时间：11/21/2026 11/22/2026
地点：星湖禅修中心
主讲：龙示林
佛法修行
沙弥的发心
过去，在雀离寺有一位证得阿罗汉果的长老比丘。一日，他带着弟子──一位年轻的沙弥一起进城去办事。沙弥背着行李跟在长老的后方。
行走间，沙弥心想：「人生世间无不受苦，欲免此苦，当兴何等道？」于是思惟：「佛常赞叹菩萨的殊胜，我应当发菩萨心，广度一切有情。」
方才起这个念头，老比丘以他心通照知沙弥已发菩提心，功德无量，于是告诉沙弥：「让我来背行李吧！」于是老比丘从沙弥手中接下行李，还让沙弥走在前头。
行进间，小沙弥又起了一个念头：「修菩萨行，利益众生实在是不容易！求头与头，求眼与眼，这么困难的事情，我实在是办不到。还不如证得阿罗汉果，做个自了汉，远离世间的疾苦吧。」
老比丘知道沙弥退失了菩萨心，于是对沙弥说：「还是你背行李，走在后方吧！」
就这样，一路上来来回回换了三次，沙弥觉得非常奇怪，为什么师父一下背行李走在后方，一下子又换自己背行李走在后方呢？等到休息时，沙弥合掌请示老比丘其中的原由。
老比丘说：「你三次发起利益众生的菩萨心，功德广大不可思议，胜过三千世界成阿罗汉者，所以理当由我来背行李，走在你的后方。但是你也退失菩萨心三次，所以当你退失菩萨心时，当然是沙弥为师父背行李。这就是为什么我又让你背行李，走在后方的原因啊！」
Date: 11/21/2026 11/22/2026
Location: Star Lake Meditation Center
Teacher: Shilin Long
Dharma Talk
The Novice Monk’s Aspiration
In the past, at Queli Monastery, there was an elder bhikkhu who had attained the fruit of Arhatship. One day, he took his disciple—a young novice monk—with him into the city to attend to some matters. The novice carried the luggage and followed behind the elder.
As they walked, the novice thought, “All people in this world are subject to suffering. What path should one pursue in order to escape such suffering?” He then reflected, “The Buddha often praises the excellence of Bodhisattvas. I should bring forth the Bodhisattva mind and widely liberate all sentient beings.”
The moment this thought arose, the elder bhikkhu, through his power of knowing others’ minds, perceived that the novice had brought forth the Bodhi mind and had thereby gained immeasurable merit. He therefore said to the novice, “Let me carry the luggage.” The elder bhikkhu then took the luggage from the novice’s hands and allowed the novice to walk in front.
As they continued on their way, the young novice had another thought: “Practicing the Bodhisattva path and benefiting sentient beings is truly not easy! If someone asks for one’s head, one must give one’s head; if someone asks for one’s eyes, one must give one’s eyes. Such difficult things are truly beyond my ability. It would be better to attain Arhatship, seek liberation for myself, and leave behind the sufferings of the world.”
The elder bhikkhu knew that the novice had retreated from the Bodhisattva mind, so he said to him, “You should carry the luggage again and walk behind me.”
In this way, they exchanged the luggage back and forth three times along the journey. The novice found this very strange. Why did his master sometimes carry the luggage and walk behind him, yet at other times make him carry the luggage and walk behind?
When they stopped to rest, the novice joined his palms and respectfully asked the elder bhikkhu the reason.
The elder bhikkhu said, “Three times you brought forth the Bodhisattva mind to benefit sentient beings. The vast and inconceivable merit of doing so surpasses that of all those who have attained Arhatship throughout the three-thousandfold world. Therefore, it was only proper that I carry the luggage and walk behind you. However, you also retreated from the Bodhisattva mind three times. Whenever you abandoned the Bodhisattva mind, naturally the novice should carry the luggage for his master. This is why I again had you carry the luggage and walk behind me.”
