Ajahn Jayasaro

良好的修行規範是——

不談論那些不在場的人，

除非真的有必要；若真有必要談論，

就要好好檢查自己的動機。

尤其當要在背後說別人的壞話時，

必須清楚地問自己：

——我說這話是為了什麼？

——有必要說嗎？

——說了會有什麼益處嗎？

有時候，這可能屬於正語，也可能是妄語。

煩惱常常會通過語言表現出來。

在溝通中尤其明顯。

若重視精進修行、修習佛法、改善人生，

就必須特別重視言語。

佛陀說過：

許多人出生時，

好像口中含著一把斧頭，

那斧頭專門用來傷害他人。

因此，不要用舌頭去傷害別人，

要努力做到——

連一句會讓他人痛苦的話也不說。

千萬不要說侮辱、輕蔑他人的話，

那是最傷人心的言語。

不要說挑撥離間的話，

而要說能使人團結和睦的話，

令眾人生歡喜、喜悅與自豪，

在善與和諧中感到幸福。

當我們如此修習言語，

自己會快樂，別人也會快樂。

阿姜查亞薩羅

（由Judge翻譯） 中泰佛法 คำสอนปฏิบัติธรรมจีนและไทย

A good practice guideline is:

Do not talk about people who are not present,

unless it is truly necessary; if you must speak of them,

carefully examine your motivation.

This is especially important when speaking ill of others behind their back -

you must clearly ask yourself:

- Why am I saying this?

- Is it necessary to say?

- Will there be any benefit in saying it?

Sometimes this may constitute Right Speech, sometimes Wrong Speech.

Defilements often manifest through language.

This is particularly evident in communication.

If you value diligent practice, studying the Dhamma, and improving your life,

you must pay special attention to your speech.

The Buddha said:

Many people are born

as if holding an axe in their mouths,

an axe specifically used to harm others.

Therefore, do not use your tongue to hurt others.

Strive to achieve this -

not uttering even a single word that would cause others suffering.

Never speak words that insult or belittle others,

for these are the most heart-wounding words.

Do not speak words that sow discord,

but rather speak words that promote unity and harmony,

bringing people joy, delight, and pride,

making them feel happy in goodness and harmony.

When we practice speech in this way,

we ourselves will be happy, and others will be happy too.

By Ajahn Jayasaro

Devotee: (about controversy between wordly ambition and Dhamma practice)

Ajahn Jayasaro: yeah, Buddhism is peaceful and you can't make it everything in the real world, the idea (goes like this). One of the thing as a lay Buddhist is that you can prove that it is not true.

You know in Thailand we have huge problem of corruption, and it is very intimidating once you step into a corrupted organization. And the pressure for you to corrupt is incredible.

In Thailand, there is corruption from the bottom to up in different organization, so there is so much pressure. But I also know a very moral and practical practiced Buddhist... if you come in to a corrupted organization, you only need one person up there who have been successful, and you know one person up there who doesn't compromise. It gives you so much merits for you to do that.  I live in a bussiness world, and I can do it in a more kind, humane way and been successful. It is incredible gift which you can give, it is not that craving kind of motivation to prove through the status. You are not looking at your dignity, your meaning from these things. You know, it is like a hobby , it is a livelihood , a play. Just like an actor  , when he plays the Hemlet , he is very into it. But the moment it ends, he put it down. So can separate these two things, be  a good example. You have to look up for yourself, you don't trample people all over you , sometimes it is true, but sometimes it is not.

when you are being more senior, you get more power to influence the culture of your organization, your partner.  And yeah, we can introduce the kind of better way of living together without compromising the efficiency of the work, the output of the work. I think it is a real input for the young Buddhist to show 'yes', these two things are compatible.

It is not compatible to that kind of selfish , narcissistic, striving for fame, power and those things. But to do good job, and lead a life of looking after yourself and family , fulfilling responsibilites; it is not wrong  achieving things in the world. But it is not the end product, we have spiritual goals and material goals pursuing in harmony

信徒：（關於世俗野心與佛法修行之間的爭議）

阿姜·迦亞薩羅：是的，佛教是平和的，但你不能讓現實世界中的一切都符合佛法，人們常有這種想法。然而，作為在家佛教徒，你可以證明這種想法並不正確。

你知道，泰國存在嚴重的腐敗問題，一旦你進入一個腐敗的機構，情況會非常令人畏懼。迫使你同流合污的壓力大得驚人。

在泰國，從底層到高層的各種組織中都存在腐敗，因此壓力無處不在。但我也認識一些嚴守戒律、實踐佛法的在家眾——如果你進入一個腐敗的機構，你只需要有一位堅守原則、不妥协的高層存在。這樣的人能為你帶來巨大的善的影響。我身處商業世界，但可以用更慈悲、更人性化的方式取得成功。這是一份珍貴的禮物，不是那種通過地位來證明自己的貪婪動機。你不必從這些外在事物中尋找尊嚴與人生意義。這就像一種嗜好、一種生計、一場戲劇——如同演員扮演哈姆雷特時全心投入，但戲落幕時便放下。我們可以區分這兩者，成為善的榜樣。

