Master Yuanyin, December 1996 | 1996-12-01 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 大愚法师作的《解脱歌》，是步永嘉禅师《证道歌》原韵附和的一首歌。大愚法师平生著录很少，除了《解脱歌》外，就是临隐居之时不辞而别留下了一首告别诗。《解脱歌》很珍贵，把我们修法怎样用功，怎样证道都说得很清楚，对我们修道很有帮助。 | The Liberation Song, composed by Master Dayu, is a song written in response to the original rhyme scheme of Chan Master Yongjia’s Song of Realizing the Way. Very few of Master Dayu’s writings have been recorded. Apart from the Liberation Song, there is only a farewell poem that he left behind when he withdrew into seclusion without taking leave. The Liberation Song is precious. It explains very clearly how we should apply ourselves in practice and how we realize the Way, and it is of great help in our cultivation. |
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| “永嘉大师《证道歌》调古神清，有足多者”，永嘉禅师的《证道歌》大家可能都已读过，非常好，把整个禅宗的奥义都描绘在里面了，含义丰富，调高和寡。 | “Chan Master Yongjia’s Song of Realizing the Way has an ancient melody and a spiritual clarity; it contains much that is worthy of appreciation.” Everyone may already have read Chan Master Yongjia’s Song of Realizing the Way. It is excellent, presenting within it the profound essence of the entire Chan school. Its meaning is rich, but its tone is lofty and few can harmonize with it. |
| “而宏德上人注释亦有独到之处”，有一位宏德上人恐怕有人看后不能理解，就为《证道歌》作了注解，将其中奥义发挥出来，很有独到之处。“今熔于一炉，间参我见，作《解脱歌》。”这首《解脱歌》里不光有上两位大德的高见，还有我们大愚师公自己的体悟理解，所以意义更为丰富，对我们修道的帮助也更大。 | “Moreover, the annotations of Venerable Hongde also contain distinctive insights.” Fearing that some readers might not understand it, Venerable Hongde wrote annotations to the Song of Realizing the Way, bringing out its profound meaning with considerable originality. “Now I have fused them in a single crucible, intermittently adding my own views, and composed the Liberation Song.” This Liberation Song contains not only the elevated views of those two great masters, but also our Grandmaster Dayu’s own realizations and understanding. Its meaning is therefore even richer, and it is of still greater help to our cultivation of the Way. |
| 觉后乐，乐如何？听我教唱解脱歌， | Joy after awakening—what is that joy like? Listen as I sing the Liberation Song. |
| 平时我们的言行，处处着相都是作梦，梦时以为样样都是真的，及至一醒什么都没有，一点痕迹都不留。我们念佛、参禅、修道开悟之后，就和睡醒一样，明白一切皆空，无可求，无可得，而放舍一切，潇洒自在，安乐无穷。 | In our ordinary conduct and speech, whenever we cling to appearances, we are dreaming. While dreaming, we think everything is real; but once we awaken, nothing remains, not even the slightest trace. After Buddha-recitation, Chan investigation, or cultivation of the Way leads us to awakening, it is just like waking from sleep. We understand that everything is empty, that there is nothing to seek and nothing to attain. Letting go of everything, we become free and at ease, with boundless peace and joy. |
| 所以修道要明心见性，见到本性就觉悟到一切都是性空缘起：所有事物都是因缘所生，没有自性，皆是幻影；而我们的本性是妙有真空的实体，是生起一切事物的根本，一切事物都是它随缘显现变化的。知道了这个道理，就明白世间诸相都是虚幻，无可执取，不再执著，而潇洒自在了。这觉后快乐是怎样的呢？且听我唱来。 | Therefore, in cultivating the Way, we must realize the mind and see our true nature. Once we see our intrinsic nature, we awaken to the fact that all things are empty in nature and arise through conditions: all things are produced by causes and conditions, have no inherent nature, and are all illusory appearances. Yet our intrinsic nature is the reality of wondrous presence and true emptiness, the root from which all things arise; all things are manifestations and transformations that it displays in accordance with conditions. Once we understand this principle, we know that all worldly appearances are illusory and cannot be grasped. No longer clinging to them, we become free and at ease. What, then, is this joy after awakening like? Listen while I sing it. |
| 不让古人风调高，我今何妨拈句和。 | I will not let the ancients alone keep their lofty melody; why should I not offer a verse in harmony? |
| 不仅永嘉禅师可以悟道，我们大家也都能见性悟道，因大家也都具如来佛性。悟道后怎么样呢？不妨把悟的情形写出来，与永嘉大师作的《证道歌》唱和一下，给大家看看。 | It is not only Chan Master Yongjia who can realize the Way. All of us can see our true nature and realize the Way, for we all possess the Tathāgata’s Buddha-nature. What is it like after realizing the Way? We may as well write down the circumstances of awakening and compose a response to the Song of Realizing the Way written by Master Yongjia, so that everyone may see. |
| 本来悟道是“妙高峰顶，断绝言思，无话可说”，因为我们的佛性是绝对真空、没有相，没有任何东西可以比拟，无话可说，一落言诠，就不是了。这叫“向上一着，千圣不传”，任何佛也没有办法描绘出来，说与你听。 | Originally, realizing the Way means that “at the summit of the Wondrous High Peak, speech and thought are cut off; there is nothing to say.” Our Buddha-nature is absolute true emptiness, without appearance; there is nothing with which it can be compared, and nothing that can be said. Once it falls into verbal explanation, it is no longer that. This is called “the step beyond, which a thousand sages do not transmit”: no Buddha can depict it or explain it for you to hear. |
| 但为了方便众人，提携后进，又何妨从无说当中说几句话，旁敲侧击地描绘一下悟后风光，引导大家入门哩。所以不说之外不妨有说，把所悟的真心、所得的快乐告诉大家。 | Yet, in order to provide skillful means for everyone and support later learners, why not speak a few words amid what cannot be spoken, describing the scenery after awakening by indirect suggestion and guiding everyone through the gate? Thus, beyond not speaking, there may also be speaking: we may tell everyone of the true mind we have realized and the joy we have attained. |
| 本无妄，亦无真，原来二法空无性， | There is originally no delusion, nor is there any truth; the two dharmas are originally empty and without inherent nature. |
| 佛性是非真非假、不来不去、不动不摇、不垢不净的无相实性。它是一丝不挂、一尘不染、净裸裸的言思不能到的妙体，上面不能加一点赞美或是诋毁的东西。 | Buddha-nature is neither true nor false, neither coming nor going, neither moving nor shaking, neither defiled nor pure: it is the formless reality of true suchness. It is utterly bare, unstained by a single speck of dust, a pure and naked wondrous essence beyond the reach of speech and thought. Nothing of praise or disparagement can be added to it. |
| 但我们日常生活却都沉浸在分别法中，认为有真有假，有生有灭，乃至有等等的不同。而不知这些都是相对的无自性的分别妄想。一切事物本身并无真假、是非、长短、美丑之见，都是我们人的妄心在妄起分别。 | Yet in everyday life we are all immersed in discriminating dharmas, believing there to be truth and falsehood, arising and ceasing, and all kinds of other distinctions. We do not know that these are all relative discriminations and deluded thoughts without inherent nature. Things themselves contain no distinctions of true and false, right and wrong, long and short, beautiful and ugly; these are all discriminations falsely produced by our deluded minds. |
| 适合自己的就是真、善、美，不适合自己的是假、恶、丑。比如西方极乐世界与娑婆世界本身并无真假之分。但有人妄起分别，说西方极乐世界是真，娑婆世界是假。这话粗听起来似乎有理。因西方是佛土，而我们这里是凡土。 | What suits us is considered true, good, and beautiful; what does not suit us is considered false, evil, and ugly. For example, the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss and the Sahā world are not in themselves divided into true and false. Yet some people falsely make distinctions, saying that the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss is true and the Sahā world is false. At first hearing, this may seem reasonable, because the West is a Buddha-land while this place is the land of ordinary beings. |
| 但细细想来，又觉不对，因二土皆有相。《金刚经》云：“凡所有相，皆是虚妄。”若娑婆是妄，则西方亦妄，所谓一假一切假！反是，二土皆从一真法界中流出，西方是真，则娑婆亦真，一真一切真故也。可见真妄本无，皆吾人妄心分别，自造烦恼而已。 | But upon careful reflection, this does not seem right either, for both lands have appearances. The Diamond Sūtra says, “All appearances are illusory.” If the Sahā world is illusory, then the Western Land is also illusory: if one is false, all are false. Conversely, both lands flow forth from the One True Dharma Realm. If the Western Land is true, then the Sahā world is also true, for if one is true, all are true. Thus, true and false have no inherent existence; they are merely discriminations of our deluded minds, through which we create our own afflictions. |
| 因之，我们修法学道须一切放下，不要在名相上妄起分别，只专心致志地用功，不论修什么法门，皆易成就。否则，计着名相，妄生分别，即难达目的了。 | Therefore, in practicing the Dharma and studying the Way, we must let go of everything and not falsely create distinctions over names and appearances. We should simply apply ourselves single-mindedly. Whatever dharma gate we practice, attainment will then be easy. Otherwise, if we calculate over names and appearances and give rise to false distinctions, it will be difficult to reach the goal. |
| 学佛的目的是要得真实受用，除尽一切烦恼。若一天到晚与贪嗔痴慢疑打交道，分真分妄，就烦恼无穷，难以成道了。 | The purpose of studying Buddhism is to gain genuine benefit and eliminate all afflictions. If we spend all day dealing with greed, anger, ignorance, pride, and doubt, dividing things into true and false, our afflictions will be endless and it will be difficult to realize the Way. |
| 复次，须知我们的法身是妙有真空，不是顽空，更不是断灭空，它能起无穷妙用，产生万法，无所不具，无所不能。一切事物都是它变化显现的假象，无可追逐抟取，只随缘起用，有的不要废除，没有的不要强求，即妙用无碍了。 | Furthermore, we must know that our dharmakāya is wondrous presence and true emptiness. It is not inert emptiness, much less annihilationist emptiness. It can give rise to inexhaustible wondrous functioning, produce the myriad dharmas, and lacks nothing and can do everything. All things are illusory appearances that it manifests and transforms; they cannot be pursued or seized. Simply function in accordance with conditions: do not discard what is present, and do not forcefully seek what is absent. Then wondrous functioning will be unobstructed. |
| 无性无相不著空，即是如来真实性。 | Without inherent nature or appearance, do not cling to emptiness: this is the Tathāgata’s true reality. |
