Writings of Master Yuanyin | 1990-11-14 | Download | AI assisted translation
| “空手把锄头，步行骑水牛，人从桥上过，桥流水不流。” | “Empty-handed, I grasp the hoe; walking on foot, I ride the water buffalo. A person crosses over the bridge; the bridge flows, but the water does not.” |
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| 傅大士这首偈看来有些玄虚，叫人莫名其妙。“人从桥上过”这句话好懂，我们从桥上过去了。 | This verse by Layman Fu seems rather abstruse and puzzling. The phrase “A person crosses over the bridge” is easy enough to understand: we cross over a bridge. |
| 怎么会“桥流水不流”呢？“空手”怎么“把锄头”呢？“步行”又怎么“骑水牛”呢？这是什么道理？原来是说，我们的肉身躯壳是等于我们住的房子，而佛性才是住在里面的真人。 | But how can “the bridge flow, while the water does not”? How can one “grasp the hoe” empty-handed? And how can one “ride a water buffalo” while walking? What is the meaning of this? It means that our physical body is like the house in which we live, while Buddha-nature is the true person dwelling within it. |
| 众生迷于色相就错认这个色身肉体是我，而不知佛性是何物，以致造业受报，生死不了。这首偈就是提醒我们认识主人公，不要错认假相。我上次讲临济大师说：“看取棚头弄傀儡，抽牵全藉里头人。”就是说这个肉体自己不会动、不会讲话，也不会听话。我们能运动、工作、走路、讲话、听话……都是这个主人公的作用。 | Sentient beings, deluded by physical appearances, mistakenly take this material body to be the self. They do not know what Buddha-nature is, and thus create karma, undergo retribution, and remain unable to transcend birth and death. This verse reminds us to recognize the master and not mistake false appearances for reality. Last time, I spoke of Chan Master Linji’s words: “Look closely at the puppet show upon the stage: its pulling and guiding depend entirely on the person within.” This means that the physical body cannot move, speak, or hear by itself. Our ability to move, work, walk, speak, and hear is entirely the functioning of this master. |
| 这首偈就是颂这个主人公的。“空手把锄头”，我没有拿东西啊，原来拿东西的那个手（即肉体），就等于你的锄头，是主人公在指使你运作。 | This verse praises this master. “Empty-handed, I grasp the hoe” means that although I am not holding anything, the hand that holds things—that is, the physical body—is like your hoe; it is the master who directs it to function. |
| “步行骑水牛”，你能够走路、奔跑，也是主人公驱使肉体的妙用，就等于人骑在水牛上赶牛走路一样。“人从桥上过”，肉身就比作桥，人就是主人公，人在世上不过住一段时期，就要走了，就圆寂了，等于在桥上走过去了。 | “Walking on foot, I ride the water buffalo”: your ability to walk and run is likewise the wondrous functioning by which the master directs the physical body, just as a person rides a water buffalo and urges it onward. “A person crosses over the bridge”: the physical body is compared to a bridge, and the person is the master. One lives in this world only for a time and then must depart, must pass into parinirvāṇa; it is like crossing over a bridge. |
| 所以，根据这个人生无常的道理，古人说：“夫天地者，万物之逆旅。光阴者，百代之过客。”这个社会，这个世界就是个旅馆，暂时住一住就要走的。 | Therefore, in light of the impermanence of human life, the ancients said: “Heaven and earth are but a temporary lodging for the myriad things; time is but a passing traveler through the generations.” This society and this world are merely an inn where we stay temporarily before we must depart. |
| 大家何必在这里争王称霸，斗争不息，杀戮不休呢！？“人从桥上过，桥流水不流”。人从桥上过，我们这肉身壳子是不长久的，是变迁的。 | Why, then, must everyone contend here for supremacy, struggle without cease, and kill without end? “A person crosses over the bridge; the bridge flows, but the water does not.” As people cross over the bridge, our physical shell is not lasting but constantly changing. |
| 人由少而壮，由壮而老，这“桥”不就是在流转吗？在变化吗？“水不流”，水是代表我们的佛性，它是不流动的。它是亘古常存，不来不去，不动不摇的。这个颂主人公的偈子好啊，就是要我们明心见性。 | From youth to maturity, and from maturity to old age—is not this “bridge” in constant flux and change? “The water does not flow”: water represents our Buddha-nature, which does not move. It abides from time immemorial, neither coming nor going, neither moving nor wavering. This verse praising the master is excellent: it is meant to lead us to realizing the mind and seeing one’s true nature. |
| 但是，打开来见到本来，不过才到法身边。 | But opening up and seeing one’s original nature only brings one to the edge of the dharmakāya. |
| 如同回家只走到房子外边，非但没有入室，还未登堂，差得远呢！要做功夫，时时不能懈怠啊！假如你们今天做做，明天停停，这怎么行呢？要知“打坐”，“打”是打死妄念，“坐”是坐见本性。 | It is like returning home but reaching only the outside of the house: one has not entered the room, nor even ascended the hall. One is still far from it! You must apply yourselves to practice and never slacken at any time. If you practice today but stop tomorrow, how can that do? You must understand that in “sitting meditation,” “to sit” means sitting so as to see one’s true nature, while “to strike” means striking dead deluded thoughts. |
| 假如什么时候都能坐见本性，这是真打坐，不是坐在那里任妄念翻腾，装模作样为打坐。所以我们修法，要在心地上做功夫，时刻不能放松。 | If you can sit and see your true nature at all times, that is genuine sitting meditation. It is not merely sitting there and allowing deluded thoughts to surge while putting on the appearance of meditation. Therefore, in cultivating this Dharma, we must work on the mind-ground and never relax our efforts for a moment. |
| 《心经》第一句“观自在菩萨”，不是统称某某菩萨，而是教我们做功夫，观自在——时时照自己的本性，在本位上不要有走着。假如你上座也坐不安稳，下座后也不摄心观照，任妄念游走就是流浪！那就错过一生了。 | The first phrase of the Heart Sūtra, “Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva,” is not merely a general reference to some bodhisattva. It teaches us how to practice: contemplate freedom—constantly illuminate your own true nature, and do not depart from your original ground. If you cannot sit peacefully when on the meditation cushion, and after leaving it do not gather in your mind and maintain contemplation, but let deluded thoughts wander freely, then you are drifting about. You will have missed an entire lifetime. |
| 见到法身边不算数，这时自救不了，需继续用功，进入法身正位，更要法身向上，才能圆证佛果。法身向上是什么？一个和尚问长沙景岑禅师：“师父，请你开示，何为法身向上？”他说：“一根针，三尺线。 | Seeing only the edge of the dharmakāya does not count. At this point, one cannot yet save oneself and must continue to exert oneself, entering the proper position of the dharmakāya and then going beyond the dharmakāya in order to perfect the fruition of Buddhahood. What does going beyond the dharmakāya mean? A monk asked Chan Master Changsha Jingcen, “Master, please instruct me: what does it mean to go beyond the dharmakāya?” He replied, “One needle, three feet of thread.” |
