not angry at all, so they burst into your world, disrupt your order, to remind you of their existence. If you want them to be quiet, they will definitely make some noise. And the only reason they won't do what you say is because you want them to do what you say, so they don't do it. You want her to be obedient, want her not to date early, not to throw used underwear around, but they don't want you to get your way, they want to give you some trouble, so they do the opposite of what you want. This is rebellion that occurs within families, and some occurs outside; some people display their rebellion before the whole world, they dress in a way that hurts the eyes, such people are called trendy fashion artists, while others often say shocking things, but from my observation, most such rebellion also stems from greed, anger, and ignorance. In the past, many people would connect this kind of rebellion with awakening and progress, but this rebellion has nothing to do with awakening, nor does it contain any profound reasons; it merely comes from a need to highlight the existence of the "ego," rooted still in a lack of love and sufficient sense of security. This kind of rebellion seeks more attention and "ego" satisfaction through offensive means. Most human rebellious behaviors are based on this ignorance—from middle school children to attention-seeking online bloggers to trendy fashion artists on New York streets. They want to appear different, so they do some shocking things to gain more attention and satisfaction. This is the logic behind most rebellious behaviors.

However, there have also been some true rebels in history whose rebellion was not based on greed, anger, and ignorance, but on transcendent insight and concern for all beings. Such people usually possess extremely high talent and wisdom, and their rebellious behavior is based on correcting the long-term misconceptions of the majority. These people have a profound understanding of the world; they clearly know that most people are making mistakes, clearly know where they are wrong, know where the devil hides. Therefore, their rebellious behavior is a correction of the majority's misconceptions, not that kind of emotional reactive expression arising from lack of love, not rebellion for rebellion's sake controlled by greed, anger, and ignorance.

Written by Lingshan Hermit on January 6, 2025, first published on January 8, 2025.

灵山居士：大多数叛逆行为都只是人类贪嗔痴的另类表达

通常我们所谓的叛逆行为都只是人类贪嗔痴的另类表达。因为贪欲，你想要的东西没有得到，或者你觉得得到的还不够多——你觉得自己没有得到足量的爱和关注，没有足够的安全感。因为痴，你认为只要得到了足够的爱和关注就会快乐，所以你会以各种方式去索取。因为嗔，你会因为没有得到想要的东西而愤怒从而做出一些能吸引对方注意力的事情——例如和他最好的朋友上床或是刷他的卡买一堆没用的东西——这就是大多数叛逆行为的起源。所有此类叛逆都源于“自我”没有被满足、源于贪嗔痴。大多数叛逆行为都含有赌气的成分，叛逆者觉得自己没有得到足够的关注，她们希望你能领会，她们表达不满的方式是和黄毛约会，或是打鼻钉在手臂上纹鲨鱼奥尼尔，有时候还会在你的ipad 上撒尿吸引你的注意——我的猫就会这么做。如果它想吃东西而恰好碗里没有饭，它就会跳到桌子上继而跳到衣架上，以此来表示它的碗空了。人类也是如此，当她们的“自我”没有被填满，她们会不安、会焦灼，她们会见不得你岁月静好，无法忍受你看上去一点也不生气的样子，所以她们冲进你的世界，打乱你的秩序，以提示你她们的存在。如果你希望她们安静，她们就一定要弄出点响动来。而她们之所以不愿意照你说的做的唯一理由就是因为你希望她们照你说的做，所以她们不这么做。你希望她听话，希望她不要早恋、不要把穿过的内衣乱扔，而她们不希望你能够如愿以偿，她们希望给你添点堵，所以她们和你对着干。这是发生在家庭内部的叛逆，还有些是发生在外面，有些人会在全世界面前展示自己的叛逆，他们把自己打扮的非常辣眼睛，这类人被称为潮流时尚艺术家，而另一些人则经常出语惊人，但就我观察，大多数这类叛逆同样出于贪嗔痴，过去很多人会把这类叛逆和觉醒进步联系到一起，但这种叛逆和觉醒无关，也并不包含任何深刻的理由，它只是出于一种想要彰显“自我”存在的需求，根源还是缺乏爱和足够的安全感。这种叛逆以冒犯的方式祈求得到更多的关注和“自我”满足。大多数人类的叛逆行为都是基于这种无明——从上初中的孩子到想要吸引眼球的网络博主再到纽约街头的潮流时尚艺术家。他们想要表现得与众不同，所以做出一些惊世骇俗的行为，从而获取更多的关注和满足感。这是大多数叛逆行为背后的逻辑。

但是历史上也存在着一些真正的叛逆者，他们的叛逆并非基于贪嗔痴，而是基于超越性的见地和对众生的关怀。这样的人通常都具有极高的天赋和智慧，他们的叛逆行为是基于对多数人长期错误认知的纠正。这样的人对世界有着深刻的认知，他们清楚地知道大多数人正在犯错，也清楚地知道他们错在哪儿，知道魔鬼藏在什么地方。因此他们的叛逆行为是对多数人错误认知的纠正，而不是那种因为缺乏关爱所产生的情绪化逆反表达，不是被贪嗔痴所掌控的为叛而叛。

灵山居士写于2025年1月6日，首发于2025年1月8日。

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lingshanhermit · 30 days ago

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Lingshan Hermit: Will You Return in the Next Life?

A girl on TikTok was heartbroken and crying, saying life was too bitter and she wouldn't come back in the next life. I've seen many people say this. Some because of betrayal, others due to hopelessness in life - they all say similar things about life being too bitter and not wanting to return in the next life. However, from a Buddhist perspective, whether we return in the next life isn't something we can decide. Many people probably said the same thing in their previous lives. But karma didn't heed them and sent them back anyway. In the torrent of karmic forces, you're like a leaf with no freedom, only able to drift with karma. (Like how Chiung Yao, the godmother of romance novels, wrote in her will that she would "gracefully" depart, but from what I understand about death, it's far from being as poetic as she described - only great practitioners who have achieved certain levels can truly depart gracefully.)

In fact, people who say such things usually don't believe in the concept of a next life; their words are more an emotional release than serious contemplation. If you've seriously considered this matter and truly "don't want to return," you should seek the cause of suffering - the reason why you keep entering the cycle of rebirth. This was why Shakyamuni Buddha left home in the past. He sat under the Bodhi tree, contemplating the meaning of life, searching for solutions. In a predawn moment 2,500 years ago, he finally achieved complete enlightenment. He discovered the root cause of all beings' suffering, finding that our fundamental cause of suffering and continuous rebirth is our misconception that we and all phenomena truly and continuously exist, maintaining awareness that contradicts true reality.

Like Shakyamuni Buddha, we can also perceive various forms of suffering; unlike him, most people stop at mere perception of suffering - stopping at complaints and venting, or numbing themselves. They don't seriously seek solutions. The reason they don't seek solutions is that subconsciously, they don't believe these issues can be truly resolved, they don't believe in enlightenment or buddhahood, they don't believe in the existence of people completely free from afflictions. They think life is just like this, and they're just among the unluckier ones. Therefore, such people don't truly aspire to thoroughly solve problems; they lack the thirst for enlightenment, they don't even know enlightenment exists. Compared to enlightenment, having a better life than others might be their more desired goal.

Over the past hundreds of billions of great kalpas, countless lives have been born, died, reborn, and died again. In this process, all beings seek happiness while experiencing suffering. Everything we do is aimed at making ourselves happy. In this aspect, a marabou stork living on the African savanna is no different from the likes of Kanye West living in upper-class American society - they both want happiness and not suffering, and all their actions are based on this purpose. However, although we try our hardest to avoid suffering and create happiness, things often go against our wishes. Because in pursuing happiness, many people unfortunately believe in the devil and take the path of aligning with evil. They believe in the devil because the methods the devil teaches are simple and effective. The devil tells them: all problems can be solved just by having money and power. To get these, you must abandon all moral bottom lines, you must lie, be good at acting, appear utterly sincere, live for yourself, disregard others' feelings, be selfish - the more heartless and inconsiderate you are, the happier and more carefree you'll live. This is the devil's teaching.

Under his guidance, more and more people begin to personally experience how satisfying it is to disregard others' feelings. They become addicted to this feeling, become intoxicated by it, going further and further astray. Because the devil's methods are fast and effective - unlike Buddhist practitioners who need to laboriously analyze the causes of suffering, who need meditation and keeping precepts, who need to experience eighty-one hardships - just by not following rules and disregarding others' feelings, not accommodating anyone, you can be selfishly intimidating and immediately experience unprecedented great happiness. Because of this, these new-generation wrong views quickly captured most people's hearts. Those who believe in these theories, blessed by the devil, will live very brilliantly in the short term and become objects of envy. But the devil's teaching isn't free; in fact, his fee is the most expensive of all - you need to use your future to pay for everything you enjoy now. So those who ally with the devil, when they've spent all their future and are abandoned by him, become withered - no amount of makeup can cover the dark qi and broken countenance on their faces.

The devil tells you it feels great to disregard others' feelings, not compromise, and confront others head-on. When your boss asks you to work overtime, giving him a cold look and leaving him dumbfounded indeed makes your adrenaline surge, but the devil won't tell you what you'll lose because of this. He'll tell you dishonest people gain more than honest ones, showing you those who built wealth through lies living luxurious lives, but he won't tell you that what's gained through dishonesty will eventually be repaid hundreds or thousands of times over - he specially equips you with wishful thinking for this. He tells you not to trust others, only yourself, because everyone is selfish and they interact with you to extract something from you. The devil invented PUA, emotional value, original family - he uses these to destroy your ethics, morality, family, relationships with everyone, all your upward possibilities, making you think you're the only clear-headed one, making you increasingly selfish and closed off.

