Chan Master Huangbo Duanji | 2018-06-23 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 裴相公问师曰：山中四五百人，几人得和尚法？ | Minister Pei asked the Master, “Among the four or five hundred people in the mountains, how many have received the Master’s Dharma?” |
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| 师云：得者莫测其数。何故？道在心悟，岂在言说？言说只是化童蒙耳。 | The Master said, “Those who have received it are beyond number. Why? The Way is realized in the mind—how could it lie in words? Words are merely for instructing the unawakened.” |
| 问：如何是佛？ | He asked, “What is the Buddha?” |
| 师云：即心是佛，无心是道。但无生心动念、有无长短、彼我能所等心。心本是佛，佛本是心，心如虚空，所以云：佛真法身犹若虚空，不用别求，有求皆苦。设使恒沙劫行六度万行，得佛菩提，亦非究竟。何以故？为属因缘造作故，因缘若尽，还归无常。所以云：报化非真佛，亦非说法者；但识自心，无我无人，本来是佛。 | The Master said, “This very mind is Buddha; no-mind is the Way. Simply do not give rise to such thoughts as birth and death, existence and nonexistence, long and short, self and other, subject and object. Mind itself is Buddha, and Buddha itself is mind. Mind is like empty space. Therefore it is said: ‘The Buddha’s true Dharma body is like empty space.’ There is no need to seek elsewhere; all seeking is suffering. Even if, throughout kalpas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, one practiced the six perfections and the myriad practices and attained the Buddha’s bodhi, it would still not be ultimate. Why? Because it belongs to conditioned creation; when conditions are exhausted, it returns to impermanence. Therefore it is said: The sambhogakāya and nirmāṇakāya are not the true Buddha, nor are they the one who teaches the Dharma. Simply recognize your own mind: without self or others, it is originally Buddha.” |
| 问：圣人无心即是佛，凡夫无心、莫沈空寂否？ | He asked, “If sages are Buddha through no-mind, then when ordinary beings have no mind, do they not sink into empty quiescence?” |
| 师云：法无凡圣，亦无沉寂；法本不有，莫作无见；法本不无，莫作有见；有之与无，尽是情见，犹如幻翳。所以云：见闻如幻翳，知觉乃众生。祖师门中只论息机忘见。所以忘机，则佛道隆；分别，则魔军炽。 | The Master said, “In Dharma there are no ordinary beings or sages, nor is there sinking into quiescence. Dharma is fundamentally not existent, so do not form a view of nonexistence. Dharma is fundamentally not nonexistent, so do not form a view of existence. Existence and nonexistence are both emotional views, like illusory eye defects. Therefore it is said: ‘Seeing and hearing are like illusory eye defects; knowing and perceiving belong to sentient beings.’ In the gate of the patriarchs, we speak only of bringing activity to rest and forgetting views. When activity is forgotten, the Buddha Way flourishes; when discrimination arises, Māra’s armies blaze.” |
| 问：心既本来是佛，还修六度万行否？ | He asked, “Since mind is originally Buddha, must one still practice the six perfections and the myriad practices?” |
| 师云：悟在于心，非关六度万行。六度万行尽是化门接物度生边事，设使菩提、真如、实际、解脱、法身，直至十地、四果圣位，尽是度门，非关佛心。心即是佛，所以一切诸度门中，佛心第一。 | The Master said, “Awakening lies in the mind; it has nothing to do with the six perfections and the myriad practices. The six perfections and the myriad practices are all expedient teachings for engaging with beings and liberating them. Even bodhi, suchness, ultimate reality, liberation, and the dharmakāya, up to and including the tenth bhūmi and the four fruits of the noble stages, are all gateways for liberation; they have nothing to do with the Buddha-mind. Mind itself is Buddha. Therefore, among all gateways of liberation, the Buddha-mind is foremost.” |
| 但无生死烦恼等心，即不用菩提等法。所以道：佛说一切法，度我一切心，我无一切心，何用一切法？从佛至祖，并不论别事，唯论一心，亦云一乘。所以十方谛求，更无余乘。此众无枝叶，唯有诸真实。 | Simply do not give rise to such minds as birth and death and afflictions, and there will be no need for such dharmas as bodhi. Therefore it is said: “The Buddha taught all dharmas in order to liberate all my minds. When I have no mind at all, what need have I for all dharmas?” From Buddha to patriarch, they discussed no other matter, but only the One Mind, also called the One Vehicle. Therefore, seek throughout the ten directions, and there is no other vehicle. This teaching has no branches or leaves; it contains only the true reality. |
| 所以此意难信，达磨来此土，至梁魏二国，只有可大师一人密信自心，言下便会即心是佛，身心俱无，是名大道。大道本来平等，所以深信含生同一真性，心性不异，即性即心，心不异性，名之为祖。所以云：认得心性时，可说不思议。 | For this reason, this meaning is difficult to believe. When Bodhidharma came to this land, in the two kingdoms of Liang and Wei there was only Great Master Huike, who secretly trusted in his own mind. Upon hearing the words, he immediately understood that this very mind is Buddha: body and mind alike are nonexistent. This is called the Great Way. The Great Way is originally equal. Therefore, deeply trust that all living beings share the one true nature. Mind and intrinsic nature are not different: intrinsic nature is mind, and mind is intrinsic nature. Thus one is called a patriarch. Therefore it is said: “When one recognizes the nature of mind, one may speak of the inconceivable.” |
| 问：佛度众生否？ | He asked, “Does the Buddha liberate sentient beings?” |
