Master Yuanyin, Originally Published in Chan, Issue 2 (1990) | 1990-11-12 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 心中心密法，系藉佛菩萨慈悲加被之力修行，故易于得定，打开本来，证悟真心。譬之旅行，自力修行者，全靠自己两脚行走，修心密则如乘船、乘车，更或乘飞机，所以快速、稳当，有事半功倍之效。 | The Heart-of-Heart Esoteric Dharma is practiced by relying on the compassionate blessings of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. It is therefore easy to attain samādhi, open up one’s original nature, and realize the true mind. By analogy, those who practice through their own efforts must rely entirely on their own two feet to travel, whereas practicing heart esotericism is like traveling by boat or vehicle, or even by airplane. It is thus swift and reliable, achieving twice the result with half the effort. |
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| 先师骧陆公，为扶助心密行人更加快速地了悟真心、超凡入圣起见，著有《悟心铭》一首，共四十句，每句四字，共一百六十字，虽文短而字少，但义理丰富深长。整个成佛之真谛和修心要诀，均宣示无遗。 | In order to help practitioners of heart esotericism realize the true mind and transcend the ordinary to enter sagehood more swiftly, my late teacher, Mr. Xianglu, composed a poem entitled “Inscription on Awakening to the Mind.” It has forty lines, each of four characters, for a total of 160 characters. Though brief and concise, its principles are rich and profound. It fully sets forth both the true meaning of Buddhahood and the essential instructions for cultivating the mind. |
| 诚可谓文约义丰，言简意赅之精要著作，亦现代不可多得之悟心评唱！学者如于修法之余，每天将其朗诵几遍烂熟于胸中，久久自于境缘上一触即发，由真实体中得大机大用。兹为帮助后进者了达其含蓄之玄旨，易于悟心起见，乃逐句浅释，尚望学人珍重，勿轻视之！ | It may truly be called an essential work, concise in language yet rich in meaning, and a rare modern commentary on awakening to the mind. If students, in addition to practicing the Dharma, recite it several times each day until they know it by heart, then over time, when touched by circumstances and conditions, they will spontaneously awaken and bring forth great capacity and great functioning from the true essence. In order to help later students understand its profound, implicit purport and more readily awaken to the mind, I shall offer a simple explanation line by line. I sincerely hope practitioners will cherish it and not take it lightly. |
| 《悟心铭》全文 | The Complete Text of “Inscription on Awakening to the Mind” |
| 不是有心 不是无心 不是不见 不是不闻 | It is not a mind that exists; it is not a mind that does not exist. It is not non-seeing; it is not non-hearing. |
| 了了觉知 不着见闻 荡然无住 是名无心 | Clearly aware and knowing, yet not attached to seeing or hearing; utterly without abiding—this is called no-mind. |
| 心若无住 妄依何立 妄既不立 夙障自除 | If the mind has no abiding, on what can delusion depend to arise? Once delusion no longer stands, past obstacles dissolve of themselves. |
| 问心何来 因境而起 境亦不有 同属幻影 | Ask where the mind comes from: it arises because of objects. Yet objects, too, do not truly exist; they are likewise illusory appearances. |
| 妙用恒沙 尽是缘心 缘心息处 顿证无生 | Its wondrous functioning is as countless as the sands of the Ganges, all arising from the conditioned mind. Where the conditioned mind ceases, one suddenly realizes the unborn. |
| 无生实相 非可眼见 杳杳冥冥 其中有精 | The true aspect of the unborn cannot be seen with the eyes. Vast and obscure, it contains an essence within. |
| 证悟之者 名曰见性 是故无求 心自宁一 | One who realizes it is said to see one’s true nature. Therefore, seek nothing, and the mind naturally becomes peaceful and unified. |
| 无心可惑 即是大定 得大定者 无动无静 | With no mind to be deluded, this is great samādhi. Those who attain great samādhi have neither movement nor stillness. |
| 无得无失 无喜无嗔 本位不移 起应万机 | Without gain or loss, without joy or anger, one does not depart from the original ground, yet responds to the myriad circumstances. |
| 不变随缘 即无生死 成佛要诀 如是而已 | Unchanging yet according with conditions, one is free of birth and death. The essential instruction for becoming a Buddha is no more than this. |
| 浅释 | A Simple Explanation |
| 《悟心铭》开始即说：“不是有心，不是无心。” | At the beginning, “Inscription on Awakening to the Mind” says: “It is not a mind that exists; it is not a mind that does not exist.” |
| 这二句把妙明真心之体和妙用和盘描绘出来。以妙明真心，既不属有，亦不是无。你说它有，无相可见，无声可闻；你说它无，语默动静，行住坐卧，无一不是它在起作用。 | These two lines fully portray both the essence and wondrous functioning of the marvelously luminous true mind. The marvelously luminous true mind neither belongs to existence nor is it nonexistence. If you say that it exists, it has no form that can be seen and no sound that can be heard. If you say that it does not exist, then whether speaking or silent, moving or still, walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, there is nothing in which it is not functioning. |
| 古德譬之“海中盐味”，“色里胶青”，虽不能目睹，而体实不无。释迦文佛告诉我们，它是真空妙有，妙有真空的大宝藏。所谓真空者，别于顽空和断灭空，以妙有故，空而不空，不空而空；所谓妙有者，别于妄有或实有，以真空故，有而不有，不有而有也。 | Ancient worthies compared it to “the taste of salt in the sea” and “the blue in a dye.” Though it cannot be seen with the eyes, its substance is certainly not absent. Śākyamuni Buddha tells us that it is the great treasury of true emptiness and wondrous presence, of wondrous presence and true emptiness. What is called true emptiness differs from inert emptiness and annihilationist emptiness. Because it is wondrous presence, it is empty yet not empty, and not empty yet empty. What is called wondrous presence differs from delusive existence and substantial existence. Because it is true emptiness, it exists yet does not exist, and does not exist yet exists. |
| 次就相用说来，也是非有非无，非无非有的。你说它无，形形色色历然现前，而妙用恒沙；你说它有，一切色相，皆因缘所生，无有自体，所起事用，宛如水月空花，无可把持。 | Speaking next of its characteristics and functioning, it is likewise neither existent nor nonexistent, neither nonexistent nor existent. If you say that it does not exist, the myriad forms appear distinctly before you, and its wondrous functioning is as countless as the sands of the Ganges. If you say that it exists, all forms arise from causes and conditions and have no self-nature; the affairs and functions they produce are like the moon reflected in water or flowers in empty space, impossible to grasp. |
| 《心经》云：“色即是空，空即是色。”就是说色空不二，非有非无。以一切色相皆是真空妙体之所显现，而真空妙体亦不能离开色相而显其用，更非离色相而别有。 | The Heart Sūtra says: “Form is emptiness; emptiness is form.” This means that form and emptiness are nondual, neither existent nor nonexistent. All forms are manifestations of the wondrous essence of true emptiness, while that wondrous essence cannot manifest its functioning apart from forms, nor does it exist separately from them. |
| 譬如水起之波，水即是波，波即是水，离波即不可得水，离水亦不可得波。吾人用功，既不可执色相为实有而粘着不舍，更不能偏离色相，废有而着空。故不论上座习定，下座起用，均须无所取舍，方契中道之理，走上真空妙有的大道。 | It is like waves arising from water: water is waves, and waves are water. Apart from waves, water cannot be found; apart from water, waves cannot be found. In our practice, we must neither cling to forms as substantially real nor depart one-sidedly from forms, reject existence, and attach to emptiness. Therefore, whether cultivating samādhi on the meditation cushion or functioning after leaving it, we must neither grasp nor reject. Only then do we accord with the principle of the Middle Way and enter the great path of true emptiness and wondrous presence. |
| 学者修法，修至妄念消融时，则能念之心，所持之咒，一时脱落，内而身心，外而世界一齐消殒，化为乌有。净裸裸一丝不挂，赤洒洒一尘不染，但了了分明，非同木石。 | When practitioners cultivate the Dharma to the point that deluded thoughts dissolve away, the mind that recites and the mantra being held both fall away at once. Within, body and mind; without, the world—all perish together and vanish into nothing. One is utterly bare, without a single thread; vividly pure, unstained by a single speck of dust. Yet there remains clear and lucid awareness, unlike wood or stone. |
| 这一丝不挂一片虚明的是什么？不是当人非有非无之妙明真心，历历现前，又是什么？！当斯时也，色空不能到，有无不能及；说无之时，周遍法界，说有之时，纤毫不立；诸子百家，百工技艺，乃至诸佛净土，恒沙众生，无不融会于中矣。 | What is this utterly bare, wholly empty and luminous presence? If it is not the marvelously luminous true mind of the very person before us—neither existent nor nonexistent—appearing vividly before us, then what is it? At such a time, neither form nor emptiness can reach it, and neither existence nor nonexistence can encompass it. When spoken of as nonexistent, it pervades the dharma realm; when spoken of as existent, not even the finest hair is established. The hundred schools of thought, all crafts and skills, even the Pure Lands of the Buddhas and sentient beings as countless as the sands of the Ganges—all are integrated within it. |
| 第二句：“不是不见，不是不闻。” | The second line says: “It is not non-seeing; it is not non-hearing.” |
| 这教我们做功夫，不可死做，而要活泼泼地历境练心；不要闭目不见，塞耳不闻，须要见无所见，闻无所闻，才能灵活妙用，证成大道。 | This teaches us that we must not practice rigidly and lifelessly, but vivaciously temper the mind through circumstances. We should not close our eyes and refuse to see or block our ears and refuse to hear. We must see without seeing and hear without hearing; only then can we function flexibly and wondrously and realize the great Way. |
| 我常见一些错用功者，闭着眼睛，不见事物，塞住耳朵，不闻音声，以为这样就能把心练空，成道了。殊不知纵然你闭目塞耳、心不接境时，可以做到心死不动，一旦开眼去塞，心对境时，妄心又不免随着色声转动不停。 | I often see people who practice incorrectly: they close their eyes so as not to see things and block their ears so as not to hear sounds, thinking that in this way they can empty the mind and realize the Way. They do not realize that, although when their eyes are closed and ears blocked and the mind is not engaging with objects, they may make the mind seem dead and unmoving, once they open their eyes and unblock their ears, and the mind encounters objects, the deluded mind will again inevitably follow forms and sounds, ceaselessly moving about. |
| 以除境灭心，非真了故，何况在闭目塞耳时，内心未必不在暗暗蠢动哩！另外，闭目塞耳，更有一大过患，假如学者用闭塞的功夫，真正做到心死不动了，那又做到黑山背后死水中去了，非但不能成佛，且有沦为土木金石之虞。 | Eliminating objects in order to extinguish the mind is not true realization. Moreover, while the eyes are closed and ears blocked, the inner mind may still be secretly stirring. Furthermore, closing the eyes and blocking the ears entails a great danger: if practitioners use such a closed-off method and truly make the mind dead and unmoving, they will end up sitting behind a dark mountain, in dead water. Not only will they be unable to become Buddhas, but they may even degenerate into earth, wood, metal, or stone. |
| 所以学者不可不慎！要真正做到心不为境转，还靠在境界上锻炼。宗下所谓：“在地上跌倒，还在地上爬起！”离境趋空，终成泡影！ | Therefore practitioners must be cautious. To truly ensure that the mind is not turned by circumstances, one must rely on tempering it amid circumstances. As the Chan school says: “Where one falls to the ground, there one must rise again.” To leave circumstances behind and pursue emptiness will ultimately prove an illusion. |
| 《金刚经》云：“凡所有相，皆是虚妄！”一切色声，皆因缘生，无有实体；任你美色当前，妙声充耳，俱不过阳焰、空花、海市蜃楼，一时假现。 | The Diamond Sūtra says: “All appearances are illusory.” All forms and sounds arise from causes and conditions and have no substantial reality. No matter how beautiful the form before you or how exquisite the sounds filling your ears, they are no more than heat haze, flowers in empty space, or a mirage—temporary illusory appearances. |
