Master Wang Xianglu | 2018-06-23 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 凡使身体失去健康的总原因，在终日心神不安，不外乎患得患失。凡人精力有限，应适当支配，实行三八制，八小时睡眠，八小时工作，八小时休息。能如是正常，断无多病之理。 | The general cause of all that deprives the body of health and leaves the mind and spirit uneasy all day is nothing other than anxiety over gain and loss. Human energy is limited and should be apportioned appropriately: follow an eight-eight-eight schedule—eight hours of sleep, eight hours of work, and eight hours of rest. If this normal routine can be maintained, there is no reason for frequent illness. |
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| 今因身体或经济关系，于八小时工作时，不感兴趣，或工作紧张，这八小时吃力，过于十二小时，所以心难维持，日多思虑，夜梦多惊，失眠开始，胃纳不良，便秘肝旺，肺气不宣，于是诸病引起，正气日耗。所以要恢复健康，根本先要使思想正常，心神宁一，那浑身的血气，自可健全发挥，这是气功疗养法的本意。 | Now, because of physical or financial circumstances, one may have no interest in one’s eight hours of work, or the work may be so stressful and arduous that those eight hours feel like more than twelve. The mind then becomes difficult to sustain; by day one worries excessively, by night one has many startling dreams, insomnia begins, appetite declines, constipation and excessive liver fire arise, and the lung qi fails to circulate. Thus various illnesses develop, while the body’s vital qi is depleted day by day. Therefore, to restore health, one must first make one’s thinking normal and one’s mind and spirit peaceful and unified. Then the qi and blood throughout the body can naturally function soundly and fully. This is the original intention of qigong therapy. |
| 血气本来可以自然流通，却不可作意去使它流通。当排除其阻碍物，使得天然发展。而那阻碍者，正是自己的妄念颠倒作祟，所以要静坐法，先放下了身，暂停动作一小时。坐的姿势另条说明，坐稳了，再调气，使呼吸平匀，再次调心，这却不是一件简单的事。 | Qi and blood can naturally circulate, but one must not deliberately try to make them circulate. One should remove whatever obstructs them, allowing them to develop naturally. The obstruction is precisely the mischief caused by one’s own deluded and inverted thoughts. Therefore, in the method of quiet sitting, one first sets aside the body and suspends activity for an hour. The sitting posture will be explained separately. Once one is sitting steadily, one regulates the qi so that the breathing is even, and then regulates the mind. This, however, is no simple matter. |
| 要调心，先须要识心，认识心是什么，心有了主宰，方可以心制心，能以心制心，则妄念自息。 | To regulate the mind, one must first know the mind—know what it is. Only when the mind has a master can one use mind to govern mind. If one can use mind to govern mind, deluded thoughts will naturally cease. |
| 人有了眼耳鼻舌身，就有了工具，眼对于色，耳对于声等等，遂启发了一个影子，把那影子转辗分别，影上立影，妄上加妄，是名识心，即是妄心，那妄心作用，在好的方面，宇宙间一切人事进化，靠它建立。 | Once people have eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body, they have their instruments. The eye encounters form, the ear encounters sound, and so forth, thereby giving rise to an image. One then repeatedly discriminates over that image, setting image upon image and delusion upon delusion. This is called the discriminating mind—that is, the deluded mind. On its beneficial side, the progress of all human affairs in the universe has been built upon its activity. |
| 坏的方面，一切烦恼颠倒，损人不利己的种种恶事，也由它造作。所以人在世上，总以自觉为第一。真觉悟的人，决不贪嗔颠倒，妄作妄为，也不消极断灭，做个冷血动物，视社会事业与我无关，归根害了自己。 | On its harmful side, all afflictions and confused inversions, as well as every kind of evil deed that harms others without benefiting oneself, are also created by it. Therefore, the foremost thing for a person in this world is self-awareness. Those who are truly awakened certainly do not greedily, angrily, and confusedly act recklessly; nor do they lapse into passive annihilationism, becoming cold-blooded creatures who regard social undertakings as having nothing to do with them. In the end, this only harms themselves. |
| 又那妄心对于身体上呢，好的方面可以调和血气，益寿延年；坏的方面，心可以生火，肝可以引风，火克金，肺即受伤，所以心过劳的人，心虚肝旺，肝木克土，脾胃受病，消化不良，营养不足，夜眠不安。 | As for the deluded mind’s effect upon the body, on its beneficial side it can harmonize qi and blood, prolonging life and extending one’s years. On its harmful side, the mind can generate fire and the liver can stir wind. Fire overcomes metal, and the lungs are thereby injured. Thus those who overwork the mind have a deficient heart and excessive liver fire. Liver wood overcomes earth, so the spleen and stomach suffer, digestion is poor, nutrition is inadequate, and sleep at night is unsettled. |
