Voice of Master Jingzong - Q and A about the Purpose of Life
淨宗之聲 - 人生目的問答
Q15 “Letting go” is not “Giving up”. How can we let go in our lives?
Buddhist teachings always talk about letting go of all karmic conditions. Does this mean we should give up our worldly obligations, such as making a living and raising our children?
Answer to Q15:
This is a common question. Letting go is not an excuse for giving up one’s responsibilities or facing personal challenges. That is certainly not what the Buddha taught.
It is difficult for ordinary beings like us to fully let go in the midst of normal human activities. Hence, we should not focus on how to let go.
If we use the analogy of a mirror, it reflects the image of whatever is in front of it: man,woman, adult, child, dog, or cat. This is the meaning of “letting go”. A mirror doesn’t care what object is in front of it. It will not reject anything that comes in front of it or stop anything from going away. The mirror is always in the state of “letting go”.
What is “giving up”? It is when the mirror insists on reflecting only those things it prefers. If other things appear, they destroy the mirror, cover it, or paint over it. That is “giving
up”.
It is difficult for our minds to be the mirror in the former scenario - not rejecting anything that comes in front of it, or stopping anything from going away. We humans always have emotions that complicate matters and may cause us to give up easily.
(to be continued tomorrow)
問(15):“放下”並非“放棄”,人生如何放下?
佛法講“萬緣放下”,放下難道就可以什麼都不管了嗎?比如撫養孩子方面的,做父母的不 用掙錢來撫養孩子嗎?如果這樣的話,我個人認為那不是放下,而是把孩子給放棄了。請問
“放下”和“放棄”到底有什麼區別呢?
淨宗之聲:這個問題其實在佛門當中倒蠻普遍的。有很多人就是在搞放棄,然後美其名曰 “放下”;就是逃跑、逃避、不負責任。學佛學出病了,不是真正的佛法所講的。當然真正要放下,我們凡夫是很難做到的,我們總會有牽掛,所以我們的著力點倒不是怎樣做到放下。
打一個比方,比如說一面鏡子在這,男人來了照男人,女人來了照女人;成人來了照成人,孩子來了照孩子;狗來照狗,鷄來照鷄。這一面鏡子它就是“放下”的,它沒有說“哎呀,我剛才照那小孩跑哪啦?我就要照他,不照別人”,它沒有牽掛,來什麼照什麼,不來它也無所謂,來者不拒,去者不留,你一來它立即就反映,這就是“放下”的狀態。
那麼,什麼叫放棄呢?它一定要照個什麼,結果沒來,一生氣把鏡子給打破了,不照了,或者把鏡子給蒙上,用油漆給它一塗,這就是放棄。
如果我們能夠心如明鏡,來者不拒,去者不追——這個我們很難做到,我們往往都是沒有來就盼望、想,離開了就又在追憶;或者不喜歡的,人家來了就要拒絶。那都不是鏡子本來的狀態,而是格外加了情緒、情感的作用,達不到目的就撒潑,就放棄。當然,我們凡夫很難做到如同明鏡一般來者不拒、去者不追的放下。
Namo Amituofo!