| ”（这就是一切平常，随缘应用，不着玄妙）。和尚不懂，请师父再开示。他又说：“益州布，扬州绢。”益州的布和扬州的绢都是很出名的。这就是教我们在悟道后于日常工作中顺逆自在。 | This means that everything is ordinary: apply yourself according to conditions, without attachment to anything mysterious or marvelous. The monk did not understand and asked the master for further instruction. He replied again, “Cloth from Yizhou; silk from Yangzhou.” The cloth of Yizhou and the silk of Yangzhou were both famous. This teaches us that after realizing the Way, we should be at ease amid favorable and adverse circumstances in our daily work. |
| 不是顺了就高兴，哈哈笑；逆了就烦恼，就发火。须做到顺也好，逆也好，顺逆自在，安闲自得，潇洒无物，一切恬然自尽，才是一个绝学无为的闲道人。到这地步就坐也不要坐了，安然无事了。 | It does not mean rejoicing and laughing loudly when circumstances are favorable, then becoming afflicted and angry when they are adverse. One must be well whether circumstances are favorable or adverse, at ease and free in both, tranquil and content, carefree and unattached to things, allowing everything to come to its natural end in serenity. Only then is one “a carefree person of the Way, beyond learning and contrivance.” At that point, there is no longer any need even to sit in meditation; one is peacefully without concern. |
| 孔老夫子说：“七十从心所欲而不逾矩。”就是尽管想做什么就做什么，都不会越出规矩范围。因为他心空了，不再着相，不会再做不道德之事了。 | Confucius said, “At seventy, I could follow my heart’s desires without transgressing the bounds.” That is, whatever he wished to do, he would not go beyond the proper limits. This was because his mind was empty: he no longer clung to appearances and would no longer commit immoral acts. |
| 有人问我：“假如我坐得心空了，我可以去杀人放火吗？”这种问题真幼稚得好笑，你杀人放火还心空吗？你为什么要杀人放火，还不是为了着相？要越货，要劫财吗？这正是著有，还说什么心空呢？你真心空就会悲智双运，会 | Someone asked me, “If I cultivate until my mind is empty, may I then kill people or commit arson?” Such a question is laughably childish. If you kill people or commit arson, is your mind still empty? Why would you want to kill or burn? Is it not because you cling to appearances—because you want to steal goods or seize wealth? This is precisely attachment to existence, so how can you speak of an empty mind? If your mind were truly empty, the dual operation of compassion and wisdom would arise, and you would |
| 可怜众生不了解实相，而着妄情，天天造业受报，妄受生死轮回之苦，就会想方设法救度他们，哪会再做伤天害理之事呢？ | feel compassion for sentient beings who do not understand ultimate reality, cling to deluded emotions, create karma and undergo retribution every day, and vainly suffer the cycle of birth and death. You would seek every means to liberate them. How could you commit acts that offend heaven and violate principle? |
| 法身向上是透过理边，在事上圆融无碍，不是一天到晚不做事，死在那里不动的，死坐在那里决不能成道。因为要除尽多生历劫积累的执着妄习，一定要在境上练，在境上多碰钉子，多经敲打，才能把习气消光。 | Going beyond the dharmakāya means penetrating principle and being perfectly unobstructed in phenomena. It does not mean doing nothing all day long, remaining motionless as though dead. Sitting there rigidly in deathlike stillness can never lead to realization of the Way. To eliminate the attachments and deluded habitual tendencies accumulated through many lives and kalpas, one must train amid circumstances, encounter many setbacks, and undergo repeated tempering. Only then can habitual tendencies be completely worn away. |
| 不在境上练，死定在那里，妄习种子伏藏在里边，一经翻动习气更大，压也压不住。所以要除尽妄习，非在事境上锻炼，将其连根拔除不可，不是修个灭尽定，将妄种压伏在那里可以了结的。 | If one does not train amid circumstances but merely remains fixed in samādhi, the seeds of deluded habits lie latent within. Once stirred, those habits become even stronger and cannot be suppressed. Therefore, to eradicate deluded habits completely, one must train amid situations and uproot them altogether. This cannot be settled simply by cultivating a samādhi of cessation and suppressing the seeds of delusion there. |
| 我们的无明分四等：粗妄、细妄、微细妄、极微细妄。这四等妄，尤其后面的二种，一定要在境上练，在随众生滚中锻炼出来，才能将其消掉。 | Our ignorance has four levels: coarse, subtle, very subtle and extremely subtle delusions. These four kinds of delusion, especially the latter two, must be worked through amid circumstances and tempered while moving among sentient beings; only then can they be eliminated. |
| 众生的习惯、习气各各不同，你要度他就须舍己从人，要随顺人，自己先须将习气消尽，才能跟别人跑。所以菩萨有四摄，这随顺他人就是同事摄，你和他一起干，才能把他拉过来。 | The habits and habitual tendencies of sentient beings all differ. If you wish to liberate them, you must set aside yourself and accommodate others; you must accord with them. First, you must eradicate your own habitual tendencies before you can move along with others. Bodhisattvas have the four means of embracing sentient beings, and accommodating others is the means of embracing them through working together. Only by working together with them can you draw them over. |
| 每个众生的脾气都不同，你都能适应，都能对机，你的主观微细习气才能消尽，你的心量才广阔。这无明很细微，像沙泥一样多，教中叫尘沙惑，这种妄念一定要在度生中才能了。 | Every sentient being has a different temperament. Only when you can adapt to them all and respond appropriately to each person’s capacity can your subtle subjective habitual tendencies be exhausted and your mind-capacity become broad. This ignorance is extremely subtle and as numerous as dust and sand; in the teachings it is called dust-like delusions. Such deluded thoughts can be brought to an end only through liberating sentient beings. |
| 所以你度众生，千万不要居功自傲，还要感谢众生，因为你成道，是众生帮你成道的，没有众生，你的习气改不了，福德也无由积累啊！初做功夫要有为，有执着，但循序渐进地做去，功夫做熟了，从保而任，从任而化，那就进入无为了，无为也不住，更进而浑化相忘，才能圆证菩提。 | Therefore, when you liberate sentient beings, never claim merit or become arrogant. Rather, you should thank sentient beings, for it is through their help that you realize the Way. Without sentient beings, you could not transform your habitual tendencies, nor could you accumulate merit and virtue. At the beginning of practice, there must be deliberate effort and attachment. But proceed step by step. When the practice becomes mature, one moves from safeguarding to letting be, and from letting be to transformation. Then one enters non-contrivance. Yet one must not abide even in non-contrivance; one must advance further until everything is thoroughly transformed and forgotten, and only then can one perfectly realize bodhi. |
| 功夫不是天上掉下来的，没有天生释迦，诸佛也是修出来的，锻炼出来的。我们每一个人都有佛性，和诸佛一样。只要用功修，勤除妄习，皆能成就。 | Practice does not fall from the sky. There is no Śākyamuni who is a Buddha by birth; all Buddhas are formed through cultivation and tempering. Every one of us possesses Buddha-nature, the same as that of all Buddhas. So long as we earnestly cultivate and diligently eliminate our deluded habits, all can attain accomplishment. |
