Master Yuanyin | 1994-02-27 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 心中心法看是密宗，但它是以禅为体、以密为用、以净土为归、融三宗为一体的大法。不同其他有相密法，须从有相过渡到无相而后才能亲证本真，它是直下见性不须绕弯的，而且它和禅宗一样，都是从第八识下手修行的，所以它实质就是禅宗。 | The Heart-of-Heart Dharma may appear to belong to Esoteric Buddhism, but it takes Chan as its essence, Esoteric Buddhism as its function, and the Pure Land as its ultimate destination. It is a great Dharma that integrates the three traditions into one. Unlike other form-based esoteric practices, which require one to pass from form to formlessness before directly realizing one’s true nature, it enables one to see one’s true nature directly, without detours. Moreover, like the Chan school, it begins practice with the eighth consciousness; thus, in essence, it is Chan. |
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| 禅宗行人先要通教义，然后抱定一则话头精心参究，才能有个入处，否则盲修瞎炼，宛如无首苍蝇钻纸窗，无有出处。 | Practitioners of the Chan school must first understand the teachings, then firmly take up a huatou (critical phrase) and investigate it attentively and thoroughly before they can gain entry. Otherwise, they blindly cultivate and train, like headless flies boring through a paper window, with no way out. |
| 密宗也不例外，要修密法，先要通显教，所以密宗有九乘次第之分，这九乘次第就是通常说的外三乘、内三乘和密三乘。外三乘就是先学习罗汉、辟支佛与菩萨、佛等乘的教义。内三乘是进入实修的阶段，它分事业部、生起次第和圆满次第。现在把它分开来约略讲一下。 | Esoteric Buddhism is no exception. To practice Esoteric Buddhism, one must first understand Exoteric Buddhism. Thus, Esoteric Buddhism has the distinction of the nine vehicles: the outer three vehicles, the inner three vehicles, and the secret three vehicles. The outer three vehicles involve first studying the teachings of the vehicles of arhats, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and Buddhas. The inner three vehicles mark the stage of entering actual practice; they are divided into the Kriyā Tantra division, the generation stage, and the completion stage. Let us now discuss them briefly, one by one. |
| 一、事业部。这是随和众生的愿望与要求为之修除病、息灾与增加收益的起用密法，也是“先以欲勾牵，后令入佛智”引大众进入佛门的方便接引法。 | I. The Kriyā Tantra Division. This is the practical use of esoteric methods to cure illness, avert calamities, and increase prosperity in accordance with sentient beings’ wishes and needs. It is also an expedient means of guiding people into the Buddha Dharma: “First entice them with their desires, then lead them into the Buddha’s wisdom.” |
| 现在学佛修行的人大都为了治病、发财和得神通，真为明心见性、了生死的，百不得一，这真太可悲了。治病固无可非议，想发财未免太愚蠢，这在港台人和华侨尤甚，他们来学法，都想学财神法，以满足他们享乐的欲望。 | Most people who study Buddhism and practice today do so to cure illness, become wealthy, or acquire spiritual powers. Those who truly seek to realize the mind, see their true nature, and transcend birth and death are fewer than one in a hundred. This is truly lamentable. There is certainly nothing objectionable about curing illness, but wanting to become rich is excessively foolish. This is especially prevalent among people in Hong Kong and Taiwan and among overseas Chinese. When they come to learn the Dharma, they all want to learn practices associated with the God of Wealth, so as to satisfy their desire for pleasure. |
| 殊不知这色、声、香、味、触、法等等法尘都是空花水月，可望而不可即，任你使尽计谋，费尽心力，得到的所谓“乐受”都是梦、幻、泡、影，而无一丝一毫真实受用。临命终时，非但一点也带不走，生前所造的恶业倒紧跟着你，甩也甩不掉，而随它受恶报去。经云：“万般将不去，唯有业随身。”吾人于此岂可不深加警惕！ | They do not realize that the dharmas of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and so forth are all flowers in empty space and the moon reflected in water: they may be seen from afar but cannot be grasped. However many schemes one devises and however much effort one expends, the so-called pleasurable feelings one gains are but dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows, without the slightest genuine benefit. At the time of death, not only can one take none of them away, but the evil karma created during one’s life follows closely behind and cannot be shaken off; one must follow it and undergo evil retribution. As a sūtra says: “Nothing can be taken with us; only our karma follows us.” How can we fail to be deeply vigilant about this? |
| 说到神通，真是没一个人不想要，但是这要妄想消尽，旧习除光后，由真如自性中自然挥发出来的才是不退转的真神通。若从法修来或依靠外物求来的，非但不是真神通，得不到真实受用，还要闯大祸，受恶报。所以在妄念未息，妄心未空时，千万不要妄求，以免莽莽荡荡遭殃而受恶报于未来。 | As for spiritual powers, there is truly no one who does not desire them. Yet only those that naturally manifest from the true nature of suchness after deluded thoughts have been exhausted and old habits completely removed are genuine spiritual powers that do not regress. If they are acquired through methods or sought by relying on external things, they are not genuine spiritual powers; not only will one fail to receive real benefit, but one will also bring great disaster upon oneself and undergo evil retribution. Therefore, while deluded thoughts have not ceased and the deluded mind has not been emptied, one must never seek them rashly, lest one suffer misfortune through reckless confusion and undergo evil retribution in future lives. |