| 师云：实无众生如来度者！我尚不可得，非我何可得？佛与众生皆不可得。 | The Master said, “In truth, there are no sentient beings whom the Tathāgata liberates. Even ‘I’ cannot be obtained; how could what is not I be obtained? Buddha and sentient beings are both unobtainable.” |
| 云：现有三十二相及度众生，何得言无？ | He said, “There are now the thirty-two marks and the liberation of sentient beings. How can you say there is nothing?” |
| 师云：凡所有相皆是虚妄，若见诸相非相，即见如来。佛与众生，尽是汝作妄见，只为不识本心，谩作见解，才作佛见，便被佛障。作众生见，被众生障。作凡作圣作净作秽等见，尽成其障！障汝心故，总成轮转，犹如猕猴放一捉一，无有歇期。 | The Master said, “All appearances are false. If one sees all appearances as non-appearances, one sees the Tathāgata. Buddha and sentient beings are entirely your deluded views. It is only because you do not recognize your original mind that you vainly produce interpretations. The moment you form a view of Buddha, you are obstructed by Buddha. If you form a view of sentient beings, you are obstructed by sentient beings. If you form views of ordinary and sage, pure and impure, and so forth, they all become obstructions. Because they obstruct your mind, they all become the cycle of rebirth—like a monkey letting go of one thing only to seize another, with no time of rest.” |
| 一等是学，直须无学，无凡无圣、无净无垢，无大无小、无漏无为，如是一心中，方便勤庄严。听汝学得三乘十二分教一切见解，总须舍却，所以除去所有，唯置一床寝疾而卧，只是不起诸见，无一法可得，不被法障，透脱三界凡圣境域，始得名为出世佛！ | Since learning is all of one kind, you must directly enter no-learning: no ordinary, no sage; no purity, no defilement; no great, no small; no defiled, no unconditioned. In this One Mind, diligently adorn it with skillful means. Even if you have learned all the views of the three vehicles and the twelve divisions of the teachings, you must relinquish them all. Thus, cast away everything, leaving only a bed on which to lie ill. Simply do not give rise to any views. When not a single dharma can be obtained and one is not obstructed by dharmas, one passes beyond the realms of ordinary beings and sages in the three realms. Only then may one be called a world-transcending Buddha.” |
| 所以云：稽首如空无所依，出过外道。心既不异，法亦不异，心既无为，法亦无为。万法尽由心变，所以我心空故，诸法空，千品万类悉皆同，尽十方空界同一心体，心本不异，法亦不异，只为汝见解不同，所以差别。 | Therefore it is said: “I bow to that which, like empty space, relies on nothing and surpasses the non-Buddhist paths.” Since mind is not different, Dharma too is not different. Since mind is non-contrived, Dharma too is non-contrived. All phenomena are transformed by mind. Thus, because my mind is empty, all dharmas are empty. The thousand grades and myriad kinds are all alike; throughout the empty realms of the ten directions, there is but one substance of mind. Mind is fundamentally not different, and Dharma too is not different. It is only because your views differ that distinctions arise.” |
| 譬如诸天共宝器食，随其福德饭色有异，十方诸佛实无少法可得，名为阿耨菩提。只是一心，实无异相亦无光彩，亦无胜负，无胜故无佛相，无负故，无众生相。 | For example, when the devas eat from the same jeweled vessel, the color of the food differs according to their merit and virtue. In truth, the Buddhas of the ten directions obtain not the slightest dharma; this is called anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. It is simply the One Mind. In truth, it has no different appearances, no radiance, and no victory or defeat. Since there is no victory, there is no appearance of Buddha; since there is no defeat, there is no appearance of sentient beings.” |
| 云：心既无相，岂得全无三十二相八十种好化度众生耶？ | He said, “Since mind is without appearance, how could it entirely lack the thirty-two marks and eighty excellent characteristics for transforming and liberating sentient beings?” |
| 师云：三十二相属相，凡所有相，皆是虚妄；八十种好属色，若以色见我，是人行邪道，不能见如来。 | The Master said, “The thirty-two marks belong to appearance; all appearances are false. The eighty excellent characteristics belong to form. If one sees me by form, that person follows a wrong path and cannot see the Tathāgata.” |
| 问：佛性与众生性，为同为别？ | He asked, “Are Buddha-nature and the nature of sentient beings the same or different?” |
| 师云：性无同异。若约三乘教，即说有佛性有众生性，遂有三乘因果，即有同异；若约佛乘、及祖师相传，即不说如是事，惟指一心，非同非异，非因非果，所以云：唯此一乘道，无二亦无三，除佛方便说。 | The Master said, “Intrinsic nature has neither sameness nor difference. According to the teachings of the three vehicles, one speaks of Buddha-nature and the nature of sentient beings; thus there are the causes and effects of the three vehicles, and so there is sameness and difference. But according to the Buddha Vehicle and the transmission of the patriarchs, such matters are not discussed. They point only to the One Mind: neither the same nor different, neither cause nor effect. Therefore it is said: ‘There is only this One Vehicle Way, with neither a second nor a third, except where the Buddha speaks through skillful means.’” |
| 问：无边身菩萨，为什么不见如来顶相？ | He asked, “Why does the Bodhisattva Boundless Body not see the crown-mark of the Tathāgata?” |
| 师云：实无可见。何以故？无边身菩萨，便是如来，不应更见。 | The Master said, “In truth, there is nothing to see. Why? The Bodhisattva Boundless Body is the Tathāgata himself; he should not see anything further.” |