| 土又克水，于是肾水大亏，水不足则火更旺，心肾相联，心气更弱，肺病即成。内部相互关联，一动全动，一病全病。而扰之者，乃在妄心，所以治病在安其心，安心在息妄，息妄在明心，明心即自觉，而健康的功效在乎静坐。 | Earth in turn overcomes water, and so kidney water becomes greatly depleted. When water is insufficient, fire becomes still more exuberant. Since heart and kidneys are interconnected, the heart qi grows still weaker, and lung disease develops. The internal organs are mutually connected: when one moves, all move; when one is ill, all are ill. What disturbs them is the deluded mind. Therefore, treating illness lies in settling the mind; settling the mind lies in ceasing delusion; ceasing delusion lies in realizing the mind; realizing the mind is self-awareness. The benefit to health lies in quiet sitting. |
| 静坐是息心法，心息则神安，神安则气足，气足则血旺，血气流畅，则有病可以去病，不足可以补充，已足可以增长。现在病可去，未来病可防，此其小者也。又心息则神明，神明则机灵，静者心多妙，观机辨证，格外敏捷，见理既正，料事益远，遇乱不惊，见境不惑，能一切通达，自无主观偏执之弊，而大机大用，由此开启矣。 | Quiet sitting is a method for stilling the mind. When the mind is still, the spirit is at peace; when the spirit is at peace, qi is sufficient; when qi is sufficient, the blood is abundant. When qi and blood flow freely, illness may be dispelled, deficiencies replenished, and what is already sufficient increased. Present illness may be removed and future illness prevented; this is its lesser benefit. Moreover, when the mind is still, the spirit is clear; when the spirit is clear, one is quick-witted. The still person’s mind has many subtleties: one observes circumstances and discerns symptoms with exceptional agility; once one’s understanding of principle is correct, one can foresee matters more fully; in turmoil one is unalarmed, and before circumstances one is undeluded. One can comprehend everything and naturally avoids the faults of subjective bias. Great capacity and great functioning are thereby opened. |
| 关于心的道理，各有其说，儒家说心正，道家说清心，宋儒要把心放在腔子里。管子内守于静，外守于敬，孟子所谓收其放心，且问如何收法。若云以心收心，心既放去矣，又叫谁去收回。 | There are various theories concerning the mind. Confucians speak of rectifying the mind; Daoists speak of purifying the mind; Song Confucians sought to place the mind within the bodily cavity. Guan Zhong said to preserve inwardly through stillness and outwardly through reverence. Mencius spoke of recovering the lost mind—but how is it to be recovered? If one says that mind is used to recover mind, then the mind has already gone astray; who, then, is to recover it? |
| 若未放去，就在眼前，又何必多此一举。又心既收回了，试问又放在何处为妥。又心不似物，可以来去，只是个隐显问题，究其实，不过是个幻化的影子。但放心收心制心摄心等法，都是幻心，幻上加幻，越幻越多，不是究竟。 | If it has not gone astray, it is right before one’s eyes, so why make this additional effort? And once the mind has been recovered, where, pray, should it be placed? The mind is unlike a material object that can come and go; it is only a matter of concealment and manifestation. In truth, it is merely an illusory image. Yet methods such as letting the mind go, recovering the mind, controlling the mind, and gathering in the mind are all products of the illusory mind—illusion added to illusion, ever multiplying—and are not ultimate. |
| 要识心的真相，须明心有两种，一是真心，一是妄心。譬如真心是水，妄心是波，波因风动，风止波息，而水不动，不必定分水波为二，亦不可执之为一。 | To know the mind’s true aspect, one must understand that there are two kinds of mind: true mind and deluded mind. For example, the true mind is like water and the deluded mind like waves. Waves move because of the wind; when the wind stops, the waves cease, while the water itself does not move. One need not rigidly divide water and waves into two, but neither may one cling to them as one. |
| 但愚人定分为二，智者知之为一，而究竟非一非二，又言非一非二者，仍是幻心作用，非真心也。兹假定心未动时为真心，要了了分明，寂然无念，是无心心也。已动了，六识分别纷扰，立许多知见，是为识心，是妄心也。 | Yet foolish people rigidly divide them into two, while the wise know them as one. Ultimately, however, they are neither one nor two. And to speak of neither one nor two is still the activity of the illusory mind, not the true mind. Let us provisionally call the mind before it moves the true mind: it is lucidly clear, silent, and free of thought; this is the mind of no-mind. Once it has moved, the six consciousnesses discriminate and bustle about, establishing many views and opinions. This is the discriminating mind; it is the deluded mind. |
