再多的理论，也比不上生活中实修。

As there are quite a few of you in the class, it is understandable that you may progress at different pace. Still, if most of you only know the dharma theoretically rather than practicing it in daily life, the teaching will not be as meaningful. Asking you to write me a note can also serve as a kind of reminder that perhaps it really is time to take one’s practice seriously in view of the fact that no progress has been made after a long period of time.

因为人很多,情况肯定也不一样,如果绝大多数的人只是理论上懂了一些道理,但在日常生活中没有去落实,那就没有太大的意义了。这种写纸条的方式对你们来说也是一种鼓励,那么长时间了,如果什么进步都没有的话,大家就会惭愧,想必以后也会认认真真地修行!

The purpose for practicing the Dharma is not to gain health and wealth or be trouble-free in life but to attain liberation. In order to reach that final goal, all defilements must be eradicated first. Although it is somewhat impractical aiming to accomplish that in three to five years, one can still check if defilements have been reduced or at least have tended downward over time. This is what we should be concerned with, not what it would be like in the realm of the Buddha or the great bodhisattvas. There is simply not enough time for us to explore and argue all the points presented in，say, Ornament of Clear Realization or Madhyamaka. In other words, we cannot hope to reach the same height as Nagarjuna or Chandrakirti by way of discussion only.

修行的目的不是为了健康、顺利、发财，而是为了解脱。只有断除烦恼以后，才会获得解脱。虽然在三年、五年当中彻底断除烦恼不太现实，但减少烦恼没有？即使没有明显地减少，但往减少的方向走了没有？这也是一个问题。我们就从点点滴滴去做，没有必要谈佛的境界是什么，菩萨的境界是什么，《现观庄严论》讲什么，中观讲什么，月称菩萨说什么，龙树菩萨说什么；这些太多了，一生都说不完。寻根问底地去追究这些佛的境界、菩萨的境界没有用。

For example, when I studied Ornament of Clear Realization, the first subject was on bodhicitta. It became very complicated as almost every word could be interpreted variably from different perspectives, which confounded me to no end. Questions like how many categories of bodhicitta there are, what relative or absolute bodhicitta means and the like were discussed over and over again. A viewpoint usually had people both for and against it. As a result，much time was spent on either defending one’s own or refuting other’s position. It is really a shame that I have yet aroused bodhicitta after all these years and so many arguments. Whereas some of my classmate who rarely engaged in this kind of discussion, only focused on the actual practice of bodhicitta, have by now successfully engendered bodhicitta.

我也有这样的体会。我们学《现观庄严论》的第一个问题，就是讲菩提心，讲得非常复杂，每一个字上面都有很多不同的观点，不同的观点我都设法去掌握。比如说：菩提心有什么样的分类，分开以后有多少，归纳以后有多少；世俗菩提心是什么样，胜义菩提心是什么样等等，天天研究这些；对一个观点有支持的、有反对的，反对的人用什么样的逻辑、什么样的理论、什么样的教证去驳倒对方，对方又怎么样反驳等等，在菩提心上面花了很长的时间。几十年过去了，我还没有菩提心，这是多么令人汗颜的事啊！但有些人不是这样，他不管菩提心的若干观点，只是去修菩提心，结果人家修成了，我们却没有修成。