Before the Kagyu Monlam in Bodh Gaya during the last ten years, an accumulation of Akshobhya’s mantra has taken place for two months. My role is to teach the practice and participate in the retreat, and then during the Monlam itself, we perform a ceremony of purification and blessing based on the retreat. Since this has been happening for ten years, many people know that I have an interest in Akshobhya, so I will take this opportunity today to speak about the particular benefits of his practice and my karmic connection with him.
過去十年來，在菩提迦耶噶舉大祈願法會開始前，我們都會有兩個月的不動佛閉關和咒語持誦，而我在此閉關中同時擔任傳法和修法者的角色。之後，在噶舉大祈願法會的正行活動時，我們按照閉關修習的內容，進行為亡者超薦和生者祈福的不動佛火供。這樣的活動已經進行有十年了，所以許多人都知道我對不動佛情有獨鍾，今天就藉此機會談談修持不動佛的功德利益，以及我個人與不動佛的因緣。

In the Kangyur (the teachings of the Buddha translated into Tibetan), there is a tantra or a dharani (a long mantra) called The Complete Purification of Obscurations. The title refers to the dharani of Akshobhya, which is said to be the most powerful mantra for purifying all the negative karma each of us has accumulated throughout our beginningless lifetimes in samsara. Among Tibetan Buddhists, the Akshobhya mantra and practice is considered the best way to purify negative karma.
在藏文大藏經《甘珠爾》當中，有一部續或陀羅尼(長咒)稱為〈拔濟苦難陀羅尼經〉，它的標題指的就是不動佛陀羅尼。據說，對於清淨我們每個人無始以來在輪迴中所造的一切惡業，這個咒語是最有力量的。而在藏傳佛教徒中，不動佛咒語和修持被認為是清淨惡業的最勝法門。

It is a fundamental Buddhist belief that each and every being has had past lives and will also have future ones. Furthermore, these past lives are considered beginningless, beyond conception or number. During all this limitless time, we have done many things, including negative ones, so we have accumulated a great burden of wrongdoing or negative karma. Most of what we have done we do not remember; we usually forget half the negative actions we have done in this life and not to mention the negative things we did in previous ones. Nevertheless, these actions stay with us as imprints in our mind and form a heavy load we must carry from lifetime to lifetime. In this lifetime, therefore, we need to eliminate some of these imprints and diminish the power of others.
佛教徒基本上相信，每個眾生都有過去生，將來也會有來生。再者，這些過去生是無始、超乎思維概念或數量的。那麼在無數的生世中，我們做了許多的行為，其中包括負面的行為在內，因此累積了大量的惡行或惡業。自己做過的事情，我們多數都不記得；此生的惡行，我們通常一半都忘記了，更別說是在過去生所造的惡業。但無論如何，這些行為在心續中留下的印記，會持續的跟著我們，形成一個生生世世都必須揹負的沈重負擔。因此，此生我們需要對一些印記予以清除，並且消減其他印記的力量。

In addition to the basic situation of having accumulated negative karma, we human beings have become incredibly powerful. Due to scientific and technological advances, what we do with our bodies and say in words can have effects thousands of times greater than during previous centuries. An obvious example is the terrible destruction of the environment that we humans have wrought. In previous centuries, we were unable to produce as much harm to others and our surroundings as we can nowadays. Our technology has made us so powerful that we have created weapons capable of destroying every human being and even the entire planet with all the life forms on it. Due to our technological prowess, therefore, we need to be even more careful in our words and actions in the present than we did in the past.
除了累積惡業的這種基本情況外，我們還面臨人類的力量變得不可思議的強大的問題。由於科技的進步，現在我們身體的行為、我們所講的話語，它的影響力是過去幾世紀的幾千倍。一個明顯的例子，就是我們人類環境造成的嚴重傷害。在過去幾世紀，人類還無法像現在這樣，對他人和周遭的環境有這麼大的殺傷力。科技已經讓我們製造出強大的武器，讓我們能夠將所有的人類，甚至是整個地球及其中的一切生靈，完全消滅殆盡。鑑於人類科技的強大威力，我們的言行必須比過去更加謹慎。

This is why the practice of Akshobhya is so appropriate to our time since it is the best way to purify negative karma. In sum, there are two reasons why we should practice Akshobhya. First, we have accumulated an incalculable amount of negative karma since time beyond beginning. Secondly, because of the tremendous power technology has given us, we now must be especially careful with our words and actions.
由於不動佛是清淨惡業的最好方法，因此不動佛法門尤其適合在當今這個時代中修持。總之，修持不動佛的兩個理由是：一者，我們從無始以來累積了無量的惡業；二者，由於科技帶來的巨大力量，我們尤其需要謹言慎行。

