Master Wang Xianglu | 2018-06-23 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 吾师王骧陆居士主讲于天津印心精舍凡七稔，于学人莫不随机启发，同门中得明心要者莘莘然，迩年皈依日众，请法之余，问答甚多，同人等扼要记录，裒为一帙，乃前所辑之《乙亥讲演录》中有未及者。天津张居士聘三，发心流布，以供同参，并嘱为之序。 | My teacher, the lay practitioner Wang Xianglu, gave lectures at the Mind-Seal Vihara in Tianjin for a total of seven years. He unfailingly inspired students according to their capacities, and among his fellow disciples many attained the essential point of realizing the mind. In recent years, the number of those taking refuge has increased daily, and, in addition to requesting instruction, they have raised many questions. Fellow practitioners have recorded the essential points and gathered them into one volume, containing material not included in the previously compiled Records of the Yihai Lectures (1935). The lay practitioner Zhang Pingsan of Tianjin has resolved to circulate it for the benefit of fellow practitioners and has asked me to write a preface. |
|---|---|
| 窃谓印心宗旨，惟一大事，良以众生苦恼，哀莫大于生死，事莫重于成佛，而成佛关键，又在明宗。遂请于师，以入佛明宗答问为名，先印初编，使初发心者，得入佛之门，已入门者，得明宗之路，必先知乎所以谓之佛与宗者，究竟是一是二，然后豁然于所谓入者明者，如是而已。 | In my humble view, the essential tenet of Mind-Seal concerns but one great matter. Sentient beings suffer distress, and no sorrow is greater than birth and death; no matter is more important than attaining Buddhahood. The key to attaining Buddhahood, moreover, lies in clarifying the essential tenet. I therefore requested that the Master first print this initial collection under the title Questions and Answers on Entering Buddhism and Clarifying Its Essential Tenet, so that those who have newly aroused the resolve may enter the gate of Buddhism, and those who have already entered may find the way to clarify its essential tenet. One must first know whether what is called “Buddha” and what is called the “essential tenet” are ultimately one or two; then one will suddenly understand what is meant by entering and clarifying. That is all. |
| 呜呼，佛法陵替，馀风之未坠者，惟禅净密三宗。学人以不能明宗故，于禅则畏其难而避之，于净又忽其易而轻之，至于密法，则更疑为神秘而或观望焉。于是交诤互诋，各树门庭。宗既不明，佛固不可得而入矣。 | Alas! As the Buddhadharma declines, its remaining influence endures only in the three traditions of Chan, Pure Land, and Esoteric Buddhism. Because students are unable to clarify the essential tenet, they fear Chan as difficult and avoid it; they regard Pure Land as easy and thus take it lightly; and, as for Esoteric Buddhism, they regard it as mysterious and remain hesitant. Thus they dispute and disparage one another, each establishing its own sectarian boundary. Since the essential tenet is not clear, Buddhism indeed cannot be entered. |
| 彼不知禅净密者，皆属明宗前之方便法，及至归元，一切都舍，复何有难易优劣之可分，然而时节因缘，岂可久无不变，法贵当机而转，事亦应运而兴。 | They do not know that Chan, Pure Land, and Esoteric Buddhism are all expedient methods prior to clarifying the essential tenet. When one returns to the source, all are relinquished; how then can there be distinctions of difficulty and ease, superiority and inferiority? Yet how could the circumstances of the times remain unchanged for long? The Dharma is precious because it adapts and transforms in accordance with those it encounters, and undertakings too arise in response to the times. |
| 十年以来，世变沧桑，于斯文将丧之际，忽有异军突起，一振宗风，足以会三宗而开般若，尽法利而速其成者，厥为心中心密法，岂非因缘时会也哉。 | Over the past ten years, the world has undergone momentous changes. At a time when this teaching was nearly lost, an unexpected new force suddenly arose and, with one great stirring, revitalized the tradition. Able to unite the three traditions and open up prajñā, to bestow the Dharma's benefits fully and hasten attainment, it is none other than the Heart-of-Heart Dharma. Is this not a convergence of causes and conditions? |
| 溯自我大愚阿阇黎开山以来，骧师缵其绪而日臻光大，广摄无量之禅机，引归究竟之净土，凡我同门，胥已共喻，所冀群起而发扬之，俾世人于佛法分宗之执见，如金在炉，渐以熔化，同归性海，同证菩提，既以此编为慈航，庶不负骧师入尘普度之婆心也夫，是为序。 | Since our Acharya Dayu founded this tradition, Master Xianglu has continued its work and brought it ever greater flourishing. He broadly embraces the innumerable capacities for Chan and guides them toward the ultimate Pure Land. All of us fellow disciples have come to understand this together. We hope that everyone will rise up to promote it, so that the world's attached views that divide the Buddhadharma into sects may gradually melt away, like gold in a furnace. May all return together to the ocean of true nature and realize bodhi together. With this volume as a compassionate ferry, may we not disappoint Master Xianglu's compassionate heart in entering the world of dust to liberate all beings. This is my preface. |
| 一九四○年庚辰新春京江蔡钟驹谨序 | Respectfully prefaced by Cai Zhongju of Jingjiang, in the early spring of the gengchen year, 1940 |
