Writings of Master Yuanyin | 2018-06-23 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 今天我开始讲《碧岩录》的公案，这是禅宗的语录，或许有人要问：我们修的是心中心密法，不是禅宗，为什么要讲宗门公案？因为心中心密法是与禅宗同一鼻孔出气的，二者有异曲同工之妙。禅宗之禅，不是禅定的禅。 | Today I begin lecturing on the Chan koans in the Blue Cliff Record. This is a record of Chan sayings. Perhaps someone may ask: “We practice the Heart-of-Heart Esoteric Dharma, not the Chan school. Why, then, speak about koans of the Chan tradition?” It is because the Heart-of-Heart Esoteric Dharma and the Chan school spring from the same source; though their approaches differ, they accomplish the same work. The Chan of the Chan school is not the chan of meditative absorption. |
|---|---|
| 禅定分为四禅八定，是渐次法；而禅宗是达摩祖师所传，叫祖师禅，是直指人心、见性成佛的圆顿法门，不是一步步走的渐次法。我们所修的心中心密法，也同样是直接打开本来，彻见本性的。 | Meditative absorption is divided into the four dhyānas and eight absorptions; it is a gradual method. The Chan school, however, was transmitted by Patriarch Bodhidharma. It is called Patriarchal Chan, a complete and sudden dharma gate that directly points to the mind and enables one to see one’s nature and attain Buddhahood. It is not a gradual method of proceeding step by step. The Heart-of-Heart Esoteric Dharma that we practice likewise directly opens up the original nature and thoroughly reveals one’s intrinsic nature. |
| 不是转弯抹角地从观想或观相成就，再破相见性的有相密。所以它是“以禅为体，以密为用”的，是以密法来证禅宗。为什么要这样做呢？因为禅宗只接上根人，中下根人就难以接受。 | It is not a form-based esoteric practice that proceeds indirectly, first attaining realization through visualization or contemplation of forms and then breaking through forms to see one’s nature. Thus it is “taking Chan as its essence and Esoteric Buddhism as its function”: it uses Esoteric Dharma to realize Chan. Why is this necessary? Because the Chan school admits only those of the highest capacities; those of middling and lesser capacities find it difficult to receive. |
| 最初的禅宗根本没有什么参话头，都是当下直指见性成佛的，不用参一则固定的话头。譬如“念佛是谁？”“父母未生前如何是我本来面目？”“这个拖死尸的是谁？”“如何是诸佛生处？东山水上行。”等等的话头。 | In its earliest days, the Chan school had no such thing as investigating a huatou. It directly pointed to the nature here and now, enabling one to see one’s nature and attain Buddhahood; there was no need to investigate a fixed critical phrase. Examples include: “Who is reciting the Buddha’s name?” “Before your parents were born, what was your Original Face?” “Who is it that drags this corpse about?” and “What is the place from which all Buddhas arise? East Mountain walks upon the water.” These, and so forth, are huatou. |
| 只就来问者语脉上下搭，指他个入处，令他当下自荐就是了。 | They simply responded to the questioner’s words in context, pointed out an entryway for that person, and enabled him to recognize it for himself on the spot. |
| 比如学人来参祖师，学人问：“如何是佛？”祖师直指道：“即心是佛！”“清谈对面，非佛而谁？”或者说：“我对你说恐你不信！”学人说：“师父说真话，学人焉敢不信！”师父说：“即汝便是！”提问的学人一听就开悟承当了。 | For example, a student came to consult a patriarch and asked, “What is Buddha?” The patriarch directly pointed out, “This very mind is Buddha!” Or he might say, “Here we are, face to face in clear conversation—who else could it be but Buddha?” Or perhaps, “I fear you would not believe me if I told you.” The student said, “If the master speaks the truth, how would this student dare not believe it?” The master replied, “You yourself are it!” Upon hearing this, the student who had asked the question awakened and accepted it. |
| 更有的师父就问“如何是佛”时，喝他一声名字，等他答应后便直示道：“即此便是，余无他物！”问者即于言下悟去。请看，这是多么便捷痛快！早期的禅宗都是这样直指见性成佛的。 | Still other masters, when asked, “What is Buddha?” would call out the questioner’s name. Once he answered, the master would directly show him: “This very thing is it; there is nothing else!” The questioner would awaken at those words. See how swift and direct this is! Early Chan was all like this: directly pointing to the nature and enabling Buddhahood. |
