人生要在和谐中求发展，又在努力中见其希望。

by 圣严法师

我们修行尝不到法喜、法味，是因为功夫下得不够深，所以佛经上说，大乘菩萨的善根只有「精进」一项，精进才会有成就，松懈散漫的态度什么事情都不能成就。

by 净空法师

A visiting Zen student asked Ajahn Chah, How old are you? Do you live here all year round? I live nowhere, he replied. There is no place you can find me. I have no age. To have age, you must exist, and to think you exist is already a problem. Don't make problems, then the world has none either. Don't make a self. There's nothing more to say.

by Ajahn Brahm

每天无所事事，是人生的消费者，积极、有用才是人生的创造者。

by 证严法师

One who is caught in thought loses one´s original nature. All he knows are words and descriptions, when he sees the actual thing, he fails to perceive it.

by Dalai Lama

世间八法是：利、衰、誉、毁、称、讥、苦、乐。

即是由于眼前暂时的利益跟伤害，而让我们的心产生快乐或痛苦感觉的八种情况。

Try to maintain perfectly pure thoughts in all circumstances, so that even the most insignificant of your acts will preserve their positive energy until you attain enlightenment. A drop of water that falls into the ocean will last as long as the ocean itself.

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

一切功德，回向众生，就是得了优越的果报，也愿与大众共其利益。

by 印顺法师

What is the essence of bodhichitta? The essence of bodhichitta is the heart that thinks, "I alone, personally, will establish all sentient beings in the state of complete enlightenment."

This is quite a great heart, isn't it? Whether we are or are not able to establish sentient beings in enlightenment in that way does not matter. It is first important to think that we are going to do it. By giving rise to this heart we reflect on the essence of sentient beings. If you give this an attractive name, you could call it "buddha nature." But you could also call it "sentient beings nature." It is the same thing. Sentient beings nature is buddha nature. It is free from confusion and impurities from the beginning. Buddha taught this as being primordially free from all suffering and endowed with all happiness. Isn't it true that we all want happiness and want to be free from suffering?

And, according to the Buddha, this desire that we have is itself a sign that our true nature is free from suffering and completely endowed with undefiled happiness, undefiled bliss. The Buddha taught that this desire that is present in all beings is a sign of what our true nature is. What we are doing when we have that desire to be happy and free from suffering is trying to rise to meet our true nature, to be one with our true nature.

by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

Life is glorious, but life is also wretched. It is both.

Appreciating the gloriousness inspires us, encourages us, cheers us up, gives us a bigger perspective, energizes us. We feel connected. But if that's all that's happening, we get arrogant and start to look down on others, and there is a sense of making ourselves a big deal and being really serious about it, wanting it to be like that forever. The gloriousness becomes tinged by craving and addiction.

On the other hand, wretchedness--life's painful aspect--softens us up considerably. Knowing pain is a very important ingredient of being there for another person. When you are feeling a lot of grief, you can look right into somebody's eyes because you feel you haven't got anything to lose--you're just there.

The wretchedness humbles us and softens us, but if we were only wretched, we would all just go down the tubes. We'd be so depressed, discouraged, and hopeless that we wouldn't have enough energy to eat an apple.

Gloriousness and wretchedness need each other. One inspires us, the other softens us. They go together.

by Pema Chodron

所谓三宝指的是佛、法、僧；

所以称为宝，是取之不尽，用之不竭，一旦接受，永远常随，水火不能毁，盗贼不能夺，受用无尽，非世间诸宝所能比。

所以皈依三宝，相当于学生到学校注册，是信佛学佛的开始。唯有注册之后，有了学籍，自己才承认是学校的学生，学校也接受你的上课；学生上课是义务，学校授课是责任。

所以，皈依的仪式非常重要；又像夫妇结婚，官员就职，党员入党，都要经过宣誓和监誓等的行为，这表示慎重和肯定。

如果不经过皈依三宝的仪式，当然也可以学佛，但是未经皈依三宝仪式的人，在心理上，必定有所推托、踌躇、迟疑，遇到紧要关头，他们会说："我还不是佛教徒，我还不需要遵照佛教的戒律来做。"(比如：懈怠、放逸、邪淫、妄语、顺手牵羊等的恶业和恶习，他们会原谅自己，更不会防范于未然。)

如果皈依三宝后，自己会做自我的约束、警惕和警策，也会受到同修及师僧等善知识的鼓励、督促、规劝，所以，在人格的升华，道心的增长，修持的努力等各方面都会进入正轨和常轨。

