Greetings to everyone.
大家好！

Starting from today, for the next eight days, I will be reciting prayers with you all.
從今天開始，八天當中，我會透過網路和大家一起念誦祈願。

We all recite prayers every day, whether short or long. But I think there is a particular purpose and advantage when many people pray together. It is just as how a single stalk of grass is not as strong as many stalks bundled together. I am not saying that our individual aspirations have no power, but I believe strongly that if we all put our strength together, the result is different. These days, because of technological advances, even though we are separated by great distances, we can all pray together, and I think that is worth celebrating.
我們平日都會念誦一些或長或短的祈願文，但是，我想很多人一起念誦，是有特殊的目的和利益的。例如，一根草和一捆草的力量是不同的，這並不是說，我們個人的祈願沒有力量，但是大家齊心協力的念誦，效果一定是不同的，我想這是大家都知道的。尤其現在科技進步，就算我們相隔千里，還是可以一起祈願，這實在是一件值得歡喜的事情。

Last year, 2020, was a difficult year for everyone all around the world. Millions of people died from the coronavirus, and tens of millions more fell ill. There were also great economic losses, and it was stressful for everyone, individually and collectively.
過去的2020年，對於全世界來說是很辛苦的一年，由於新冠疫情，幾百萬人喪失了性命，還有上千萬人確診，同時造成了經濟上巨大的損失和整體與個人的不安。2020年雖然已經過去了，但是到了2021年初，問題還是存在著。

The difficult year of 2020 has passed, but the hardships continue even into the beginning of 2021. When we face such adversity, what we need most is not just external, material assistance. The most important thing is for us to not lose perseverance, courage, hope, and belief. If we let adversity take away all our hopes and confidence for this life, we are giving adversity a large opening and a lot of power. Thus whether we can make adversity into the path depends to a great extent on whether we bow our heads down to adversity or not, and whether we are willing to face it directly.
我們在這個艱難的時刻，最需要的，不是外在的順緣和幫助。最重要的，是不能失去內在的耐性、勇氣、希望和信念。如果被惡緣所影響，失去了人生的希望和信念的話，那就等於給了惡緣最好的一個機會。因此，惡緣能否轉為道用，關鍵就在於我們是不是選擇向惡緣低頭，或者是否願意面對惡緣。

There are many great religions in the world, and their main teaching or aim is to give us human beings the courage to dare to persevere through difficulty and to increase our confidence and joy in the search to bring meaning to life. Even Buddhism falls within this. Thus when the whole world is confronted with such difficulties as now, it is important for all religions to join forces and help each other increase confidence and joy.
世界上，有許多偉大的宗教。所有宗教主要的教義和用意，都是在鼓勵我們每一個人，有勇氣面對各種艱難。並且有信心和喜悅，發掘出生命的意義。就佛教來說，目的也是這個。因此，當全世界共同面對這個問題的時候，我們所有的宗教，應當同心協力，增進彼此的信任和歡喜，這是非常重要的。

In our current Aspirations to End Adversity, we will have a different program each day. Today, on our first day, our program includes the Three Daily Observances and the Heart Sutra with Repulsion of Maras. The Three Daily Observances is a ritual that Buddhist monks and nuns normally recite daily. It has three parts, prostrating to the Buddha, reciting sutras, and dedicating the merit. The Heart Sutra is a well-known Mahayana sutra that teaches quite a bit about the Mahayana view of emptiness. So today, for our first day, we will recite these two.
這次的祈願，每天都安排了不同的課誦內容。今天是第一天，內容是《三常誦》和《心經回遮》，有這兩個內容。《三常誦》是平時佛教僧眾們，每天都會念誦的，其中有頂禮、讀經和回向等等三個常誦。《心經》是大乘經典當中，著名的一部典籍。其中主要闡明大乘空性的見解。今天第一天，念誦的就是《三常誦》和《心經回遮法》。

So now, let us all recite these prayers together with the good motivation of wishing to benefit all sentient beings.
接下來，讓我們生起利益一切眾生的善心，一起念誦願文。