愛蓮、心雅

儒佛正見在因果  能令學者入善流

社會風氣淳厚後  天災人禍以潛消

他世受用此生業  餘慶子孫代代享

若能回向安樂土  彌陀相迎離五濁

因 果 錄 序

印光大師

A Record of Karma Retribution

 (or A Record of the Buddhist Way of Causality)

Foreword

by Dharma Master Yin Kuang

11.因果之理大發明實維佛經，而儒教經書亦屢宣說。

The Law of Karma Retribution is in fact uncovered in the context of Buddhist scriptures and has been broadly signified in the Classics of Confucianism.

12. 若書之作善降之百祥，作不善降之百殃與洪範五福六極之說。

Just as the Book of History says,〝… giving one hundred times payments in return with suitable merits for good works and condign punishment for evil deeds.〞The book of Great Plan also  stated the retributive consequences of 「five types of fortune and six extremities.」

13.及易之積善之家必有餘慶，積不善之家必有餘殃。莫不皆以因果報應之理示人。

The Book of Changes says, 〝… a bonus of good fortune to be rejoiced will attach to the descendants of family lineages with a tradition of nourishing good deeds; while excessive bad fortune will attach to the descendants of family lineages with accumulative evil deeds. 〞It is, after all, a demonstration of how the Law of Karma Retribution operates to affect people.

14.但以其言簡略只說現世及與子孫未能詳言過去現在未來輪回六道三途之事，若不深研精思或致當面錯過。

The brief reasoning of retribution has only described the repayment in this life and effects to ones' descendants, but no details are accounted on about the causal relations with the and consequences of reincarnation through the Six Domains and Three Paths in the past, present, and future lives. If people do not study the law of causality thoroughly and profoundly, they would not be able to recognize the importance of override reincarnation (samsara).

15. 兼以俗儒每欲各豎門庭與佛競異縱令知之亦不肯提倡。

In addition, vulgar Confucian followers have always sought to establish their own sects of Confucian teachings by emphasizing the differences between Confucianism and Buddhism, intentionally to split with the Buddhist Way. Even though some of them knew the common ground of the two, they refused to become Buddhist advocates.

16.致使賢者莫由樹淑世善民之極功，愚者悉皆懷弱肉強食之惡念，由茲互相攻擊成千古未聞之殺劫。

As a result, without such a foundation to rest on, the sages would not be able to attain the utmost achievements of cultivating honest people and developing a righteous society. Ignorant people would therefore embrace evil ideas and rely on the law of the jungle; thus leading to intense struggles and mutual attacks among people that brought the unprecedented kalpa of killing to the foreground.

17.被殺者人固知其可慘，而殺人者之慘當更酷烈萬倍，惜世人不能悉知悉見，其可見者，若被人殺，若滅門絕祀乃千萬分之一二耳。

The victim's ill fate was distressful, but the killers' fate was even more miserable. Accordingly , the killers have to bear ten thousand times the pains the victims experienced. Earthly men could not foresee and understand the horrible consequences the killers would have to shoulder. If people were able to foresee, they would know that the pains of the victim of family slaughtering could account for a one or two to ten million times ratio to that of the pains of the slaughterers would receive.

18.其在三途所受之苦，則罄竹難書矣，可不悲夫。

The pains and tortures of the slaughterers would experience in the Three Paths were beyond one's descriptions. How miserable would it be in a situation as such?

19.吾常曰因果者，世出世間聖人平治天下度脫眾生之大權也。

The Karma Retribution I have always mentioned about should be referred to the almighty capacity on Earth as it is in Heaven. This capacity enabling sagacious leaders to bring peace to the secular world and to assist all beings getting away from the constraints of reincarnation.

20.即聖教昌明之世若不提倡因果，尚不能普令愚民潛息隱惡悉使智者大積陰功。

Even in the prime time of Buddhism, without advocates of law of causality, hardly could the naivete escape from their own wrongdoings nor could the intelligent ones vigorously devoted themselves to accumulate merits by performing good deeds.

21.況今世道人心壞至其極，廢棄聖經、推翻倫理，邪說橫流載胥其溺。有心世道者，思欲挽回狂瀾，若不以因果報應為震聾發瞶之資，雖佛菩薩聖賢悉出于世亦莫如之何，況其下焉者乎。

In the morally reduced circumstances people were living in nowadays, their hearts were corrupted and minds distracted. They abandoned the teachings in the Classics, overturned  ethical codes, and led evil thoughts flushed in drowning them all. Some vigorous ones resolved to direct people into the right way again, striving to turn the currents back. The first thing they have to do was to resort to the Law of Karma Retribution as a resourceful tool effectuated to correcting faults and enlightening minds. Without such a rationale, in the spite of the reappearance of manifestations of Boddhisatva and ancient sages could not help the people in the secular world, not to mention for those of inferior wisdom and capacities.

22.無錫金居士昌有見於此，特記錄近世及現時各因果事排印流布。

Mr. Chin Hsi-chang of Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province,a Buddhist layman-follower observed the phenomenon, recourse the problem to the transmission of the Law of Causality among the people. He collected contemporary stories and records of causality and compiled them into a booklet-A Record of Karma Retribution which would be published for circulation soon.

23.冀人人各懷自利利人之心以行己立立人之道。

Mr. Chin wished that everyone would cherish the spirit of self-interest by accomplishing the interest of others; and to achieve self-reliance by supporting others to develop their own. 

24.則習尚正而風俗淳淑，人禍息而天眷常臨。舉此競爭士類同作羲皇上人。

That is, helping to build a society that honors good habits and honest customs. Manmade calamities would then come to a halt and Heavenly Providence become frequent. Here I stated induce wisdom of intellects that may help to attain an ideal harmonic world which appeared during the times of our ancient righteous kings.

25.因序其大意以貢閱者。（完）

As an offering to the readers, the Foreword should be considered a lead for readership.(End)

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