| 我们在日常生活中不要停留在任何事情上面攀缘不息，而致烦恼不断，须事来就应，事过即止，心中不留丝毫痕迹，则方与修法相应。一切相都是缘会、虚而不实、无有自性的假相，切勿受骗而恋着不舍，蒙蔽了自性光明。 | In daily life, we should not linger over any matter, ceaselessly pursuing conditions and thereby giving rise to unending afflictions. When a matter comes, respond to it; when it passes, let it stop. Leave not the slightest trace in the mind. Only then do we accord with Dharma practice. All appearances are conditioned conjunctions, empty and unreal, and false appearances without inherent nature. Do not be deceived by them and cling to them, thereby obscuring the luminosity of your intrinsic nature. |
| 所谓相者，空也。犹如空花水月，可望而不可即。若误以为是真实，竭力追逐，就不无烦恼了。因为人的欲望无穷，而所作事不可能有求必应。当求不到时，烦恼就不期然而然地来临了。 | What are called appearances are empty. They are like flowers in empty space and the moon reflected in water: they may be seen but cannot be grasped. If we mistake them for reality and pursue them with all our strength, afflictions will inevitably arise. Human desires are inexhaustible, while what we undertake cannot possibly fulfill every wish. When we cannot obtain what we seek, afflictions arrive unbidden. |
| 所以修法第一须知诸法皆是无自性的假相不去追求。“不著空”就是诸法虽无自性，但假相不无，不是空无所有的顽空，而是不可得不可取的空幻相。 | Therefore, the first thing to know in practicing the Dharma is that all dharmas are false appearances without inherent nature, and should not be pursued. “Do not cling to emptiness” means that although dharmas have no inherent nature, their illusory appearances are not nonexistent. This is not inert emptiness in which nothing exists; rather, they are empty, illusory appearances that cannot be obtained or grasped. |
| 我们修法既不可执有，也不可偏空，废弃一切事物而落于空亡，成为土、木、金、石，死水一潭，就不对了。 | In practicing the Dharma, we must neither cling to existence nor incline toward emptiness by abandoning all things and falling into vacant nothingness, becoming like earth, wood, metal, or stone—a stagnant pool of dead water. That would be wrong. |
| 就象希腊的大哲学家苏格拉底功夫做到极处，也知道这个世界一切都虚假不实，都不可得，但他偏空了，一切东西都不要了，都废弃了，连睡觉也睡在马路边的阴沟洞里。这样偏空也不对。 | It is like the great Greek philosopher Socrates. When his cultivation reached an extreme, he too knew that everything in this world was false, unreal, and unobtainable. But he inclined toward emptiness: he wanted nothing and discarded everything, even sleeping in a gutter by the roadside. Such partiality toward emptiness is also wrong. |
| 我们须知相虽是假的，不可执著，但还是有用的，比如衣服可以御寒暖，房子可以避风雨，我们只随缘应用，既不执有也不著空，空有两面都不立，当中自然也没有了，这无所立就是中道义。 | We must know that although appearances are false and should not be clung to, they still have their uses. Clothing, for example, can protect us from cold and heat, and a house can shelter us from wind and rain. We should simply use them in accordance with conditions, neither clinging to existence nor to emptiness. When neither side is established, the middle also naturally disappears. This establishing of nothing is the meaning of the Middle Way. |
| 我们明白了这一点，既不著空也不著有，而应缘接物，妙用无穷，尽我们的力量去做有益群众的事，方符圆融无碍的大乘佛教的真义。有人批评佛教偏空了，那是他们理解错了。 | Once we understand this, we neither cling to emptiness nor to existence. Instead, we respond to circumstances and engage with things, with inexhaustible wondrous functioning, doing all we can to benefit the public. Only then do we accord with the true meaning of the perfectly integrated and unobstructed Mahāyāna Buddhism. Some criticize Buddhism for inclining toward emptiness, but they have misunderstood it. |
| 佛教说的空不是空无所有的空，而是凡所有相都是不可得、求不到的空，并不是没有相，没有世界。 | The emptiness spoken of in Buddhism is not an emptiness in which nothing whatsoever exists. It means that all appearances are unobtainable and cannot be grasped; it does not mean that appearances and the world do not exist. |
| 就象西方极乐世界，不是很美好吗？有人不理解这个意思，就认为佛教有矛盾，《金刚经》说空，一点也没有；《弥陀经》说有，金沙布地，四宝围绕，七宝莲池，八功德水，样样都有。 | Is not the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss beautiful? Some people do not understand this and therefore think Buddhism is contradictory. The Diamond Sūtra speaks of emptiness, as though there were nothing at all; the Amitābha Sūtra speaks of existence—golden sand covers the ground, the four treasures surround it, there are pools of seven treasures and water with eight virtues, and everything is there. |
| 他不知道佛说的空是圆融无碍的空而不空、不空而空的妙有真空。讲真空者，是说我们的本体——佛性，是无相可见的。但是它能现起诸相，起诸妙用，所以不是顽空；说妙有者，诸相虽有，但非实有，都是随缘起用的假相。 | They do not know that the emptiness spoken of by the Buddha is the perfectly integrated and unobstructed emptiness that is not empty, and the nonempty that is empty: wondrous presence and true emptiness. To speak of true emptiness is to say that our fundamental essence—Buddha-nature—has no appearance that can be seen. Yet it can manifest all appearances and give rise to all wondrous functioning, so it is not inert emptiness. To speak of wondrous presence is to say that although appearances exist, they do not truly exist; they are illusory appearances that function in accordance with conditions. |
| 就象镜中所现影子，可见而不可得。在世间再惨淡经营，尔虞我诈，求得大量财宝，最后仍两手空空而去，什么也带不走，而造的业却带着走了。 | They are like reflections appearing in a mirror: visible, yet unobtainable. However miserably we struggle in the world, however we deceive and contend with one another, even if we acquire vast wealth, in the end we still leave empty-handed and cannot take anything with us. Yet the karma we have created goes with us. |
| 这造业受报也是非空非有，东西带不走，是空——非有；业掼不掉，带走了，就是有——非空。所以我们修法须两边都不住着，才符合亲证大道的真实义。证到非空非有、即空即有的妙性，“即是如来真实性”了。 | This creation of karma and undergoing of karmic retribution is also neither empty nor existent. We cannot take material things with us: that is empty—not existent. But karma cannot be cast off and goes with us: that is existent—not empty. Therefore, in practicing the Dharma, we must not abide in either side. Only then do we accord with the true meaning of directly realizing the great Way. To realize the wondrous nature that is neither empty nor existent, empty yet existent, is precisely the Tathāgata’s true reality. |
| 一切众生皆有此妙性，可怜我们不知道，追逐外境，贪得无厌，迷了自己，枉受生死轮回之苦。因而佛出世，唤醒我们，不要再作梦了。一切相都是我们心里的影子。既不能执有，也不可因诸相缘起无自性而偏空。大家如能醒悟，在日常生活中圆融无碍地起诸妙用，就自然入佛，亲证如来真实妙性了。 | All sentient beings possess this wondrous nature. Pitifully, we do not know it; we pursue external conditions, greedily seeking without satisfaction, lose ourselves, and vainly suffer the pain of birth-and-death in saṃsāra. Therefore, the Buddha appeared in the world to awaken us: do not keep dreaming. All appearances are shadows within our own minds. We can neither cling to existence nor, because appearances arise through conditions and lack inherent nature, incline toward emptiness. If everyone can awaken and give rise to all wondrous functioning in daily life with perfect integration and without obstruction, they will naturally enter Buddhahood and directly realize the Tathāgata’s true and wondrous nature. |
| 见实相，诸法空，刹那顿悟万法同， | See the true appearance: all dharmas are empty. In an instant of sudden awakening, the myriad dharmas are one. |
| “实相”是指永远不坏的真实相，也是相对虚幻的假相而说的。真实相是没有相的。亲证无相的实相就是悟道。世间一切有相之相都是假的，都是要坏的，都是生住异灭，都是不久长的。 | “True appearance” refers to the real appearance that never decays, in contrast to illusory and false appearances. The real appearance has no appearance. To directly realize the true appearance that is without appearance is to realize the Way. All worldly appearances that have form are false, subject to decay, arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing; they do not endure for long. |
| 我们的佛性永远不坏，亘古亘今长存，它是无相之相。欲见到这实相，须下功夫、参禅、念佛、或是持咒，修到一心不乱，无心可心时，打开本来，见到本性，那就是亲证无相之相的实相而开悟了。 | Our Buddha-nature is never destroyed; it endures from time immemorial to the present. It is the appearance of the formless. To see this true reality, one must apply oneself, investigate Chan, recite the Buddha’s name, or uphold a mantra. When one cultivates to one-pointedness of mind without distraction, so that there is no mind left to be mind, one’s original nature opens forth and one sees one’s intrinsic nature. This is awakening through direct realization of the true reality that is the appearance of the formless. |
| 见到实相，一切皆空，千差万别的诸相皆化为乌有，所以诸法就一样了。诸法范围很大，非但佛法，世间法，连我们的思想和一切事物，都叫法。这些千差万别的诸法都一样，都无有自性，都是幻影，都是空的。 | When one sees true reality, everything is empty. The myriad distinct appearances all vanish into nothing, and thus all dharmas are alike. The scope of dharmas is vast: they include not only the Buddha-Dharma and worldly dharmas, but also our thoughts and all things. These myriad distinct dharmas are all alike: none has any intrinsic nature; all are illusory images; all are empty. |
| 见性开悟，明白了这一切，就不再执着假相而和宇宙化为一体了。再则，诸相都是我们一真法界的显现，万法同源。所以禅师说“地狱天宫无异同”——三十三天与十八层地狱没有同与不同。 | When one sees one’s nature and awakens, understanding all this, one no longer clings to false appearances and becomes one with the universe. Moreover, all appearances are manifestations of our One True Dharma Realm; the myriad dharmas share a single source. Thus Chan masters say, “The hells and heavenly palaces are neither the same nor different”—the Thirty-Three Heavens and the eighteen levels of hell are neither the same nor different. |
| 万法唯识、三界唯心，离开佛性，什么也没有。所谓“无不从此法界流，无不归还此法界”。是故性即是相，相即是性。悟得此理，即弹指深入不二门了，做功夫千万别分门别类，计较短长。 | All phenomena are consciousness-only, and the three realms are mind-only. Apart from Buddha-nature, there is nothing at all. As it is said, “There is nothing that does not flow forth from this Dharma Realm, and nothing that does not return to this Dharma Realm.” Thus nature is appearance, and appearance is nature. Once one awakens to this principle, one enters the gate of nonduality in the snap of a finger. In practice, never divide things into separate categories or compare their merits and shortcomings. |
| 一旦风光藏不住，赤裸裸的觌面逢。 | Once its splendor can no longer be concealed, one meets it face to face, utterly bare. |
