Writings of Master Yuanyin | 1995-01-25 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 上座前 | Before Taking the Seat |
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| 今天大家发心，用心中心密法来打七，恰是无上殊胜的因缘。心中心法是佛教密宗的一个很高深的法门，属于密宗九乘次第的巅顶——心髓部分。 | Today, everyone has aroused the resolve to undertake a seven-day retreat using the Heart-of-Heart Esoteric Dharma. This is indeed a supreme and excellent convergence of causes and conditions. The Heart-of-Heart Dharma is a profound Dharma gate of Esoteric Buddhism, belonging to the summit—the heart-essence portion—of The Nine Vehicles of Esoteric Buddhism. |
| 它不需要在外围兜圈子，如四加行、前行、生起次第、圆满次第等，而直接进入正行，用印、咒，假佛力加持，打开本性，彻见真心。 | It does not require one to circle about on the periphery through such practices as the four preliminary practices, preliminary practices, the generation stage, and the completion stage. Rather, it enters directly into the main practice: using mudrās and mantras, relying on the Buddha's empowering force, opening one's intrinsic nature, and thoroughly seeing the true mind. |
| 打七是克期成就的要法，大家每天坐十二小时，每一座修四小时，修三座，前二座修第四印，最后一座修第二印，修的当中若感到手痛，也可以在最后二小时（即第十一至十二小时）改修第四印。 | A seven-day retreat is an essential method for attaining realization within a fixed period. Each day, everyone sits for twelve hours, practicing three sessions of four hours each. In the first two sessions, practice the fourth mudrā; in the final session, practice the second mudrā. If your hands become painful during practice, you may also change to the fourth mudrā for the final two hours—that is, the eleventh and twelfth hours. |
| 第四印是开智慧而成道的，第二印是消障的，因为我们多生以来，业障积习深厚，不消除它就不能开发智慧。第七天要坐十八小时，每座六小时，全部修第四印，不再修第二印了。 | The fourth mudrā opens wisdom and enables one to realize the Way, while the second mudrā eliminates obstructions. Since our karmic obstacles and habitual tendencies accumulated over many lives are deeply entrenched, wisdom cannot unfold unless they are eliminated. On the seventh day, sit for eighteen hours, six hours per session, practicing only the fourth mudrā and no longer the second. |
| 打七当中不要急着求入定，更不可求神通与开悟。因为一有求得之心，便是乌云生起，遮盖了本性光明，反而不得定不开悟。上座要像平常打坐一样，如法修就行了。若有时心乱如麻，可以出声念咒，以平妄心。 | During the seven-day retreat, do not be anxious to enter samādhi, much less seek spiritual powers or awakening. For as soon as the mind seeks attainment, dark clouds arise and obscure the light of intrinsic nature; instead, one will neither enter samādhi nor awaken. When taking the seat, simply practice in accordance with the Dharma as you ordinarily meditate. If at times the mind is as chaotic as tangled hemp, you may recite the mantra aloud to calm the deluded mind. |
| 打坐时若咳嗽要尽量声小，捂住声音，以免影响别人。若腿麻木不可忍受时，可以换一下，应尽量忍耐，手印绝对不可散开。念头一来，看见念头起，不跟念头跑就行。若看不见念头起，跟着跑了好久才知觉，这是修法的大忌。 | When meditating, if you cough, keep the sound as low as possible and cover your mouth, so as not to disturb others. If numbness in your legs becomes unbearable, you may shift your position, though you should endure it as much as possible. Under no circumstances may the mudrā be released. When a thought arises, simply see it arise and do not follow it. If you fail to see the thought arise and only realize after following it for a long time, this is a major taboo in practice. |
| 古德云：“不怕念起，只怕觉迟。”所以大家须于念来时即看见，不跟着跑。念来压住不让它起也不好，让它起而不跟着流浪即是。入定时，咒念不出来了，不要着意去提它，让它去，一提就出定了。但入定和睡着又不同。 | An ancient worthy said, “Do not fear the arising of thoughts; fear only that awareness comes too late.” Therefore, when thoughts arise, you must see them immediately and not follow them. It is also not good to suppress thoughts and prevent them from arising; simply let them arise without following their wandering. When entering samādhi, the mantra can no longer be recited. Do not deliberately try to bring it up; let it be, for the moment you raise it, you emerge from samādhi. Yet entering samādhi differs from falling asleep. |
| 睡着了手印会散开，头低下，没知觉，咒不念了（这时要挺直腰，睁开双眼，提起咒，把睡魔驱走）；入定手印不散，有知觉，咒没有了。这时看着它，如猫捕鼠，妄念一动即扑将去。妄念不起，只牢牢地看住它，看到最后，忽然能看之心与所看之境一齐脱落，就打开本来了。 | When asleep, the mudrā comes apart, the head droops, awareness is lost, and the mantra is no longer recited. At that point, straighten your back, open your eyes, bring up the mantra, and drive away the demon of sleep. In samādhi, however, the mudrā does not come apart, awareness remains, and the mantra disappears. At such a time, watch it like a cat catching a mouse: the instant a deluded thought stirs, pounce upon it. If no deluded thought arises, simply watch it firmly. Finally, the mind that watches and the object watched suddenly fall away together, and the original nature opens. |
| 打坐中，由于障重有什么不适的话，不要勉强，可以休息一下或少坐几小时。打坐当中气机发动，可能有许多感觉，都不去管它，只当自己死了，什么事都不管就是了。 | If, during meditation, your heavy obstructions cause any discomfort, do not force yourself. You may rest for a while or sit for fewer hours. When the vital energy begins to move during meditation, many sensations may arise. Pay no attention to any of them; simply regard yourself as dead and concern yourself with nothing at all. |
| 大家本来都是佛，只因追逐外境，迷惑了本性。只要一切放下，不执着就能恢复本来的面貌。因此大家要珍惜这个机会，把妄念息下来，认真修法，以期见到本性。更进一步保护本性，在事境上锻炼，把自己多生历劫的习气扫除干净，圆证菩提，方不负今生来人间走此一遭。祝大家都能成就！ | You are all originally Buddhas, but by pursuing external circumstances, you have become deluded about your intrinsic nature. So long as you let go of everything and do not cling, you can recover your original countenance. Therefore, cherish this opportunity, quiet deluded thoughts, and practice earnestly, in the hope of seeing your intrinsic nature. Go further by safeguarding it, tempering the mind through circumstances, thoroughly sweeping away the habitual tendencies accumulated through many lives and kalpas, and perfectly realizing bodhi. Only then will you not have failed this one journey through the human world in this life. May you all attain realization! |
| 第一天 | Day One |
| 打七是不讲话的，但诸位有什么问题可以提出来。 | During a seven-day retreat, one does not speak, but if you have any questions, you may raise them. |
| 问：脚、腿痛怎么办？ | Question: What should one do if the feet and legs hurt? |
| 答：脚腿酸痛，尽量忍一下。但若心乱了，因痛而散乱时，就可以换换，动动。但如结印手痛，不可以散印。对治的办法是：把心盯在咒上，忘记手，手就不痛了。 | Answer: If your feet and legs ache, endure it as much as possible. But if the pain unsettles your mind and makes it scattered, you may adjust your position and move a little. If the mudrā causes pain in your hands, however, you may not release it. The remedy is to keep your mind fixed on the mantra and forget your hands; then the pain in your hands will cease. |
| 手印就如我们自己的光明能量和佛菩萨的光能联系的导线，手印一散线就断了，所以不能散。持咒要用金刚持的办法，采用金刚持来念咒既不伤气也不伤血，到一定时唇不动了，也由它去。 | The mudrā is like a wire connecting our own luminous energy with the light-energy of Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Once the mudrā is released, the wire is severed; therefore, it must not be released. For mantra recitation, use the method of vajra recitation. Reciting mantras in this way harms neither vital energy nor blood. When, at a certain point, the lips no longer move, simply let them be. |
| 开始时集中精力心念耳闻，念念会松一些。假如从开始一直都紧张地盯着念咒，不容易入静。至于紧松严宽怎样合适，要自己去感觉掌握。过松易睡，过紧不易入静。如手中捉一只雀一样，抓紧了会捏死它，松了雀又飞掉了。要掌握到不松不紧、正好合适为度。嗝气不用管它，不要压制它，放屁也让它放，只是注意不要影响别人就行。 | At the beginning, concentrate your energy on mentally reciting and listening with the ears, but let the recitation relax somewhat. If from the outset you keep tensely watching the mantra recitation, it will not be easy to enter stillness. As for the proper balance between tension and relaxation, strictness and ease, you must feel it out and learn to manage it yourself. If too relaxed, you easily fall asleep; if too tense, you cannot easily enter stillness. It is like holding a sparrow in your hand: grip it too tightly and you will crush it to death; loosen your grip and it will fly away. You must find the measure that is neither loose nor tight, but exactly right. Do not concern yourself with belching; do not suppress it. Let yourself pass gas as well, provided that you do not disturb others. |
| 问：手印散没散不知道怎么办？ | Question: What should one do if one does not know whether the mudrā has come apart? |
| 答：一般打坐不睡着的话，手印就不会散，气发动起来会顺着两臂下来，会把手印紧紧地夹住，手印会结得很紧（我们修这个法气发动起来的情景和气功的不同，气功的气走向是一条线，我们是一片如蒸锅一样），只有睡着才松掉。 | Answer: Generally, if you do not fall asleep while meditating, the mudrā will not come apart. When the vital energy begins to move, it descends along both arms and clamps the mudrā tightly, so that it is formed very firmly. The movement of energy in our practice differs from qigong: in qigong, the energy moves in a single line, whereas ours spreads throughout in a mass, like a steaming pot. Only when you fall asleep does the mudrā loosen. |
| 境界现相，都是六识不清净而现出的，是六识的反映，是虚假无自性的。《金刚经》中讲一切相皆是虚妄的，所以在打坐时没有相最好，什么都没有看见顶好。 | All appearances that manifest in meditative states arise because the six consciousnesses are not pure; they are reflections of the six consciousnesses, false and without inherent nature. The Diamond Sūtra says that all appearances are illusory. Therefore, in meditation, it is best for no appearances to arise; it is best to see nothing at all. |
| 看见什么并不好，说明六识没有清净还在乱动，于是就显相了，所以无相最好。我们的法身本来是无相可见的，它只是一个大能量、大功能，是无相可见的。 | Seeing something is not good, for it indicates that the six consciousnesses are not yet pure and are still moving chaotically, thereby giving rise to appearances. Thus, no appearance is best. Our dharmakāya is originally without any form that can be seen. It is simply a great energy and great function, without visible form. |
| 如果能看到光或看见佛像，更或墙外的东西也看见了，以为是好，住在那里不动了，就不行；也有的人看见了不好的境界，心里害怕，这也是自己的妄心所致，真正证到本性是一点点相也没有；有的人有上升感觉，升到天上去了 | If one sees light, sees images of Buddhas, or even sees things beyond the wall, one may take this to be good and remain fixed there; that will not do. Some people see unpleasant states and become afraid, but this too is caused by their own deluded minds. In truly realizing intrinsic nature, there is not the slightest appearance. Some people feel themselves rising and ascending to heaven. |
| ，看见玉皇大帝了，能不能看见呢？是能看见的，玉帝是欲界第二重天界的皇帝，那里人的衣着如同我们唱戏穿的衣服一样。这也好也不好，好的呢，说明入定到一定程度了；不好的呢，易着相，易导致贪求神通而入魔。等于我们走路时拣到一块金子，好呢，可以买些东西；不好呢，会因此而闯出祸来。 | They then see the Jade Emperor. Can this happen? It can. The Jade Emperor is the ruler of the second heaven of the desire realm, where people's clothing resembles the costumes worn in traditional opera. This is both good and not good. It is good because it indicates that one has entered samādhi to a certain degree; it is not good because one may easily become attached to appearances and, through craving spiritual powers, enter demonic states. It is like finding a piece of gold while walking: it is good because you can buy things with it, but not good because it may bring trouble upon you. |
| 问：如何观照？ | Question: How should one contemplate? |
| 答：如猫捕鼠，看着念头起处，聚精会神地看着这个起处。所谓照顾话头，就是看一念未动之前，念来即觉，觉即转空。转的意思是看念头来了不睬，或用咒来转，不跟它走就是转。 | Answer: Like a cat catching a mouse, watch the point at which thoughts arise; focus your whole attention on that point of arising. What is called attending to the huatou is to watch that which is present before a single thought has stirred. When a thought arises, become aware of it immediately; once aware, turn it into emptiness. To turn it means not to heed a thought when it arises, or to turn it by using the mantra. Not following it is itself turning it. |
| 念就没有了，空也不住，一有所住即不能彻见本心。打七的第一天比较难受，如同一只猴子平时跳惯了，现在把它关起来了，较难受。不要紧，功夫做下去，第二天第三天就会好些，就会得到禅味的乐趣了。 | Then the thought disappears. Do not abide even in emptiness, for as soon as there is abiding, you cannot thoroughly see the original mind. The first day of a seven-day retreat is relatively difficult, like a monkey accustomed to leaping about that is now confined. Do not worry. Continue the practice, and by the second and third days it will become easier, and you will experience the joy of the flavor of Chan. |
| 坐到后面逐渐化空了，感到脚没有了，头没有了，都不去管它，只看着念头，看到极处深处，妄念忽然一断，就根尘脱落，亲见本来了。 | As you continue sitting, things gradually dissolve into emptiness. You may feel that your legs are gone or that your head is gone; pay no attention to it all. Simply watch your thoughts. When watching reaches its utmost depth, deluded thoughts suddenly cease, the sense faculties and their objects fall away, and you directly see the original nature. |
| 问：爆炸是怎么回事？ | Question: What is this explosion? |
| 答：爆炸是功夫做到火候上，忽然脱开的刹那爆发显现，犹如火药装到饱和要爆炸一样。这不要怕，我给你们讲一个同仁用功的经历供参考。 | Answer: An explosion manifests when practice reaches its proper maturity and suddenly breaks free in an instant, just as gunpowder explodes when it has been packed to saturation. Do not be afraid of this. Let me tell you of one fellow practitioner's experience as a reference. |