As humans, we all want happiness and don't want suffering, but to eliminate suffering, we must understand it. Only by understanding the causes of suffering can you know how to eliminate it. There are billions of people in this world, each pursuing happiness in their own way, but only very few are on the correct path. Most people are deluded by the devil, licking those poisons wrapped in happiness's skin. Compared to the donuts the devil provides, the true path to freedom from suffering and attaining happiness is usually very slow to show effects and full of loneliness and others' incomprehension. You must fight with another self, battle against your own habits. On this path, there are no flashlights, no attention, not even signs of progress. And you must walk this path alone.

Written by Lingshan Hermit on January 4, 2025, first published on January 6, 2025.

灵山居士：下辈子还来不来？

Tiktok上有个女孩失恋了，一边哭一边说人生实在是太苦了下辈子再也不来了。我见过很多人都会这么说。他们有的人是因为背叛，有的人则是因为生活无望，这些人都会和她一样说人生太苦、下辈子再也不来了之类的话。但是从佛教的角度来说，下辈子还来不来并不是我们所能决定的。很多人其实上辈子也是这么说的。但是业力并没有理会他，还是把他送来了。在业力洪流的裹挟下，你就像是一片叶子一样毫无自由，只能随着业力漂泊。（就像是言情小说教母的遗书说自己经“翩然”离去，但就我所了解的死亡而言，死亡绝非她所形容的那么诗意，能够翩然离去的人只有证到某种境界的大修行者。）事实上，会这么说的人通常并不相信有所谓的下辈子，他们这么说更像是一种发泄而不是在认真考虑这件事。假如你认真考虑过这件事，真的“不想再来了”，你就应该去寻找苦的原因、寻找让你不断进入轮回游戏的原因。过去释迦牟尼佛正是因为这个原因离家出走，他坐在菩提树下，思维生命的意义，寻找解决的方法。在两千五百年前的某个凌晨，他终于完全了悟了，他发现了一切众生痛苦的根源，发现了认为自己和万法真实存在并持续性的对自己和万法生起与实相相违的觉知是我们痛苦的根本原因，也是我们不断进入轮回的原因。

和释迦牟尼佛一样，我们也能感知到各种痛苦；和他不同的是，大多数人感知到痛苦之后就止步于此——止步于抱怨和发泄、或是麻醉自己。他们不会认真去寻求解决方法。而他们之所以不去寻求解决方法，是因为在潜意识里，他们并不相信这一切能真正得到解决，他们不相信有所谓的证悟成佛，不相信有完全没有烦恼的人。��们觉得人生就是如此，他们只是属于比较倒霉的那一类而已。所以这样的人并不真正希求彻底解决问题，他们缺乏对证悟的渴望，他们甚至都不知道有证悟这回事。相对于证悟，比别人过得好可能是他们更希望达成的目标。

在过去的几百兆亿大劫里，有无数的生命出生死亡、再出生再死亡。在这个过程中，所有生命都在寻找安乐，也都在经历痛苦。我们所做的一切都是想要让自己快乐，在这一点上，一只生活在非洲草原的秃鹳和生活在美国上乘社会的坎耶·维斯特之流并无区别，他们都想要快乐不想要痛苦，他们所有的行为也都是基于这个目的。但是虽然我们拼尽全力想要躲开痛苦并且努力在制造快乐，事情却经常事与愿违。因为在追求快乐的过程中，很多人不幸误信了魔鬼，走上了与魔鬼结盟的道路。他们会相信魔鬼，是因为魔鬼教给他们的方法简单又有效，魔鬼告诉他们：只要有了钱和权力一切问题就能迎刃而解。为了得到这些你必须抛弃所有的道德底线，你要说谎，要善于演戏，要装得无比真诚，要为自己而活，不要考虑他人的感受，要自私，越是没心没肺越是不考虑别人的人越是会活得开心通透。这就是魔鬼的教导。在他的引导下，越来越多的人开始切身体验到不考虑他人的感受是多么的爽，他们开始迷上这种感觉，开始沉醉在这种感觉中，越走越远。因为魔鬼的方法高速而有效，它不像佛教修行者那样需要费劲吧啦地去闻思分析痛苦的因，不需要禅定也不需要持戒，不需要经历九九八十一难，只要不守规矩不考虑他人的感受，不迁就任何人，你就可以自私到让人生畏，就可以立竿见影地体验到前所未有的极大的快乐。正因为如此，这些新生代邪见很快就俘获了大多数人的心。相信这些理论的人，因为有了魔鬼的加持，他们会在短期内活得非常精彩，会成为众人羡慕的对象。但是魔鬼的教授可不是免费的，事实上，他的收费是所有收费里最贵的，你需要用你的未来去支付现在所享受的一切。所以那些和魔鬼结盟的人，当他们把未来全部透支完被魔鬼抛弃的时候，就会形容枯槁，再浓的妆也盖不住他们脸上的黑气和破碎的容颜。

魔鬼告诉你不考虑他人的感受不和别人妥协和别人针锋相对会很爽，当老板要求你加班的时候你给他一个白眼然后留给他一个让他目瞪口呆的背影确实会让人肾上腺素飙升，但魔鬼不会告诉你你会因此失去什么；他会告诉你不诚实的人会比诚实的人斩获更多，会让你看见那些靠谎言掠夺起家的人��着奢靡的生活，但是他不会告诉你靠不诚实所骗来的东西最终会成百上千倍的还回去——为此他还专门给你配置了侥幸心理。他会告诉你不要相信他人，只能相信自己，因为每个人都是自私的，他们和你接触是想要在你这里榨取点什么。魔鬼发明了PUA、发明了情绪价值、发明了原生家庭，他用这些摧毁你的伦常，摧毁你的道德，摧毁你的家庭，摧毁你和所有人的关系，摧毁你一切向上的可能性，让你觉得只有你是人间清醒，让你变得越来越自私封闭。

作为人类，我们都想要快乐，都不想要痛苦，但是要想断除痛苦，必须了解痛苦，经由了解痛苦的成因你才能知道怎么才能断除痛苦。这个世界上有几十亿人，每个人都在以自己的方式追求快乐，但是只有很少的人走在正确的路上，大多数人都被魔鬼蛊惑，正在舔食那些裹着快乐表皮的毒药。相对魔鬼所提供的甜甜圈，真正的离苦得乐之路通常都见效甚慢，且充满了孤寂和他人的不理解。你必须和另一个自己作战，和自己的习气对抗。在这条路上没有闪光灯，没有关注，甚至连验相也没有。而你必须一个人走完这条路。

灵山居士写于2025年1月4日，首发于2025年1月6日。

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lingshanhermit · 1 month ago

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Lingshan Hermit: Visible and Invisible Harm

Sometimes we say: "They have the right to do this, they're not harming anyone by doing it. Therefore, they have the right to do whatever they want as long as it doesn't harm others." Initially, Westerners liked to say this, and their movies and TV shows have been instilling this viewpoint. Now many East Asians are starting to say it too, mostly fans of American TV shows that taught them these ideas. They believe humans have the right to do whatever they want as long as it doesn't harm others. But how can you be certain they haven't harmed anyone? Unless you can see all the consequences and impacts their words and actions have on others, you cannot say they haven't harmed anyone. During Buddha's time, the Sangha would have an annual rainy season retreat where they would stay indoors and practice diligently, waiting until the rainy season ended before going out. Besides practice, this was done to reduce travel during the rainy season to avoid harming the tiny beings under their feet. Most people probably never know how many insects they kill while driving each year, how many people and other lives they harm each day, what ripples and subsequent reactions their words cause in others' hearts, how others feel when hearing their words, or what others are thinking about. You probably don't know any of these things, so for most people, they don't know whether their actions have caused harm to others.

Some harm is visible, such as when you kick the seat in front of you at a movie theater, and the person in front turns around to tell you to stop because your behavior is affecting them. This is visible harm. You can clearly know your actions have caused harm to others. But not everyone you harm has the chance to reason with you. Because you threw broken glass directly into the trash, someone cut their hand. Because of your waves, the female hormones emanating from your body, your overly sensual attire, the adolescent boy in the elevator with you was aroused with strong physical reactions—this directly led to another child being victimized, as he vented his aroused but unexpressed desires on her. You don't know about any of this.

When you speak online, you don't know who will see your words or what impact they will have, so when you see that big news on TV days later, you don't know that you were also an important participant—the person made their final decision after seeing your words. In this era, we are all feeding each other wrong views. Sometimes, a movie can harm no fewer people than a world war. It's just that this harm occurs secretly, unknown to people. So when you say "they haven't harmed anyone," you need to understand that in this age of rampant individualism, as beings who only focus on ourselves with very limited perception, most of the time we neither know nor care what others are thinking. Therefore, we don't know the impact we have on others. The other day there was a video where a girl questioned another girl why she was eating river snail rice noodles in the dorm when she knew others couldn't stand the smell. The questioned girl was even more self-righteous because she felt eating her noodles didn't affect anyone and if they didn't like the smell they could leave. They ended up fighting. So the new generation of young people has reached the point where they think eating pungent food indoors has nothing to do with others. This is the evil consequence brought about by "they have the right to do anything as long as it doesn't harm others." And their absolute refusal to admit wrongdoing is a consequence of individualism. In an age where individualism runs rampant, no one thinks they're wrong or that they've harmed others; they think unless they've chopped off someone's leg with an axe, it doesn't count as harm.