| 我们悟道后，快乐无穷，知道一切都是我自心显现的幻影，不再去追求。以前着相被捆皆是自寻烦恼，现在一切放舍，身心空朗，轻安宁喜，潇洒自在，动静安祥，岂不喜不自胜，快乐无涯！此情此景确是无法形容，故谓“好个风流画不成”！此种潇洒风光，遍虚空，满法界，光明大放，朗照大千，如何能藏得住呢？ | After awakening to the Way, our joy is boundless. Knowing that everything is an illusory appearance manifested by our own mind, we no longer pursue it. Formerly, our clinging to appearances bound us and brought us troubles of our own making. Now we let go of everything; body and mind are empty and clear, light, peaceful, and joyful. Free and at ease, serene in activity and stillness alike, how could we not be beside ourselves with joy, our happiness without limit? Such a state and scene truly cannot be described; hence it is said, “What splendid grace cannot be painted!” This free and untrammeled splendor pervades empty space and fills the dharma realm, radiating great light that illuminates the great thousand-world system. How could it possibly be concealed? |
| “赤裸裸的觌面逢”，做功夫做到妄念断处，内而身心、外而世界一齐化空，真性瞥而现前，此时如十字街头觌面相逢亲阿爹，个中况味实非笔墨所能形容。亲证本性后，见一切事物都是我们的自性，没有你我他的分别，《金刚经》说“无我相，无人相，无众生相，无寿者相”，即是此理。 | “One meets it face to face, utterly bare” means that when one’s practice reaches the point where deluded thoughts cease, both body and mind within and the outer world alike dissolve into emptiness, and one’s true nature suddenly appears before one. It is like meeting one’s own father face to face at a crossroads; the flavor of this experience truly cannot be described by brush or ink. After directly realizing one’s intrinsic nature, one sees all things as one’s own intrinsic nature, without distinctions of you, me, and others. The Diamond Sūtra says, “No mark of self, no mark of person, no mark of sentient being, and no mark of life span.” This is precisely the principle. |
| 决定说，佛心印，有人不肯如实信， | I say decisively: the Buddha-mind seal—yet there are those unwilling to believe it as it truly is. |
| 佛说法，有权说，有实说；有了义经，有不了义经；有小乘，有大乘。是对不同根基人讲的不同法。如果都讲真理，说实话，恐怕有人就不会相信了。为什么呢？佛说《法华经》，有五千证罗汉果的比丘退席了。 | In teaching the Dharma, the Buddha gave provisional teachings and definitive teachings; there are sūtras of ultimate meaning and sūtras not of ultimate meaning; there is the Lesser Vehicle and the Great Vehicle. These are different teachings given for people of different capacities. If he spoke only of the truth and told things as they really are, some people would probably not believe it. Why? When the Buddha taught the Lotus Sūtra, five thousand bhikṣus who had realized arhatship left their seats. |
| 他们不相信一切众生都有智慧，都有佛性。就象现在我对你们讲，你们一念断处、了了分明的灵知就是你们的真如实性，你们肯相信吗？恐怕不会。 | They did not believe that all sentient beings possess wisdom and Buddha-nature. It is like my telling you now that the clear, aware knowing at the point where a thought ceases is your true suchness-nature. Would you be willing to believe it? Probably not. |
| 为什么呢？因为你们认为假如这个灵知就是我的真如实性，我就见性悟道了，该发神通了。但是现在未发神通呀！不发神通就不是了，所以你们不相信。 | Why not? Because you think that if this aware knowing were your true suchness-nature, then you would have seen your nature and awakened to the Way, and spiritual powers ought to arise. But spiritual powers have not arisen yet. Since they have not arisen, you think this cannot be it; therefore, you do not believe. |
| 殊不知悟道与发通有先后，不是初悟就发通的，因为多生历劫的习气重，须于悟后历境勤除，将旧习除光才能发通。而且所谓神通，现在穿衣吃饭就是神通。因为这一切动作，皆是佛性的妙用。 | What you do not realize is that awakening to the Way and the arising of spiritual powers occur in sequence. Spiritual powers do not arise immediately upon initial awakening, because habitual tendencies accumulated over many lives and eons are heavy. After awakening, one must diligently eliminate them amid circumstances; only when the old habits have been completely removed can spiritual powers arise. Moreover, what are called spiritual powers are present even now in putting on clothes and eating meals, for all these actions are the wondrous functioning of Buddha-nature. |
| 离开佛性，这身体就不能动弹，所以尽是神用。“决定说，佛心印”，是直接指示你们见佛性的心印，印就是指佛的心与我们的心相印，一模一样，各人的心印都是一样。可怜众生愚痴，障重，不肯相信，所以让大家念佛。 | Apart from Buddha-nature, this body could not move; thus all of it is spiritual functioning. “I say decisively: the Buddha-mind seal” directly points you to the mind-seal through which you see Buddha-nature. Seal means that the Buddha’s mind and our minds correspond exactly, just like impressions made by the same seal; everyone’s mind-seal is the same. But sentient beings are pitiably deluded and heavily obstructed, unwilling to believe it. Therefore, they are taught to recite the Buddha’s name. |
| 其实你真的相信这灵知之心就是佛，一切放舍，就不必念佛，我本来是佛，不垢不净、无取无舍，还念什么佛？！但众生不肯相信，释迦佛只好想个办法，兜个圈子，叫我们念佛。念到根尘脱落，能所双亡，亲见到佛的心印确是真实之佛，才能信受无疑。 | In fact, if you truly believe that this mind of aware knowing is Buddha and let go of everything, there is no need to recite the Buddha’s name. I am originally Buddha—neither defiled nor pure, with nothing to grasp and nothing to relinquish—so what Buddha is there still to recite? But sentient beings are unwilling to believe, so Śākyamuni Buddha had no choice but to devise a method and take a roundabout way, instructing us to recite the Buddha’s name. When recitation reaches the point where the sense faculties and their objects fall away, and subject and object both vanish, one directly sees that the Buddha’s mind-seal is the true Buddha and can then accept this without doubt. |
| 直截根源当下了，摘叶寻枝渐教人。 | Directly comprehend the root source at this very moment; pluck leaves and seek branches to guide people gradually. |
| 了生死就比如伐一棵树，要从根上下刀。树根斩断后，当时树的枝叶可能还是葱葱绿绿的，但不多久就会枯死了。我们修大乘法，就须从根上修，而不可从枝叶上修。 | Transcending birth and death is like felling a tree: one must strike at its root. Once the root has been cut, its branches and leaves may still be luxuriantly green for the moment, but before long they will wither and die. When we cultivate Mahāyāna Dharma, we must cultivate at the root and not at the branches and leaves. |
| 如我们心中心法，是直接从第八识上修，在根上下刀，使第八识翻身，亲证本源。而念佛法门则是从第六识上修，因而有些区别。如果一步步去枝摘叶，而未断根，树仍不会死，有时反而长得更好。 | For example, our Heart-of-Heart Dharma is cultivated directly at the eighth consciousness: one strikes at the root, turning the eighth consciousness around and directly realizing the original source. The Buddha-recitation Dharma gate, by contrast, is cultivated at the sixth consciousness, and thus differs somewhat. If one proceeds step by step, pruning branches and plucking leaves without cutting the root, the tree will still not die; indeed, it may sometimes grow even better. |
| 所以修大法，也要从根上下刀。但各人根机不同，有的须用渐次法，一步步来，慢慢引他入佛；有的则须指示他当下见性。根基之所以不同，是因各人过去世所造业不同和亲近佛的善根深浅不同而有差异。 | Therefore, in cultivating the great Dharma, one must also strike at the root. Yet people’s capacities differ. Some require gradual methods, proceeding step by step and slowly guiding them into the Buddha’s teaching; others must be directly shown how to see their nature here and now. The reason capacities differ is that each person’s karma created in past lives, and the depth of the wholesome roots formed through closeness to the Buddha, differ. |
| 但我们修佛法要修大乘佛法，因大乘法方符佛的本怀。心地法门是佛法的根本法门。一切宗派修法内容有所不同，但皆离不开心法。离心说法，皆同魔说。 | But in cultivating the Buddha-Dharma, we should cultivate Mahāyāna Dharma, for only Mahāyāna Dharma accords with the Buddha’s fundamental intent. The Mind-Ground Dharma Gate is the fundamental Dharma gate of Buddhism. The practices of the various schools differ in content, but none can depart from the mind-dharma. Any teaching that speaks apart from mind is no different from the teaching of māras. |
| 观今学人，多惑于神通，蔑视心法，往往步入歧途而不知，实大憾事！须知修道是修心，经云“是心是佛，是心作佛”，不是神通作佛，但能抓住根本，在心地上用功，除尽妄习，不愁不发神通。反是，求神通、着神通，非但不能成佛，成魔倒有份在！希望大家三复斯言！ | Looking at students today, many are confused by spiritual powers and disdain the mind-dharma. They often enter mistaken paths without knowing it—truly a great pity! You must know that cultivating the Way means cultivating the mind. The sūtras say, “This mind is Buddha; this mind becomes Buddha.” It is not spiritual powers that make one a Buddha. If one can grasp the root, apply oneself on the ground of mind, and eliminate all deluded habits, there is no need to worry that spiritual powers will not arise. Conversely, if one seeks spiritual powers and clings to them, not only will one be unable to become a Buddha, but one will be well on the way to becoming a māra. I hope you will reflect on these words again and again. |
| 几回生，几回死，亘古亘今长如此， | How many times born, how many times dead—thus it has ever been, from time immemorial to the present. |
| 这不是指我们在六道轮回中死了又生，生了又死，而是说我们修佛法时有“大悟十八九，小悟无其数”的历程。我们修法时，往往一下子似乎明悟自性了，心死不着相了，但死得不够，不透彻，对境后又生起心来了，又动摇了。 | This does not refer to our dying and being reborn, then being reborn and dying again, in the six realms of rebirth. Rather, it refers to the course of Buddhist practice: “Great awakenings number eighteen or nineteen; minor awakenings are countless.” In practicing the Dharma, we often seem suddenly to awaken to our intrinsic nature: the mind dies, no longer clinging to appearances. Yet it has not died sufficiently or thoroughly; when circumstances arise, the mind springs up again and wavers once more. |
| 所以大悟有十八、九次之多，不是一下子就归家稳坐的。象高峰禅师的师父雪岩钦祖师也是这样，几次悟道后，在事境中又动摇了。直至最后彻底桶底脱落，才究竟。修佛法并非能一悟就了的，若能如此，那是大菩萨再来。 | Therefore, there may be as many as eighteen or nineteen great awakenings; one does not simply return home and sit securely after a single awakening. The teacher of Chan Master Gaofeng, Patriarch Xueyan Qin, was likewise shaken by circumstances after awakening to the Way several times. Only when, at last, the bottom dropped out of the bucket completely did he reach the ultimate. Buddhist practice is not something completed in a single awakening. If it can be, one is a great bodhisattva who has returned to this world. |
| 因此《楞严经》说了二种法门，一种是顿悟顿证，就是“理属顿悟，乘悟并销”，乘开悟的一刹那，所有过去的一切习气都消光了，没有了。 | Therefore, the Śūraṅgama Sūtra speaks of two Dharma gates. One is sudden awakening and sudden realization: “In principle, awakening is sudden; with awakening, all is simultaneously extinguished.” At the instant of awakening, all habitual tendencies from the past are completely eliminated and gone. |
