一个人的功名利禄，跟前世福报有关
有就享受，没有就坦然接受
Savor what you have and come to terms with what you do not have
一个人的功名利禄，其实跟前世福报有关。
Our status and wealth in this life have everything to do with the merit we have accumulated from previous lives.
倘若不择手段、损人利己，只能折损现有的福报，与所求南辕北辙。
To unscrupulously pursue private gain at the expense of others is self-defeating and only depletes our store of merit.
平时我跟许多人接触的过程中，常发现他们因看得太多、听得太多，以致追求的目标和手段也很多。
In my meetings with people, I have often noticed that due to the glut of visual and audio messages they receive, many of them are busy with all kinds of pursuits and schemes.
他们见别人穿高档衣服、吃美味佳肴，住奢华豪宅、开高级轿车，
They want the same things others have—designer outfits, fine foods, luxury houses, fancy cars, and so on.
自己得不到的话，就会愤愤不平、怨天尤人。
When their wishes are thwarted, they become indignant and are full of complaints.
济公和尚在《圣训歌》中曾说：“一生都是修来的，求什么？”
The legendary monk, Ji Gong, says in The Sage’s Song of Admonition, “What you get in this life is what you have cultivated in the past; why ask for something other than this?”
意思是，我们今生的地位、财产，都是前世修来的，
That is, it is our past karmic forces that shape our present social rank and wealth.
前世不积福的话，今生再强求也没用。
Unless we have endeavored to accumulate merit in past lives, no amount of trying in this life will work out.
这个世界上，渴求幸福快乐，是人人与生俱来的天性，
In this world, everybody has an innate yearning for happiness and comfort.
可真正能如愿以偿的，实际上寥寥无几。
In reality, however, only a very few have their wishes fulfilled.
有人为了舒适安乐而修建房屋，没想到房屋突然倒塌，自己被埋在里面；
Someone tried to build a comfortable house to live in. Suddenly, the house collapsed and buried him alive.
有人为了口腹之欲而享用美食，结果却染上疾疫，危及生命；
Some people feasted on exotic delicacies to satiate their palates, then fell ill from what they ate with life-threatening infections.
有人为了身康体健而服下药物，结果竟发生不良反应，提早离开人间；
People took medications in order to become healthy and strong, but instead, unexpected side effects hastened their departure from this world.
有人为了争取胜利而奔赴战场，结果一命呜呼、客死异乡；
Some people rushed to the battlefield to win a war, and ended up losing their lives, leaving dead bodies behind in foreign lands.
有人为了谋求利润而苦心经营，结果被仇人陷害，倾家荡产；
Someone worked very hard to make a profit, but framed by enemies, was reduced to poverty and ruin.
……
放眼周围，无数人为了所谓的快乐，不惜一切、费尽心机。
All around us, we see many people striving to secure what they perceive will bring them happiness.
可他们并不知道，倘若没有前世的福报，今生再怎么付出也收效甚微。
Little do they know that without merit stocked up from previous lives, even the most arduous efforts in this life will bring only petty rewards.
我就有这么一个亲戚，在我很小的时候，为了生计而四处奔波。
There is one such relative of mine who, when I was a little boy, was already on the run to make a living.
前不久我在一所寺院又见到了他，他辛苦一辈子所追求的快乐和财富，到现在也没有得到。
When I recently met him again, I saw that the money and comfort he toiled after all his life still eluded him.
记得有这样一个故事：
I remember a story that goes like this:
曾经某一世的大宝法王，每天都有来自各地的信徒前来拜见，供养非常丰盛富足。
During the time of one Gyalwang Karmapa, each day devotees from many places would come in to pay their respects and present him with sumptuous offerings.
他身旁的侍者，天天为法王收拾着各地的供养，心中不禁抱怨：
His personal attendant, while putting away all the nice offerings every day, could not help grumbling,
“怎么都是供养他，就没人供养我呢？我也很辛苦啊！”
“How come everyone is making offerings to the Karmapa but not to me? I am also a hardworking person!”
大宝法王知道侍者的心念，便对他说：“明天一整天，我收到的所有供养都归你。”
The Karmapa knew what the attendant was thinking and said to him, “For the entire day tomorrow, whatever offerings come to me are yours to keep.”
侍者听了很高兴，眼巴巴地盼着第二天的来临。
The attendant was more than overjoyed to hear this, and he could barely wait for the next day to arrive.
结果这一天，从早到晚，就是没有人来供养。
As it turned out, from dawn to dusk on that day, hardly anyone came to visit and make offerings.