The reason most people agree with such statements and believe they have the right to do anything as long as their actions don't harm others is largely because they can't see the various after-effects and chain reactions triggered by their words and actions, not because no harm has actually occurred. But we can't expect the general public to understand these things when even the highly educated Supreme Court justices in America can't see the causality clearly. There's a seemingly reasonable saying: "A healthy society shouldn't have only one voice." This saying, like "you have the right to do anything," has many followers. For thousands of years, Chinese society followed Confucian teachings exclusively, so women wouldn't demand red envelopes for every made-up holiday. But now things are different: some people on TikTok teach you how to get money from men every day, while others openly teach your children to cut off their penises. You can see all kinds of wrong views pretending to be for your own good. These wrong views are seen and absorbed by many people, then used on you, harming both you and themselves. When everyone in a society can speak out regardless of who they are, the devil will definitely win in the end. Everyone becomes a victim of this excessive freedom.

Written by Lingshan Hermit on January 1, 2025, first published on January 3, 2025.

灵山居士：显性伤害��隐性伤害

有时候我们会说：“他有权利去做这件事，他做这件事并没有伤害到任何人。所以，他有权利去做任何他想做的事只要没伤害到别人。”最开始的时候是西方人喜欢这么说，他们的电影电视剧一直在灌输这样的观点，现在很多东亚人也开始这么说，他们大都是美剧的拥趸，美剧教会了他们这些。他们认为人类有权利去做任何自己想做的事，只要没伤害到他人就行。但是你如何能确知他没伤害到任何人？除非你能看到他的言行所产生的所有后果和对别人的影响。否则你就不能说他没伤害到任何人。在佛陀时代，每年雨季僧团都会有结夏安居，他们在这个时期足不出户精进修行，要一直等到雨季结束才会出去。这么做的目的除了修行之外就是为了在雨季的时候减少出行，以免伤害到脚下那些微小的众生。大多数人大概从来不知道自己每年开车撞死的虫子有多少，不知道自己每天会伤害到多少人和别的生命，不知道自己说的每句话在别人心里会引发的涟漪和后续反应，不知道别人听了自己的话是什么感觉，不知道别人在琢磨什么吗。这些你大概都不知道，所以，对大多数人而言，他们并不知道自己的做法有没有对别人造成伤害。有些伤害是显性伤害，譬如你在电影院用脚踢前面的座位，前面的人就会回过头告诉你不要踢因为你的行为影响了他。这是显性伤害。你能明确知道自己的行为对他人造成了伤害。但并非所有被你伤害的人都有机会和你讲道理。因为你把碎玻璃直接扔进垃圾桶，有人被割伤了手。因为你的大波浪你身上散发出来的女性荷尔蒙你过于性感的装束，和你同电梯的青春期男生被激起了强烈的生理反应——这直接导致另一个孩子受害，他在她身上发泄自己被激起又无处宣泄的欲望。这些你都不知道。

当你在网上说话的时候，你不知道谁会看到你的话，不知道这些话对他会产生什么样的影响，所以当几天之后你在电视上看到那个大新闻的时候你并不知道自己也是重要参与者——对方是在看了你的话之后才下了最后的决心。在这个时代，我们都在互相喂食邪见。有时候，一部电影所能伤害的人数并不少于一场世界大战。只是这些伤害一直在隐秘地进行，并不为人所知。所以，当你说“他没伤害任何人”的时候，你要了解的是，在这个个人主义盛行的时代，作为只关注自己感知极为有限的众生，大部分时间我们不知道也不关心对方在想什么。所以我们不知道自己对别人造成的影响。前几天有一个视频，一个女生质问另一个女生为什么要在宿舍里吃螺蛳粉不知道自己受不了这个味道吗？被质问的女生比她还理直气��，因为她觉得自己吃螺蛳粉没有影响到任何人如果不喜欢螺蛳粉的味道可以出去。最后她们开始撕打起来。所以，新一代年轻人已经觉得自己在屋里吃螺蛳粉和别人无关的程度了。这就是“他有权利做任何事只要没伤害别人”所催生的恶果。而他们的绝不认错则是个人主义引发的后果。在个人主义泛滥的年代，每个人都不觉得自己有错，也不觉得自己伤害了别人，他们觉得只要自己没用斧头砍掉别人的腿就不叫伤害。

大多数人之所以会认同这样的话，认为只要自己的行为没有伤害到他人就有权利去做任何事，很大程度上是因为他们看不到那些言行所引发的各种后效应和连锁反应，而不是真的没有产生伤害。但是不能指望普通的社会大众能了解这些，因为连美国最高法院学富五车的大法官都看不清这里面的因果关系。有句貌似很有道理的话：一个健康的社会不应该只有一种声音。这句话和“你有权利做任何事”同样有大批拥趸。在过去的几千年，中国社会奉行的是儒家的单一教导，所以女人们不会在每个人造节日都要求发红包。而现在情况不同了，有人每天在tiktok教你如何从男人那里弄钱，有人公开教你的孩子切掉男根。你能看到各种假装是在为你好的邪见。这些邪见被很多人看到、吸收，然后用到你的身上，伤害你也伤害他自己。当一个社会里不管什么样的人都能发声，最后赢的肯定就是魔鬼。每个人都会成为这种过度自由的受害者。

灵山居士写于2025年1月1日，首发于2025年1月3日。

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lingshanhermit · 1 month ago

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Lingshan Hermit: When You Say "Happy New Year," You Should Know What Makes You Unhappy

Today is the last day of 2024. In a few hours, we will bid farewell to 2024 and enter 2025. Traditionally, we send New Year's greetings, wishing everyone a happy new year. When you say "Happy New Year," do you know what makes you and others unhappy?

Many things cause us suffering, such as illness, separation, or accidentally hitting your knee - these all cause us pain. But ultimately, the fundamental reason for our suffering is that we believe in certain incorrect things. Beliefs such as "life should get better after marriage," "humans are born to enjoy life," and believing that achieving personal value is the path to happiness - these all cause you suffering. From the most profound perspective, believing that coffee beans, accordions, Chris Evans, and emotions truly exist is the root of our suffering. If you want your child to suffer for their entire life, then educate them from an early age that: humans are born to enjoy life; tell them: you must find that person who makes you happy; tell them that life after marriage must be better than before and must be happy. This way, when they grow up, they will constantly live in suffering because you've created an impossible life goal for them. However, if another wise father tells his daughter: life is inherently full of various sufferings, you can't be satisfied with everything, many things will be beyond your control; tells her that life after marriage cannot be easier than before because you have more responsibilities and obligations, you have to work, take care of children, and get along with new relatives, so your quality of life will inevitably decline; tells her that even if you marry the King of England, you still can't escape various troubles, you'll still find other women's hair in the bed. Tell her that humans can never escape imperfection, and as long as you still think that being alive should mean being happy, you will never be happy. If you are truly wise parents, you would educate your children this way, and they might be much happier when they grow up. But considering we're living in 2024, not 1995, things are a bit complicated. In 1995, there were no drones, no ChatGPT, and most people still thought aliens were just beautiful human fantasies. Although there were fools in 1995, their influence was limited - they could only harm those around them, unlike the fools of 2024 who can freely express their views and let children worldwide see them, leading them to cut off their breasts, shave their hair short, and fill their minds with various wrong views. Even if you don't let your child play with phones or go online, they will learn these things from classmates, teachers, or anyone else. So, you are racing against these people, wrestling with devils.

I've always believed that the modern marriage system is an absurdly ridiculous design. It makes us promise to sustain certain unsustainable things - it's like asking a cat to never touch that fish in the kitchen. No one believes that the fog from breathing on a window will still be there after ten years, yet they believe another person should be good to them forever. Believing in the latter is no different from believing in the former. What's scarier than your children is that you yourself don't see anything wrong with what these people say. Because you also live in the same environment, are subject to the same influences, and equally lack judgment. So you too are captured by these new-generation wrong views, ultimately becoming both their spreader and victim.

The crazy development of individualism in the early 21st century gave birth to these wrong views, spawning various new misconceptions constantly. And the birth of individualism is entirely based on the biggest misconception - that the "self" truly exists. Many practitioners claim to be practitioners, but they are simultaneously followers of individualism and social Darwinism, following the doctrine of "the more you get, the happier you are" and "seize the day" (and these are all contrary to Buddhist teachings). This is as absurd as Ishihara Shintaro claiming to be both a Pure Land Buddhist believer and a Christian, as well as a Shinto follower.

Written by Lingshan Hermit on December 31, 2024.