| 但这种人少，所以接下来又说“事则渐除，因次第尽”，要于悟后在事上锻炼，将深厚的习气渐渐一步步地除尽。这是对广大一般群众的根机而言。 | But such people are few. Therefore, it continues: “In phenomena, they are gradually removed; through successive stages, the causes are exhausted.” After awakening, one must train amid circumstances, gradually removing deep-rooted habitual tendencies step by step. This is directed to the capacities of the broad mass of ordinary people. |
| 所以有“几回生，几回死”，悟了一回，不透彻，在事上还动摇，再深入地做功夫，再进一步，直至彻悟。 | Thus there are “how many times born, how many times dead”: one awakens once, but not thoroughly; one is still shaken by circumstances. Then one practices more deeply and advances further, until one reaches thorough awakening. |
| 我们打开本来、亲见自性，只到初地，还须向上历阶升进：二地，三地，一直到十地，上面更有等觉，妙觉，圆觉位，要层层历过，才能成佛。 | When we open forth our original nature and directly see our intrinsic nature, we have only reached the first bhūmi. We must still ascend stage by stage: the second bhūmi, the third bhūmi, all the way to the tenth bhūmi. Beyond these are the stages of equal enlightenment, wondrous enlightenment, and perfect enlightenment. Only by passing through every level can one become a Buddha. |
| 修法有三种说法：一种是顿悟，一悟就了；一种是悟后真修，慢慢了习气；还有一种是“修就是不修，不修就是修”。 | There are three ways of speaking about practice. One is sudden awakening, in which a single awakening completes everything. Another is true cultivation after awakening, gradually eliminating habitual tendencies. The third is: “Practice is no practice; no practice is practice.” |
| 其实这三种就是一种，我们悟道后明白世上一切都是假的，都不可得，大家原本是佛，有什么可修？所以沩山禅师说除习气就是修。不要讲修不修，修与不修都是两头话。中峰祖师说，假如悟道后还有习气，这人就没有悟道。 | In fact, these three are one. After awakening to the Way, we understand that everything in the world is false and unobtainable, and that everyone is originally Buddha. What is there to cultivate? Therefore, Chan Master Weishan said that eliminating habitual tendencies is cultivation. Do not speak of practice or no practice: practice and no practice are both two-sided words. Patriarch Zhongfeng said that if a person still has habitual tendencies after awakening to the Way, then that person has not awakened to the Way. |
| 这是因为那时有人根本没有悟道，看了两本书，懂了一些道理，听了几句似是而非的禅语，就自以为悟道了。遇到境上过不去，就以习气作挡箭牌，故不许。并不是不允许悟后还有习气在。这种历程从古至今都是如此，所以说“亘古亘今长如此”。 | This was because, at that time, some people had not awakened to the Way at all. They read two books, understood a few principles, heard several Chan sayings that only seemed plausible, and then thought themselves awakened. When they could not get past a difficult circumstance, they used habitual tendencies as a shield. Therefore, this was not permitted. It does not mean that habitual tendencies are not allowed to remain after awakening. This course has been so from ancient times to the present; hence it is said, “Thus it has ever been, from time immemorial to the present.” |
| 神头鬼面有多般，返本还元没些子。 | There are many kinds of spirit-heads and ghost-faces; returning to the source leaves not a trace of them. |
| 现在各种功，各种道，五花八门多得很，这都不是真正的佛法。真正的佛法是什么都没有，只教人识自本心、见自本性。真正认识本性，就归家稳坐、返本还元了。现在的外道邪法皆是以神通来诱惑人，引人入歧途。 | Nowadays there are many kinds of qigong and many paths, in a bewildering variety, but none of these is genuine Buddhism. Genuine Buddhism has nothing at all; it teaches people only to recognize their own original mind and see their own intrinsic nature. Once one truly recognizes one’s intrinsic nature, one returns home and sits securely, returning to the source. Today, all non-Buddhist and deviant teachings use spiritual powers to entice people and lead them astray. |
| 如果我们著在神通上就是大错误，非但不能成佛，还要成魔。真正的佛法是破人迷梦，清净无为，什么都不住，潇洒自在，安乐无比。纵或发了神通也丝毫无着。象临济祖师悟道时说：“原来黄檗佛法无多子。 | If we become attached to spiritual powers, it is a grave error. Not only will we be unable to become Buddhas; we may instead become māras. Genuine Buddhism shatters people’s deluded dreams. It is pure and non-contrived, abides nowhere, and is free, at ease, and incomparably peaceful and joyful. Even if spiritual powers arise, one does not cling to them in the slightest. When Patriarch Linji awakened to the Way, he said, “So it turns out that Huangbo’s Buddha-Dharma has not much to it.” |
| ”人人本来是佛，回头即是。寻常得很，没有什么玄奇奥妙！现在人心浮躁，根浅障重，都迷于神通而不自信。比如我上面说过你们一念断处、了了分明的灵知就是当人的本来面目。 | Everyone is originally Buddha; turning back is all that is needed. It is utterly ordinary, with nothing mysterious, strange, or profound about it! People today are restless in mind, shallow in roots, and heavy in obstructions. All are deluded by spiritual powers and do not trust themselves. For example, as I said above, the clear, aware knowing at the point where a thought ceases is each person’s Original Face. |
| 你们肯承当吗？能站稳脚跟不怀疑吗？我看不太可能。因为你们认为有东西可见，有神通可得，才为见性。不要弄错，佛性一点东西都没有。它是净裸裸、赤洒洒、一丝不挂、一法不立、一尘不染的。 | Are you willing to take this responsibility? Can you stand firm without doubt? I do not think that is very likely. Because you think there is something to be seen and spiritual powers to be attained, you take that to be seeing one’s true nature. Do not be mistaken: Buddha-nature has nothing at all. It is utterly pure and naked, without a single thread, not establishing a single dharma, unstained by a single speck of dust. |
| 但是注意，一点没有不是断灭空，而是不著相。功夫进入无为地，就光明大放，五通齐发，但是纵然光明大放，朗照十方，六通齐发也不可著光明神通之见，方能上上升进，直到究竟地。真到家人是丝毫无住无着的，所谓末后等于始初，路途即是家舍，家舍即是路途。如有生死可了，有佛可成，还是大梦未醒！ | But take note: having nothing at all is not annihilationist emptiness; it means not clinging to appearances. When practice enters the ground of non-contrivance, brilliant light shines forth and the five spiritual powers all manifest. Yet even if brilliant light shines forth, illuminating the ten directions, and the six spiritual powers all manifest, one must not cling to views of light or spiritual powers. Only then can one advance ever higher, until reaching the ultimate stage. Those who have truly arrived abide and cling to nothing whatever. As it is said, the end is the same as the beginning; the road itself is home, and home itself is the road. If there is birth and death to transcend or a Buddha to become, one has still not awakened from the great dream! |
| 习显教，修密宗，方便门异归元同， | Study Exoteric Buddhism and cultivate Esoteric Buddhism: their expedient gateways differ, but they return to the same source. |
| “习显教”，就是用显教的法门做功夫，比如修净土宗，念佛诵经等，以之息妄归真，彻证真心，往生净土。显教有道理可讲，有法可修，有可供研究探讨的原理。 | “Study Exoteric Buddhism” means to practice through the dharma gates of Exoteric Buddhism—for example, by cultivating the Pure Land school, reciting the Buddha’s name and chanting sūtras—in order to quell delusion, return to the true, thoroughly realize the true mind, and attain rebirth in the Pure Land. Exoteric Buddhism has principles that can be explained, practices that can be cultivated, and doctrines that can be studied and explored. |
| “修密宗”是讲实修，不再讲道理了，用三密加持的方法，切实修行，是打开秘密宝藏的密行。但在未进入实修前，仍须研习经文，习得三乘大教精义后，方可进入实修实证。 | “Cultivate Esoteric Buddhism” refers to actual practice: principles are no longer merely discussed. Through the methods of empowerment by the three mysteries, one practices earnestly. This is the esoteric practice that opens the hidden treasury. Yet before entering actual practice, one must still study the sūtras. Only after mastering the essential meaning of the great teachings of the three vehicles may one enter actual cultivation and direct realization. |
| 虽然看起来修法不同，但这只是适应众生根性的方便之门，不是实法。经云：“方便多门，归元无二”，“是法平等，无有高下”。到家是一样的，不必在宗派上立异见，分别什么显宗、密宗了。 | Although the practices may appear different, these are merely expedient gateways adapted to the capacities of sentient beings; they are not the true Dharma. The sūtras say, “The expedient means are many, but the return to the source is not two,” and, “These dharmas are equal, without high or low.” Arrival at home is the same in every case. There is no need to establish divergent views based on schools and discriminate between Exoteric and Esoteric Buddhism. |
| 自从踏遍涅槃路，了知生死本来空。 | Since traversing the path of nirvāṇa, I have understood that birth and death are originally empty. |
| 我们修道须证到涅槃果。涅槃就是不生不灭，寂灭为乐，不再生死轮回了。涅槃有四种不同，所以称踏遍涅槃路。第一种是自性涅槃，就是我们佛性本来不生不灭。 | In cultivating the Way, we must realize the fruition of nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa means neither arising nor ceasing; quiescent extinction is bliss, and one no longer undergoes the cycle of birth and death. There are four different kinds of nirvāṇa, hence the phrase “traversing the path of nirvāṇa.” The first is nirvāṇa of intrinsic nature: our Buddha-nature is originally neither arising nor ceasing. |
| 第二种有余涅槃，罗汉、辟支佛，人我空了，但法我不空，生死轮回中不来了，但还有尾巴——法我没了，变易生死没有了。 | The second is nirvāṇa with remainder. For arhats and pratyekabuddhas, the personal self is empty, but the dharma-self is not empty. They no longer return within the cycle of birth and death, yet a residue remains—the dharma-self is gone, and transformational birth and death are gone. |
| 第三种无余涅槃，人我空，法我空，全都真正空净了，一点尾巴都没有了，分段、变易二死皆了无余存了。 | The third is nirvāṇa without remainder. The personal self is empty, the dharma-self is empty, and everything is truly empty and pure; not the slightest residue remains. Both segmented and transformational birth and death are completely ended, with nothing remaining. |
