时间：09/06/2025 09/07/2025
地点：星湖禅修中心
主讲：龙示林
佛法修行
紫磨金盘
有一少年和舅父二人以贸易为生，常常到异国采购。这一天，边境上的界河水深波涌。少年守着二人的货物，舅父先行过河。
岸旁一户贫穷人家，母女二人相依为命。舅父叩门表明身分之后，母亲示意女儿拿家中污损的旧澡盘来交换几颗珍珠。女儿将澡盘恭恭敬敬递上，母女二人屏息以待。
澡盘年久垢深，乌黑油腻，混杂着屋里寒酸简陋的气味。经历人生风浪、成熟练达的商人，他早已学会不依肤浅的表相去判断价值 －－抽出防身短刀，使力刮开积垢，探究本质。
「紫磨金！」他险些惊叫出声。这可是千载难逢的宝贝啊，为何沦落在这户不起眼的人家？人生的尘浪，其实也早就掩埋了他曾经天真正直的宝贵心灵。不动声色的，他假装毫不在乎，随手将澡盘扔掷在地。「真是，把我的手染脏了。没什么嘛！」言毕扬长而去，留下身后母女泪眼相望，羞愧难当。
舅父一出门就眉飞色舞，难掩心中狂喜。回到对岸少年身旁，却又只是一言不发，翻箱倒箧找寻前些时日剩余的劣质珍珠。二人一路早已培养默契，少年打声招呼后，也过河去谈生意。
少年坐着喝茶等待，母女俩在茶水间低声商量。
「刚才的耻辱，足以令我们警惕了。」母亲无限委屈。
「妈妈，这人面相仁厚慈悲，和刚才那位完全不一样。我们不妨再试一次！」女儿再次将澡盘取出。
少年是舅父一手培训的年轻贸易商，重复一模一样的刀法。不同的是，他身为虔信三宝的佛弟子，持戒清净。
「紫磨金！」少年脱口而出，母女俩吓呆了。「这是天下至宝，稀有难得。恳请二位容许在下以所有货物换取，请您们答应好吗？」
母亲瞪大双眼喃喃说了声好，就接不了下文。她太意外了。女儿松口气，理智地问：「可以借两枚金币让我们雇船运货吗？」
少年一口答应：「不用说借，这是我分内该做的啊！」于是，少年回到对岸，向舅父借了两枚金币，并约定下次会面的时间和地点，便请船夫将货物全部送至母女住处，然后离去。
此时，舅父拿了一些劣质珍珠回到母女住处，穷陋小屋积满了少年的货物，推门而入的舅父暗自惊奇。他职业性地摆出老练的身段，冷漠地递出褪尽光泽的珍珠：「脏兮兮的澡盘呢？」
母亲温和的脸变了色。她拿起扫把，喝道：「有位善良的年轻人用名贵的珍珠百袋换走了，还不停地道歉，说抵不上紫磨金盘。你这狡猾的奸商，识趣一点，赶快离开吧！否则我就不客气了！」
舅父沿着约定好的路线，披星戴月赶路。终于在海边追上了少年。他贪婪的心充满污紫磨金盘的影子，边奔向少年边声嘶力竭大喊：「还我宝物来！」由于气急逼心，一腔热血上涌，竟就倒地不起；少年见状，赶紧飞奔向他，但已回天乏术。少年从衣袋掏出两枚金币，轻轻放入他温热的掌心，泪水如决堤般滴落下来－－
「亲爱的舅父，何必为了贪念而断送宝贵的生命呢？」
Date: 09/06/2025 09/07/2025
Location: Star Lake Meditation Center
Teacher: Shilin Long
Dharma Talk
The Purple-Polished Gold Basin
There was once a young man who, together with his uncle, made a living through trade and often traveled to foreign lands to purchase goods. One day, the border river was deep and full of waves. The young man stayed behind to guard their merchandise while the uncle crossed the river first.
Near the riverbank lived a poor household — a mother and her daughter depending on each other for survival. When the uncle knocked on their door and stated his identity, the mother signaled her daughter to bring out their old, worn bathing basin to exchange for a few pearls. The daughter respectfully presented the basin, and both mother and daughter held their breath in anticipation.
The basin was old and covered with deep grime, blackened and greasy, mixed with the smell of their humble and shabby home. The uncle, a seasoned merchant who had weathered many storms in life, had long learned not to judge value by superficial appearance. He drew out his short dagger, scraped the thick grime with force, and examined its true nature.
“Purple-polished gold!” He nearly exclaimed aloud. This was a treasure encountered once in a thousand lifetimes — how could it have ended up in such an inconspicuous home? Yet just as the dust of life had long buried his once innocent and upright heart, he remained outwardly calm, pretending not to care. He casually tossed the basin to the ground. “Hmph, it dirtied my hand. Worthless!” he said, and walked away, leaving the mother and daughter in tearful shame.
Stepping out the door, the uncle’s face lit with barely concealed joy. Upon returning to the opposite shore where the young man waited, he said nothing, rummaging through their chests to find some leftover inferior pearls. With the tacit understanding the two had developed over years, the young man, after greeting him, crossed the river to conduct business.
The young man sat drinking tea while the mother and daughter whispered in the kitchen.
“The humiliation just now should be enough to warn us,” the mother said with deep grievance.
“Mother, this man looks kind and compassionate, completely unlike the one from before. Why don’t we try again?” the daughter suggested. She once again brought out the basin.
The young man, trained in business by his uncle, repeated the exact same scraping technique. The difference was, as a devout Buddhist disciple who upheld pure precepts, his heart was clean.
“Purple-polished gold!” the young man blurted out, stunning the mother and daughter. “This is a supreme treasure, rare and precious. I beg you to let me exchange all my goods for it — will you agree?”
The mother’s eyes widened in shock; she could not even finish her sentence. She was too surprised. The daughter breathed a sigh of relief and asked rationally, “Could you lend us two gold coins so we can hire a boat to transport goods?”
“Not lend — this is what I ought to do!” the young man replied without hesitation. He then returned to the opposite shore, borrowed two gold coins from his uncle, and agreed on a time and place to meet again. He instructed the boatman to deliver all the goods to the mother and daughter’s home before leaving.
Later, the uncle came to the mother and daughter’s home with some inferior pearls, only to find their shabby hut filled with the young man’s merchandise. Pushing the door open, he was secretly astonished. Putting on his seasoned merchant’s facade, he coldly handed over the lusterless pearls. “Where’s that filthy basin?” he asked.
The mother’s gentle face darkened. Picking up a broom, she shouted, “A kind young man exchanged hundreds of bags of fine pearls for it, apologizing all the while that it wasn’t worth the purple-polished gold basin. You cunning swindler, leave at once! Otherwise, I won’t be polite!”
The uncle hurried along the agreed route, traveling day and night. At last, he caught up with the young man at the seashore. His greedy mind was filled with the image of the purple-polished gold basin. He ran toward the young man, shouting hoarsely, “Give me back my treasure!” But in his fury, his blood surged, and he collapsed, never to rise again.
Seeing this, the young man rushed to his side, but it was too late. From his pocket, he took out the two gold coins and gently placed them in his uncle’s still-warm palm. Tears streamed down like a broken dam.
“My dear uncle, why sacrifice your precious life for the sake of greed?”