不要以为皈依不重要，或者误会尚未懂得佛法和修持，就不够资格皈依三宝。

其实正因为你尚未修行，不会修行，不懂佛法，而已经知道佛法可信、可学，那就应该赶快先来皈依三宝。

认为自己尚不足以做一个佛教徒的人，更需要现在皈依；皈依之后，不论在心态、生活、习惯等方面，都有善友、诸佛菩萨、护法龙天来协助你、加持你，所以意志力薄弱，信心不足的人皈依三宝，就会增强你的意志，增加你的信心。

成佛之道云：“归依处处求，求之遍十方，究竟归依处，三宝最吉祥。”

卍字是佛的三十二种大人相之一。它是表示吉祥无比，称为吉祥海云，又称吉祥喜旋。

没有人喜欢受苦，总是希望快乐，所以会趋吉避凶、趋乐避苦、追求快乐。但是现实 生活中，痛苦却如影随形、难以摆脱，而且追求快乐到最后，往往又都变成是苦的， 这是为什么呢?

这是因为追求快乐一定要付出代价和成本，否则这种快乐变成一种「负债」，苦就 会接踵而至。就像一个人身上没有钱却想看电影，只有想办法偷偷进电影院，起先 一、两次可能还不会发生问题，但是总被抓到的一天，被抓到之后，就有苦头吃了。 不愿付出代价所得到的快乐，终究会尝到苦果，就算为了快乐而愿意付出代价，也 要历经种种辛苦。例如，为了追求快乐，就必须先努力工作赚钱，好长一段时间后， 才能拥有快乐的享受。但仔细想想，这样的快乐岂不就是辛苦，甚至痛苦后的结果？ 所谓的「犒赏」、「奖赏」，就是辛苦工作之后得来的报酬。

俗话说：「天下没有白吃的午餐。」就算只是吃一餐饭，也都是我们辛苦工作所得 的成果，也是来自于老天的奖赏。古人说：「莫忘盘中飧，粒粒皆辛苦。」不要以 为盘里的食物得来容易，其实每一粒米都是农夫辛苦耕种得来的。一棵稻子播种之 后，要好几个月才能收成，这期间非常辛劳，只是大家吃饭的时候，很少会想到过 程的艰辛。

人的一生之中，从呱呱落地到死亡为止，都在忙碌中度过，真正快乐的时候其实很 少，因为只要有了生命、有了这个身体、要过生活，就必须付出代价，这就是辛苦。 一般人以为夫妻结了婚、生了孩子，大概是快乐的，但是家家有本难念的经，孩子 虽然很可爱，可以为你带来很多安慰、快乐，但有时也会增加很多意想不到的负担、 困扰和麻烦。

为了化解生活中的烦恼和痛苦，现代社会出现了许多娱乐设施以及消遗休憩环境， 例如PUB、KTV等，表面上提供人们很多欢乐，其实这种快乐都只是瞬间的麻醉，短 时间内能放松头脑，让身体、五官受一点刺激，接受不同的讯息，得到暂时的调剂， 但不等于真正的快乐。

这就像眼睛发痒时用手去抓，抓的时候觉得很快乐、很满足，但结果却是更红、更 痒、更不舒服。又像患香港脚的人，用热开水泡、用手抓痒时，当下会觉得很舒服， 但如果不小心抓破了皮，反而会更痛、更不舒服。所以，快乐不但是苦的结果，也 是另一个苦的开始。

由此可知，人生本是苦多乐少，我们的一生汲汲于追求消灭痛苦的方式，都只是治 标而已，非但不能得到真正的快乐，可能还会造成更大的痛苦。主要的原因，就是 不知道痛苦发生，其实都是自己造成的。

by 圣严法师

As soon as your object of concern changes from yourself to someone else, your heart is released from the bondage of the self-cherishing thought. As soon as you change the object of your cherishing, there is peace in your heart.

by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Know and watch your heart. It's pure but emotions come to colour it. So let your mind be like a tightly woven net to catch emotions and feelings that come, and investigate them before you react.

by Ajahn Chah

静坐常思己过，闲谈莫论人非。

by 证严法师

Just know what is happening in your mind - not happy or sad about it, not attached. If you suffer see it, know it, and be empty. It's like a letter - you have to open it before you can know what's in it.

by Ajahn Brahm