| 第四种无所住处涅槃，真正的空不是住在那里不动，真正的了生死就在生死当中，可以牛胎马腹里走，地狱中跑，无处不可去，无一定住处。任在六道中来回，没有来回出没之见，就象安住在界外净土，未曾动过一样。“了知生死本来空”，到那时才知道，是生死者，本不可得。佛性本自长存，要死也死不了，哪里还有什么生死在！ | The fourth is nirvāṇa of no fixed abode. True emptiness does not mean abiding somewhere motionless. Truly transcending birth and death means remaining amid birth and death: one may pass through the wombs of oxen and horses or run through the hells—there is nowhere one cannot go and no fixed abode. One may come and go throughout the six realms, yet without a view of coming, going, appearing, or disappearing; it is as though one abided in a Pure Land beyond the realms and had never moved. “Understanding that birth and death are originally empty” means that only then does one know that what is called birth and death cannot be obtained. Buddha-nature endures of itself; even if one wishes to die, one cannot die. Where, then, could birth and death be found? |
| 行也空，坐也空，语默动静无不空， | Walking is empty, sitting is empty; speaking, silence, movement, and stillness are all empty. |
| 真正的空不是坐在那里不动、什么东西都没有叫空，而是尽管做事情但心无所住。假如做事情就忘记所以，跟着境界跑了，那就不是空。所以真正成道人行住坐卧一如，没有不空时，说与不说，动与不动都一样。 | True emptiness does not mean sitting motionless with nothing at all. Rather, it means doing things while the mind abides nowhere. If, when doing things, you forget the source and run after circumstances, that is not emptiness. Therefore, for one who has truly realized the Way, walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are all alike; there is never a time that is not empty. Speaking and not speaking, moving and not moving, are all the same. |
| 念佛法门中，大势至菩萨教导我们要“净念相继”，就是要做到这个地步。所以净土宗是个高深的大法，发挥起来与禅宗完全一样，不是浅浅可解的。我们修法时要时时注意，“语默动静无不空”，不要著相。 | In the Buddha-remembrance dharma gate, Mahāsthāmaprāpta Bodhisattva teaches us to maintain “uninterrupted pure mindfulness”; this is precisely what must be achieved. Therefore, the Pure Land school is a profound and lofty Dharma. When fully brought forth, it is exactly the same as the Chan school; it is not something that can be understood superficially. When we practice, we must always heed that “speaking, silence, movement, and stillness are all empty,” and not cling to appearances. |
| 要做到这一点，在悟前是难以做到的，但要知道这样锤炼，勉力去做，在行、住、坐、卧时不忘观照，不跟念走，不随境迁。如能做到，即容易开悟。开悟后，再历境练心，绵密保任，即能语、默、动、静打成一片矣。 | Before awakening, it is difficult to achieve this. Yet one must know to temper oneself in this way and strive to do it: in walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, do not forget contemplation; do not follow thoughts or be moved by circumstances. If one can do this, awakening comes easily. After awakening, one further tempers the mind through circumstances and safeguards realization continuously and seamlessly; then speaking, silence, movement, and stillness can become continuous and undivided. |
| 纵将白刃临头颅，犹如利剑斩春风。 | Even if a naked blade is held to one’s head, it is as though a sharp sword were cutting the spring breeze. |
| 功夫做到家，纵然有刀架在头上也不怕。为什么？因为我不死嘛，坏只坏身体，一个色壳子，法身是不坏的。二祖神光大师悟道之后，达摩祖师告诉他：“你还有一个命债要还，但为正法不受诽谤故，可以不还。 | When practice has reached home, one is not afraid even if a knife is held over one’s head. Why? Because I do not die. Only the body is ruined—a shell of form; the dharmakāya is indestructible. After the Second Patriarch, Master Shenguang, realized the Way, Patriarch Bodhidharma told him: “You still have a debt of life to repay. But lest the true Dharma suffer slander, you may refrain from repaying it.” |
| ”真成大道的人就是这样，要还就还，不还就不还。为什么？因为心空净了，一法不立，有什么债可还？就象收音机不开时，外面虽有电波，但它不会响。所以虽然有债，但心不动，犹如收音机未开，债主寻不到你，可以不还。 | A person who has truly realized the great Way is like this: if the debt must be repaid, it is repaid; if not, it need not be repaid. Why? Because the mind is empty and pure, not establishing a single dharma—what debt is there to repay? It is like a radio that has not been switched on: although radio waves are outside, it makes no sound. Thus, though there may be a debt, if the mind does not move, it is like an unopened radio. The creditor cannot find you, and the debt need not be repaid. |
| 但心不空就不行。所以南泉祖师说：“王老师修行不得力，被鬼神觑见。”这是南泉自责做功夫不得力，起心动念了，被鬼神看见了。 | But if the mind is not empty, this will not do. Therefore Patriarch Nanquan said, “Teacher Wang’s practice lacks strength; ghosts and spirits catch sight of him.” Nanquan was reproaching himself for weakness in his practice: thoughts had arisen and stirred, and ghosts and spirits had seen him. |
| 注意！不起心动念并不是指念头不起，而是说念起不著、无住叫无念，否则不起念头怎么做事？无念是不著相，不停留。念念不停留叫无念。停留在上面就是妄念。所以无念之念是正念。 | Take note! Not giving rise to thoughts does not mean that no thoughts arise. It means that when thoughts arise, one does not cling to them; non-abiding is called no-thought. Otherwise, how could one do anything without thoughts arising? No-thought means not clinging to appearances and not lingering. When each thought does not linger, that is no-thought. Lingering over something is deluded thought. Thus, thought within no-thought is right mindfulness. |
| 二祖心真空了，等把法传下去给三祖，就去还债了。大富翁还你一点小债，如九牛一毛，不在乎。被杀前他说：“将头临白刃，犹似斩春风。”我们修佛法就是要有这种大丈夫气概，才能满佛行愿。 | The Second Patriarch’s mind had truly become empty. After transmitting the Dharma to the Third Patriarch, he went to repay his debt. For a great wealthy man, repaying a small debt is like one hair from nine oxen; it is of no consequence. Before he was killed, he said: “When my head meets the naked blade, it is as though the spring breeze were being cut.” In cultivating Buddhadharma, we must possess such heroic spirit if we are to fulfill the Buddha’s vows and conduct. |
| 修佛法要胆大气壮，豪放慷慨，知道一切都是假的，放舍不粘，什么都不怕，本无生死。但胆大并不是王大胆，什么坏事都去干而不怕，那就糟了。 | In cultivating Buddhadharma, one must be bold and spirited, open and magnanimous, knowing that everything is illusory, letting go without clinging, and fearing nothing, for birth and death do not originally exist. But being bold does not mean being recklessly daring—doing every harmful thing without fear. That would be disastrous. |
| 顿觉了，妙心源，无明壳裂总一般， | Suddenly awakened to the wondrous source of mind, the shell of ignorance breaks open, and all is the same. |
| 刹那间觉悟了：我能说、你们能听的就是心源、佛性。毫不怀疑，见性就在当下！这是一等好汉！到别处去寻就不是了，寻也寻不到，一寻就动念了，一动念就被妄念遮掉，反而不见了。 | In an instant, one awakens: that by which I can speak and you can hear is the source of mind, Buddha-nature. Have no doubt whatever—seeing one’s true nature is right here in the present moment! This is a person of the highest caliber. If you seek it elsewhere, it is not so; nor can it be found by seeking. The moment you seek, a thought stirs; when a thought stirs, it is obscured by deluded thoughts, and instead you fail to see it. |
| 所以禅宗要棒喝交驰，“啪”地打你一下、喝你一声，让你一惊、一呆，喝断你的妄念妄想。那时一个念头不起，但不是如木、石一般无知觉，而是了了分明的，这了了分明的是谁？当下回光一瞥，即亲见真心本性。 | Therefore, in the Chan school, blows and shouts are used in rapid succession: with a crack, someone strikes you or shouts at you, causing you to startle and freeze, severing your deluded thoughts and imaginings. At that moment, not a single thought arises; yet this is not unconsciousness like wood or stone. Rather, there is clear, distinct awareness. Who is this clear, distinct awareness? In that very moment, turn the light inward for a glance, and you directly see the true mind and intrinsic nature. |
| 所以禅宗接人就是这么利索、这么快。但中、下根人就无法接受了。“无明壳裂总一般”，无明壳子就是我们的色壳子，空就是要空掉我们这个色壳子。 | This is why the Chan school receives people so directly and swiftly. But those of middling and lesser capacities cannot accept it. “The shell of ignorance breaks open, and all is the same”: the shell of ignorance is our shell of form. To empty it is to empty this shell of form. |
| 若非无明著相，父母同房时，你怎么会跑进去呢？怎么会有你呢？“壳裂”，不管修什么法，修行到这个色壳子豁地爆开，内而身心外而世界一齐消殒，寂灭真性法尔现前，就都是一样的了。还有，修法修到身心虽然化空，若还有空在，或有黑空洞，那是无始无明，须继续前进，将此无始无明打破，始能见性。 | If it were not for ignorance and clinging to appearances, when your parents had intercourse, how would you have entered there? How would there be a you? As for “the shell breaking open,” no matter what Dharma one practices, when cultivation reaches the point at which this shell of form suddenly bursts open, the body and mind within and the world without all vanish together, and the quiescent, extinguished true nature naturally appears before one; then all are the same. Furthermore, even if body and mind dissolve into emptiness through practice, if emptiness still remains, or there is a dark empty void, that is beginningless ignorance. One must continue onward and break through this beginningless ignorance before one can see one’s true nature. |
| 梦里明明有六趣，觉后空空无圣凡。 | In dreams, the six destinies are plainly present; upon awakening, there are neither sages nor ordinary beings. |
| 做梦时样样都有，但醒了之后一点痕迹也没有。我们现在也正在做梦：要修佛法、成圣，都是梦境。 | In dreams, everything is present, yet after awakening not the slightest trace remains. We too are now dreaming: cultivating Buddhadharma and becoming sages are all dream states. |
| 其实大家都是佛，没有圣凡！因现在迷于外境，着相追求，造业受报，从无生死中枉受生死轮回之苦，所以才有造善业生天、作恶业下地狱的六道假相。 | In truth, everyone is a Buddha; there are no sages or ordinary beings. Yet because we are now deluded by external circumstances, cling to appearances, pursue them, create karma, and undergo retribution, we vainly suffer the cycle of birth and death within what is originally birthless and deathless. Thus there are the illusory appearances of the six realms: rising to the heavens through wholesome karma and falling into the hells through evil karma. |
| 苟能当下一觉，不为假相所迷，犹如大梦醒来一样，哪有六道的影象？！所有山河大地、森罗万象都是一真法界。一切众生都具如来智性，四圣六凡都是分别妄心所造。不要以为只有睡着是做梦，醒来时著相也是做梦。现在我给大家说法，是梦中说梦话，有什么佛法可得？ | If one can awaken in the present moment and not be deluded by false appearances, it is just like awakening from a great dream. Where then are the images of the six realms? All mountains, rivers, the great earth, and the myriad phenomena are the One True Dharma Realm. All sentient beings possess the Tathāgata’s wisdom-nature; the four noble realms and six ordinary realms are all created by the discriminating deluded mind. Do not think that only sleeping is dreaming; clinging to appearances while awake is also dreaming. What I am now saying to you is dream-talk within a dream. What Buddhadharma is there to attain? |
