学佛的人，应使佛教一天比一天发扬光大，而不是一天比一天衰败。如何发扬光大？首先要培养优良的品格，打好地基，造高楼大厦就不会倒。重重无尽的楼阁，无一不是从坚稳的地基上造起。在修养方面，打好地基就先要“敦品立德”。

Students of Buddhism should strive to help Buddhism flourish. How can we do that? First of all, we must develop a good character. By analogy, if we want to build a skyscraper, we must first lay a solid foundation. In our cultivation, we lay the foundation by developing integrity and virtue.

敦品，敦厚我们的品性。如何敦厚？就不要刻薄、小气，不要心狭性窄；反之，要心包太虚，量周沙界，无所不包，无所不容。各位想想，太虚空里不是完全善的，不善良之气，亦在其中。恒河沙的世界里，有三教九流，形形色色的人物，有善有恶、有好有坏，我们都要包容。这都是敦厚品行，栽培我们的德行。要能够屈己待人，承认自己的过错，接受他人的劝勉，时时改过迁善，不要有我执或我相，不要把“我”看得那么重要。这就是敦品立德，打稳自己的基础，能够如此，佛教定能发扬光大。

To develop integrity means to learn to be honest and sincere, not to be mean, stingy, or narrow-minded. Our mind should encompass the cosmos and all the worlds as many as grains of sand, and accept everything. Consider: The cosmos contains wholesome as well as unwholesome energies. In worlds as numerous as the sands of the river Ganges, there are beings of every variety, people and creatures of all shapes and forms, good as well as evil, and we must accept them all. By doing so, we are making our disposition honest and sincere and fostering our virtuous conduct. We should learn to be humble, to admit our own mistakes, and to accept the exhortations of others. At all times, we should try to correct our errors and reform ourselves, and not have a big ego. We shouldn't see ourselves as all-important. Then we can develop integrity and virtue, and build a good foundation for ourselves. In this way, we can surely help Buddhism flourish.

一九八二年十月十日开示