| 二、生起次第。到这里才真正开始进入实修的途程。了生死，出苦海，密宗的修持法门很多，由浅入深，先修生起次第如：颇哇法，气脉明点等等，从观想入手，由无至有地生起气脉与明点等的作用。 | II. The Generation Stage. Only here does one truly begin to enter the course of actual practice. There are many esoteric methods for transcending birth and death and leaving the sea of suffering. Proceeding from shallow to profound, one first practices the generation stage, including such methods as phowa and the practices of channels, winds, and vital essences. One begins with visualization, bringing forth from nothing the functioning of channels, winds, vital essences, and the like. |
| 所谓明点即第八识，以之从会阴至梵穴，随呼吸升降，炼成后，临命终时，即能迁识往生净土。这些修成的都是有相功夫，还不能成道，再要进一步修圆满次第。 | The so-called vital essence is the eighth consciousness. One causes it to rise and descend with the breath from the perineum to the crown aperture. Once this has been refined, at the time of death one can transfer consciousness and attain rebirth in the Pure Land. All such accomplishments are practices involving form and cannot yet bring realization of the Way; one must further practice the completion stage. |
| 三、圆满次第。将观想修成的气脉、明点等有相东西化空，与法身相应，进入圆满次第，以资即生成佛。法身无相。它一法不立、一丝不挂、一尘不染。如电无相可见，一切作用都由它生起，离电灯不能亮，机器亦无由运转。 | III. The Completion Stage. One empties the form-based things produced through visualization—channels, vital essences, and the like—and accords with the dharmakāya, thereby entering the completion stage in support of attaining Buddhahood in this very life. The dharmakāya is formless. It does not establish a single dharma, is utterly bare, and is unstained by a single speck of dust. Electricity likewise has no visible form, yet all functioning arises from it: without electricity, lamps cannot shine and machines cannot operate. |
| 法身亦如是，我们之所以能说、能听、能行、能动都是它的作用，离开它这肉体即如石板、木块，非但不能动弹，还要腐臭霉烂。我们现在修行，就是要亲证这无相的法身，才能不着于相而了生死，出轮回。进入圆满次第分三乘，就是密三乘： | The dharmakāya is likewise. Our ability to speak, hear, walk, and move is all its functioning. Apart from it, this physical body is like a stone slab or a block of wood: not only can it no longer move, but it will rot and decay. Our present practice is undertaken so that we may directly realize this formless dharmakāya. Only then can we avoid attachment to appearances, transcend birth and death, and leave cyclic existence. Entry into the completion stage is divided into three vehicles, the secret three vehicles: |
| 第一、嘛哈约嘎，即大圆满相应。将观想修成的气脉等有相东西完全化空，以与法身相应。相应即是瑜伽，瑜伽者，“相应”也。 | First, Mahāyoga, which accords with the Great Perfection. One completely empties the form-based things, such as the channels, that have been produced through visualization in order to accord with the dharmakāya. To accord is yoga; yoga means “accordance.” |
| 第二、阿努约嘎，即无上圆满相应，用界智为趣入门，进一步把种种显现都化为一实相。 | Second, Anuyoga, which accords with the supreme completion. Taking the wisdom of the realm as its gateway of entry, it further transforms all manifestations into a single reality. |
| 第三、阿底约嘎，即无比圆满相应。合三乘为大密咒乘。 | Third, Atiyoga, which accords with the incomparable completion. These three vehicles together constitute the Great Mantra Vehicle. |
| 密三乘中以阿底约嘎为最高，亦称为无二大圆满。它的意义是一切染净诸法统统在现前离垢、明空、豁朗的本觉中完全具足。这就是从有化空，空亦不可得，复从空显有的层层入深的心中心法。 | Among the secret three vehicles, Atiyoga is supreme; it is also called the nondual Great Perfection. Its meaning is that all dharmas, whether defiled or pure, are completely present within the immediate, stainless, lucid, empty, and open primordial awareness. This is the Heart-of-Heart Dharma, which proceeds in deepening stages: transforming form into emptiness, finding even emptiness unobtainable, and then manifesting form again from emptiness. |
| 所以我们修的心中心法是无相可得，直下见性的大法，有缘得此法者，真是无上的大福报，若非前生广植善根，何能得此？！ | Therefore, the Heart-of-Heart Dharma that we practice is a great Dharma in which no form can be obtained and one directly sees one’s true nature. Those with the affinity to receive this Dharma truly possess unsurpassed great blessings. Without having extensively planted wholesome roots in previous lives, how could one obtain it? |
| 心中心法既与禅相应，同时也和净土融为一体，因为它是以净土为归宿的。《佛心经》说：心中心法第四印，可以往生西方净土。而且也可以随愿往生其他净土。可见这部法真是妙到巅毫。末法众生要出生死轮回，舍此法外，恐怕别无可求了。 | The Heart-of-Heart Dharma accords with Chan and is also integrated with the Pure Land, because it takes the Pure Land as its destination. The Buddha-Heart Sutra says that through the fourth mudrā of the Heart-of-Heart Dharma, one may attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land. One may also, according to one’s vows, attain rebirth in other pure lands. Thus, this Dharma is truly exquisite to the utmost. For sentient beings in the Dharma-ending age who wish to escape the cycle of birth and death, I fear that apart from this Dharma there is nothing else to seek. |