| 只教你不作佛见，不落佛边；不作众生见，不落众生边；不作有见，不落有边；不作无见，不落无边；不作凡见，不落凡边；不作圣见，不落圣边；但无诸见，即是无边身。若有见处，即名外道。外道者，乐于诸见。 | I only teach you not to form a view of Buddha, so that you do not fall on the side of Buddha; not to form a view of sentient beings, so that you do not fall on the side of sentient beings; not to form a view of existence, so that you do not fall on the side of existence; not to form a view of nonexistence, so that you do not fall on the side of nonexistence; not to form a view of ordinary beings, so that you do not fall on the side of ordinary beings; and not to form a view of sages, so that you do not fall on the side of sages. Simply be without all views: this is the Boundless Body. Wherever there is a view, it is called a non-Buddhist path. Those of non-Buddhist paths delight in all views.” |
| 菩萨于诸见而不动。如来者，即诸法如义。所以云：弥勒亦如也，众圣贤亦如也。如即无生，如即无灭，如即无见，如即无闻。如来顶即是圆见，亦无圆见，故不落圆边，所以佛身无为，不堕诸数，权以虚空为喻，圆同太虚，无欠无余，等闲无事。 | A bodhisattva remains unmoved amid all views. Tathāgata means the suchness of all dharmas. Therefore it is said: “Maitreya is thus, and all noble sages are thus.” Thusness is no arising; thusness is no ceasing; thusness is no seeing; thusness is no hearing. The crown of the Tathāgata is perfect seeing, yet there is no perfect seeing. Therefore one does not fall on the side of perfection. Thus the Buddha-body is non-contrived and does not fall within any category. Provisionally, empty space is used as an analogy: perfectly identical with vast empty space, lacking nothing and having nothing superfluous, at ease and without affairs.” |
| 莫强辩他境，辩著便成识，所以云：圆成沈识海，流转若飘蓬！只道：我知也、学得也、契悟也、解脱也、有道理也，强处即如意，弱处即不如意，似者个见解，有什么用处？我向汝道：等闲无事，莫谩用心，不用求真，唯须息见。 | Do not forcefully argue about others’ realms. Once you argue, it becomes consciousness. Therefore it is said: “Perfected reality sinks into the sea of consciousness, drifting and turning like floating tumbleweed.” You merely say, “I know; I have learned; I have realized in accord; I have attained liberation; I have reasons.” Where you are strong, things accord with your wishes; where you are weak, they do not. What use are views like these? I tell you: be at ease and without affairs. Do not vainly employ the mind. You need not seek truth; you need only cease from views.” |
| 所以内见外见俱错，佛道魔道俱恶！所以文殊暂起二见，贬向二铁围山。文殊即实智，普贤即权智，权实相对治，究竟亦无权实，唯是一心，心且不佛不众生，无有异见，才有佛见，便作众生见，有见无见，常见断见，便成二铁围山，被见障故。 | Thus inward views and outward views are both mistaken; the Buddha Way and Māra’s way are both evil. Thus, when Mañjuśrī temporarily gave rise to the two views, he was banished to the two Iron Enclosing Mountains. Mañjuśrī represents actual wisdom, while Samantabhadra represents provisional wisdom. Provisional and actual wisdom counterbalance each other, yet ultimately there is neither provisional nor actual wisdom—there is only the One Mind. Mind is neither Buddha nor sentient being, and has no differentiated view. The moment there is a view of Buddha, it becomes a view of sentient beings. Views of existence and nonexistence, eternalism and annihilationism, become the two Iron Enclosing Mountains, because one is obstructed by views.” |
| 祖师直指一切众生本心，本体本来是佛，不假修成，不属渐次，不是明暗。不是明，故无明；不是暗，故无暗。所以无无明，亦无无明尽。 | The patriarchs directly pointed to the original mind of all sentient beings: its original substance is originally Buddha. It does not depend on cultivation for its accomplishment, does not belong to gradual stages, and is neither bright nor dark. Since it is not bright, there is no ignorance; since it is not dark, there is no absence of ignorance. Thus there is no ignorance, nor is there an ending of ignorance.” |
| 入我此宗门，切须在意，如此见得，名之为法，见法故，名之为佛，佛法俱无，名之为僧，唤作无为僧，亦名一体三宝。夫求法者，不著佛求，不著法求，不著众求，应无所求。不著佛求，故无佛；不著法求，故无法；不著众求，故无僧。 | Upon entering the gate of my school, you must be especially attentive. To see in this way is called Dharma; because one sees Dharma, one is called Buddha; when Buddha and Dharma are both absent, one is called saṅgha. This is called the non-contrived saṅgha, also called the Three Jewels of one substance. Those who seek Dharma do not seek attached to Buddha, do not seek attached to Dharma, and do not seek attached to saṅgha. They should have nothing to seek. Not seeking attached to Buddha, there is no Buddha; not seeking attached to Dharma, there is no Dharma; not seeking attached to saṅgha, there is no saṅgha.” |
| 问：和尚见今说法，何得言无僧亦无法？ | He asked, “The Master is now teaching the Dharma. How then can you say that there is no saṅgha and no Dharma?” |
| 师云：汝若见有法可说，即是以音声求我；若见有我，即是处所；法亦无法，法即是心；所以祖师云：付此心法时，法法何曾法？无法无本心，始解心心法。实无一法可得，名坐道场。道场者，只是不起诸见。悟法本空，唤作空如来藏。本来无一物，何处有尘埃？若得此中意，逍遥何所论！ | The Master said, “If you see a Dharma that can be taught, then you are seeking me through sound. If you see an ‘I,’ then you are seeking through location. Dharma is also no-Dharma; Dharma is mind itself. Therefore the patriarch said: ‘When this mind-Dharma was transmitted, when was any dharma ever a dharma?’ When there is no Dharma and no original mind, only then does one understand the Dharma of mind after mind. In truth, not a single dharma can be obtained; this is called sitting at the place of awakening. The place of awakening is simply not giving rise to any views. Awaken to the fundamental emptiness of Dharma; this is called the empty Tathāgata-garbha. Originally there is not a single thing—where could dust arise? If you attain the meaning of this, what is there to discuss in carefree ease?” |