| 有人问：假如我们现在把无明修掉成佛了，将来会不会再有无明加进来，佛又变成众生呢？答曰：不会。因为，从无始以来我们有这个佛性时就同时有无明，从来未曾觉悟过。如同在矿之金，与砂混杂，经过修炼，去尽无明，犹如出矿之纯金除清杂质不再入矿一样。修成功后，不会再起无明了。 | Someone asks: “If we now cultivate away ignorance and become Buddhas, might ignorance later be added again, so that a Buddha becomes a sentient being once more?” The answer is no. Since beginningless time, from the very time we have possessed this Buddha-nature, ignorance has existed simultaneously with it, and we have never awakened. It is like gold in a mine, mixed with sand. Through refining, ignorance is completely removed, just as pure gold taken from the mine and cleansed of impurities does not reenter the mine. Once cultivation is accomplished, ignorance will not arise again. |
| “人身难得今已得”。虽然世界上有几十亿人口，但得人身的只不过是一指甲土。这一指甲土和大地的土相比较，不得人身的就太多太多了。 | “A human body is difficult to obtain, yet now it has been obtained.” Although the world has several billion people, those who obtain a human body are no more than the amount of soil under a fingernail. Compared with the earth itself, the number of those who do not obtain a human body is immensely greater. |
| 像细菌、鱼虫、蚊蝇等，不晓得有多少，它们可怜不得人身啊！我们现在既得人身，就要珍视这身，不要辜负它，糟蹋它，浪费它，要把它放在珍重的位置上做些有益众生的事，才不枉到这世界上来做人一场。 | There are untold numbers of bacteria, fish, insects, mosquitoes, flies, and the like. How pitiful that they cannot obtain a human body! Now that we have obtained one, we must cherish it. We must not fail it, squander it, or waste it. We should regard it as precious and use it to do things that benefit sentient beings. Only then will we not have come into this world as human beings in vain. |
| “佛法难闻今已闻”，佛法能有多少人听？就更少了，有人听到的“佛法”只是烧香拜佛，求佛菩萨保佑长寿、享福、儿女孝顺，或是找个好对象，做生意发财等等，各有所求的佛法。这不是真正的佛法。 | “The Buddhadharma is difficult to hear, yet now it has been heard.” How many people can hear the Buddhadharma? Far fewer still. What some people hear as “Buddhadharma” is merely burning incense and worshipping Buddhas, asking Buddhas and bodhisattvas to grant them long life, happiness, filial children, a good marriage partner, success and wealth in business, and so forth—the Buddhadharma of seeking whatever one desires. This is not the true Buddhadharma. |
| 佛法是教育我们怎样做人，怎样去除迷情，认识人身、宇宙之由来，怎样了脱生死，怎样教化众生共同超脱六道轮回之苦，共享本性天真之乐的。但是，我们的佛菩萨是大悲心切的，要广度众生，先要把众生引进门。 | The Buddhadharma teaches us how to conduct ourselves, how to remove deluded emotions, how to understand the origins of the human body and the universe, how to be liberated from the two forms of birth-and-death—segmented and transformational—and how to guide sentient beings so that all may transcend the suffering of rebirth in the six realms and share the natural joy of their true nature. But our Buddhas and bodhisattvas are deeply compassionate and seek to liberate sentient beings widely, so they must first lead them through the gate. |
| 先满足众生的欲望，你要牛给你牛，要发财、做官，就给你发财、做官，你要什么就给你什么。观世音菩萨和药师佛就是最典型的例子。在你得到这些时，你内心就种进了一颗种子，这都是佛和菩萨所赐与的。 | They first satisfy sentient beings’ desires. If you want cattle, they give you cattle; if you seek wealth or official position, they grant you wealth or office. Whatever you want, they give it to you. Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva and the Medicine Buddha are the most typical examples. When you obtain these things, a seed is planted in your mind: all of them are bestowed by Buddhas and bodhisattvas. |
| 佛种子种进了，将来决定成佛，这叫“先以欲勾牵”。等你研究了经论，把道理弄清楚了，才知一切都是虚假不实的，犹如水中月影不可得的。那就一切放下，大开佛智慧了。再经努力用功，除尽妄习证成大道，即可利他度化众生了，这就是“后令入佛智”。佛为度化众生，想尽方法，真是太慈悲了。 | Once the Buddha-seed has been planted, one will certainly become a Buddha in the future. This is called “first enticing them with what they desire.” Once you have studied the sūtras and treatises and understood the principles, you will know that everything is false and unreal, like the reflection of the moon in water, which cannot be grasped. Then you let go of everything, and the Buddha’s wisdom opens fully. After further diligent practice, when deluded habitual tendencies have been completely removed and the great Way has been realized, you can benefit others and liberate sentient beings. This is called “then leading them into the Buddha’s wisdom.” In order to liberate sentient beings, the Buddha exhausts every possible means. Such compassion is truly immense. |
| 像我们心中心法，也是为了开智慧成佛。六个印有不同的作用，第二印可以消业障，治毛病，也可以开天眼。开天眼就能看见佛、菩萨、地狱、鬼道与十方世界。但是你不要怕，一切相都是你自己，怕的话，就不要用。 | Our Heart-of-Heart Dharma, too, is for opening wisdom and attaining Buddhahood. The six mudrās have different functions. The second mudrā can eliminate karmic obstacles, cure illnesses, and open the divine eye. Once the divine eye is opened, one can see Buddhas, bodhisattvas, hells, the realm of hungry ghosts, and the worlds of the ten directions. But do not be afraid: all appearances are yourself. If you are afraid, then do not use it. |
| 从前有个人想开天眼，第二印结了一年，一下子他看到了伏魔金刚神，那样子很可怕，他一下子吓坏了，吓得魂不附体，发神经病而后死了。所以心不空，不要开天眼，以免闯祸丧生。 | In the past, someone wished to open the divine eye. He formed the second mudrā for a year, and suddenly he saw a vajra deity who subdues demons. Its appearance was terrifying. He was instantly frightened out of his wits, suffered a mental breakdown, and later died. Therefore, if the mind is not empty, do not open the divine eye, lest you bring disaster upon yourself and lose your life. |
| 上海有个人修其它密法的，打坐中见到佛、菩萨，心生欢喜，忽然想起有些魔也会化成佛、菩萨的样子来迷惑人，就去问他的师父如何辨别佛和魔。 | In Shanghai there was someone practicing another esoteric Dharma. While meditating, he saw Buddhas and bodhisattvas and felt great joy. Suddenly, he recalled that certain demons can also transform themselves into the forms of Buddhas and bodhisattvas in order to delude people, so he asked his teacher how to distinguish Buddhas from demons. |
| 他的师父对他说：“要试真假，只要念“嗡阿吽”来考验他，真的佛就不会逃走，假的就站不稳了。”他听师父的话，当再度见到佛现前时，遂念“嗡阿吽”考验他，见佛没动。 | His teacher told him, “To test whether they are genuine, simply recite ‘Om Ah Hum’ to test them. A real Buddha will not flee, whereas a false one will be unable to stand firm.” Following his teacher’s instructions, when he again saw a Buddha appear before him, he recited “Om Ah Hum” to test it and saw that the Buddha did not move. |
