(IV) Three Steps of Contemplation in Heart Esotericism （四）心密观照三步曲
| 2018-06-23 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 146、三步曲 |
146. The Three-Step Tune |
| 问：后学修《六字大明咒》有一段时间，也是一门深入，平时妄念来了马上用咒号转。 |
Question: I have practiced the Great Six-Syllable Mantra for some time, going deeply into this single practice. Whenever deluded thoughts arise in daily life, I immediately turn to the mantra. |
| 答：妄念来了，不要睬它，谓之观照，号称正行。 |
Answer: When deluded thoughts arise, do not heed them. This is called contemplation and is known as the principal practice. |
| 问：可有时觉得越转越乱。 |
Question: But sometimes I feel that the more I turn to it, the more chaotic things become. |
| 答：妄念原本就乱，你再去转，岂不更乱！ |
Answer: Deluded thoughts are chaotic to begin with. If you turn them over again, will they not become even more chaotic? |
| 问：这该如何是好？ |
Question: What should I do, then? |
| 答：那我就多扯点葛藤吧——观照三步曲： |
Answer: Then let me spin out a few more entanglements—the three-step tune of contemplation: |
| 初：不随念转，不为境迁。 |
First: Do not turn with thoughts; do not be moved by circumstances. |
| 修心密，观照是正行，六印一咒是助行。“不随念转，不为境迁”即是观照，这并非用真心看妄念，而是没有能观所观。无观之观，才是真观。 |
In heart esotericism, contemplation is the principal practice, while the six mudrās and one mantra are supporting practices. “Do not turn with thoughts; do not be moved by circumstances” is contemplation. This does not mean using the true mind to observe deluded thoughts; there is neither an observer nor an object observed. Observation without observing is true contemplation. |
| 真能“不随念转，不为境迁”，即是果地境界，现在做不到而学着做，故称“从果地修起”。妄想执着习惯了，熟啊；不随念转，不为境迁，还没有习惯，生啊。久久这样做去，熟处转生，生处转熟，必有刹那脱落之时，那时如冷灰爆豆，朗然现前矣！ |
To be truly able not to turn with thoughts or be moved by circumstances is the realm of fruition. We cannot yet do so, but learn to do so; therefore, it is called “cultivating from the stage of fruition.” We are accustomed to deluded thoughts and attachments—they are familiar. Not turning with thoughts and not being moved by circumstances are not yet familiar—they are unfamiliar. Continue in this way for a long time: what is familiar becomes unfamiliar, and what is unfamiliar becomes familiar. There will surely come a moment when everything falls away; then, like beans bursting in cold ashes, it will appear brightly before you. |
| 中：凛然一觉，朗然现前。 |
Middle: A sudden, awe-inspiring awakening; it appears brightly before you. |
| 脱落之后，可能妄执的习气仍在。习气反扑时，如同乌云蔽日，急需“凛然一觉，朗然现前”。现前的是什么？即是这个坛子上众说纷纭的离念灵知。任你横说竖说，都说不到它，它是离念的，不落语言，不犯思维。 |
After things have fallen away, the habitual tendencies of deluded attachment may still remain. When those tendencies surge back, they are like dark clouds obscuring the sun. One urgently needs “a sudden, awe-inspiring awakening; it appears brightly before you.” What is it that appears before you? It is the thought-free numinous knowing about which everyone on this forum has expressed so many differing views. However you speak of it, horizontally or vertically, your words cannot reach it. It is free from thought, does not fall into language, and does not intrude into conceptual thinking. |
| 他是灵明的，非同木石。它不是光影、不是概念，言语道断、心行路绝，唯证乃知。无以名之，强名曰：离念灵知。离念灵知现前，自是“不随念转，不为境迁”。 |
It is numinously luminous, unlike wood or stone. It is neither light nor shadow, neither a concept; the path of words is cut off and the course of mental activity comes to an end. Only through realization can it be known. Unable to name it, we provisionally call it thought-free numinous knowing. When thought-free numinous knowing is present, one naturally does not turn with thoughts or become moved by circumstances. |
| 后：本来是佛，观什么照！ |
Last: One is originally a Buddha—what is there to contemplate? |
| 这才是真观照！初、中都是学观照。此后，离念灵知也不可得，开悟见性也成剩语。你若说他见性，他可能会说：“见即是性，更见什么性！”你若说他这话立了个“见”，他不跟你争。 |
