Teacher Qi Zhijun | 2018-06-23 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 1、对禅的误解 | 1. Misunderstandings of Chan |
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| 问：现在学佛的人，都把禅当成一种文化了。 | Question: Nowadays, everyone who studies Buddhism treats Chan as a kind of culture. |
| 师：实际有很多误解。现在说禅的人误解最多，还不是对别的误解，是对禅的误解。他不知道什么是真正的禅，他没看过禅宗的、也就是古代古大德的原著。他看现代人写几本禅书，弄得像是思路稍微开阔一点，他说那就是禅。 | Teacher: In fact, there are many misunderstandings. Those who speak of Chan today misunderstand it more than anything else; it is Chan itself that they misunderstand. They do not know what genuine Chan is. They have not read the original works of the Chan school—that is, the works of the great masters of old. They read a few books on Chan written by modern people, acquire a somewhat broader way of thinking, and then say that this is Chan. |
| 那是禅吗？在古禅师那里，这正是应该打掉的东西！这是世智辩聪，应该打掉！不打掉世智辩聪，怎么突出来禅呢？现在这些以禅为名的闲家具太多了。要真正了解禅，应该看古代的原文。看不懂？看不懂接着看！ | Is that Chan? For the ancient Chan masters, this is precisely what should be discarded! It is worldly cleverness and intellectual discrimination, and it should be discarded! If worldly cleverness and intellectual discrimination are not discarded, how can Chan emerge? There are now far too many idle trappings bearing the name of Chan. To truly understand Chan, one should read the original texts of the ancients. Cannot understand them? Then keep reading them! |
| 什么时候突然一明白，以前看不懂的全懂了，这才是禅。 | When, all at once, you suddenly understand, and everything you previously could not understand becomes clear, that is Chan. |
| 2、公案不是研究的，那是一个契机啊！ | 2. Koans Are Not for Study; They Are an Opportunity! |
| 问：现在都喜欢研究公案的答案。 | Question: Nowadays, people all like to study the answers to koans. |
| 师：公案有答案吗？公案可以用，但是绝无答案。说到这，你别误解《锯解秤砣》是答案。锯解秤砣算是对于公案的解说。那是功啊？是过啊？若是从这解说里找着了答案，起不了疑情了，那么以后他再也不能从那明白了。 | Teacher: Do koans have answers? Koans can be used, but they absolutely have no answers. Now, do not misunderstand Sawing Apart a Scale Weight as an answer. It may be regarded as an explanation of koans. Was that a merit or a fault? If one finds an answer in those explanations, one can no longer generate a sense of doubt; thereafter, one can never come to understanding through them. |
| 那当时为什么解说呢？因为那个时候，发觉修行没有一点禅味风格，都成了死死的教义，并且是误解了的教义，很多人死死的误解了教义，被束缚死了。 | Why, then, were they explained at that time? Because it had become apparent that cultivation had lost every trace of Chan flavor and style; everything had become rigid doctrine—and doctrine that had been misunderstood. Many people rigidly misunderstood the teachings and were bound to death by them. |
| 所以就一天写了一篇，大概用了三四个月，把宗门武库一百个公案解说了一下，弄完了有一点禅味，挤合在一块就是书了。其实，要以它为答案，那可是起了反作用。锯解秤砣是我写的，那是过，不是功。不应该那样。流传的越广越麻烦。那不过是在适当的情况下用一用，不能作为标准。 | Therefore, I wrote one piece a day. It took perhaps three or four months to explain one hundred koans from the Treasury of the Chan School. Once they were finished, they had a little Chan flavor; gathered together, they became a book. But if they are taken as answers, the effect is entirely counterproductive. Sawing Apart a Scale Weight was written by me. That was a fault, not a merit. It should not have been done that way. The more widely it circulates, the more troublesome it becomes. It was merely something to be used under appropriate circumstances; it cannot serve as a standard. |