| 又比如六祖得衣钵离开黄梅之后，有很多人要追赶抢夺。有一个叫惠明的，未出家前是个将军，有武功，跑得比别人快，他第一个追上六祖。 | Again, after the Sixth Patriarch received the robe and bowl and left Huangmei, many people pursued him in order to seize them. One of them was named Huiming. Before leaving home, he had been a general; skilled in martial arts, he ran faster than the others and was the first to catch up with the Sixth Patriarch. |
| 这时六祖想：“我这衣钵是表法信的——就是表示得了心法的物证，哪可用武力抢呢？”于是六祖把衣钵摆在大石上，自己隐在草莽中，看你怎么处理。 | At that point, the Sixth Patriarch thought: “This robe and bowl are tokens of the Dharma—material proof indicating that one has received the mind Dharma. How could they be seized by force?” He therefore placed the robe and bowl on a large rock and hid himself in the grass, to see how Huiming would deal with them. |
| 惠明追到，见衣钵放在石上，心想：“这下衣钵随手可得，祖师的宝座归我们了。”哪知用手一拿，却拿不动。为什么拿不动呢？关于这点众说纷纭。有人说，衣钵是传法的信物，惠明没有得法，护法神不许，所以拿不动。 | When Huiming arrived and saw the robe and bowl on the rock, he thought, “Now they can be taken with a simple reach; the patriarchal seat will be ours.” Yet when he tried to lift them, he could not move them. Why could he not move them? There are many different accounts. Some say that the robe and bowl were tokens of Dharma transmission. Since Huiming had not received the Dharma, the Dharma-protecting spirits did not permit him to take them. |
| 又有人说，不是这样，惠明也知道衣钵是传法的，不能用武力抢，自己还没有得法，纵然用武力抢来了，不过虚有其表，而且是恶行，内心有愧，就再也拿不动了。说法虽有不同，但归根结底“法信”是不可用武力抢夺的。 | Others say that this was not the case. Huiming himself knew that the robe and bowl signified Dharma transmission and could not be seized by force. Since he had not yet received the Dharma, even if he had taken them by force, he would have possessed only their outward appearance; moreover, it would have been an evil act. Ashamed in his heart, he was no longer able to lift them. Although the explanations differ, the fundamental point is that a token of the Dharma cannot be seized by force. |
| 所以惠明悔悟说：“我为法来，不为衣来。”于是六祖大师出来对惠明说：你为法来，我为你说法：不思善、不思恶——就是你好的也不想、坏的也不想。 | Huiming therefore repented and said, “I have come for the Dharma, not for the robe.” The Sixth Patriarch then emerged and said to him, “You have come for the Dharma; I shall explain the Dharma to you: do not think of good, and do not think of evil—that is, do not think of what is good, nor of what is bad.” |
| 我们的思想都不过在善、恶、美、丑这二方面转，离开这二方面妄念就不行了。所以六祖说：你好的既不想，坏的也不要想。就是叫他不要动念头。 | All our thoughts turn only around these two sides: good and evil, beauty and ugliness. Once we leave these two sides, deluded thoughts can no longer proceed. Therefore the Sixth Patriarch said: do not think of what is good, and do not think of what is bad. In other words, he told him not to stir a thought. |
| 这样，惠明良久——心念一动也不动了——正在这个关键时刻，六祖指示他道：“正与么时，那个是明上座本来面目！”换句话说就是在这一念不生时，那了了分明的灵知是什么？不是你本来面目又是什么？这一点，大家当下可试验。 | Thus Huiming remained for a long while—without a single movement of thought. At this critical moment, the Sixth Patriarch instructed him: “At just such a time, what is Senior Monk Ming’s Original Face?” Put differently, when not a single thought arises, what is that clear and distinct spiritual knowing? If it is not your Original Face, what else could it be? Everyone may test this for themselves here and now. |