| 认清此理，再经时日之推移，和千万次境上的艰苦锻炼，自然心宁神静，遇境安然不动。洞山禅师《五位君臣颂》颂第四位“偏中至”修道位云：“偏中至，二刃交锋不须避，好手还如火中莲，丈夫自有冲天志！”即教我们活泼用功，历境练心，不须回避见闻，以启将来之大机大用也。 | Once you clearly understand this principle, and after the passage of time and arduous tempering through circumstances thousands upon thousands of times, the mind will naturally become tranquil and the spirit still; when circumstances arise, one will remain peacefully unmoved. Chan Master Dongshan, in his Verses on the Five Ranks of Ruler and Minister, praises the fourth rank, “Arrival within the Biased,” the stage of cultivating the Way: “Arrival within the biased: when two blades cross, there is no need to evade. A skilled hand is like a lotus in fire; a true man has aspirations that soar to heaven!” This teaches us to practice dynamically, tempering the mind through circumstances and not avoiding seeing and hearing, so as to open the way for great capacity and great functioning in the future. |
| 第三句：“了了觉知，不着见闻！” | The third line says: “Clearly aware and knowing, yet not attached to seeing or hearing!” |
| 这是承上二句“不是不见，不是不闻”，而进一步申说应怎样灵活地做功夫，方不致走入歧路。我人修行，是修成活佛，所以不是死坐不动，沉空滞寂，坐在黑山背后，可以了道的。 | This follows the preceding two lines, “It is not non-seeing; it is not non-hearing,” and further explains how one should practice flexibly in order not to enter a mistaken path. We practice in order to become living Buddhas. Thus we cannot realize the Way merely by sitting motionless in dead stillness, sunk in emptiness and stagnant quiescence, sitting behind a dark mountain. |
| 云门云：“即此见闻非见闻，无余声色可呈君！”明白畅晓地告诉我们，你要彻见真心吗？就在你现前见色闻声处。 | Yunmen said: “This very seeing and hearing are not seeing and hearing; no other sounds or forms can be presented to you!” He plainly and clearly tells us: Do you wish to see through to the true mind? Then seek it precisely where you now see forms and hear sounds. |
| 了悟这见色闻声底是谁？离开这见色闻声底，你就无处去寻觅它了；假使你着在见色闻声上，又被声色所迷，也见不着它了。 | Realize who it is that sees forms and hears sounds. Apart from this seeing of forms and hearing of sounds, there is nowhere to seek it. But if you become attached to seeing forms and hearing sounds, then you will be deluded by sounds and forms and will not see it either. |
| 这是何等灵活的功夫，岂是死坐不动，不见不闻可以见道的？又云：“玄虚大道本无著，见色闻声不用聋！”可见做功夫须活做不可死做；死做不但不能成道，还有流入魔外之虞。 | What flexible practice this is! How could one see the Way merely by sitting rigidly unmoving, neither seeing nor hearing? Another saying goes: “The profound, empty great Way is originally without attachment; when seeing forms and hearing sounds, there is no need to become deaf!” This shows that practice must be alive, not dead. Dead practice not only cannot realize the Way; it also risks falling into the paths of demons and non-Buddhists. |
| 所以先师告诉我们，做功夫须在行住坐卧、动静闲忙处活用，不可如木石无知，而要了了分明；虽了了分明而又不可着在声色上！换句话说，就是要见无所见，闻无所闻，而不是不见不闻，这样才得灵活妙用。即或在座上也要正念昭昭，了了分明而不可茫然无知，落入昏沉或无记。 | Therefore my late teacher told us that practice must be applied dynamically amid walking, standing, sitting, lying down, activity, stillness, leisure, and busyness. We must not be insensible like wood or stone, but should remain clearly aware. Yet, though clearly aware, we must not become attached to sounds and forms. In other words, we must see without seeing and hear without hearing, rather than neither seeing nor hearing. Only thus can there be flexible, wondrous functioning. Even while seated in meditation, right mindfulness must be bright and clear; one must not be blankly unaware and fall into dullness or an indeterminate state. |
| 永嘉大师云：“惺惺寂寂是，惺惺狂想非；寂寂惺惺是，寂寂无记非。”即此“了了觉知，不着见闻”之注脚也。 | Master Yongjia said: “Alert and still is right; alert and wildly thinking is wrong. Still and alert is right; still and indeterminate is wrong.” This is precisely a commentary on “Clearly aware and knowing, yet not attached to seeing or hearing.” |
| 第四句：“荡然无住，是名无心。” | The fourth line says: “Utterly without abiding—this is called no-mind.” |
| 我们平常认为无心，就是一念不生，而一念不生，就是压念不起。 | We ordinarily believe that no-mind means that not a single thought arises, and that when not a single thought arises, one is suppressing thoughts so that they do not arise. |
| 所以大家都用死压功夫，压住念头不让它起来，以为一个念头没有就是好功夫，更以为一念不生的时间，由短而长，便是功夫的上上升进，殊不知这样死做下去，非但不能成佛，成个土木金石倒有份在！因为佛是活泼泼的大觉者，恒沙妙用的伟丈夫，岂是如木石的死硬块，毫无知觉的塑雕像。 | Thus everyone applies the rigid practice of suppression, holding thoughts down and not allowing them to arise. They think that having no thoughts at all is good practice, and further believe that extending the time during which not a single thought arises, from short to long, is the highest advance in practice. They do not realize that if they continue this rigid practice, not only will they fail to become Buddhas, but they may well become earth, wood, metal, or stone. For a Buddha is a vividly alive great awakened one, a great person of wondrous functioning as countless as the sands of the Ganges. How could a Buddha be like a hard, lifeless lump of wood or stone, or a sculpted image without the slightest awareness? |
| 做功夫，不在多种多样的差别境上锻炼自己，心无所住，只是死压心念不起，还能起什么妙用？ | If one does not temper oneself amid the diverse circumstances of differentiation, and instead merely suppresses thoughts so that they do not arise, with the mind abiding nowhere, what wondrous functioning can arise? |
| 不见六祖大师当年救卧轮公案？卧轮禅师初以为压念不起是好功夫，故有颂云：“卧轮有伎俩，能断百思想，对境心不起，菩提日日长！”六祖一见，知走入死水歧途，故救之云：“惠能无伎俩，不断百思想，对境心数起，菩提作么长！”卧轮知错改正，方始入道。 | Have you not seen the koan of the Sixth Patriarch’s rescue of Chan Master Wolun? At first, Wolun thought that suppressing thoughts so they would not arise was good practice, and therefore composed this verse: “Wolun has a skill: he can cut off a hundred thoughts. When facing circumstances, the mind does not arise; bodhi grows day by day.” When the Sixth Patriarch saw it, he knew that Wolun had entered the mistaken path of dead water, and so rescued him with these words: “Huineng has no skill; he does not cut off a hundred thoughts. When facing circumstances, the mind often arises; how could bodhi grow?” Wolun recognized his error and corrected it; only then did he enter the Way. |
| 是知无心，不是压念不起，更不是无念之时，由短而长，方为增进，真正无心的功夫，是尽管应缘接物而心无所住；尽管日理万机而意无所染。衷心犹如水上绘画一样，一笔起处，水面马上会合，毫无痕迹，这才是无心的真好功夫。 | Thus we know that no-mind does not mean suppressing thoughts so that they do not arise. Still less does it mean that progress consists in extending the duration of thought-free moments from short to long. The true practice of no-mind is to respond to conditions and engage with things while the mind abides nowhere; to manage the myriad affairs of daily life while the mind remains unstained. It is like drawing on water: the moment a stroke is made, the surface immediately closes again, leaving no trace at all. This is the truly excellent practice of no-mind. |
| 《金刚经》云：“应无所住而生其心！”这个“应无所住”的“应”字，往往被人误解作“应当”、“应该”的“应”字。 | The Diamond Sūtra says: “Give rise to this mind without abiding anywhere!” The character ying (应) in “should abide nowhere” is often misunderstood as the ying meaning “should” or “ought to.” |
| 其实不然，这个“应”字是“应缘接物”的“应”，是教我们在日常生活中应付一切事件，接应所有人物，都要心无所住，荡然无染。而不是只告诉我们在理地上应该或应当无所住着的。我们倘能应缘而无所住，则恒沙妙用的灵活真心自然无所遮蔽地时时现前了。 | But this is not so. This ying is the ying in “responding to conditions and engaging with things.” It teaches us that, in daily life, when dealing with all events and responding to all people, the mind should abide nowhere and remain utterly free from defilement. It does not merely tell us, at the level of principle, that we ought not to abide in attachment. If we can respond to conditions without abiding anywhere, then the agile true mind of countless wondrous functions will naturally appear at every moment, unobscured. |
| 所以无念是活的，是应缘而无所住染；不是压念不起，死在那里不动。我们只要念起无住，不攀缘，不停留，随用随息，即是无念。 | Thus, no-thought is alive: it responds to conditions without abiding in or being defiled by them. It is not the suppression of thoughts so that they do not arise, leaving one inert and motionless. So long as, when thoughts arise, we do not abide in them, do not cling to conditions, and do not linger—using them as needed and letting them cease when their function is fulfilled—this is no-thought. |
| 昔时，僧问赵州：“如何是无念？”州云：“急水上打球子！”赵州后更反问投子：“急水上打球子，意旨如何？”投子云：“念念不停留！”可见念起无住即无念，而不是一念不生方为无念也。 | In former times, a monk asked Zhaozhou, “What is no-thought?” Zhaozhou said, “Hitting a ball atop rushing water!” Later, Zhaozhou in turn asked Touzi, “What is the meaning of hitting a ball atop rushing water?” Touzi said, “Thought after thought does not linger!” Thus it is evident that when thoughts arise without abiding, this is no-thought; it is not only when not a single thought arises that there is no-thought. |
| 又懒融禅师《无心颂》云：“恰恰用心时，恰恰无心用；无心恰恰用，常用恰恰无！”即正在用心时，亦不见有心起用，道尽无心的意旨和妙用矣。 | Chan Master Niutou Farong, also known as Lanrong, says in his “Song of No-Mind”: “Just when the mind is functioning, there is precisely no mind at work; when no mind is precisely at work, constant functioning is precisely absent!” That is, even when the mind is functioning, no mind can be seen to be functioning. This fully expresses the meaning and wondrous function of no-mind. |
| 第五句：“心若无住，妄依何立？” | The fifth line: “If the mind abides nowhere, on what can delusion depend for its existence?” |
| 修道人个个讨厌妄心，要消灭它，打倒它。殊不知妄本不有，只是思想作祟，一切外境宛如水月，皆非实有，众生无知，误认为有，执而不舍，乃成为妄。倘能当下一觉，照破幻境，妄即化为乌有。如人做梦，正在做梦时，也认为实有，及至醒来，痕迹也无。 | Every practitioner dislikes the deluded mind and wants to eliminate and overthrow it. Yet they do not realize that delusion has never truly existed; it is merely the mischief of thought. All external circumstances are like the moon reflected in water: none truly exist. Sentient beings, in their ignorance, mistakenly take them to exist and cling to them without letting go; this then becomes delusion. If one awakens at once and sees through the illusory realm, delusion vanishes into nothing. It is like dreaming: while dreaming, one also takes it to be real, but upon awakening not even a trace remains. |
| 良由真心如镜光，一切色、声、香、味、触、法，皆如镜中所现之影。 | This is because the true mind is like a mirror’s radiance, while all forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile objects, and dharmas are like reflections appearing in that mirror. |
| 凡夫愚昧无知，背镜光而取影，造业受报，生死不了；二乘圣人，虽不着尘境，但又背镜影而住光，以有所住，又成法妄，只了分段生死，不了变易生死；一乘学者，悟透佛法、世法，不即镜影，亦不离镜影。 | Ordinary beings are ignorant and deluded. Turning away from the mirror’s radiance, they grasp at its reflections; they create karma, undergo retribution, and cannot transcend birth and death. Sages of the two vehicles, although they do not cling to the dusty realm of objects, turn away from the reflections and abide in the radiance. Because they still abide somewhere, this too becomes dharma-delusion; they have ended only segmented birth and death, not transformational birth and death. Students of the One Vehicle thoroughly realize both Buddhadharma and worldly dharmas: they neither identify with the mirror’s reflections nor separate themselves from them. |