| 陕西一个道友在打坐时，入静以后，心如一面大镜子，什么东西都朗照现前了，以为这是开悟了，其实不是开悟。光一照你，应豁然爆破，粉碎无余才对，这就是爆炸，就是脱开的那一刹那。不是另有爆炸，而是在一照之下，身心世界都化空的体现。 | A Dharma friend in Shaanxi, after entering stillness during meditation, found that his mind was like a great mirror in which everything appeared brightly illuminated before him. He thought this was awakening, but it was not. When the light shines upon you, there should be a sudden explosive breakthrough, with everything shattered without remainder. This is the explosion: the instant of breaking free. It is not some separate explosion, but the manifestation that, in a single illumination, body, mind, and world all dissolve into emptiness. |
| 问：嘴张着念咒好不好？ | Question: Is it all right to recite the mantra with the mouth open? |
| 答：念咒时嘴不要张开，唇微动。我们不似道教讲炼精化气。但我们也离不开炼精化气，心火向下至胞中穴，上面有膀胱精囊，如火盆薰那壶水，于是水就因高温而化成气。气上升到颅顶，化为水，可以咽下去，对身体有好处。到深定时，呼吸好像断了，它不从鼻子走而是从全身毛孔和皮肤走。 | Answer: When reciting the mantra, do not open your mouth; let the lips move slightly. We are not like Daoism, which speaks of refining essence into vital energy. Yet we also cannot be separated from refining essence into vital energy. The fire of the mind descends to the point within the womb; above it are the bladder and seminal vesicles. Like a brazier heating a kettle of water, the water is transformed by high temperature into vital energy. The energy rises to the crown of the head, becomes liquid, and may be swallowed, benefiting the body. In deep samādhi, breathing seems to cease: it does not pass through the nose but through all the pores and skin of the body. |
| 我们不用那些观想的方法，我们只用心念耳闻的方法，倾听心念咒的无声之声，用耳把意根摄住，妄念就不动了。我们的六根本来是一精明分为六和合的，原是一颗真心的分用。用最灵敏的耳根，抓难摄的意根，是修行中最易成就的方法。 | We do not use such visualization methods. We use only the method of mentally reciting and listening with the ears: listen to the soundless sound of the mind reciting the mantra, and use the ear faculty to gather in the mind faculty, so that deluded thoughts no longer move. Our six sense faculties were originally one luminous essence divided into six functions in mutual combination; they are originally differentiated functions of one true mind. Using the most sensitive ear faculty to grasp the difficult-to-gather mind faculty is the easiest method for attaining realization in practice. |
| 我们通常说“兄弟八个一个痴”，痴是第八识，因为它不分好坏都收进来，所以里面的种子多得很，是个痴子、呆子；“其中一个最伶俐”，是指第六识，难调伏；“五个门头做买卖”，前五个识对外境，大脑跟着前五识跑，起作为；“一个往来传消息”，指第七识是个管传达的，专门往来传递消息。 | We often say, “Eight brothers, one of them foolish.” The foolish one is the eighth consciousness, because it receives everything without distinguishing good from bad, and thus contains a great many seeds; it is a fool, a dullard. “Among them, one is the cleverest” refers to the sixth consciousness, which is difficult to tame. “Five gatekeepers conduct business” refers to the first five consciousnesses facing external objects; the brain follows these five consciousnesses and gives rise to activity. “One travels back and forth carrying messages” refers to the seventh consciousness, which handles communication and specializes in transmitting messages back and forth. |
| 意根怎么抓呢？就是用耳根听来抓它。下座后要观照，观即是观一念未生之前的那个东西，那个了了分明，即是观照自己。这个自己不是自己的肉身，而是自己的真心，一念未起之前的真心，那个灵知的心。 | How does one grasp the mind faculty? One uses the ear faculty to listen and thereby grasp it. After leaving the seat, one must contemplate. Contemplation means contemplating that which is present before a single thought arises—that which is clear and distinct. This is contemplating oneself. This self is not one's physical body, but one's true mind before a thought has arisen: the mind of numinous knowing. |
| 看着它，就是观自在，观住在本位上不动的那个东西，这是上座、下座都很重要的功夫。打七期中不许讲话，也是为了观那个灵知的心，就是绵密做功夫，讲话就容易忘记观照了。动静结合就能克期得定，在七天内取得成就。 | Watching it is contemplating self-mastery: contemplate that which abides unmoving in the original ground. This is very important practice both on and off the meditation cushion. During a seven-day retreat, speaking is not permitted, also so that one may contemplate that spiritually aware mind—that is, practice continuously and seamlessly. Speaking easily makes one forget to maintain contemplation. By combining activity and stillness, one can attain meditative stability within a set period and achieve accomplishment within seven days. |
| 修心中心法多用第二、第四印，打七也用二、四印。二印可以除障，能够代替百字明，百字明不需再念了。 | In practicing the Heart-of-Heart Dharma, the second and fourth mudrās are used most often; the second and fourth mudrās are also used during a seven-day retreat. The second mudrā can eliminate obscurations and can substitute for the Hundred-Syllable Mantra, so there is no need to recite the Hundred-Syllable Mantra again. |
| 问：上座当中，手臂酸疼，容易倒下，怎么办？ | Question: During meditation, my arms become sore and painful and easily droop. What should I do? |
| 答：有几个师兄是这样做的，脖子上挂一个宽带子，或在腿上摆一个软枕头，手放在上面，略休息一下。手印应该是自然结紧，不要松，坐得入定，自然有气把手印紧紧结住，越念咒越紧，不会松开，手印疼过就不疼了。要了生死，出三界，得大自在，一定要如法修行，不断精进。 | Answer: Several fellow practitioners deal with this by hanging a broad strap around the neck, or placing a soft cushion on their legs and resting their hands on it briefly. The mudrā should be formed naturally and firmly; do not relax it. When you enter samādhi, the qi will naturally hold the mudrā tightly together. The more you recite the mantra, the tighter it becomes, and it will not loosen. Once the mudrā has passed through its pain, it will no longer hurt. To transcend birth and death, leave the three realms, and attain great freedom, you must practice in accordance with the Dharma and advance diligently without ceasing. |
| 第二天 | Day Two |
| 现在大家把明心见性看得高得不得了，认为很难很难，实际这是个错误观点。临济大师说过：一切众生皆有佛性，赤肉团上有一个无位真人。即说我们每个人的心上都有个真人。 | Nowadays, everyone regards realizing the mind and seeing one’s true nature as something extraordinarily lofty and thinks it extremely difficult. In fact, this is an erroneous view. Chan Master Linji said: “All sentient beings possess Buddha-nature; within this lump of red flesh is a True Person of No Rank.” That is, in the mind of each one of us there is a true person. |
| 这真人为什么无位呀，这真人是尽虚空遍法界无处不在的。为什么又说赤肉团上呢，不是矛盾了吗？这是因为我们有无明妄心，因无明之故，就把这个广大无边的佛性缩小了，拘在一定的处所，才有了住处。 | Why is this true person said to be without rank? Because this true person pervades the whole of empty space and the dharma realm and is everywhere present. Why, then, is it also said to be within this lump of red flesh? Is that not contradictory? It is because we have an ignorant, deluded mind. On account of ignorance, we shrink this vast and boundless Buddha-nature and confine it to a particular place; only then does it seem to have an abode. |
| 一个昆虫体内也有佛性，放开它这佛性也会广大无边。临济大师的话就是要我们知道，无明的心上有一个佛性在。临济大师进一步又说：这佛性在什么地方？我们怎样见到它呢？即这听法者是，说法者是。 | Even within the body of an insect there is Buddha-nature; if released, its Buddha-nature too is vast and boundless. Chan Master Linji’s words tell us that within the mind of ignorance there is Buddha-nature. Linji went on to say: Where is this Buddha-nature? How do we see it? It is precisely that which hears the Dharma and that which teaches the Dharma. |
| 能说法的和能听法的那个东西即是。我们身体不能说不能闻，他如机器人一样，一切零部件都安装好，不通电，还是不能动作。 | It is that which can teach the Dharma and that which can hear the Dharma. Our physical bodies can neither speak nor hear. They are like robots: even if all the components are installed, without electricity they still cannot move. |
| 我们这个肉体心肝脾胃肾五脏六腑等都有，那么电是什么？能动、能说、能闻、能走路、能工作的这个功能、这个性能、这个能量就是电，就是我们本有的佛性。只要我们在动乱当中回光返照，放下，精进，就一定能成就。 | Our physical bodies have the heart, liver, spleen, stomach, kidneys, the five viscera, and the six entrails. But what is the electricity? The capacity, function, and energy that enable us to move, speak, hear, walk, and work are the electricity; they are our inherently possessed Buddha-nature. So long as, amid activity and disturbance, we turn the light inward, let go, and diligently advance, we will certainly attain accomplishment. |
| 临济大师说得这么清楚，是他自己通过修持证到，悟出来的。从前他刚出家时也不知道。 | Chan Master Linji explained this so clearly because he himself realized and awakened to it through cultivation. When he had first left home to become a monastic, he did not know it either. |
| 开始当小和尚时，首座见他总不去问法，就问他：“喂！你怎么不到和尚（黄檗祖师）处问法呀？”临济说：“你叫我问什么呀？”首座说：“你可以问，如何是佛法大意呀？”于是临济就去问黄檗：“什么是佛法大意呀？”祖师听后不讲什么就“啪”地一下打过来，临济便退回来。 | When he first became a novice monk, the head-seat monk saw that he never went to ask about the Dharma and asked him, “Hey! Why do you not go to the monk, Patriarch Huangbo, to ask about the Dharma?” Linji said, “What do you want me to ask?” The head-seat monk said, “You may ask: ‘What is the essential meaning of the Buddhadharma?’” Linji therefore went to ask Huangbo, “What is the essential meaning of the Buddhadharma?” On hearing this, the patriarch said nothing, but with a smack struck him. Linji then withdrew. |
| 第二天首座要他再去问，结果还是被一板子打过来。如是者三次问，三次被打。这公案是告诉学人，佛性不在别处，就在当人面门放光，只于一念断处，回光一瞥，猛然省悟即是。不要立相求索，这和明心见性相悖，一有所著，永远不会见性开悟。 | The next day, the head-seat monk told him to go and ask again, and again he was struck with a stick. Thus, he asked three times and was struck three times. This koan tells students that Buddha-nature is not elsewhere: it shines forth directly before each person’s face. At the point where a thought ceases, turn the light inward for a glance, and suddenly awakening is itself the answer. Do not seek by establishing appearances; this runs counter to realizing the mind and seeing one’s true nature. Once there is any attachment, one will never see one’s true nature and awaken. |
| 所谓修行，即去掉人的执着习气，回复我们的本来。我们本来是佛，所以成佛应没有困难，只要回头息妄就是如来。 | What is called practice is removing one’s clinging habitual tendencies and returning to what we originally are. We originally are Buddhas, so becoming a Buddha should not be difficult. One need only turn back and cease deluded thoughts; this is the Tathāgata. |
| 所谓“苦海无边，回头是岸”，回过头来看自己的念头起处，看着它，一直看到一个念头不生时，这是什么？这时会如梦猛然惊醒一般，噢！原来就是他！“噢”这一声，就如禅宗讲的“囫”（音忽）的一声。 | As the saying goes, “The sea of suffering is boundless; turn back and there is the shore.” Turn back to look at the point where your thoughts arise; watch them until not a single thought arises. What is this? At that moment, it is as if one suddenly awakens from a dream: “Oh! So this is it!” That sound of “Oh!” is like the “hu!” sound spoken of in the Chan school. |
| “踏破铁鞋无觅处，得来全不费功夫”，到处都找不到，其实它就在你面前，从未离开，越找越远，不找歇下来看，就是它，过去的祖师都是这样回光返照、了悟见性的。 | “Having worn out iron shoes in fruitless searching, one finds it without the least effort.” You cannot find it anywhere, yet it is right before you and has never left. The more you seek it, the farther away it becomes. Do not seek; rest and look, and it is precisely this. The patriarchs of the past all turned the light inward in this way, awakened, and saw their true nature. |
| 今天把这见性的无相的真实相说明了，大家就不会去着相和追求了。所以在修法当中不要求见或顾忌什么东西，随它呈现什么景相，都不要理睬它。我们上次讲过有位师兄在修法时有只大毛手捂在他面孔上的故事。 | Today, having explained this formless true appearance of seeing one’s nature, everyone will no longer become attached to appearances or pursue them. Therefore, while practicing the Dharma, do not seek to see anything or worry about anything. Whatever appearances may arise, pay them no heed. Last time, we spoke of the fellow practitioner who, while practicing, saw a large hairy hand covering his face. |
| 打坐当中有什么现象都不要怕，都是假的，有时是护法神考验考验我们，看我们着不着相。所以有可怖的东西也不要怕，都是假相。 | Do not be afraid of any phenomena that occur during meditation; they are all false. Sometimes Dharma protectors test us to see whether we become attached to appearances. Therefore, do not fear frightening things either; they are all false appearances. |
| 佛菩萨现的愤怒身都是可怕的，因为这是怖魔的，恶魔凶，我比你还要凶，所以有句话讲“菩萨心肠罗刹面”，看见愤怒身相不用怕，他是保护我们的。“凡所有相，皆是虚妄。”成道时，一无所见，一点东西也没有。 | The wrathful forms manifested by Buddhas and bodhisattvas are all frightening, because they frighten demons. Demons are fierce, so I am fiercer than you. Thus there is a saying: “The heart of a bodhisattva, the face of a rākṣasa.” Do not be afraid when you see a wrathful form; it protects us. “All appearances are illusory.” At the realization of the Way, nothing whatsoever is seen; there is not the slightest thing. |
| 现在我们先要打开本来见到本性，然后消除习气，习气消除之后就可以发神通了。发神通没什么了不起，是枝末事，悟道是根本事。 | At present, we must first open up and see our original nature, then eliminate our habitual tendencies. After those habitual tendencies have been eliminated, spiritual powers may manifest. The manifestation of spiritual powers is nothing remarkable; it is a peripheral matter. Awakening to the Way is the fundamental matter. |
| 如一棵大树，根活了，上面枝叶一定会发青，以致枝叶茂盛；如果树根没活，上面即使有些青枝叶，那青叶也是假青，没用处，最后还要枯死。 | It is like a great tree: once its roots are alive, its branches and leaves above will certainly turn green and eventually flourish. But if the roots are not alive, then even if there are some green branches and leaves above, that greenness is false and useless; in the end they will wither. |
| 我们要先发道通即漏尽通，一切无住，烦恼都漏光了，这样所发的五种神通才是真的，永久的。没悟道所发的神通是五蕴魔，阴魔，阴影。比如没见本性，神出去了，出去后又着相了，又到生死境里去了。 | We must first develop the power of the Way—that is, the power of exhausted outflows. Abide nowhere, and let all afflictions drain away. Only then are the five spiritual powers that manifest genuine and lasting. Spiritual powers that manifest without awakening to the Way are demons of the five aggregates, yin demons, mere shadows. For example, if one has not seen one’s true nature and one’s spirit departs, then after departing one again becomes attached to appearances and enters the realm of birth and death again. |