| 理解禅能是那样理解吗？禅若成了理论和文化，就糟糕透了！禅本身不是那样的。你把公案都分析透了，哪里还有人家啥余地呀？别人在这公案，再也没办法在这契机下，去真正明白了。那都变成思维了，都变成思维理解了，那是禅吗？思维绝不是禅。 | Can Chan be understood in that way? If Chan becomes theory and culture, it is utterly ruined! Chan itself is not like that. If you analyze every koan completely, what room is left for others? With that koan, others will no longer be able to attain genuine understanding through that opportunity. It all becomes thinking; it all becomes intellectual understanding. Is that Chan? Thinking is absolutely not Chan. |
| 所以为什么研究它呢？研究公案毫无用处。你要研究公案还不如研究教义。公案不是研究的，那是一个契机啊！读公案读不懂，正好！要是读懂还没有这个契机呢。读不懂继续读！读到刹那之间全明白了，你所有不明白的全明白了，那才是禅。 | So why study them? Studying koans is of no use whatsoever. If you want to study koans, you would do better to study doctrine. Koans are not for study; they are an opportunity! It is good if you cannot understand a koan when you read it! If you could understand it, there would be no such opportunity. If you do not understand, continue reading! When, in an instant, everything becomes clear and all that you did not understand becomes clear, that is Chan. |
| 禅是顿悟，说个悟都是多余。 | Chan is sudden awakening; even to speak of awakening is superfluous. |
| 3、落到思维里是学禅的障碍 | 3. Falling into Thought Is an Obstacle to Studying Chan |
| 问 ：那在读的时候可能会有自己的一些思维。 | Question: While reading, one may have some thoughts of one’s own. |
| 师：如果落到思维里就成了你学禅的障碍了你知道吗？读不懂接着读，思维不管它，读到最后，你自己把思维推翻了，才可能刹那明白。你看，这里多了一个把自己的思维推翻，何必多这么个障碍呢，这思维就是障碍。现在人把这思维当成禅了，把世智辩聪当成禅了，还形成了禅文化、禅学。禅文化、禅学，这都不是禅。 | Teacher: If you fall into thought, it becomes an obstacle to your study of Chan—do you understand? If you cannot understand, keep reading. Pay no attention to thought. Only when you finally overturn your own thinking can you possibly understand in an instant. Look: this adds the task of overturning your own thinking. Why add such an obstacle? Thought itself is the obstacle. People nowadays take this thinking to be Chan; they take worldly cleverness and intellectual discrimination to be Chan, and have even formed Chan culture and Chan studies. Chan culture and Chan studies are not Chan. |
| 尽管，禅宗里有深邃的哲学和文化内涵，但它毕竟不是哲学和文化。 | Although the Chan school contains profound philosophical and cultural significance, it is, after all, not philosophy or culture. |
| 4、打坐是为了开示悟入佛的知见 | 4. Meditation Is for Opening, Revealing, Awakening to, and Entering the Buddha’s Knowledge and Vision |
| 齐老师：我们现在第一个要先有正知见，正知见光指望看书理解很可能越看越误解。没有实修、没有打坐，正知见也不容易产生，但另有人在这儿钻牛角尖——必须打坐才有正知见。 | Teacher Qi: First, we must have right view. If we rely solely on reading books and intellectual understanding for right view, we may very well become more mistaken the more we read. Without actual cultivation and without meditation, right view is not easily produced. Yet some people then split hairs over this: that one must meditate in order to have right view. |
| 没说必须，那是我们的方法，没说必须，你不打坐也可能有正知见，但不是我们，那是另外的法门。我们就是这样的，一千座！不讲道理了，打一千座。 | We did not say it is mandatory. This is our method; we did not say it is mandatory. Even without meditating, you may have right view, but that would not be through our method—it would be another Dharma gate. Our way is this: one thousand meditation sessions! We do not argue about it; simply complete one thousand sessions. |
| 要我们祈求的速开智慧呀，你说开智慧会不会有正知见呢？当然是一样的，说知见、说开智慧不都是一回事嘛，还另立佛的智慧和佛的知见吗？我们打坐为了什么？为了速开智慧，是为了速开智慧，不是为了速求神通、速速增加 | What we pray for is the swift opening of wisdom. If wisdom opens, will there not be right view? Of course it is the same thing. Is speaking of knowledge and vision not the same as speaking of opening wisdom? Is there some separate wisdom of the Buddha and knowledge and vision of the Buddha? Why do we meditate? To swiftly open wisdom. It is to swiftly open wisdom, not to swiftly seek spiritual powers or rapidly increase our abilities. |