| 以一切影像皆是镜光所成，镜即是影，影即是镜；离镜无影，离影无镜，既不可背镜住影，亦无须离影求镜。既深知影镜皆无所住，当能心无爱憎之情，境无取舍之住。 | Since all images are formed by the mirror’s radiance, the mirror is the image and the image is the mirror. Apart from the mirror there is no image, and apart from the image there is no mirror. Thus, one can neither turn away from the mirror and abide in the image nor need separate from the image in search of the mirror. Once one deeply knows that neither image nor mirror abides anywhere, the mind can be free of attachment and aversion, and circumstances can be free of grasping and rejection. |
| 故学者不必怕妄，但深契一乘玄旨，于境无取无舍，无喜无嗔，则妄自除矣。 | Therefore, students need not fear delusion. So long as they deeply accord with the profound meaning of the One Vehicle and neither grasp nor reject circumstances, neither rejoice nor become angry, delusion will naturally be eliminated. |
| 复次，众多学者，莫不以“无明”难破，甚有谈虎色变之慨。其实，所谓“无明”者，亦非实有，不过是妄心作怪，粘着尘境，迷而不觉，假名而已。行者果能当下凛然一觉，则妄境破，无明自销。 | Moreover, many students regard ignorance as difficult to destroy; some are as frightened by its very mention as by the sight of a tiger. Yet so-called “ignorance” is also not truly existent. It is merely the mischief of the deluded mind: clinging to sense objects, becoming deluded without awakening, and being given a provisional name. If practitioners can suddenly awaken with resolute clarity, the deluded realm will be shattered and ignorance will naturally dissolve. |
| 譬如千年暗室一灯能明，无须历时消除。故所谓无明者，妄心者，只是我人不觉之故，倘能时时观照，处处凛觉，令心清空廓澈，无所住执，还愁什么无明不破，妄心不息哩！？ | It is like a lamp illuminating a dark room that has been dark for a thousand years: there is no need to dispel the darkness gradually over time. Thus, what is called ignorance or the deluded mind arises only because we do not awaken. If we can contemplate at all times and remain alert everywhere, making the mind clear, empty, open, and lucid, without abiding in attachment, then why fear that ignorance will not be shattered or that the deluded mind will not cease? |
| 第六句：“妄既不立，夙障自除。” | The sixth line: “Once delusion finds no footing, past karmic obstacles naturally dissolve.” |
| 良以心本通灵无碍，只以迷境着相而成障。所谓夙障者，即多生历劫迷相造业而积累之妄习，迷障遮蔽本性之明，不得自在受用，而复痛苦、艰辛、烦恼无尽也。 | The mind is originally spiritually responsive and unobstructed; obstacles arise only because it becomes deluded by circumstances and clings to appearances. So-called past karmic obstacles are the deluded habitual tendencies accumulated through creating karma while being confused by appearances over many lives and eons. These deluded obstacles obscure the luminosity of our original nature, preventing us from freely enjoying its function and bringing endless pain, hardship, and affliction. |
| 今既知一切事相本空，心不留碍，业且不有，虚妄之障，又将安寄？大梅禅师云：“一切业障在达人份上，如热汤消冰，光明去暗，无所驻足。”盖所谓障者，亦是假名，无有实体。经云：“罪从心生，还将心灭！”又云：“心生则种种障生，心灭则种种障灭！”倘能直下无心则妄无立处，妄既不立，则夙障自除矣。 | Now that we know that all phenomenal appearances are originally empty, the mind retains no obstruction. Since karma itself does not truly exist, where could illusory obstacles lodge? Chan Master Damei said: “For one who has realized the Way, all karmic obstacles are like ice melting in hot water, or darkness vanishing before light: they have nowhere to remain.” What are called obstacles are also merely provisional names and have no substantial entity. A sūtra says: “Sin arises from the mind; use that very mind to extinguish it!” It also says: “When the mind arises, all kinds of obstacles arise; when the mind ceases, all kinds of obstacles cease!” If one directly enters no-mind, delusion has no place to stand. Once delusion finds no footing, past karmic obstacles naturally dissolve. |
| 或谓“现业易消，定业难免；心业易除，身业难灭”，此亦不可一概而论。不见达摩大师嘱二祖神光曰：“子将有杀身之报，但为正法免遭毁谤故，此债可予免还。 | Some say, “Present karma is easy to eliminate, but fixed karma is hard to avoid; karmic activity of the mind is easy to remove, but karmic activity of the body is hard to extinguish.” But this cannot be stated categorically. Did not Bodhidharma instruct Shenkuang, the Second Patriarch: “You will undergo retribution that takes your life. Yet, in order to prevent the true Dharma from being slandered, this debt may be forgiven you.” |
| ”又一古德中风嘴歪，侍者笑谓云：“和尚终日诃佛骂祖，今日受报了。 | Another ancient worthy suffered a stroke that twisted his mouth. His attendant laughed and said, “Master, all day long you berate Buddhas and scold patriarchs. Today you are receiving your retribution.” |
| ”古德云：“尔随侍我数十年，如此看我？须知一切业障在祖师身上，犹如空花水月，虽还报犹如不还报，而且要还即还，要不还即不还，你看我嘴歪不歪！”随说随用手一拍嘴巴，嘴即正了，并斥侍者云：“尔等执相众生，于本来空中作业障想，于无偿还中作偿还想，是以业障不了，受累无穷也。 | The ancient worthy said, “You have attended me for decades, yet this is how you see me? You must know that all karmic obstacles, when they are upon a patriarch, are like flowers in empty space and the moon reflected in water. Though retribution is repaid, it is as though it were not repaid; moreover, if it is to be repaid, it is repaid, and if it is not to be repaid, it is not repaid. Look—whether my mouth is crooked or not!” As he spoke, he slapped his mouth with his hand, and it immediately straightened. He then rebuked the attendant: “You beings who cling to appearances conceive of karmic obstacles within what is originally empty, and conceive of repayment within what requires no repayment. Therefore, karmic obstacles cannot be ended, and you suffer endless burdens.” |
| ”由此可知一切业障系于心，心果真空，无所谓障，更无所谓还不还。以无还无不还故，正不必执不还为不还，尽管还而犹不还也。 | From this we may know that all karmic obstacles depend on the mind. If the mind is truly empty, there is no such thing as an obstacle, much less a question of repayment or non-repayment. Precisely because there is neither repayment nor non-repayment, one need not cling to non-repayment as non-repayment; one may simply repay, while it is still as though there were no repayment. |
| 僧问古德：“如何是业障？”德云：“本来空！”僧进问云：“如何是本来空？”德云：“业障！”本来空不是顽空或断灭空，而是一切事物、业障的当体本来就是空无所有。故二祖神光大师，虽受初祖之嘱，于传法三祖后，仍去还杀身之债，而无难色，并于临刑时高唱云：“将头临白刃，犹如斩春风！”这是何等气概，此真了的弘范也。 | A monk asked an ancient worthy, “What are karmic obstacles?” The worthy said, “Originally empty!” The monk further asked, “What is originally empty?” The worthy said, “Karmic obstacles!” Original emptiness is not inert emptiness or annihilationist emptiness; it means that all things and karmic obstacles, in their very nature, are originally empty and devoid of anything. Therefore, although the Second Patriarch, Master Shenkuang, received the First Patriarch’s instruction, after transmitting the Dharma to the Third Patriarch he still went to repay the debt of having his life taken, without the least sign of distress. At the time of execution, he sang loudly: “When the head meets the white blade, it is like a spring breeze being cut!” What magnificent bearing! This is truly a grand model of complete realization. |
| 第七句：“问心何来？因境而起。” | The seventh line: “Ask where the mind comes from: it arises in dependence on circumstances.” |
| “心本无生因境有！”这是毗舍浮佛的名言。我人之心——即思想，本来没有，因对境而生起影像，执着不舍，才生起妄想，这就是心。 | “The mind is originally unborn; it exists because of circumstances.” This is a famous saying of Vipashyin Buddha. Our mind—that is, thought—originally does not exist. In response to circumstances, images arise; when we cling to them without letting go, deluded thoughts arise. This is what is called mind. |
| 这个心是根——心、尘——境集合而生起的，所以叫作“集起为心”，它是六尘落谢的影子，纯属虚幻，无有实体。 | This mind arises from the conjunction of the faculty—the mind—and the object—the environment. Hence it is called “the mind as the gathering and arising of conditions.” It is the shadow left behind by the six sense objects, wholly illusory and without any substantial entity. |
| 佛经中所说的“一切唯心造”和“三界唯心，万法唯识”的“心”字就是指这个由客观外境反映而生起的虚幻影像心。所以它也是外境，也是客体，而且也不离物质，不可把它看作主观的心，当作主宰世界的“真神”而宝贝它。 | The word “mind” in such scriptural statements as “all is created by mind” and “the three realms are mind-only; all phenomena are consciousness-only” refers to this illusory image-mind, which arises as a reflection of objective external circumstances. Thus it too is an external circumstance, an object; nor is it separate from matter. It must not be regarded as a subjective mind and treasured as a “true god” that rules the world. |
| 我们做功夫，既要不着森罗万象的外境，更要把这幻影妄心销尽。所谓内而身心，外而世界一起销殒，妙明真心，方才现前。反是，把这虚幻心当作主观实体，真性就被掩没不见了。因之，我们所说“一切唯心造”的“心”字，是把它视作被消灭的客观对象来处理的，并非说它是万物的主宰者，这要请广大学佛者搞清楚，不要误会才好！ | In our cultivation, we must neither cling to the external realm of the myriad phenomena nor fail to eradicate this illusory, deluded mind. Only when the inner body and mind and the outer world all perish together does the wondrously luminous true mind appear. Conversely, if this illusory mind is taken to be a subjective entity, true nature is obscured and cannot be seen. Therefore, when we speak of the “mind” in “all is created by mind,” we treat it as an objective object to be eliminated; we do not mean that it is the ruler of all things. Buddhist practitioners must clearly understand this and not misconstrue it. |
| 第八句：“境亦不有，同属幻影！” | The eighth line: “Circumstances too do not truly exist; they likewise belong to illusory images!” |
| 经云：“心不自心，因境故心；境不自境，因心故境。”这就把心与境，境与心的相因相成的关系说得一清二楚。心既因境而有，境亦不能离心独立，因境系因缘生，无有自体。 | A sūtra says: “Mind is not mind in itself; because of circumstances, it is mind. Circumstances are not circumstances in themselves; because of mind, they are circumstances.” This makes entirely clear the mutually dependent relationship between mind and circumstances, and between circumstances and mind. Since mind exists in dependence on circumstances, circumstances likewise cannot exist independently apart from mind, for they arise from causes and conditions and have no self-nature. |
| 比如镜影，虽有万别千差之相，如无镜光，影不能现；境亦如是，无心境无成，即或有美景佳境，无心领受鉴赏，有亦同无。以境不自境，不自谓为美妙胜境也。 | Take reflections in a mirror. Though they may display countless differing forms, without the mirror’s radiance the reflections cannot appear. Circumstances are the same: without mind, no realm of circumstances can be formed. Even if there is beautiful scenery and an excellent setting, if there is no mind to receive and appreciate them, their existence is no different from nonexistence. Circumstances are not circumstances in themselves; they do not themselves proclaim that they are beautiful and superb realms. |