| 烦恼本，即菩提，罪福没性何处觅， | The root of afflictions is bodhi; since sin and blessing have no nature, where can they be sought? |
| 能生烦恼的东西就是烦恼本。我们平常说“佛性”就是成佛的根本，“法性”就是成就一切事物的根本。这根本就是我们的觉性。没有这本性就不能起一切作用。烦恼就象水的波浪，无水不成波浪，有水遇风才起波浪。 | That which can give rise to afflictions is the root of afflictions. When we ordinarily speak of “Buddha-nature,” we mean the basis for becoming a Buddha; “dharma-nature” means the basis for bringing all things to accomplishment. This basis is our awareness-nature. Without this intrinsic nature, none of its functions could arise. Afflictions are like waves on water: without water, waves cannot form; only when water encounters wind do waves arise. |
| 今天我们会发火，就是我们的菩提本性在起妄用。所以菩提本性是烦恼的根本。经云“烦恼即菩提”，不是我们一天到晚烦恼就得了菩提的，而是指生起烦恼的根本就是佛性。 | When we become angry today, it is our bodhi intrinsic nature functioning delusively. Therefore, bodhi intrinsic nature is the root of afflictions. The sūtras say, “Afflictions are themselves bodhi.” This does not mean that by being afflicted all day long we attain bodhi; it means that the very basis from which afflictions arise is Buddha-nature. |
| 去掉波浪水也没有了，所以烦恼不要去除，只须息下来，就恢复菩提了。“罪福没性何处觅”，罪福没有自性，受罪享福都是我们妄心造成的。做善业，造福，受福报；做恶业，造罪，受罪报。 | If the waves are removed, the water is gone as well. Therefore, afflictions need not be eliminated; one need only let them subside, and bodhi is restored. “Since sin and blessing have no nature, where can they be sought?” Sin and blessing have no intrinsic nature. Undergoing punishment and enjoying blessings are both created by our deluded minds. Perform wholesome karma, create blessings, and receive blessed retribution; perform evil karma, create sins, and undergo painful retribution. |
| 自作自受，不是由谁主宰、指使的。所以罪福性空，唯由心造。老子云：“祸兮福之所倚，福兮祸之所伏。”祸福无门，唯人自招，这都是自然而然的因果律，不用寻觅，也无处寻觅。我们只于一切时一切处都无住著，只随缘任运地去做一切善事。但也不要有意去做好事，求福报，以免心不空而堕在福报上不能成大道。 | What one does, one undergoes; it is not ruled or directed by anyone else. Thus, the nature of sin and blessing is empty; they are created solely by the mind. Laozi said, “Misfortune is that upon which fortune depends; fortune is that within which misfortune lies concealed.” There is no gate through which misfortune or fortune enters; people bring them upon themselves. This is simply the natural law of cause and effect: there is no need to seek it, nor is there anywhere to seek it. At all times and in all places, we should abide nowhere and simply do every good deed in accordance with conditions. Yet we should not deliberately do good deeds in pursuit of blessings, lest the mind fail to become empty and we become attached to blessings, unable to attain the great Way. |
| 无绳自缚解脱后，大摇大摆大休息。 | Free of self-imposed bondage, one is liberated; striding freely, one enters great repose. |
| 我们做事，处处着相，求有所得，都是用绳子自己缚自己。假如你明白了一切名誉富贵、妻财子禄皆如空花水月之不可得，而一切放下，宛如大梦初醒一样，原来自己没有束缚，就当下解脱了。 | In all that we do, we cling to appearances and seek to gain something; this is using a rope to bind ourselves. If you understand that fame, wealth, spouses, possessions, children, and rank are all as unattainable as flowers in empty space and the moon reflected in water, and let go of everything, then, as if awakening from a great dream, you will realize that you were never bound and will be liberated at once. |
| 六祖大师说：“前念迷即凡夫，后念觉即佛。”我们一著相，就被相捆住了。本来是清净无染、什么都没有的，所有烦恼、业障都是自己著相造的，你不去著相造业，则罪也没有，福也没有。 | The Sixth Patriarch said: “When the preceding thought is deluded, one is an ordinary being; when the succeeding thought awakens, one is a Buddha.” Once we cling to appearances, we are bound by them. Originally, there is only purity, free of defilement, and nothing at all. All afflictions and karmic obstacles are created by our own clinging to appearances. If you do not cling to appearances and create karma, then there is neither sin nor blessing. |
| 明白这一切就潇洒自在、大摇大摆大休息了。真证道人是无处不可去的，牛胎马腹走走也不可怕，地狱去去也无所谓，这都是我们的自性变化嘛！有什么相可著？悟道实有深浅不同，象五百年野狐精的公案，就是破著相的例子。 | Once you understand all this, you can be carefree and at ease, striding freely in great repose. One who has truly realized the Way can go anywhere. There is nothing to fear in passing through the womb of an ox or the belly of a horse, nor does it matter to go to hell; all these are transformations of our own intrinsic nature. What appearance is there to which one can cling? Awakening to the Way has depths and shallows. The koan of the wild fox spirit of five hundred years is an example of breaking attachment to appearances. |
| 有人问他：“大修行人还落因果吗？”他答曰：“不落因果。”后来一想，佛说因果不空，我说不落因果不是错了吗？疑惑了，于是乎死后落了狐狸身。五百年修道，因它有善根，所以能化人身。百丈祖师说法时，他来听法。 | Someone asked him, “Does a great practitioner still fall under cause and effect?” He replied, “He does not fall under cause and effect.” Later, he reflected: “The Buddha said that cause and effect are never empty. Was I not wrong to say that one does not fall under cause and effect?” He became doubtful and, after his death, fell into the body of a fox. Having cultivated the Way for five hundred years, he was able to transform into human form because he possessed wholesome roots. Whenever Patriarch Baizhang taught the Dharma, he would come to hear it. |
| 说法之后大家都散了，百丈见他不走，就问他：“你还有什么问题吗？”他说：“我有个问题要请教，大修行人，还落因果吗？”百丈答：“不昧因果。”他听了之后就豁然省悟，解脱了。 | After the Dharma teaching, everyone dispersed. Seeing that he did not leave, Baizhang asked him, “Do you still have any questions?” He said, “I have a question to ask: Does a great practitioner still fall under cause and effect?” Baizhang answered, “He is not ignorant of cause and effect.” Upon hearing this, he suddenly awakened and was liberated. |
| 然后求师说：“明天山后大盘石上有一黑毛大狐狸，就是我，请你按亡僧之礼荼毗。”百丈答应了为他火化。其实不昧因果与不落因果相去几微，只心空无住，即来去自由，即落狐身，亦无所谓。还要按亡僧之礼来荼毗，还有异类的分别见，实未真解脱，因为狐狸就是佛啊！有什么两样？所以悟道有深浅不同。 | He then asked the master, saying: “Tomorrow, on a great flat rock behind the mountain, there will be a black-furred fox. That is me. Please cremate me according to the rites for a deceased monastic.” Baizhang agreed to cremate him. In fact, “not being ignorant of cause and effect” and “not falling under cause and effect” differ by only the slightest degree. If the mind is empty and abides nowhere, one is free to come and go; even falling into the body of a fox does not matter. Yet to request cremation according to the rites for a deceased monastic still reveals a discriminatory view between oneself and other kinds of beings. He had not truly attained liberation, for a fox is itself a Buddha! What difference is there? Thus, awakening to the Way has depths and shallows. |
| 莫攀缘，莫执著，随缘随份随饮啄， | Do not chase after conditions; do not cling. In accordance with conditions and your lot, simply eat and drink. |
| 上面讲证体，下面讲起用。我们众生坏就坏在攀缘执著，由甲攀乙，由乙攀丙，一天到晚攀缘不息，妄念颠倒，执著在事相上放不下来，以致由本来的大好佛体沦为众生。反过来，不攀缘，不执著，随缘启用就好了。 | Above, we discussed realizing the essence; below, we discuss giving rise to its function. Sentient beings go astray through chasing after conditions and clinging: from A they pursue B, and from B they pursue C. From morning to night, they pursue conditions without cease. Their deluded thoughts are inverted, and they cling to phenomena without being able to let go. Thus, they fall from their originally excellent Buddha-nature into the state of sentient beings. Conversely, if one does not chase after conditions or cling, but simply functions in accordance with conditions, that is enough. |
| “随缘随份随饮啄”，“随份”就是安分守己。各人地位不同，因为各人前世所造的因不同，所以今世感的果就不同。缘亦如此，有善缘、恶缘。所以不要向别人攀比，不要追逐。吃饭、穿衣、住房，一切丰俭随缘过。前世因造的好，这世供应就厚，前世因造的差，这世果也就薄。所以要随缘过。 | “In accordance with conditions and your lot, simply eat and drink.” “According to your lot” means being content with one’s proper station. Each person occupies a different position because the causes each created in former lives differ; consequently, the results experienced in this life also differ. Conditions are likewise so: there are favorable conditions and adverse conditions. Therefore, do not compare yourself with others or pursue after them. In eating, clothing, and housing, live according to conditions, whether circumstances are abundant or frugal. If the causes created in a former life were good, one’s provisions in this life will be ample; if the causes created in a former life were poor, the results in this life will likewise be meager. Therefore, live according to conditions. |
| 不变随缘行无碍，自在随心大安乐。 | Unchanging, accord with conditions and act without obstruction; freely follow the mind in great peace and joy. |
| “不变随缘”，就是尽管按照自己所感召的缘份去做，或是升官，或是下放，事业虽有变迁，而自性是始终不变的，也就是叫我们在修道中不要动摇。比如金子，可以打成各种首饰、用品，虽然形相变了，但体不变，还是金子。 | “Unchanging, accord with conditions” means acting in accordance with the conditions one has brought about, whether one is promoted or demoted. Though one’s career may change, intrinsic nature remains forever unchanged. This means that we should not waver while cultivating the Way. Gold, for example, may be fashioned into all kinds of jewelry and utensils. Although its forms change, its substance does not; it remains gold. |
| 我们尽管去随缘做，而体性是不变的。“行无碍”，即只要与大众有益的事都去做，与大众有害的事千万不要去做。一切事都能做，但须无住。 | Although we act in accordance with conditions, our essential nature remains unchanged. “Act without obstruction” means doing whatever benefits the community, but never doing what harms it. One may do all things, but one must abide nowhere. |
| 要做到能上能下而无动于衷，高人一品也没什么喜欢，降级了也无什么悲怨，只尽一己之力为大家做事，而无任何住着，就无碍了。“自在”，即无束缚，有束缚就不自在了。 | One must be able to rise or fall without being moved. There is no need for delight at being elevated in rank, nor sorrow or resentment at being demoted. Simply do one’s utmost for everyone, without any attachment; then there is no obstruction. “Freedom” means being unbound. Where there is bondage, there is no freedom. |