| 问：本来无一物，无物便是否？ | He asked, “Originally there is not a single thing. Does that mean that there is no thing at all?” |
| 师云：无亦不是。菩提无是处，亦无无知解。 | The Master said, “No is not it either. Bodhi has no ‘is,’ nor does it have the understanding of ‘no.’” |
| 问：何者是佛？ | He asked, “What is Buddha?” |
| 师云：汝心是佛，佛即是心，心佛不异。故云：即心即佛，若离于心，别更无佛。 | The Master said, “Your mind is Buddha, and Buddha is mind. Mind and Buddha are not different. Therefore it is said: ‘This very mind is Buddha.’ Apart from mind, there is no other Buddha.” |
| 云：若自心是佛，祖师西来如何传授？ | He said, “If one’s own mind is Buddha, what did the patriarch transmit when he came from the West?” |
| 师云：祖师西来，唯传心佛，直指汝等心本来是佛，心心不异，故名为祖。若直下见此意，即顿超三乘一切诸位。本来是佛，不假修成。 | The Master said, “When the patriarch came from the West, he transmitted only the Buddha-mind. He directly pointed out that your minds are originally Buddha, and that mind and mind are not different; therefore he is called a patriarch. If you directly see this meaning, you immediately transcend all stages of the three vehicles. You are originally Buddha; it does not depend on cultivation for its accomplishment.” |
| 云：若如此，十方诸佛出世，说于何法？ | He said, “If so, what Dharma did the Buddhas of the ten directions teach when they appeared in the world?” |
| 师云：十方诸佛出世，只共说一心法，所以佛密付与摩诃大迦叶，此一心法体，尽虚空遍法界，名为诸佛理。论这个法，岂是汝于言句上解得他？亦不是于一机一境上见得他！此意唯是默契得。这一门名为无为法门，若欲会得，但知无心，忽悟即得；若用心拟学取，即转远去；若无歧路心，一切取舍心，心如木石，始有学道分。 | The Master said, “When the Buddhas of the ten directions appear in the world, they teach only the Dharma of the One Mind. Thus the Buddha secretly entrusted Mahākāśyapa with this substance of the One Mind, which fills empty space and pervades the dharma realm. It is called the principle of all Buddhas. How could you understand this Dharma through words and phrases? Nor can you see it in a single faculty or a single circumstance. This meaning can be attained only through silent accord. This gate is called the Dharma gate of non-contrivance. If you wish to understand it, simply know no-mind; suddenly awaken, and you attain it. If you use mind to try to learn and grasp it, you turn ever farther away. Only when there is no mind that follows divergent paths, no mind of grasping and rejecting, and the mind is like wood or stone, do you have some share in learning the Way.” |
| 云：如今现有种种妄念，何以言无？ | He said, “Now there are clearly all kinds of deluded thoughts. How can you speak of no-mind?” |
| 师云：妄本无体，即是汝心所起。汝若识心是佛，心本无妄，那得起心更认于妄？汝若不生心动念，自然无妄，所以云：心生则种种法生，心灭则种种法灭。 | The Master said, “Delusion is originally without substance; it arises from your own mind. If you recognize that mind is Buddha, mind is originally without delusion. How then could you stir the mind and further take delusion to be real? If you do not give rise to thoughts, delusion naturally does not exist. Therefore it is said: ‘When mind arises, the various dharmas arise; when mind ceases, the various dharmas cease.’” |
| 云：今正妄念起时，佛在何处？ | He said, “Just when a deluded thought arises, where is Buddha?” |
| 师云：汝今觉妄起时，觉正是佛。可中若无妄念，佛亦无。何故如此？为汝起心作佛见，便谓有佛可成；作众生见，便谓有众生可度。起心动念，总是汝见处。若无一切见，佛有何处所？如文殊才起佛见，便贬向二铁围山。 | The Master said, “When you are aware that delusion has arisen, that very awareness is Buddha. If there were no deluded thoughts within it, Buddha too would not exist. Why is this so? Because when you stir the mind to form a view of Buddha, you suppose that there is a Buddha to be attained. When you form a view of sentient beings, you suppose that there are sentient beings to be liberated. Every stirring of mind and every thought is your own view. If there are no views at all, where could Buddha abide? Just as when Mañjuśrī gave rise to a view of Buddha, he was banished to the two Iron Enclosing Mountains.” |
| 云：今正悟时，佛在何处？ | He said, “Just at the moment of awakening, where is Buddha?” |
| 师云：问从何来？觉从何起？语默动静，一切声色，尽是佛事，何处觅佛？不可更头上安头、嘴上加嘴！但莫生异见，山是山、水是水，僧是僧、俗是俗，山河大地、日月星辰总不出汝心，三千世界都来是汝个自己，何处有许多般？心外无法，满目青山。 | The Master said: “Where does questioning come from? Where does awakening arise? Speech and silence, movement and stillness—all sounds and forms are Buddha-activities. Where, then, do you seek the Buddha? Do not put another head on top of your head or add another mouth to your mouth! Simply do not give rise to divergent views: mountains are mountains, water is water, monastics are monastics, and laypeople are laypeople. Mountains, rivers, the great earth, the sun, moon, and stars all do not lie outside your mind. The three thousand worlds are wholly your very self. Where could there be so many different things? Outside the mind there is no dharma; before your eyes are mountains green.” |