| 心与境既相对而生，离一即无，则境与心，皆非真实，同属虚幻之影明矣。或许有人要说，娑婆世界所有景物，皆我人共业所招的业果，假而非真，谓为幻影，可以说得；至于西方极乐世界，乃阿弥陀佛多生历劫精勤修行，为广大众生造福，积累功德，缘熟果满所感之真境，似不可谓为幻影。 | Since mind and circumstances arise in mutual opposition, and without one the other does not exist, both circumstances and mind are not real; clearly, both are illusory images. Perhaps someone may say: all the scenery in the Sahā world is the karmic result brought about by our collective karma. It is false rather than real, and thus may be called an illusory image. But the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss is a true realm brought about when Amitābha Buddha’s causes and conditions ripened and his fruition was fulfilled—through his diligent cultivation over many lives and eons, his creation of blessings for the multitude of sentient beings, and his accumulation of merit and virtue. It would seem improper to call it an illusory image. |
| 关于这一点，确应好好讨论一下。因为现在修净土的人很多，如不把净土真相搞清楚，不明白净土究竟是怎么一回事，修行起来不易得力，更谈不到深证念佛三昧，上品往生了。 | This point indeed requires careful discussion. Many people now cultivate the Pure Land practice. Unless they clearly understand the true nature of the Pure Land and what it ultimately is, it will be difficult for their practice to gain strength, much less for them to deeply realize the Buddha-recitation samādhi and attain rebirth in the highest grade. |
| 首先就相来说，娑婆是业障众生造业所招的五浊恶果，而极乐是弥陀愿满德圆所感的清净世界，故一是秽浊丑恶，一是美妙庄严，大有区别。但土从心生，离心无土，离土无心；心即土，土即心。故经云：“欲净其土，先净其心！”“随其心净，即佛土净！”是教我人识得净土为何物，好下手用功证取，以免徒取外相，流入歧途。 | First, in terms of appearances, Sahā is the evil result of the five turbidities brought about by karmic obstacles and the karma created by sentient beings, whereas Ultimate Bliss is the pure realm brought about by Amitābha’s fulfilled vows and perfected virtues. Thus, one is foul, turbid, and ugly, while the other is beautiful and majestic; they differ greatly. Yet lands arise from mind: apart from mind there is no land, and apart from land there is no mind. Mind is land, and land is mind. Therefore, a sūtra says: “If you wish to purify your land, first purify your mind!” and “As the mind is purified, so the Buddha-land is purified!” This teaches us to recognize what the Pure Land is, so that we may know how to begin cultivation and realize it, rather than vainly grasping at external appearances and straying onto a wrong path. |
| 既然土外无心，心外无土，心土不相分离，而一真法界——真心——又在圣不增，在凡不减，则极乐净土系从净妙真心中流出，而娑婆秽土离清净佛性亦何可得？以是，极乐虽净，娑婆虽秽，同是真心中显现之影像，犹如镜光中显现之影，虽有形式之殊，净秽之别，但皆如水中之月，了不可得，绝不可因极乐为净月影而妄谓可得也。 | Since there is no mind outside the land and no land outside the mind, and mind and land are inseparable, while the One True Dharma Realm—the true mind—does not increase in sages or diminish in ordinary beings, the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss flows forth from the pure and wondrous true mind. How, then, could the defiled land of Sahā be found apart from pure Buddha-nature? Therefore, although Ultimate Bliss is pure and Sahā is defiled, both are images appearing within the true mind, like reflections appearing within a mirror’s radiance. Though their forms differ and there is a distinction between purity and defilement, both are like the moon in water, wholly unobtainable. One must never mistakenly suppose that the moon-image of Ultimate Bliss can be grasped merely because it is pure. |
| 次就真假来说，《金刚经》谓：“凡所有相，皆是虚妄！”以相如上文所说，皆镜中之影，了不可得，故假而非真，绝不因净、秽、美、丑而分真假。所以极乐国土，虽尽善尽美，亦是虚妄之相。 | Next, speaking in terms of what is real and what is false, the Diamond Sūtra says: “All appearances are illusory.” As stated above, appearances are like reflections in a mirror: they cannot truly be grasped. Thus, they are false rather than real; their reality or falsity is absolutely not determined by whether they are pure or defiled, beautiful or ugly. Therefore, although the Land of Ultimate Bliss is wholly good and beautiful, it too is an illusory appearance. |
| 进一步来说，说真道假，皆是我等凡夫执相立名，妄加分别之过。以所谓真假，乃相对而有，离一即不可得，故皆假名。真假既相对而有，则说真之时，假即在其中矣；说假之时，真亦在其中矣。谚云：“假作真时真亦假。”于无真假处妄作真假，宁非庸人自扰？ | Furthermore, to call something real or false is entirely the error of us ordinary beings, who cling to appearances, establish names, and impose deluded distinctions. So-called reality and falsity exist only in contrast to one another; apart from one, the other cannot be found. Thus, both are merely provisional names. Since reality and falsity arise in dependence on one another, when one speaks of the real, the false is already contained within it; when one speaks of the false, the real is likewise contained within it. As the proverb says, “When the false is taken for the real, the real too becomes false.” To fabricate reality and falsity where neither exists—is this not the self-inflicted vexation of ordinary people? |
| 复次，镜必显影故，有真心不无假相，无相无从显示真心，故《弥陀经》宣示极乐庄严；影不离镜故，有假相不无真心，无真心无从成其假相，故《金刚经》显示妙体，一法不立。 | Again, because a mirror must reveal reflections, where there is true mind there are not no illusory appearances; without appearances, there would be no way to reveal the true mind. Therefore, the Amitābha Sūtra sets forth the adornments of the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Because reflections do not leave the mirror, where there are illusory appearances there are not no true mind; without true mind, there would be no basis for illusory appearances to arise. Therefore, the Diamond Sūtra reveals the wondrous essence: not establishing a single dharma. |
| 性相既不相离，密切有如水之与波，故见相即见性，无有一物可当真，故谓全假即真；见性不废相，圆成差别妙用，故谓全真即假。真假假真，全是我人妄心作祟，实则灵妙真心，一物不立，有何真假之可言哉？ | Since intrinsic nature and appearances do not part from one another, but are as intimately related as water and waves, seeing appearances is seeing intrinsic nature. Since there is not a single thing that can be taken as real, it is said that the wholly false is precisely the real. Seeing intrinsic nature does not negate appearances, but perfects the wondrous functioning of distinctions; therefore, it is said that the wholly real is precisely the false. Real and false, false and real—these are entirely the mischief of our deluded minds. In truth, the numinous and wondrous true mind establishes not a single thing. What reality or falsity could there be to speak of? |
| 故如说极乐世界是真，则娑婆世界亦真；如谓娑婆系假，则极乐亦假。故净秽二土皆从一真法界中流出，绝不可因在缠凡夫，迷昧真心，造业受报，而否定其灵性，谓所现秽土业相，非从佛性真心中宣流也。 | Thus, if one says that the Land of Ultimate Bliss is real, then the Sahā world is also real; if one calls the Sahā world false, then the Land of Ultimate Bliss is likewise false. Therefore, both the pure and defiled lands flow forth from the One True Dharma Realm. One must never deny the numinous nature of ordinary beings entangled in bondage, deluded about the true mind, and undergoing karmic retribution for actions they have created, claiming that the karmic appearances of the defiled land they manifest do not flow forth from the true mind of Buddha-nature. |
| 再说极乐世界，有四土九品之别。最下层凡圣同居土，虽有种种庄严妙相，但方便有余土与实报庄严土，则土愈高而相愈清淡妙微，至最高常寂光净土，则更净妙微明而一相不立。虽一相不立，亦不出上述三土之外。 | Moreover, the Land of Ultimate Bliss has distinctions of four lands and nine grades of rebirth. In the lowest, the Land of the Common Residence of Ordinary Beings and Sages, there are various wondrous and adorned appearances. Yet in the Land of Expedient Means with Residue and the Land of True Reward and Adornment, the higher the land, the purer, subtler, and more refined its appearances become. At the highest level, the Land of Eternal Quiescent Light is still purer, more wondrous, subtle, and luminous, and not a single appearance is established. Although not a single appearance is established, it does not lie outside the three lands mentioned above. |
| 故执相修行者，只得下品往生，空相见性者，始能往生上品。以是真修净土者，既不执相，亦不废相，只一切放下，端身正坐，诚心敬意，执持名号，以呼吸为数珠，昼夜六时，绵绵密密念去，久久不懈，自得念佛三昧。到那时，不等命终生西，已早预上品莲位矣。 | Therefore, those who practice while clinging to appearances can attain only rebirth in the lower grades; only those who empty appearances and see their true nature can be reborn in the higher grades. For this reason, those who truly practice Pure Land do not cling to appearances, yet do not discard them. They simply let go of everything, sit upright and properly, with sincere and reverent hearts uphold the Buddha’s name, using their breaths as counting beads. Day and night, throughout the six periods, they recite continuously and seamlessly. If they persist for a long time without slackening, they will naturally attain the samādhi of Buddha-remembrance. By then, even before death and rebirth in the Western Pure Land, they will already have secured a lotus seat in the higher grades. |
| 第九句：“妙用恒沙，尽是缘心。” | The ninth line: “The wondrous functions, as countless as the sands of the Ganges, are all mind conditioned by objects.” |
| 上面说过，吾人做功夫，不可死压念头不起，将妄心灭尽；只可活转，念起不睬，不令攀缘相续。原因就是将来要起大机大用，还要藉这妄心。这妄心如果压死了，真心也就无从起妙用了。 | As stated above, in doing the practice, we must not rigidly suppress thoughts so that they do not arise, in an attempt to extinguish the deluded mind completely. We need only turn it around flexibly: when thoughts arise, do not heed them, and do not allow object-seeking attachment to continue. The reason is that in the future we must give rise to great capacities and great functions, and we will still rely on this deluded mind. If this deluded mind is suppressed to death, the true mind will have no way to give rise to wondrous functioning. |
| 比如水因风起浪，浪若去尽，水也就没有了。《圆觉经》于“居一切时，不起妄念”后接着就说：“于诸妄心亦不息灭。”即教吾人用活功夫以启将来般若妙用也。 | For example, water gives rise to waves because of wind. If the waves were entirely removed, the water too would be gone. After saying, “At all times, do not give rise to deluded thoughts,” the Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment immediately adds: “Yet, with regard to deluded mind, do not seek to extinguish it.” This teaches us to use a living practice in order to open forth the future wondrous functioning of prajñā. |
| 我等凡夫的日常起居与一切创作、发明，无一不是这“妄心”的妙用。离开它，我们就像痴子、傻子一样，不能成就什么事业。在凡夫位，既是它在起作用；将来成贤成圣，所起广大神用，也离不开它。不过在凡夫位，因有住着，称作妄心、识神；在圣贤位，去尽粘缚，称为般若、灵知罢了。 | In the daily activities of us ordinary beings, as well as in every act of creation and invention, there is nothing that is not a wondrous function of this “deluded mind.” Without it, we would be like fools and simpletons, unable to accomplish any undertaking. At the level of ordinary beings, it is already at work; when one later becomes a worthy or a sage, the vast spiritual powers that arise likewise cannot be separated from it. Yet at the level of ordinary beings, because there is attachment and abiding, it is called the deluded mind or consciousness-spirit; at the level of sages and worthies, when all clinging bonds have been removed, it is simply called prajñā or numinous knowing. |
| 我尝问人：识神与真如相去多少？闻者大惊，谓真如与识神，一是真心，一是妄识，何可相提并论？并以玄沙禅师偈作佐证云：“学道之人不识真，只为从来认识神；无量劫来生死本，痴人唤作本来人！”余闻之，不觉哈哈大笑 | I once asked someone, “How far apart are consciousness-spirit and suchness?” Those who heard this were greatly startled, saying that suchness and consciousness-spirit—one being true mind and the other deluded consciousness—could hardly be mentioned in the same breath. They further cited a verse by Chan Master Xuansha as proof: “Those who study the Way do not recognize the true; they have always recognized only the consciousness-spirit. The root of birth and death throughout measureless kalpas, fools call the Original Person!” On hearing this, I could not help bursting into laughter. |