| 一念不生时，就是前念已断，后念未起时，是不是像木头石头一样没知觉？显然不是。一念不生时，心是了了分明的。比如大家在这房间里面，一念不生，心无所住，样样东西都在各人视线之内，清清楚楚如镜照物，了无分别。 | When not a single thought arises—when the preceding thought has ceased and the following thought has not yet arisen—are we unconscious like wood or stone? Clearly not. When not a single thought arises, the mind is clear and distinct. For example, when everyone in this room has no thought arising and the mind abides nowhere, every object lies within each person’s field of vision, perfectly clear, like a mirror reflecting things, without the least discrimination. |
| 假如心有所住呢？这是什么？是伞啊！更进而想是尼龙伞还是自动伞？心念一起，有所住着，只见此物，别的东西就不见了。 | But suppose the mind abides somewhere: “What is this? It is an umbrella! And further, is it a nylon umbrella or an automatic umbrella?” Once a thought arises and the mind becomes attached, one sees only this object and no longer sees the other things. |
| 当心无所住，空空荡荡，一切都看见，而一切又似乎没看见的时候，这像镜子一样朗照无住的是谁？用功人就在这关键时刻，回光一鉴，猛着精彩，就豁开正眼了。 | When the mind abides nowhere and is open and empty, when one sees everything and yet seems not to see anything, who is it that illumines clearly and without abiding, like a mirror? At this critical moment, the practitioner turns the light inward for a single look and exerts himself with full vigor; then the true eye suddenly opens. |
| 所以六祖指示惠明：你在一念不生，而了了分明时那朗照无住的是谁？这就等于告诉他，那了无分别的神光就是你本来面目啊！因为此时除此之外，无有别物，所以惠明当下悟去。禅宗就这样直截了当。在各大宗派中，禅宗独称宗下，以其快捷简便非余宗所能企及。 | Therefore the Sixth Patriarch instructed Huiming: when not a single thought arises and yet there is clear, distinct knowing, who is it that illumines clearly and without abiding? This was equivalent to telling him that the undifferentiating spiritual radiance was his Original Face. At that time there was nothing else besides this, and so Huiming awakened immediately. Chan is so direct and straightforward. Among all the major schools, Chan alone is called the school of the lineage, for its swiftness and simplicity cannot be matched by the other schools. |
| 但是后来人因各人的知见不同，对六祖大师指示“那个是明上座的本来面目”的“那个”二字就仁者见仁，智者见智，生出不同的见解。 | Later generations, however, held differing views. Concerning the two characters “that one” in the Sixth Patriarch’s instruction, “What is Senior Monk Ming’s Original Face?” some saw it one way and some another, and various interpretations arose. |
| 有的说“那个”是问话，是问惠明，当一念不生时哪一个是你本来面目，相当英文的“what”；有的说“那个”是直指，是直接指示惠明，那个一念不生时的神光，就是你本来面目，相当英文的“that”。 | Some say that “that one” is a question, asking Huiming which one is your Original Face when not a single thought arises—equivalent to the English “what.” Others say that “that one” is a direct pointing: it directly indicates to Huiming that the spiritual radiance present when not a single thought arises is your Original Face—equivalent to the English “that.” |
| 在禅宗里有很多人为这两个字打“笔墨官司”，各说各有理，互不相让。其实不用打官司。 | In the Chan school, many people have engaged in literary disputes over these two characters. Each claims to be right and refuses to yield. In fact, there is no need for such disputes. |
| 如果在六祖直接指示下，你即豁开正眼明白这一念不生而又了了分明的就是我本来面目，因为这时除了我本性外别无他物！自肯承当，不再生疑，就是直指了。 | If, under the Sixth Patriarch’s direct instruction, you immediately open the true eye and understand that this state in which not a single thought arises, yet there is clear and distinct knowing, is your Original Face—because at that moment there is nothing besides your own intrinsic nature—then, accepting it yourself without further doubt, this is direct pointing. |
| 反过来，你不知道，糊里糊涂地问：“咳，这一念不生的是哪一个啊？”更或在这里猜疑这个本来面目总该有一个面目啊！这一念不生时，虽了了分明，但是没东西呀，这如何是呢？总得有玄妙奇特才对呀，不是说法性身是功德 | Conversely, if you do not know and ask in confusion, “Ah, which one is it that does not give rise to a single thought?” Or you may speculate that this Original Face must have some sort of appearance: when not a single thought arises, there is indeed clear and distinct knowing, but there is no thing there—how can this be it? Surely there must be something mysterious and extraordinary. Is it not said that the Dharma-nature body possesses immeasurable merit and virtue, |