| 因此，一、集起者为心，言眼与色相集而幻影起也。二、攀缘为心，言色本不来诱我，是我自己去攀缘而成识心也。朱子云，不为外物所诱，似归咎于外物来诱，非通论也。 | Accordingly: first, that which gathers and gives rise to things is mind—meaning that when the eye and form come together, an illusory image arises. Second, grasping at conditions is mind—meaning that form itself does not come to entice me; I myself grasp at it, thereby creating the discriminating mind. Zhu Xi said, “Do not be enticed by external things,” which seems to place blame on external things for enticing us; this is not a comprehensive account. |
| 三、悬想为心，以过去习气，转辗幻想，入于非非，而多巧见也。四、取舍为心，由个别而立，法见情见，正见邪见，乃至善见恶见，彼执取有个道理在，便是妄心，即欲舍去那妄心，也是妄心。总之有所求，即是妄，而无所求，也还是妄，以皆波也。然则如何而可。 | Third, fanciful imagining is mind: past habitual tendencies give rise to repeated fantasies, entering into the unreal and producing many ingenious views. Fourth, choosing and rejecting is mind: from individual distinctions arise views of dharmas and emotional views, right views and wrong views, even good views and evil views. Whenever one grasps at the idea that there is some principle to be found, that is the deluded mind. Even wishing to discard that deluded mind is itself the deluded mind. In short, seeking anything is delusion; yet seeking nothing is still delusion, for all are waves. What, then, is to be done? |
| 以上所说，还是个理，不得不明。若要实做到息心功夫，只要在空档处参究。 | What has been said above is still only principle, though it must be understood. If one wishes actually to accomplish the work of stilling the mind, one need only investigate at the gaps between thoughts. |
| 以人既有心，不能无念，念只可止，不能灭，前念过去了，后念未来时，有个了了分明，寂然无念的，便是那空档处，正那个时候，非但息妄，并亦无妄可息，无心可心，亦无空档可取。 | Since people have minds, they cannot be without thoughts. Thoughts can only be stopped; they cannot be annihilated. After the previous thought has passed and before the next thought arrives, there is something lucidly clear, silent, and free of thought: this is the gap between thoughts. At precisely that time, not only does delusion cease, but there is no delusion to cease, no mind with which to mind, and no gap to be grasped. |
| 不要管他时间长短，只绵绵密密地，常常凛觉到这样，不是无知如木石，也不是纷乱若猿猴。于静坐时，杂念忽起忽落，我只不理它，一不理，即同时止息，又到那空档时，任他一万次起灭，我只如是。亦莫作何种道理，计较是非。每日坐一小时勿间断，坐得安定，不要欢喜，坐得心乱，也莫烦恼，久之空力自强，功效自见。 | Do not concern yourself with how long it lasts. Simply maintain continuous and seamless contemplation, repeatedly becoming keenly aware in this way. This is neither unknowing like wood or stone nor chaotic like monkeys. While sitting in meditation, stray thoughts suddenly arise and fall away; I simply ignore them. The moment they are ignored, they simultaneously cease, and one again arrives at the gap between thoughts. Let them arise and cease ten thousand times; I simply remain thus. Nor should one construct theories or calculate right and wrong. Sit for one hour each day without interruption. If sitting becomes settled, do not rejoice; if the mind is confused while sitting, do not be troubled. In time, the power of emptiness naturally grows stronger, and its benefits naturally become apparent. |
| 一、起居 | I. Daily Living |
| （一）睡眠宜早，勿过十时，凡交十一时，为阳生时，属肾，此时失眠，肾水必亏，心肾相连，水亏则火旺，最易伤神。（二）睡时宜一切不思。鼻息调匀，自己静听其气，由粗而细，由细而微细而息。 | (1) Go to sleep early, no later than ten o’clock. Whenever one crosses into eleven o’clock, it is the time when yang arises, associated with the kidneys. Insomnia at this time necessarily depletes kidney water. Since heart and kidneys are interconnected, when water is depleted, fire becomes exuberant, and the spirit is most easily harmed. (2) When sleeping, it is best to think of nothing at all. Regulate the breath through the nose evenly, quietly listening to it yourself as it passes from coarse to fine, and from fine to extremely subtle, until it ceases. |
| 视此身如无物，或如糖入于水，化为乌有，自然睡著。（三）如有思想，不能安着，切勿在枕上转侧思虑，此最耗神，可起坐一时再睡。 | Regard this body as if it were no object, or as sugar dissolving in water and vanishing without a trace; one will naturally fall asleep. (3) If thoughts arise and one cannot settle, do not toss and turn on the pillow while worrying. This is most exhausting to the spirit. Get up and sit for a while before sleeping again. |