| 虚空世界，皎皎地无丝发许与汝作见解。所以一切声色，是佛之慧目。法不孤起，仗境方生；为物之故，有其多智。终日说，何曾说？终日闻，何曾闻？所以释迦四十九年说，未曾说著一字。 | Within empty space and the world, there is not the slightest hair’s breadth that could provide you with something on which to form a view. Therefore, all sounds and forms are the Buddha’s wisdom-eye. Dharmas do not arise independently; they arise only in reliance on conditions. Because of things, the many forms of wisdom exist. All day long one speaks—when has one ever spoken? All day long one hears—when has one ever heard? Thus Śākyamuni spoke for forty-nine years, yet never uttered a single word.” |
| 云：若如此，何处是菩提？ | Someone asked: “If that is so, where is bodhi?” |
| 师云：菩提无是处。佛亦不得菩提，众生亦不失菩提。不可以身得，不可以心求。一切众生，即菩提相。 | The Master said: “Bodhi has no such place. The Buddha does not attain bodhi, nor do sentient beings lose bodhi. It cannot be attained through the body, nor sought with the mind. All sentient beings are themselves the mark of bodhi.” |
| 云：如何发菩提心？ | Someone asked: “How does one arouse bodhicitta?” |
| 师云：菩提无所得，你今但发无所得心，决定不得一法，即菩提心。菩提无住处，是故无有得者，故云：我于然灯佛所，无有少法可得，佛即与我授记。明知一切众生本是菩提，不应更得菩提，你今闻发菩提心，将谓一个心学取佛去、唯拟作佛，任你三祇劫修，亦只得个报化佛，与你本源真性佛有何交涉！故云：外求有相佛，与汝不相似。 | The Master said: “Bodhi cannot be obtained. You need only now arouse the mind that seeks nothing obtainable, firmly knowing that not a single dharma can be attained; this is bodhicitta. Bodhi has no abiding place; therefore there is no one who attains it. Thus it is said: ‘When I was with Dīpaṃkara Buddha, there was not the slightest dharma I could attain; thereupon the Buddha gave me a prediction.’ Clearly know that all sentient beings are originally bodhi and should not seek to attain bodhi anew. When you hear of arousing bodhicitta, you imagine that there is some mind that must study and acquire Buddhahood, intending only to become a Buddha. Even if you cultivate for three asaṃkhyeya kalpas, you will attain only a sambhogakāya or nirmāṇakāya Buddha. What connection does that have with the Buddha of your own original true nature? Thus it is said: ‘To seek a Buddha with marks outside yourself is unlike you.’” |
| 问：本既是佛，那得更有四生六道种种形貌不同？ | Someone asked: “If one is originally a Buddha, how can there still be the four modes of birth and the six realms, with their many differing forms and appearances?” |
| 师云：诸佛体圆，更无增减，流入六道，处处皆圆，万类之中，个个是佛。譬如一团水银，分散诸处，颗颗皆圆，若不分时，只是一块，此一即一切，一切即一。种种形貌，喻如屋舍，舍驴屋入人屋，舍人身至天身，乃至声闻缘觉菩萨佛屋，皆是汝取舍处，所以有别，本源之性，何得有别？ | The Master said: “The essence of all Buddhas is perfect and complete, with neither increase nor decrease. Flowing into the six realms, it is complete everywhere; among the myriad kinds of beings, each and every one is a Buddha. It is like a lump of mercury: scattered in various places, every globule is round and complete; before being divided, it is simply one mass. This one is all, and all are one. The various forms and appearances are like houses: leaving the house of a donkey and entering the house of a human, leaving the human body and reaching the body of a deva, even entering the houses of śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and Buddhas. These distinctions arise from your choosing and rejecting. How could the nature of the original source contain distinctions?” |
| 问：诸佛如何行大慈悲，为众生说法？ | Someone asked: “How do the Buddhas practice great compassion and teach the Dharma for sentient beings?” |
| 师云：佛慈悲者，无缘故，名大慈悲。慈者，不见有佛可成；悲者，不见有众生可度。其所说法，无说无示；其听法者，无闻无得。譬如幻士为幻人说法，这个法，若为道我从善知识言下领得会也悟也；这个慈悲，若为汝起心动念学得他见解，不是自悟本心，究竟无益！ | The Master said: “The Buddha’s compassion is without conditions; therefore it is called great compassion. Compassion means not seeing any Buddha to be attained; sorrow means not seeing any sentient being to be liberated. The Dharma they teach is without teaching or showing; those who hear the Dharma neither hear nor obtain anything. It is like an illusionist teaching Dharma to illusory people. If you take this Dharma to mean that I have understood and awakened from the words of a spiritual teacher, or if you take this compassion to mean that you can form thoughts and learn another’s views, then you have not awakened to your own original mind. In the end, it is of no benefit.” |
| 问：何者是精进？ | Someone asked: “What is diligence?” |
| 师云：身心不起，是名第一牢强精进。才起心向外求者，名为歌利王爱游猎去；心不外游，即是忍辱仙人。身心俱无，即是佛道。 | The Master said: “When neither body nor mind arises, this is called the foremost firm and vigorous diligence. As soon as the mind arises to seek outside, it is like King Kali going out in delight to hunt; when the mind does not roam outside, it is the patient ascetic. When both body and mind are absent, this is the Buddha Way.” |
| 问：若无心行此道，得否？ | Someone asked: “If one practices this Way with no mind, can one attain it?” |