This alone is true contemplation. The first and middle stages are both learning contemplation. After this, even thought-free numinous knowing cannot be obtained, and awakening and seeing one’s true nature become superfluous words. If you say that such a person has seen their true nature, they may reply, “Seeing is itself the nature—what further nature is there to see?” If you say that these words establish a “seeing,” they will not argue with you. |
| 因他是应你的话说了一句，他是为你说，他自己那里连“见”也无。顶多可能回你一句类似于“老僧今日输却一半”的话。罕遇穿耳客，多逢刻舟人，欲不“输却一半”也得乎！ |
For they spoke that one sentence in response to your words; they spoke it for your sake. For themselves, there is not even “seeing.” At most, they may answer with something like, “This old monk has lost half of it today.” Those who truly understand are rarely encountered; those who cling to the letter are many. How could one avoid “losing half of it”? |
| 147、三步曲本是应问而讲，不可立言。 |
147. The Three-Step Tune Was Explained Only in Response to a Question; It Must Not Be Turned into a Fixed Formulation |
| 问：请问老师，见性前和见性后应怎样用功夫？ |
Question: Teacher, how should one apply oneself before and after seeing one’s true nature? |
| 答：若已切实体验到离念灵知之性，发觉念起，一看起处，便朗然现前了。 |
Answer: If you have truly experienced the nature of thought-free numinous knowing, then whenever you notice a thought arising, look at the place from which it arises, and it will immediately appear brightly before you. |
| 这就叫“凛然一觉、朗然现前”，“凛然一觉”与“看起处”其实是同一回事。一开始学观照就是“不随念转，不为境迁”。当然，这要能察觉到随念转才行。若跟着念头跑也察觉不到，那就只好先在座下持咒了。上述这些都不是真正的观照，真正的观照是——“本来是佛，观什么照！” |
This is called “a sudden, awe-inspiring awakening; it appears brightly before you.” “A sudden, awe-inspiring awakening” and “looking at the place from which it arises” are actually the same thing. When first learning contemplation, it is simply “do not turn with thoughts; do not be moved by circumstances.” Of course, one must first be able to notice that one is turning with thoughts. If one follows thoughts as they run and does not even notice it, then one must first recite the mantra off the meditation cushion. None of the foregoing is true contemplation. True contemplation is: “One is originally a Buddha—what is there to contemplate?” |
| 问：念头的起处还有处吗？ 明月高照。 |
Question: Does the place from which a thought arises still have a location? The bright moon shines high. |
| 答：若如此，观照就是：走作时，凛然一觉，使之朗然现前。 |
Answer: If so, contemplation is this: when you have gone astray, awaken sharply, causing it to appear brightly before you. |
| 问：月落时相见吧…… |
Question: Let us meet when the moon has set … |
| 答：那么，观照就是：“本来是佛，观什么照！” |
Answer: Then contemplation is: “One is originally a Buddha—what is there to contemplate?” |
| 问：这句“本来是佛，观什么照！”是到家人话。到家的人看来是废话，未到家的人很容易中毒呀。 |
Question: This saying, “One is originally a Buddha—what is there to contemplate?” is the language of one who has arrived home. To one who has arrived home, it seems like empty talk; but one who has not arrived home can easily be poisoned by it. |
| 答： 既未到家，那就只管学着“不随念转，不为境迁”吧。 |
Answer: Since you have not yet arrived home, simply continue learning not to turn with thoughts and not to be moved by circumstances. |
| 问题如下：（下文是齐老师分段解答——编者注） |
The questions are as follows: (The answers below were given in sections by Teacher Qi—Editor’s note.) |
| 问：您的旧贴有关观照三步曲的“不随念转、不被境迁”，没有必要改成“别随念转、别被境迁”吧？ |
Question: In your earlier post on the three-step tune of contemplation, regarding “not turning with thoughts and not being moved by circumstances,” there is no need to change it to “do not turn with thoughts; do not be moved by circumstances,” is there? |
| 答：最好是把这些文字都忘了，而实行之。 |
Answer: It would be best to forget all these words and put them into practice. |
| 问：“不随念转”是个概括的方法吧？具体来讲入手方法却有很多种，比如大手印的“呸”、参禅的“参话头”、念佛、我们所说的“不理睬”等，这些都是入门方便法吧？ |