| 能力，不是这个事，是为了速开智慧，为了知见，还是为了开示悟入佛的知见，就为了这个才打坐的，你说打坐不能开知见怎么不能啊？但是你不能说只有打坐才能开知见，人家有人家的方法，咱们心密的方法就是打坐，打坐就 | That is not the point. It is to swiftly open wisdom, for knowledge and vision—indeed, to open, reveal, awaken to, and enter the Buddha’s knowledge and vision. That is why we meditate. How can one say that meditation cannot open knowledge and vision? But you cannot say that only meditation can open knowledge and vision. Others have their own methods. The method of our Heart-of-Heart Dharma is meditation; meditation is for opening, revealing, awakening to, and entering the Buddha’s knowledge and vision. |
| 是为了开示悟入佛的知见，就是为了速开智慧成佛，我们不是老是祈祷速开智慧嘛，这不还是知见嘛，知见的问题。 | It is for swiftly opening wisdom and attaining Buddhahood. Do we not constantly pray for the swift opening of wisdom? Is that not also a matter of knowledge and vision? |
| 5、净土宗是信门，心中心法是行门 | 5. The Pure Land School Is the Gate of Faith; the Heart-of-Heart Dharma Is the Gate of Practice |
| 问：现在我就念阿弥陀佛不疑惑，对这个特别有信心。 | Question: At present, I recite Amitābha Buddha without doubt, and I have especially great faith in this. |
| 齐师：那你就不疑惑那一个，就是最好的，那是能导致你往生的那一个。净土法门确实是信门，不能疑惑，疑惑可是不好往生。 | Teacher Qi: Then do not doubt that one; that is the very thing that can lead you to rebirth. The Pure Land Dharma gate is indeed the gate of faith. One must not doubt, for doubt makes rebirth difficult. |
| 它是以信为基础的，为了强调这个信，为了使净土根性的众生利于往生，这种话都说：末法亿亿人修行，罕一得道；唯依念佛，得度生死。末法就没别的办法了，只有念佛。 | It is founded on faith. In order to emphasize this faith, and to make rebirth easier for sentient beings of Pure Land capacity, people say such things as: “In the Dharma-ending age, though billions upon billions cultivate, scarcely one attains the Way; only by relying on Buddha-recitation can one be liberated from birth and death.” In the Dharma-ending age, there is no other method; there is only Buddha-recitation. |
| 你别认为这是错的话，虽然经里没有这个话，但这个话是对的——这是为了配合净土的根性，不这样强调，他们就会信心受损。而坚定的信心是往生的基础，因为净土是信门。 | Do not consider these mistaken words. Although these words do not appear in the sūtras, they are correct. They accord with the capacities of Pure Land practitioners. Without such emphasis, their faith would be damaged. Firm faith is the basis for rebirth, because the Pure Land school is the gate of faith. |
| 心中心法刚好不是信门，心中心法是行门。 | The Heart-of-Heart Dharma, however, is not the gate of faith; it is the gate of practice. |
| 就是说你如果怀疑，当然不是彻底怀疑，你那个疑念是允许的，而净土则不允许，一点怀疑都不能有；心中心法你可以怀疑，当然不是过分的，你只要打坐修行，你的怀疑就不用思维想通，不想就通了，什么时候突然就会发现，再没有怀疑了。它是默默地注入你心，增加你心力，这不是信门，是行门。 | That is to say, if you have doubts—not thoroughgoing doubts, of course—such doubts are permitted. In the Pure Land school, however, they are not permitted; there cannot be the slightest doubt. In the Heart-of-Heart Dharma, you may have doubts, though not excessive ones. So long as you meditate and cultivate, you need not think your doubts through. Without thinking, they will be resolved. At some point, you will suddenly discover that there are no more doubts. It silently enters your mind and strengthens the power of your mind. This is not the gate of faith; it is the gate of practice. |
| 6、没佛可成就是成佛 | 6. There Is No Buddha to Attain—That Is Attaining Buddhahood |