| 无量、妙用无边、神通广大么？我现在怎么一点神通也没有啊？这恐怕不是吧？那么“哪一个是我本来面目呢？”这么一来就变成问话了。 | boundless wondrous functioning, and vast spiritual powers? Why do I now have no spiritual powers at all? Perhaps this is not it. Then, ‘Which one is my Original Face?’ In this way, it becomes a question. |
| 其实，我们的佛性，是神妙无比、具足万能、功德无量的。但是你现在刚刚见到本性的时候，不过是等于刚刚离开娘胎落地的婴儿。 | In truth, our Buddha-nature is supremely wondrous, fully endowed with all capacities, and possesses immeasurable merit and virtue. Yet when you have only just seen your intrinsic nature, you are like an infant who has just left the womb and entered the world. |
| 这时他能起作用吗？能吃饭穿衣吗？能做事吗？显然一样都不能！所以刚见性的人只不过是素法身，没有玄妙奇特，要等待婴儿长大——就是要经过一段韬光养晦、保护长养的时间，把旧时习气都消光，长成大人之后，才能起妙用，才能显发神通。所以修道要知先后，不是一悟便休的。最初要认识它，继而保任它，而后方能渐渐圆满成就。 | Can such an infant function? Can it eat and dress itself? Can it do things? Clearly, it can do none of these. Thus, one who has only just seen one’s nature possesses merely the bare dharmakāya, without anything mysterious or extraordinary. One must wait for the infant to grow up—that is, one must pass through a period of concealing one’s light, nurturing oneself, safeguarding, and fostering growth. After all one’s old habitual tendencies have been eliminated and one has grown into an adult, wondrous functioning can arise and spiritual powers can manifest. Therefore, in cultivating the Way, one must know the proper sequence; one awakening does not mean that all is finished. First one must recognize it, then safeguard and sustain it; only afterward can one gradually attain complete fulfillment. |
| 我们现在讲这本《碧岩录》，目的就是要修心中心法的人先行打开本来，于见到自性后，要进一步保护它，使其长养壮大，不能够得少为足。不要认为：我已经打开了，见道了就好了。 | Our purpose in lecturing on the Blue Cliff Record is to enable those who practice the Heart-of-Heart Dharma first to open up their original nature. After seeing their intrinsic nature, they must further safeguard it and allow it to grow strong. They must not be satisfied with a little. Do not think, “I have already opened up and seen the Way, so that is enough.” |
| 那还差得很远，只不过才到法身边，自救不了，还要由见道位，经修道位，到证道位，历过这三个阶段；才能圆满成就。比如曹洞宗，它讲五位君臣，也讲这三个阶段。 | There is still a very long way to go. One has only just reached the threshold of the dharmakāya and cannot yet save oneself. One must proceed from the stage of seeing the Way, through the stage of cultivating the Way, to the stage of realizing the Way, passing through these three stages before attaining complete fulfillment. For example, the Caodong school teaches the Five Ranks of Lord and Minister, and it too speaks of these three stages. |
| 临济宗讲三玄三要，也是讲这三个阶段；乃至沩仰宗，讲九十六个圆相，也不离这三个阶段。因为没有天生释迦——试看释迦佛的历史，他也是多生历劫修行成道而不是一悟即成的。因而我们见道之后，于肯定不疑之外，还要绵密保护，使它长养壮大，不能一悟便休。所以讲《碧岩录》是藉鉴古人用功的方法和经历，敦促大家进一步用功。 | The Linji school teaches the Three Mysteries and Three Essentials, likewise referring to these three stages. Even the Guiyang school, with its ninety-six circular symbols, does not go beyond these three stages. For there has never been a naturally born Śākyamuni. Look at the history of Śākyamuni Buddha: he too cultivated the Way over many lives and countless kalpas before realizing the Way; he did not attain completion in a single awakening. Therefore, after seeing the Way, in addition to being certain and free of doubt, we must safeguard it continuously and closely, allowing it to grow strong. We cannot stop with a single awakening. Thus, the purpose of lecturing on the Blue Cliff Record is to draw on the methods and experiences of the ancients in their practice and urge everyone to continue applying themselves. |