| 因为一切都是假的，无可追求，不患得患失，即自在了。“随心”即随心所欲，孔夫子“七十随心所欲而不逾矩”，孔夫子也修道。儒教、道教是我国本有的大教。孔夫子七十岁证得大道，随心所欲做事，都与大众有益。 | Since everything is false and there is nothing to pursue, if one does not fret over gain and loss, one is free. “Following the mind” means doing as one wishes. Confucius said, “At seventy, I could follow my heart’s desires without overstepping the bounds.” Confucius too cultivated the Way. Confucianism and Daoism are great traditions indigenous to our country. At seventy, Confucius realized the great Way: whatever he did according to his wishes benefited everyone. |
| 不逾矩，就是不越范围，超出范围就不对了，坏事不能做。因不逾矩之故，得大安乐。我们做善事心里都是很愉快的，做坏事都内疚，受良心责备。坏人做坏事，临死时良心发现，自责难过，所以“人之将死，其言也善；鸟之将亡，其鸣也哀”就是这个道理。我们做好事就心悦安乐，无愧于众了。 | Not overstepping the bounds means not exceeding proper limits. To exceed them is wrong; harmful deeds must not be done. Because one does not overstep the bounds, one attains great peace and joy. When we do good deeds, we feel happy; when we do bad deeds, we feel guilty and are reproached by our conscience. When bad people do bad deeds, their conscience awakens at the time of death, and they reproach themselves in distress. This is the meaning of the saying, “When a person is near death, their words are kind; when a bird is near death, its cry is mournful.” When we do good deeds, our hearts are joyful and at peace, and we have no shame before others. |
| 但得本，莫愁末，妙用纵横活泼泼， | Attain only the root; do not worry about the branches. Wondrous functioning moves freely and vividly in every direction. |
| 本是什么？就是我们的真心。一切事物无不从心生，修道成佛，也离不开这个心。所以修道从心地上修，方是成佛正因。反是，从色身、气脉、神通上修，是外围功勋位，无成佛之望。我们修法证到自己的本性，就为得本。 | What is the root? It is our true mind. All things arise from mind, and cultivating the Way to become a Buddha likewise cannot be separated from this mind. Therefore, only cultivation from the mind-ground is the true cause for becoming a Buddha. Conversely, cultivating from the physical body, channels and energies, or spiritual powers is merely peripheral accomplishment and offers no prospect of Buddhahood. When we practice and directly realize our own intrinsic nature, we have attained the root. |
| 相反，未证到本性，执着发神通，就要着魔。因为未得根本，也发不了神通，假使发了神通，那是外来的，不是真的。著在神通上，心不空净，生死不了，还要着魔。神通是从心生起的妙用，那是枝末。 | Conversely, if one has not realized intrinsic nature but clings to manifesting spiritual powers, one will fall prey to demons. Since one has not attained the root, one cannot manifest spiritual powers. Even if such powers do arise, they are external and not genuine. If one clings to spiritual powers, the mind is neither empty nor pure; one cannot transcend birth and death and will still fall prey to demons. Spiritual powers are wondrous functions arising from mind; they are merely branches and leaves. |
| 我们的本性本来是有神通的。现在不能开发，是因为我们有执著、烦恼，颠倒妄想，盖覆了本性光明之故。如把妄想、颠倒、执著去掉，自然就发挥了。所以要安心修法，把五欲烦恼去尽，先得道通——漏尽通。 | Our intrinsic nature inherently possesses spiritual powers. We cannot now bring them forth because attachment, afflictions, and inverted deluded thoughts obscure the luminosity of intrinsic nature. If deluded thoughts, inversion, and attachment are removed, these powers will naturally manifest. Therefore, settle your mind and practice the Dharma, eradicate the afflictions of the five desires, and first attain the power of the Way—the power of exhaustion of defilements. |
| 然后再发五神通，那才是真神通。外道也有天眼、天耳、神足、他心、宿命五种神通。但他没有得漏尽通，所以外道生死不了，不能成佛。执着神用而不知自性是什么，皆是外道。所以要发神通，须先得根本智——漏尽通，才是正道。得了漏尽通，不愁五神通不发现。 | Only afterward should the five spiritual powers manifest; then they are genuine spiritual powers. Non-Buddhists also possess the five kinds of spiritual powers: divine eye, divine ear, spiritual travel, knowledge of others’ minds, and knowledge of former lives. But they have not attained the power of exhaustion of defilements. Therefore, non-Buddhists cannot transcend birth and death or become Buddhas. All who cling to spiritual functions without knowing what intrinsic nature is are non-Buddhists. Thus, to manifest spiritual powers, one must first attain fundamental wisdom—the power of exhaustion of defilements. Only then is one on the right path. Once this power has been attained, there is no need to worry that the five spiritual powers will fail to manifest. |
| “妙用纵横活泼泼”，悟道之后，妙用无边，丝毫无著，顺逆无拘，纵横自在。所以愚公说：“一期从古棹，三界任横眠。“真正证到本性后，欲界、色界、无色界随你怎样跑，可以横下身子睡大觉。 | “Wondrous functioning moves freely and vividly in every direction.” After awakening to the Way, wondrous functions are boundless. With not the slightest attachment, one is unrestricted in favorable and adverse circumstances, free in every direction. Thus Yu Gong said: “For a lifetime, I have rowed an ancient boat; throughout the three realms, I may sleep as I please.” Once one has truly realized intrinsic nature, one may roam as one wishes through the desire realm, form realm, and formless realm, and lie down to sleep soundly. |
| 悟道是活泼泼的，不是死在那儿不动的。昨天在灵岩寺，有人问：“无念是不是由两分钟、而五分钟、十分钟，最后加长到二十四个钟头都不动？”不是！悟道应该是活泼泼的，应缘接物，无所住着。无念者，不是一个念头不起，而是念起不随，事来不住。一点不动，那就成了死尸，还有什么用？！ | Awakening to the Way is lively and dynamic; it is not remaining motionless like something dead. Yesterday at Lingyan Temple, someone asked, “Does no-thought mean remaining unmoving for two minutes, then five minutes, ten minutes, and finally extending this until one does not move for twenty-four hours?” No! Awakening to the Way should be lively and dynamic, responding to conditions and engaging with things while abiding nowhere. No-thought does not mean that not a single thought arises; it means not following thoughts when they arise and not abiding in things when they come. To remain completely motionless would make one a corpse—what use would that be?” |
| 弹指敲开不二门，升堂直入如来屋。 | With a snap of the fingers, the gate of nonduality opens; ascend the hall and enter directly into the Tathāgata’s house. |
| 悟道在刹那间，就在一念断处，回光一瞥，识得它即大事了毕。快得犹如击石火，闪电光。假如用心求见就不是了。这个妙体是想不到、求不到的。求本身就是妄念，就把自性遮盖掉了。 | Awakening to the Way occurs in an instant, at the point where a thought ceases. With a single inward glance, recognize it, and the great matter is finished. It is as swift as the spark struck from a stone or a flash of lightning. If one deliberately seeks to see it, that is not it. This wondrous essence cannot be conceived or sought. Seeking itself is a deluded thought, and it obscures intrinsic nature. |
| 功夫用到得当处，忽然根尘脱落，亲见本性，只在弹指之间。见到本性，一切疑虑皆冰消瓦解。原来朝思暮想的它就在眼前！“升堂直入如来屋”，这一刹那时间，彻见本性，就登堂入室了，就成佛了。 | When practice reaches the proper point, the sense faculties and their objects suddenly fall away, and one directly sees intrinsic nature—all within the time it takes to snap one’s fingers. Once intrinsic nature is seen, every doubt melts away and disintegrates. What one had thought of day and night is right before one’s eyes! “Ascend the hall and enter directly into the Tathāgata’s house”: in that instant, one thoroughly sees intrinsic nature, enters the inner chamber, and becomes a Buddha. |
| 不过这只是因地佛，不是果地佛，还要好好用功。因为根本智已得，后得智还未得，还要精勤磨练，消除习气，广度众生，积累福德，方能证成智慧、福德双圆的果地佛。 | Yet this is only Buddhahood at the causal stage, not Buddhahood at the fruition stage, so one must still practice diligently. Fundamental wisdom has been attained, but differentiated wisdom has not yet been attained. One must continue to train diligently, eliminate habitual tendencies, liberate sentient beings widely, and accumulate merit and virtue before realizing fruition-stage Buddhahood, in which wisdom and merit are both perfected. |
| 宗亦通，说亦通，团团杲日丽晴空， | The Chan tradition is understood, and the teachings are understood; like a round, radiant sun shining in a clear sky. |
| 宗者，中心也，见到本性叫宗。说者，教也，佛说的经叫教。通宗通教，就是通通都理解亲证，圆融无碍了。宗师云：“通宗不通教，犹如半边窍；通教不通宗，犹如半肢风。”所以学佛要宗教都通。 | Zong means the center: seeing intrinsic nature is called zong. Teaching means instruction: the sūtras spoken by the Buddha are called teachings. To understand both the Chan tradition and the teachings means to comprehend and directly realize them all, in perfect harmony and without obstruction. A Chan master said: “To understand the Chan tradition but not the teachings is like being half-blind; to understand the teachings but not the Chan tradition is like being half-paralyzed.” Therefore, Buddhist practitioners must understand both the Chan tradition and the teachings. |
| “团团杲日丽晴空”，就是说我们悟到根本时，就象圆圆的大太阳一样，光芒万丈，朗照一切处，无所不在。这不是说悟道时见到个大太阳，而是比方悟道后无所不知，无所不晓，妙用无边。 | “Like a round, radiant sun shining in a clear sky” means that when we awaken to the root, we are like a perfectly round great sun, sending forth radiant light that illumines everywhere and is present in every place. This does not mean that one sees a great sun when awakening to the Way; it is a metaphor for the boundless wondrous functioning of one who, after awakening, knows and understands all things. |
| 我们真正悟道时，除灵觉外什么也没有。但是经过锻炼，习气除了，就能光芒万丈，朗照大千世界，与十方诸佛彼此交参无碍，亲证华严境界了。但是这不能著相求。 | When we truly awaken to the Way, there is nothing but numinous awareness. Yet after training, when habitual tendencies have been removed, one can shine with radiant light, illuminating the great thousandfold world, mutually interpenetrating without obstruction with all Buddhas in the ten directions, and directly realizing the Avataṃsaka realm. But this must not be sought through attachment to appearances. |
| 百千三昧无量义，只在寻常日用中。 | The hundred thousand samādhis and immeasurable meanings are found only in ordinary daily life. |
| 三昧有各式各样，一行三昧、一相三昧、念佛三昧、般舟三昧……三昧的名字很多，妙义无穷。这无量妙义在何处？就在我们平平常常的日用当中。因为一切无量妙用都从我们的真心生起，离开真心，一切皆不可得。 | There are many kinds of samādhi: the samādhi of one practice, the samādhi of one mark, Buddha-remembrance samādhi, the Pratyutpanna samādhi, and so on. Samādhi has many names, and its wondrous meanings are inexhaustible. Where are these immeasurable wondrous meanings? They are right within our ordinary daily activities. For all immeasurable wondrous functions arise from our true mind; apart from the true mind, nothing can be obtained. |