| 他开心了，以为这是真佛，每天打坐，每天见到佛、菩萨，开心得很，哪知一住相，魔即趁虚而入。一天上座，突然出现很可怖的形像，伸出尖利的钢爪来抓他，他一下子吓坏了，神经出了毛病。就此疯狂，不省人事。 | He was delighted, believing it to be a real Buddha. Every day he meditated, and every day he saw Buddhas and bodhisattvas. He was immensely pleased. Little did he know that once he became attached to appearances, demons would exploit the opening. One day, when he sat down to meditate, a terrifying form suddenly appeared and reached out with sharp steel claws to seize him. He was instantly terrified, and his mind became disordered. From then on, he went mad and lost all awareness. |
| 这是他的师父害了他。应该于见到任何相时都不去管它，只给它个不理、不睬，好的既不喜，坏的也不怕，心不动摇，什么事也没有。 | His teacher harmed him. Whenever one sees any appearance, one should pay it no heed—simply ignore it. Do not rejoice at good appearances or fear bad ones. If the mind remains unmoved, nothing will happen. |
| 我们有一个师兄弟，打坐时看见一只扇子大的大毛手，闷在他脸上，他心慌死了，赶紧持咒，这个咒、那个咒，所会的咒都念光了，大毛手也没有去掉。 | One of our Dharma brothers saw, while meditating, a huge hairy hand the size of a fan pressing over his face. He was terribly frightened and hurriedly recited mantras—this mantra and that mantra—until he had recited every mantra he knew, yet the huge hairy hand did not go away. |
| 他转念一想：去不掉就算了，反正肉身是假的，法身是不坏的，随它去好了。这样心空不动，大毛手就没有了。所以见境心不能动，既不要怕，也不要喜，打坐当中各种境界都会有，千万不要动，不要怕。 | Then he thought: “If it will not go away, so be it. In any case, the physical body is false, while the dharmakāya is indestructible. Let it do as it pleases.” Once his mind became empty and unmoving, the huge hairy hand disappeared. Therefore, when encountering any circumstance, the mind must not move. Do not be afraid, nor should you rejoice. All kinds of experiences may arise during meditation; under no circumstances should you be moved or afraid. |
| 再讲个例子，有个北京人家里有十几间房子，有一间房子专门摆箱子的。有一天，他在自己房里打坐，出定时突然发现自己到了摆箱子的房间里去了。 | Let me give another example. A man in Beijing had more than ten rooms in his home, one of which was used especially for storing trunks. One day, he was meditating in his own room. When he emerged from samādhi, he suddenly discovered that he had arrived in the room where the trunks were kept. |
| 因外面锁着，他出不来，在里面叫，家人来开门，问他怎么到了这里，他自己也不知道。怎么回事呢？这是他从前动过心，想这个放衣服的房间清静好坐的，打坐时入定了，心印和慧心所相合，一下子就过去了。 | The room was locked from the outside, so he could not get out. He called from inside, and his family came to open the door. They asked how he had gotten there, but he himself did not know. What had happened? Previously, he had entertained the thought that this quiet room for storing clothes would be a good place for meditation. When he entered samādhi, his mind-seal and the wisdom mental factor came into accord, and he was suddenly transported there. |
| 因为他入定时心空了，人身相没有了。所以能穿墙入壁，我们能得神通就是这个道理。心真空了，神通自然发现。像鸠摩罗什小的时候，随他妈妈到庙里烧香，他把大香炉一下子举了起来。 | When he entered samādhi, his mind became empty and the appearance of his physical body vanished. That is why one can pass through walls. This is also the principle by which we can attain spiritual powers. When the mind is truly empty, spiritual powers manifest naturally. When Kumārajīva was young, he accompanied his mother to a temple to offer incense, and he suddenly lifted up a large incense burner. |
| 过后，他想：“怎么我这个小小年纪能举起这么重的东西？”心动了，再举，举不起来了。心一生，就有碍，举不起来了。同样，李广打猎，看到草丛中有一块大石头，以为是老虎，“啪”一箭射进去。 | Afterward, he thought, “How could someone as young as I lift such a heavy thing?” His mind moved, and when he tried to lift it again, he could not. Once the mind arises, there is obstruction, and it cannot be lifted. Similarly, when Li Guang was hunting, he saw a large stone amid the grass and took it for a tiger. With a snap, he shot an arrow into it. |
| 走近一看，哎呀！不是虎，是大石头！大石头怎么箭会射进的？再射，射不进去了。我们的心力就有这么大！像前面说的：生公说法，顽石点首。就因为他心量广大。凡夫的心太狭小了，只能遍自己肉体而不能动其他。 | When he went closer to look, he exclaimed, “Oh! It is not a tiger, but a large stone!” How could an arrow have entered a large stone? When he shot again, the arrow could not enter it. The power of our mind is this great! As mentioned earlier: when Shenggong expounded the Dharma, stubborn stones nodded their heads. This was because his mind-capacity was vast. The minds of ordinary beings are too narrow; they can extend only throughout their own physical bodies and cannot move anything else. |
| 所以，我们要法身向上，要锻炼，印开狭窄的“朱点”，才能起大用。坐在黑山背后，一辈子、两辈子、三辈子也不会成功的。 | Therefore, we must advance toward the dharmakāya and train ourselves, using the mudrā to open the narrow “red point,” so that great functioning may arise. Sitting behind a dark mountain, one will not succeed in one lifetime, two lifetimes, or three lifetimes. |
| 释迦佛说：末法时代的末期，佛法在居士手中，不在和尚、尼姑手中。戒、定、慧，大小乘有区别。比如讲酒戒，酒能乱性，小乘自己不能喝，可以卖给人家喝。大乘自己可以喝，不可以卖给别人喝。 | Śākyamuni Buddha said: “In the final period of the Dharma-ending age, the Buddhadharma will be in the hands of lay practitioners, not in the hands of monks and nuns.” There are differences between the Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna in precepts, samādhi, and wisdom. Take the precept concerning alcohol: alcohol can disturb one’s nature. In the Hīnayāna, one may not drink it oneself, but may sell it to others. In the Mahāyāna, one may drink it oneself, but may not sell it to others. |
| 为什么？因为自己喝有把握，不会酗酒。小乘是我不喝，不会闯祸就行了，人家闯祸不干我的事。僧有二种：一种是小乘罗汉僧，学小乘戒、定、慧三学，剃头，穿僧伽衣。 | Why? Because one who drinks it oneself has confidence that one will not become addicted to alcohol. The Hīnayāna attitude is: “As long as I do not drink and thus do not cause trouble, it does not concern me if others get into trouble.” There are two kinds of saṅgha. One is the Hīnayāna arhat saṅgha, who study the three trainings of Hīnayāna precepts, samādhi, and wisdom; shave their heads; and wear saṅgha robes. |
| 第二种是大乘菩萨僧，学大乘戒、定、慧三学，不剃头，不穿僧伽衣，穿俗人的衣服，这是大乘菩萨僧。我们能依佛的教导持戒修行，没有家室，能证见本性，能为人说法，这就是僧，就是出家。 | The second is the Mahāyāna bodhisattva saṅgha, who study the three trainings of Mahāyāna precepts, samādhi, and wisdom; do not shave their heads; do not wear saṅgha robes; and wear ordinary clothing. This is the Mahāyāna bodhisattva saṅgha. If we uphold the precepts and practice according to the Buddha’s teachings, have no family household, can directly realize our true nature, and can teach the Dharma to others, then we are saṅgha; this is leaving home. |