| 修此法所以能生净土者，因心即土，土即心。经云：“欲净其土，先净其心，随其心净，即佛土净。”万物生长靠大地，同样，世出世间一切法皆由心生。 | The reason practicing this Dharma enables one to be reborn in the Pure Land is that mind is the land, and the land is mind. As a sūtra says: “If one wishes to purify one’s land, one must first purify one’s mind. As one’s mind is purified, the Buddha land is purified.” All things grow by relying on the earth; similarly, all worldly and supramundane dharmas arise from mind. |
| 佛、菩萨、罗汉、辟支佛四圣与天、人、阿修罗、地狱、饿鬼、畜生六凡这十法界，以及山河大地、草木丛生和森罗万象莫不是我人真心所造成、所显现。 | The four noble realms—Buddhas, bodhisattvas, arhats, and pratyekabuddhas—and the six ordinary realms—devas, humans, asuras, hell beings, hungry ghosts, and animals—make up the ten dharma realms. Together with mountains, rivers, the great earth, grasses and trees, and the myriad phenomena, all are created and manifested by our true mind. |
| 讲到这一点，十法界全由我们的真心所造，大家还易理解，较易接受，但说山河大地、森罗万象也由我们的法身所显现，大家就不易明白了。 | When this is explained—that the ten dharma realms are all created by our true mind—people can readily understand and accept it. But when it is said that mountains, rivers, the great earth, and the myriad phenomena are likewise manifested by our dharmakāya, people find it more difficult to understand. |
| 现在举一个较易知晓的简单例子来说明一下，比方造房子，先要让工程师设计图样，然后由工匠们依图建造，这设计图样的和建造房屋的不全是真心的妙用吗？离开真心，这肉体动弹不得，还能动脑筋、设计画图建造房屋吗？所以世间的一切一切，都是真心所作，本性所现。离开真心，一无所有。 | Let us now give a simple and readily understood example. To build a house, an engineer must first design its plans, after which the craftsmen construct it according to those plans. Are not both the designing of the plans and the building of the house wondrous functions of the true mind? Apart from the true mind, this physical body cannot move at all; could it still think, design plans, and build houses? Therefore, everything in the world is made by the true mind and manifested by intrinsic nature. Apart from the true mind, nothing exists. |
| 西方净土也不例外，它是阿弥陀佛真性净心所感召的功德大果报。我们欲生净土，先要把心洗清净了，与净土相应，方能往生；否则心地秽垢，只能生在秽土，不能往生西方净土。净土宗的行人每天要念十万八千佛号，为的是用圣号把心中的积垢、污染洗净，为将来得生净土作准备。 | The Western Pure Land is no exception. It is the great karmic fruition of merit and virtue called forth by Amitābha Buddha’s pure mind of true nature. If we wish to be reborn in the Pure Land, we must first cleanse our minds so that they accord with the Pure Land; only then can we attain rebirth there. Otherwise, if the mind-ground is foul and defiled, one can only be born in an impure land and cannot be reborn in the Western Pure Land. Practitioners of the Pure Land school recite 108,000 Buddha-names every day in order to cleanse away the accumulated grime and pollution in their minds with the sacred name, preparing for future rebirth in the Pure Land. |
| 我们修心中心法，每天结印持咒，也是在洗心革面，假佛、菩萨加持之力将历劫多生的颠倒、执着妄习除尽，以打开本来，亲证佛性。当打开本来时，因心清净无染故，当下就是净土，不待命终往生，即已现生净土了。 | When we practice the Heart-of-Heart Dharma, forming mudrās and holding mantras each day, we too are cleansing and transforming our minds. Through the blessings of Buddhas and bodhisattvas, we eliminate the inverted views, attachments, deluded habits, and tendencies accumulated over countless kalpas and lives, thereby opening what is original and directly realizing Buddha-nature. When what is original is opened, because the mind is pure and undefiled, that very moment is the Pure Land. There is no need to await death and rebirth there; one is already in the Pure Land in this very life. |
| 因生时既已与净土相应，死后往生净土当能如愿以偿。 | Since one already accords with the Pure Land while alive, one will surely attain one’s wish of rebirth in the Pure Land after death. |
| 净土宗说的“花开见佛悟无生”，不是死后生到西方，坐在莲胎里，经多劫精修，等莲花开敷，参见阿弥陀佛，而后方悟本来无生无灭，而是说我们用功至妄念消灭时心花开敷，亲见与佛不二之真性也。 | What the Pure Land school calls “When the lotus opens, one sees the Buddha and awakens to the unborn” does not mean that, after death, one is born in the West, sits within a lotus womb, cultivates diligently through many kalpas, and only after the lotus opens and one beholds Amitābha Buddha realizes that one’s original nature is neither born nor extinguished. Rather, it means that when our efforts have reached the point at which deluded thoughts are extinguished, the flower of the mind opens, and we directly see the true nature that is nondual with the Buddha. |