| 问：我自我的问题就是，我们通过修行成佛以后，那么就是说如果是一个佛的话，那释迦牟尼成佛，那我们大家都成佛了，那肯定不是这个概念。如果假设好张三你要修行你要成佛，那么张三只能代表张三，与别人无关，那这个理论就有一个问题，就是到底是一个佛还是多个佛？ | Question: My own question is this: after we attain Buddhahood through cultivation, if there is a Buddha—Śākyamuni Buddha attained Buddhahood, and all of us attain Buddhahood—then surely this cannot be the concept. If, for example, Zhang San cultivates and attains Buddhahood, then Zhang San represents only Zhang San and has nothing to do with anyone else. This raises a theoretical question: is there one Buddha or many Buddhas? |
| 齐师：这就是我刚才说的，这还是迷呀，你还是在这一块，就是，用我们世间众生的思维去描述甚深的佛法。其实有时候语言是不够用的，所以叫言语道断，用思维是会产生误解的，所以要心行处灭，那个地方不是能思维到的。 | Teacher Qi: This is what I was just saying: this is still delusion. You are still trying to use the thinking of worldly sentient beings to describe the profound Buddhadharma. In fact, language is sometimes inadequate; therefore it is said that the way of words is cut off. Thinking produces misunderstanding; therefore the activity of mind must cease. That is not a place that thought can reach. |
| 说到成佛这种终极教义，究竟什么是成佛，比如，打个比方，要是真正知道的人给不知道的人说，那他会这么说：没佛可成就是成佛。就跟你说这一句。他不一定懂，但是，这一句是最真实的。 | When it comes to the ultimate teaching of attaining Buddhahood, what exactly is attaining Buddhahood? For example, if someone who truly knows were to explain it to someone who does not know, they would say this: “There is no Buddha to attain—this is attaining Buddhahood.” That is all they would say. The other person might not understand, but this statement is most true. |
| 为什么？比如知道颜色的人跟色盲的人说颜色，能说清楚吗？他该怎么说呢？色盲的人知道黑白呀，他不知道彩色他知道黑白呀，就告诉他:不是黑，不是白，不是又黑又白，也不是不黑不白，都不是——四句，这就是佛教里的四句呀。 | Why? For example, can someone who knows colors explain color clearly to a color-blind person? How should they explain it? A color-blind person knows black and white, but not colors. So one tells them: it is not black, not white, not both black and white, and not neither black nor white. None of these is it—these are the four propositions of Buddhism. |
| 四句是真话，但是又是戏论：颜色就是颜色，什么不黑不白的，不是戏论吗？四句是戏论，但是他确实是没法不那么说，因为那人色盲。 | The four propositions are true words, yet they are also idle speculation. Color is simply color; is all this talk of neither black nor white not idle speculation? The four propositions are idle speculation, but one truly cannot avoid speaking this way, because the person is color-blind. |
| 佛法也一样，你跟他说你只能这么说，你怎么说呀？因为他色盲，他不清楚啊。所以说，意在言外，言语道断，心行路绝，这说是第一义。 | The Buddhadharma is the same. When explaining it to such a person, one can only speak in this way. How else can one speak? They are color-blind and do not understand. Thus, the meaning lies beyond words; the way of words is cut off, and the path of mental activity is extinguished. This is called the ultimate truth. |
| 要假如说方便法，比如刚才我说的超度的，求福报的，消障碍的，这个象这些，可以都是方便，但是咱们约好，咱们之间不用这么访谈，因为我都没学这些东西，你问我也是白问，咱只说第一义，不说这些，那些有好多好多人正在那儿说着呢，何必再多一个人去说呢！阿弥陀佛。 | If we speak of expedient methods, such as the deliverance of the deceased, seeking blessings, and eliminating obstacles, these may all be expedient means. But let us agree not to discuss such matters in our conversations, because I have not studied these things. It would be pointless for you to ask me. Let us speak only of the ultimate truth, not of those things. So many people are already speaking about them—why add one more? Amitābha Buddha. |
| 7、没有说有才是真有 | 7. Not Saying That It Exists Is What Truly Exists |
| 问：那师父我问一下就是，那西方极乐世界是黄叶止啼吗？ | Question: Then, Master, may I ask: is the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss merely a yellow leaf used to stop a child from crying? |