灵山居士：当你说新年快乐的时候你要知道是什么在让你不快乐

今天是2024年的最后一天，再过十几个小时，我们就要告别2024进入2025，习惯上我们会发新年祝福，祝福每个人新年快乐。当你说出新年快乐的时候你知道是什么东西在让你和他让你们大家都不快乐吗？

有很多东西在让你痛苦，��是疾病、分离或是不小心磕到膝盖，都会让我们痛苦。但是最终让我们痛苦的根本原因是因为我们相信了某些错误的东西。诸如相信“结婚之后应该生活得更好”，相信“人生来就是要享受的”，相信实现个人价值是幸福之道，这些都在让你痛苦。从最深奥的角度来说，相信咖啡豆、手风琴、Chris Evans和情绪都是真实的存在是我们痛苦的根源。假如你希望你的孩子一辈子都痛苦，那就从小教育她：人生来就是要享受的；告诉她：你一定要找到那个让你幸福的人；告诉她结了婚之后一定要比之前过得好一定要幸福。这样她长大了就会一直生活在痛苦之中，因为你给她制造了一个根本不可能达到的人生目标。但是假如另一位聪明的父亲告诉女儿的是：人生本来就充满各种痛苦、你不可能事事都满意，很多事情都会超出你的控制范围；告诉她结了婚之后不可能比结婚前更轻松因为你多了很多责任和义务你要工作要带孩子还要和新认识的亲人相处所以你的生活质量必然下降；告诉她即便你嫁的是英国国王，也一样摆脱不了各种糟心事，一样会在床上发现别的女人的毛发。告诉她人类永远无法摆脱缺憾，只要你还在觉得人活着就应该幸福，你就永远不会幸福。如果你是真正有智慧的父母，你会这样教育孩子，那么她长大之后可能会快乐很多。但是考虑到我们现在是生活在2024年，不是1995年。所以事情有点复杂。在1995年，没有无人机、没有ChatGPT，1995年大多数人都还认为外星人只是人类美丽的幻想，虽然1995年也有傻瓜，但他们的辐射范围有限，他们最多只能祸害身边的人，他们不像2024年的傻瓜能自由发表自己的看法而且让全世界的孩子看到，不会让她们割掉乳房，剃短头发，脑子里装满各种邪见。即便你不给孩子玩手机不让她上网，她也会从同学老师或是任何人那里学到这些。所以，你是在和这些人争夺赛跑，是在和魔鬼角力。我一直认为，现代婚姻制度是个荒谬无比的设计。它让我们互相承诺会把某些不可持续的东西持续下去——这就像是要求一只猫永远不去碰厨房的那条鱼一样。没有人相信往窗户上哈一口气十年之后玻璃上的雾气还在，但是他们却会相信另外一个人应该永远对自己好。相信后者和相信前者其实并无区别。比起你的孩子，更可怕的是你自己也不觉得这些人说的有问题。因为你也生活在同样的环境，受到同样的影响，也同样的缺乏判断力。所以你也被这些新生代邪见捕获，最终成为它的传播者和牺牲品。

21世纪初个人主义的疯狂发展催生了这些邪见，让各种新式邪见层出不穷。而个人主义的诞生则完全基于一个最大的邪见——那就是“自我”是真实存在的。很多修行者号称自己是修行者，但他们同时又是个人主义和社会达尔文主义的拥趸，他们奉行的是“得到的越多越快乐”，奉行的是及时行乐（而这些全都是和佛法相反的。）。这就像是石破茂宣称自己是净土宗信仰者又是基督徒还是神道教一样荒谬。

灵山居士写于2024年12月31日。

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lingshanhermit · 1 month ago

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Lingshan Hermit: Cultivation Is Nothing More Than Two Things

Once, someone asked me how one should practice cultivation. I told them, "Understand your teacher's words, and then act upon them. That is the entirety of cultivation." Then they asked, "Is it really that simple?" Of course, it is just that simple. But this seemingly simple task is something many may struggle with for an entire lifetime. Because it is not as easy as it sounds. Those who ask, "Is it really that simple?" have probably never truly cultivated. They do not understand how stubborn the human "ego" is, nor how the ego can distort what you hear into something completely different. They do not realize how difficult it is to genuinely trust someone, to completely set aside pride and concerns, and to act exactly as instructed. They do not know themselves and are unaware of the complexities and hardships of cultivation, which is why they believe these two steps are easy to accomplish.

Many people fail to understand their teacher’s teachings. On one hand, this is due to a lack of merit; on the other, it is because their "ego" interferes. When you lack merit, and your teacher says, "Wisdom is more important than morality," what you hear is, "Morality is not important at all. We should not be bound by morality. We must transcend morality, and transcending morality means abandoning it." When you hear, "You don’t need to be perfect; you just need to be yourself," you interpret it as, "You don’t need to listen to anyone else’s nonsense. Don’t care what others think. I’m fine as I am; if you think I have problems, it’s because you have problems."

See? The "ego" distorts what you hear from Buddhist teachings in this way. If you lack merit and proper guidance, it will interfere and turn what should be a weapon to kill the "ego" into a tool to protect it. The "ego" ensures that you misunderstand every sentence. And because most people do not have a true teacher, they rarely have the opportunity to hear the correct interpretation or receive timely corrections. Even those who do have teachers often miss the chance to understand the true meaning of their words for various reasons. Some are hindered by pride. Out of self-esteem, you may hesitate to ask questions in public, unwilling to expose your ignorance. Even when you do ask, you might frame your question differently to avoid damaging your image, asking questions that are not truly what you want to know. You don't want to appear rude, be seen as a troublemaker, or be regarded differently by others. So, you only ask a few surface-level questions to avoid taking up too much of everyone’s time. Here, the "ego" and self-esteem play a crucial role. They prevent us from speaking up, stop us from acting correctly, and block proper communication with our teacher. A mere glance from your teacher can leave you frozen, hesitant to approach. You worry about an uncontrollable situation or fear being treated like the previous questioner—whose question the teacher did not answer but only glanced at silently. Concerned about such awkward moments, you hesitate about whether to ask, and by the time you decide, your teacher has already left.

Although we consider ourselves cultivators and believe our "ego" is not as strong as that of non-practitioners (at least not stronger), the truth is that most people’s "ego" is no different from that of non-practitioners—perhaps even stronger. Like them, we all have a powerful and cunning "ego." This "ego-defense system," honed over billions of years of evolution, is strong enough to subdue anything that threatens it. For many "cultivators," their "ego-defense system" is so powerful it can instantly distort any Buddhist teachings or words from their teacher. When the teacher is teaching, your "ego" acts as a translator, reinterpreting the teacher's words before presenting them to you. After being processed by the "ego," what you hear is entirely different. It may resemble what the teacher said but is harmless to the "ego" and is no longer true Dharma. Yet, we believe it is the Dharma and that it comes directly from our teacher. This happens to many practitioners daily. The reason the "ego" succeeds every time lies partly in the inherent ambiguity of human language, which makes misinterpretation easy, and partly in our own egocentric nature. We love ourselves too much, care about ourselves too much. Because of this self-love, we resist seeking clarification, fearing it makes us look foolish. And because of this self-love, we miss countless opportunities for confirmation. Thus, when the teacher hands you a sword through the hands of your "ego," what you receive is merely the hilt. This is what the "ego" does to you and the Dharma daily. This happens to all of us. We’ve discussed at length how the "ego" distorts and alters the teacher’s words, transforming tools meant to annihilate the "ego" into instruments that protect it, ensuring you never fully understand the truth.

In addition to what has already been mentioned, there is another kind of misunderstanding—not an inability to understand, but an unwillingness to. For example, if your teacher instructs you to recite Guru Rinpoche’s mantra one million times, you may avoid asking how long it will take to complete. By not asking, the task remains open-ended, which pleases your "ego" because it can stretch the timeline indefinitely, delaying its demise. However, if you do ask, you might receive a clear answer like "within two years." This is certainly not what the "ego" wants. You dislike the feeling of being directed. You dislike being arranged, feeling a loss of control over yourself. You feel as though you are being assigned tasks and dislike the lack of autonomy.

When interacting with their teacher, many people like to play word games and hide-and-seek. This is because most of the tasks assigned by the teacher are things they do not want to do—tasks that erode the "ego" and are feared by it. Yet they cannot escape, so their "ego" resorts to tactics of deliberate ambiguity. They avoid fully understanding and resist clarifying the details because doing so would strip away more of their personal space. I have encountered such individuals before—people who never ask questions to clarify things. For a long time, I wondered why they avoided clear answers and specific details. Now, I understand they actually do not want a definitive answer. Clear instructions limit their room for maneuver and make them feel constrained. They dislike clarity and prefer ambiguity because it allows them to interpret the teacher’s words as they please. This way, they can execute tasks based on their own understanding, turning what should erode the "ego" into a resource for the "ego," thereby serving it instead. This is likely why many people avoid seeking clarity. They prefer ambiguity over precision because ambiguity gives their "ego" more room to operate, enabling it to alter the teacher’s requirements.

If you dig deeper into the motives of such people, you’ll find that, deep down, they do not truly trust the person assigning them tasks. Subconsciously, they do not fully believe in the teacher they call their mentor, nor do they believe following the teacher’s instructions will benefit them. They comply because the teacher requires it, and not doing so would violate the teachings—not because they see any substantial benefit for themselves. Sometimes, they make it seem as if they are doing it as a favor to the teacher, as if they are doing it for the teacher’s sake. This is quite peculiar. You seek out a teacher, ask for guidance on the path to liberation, and hope they will help dismantle your "ego." When they assign you tasks to break your habitual tendencies, these tasks often exceed your expectations and are entirely different from what you imagined. You find them unappealing but cannot avoid them, so you reluctantly comply. Over time, you start to feel like you’re doing these tasks for the teacher, as if you’re granting them a favor. This is absurd.

The root of this absurdity lies in not understanding what it means to use the teacher as a path. In Vajrayana, using the teacher as the path means transforming all interactions with the teacher into practice. Whether they ask you to perform 100,000 prostrations, make a silly noise while dining at a Michelin-star restaurant, pinch your sister-in-law’s cheek in front of your wife, or simply sit and peel a basin of garlic—all of these are opportunities for practice. If you carry out the tasks sincerely, your "ego" will weaken, and your habitual tendencies will begin to shrink. This approach uses one person’s fabricated "ego" to crush another person’s genuine "ego." Your "ego" is not allowed to fight back, refuse, or walk away mid-task. If used correctly, this can be the fastest way to dismantle the "ego." However, if misused, it can lead to the worst outcomes.