| 道：“阁下识得《本来人》否？若不识，真如就变为识神；若识得，识神就是真如，何有二致？”上面说过，波本是水，水不离波；离波觅水，水从何得？而且水不起波澜，只是死水，何能壮阔？真如不假识神，亦是痴儿，无从起用。 | I said: “Do you recognize the Original Person? If you do not recognize it, suchness becomes consciousness-spirit; if you do recognize it, consciousness-spirit is suchness. How could there be any difference between them?” As stated above, waves are originally water, and water does not leave waves. If one leaves the waves to seek water, where could water be found? Moreover, water that does not rise in waves is merely dead water; how could it be magnificent and vast? If suchness did not make use of consciousness-spirit, it too would be like a foolish child, with no way to function. |
| 玄沙一偈，不是说识神不好，问题症结在识不识得本来人！若识得，则识神由主人指挥，成就一切波澜壮阔的妙用；若识不得，则恶仆凌主，背叛作乱矣。 | Xuansha’s verse does not say that consciousness-spirit is bad. The crux of the matter is whether one recognizes the Original Person. If one recognizes it, consciousness-spirit is directed by its master and accomplishes every magnificent and far-reaching wondrous function. If one does not recognize it, then an evil servant overmasters the master and rebels into disorder. |
| 第十句：“缘心息处，顿证无生！” | The tenth line: “Where object-conditioned mind ceases, one suddenly realizes the unborn.” |
| 经云：“息下狂心，即是菩提！”这个道理，就和我们上面所举的影与镜、水与波一样，影与波俱不能离镜与水，同样，妄心也不离菩提正觉。以不离故，除去妄心，即无正觉。 | A sūtra says: “When the frantic mind comes to rest, that itself is bodhi.” This principle is like the examples of reflections and mirrors, water and waves, given above. Reflections and waves cannot be separated from mirrors and water; likewise, the deluded mind cannot be separated from bodhi, perfect awakening. Precisely because it cannot be separated, if the deluded mind were removed, there would be no perfect awakening. |
| 故修道人要亲证不生不灭的真如实性，不可用什么手段去除妄心，而只能用一个“息”字功夫，将这对境攀缘的妄心停息下来，就如波浪息处即是水一样，妙明真心就豁然现前了。 | Therefore, practitioners who wish to directly realize the true, such nature that neither arises nor ceases must not use any method to eliminate the deluded mind. They need only apply the practice embodied in the single word “cease,” bringing to rest the deluded mind that clings to objects. Just as where waves cease there is water, the wondrous, luminous true mind suddenly appears before them. |
| 学者果知一切外境，皆如阳焰、空花，无有实体，不去攀缘，不生妄念。则神宁智清，灵光独耀，衷心明净，如镜照物，无取无舍，无爱无憎；虽了了分明而一念不生，一念不生而了了分明，当下即亲证无生实相矣。无须于息心之外更用何拙力也。 | If practitioners truly know that all external objects are like a shimmering mirage or flowers in empty space, without any substantial reality, they will not cling to them or give rise to deluded thoughts. Then the spirit is tranquil and wisdom clear; intrinsic luminosity shines alone, and the inner mind is bright and pure. Like a mirror reflecting objects, it neither grasps nor rejects, neither loves nor hates. Though clear and distinct, not a single thought arises; though not a single thought arises, it remains clear and distinct. In that very moment, one directly realizes the unborn reality. There is no need to exert any clumsy effort beyond bringing the mind to rest. |
| 一切法门不管是念佛、持咒，还是参禅，俱不过是“息”字的工具和手段，教你由念佛，或是持咒、参禅，将狂心息下，从而打开本来，明见真心罢了。并非从念佛、持咒，或参禅中得个什么奇特玄妙。 | All dharma gates, whether Buddha-recitation, mantra recitation, or Chan investigation, are no more than tools and methods for the practice of “ceasing.” They teach you, through Buddha-recitation, mantra recitation, or Chan investigation, to bring the frantic mind to rest, thereby opening what is original and clearly seeing the true mind. They are not for obtaining some strange or mysterious thing from Buddha-recitation, mantra recitation, or Chan investigation. |
| 古德云：“佛法无你用心处！”又云：“穿衣吃饭即是，举心动念即乖！”以佛性众生本具，非从外得，不用求，不用取，故无须用力也。相反，着力向外追求，从他讨取，则愈求愈远，越用力取越不得。 | Ancient worthies said: “There is no place in the Buddhadharma for you to apply your mind.” They also said: “Putting on clothes and eating food are themselves it; raise the mind and stir a thought, and you have already gone astray.” Since all sentient beings inherently possess Buddha-nature, it is not acquired from outside. There is no need to seek or grasp it, and therefore no need to exert effort. On the contrary, if one strives to pursue it externally or asks for it from others, the more one seeks, the farther away it becomes; the more forcefully one tries to obtain it, the less one can attain it. |
| 是以佛法是最伟大的省力事业，非同世法须惨淡营谋、苦心筹措而后可得也。老子曰：“为道日损！”学人果能将自己所会、所知、所有的一切一切统统放下，则狂心息处，顿证无生矣。谚云：“踏破铁鞋无觅处，得来全不费工夫！”良有以也。 | Thus, the Buddhadharma is the greatest undertaking of effortless effort; it is unlike worldly dharmas, which require painstaking planning and anxious contrivance before they can be attained. Laozi said: “In pursuing the Way, one diminishes day by day.” If practitioners can truly let go completely of everything they understand, know, and possess, then where the frantic mind ceases, they will suddenly realize the unborn. As the proverb says, “One may wear out iron shoes searching everywhere, only to find it without the slightest effort.” This is indeed well founded. |
| 第十一、十二句：“无生实相，非可眼见；杳杳冥冥，其中有精！” | The eleventh and twelfth lines: “The unborn reality cannot be seen with the eyes; deep and obscure, within it there is essence.” |
| 这个不生不灭，不来不去，不增不减的真如妙性，是大而无外，小而无内的平等真实之相。《金刚经》云：“凡所有相，皆是虚妄。”有相之相，皆因缘所成，无有自体，故皆虚幻不实；真实之相，是无相的净妙大相。 | This wondrous nature of suchness—neither arising nor ceasing, neither coming nor going, neither increasing nor decreasing—is the equal and true reality, vast without outside and minute without inside. The Diamond Sūtra says: “All appearances are illusory.” All appearances that have form arise from causes and conditions, have no intrinsic substance, and are therefore unreal and illusory. The appearance of reality is the great, pure, and wondrous appearance of no appearance. |
| 大相无形故，眼不能见。但功夫做到桶底脱落，能所双亡时，心地法眼，可以见道。但这个“见”，不是眼睛看见的“见”，而是见地、知见、体会、领悟之意。 | Because this great appearance is formless, it cannot be seen by the eyes. But when one’s practice reaches the point where the bottom drops out of the bucket and subject and object both fall away, the dharma eye of the mind-ground can see the Way. Yet this “seeing” is not seeing with the eyes; it means view, understanding, experiential realization, and awakening. |
| 因为它虽杳杳冥冥，无相可见，无味可嗅，但非断灭、顽空，而是有“真精”“妙体”的。这“真精妙体”，换句话说，就是“离念的灵知”。当你功夫做到根尘脱落，人法双忘时，自然时到神知，一下子领悟，证验这净裸裸，赤洒洒，灵明真精，就是你本命元辰。 | Although it is deep and obscure, with no appearance to see and no scent to smell, it is not annihilation or inert emptiness. Rather, it possesses “true essence” and a “wondrous essence.” In other words, this “true essence and wondrous essence” is numinous knowing free from thought. When your practice reaches the point at which sense faculties and their objects fall away, and self and phenomena are both forgotten, you will naturally, when the time is ripe, suddenly awaken and verify that this pure, naked, utterly exposed, numinous and luminous true essence is your original fundamental nature. |
| 既证悟了妙性，回过头来以影不离镜故，则目所见、耳所闻、身所触的万象森罗，无一不是它——真精——的显现，无一不是它的妙用，无一不是它的注脚。学人到此地步，则时时闻道，处处见性了。六祖云：“真见性人，抡刀上阵，亦是见性！”大慧云：“彻悟人，肉眼亦能见道！”性相不二的妙理，一语宣泄无遗！ | Having realized this wondrous nature, one then looks back and sees that, because reflections do not leave the mirror, the vast array of appearances seen by the eyes, heard by the ears, and touched by the body are none other than manifestations of it—this true essence. None is other than its wondrous functioning; none is other than its annotation. When practitioners reach this stage, they hear the Way at all times and see intrinsic nature everywhere. The Sixth Patriarch said: “A person who truly sees intrinsic nature sees intrinsic nature even while wielding a blade on the battlefield!” Dahui said: “One who has thoroughly awakened can see the Way even with the physical eyes!” In a single statement, this fully expresses the wondrous principle that intrinsic nature and appearances are nondual. |
| 第十三句：“证悟之者，名曰见性。” | The thirteenth line: “One who realizes and awakens to this is called one who sees intrinsic nature.” |
| 明心见性一词，现代修道人都把它看作是高不可攀的圣贤边事，非我等凡夫所可攀登、企及的。 | Modern practitioners all regard the expression “realizing the mind and seeing one’s true nature” as an exalted matter belonging to sages and worthies, beyond the reach of us ordinary beings. |
| 要了生死，只好念念阿弥陀佛，往生西方去吧，殊不知明心见性并非难事，更不是高不可攀的（其中道理我在《略论明心见性》一文中叙述甚详，现不复赘）。 | To transcend birth and death, they think they can only recite Amitābha Buddha thought after thought and seek rebirth in the West. They do not realize that realizing the mind and seeing one’s true nature is not difficult, much less beyond reach. (I have explained the principles involved in great detail in the essay “A Brief Discussion of Realizing the Mind and Seeing One’s True Nature,” so I will not repeat them here.) |
| 我们只按上述方法，息下狂心，不着前境，亦不息灭正念，更不求奇特玄妙，则了了分明中，无一念可得；虽无一念可得，而了了分明，不落昏昧无记。 | We need only follow the method described above: bring the frantic mind to rest, do not cling to preceding objects, do not extinguish right mindfulness, and do not seek anything strange or mysterious. Then, amid clear and distinct awareness, not a single thought can be found; though not a single thought can be found, awareness remains clear and distinct, without falling into dullness or blank indeterminacy. |
| 此即上节所说之“杳杳冥冥，其中有精”之“真精”，亦即永嘉大师所谓“寂寂惺惺，惺惺寂寂”的大道。学者把握时机，当此分明而无念的一发千钧之时，将其一把擒来，即谓之见性！若稍停机伫思，又被它影子所惑；若舍此而别求，或疑为另有玄妙，则杳不可得矣！ | This is the “true essence” in the phrase from the preceding section, “deep and obscure, within it there is essence.” It is also the great Way that Master Yongjia described as “silent yet lucid, lucid yet silent.” Practitioners should seize the moment: at this critical instant of clarity without thought, seize it in a single grasp—this is called seeing intrinsic nature. If you pause even slightly to wait and think, you will again be deluded by its shadow; if you abandon this and seek elsewhere, or suspect that there is some other mystery, it will be impossible to find. |
| 洞山禅师《五位君臣颂》，于见道位“偏中正”颂曰：“偏中正，失晓老婆逢古镜，分明觌面别无真，休更迷头还认影！”即箴规我人于关键时刻，猛着精彩，心领神会，而勿错过良机也。审如斯，明心见性，亦何难哉？ | Chan Master Dongshan, in his “Ode on the Five Ranks of Ruler and Minister,” chants of the stage of seeing the Way, “the upright within the partial”: “Within the partial is the upright: a woman who has lost the dawn encounters an ancient mirror. Face to face, it is clearly no other reality; do not again mistake the head and recognize only its reflection!” This admonishes us that, at a critical moment, we must exert ourselves vigorously, grasp the meaning inwardly, and not miss the good opportunity. If this is truly understood, how difficult can realizing the mind and seeing one’s true nature be? |