| 齐师：那我们这个世界是不是？这得这么看，我们这个世界说的法是不是黄叶止啼？如果是的话，那为什么西方极乐世界说的法不可以是呢？有些人不是说黄叶止啼，他说是西方极乐世界是不是真有？那这个跟刚才一样，我们这个世界是不是真有？还是没有啊?那西方极乐世界不也可以认为没有嘛。 | Teacher Qi: Is our world not the same? This is how we should look at it: is the Dharma spoken in our world like yellow leaves used to stop a child from crying? If so, why could the Dharma spoken in the Western Pure Land not be the same? Some people do not speak of yellow leaves stopping a child’s crying; they ask whether the Western Pure Land truly exists. But that is just like asking whether our world truly exists. Or does it not exist? Then might one not likewise regard the Western Pure Land as nonexistent? |
| 西方极乐世界界定的没有和我们这个世界的没有是一样的，认为娑婆世界这里是有而极乐世界那里是没有，这是着相！ | The nonexistence as defined in the Western Pure Land is the same as the nonexistence in our world. To regard this Sahā world as existing while that Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss does not exist is attachment to appearances! |
| 8、西方极乐世界也说：苦、空、无常、无我 | 8. The Western Pure Land Also Teaches: Suffering, Emptiness, Impermanence, and Non-Self |
| 问：师父我问一下，西方极乐世界确有其佛国的话，那就是一合相吗？ | Question: Master, may I ask: if the Western Pure Land is indeed a Buddha land, is it then a composite appearance? |
| 齐师：到那儿再学一合相。一合相的道理咱这儿一样讲不通。它说法，像极乐世界说什么法，佛经里跟你说了呀，佛经里讲过，那水、鸟、树林那都说什么法?苦、空、无常、无我。 | Teacher Qi: Learn about composite appearances after you get there. The principle of a composite appearance cannot be explained clearly here either. What Dharma does it teach? The sūtras have already told you what Dharma the Pure Land teaches: the water, birds, and trees all teach what? Suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self. |
| 你注意啊，极乐世界说的法，说苦，不说乐法。对比我们说那是乐，在极乐世界这儿说那是苦；空，也不实在；好，无常，我们说的是永远的，是无常，不是永远的；还有无我。 | Pay attention: the Dharma taught in the Pure Land speaks of suffering, not of a dharma of bliss. In comparison with our world, it is blissful; but in the Pure Land, it is called suffering. It is empty, and thus not substantial. It is impermanent: what we call everlasting is, there, impermanent—not everlasting. And there is also non-self. |
| 其实啊，只要是有相，它怎么会是永恒的呢？“凡所有相，皆是虚妄”！假如西方极乐世界没有到头那一天，观世音菩萨什么时候成佛啊?它必然有结束的时候嘛，那不就是无常嘛，但是这个无常放在我们这儿，就相当于永恒，为什么呢，太长久了！比我们这儿劫太长得多，你根本想象不到有多长，但还是有头啊，再长，是吧！ | In fact, as long as something has an appearance, how could it be eternal? “All appearances are illusory.” If the Western Pure Land did not someday come to an end, when would Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva become a Buddha? It must come to an end; is that not impermanence? Yet, measured against our world, that impermanence is virtually equivalent to eternity. Why? Because it lasts far too long—far longer than the kalpas here. You simply cannot imagine how long it is, but it still has an end, however long it may be. |
| 9、心密打七不能超过四个七 | 9. Heart Esotericism Seven-Day Retreats Must Not Exceed Four Periods of Seven |
| 打七只有冬天打，现在谁打七的?不是，现在怎么说这个话，发现不是冬天打七的现象存在。 | Seven-day retreats were originally held only in winter. Who still holds them only in winter now? No—why say this? Because seven-day retreats are now being held outside the winter season. |
| 并且心密呢不能超过四个七，超过四个七的现象也存在，实际心密打七是不是不一定多坐的，不要超过四个，有上限的，可是有些人呢，一强调打坐就多坐，他能打二十多个七，不是这样打的。 | Moreover, in heart esotericism, one must not exceed four periods of seven, yet cases of exceeding four periods of seven also exist. In fact, a heart-esotericism seven-day retreat does not necessarily mean sitting more. Do not exceed four; there is an upper limit. But some people, once meditation is emphasized, simply sit more. They may hold more than twenty periods of seven. That is not how it should be done. |