Question: “Not turning with thoughts” is a general method, is it not? More specifically, there are many ways to begin—for example, Mahāmudrā’s “pei!”, Chan’s investigation of huatou, Buddha-recitation, and what we call “not heeding them.” These are all expedient methods for entering the gate, are they not? |
| 答：对！这些都是不随念转的方法。 |
Answer: Yes! These are all methods of not turning with thoughts. |
| 问：“凛然一觉，朗然现前”，这个方法与“脱开法”、“看念头起处”都是同一法门不同表述吧？这个程度，应该是见性后才采取的吧？没有见性（自然不会知道朗然现前) |
Question: “A sudden, awe-inspiring awakening; it appears brightly before you”—is this method the same Dharma gate as the “method of disengaging” and “looking at the place from which a thought arises,” merely expressed differently? This level should be adopted only after seeing one’s true nature, should it not? Without seeing one’s true nature, one naturally would not know what it is for it to appear brightly before one. |
| 答：对！是同一件事的不同表述。“没有见性自然不会知道朗然现前”莫如说“若真朗然现前，是名见性”。 |
Answer: Yes! They are different expressions of the same thing. Rather than saying, “Without seeing one’s true nature, one naturally would not know what it is for it to appear brightly before one,” it would be better to say, “If it truly appears brightly before one, that is called seeing one’s true nature.” |
| 问：观照三步曲，是否可以相比：“观自在”、“观”、无观之观？第二步、第三步就是寂照、照寂？ |
Question: Can the three-step tune of contemplation be compared to “Avalokiteśvara,” “contemplation,” and contemplation without observing? Are the second and third steps then quiescence illuminating and illumination quiescent? |
| 答：闲名果然满五湖。 |
Answer: Idle names indeed fill the Five Lakes. |
| 问：三步曲并不是现在每个人必然经过的过程，就像修法次第。是吧？ |
Question: The three-step tune is not necessarily a process that everyone now goes through, like stages in the practice of a Dharma method. Is that right? |
| 答：三步曲本是应问而讲。能用便用，不可立言。 |
Answer: The three-step tune was explained only in response to a question. Use it if it is useful; do not turn it into a fixed formulation. |
| 问：感想嘛，不名运粪入，只名运粪出。 |
Question: As for my reflection, it is not called carrying dung in, but only carrying dung out. |
| 答：哈哈！却恰恰是运粪入。 |
Answer: Ha ha! It is precisely carrying dung in. |
| 148、三步曲之间如何跨越？ |
148. How Does One Cross from One Step of the Three-Step Tune to Another? |
| 问：心密三步曲的第二步与第三步之间如何跨越？ |
Question: How does one cross from the second step to the third step of the heart-esotericism three-step tune? |
| 答：没有跨越。若有跨越，便到不了第三步。 |
Answer: There is no crossing. If there were a crossing, one could not reach the third step. |
| 问：是不是就这么一觉下去，其它不管。 |
Question: Is it simply a matter of continuing with this one awakening and not concerning oneself with anything else? |
| 答：这样说也行。 |
Answer: You may put it that way. |
| 问：老师，应该是没有界限的吧？ |
Question: Teacher, there should be no boundaries, should there? |
| 答：若说有，第三步也不彻了。若说没有，又谈何二三！ |
Answer: If you say there are boundaries, the third step is not thorough either. If you say there are none, then why speak of a second and third? |
| 问：就像三关一样，是吗？ |
Question: Is it like the Three Barriers? |
| 答：哎呀！别粘这些理论了。 |
Answer: Oh dear! Do not cling to these theories. |
| 问：似乎第一步和第二步，这两者是同时的。 |
Question: It seems that the first and second steps occur simultaneously. |
| 答：三者也同时。 |
Answer: All three occur simultaneously. |
| 问：三？另一个是谁？ |
Question: Three? What is the other one? |
| 答：另一个是“本来是佛，观什么照！” |
Answer: The other is: “One is originally a Buddha—what is there to contemplate?” |
| 问：如果是同时，老师为何分为两次？ |
Question: If they occur simultaneously, why did you divide them into separate stages? |
| 答：“凛然一觉，朗然现前”时自会“不随念转，不为境迁”。 |
Answer: When there is “a sudden, awe-inspiring awakening; it appears brightly before you,” one naturally does not turn with thoughts or become moved by circumstances. |
| 149、不随念转、不随境迁 |
149. Not Turning with Thoughts, Not Being Moved by Circumstances |