你必須堅持自我，不必踐踏他人。有時現實確實如此，但並非總是如此。當你資歷更深時，會有更多能力去影響組織與夥伴的文化。我們可以在不影響工作效率與成果的前提下，推行更好的共處之道。我認為年輕佛教徒向世人展示「佛法與世俗可以兼容」極具意義。

這種兼容，絕不意味著縱容自私、自戀、追逐名利權力的行為。而是以正念做好本職工作，照顧自身與家庭，履行責任——在世間取得成就並無過錯，但這並非終極目標。我們應以精神追求與物質生活和諧並進為方向。

At one time, I gave a talk about meditation and the peace of mind to some merchants. It may seem like a very remote idea.

But I will tell you an idea. Hold your breath, and you will find that the thoughts stop, and it feels being awake without thinking

When we are nervous and stressful, hold your breath to reconnect with that non-thinking mind

有一次，我向商人們講解禪修與內心平靜，這概念對他們似乎很遙遠。

但請試著體會：當你屏住呼吸的瞬間，會發現思緒突然中止，體驗到一種「無念頭的覺醒狀態」。

當我們陷入緊張壓力時，只需屏息片刻，就能重新連接那個無思維的心。

---Ajahn Jayasaro

sometimes I teach Buddhist economics to children.

Let's say sweets with no nutritional value, what would be your profit from eating that sweet?

Let's say, 10 seconds of pleasant feeling in your mouth.

So Let's say you give half of it to your friend, I have made a loss, now I only have five seconds of pleasure in my mouth as profit.

But if I eat the whole thing, like 10 seconds; the next day I think about it, it will be never again.

But if I give it to my friend, then the next day I will think, 'oh, yesterday, the sweet I like so much and I give it to my friend.' and you have this inner happiness. So in the course of your life, how many seconds, minutes of pleasures you have from that single sweet? 

From  Buddhist economics point of view, sharing food is smarter than eating it  by yourself. You make a much bigger profit

有時我會教孩子們「佛教經濟學」。

比方說，這顆糖沒有任何營養價值，你吃掉它能獲得什麼「利潤」呢？

大概就是嘴裡十秒鐘的愉悅感吧。

如果你分一半給朋友，表面上看我「虧損」了——現在我嘴裡只剩五秒鐘的快樂當利潤。

但若我獨自吃完十秒鐘的甜味，第二天回想起來，除了「吃過了」什麼也不剩。

要是分給了朋友，第二天我會想起：「昨天我把最愛的糖分享給朋友了」，內心便湧現溫暖的喜悅。這樣算來，這顆糖在生命長河裡，究竟帶給你多少秒、多少分鐘的幸福？

從佛教經濟學來看，分享食物遠比獨自享用更有智慧。這才是真正豐厚的「利潤」。

---Ajahn Jayasaro

Why is it this thing that very very wealthy people are often very stingy, with little expenditure? why is that？

Let's say you are a billionaire, the famous case of Paul Getty. In his mansion, there are landlines, you have to put money into landlines in order to use it in his house.... So psychologically, what they were?

I think again that when we talk about worldly dhammas, gain and loss; don't look at those things as financial , it is a feeling. If you are a millionaire , you can't use that money; even you extend your life with the latest technology, stem cells etc.  for a hundred of years; you still cannot use a fraction of it.

Nevertheless, if they see that the stock price go down a bit, they will have a little bit bad mood that day. So why? that has no impact on their life. It has impact on the sense of ' I am growing all the time' 'my wealth is stable and growing'  and that is an idea, not the actual experience. Because it is far beyond that, they are living a luxurious life they possibly could, they get enough money to live as they wish until they die. But it is the sense of loss, that people find is so distressing.

if one-zero disappears, oh ... that is really a lot

Like just a small amount, a loss. That is not too much of a stretch. Everytime you lose something, it is a small death, it reminds you of death.

