发心是一辈子的承诺 -- .

常到寺院听经，总会听到法师阐述 “发心”的重要性。作为一名佛弟子，“发心”的誓言是要我们一辈子奉行的生活准则。若“发心”所许下的承诺都无法兑现，这个“发心”就成了一句空话。

因此，培养正确的发心就显得非常重要。但我们不能不承认，一般凡夫许下的发心诺言，不一定全是正确的，也隐含着贪心、嗔恨心；而不是觉悟心，更不是慈心、悲心。在佛陀面前许下宏愿，就是要我们通过发心来学习佛菩萨的品质、培养觉悟的心。

在大乘佛教经典中，几乎都有关于发心的教诫。《华严经》云：“忘失菩提心，修诸善法，是名魔业。”这句经文被省庵大师引用到《劝发菩提心文》中，在汉传佛教界广为流传，发人深省。离开菩提心，在修行上的所有努力，都将成为生死之因。《大般若经》云：“云何菩萨摩诃萨普为利乐诸有情故乘于大乘？满慈子言：舍利子！若菩萨摩诃萨修行般若波罗蜜多时，以一切智智相应作意，大悲为首，用无所得而为方便。”

济群法师说，发心的困难，是在于发得准确，发得长久。这和“做一件好事容易，难的是一辈子做好事”同理。心行的力量源于积累，发一次只有一次的力量，况且这一次还未必发得准确。法师开示，正是要帮助大家持续、准确地发心，通过见、定、行逐步巩固自己的发心。其中，见是用于调整心行，定和行的实践，则使菩提心在心行中产生稳定、持续的作用。如此，使菩提心的力量日渐增长。

Reflection on Flu Threat Influenza A (H1N1)

Some stayed away from countries with sustainable community infection. Some stayed away from crowded places. Some stayed away from schools with cases spreading. Cutting off all physical contacts with the flu bug was what most of us did --- to reduce risk. But does that mean we stop worrying about it anymore?

Not really, not if the flu bug is still out there and we still believe that it is the cause of all our miseries. While most people are overcome by the flu threat, we show you one step further --- how true understanding can turn a threat into an opportunity for spiritual development.

In this issue, find out from a Buddhist monk his perspective of the H1N1 issue (page 40) and teachers & practitioners of Vipassana Meditation how this ancient technique helps us stay mentally balanced and secure in times of threats (page 46).

If writing, singing, film making and event organising are some of the powerful yet creative means one can reach out to the masses in sharing the Dhamma, then the Buddhist film festival has it all. Find out what goes into the making of the first Buddhist Film Festival in Singapore (page 43).