| （1）正确理解“不随念转、不随境迁” |
(1) A Correct Understanding of “Not Turning with Thoughts, Not Being Moved by Circumstances” |
| 问：齐老师曾经说过这样的意思，用心中心法来明心见性就像杀鸡用牛刀。我知道心中心法三密加持力量很大，确实比较容易打开本来。但明心见性后，主要是座下观照，又如何体现心中心法的特别威力？请齐老师明示。 |
Question: Teacher Qi once said, in effect, that using the Heart-of-Heart Dharma to realize the mind and see one’s true nature is like using a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken. I know that the Heart-of-Heart Dharma has the great empowering force of the three mysteries and can indeed rather easily open up one’s original nature. But after realizing the mind and seeing one’s true nature, the main practice is contemplation off the meditation cushion. How, then, does the special power of the Heart-of-Heart Dharma manifest? Please explain clearly, Teacher Qi. |
| 答：说“特别威力”莫如说“直接”。 |
Answer: Rather than calling it “special power,” it would be better to call it “directness.” |
| 直接，就是直接向证果的人看齐。还没有断尽惑业，就直接学断尽惑业者，就像小孩学着做大人的事一样。 |
Directness means directly measuring oneself against those who have realized fruition. Though one has not yet completely cut off delusion and karma, one directly learns from those who have done so, just as a child learns to do what adults do. |
| 先不说“凛然一觉，朗然现前”和“本来是佛，观什么照”，即此“不随念转，不为境迁”就已经是果地的境界了。 |
Leaving aside “a sudden, awe-inspiring awakening; it appears brightly before you” and “one is originally a Buddha—what is there to contemplate?”, this very “not turning with thoughts and not being moved by circumstances” is already a realm of fruition. |
| 圭峰宗密禅师说：“一切众生，无不具有觉性，灵明空寂，与佛无殊。但以无始劫来，未曾了悟，妄执身为我相，故生爱恶等情。随情造业，随业受报。生老病死，长劫轮回。 |
Chan Master Guifeng Zongmi said: “All sentient beings without exception possess the nature of awakening, numinously luminous and empty yet quiescent, no different from the Buddha. But since beginningless kalpas, they have never realized it. Deludedly clinging to the body as a self, they give rise to feelings such as love and aversion. Following these feelings, they create karma; following karma, they undergo retribution. Thus they undergo birth, old age, sickness, and death, revolving through long kalpas.” |
| 然身中觉性，未曾生死，如梦被驱役，而身本安闲；如水作冰，而湿性不易。若能悟此性，即是法身，本自无生，何有依托？灵灵不昧，了了常知，无所从来，亦无所去。然多生妄执，习以性成，喜怒哀乐，微细流注。 |
“Yet the nature of awakening within the body has never undergone birth or death. It is like being driven about in a dream while one’s body is originally at ease; or like water becoming ice while its wet nature does not change. If one can awaken to this nature, it is the dharmakāya, originally unborn—what could it depend upon? Numinous and never obscured, clearly and ever-presently knowing, it comes from nowhere and goes nowhere. Yet through many lives of deluded attachment, habits have become second nature: joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure flow on in subtle continuous streams.” |
| 真理虽然顿达，此情难以卒除。须常觉察，损之又损，如风顿止，波浪渐停。岂可一生所修，便同诸佛力用？但可以空寂为自体，勿认色身；以灵知为自心，勿认妄念。妄念若起，都不随之。即临命终时，自然业不能系。 |
“Though the truth may be reached suddenly, these feelings are difficult to remove all at once. One must constantly awaken to them and diminish them again and again. Then, as when the wind suddenly ceases, the waves gradually subside. How could the cultivation of a single lifetime immediately equal the powers and functions of all Buddhas? One should simply take empty quiescence as one’s own essence and not identify with the physical body; take numinous knowing as one’s own mind and not identify with deluded thoughts. Whenever deluded thoughts arise, do not follow them at all. Then, even at the time of death, karma will naturally be unable to bind one.” |
| 虽有中阴，所向自由，天上人间，随意寄托。若爱恶之念已泯，即不受分段之身，自能易短为长，易粗为妙。若微细流注，一切寂灭，唯圆觉大智朗然独存，即随机应现千百亿化身，度有缘众生，名之为佛。” |