| 我们要好好做功夫，不要把自己看小：“哎呀，我就是凡夫。”不！我们都是佛，都是菩萨。我们和佛就只有一点之差，就是在发心的时候，自己不敢承当自己是佛。佛教有五乘差别。 | We must practice diligently and not belittle ourselves: “Oh, I am merely an ordinary being.” No! We are all Buddhas; we are all bodhisattvas. There is only one small difference between us and the Buddha: when arousing the resolve, we do not dare to assume responsibility for being Buddhas ourselves. Buddhism distinguishes five vehicles. |
| 一切众生都是佛，都具有和佛一样的无漏智慧，和佛的功能无二无别，都能够成佛，这个发心就是佛乘。自己看不起自己，我是凡夫，顶多来世做个好人，或升天，享享福，这是最下的人天乘。基督教就是人天乘。 | All sentient beings are Buddhas. All possess undefiled wisdom equal to that of the Buddha, and their capacities are no different from the Buddha’s. All can become Buddhas. This resolve is the Buddha vehicle. If one looks down on oneself—“I am an ordinary being; at most, in a future life I may become a good person or be reborn in heaven and enjoy some blessings”—that is the lowest human and deva vehicle. Christianity is a human and deva vehicle. |
| 因为它靠天主，死后升天，充其量不过是大梵天，大梵天还在色界，是不出轮回的。由此可知之所以有人天乘、罗汉乘、辟支佛乘、菩萨乘与佛乘的差别，全是由我们发心的大小而决定的，不是由哪位佛、菩萨安排的。 | For it relies on God and, after death, ascends to heaven. At most, it reaches the Great Brahmā Heaven, which is still within the form realm and does not transcend saṃsāra. From this we can see that the distinctions among the human and deva vehicle, the arhat vehicle, the pratyekabuddha vehicle, the bodhisattva vehicle, and the Buddha vehicle are entirely determined by the greatness or smallness of our own aspiration; they are not arranged by any Buddha or bodhisattva. |
| 圭峰禅师说：“识冰池而全水，藉阳气以消融；悟凡夫而即佛，资法力以熏修，冰融则水流润，方呈溉涤之功；妄尽则心通灵，始发通光之用。 | Chan Master Guifeng said: “Recognize that an icy pond is wholly water, and rely on the sun’s warmth to melt it; awaken to the fact that an ordinary being is itself a Buddha, and rely on the power of the Dharma for permeation and cultivation. When ice melts, water flows and moistens, thereby displaying its capacity to irrigate and cleanse; when delusion is exhausted, the mind becomes spiritually responsive, and only then does it bring forth the functioning of penetrating luminosity.” |
| ”就是告诉我们：凡夫就是佛，要用佛法来熏修，就像冰就是水，要假阳光来融化一样，冰融为水，即可流通、灌溉、洗涤，我们经过用功、修法，将妄习消尽，也就能现神通，起妙用了。人人都能发神通，没有什么稀奇。 | This tells us that ordinary beings are Buddhas and must rely on the Buddhadharma for permeation and cultivation, just as ice is water and needs sunlight to melt it. When ice melts into water, it can flow, irrigate, and cleanse. Once we practice and cultivate the Dharma until deluded habitual tendencies are exhausted, we too can manifest spiritual powers and bring forth wondrous functioning. Everyone can manifest spiritual powers; there is nothing remarkable about it. |
| 有的人很骄慢，看不起别人，这就不对，发挥妙用，人人都能。我们常常说：“神通与妙用，运水与搬柴。”这运水搬柴，谁不能呀？假如这不是神通妙用，那么这能“搬”能“挑”的是谁呀？这不是我们的真性的神用吗？讲到通，就是通达无阻。我们妄念一生，就处处有阻碍，没有妄念就自然通了。 | Some people are very arrogant and look down on others. This is incorrect. Everyone can bring forth wondrous functioning. We often say: “Spiritual powers and wondrous functioning are carrying water and hauling firewood.” Who cannot carry water and haul firewood? If these are not spiritual powers and wondrous functioning, then who is it that can “carry” and “shoulder” them? Is this not the spiritual functioning of our true nature? As for penetration, it means passing through without obstruction. Once deluded thoughts arise, there are obstructions everywhere; without deluded thoughts, one naturally penetrates freely. |
| 妄心、妄念、妄想三个词，说起来像是一个意思，但是其中大有分别。妄心是我们本真的心夹杂了无明。所以第八识是生灭与不生灭的和合体，因有无明在，粘着外境，如水起了波浪，变成了妄心了，这是个根本无明。 | The three terms deluded mind, deluded thoughts, and deluded imaginings may seem to have the same meaning, but they differ greatly. The deluded mind is our originally genuine mind mixed with ignorance. Thus, the eighth consciousness is a union of arising-and-ceasing and non-arising-and-ceasing. Because ignorance is present, it clings to external objects; like water stirred into waves, it becomes the deluded mind. This is fundamental ignorance. |
| 妄心对境之后就动心起念，这叫妄念，妄念一起，爱的想取到它、占有它；不爱的与我的心相违的就厌恶它、舍离它。心粘在境上不放，就成妄想。中国字很有道理，想是心上加个相字，色相粘在心上不去便成想了。 | Once the deluded mind encounters an object, the mind moves and thoughts arise; this is called deluded thought. Once a deluded thought arises, one wishes to grasp and possess what one loves; what one does not love, or what conflicts with one’s own mind, one detests and abandons. When the mind clings to an object and will not let go, it becomes deluded imagining. Chinese characters contain profound meaning: the character for “imagine” is formed by adding the character for appearance to the character for mind. When material appearances cling to the mind and do not depart, imagination arises. |
| 念字也是：人二心之意，本来纯真之心见境一动，第二心起，便是念了。要除妄，心不要动！心不住在相上，妄想就没有了。但不能压念不起，压是无效的。如搬石压草，石去草又生起来了。 | The character for thought is likewise so: it signifies the mind of a person becoming two minds. When the originally pure and true mind encounters an object and moves, a second mind arises; that is thought. To eliminate delusion, do not let the mind move. If the mind does not abide in appearances, deluded imaginings will disappear. But one must not suppress thoughts so that they do not arise; suppression is ineffective. It is like using a stone to weigh down grass: once the stone is removed, the grass grows again. |
| 即或压死了，你倒变成土、木、金、石块不能起妙用，还成什么佛呢？所以要用活的转化的方法，念一来，就觉而化之；如果妄念势力强，就念佛或持咒，把心转移到佛法上去了，就把妄念化掉了。 | Even if you suppress them to death, you will become like earth, wood, metal, or stone, unable to bring forth wondrous functioning. How then could you become a Buddha? Therefore, use a living method of transformation: whenever a thought arises, recognize it and transform it. If the force of deluded thoughts is strong, recite the Buddha’s name or hold a mantra, turning the mind toward the Buddhadharma; in this way, deluded thoughts are transformed. |
| 如果念起不觉，跟着它跑，这就不对了。所以古德说：“不怕念起，只怕觉迟。”念尽管来，你来，我就把你转掉，不让你停留，不跟你跑，你有一百个念头起，我有一百零一个转，结果还是我胜。 | If thoughts arise and you do not recognize them, but follow them along, that is incorrect. Therefore, the ancient worthies said: “Do not fear the arising of thoughts; fear only delayed awareness.” Let thoughts come. When you come, I transform you; I do not allow you to remain, nor do I follow after you. If a hundred thoughts arise in you, I have a hundred and one transformations. In the end, I still prevail. |