| 原本只有三个七，后来老人说好吧，加一个就加一个吧，四个七，原来不允许超过三个的。心密不是说让你打一辈子坐的法门，是这一段时间要打坐，就这都做不到，所以强调打坐。 | Originally there were only three periods of seven. Later, the Elder said, “All right, add one more,” making four periods of seven; originally, one was not permitted to exceed three. Heart esotericism is not a Dharma gate that asks you to spend your entire life sitting in meditation. It asks you to meditate during this particular period of time, and even that cannot be done, so meditation is emphasized. |
| 为什么强调啊？就这还做不到呢——就这一段时间打坐，三四年就完成一千座了，就这他都不打，所以一直强调、一直强调。一强调一过头就认为强调就是对的，那我就打二十多个七吧，哪会是那么一回事呀，不能超过四个！ | Why is it emphasized? Because even this cannot be done: one need only meditate during this period, and in three or four years complete one thousand meditation sessions. Yet even this they do not do, so it is emphasized again and again. Once the emphasis goes too far, people think that whatever is emphasized must be right, and say, “Then I shall do more than twenty periods of seven.” How could that be right? One must not exceed four! |
| 不能超过四个七，心密不是以打坐为修行的法门，是以开智慧为目的。 | One must not exceed four periods of seven. Heart esotericism is not a Dharma gate that takes meditation as its cultivation; its aim is to open wisdom. |
| 你打坐祈祷是干什么呀?不是说速入禅定成佛，好，专心禅定，我们是速开智慧成佛，不是速入禅定成佛呀，是速开智慧成佛！直接就是开智慧的，我们不是说定能生慧嘛，打坐入禅定是对的，我们就祈祷速入禅定成佛，然后我入定了，定再开智慧，根本不是，不是那条路，是直接开智慧的，不是打多少座的，别想那么多了。 | What are you praying for when you meditate? It is not to swiftly enter meditative absorption and become a Buddha. All right, if one focuses on meditative absorption, one might pray to swiftly enter samādhi and become a Buddha; then one enters samādhi, and samādhi gives rise to wisdom. But that is fundamentally not our way. Our way is to swiftly open wisdom and become a Buddha—directly opening wisdom. It is not about how many meditation sessions you sit. Do not think so much about it. |
| 10、别忘了除那个最主要的“着相”习气 | 10. Do Not Forget to Eliminate the Most Fundamental Habitual Tendency: Attachment to Appearances |
| 问：我就觉得自己习气特别重，我就打个比方吧，我不知道怎么回事，就是上个周末，就忽然间又想吃肉了，然后就好久没有吃肉了 | Question: I feel that my habitual tendencies are especially strong. For example, I do not know what happened, but last weekend I suddenly wanted to eat meat again, even though I had not eaten meat for a long time. |
| 齐师：你说的这，并不能说这不是习气，你讲的是习气，你就看见这是习气了，但是，最大的习气你就没有看见——着相、较真！不知道明心见性的时候就不会着这个相，因为你不了解，你知道了这个名相了以后一直着这个相， | Teacher Qi: What you describe cannot be said not to be a habitual tendency. You are speaking of a habitual tendency, and you have recognized it as such. But you have not seen your greatest habitual tendency—attachment to appearances and taking things too literally. Before realizing the mind and seeing one’s true nature, one does not cling to such appearances because one does not understand them. But after learning these names and terms, one clings to them constantly. |
| 并且从有相角度去着，那你怎会达到目的呢？就不可能达到目的！你讲的除习气，讲的见性全是有相，我们说的见性是无相的。你这目标就有问题，发心就有问题，不要说有别的。 | Moreover, if you cling from the standpoint of appearances, how can you reach the goal? It is impossible to reach it. Your talk of eliminating habitual tendencies and seeing one’s true nature is all concerned with appearances. What we call seeing one’s true nature is formless. Your goal itself is problematic; your aspiration is problematic. There is no need even to mention anything else. |
| 11、承担什么 | 11. What Does It Mean to Undertake? |
| 问: 老师，那我们现在人的根器就是不敢承担，象古代的大祖师他们都是点一下，就像你刚才说的，早就明白了，那我们现在当下？ | Question: Teacher, people nowadays lack the capacity to undertake it. The great patriarchs of old would understand as soon as they were given a hint, as you just said. But what about us now, in this very moment? |
