法數　林鈺堂

心繫於法無間隙，善用法項於計數；
世俗牽連免沾惹，智悲長養未暫停。

跋

日常取件需計數時，我習於以同數之佛法要項或咒語代之。例如，二件則數為「智、悲」，三件「嗡、阿、吽」，四件「慈、悲、喜、捨」，五件「嗡、阿、吽、娑、哈」，六件「嗡、媽、尼、悲、咪、吽」，等等。數字本身自是純粹，但因世間之應用而有種種聯想之雜染。以法項取代可減免沾惹，而得以令心繫於法，無有間歇。

二○○四年十二月卅日　養和齋　　　　於加州

Dharma in Counting　Yutang Lin

Mind hinges on Dharma without any crevice.
Dharma items well applied in daily counting.
Worldly connotations are thus kept far away.
Nurture of wisdom and compassion goes on.

Comment:

In daily life when picking up certain number of things I am used to using same number of mantra words or Dharma items instead of numerals in counting. For example, for two objects I count as "wisdom, compassion," for three "Weng, A, Hong," for four "Mercy, Compassion, Joy, Renunciation," for five "Weng, A, Hong, Suo, Ha," for six "Weng, Ma, Ni, Bei, Mi, Hong," etc. Numerals in themselves are of course pure; however, due to worldly applications of them they are often polluted with various associated thoughts. Using Dharma items instead could avoid the arising of such connotations, and also render the mind to stay on Dharma without breaks.

Written in Chinese and translated on December 30, 2004
El Cerrito, California