直到傍晚的时候，才有一个人来供养一块干牛皮。
It was only late in the afternoon that one person showed up and offered a dried cowhide.
法王将那块干牛皮给了那侍者。
The Karmapa passed it on to the attendant.
侍者接过干牛皮，心里感到很失望，
The attendant accepted the leather but was very disappointed.
大宝法王对侍者说：“你看，没办法，作为法王我也帮不了你，因为你的福报只有一块干牛皮而已。”
The Karmapa told him, “Can’t you see? There is just no way. Even as a Karmapa, I can’t help you because it is your merit that dictated your entitlement to be merely a piece of cowhide.”
所以，我们不得不承认，若想得到梦寐以求的东西，除了付出努力之外，前世的因缘也不可或缺。
Hence, the conclusion is inevitable: If we want to realize our dreams, besides working hard, factors from our previous lives also play indispensable roles.
现实中也常可以看到，许多人就算拥有同等的条件，由于各自福报不同，今生的苦乐迥然有异。
We usually see that even when people have the same provisions, they end up experiencing very different lives. In a way, such variations are but the unfolding of their individual merit.
就算是同一个父母所生的孩子、同一个老师教出来的学生，未来的命运也有天壤之别。
Even children born from the same parents, or students taught by the same teacher, will grow up to have lives that are vastly dissimilar.
当然，佛教并不是宿命论，认为一切都是命中注定，半点也不能改。
Certainly, Buddhism is not fatalistic. It doesn’t presume that everything is predestined: offering no possibility to deviate from a fixed path.
而是告诉我们：今生的一切苦乐，与前世脱不了关系。
Rather, the Dharma teaches us that the happiness and suffering of this life are very much related to past lives.
有了前世的因，才有今生的果；
Through the causes (or seeds) planted in times past, we reap the fruit in this life.
没有因的话，再怎么追求果也徒劳无益。
If no seed is planted in the first place, there will be no fruit. Our yearning will be futile.
要知道，梦想与现实之间有距离，
We also have to reckon with the gap between dreams and reality.
许多事情不一定如愿以偿，这是很正常的。
It’s quite common that many ideas simply cannot be realized according to our wishes.
如果你学了佛，心胸就会非常开阔，
Having studied the Dharma, we’ll become open-minded.
所求的东西得到了，不会过于欢喜；
When we obtain what we want, we will not be too euphoric;
得不到，也不会过于伤心。
if we fail in our pursuit, neither will we be exceedingly downcast.
因为你知道这一切都是因缘，
We know that everything is circumstantial.
因缘具足，你有这些外在条件，那去享用也可以；
When causes and conditions come together and a favorable situation presents itself, enjoy it.
但若实在得不到，自己也能坦然接受，并不会苦苦强求。
On the other hand, if there is just no way to reach our goal, we can accept the outcome with equanimity, instead of wishing it to be otherwise.
索达吉堪布《做，才是得到》
Khenpo Sodargye《Achieve by Doing》
1.婚姻家庭系列：公众号后台回复数字1
2. 真实因果案例：公众号后台回复数字2
3.不离连载系列：公众号后台回复数字3
4. 心经连载系列：公众号后台回复数字4
5. 金刚经连载系列：公众号后台回复数字5
温馨提示：公众号后台，不是留言区哦~
【中英专栏】临终时若有它，就不会感受气息分解的剧烈痛苦！
【中英专栏】一次的恶念，就足以改变自己的命运！
【中英专栏】不要一时冲动而发下恶愿，否则……
【中英专栏】对别人生起害心，等于将自己推入地狱……
【中英专栏】最好的说话之道，不是学习怎么说话，而是……
【中英专栏】骂人的果报相当可怕！
【中英专栏】小心，这是魔鬼对你的奉承！
【中英专栏】若存这种心，将会招致灭门之灾、摧毁所有福德！
【中英专栏】死时怎么办、死后怎么办？——为来世找寻方向
【中英专栏】对不起！你的寿命余额不足，即将停止呼吸……
【中英专栏】如果想专门修行一法，修什么法最为重要？
【中英专栏】修无常的人，得佛安慰、得佛授记、得佛加持！
【中英专栏】把一天的生活当一生来观修
【中英专栏】今生最爱的人，很可能是你前世的怨敌！
【中英专栏】他为何从最初的“痴情”，到最后的郁郁而终……
【中英专栏】有些人对感情的贪执特别可怕，这个原因就是……
【中英专栏】无论自己身上发生什么，都不必觉得很倒霉
【中英专栏】这7种不花钱就能获大果报的好事，你做过几件？