| 师云：无心便是行此道，更说什么得与不得？且如瞥起一念便是境，若无一念，便是境妄心自灭，无复可追寻。 | The Master said: “No mind itself is the practice of this Way. Why speak further of attainment or nonattainment? The moment a single thought suddenly arises, it becomes an object. If not a single thought arises, then the mind’s delusions about objects extinguish themselves and can no longer be pursued.” |
| 问：如何是出三界？ | Someone asked: “How does one leave the three realms?” |
| 师云：善恶都莫思量，当处便出三界。如来出世，为破三有；若无一切心，三界亦非有！如一微尘，破为百分，九十九分是无，一分是有，摩诃衍不能胜出。百分俱无，摩诃衍始能胜出。 | The Master said: “Do not think of either good or evil; right where you are, you leave the three realms. The Tathāgata appeared in the world to break through the three existences. If there is no mind at all, the three realms are not existent either. Suppose a single mote of dust is broken into one hundred parts: ninety-nine parts are nonexistent and one part exists; the Mahāyāna cannot yet transcend it. Only when all one hundred parts are nonexistent can the Mahāyāna truly transcend it.” |
| 上堂云：即心是佛，上至诸佛，下至蠢动含灵，皆有佛性，同一心体。所以达磨从西天来，唯传一心法，直指一切众生本来是佛，不假修行，但如今识取自心，见自本性，更莫别求。 | The Master addressed the assembly: “This very mind is Buddha. From the Buddhas above down to creeping creatures endowed with awareness, all possess Buddha-nature and share one mind-essence. Therefore, when Bodhidharma came from India, he transmitted only the Dharma of one mind, directly pointing out that all sentient beings are originally Buddhas. There is no need for cultivation; simply recognize your own mind now, see your own true nature, and seek no further elsewhere.” |
| 云何识自心？即如今言语者，正是汝心！若不言语、又不作用，心体如虚空相似，无有相貌、亦无方所、亦不一向是无，有而不可见故。祖师云：真性心地藏，无头亦无尾，应缘而化物，方便呼为智，若不应缘之时，不可言其有无。正应之时，亦无踪迹。既知如此，如今但向无中栖泊，即是行诸佛路。 | How does one recognize one’s own mind? The very one speaking now is your mind! When there is no speech and no activity, the mind-essence resembles empty space: it has no form or appearance, no location, and is not simply nonexistent, for it exists yet cannot be seen. A patriarch said: “The treasury of the mind-ground of true nature has neither head nor tail. Responding to conditions, it transforms beings; provisionally it is called wisdom. When it does not respond to conditions, one cannot say that it exists or does not exist. Even when it is responding, it leaves no trace.” Since you know this, simply abide now within no-thingness; this is to walk the path of the Buddhas.” |
| 经云：应无所住而生其心。一切众生轮回生死者，意缘走作，心于六道不停，致使受种种苦。净名云：难化之人，心如猿猴。故以若干种法，制御其心，然后调伏。 | The sūtra says: “Give rise to that mind while abiding nowhere.” All sentient beings revolve in birth and death because the mind follows its objects and runs about, never ceasing in the six realms, thereby undergoing all kinds of suffering. Vimalakīrti said: “People difficult to transform have minds like monkeys.” Therefore, various methods are used to restrain their minds, and only then are they tamed.” |
| 所以心生种种法生，心灭种种法灭，故知一切诸法皆由心造，乃至人天地狱六道修罗尽由心造。 | Therefore, when the mind arises, the myriad dharmas arise; when the mind ceases, the myriad dharmas cease. Thus know that all dharmas are created by the mind, including humans, devas, hell beings, the six realms, and asuras.” |
| 如今但学无心，顿息诸缘，莫生妄想分别，无人无我，无贪嗔、无憎爱、无胜负，但除却如许多种妄想，性自本来清净，即是修行菩提法佛等。 | Now simply learn no mind, abruptly cease all conditions, and do not give rise to deluded thoughts or discrimination. There is no person and no self; no greed or anger, no aversion or attachment, no victory or defeat. Simply remove these many kinds of deluded thoughts, and your nature is inherently pure. This is the cultivation of bodhi, Dharma, and Buddhahood.” |
| 若不会此意，纵你广学，勤苦修行，木食草衣，不识自心，皆名邪行，尽作天魔外道水陆诸神，如此修行，当复何益？志公云：本体是自心作，那得文字中求？如今但识自心，息却思惟，妄想尘劳，自然不生。净名云：唯置一床，寝疾而卧，心不起也。如人卧疾，攀缘都息，妄想歇灭，即是菩提。 | If you do not understand this meaning, then even if you study extensively, practice diligently and painfully, eat wood and wear grass, yet fail to recognize your own mind, all of this is called deviant practice. You become celestial māras, non-Buddhists, and spirits of water and land. What benefit could there be in practicing this way? Master Zhigong said: “Before encountering an enlightened teacher who has appeared in the world, one takes the medicine of the Mahāyāna Dharma in vain.” Now simply recognize your own mind and cease discursive thought. Deluded thoughts and the toil of dust-like afflictions will naturally not arise. Vimalakīrti said: “Set out only one bed, and lie down sick.” It means that the mind does not arise. When a sick person lies down, all grasping at conditions ceases; when deluded thoughts rest and vanish, that is bodhi.” |
| 如今若心里纷纷不定，任你学到三乘四果十地诸位，合杀只向凡圣中坐。 | If your mind is now confused and unsettled, then even if you study through the three vehicles, the four fruits, the ten bhūmis, and all their stages, in the end you merely remain seated among ordinary beings and sages.” |
