时间：11/01/2025 11/02/2025
地点：星湖禅修中心
主讲：龙示林
佛法修行
连根拔起
在舍卫国的祇树给孤独园中，有一株枝叶苍翠、茂密的壮硕大树。它有着宽广的树荫，枝干摇曳生姿，来园中游憩的人们都喜欢在这棵大树下休息或乘凉。
但奇怪的事情发生了，凡是在这棵树下停留过的人们，不是头痛的厉害，就是腰痛难耐。起初，大家以为只是偶发的事件，直到有一次，一群人在树下欣赏美景的时候，竟然一个一个的倒地，看守园林的园丁不由得心生怀疑：「莫非这是棵有毒的树？」
园丁怕惊吓到附近的人，打算悄悄地砍掉树干。他用一根木棍绑上斧刀，自己站得远远的砍伐。可是隔不了多久，这棵树又生出新枝绿叶，不但树叶比先前更为嫩绿，枝干也愈加地盎然、坚实，在园林之中，已没有一棵树比它更挺拔、壮丽的了。
所以来园林的游客，有些人看到告示，会遥遥地欣赏树影摇曳生姿的美；但是，有些游客却经不起它雄伟壮丽与摇曳多姿的诱惑，完全不理会任何的警告，恣意地在毒树下乘凉、嬉戏，结果──他们都像先前那些人一样的感到身体不适，乃至丧命！
看守园林的园丁更加确信，这是棵害人的毒树，他决心要除去这棵树。无奈他经年累月一段段地砍，不停地砍，树仍然不断地抽芽、生枝，不断地展现出各样的胜妙树形。当然，也陆续有人因为贪乐树荫而遭逢危难。
园丁相当地焦急，心想：「怎么办？怎么办？怎么样才能除掉这棵害人的毒树啊？」他一筹莫展，只要一有空就不停的挥动斧刀──砍！砍！砍！希望不要再有人受到毒害。
烈日当头的一天，园丁正发着愁……这时，走来了一位智者，说道：「当尽其根。」智者的一句话，总算让园丁恍然大悟：原来，自己一直在枝枝叶叶上努力，忙的都只是枝末之事，难怪会徒劳无功，应该从根本下手，去掉毒树的根，它就没办法再生枝长叶了！
Date: 11/01/2025 11/02/2025
Location: Star Lake Meditation Center
Teacher: Shilin Long
Dharma Talk
Uprooting the Cause
In the Jeta Grove of Śrāvastī, there once stood a tall, flourishing tree with lush green leaves and spreading branches. Its vast shade provided cool comfort, and visitors to the grove often rested beneath it to enjoy its beauty and peace.
However, something strange began to happen. Everyone who stayed under the tree—even for a short while—soon suffered from severe headaches or unbearable back pain. At first, people thought it was a coincidence. But one day, as a group gathered under the tree to admire the scenery, they suddenly collapsed one after another. The gardener who tended the grove began to suspect, “Could this be a poisonous tree?”
Not wanting to alarm the public, the gardener decided to quietly chop down the tree. He tied an axe to the end of a long stick and, standing at a distance, struck the trunk until it fell. Yet before long, the tree sprouted again—its leaves even greener than before, its branches more vigorous and radiant. No other tree in the garden could compare to its grandeur.
Some visitors, seeing the warning signs, admired it only from afar. But others were lured by its majestic beauty and graceful sway, ignoring all caution, and rested freely under its branches. Inevitably, they too fell ill, and some even lost their lives.
The gardener was now certain that the tree was truly poisonous. Determined to remove it, he kept chopping it down year after year, but each time it grew back stronger and taller, its branches spreading wide once more. And, one after another, more people met harm because of their desire for its shade.
Worried and desperate, the gardener thought, “What should I do? How can I completely get rid of this deadly tree?” He swung his axe tirelessly day after day, hoping to end the danger once and for all.
One scorching afternoon, as he was lamenting his failure, a wise man happened to pass by and said simply: “You must cut it at the root.”
These few words suddenly awakened the gardener. He realized that all his effort had been wasted on trimming branches and leaves—mere superficial work. No wonder he had achieved nothing. He now understood: only by removing the root itself could the poisonous tree be destroyed completely and never grow again.
