开启大乘门扉的“万能钥匙”

In ancient times, cities were built with protective walls. If there was only one gate, everyone would have to go through that gate to go to any household in the city. Similarly, if we cannot break through the barrier of renunciation and bodhicitta, we will not have access to any genuine, profound practices like the Great Perfection, Mahamudra, Kalachakra and others. Once we pass, the doors to the various systems of practice will all open and we can choose at will to practice Pure Land, Zen, Madhyamaka, Mahamudra, or the Great Perfection.

正如以前所讲的比喻一样，古代的城市都有城墙围绕，假如城墙只有一个城门，则所有进城的人都必须通过此门，才可以到达城内的任何一户人家，否则一家也去不了。同样，如果没有过出离心和菩提心这一关，我们就没有选择的余地，就无法修习真正的大圆满、大手印、时轮金刚等法。如果过了这一关，修净土、禅宗、中观、大手印或大圆满，便可由我们任意挑选。

For laypeople, cultivating bodhicitta and going to work actually are not two conflicting tasks; they can be undertaken simultaneously. Nowadays, the number of family members that one may need to support is probably seven or eight at most. Yet, during the time of the Buddha, an Indian king, who had to attend to numerous important issues every day, could manage to practice Mahayana and rule the country at the same time under the guidance of the Buddha. Similarly, after we have generated renunciation and bodhicitta, we do not have to immediately abandon all worldly activities such as working, handling family affairs and so forth. As long as we do not develop attachment to those ordinary activities, we can practice and work at the same time. Generating renunciation and bodhicitta not only are not incompatible with daily work, but may even come in handy for a true practitioner faced with thorny issues or interpersonal conflict.

在家居士修出离心，与上班工作并没有任何冲突。一个现代人所要养活的家口，顶多只有七、八个。而在佛住世的时候，即使日理万机的印度国王，也可以在佛陀的适当安排下，使管理国家与修学大乘佛法齐头并进。同样，在我们生起出离心与菩提心后，也不是要立即不上班、不处理家务、放弃世俗的一切，只要对世间没有贪执之心，就可以在做世间工作的同时进行修行。生起出离心和菩提心不但与平时的工作没有冲突，在遇到一些棘手的问题，或者与他人发生利害冲突的关键时刻，真正的修行人反而会处理得更加完美。

Of course, for those who believe in the law of cause and effect, and the cycle of death and rebirth, but just want to do good deeds to obtain worldly benefits instead of ultimate liberation, it is not necessary to generate renunciation and bodhicitta. Yet for practitioners seeking the path of liberation and that of the bodhisattvas, arousing bodhicitta is a critical step that particularly should be kept in focus.

当然，对于那些虽然相信因果轮回，但仅仅是为了得到一些世间圆满而作善事，却不愿意修解脱道的人而言，是不需要出离心和菩提心的。然而，对于修解脱道、修菩萨道的修行人而言，发菩提心是必须特别强调的首要问题。

With bodhicitta, many problems related to practice could be easily solved since bodhicitta has within itself the incredible capacity for accumulating merit, forgiving and purifying evil karma and so forth. Thus, bodhicitta is regarded as the indispensable universal key for the entrance of Mahayana Buddhism.

有了菩提心，修行上的许多问题都可以迎刃而解，因为菩提心本身已经包含了积累资粮、忏悔清净罪业等等不可思议的能力。因此，菩提心是开启大乘佛法门扉不可或缺的“万能钥匙”。