时间：02/28/2026 03/01/2026
地点：星湖禅修中心
主讲：龙示林
佛法知识
学佛与自利利他
在许多人看来，学佛似乎是一条以“自我解脱”为目标的道路，而利他则被理解为额外的道德选择或菩萨行为。然而，从佛法的根本精神来看，自利与利他从来不是对立的两件事，而是同一修行过程中的两个面向。真正的学佛，必然同时包含自利与利他；任何割裂二者的理解，都会使修行走向偏颇。
学佛的起点，往往源于个人的苦。人因痛苦而寻道，这是极其真实、也完全正当的动机。佛法并不否定自利，反而承认：若连自己的苦都未曾真正面对与理解，谈利他往往流于空谈。自利，在佛法中并非自私，而是对生命负责，是愿意看清自身烦恼、转化自身执著的勇气。
佛法所说的自利，并不是追求感官满足或自我强化，而是减少无明、贪著与对立。当一个人通过修行，心变得更清明、更安稳、更少被情绪牵引，这种自利本身就已经在减少世界的苦。因为一个不被烦恼主导的人，较少制造伤害，也更能给他人带来安全感。
随着修行的深入，自利自然会转向利他。这并不是道德要求，而是觉知的必然结果。当一个人真实地看见自身苦的来源，便会明白他人的苦同样来自无明与执著。由理解而生的慈悲，并非勉强为之，而是自然流露。利他，不再是牺牲自己，而是觉醒后的自然回应。
佛法强调，自利若离开利他，容易变成封闭的修行；利他若脱离自利，则容易变成耗竭与执著。只追求个人清净，却对众生苦漠然，修行便失去广度；只一味付出，却不调伏自心，利他反而成为新的我执。真正的佛法之道，是在自利中成熟，在利他中检验。
从因果的角度看，自利与利他也密不可分。一个人的言行，不仅影响自身心境，也会在他人生命中留下痕迹。学佛者对因果敏感，便会自然谨慎对待他人的感受与处境。利他，并不是为了积累功德，而是因为看见“伤害他人，终将回到自身”。
佛法中的利他，并不局限于宏大的布施或公开的奉献。一句善意的话、一次不伤人的沉默、一个稳定的陪伴，都是利他的实践。学佛者在日常生活中减少冲突、化解对立，本身就是在利益众生。真正的利他，往往发生在无人看见之处。
学佛者也需要警惕，将利他变成自我价值的来源。当帮助他人成为证明“我很修行”的手段，利他便夹杂了我执。佛法所追求的利他，是无须标榜、无须回报的。当行动中少了“我在做善事”的念头，利他的力量反而更加纯粹。
在佛法中，自利与利他的统一，最终体现在智慧上。智慧让人明白：自我并非孤立存在，众生彼此依存。利益他人，并不是放弃自己，而是在更大的生命网络中安顿自己。当这种理解成熟，修行便不再纠结“先谁后谁”，而是顺缘而行。
学佛并不要求每个人承担同样的利他方式。有人以言教，有人以身教，有人以护持，有人以默默用功。重要的不是形式，而是是否真实地减少了自我中心，是否真实地让苦减少。佛法不以数量衡量利他，而以动机与觉知为核心。
最终，从佛法的角度看，自利利他并不是两个目标，而是一条路。当一个人因学佛而变得更清醒，这种清醒必然流向他人；当一个人真诚地利益他人，这个过程也必然净化自身。自利，是觉悟的内在展开；利他，是觉悟的自然外显。
因此，学佛与自利利他，并非取舍关系，而是相互成就。真正的学佛者，不会执著于“我修得如何”，也不会被“我是否够利他”所困扰，而是在每一个当下，少一点执著，多一点清明；少一点自我，多一点关怀。在这样的生命状态中，自利与利他早已合而为一。
Date: 02/28/2026 03/01/2026
Location: Star Lake Meditation Center
Teacher: Shilin Long
Dharma Knowledge
Studying Buddhism and Benefiting Oneself and Others
Many people assume that studying Buddhism is primarily about personal liberation, while benefiting others is an optional moral extension or a bodhisattva ideal. From the fundamental perspective of Buddhism, however, benefiting oneself and benefiting others are not opposing aims, but two inseparable aspects of the same path. Genuine practice naturally includes both; separating them leads to imbalance.
The starting point of studying Buddhism often arises from personal suffering. Seeking the path due to pain is honest and appropriate. Buddhism does not deny self-benefit; rather, it recognizes that without confronting and understanding one’s own suffering, attempts to help others easily become superficial. Self-benefit in Buddhism is not selfishness, but responsibility toward one’s life and the courage to transform affliction.
Self-benefit in Buddhism does not mean enhancing ego or pursuing pleasure. It means reducing ignorance, craving, and inner conflict. When practice brings clarity, stability, and less reactivity, this inner benefit already contributes to the world. A mind less driven by affliction causes less harm and provides a sense of safety to others.
As practice deepens, self-benefit naturally opens into benefiting others. This is not a moral command, but a consequence of understanding. Seeing clearly the roots of one’s own suffering leads to insight into the suffering of others. Compassion born of understanding is spontaneous rather than forced. Benefiting others is no longer self-sacrifice, but a natural expression of awakening.
Buddhism warns that self-benefit without benefiting others can become narrow and closed, while benefiting others without self-cultivation leads to exhaustion and attachment. Focusing only on personal purity while ignoring others’ suffering limits the scope of practice. Acting only for others while neglecting inner discipline turns generosity into another form of ego. The authentic path matures through self-benefit and is tested through benefiting others.
From the perspective of causality, benefiting oneself and others are inseparable. One’s actions shape not only one’s own mind, but also the lives of others. Practitioners sensitive to cause and effect naturally become mindful of others’ conditions. Benefiting others is not a strategy to accumulate merit, but a recognition that harm given inevitably returns.
In Buddhism, benefiting others does not require grand gestures. Kind speech, restraint from harm, patient listening, and steady presence are all forms of benefit. Reducing conflict and easing tension in everyday life is genuine service. The deepest forms of benefiting others often occur unnoticed.
Practitioners must also be cautious not to turn helping others into a source of self-worth. When generosity becomes proof of spiritual identity, self-clinging re-enters. Buddhism values benefit that leaves no trace of “I am helping.” When self-reference fades, the power of benefit becomes purer and more effective.
Ultimately, the unity of self-benefit and benefiting others is grounded in wisdom. Wisdom reveals that the self is not isolated and that all beings arise in interdependence. Benefiting others is not abandoning oneself, but living harmoniously within a shared network of life. With this understanding, practice no longer struggles over priority, but responds naturally to conditions.
Buddhism does not require everyone to benefit others in the same way. Some teach, some exemplify through conduct, some support quietly, some practice diligently in silence. What matters is not form, but whether self-centeredness diminishes and suffering decreases. Buddhism does not measure benefit by scale, but by intention and awareness.
From a Buddhist perspective, benefiting oneself and benefiting others are not two goals, but one path. As clarity grows within, it flows outward; as one genuinely benefits others, inner purification follows. Self-benefit is the inward unfolding of awakening; benefiting others is its natural expression.
Thus, studying Buddhism and benefiting oneself and others are mutually fulfilling. A true practitioner is not preoccupied with measuring personal progress or evaluating altruism, but lives each moment with slightly less attachment and slightly more clarity, slightly less self and slightly more care. In such a life, self-benefit and benefiting others are already one.