| 我超过你了，量变就成质变了！你们知道在化学中，酸的东西要把它变成碱，如果有一百毫升酸，就用一百二十毫升的碱来中和，结果酸跟着碱走，全变成碱了。所以妄念来了，不用怕，怕的是不觉。 | I surpass you, and quantitative change becomes qualitative change. You know that in chemistry, to turn something acidic into alkaline, if there are one hundred milliliters of acid, one uses one hundred and twenty milliliters of alkali to neutralize it. The acid then follows the alkali, and all becomes alkaline. Therefore, when deluded thoughts arise, there is no need to fear them. What is to be feared is failing to recognize them. |
| 念头起来，跟着妄念走，你不觉跟进去就变成妄想了。妄的种子种进八识里面去，妄心就更浓厚了，妄上加妄，怎么能成道？所以做功夫就是慢慢地消除妄习，直至把它消光。 | When a thought arises, if you follow the deluded thought and fail to recognize that you have entered into it, it becomes deluded imagining. Seeds of delusion are planted in the eighth consciousness, and the deluded mind becomes still more entrenched. Delusion is added to delusion—how can one realize the Way? Therefore, practice consists in gradually eliminating deluded habitual tendencies until they are completely eradicated. |
| 密宗能证道，因有佛力加持之胜，不要二十、三十年时间。但是现在不少人是真法假修，一边坐一边妄想：哎呀！这事情怎么安排呀？那桩事怎么了结呀？还有的人，今天坐，明天停。 | Esoteric Buddhism can enable one to realize the Way because of the excellence of the Buddha’s empowering blessings; it does not require twenty or thirty years. Yet many people today engage in false practice of the true Dharma: while sitting, they indulge in deluded thoughts—“Oh dear, how should I arrange this matter? How should I settle that affair?” Others sit today and stop tomorrow. |
| 这怎么行呢？还不如做气功的人，他们是假法真修。气功不能了生死，是假法。他们却很认真地修炼，拼命地在那里用功。“一天能卖十个假，十天难卖一个真。”末法的众生，真是愚痴之极啊！ | How can that do? They are not even as good as qigong practitioners, who genuinely practice a false method. Qigong cannot liberate one from birth and death, so it is a false method. Yet they cultivate it very earnestly and apply themselves with all their might. “One can sell ten fakes in a day, but cannot sell a single genuine article in ten days.” Sentient beings in the Dharma-ending age are truly foolish in the extreme! |
| 我们心中心法经过灌顶传授，就有护法神保护你，你们不用功，他们会哭的。你们得了大法，不珍视好好用功，辜负佛、菩萨的一片深心，太可惜、太愚昧无知了。上海有个弟子，印结错了，听边上有人说：“印结错了。 | Once our Heart-of-Heart Dharma has been transmitted through empowerment, Dharma protectors will protect you. If you do not apply yourselves, they will weep. You have received this great Dharma, yet do not cherish it and practice diligently; you disappoint the profound concern of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. How regrettable, how utterly ignorant! A disciple in Shanghai formed a mudrā incorrectly. Someone beside him said, “Your mudrā is wrong.” |
| ”他吓了一跳，“是谁在和我说话？”向左右一看，一边站一个人青面，一边站一个人红面，他吓坏了。这是护法神现相指正他的错误，鼓励他好好用功修法。所以你们得法后，要打起精神，好好用功，千万不可轻忽，辜负了佛、菩萨的恩德。 | Startled, he asked, “Who is speaking to me?” Looking to his left and right, he saw a blue-faced figure standing on one side and a red-faced figure on the other. He was terrified. These were Dharma protectors manifesting themselves to correct his mistake and encourage him to practice the Dharma diligently. Therefore, after receiving the Dharma, you must rouse your spirits and practice diligently. Never treat it lightly and disappoint the grace of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. |
| 杭州天目山有个高峰禅师，参禅时总要打瞌睡。他想：“这样几时才能成道啊？到倒挂莲花上去参！”倒挂莲花是个悬崖峭壁，立在上面，就要小心谨慎，偶一大意，就会掉下去，有粉身碎骨的危险。 | There was a Chan Master Gaofeng on Mount Tianmu in Hangzhou who would always doze off while investigating Chan. He thought, “When will I ever realize the Way like this? I will go investigate Chan on the inverted lotus!” The inverted lotus was a precipitous cliff. Standing upon it required the utmost caution; a moment’s carelessness would send one falling, with the danger of being smashed to pieces. |
| 他想这样参禅，必会提高警惕，不再打瞌睡了。但他睡习很重，站在峭壁上还是打瞌睡，一下子卜隆冬掉下去了，“哎呀！不好了，这下没命了。 | He thought that investigating Chan in this way would surely heighten his vigilance and prevent him from dozing off. But his habit of sleeping was very strong. Even while standing on the cliff, he dozed off and suddenly plunged down. “Oh no! This time I am finished.” |
| ”结果安然无恙！睁眼一看，一个金甲神拿着降魔杵站在他面前，“这不是韦驮菩萨吗？”他想。 | Yet he emerged entirely unharmed. Opening his eyes, he saw a deity in golden armor standing before him, holding a vajra. “Is this not Wei Tuo Bodhisattva?” he thought. |
| 这位来者正是韦驮菩萨！他忽生一念，对菩萨说：“韦驮菩萨，你来给我护法，大概像我这样用功的人还很少吧！”韦驮菩萨说：“像你这样用功的多如牛毛，你发这种贡高我慢之心，我一百劫也不来管你。”说完隐去了。 | The visitor was indeed Wei Tuo Bodhisattva. A thought suddenly arose in him, and he said to the bodhisattva, “Wei Tuo Bodhisattva, you have come to protect the Dharma for me. Perhaps there are few people who practice as diligently as I do.” Wei Tuo Bodhisattva said, “Those who practice as diligently as you are as numerous as the hairs of an ox. Since you have given rise to such arrogant pride, I will not come to look after you for a hundred kalpas.” Having said this, he vanished. |
| 他听了懊悔不及，只能坐在那里哭：“这下坏了！没菩萨保佑我，怎么修法？”哭了一阵，想：“我当初修道也没有想着依仗韦驮菩萨保护我，把生死置之度外，我当他没有好了，再站上去修！”修啊，修啊，人一恍惚，又跌落下去了，以为这回可真没命了，结果又安然无恙。 | Hearing this, he regretted it beyond measure and could only sit there weeping. “This is terrible! Without the bodhisattva’s protection, how can I practice the Dharma?” After weeping for a while, he thought, “When I first cultivated the Way, I never expected to rely on Wei Tuo Bodhisattva’s protection. I set birth and death aside. I shall act as though he were not there and stand up there again to practice!” He practiced and practiced, then became momentarily dazed and fell again. He thought that this time he truly would lose his life, yet again he was entirely unharmed. |
| 他睁眼一看，又是韦驮菩萨在面前。他斥责菩萨说：“哎呀！你这菩萨打妄语，说一百劫不来保护我，怎么又来了？”韦驮说：“你这个小子不懂事。《楞严经》上说的‘一念顿超百万劫’，一念勇猛心可超过百万劫。 | When he opened his eyes, Wei Tuo Bodhisattva was again before him. He reproached the bodhisattva, saying, “Oh! You bodhisattva have spoken falsely. You said that you would not protect me for a hundred kalpas, so why have you come again?” Wei Tuo said, “You foolish fellow, you do not understand. The Śūraṅgama Sūtra says, ‘One thought suddenly transcends a million kalpas.’ A single thought of courageous resolve can surpass a million kalpas.” |