The "ego" is not an opponent that admits defeat easily. In its battle with the teacher, it is constantly learning, accumulating experience, and becoming increasingly cunning. It learns to exploit loopholes and swap meanings. If the teacher does not explicitly spell out every detail, the "ego" will take shortcuts, skip steps, and perform tasks in ways it prefers—ways that have no impact on its habitual tendencies. Because these methods are familiar to you, they reinforce the "ego" instead of challenging it. Completing the teacher’s tasks in a manner you enjoy or are accustomed to only strengthens the "ego," making it even more robust.

Do you see now how we often engage in a battle of wits with our teacher? As long as instructions are incomplete or leave room for interpretation, the "ego" will exploit these gaps and proceed in its own way. The fundamental reason for this behavior is that we do not truly desire liberation. I believe this is the most important reason. Because you do not genuinely seek liberation, you fail to understand the principles behind the path. You fail to comprehend why the teacher asks you to perform certain tasks. You fail to realize that every interaction with the teacher, in the context of using the teacher as a path, is part of your practice.

Because you lack understanding of these principles, you often perform tasks half-heartedly. When your "ego" is suppressed, you may feel resentment. At times, you might even think your actions have nothing to do with Buddhism, believing you are wasting your time. You might even suspect the teacher is using Buddhism as an excuse to take advantage of you or use you as free labor. This suspicion stems from your lack of interest in liberation. You only wish to use Buddhism to satisfy the "ego," so you lack faith in both the teacher and the teachings. You fail to understand the game rules and principles of liberation through the teacher as a path.

This is why many people cannot understand their teacher’s words or truly follow them. They lack faith in the teacher and the teachings. For the teacher, their doubts never completely cease; they just hide them well. Occasionally, fleeting thoughts arise: "Isn’t he supposed to be a Buddha? Shouldn’t he be free of afflictions? Why did he just seem angry? Why would a Buddha’s car break down? Why would he buy the wrong clothing size? Why does he still get sick? Would a Buddha really act like this?"

As for the teachings, they have all heard the story of Milarepa purifying karma by building houses. In theory, they understand that the Dharma is not just found in scriptures or sutras. A great teacher can use any activity to erode the "ego," and for it to be considered Dharma, it must affect our habitual tendencies. Theoretical knowledge cannot directly attack habitual tendencies; it requires a master of Dharma to apply it to your life for it to have an effect. Otherwise, it remains a useless theory. While people understand this in theory, their attitude changes when it comes to their own lives. Reading about Milarepa’s life might move us to tears, but if you were in his position, the experience would be entirely different.

When the "ego" is besieged and ground down repeatedly, and Mara whispers in your ear, you feel as though you are on a rollercoaster ride, teetering on the edge of madness. You begin to doubt whether your actions have any meaning. You wonder whether this is truly cultivation. You cannot understand how peeling garlic for a meal connects to attaining Buddhahood. But the teacher cannot explain why peeling garlic obediently will lead to enlightenment—because if they do, the practice loses its power. Only when you follow instructions willingly and without understanding why will your actions become true practice and align with using the teacher as a path. This is the game rule.

So, do you still think understanding and acting are easy? Only when you fully trust someone and have no doubts about the path and the teachings will you genuinely want to follow their instructions, no matter how difficult or uncomfortable they may be. But finding someone you can completely entrust your heart to, understanding the path and the teachings, and adhering to instructions are all incredibly challenging tasks that require immense merit.

Written by Lingshan Hermit on December 20, 2024. Published on December 21, 2024.

灵山居士：修行不外乎两件事（修订）

以前有人问我修行到底应该是怎么修。我告诉他们：“听懂老师的话，然后去执行。这就是修行的全部。”然后他们问：“就这么简单吗？”当然就是这么简单。但是就是这么简单的事，很多人可能耗费一生时间都做不到。因为这件事完全不像听起来那么简单。能问出“就这么简单吗”的人大概是从未真正修行过。他们不了解人类的“自我”有多顽固，不知道“自我”会把你听到的东西扭曲成什么样子；不知道真正相信一个人真正抛弃面子和顾虑完全照他说的做有多难。他们不了解自己，不知道修行的复杂和艰辛，所以才会觉得这两件事很容易做到。

很多人都听不懂自己上师的话。这一方面是因为他们福德匮乏，另一方面是他们的“自我”在从中作梗。当你缺乏福德的时候，上师说：“智慧比道德更重要”，你听到的就是：“道德一点也不重要。我们不要被道德所约束，我们要超越道德，而超越道德的意思就是抛弃道德。”当你听到“你不需要完美，你只需要做你自己。”时，你听到的是：“不需要听别人放屁，不用理会别人的看法。我很好，我完全没有问题，如果你看我有问题那是因为你有问题。”

看到了吧。“自我”就是这样曲解你所听到的佛法，假如你的福德不够又缺乏正确的引导，它就会从中作梗，就会把本应杀死“自我”的武器变成保护“自我”的武器。“自我”会确保你把每一句话都理解错。而且因为大多数人没有真正意义上的老师，所以他们不会有机会听到正确的解释，更加不可能得到及时的纠正。即便是那些有老师的修行者，他们也会因为各种原因而错失了解这些法语真实涵义的机会。有些人是出于自尊，因为自尊的缘故，你不愿意在众人面前开口问问题，不愿意当众展示自己的无知，即便是问你也会因为担心自己的形象受损而问些并非自己真正想问的问题，你不愿意被当成缺乏礼貌的人，不愿意被当成麻烦，不愿意被人另眼相看。所以你只能简单地问几句以免别人觉得你占用了大家的时间。在这里“自我”和自尊扮演了极为重要的角色。他会阻止我们开口，阻止我们做正确的行为，阻止我们和上师之间建立正确的沟通渠道。本来我们想要去问的，上师的一个眼神就让我们的脚焊在地上了。我们担心出现不可控的局面，担心自己会获得和前一个提问者同样的待遇——他的问题上师并未回答，只是瞟了他一眼没说话。你担心出现这种尴尬场面，所以你还在犹豫自己要不要问的时候，上师已经起身离开了。

虽然我们都自认是修行者，虽然我们也都认为自己的“自我”不强大（至少没有那些不修行的人强大）。但其实大多数人的“自我”和不修行的人并无二致——可能还更强大些——和他们一样，我们都有一个强大又狡猾的“自我”，这个“自我”保护系统经过亿万年的进化已经强大到足以驯服任何对他有威胁的东西。对很多“修行者”而言，他们的“自我”保护系统已经强到可以即时扭曲任何佛言师语。当上师在说法时，你的“自我”会在旁边对上师的话加以翻译然后再传递给你。经过“自我”的翻译和加工，你听到的完全就是另外一套东西。这套东西和上师讲的很相似，但是对“自我”却完全无伤，也根本不是佛法，但我们会以为它是佛法，而且是上师告诉我们的佛法。这就是每天发生在很多修行者身上的事。而“自我”之所以能够��屡得手，能够每次都成功，其原因在于人类的语言本身就是很模糊的东西，所以它很容易被曲解。另外一个原因是因为我们都是非常“自我”的人，我们太爱自己，太在乎自己。因为爱自己，所以我们很抵触向别人确认，这让我们看起来很蠢；也因为爱自己，我们会搞丢很多可以确认的机会。所以，当上师经由“自我”的手递过来一把利剑，最后到你手里就只剩个剑柄。这就是“自我”每天都在对你对佛法做的事。这样的事情发生在我们每个人身上。关于“自我”是如何篡改如何切割上师的话，如何把那些本应帮助你消灭“自我”的东西变成保护“自我”的东西，如何确保你绝对不会产生正确理解，关于这些我们之前已经讲的很多了。

除了之前所说的，其实还存在着另外一种听不懂。这种听不懂不是真的听不懂，而是不想听懂。如果你的上师跟你说你去念一百万遍莲花生大师的心咒，你绝不会去确认需要多长时间念完。因为假如你不去确认，这件事就没有结束日期，没有结束日期会让你的“自我”很开心，因为它尽可以把时间拉的很长，以延缓“自我”退场的时间。但是假如你去问了，你可能会得到一个类似于“两年内完成”这样的明确答复。这肯定不是“自我”想要的。你不喜欢这种不能自己做主的感觉。你觉得自己被安排了，你不喜欢被安排，不喜欢这种自己不能掌控的感觉。

在和上师互动的时候，很多人喜欢玩这种文字游戏，喜欢和上师捉迷藏。因为上师分派给你的大都是你不想做的，因为那都是对“自我”有磨损的，是你的“自我”所惧怕的。但是你又逃不开，所以“自我”想出的招就是尽量模糊。所以他们不想听懂，更不想把每个细节都确认清楚，因为这会让他们丧失更多的个人空间。以前我遇到过这样的人，他们什么事情都不问清楚。过去我一直奇怪他们为什么不问清楚也不确认细节，现在我知道他们其实并不想要一个太明确的答案。因为那会让他们丧失操作空间，会让他们感觉缚手缚脚。他们不喜欢太明确的东西，他们喜欢模糊一点，这样的话他们就可以肆意解释老师的话，可以按自己的理解去执行，就可以把这件本该消耗“自我”的事变成“自我”的供给站，为“自我”服务。这大概就是为什么很多人不愿意把每件事都问清楚的原因。他们喜欢模糊，不喜欢明确。模糊会让他们的“自我”有更大的腾挪空间，可以篡改上师的要求。