| 以前有个人能出神了，神出去后，看见一棵大芭蕉树下躺着一个白胖丰满的女人，于是他心动着相，就扑上去了。其实呢，那是白毛猪在生小猪，由于他进去了，所以他也成了只小猪，后来一头碰死在石头上才回来。 | In the past, someone was able to send out his spirit. After it left, he saw a fair, plump, voluptuous woman lying beneath a large banana tree. His mind stirred and became attached to the appearance, so he pounced on her. In fact, it was a white sow giving birth to piglets. Because he entered her, he too became a piglet. Only after later striking his head against a stone and dying did he return. |
| 你们看这危险不危险。所以只有把着相的情见消光了，再不着相动心了，得了道通，再发五通，方为真神通，不然是要闯大祸的。我们应该不着神通，看着念头起处，看到极处，忽然之间一断，能看之心所看之念一切都断了，本性就昭昭现前了。 | You see how dangerous this is. Therefore, only after the emotional views that cling to appearances have been completely eliminated, so that one is no longer attached to appearances or moved in mind, and after one has attained the power of the Way, may the five spiritual powers manifest; only then are they genuine spiritual powers. Otherwise, one will cause great disaster. We should not become attached to spiritual powers. Watch the point where thoughts arise until you reach the utmost point; then suddenly there is a break, and the mind that watches and the thought that is watched both cease entirely. One’s true nature will then clearly appear before one. |
| 好，大家有什么问题，提出来讨论讨论。 | All right. If you have any questions, please raise them for discussion. |
| 问：打坐时有亮光好不好？ | Question: Is it good to see light during meditation? |
| 答：打坐时感觉到有亮光不要理它。光有二种：一种妄光，一种真光。未见性之前发的光是妄光，见性之后放的光是真光。妄光是着相，以为放光了，喜欢之心油然而生，着在相上形成妄光。 | Answer: If you sense light during meditation, do not pay attention to it. There are two kinds of light: deluded light and true light. Light that appears before seeing one’s true nature is deluded light; light that shines forth after seeing one’s true nature is true light. Deluded light arises from attachment to appearances: one thinks one is emitting light, and delight naturally arises, so attachment to the appearance produces deluded light. |
| 我们在打坐时，不许见光、见佛，见什么都不睬它。我们现在见的光有限度，小小的光。真正的大光明是朗照十方世界，十方三世佛都看得见，你在诸佛身中，诸佛在你身中，彼此交辉无碍。 | During meditation, we must not seek to see light or Buddhas; whatever we see, we pay it no heed. The light we now see is limited, only a small light. The true great light treasury illuminates the ten directions. One can see all Buddhas of the ten directions and three divisions of time; you are within all Buddhas, and all Buddhas are within you, mutually illuminating one another without obstruction. |
| 《华严经》中讲：佛性就像十方明镜互照，各影都在对方镜中，重复交参，我入入我，重重无尽。现在我们放的光还微弱得很，所以不用睬它，进一步把自身化空，超出身心世界，大放光明，朗照大千，方有入处。《中阴救度法》中讲：大放光明的是母光，认识这光的是子光，母子合起来，合体即成道。即此之谓。 | The Avataṃsaka Sūtra says that Buddha-nature is like bright mirrors in the ten directions reflecting one another: each image is within the other’s mirror, interpenetrating and recurring; I enter you and you enter me, layer upon layer without end. The light we now emit is still exceedingly faint, so there is no need to heed it. Go further: transform your own body into emptiness, transcend body, mind, and world, and radiate great light that illuminates the great thousandfold world—only then is there an entry point. The Teaching of Liberation Through Hearing in the Intermediate State says that the great radiating light is the mother light, and the light that recognizes it is the child light. When mother and child unite, their union is the realization of the Way. This is what it means. |
| 问：我总看见一只黑猫，怎么办？ | Question: I keep seeing a black cat. What should I do? |
| 答：不理它，它就走了，恋着它就难化去。有的人家里有人亡故了，活着的人总是想着他、念着他，他就走不了了。不要有心，猫、狗也一样，看到它是六识的反映。 | Answer: Pay it no heed, and it will go away. If you become attached to it, it will be difficult to dispel. When someone in a household has died, the living may continually think of and remember that person, and then the deceased cannot leave. Do not deliberately fix your mind on it. Cats and dogs are the same: seeing them is a reflection of the six consciousnesses. |
| 假如打坐当中，我们有气升起、头有爆炸开的感觉，也不要怕，让它去，死就死，不理它，其实不死。但未到这地步也不要去迎合它，迎合它的心要不得，一迎合它就不来了。若身体某部分感到发胀或痛，那不是病，病都是业障所致，现在的胀痛是气未通之故，通了就不疼了。至于气升不升上来都不管它，随其自然好了。 | Suppose that during meditation qi rises, or your head feels as though it is bursting open. Do not be afraid; let it be. Even if you die, then die—do not pay attention to it. In fact, you will not die. But if you have not reached this point, do not try to induce it. The mind that seeks to induce it is unacceptable; as soon as you try to induce it, it will not come. If some part of the body feels swollen or painful, that is not illness. Illness is caused by karmic obstacles; the present swelling and pain occur because the qi has not yet passed through. Once it passes through, there will be no pain. As for whether qi rises or not, do not concern yourself with it. Let it take its natural course. |
| 我们修法气升上来，它不从背后走而是从中脉走。我们身体有热、凉、麻、痒、轻、重、滑、涩等等感觉都不要管它，这是气血在变化，不要紧，不去管它就行了。 | When qi rises in our practice, it does not travel along the back but through the central channel. Whether our bodies feel warmth, coolness, numbness, itching, lightness, heaviness, smoothness, roughness, or the like, do not concern yourself with it. These are changes in qi and blood; there is nothing to worry about. Simply do not pay attention to them. |
| 问：打坐时有念头怎么办？ | Question: What should I do if thoughts arise during meditation? |
| 答：我们的念头有四层：粗，细，微细，极微细。细的念头静下来才能看见，不静下来看不见，注意听咒，听得心静了，才能看到微细的念头。 | Answer: Our thoughts have four levels: coarse, subtle, very subtle, and extremely subtle. Subtle thoughts can be seen only when one has become still; without stillness, they cannot be seen. Attend carefully to the mantra. Only when listening to it quiets the mind can one see very subtle thoughts. |
| 如果你跟着念头转了，一开始起时你没有觉照，转了一会儿才觉到，觉到后马上不睬它，不睬就没有了。微细之后极微细，还要再定下去才能看得见。微细流注，没有静止的时候，一直在动。 | If you follow a thought, you may initially fail to be aware of it and notice it only after following it for a while. Once you notice it, immediately disregard it; when you do not attend to it, it disappears. After the subtle comes the extremely subtle; only by settling still further can you see it. The subtle continuous stream never remains still; it is always in motion. |
| 识阴——最微细的念头如潜水之鱼，动得快，一般看不到，直到最后才会看到它。我们说：放下，放下，只是粗的。 | The aggregate of consciousness: the most subtle thoughts are like fish beneath the water, moving so swiftly that one ordinarily cannot see them. Only at the very end can one see them. When we say, “Let go, let go,” we are speaking only of the coarse ones. |
| 家里的事情，以及其他一切事都不管了，这只是粗妄放下；然后是细妄，一些脑子里的意念；如果细妄不动了，微细的妄念才看得见，直至最微细的，一层层的深入。我们曾做过试验，水流太快时，就看不见流动，像静止一样。 | Letting go of family affairs and all other matters is only letting go of coarse delusions. Then come subtle delusions—the ideas in one’s mind. If the subtle delusions no longer move, the minute deluded thoughts can then be seen, down to the most minute, as one penetrates layer by layer. We have conducted experiments: when water flows too swiftly, its movement cannot be seen and it appears still. |
| 电视节目看多了会伤眼睛，也由于这个原因——电讯信号的光栅跳动。假如发明一个动得加倍快的屏幕，就像不动一样，就不伤眼睛了。 | Watching too much television can injure the eyes for this reason as well: the raster of the electronic signal flickers. If a screen were invented that moved twice as fast, it would appear motionless and would not harm the eyes. |
| 在打坐时，不要要求自己入定，管它定不定都不理睬它，着相的念头顶不好，一切放下，本来是佛，不去求它，就好了。 | When meditating, do not demand that you enter samādhi. Whether samādhi arises or not, simply disregard it. Thoughts that cling to appearances are especially bad. Let everything go. You are originally Buddha; do not seek it, and all will be well. |
| 问：兜率天是欲界第四重天，是不是没出欲界？ | Question: Tuṣita Heaven is the fourth heaven of the desire realm. Does that mean it has not transcended the desire realm? |
| 答：兜率天是欲界，但内院是佛净土，不属欲界，是界外净土。兜率天外院就差了。在内院暂住修行，为的是度众生方便。 | Answer: Tuṣita Heaven belongs to the desire realm, but its Inner Court is a Buddha Pure Land. It does not belong to the desire realm; it is a Pure Land beyond the realms. The outer court of Tuṣita Heaven is inferior. One temporarily abides and cultivates in the Inner Court in order to have the expedient means to liberate sentient beings. |
| 第三天 | Day Three |
| 时间过得很快，三天下来了。大家各自都有境界发现，有的见到光，有的忘记手脚或现佛的境界等，不管现什么境界，都不要着相，不要理睬它。因为法身是无相的，见到有相的东西，都不是法身。 | Time passes quickly, and three days have gone by. Each of you has discovered various experiences: some have seen light, some have forgotten their hands and feet, and some have experienced visions of Buddhas. Whatever experiences appear, do not cling to appearances or attend to them. The dharmakāya is formless; whatever has form that one sees is not the dharmakāya. |
| 若着在相上就会被障住而入魔，看见光不是看到法身——见性。比如珍珠，它放光彩，若只看见光没看到珍珠，不能作为得到珍宝，要看到发光的本体，才算见性；又如电一样，有功能而无形相。所以佛性是无相可见。 | If you become attached to appearances, you will be obstructed and fall into demonic states. Seeing light is not seeing the dharmakāya—that is, seeing one’s true nature. Take a pearl: it emits a radiance, but if one sees only the light and not the pearl, this cannot count as obtaining the precious jewel. Only upon seeing the substance that emits the light does it count as seeing one’s true nature. Electricity is another example: it has function but no visible form. Thus Buddha-nature has no form that can be seen. |
| 从前高峰祖师做功夫，刚出家时未遇明师指点，每天只跟着当家和尚做经忏，有一天做完经忏，他担着担子走在后面，天下大雪，当经过一家门口时，听到里面人讲：“经忏鬼子回来了！”他听了很迷惑，就问师父：“出家是否还有别的事可做？”师父说：“别的事就不知道了。 | Long ago, Patriarch Gaofeng was practicing when, having only recently left home and not yet encountered an enlightened teacher’s guidance, he merely followed the monastery steward in performing sūtra recitations and repentance rites each day. One day, after such a service, he was walking behind carrying a load on his shoulder. Heavy snow was falling, and as they passed a household, he heard someone inside say, “The sūtra-recitation ghost has come back!” He was greatly perplexed and asked his teacher whether there was anything else one could do after leaving home. His teacher replied that he did not know. |
| 此处三十里之外，有个白云禅寺，你去那里问问看。”他就到白云禅寺去问，白云禅师指示他说：“出家之后要了生死，出三界，做经忏不能了生死的。要参禅，参父母未生之前是什么样子。”他参了很久，不开悟。 | “Thirty li from here there is a Chan monastery called Baiyun. Go there and ask.” He then went to Baiyun Chan Monastery. Chan Master Baiyun instructed him: “After leaving home, one must transcend birth and death and leave the three realms. Performing sūtra recitations and repentance rites cannot transcend birth and death. You must investigate Chan: what were you like before your parents gave you birth?” He investigated this for a long time but did not awaken. |
| 后来又拜雪岩钦禅师，禅师问他：“拖死尸的是谁？”人一口气不来就是死尸啊，这拖死尸的是谁？从前禅宗师父就是这样指导行人用功参话头而见性的。 | Later, he also took Chan Master Xueyan Qin as his teacher. The Chan master asked him, “Who is it that drags this corpse?” When a person no longer draws breath, that is a corpse—so who is it that drags the corpse? In the past, Chan masters guided practitioners in this way, applying themselves to huatou investigation in order to see their true nature. |
| 傅大士作过一首诗：“空手把锄头，步行骑水牛，人从桥上过，桥流水不流。”此诗用比喻来说明佛性和相的关系，把身体比作牛，佛性比作人。 | Layman Fu composed a poem: “Empty-handed, he grasps a hoe; walking on foot, he rides a water buffalo. A person crosses over a bridge; the bridge flows, but the water does not flow.” This poem uses metaphor to explain the relationship between Buddha-nature and appearances, comparing the body to the buffalo and Buddha-nature to the person. |
| “人”是佛性，“桥”是身体，身体有生死，而“水”——佛性无生死，所以“桥”有走着而水无有动，水不流喻佛性。佛性不生不灭，不动不摇，不流动。高峰禅师到这时才明白了拖死尸的正是人的佛性。 | The “person” is Buddha-nature, and the “bridge” is the body. The body undergoes birth and death, whereas the “water”—Buddha-nature—does not. Thus the “bridge” is moving while the water does not move; the water’s not flowing symbolizes Buddha-nature. Buddha-nature neither arises nor ceases; it neither moves nor wavers, nor does it flow. Only then did Chan Master Gaofeng understand that what drags the corpse is precisely a person’s Buddha-nature. |
| 用功让人明白，身体是假的、不可得的，只有法身是真的。怎么认识它呢？就是一念不生处了了分明的灵知，那个灵知之性就是我们的佛性。然而人们对这点总是把握不住，不能首肯，“它在哪里呀？”就在你问处啊！（有人插话：知道是它就是抓不住它。）不要抓呀，它就在你面前，它逃不走。真心是尽虚空、遍法界、无处不在的呀。 | Practice enables people to understand that the body is false and unobtainable, and that only the dharmakāya is real. How can one recognize it? It is the lucid, spiritual knowing at the point where not a single thought arises; the nature of that spiritual knowing is our Buddha-nature. Yet people can never quite grasp this or acknowledge it: “Where is it?” It is right where you are asking! (Someone interjected: “I know it is this, but I still cannot grasp it.”) Do not try to grasp it. It is right before you; it cannot escape. The true mind fills empty space and pervades the dharma realm; it is everywhere. |