| 为什么叫《碧岩录》呢？宋代有一位圆悟勤禅师，是禅宗的大手笔宗师，住在宜州（今湖南）的夹山上，山上有一块方丈大小的石头，叫碧岩石，他的丈室就以碧岩为名。夏季给学生讲禅宗公案，策励学人用功精进，学生记录下来，结集成书就叫《碧岩录》。 | Why is it called the Blue Cliff Record? During the Song dynasty, there was Chan Master Yuanwu Qin, a great master and eminent writer of the Chan school. He lived on Jia Mountain in Yizhou, now Hunan. On the mountain was a rock about the size of an abbot’s chamber, called Blue Cliff Rock, and his own quarters were accordingly named Blue Cliff. In summer, he lectured to his students on Chan koans, encouraging them to practice diligently. The students recorded these lectures, and when they were compiled into a book, it was called the Blue Cliff Record. |
| 圆悟勤禅师是根据雪窦祖师的一百则公案《颂古》讲的。 | Chan Master Yuanwu Qin lectured on the basis of Master Xuedou’s one hundred koans in Verses on the Ancients. |
| 《颂古》是颂古人悟道的因缘、证悟的境界和问答言句中的幽微奥义，并于公案中结角淆讹处，在节骨眼上点示学人；更或别出手眼，从另一角度颂自己的心得，补前人的不足。 | Verses on the Ancients praises the causes and conditions through which the ancients awakened to the Way, the states of their realization, and the subtle and profound meanings in their questions, answers, and sayings. At the knots, confusions, and errors in the koans, it points out the crucial places for students; moreover, it sometimes reveals a different skillful perspective, praising its own realizations from another angle and supplementing what the earlier masters left incomplete. |
| 公案乃从上佛祖之垂示，宗门正令，以判迷悟邪正者，有如公府之案牍律令（即今法院据以判案之法律），拿来以判是非曲直，至尊至严而不可犯。本来至理绝言，惟对迷者，事不获已，才假言说以显道。 | A koan is an authoritative instruction handed down by the Buddhas and patriarchs of old, the orthodox command of the Chan school, by which delusion and awakening, heterodoxy and orthodoxy, are discerned. It is like the case files and legal ordinances of a public court—that is, the laws by which courts today decide cases—used to judge right and wrong, and is supremely venerable, stringent, and inviolable. Originally, ultimate principle transcends speech; only because people are deluded is it necessary to borrow words in order to reveal the Way. |
| 复次，诸祖问答机缘，也只为判断迷悟生死。后人乃将这些垂示机缘唤作公案，用以对照自己的功夫。 | Moreover, the encounters of questions and answers between the patriarchs served only to determine delusion or awakening, birth and death. Later generations called these instructions and encounter dialogues koans, using them to compare with their own practice. |
| 像照镜子一样，看看自己的修证功夫是不是相当？是不是和古人一致？功夫如有出入，即从中吸取养分以修证；未臻究竟者，经印证后，藉以开发般若，上上升进。 | It is like looking in a mirror to see whether one’s cultivation and realization are adequate, and whether they accord with those of the ancients. If there is any discrepancy in one’s practice, one draws nourishment from them for cultivation and realization; those who have not yet reached the ultimate are enabled, through verification, to unfold prajñā and advance ever higher. |
| 雪窦禅师把从上诸祖悟道因缘的一百则公案拿来歌颂一番，像我们作诗歌一样，把这些公案里面的结角淆讹与玄奥之处宣示出来，俾后人容易从中吸取养分豁开正眼，亲证本来。 | Chan Master Xuedou took one hundred koans concerning the circumstances in which the patriarchs of old awakened to the Way and composed verses in praise of them. Like our writing poetry, he brought out the knots, confusions, and profound subtleties within these koans, so that later generations could more readily draw nourishment from them, open the true eye, and directly realize their original nature. |
| 但是颂出来后，意义仍很深奥，很幽隐，一般人还不容易懂。所以圆悟勤禅师再来烘云托月，旁敲侧击地评唱一番。 | Yet after they had been set forth in verse, their meaning remained very profound and obscure, not easily understood by ordinary people. Therefore Chan Master Yuanwu Keqin further illuminated them indirectly, offering comments and appreciations from various angles. |