| 我们能否往生净土，全视我们的心是否清净，不在修什么法上。有的人误解了净土宗的真义，以为只有念佛的人能生西方净土，不念佛不能生西。 | Whether we can attain rebirth in the Pure Land depends entirely on whether our minds are pure, not on what Dharma we practice. Some people misunderstand the true meaning of the Pure Land school and believe that only those who recite the Buddha’s name can be reborn in the Western Pure Land, while those who do not cannot be reborn there. |
| 假如真是这样，佛的心量倒和我们这些执着凡夫一样狭窄了，这样狭隘的心量和分别取舍的劣行能成佛吗？在我们凡夫地，还要断分别取舍，广为群众谋福利，何况是已成道的佛、菩萨呢？所以这种邪见，都是“以小人之心度君子之腹”的劣见，不足与论。 | If that were really so, the Buddha’s mind-capacity would be as narrow as that of us attached ordinary beings. Could such a narrow mind-capacity and such inferior conduct of discriminating, accepting, and rejecting lead to Buddhahood? Even while we remain ordinary beings, we must eliminate discriminating acceptance and rejection and work broadly for the welfare of the people; how much more must this be true of Buddhas and bodhisattvas who have already realized the Way? Such wrong views are merely the inferior view of “measuring a noble person’s heart by a petty person’s mind,” and are not worth discussing. |
| 就密宗的经典说来，佛是兴无缘大慈的，不论你修什么法，学什么宗，即便不学佛的人，临终时，佛也是一视同仁，普为放光接引，往生净土，绝不是只接引学佛的人，其他都不屑一顾的。 | According to the scriptures of Esoteric Buddhism, the Buddha arouses unconditional great compassion. Regardless of what Dharma one practices or what school one studies, even if one does not study Buddhism, at the time of death the Buddha treats all equally, universally emits light to guide beings, and leads them to rebirth in the Pure Land. The Buddha certainly does not guide only those who study Buddhism while disregarding everyone else. |
| 只不过不学佛的人，业障深重，不见佛接引，犹如生盲，不见天日，辜负了佛恩。甚或业障深重的人，畏佛光强烈，向黑暗处乱窜，反而投入地狱、饿鬼道中受苦去了。 | It is simply that those who do not study Buddhism have heavy karmic obstacles and therefore do not see the Buddha’s guidance. They are like those born blind, who do not see the light of day and thus fail to receive the Buddha’s grace. Some whose karmic obstacles are especially heavy even fear the intensity of the Buddha’s light, scurrying wildly toward darkness and instead falling into the realms of hell beings and hungry ghosts to suffer. |
| 所以欲生西方净土，除念佛外，诵经、持咒、做善事等等都和念佛一样，只要将心打扫清净了，发愿往生，决定能如愿以偿。相反，心不清净，恋着娑婆，虽多念佛，亦不能往生。 | Therefore, if one wishes to be reborn in the Western Pure Land, in addition to Buddha-recitation, reciting sūtras, holding mantras, doing good deeds, and so forth are all equivalent to Buddha-recitation. So long as one cleanses one’s mind and vows to attain rebirth there, one will certainly have one’s wish fulfilled. Conversely, if the mind is impure and attached to the Sahā world, then however much one recites the Buddha’s name, one still cannot attain rebirth there. |
| 因心有恋着，即如“抱桩摇橹”，虽用尽心力，因缆绳系在岸边的木桩上，船何能行动？往生即无望了。所以能否往生西方净土如上面所说，不在用什么方法，而在心是否清净与有否发愿。 | For attachment in the mind is like trying to row a boat while holding fast to a mooring post: however much effort one expends, if the rope is tied to a post on the shore, how can the boat move? Then rebirth is hopeless. Thus, as stated above, whether one can attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land does not depend on what method one uses, but on whether one’s mind is pure and whether one has made the vow. |
| 我们只要一心持咒，发愿往生，决定能如愿，正不须于打坐修法之外更修净土念佛法门也。心中心法是融禅、净、密于一体的大法。先师骧陆公说心中心法是以禅为体、密为用、净土为归的妙法，确是中肯的定论。 | As long as we recite the mantra with one-pointedness of mind and make vows for rebirth, we shall certainly have our wishes fulfilled. There is no need, apart from meditation and Dharma practice, to cultivate an additional Pure Land practice of Buddha-recitation. The Heart-of-Heart Dharma is a great Dharma that integrates Chan, Pure Land, and Esoteric Buddhism. My late teacher, Mr. Xianglu, said that the Heart-of-Heart Dharma takes Chan as its essence, Esoteric Buddhism as its function, and the Pure Land as its ultimate destination. This is indeed a well-founded conclusion. |
| 大愚师公太慈悲了，怕我们顾虑这一生修法不成功，又为我们开发往生兜率净土与弥勒佛结缘的慈氏咒，藉以保险，如不愿生兜率而愿往生西方的，还可加持“往生广咒”，往生西方净土，这咒本是净土宗的本门咒，《净土十要》中有述此咒功德与功力的专文。 | Patriarch Dayu was exceedingly compassionate. Fearing that we might worry about failing to succeed in practice in this lifetime, he also revealed for us the Maitreya Mantra, through which one may be reborn in the Tuṣita Pure Land and form an affinity with Maitreya Buddha, as a form of assurance. Those who do not wish to be reborn in Tuṣita but wish to be reborn in the Western Pure Land may also receive empowerment in the “Extensive Rebirth Mantra” and be reborn in the Western Pure Land. This mantra is originally a foundational mantra of the Pure Land school; the Ten Essentials of the Pure Land contains a special essay describing its merit and efficacy. |