In terms of my own connection with the practice of Akshobhya, you could say that I have a karmic connection with the practice, but I would not want to speculate about how profound it is. I can, however, frankly describe the feelings I have about this practice. Several years ago, I translated a sutra containing the dharani of Akshobhya from Chinese into Tibetan. This took quite some time, and while I was translating the text, I had two feelings. One was great appreciation for the Tibetan translators of the past, because I began to understand how much difficulty they must have gone through. Nowadays, we have numerous resources for translators, such as lots of dictionaries and all the information on the web. Past translators did not have these advantages and they must have worked very hard, so my first feeling was one of appreciation for them.
就我個人與不動佛法門的關係而言，雖然我與這個法門可以說是有些因緣，但這因緣究竟有多深，這我無意去臆測，我只想坦誠的談談我對這項修持的感受。幾年前，我花了相當一段時間，將一部內含不動佛長咒的經文(〈拔濟苦難陀羅尼經〉)，從中文翻譯成藏文。在翻譯這部經的過程中，我生起了兩個感觸：一個是感念過去藏文譯師的偉大恩德，因為我開始明白他們的經歷有多麼艱辛。他們不像我們現在的翻譯者有這麼多的資源，例如許多字典、網路訊息等。過去的譯師沒有這些優勢，他們必須非常努力，因此，我的第一個感觸就是對他們的感恩。

The other feeling I had arose from the study I went trough to inform my translation. Specifically, I looked at the Sutra of Arraying of Akshobhya’s Pure Land, which is found in a large section of the Kangyur known as the Ratnakuta Sutras. It tells the story of how Akshobhya came to have his name and also describes the features of his realm. When I read this material, I began to really feel something. For example, when Akshobhya first generated bodhichitta and became a bodhisattva, he made an extraordinary and special vow: “From today onward until I achieve buddhahood, I shall never become angry or harm a single living being.” This really moved me.
我生起的第二個感觸，跟我為翻譯此經所做的聞思有關。具體來說，我查閱了〈不動如來會〉，它是屬於《甘珠爾》大藏經中《大寶積經》裡頭的一篇經文。它講述不動佛如何獲此名號的故事，以及不動佛淨土的種種特點。在閱讀這部經時，我開始對不動佛有了真實的感受。例如，當不動佛在初發菩提心、誓願成為一位菩薩時，他立下一個殊特的大願：「從今而後，直至成佛之前，我絕不傷害或對任何眾生起瞋心。」這真的讓我很觸動。

What did I feel? I looked at his vow, “From today onward until I achieve buddhahood…” and thought, “This is a very long time.” The sutras explain different lengths of time that it takes from when a person initially generates bodhichitta until they become fully awakened. The shortest possible span is three countless eons, and here “countless” does not mean infinite, but a specific number, namely, ten to the fifty-ninth power or the number one followed by sixty zeros. Multiplying this by three makes for an extremely long time.
那是什麼樣的觸動呢？看到他發願：「從今而後，直至成佛之前…」，我心想：「那可是一段很長的時間啊！」佛經中提到，一個人從初發菩提心直至成佛，所需要的時間不一，其中最短也要三大無央數劫(阿僧祇劫)。這裡的「無央數並不是無窮無盡，而是一個特定的數字，也就是10的59次方，或數字一的後面有60個零，然後把這個數字乘以3，就是這段極為漫長的時間。

If we do not reflect on this seriously, and just think, “Well, he made that vow. That’s nice. How wonderful.” then nothing will shift inside us. However, if we allow ourselves to be influenced by his example and by this new idea his vow brings up, we might change. But we should reflect, “Could I take this vow for one lifetime? Or just one day?” Usually we do not even think about it, yet this vow gives us a great opportunity. If we take it seriously and make Akshobhya our example, he may represent an entirely new way of thinking and one that could very well enable us to change ourselves for the better.”
如果我們沒有認真去思索，只是心想：「喔，他發了這個願，嗯，不錯，很好。」那麼，我們的內在是不會有什麼轉變的。然而，如果我們因為他立下的這個楷模而受到影響，因為他發的這個願而激起新的想法，那麼我們就可能有所改變。我們應該想想：「這個誓願，我有辦法一生持守嗎？」或「這個誓願，我有可以持守一天嗎？

On this positive note, the Karmapa concluded his teaching. At the end of the empowerment, he mentioned that the organizers had requested him to bless each person individually and that might be possible. And indeed it was, so for over an hour, he stood in the center of the stage blessing each person with the ceremonial vase.
通常我們都不會這麼去思考，但這個願給了我們一個絕佳的機會。如果我們能夠認真的看待這樣的一個願，把不動佛當成是自己學習的榜樣，那麼對於我們來說，不動佛就代表著一種全新的思考方式，讓我們真的能夠改變自己，讓自己變得更好。