对于这样的人，假如你去深入发掘他们的动机，会发现他们之所以会这样，是因为他们潜意识里并不真正相信眼前的这个给他们派任务的人。在内心深处，他们并不完全相信这个他们称之为上师的人，也不相信照他说的做会带给自己好处。他们会去做，是因为这是上师要求他们做的，不做会违反上师教言，而不是因为他们觉得这么做对自己有多大好处。所以有时候他们会让你感觉他去做是在给上师面子。好像他是在为上师而做一样。这其实相当古怪。你来寻找上师，请求他指示你解脱之道，希望他能瓦解你的“自我”，然后为了击溃你的习气他开始给你分派任务，这些任务有点超乎你的想象，和你预期的完全不一样，你觉得这些不是你想要的，但你又不得不做，所以你做的很不情愿，时间长了你就会觉得你做这些是为他而做，是在给他面子。这实在是很荒谬。而你之所以会产生这种荒谬的想法是因为你并不真的知道什么是以上师为道。在金刚乘里，以上师为道被解释为以上师为修道的方式，把你和上师所有的互动都转为修道，无论是他让你去做十万遍大礼拜还是让你在米其林餐厅一边用餐一边用嘴巴发出放屁的声音或是让你在你老婆面前捏你大姨子的屁股，甚至只是让你坐在那里剥一盆蒜。假如你去做了，去认真执行了，你的“自我”就会被削弱，习气就会开始萎缩。这是用一个人假装出来的“自我”碾压另一个人真实的“自我”。你的“自我”不许还手，不许说不，不许中途退场。假如使用得当，它会是瓦解你“自我”最快的方法。但是假如使用不当，就会产生最不好的后果。“自我”绝非轻易就会认输的对手，在和上师的战斗中，它也在累积经验，而且在变得越来越狡猾。他学会了钻空子，学会了偷梁换柱，假如上师没有明确告知你必须要怎么怎么做，没有具体到每个细节，你就会偷懒，就会省掉很多步骤，就会按你惯常的方式去做，按照你喜欢的方式去做。但是这样做对你的习气毫无冲击。因为那是你习惯的方式。用你习惯的方式喜欢的方式去做上师分派的任务，除了增强“自我”的肌肉让他更加强壮之外不会有任何其他作用。看到了吧，我们就是这样和上师斗智斗勇的。只要没有说到位，只要还有一点没有说到，只要还留下一点空隙，“自我”就会钻空子，就会按他自己的方式做。而我们之所以会这么做，有很多原因，最根本的原因是因为你根本不想解脱，我认为这是最重要的原因。因为你不想解脱，所以你没搞清楚修行解脱的原理，没搞清楚上师让你这么做的原因，没搞清楚在以上师为道的修行中你和他的每个互动其实都是修行。因为你没搞清楚这么做的原理，所以很多事情你都做得很勉强，当“自我”被打压的时候，你还会心生怨怼，在某些时候你甚至会觉得自己做的事情和佛法一点关系也没有，觉得自己是在浪费时间，你甚至怀疑上师是不是在利用佛法作为借口占自己便宜，让自己当免费劳力。而你会这么想的根本原因是因为你对解脱缺乏兴趣，你只想用佛法满足自我，所以你缺乏对上师、对法的信心，也完全没搞明白上师为道的游戏规则解脱原理。这也就是为什么很多人听不懂上师的话，也无法真正执行的根本原因。他们缺乏对上师、对于法的信任。对于上师，他们其实一直都没有停止过怀疑，只是他们会把这些怀疑隐藏的很好。但时不时地，总会有些一闪而过的念头：他不是佛吗？不是应该没有烦恼吗？怎么刚才好像看见他生气了。为什么佛的车子还会抛锚停在半道上？他买衣服还会买错码？为什么他还会生病？佛会这样吗？而对于法，虽然他们每个人都听过米勒日巴靠盖房子清净业障的故事。理论上每个人都知道法并不只是法本佛经上那些东西，伟大的老师可以通过任何事情消磨你的“自我”，而所有的法都必须要对我们的习气起作用才能叫法。理论无法直接攻击习气，它必须经由深谙佛法的人用在你身上才能起作用，否则它就只是无用的理论。理论上这些他们全都知道，但事情轮到自己身上他们就不那么想了。阅读米勒日巴的生平故事会让我们感动落泪，但是假如你是当事人米勒日巴，事情就完全不一样了。因为“自我”在被围剿，在被反复搓磨，魔王又时不时趴在你耳边低语，你像是在玩过山车，这让你有点抓狂，让你开始怀疑自己正在做的事情到底有没有意义？到底是不是修行？你想不通坐在那里剥一盆蒜准备大家的饭和成佛之间到底有什么关联。但是上师也不能告诉你为什么你乖乖地坐在那里剥蒜会让你成佛，因为说出来就不灵了。只有你在不知道为什么要这么做还能心甘情愿老老实实的去做的前提下，你做的这一切才能变成你的修行，才能是以上师为道。这就是游戏规则。

所以，现在你还觉得听懂做到很容易吗？我们只有在完全信赖一个人、完全对法道没有怀疑的前提下，才会想要按他说的做——即便那样非常难受。但是无论是找到一个全心托付的人、还是了解法道、还是依教奉行，都是无比艰难之事，都需要巨大的福德。

灵山居士写于2024年12月20日。首发于2024年12月21日。

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lingshanhermit · 1 month ago

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Lingshan Hermit: Fools Leave Wealth, the Wise Leave Skills, and the Enlightened Leave Righteous Views

The term "兜底" (to provide a safety net) was not found in ancient Chinese language. It emerged during the late Qing dynasty, suspected to have originated from the Manchurian dialect and was a common practice among Manchurians. In modern times, it is frequently heard from the mouths of fools, implying that parents can accumulate wealth and connections to pave the way for their children. Should their children fail in life, they could still live without worry of food and clothing; and if they cause trouble, their parents could leverage their power to smooth things over. This is a perspective embraced by many fools.

However, if an adult child still requires a safety net and cannot even control their bodily functions, then such a child is truly foolish. Even if such a fool inherits immense wealth, they will not be able to preserve it, let alone enjoy a lifetime free from worry. While you are alive, you may shield them in every way, ensuring they face no difficulties, but this only results in creating a useless individual. Should the day come when you draw your last breath and your soul departs to the netherworld, leaving behind a child who neither works with their hands nor understands the basics of life, it would be akin to abandoning a newborn amidst a pack of wild beasts.

Moreover, in today’s treacherous world, even among the intelligent, there are those who rise as wealthy lords in the morning and fall to beggars by evening—how much worse it would be for a fool. Excessive wealth emboldens them, leading them to flaunt their status, fearing only that the world might not know how much gold they have at home. Such wealth intended to secure life could instead become the very cause of their downfall. In their youth, they may provoke trouble, comforted by the safety net provided by their parents; thus, they fail to learn that all actions have consequences. Once the safety net is gone, and they confront dangers again, they will inevitably suffer the repercussions themselves.

Thus, fools leave wealth, the wise leave skills, and the enlightened leave righteous views.

Another foolish argument is: “I have considerable wealth, so my children need not endure hardship.” Yet, there is no one in this world who avoids hardship altogether. If one does not endure hardship in youth and fails to understand the workings of the world, they are destined to endure extreme suffering later in life. This was demonstrated by Prince Chun of the Qing dynasty, who experienced it on behalf of others. Before his death, he once lamented: “Children with too much money become reckless; they won’t stop until they ruin the family.” These are words spoken from the depths of his heart, soaked in blood and tears. Yet, those who have not experienced this often neither understand nor believe it.

Written by Lingshan Hermit on December 23, 2024.

First published on December 23, 2024.

灵山居士：愚者留家资，有智者留手艺，大慧者留正见

兜底一词，华夏古未有之。清末时方有，疑出自旗人之口，为旗人之俗。近世又常见于诸愚人之口，谓家长可为子女积财积势铺路筑桥，若子女一事无成时，亦可衣食无忧，若其惹出祸事亦可倚势铲平矣。此愚人之论，拥趸者颇多。若子女成人后尚需兜底，尚能遗粪于裤，则此子至愚矣，如是之愚子留万千之财亦守不住也，又遑论一世无忧。汝在世时，对其百般呵护，令其无忧，诸事皆做不来，施施然一废人矣。若汝一日一口气不来，魂归地府，留一四肢不勤五谷不分之子于世，犹遗一初生儿于兽群出没之处。况今日之下，世道艰险，聪慧者中，朝为富家翁暮作乞丐公者亦多矣，何况一痴儿。又兼财壮其胆，百般显派，只恐天下人不知其屋内多金，令续命之财成其亡命之因。少年时捅蜂窝，兜底之人尚在，凡事皆有人遮挡，是以不知凡事皆有果。后兜底人已逝，又临蜂巢，则必亲领蜂吻。是以，愚者留家资，有智者留手艺，大慧者留正见。又有愚者谓：“吾颇有家资，吾儿无需吃苦矣。”然世上无不吃苦之人。少时不吃苦，不知人间诸事，后必极苦。此事醇亲王已代汝先尝，其死前曾言：“子女钱多胆亦大，不丧身家不肯罢。”诚为泣血之言，然未经者不知亦不信矣。

灵山居士写于2024年12月23日。首发于2024年12月23日。

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lingshanhermit · 2 months ago

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Lingshan Hermit: Have You Ever Thought About What All Sentient Beings Are Really Like?