“Though there is an intermediate state, one may go freely wherever one wishes, taking up residence at will in heaven or among human beings. If thoughts of love and aversion have already ceased, one will no longer receive a body of segmented birth and death, and will naturally be able to transform the short into the long and the coarse into the subtle and wondrous. If the subtle continuous streams are all extinguished, and only the great wisdom of perfect enlightenment remains brightly and alone, then one can manifest countless transformation bodies in response to circumstances, liberating sentient beings with whom one has affinities. This is called Buddhahood.” |
| 禅师说了悟后的三个阶段：①妄念若起，都不随之。即临命终时，自然业不能系。虽有中阴，所向自由，天上人间，随意寄托。②若爱恶之念已泯，即不受分段之身，自能易短为长，易粗为妙。③若微细流注，一切寂灭，唯圆觉大智朗然独存，即随机应现千百亿化身，度有缘众生，名之为佛。 |
The Chan master spoke of three stages after awakening: (1) Whenever deluded thoughts arise, one does not follow them. Even at the time of death, karma cannot bind one naturally. Though there is an intermediate state, one is free to go wherever one wishes, taking rebirth in heaven or among humans as one pleases. (2) Once thoughts of love and aversion have ceased, one no longer undergoes a body of segmented birth and death, and can naturally transform the short into the long and the coarse into the subtle. (3) Once the subtle continuous stream has entirely fallen silent, and only the great wisdom of perfect enlightenment remains luminously present, one can manifest countless transformation bodies in response to circumstances, liberate sentient beings with whom one has affinities, and is called a Buddha. |
| 后两个阶段在八地以上，先不说后两个阶段，只说①吧。若真能“以空寂为自体，勿认色身；以灵知为自心，勿认妄念。妄念若起，都不随之”，就已经“业不能系”了，“业不能系”即打破了六道轮回的怪圈、跳出轮回了，这不就是成道么！ |
The latter two stages are above the eighth bhūmi. Let us not speak of them for now, but only of the first. If one can truly “take empty quiescence as one’s own essence and not identify with the physical body; take numinous knowing as one’s own mind and not identify with deluded thoughts. Whenever deluded thoughts arise, do not follow them,” then one has already reached the point where “karma cannot bind one.” When karma cannot bind one, one has broken through the vicious cycle of rebirth in the six realms and escaped saṃsāra. Is this not realizing the Way? |
| 所以，我们说“不随念转，不为境迁”并不是要求你立即做到，而是学着做，是努力的方向，号称正行。一旦能做到，你就成道了。看，这不是很直接么！无须欲钩牵，直接奔果地，大丈夫曷当如斯乎！ |
Therefore, when we speak of “not turning with thoughts and not being moved by circumstances,” we are not asking you to accomplish it immediately. Rather, you should learn to do it; it is the direction of your efforts and is called the right practice. Once you can do it, you will realize the Way. Look—is this not very direct? There is no need to be drawn along by the hook of desire; go directly toward the fruition. Should not a great person be like this? |
| （2）巧在“不理睬” |
(2) The Skill Lies in “Not Heeding It” |
| 问：我觉得自己以前的观照不准确。不是说去观脑子里某一个点的念头起处，这样头上安头。而是念头一来(不管它从哪来)，看见，一声“不睬它”，一下断开。立时通身放下，了了分明，心里清清楚楚。一会儿，念头又来，再一喝“不睬它”。这样才是观照，对吗？请老师指正。 |
Question: I feel that my previous contemplation was inaccurate. One should not contemplate the arising of a thought at some particular point in the brain; that would be putting a head on top of one’s head. Rather, when a thought comes—no matter where it comes from—one sees it and says, “Do not heed it,” and it is immediately cut off. At once, the whole body relaxes; everything is clear and distinct, and the mind is lucid and fully aware. After a while, another thought comes, and again one sharply says, “Do not heed it.” This is contemplation, is it not? Please correct me, Teacher. |
| 答： 观念头起处并非头上安头。只是你原先说的不是起处啊：“座下就观脑里的念头”，念头并不等于“起处”啊。 |