As long as your money is growing, you feel immortal....

in the sutta where the Buddha taught about the skillful ways that householders use their wealth, is that they should not be attached to their wealth. Let their possessions own them. And this reminds me the criteria of wholesome and unwholesome--how do you relate to money. If the greed, anxiety and these unwholesome Dhammas are increasing through the way you relate to money and wealth, then you get it wrong. But if you find the wholesome Dhamma are increasing , then you are on the right track. no matter the extent of it

為何家財萬貫之人，反而常常用度吝嗇、開支極少？這背後究竟是何緣由？

試以億萬富豪保羅·蓋提聞名的事例為證：他的豪宅中雖裝有座機電話，但訪客使用時竟需投幣付費。從心理層面看，這究竟反映了怎樣的心態？

我認為，當我們探討世間法中的「得與失」時，不應僅從金錢角度解讀，更應洞察其背後的情感體驗。即便身為千萬富翁，實際根本無法耗盡所有財富——縱然借助幹細胞等尖端科技延壽百年，所能耗用的資產不過九牛一毛。

然而，若見股價微跌，他們當日情緒仍會蒙上陰影。這豈非矛盾？畢竟這對實際生活毫無影響。真正受衝擊的，是「我持續成長」、「財富穩健增長」的感覺——這實則是概念而非現實體驗。因為他們的物質生活早已臻至極境，終其一生皆可隨心所欲。但「失去」的感覺，卻總令人惶惶難安。

當資產數字末尾消失一個零，oh，不...那確是鉅額損失

即便只是微小數額的損失，雖不構成實質影響，但每次失去都像一場微型死亡，不斷提醒著生命終將消逝的宿命。

唯有當財富持續增長時，人們才彷彿感受到永恆的生命。

....

在經藏中，佛陀教導在家眾善用財富的方式，正是告誡不應執著於財富，莫讓所擁有的物質反過來支配自己。這讓我想到了判別善法與不善法的準則——你與金錢的關係究竟如何？若透過與錢財互動的過程中，貪欲、焦慮等不善法不斷增長，那便是走偏了。但若發現善法正在增長，那麼無論程度深淺，你確實走在正確的道路上。

---Ajahn Jayasaro

In my opinion, it would be better if people are more materialistic than they are.

Seriously, if you are materialistc , so you buy a handbag, 'what do I need a handbag for?' 

And you look at the size, the strength, the durability; why would you buy a very expensive handbag just with a brand name on it? If you are materialistic. That is what materialist value！

You want a certain feeling, you want to tell people that I am those people who can afford it. 

So much of criticism of materialism is people are searching for certain type of feeling.

在我看來，人們若能更「物質主義」些反而更好。

說真的，若你重視物質本身，當你買手提包時會思考：「我需要用手提包做什麼？」  

你會考量尺寸、堅固度、耐用性——既然重視物質實體，怎會只為品牌標誌就去買極貴的手提包？這才是物質主義者真正的價值觀！

而那些被批判的「物質主義」，其實多數人追求的只是一種感覺——你想告訴別人「我是負擔得起這種消費的人」。

人們對物質主義的批判，往往針對的其實是「對特定感受的追逐」。

---Ajahn Jayasaro

已經達到證悟狀態的導師或阿羅漢，他們原本的性格特質，即使沒有煩惱的根源，也會繼續存在。比如，如果原本是個開朗的人，就會成為一個開朗的阿羅漢；如果原本是個沉默寡言的人，就會成為一個沉默寡言的阿羅漢；或者如果原本是個善於講解的人，就會成為一個善於講解法義的阿羅漢。但他們作為阿羅漢的本質是相同的。就像一根木頭被雕刻成佛像，雕刻完成後，它們都是佛像，但木質本身會有不同的紋理和顏色。

A mentor or arahantwho has attained enlightenment will retain their original personality traits, even without the roots of defilements. For example, if someone was originally cheerful, they will become a cheerful arahant; if they were originally reserved, they will become a reserved arahant; or if they were originally skilled at explaining, they will become an arhat adept at teaching the Dharma. However, their essence as arahant is the same. It is like a piece of wood carved into a Buddha statue—once the carving is complete, they are all Buddha statues, but the wood itself may have different grains and colors.

Ajahn Jayasaro

When I was a young monk , I met Ajahn  Ganha at Wat Nong Pah Pong. I asked him how did he practice. And he answered ,' I don't do anything!' 

And at that time, Ajahn Brahmavamso was a very young monk, younger than me. And asked, ' I don't understand what you mean. don't do anything?'

At that time Luang Por was laying down at his back. 

'so what do you do when you are lying down?'

'I don't do anything'

Ajahn Brahmavamso said, 'If I lay down like that, I will fall asleep!'

Ajahn Ganha said, ' if  you fall asleep, you are doing something; I don't do anything'

在我還是一位年輕比丘時，我在瓦農帕蓬寺結遇了阿姜甘哈。我請教他應如何修行，他回答：「我什麼也不做！」  

那時，阿姜布拉姆還是位非常年輕的僧侶，比我更為年少。他追問：「我不明白您的意思。什麼都不做嗎？」  

當時隆波正仰臥休息。  

「那您躺臥時在做什麼呢？」  

「我什麼都不做」  

阿姜布拉姆說：「如果我像這樣躺著，會睡著的！」  

阿姜甘哈答道：「若你睡著，便是在做些什麼；而我，什麼也不做。」

---Ajahn Jayasaro