| 可惜净土宗的近代行人都不知道而遗忘了，这真太遗憾了。我们修心中心法既可一生亲证本性得大成就，又有双保险，临终往生净土，还有什么顾虑呢？我人能于兹末法时代遇此大法，再不好好用功，真是太可惜，太辜负佛恩与自己了。 | Regrettably, modern practitioners of the Pure Land school have all but forgotten it. This is truly a great pity. By cultivating the Heart-of-Heart Dharma, we may directly realize our intrinsic nature and attain great accomplishment in this very life; moreover, we have this double assurance of rebirth in the Pure Land at life's end. What is there to worry about? That we can encounter this great Dharma in this age of Dharma decline and yet fail to apply ourselves diligently would truly be most regrettable—a grave disappointment both of the Buddha's grace and of ourselves. |
| 我们学佛，根器有五种不同，这是过去世所植善根的深广度不同而有此差别，不是佛、菩萨或其他人安排决定的：一、人天乘，世间很多善心的人，以为只要做好事，扶危济困，帮人家忙，不害别人就一生事毕，不需要学佛，更毋须修法，这种善人于社会确是有益，但只能因行善而得福报，感人天小果，不能超越轮回。 | In studying Buddhism, people differ in five kinds of capacity. These differences arise from the varying depth and breadth of the wholesome roots planted in past lives; they are not arranged or determined by Buddhas, bodhisattvas, or anyone else. First is the human and deva vehicle. Many kindhearted people in the world think that, so long as they do good deeds, aid those in danger and relieve those in distress, help others, and do no harm, their life's task is complete. They believe there is no need to study Buddhism, much less cultivate Dharma practices. Such good people do indeed benefit society, but through good deeds they can only gain blessings and attain the lesser fruits of the human and deva realms; they cannot transcend saṃsāra. |
| 二、罗汉乘，这比前一种人有智慧，知行善虽有福报，但福享完后，依然要落轮回受苦，要真消除生死的痛苦，非出六道轮回不可，因而发心学佛、修法，但他们只顾自了，不愿救度他人，只悟偏空之理，不了法执，所以佛呵为焦芽败种。 | Second is the arhat vehicle. Such people have more wisdom than those of the preceding kind. They know that although doing good brings blessings, once those blessings are exhausted, one still falls back into saṃsāra and undergoes suffering. To eradicate the suffering of birth and death, one must leave the six realms of rebirth. Thus, they arouse the resolve to study Buddhism and cultivate the Dharma. Yet they concern themselves only with their own liberation and are unwilling to liberate others. They realize only the principle of biased emptiness and do not understand attachment to dharmas. Therefore, the Buddha reproached them as scorched sprouts and rotten seeds. |
| 三、辟支佛乘，与罗汉一样，只顾自了，但比罗汉聪敏，见微知著，从因悟果，所以他们修的法是十二因缘，不像罗汉修四谛法门由果究因。他们在无佛出世时，见花开花落即悟苦空无常而证道，所以较罗汉略胜一筹。 | Third is the pratyekabuddha vehicle. Like arhats, pratyekabuddhas seek only their own liberation, but they are more keenly intelligent. They discern the subtle and know the manifest; from causes, they awaken to effects. Therefore, they cultivate the twelve links of dependent origination, unlike arhats, who cultivate the Dharma gate of the Four Noble Truths and investigate causes from effects. When no Buddha appears in the world, they see flowers bloom and fall, awaken to suffering, emptiness, and impermanence, and realize the Way. Thus, they are slightly superior to arhats. |
| 四、菩萨乘，悟我法二空之理，修六波罗蜜和四摄，自觉觉他以证道的大乘道。五、佛乘，悟自心与佛无二无别，无漏智慧、曾无稍减，只因不觉，迷于声色而造业，始沦为众生。 | Fourth is the bodhisattva vehicle: realizing the principle of the twofold emptiness of self and phenomena, cultivating the six pāramitās and the four means of embracing beings, awakening oneself and awakening others in order to realize the Way of the Mahāyāna. Fifth is the Buddha vehicle: realizing that one's own mind and the Buddha are nondual and without distinction, that undefiled wisdom has never diminished in the slightest, and that beings have fallen into the condition of sentient beings only because, through nonawakening, they become deluded by sounds and forms and create karma. |
| 今苟觉悟，六尘空花，无可取着，一切放下，即能恢复本有光明，犹如千年暗室，一灯能明，正不必历尽艰苦而后始能成就，更不是高不可攀、人人无望的难事。这是大根利器人的事，不是小根劣器者所敢望其项背的。 | If one now awakens, seeing the six sense objects as flowers in empty space, with nothing to grasp or cling to, and lets go of everything, one can recover one's inherent luminosity. It is like a dark room that has been dark for a thousand years: one lamp can illuminate it. There is no need to undergo every hardship before one can attain accomplishment, nor is it some inaccessible matter beyond everyone's hope. This concerns those of great capacity and sharp faculties; it is not something that those of lesser and inferior capacities would dare hope to emulate. |