| 你别说这一百劫，就是百万个劫早就过去了。”“噢，我糊涂！顶礼，顶礼。”高峰深自愧疚地谢罪，更精进用功，后来成为临济宗的元代大德。参禅全凭自力，须起大疑情，所谓大疑大悟，不疑不悟。 | “Do not speak of a hundred kalpas; even a million kalpas have long since passed.” “Oh, how foolish I was! I bow in reverence, I bow in reverence.” Gaofeng deeply reproached himself, apologized, and practiced with still greater diligence. He later became a great Yuan-dynasty master of the Linji school. Investigating Chan depends entirely on one’s own effort; one must arouse a great sense of doubt. As the saying goes, “Great doubt, great awakening; no doubt, no awakening.” |
| 因为不疑妄念隔不断，即无法打开本来面目。近代禅和子，都起不起疑情，在那里念“念佛是谁？”所以不得力，不能开悟。普贤菩萨有见于此，将假佛力修持的心中心法传于愚公，以补禅宗之不足，而续佛慧命。所以我们要珍视这部大法，虔诚恳切地修持，千万不可轻忽！ | Without doubt, deluded thoughts cannot be cut off, and one cannot open up the Original Face. Modern Chan practitioners cannot arouse a sense of doubt; they merely repeat, “Who is reciting the Buddha’s name?” Thus they gain no strength from their practice and cannot awaken. Seeing this, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva transmitted the Heart-of-Heart Dharma, which relies on the Buddha’s power, to Yugong, in order to make up for the deficiencies of the Chan school and continue the Buddha’s wisdom-life. Therefore, we must cherish this great Dharma and cultivate it with reverence and earnestness. We must never treat it lightly! |
| 能得到我们这个法不容易啊！我们这个法在西藏要修二十、三十年后，方能传习。因为西藏人要有个相的依靠才行，没有依靠他就不能修。 | It is not easy to obtain this Dharma of ours! In Tibet, one must practice it for twenty or thirty years before it may be transmitted and learned. This is because Tibetans need something with form upon which to rely; without such a support, they cannot practice. |
| 日本东密也有此法，但因此法是密宗的心髓，是最高深的法，不能轻传，须得阿阇黎的法位才能传，一般人也学不到。现在，我们能得到它，真是无上的福报。 | Japanese Eastern Esoteric Buddhism also has this Dharma. But because it is the heart-essence of Esoteric Buddhism and a most profound Dharma, it cannot be transmitted casually. One must have the rank of an acharya in order to transmit it, and ordinary people cannot learn it either. Now that we are able to receive it, it is truly unsurpassed good fortune. |
| 故须竭尽全力修持，以期迅速打开本来见到佛性，然后再历境练心，勤除妄习，一地、二地、三地上上升进，到第三地即能够出意生身了；五地之上，就能证到三、五个化身，能变化了；到八地以上，我们的前五根（眼、耳、鼻、舌、身）都起变化了，世界亦在起变化。 | Therefore, we must cultivate with all our strength, in the hope of swiftly opening up our original nature and seeing buddha-nature. Then we must temper the mind through circumstances and diligently eliminate deluded habits, advancing upward through the first, second, and third bhūmis. By the third bhūmi, one can manifest a mind-born body; above the fifth bhūmi, one can realize three or five transformation bodies and effect transformations. Above the eighth bhūmi, our first five faculties—eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body—undergo transformation, and the world too undergoes transformation. |
| 所谓种类具足无行作意生身，就是山、水、房子、花草样样都有，都能变显。虽能显化而无显化之迹。这就是无为，不是没做，而是不用有意去做，自然变化的。 | What is called a mind-born body complete in all kinds and free from deliberate activity means that mountains, waters, houses, flowers, and grasses—everything—is present and can be manifested through transformation. Though such transformations can be manifested, they leave no trace of manifestation. This is non-contrivance: it does not mean that nothing is done, but that there is no need to do anything intentionally; transformations occur naturally. |
| 上面说过，弥勒佛对善财童子讲：“因广度众生，积累功德，所以感得庄严的报土了。你也要如此用功，勤除妄习，广度众生，才能得后得智，而圆满报化身。”所以我们不能得少为足，必须于证见本性后，上上升进，证到十三地，才能圆证果地佛。 | As stated above, Maitreya Buddha told Sudhana: “By liberating sentient beings extensively and accumulating merit and virtue, one brings about an adorned reward land. You too must practice in this way, diligently eliminate deluded habits, and liberate sentient beings extensively. Only then can you attain differentiated wisdom and perfect the sambhogakāya and nirmāṇakāya.” Therefore, we must not be satisfied with a little. After realizing and seeing our intrinsic nature, we must advance ever higher, reaching the thirteenth bhūmi before we can completely realize Buddhahood. |
| 证成佛果的时间短长都靠自己掌握，没有一定的时限。比如释迦佛见到古佛的无限光明报身，很羡慕。他想：我也要证到这个报身。就拼命用功，日以继夜地用功，结果提前七劫成功。 | The length of time required to realize Buddhahood depends entirely on oneself; there is no fixed time limit. For example, when Śākyamuni Buddha saw the boundless luminous sambhogakāya of an ancient Buddha, he greatly admired it. He thought, “I too must realize this sambhogakāya.” So he applied himself with all his might, day and night, and as a result attained realization seven kalpas early. |
| 我们修法，往往今天推明天，明天推后天，推来推去，推到弥勒佛下生也不能成就，如果能拼命用功，无一人不能提前成道。《法华经·授记品》释迦佛给诸大弟子授记：你将来什么时候成佛，叫什么名字。 | In our practice, we often put things off from today until tomorrow, from tomorrow until the day after. If we keep putting things off, we will not attain realization even when Maitreya Buddha descends into the world. But if we apply ourselves with all our might, there is no one who cannot realize the Way ahead of time. In the Chapter on Bestowal of Prophecy in the Lotus Sūtra, Śākyamuni Buddha bestows prophecies upon his great disciples: when each will become a Buddha in the future and what name each will bear. |
| 一一授记的时限，是不是固定了呢？不是的，真用功的人习气扫空了，就能提前成佛。所谓三大阿僧祗劫是三个（见道位，修道位，证道位）证成道果的不可知之时。时间的长短，全视自己努力不努力而定。 | Are the time limits set forth in these individual prophecies fixed? No. Those who truly apply themselves and sweep away their habitual tendencies can become Buddhas ahead of time. The so-called three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas are the unknowable periods for realizing the fruition of the Way through the three stages of seeing the Way, cultivating the Way, and realizing the Way. The duration of time depends wholly on whether one makes the effort. |