| 他分三个层次来阐述：前面是垂示，就是在每一个公案之前他要讲一些与这公案有关的要紧话；其次把公案举出来，加以评论分析一下，把深奥之处分疏宣唱出来；最后再就雪窦禅师的颂古进行评唱一番。让后人明白无误地深切了解其中奥义，藉以不懈用功，深入堂奥。所以古来称为宗门第一书。 | He expounded them on three levels. First comes the introductory instruction: before each koan, he says certain important words relevant to it. Next, he presents the koan and comments on and analyzes it, distinguishing and expounding its profound points. Finally, he comments on and appreciates Chan Master Xuedou’s verses on the ancient cases. This enables later generations to understand their profound meaning deeply and without error, and thereby practice tirelessly and penetrate their inner mysteries. For this reason, it has traditionally been called the foremost book of the Chan school. |
| 今天我给大家讲这本《碧岩录》，帮助大家用功，藉禅宗的开示，助心密同仁直证心源。心中心密法是无相密，是直下见性的，它不和黄教、红教的有相密相同，而和禅宗倒有异曲同工之妙，所以人皆称为禅密。 | Today I will explain this Blue Cliff Record to help you in your practice, using the Chan school’s teachings to assist fellow practitioners of heart esotericism in directly realizing the source of mind. The Heart-of-Heart Dharma is formless esoteric practice and directly reveals one’s true nature. It differs from the form-based esoteric practices of the Yellow and Red traditions, yet shares a marvelous affinity with the Chan school; thus people call it Chan-Esoteric Buddhism. |
| 有相密先要住相修习，等相修成功后，再把相化空，才能见性，比我们多跨了一道门槛。所以无相密不和有相密共。我们心密的修法虽和禅宗有些不同，但它讲的佛法大意与所证境界完全和禅宗一模一样。 | In form-based esoteric practice, one must first abide in forms and cultivate them. Only after the forms have been successfully cultivated can they be dissolved into emptiness, allowing one to see one’s true nature; this means crossing one additional threshold beyond ours. Thus formless esoteric practice is not the same as form-based esoteric practice. Although our Mind-Seal practice differs somewhat from Chan, the essential meaning of the Buddhadharma that it teaches and the state it realizes are exactly the same as those of Chan. |
| 修到最后，咒也不要念，观也不要观，什么也不要做，就是这么宽宽坦坦、现现成成，一种平怀，泯然自尽，寒来穿衣、饥来吃饭而已。这功夫既平常而又很深。 | When practice reaches its end, there is no need to recite mantras, no need to visualize, and nothing at all to do. One simply remains so open and level, so immediately complete: with an even mind, all traces quietly vanish. When cold, put on clothes; when hungry, eat. This practice is both ordinary and very profound. |
| 有人要问：“穿衣吃饭就是，谁不会穿衣？谁不会吃饭？那么人人是佛吗？”我不禁向他笑道：不仅人人都是佛，一切众生都具如来智慧德相，只可惜大家不知道、不认识，只在声、色里打滚。 | Someone may ask, “Putting on clothes and eating are all there is? Who cannot put on clothes? Who cannot eat? Does that mean everyone is a Buddha?” I cannot help smiling and replying: Not only is everyone a Buddha; all sentient beings possess the Tathāgata’s wisdom and virtuous attributes. It is only regrettable that people do not know or recognize this, but merely roll about amid sounds and forms. |
| 穿衣时，不好好穿衣，在那里挑、拣，什么式样好，什么料子好，什么是新潮，什么是过时；吃饭呢？也不好好吃饭，也在这里挑精拣肥，什么菜好吃，什么菜不好吃。吃荤的还嫌死的不鲜，活的才鲜，就是这么造业受报。 | When putting on clothes, they do not simply put on clothes, but fuss and choose: which style is good, which fabric is good, what is fashionable, and what is out of date. When eating, they likewise do not simply eat, but choose the finest and richest foods: which dishes taste good and which do not. Those who eat meat even complain that dead animals are not fresh enough and that only live ones are fresh. In this way, they create karma and undergo its retribution. |