| 第四天 | Day Four |
| 从前有个公案，徒弟问师父：“大千世界坏了，法身坏不坏？”师父答：“法身也坏。”为什么这样回答，因为大千世界由法性显现，法性不生不灭，不会坏，所以大千世界也不会坏。若说大千世界坏了，岂不说法身也坏了。 | There was once a Chan koan in which a disciple asked his master, “When the great thousandfold world is destroyed, is the dharmakāya destroyed as well?” The master replied, “The dharmakāya is destroyed as well.” Why did he answer this way? The great thousandfold world is manifested from dharma-nature, and dharma-nature neither arises nor ceases and cannot be destroyed; therefore the great thousandfold world cannot be destroyed either. If one says that the great thousandfold world is destroyed, would that not also be saying that the dharmakāya is destroyed? |
| 禅师说法与别人不同，他是反过来讲的，告诉我们只有法身是不坏，最宝贵，其他都是假的，都是法身的附属品。我们于主人公不顾，只追求那些附属品就太冤枉了，在六道里轮回，白白辛苦。 | Chan masters teach differently from others: they speak in reverse. They tell us that only the dharmakāya is indestructible and most precious; everything else is false, merely an accessory of the dharmakāya. If we disregard the master and pursue only those accessories, how grievously mistaken we are, toiling in vain as we revolve through the six realms. |
| 所以要一切放下不要取着，只要根本的东西——佛性，才对！可惜许多人都不懂。天上的饮食不要种、不要买、也不要烧，却有很好的东西吃，哪里来的？这是福报呀！西方极乐世界更是如此，要吃什么，不要“买、洗、烧”。 | Therefore, let everything go and do not cling. To seek only the fundamental thing—Buddha-nature—is correct. Yet sadly, many people do not understand. In the heavens, food need not be planted, bought, or cooked, yet there is excellent food to eat. Where does it come from? It comes from blessings. The Western Land of Ultimate Bliss is even more so: whatever one wishes to eat is available, without having to buy, wash, or cook it. |
| 那里最下层是凡圣同居土，有凡夫，非但吃还要拉，但不同于人间，要放个大便桶，他们要拉时，地自然裂开，便好就合起来，全自动化的。天界也如此。 | There, the lowest level is the Land of the Common Residence of Ordinary Beings and Sages. There are ordinary beings there who not only eat but also need to defecate. Yet it is unlike the human world, where a chamber pot is needed: when they need to defecate, the ground naturally opens, and after they are finished, it closes again. It is entirely automatic. The heavenly realms are the same. |
| 这说明我们的佛性本身具足的，所以六祖说：“何期自性本自具足，何期自性能生万法。”《法华经》也讲：可怜的人们，不知自己有个大宝贝，具足一切，还到外面去乞讨。 | This shows that our Buddha-nature is inherently complete. Therefore, the Sixth Patriarch said, “How unexpected that intrinsic nature is originally complete in itself; how unexpected that intrinsic nature can give rise to all phenomena.” The Lotus Sūtra likewise says that pitiable people do not know they possess a great treasure, complete with everything, and yet go outside to beg. |
| 真是冤矣！人做这个做那个，挣钱，不是在讨饭吗？所以现在我们能明白这个道理，一切放下，当下就是，本来是佛，不须苦苦地修。反之，不能放，心里执着，苦修也无用。 | How truly grievous! When people do this or that and earn money, are they not begging for food? Thus, now that we can understand this principle, let everything go: that itself is it. We are originally Buddhas and need not cultivate with such painful effort. Conversely, if we cannot let go and remain attached in our minds, even arduous cultivation is useless. |
| 从前有个屠夫徒儿，听了道理，放下屠刀说：“我亦千佛一数。”你看好不痛快，放下就是了。人哪，就是不肯放下，能放下还打什么坐呀。打坐就是因为放不下，才让你打坐。 | There was once a butcher’s apprentice who, upon hearing this teaching, laid down his butcher’s knife and said, “I too am one among a thousand Buddhas.” See how direct and unburdened this is: simply let go. People just refuse to let go. If they could let go, why would they need to meditate? Meditation is prescribed precisely because they cannot let go. |
| 先坐坐吧，消消妄念，慢慢明白过来，才知道自己本来是佛，打坐原来是多此一举，冤枉，冤枉！如果真放得空空的，心能充足，变现自在，要什么有什么，还有什么忧虑烦恼？ | First sit in meditation for a while, dispel some deluded thoughts, and gradually come to understand that you are originally Buddha. Then you realize that meditation was superfluous—how mistaken, how mistaken! If you can truly let go completely, the mind will be fully sufficient and freely manifest transformations. Whatever you need will be available; what worries or afflictions could remain? |
| 有个出家和尚，打电话给我说：“你教我一个发财的方法吧，我现在没钱，穷啊。”你们看看这样怎么能修好佛法，你有了道，不愁没人帮助你，大家都会来帮助你。古大德也说过：“得道多助，失道寡助。”道即道德，德也就是得，所以有道德的人，就能得到一切，做功夫不怕饿死的。 | A monastic once telephoned me and said, “Teach me a way to become rich. I have no money; I am poor!” Consider how such a person could cultivate the Buddhadharma well. If you have attained the Way, you need not worry that no one will help you; everyone will come to help you. The ancient worthies also said, “Those who attain the Way receive much assistance; those who lose the Way receive little assistance.” The Way means moral virtue, and virtue also means obtaining. Thus, those with moral virtue can obtain everything; those who practice need not fear starving to death. |
| 何谓“放”，“放”即不住，不是不工作。厂长，教授，总经理照做，做过心里空空不粘着。小廖升科长，尽管去做去升，做时心里不住就是放。一点事情不干，二流子那样不叫放。无为无不为，做功夫不能呆。 | What does “letting go” mean? Letting go means non-abiding; it does not mean not working. Factory directors, professors, and general managers should continue doing their work, but after doing it, keep their minds empty and unattached. If Liao is promoted to section chief, he should simply do the work and accept the promotion; not abiding in the mind while doing so is letting go. Doing nothing at all, like an idler, is not letting go. Non-contrivance leaves nothing undone; one must not become inert in practice. |
| 从前有个学佛者，师父问他：“白天做得主吗？”“做得。”“晚上睡觉时、做梦时做得主吗？”“做得。”（梦是小昏迷，死时是大昏迷，梦中做得主已很好了。）我们做功夫，就是要于事境中做得主，不被事牵。但是做得主还不算，更须进一步，连做主也化空才得真实受用。报身，化身都是起用啊。 | There was once a Buddhist practitioner whose teacher asked, “Can you remain master of yourself during the day?” “Yes.” “Can you remain master of yourself when you sleep at night and dream?” “Yes.” (Dreaming is a minor loss of consciousness, while death is a major loss of consciousness. To remain master of oneself in dreams is already very good.) Our practice is to remain master of ourselves amid circumstances and not be dragged along by them. But remaining master of oneself is still not enough. One must go a step further: even mastery must be dissolved into emptiness before there can be genuine benefit. The sambhogakāya and nirmāṇakāya are both functioning. |
| 自性三身：一念清静心，不动不摇，就是法身。任何人都有一秒钟的清净心即佛心，可惜的是当人不认识它，这就是法身佛。能朗照一切的光明即报身佛。若无光明能见东西吗？看不见的。外面一切景象皆是我们法身所显现的，变化的，这都是我们的化身。我们自性具足三身，一点不缺少。 | The three bodies of intrinsic nature: a single thought of pure mind, unmoving and unwavering, is the dharmakāya. Everyone has at least one second of pure mind, which is the Buddha-mind; sadly, people do not recognize it. This is the dharmakāya Buddha. The luminosity that can clearly illuminate everything is the sambhogakāya Buddha. Without luminosity, could one see things? One could not. All outer appearances are manifested and transformed by our dharmakāya; these are all our nirmāṇakāya. Our intrinsic nature fully possesses the three bodies, lacking nothing at all. |
| 现在我们修的是法身佛，这最重要，果地报身不是现在能证到的，如善财童子五十三参，最后回到弥勒身边，弥勒告诉他：“你根本智已得，后得智未得。”后得智即多生积累功德所感的智慧报身。乃多做功德多做好事，积累得来的。释迦佛报身叫卢舍那佛，法身即毗卢遮那佛，化身即释迦佛。 | What we now cultivate is the dharmakāya Buddha; this is most important. The sambhogakāya at the fruition stage cannot be realized at present. For example, Sudhana made fifty-three visits and finally returned to Maitreya. Maitreya told him, “You have attained fundamental wisdom, but not differentiated wisdom.” Differentiated wisdom is the wisdom sambhogakāya brought about by merit accumulated over many lives—obtained through doing much meritorious work and many good deeds. Śākyamuni Buddha’s sambhogakāya is called Locana Buddha; his dharmakāya is Vairocana Buddha; and his nirmāṇakāya is Śākyamuni Buddha. |
| 报身有二个：一个是自受用报身，另一个是他受用报身。前一个是光明大佛，大菩萨能见，小菩萨不能见。释迦佛看到古佛报身庄严美好，发心成就，日夜精进，提前七劫成佛。 | There are two kinds of sambhogakāya: the self-enjoyment sambhogakāya and the sambhogakāya for the enjoyment of others. The former is a great Buddha of light, visible to great bodhisattvas but not to lesser bodhisattvas. When Śākyamuni Buddha saw the majestic beauty of an ancient Buddha’s sambhogakāya, he aroused the resolve to attain it and practiced diligently day and night, becoming a Buddha seven kalpas ahead of schedule. |
| 明白了这个道理，一切无住就是开悟，一念不生处就是我的本性。开悟也不能急，真打开时会大哭一场啊：太冤枉了，一尊大好的天真佛，怎么会在六道中轮回受苦？！ | Once one understands this principle, non-abiding in everything is awakening, and the place where not a single thought arises is one’s own intrinsic nature. Yet one must not be impatient for awakening. When it truly opens, one will have a great cry: How grievous! How could a fine, naturally genuine Buddha revolve through the six realms and suffer?! |
| 化身佛呢，因为功夫做到极细微的妄念都断光，没有了，所以能千变万化，化出千百亿化身，度千百亿众生。这是果地的法、报、化三身，圆满三身四智，即成果地佛。 | As for the manifestation-body Buddha, because even the subtlest deluded thoughts have been entirely eliminated through practice, it can transform in countless ways, manifesting innumerable transformation bodies to liberate innumerable sentient beings. These are the three kāyas of dharmakāya, sambhogakāya, and nirmāṇakāya at the stage of fruition. When the three kāyas and four wisdoms are perfected, one becomes a Buddha at the stage of fruition. |
| 我们做功夫要先悟到这个本体，龙牙禅师说“学道须先有悟由”，不开悟，做功夫就难做。先明确法身是什么，怎样亲自证见它，然后在事上锻炼，把习气打磨光，才能发神通。 | In our practice, we must first awaken to this fundamental essence. Chan Master Longya said, “To study the Way, one must first have a basis for awakening.” Without awakening, practice is difficult. First, clearly understand what the dharmakāya is and how to realize it directly; then temper yourself amid circumstances and wear away habitual tendencies. Only then can spiritual powers develop. |
| “初悟只到法身边”，不是一悟都好了，都完结了，还有多生历劫的习气在，要精进，绵密保护，才能真正证道。做功夫要一步一步往前走，无有止境。 | “Initial awakening reaches only the edge of the dharmakāya.” It does not mean that, once one has awakened, everything is complete and finished. Habits accumulated over many lifetimes and kalpas still remain. One must be diligent and safeguard realization continuously and closely before one can truly realize the Way. Practice must proceed step by step, without end. |
| 说起来可粗分为三个阶段，即初关、重关、牢关，细分起来要十几个步骤也不止。沩仰宗分九十六步走，临济祖师讲得比较简单，三玄三要就够了，共九步。 | Broadly speaking, this may be divided into three stages: the initial barrier, the second barrier, and the final barrier. More finely divided, there are more than a dozen steps. The Weiyang school sets out ninety-six steps, whereas Patriarch Linji explained it more simply: the three mysteries and three essentials suffice, making nine steps in all. |
| 第一步要我们认识本性，然后行、住、坐、卧当中绵密保护，不能动心，不能着相。真际禅师说：“不是老僧说妄想，只因无事可商量。”本来无事，有什么念头好动？故把事看空，念头自然不动了。 | The first step is to recognize our intrinsic nature. Then, in walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, safeguard it continuously and closely: do not stir the mind, and do not cling to appearances. Chan Master Zhenji said, “It is not that this old monk speaks of deluded thoughts; there is simply nothing to discuss.” Originally there is nothing at all, so what thought is there to stir? Therefore, see affairs as empty, and thoughts will naturally cease to move. |
| 但因平时动惯了，不动难过呀，如一只猴子总要跳，拴不住它。所以我们要严密保护，功夫要做得绵密，时时看住它：不是往前看，往前看都是事物杂染，就会杂念纷飞；要反过来看，不看外面。 | But because we are accustomed to stirring all the time, remaining unmoved feels difficult—like a monkey that always wants to leap about and cannot be tethered. Therefore, we must safeguard [the mind] rigorously and practice continuously and closely, watching over it at every moment. This does not mean looking ahead: to look ahead is to look at the defilements of external things, and then scattered thoughts will fly about. Rather, turn the gaze back and do not look outward. |
| 如果我们果然能够时时反看起念处，不随它跑的话，不开悟的容易开悟，开悟的容易大彻，但因多生历劫动惯了，难以时时不忘记，所以要提高警惕。时时抓紧，最为重要。 | If we can truly turn back at every moment to observe the place where thoughts arise, without following them, those who have not awakened can readily awaken, and those who have awakened can readily attain thorough awakening. Yet, because we have been accustomed to mental movement through many lifetimes and kalpas, it is difficult not to forget this at every moment. Therefore, we must heighten our vigilance. To hold fast at every moment is most important. |
| 真悟道人，一点事情都没有，一丝不挂，一尘不染，一点相都不着，真做到是很不容易的。举个例子：临济祖师临圆寂时，对弟子们说：“你们大家不要把我的正法眼藏丢失掉啊，要时时保护它。 | A person of genuine awakening has not a single affair: utterly bare, unstained by a single speck of dust, and clinging to no appearance whatsoever. Truly accomplishing this is not easy. For example, when Patriarch Linji was nearing parinirvāṇa, he told his disciples: “All of you, do not lose my Treasury of the True Dharma Eye. Safeguard it at all times.” |
| ”三圣说：“谁敢丢失祖师的正法眼藏啊！”“那么好，你们将来接引后人怎么说法呀？”三圣站出来喝了一声，临济祖师说：“唉！想不到我的正法眼藏，在你这瞎驴边灭却。 | Sansheng said, “Who would dare lose the Patriarch’s Treasury of the True Dharma Eye?” “Very well, then how will you teach the Dharma when guiding later generations?” Sansheng stepped forward and gave a shout. Patriarch Linji said, “Alas! I never imagined that my Treasury of the True Dharma Eye would perish beside this blind donkey.” |