| 诸行尽归无常，势力皆有尽期，犹如箭射于空，力尽还坠，却归生死轮回，如斯修行，不解佛意，虚受辛苦，岂非大错！志公云：未逢出世明师，枉服大乘法药。 | All conditioned practices return to impermanence, and all powers have a time when they are exhausted. They are like an arrow shot into the sky: when its force is spent, it falls back down, returning to the round of birth and death. To practice in this way without understanding the Buddha’s intent is to suffer hardship in vain. Is this not a great error? Master Zhigong said: “Without encountering an enlightened teacher who has appeared in the world, one takes the medicine of the Mahāyāna Dharma in vain.” |
| 如今但一切时中行住坐卧，但学无心，亦无分别，亦无依倚，亦无住著，终日任运腾腾，如痴人相似，世人尽不识你，你亦不用教人识不识，心如顽石头，都无缝罅，一切法透汝心不入，兀然无著，如此始有少分相应！ | Now, at all times—in walking, standing, sitting, and lying down—simply learn no mind. Have no discrimination, no reliance, and no attachment. All day long, let things proceed freely and naturally, like a fool whom worldly people wholly fail to recognize. Nor need you make others recognize or fail to recognize you. Let your mind be like a hard stone, entirely without cracks or crevices: no dharma can penetrate your mind. Remain utterly unattached. Only then is there a small measure of correspondence.” |
| 透得三界境过，名为佛出世；不漏心相，名为无漏智。不作人天业，不作地狱业，不起一切心，诸缘尽不生，即此身心是自由人；不是一向不生，只是随意而生，经云：菩萨有意生身是也。 | To penetrate beyond the realm of the three realms is called a Buddha’s appearance in the world. To leave no traces of mental appearances is called undefiled wisdom. Do not create karma for the human or deva realms; do not create karma for the hell realms. Do not give rise to any mind, and all conditions will cease to arise. This very body and mind then belong to one who is free. It is not that one never takes birth at all, but that one is born freely according to one’s intent. This is what the sūtra means by a bodhisattva’s mind-born body.” |
| 忽若未会无心，著相而作者，皆属魔业。乃至作净土佛事，并皆成业，乃名佛障，障汝心故，被因果管束，去住无自由分。 | If you have not yet understood no mind and act while attached to marks, all such acts belong to the karma of māras. Even performing Buddhist rites for the Pure Land becomes karma; it is then called an obstacle of Buddhahood, because it obstructs your mind. Bound by cause and effect, you have no freedom in going or staying.” |
| 所以菩提等法，本不是有，如来所说，皆是化人，犹如黄叶为金，权止小儿啼故，实无有法，名阿耨菩提。如今既会此意，何用区区？但随缘消旧业，更莫造新殃，心里明明，所以旧时见解总须舍却。净名云：除去所有。 | Therefore, dharmas such as bodhi are fundamentally not existent. Everything the Tathāgata taught was for transforming people, like using yellow leaves as gold merely to stop a child from crying. In truth, there is no dharma called unsurpassed perfect awakening. Now that you understand this meaning, why exert yourself over trifles? Simply accord with conditions and dissolve old karma; do not create new misfortune. Since your mind is clear, all your former views must be relinquished. Vimalakīrti said: “Remove everything that is possessed.” |
| 法华云：二十年中常令除粪，只是除去心中作见解处。又云：蠲除戏论之粪。所以如来藏本自空寂，并不停留一法。故经云：诸佛国土亦复皆空。 | The Lotus Sūtra says: “For twenty years he constantly had them remove excrement.” This simply means removing the place in the mind where views are fabricated. It also says: “Remove the excrement of frivolous discourse.” Thus the Tathāgata-garbha is originally empty and quiescent, retaining not a single dharma. Therefore the sūtra says: “The lands of all Buddhas are likewise entirely empty.” |
| 若言佛道是修学而得，如此见解全无交涉！或作一机一境扬眉动目只对相当，便道契会也、得证悟禅理也，忽逢一人不解，便道都无所知，对他若得道理，心中便欢喜，若被他折伏不如他，便即心怀惆怅，如此心意学禅，有何交涉？！任汝会得少许道理，只得个心所法，禅道总没交涉！所以达磨面壁，都不令人有见处。 | If you say that the Buddha Way is attained through study and cultivation, such a view has no connection with it at all! Perhaps you make some gesture, raise your eyebrows or move your eyes in response to a particular occasion, and then claim that you have accorded with it, realized it, and awakened to the principle of Chan. But when you meet someone who does not understand, you say that they know nothing at all. If you can prevail over them in reasoning, you rejoice inwardly; if they refute you and you cannot match them, your heart becomes dejected. What connection does this mentality have with studying Chan? Even if you understand a little principle, you gain only a dharma belonging to the mind; it has no connection at all with the Way of Chan. Therefore Bodhidharma faced the wall, never allowing people to establish views.” |
| 故云：忘机是佛道，分别是魔境。 | Thus it is said: “Forgetting contrivance is the Buddha Way; discrimination is the realm of māras.” |
| 此性纵汝迷时亦不失，悟时亦不得，天真自性，本无迷悟，尽十方虚空界，元来是我一心体，纵汝动用造作，岂离虚空？虚空本来无大无小，无漏无为、无迷无悟，了了见无一物、亦无人、亦无佛，绝纤毫的量，是无依倚、无粘缀，一道清流，是自性无生法忍，何有拟议？真佛无口，不解说法；真听无耳，其谁闻乎？珍重！ | Even when you are deluded, this nature is not lost; even when you awaken, it is not gained. The naturally genuine self-nature has never possessed delusion or awakening. The entirety of the ten-direction realm of empty space is originally the substance of my one mind. However you move, function, or act, how could you depart from empty space? Empty space has originally no great or small, no defiled or undefiled, no delusion or awakening. Clearly seeing, there is not a single thing—not a person, not a Buddha. Beyond the slightest measure, without reliance or attachment, it is one clear stream: the patience with the non-arising of dharmas of self-nature. What is there to deliberate over? The true Buddha has no mouth and cannot teach the Dharma; true hearing has no ears—who, then, hears? Take care!” |