Answer: Contemplating where a thought arises is not putting a head on top of one’s head. But what you originally described was not its point of arising: “Off the cushion, I simply contemplate the thoughts in my brain.” Thoughts are not the same as their point of arising. |
| 问：老师，我的意思是，我以前观念头就注意脑袋里，看着某一点，当它是起处，起来就觉。 |
Question: Teacher, what I mean is that when I formerly contemplated thoughts, I focused my attention within my head, watched a particular point, took it to be the point from which they arose, and became aware when a thought arose. |
| 答：这更不相干。所以我才说：把“观！”换成“不睬它！” |
Answer: That is even less relevant. That is why I said: replace “Contemplate!” with “Do not heed it!” |
| 问：但愿从此坛子上再没有与修法无关的烦恼妄语。 |
Question: I hope that from now on there will be no more afflictive and deluded words on this forum that are unrelated to practice. |
| 答：关于与修法无关的烦恼妄语，最好的办法就是：不睬他——别跟他的贴。 |
Answer: Regarding afflictive and deluded words unrelated to practice, the best approach is this: do not heed them—do not reply to their posts. |
| 问：白浪滔天时如何？ |
Question: What should one do when white waves surge to the heavens? |
| 答：抛向无生国里！ |
Answer: Throw them into the land of the unborn! |
| 问：要怎样，才能把得住？ |
Question: What must one do in order to hold fast? |
| 答：不要怎样，才能把得住。 |
Answer: Do not do anything in order to hold fast. |
| 问：打坐时才发现，如惊涛骇浪一般汹涌澎湃。 |
Question: Only when sitting in meditation do I discover that they surge and billow like raging waves. |
| 答：风停浪犹涌！别睬它！别跟着它跑！ |
Answer: Though the wind has stopped, the waves still surge! Do not heed them! Do not run after them! |
| 问：口头禅、狂禅、和真正的禅有什么不同呢？ |
Question: What is the difference between mere verbal Chan, wild Chan, and genuine Chan? |
| 答：哈哈！待你把“口头禅、狂禅、真正的禅……”全抛向东洋大海，就明白了。 |
Answer: Ha ha! When you have thrown “mere verbal Chan, wild Chan, genuine Chan . . .” all into the Eastern Ocean, you will understand. |
| 150、凛然一觉，朗然现前 |
150. A Stern Awakening, Luminous Presence |
| 问：凛然一觉，很好做。但感觉不到朗然现前。是不是爆炸后，才会有朗然现前？ |
Question: A stern awakening is easy enough to practice, but I do not experience luminous presence. Does luminous presence come only after an explosion? |
| 答：若如是，即使爆炸，也不会有朗然现前。 |
Answer: If that is so, then even after an explosion there will be no luminous presence. |
| 问：朗然，我觉得又生出事端。这个词语容易误导学人，以为有个光明。实际上我觉得还就是：一念不生，了了分明。 |
Question: As for “luminous,” I feel that this creates another complication. The term can easily mislead practitioners into thinking that there is some light. In fact, I think it is simply this: not a single thought arises, yet there is clear, ever-present knowing. |
| 答：哈哈！你不说“朗然”，却来了个“了了分明”。 |
Answer: Ha ha! You do not say “luminous,” yet you bring in “clear, ever-present knowing.” |
| 问：我嘴上说说，到那时心里可没有呀。我也明白您的朗然了。 |
Question: I can say it with my mouth, but at that time it is not in my mind. I now understand your “luminous presence” as well. |
| 答：“本来是佛，观什么照！”是真朗然。 |
Answer: “Originally, one is a Buddha—what is there to contemplate?” This is true luminous presence. |
| 问：凛然一觉，朗然现前。我有两种认识，也分别进行了两种做法：平时生活尽管做自己的，凛觉，觉后就放，一会再觉。 |
Question: Regarding “a stern awakening, luminous presence,” I have two understandings and have practiced them in two different ways. In daily life, I simply go about what I am doing, awaken sharply, and let go after awakening; then, after a while, awaken again. |
| 如此反复锻炼凛觉的次数；这是强调次数，不强调时间延续的做法；还有一种做法，朗然现前，然后努力持续这种状态，不染一物。这是锻炼时间延续的办法。目前，我认为，后一种做下去，才能“打成一片”，所以保持高度的警觉性，所以近期锻炼这种。 |
In this way, I repeatedly train the frequency of sharp awakenings. This method emphasizes frequency rather than continuity over time. There is another method: luminous presence arises, and then one strives to sustain this state without being tainted by a single thing. This is a method for training continuity over time. At present, I think that only by continuing with the latter method can one become continuous and undivided. It maintains a high degree of alertness, so recently I have been training in this way. |