| ”这是什么意思，是称赞？是骂他？还是指责呵斥他？这里就看你着相不着相。湛愚老人作的《心灯录》你们看过没有？湛愚是三峰的徒弟，他说：“假如我当时在场，对后人怎么说法？我即叉手一立，就是这样说法。 | What does this mean? Was he praising him, scolding him, or rebuking him? This depends on whether or not you cling to appearances. Have you read the Mind Lamp Record by Elder Zhanyu? Zhanyu was a disciple of Sanfeng. He said, “If I had been present at the time, how would I have taught later generations? I would simply stand with my hands clasped; that would be my teaching.” |
| 这喝一声不行。”这对吗？实际上是错了。一声“喝”连他师父都呵退，你还说什么接引后来人呢？无法可说，无人可度！假如有法可说，有人可度就是错误。 | “That shout would not do.” Is this correct? In fact, it is mistaken. A single shout even drove back his master—so what need is there to speak of guiding later generations? There is no Dharma to expound and no one to liberate. If there is a Dharma to expound or someone to liberate, that is already an error. |
| 湛愚还说他那一声“喝”不好，还是我叉手一立好，所以一法不立很难。临济祖师骂他瞎驴，看似骂他，实是赞叹他：“假如我有正法眼藏，连我自己也着相了。”正法眼藏也不可得，佛也不可得，魔也没有，一点执着都没有，这样才能妙用无边。 | Zhanyu further said that Sansheng’s shout was not good, and that it would have been better for him simply to stand with his hands clasped. Thus, not establishing a single dharma is very difficult. Patriarch Linji called him a blind donkey. Though this seemed to be a rebuke, it was actually praise: “If I possessed a Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, I myself would be clinging to an appearance.” The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye is also unobtainable; Buddha is unobtainable, and there is no demon either. Only when there is no attachment whatsoever can wondrous functioning be boundless. |
| 沩仰宗中的仰山要对一个推官说法（推官即现在的法官，办案的官吏），仰山问他：“做什么官啊？”答：“推官”。仰山拿起拂子一举，问：“你推得这个吗？”推官答不出。 | In the Weiyang school, Yangshan was going to teach the Dharma to a judicial official—an official who handled legal cases, equivalent to a judge today. Yangshan asked him, “What office do you hold?” He replied, “Judicial official.” Yangshan raised his whisk and asked, “Can you adjudicate this?” The official could not answer. |
| 仰山叫沙弥用这话去问三圣，三圣在养病，住延寿堂里，三圣答：“事生也。”仰山要进一步勘他，叫沙弥再去问三圣：“生什么事？”三圣答：“再犯不容！”仰山闻后，深赞三圣已得临济宗旨。这都是古来大德悟后保任功深，得灵活妙用的懿范。 | Yangshan told a novice to take this question to Sansheng. Sansheng was recovering from illness and staying in the Hall of Longevity. Sansheng replied, “A matter has arisen.” Yangshan wanted to test him further, so he told the novice to ask Sansheng again, “What matter has arisen?” Sansheng replied, “A repeated offense will not be tolerated!” When Yangshan heard this, he deeply praised Sansheng for having attained the essential teaching of the Linji school. These are exemplary models of the profound post-awakening safeguarding of realization and the attainment of flexible, wondrous functioning by great masters of old. |
| 悟后保护是要的，但保得不能死，死了也不行。 | Safeguarding realization after awakening is necessary, but it must not become rigid. If it becomes rigid, that will not do either. |
| 第五天 | The Fifth Day |
| （教念慈氏咒）每年的正月初一是弥勒菩萨的诞辰。今天是年三十，今夜上座可先念慈氏咒一百零八遍，请弥勒菩萨加被，让我们打七圆满，见性成道。 | (Teaching the recitation of the Maitreya mantra) The first day of the first lunar month each year is the birthday of Maitreya Bodhisattva. Today is the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month. Tonight, before sitting in meditation, we may first recite the Maitreya mantra 108 times and invoke Maitreya Bodhisattva’s blessings, so that our seven-day retreat may be brought to completion and we may see our true nature and realize the Way. |
| 今天是大除夕，腊月三十，我们佛家有句话：“腊月三十到来，你怎么脱？”即是说今天已到最后一天，怎么样解脱呀？永嘉大师参六祖的因缘可作这问题的注脚。 | Today is the great New Year’s Eve, the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month. We Buddhists have a saying: “When the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month arrives, how will you free yourself?” That is, the final day has arrived—how will you attain liberation? The circumstances of Master Yongjia’s visit to the Sixth Patriarch may serve as an annotation to this question. |
| 永嘉大师是开悟的大和尚，他参六祖时，绕床不跪，六祖喝道：“何方佛子，如此贡高我慢！”永嘉应曰：“生死事大，无常迅速。”六祖曰：“何不体取无生，了无速乎？”永嘉云：“体即无生，了本无速。 | Master Yongjia was a greatly awakened monk. When he visited the Sixth Patriarch, he walked around the seat without bowing. The Sixth Patriarch shouted, “From what quarter comes this child of the Buddha, so arrogantly conceited?” Yongjia replied, “The matter of birth and death is great; impermanence is swift.” The Sixth Patriarch said, “Why not realize the unborn and thereby comprehend that there is no swiftness?” Yongjia said, “The essence is itself unborn; fundamentally, there is no swiftness.” |
| ”意思是说，体既无生，当亦无死，既无生死，又有什么解脱不解脱呢？六祖此时仍不放过他，似赞他道：“汝甚得无生之意。”这其实是套他，看他上不上当。 | This means that, since the essence is unborn, it is also undying. Since there is neither birth nor death, what liberation or non-liberation could there be? Yet the Sixth Patriarch did not let him go at this point. Seemingly praising him, he said, “You have deeply attained the meaning of the unborn.” In fact, he was setting a trap to see whether Yongjia would take the bait. |
| 永嘉是彻悟的人，不会着相，乃反问云：“无生岂有意耶？”六祖大师更进一步问道：“无意谁当分别？”连意都没有，这是谁辨别呀？既无意谁在分别无生？反之，既知无生岂不是有了意吗？这问题问到这里一般人实在不易置答，但永嘉有出身之路，不慌不忙地说：“分别亦非意！”即尽管分别也没有意。 | Yongjia was thoroughly awakened and would not cling to appearances. He instead asked, “How could the unborn have any meaning?” The Sixth Patriarch went further: “Without meaning, who is it that discriminates?” If there is not even any meaning, who is making distinctions? If there is no meaning, who is distinguishing the unborn? Conversely, if one knows the unborn, does that not mean that there is meaning? At this point, most people would indeed find it difficult to answer. But Yongjia had a way out and calmly said, “Discrimination, too, is not meaning!” That is, even though there is discrimination, there is no meaning. |
| 经云：“能善分别诸法相，于第一义而不动。”虽分别而不到心里，即比量而现量。比量即分别，现量如镜子照东西，长就长短就短，这就是死后复生，活泼泼的大用。 | A sūtra says: “Able to discriminate well among the characteristics of all dharmas, yet unmoved in the highest truth.” Though one discriminates, it does not enter the mind. This is inferential cognition together with direct cognition. Inferential cognition is discrimination; direct cognition is like a mirror reflecting things: long as long, short as short. This is to come alive again after death—the vibrant great functioning. |
| 佛法是灵活妙用的，不是死在那里不动的。从前一个老太婆供养一个大和尚，已三年了。有一天想试试他是不是一个大德，于是打发一个少女给他送饭，嘱她到时抱住和尚，问他这时感觉如何。 | Buddhadharma is flexible, wondrous functioning; it is not a matter of becoming inert and motionless. In the past, an old woman supported a great monk for three years. One day, wishing to test whether he was a great master, she sent a young woman to bring him food and instructed her to embrace the monk upon arriving and ask him how he felt at that moment. |
| 事后少女回覆老太婆，说和尚讲：“枯木倚寒岩，三春无暖气。”老太婆听后很失望，说：“赶他出去，这是个死汉，没用处。”比喻打坐修持死在那里不会起用是不行的，是不能成大道的。 | Afterward, the young woman reported to the old woman that the monk had said, “A withered tree leans against a cold cliff; through all three springs, there is no warmth.” The old woman was deeply disappointed and said, “Drive him out. He is a dead man, of no use.” This illustrates that one cannot merely sit in meditation and practice in a lifeless state, unable to function. One cannot realize the great Way in that manner. |
| 要能做事，成大道不是不做事啊，一切事都能做，尽管做而心不动，“分别亦非意”。所以大年三十怎么了啊？就是一切事尽管做，不往心里去。“体即无生”，有什么了不了，又何用什么方法来了？我们本体就是不生不灭的，没有什么可了的。 | One must be able to act. Realizing the great Way does not mean doing nothing. One can do every kind of thing; even while doing so, the mind does not move—“discrimination, too, is not meaning.” So what of the thirtieth day of the lunar year? It means that one may do everything, without letting it enter the mind. “The essence is itself unborn”: what is there to finish or understand, and what method need be employed? Our fundamental essence is neither arising nor ceasing; there is nothing to be brought to completion. |
| 所以大家做功夫时，有的见到各种形象，有的见光，有的一点东西也没有见。见光的人要明白，我的法身就是发光的体，光就是我的佛性发出来的，从光而见性，就是开悟了。 | Therefore, when everyone is practicing, some see various appearances, some see light, and some see nothing at all. Those who see light should understand that the dharmakāya is itself the luminous essence, and that the light is emitted by their own Buddha-nature. To see one’s true nature through the light is awakening. |
| 如果不认识这个发光的体而着光相，生其妄心，就是着光影。昨天讲的那首诗：“高高山顶上，孤月照寒泉，水中且无月，月是在青天。”不要看水中的月影，要认取天上的明月，水中没有月亮，只是个影子而已。 | If one does not recognize the luminous essence but clings to the appearance of light, giving rise to deluded mind, one clings merely to a light-shadow. In the poem discussed yesterday: “Upon the lofty mountain peak, / A solitary moon shines on the cold spring. / There is no moon in the water; / The moon is in the blue sky.” Do not look at the moon’s reflection in the water; recognize the bright moon in the sky. There is no moon in the water; it is only a shadow. |
| 月亮不是别的东西，是自己的本性，青天表示法身，空灵无住，要当下认识本性。见种种相的人，也应知道一切相都是假的，都是我们六识的反映。 | The moon is nothing other than one’s own intrinsic nature. The blue sky represents the dharmakāya: empty, numinous, and non-abiding. One must recognize one’s intrinsic nature directly, at this very moment. Those who see various appearances should likewise know that all appearances are false, reflections of our six consciousnesses. |
| 能见相的见性是我们的本性，见相的能见功能是我们的法身佛性，不要着相，着相就错了。不见任何相最好，法身是无相的，无相即真相。灵知了了、不动不摇即真心。法身没有断续相，不是一下子有一下子没有。 | The seeing-nature that sees appearances is our intrinsic nature; the capacity to see appearances is our dharmakāya Buddha-nature. Do not cling to appearances, for to cling to them is mistaken. Seeing no appearances at all is best. The dharmakāya is without appearance, and having no appearance is the true appearance. Clear, numinous knowing that neither moves nor wavers is the true mind. The dharmakāya has no appearance of interruption; it is not present at one moment and absent the next. |
| 它时刻在六根门头放光，没有停过，尽管人睡着了，它还是在放光，一刻也不离开。认识到这点，将习气消尽，六道里随我走，不一定要升天，到地狱也无碍，广度众生，庄严地狱是大功德，像地藏王菩萨一样。 | It shines at the gates of the six sense faculties at every moment, without ever stopping. Even when one is asleep, it continues to shine and does not leave for a single instant. Once one recognizes this and eliminates habitual tendencies, one may go freely through the six realms. One need not necessarily ascend to heaven; even going to hell presents no obstruction. To liberate sentient beings extensively and adorn the hells is great merit and virtue, like Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva. |
| 若对入三恶道产生厌离心，向往佛净土——西方极乐世界、东方琉璃世界、兜率内院等等，这说明自己的众生相未破，还是未了。真正的功夫应是无拘无束，自由自在，潇洒自然，无处不可去才是。 | If one feels aversion toward entering the three lower realms and yearns for the Buddha’s Pure Lands—the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, the Eastern Lapis Lazuli World, the Inner Court of Tuṣita, and so forth—this shows that the appearance of sentient beings has not yet been broken through and that one is still unfinished. Genuine practice should be unconstrained, free and at ease, natural and untrammeled: there should be nowhere one cannot go. |
| 从前有一个洞山祖师，有人问他：“大寒大热时向何处回避呀？”比喻大灾大难来时向何处去。洞山祖师答：“向无寒无热处回避。”问：“什么地方是无寒无热处？”洞山答：“热时热死你，冷时冷死你。 | In the past, someone asked Patriarch Dongshan, “When there is great cold or great heat, where should one take refuge?” This was a metaphor for where one should go when great disasters or hardships arise. Patriarch Dongshan replied, “Take refuge where there is neither cold nor heat.” The man asked, “What place is free of cold and heat?” Dongshan answered, “When it is hot, let the heat kill you; when it is cold, let the cold kill you.” |
| ”这就是无寒无热处，旨在说明不着相。陕西某师和我师公一起在成都时，听说解放军要进城，叫师公快逃难，师公讲：不用逃，就在这里好好地修心中心法。 | This is the place free of cold and heat; its point is to explain nonattachment to appearances. When a certain teacher from Shaanxi was in Chengdu with my teacher’s master, they heard that the People’s Liberation Army was about to enter the city. He urged my teacher’s master to flee, but my teacher’s master said, “There is no need to flee. Let us remain here and cultivate the Heart-of-Heart Dharma properly.” |
| 结果成都和平解放，一点事也没有，某师方悔自己心神不稳，太着相。我们还有一个师兄弟，在日本侵华时，杭州沦陷，有个日本兵举刀要杀他。他想反正逃不掉，而且修行人法身原不灭，不畏生死，杀就杀吧。 | As it turned out, Chengdu was peacefully liberated, and nothing happened. Only then did that fellow practitioner regret that his mind had been unsettled and that he had been too attached to appearances. We also had a fellow disciple who, during the Japanese invasion of China, was in Hangzhou when the city fell. A Japanese soldier raised his sword to kill him. He thought, “In any case, I cannot escape. Moreover, a practitioner’s dharmakāya is originally indestructible. I do not fear birth and death; if he is going to kill me, let him kill me.” |
