宣化上人：一念欲心一念愚 VM Hsuan Hua: One thought of desire, one thought of delusion

摘自 宣化上人『六祖法寶壇經淺釋』 般若品第二
Taken from VM Hua's commentary on the Sixth Patriarch's Sutra, Chapter 2: Prajna

善知識！不悟，即佛是眾生；一念悟時，眾生是佛。故知萬法盡在自心，何不從自心中，頓見真如本性。
Good and Wise Friends, unawakened, Buddhas are just living beings. At the moment they awaken, however, living beings are Buddhas. Therefore, you should realize that the ten thousand Dharmas are all within your own mind. Why don’t you immediately see, right within your own mind, the true reality of your original nature?
善知識！不悟，即佛是眾生：各位有知識的人！你們應該要知道，不了悟，雖然是佛，也會變成了眾生。一念悟時，眾生是佛：你在一念這麼短暫的時間，要是豁然開悟了，眾生就是佛。也就是覺者佛也，迷者眾生。你迷了，就是眾生；覺悟了，就是佛。一念覺，一念佛，念念覺，念念佛；你一念迷，一念是眾生，念念迷，念念是眾生。
Good and Wise Friends, unawakened, Buddhas are just living beings. At the moment they awaken, however, living beings are Buddhas.
All Good and Wise Friends! You should know that if unawakened, all Buddhas are just living beings. If, in the very shortest space of time, the space of a thought, you suddenly awaken and you become a Buddha. Deluded, you are a living being; enlightened, you are a Buddha.
One thought deluded: you are a living being.
Thought after thought deluded: thought after thought, a living being.
One enlightened thought: you are a Buddha.
Thought after thought enlightened: thought after thought, a Buddha.
怎麼叫覺悟呢？覺悟情和欲究竟有什麼好處？情、欲是個傷害自己身體最重要的問題，也是傷害自己生命最重要的問題，也是令你愚癡的最重要問題。你一念欲心，就一念愚；你念念有這種情欲心，念念就愚癡。所謂「業盡情空是真佛，業重情迷是眾生。」沒有旁的方法，就是把染污的念頭放下，那就是清淨的念。那麼染污的念頭是什麼呢？就是這種欲念。再說得清楚一點，就是婬欲的念。這個婬欲念，又要分清楚了：你以身去實行婬欲念，這是身業的不清淨；你在口裏頭盡講綺語，盡講這些問題，這是口業不清淨；你在心裏總想這種不清淨的婬欲事，這是意業不清淨。所以身口意三業，你都要不犯，這就離成佛不遠。
What does it mean to be enlightened? To be enlightened what advantage emotion and desire have. Emotion and desire not only harm your body, but also rob you of your life and make you stupid. So this is the most severe problem. If one thought you have desire, then you are deluded in one thought. If in thought after thought you have desire, then thought after thought you are deluded. It is said,
Karma ended, emotion emptied, you are a true Buddha.
Karma heavy, emotion turbid, you are a living being.
There are no alternate routes to Buddhahood except by putting down all defiled thoughts. When these thoughts are put down, you have purified your thoughts. What are the defiled thoughts? They are just those of desire -- I will make it even clearer: thoughts of sexual desire are defiled thoughts. You should clearly recognize them: When you give way to sexual desire with your body, you have impure bodily karma. When you have a mouthful of frivolous or undisciplined speech, you have impure speech karma. When you always stir up sensual thoughts, you have impure thought karma. Therefore, you should commit none of these karmic offenses and then you are not far from Buddhahood.
一般的人，背覺合塵。合什麼塵？就是合這種不清淨的塵。塵，是以染污為義。你一落到有這種情欲，就有染污；你離開情欲，染污才得離開。所以背塵就合覺；你背覺，就合塵。你若染污，就不得清淨；不得清淨，就不成佛。你要清淨，就不要染污；你若一染污，就是眾生，這很清楚一定的。所以才說：一念迷，就是一念眾生，念念迷，就是念念眾生；一念悟，就是一念的佛，念念悟，就是念念的佛。你看，這很容易的嘛！一點都不費事。
Ordinary people turn their backs on enlightenment and merge themselves with the “dust.” What are the dust? The perceived objects, which are defilements. Dust just means defilement. If you fall into these states of emotion and desire, you become defiled. If you transcend emotion and desire, then you get rid of the defilements. So you should turn your back away from the dust and unite with enlightenment. If you turn your back on enlightenment, then you unite with dust. If you are defiled, then you are not pure. If you are not pure, then you can not become a Buddha. If you want to be pure, then get rid of defilements. Once you are defiled, you’re a living being -- This is clear and definite. That’s why it is said: One deluded thought makes you a living being. If every thought is deluded, you are continually a living being. One enlightened thought makes you a Buddha. If every thought is enlightened, you are always a Buddha. Look, it is so easy -- just like a piece of cake.
可是雖然容易，還是要有一點助緣才可以。怎麼樣的助緣呢？你說：「我要清淨。」那麼最要緊的，不要有自私心。你若有自私心，就不清淨；清淨，也變成不清淨了。你若沒有自私心，一切都不是為自己，就會清淨；因為你沒有貪心、沒有瞋心、沒有癡心、沒有我見，這就是悟。所以才說一念悟時，眾生是佛。有的人說：「喔，所有的人都是佛？」不錯，雖說眾生是佛，但是要你悟了才是。
Although it is easy and simple, some aiding conditions are required to bring about the accomplishment of Buddhahood. You say, “I want to be pure.” What kind of supporting condition/qualities do you need to be pure? The condition is to be free of selfishness. That is of the utmost importance. Once you are selfish, you cannot be pure. Even if you originally were, you will not be pure due to selfishness. On the other hand, if you are selfless and do nothing for personal gain, you will become pure. When you are free of greed, anger, delusion, and views of the self, that itself is awakening. Therefore, it is said, within one thought awakened, living beings are Buddhas. Some people say, “Everyone is a Buddha!” Right. All living beings are Buddhas, but they must first be awakened to become Buddhas. (English translation provided by DM Jin Yan.)