怎么认识无限的心？我们生活在城市，在家面对的是柴米油盐、生活压力；出门面对的是车水马龙、水泥森林；头顶那片天空也被高楼切割，被雾霾遮蔽。在这样的环境中，心很容易被封闭。
How can we understand the infinite mind? We live in the city. At home, we face daily necessities and life pressures. When away from home, we face an incessant stream of vehicles and a cluster of high-rise buildings and large mansions. Even the sky above us has been cut by tall buildings and obscured by haze. In such an environment, our minds are easily closed.
The size of our vision determines that of our minds. The vision we are talking about here includes that of the environment and knowledge. As the ancients said, “read ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles.” When our vision is broadened, so are our minds and lives. What is more important is the realization of truth attained through spiritual practice, which is incomparable to any knowledge in the world.
佛教关于无限的另一个表达是十方三世。十方代表空间，为东、西、南、北、东南、东北、西南、西北、上方、下方；三世代表时间，为过去、现在、未来。庄子说的“四方上下为宇，古往今来为宙”，也是以空间和时间来说明宇宙。
No matter what we do, we must take infinite space and time as the object. Only by establishing such a vision can our minds and actions correspond to those of the buddhas and bodhisattvas.
事实上，心本来就像虚空一样，但因为我执，因为认知的局限，使我们的世界变得很狭隘。小到只有一个人、一个家庭，或是一个企业、一个地区，最多就是民族、国家、世界。即使心怀世界，在宇宙中也是微不足道的。
How should we get to know and understand infinity? Buddha Dharma provides us with two types of spiritual practice. The first is to take the infinite space and time as well as all sentient beings as perceptual objects. Such practice of contemplation helps us not only remove the inner narrow presumptions but also return the mind to its original state. The second is to examine the mind with the power of careful observation and contemplation, to go beyond the finite, and to know infinity directly.
所以，佛教所说的无限不是纸上谈兵，而是可以通过禅修抵达的。
版权所有：济群法师
Excerpted from:
A Six-word Maxim Regarding the Practice of Chan Design
By Master Jiqun