| 他口中念阿弥陀佛，毫无畏惧地将头迎向刀去，那兵将刀砍在他头上，又弹起来，杀不了他，日本兵一看吓坏了，扔下刀就跑掉了。这是个真事，我们还见过那把刀呢。真了脱的人，六道里来去无碍。 | He recited Amitābha Buddha and, wholly without fear, held out his head toward the blade. The soldier struck his head with the sword, but the blade bounced back and could not kill him. The Japanese soldier was terrified, threw down the sword, and ran away. This is a true story; we even saw that sword. Those who are truly liberated can come and go freely within the six realms. |
| 从前有人问沩山禅师的徒弟大随：你的师父圆寂后到哪个净土去了？他答：我师父啊，不去东方和西方净土，而是东家作牛，西家作马。这在旁人看来不是骂师父吗？其实他是在夸奖他，赞他师父功夫高深，广大无比，能在异类中行。腊月三十就这么解脱。 | In the past, someone asked Dasui, a disciple of Chan Master Weishan: “After your master entered parinirvāṇa, to which Pure Land did he go?” He replied, “My master did not go to an eastern or western Pure Land. Rather, he became an ox in the eastern household and a horse in the western household.” To others, would this not seem like insulting his master? In fact, he was praising him, extolling the profundity and vastness of his master’s realization, through which he could function even among different kinds of beings. At the end of life, this is liberation. |
| 今天大家打七，证到本性本体后就自由自在了。现在教你们一个最简单的放下一切的方法，即在日常工作当中，喊一声“断”，什么也不想，只看着这了了分明的。 | Today you are all undertaking a seven-day retreat. Once you realize the original nature and fundamental essence, you will be free and at ease. Now I will teach you the simplest method for letting go of everything: amid your daily work, call out, “Cut!” Think of nothing; simply attend to this clear, ever-present knowing. |
| 断个一分钟、半分钟都可以，然后再做事，做一会儿再断一下，慢慢地练习，一天断它个三、四十回，正在走路、坐车时都可以运用这种简便断思想的方法。 | You may cut off thought for a minute or half a minute, and then resume your work. Work for a while, then cut it off again. Practice gradually, doing this thirty or forty times a day. You can use this simple method of cutting off thoughts while walking or riding in a vehicle. |
| 我第一次打开时，是在静坐中，我母亲咳嗽一声，当下一切消殒，什么都没有了，寂灭的本性方显现出来。我们用功打开来的时候不一定在座上，很可能是在睡眠当中，在工作中，在走路时忽然一下子脱开来。 | The first time I opened through was while sitting in meditation. My mother coughed once, and in that instant everything vanished; there was nothing at all, and the quiescent, extinguished original nature appeared. When we apply ourselves and open through, it need not happen while sitting. It may very well happen suddenly during sleep, at work, or while walking. |
| 所以时时要用功观照，不可放逸。开悟后要保护它，习气太深厚了，不是一悟就彻底圆满的。 | Therefore, you must constantly apply yourselves in contemplation and must not become lax. After awakening, you must safeguard it. Habitual tendencies are too deeply rooted; one awakening does not bring complete perfection at once. |
| 声音对用功的影响有两种：一是正打坐中，忽然有声音一惊，惊出定了；二是空到恰到好处时，突然一声响，帮你打开身心世界，悟见本性了。时节因缘恰好到来，诚非一佛二佛所种善根所能致的。修时不要急。不是修到无生，而是本来无生，本来如此，放下就是了。不是有东西可证可得，是证个无所求无所得，就是本得。 | Sound can affect practice in two ways. First, while one is meditating, a sudden sound may startle one out of samādhi. Second, when emptiness has reached precisely the right point, a sudden sound may help one open through the body-mind and the world, awakening one to the original nature. When the time and conditions are exactly ripe, this cannot be brought about by wholesome roots planted with merely one or two Buddhas. Do not be impatient in practice. It is not that practice leads to the unborn; it is originally unborn, originally thus. Simply let go. There is nothing to realize or attain; realizing no seeking and no attainment is itself the original attainment. |
| 保护就是任何境界都不要粘上去，其要点在“内不随念转，外不为境迁”，时时保护这灵知之心，空灵无住。保熟了，就放任其自由行动，随它走东走西，都不会犯它禾稼，这就达到无修无得无证的境界了。 | Safeguarding means not clinging to any experience whatsoever. Its essential point is: “Inwardly, do not turn with thoughts; outwardly, do not move with circumstances.” At all times, safeguard this numinous knowing mind, empty, luminous, and non-abiding. Once safeguarding has become mature, let it function freely. Whether it goes east or west, it will not harm the crops. Then one reaches the state of no cultivation, no attainment, and no realization. |
| 所以修法越放下越好，越着急越不行。有的人等爆炸，等不得，越等越不行。而且各人开悟打开的情形也不同，有的人如同一个东西落下来一样，一脱就是了，没有什么爆炸。 | Therefore, the more one lets go in practicing the Dharma, the better; the more anxious one becomes, the less it works. Some people wait for an explosion, but cannot bear to wait; the more they wait, the less it works. Moreover, each person’s experience of opening through to awakening differs. For some, it is like something falling down: in a single release, it is done, without any explosion. |
| 各人定中境界也不同，有的看见光，有的看见护法神，有的看见自己，有的什么景象也没有，都不一样嘛。护法神有好几个呢，一脱开就什么都没有了。 | Each person’s experiences in samādhi also differ. Some see light, some see Dharma protectors, some see themselves, and some see no appearances at all. They are all different. There are several Dharma protectors. Once one opens through, there is nothing at all. |
| 再举个例子，保护当中，有一个同参睡觉时脱鞋子，刚一拉鞋，身心都没有了，寂灭本性就现在面前了。保熟了就这样子。未真证道，有时似出神，到什么地方了，这不是真出神，还是六识的影像。 | Another example: while safeguarding realization, one fellow practitioner was taking off his shoes before sleep. Just as he pulled off a shoe, body and mind both disappeared, and the quiescent, extinguished original nature appeared before him. This is what happens when safeguarding has become mature. Before one has truly realized the Way, one may sometimes seem to leave the body and go somewhere. This is not a genuine departure from the body; it is still an image of the six consciousnesses. |
| 开悟以后，念咒、修六印等都是保护。不修六印也可以，观照保护就是修，这才是真修。若执着座上的快乐境界，就不要坐了，因为那是执法了。二禅定是喜，三禅定是乐，坐得好，快乐得很哪。 | After awakening, reciting mantras and practicing the six mudrās are all forms of safeguarding. It is also all right not to practice the six mudrās; contemplative safeguarding itself is practice. This is true cultivation. If you are attached to the blissful experiences of sitting meditation, then do not sit, for this is attachment to dharmas. The second dhyāna is joy, and the third dhyāna is bliss. When one sits well, one feels very blissful indeed. |
| 但不能住着快乐，一有所执，便入魔道，魔是着相而成，魔也有神通，着相就成魔。有个清海无上师就是，香港《内明》杂志曾揭穿她、批评她。世上的人求福报的多，魔就乘虚而入，而且求魔比求佛灵验得多。因为有求都是着相、都是魔眷属呀。 | But one must not abide in bliss. As soon as there is attachment, one enters the path of demons. Demons arise through attachment to appearances; demons also possess spiritual powers, and attachment to appearances turns one into a demon. There was a so-called Supreme Master Ching Hai who was like this; Hong Kong’s Neiming magazine once exposed and criticized her. Many people in the world seek blessings, so demons exploit the opening. Moreover, seeking demons is much more immediately efficacious than seeking the Buddha, because all seeking is attachment to appearances and belongs to the retinue of demons. |
| 放下即见性。真能放下没有念头就脱开了，没脱开就是还有念头没放净，微细念还在，若当自己死了，一无所求，一无所得，就放开手了。 | Letting go is seeing one’s true nature. If you can truly let go, then when there are no thoughts, you open through. If you have not opened through, thoughts have not yet been completely relinquished; subtle thoughts still remain. If you regard yourself as dead, seeking nothing and attaining nothing, then you let go completely. |
| 脱开的时候感觉什么都没有了，人也没有了，“大地平沉，虚空粉碎”，世界也没有了，只剩下这个明明了了的灵知本性。“灵光独耀，迥脱根尘”，离开尘寰了。若想回来，一觉就可以回来，一动念就回来了。 | When one opens through, it feels as though nothing remains; the person is gone as well. “The great earth lies level and submerged; empty space is shattered to powder.” The world too is gone, and only this bright, clear, numinous knowing original nature remains. “The numinous light shines alone, far removed from faculties and objects”; one has left the dusty world behind. If one wishes to return, one can return with a single awareness; as soon as a thought stirs, one returns. |
| 刚开悟等于在门口张望一下，还要勤除习气，走进房子里来，入法身正位。最后还要离开位置，法身向上，就是再发多大神通也不住，而随缘度生。 | Initial awakening is like standing at the doorway and looking inside. One must still diligently remove habitual tendencies, enter the house, and take one’s proper place in the dharmakāya. Finally, one must leave even that position and go beyond the dharmakāya: even if great spiritual powers arise, one does not abide in them, but liberates sentient beings in accordance with conditions. |
| 从前有个禅师叫邓隐峰，他讲：你们大家临圆寂都是要坐上双盘，现个瑞相去，这未免太着相了，我要变个自在相给你们看看。说罢打个倒立就潇洒地走了。释迦佛是睡着走的。 | There was once a Chan master named Deng Yinfen. He said, “When you all enter parinirvāṇa, you sit in the full lotus posture and display auspicious signs. Is that not rather too attached to appearances? I will show you a posture of freedom.” Having said this, he stood on his head and departed serenely. Śākyamuni Buddha departed while lying down. |
| 睡着也好做功夫，睡时入定，似睡非睡，正到好处时，外边有个动静就帮你打开来了。所以行住坐卧都好做功夫。这是心地法门，不拘形式，只在心上用功即是。这世上能听到心地法门是不容易的，宿世不广植善根是听不到的。 | Sleep is also a good time for practice. Enter samādhi while sleeping, seeming to sleep yet not truly asleep. When one reaches just the right point, some movement or sound outside may help one open through. Thus walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are all good occasions for practice. This is the Mind-Ground Dharma Gate: it is not bound by forms; applying oneself only in the mind is sufficient. It is not easy to hear the Mind-Ground Dharma Gate in this world. Without having extensively planted wholesome roots in past lives, one cannot hear it. |
| 释迦佛说一切众生都有佛性，都可以成佛。但我们为什么不悟呢？是由于我们的颠倒妄想在作怪，把外相当作真的，把真的佛性却当作假的，甚至说什么迷信。这都是因为人心执着在外相上，故称之为颠倒众生。老在妄想上转圈子，做梦也在转哪。 | Śākyamuni Buddha said that all sentient beings possess Buddha-nature and can become Buddhas. But why do we not awaken? It is because our inverted deluded thoughts create mischief. We take external appearances to be real, yet regard the true Buddha-nature as false, even calling it superstition. This is because human minds cling to external appearances, and thus they are called inverted sentient beings. They continually circle around in deluded thoughts; even in dreams they keep circling. |
| 第六天 | Day Six |
| 今天已是第六天，明天就圆满了。大家坐得很好啊，明天的十八小时看来是没有问题，希望能进一步静下心来。快圆满时，人的心就要动了，要野了，想到要圆满了，要回家了等等。 | Today is already the sixth day, and tomorrow the retreat will be complete. You have all sat very well. It seems there will be no problem with tomorrow’s eighteen hours; I hope you can settle your minds even further. As completion approaches, people’s minds begin to stir and become restless: they think of the retreat ending, of going home, and so forth. |
| 心不能野，圆满以后还要继续用功，心要沉静，保持这个境界，不能野，进步就快了。 | The mind must not become restless. After the retreat is complete, you must continue applying yourselves. Let the mind settle into stillness and preserve this state; do not become restless. Then progress will come quickly. |
| 见性实际上是很容易的事，比如五祖演禅师（在湖北五祖山的禅师，不是六祖的师父五祖弘忍），他是临济宗杨歧派的，他的徒弟圆悟勤、徒孙大慧杲都是成就很高的禅师。 | Seeing one’s true nature is actually very easy. Take Chan Master Wuzu Fayan, for example—the Chan master of Wuzu Mountain in Hubei, not Hongren, the Fifth Patriarch who was the Sixth Patriarch’s teacher. He belonged to the Yangqi branch of the Linji school, and his disciples Yuanwu Keqin and his Dharma-grandson Dahui Zonggao were both Chan masters of great attainment. |
| 他开示学人说：你们读书人读的有首小艳诗和禅宗的开示很相近，这首诗讲“频呼小玉原无事，只要檀郎识得声”。 | In instructing students, he said: “There is a short love poem that you scholars read which closely resembles a Chan teaching. It says: ‘Repeatedly calling Little Jade is not for any particular reason; it is only to make her beloved recognize her voice.’” |
| 当时圆悟在侧听了后很纳闷，从禅堂出来时，正好一只大公鸡在架上啼叫，他马上触发玄机，脱口说到：“这不是声吗？”而悟到这听见声音的是谁，就开悟了。所以处处可以开悟，开悟见性实在不难。 | Yuanwu was standing nearby and, after hearing this, was greatly puzzled. As he came out of the Chan hall, a large rooster happened to crow from its perch. He was immediately stirred to awakening and blurted out, “Is this not sound?” He then awakened to who it was that hears sound, and thereby attained awakening. Thus one can awaken everywhere; awakening and seeing one’s true nature are truly not difficult. |
| 今天大家各自讲了所看见的境界，这种境界都是假象，都是虚妄的，不要跟它跑，不管是相是光都不要跟，须返观这能见的是谁？透过相来认得性，彻底认识这现相的、看见相的与认识相的都是我本性真心的作用。 | Today each of you spoke of the experiences you saw. Such experiences are all false appearances, all illusory; do not follow after them. Whether they are forms or lights, do not follow them. You must turn the light back and ask: Who is it that sees? Through appearances, recognize the nature, thoroughly recognizing that the one who manifests appearances, the one who sees appearances, and the one who knows appearances are all functions of my own true mind, my original nature. |
| 从这里悟得就是见性，就是开悟哇！反之着在相上就错误了，我们一直讲这问题，可还有人着在相上。寒山的诗：“高高山顶上，孤月照寒泉，水中且无月，月是在青天。”叫我们认识月在青天，水中的月只是月的影子而已。 | To awaken from this is to see one’s true nature; it is awakening! Conversely, attachment to appearances is mistaken. We have discussed this issue all along, yet some people are still attached to appearances. Hanshan wrote: “High upon the mountain peak, / A solitary moon shines on a cold spring. / Yet there is no moon in the water; / The moon is in the blue sky.” He tells us to recognize that the moon is in the blue sky; the moon in the water is merely its reflection. |