| 我们学佛就要有这种勇气：敢于承当——我就是佛。然后，不惜牺牲一切，断然放下“屠刀”，时时处处回光返照，在一念上熏修，定能完成圆证佛果的丰功伟业。这五种根器各就各位，无可勉强逾越，所以我们要勤修福德，广植善根，培养自己的根基。绝不可仅打坐修法了事。 | In studying Buddhism, we must have this kind of courage: dare to undertake it—“I am Buddha.” Then, without begrudging any sacrifice, decisively lay down the “butcher's knife,” turn the light inward at all times and in all places, and cultivate ourselves through every single thought. We will surely accomplish the great undertaking of perfect realization of Buddhahood. These five kinds of capacity each have their proper place and cannot be forcibly surpassed. Therefore, we must diligently cultivate merit and virtue, broadly plant wholesome roots, and nurture our own foundations. We must never regard merely sitting in meditation and practicing the Dharma as sufficient. |
| 近世修净土宗的同仁大都不敢承当自己是佛，能毫无疑问地确认自己实具如来佛性的已是十分难能可贵了。其实，这不是请客吃饭，不必谦逊退让。 | Most contemporary fellow practitioners of the Pure Land school do not dare to undertake the fact that they themselves are Buddhas. Those who can confirm without the slightest doubt that they truly possess the Tathāgata's Buddha-nature are already exceedingly rare and precious. Yet this is not like inviting guests to dinner; there is no need for modesty or yielding. |
| 勇于承当了，无形中就有一股强劲的推动力，使你一往直前，努力精进，一句圣号念得心花开敷，即能上品往生与佛同行。否则，充其量亦不过下品往生。净土之所以有九品往生，全在吾人自己认取，努力精进，不是佛、菩萨有厚此薄彼的安排的。 | Once one courageously undertakes it, an invisible yet powerful driving force impels one forward, making one strive diligently and vigorously. If one recites a sacred name until the flowers of the mind bloom open, one can attain rebirth in the highest grade and walk together with the Buddha. Otherwise, at most one will attain rebirth in a lower grade. The reason there are nine grades of rebirth in the Pure Land lies wholly in whether we ourselves recognize this and strive diligently; it is not that Buddhas or bodhisattvas make partial arrangements favoring some over others. |
| 讲到开悟、明心见性其实不难，难在自己不识，处处为自己所瞒。我们说过：这能说、能听、能动、能行的功能就是佛性，因它无相，不可以眼见，只可以意会，所以说心地法眼可以见道。 | Speaking of awakening and realizing the mind and seeing one's true nature, it is actually not difficult. The difficulty is that we do not recognize it and are deceived by ourselves at every turn. We have said before that the capacity to speak, hear, move, and act is Buddha-nature. Because it is formless and cannot be seen with the eyes, but can only be apprehended inwardly, it is said that the dharma eye of the mind-ground can see the Way. |
| 禅宗祖师们从前也是直接开示学人当下见性，不像现在须参话头，这到南宋以后因学人不尊重直指才改为参话头。临济宗的开山祖师临济禅师尝直截了当地开示学人：“赤肉团上有一无位真人。 | In earlier times, Chan patriarchs directly instructed students to see their true nature here and now. Unlike today, there was no need to investigate a huatou. Only after the Southern Song, because students did not respect direct pointing, did the practice change to investigating huatou. Chan Master Linji, founding patriarch of the Linji school, once gave students this direct instruction: “Within this lump of red flesh there is a True Person of No Rank.” |
| 要识这无位真人么？即今说法听法者是！”请看，这是多么鲜明了当、坦率真诚的指示！所谓无位真人，即是无相的真如实性。《金刚经》云：“凡所有相，皆是虚妄。”无相的“能”，才是真实不虚的法身。 | “Do you wish to recognize this True Person of No Rank? It is precisely the one who is now speaking Dharma and hearing Dharma!” See how vivid, direct, frank, and sincere this instruction is! The so-called True Person of No Rank is the formless true nature of suchness. The Diamond Sūtra says: “All appearances are illusory.” The formless capacity is the true and unfailing dharmakāya. |
| 那么，它在什么地方呢？就在你六根门头放光，所以说“赤肉团”上。又怕我们不明白，再加一句：“即今说法听法者是。”这样坦率明朗的开示，还有疑问吗？！ | Then where is it? It shines forth at the gateways of your six sense faculties; hence the expression “upon this lump of red flesh.” Fearing that we might not understand, he added: “It is precisely the one who is now speaking Dharma and hearing Dharma.” With instruction so frank and clear, can there still be any doubt?! |
| 我们修心中心法，绵密持咒，持至无心可心时，能持之心与所持之咒忽然脱落，内而身心外而世界一齐消殒，但非如木石无知而灵知了了，这就是真心显现时，也是亲证本来时。不要小看这一点，将来神通显发全基于此。 | When we cultivate the Heart-of-Heart Dharma, we recite the mantra continuously and seamlessly. When we recite until there is no mind left that can be called mind, the mind that recites and the mantra being recited suddenly fall away. Within, body and mind; without, the world—all vanish together. Yet this is not the unconsciousness of wood or stone; spiritual knowing remains clear and distinct. This is when the true mind manifests and when one directly realizes one's original nature. Do not underestimate this point: the future manifestation of spiritual powers is wholly founded upon it. |
| 犹如金翅大鹏，一翅能飞数十万里，全靠脚下一点劲，脚如不点地即飞腾不起。今亲证本真，即是脚跟点地时，这和从书上看来或听别人讲来的理解完全不同。 | It is like the golden-winged great garuḍa, which can fly hundreds of thousands of li with a single flap of its wings, entirely through the small force exerted beneath its feet. If its feet do not press against the ground, it cannot take flight. Directly realizing the original truth is precisely the moment when one's heels touch the ground. This is entirely different from an understanding gained by reading books or hearing others explain it. |