| 师一日上堂，开示大众云： | One day, the Master ascended the seat and instructed the assembly: |
| 预前若打不彻，腊月三十夜到来，管取尔热乱。有般外道才见人说做工夫，他便冷笑：“犹有遮个在。”我且问尔：忽然临命终时，尔将何抵敌生死？！尔且思量看！却有个道理，那得天生弥勒自然释迦。 | “If you have not thoroughly broken through beforehand, when the night of the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month arrives, you will surely be thrown into frantic confusion. There are some non-Buddhists who, on seeing someone practice, sneer coldly: ‘There is still that thing there.’ But I ask you: when the moment of death suddenly comes, what will you use to withstand birth and death? Consider it carefully! There is a principle here. How could one be Maitreya by nature and Śākyamuni without effort?” |
| 有一般闲神野鬼，才见人有些少病，便与他人说：尔只放下着。及至他有病，又却理会不下，手忙脚乱。争奈尔肉如利刀碎割，做主宰不得。万般事须是闲时办得下，忙时得用，多少省力。休待临渴掘井，做手脚不办，遮场狼藉！ | “There are idle spirits and wild ghosts who, as soon as they see someone slightly ill, tell them: ‘Just let it go.’ Yet when they themselves become ill, they cannot resolve it; their hands and feet flail about in confusion. When your flesh is sliced apart like a sharp knife cutting it, you will be unable to remain master of yourself. One must settle all matters in leisure, so that they can be used in times of urgency; how much effort this saves. Do not wait until you are thirsty to dig a well, when you cannot manage what must be done and the scene is in complete disarray!” |
| 如何回避前路黑暗？信采胡钻乱撞，苦哉苦哉！平日只学口头三眛、说禅说道、喝佛骂祖、到遮里都用不着；平日只管瞒人，争知道今日自瞒了也，阿鼻地狱中决定放尔不得！而今末法将沈，全仗有力量。 | “How will you avoid the darkness of the road ahead? You blindly rush about at random—how bitter, how bitter! In ordinary times you merely cultivate verbal samādhi, speak of Chan and discourse on the Way, shout at Buddhas and curse the patriarchs; when you reach this point, none of it is of any use. In ordinary times you only deceive others—how could you know that today you have deceived yourself? In the Avīci hell, you will certainly not be released! Now that the Dharma-ending age is sinking away, everything depends on genuine strength.” |
| 兄弟家， 负荷续佛慧命莫令断绝！今时才有一个半个行脚，只去观山观景，不知光阴能有几何？一息不回便是来生，未知甚么头面，呜呼！劝尔兄弟家，趁色力康健时，讨取个分晓处，不被人瞒底一段大事。 | “Brothers, take up the burden of continuing the Buddha’s wisdom-life; do not let it be cut off! Nowadays, when there are even one or two wandering practitioners, they merely go to look at mountains and scenery, not knowing how much time remains. When a single breath does not return, it is already another life; what face you will then have is unknown. Alas! I urge you, brothers: while your physical strength is sound, attain a clear resolution of this great matter, so that you will not be deceived by others.” |
| 遮关棙子，甚是容易，自是尔不肯去下死志做工夫，只管道难了又难，好教尔知，那得树上自生底？要杓，尔也须自去做个转变始得。若是个丈夫汉，看个公案，僧问赵州：“狗子还有佛性也无”。州云“无”。 | The key to this barrier is very easy to grasp. It is simply that you are unwilling to make a death-defying resolve and apply yourselves to the work. You keep saying that it is difficult—difficult indeed. Let me tell you: how could it grow of itself on a tree? If you want it, you must make a turnabout yourselves. If you are a true man of resolve, take up a koan. A monk asked Zhaozhou, “Does a dog have Buddha-nature or not?” Zhaozhou replied, “No.” |
| 但去二六时中看个“无”字，昼参夜参行住坐卧，着衣吃饭处，阿屎放尿处，心心相顾。猛着精彩，守个“无”字，日久月深打成一片，忽然心花顿发，悟佛祖之机。世尊拈花一场败缺，到这里说甚么阎罗老子千圣尚不奈尔何！不信道，直有遮般奇特，为甚如此！事怕有心人！ | Simply investigate the word “No” throughout the twenty-four hours of the day. Investigate it by day and investigate it by night; investigate it while walking, standing, sitting, and lying down; while dressing and eating, while defecating and urinating. Attend to it in every thought. Vigorously summon your whole spirit and hold fast to the word “No.” As the days and months deepen, it will become continuous and undivided. Suddenly, the flower of the mind will burst open, and you will awaken to the pivotal point of the Buddhas and patriarchs. The World-Honored One’s holding up a flower will then seem a complete failure. At that point, why speak of Yama, the King of Death? Even a thousand sages will be unable to do anything to you. If you do not believe it, there truly is such wonder. Why is this so? Nothing can withstand one who is determined. |
| 颂曰： | Verse: |
| 尘劳迥脱事非常， | To break free completely from the toils of the world is no ordinary matter; |
| 紧把绳头做一场。 | Hold tightly to the rope’s end and make a determined effort. |
| 不是一翻寒彻骨， | Without enduring cold that pierces to the bone, |
| 争得梅花扑鼻香。 | How can one obtain the fragrance of plum blossoms that fills the nostrils? |
| 回 向 偈 | Dedication Verse |
| 愿以此功德，普及于一切。 | May this merit and virtue extend universally to all. |
| 我等与众生，皆共成佛道。 | May we and all sentient beings together accomplish the Buddha Way. |