| 看见的月只是影子，青天在哪里？即佛性当中，看见的月是自性佛所显现的，也是自己的见性所见到的。要见到见性，要把见到的月亮和自己融合为一体，月即是自己，自己即是月。 | The moon one sees is only a reflection. Where is the blue sky? It is within Buddha-nature. The moon one sees is manifested by the Buddha of one’s own intrinsic nature, and it is also seen by one’s own seeing nature. One must see the seeing nature and merge the moon one sees with oneself as one body: the moon is oneself, and oneself is the moon. |
| 怎么合呢？不是跑过去和它合在一起，而是认识这月就是自己的心所显现的，月即心，心即月，不是到心之外去取月，也不是到月之外去找心，融为一体就见性了。 | How are they merged? It is not by going over to merge with it. Rather, recognize that this moon is manifested by one’s own mind: the moon is mind, and mind is moon. One does not seek the moon outside the mind, nor seek the mind outside the moon. When they merge into one, one sees one’s true nature. |
| 再见到什么东西就不着相了，这东西都是我的性所显现的，就是我自己。所以禅宗行人讲：青青翠竹，尽是般若；郁郁黄花，无非自性。 | Thereafter, whatever one sees, one is no longer attached to appearances. These things are all manifested by my own nature; they are myself. Therefore, Chan practitioners say: “Verdant bamboo is all prajñā; luxuriant yellow flowers are nothing but intrinsic nature.” |
| 看见竹子看见花就是自己，不在我之外别有哇！这样就时时刻刻见性，无时无刻不见相，无时无刻不见性。性相不二，性即是相，相即是性，所以佛法叫不二法门，没有两样东西，这样就不碰壁了。 | To see bamboo and flowers is to see oneself; there is nothing separate from oneself outside. In this way, one sees one’s true nature at every moment. There is never a time when one does not see appearances, and never a time when one does not see one’s true nature. Nature and appearance are nondual: nature is appearance, and appearance is nature. Therefore, the Buddhadharma is called the Dharma gate of nonduality. There are not two different things; then one will not run into obstacles. |
| 若着相，什么东西要不到就难过了，就碰壁了。见性就是无所得、无所求，身心就坦然了，安贫乐道就能做到，无有贫富之分了。无道纵有万贯家产也是穷，有道就不穷了。 | If one is attached to appearances, one becomes distressed whenever one cannot obtain something, and one runs into obstacles. Seeing one’s true nature means no attainment and no seeking; body and mind then become at ease. One can live contentedly in poverty and delight in the Way, for there is no distinction between poverty and wealth. Without the Way, even one who possesses vast wealth is poor; with the Way, one is not poor. |
| 一口气不来万贯家产一点也带不去，还是赤条条地走了，而真正的大宝贝——道，被深深地埋在五蕴当中去了，落在色受想行识五蕴包裹里而得不到。若把五蕴拨开，拿到大宝贝，就无限富足了，就一切俱足，成大富翁了。 | When one breath does not come again, not a penny of one’s vast fortune can be taken along; one still goes naked and bare. Yet the truly great treasure—the Way—has been deeply buried within the five aggregates. Enveloped by the aggregates of form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness, it cannot be obtained. If one pushes aside the five aggregates and retrieves this great treasure, one is infinitely rich, fully endowed with everything—a great millionaire. |
| 所以要明白相是假的，性方是真的。相和性如同镜子和影像，无镜也无像，无像也无镜，镜子一定能现影像，不现像的就不是镜子。 | Therefore, understand that appearances are false; only nature is real. Appearance and nature are like a mirror and its images: without a mirror there are no images, and without images there is no mirror. A mirror necessarily reflects images; if it does not reflect images, it is not a mirror. |
| 我们的真心也一定现相，《金刚经》中讲的是我们的本体一点相都没有，真空绝相；《弥陀经》中讲种种妙相庄严，就是真心现相起的妙用。不显现相就不是真心了。 | Our true mind likewise necessarily manifests appearances. The Diamond Sūtra teaches that our fundamental essence has no appearance whatsoever: it is true emptiness, utterly free of appearances. The Amitābha Sūtra speaks of the majestic adornment of all kinds of wondrous appearances; this is the wondrous functioning arising from the true mind’s manifestation of appearances. If it manifests no appearances, it is not the true mind. |
| 相即是心，故时时见性，不必到外边去找了，明白这点的即为见性。所以千万不要着相，什么光啊、佛啊、景啊，俱不可得。从中要认识本体，能认识真心本体就是见性了。不认识真心，尽管你发大神通，还是迷盲，不能究竟成道。 | Appearances are precisely mind; therefore, one sees one’s nature at every moment and need not seek it elsewhere. To understand this is to see one’s nature. So do not become attached to appearances—light, Buddhas, or visions: none can be grasped. Through them, recognize the fundamental essence. To recognize the fundamental essence of the true mind is to see one’s nature. If you do not recognize the true mind, then even if you manifest great spiritual powers, you still remain deluded and blind and cannot ultimately realize the Way. |
| 合为一体者，即认识心可以起一切妙用，可以发光等等，不能发光的就不算心体，光就是心，心就是光，合二而一就是真正开悟了，明白了，不着相了。心之外寻相，相之外寻心，就不必去寻了。 | To unite them as one is to recognize that mind can give rise to every wondrous function, can emit light, and so forth. What cannot emit light is not the essence of mind. Light is mind, and mind is light. To unite the two as one is genuine awakening: one understands and is no longer attached to appearances. Do not seek appearances outside mind or seek mind outside appearances; there is no need to seek at all. |
| 所以五祖演问他的徒弟：“我们宗下有句话：等妙二觉（超十地的大菩萨了）犹为它提草鞋，它是谁？”徒弟答：“胡张三，黑李四。”它即是佛性。 | Therefore, Fifth Patriarch Yan asked his disciple, “Our school has a saying: ‘Even those at the stages of Equal Enlightenment and Wondrous Enlightenment—great bodhisattvas beyond the ten bhūmis—still carry its straw sandals for it.’ Who is it?” The disciple replied, “Bearded Zhang the Third, dark-faced Li the Fourth.” It is buddha-nature. |
| 问佛性在什么地方，在有胡子的张三，黑脸孔的李四处，也即在一切处，不在别处了。 | If one asks where buddha-nature is, it is in bearded Zhang the Third and dark-faced Li the Fourth; that is, it is everywhere, not somewhere else. |
| 一切时一切处，所有呈现的事物，都是我们的佛性显现的，也就是佛性所在处，还去着什么相啊？还到处去求什么？还搞什么法、什么功？一切法都是方便，没有实法。不如心地法门是诞生王子。 | At all times and in all places, every thing that appears is a manifestation of our buddha-nature; it is precisely where buddha-nature is. Why then become attached to any appearance? Why seek everywhere? Why pursue this practice or that exercise? All dharmas are expedient means; there is no real dharma. No dharma gate equals the Mind-Ground Dharma Gate, which is like the birth of a prince. |
| 所谓的诞生王子是生在皇帝家的太子，不是王公大臣家的儿子，这个太子长大后一定是继王位的，也即是成佛的。搞别的法门，都在外围绕圈子。不明心地，不懂得佛性是什么，是永远不能成道的。 | The so-called birth of a prince means being born as the crown prince in an emperor’s family, not as the son of a prince or high minister. When this crown prince grows up, he will certainly inherit the throne; that is, he will become a Buddha. To pursue other dharma gates is merely to circle around on the periphery. Without realizing the mind-ground and understanding what buddha-nature is, one can never realize the Way. |
| 高峰禅师的师父问他：“白天作得主吗？”“作得主。”“晚上睡觉梦中作得主吗？”“作得主。”这是何等功夫！不是一般人能做到的。但还不行，因为这是相对的，谁作谁的主啊，不是绝对真心。 | Chan Master Gaofeng’s teacher asked him, “Can you be your own master during the day?” “I can.” “When you are asleep and dreaming at night, can you be your own master?” “I can.” What profound practice this is! It is not something ordinary people can accomplish. Yet it is still inadequate, because it is relative: who is master of whom? It is not the absolute true mind. |
| 又问：“无梦无想时，主人公在何处啊？”答不出来了，说明还没认识主人公，在外边绕圈子做功夫，任你发神通等等，还是不行，他为此又参了三年。 | He then asked, “When there are no dreams and no thoughts, where is the master?” He could not answer. This showed that he had not yet recognized the master; he was practicing while circling about outside. No matter how much he might manifest spiritual powers and the like, it was still of no use. For this reason, he continued investigating for another three years. |
| 一天午睡，一个衲子莽撞，一撞把他枕头跌到地上，他猛然醒悟，才打开来，认识了主人公：无梦无想时不正是主人公在放光嘛！一念不生处了了分明的就是自己的主人公，认识了这个，然后绵密保护它就是了。 | One day, as he was taking a nap, a monk blundered into him and knocked his pillow to the ground. He suddenly awakened and finally broke through, recognizing the master: when there are no dreams and no thoughts, is this not precisely the master emitting light? At the point where not a single thought arises, that which is distinctly and clearly aware is one’s own master. Having recognized this, one need only safeguard it continuously and closely. |
| 密宗法多得不得了，这个法能开梵穴，那个法能得天眼通、天耳通等等。尽管开、得，还是外围，还在绕圈子，不能成佛，因为不认识主人公。这只是功勋位，成不了皇帝，也即成不了佛，反而着了相，成魔倒有份。 | Esoteric Buddhism has innumerable practices. One practice can open the brahma aperture; another can confer the heavenly eye, the heavenly ear, and other supernormal powers. Yet even if these are opened or attained, one is still on the periphery, still circling around, and cannot become a Buddha because one has not recognized the master. This is only a position of meritorious accomplishment; one cannot become the emperor—that is, become a Buddha. Instead, one may become attached to appearances and be liable to become a demon. |
| 总之，认识佛性并不难，千万不要着相。自性就有这么大的妙用，就有那么大的光辉，朗照十方，无所障碍。《弥陀经》中讲得十分清楚：“彼佛光明无量，照十方国无所障碍。 | In short, recognizing buddha-nature is not difficult; above all, do not become attached to appearances. Intrinsic nature possesses such great wondrous functioning and such immense radiance, illuminating the ten directions without obstruction. The Amitābha Sūtra states this very clearly: “That Buddha’s light is immeasurable, illuminating the lands of the ten directions without obstruction.” |
| ”“彼佛”二字就是指我们的真心，它就有那么大的光明，不要着在小光上。我们打坐已到第六天，都有不少的收获，今天再点拨你们一下，让你们一超直入如来地，超过等妙二觉。我们这个七打得很好，许多人都开悟见性了，很好很好。 | The words “that Buddha” refer to our true mind. It has such great luminosity, so do not become attached to minor lights. We have reached the sixth day of this retreat, and all of you have gained quite a bit. Today I will give you further guidance, enabling you to leap directly into the ground of the Tathāgata, surpassing the stages of Equal Enlightenment and Wondrous Enlightenment. This retreat has gone very well. Many people have awakened and seen their nature—very good, very good. |
| 我们做功夫时要结手印，手印等于天线，使我们和佛菩萨的信息沟通，到了那个地步，人都没有，一切化空了，什么手印啊，什么佛菩萨啊，都赶到须弥山外去了。什么都没有就对了，有就错了。 | When we practice, we must form mudrās. Mudrās are like antennas, enabling us to communicate with the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. But upon reaching that stage, even people are gone and everything dissolves into emptiness. What mudrās? What Buddhas and bodhisattvas? They have all been cast beyond Mount Sumeru. When there is nothing at all, that is correct; if there is something, that is wrong. |
| 你们中有人讲：结手印时，有什么东西给我松手指。实际没有什么来搞你，就是你自己的气发动。“我”都没有，哪里有什么“他”？没有“我”，“他”就立不住脚了。这要认得明白，不然会着魔的。 | Some among you say, “When I form mudrās, something loosens my fingers for me.” In fact, nothing is interfering with you; it is simply your own qi becoming active. When there is no “I,” where could there be an “other”? Without “I,” “other” cannot stand. You must recognize this clearly, or you will become possessed by demons. |
| 有的人想：别人都见光见佛见境界，我怎么不见什么呢，是不是我修得不够好？不是的！没有境界是最好的境界，妄境没有，什么都没有，了了分明最好。真心就如此，本体就如此，其他那些都是起用。 | Some people think, “Others see light, Buddhas, and states of experience. Why do I see nothing? Is it because I have not practiced well enough?” No! Having no states of experience is the best state of experience. When delusive states are absent and there is nothing at all, distinct and clear awareness is best. The true mind is just so; the fundamental essence is just so. All those other things are merely functioning. |
| 我们打七以认识本体为主，但得本，不愁末，本体得了之后，枝末的事自然都会发生，以至放光明发大神通。明天你们打九座，会十分得力，九座很好，平时不打七，光坐个九座十八个小时，也非常得力。明天坐下来，我再和你们讲最深的佛法。 | In this seven-day retreat, our primary aim is to recognize the fundamental essence. Once the root is obtained, there is no need to worry about the branches. After the fundamental essence is attained, matters of the branches will naturally arise, including the emission of light and the manifestation of great spiritual powers. Tomorrow you will sit nine sessions, and it will be very beneficial. Nine sessions are excellent. Even ordinarily, without undertaking a seven-day retreat, simply sitting nine sessions for eighteen hours is extremely beneficial. Tomorrow, once you are seated, I will explain the most profound Buddhadharma to you. |
| 第七天 | Day Seven |
| 坐九座时，全部结四印，二印不结了，三个六小时。回家以后要时时保护，不要放野马，绵密保护，清醒地看着念头，不跟着跑，就是保护。 | When sitting nine sessions, all of you should form the fourth mudrā throughout; do not form the second mudrā. There will be three periods of six hours each. After returning home, you must safeguard it at all times; do not let the wild horse run loose. Safeguard it continuously and closely: remain clearly aware of your thoughts, watch them, and do not follow them as they run. That is safeguarding. |
| 我讲个故事给你们听。以前有个老贼教他儿子做贼，二人一起到一个大户人家去偷东西，刚好那大户家正准备办喜事，把嫁妆都放到箱子里。 | Let me tell you a story. Long ago, an old thief taught his son how to steal. The two went together to a wealthy household to rob it. As it happened, the household was preparing for a wedding and had placed all the dowry in chests. |