| 将一尊大好的天真佛，埋葬在六道轮回里，岂不可惜！假如我们心空无住，有粥吃粥，有饭吃饭，任运随缘，无拘无束，既不住空，也不著有，那就证入无为大道了。所以庞居士的女儿庞灵照说：“饥来吃饭困来眠。 | They bury the splendid, naturally genuine Buddha within the cycle of rebirth in the six realms. Is that not regrettable? If our minds are empty and non-abiding—if we eat porridge when there is porridge and rice when there is rice, allow things to unfold in accordance with conditions, remain free and unrestrained, abide neither in emptiness nor in existence—then we realize the great Way of non-contrivance. Therefore Pang Lingzhao, the daughter of Layman Pang, said: “When hungry, eat; when tired, sleep.” |
| ”这是真正到家人语。在这之前，她父母各颂了一首偈子。庞居士先颂说：“难、难、难，十担麻油树上摊。”意思说，学佛修道很难很难，就像将麻油往树上摊，摊得上去吗？才摊上去油就流下来了。 | These are the words of one who has truly arrived home. Before this, her parents had each composed a verse. Layman Pang first said: “Hard, hard, hard—spreading ten loads of sesame oil over a tree.” This means that studying Buddhism and cultivating the Way are exceedingly difficult, like trying to spread sesame oil over a tree. Can one spread it on? As soon as it is spread on, the oil runs down. |
| 为什么难呢？因为修道人历劫多生着相惯了，碰到什么东西，他的心就粘上去了，碰到好的境界他就哈哈大笑，碰到逆的境界，他就很忧烦苦恼。 | Why is it difficult? Because practitioners have become habituated, throughout innumerable kalpas and lives, to clinging to appearances. Whenever they encounter something, their minds stick to it. When they meet favorable circumstances, they laugh with delight; when they meet adverse circumstances, they are deeply troubled and distressed. |
| 其实境界都是假的，都是莫须有，都是空的，世人都不知道，认为是真实的，追求执着不放。犹如穿着棉絮在荆棘林中走路一样，东一碰扎上去了，西一碰也扎上去了。 | In truth, all circumstances are false, without any real basis, and empty. Worldly people do not know this, but take them to be real and pursue them, clinging without letting go. It is like walking through a thicket of thorns while wrapped in cotton wadding: touch something to the east and it sticks; touch something to the west and it sticks as well. |
| 所以说学道是“难、难、难”，难得很啊！其实难吗？不难，为什么？因为我们本来是佛，不是把凡夫变成佛。你只要不迷于假的外境，心常凛觉，意常无守，你就成佛了！所以六祖说：“前念迷是凡夫，后念觉就是佛。 | Therefore it is said that learning the Way is “hard, hard, hard”—extremely hard indeed. But is it truly hard? No. Why? Because we are originally Buddhas; it is not a matter of turning ordinary beings into Buddhas. So long as you are not deluded by false external circumstances, your mind constantly clear and alert, and your intent never fixed on anything, you become a Buddha. Thus the Sixth Patriarch said: “The preceding thought, deluded, is an ordinary being; the succeeding thought, awakened, is a Buddha.” |
| ”很快，很快！故此庞婆说：“易、易、易，百草头上西来意！”意思说学佛修道没有难处，容易得很。“百草”表示一切事物，在一切事物的“头上”，意思即离开一切事物。 | It happens very quickly. Therefore Old Lady Pang said: “Easy, easy, easy—the meaning of the Western coming is atop every blade of grass!” This means that studying Buddhism and cultivating the Way involve no difficulty at all; they are exceedingly easy. “Every blade of grass” represents all things, and “atop” all things means being free from all things. |
| 即物而离物时还有什么东西呢？心空无住是西来大意啊！也就是《金刚经》所说：“若见诸相非相，即见如来。 | When one is within things yet free from things, what remains? The empty, non-abiding mind is the fundamental meaning of the Western coming. This is also what the Diamond Sūtra says: “If one sees all appearances as non-appearances, one sees the Tathāgata.” |
| ”你们不要着在相上，离开相见，事事物物就是大道，有什么难的？所以我们学佛成道不难，不要怕，因为我们本来是佛！只要你放下，不着相，这了了分明的一念清净灵光不是佛是什么？所以这佛性不在别处，就在诸位面前放光啊！但是，庞居士与庞婆两个人一个说难，一个说易，还有所住，未曾究竟。 | Do not cling to appearances. See apart from appearances, and every affair and every thing is the great Way. What difficulty is there? Therefore, for us to study Buddhism and realize the Way is not difficult. Do not be afraid, for we are originally Buddhas. So long as you let go and do not cling to appearances, what else is this clear and distinct single thought of pure spiritual radiance but Buddha? Thus Buddha-nature is not elsewhere; it is shining before all of you. Yet Layman Pang and Old Lady Pang, one saying “difficult” and the other “easy,” both still had something in which they abided and had not reached the ultimate. |