| 惜末法学人根钝、习重，多着神通，此时不见神奇、玄妙，误认为非是而匆匆滑过，古德尝叹息云：只为亲切甚，转令荐得迟。良可慨也！ | It is regrettable that practitioners in the Dharma-ending age have dull faculties and heavy habitual tendencies. Many are preoccupied with spiritual powers; when they do not see anything miraculous or mysterious at such a time, they mistakenly think it is not the truth and hurriedly pass it by. The ancient worthies often sighed: “Precisely because it is so intimate, realization comes all the more slowly.” This is deeply lamentable! |
| 修道人于初见性后，并非即了，还须时时观照，历境练心，着力打磨，了除习气，方能了生脱死。否则，见境生心，妄念动荡不停，是谓悟后迷，生死依旧不了。 | After a practitioner first sees their true nature, the matter is not thereby finished. They must still maintain contemplation at all times, temper the mind through circumstances, diligently polish it, and eliminate habitual tendencies before they can be liberated from birth and death. Otherwise, when encountering circumstances, the mind arises; deluded thoughts continue to surge and stir. This is called becoming deluded after awakening, and birth and death remain unresolved. |
| 故古德多于悟后作牧牛行，绵密保任，以臻圆熟，非一悟即可了手。虽间或也有顿悟、顿修、顿证者，无须做保任功夫，但毕竟为数不多，不可一概而论。 | Therefore, after awakening, the ancient worthies often undertook the practice of herding the ox, safeguarding realization continuously and closely until it reached full maturity. It cannot be concluded with a single awakening. Although there are occasionally those who awaken suddenly, cultivate suddenly, and realize suddenly, and who need not undertake the work of safeguarding realization, they are few in number and must not be treated as the general rule. |
| 洞山禅师于“偏中正”见道位后，更颂修道位“偏中至”，即教吾人于见道后，不可得少为足，更须历境练心，除尽妄习，上上升进，以臻究竟也。 | After Chan Master Dongshan’s stage of seeing the Way, “the upright within the partial,” he further chanted of the stage of cultivation, “the arrival within the partial.” That is, he taught us that, after seeing the Way, we must not be satisfied with a little. We must further temper the mind through circumstances, eliminate all deluded habits, and advance ever higher until reaching the ultimate. |
| 关于此点，宗下有三关之说，即一、破本参明见真性，为破初关——截断众流；二、绵密保护，长养圣胎，于一切境缘上自在无碍，乃至不用保而毫无走着，是为破重关——涵盖乾坤；三、放任而为，无所不是。能入佛，亦能入魔，所谓路途即家舍，家舍即路途，是为破末后牢关——随波逐流。 | Regarding this, the Chan school speaks of three barriers. First, one breaks through one’s fundamental investigation and clearly sees one’s true nature: this is breaking through the first barrier—cutting off the streams of all thought. Second, one safeguards it closely and nurtures the sacred embryo, attaining freedom and nonobstruction amid all circumstances and conditions, until one no longer needs to safeguard it and yet does not go astray in the least: this is breaking through the second barrier—encompassing heaven and earth. Third, one acts freely, with nothing that is not so. One can enter Buddhahood and can also enter māra. As it is said, “The road itself is home, and home itself is the road”: this is breaking through the final, firmly closed barrier—going with the flow. |
| 第十四句：“是故无求，心自宁一。” | The fourteenth line: “Therefore, without seeking, the mind naturally becomes peaceful and unified.” |
| 古德云：“人到无求品自高！”人有所求，正是粘境着相的反映，心苟真空，不见一物，还求个什么？或曰：非求他物，乃求生西，成佛也。曰：本来是佛，不用求，求则不见。上面说过，息下狂心，即是菩提，只须息，不用求。傅大士云：“夜夜抱佛眠，朝朝还共起。”它时时在你六根门头放光，不缺分毫，还求个什么？ | An ancient worthy said: “When a person has no seeking, their character is naturally elevated!” Whatever a person seeks is precisely a sign of clinging to circumstances and attachment to appearances. If the mind is truly empty and sees not a single thing, what is there to seek? Someone may say: “I do not seek other things; I seek rebirth in the West and Buddhahood.” The reply is: “You are originally a Buddha; there is no need to seek. If you seek, you do not see.” As said above, to cease the frantic mind is itself bodhi. One need only cease; there is no need to seek. Lay Master Fu said: “Every night I embrace the Buddha in sleep; every morning I rise together with him.” It constantly shines at the gateways of your six sense faculties, lacking not the slightest bit. What, then, is there to seek? |
| 至于说，求生西方，只须一心念佛，于念佛外，别无他心，所谓全佛是心，全心是佛，心佛道交，打成一片，则决定能生净土。 | As for seeking rebirth in the West, one need only practice one-pointed Buddha-recitation. Apart from Buddha-recitation, there should be no other thought. As it is said, the whole Buddha is mind, and the whole mind is Buddha; when mind and Buddha are in communion and become continuous and undivided, one will certainly be reborn in the Pure Land. |
| 以弥陀乃当人自心之佛，净土乃自心本具之极乐；念佛唤醒自心弥陀，往生自心本具之净土，何用求为？念佛者，贵得一心，一心即无心，既然无心，还求个什么？若着意念心外之佛，求生心外之土，则去道远矣！复次，得念佛 | Since Amitābha is the Buddha of one’s own mind, and the Pure Land is the Land of Ultimate Bliss inherently possessed by one’s own mind, Buddha-recitation awakens the Amitābha of one’s own mind, and rebirth is in the Pure Land inherently possessed by one’s own mind. What need is there to seek? For one who practices Buddha-recitation, the essential thing is to attain one-pointedness. One-pointedness is no-mind; since there is no mind, what is there to seek? If one deliberately recites a Buddha outside the mind and seeks rebirth in a land outside the mind, one is far from the Way! Further, upon attaining Buddha-remembrance |
| 三昧者，不见有心、佛、众生之别，东方、西方之异，虽生而无生，无生而无不生，又何用求往生哩！又求取若极，即无求取，是故从事求取者，求取至究竟，仍归无求无取也。生西不离信愿行，以行能摄信愿故，能精进不懈，一心念佛，信愿即在其中矣。 | samādhi, one sees no distinction among mind, Buddha, and sentient beings, nor any difference between east and west. Though birth is manifested, there is ultimately no birth; though birthless, it excludes no manifestation of birth. What need, then, is there to seek rebirth? Moreover, when seeking reaches its utmost, there is no seeking; therefore, those who engage in seeking, when they carry it to its ultimate, still return to no seeking and no grasping. Rebirth in the West does not depart from faith, vows, and practice. Since practice encompasses faith and vows, if one can diligently and unremittingly practice one-pointed Buddha-recitation, faith and vows are present within it. |
| 我人苟能真正做到无求、无得，则心不求宁而自宁，不欲一而自一。功夫做到这步田地，则归家稳坐，绝学无为，安闲度日，逍遥自在矣。 | If we can truly attain no seeking and no gaining, the mind, without seeking peace, naturally becomes peaceful; without desiring oneness, it naturally becomes one. When practice reaches this point, one may sit securely at home, a carefree person of the Way beyond learning and contrivance, passing one’s days in ease and freedom. |
| 第十五句：“无心可惑，即是大定。” | The fifteenth line: “When there is no mind that can be deluded, this is great samādhi.” |
| 关于得定，人皆以为有入定出定之别。坐在这里，不动、不想、不吃、不尿，是入定；一有举动、言说，便是出定。其实，这错会了定的意义。因为坐在这里不动，是死定，不是大定。大定是无出入的。 | With regard to attaining samādhi, everyone assumes that there is a distinction between entering and emerging from samādhi. Sitting here without moving, thinking, eating, or urinating is called entering samādhi; once one moves or speaks, it is called emerging from samādhi. In fact, this misunderstands the meaning of samādhi. For sitting here without moving is dead samādhi, not great samādhi. Great samādhi has no entering or leaving. |
| 它是对任何境而不惑，随缘起用而无所住，不是死坐不动而有所入的。关于此理，儒家也曾描绘说：“泰山崩于前而色不变；糜鹿兴于左而目不瞬。 | It is to remain undeluded by any circumstance, to function in accordance with conditions without abiding anywhere; it is not dead sitting without movement and entering into some state. Confucianism also described this principle: “Even if Mount Tai collapses before one, one’s expression does not change; even if a herd of deer rises to one’s left, one’s eyes do not blink.” |
| ”因为死坐不动，只是压念不起，灭其受想不是真了，任你定得百万劫，时劫一过，又复起念着相造业受报。故虽得四空定，生非想非非想天，依旧落轮回，生死不能了。这种死定，古德喻如搬石压草，石去草又复生，故非究竟。南岳磨砖度马祖，即救其出死定也。 | For dead sitting without movement merely suppresses thoughts so that they do not arise, and extinguishing feeling and perception is not true resolution. Even if you remain in samādhi for a million kalpas, once that period has passed, thoughts again arise, you cling to appearances, create karma, and undergo retribution. Thus, even if one attains the four formless dhyānas and is born in the Heaven of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception, one still falls into saṃsāra and cannot resolve birth and death. The ancient worthies compared this dead samādhi to using a stone to press down grass: when the stone is removed, the grass grows again. It is therefore not ultimate. When Nanyue polished a brick to guide Mazu, he was rescuing him from dead samādhi. |
| 修大乘佛法者，不取这种死定，以非究竟，不得真实受用故。昔梁武帝出猎，得一入定五百年之老古椎，甚为惊奇赞叹，思欲与志公禅师较短长，乃令众宫女裸体与二公入浴。 | Those who cultivate Mahāyāna Buddhadharma do not take up this kind of dead samādhi, because it is not ultimate and affords no genuine benefit. In the past, Emperor Wu of Liang went hunting and found an old dullard who had been in samādhi for five hundred years. Greatly astonished and admiring, he wished to compare his attainments with those of Chan Master Zhigong. He therefore ordered palace women to bathe naked with the two men. |
| 老古椎初尚能视听自如，继而闭目不能动，再后，不得不推开众宫女，逃走去矣。反观志公，言笑自若，无动无惊，非活定力，曷克臻此！可见得定不在死坐不动，更不在死坐之时间长短，而须历境练心，对境不惑，起大机用而无所受，方为真定也。 | At first, the old dullard could still see and hear normally. Then he closed his eyes and could not move; later, he had no choice but to push the palace women away and flee. By contrast, Zhigong spoke and laughed as usual, unperturbed and unalarmed. Without the power of living samādhi, how could he have attained this? Thus, attaining samādhi does not lie in dead sitting without movement, much less in the length of time spent in such dead sitting. One must temper the mind through circumstances, remain undeluded when encountering them, and give rise to great responsive functioning without any attachment; only then is it true samādhi. |
| 复次，关于定无出入之真理，《六祖坛经》智隍禅师入道因缘与宗下语录女子入定公案，即是明证，学者毋庸置疑。 | Further, the story of Chan Master Zhihuang’s entry into the Way in the Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch, together with the Chan koan of the woman in samādhi, offers clear proof of the truth that samādhi has no entering or leaving. Students need not doubt it. |
| 第十六至十八句：“得大定者，无动无静，无得无失，无喜无嗔，本位不移，起应万机。” | Lines sixteen through eighteen: “Those who attain great samādhi have neither movement nor stillness, neither gain nor loss, neither joy nor anger. Without shifting from their original ground, they respond to the myriad occasions.” |