| 他们潜入后，听到有人来了，老子叫儿子躲到衣柜中去，然后老子在柜外下了锁，并弄出动静，等人家发现后来捉他，他就打破墙壁，自己逃回家了，儿子在衣柜里急得不得了，发出声音，被人家听到，喊有鼠，儿子急中生智，就学老鼠叫，那户人家的家人叫婢女，快开箱，衣柜里有老鼠会咬破嫁衣。 | After they slipped inside, they heard someone approaching. The father told his son to hide in a wardrobe; then he locked it from outside and made some noise. When the household discovered him and came to seize him, he broke through a wall and escaped home by himself. The son, terribly anxious inside the wardrobe, made a sound. The household heard it and cried, “There is a rat!” The son quickly thought of a way and imitated a rat’s squeaking. The family called to a maid, “Quick, open the chest! There is a rat in the wardrobe; it will gnaw through the wedding garments.” |
| 于是儿子趁婢女点着蜡烛来打开衣柜之时，猛一下吹灭蜡烛，蹿出来逃到院子里，那家人在后面追，大喊捉贼。儿子又急中生智，看到院子里有口井，于是就抱起一块石头扔到井里，并脱掉一只鞋放到井边。 | As the maid came with a lit candle to open the wardrobe, the son suddenly blew out the candle, sprang out, and fled into the courtyard. The household chased after him, shouting, “Catch the thief!” The son again thought quickly. Seeing a well in the courtyard, he picked up a stone and threw it into the well, then took off one shoe and placed it beside the well. |
| 等人家赶到井边，都以为小偷已投入井中，便不再追赶了，儿子才得以逃脱回家。老子一见儿子能逃回来，还没等儿子埋怨，就讲：你可以去做贼了，做贼必须机灵，会随时应变才行。 | When the household reached the well, they all thought the thief had jumped into it and stopped chasing him. The son was then able to escape home. When the father saw that his son had returned safely, before his son could complain, he said, “You may now become a thief. A thief must be quick-witted and able to adapt to circumstances at any moment.” |
| 做功夫也一样，不能死住在法上面，一定要灵活应用，开大智慧，随机应变，如同儿子逃跑一样，不要学什么法住什么法，那都没用处。只有认识本性后灵活起用才能成佛。 | Practice is the same. You must not rigidly abide by a method; you must apply it flexibly, develop great wisdom, and adapt to circumstances, just as the son did in escaping. Do not study one method and abide in that one method; that is of no use. Only after recognizing one’s intrinsic nature and applying it flexibly can one become a Buddha. |
| 学什么法，不明心地，再有神通也没用处。根本得到，不愁不发神通。神通是本来具足的，只因为不认识它，妄想颠倒执着，覆盖了它，若反之，光明就透出来了。学佛并无难处，所以学不好，都是钻到相里面去了。 | Whatever practice one studies, if one does not realize the mind-ground, then even supernormal powers are of no use. Once the root is obtained, there is no need to worry that spiritual powers will not manifest. Spiritual powers are inherently complete, but because one does not recognize them, deluded thoughts, inversion, and attachment conceal them. If this is reversed, the light shines through. There is no difficulty in studying Buddhism; the reason people fail to learn well is that they burrow into appearances. |
| 虚云法师说：“现在我们国家对禅宗正宗都不大重视了，倒反过来学什么西藏的密法，密法有神通啊。都弄错了。”是的，许多学密宗的人都求神通，不是求见性，求解脱了生死，我们不能去搞那些歪门邪道。 | Master Xuyun said, “Nowadays, people in our country no longer place much value on the orthodox Chan school. Instead, they turn around and study Tibetan esoteric practices because those practices have spiritual powers. They have all got it wrong.” Yes, many people who study Esoteric Buddhism seek spiritual powers rather than seeing their nature, liberation, and freedom from birth and death. We must not engage in such deviant and heterodox paths. |
| 这里再讲一遍，观照最重要的是不跟念头跑，看着它起，不随它走。古德说：“不怕念起，只怕觉迟。”修道人人都怕妄念，要想尽办法将妄念扫光，其实不要怕，于妄念起时即觉，不随它去，妄念自然化去。 | Let me say this again: the most important point in contemplation is not to follow thoughts as they run. Watch them arise, but do not follow them. An ancient master said, “Do not fear the arising of thoughts; fear only that awareness comes too late.” Everyone practicing the Way fears deluded thoughts and tries every means to sweep them away. In fact, do not fear them. The moment a deluded thought arises, become aware of it and do not follow it; then it will naturally dissolve. |
| 园头问梁山：“家贼难防时如何？”山云：“识得不为冤。”认识它就不会被贼把家财窃走！也就不冤枉了。 | The monastery steward asked Liangshan, “What should one do when the household thief is hard to guard against?” Liangshan replied, “Recognize it, and you will not be wronged.” Once you recognize it, the thief will not steal away the wealth of your household, and you will not suffer an unjust loss. |
| 家贼时时都起，若不觉不识，就自然把你的家财——法财窃光喽！若到妄心消融，念头不起时，自然“皮肤脱落尽，唯露一真实”了。 | The household thief arises constantly. If you are unaware of it and do not recognize it, it will naturally steal away all your household wealth—the wealth of the Dharma. When the deluded mind dissolves and thoughts no longer arise, then naturally “the skin falls away completely, and only the one reality is revealed.” |
| 见性时，讲脱落比较好，说爆炸许多人要误会，当气升起来，到头顶时，以为要炸了，抱住头，怕把头炸碎要没命了。其实不会死的，气到头顶中脉打开来，头顶会出水，粘粘的水，在头中间梵穴渗出，是将来元神的出生处。此境界不可着相去求，求即不对了，非但不能得此佳境，还有着魔之虞。 | When seeing one’s nature, it is better to speak of falling away. If one speaks of an explosion, many people will misunderstand. When qi rises to the crown of the head, they may think they are about to explode, clutch their heads, and fear that their heads will burst and they will die. In fact, they will not die. When qi reaches the crown and opens the central channel, sticky water may emerge from the crown, seeping out through the brahma aperture at the center of the head; this will be the place from which the primordial spirit emerges in the future. One must not become attached to this state and seek it. To seek it is wrong; not only will one fail to attain this fine state, one may even risk becoming possessed by demons. |
| 现在我给你们讲一则最深佛法的公案，从前有个和尚叫灵训，问师父归宗：“如何是佛？”宗云：“我跟你讲，恐你不信。”训云：“师父讲诚实之言，我怎敢不信。 | Now I will tell you a koan concerning the most profound Buddhadharma. Long ago, there was a monk named Lingxun, who asked his master, Guizong, “What is Buddha?” Guizong said, “I can tell you, but I fear you will not believe it.” Lingxun replied, “My master speaks truthfully. How could I dare not believe you?” |
| ”宗云：“那我告诉你，你就是佛！”训当下大悟，进问曰：“如何保任？”宗云：“一翳在目，空华乱坠。”意思是识得本来就是佛，佛是一无所著的，如有保任，即是眼中有翳，有所住执，即非是了。 | Guizong said, “Then I will tell you: you are Buddha!” Lingxun was greatly awakened on the spot and asked further, “How should I safeguard this realization?” Guizong said, “A single speck in the eye, and flowers in empty space fall everywhere.” This means that once one recognizes that one is originally Buddha, one sees that Buddha is utterly without attachment. If one tries to safeguard it, it is like having a speck in the eye; if there is any abiding attachment, it is no longer so. |
| 训大悟后，辞师云：“我明天就回去了。”师曰：“你明天打好行李后再来见我，我和你讲最深佛法。”第二天灵训打好包裹后，请师开示甚深佛法，师道：“寒凝，途中善为。 | After Lingxun’s great awakening, he took leave of his master, saying, “I will return tomorrow.” His master said, “After you have packed your luggage tomorrow, come to see me again. I will tell you the most profound Buddhadharma.” The next day, after Lingxun had packed his belongings, he asked his master to expound the profound Buddhadharma. The master said, “The cold is setting in; take good care on the road.” |
| ”意即一切日常起用均是佛性的妙用，不能有所住着，既不能守住不动，也不可动有所住。悟后不守住就活用了，守住就死在那里了。最后不守也不守，且无不守之心，方是甚深佛法。也就是平常心，平常事啊！ | This means that all the functions of daily life are the wondrous functioning of Buddha-nature. One must not abide in anything: one can neither hold fast and remain unmoving nor move while abiding in something. After awakening, not holding fast to it allows it to function freely; holding fast to it leaves one dead there. In the end, one does not even abide in not abiding, and there is no thought of not abiding. Only this is the most profound Buddhadharma. This is ordinary mind and ordinary affairs! |
| 今天是最后一天，须打九座，最易得力也最见功效。念咒念到不能念了，不是不想念，方是真上路。不想念还是不行，这是懈怠，一个“能”和“想”差别很大，大家须注意！南岳答六祖：“染污即不得，修证即不无。 | Today is the final day. You must sit nine sessions; this is when it is easiest to gain strength and see results. When you recite the mantra until you can no longer recite it—not because you do not want to recite it—you are truly on the right path. Not wanting to recite is still no good; that is laziness. There is a great difference between “being able” and “wanting,” so everyone must take note! Nanyue replied to the Sixth Patriarch, “Defilement is not permitted, yet cultivation and realization are not absent.” |
| ”要成道还是要勤修苦炼。谚云：“不是一番寒澈骨，怎得梅花扑鼻香？！”今天勤苦打七，即为证见真心。在这一七中大家都或多或少地得到一些真实受用，这是值得庆幸的，也不枉辛苦用功一场。 | To realize the Way, one must still cultivate diligently and train arduously. As the saying goes, “Without a bone-chilling cold, how can plum blossoms send forth their fragrance?” Today, by diligently undertaking this seven-day retreat, we seek to realize and see the true mind. During this retreat, everyone has gained, to a greater or lesser degree, some genuine benefit. This is cause for celebration, and our arduous efforts have not been in vain. |
| 打坐是最基本的修法，真正出神通也靠打坐，不深入禅定，神通也出不来。讲到神通，其实讲话啊、工作啊、走路啊等等都是神通，庞居士云：“神通与妙用，运水及搬柴。”日常生活都是真妙用啊。但有神通不能住，住在上面就要着魔。 | Meditation is the most basic practice. Genuine spiritual powers also depend on meditation; without deep entry into dhyāna, spiritual powers cannot manifest. Speaking of spiritual powers, however, speaking, working, walking, and so forth are all spiritual powers. Layman Pang said, “Spiritual powers and wondrous functioning: carrying water and hauling firewood.” Daily life is all genuine wondrous functioning. But one must not abide in spiritual powers; to abide in them is to invite demonic obstruction. |
| 解七 | Ending the Seven-Day Retreat |
| 这次打七今天圆满结束了，大家成绩不小，认识都有很大提高。其实我们的第七识本来用不着“打”，因为本来无著妙用之我是平等性智。《金刚经》讲：“无我相、无人相、无众生相、无寿者相。 | This seven-day retreat comes to a successful conclusion today. Everyone has made considerable progress, and their understanding has greatly improved. In fact, our seventh consciousness originally has no need to be “struck,” because the self of originally non-abiding wondrous functioning is the wisdom of equality. The Diamond Sūtra says, “There is no mark of self, no mark of person, no mark of sentient being, and no mark of life span.” |
| ”真人本无相，由于我们向外追求，执着外境，迷惑了本来。而妄以身为“我”，所以要下一番功夫，经过一个七天打坐，打掉这迷惑的妄情，而回复本来。因为不用打，本来无我，所以这七也没有开期和结期。 | The True Person is originally without marks. Because we seek outwardly and cling to external circumstances, we become deluded about what is original. We mistakenly take this body to be “self,” and so we must make an effort. Through seven days of meditation, we strike away these deluded attachments and return to what is original. Since there is fundamentally no self and nothing to strike, this retreat likewise has neither an opening nor a closing period. |
| 佛法就是妙用自在，一切无住，能入佛也能入魔，什么事皆能干，只要于人有益而心空无住。光能入佛不能入魔也不行，入魔不是做魔王，而是表示无所拘束，纵横自在。 | Buddhadharma is wondrous functioning in freedom: abiding nowhere. One can enter Buddhahood and one can enter māra; one can do anything, so long as it benefits others and the mind is empty and non-abiding. Merely being able to enter Buddhahood but not māra will not do either. Entering māra does not mean becoming a demon king; it means being unconstrained and free to move in all directions. |
| 这里与大家举一个公案：南宋时有一位张太尉，因钦仰老华严禅师道风高峻，请来家供养。禅师为化众生故，应面向大众，不能专受一家供养，但累辞不获准。乃于太尉之女前来问法时，招女近前来，吻其面一下，女哭诉于父，父色愠，逐禅师去。师乃得离府住山，广接大众，而遂其初衷。 | Here is a koan for everyone. During the Southern Song, there was a Grand Commandant Zhang who greatly admired the lofty conduct of the venerable Chan Master Huayan and invited him to his home to make offerings to him. For the sake of guiding sentient beings, the Chan master ought to face the public and could not accept the offerings of only one household. Yet although he repeatedly declined, permission was not granted. When the grand commandant’s daughter came to ask about the Dharma, he summoned her to come close and kissed her on the face. The daughter wept as she complained to her father. Her father became angry and drove the Chan master away. The master was then able to leave the residence, live in the mountains, receive the wider public, and fulfill his original intention. |
| 这则公案启示我们，真正的佛法即在灵活妙用，自在潇洒，不拘什么名声，有所拘束即有碍，即非佛法真谛矣。 | This koan teaches us that genuine Buddhadharma lies precisely in flexible, wondrous functioning—in freedom and ease, without concern for reputation. Any constraint becomes an obstruction and is not the true meaning of Buddhadharma. |
| 讲到净土，不是往生西方才是净土，大家只要一切放下，心中空空荡荡地什么也不求，什么也不可得，这就是净土，就是兜率内院。一切随缘自在，任运逍遥，该怎样就怎样，运好点就生活得好一些，运差些就过得差点，无所谓的。凡事不执着，就是佛菩萨。 | Speaking of the Pure Land, it is not only rebirth in the Western Pure Land that is the Pure Land. So long as you let go of everything, seek nothing in an open and empty mind, and find nothing that can be obtained, this is the Pure Land; this is the Inner Court of Tuṣita. In all things, be free and at ease in accordance with conditions, allowing spontaneous functioning and moving at ease. Live well when circumstances are favorable, and live a little less well when circumstances are unfavorable—it does not matter. If you cling to nothing in any matter, you are a Buddha or bodhisattva. |
| 七天打下来，得个什么？ | After seven days of retreat, what have you gained? |
| 我为大家答一句：得个无所得者！ | I will answer for everyone in one sentence: you have gained one who has gained nothing! |
| 解七！ | Ending the Seven-Day Retreat! |