| 因为我们的真智是一法不立，一丝不挂的。说难不对，说易也不对。所以他们的女儿庞灵照说：“也不难，也不易，饥来吃饭困来眠！”就是扫去这难易之迹，归于无住。你肚子饿了吃饭，困来睡觉就是了。 | For our true wisdom does not establish a single dharma and is utterly bare. To say it is difficult is wrong, and to say it is easy is also wrong. Therefore their daughter Pang Lingzhao said: “Neither difficult nor easy—when hungry, eat; when tired, sleep!” This sweeps away the traces of difficult and easy and returns to non-abiding. When you are hungry, eat; when tired, sleep. That is all. |
| 放任自在，安然受用，才是天真佛啊！有的人说成道了，就可以不吃饭不睡觉了，如果你还吃饭睡觉，大概你还没成道。其实错误了。 | To let go freely, at ease, and peacefully enjoy what comes is to be the naturally genuine Buddha. Some people say that once one has realized the Way, one need no longer eat or sleep; if one still eats and sleeps, perhaps one has not yet realized the Way. This is mistaken. |
| 只要我们吃饭时不作吃饭想——终日吃饭没有咬着一粒米；睡觉时不作睡觉想，尽管睡得呼呼响，还是了了分明，不是幻梦颠倒就是了。这事只有自己知道，所以说“如人饮水，冷暖自知”，“有道无道，自己知道”。 | So long as, when eating, we do not conceive of ourselves as eating—eating all day without biting down on a single grain of rice—and, when sleeping, do not conceive of ourselves as sleeping, then even if we sleep with a loud snore, we remain clear and distinctly aware, rather than being confused by delusive dreams. Only one oneself knows this. Hence it is said, “Like a person drinking water, one knows for oneself whether it is cold or warm,” and “Whether one has realized the Way or not, one knows for oneself.” |
| 而不是常坐不睡才成道。六祖说得很好：“生来坐不卧，死时卧不坐。”你生的时候坐着不睡，你死的时候就倒在那里不能坐了。 | It is not by constantly sitting without sleeping that one realizes the Way. The Sixth Patriarch put it well: “While alive, one sits and does not lie down; when dead, one lies down and cannot sit.” When you are alive, you sit and do not sleep; when you die, you fall there and cannot sit. |
| “一具臭骨头，何为立功过？”一具臭皮囊有什么功，有什么过呢？假如立功过的话，功过在心而不在身。泯绝功过，处处自在才是佛，处处拘谨了，着相了，那你自讨苦吃，不是佛！所以成佛要成活佛，要能起妙用，得真实受用。不是坐在那里动也不动就能成道的，坐在黑山背后是不能成道的。 | “What merit or fault can there be in a stinking skeleton?” What merit or fault belongs to this foul skin bag? If merit and fault are to be established, they lie in the mind, not in the body. When merit and fault have both fallen away, one is at ease everywhere; that is Buddha. But if one is constrained everywhere and clings to appearances, one merely invites one’s own suffering and is not Buddha. Thus to become a Buddha is to become a living Buddha, capable of wondrous functioning and of receiving genuine benefit. One cannot realize the Way merely by sitting there without moving; sitting behind a dark mountain cannot bring realization of the Way. |
| 我今天讲这些公案就是帮助大家，用古人的用功过程和悟道因缘来对照一下，反证自己的功力，从中找出差距，吸取经验教训，用以提高自己，由法身边而向上，进而圆证菩提。所以对我们帮助很大。现在我来讲第一则公案，题目叫《圣谛第一义》。 | My purpose in explaining these koans today is to help you use the ancients’ processes of practice and circumstances of awakening to the Way as a comparison, thereby verifying your own strength in practice. From them, identify your gaps, draw on their experience and lessons, and use them to improve yourselves, advancing from the side of the dharmakāya toward complete realization of bodhi. They are therefore of great help to us. Now I will explain the first koan, entitled “The First Principle of the Noble Truths.” |