A few days ago, I watched Hugh Grant's new movie about two church girls who encounter danger while preaching at a stranger's house. It's a horror film, but that's not the point. While watching, I kept thinking how simple their work was: they just needed to knock on doors with leaflets and invite people to church on weekends. In comparison, Buddhism is much more complex. Mahayana Buddhism is particularly complex compared to Hinayana Buddhism because it must confront the "self" of all sentient beings.

As Mahayana Buddhists, we vow to help all sentient beings achieve enlightenment, but have you ever thought about who these sentient beings are? Where are they? What have they experienced? What are their values, thoughts, and peculiarities? Are they willing to listen to you? And what kind of beings are they really?

Right now, just beyond your wall, a female neighbor is fretting over dozens of missed calls from her boyfriends on her phone. She just woke up and needs to take her son to kindergarten soon, then go downtown for errands, and later work as a hostess at night. She struggles to get up, nursing a hangover while brushing her teeth, examining her dark eye circles, and trying to perfect her lies. Thousands of miles away, someone works as a lawyer while dating multiple men, finding ultimate pleasure in different men's suffocating embrace each night, believing in and pursuing only such tangible pleasures. Some have written dozens of bestsellers, some own half of Hong Kong's wealth, some have hundreds of thousands of employees. Would such people listen to you? Even beggars can feel invincible nowadays, let alone these people. They might be polite and pretend to listen, but usually, such people don't really hear others because they're too confident in themselves. They're more accustomed to being commanders.

These people are all part of what we call "all sentient beings." All sentient beings include psychopathic killers, internet streamers, Princeton professors, battle-hardened lawyers with quick minds who excel at finding logical loopholes, people like John Hopfield, J.K. Rowling, and Musk. Of course, this includes your mother - they're all people brimming with self-confidence. About your mother - are you sure you can convince her? Or do you even want to convince her? Perhaps you'd feel more confident about converting Jack the Ripper to Buddhism than her.

This world has many beings with countless bizarre thoughts and habits. Some don't wear socks, some enjoy being whipped, some talk to themselves, some like smelling rotten apples. Strangely, whether rich or poor, whether three or thirty years old, whether a Nobel laureate or someone who only completed third grade or an extreme feminist, everyone firmly believes their thoughts are correct. If you tell them, "All your beliefs are wrong," your relationship ends, and you become their enemy. There are billions of such humans on Earth alone (not counting animals).

So, are you prepared? Your vow is to help all these beings achieve enlightenment, meaning you must guide them from their current state to awakening. Think about what kind of project this is. These people - some like smelling between others' toes, some enjoy fermented herring, some believe all religions are scams. You need to make them listen to you, convince them, inspire their faith, get them to meditate, help them gain experience, and ultimately lead them to enlightenment. You must face countless mental barriers, confront the world's most rigid things, battle with the "self" of both the world's smartest and most foolish people, find ways to open their hearts, make them listen, and begin practicing. This is far more challenging than just handing out leaflets. It's the world's most challenging and greatest project. And this is exactly what your teacher is currently doing with you.

Written by Lingshan Hermit on December 16, 2024. First published on December 17, 2024.

灵山居士：你有没有想过一切众生都是什么样的众生

前几天我看了休·格兰特的新电影，电影里讲的是两个教会少女到一个陌生男人家里传教遇险的故事。电影是个恐怖片，但是这不是重点。我看的时候一直在想她们的工作可真是简单：只是拿着宣传单敲开别人家的门邀请他们周末的时候去教堂就可以了。相比之下，佛教可就复杂多了。比起小乘佛教，大乘佛教尤为复杂，因为他所要面对的是一切众生的“自我”。

作为大乘佛教徒，我们都发愿要让一切众生成佛，但是你有没有想过一切众生都是谁？他们都在哪里？他们都经历过什么？都有着什么样的价值观想法和癖好？他们愿不愿意听你说话？以及一切众生都是什么样的众生？

就在此刻，和你一墙之隔的女邻居正看着手机上几十个男友的未接来电犯愁，她刚刚睡醒，一会儿要送儿子上幼儿园，然后去市中心办事，晚上还要出去陪酒。她挣扎着爬起身，顶着宿醉一边刷牙一边看着自己发黑的眼眶一边琢磨着待会儿怎么把谎话编的更圆。在几千里外，有人一边做律师一边在和很多男人约会，每晚都沉醉在不同男人所带来的窒息般的至乐之中，她只相信这种现实的快乐，也只想要这种快乐。有人写过几十本畅销书，有人坐拥半个香港的财富，有人有几十万员工下属，像这样的人，他们会听你讲话吗？现在连乞丐都能觉得自己不可一世，何况是这些人。可能他们会表现的很有礼貌，会假装听你讲话，但通常这样的人都不太听的进别人的话。因为他们对自己太有信心。他们更习惯做指挥者。这些人他们都属于我们所说的一切众生。一切众生包括变态杀人犯，包括网络女主播，包括普林斯顿大学教授，包括身经百战思维敏捷又善于寻找语言漏洞的律师，包括约翰·霍普菲尔德、J.K.羅琳和马斯克这样的人。当然也包括你的母亲，他们都是对自己自信满满的人。关于你的母亲，你确定你能说服她？或者，你想说服她吗？相对于她，你或许对于说服开膛手杰克皈依佛法更有信心。这个世界有很多众生，他们有着千奇百怪的想法和习惯。他们有的人不穿袜子，有的人喜欢被抽打，有的人喜欢自言自语，有的人喜欢闻烂苹果。奇怪的是，不管一个人贫穷还是富有，不管他是三岁还是三十岁，也不管他是诺贝尔奖得主还是只上过小学三年级还是极端女权主义者，每个人都坚定地认为自己的想法是对的。如果你告诉他们：“你所有观念都是错的。”你们的关系就结束了，你就成了他们的敌人。仅仅是在地球上就有着几十亿这样的人类。（还没有算上动物。）所以，你做好准备了吗？你的愿力是要让这些众生全都成佛，也就是说，你要从他们现在的状态开始引导他们直至证悟。你想想这是什么样的工程。这些人，他们有的喜欢闻别人的脚趾缝，有的喜欢鲱鱼罐头，有的人认为所有的宗教都是骗人的。你要让他们听你讲话，要说服他们，要让他们产生信心，要让他们去禅修，让他们生起体验，最终你要让他们证悟。你要面对无数心的壁垒，要面对世上最坚固的东西，和世界上最聪明的人和最笨的人的“自我”作战，你要想方设法打开他们的心，让他们听你说话，开始修行。这可远比塞几张宣传单难多了。这是世上最艰巨和最伟大的工程。而这也正是你的老师正在对你做的事。

灵山居士写于2024年12月16日。首发于2024年12月17日。

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lingshanhermit · 2 months ago

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Lingshan Hermit: What Is Your True Protection?

For a long time to come, many of you will live in less than ideal circumstances. You will face many challenges, such as being unable to get coffee, separation from loved ones, illness, or having no one to rely on. Life is not easy for anyone, but this is not a reason to harm others. On the contrary, at times like these, you should maintain kindness and clarity, helping yourself and others. Harming others might bring temporary gains, but it will cost you your entire future.

Northern Song Dynasty Neo-Confucian philosopher Cheng Yi said: "Death from starvation is a small matter, but the loss of moral integrity is a great one." Today, most people would dismiss such a notion. However, if the six realms of existence are real, then in certain circumstances, this viewpoint is correct. If you start crossing certain lines, begin doing evil, and start tasting its sweetness, you won't be able to stop. You'll progress from minor evils to major ones, doing many terrible things until destruction. But destruction is not the end; it's just the beginning of an even more terrible nightmare.

Sometimes when I look at certain people, I think it would actually be better for them if their karma caused them to die earlier – departing while their souls are still clean, before they begin doing evil, would lead to a better next life. But they have unfavorable karma that gives them sufficient ability and lifespan to harm others. If you have good karma and merit, they will prevent such situations from arising. But ultimately, what stops you will always be your right view.

In the future, many people will shed their disguises and bare their fangs, because that is their true nature. The right views they speak of are merely lip service, never truly taken to heart. But those whose right views are deeply rooted in their hearts will never be like this. Even when facing various adversities, they will not make deals with the devil. They would rather choose death than choose evil. In fact, when you choose not to do evil, all doors of fortune will begin to open for you. Therefore, this is your greatest protection.

Written by Lingshan Hermit on December 12, 2024, first published on December 13, 2024.