| 修心中心法之所以修一千座者，以一千座内只要毫无间断地如法修持，定能打开本来，亲见实性。其如未到者，或是断续行持，或是不如法——边持咒边打妄想，或是当豁开时因恐怖而中止爆破，更或是略带昏沉而滑过，这就是行人福德不够才遭此挫折迂曲的。 | The reason the Heart-of-Heart Dharma is practiced for one thousand sessions is that, if one cultivates it continuously and in accordance with the Dharma throughout those thousand sessions, one will certainly open up one's original nature and directly see one's true nature. If one has not yet reached this point, it may be because one's practice has been intermittent, or because it has not accorded with the Dharma—one entertains deluded thoughts while reciting the mantra—or because, when the breakthrough is about to occur, one stops the bursting open out of fear; or perhaps one passes over it because of a slight dullness or drowsiness. Such setbacks and detours occur because the practitioner lacks sufficient merit and virtue. |
| 但这也不要紧，今天如仍有不明白的，我再来为大家重说一遍：这能说法、听法的就是当人的真如实性。只要你们听了深信不疑，立稳脚跟，绵密保护，外不为物境所牵，内不为妄念所转，久久用功，将来一定能打成一片，圆证佛果。假如将信将疑，那就咎由自取，佛祖也无能为力了。 | But this does not matter. If there is anything you still do not understand today, I shall explain it once more for everyone: that which can speak Dharma and hear Dharma is each person's true nature of suchness. So long as you hear this and believe it deeply without doubt, stand firm, safeguard it continuously and seamlessly, do not let external objects and circumstances pull you along, and do not let inner deluded thoughts turn you about, then, through long and sustained effort, you will certainly become continuous and undivided and perfectly realize Buddhahood. If you believe and doubt by turns, then you have only yourself to blame; even Buddhas and patriarchs can do nothing to help. |
| 讲到这里，有的人不免要问，这能说能听的就是真如佛性，我们现在明白了，假如这就等于开悟，怎么不发神通呀？不是说开悟的人要发大神变吗？是的，彻悟的人是要发大神通的，因为我们的本性是具足六通的。 | At this point, some people will inevitably ask: if that which can speak and hear is the Buddha-nature of suchness, and we now understand this, then if this is equivalent to awakening, why do spiritual powers not manifest? Is it not said that those who awaken should manifest great spiritual transformations? Yes. Those who thoroughly awaken do manifest great spiritual powers, because our intrinsic nature fully possesses the six supernormal powers. |
| 但是，现在只是初悟，犹如婴儿刚离母胎，不能起用，要妥善保养，迨其长大才能起用。所以我们要绵密保护，勤除妄习，一切无住，先得漏尽通，而后发五神通，才是真实的道通。相反用法修来的，或依靠鬼神妖等附体而得来的那是假通。真通是永远存在而不变的，假通一口气不来就完蛋了。 | But at present this is only initial awakening. It is like a newborn infant that has just left its mother's womb and cannot yet function. It must be properly nurtured before it can function when grown. Therefore, we must safeguard it continuously and seamlessly, diligently remove deluded habitual tendencies, and abide nowhere in anything. First, we attain the supernormal power of exhausted outflows; afterward, the five spiritual powers manifest. Only then are they genuine powers of the Way. By contrast, powers obtained through methods of practice, or through possession by ghosts, spirits, demons, and the like, are false powers. True powers endure forever and do not change; false powers end when one's breath no longer comes. |
| 《楞严经》云：“理属顿悟，乘悟并销；事则渐除，因次第尽。”这本来是说的二种法门：一是圆顿法，一是渐次法。 | The Śūraṅgama Sūtra says: “In principle, awakening is sudden, and through awakening they are simultaneously extinguished; in actuality, they are gradually removed, and through successive stages they are exhausted.” This originally refers to two kinds of Dharma gates: one is the perfect and sudden teaching, and the other is the gradual teaching. |
| 大根人一悟即彻，所有执着妄习，乘开悟的刹那即已消灭，神通即可发现了；根器稍钝的人须于悟后，在事上磨练，渐除习气而后始能慢慢地发挥作用。但现在末法时代的人，根钝障重，不能顿悟、顿修、顿证，只好将二种法门合为一门，在理悟后保任除习，而渐渐地发通证果。 | Those of great capacity awaken thoroughly in a single awakening. All attachments and deluded habitual tendencies are extinguished in the very instant of awakening, and spiritual powers may immediately manifest. Those whose capacities are somewhat dull must, after awakening, temper themselves amid circumstances and gradually remove their habitual tendencies before their functioning can slowly unfold. But people in this age of Dharma decline have dull faculties and heavy obstacles; they cannot awaken suddenly, cultivate suddenly, and realize suddenly. Therefore, they must combine the two Dharma gates into one: after awakening at the level of principle, safeguard realization and remove habitual tendencies, gradually manifest spiritual powers, and realize fruition. |