| 上面说，得大定是心无所惑，而不是死坐不动，这里进一步描绘一下对境不惑的行状。修道人往往静中能定，动中即不定；座上能定，下座即不定；也有人得时欢乐，失时忧恼；顺心合意则喜，违己逆情则嗔。 | Above, it was said that attaining great samādhi means that the mind is free from delusion; it does not mean dead sitting without movement. Here, the conduct of one who remains undeluded in the face of circumstances is described further. Practitioners can often remain settled in stillness but become unsettled amid activity; they can remain settled on the cushion but become unsettled once they rise from it. Some rejoice when they gain and become troubled when they lose; when things accord with their wishes, they are pleased, and when circumstances go against them, they become angry. |
| 这种安住能不动，对境要生心，打作二橛的人，不为真定。 | Those who can abide without movement only in stillness, but whose minds arise when confronting circumstances, thereby splitting themselves into two, do not possess true samādhi. |
| 真得大定的人，动静一如，闲忙一致，于事既无成、败、得、失之心，亦无爱、嗔、取、舍之意；于心既无喜、怒、哀、乐之情，更无见、闻、觉、知之染；心空如洗，活泼泼地任运随缘，应机起用，绝不会在清净山林中即定，到繁嚣都市即乱；也不会遇事失照，而移易本位的。 | Those who truly attain great samādhi are equally at ease in stillness and activity, and the same whether idle or busy. In affairs, they have no mind of success or failure, gain or loss; nor do they entertain intentions of love or anger, grasping or rejecting. In mind, they have no feelings of joy, anger, sorrow, or pleasure, and still less the defilement of seeing, hearing, feeling, and knowing. Their minds are empty and cleanly washed; lively and vital, they accord naturally with conditions, responding to circumstances and functioning accordingly. They never become settled in pure mountain forests only to become confused in bustling cities; nor do they lose their illumination when events arise and thereby shift from their original ground. |
| 是以大定乃超越于事物之表，逍遥于情尘之外，不为任何事境所左右，得真实受用的，而不是披枷带锁捆住手脚，死在那里不动的。 | Thus, great samādhi transcends the surface of things and roams freely beyond emotional defilements. It is not swayed by any circumstance and affords genuine benefit. It is not like wearing a cangue and chains, binding one’s hands and feet, and remaining there motionless in death. |
| 我们在日常动用中练得应物接缘而心无粘染，无所住着，就是不移本位。这个本位，就是一乘法界之位，也就是佛位。《法华经》说：“是法住法位，世间相常住。 | When, in our daily activities, we train ourselves to respond to things and engage circumstances with minds free from clinging and attachment, this is not shifting from the original ground. This original ground is the position of the One Vehicle Dharma Realm; it is also the Buddha-ground. The Lotus Sūtra says: “Dharmas abide in their dharma positions; the appearances of the world are ever-abiding.” |
| ”简单地说，就是做一切事情，不作做事想；说一句话，不作说话想；显现森罗万象，也不作显现想。 | Simply put, it means doing all things without entertaining the thought that one is doing things; speaking a sentence without entertaining the thought that one is speaking; and manifesting the myriad forms without entertaining the thought that one is manifesting. |
| 这样，尽管做而未曾做，尽管说而未曾说，尽管显而未曾显；但也不是不做、不说、不显，就是本位不移，就是起应万机，也就是世间相常住了。 | Thus, although one does, one has never done; although one speaks, one has never spoken; although one manifests, one has never manifested. Yet this does not mean not doing, not speaking, or not manifesting. This is not shifting from the original ground; this is responding to the myriad occasions; and this is the ever-abiding nature of worldly appearances. |
| （关于世间相常住之理，兹再略述一下：一．一切事相皆从真心生，是谓住法位，真心常住，故事相亦常住。二．事相中有变迁，所谓沧海桑田，但相续不断，并非断灭。如水与月虽有流逝与盈虚，但卒无绝流与消长者。 | (Concerning the principle that worldly appearances are ever-abiding, let us briefly explain further: 1. All phenomenal appearances arise from the true mind; this is called abiding in dharma positions. Since the true mind is ever-abiding, phenomenal appearances are likewise ever-abiding. 2. Phenomenal appearances undergo change, as in the transformation of seas into mulberry fields, yet their continuity is unbroken and they are not annihilated. Water and the moon may flow away or wax and wane, yet there is ultimately no cessation of the flow or increase and decrease. |
| 三．一切事相皆虚幻无生，故亦不灭。）《华严经》云：“十世古今，始终不离于当念；无边刹海，自他不隔于毫端。”以时间、空间之相，皆因妄念生灭，分别而有。如一念不生，则竖超三际，横遍十虚。 | 3. All phenomenal appearances are illusory and unborn, and therefore do not cease.) The Avataṃsaka Sūtra says: “The ten periods of time, past and present, beginning and end, do not depart from the present thought; boundless oceans of worlds, self and other, are not separated by the tip of a hair.” The appearances of time and space all arise through the arising and ceasing of deluded thoughts and through discrimination. If not a single thought arises, one vertically transcends the three divisions of time and horizontally pervades the ten directions of empty space. |
| 任你过去极久远之事，无不历然现前。如智者大师诵《法华经》至“药王品”，入法华三昧前方，便亲证灵山一会，俨然未散，即世间相常住之铁证也。 | No matter how remote an event of the past may be, it is all vividly present before one. When Great Master Zhizhe recited the Lotus Sūtra to the chapter on the Bodhisattva Medicine King, he entered the preliminary stage of Lotus Samādhi and directly realized the assembly at Vulture Peak, still solemnly present and not yet dispersed. This is irrefutable proof that worldly appearances are ever-abiding. |
| 第十九句：“不变随缘，即无生死。” | The nineteenth line: “Unchanging while according with conditions: this is freedom from birth and death.” |
| 众所周知，学佛修道，就是为了了生死。但怎样才能真正了脱生死呢？这个问题，恐怕不是每个学佛人都能知道的。以所谓生死者，有二种生死：一是分段生死，一是变易生死。分段生死，是六道轮回，这较易理解。 | As everyone knows, studying Buddhism and cultivating the Way are undertaken in order to resolve birth and death. But how can birth and death truly be transcended? I fear that not every Buddhist practitioner knows the answer. What is called birth and death has two forms: segmented birth and death, and transformational birth and death. Segmented birth and death is the cycle of rebirth in the six realms, and this is relatively easy to understand. |
| 变易生死，是超六道轮回外的一重无形生死，乃修行不究竟之法障，故一般人较难知晓。 | Transformational birth and death is a further, formless birth and death beyond the cycle of rebirth in the six realms. It is a dharma-obstruction resulting from practice that is not ultimate, and so ordinary people find it more difficult to understand. |
| 现在约略解释一下：阿罗汉等小乘圣者虽断见、思二惑，不受分段生死轮回之苦，但偏于空理，以为有法可修，有道可成，有生死可了，有涅槃可证。拘泥于依所知障助缘所感之界外净土，住在法上，不思变易其身、随缘度生，所知愚惑未尽，是一重无生死之法执生死也。 | Let us now explain it briefly. Although śrāvakas and other sages of the Lesser Vehicle have eliminated the two delusions of views and thoughts, and no longer undergo the suffering of the cycle of segmented birth and death, they incline toward the principle of emptiness. They believe that there is a dharma to cultivate, a Way to realize, birth and death to resolve, and nirvāṇa to attain. Attached to the pure lands beyond the three realms, which are induced by the supporting conditions of the cognitive hindrances on which they rely, they abide in dharmas and do not think of transforming themselves in accordance with conditions in order to liberate sentient beings. Their deluded cognitive hindrances are not exhausted. This is a form of birth and death arising from attachment to dharmas—the birth and death of what is unborn. |
| 要了这种生死，先须知晓修法只如服药，不可执着不舍；次须明确生死涅槃等空花，无生死可了，无涅槃可证，一法不立，无智无得；而后更要了悟，起大机用，随缘变化，广度众生而本位无所易，不是住在法上不动。 | To resolve this birth and death, one must first know that practicing dharmas is only like taking medicine and must not be clung to without letting go. Next, one must clearly understand that birth and death, nirvāṇa, and the like are flowers in empty space: there is no birth and death to resolve, no nirvāṇa to attain, not a single dharma is established, and there is no wisdom and no attainment. Then, one must further awaken to the fact that one should give rise to great responsive functioning, transform in accordance with conditions, and liberate sentient beings widely while the original ground remains unchanged, rather than abiding motionlessly in dharmas. |
| 一部《心经》就是叫我人先空凡夫根、尘、识之愚执，次空小乘圣人四谛、十二因缘之法执，后空菩萨之智执，起大机用，归无所得，方证阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。 | The Heart Sūtra teaches us first to empty the deluded attachments of ordinary beings to the sense faculties, sense objects, and consciousnesses; next, to empty the dharma-attachment of the śrāvakas to the Four Noble Truths and the twelve links of dependent origination; and finally, to empty the bodhisattvas’ attachment to wisdom. Only then can one give rise to great potential and function, return to the state of nothing to be attained, and realize anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi. |
| 真正了生死者，以无法可得，随缘不变故。尽管在六道中头出头没，不见有生死、道别之异；尽管随缘变化身形，度尽一切众生，而本位不易，不见一众生得度。昔有僧问大随禅师：“尊师圆寂后往生何所？”大随云：“我师东家作马，西家作牛！”僧赞其彻悟了手，一法不立，随缘向异类中行，而本体无丝毫移易也。 | Those who have truly transcended birth and death have no dharma to attain and therefore remain unchanged while according with conditions. Though they may rise and sink amid the six realms, they see no distinction between birth and death or among the different realms. Though they transform their bodily forms in accordance with conditions and liberate all sentient beings, their original ground remains unchanged, and they see no sentient being as having been liberated. Long ago, a monk asked Chan Master Dasui, “Where was your venerable teacher reborn after his passing?” Dasui replied, “My teacher becomes a horse in an eastern household and an ox in a western household!” The monk praised him for having thoroughly awakened and brought the matter to completion: not establishing a single dharma, he accords with conditions and proceeds among the different classes of beings, while the fundamental essence does not shift in the slightest. |
| 洞山禅师《五位君臣颂》末后颂“兼中到”云：“不涉有无谁敢和，人人尽欲出常流，折合还归炭里坐！”即颂此最后一位，真了生死者以不了为真了，非离六道，安住净土为真了也。所以说无余涅槃者，无涅槃可证，无所住处之涅槃也。 | In Chan Master Dongshan’s Verses on the Five Ranks of Lord and Vassal, the final verse on “Arrival within Both” says: “Without involving existence or nonexistence, who would dare respond? Everyone wishes to rise above the ordinary current, yet after weighing it all, one returns to sit amid the embers!” This verse praises this final rank. One who has truly transcended birth and death takes non-attainment as true attainment; true attainment does not mean leaving the six realms and abiding in the Pure Land. Thus, nirvāṇa without remainder means that there is no nirvāṇa to be realized: it is nirvāṇa with no place in which to abide. |
| 不变随缘，从体起用；随缘不变，摄用归体。体用如如，无住无染，无移无异，斯真了生死矣。 | Unchanged while according with conditions: from essence arises function. According with conditions while unchanged: function is gathered back into essence. Essence and function are thusness itself—without abiding or defilement, without movement or difference. This is truly to transcend birth and death. |
| 第二十句最后结束说：“成佛要诀，如是而已。” | The twentieth and final sentence concludes: “The essential key to becoming a Buddha is nothing more than this.” |
| 上面三十八句，把整个成佛奥秘和诀窍统统宣示无遗。或许有人说，这些说话，也稀松寻常，并不见有什么奇特、玄妙。 | The thirty-eight sentences above have fully set forth all the mysteries and essential keys to becoming a Buddha. Perhaps some may say that these words are quite ordinary and reveal nothing unusual or profound. |