| 答：对你来说，两种都很好，第二种更好。但并不是所有的人都这样。有一事相问：你这么做，会影响工作吗？ |
Answer: For you, both methods are very good; the second is better. But not everyone is the same. Let me ask you something: does practicing this way affect your work? |
| 问：第一种常用在动脑的工作时候，第二种常用在不动脑的走路、空坐、空闲时候。尤其第二种，力量较大些，在座上也是尽力这样做的，在座下偶尔也能做事时也这样，感觉做事不象自己做的似的，蒙蒙的，但多数不行，会影响工作，说明力量还不够。既然这样正确，以后我坚持这样做下去。 |
Question: I usually use the first method when doing work that requires thought. I usually use the second when walking, sitting idly, or during leisure when no thought is required. The second is especially more powerful. I also do my utmost to practice this way while sitting in meditation, and off the cushion I can occasionally do so while working. It feels as though the work is not being done by me; things seem hazy. Yet most of the time I cannot do it, because it affects my work, which shows that my strength is still insufficient. Since it is correct, I will persist in practicing this way. |
| 答：应该是：不但不影响工作，而且会无形中提高工作效率，因为工作时打妄想少了，“制心一处，无事不办”嘛。 |
Answer: It should be that this not only does not affect your work, but also imperceptibly improves your efficiency, because there are fewer deluded thoughts while you work. “When the mind is concentrated in one place, nothing cannot be accomplished.” |
| 151、本来是佛，观什么照！ |
151. Originally, One Is a Buddha—What Is There to Contemplate? |
| 甲：观照的关键是什么？怎么才能看到妄念起来？ |
A: What is the key to contemplation? How can one see deluded thoughts arising? |
| 乙：分两步：像老人所说，心不随境转，因为所有境相皆不真，要离相离境；破能念、能观。念起无住，其念亦空，境上无我，其境亦空。 |
B: There are two steps. As the old master said, do not let the mind turn with circumstances, because all appearances of circumstances are unreal; one must leave appearances and circumstances behind. Then break through the one who thinks and the one who contemplates. When a thought arises, do not abide in it; that thought too is empty. There is no self in circumstances; those circumstances too are empty. |
| 答：还有第三步——扫掉前两步的痕迹。 |
Answer: There is also a third step—sweep away the traces of the first two steps. |
| 乙：第三步：真发慈悲菩提心。 |
B: The third step is to truly arouse the compassionate bodhicitta. |
| 答：第二步还有这个在：“念起无住，其念亦空，境上无我，其境亦空。” |
Answer: This still belongs to the second step: “When a thought arises, do not abide in it; that thought too is empty. There is no self in circumstances; those circumstances too are empty.” |
| 到了第三步才可能如此： |
Only at the third step can it be like this: |
| 之乎者也！衲僧鼻孔大头朝下，若也不信，问取东村王大姐！（这是宗下的） |
“Zhihu zheye!” A monk’s nostrils have their broad ends facing downward; if you do not believe it, ask Elder Sister Wang of East Village! (This is from the Chan school.) |
| “饭千亿三世诸佛，不如饭一无念、无住、无修、无证之者。”（这是教下的） |
“Feeding all the Buddhas of the three times, countless as a thousand million, is not as good as feeding one who is without thought, without abiding, without cultivation, and without realization.” (This is from the doctrinal school.) |
| 问：“本来是佛，观什么照”，某某师兄对此问题的批判已很久了，若不亲证，他会永远陷在自己的意识情解中。这位师兄90年代就已得心中心灌顶，可至今仍未打满一千座。若能劝他，倒是祈盼他远离网络，一切放下，如法修行，早日亲证本来！ |
Question: Regarding “Originally, one is a Buddha—what is there to contemplate?” a certain Dharma brother has been criticizing this issue for a long time. Unless he directly realizes it, he will remain forever trapped in his own conceptual understanding. This Dharma brother received Heart-of-Heart Dharma empowerment in the 1990s, yet he has still not completed one thousand meditation sessions. If you can persuade him, I sincerely hope that he will stay away from the internet, let everything go, practice in accordance with the Dharma, and directly realize his original nature soon. |
| 答：“四依”里有“依了义，不依不了义”。老人所说的“本来是佛，观什么照”才是了义的。 |