灵山居士：什么才是你真正的保障

在之后很长的一段时间里，你们很多人都会生活在不如意之中。你会面临很多问题，诸如喝不到咖啡、离散、疾病或是无人可依。每个人的生活都不易，但这不是你伤害别人的理由，恰恰相反，在这样的时候你更应该保持善良和清醒，帮助自己和他人，伤害他人或许会让你一时得利，但却会让你失去所有的未来。北宋理学家程颐说：饿死事小、失节事大。在今天大多数人会对这样的观念不屑一顾。但是假如六道是真实的存在，那么在某些时候，这样的观点就是正确的。假如你开始越过某些线、开始作恶，并且开始尝到作恶的甜头，你就会无法止住，你会从小恶到大恶，你会做很多可怕的事，直至毁灭。但毁灭并非终点，只是更可怕噩梦的开始。有时候我看一些人，如果他们的业力让他们早点死去，其实对他们会更好，在开始作恶之前、在灵魂尚且干净的时候离开，会有一个更好的来世。但是他们有很不好的业，这让他们有足够的能力和寿命伤害他人，如果你有好的业力和功德，它们会阻止你出现这样的情况。但最终能阻止你的永远是你的正见。在未来，有很多人会褪下伪装，露出獠牙，因为那才是他们真正的样子，平时他们挂在嘴上的正见只是挂在嘴上而已，从未真正入过心，而那些正见根植于心的人则永远不会这样。即使他们面临各种逆境，也不会选择和魔鬼交易。他们宁愿选择死去也不选择作恶。事实上，当你选择了不作恶，所有的幸运之门都会开始向你敞开。所以，这才是你最大的保障。

灵山居士写于2024年12月12日，首发于2024年12月13日。

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lingshanhermit · 2 months ago

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Lingshan Hermit: As Long as Someone Remains in This Stage, They Haven't Even Touched the Edge of True Spiritual Practice

One day, I saw a video on social media of a fully adorned yogi performing rituals. His mudras were very fluid, his recitations were perfectly standard, and he held the vajra bell and dorje with proper form. Those unfamiliar with Buddhism might find such a person very professional, but I feel largely indifferent to such displays. I've seen many people like this - they consider themselves professional practitioners, spending their days collecting various empowerments and ritual texts, focusing on how to hold ritual implements and form mudras correctly, worrying about whether their pronunciation is standard, and concerning themselves with how many Buddhist masters they know and how many deity mantras they've recited. Some can recite entire texts in Tibetan, knowing every detail of a ritual from beginning to end - when to perform purification, when to beat the drum, which mudras to make while chanting, and the key points of meditation. These are their primary concerns, and they believe mastering these elements means they've mastered Buddhism. However, they don't know who their real enemy is, don't understand their true state of mind, and are unaware of how many thoughts of desire arise in their minds every minute. Thus, they are merely Buddhist craftsmen familiar with ritual procedures, not true practitioners.

Previously, someone sent me a photo of a custom-made statue of Guru Rinpoche commissioned by a famous actor. This statue was quite unique, with colors and postures quite different from the familiar representations of Guru Rinpoche. Many people would naturally assume that this unusual representation of Guru Rinpoche possessed more power than ordinary ones. If you have such thoughts, it shows you're still stuck in the amateur understanding that "dharma practices alone determine spiritual results" or that "certain practices are superior to others and make it easier to achieve enlightenment." Most practitioners actually share this kind of thinking.

Years ago, someone told me that circumambulating Mount Kailash once could purify the karma of an entire lifetime. Another person said that seeing the Mahāmāyā mandala would guarantee enlightenment within seven lifetimes. I'm not certain whether they truly have such powerful effects. Perhaps they do. However, in Buddhist teachings, these are all external forces, and even if they have effects, those effects would be very limited. If you lack the ability to observe, analyze, and examine yourself, if you haven't developed the habit of being honest with yourself and others, if you haven't recognized that your long-held values have been wrong, you will forever remain outside true practice. No mandala or blessed object can defeat your habitual patterns and self-righteousness. These are at most conveniences for beginners, not much different from copying sutras with a brush. The same applies to dharma practices - they too are external forces. Even the most supreme practices cannot produce good results without being accompanied by a great spirit and genuine capacity for self-reflection. True spiritual practice is an extremely complex matter, requiring long-term interaction and communication between master and disciple - a prolonged tug-of-war. If a human teacher who can drive, speak, and fix computers still struggles with your habitual patterns and self-righteousness, what can inanimate objects do? Can they make you lose face and break down internally? Can they tell you your previous understanding was all wrong? Can they order you to call your boss at 2 AM to say good morning? Only a living teacher can do these things to you. Only a living teacher can deliver unexpected blows, and only unexpected blows can affect your habitual patterns. However, it must be noted: all of this must be based on the premise that you know they want to help you achieve realization and that you fully accept this kind of training. Otherwise, realization is impossible - only aversion will result.

So if you think that circumambulating Mount Kailash, receiving a special empowerment, or spending a month with others at Bodh Gaya can change habitual patterns developed over countless eons, you probably have never appreciated the immense power of human habits or understood how difficult it is to change a person's inherent cognition, which is why you have such romantic notions. Therefore, as long as you haven't learned to observe your own faults, haven't learned to be honest with yourself and others, haven't learned to truly follow the teachings, haven't identified who your real enemy is, haven't recognized that these external things can't change much, as long as you're still fascinated by the effects of dharma practices and believe that obtaining certain teachings or key instructions will lead to certain results - even if Shakyamuni Buddha himself were teaching you, you would still be an amateur in spiritual practice. You might master ritual procedures and mandala arrangements but still not understand practice at all. You don't know what practice is, nor how to begin true practice. Although you appear professional, with full professional attire, you still can't hide your amateur nature. Over these many years, I often see people discussing the supremacy of dharma practices and the greatness of teachers, but rarely see anyone discuss the hard work of battling the "self," their true values, or what they really want. They probably have never examined their own souls, much less had the courage to face themselves directly. As long as someone remains in this stage, they haven't even touched the edge of true spiritual practice.

Written by Lingshan Hermit on December 8, 2024, first published on December 11, 2024.

灵山居士：只要一个人还处在这样的阶段，那他就还没有摸到修行的边儿。

有一天，我在某社交媒体上看到一个全套披挂的瑜伽士修法的视频，他的手印做的非常流畅，念诵也非常标准，铃杵也拿的有模有样，不懂佛法的人大概会觉得他这样的人很专业，但我对这样的人基本无感。因为我见过很多这样的人，他们都认为自己是很专业的修行人，每天关心的都是收集各种灌顶和法本，关心的是铃杵该怎么拿手印该怎么做，关心的是自己的发音标不标准，关心的是自己认识多少佛教大佬念了多少本尊咒。他们中有人可以用藏文念诵法本全文，他们知道一座法从头到尾的所有细节，知道何时洒净、何时摇鼓，知道念咒时作何手印，知道安住的窍诀，他们关心的都是这些，他们以为学会了这些就是学会了佛法。但是他们却不知道自己真正的敌人是谁，不知道自己真实的状态是什么样，更不知道自己一分钟生起了多少个贪念，所以他们是熟悉修法流程的佛法匠人，而非真正的修行者。

之前有人给我发了一张照片，照片内容是某位名演员所定制的莲师像，这尊像很特别，和大家熟悉的莲师颜色姿态都有很大差异，所以，很多人会想当然地认为这个从没见过的莲师比一般莲师更具威力。假如你有这样的想法，说明你还停留在“法可以决定修行结果”或“某些法比另一些法更殊胜更容易成佛”这样的外行认知里。大多数修行者其实都是这样的认知。

多年以前有人跟我说，去冈任波且转山一次可以清净一生的业障。还有人跟我说看到大幻化网坛城七世内必定成佛，我不确定它们是否真的有这么强大的作用。也许它们真的有这种效力。但是在佛教教法里，这些都是外力，即便是有作用作用也会非常有限。假如你没有观察分析审视自己的能力，没有对自他诚实的习惯，没有认识到自己一直以来的价值观都是错的，你就永远只能在修行之外打转。任何坛城加持物也不可能击溃你的习气和自以为是。那些最多只是一种针对初学的方便，和用毛笔抄写佛经差别不大。其实法也是一样，法也是外力。再殊胜的法，如果没有辅以伟大的灵魂和真正的审思能力，也不可能修出好的结果。真正的修行是非常复杂的事，需要师徒长期的互动和沟通、需要长期的拉锯战。一个会开车会说话会修电脑的人类老师面对你的习气和自以为是尚且要头痛要拉锯战，何况是不会说话的物件。它能对你做什么？能让你颜面全失内心崩溃吗？能告诉你你刚才的理解都是错的吗？能命令你凌晨两点给老板打电话说早上好吗？这些都是活生生的老师才能对你做的。只有活生生的老师才能对你进行猝不及防的打击，也只有猝不及防的打击才能对你的习气起作用。但是需要提醒的是：这一切的发生都必须建立在你知道他是想要让你证悟而你也完全接受这种调教的前提下。否则不可能有证悟发生，只能会是憎恶。

所以如果你认为去冈任波且转转山或是得到一个特殊灌顶或是去菩提迦耶和大众一起呆一个月就能改变无始劫以来的习气，你大概是从未领略过人类习气的强大程度、不知道改变一个人的固有认知有多难，所以才会有这种浪漫的想法。所以，只要你还没学会观自己的过失，没有学会对自他诚实，没有学会真正依教奉行，没有认清自己的敌人是谁，没有认识到这些外在的东西改变不了什么，只要你还在迷恋法的作用，还在以为得到某些法某些窍诀就能如何如何，就算是释迦牟尼在亲自教你，你也还是个修行的外行。你可能精通修法仪轨坛城布置但是却丝毫不懂修行。你不知道修行是什么，也不知道如何开始真正的修行。虽然你看上去很专业，有着全套的专业披挂，却依然不能掩饰你外行的本质。这么多年，我经常能看见有人谈论法的殊胜，谈论老师的殊胜，但是却鲜少看见有人谈一下和“自我”作战的辛劳，谈一下自己真实的价值观，谈一下自己真正想要的到底是什么。他们大概从来没有审视过自己的灵魂，更加没有直面自己的勇气。只要一个人还处在这样的阶段，那他就还没有摸到修行的边儿。

灵山居士写于2024年12月8日，首发于2024年12月11日。

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