| 比如阿难尊者和释迦佛一齐发心修道，结果佛已证成果佛，阿难尚未开悟，即是明证。“嗡巴拉巴拉……”这个咒扫除习气很快。平时你要发火了，可大声持咒，把你的火气熄掉。我们修道，要恒顺众生，不是要人家顺你的心。 | For example, Venerable Ānanda and Śākyamuni Buddha aroused the resolve to cultivate the Way at the same time. Yet the Buddha had already realized Buddhahood while Ānanda had not yet awakened. This is clear evidence. “Oṃ bala bala …” This mantra swiftly clears away habitual tendencies. When you are about to lose your temper, you may recite the mantra aloud to extinguish your anger. In cultivating the Way, we must constantly accord with sentient beings; we are not to demand that others accord with our wishes. |
| 要恒顺众生，一下子还容易，恒久地顺从就难了。所以说做一件好事容易，要持久地做就难了。但为佛子者，就要练这持久之力呀！ | To accord with sentient beings for a moment is easy, but to do so continually is difficult. Thus, doing one good deed is easy, whereas doing it persistently is difficult. But as children of the Buddha, we must cultivate this power of perseverance! |
| 开悟不好求，不要着急，要水到渠成。咒念到无念处就自然不念了，一时能念之心与所持之咒忽然脱落，就打开本来，亲证本性了，但一求就不来了。 | Awakening is not easy to seek. Do not be anxious; let matters come to fruition naturally. When the mantra is recited to the point of no thought, recitation naturally ceases. At a certain moment, the mind that recites and the mantra being recited both suddenly fall away; then one opens up the original nature and directly realizes one’s intrinsic nature. But if one seeks it, it will not come. |
| 圆顿法门讲理事不二，理就是事，事就是理，理到事就应该到。如果说，理到了，事还没有到，理就是没悟，事到了才是真悟。 | The complete and sudden Dharma gate teaches the nonduality of principle and phenomena: principle is phenomena, and phenomena are principle. If principle is reached, phenomena should also be reached. If one says that principle has been reached but phenomena have not, then principle has not truly been awakened to. Only when phenomena are reached is there genuine awakening. |
| 根本不和你讲习气，讲习气就是没有彻悟，彻悟了还有什么习气？！《楞严经》说：“理属顿悟，乘悟并销。”就是说，彻悟时，什么习气都消尽了。后来人依此理说，禅宗只到六祖为止，后面不算宗，只算教了。 | It does not speak of habitual tendencies at all; to speak of habitual tendencies means that one has not thoroughly awakened. Once one has thoroughly awakened, what habitual tendencies remain? The Śūraṅgama Sūtra says: “Principle belongs to sudden awakening; upon awakening, they are all extinguished.” This means that at the time of thorough awakening, all habitual tendencies are completely eliminated. Later generations relied on this principle to say that the Chan school ended with the Sixth Patriarch; what came afterward was not considered the school itself, but only doctrine. |
| 为什么呢？后面禅宗行人都讲顿悟渐修了，顿悟其理，渐修其事，有渐次就是教了。“理属顿悟，乘悟并销”，“事则渐除，因次第尽”。教上分顿悟、渐修，所以《楞严经》说的是两种法。 | Why? Because later Chan practitioners all spoke of sudden awakening followed by gradual cultivation: sudden awakening to principle and gradual cultivation in phenomena. Once there are gradual stages, it becomes doctrine. “Principle belongs to sudden awakening; upon awakening, they are all extinguished. Phenomena are gradually removed and exhausted according to stages.” Doctrine distinguishes sudden awakening and gradual cultivation; thus the Śūraṅgama Sūtra speaks of two kinds of Dharma. |
| 上面是顿悟，下面是渐修，并在一起作为一种法是不对的。现在我们迁就众生的习气根基，将顿悟渐修联合在一起说先打开本来证见理体，然后再事上锻炼，渐除妄习。本来佛说的法，因各人悟境不同而各有千秋的。 | The first is sudden awakening and the second gradual cultivation; it is incorrect to combine them as one Dharma. Now, accommodating the habitual tendencies and capacities of sentient beings, we combine sudden awakening and gradual cultivation, saying that one must first open up the original nature and realize the principle-body, then train amid phenomena and gradually eliminate deluded habits. The Dharma originally taught by the Buddha has its own strengths according to the differing states of realization of different people. |
| 昔佛住世时，一次说法后，弟子们讨论时争论起来，各说各对，问佛，佛说：你们说的都不是我的意思，但都可以用。适合各人的根基，可以用就算了。顿悟、渐修，适合近代人的根基可以用就算对了。 | When the Buddha was in the world, after one teaching his disciples began arguing in discussion, each claiming to be right. They asked the Buddha, and the Buddha said, “What each of you says is not my meaning, but all of it may be used. If it suits a person’s capacity and can be used, that is sufficient.” Sudden awakening and gradual cultivation suit the capacities of people today; if they can be used, they may be regarded as correct. |
| 惠能和神秀的两个偈子都不好。神秀说的是渐修，而禅宗是顿悟、顿修、顿证的圆顿法，所以五祖不把衣钵给他。六祖说：“本来无一物。”这就偏空了。 | The two verses by Huineng and Shenxiu are both unsatisfactory. Shenxiu’s speaks of gradual cultivation, whereas the Chan school is the complete and sudden Dharma of sudden awakening, sudden cultivation, and sudden realization. Therefore, the Fifth Patriarch did not give him the robe and bowl. The Sixth Patriarch said, “Originally, there is not a single thing.” This falls into biased emptiness. |
| 所以五祖说：“也没有见性！”若真见性了，五祖为什么还要三更说法，说到“应无所住而生其心”六祖才大悟呢？这个偈子改一改：“菩提权做树，明镜假作台。 | Therefore, the Fifth Patriarch said, “You have not yet seen your nature either!” If he had truly seen his nature, why did the Fifth Patriarch still teach the Dharma to him at the third watch of the night, so that Huineng had a great awakening only upon hearing, “Give rise to the mind without abiding anywhere”? This verse should be revised: “Let bodhi provisionally serve as a tree; let the bright mirror provisionally serve as a stand.” |
| ”现相妙用啊，暂且做做树台也不妨！“本来不染污，说净亦尘埃”。有个清净，还是尘埃。本性是不垢不净，空无一物的，垢既无有，净又何来！？但现在把这两个偈子联合起来亦很当用。 | Manifested appearances have wondrous functioning; there is no harm in provisionally having a tree and a stand. “Originally there is no defilement; to speak of purity is itself dust.” If there is purity, it is still dust. Intrinsic nature is neither defiled nor pure, empty and without a single thing. Since defilement does not exist, whence could purity arise? Yet it is also quite useful now to combine these two verses. |
| 因为现代人根钝，不“常常勤拂拭”，扫除妄习，怎能成道？不作“本来无一物”会，又怎能不著有？所以近人说：六祖与神秀大师合起来，六祖是摩醯首罗一只眼，而神秀是双目圆明，信不诬也。 | Because people today have dull faculties and do not “constantly polish and wipe,” sweeping away their deluded habitual tendencies, how can they realize the Way? If they do not understand “originally there is not a single thing,” how can they avoid clinging to existence? Therefore, modern people say: Taken together, the Sixth Patriarch and Master Shenxiu are such that the Sixth Patriarch is one eye of Maheśvara, while Shenxiu is the perfect radiance of both eyes. This is indeed no falsehood. |