| （四）如在午时，即上午十一点至一点，为阴生之时，属心，此时如不能睡，可静坐一刻钟，闭目养神，则心气强。凡有心脏病者切宜注意，每日于此二时注意，则元气日强，无心跳腹泄或小便频速之病。 | (4) At noon—namely, from eleven in the morning until one in the afternoon—yin arises, and this period is associated with the heart. If one cannot sleep at this time, one may sit quietly for fifteen minutes and close the eyes to nourish the spirit; then the heart qi will be strengthened. Anyone with heart disease should take particular note. If one attends to these two periods every day, primordial qi will grow stronger day by day, and there will be no palpitations, diarrhea, or frequent urination. |
| （五）夏日起宜早，冬日起宜迟。居北方宜防寒气，如在粤桂等省，早起防山岚瘴气中病。食后勿仰天睡，早起如在寅时三点至五点。此时切忌郁怒，不然必损肺伤肝，万望注意。 | (5) In summer, rise early; in winter, rise late. Those living in the north should guard against cold qi; those in provinces such as Guangdong and Guangxi should, when rising early, guard against falling ill from mountain mists and noxious vapors. Do not lie on your back to sleep after eating. If rising early during the yin hour, from three to five in the morning, one must especially avoid pent-up anger; otherwise, the lungs will certainly be damaged and the liver injured. Please take careful note. |
| 二、静坐 | II. Quiet Sitting |
| 静坐的方法甚多，有儒家道家佛家诸门，又有密宗禅宗之分，今取简易稳妥静坐法，打一根基。 | There are many methods of quiet sitting, including those of the Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist traditions, as well as distinctions between Esoteric Buddhism and the Chan school. Here, a simple, easy, and reliable method of quiet sitting is selected to lay a foundation. |
| （一）兼可治病，但不必因病而坐，即不病亦应静坐，用以防病治病养病，三法兼全，一生受用不尽也。静坐法于有工作人较难，因无时间也，然每日四十分钟当可抽出。在表面似乎不急，而人生一切事业，皆以精神为根本，而精神之衰旺强弱，全赖心神之静定不乱，一个乱字，足以妨碍一切工作。 | (1) It can also treat illness, but one need not sit only because one is ill. Even those without illness should practice quiet sitting, to prevent illness, treat illness, and nurture recovery from illness; all three methods are thereby complete, and one may benefit from them throughout life. Quiet sitting is more difficult for those with work, because they lack time. Yet forty minutes each day should be available. On the surface, it may seem unurgent, but all human undertakings have spirit as their foundation, and the decline, flourishing, strength, and weakness of the spirit depend entirely on whether the mind and spirit are calm, settled, and undisturbed. The single word “disorder” is enough to obstruct all work. |
| （二）健康、寿命、德性，并关系后代子嗣的品德健康，也事关改良种族，社会福利，岂不伟大！现大家忙于生产，看重物质。不知这个肉体，正是物！首先要维持它，人生以健康为第一，应特别注意。 | (2) Health, longevity, and moral character are also connected with the character and health of one’s descendants; they further concern the improvement of the human race and social welfare. Is this not of great importance? People are now busy with production and value material things. Yet they do not realize that this physical body is itself material. It must first be maintained. Health is the foremost concern in human life and deserves special attention. |
| 现在流行气功疗养法，我于此道，素无经验，盖各有长处，并非全无效果。只是运气作功夫，有些人贪求速效者，未免走错路。虽不可归咎于法，要非可以普传而慎始之难也。 | Qigong therapy is now widespread. I have never had experience in this field; each method has its strengths, and they are not wholly without effect. Yet among those who practice exercises for moving qi, some seek quick results and may easily take a wrong path. This cannot be blamed on the method itself, but it is not something that can be broadly transmitted, and it is difficult to exercise caution at the outset. |
| 应先说病，病有两种医法，一是外力，如医药针灸按摩等是。二是自力，即静坐法是。外力宜于急症，自力宜于长病。凡药石所不治者，惟有静坐法，功稳而妥。若两法兼施，则更妙矣。 | We should first speak of illness. There are two methods of treatment: one relies on external means, such as medicine, acupuncture, and massage; the other relies on one’s own strength, namely the method of quiet sitting. External means are suitable for acute illnesses; self-reliance is suitable for chronic illnesses. For illnesses that medicines and stones cannot cure, only the method of quiet sitting remains; its effect is steady and reliable. If the two methods are applied together, that is even better. |