| 齐师：因你误解承担这个词啊！我刚才说的：本来是什么？或者是本来就没有！承担，是承担这个，不是承担什么资格、地位、心境，什么我的心里烦恼轻或者没有了，根本不是承担这个，谁承担这个干啥。 | Teacher Qi: That is because you misunderstand the word “undertake.” What did I just say? What is original? Or perhaps there was originally nothing at all. That is what one undertakes—not some qualification, status, or state of mind, such as “My afflictions have become lighter or disappeared.” That is absolutely not what is meant. Who would undertake such a thing, and for what? |
| 问: 其实我们当下也是见性的呀？ | Question: In fact, are we also seeing our true nature in this very moment? |
| 齐师：那你这个话跟说当下就是不见性的有什么区别呀？要我说，说这话的就避开这种词，不避开这种词就把自己卖进去了，自己把自己卖了。用一种非常朴实的内心的真实的那种话说。（明白了）说凡说圣，说佛说众生，都是戏论，全都是戏论，但是它都是方便说，用得好了就很好。 | Teacher Qi: How is that different from saying that, in this very moment, we are not seeing our true nature? If you ask me, those who speak this way should avoid such terms. If they do not avoid them, they sell themselves into bondage—they sell themselves. Speak instead in plain words that truthfully express what is in your heart. [Understood.] To speak of ordinary beings or sages, Buddhas or sentient beings, is all idle speculation—entirely idle speculation. Yet these are all expedient expressions; when used well, they are very good. |
| 12、千座为了什么 | 12. What Are One Thousand Meditation Sessions For? |
| 齐师： 老是说千座没有达到目的，你都没有反思过，你的目的是什么呀？（学人：目的就是不跟着妄念跑）别，别用词，目的是不跟妄念跑，你要这么说很难达到目的。 | Teacher Qi: You keep saying that after one thousand meditation sessions you have not reached the goal, but have you ever reflected on what your goal is? [Student: The goal is not to run after deluded thoughts.] No, do not use such terms. If you say that the goal is not to run after deluded thoughts, it will be very difficult to reach the goal. |
| 目的就是妄念不可得，跑也不可得，根本就没有跟它跑过！跟不跟妄念跑——这是个妄念！这才是目的。但是呢，我道理上知道，我做不到，那你可以打一千座了，一定能达到目的，要是这样才行。 | The goal is that deluded thoughts are unobtainable, and running after them is also unobtainable. You have never actually run after them at all! Whether or not you run after deluded thoughts—that itself is a deluded thought! That is the goal. But if you understand this in principle yet cannot put it into practice, then you may undertake one thousand meditation sessions; you will certainly reach the goal. Only in this way will it work. |
| 13、方便与究竟 | 13. Expedient Means and the Ultimate |
| 弟子问：老人说过，没有明心见性之前，你修什么都是盲修瞎练？ | A disciple asked: The Elder once said that before realizing the mind and seeing one’s true nature, whatever one cultivates is blind cultivation and futile practice. Is that so? |
| 齐师：那是后话！现在不是盲修瞎练，你先修，到时候你就知道什么是盲修瞎练了。 | Teacher Qi: That is something to say later. At present, it is not blind cultivation and futile practice. First cultivate, and in time you will know what blind cultivation and futile practice are. |
| 现在我们的目标就是这样，就是向着明心见性的方向跑，你真明白了“什么呀，那都是！”什么见性不见性的，弄了一大堆，什么明心见性，性本来就明，还用再明一回？见什么性呢，没性你能见？也就是“心何可明，性焉能见”。成这个了，这种话跟明心见性强调是一个意思。 | At present, our goal is simply this: to proceed in the direction of realizing the mind and seeing one’s true nature. Once you truly understand, you will say, “What is all this?” What seeing one’s true nature or not seeing one’s true nature? So much has been made of it. What “realizing the mind and seeing one’s true nature”? The nature is originally luminous; does it need to be illuminated once more? What nature is there to see? If there were no nature, could you see it? Thus: “How can the mind be made luminous? How can nature be seen?” To arrive at this is to say the same thing as emphasizing realizing the mind and seeing one’s true nature. |