Answer: Among the “four reliances” is “rely on the definitive meaning, not on the provisional meaning.” What the old master said—“Originally, one is a Buddha—what is there to contemplate?”—is definitive meaning. |
| 不了义也须说，“应病与药”嘛，“随众生心，应所知量”嘛。古德云“孤峰顶上草里坐”，孤峰顶上——了义，草里坐——不了义。象那德山，若非“草里坐”，怎会引出岩头的“不会末后句”。 |
Yet provisional meaning must also be taught: “prescribe medicine according to the illness,” and “in accordance with the minds of sentient beings, respond according to their capacity to understand.” An ancient worthy said, “On the summit of a solitary peak, sit amid the grass.” The summit of a solitary peak is definitive meaning; sitting amid the grass is provisional meaning. If Deshan had not “sat amid the grass,” how could he have prompted Yantou’s remark, “You do not understand the final word”? |
| 然而，德山毕竟是“孤峰顶上”人，也能引出岩头如是说“且喜堂头老汉会末后句了也”。岩头没别的可耍了，情急之下，带了个“只得三年活”的尾巴，却引得后世诸多执著神通（预测）者的许多聒噪。若说预测的能力，谁能比得过天人，然而，天人解脱了么？天人不在六道轮回里了么？ |
Yet Deshan was, after all, a person “on the summit of a solitary peak,” and he could also lead Yantou to say, “How delightful—the old man at the head of the hall understands the final word now.” Yantou had nothing else to play with, so in his urgency he added the tag, “You have only three years left to live.” This then provoked much clamor among later generations of those attached to spiritual powers, such as prediction. But in predictive ability, who can surpass the devas? Yet have devas attained liberation? Are devas outside the cycle of rebirth in the six realms? |
| 再举一例：老人既说“一念不生了了分明的灵知之性”，也说“有什么灵知不灵知的！”后句才是了义呀！ |
Another example: the old master both spoke of “the nature of numinous knowing, in which not a single thought arises and yet there is clear, ever-present knowing,” and said, “What numinous knowing or not-knowing is there?” The latter statement alone is definitive meaning. |
| 问：请教老师 “本来是佛，观什么照！”１、这一步是不是指舍弃观照，已经超越观照啦，即使寂照照寂也越过。２、要到这个阶段，是不是必须能时时观照纯熟后才涉及这更高一步，是不是如果连观照还生疏就不可能直接越过到达这个阶段？３、这一步，是不是八地菩萨阶段？ |
Question: Teacher, may I ask about “Originally, one is a Buddha—what is there to contemplate?” 1. Does this step mean abandoning contemplation and already transcending it, even going beyond quiescence illuminating and illumination quiescing? 2. To reach this stage, must one first become thoroughly skilled at continuous contemplation? If one is still unskilled at contemplation, is it impossible to leap directly beyond it and arrive at this stage? 3. Is this step the stage of an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva? |
| 答：圆悟云：若不到事事无碍，根本没资格谈禅。 |
Answer: Yuanwu said: “Unless one reaches the nonobstruction among phenomena, one is fundamentally unqualified to speak of Chan.” |
| （下文是齐老师分段解答——编者注） |
(What follows is Teacher Qi’s answer, divided into sections—Editor’s note.) |
| 问1、这一步是不是指舍弃观照，已经超越观照啦，即使寂照照寂也越过。 |
Question 1: Does this step mean abandoning contemplation and already transcending it, even going beyond quiescence illuminating and illumination quiescing? |
| 答：其实这不是“步”，连舍弃、超越也无。 |
Answer: In fact, this is not a “step”; there is not even abandoning or transcending. |
| 问2、要到这个阶段，是不是必须能时时观照纯熟后才涉及这更高一步，是不是如果连观照还生疏就不可能直接越过到达这个阶段？ |
Question 2: To reach this stage, must one first become thoroughly skilled at continuous contemplation? If one is still unskilled at contemplation, is it impossible to leap directly beyond it and arrive at this stage? |
| 答：这里没有阶段，也没有到达。 |
Answer: Here there are no stages, nor is there any arriving. |
| 问3、这一步，是不是八地菩萨阶段？ |
Question 3: Is this step the stage of an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva? |
| 答：有什么地不地的！ |
Answer: What bhūmi or no bhūmi is there? |
| 君不见，绝学无为闲道人，不除妄想不求真…… |
Have you not seen: “A carefree person of the Way, beyond learning and contrivance, does not eliminate deluded thoughts or seek the true . . .” |