| 这修证的过程，临济祖师因用心细密，亲历过来，说得很清楚彻底。他说大凡演唱宗乘，一句中须具三玄，一玄门须具三要，这三玄三要是临济宗的心法，我们要细细参透，方知由初悟，渐臻圆满的玄奥。 | Because Patriarch Linji was meticulous in his practice and had personally passed through this process of cultivation and realization, he explained it clearly and thoroughly. He said that, in expounding the essential vehicle, a single phrase must contain the Three Mysteries, and each Mystery Gate must contain the Three Essentials. These Three Mysteries and Three Essentials are the mind Dharma of the Linji school. We must investigate them carefully and penetrate them thoroughly before we can understand the profundity by which one gradually advances from initial awakening to consummation. |
| 他说一句中具三玄，这一句是那一句呢？就是上面说的“赤肉团上有一无位真人，即今说法听法者是”。所谓说法听法的无位真人，即本来本真，不因造作，不用修成而无依倚的本色道人也。 | He said that a single phrase contains the Three Mysteries. What is this phrase? It is the phrase mentioned above: “Within this lump of red flesh there is a True Person of No Rank; it is precisely the one who is now speaking Dharma and hearing Dharma.” This True Person of No Rank, who speaks Dharma and hears Dharma, is the original and genuine one: the person of the Way in his native colors, neither produced by contrivance nor cultivated into being, and reliant on nothing. |
| 我们现在说法听法，四大色身不解说法听法，脾、胃、肝、胆与虚空物境也不解说法听法，这解说法听法者乃各人目前历历孤明而无形相的“这个”。我们会得“这个”，只为初悟，习气未除，自救不了，需要历境练心，上上升进，所以临济祖师把这段途程分为三玄三要。 | As we now speak Dharma and hear Dharma, the material body of the four elements does not understand speaking Dharma or hearing Dharma; nor do the spleen, stomach, liver, gallbladder, empty space, objects, or circumstances understand speaking Dharma or hearing Dharma. That which understands speaking Dharma and hearing Dharma is this formless “thing,” clearly and singly luminous before each of us. To recognize this “thing” is only initial awakening. Since habitual tendencies have not yet been removed and we cannot save ourselves, we need to temper the mind through circumstances and advance ever higher. Thus, Patriarch Linji divided this course into the Three Mysteries and Three Essentials. |
| 从这句说法听法的无位真人上分为三玄，是哪三玄呢？第一是体中玄，第二是意中玄，第三是句中玄。盖从悟得的妙体上发而为之的大意，由意产生妙用拈出而为言句。临济公于每一玄各有一句说法，今为各位列出并解说一下： | The True Person of No Rank who speaks Dharma and hears Dharma is divided into the Three Mysteries. What are these Three Mysteries? The first is the Mystery within Essence; the second is the Mystery within Meaning; and the third is the Mystery within the Phrase. From the wondrous essence realized in awakening arises its great meaning; from this meaning comes wondrous functioning, which is brought forth as verbal phrases. Master Linji had one statement for each Mystery. I shall now set them out and explain them for you all. |
| （因与《禅海微澜》中讲述三玄三要和“喝”的公案大致相同，故此处略去一部分。） | (Because this is broadly the same as the discussion in Slight Ripples on the Chan Sea concerning the Three Mysteries, the Three Essentials, and the koan of the “shout,” part of it is omitted here.) |
| 我们做功夫就要毫无滞留，潇洒自在，尽管接应千变万化的工作和事业，如没事人儿似的，一点也不动情，才是大机大用，方符大乘佛教的宗旨，决不是死坐在那里不动，守住空寂能成大道的。 | In our practice, we must leave no trace of attachment, remaining free and at ease. Though responding to the endlessly changing demands of work and daily affairs, we should be like someone with nothing happening at all, without the slightest emotional stirring. Only then is there great capacity and great function, in accord with the guiding principle of Mahāyāna Buddhism. It certainly does not mean sitting rigidly without moving, guarding empty quiescence in the hope of realizing the great Way. |
| 希望大家听后，第一要知“有”，即明白这听法的无位道人，即是自己的本来佛性，不再向外求取；第二要绵密保护这“无位真人”空灵无住，才有念起，即便觉除，既不住境亦不守空；第三不要死保，比如孩子长大，要任其自由，不可拘住不放，要坐便坐，要行就行，毫无拘束，潇洒自在，方得真实受用。正是： | I hope that after hearing this, everyone will first recognize “presence”: understand that the person of the Way of No Rank who hears this Dharma is one’s own original Buddha-nature, and no longer seek outside oneself. Second, closely safeguard this empty, luminous, non-abiding True Person of No Rank. Whenever a thought arises, immediately recognize and dispel it; neither abide in circumstances nor guard emptiness. Third, do not rigidly safeguard it. Just as a child, when grown, should be allowed to move freely and not held fast, so one should sit when sitting is called for and walk when walking is called for, wholly unrestrained and free at ease. Only then can one gain its true benefit. As it is said: |
| 著有不解空，昧却主人翁。 | Clinging to existence, one fails to understand emptiness and obscures the master within. |
| 空有皆不住，即是大神通。 | Abiding in neither emptiness nor existence—this is great spiritual power. |
| 住空不知有，死水黑山中。 | Abiding in emptiness without knowing presence, one is amid dead water and dark mountains. |
| 若人会此意，面向西看东。 | Whoever understands this meaning faces west while looking east. |