| 难道成佛是这么不起眼的事？不是说成佛是法力无边、神通广大吗？这里并没有说什么神通玄妙呀！殊不知佛法原无奇特处，亦不可作道理会，切不可惹是生非，我人只心无所住随缘度日，做一个无事道人即是。 | Could becoming a Buddha really be such an unremarkable matter? Is it not said that Buddhahood entails boundless Dharma power and vast spiritual powers? Yet nothing here has been said about spiritual powers or mysterious wonders! What people do not realize is that the Buddhadharma has nothing inherently extraordinary about it, nor may it be understood merely as a matter of doctrine. Do not create trouble where there is none. We need only let the mind abide nowhere, live our days in accordance with conditions, and become a person of the Way with nothing to do. |
| 要成六通俱足的果地佛，须先于因地上明悟本性，于明见真性后，勤除习气，分破无明，方能显发神通。不是一下子即能证成三身俱足，六通齐发的果地佛的。 | To become a fruition Buddha fully endowed with the six supernormal powers, one must first awaken to one’s intrinsic nature at the causal stage. After clearly seeing one’s true nature, one must diligently eliminate habitual tendencies and gradually break through ignorance; only then can spiritual powers manifest. One cannot immediately realize a fruition Buddha endowed with the three kāyas and with all six supernormal powers simultaneously manifest. |
| 关于明悟本性，更有人以神通作准绳。以为发了神通，才为明心见性，否则，即不为见性。这都是凡夫执有、着神奇的恶习。执这种恶习的人，非但自误，而且误人。因为所谓真性者，不在别处，即在当人六根门头放光。 | Concerning awakening to one’s intrinsic nature, some people take spiritual powers as the criterion. They think that only when spiritual powers have manifested has one realized the mind and seen one’s true nature; otherwise, one has not seen one’s true nature. This is all the bad habit of ordinary beings who cling to existence and are attached to the marvelous. Those who cling to this bad habit not only mislead themselves but also mislead others. For so-called true nature is not elsewhere; it shines forth at the very gateways of one’s own six sense faculties. |
| 宗下所谓“目中童子眼前人，海底金乌天上日”。自己不识，不知以之保养，长大成佛，反责识者为非，叫他不要承当，岂不可悲可笑？！ | As it is said in the Chan school: “The child in the eye is the person before one’s eyes; the golden crow beneath the sea is the sun in the sky.” Not recognizing it themselves, they do not know to nurture it until it matures into Buddhahood. Instead, they reproach those who recognize it as being wrong and tell them not to acknowledge it. Is this not both lamentable and laughable? |
| 若就神通说来，我人一举手、一投足、一言、一笑、一吐、一咳，无不是神通妙用。庞居士所谓：“神通及妙用，运水与搬柴！”以这些举措、言谈、咳吐、造作，何一不是真心在起妙用？死人的手、足、口、舌会言笑、操作吗？自己整天在神用中而不自知，反而向外别求神通，这不是宗下所谓“坐在饭桶边，饿煞人无数”么？ | Speaking in terms of spiritual powers, every raising of a hand, every step, every word, every smile, every spitting or cough is a wondrous function of spiritual power. As Layman Pang said, “Spiritual powers and wondrous functions: carrying water and hauling firewood!” In these movements, words, coughs, spitting, and actions, what is not the true mind exercising its wondrous function? Can a dead person’s hands, feet, mouth, and tongue speak, smile, or perform actions? Though people dwell in this spiritual functioning all day without knowing it, they instead seek spiritual powers elsewhere. Is this not what the Chan school calls “Sitting beside a rice bin while countless people starve to death”? |
| 另外，执有神通，就是有法可得，也就是法执，将来非但不能成佛，成魔倒有份在！须知所谓神通者，乃真心妙用为神，无所住着、无所阻隔为通，而不可在神奇玄妙上会。一作神奇玄特想，即毒素入心，障自悟门，无成道份矣。 | Moreover, to cling to the existence of spiritual powers is to hold that there is a dharma to be attained; this is dharma-attachment. In the future, not only will one fail to become a Buddha, but one may instead have a share in becoming a demon! You must understand that in so-called spiritual powers, the wondrous functioning of the true mind is shen, while unobstructed functioning, without abiding attachment or hindrance, is tong. They must not be understood in terms of miraculous or mysterious marvels. Once one entertains thoughts of the miraculous and extraordinary, poison enters the mind, obstructing one’s own gate of awakening, and one will have no prospect of realizing the Way. |
| 今之修道者，一百人即有五十双迷着在神奇玄妙上，都忙着搞些障眼法，弄些小神通，而沾沾自喜，以为这是成道的象征，殊不知这是弄精魂！即玄沙所呵的“学道之人不识真，只为从来认识神”的识神用事，几曾梦见佛法在！这些无知之徒，把毕生精力，枉费在无所谓的枝末上，而不务正修。 | Among practitioners today, fifty out of every hundred are deludedly attached to miraculous and mysterious marvels. All are busy performing tricks to deceive the eye and displaying minor spiritual powers, delighting in themselves and imagining these to be signs of realizing the Way. They do not realize that this is merely trafficking in spirits and souls! It is precisely the activity of the discriminating consciousness condemned by Xuansha: “Practitioners of the Way do not recognize the true; only because from the beginning they recognize the spirit.” When have such people ever even dreamed of Buddhadharma? These ignorant people squander the energy of their entire lives on insignificant branches and leaves, without attending to proper cultivation. |
| 一俟腊月三十日到来，所谓神通者，不知去向，又恁么昏昏糊糊地向阎罗老子报到去了。而且因为在世炫奇称能，着相造业故，还要受惨重的恶报！ | Once the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month arrives, those so-called spiritual powers disappear to no one knows where, and they muddle along in a daze to report to Old Yama. Moreover, because they flaunted marvels and advertised their abilities during life, clung to appearances, and created karma, they must also undergo grievous evil retribution. |
| 这些蠢汉，自己不上正轨，不修根本大法，还要以神通来考验、衡量他人。 | These foolish fellows neither set themselves on the right track nor cultivate the fundamental Dharma, yet they still use spiritual powers to test and assess others. |
| 他哪里知道，学佛是自修、自悟的，人家悟不悟，于你何事？人家悟了，你不能因之成道；人家不悟，对你亦无所损，何用你去考验他？复次，你要衡量他人，须先有超人之见，你用神通来衡量人，自己已先落下风。因悟道根本在对境不惑，不在神通发不发。你若对境起惑，任你发什么大神通，都无真实受用，都不能了生死。 | How could they know that learning Buddhism is a matter of one’s own cultivation and awakening? Whether others have awakened is no concern of yours. If another person has awakened, you cannot realize the Way because of it; if another has not awakened, you lose nothing. Why must you test them? Furthermore, if you wish to assess others, you must first possess insight surpassing theirs. If you use spiritual powers to assess people, you have already fallen behind. For the foundation of awakening lies in not being deluded when encountering circumstances, not in whether spiritual powers manifest. If confusion arises when you encounter circumstances, then no matter what great spiritual powers you may manifest, they bring no true benefit and cannot enable you to transcend birth and death. |
| 根本未明的人遇事不能无染，任你修法而通，或依他——神鬼精灵——而通，以着境住相故，烦恼依旧，不得自在。相反对境不惑的人，心空如洗，毫无粘附，虽一时未通，无须多时，自然五通齐发。 | Those whose foundation is not yet clear cannot remain undefiled when they encounter circumstances. Even if they gain powers through practice, or through dependence on others—spirits, ghosts, or essences—because they cling to circumstances and abide in appearances, their afflictions remain unchanged and they cannot attain freedom. Conversely, those who are not deluded when encountering circumstances have minds as empty and clean as if freshly washed, without the slightest adhesion. Though spiritual powers have not yet manifested for a time, before long all five powers will naturally manifest together. |
| 以对境能不惑，即是漏尽通，根本已固，不愁枝末不茂盛也。所以我们要常常自考自验，对境是不是无动于衷？如一时尚未臻稳固，不无动摇，能从多动而少动、而不动，即是上上升进，即是成道的象征。 | To be undeluded when encountering circumstances is itself the power of the exhaustion of outflows. Once the root is secure, there is no need to worry that the branches and leaves will not flourish. Therefore, we should constantly examine and test ourselves: when we encounter circumstances, are we truly unmoved? If we have not yet become stable and still waver, but can progress from much movement to less movement and then to no movement, this is the highest advancement and a sign of realizing the Way. |
| 不可在神通上着眼，误认发神通才是悟道，更不可以自己意境考验他人，以免妄念丛生失自道心。同时，发了神通亦不要用，以无住无得故，不可向人示现也。 | Do not focus on spiritual powers and mistakenly suppose that the manifestation of such powers is awakening to the Way. Still less should you test others by your own subjective states, lest deluded thoughts proliferate and you lose your own resolve for the Way. At the same time, even if spiritual powers manifest, do not use them. Since there is neither abiding nor attainment, they must not be displayed to others. |
| 最后，还有一桩紧要事，学者不可不知。尝有青年人，以为身心空闲，环境清幽，才能办道，以是每每不抓紧时机，努力修持，而坐等良时、佳境到来。 | Finally, there is another important matter that students must understand. Some young people think that they can practice the Way only when body and mind are unoccupied and their surroundings quiet and secluded. Therefore, they repeatedly fail to seize the moment and cultivate diligently, sitting instead and waiting for favorable times and ideal circumstances to arrive. |
| 哪知凡夫障重事烦，所谓“驴事未去，马事又来”，何时有清闲无事的时节？至于地方，更毋庸费心选择，以学佛贵在心地上用功，不重山林死坐。上面说了很多，对境心无粘染，才是真功夫。 | They do not realize that ordinary beings have heavy obstacles and endless affairs. As the saying goes, “Before the donkey’s business is gone, the horse’s business arrives.” When will there ever be a time of leisure with nothing to do? As for location, there is even less need to trouble oneself over choosing one. In learning Buddhism, what matters is applying effort on the mind-ground, not sitting rigidly in mountain forests. Much has been said above: only when the mind does not cling or become defiled by circumstances is there true practice. |
| 要对境无染，不在尘境上练心，死坐在山林里，怎么可以练出不动心来？所以只须识得一切色、声等尘境，俱是当人真心所现影像，如镜光所现镜影，无可取着；同时真心离尘境亦不可得，如镜影即是镜光，镜光不离镜影，故亦无所舍。 | To remain undefiled by circumstances, how can one cultivate an unmoving mind by avoiding the world of sense objects and sitting rigidly in mountain forests? One need only recognize that all sense objects—forms, sounds, and the rest—are images manifested by one’s own true mind, like images appearing in a mirror’s light, and thus cannot be grasped or clung to. At the same time, the true mind cannot be found apart from sense objects, just as mirror images are none other than the mirror’s light, and the mirror’s light does not leave the images. Therefore, there is nothing to reject either. |
| 时时如此观照历练，心空意闲，任运自在，无求无得，即天真佛！还要等什么佳境良辰到来哩。奉劝大众，乘此年轻有为时，抓紧时机，努力奋斗，切莫唐丧光阴，坐失良机，待白了少年头，空悲切！珍重！ | Contemplate and train in this way at all times. With mind empty and spirit at ease, let things take their natural course in freedom, seeking nothing and attaining nothing: this is the natural Buddha. Why wait for some ideal circumstance or favorable time to arrive? I urge everyone: while you are young and capable, seize the opportunity and strive diligently. Do not idly waste your time and miss this good opportunity, only to let your youthful head turn white and grieve in vain! Take care! |