| 你可能就过不去这个了。你说现在不是有生老病死吗？恰恰这就是涅槃，没有生死。 | Perhaps you cannot get past this. You say that there are now birth, old age, sickness, and death. Precisely this is nirvāṇa: there is no birth and death. |
| 可能“生死即涅槃”也过不去了，必须到最后才能说这个话，不到最后就不说那话了，不到最后前头说那话那不误解了，那是彻悟人的话！生死涅槃等空花嘛！古人都这样的，宗下教下全是这样，除非他不彻。这不是一个是禅宗一个是教，绝不是！教也是说到这么彻的地步，不到这儿不算摸着佛法的真谛。 | Perhaps you cannot get past even “birth and death are nirvāṇa.” One can say this only upon reaching the end; before reaching the end, one should not say it. If one says it beforehand, will it not be misunderstood? These are the words of one who has thoroughly awakened! Birth and death and nirvāṇa are equally like flowers in empty space. The ancients were all like this; both the Chan school and the doctrinal schools were entirely like this, unless they had not awakened thoroughly. It is absolutely not that one is Chan and the other doctrine. The doctrinal schools also speak to this thoroughly awakened point. Without reaching this, one has not touched the true essence of the Buddhadharma. |
| 但是一开始就拿出来，你那释迦牟尼佛也为难啊，菩提树下悟道悟得就是这个，很为难呢：我法妙难思啊！就是我悟这法是妙难思，但是呢不为众生说，为什么呢？说了他也误会，这法能跟他说他还迷着呢，所以急速入涅槃，他就想坐化了，就菩提树下不起来了。 | But if this is brought out at the very beginning, even Śākyamuni Buddha would be at a loss. What he awakened to beneath the bodhi tree was precisely this, and it left him deeply troubled: “My Dharma is wondrous and difficult to conceive.” That is, the Dharma I have awakened to is wondrous and difficult to conceive. But he would not speak of it to sentient beings. Why not? Because they would misunderstand it; even if he could explain this Dharma to them, they would still remain deluded. So he hastened to enter nirvāṇa. He wanted to pass away in meditation and simply remain seated beneath the bodhi tree. |
| 护法神不干了，说是哪一尊佛成佛以后都要说法，你怎么不说？可是我说什么呀？就是说，起初那根性，太不可能信了，你就得从方便说起，怎么方便呢？他就一想，哦，这样吧，苦集灭道，就打这开始说。 | The Dharma protectors would not allow it. They said, “Every Buddha, after attaining Buddhahood, must teach the Dharma. Why will you not teach?” But what could I teach? That is to say, those of initial capacity were far too unlikely to believe it, so one had to begin with expedient means. What expedient means? He thought, “Ah, this will do: suffering, origination, cessation, and the path. I shall begin there.” |
| 先从众生眼前的事说吧，眼前是苦啊，先从这儿说，应该离开，然后说为什么会苦的根源呢？是集！这有法脱离吗？有，那就是有寂灭，寂灭就涅槃嘛。怎么样能寂灭？修道能寂灭！就打这开始说起了。 | First speak of what sentient beings see before their eyes: before them is suffering, so begin there. They should leave it behind. Then explain the root of suffering: it is origination. Is there a Dharma by which one may be freed from this? Yes: there is cessation. Cessation is nirvāṇa. How can cessation be attained? By cultivating the path, one can attain cessation. Thus he began teaching from there. |
| 所以，全是方便说。后边的，实际上他是前面就证道了，说的全是方便，但是到最后法华涅槃时，直接说众生本来是佛，直接说，那是已经到最后了，靠前的和靠后的，都是非常彻的，中间时有很多方便，有八万四千法门，三藏十二部经。 | Therefore, it is all expedient teaching. Later on—though in fact he had realized the Way from the very beginning—what he taught was all expedient. But at the end, in the Lotus and Nirvāṇa teachings, he spoke directly, saying that sentient beings are originally Buddhas. Only at the very end could this be spoken directly. What comes before and what comes after are both extremely thorough, while in between there are many expedient means: eighty-four thousand Dharma gates, and the Tripiṭaka and twelve divisions of the scriptures. |