| 所以说一切妙义即在日常动用中。 | Thus, all wondrous meanings are found in the activities of daily life. |
| 此时，有人问：“如何是佛性？”师喝一口水道：“会么？”举杯子的是谁？喝水的又是谁啊！从这里会去，多少庆快！寻常事，时时刻刻告诉你佛性的妙义，所谓“风声鸟语都是法性之宣流”，“举手投足无非法身之显露”！有情、无情时时都在说法，处处显示妙义。 | At this point, someone asked, “What is buddha-nature?” The master took a sip of water and said, “Do you understand?” Who is raising the cup? And who is drinking the water? Realize it from here—what great joy! Ordinary matters reveal the wondrous meaning of buddha-nature to you at every moment. As it is said, “The sound of wind and the songs of birds all proclaim dharmatā,” and “Every gesture and movement reveals the dharmakāya.” Sentient and insentient things are always expounding the Dharma and everywhere displaying wondrous meaning. |
| 所以在寻常日用当中，只要活泼泼地起用无住就是最高深的妙义，不要再去另寻玄妙。明白了这一点，我们现在能看、能说、能听的这个能，就是我们的佛性，它时时刻刻都在我们面门放光，还寻个什么哩！ | Therefore, amid ordinary daily activities, simply functioning vividly and freely without abiding is the most profound wondrous meaning. Do not seek some other mystery. Once you understand this, the very capacity by which we now see, speak, and hear is our buddha-nature. It shines from before our faces at every moment—what more is there to seek? |
| 觉心体，生佛同，有情无情共鼻孔， | Awaken to the substance of mind: beings and Buddhas are the same; sentient and insentient share the same nostrils. |
| “觉心体”，能起知觉的这个体就是我们的根本、我们的佛性。“生佛同”，众生和佛是一样的，没有区别。不是佛比我们多一分光明、神通，或是我们比佛少一分光明、神通。 | “Awaken to the substance of mind”: this substance capable of awareness is our root and our buddha-nature. “Beings and Buddhas are the same”: sentient beings and Buddhas are alike, without distinction. It is not that Buddhas have one measure more of luminosity or spiritual powers than we do, or that we have one measure less than Buddhas. |
| 但为什么现在我们与佛不同呢？因我们心体的光明被妄想执著遮住了，所以发不了大神用。把妄想执著拿掉，就一样了。 | But why are we now different from Buddhas? Because the luminosity of our mind-substance is obscured by deluded thoughts and attachments, we cannot bring forth great spiritual functioning. Remove deluded thoughts and attachments, and we are no different. |
| “有情无情共鼻孔'又如何解释呢？我们人都是有情感、有知觉的，而无情，比如这张桌子，则是无知觉的，怎么共鼻孔呢？因为世间诸相皆唯心所现，唯识所变，没有一样不是我们自己。 | How, then, are we to explain, “Sentient and insentient share the same nostrils”? We humans have feelings and awareness, whereas insentient things, such as this table, have no awareness. How can they share the same nostrils? It is because all worldly appearances are manifested by mind alone and transformed by consciousness alone; not a single thing is other than ourselves. |
| 不要以为我们有知觉、能动，而无情的物不能动，因而有所不同。其实我们一口气不来时，八识离身，这身体就象这块桌板一样，也不能动弹了。现在我们被无明包裹，执身是我，所以只有这个身体在起作用。 | Do not suppose that we differ because we have awareness and can move while insentient objects cannot. In fact, when our breath no longer comes and the eight consciousnesses leave the body, this body, like this tabletop, can no longer move. At present, we are enveloped by ignorance and cling to the body as self, so only this body is functioning. |
| 假如我们证道了，无明去尽，放开来，恢复原有的妙用，则一切处都是我们地水火风四大种性的变化显现，就不再有有情无情之见了。所以无情有情共鼻孔，都一样。 | If we realize the Way, eradicate ignorance, open up, and restore our original wondrous functioning, then everywhere is the manifestation of transformations of the four great elements—earth, water, fire, and wind. We will no longer hold the view of sentient and insentient. Thus, insentient and sentient share the same nostrils; they are all the same. |
| 无缚无脱无遮障，迷时自碍悟自通。 | There is no bondage, no liberation, and no obstruction. When deluded, one obstructs oneself; when awakened, one is naturally open and free. |
| 本来生佛都一样，潇洒自在，无缚无脱。但众生因迷于外相，执着不舍，为物所困，犹如春蚕作茧自缚，所以不得自由。我们本来可以不要这个身体，但父母同房时因爱心蠢动自己钻进去了，所以被这色壳缚牢不得自由了。 | Originally, sentient beings and Buddhas are alike—free and at ease, without bondage or liberation. Yet sentient beings become deluded by external appearances, cling to them without letting go, and are trapped by things. Like silkworms spinning cocoons to bind themselves, they cannot attain freedom. Originally, we need not have this body, but when our parents had intercourse, the stirring of desire caused us to enter it ourselves. Thus, we became firmly bound by this shell of form and lost our freedom. |
| 出生后，更着相，目迷五色，随缘造业，以致缚上加缚，生死不了。苟能当下省悟，一切色相皆我真心佛性所显现的影象，不可得，不可求，而彻底一放，则立地梦醒。 | After birth, we become still more attached to appearances. Dazzled by the five colors, we create karma in accordance with conditions, adding bondage upon bondage and remaining unable to end birth and death. If we can awaken at once and recognize that all forms are images manifested by our true mind and buddha-nature—unobtainable and not to be sought—then, by letting go completely, we awaken from the dream on the spot. |
| 一切众生原本清净无染，无缚无拘，何用解脱？！“无缚无脱无遮障，迷时自碍悟自通”，知道佛性是遍一切处，无所不在的，那就悟道了。迷时著相，自己妨碍自己，醒悟明白之后，通达一切皆真心幻影，不可得，就不再著相，从而现起神用，发起神通，证成大道了。 | All sentient beings are originally pure and undefiled, without bondage or confinement; what need is there for liberation? “There is no bondage, no liberation, and no obstruction. When deluded, one obstructs oneself; when awakened, one is naturally open and free.” To know that buddha-nature pervades all places and is nowhere absent is to realize the Way. When deluded, we cling to appearances and obstruct ourselves. Once awakened and clear, we understand that all things are illusory images of the true mind, unobtainable. We no longer cling to appearances; spiritual functioning then appears, spiritual powers arise, and the great Way is realized. |
| 无形相，极灵妙，非亲证知那能晓， | It has no form or appearance, is supremely numinous and wondrous; how could one understand it without direct realization? |
| “无形相”是描写我们的本性、我们的法身，什么形相也没有。大家千万不要着在相上求见性，它是清净无染、无声无色的灵知，是无相可见的。“极灵妙”，但能感知一切事，显现一切相，起万千变化。 | “It has no form or appearance” describes our intrinsic nature, our dharmakāya: it has no form whatsoever. Never seek to see one’s nature through appearances. It is pure, undefiled, soundless and colorless numinous awareness, with no form to be seen. “Supremely numinous and wondrous”: it can apprehend all things, manifest all appearances, and bring forth countless transformations. |
| 六祖悟道后云：何期自性本来具足！何期自性能生万法！有人说见性时看见一个大太阳、一轮新月亮、或一个佛，那不是见性！《金刚经》云：“凡所有相，皆是虚妄。”有相的东西都是假的。性是真体，无相可见。 | After the Sixth Patriarch realized the Way, he said: “How unexpected that intrinsic nature is originally complete! How unexpected that intrinsic nature can give rise to all phenomena!” Some say that, when seeing their nature, they saw a great sun, a new moon, or a Buddha. That is not seeing one’s nature. The Diamond Sūtra says: “All appearances whatsoever are empty and false.” Anything with an appearance is unreal. Nature is the true substance, with no form to be seen. |
| 故经云“实相无相”。《楞严经》又云：“见见之时，见非是见，见犹离见，见不能及。”故有能见所见俱不是。“非亲证知那能晓”，见性的景象是描写不出的，因它无物可比，无话可说，无思想能到。 | Therefore, the sūtra says, “True reality is without characteristics.” The Śūraṅgama Sūtra further says: “When seeing sees seeing, that seeing is not true seeing; seeing still stands apart from seeing, and seeing cannot reach it.” Therefore, both the one who sees and what is seen are not it. “How could one understand it without direct realization?” The state of seeing one’s nature cannot be described, for nothing compares with it, nothing can be said of it, and no thought can reach it. |
| 自己不到那个境界，再说什么也是模糊。所以宗下说：“向上一着，千圣不传。”其实一念断处就是那个东西，它没有景象，更没有什么神奇玄妙，它就是极平常的心啊！ | Unless one reaches that state oneself, anything one says remains vague. Thus the Chan school says, “At the step beyond, even a thousand sages do not transmit it.” In truth, the point where thought ceases is that very thing. It has no appearance, much less anything miraculous or mysterious. It is simply the most ordinary mind! |
| 镜里看影虽不难，水底捉月怎办到！ | It is not difficult to see reflections in a mirror, but how can one grasp the moon from the bottom of the water? |
| 世界上一切景象都是镜子里的影子。因为世相皆是真心变化显现的。上面说了，离开真心，一物也无。真心是成就一切事物的根本，犹如镜子；事物好比镜影。影子虽看得见，但若去取，就如水中捞月，捞不着。 | All appearances in the world are reflections in a mirror, for worldly appearances are transformations and manifestations of the true mind. As stated above, apart from the true mind, not a single thing exists. The true mind is the basis for the formation of all things, like a mirror; things are like reflections in the mirror. Although reflections can be seen, if one tries to grasp them, it is like scooping up the moon from water—one cannot seize it. |
| 狮子吼，无畏说，百兽闻之皆咋舌， | The lion roars and speaks fearlessly; hearing it, all the beasts are left tongue-tied. |
| 佛说法就象狮子吼。狮子是百兽之王，它一吼，百兽都要垂首称臣。“无畏说”者，即佛是真语者，如语者，实语者，不诳语者，不怕有人来辩驳，辩驳不倒的。 | The Buddha’s teaching is like a lion’s roar. The lion is king of the beasts; when it roars, all the beasts lower their heads and submit. “Speaking fearlessly” means that the Buddha speaks truth, speaks in accordance with reality, speaks what is actual, and does not speak deceptively. He does not fear anyone’s rebuttal, for no one can refute him. |
| 因为佛说的是圆融无碍的真正妙理，不是那些有所住着的浅近小法，而是放之四海而皆准的真理大法。因之任何人听了只有赞叹而不能妄置一词。所以外道听了佛说法之后，都不敢来辩论。纵然有些胆大妄为的外道来与佛辩论，最终也都失败而归。因为他们都是著相的，不是彻底大法。最后还是皈依了佛，垂首称弟子。 | This is because the Buddha teaches the true wondrous principle, perfectly integrated and unobstructed. It is not some shallow, limited teaching involving attachment and abiding, but the great Dharma of truth, valid everywhere. Thus, whoever hears it can only praise it and cannot arbitrarily offer a word of objection. Therefore, after non-Buddhists heard the Buddha teach, they did not dare debate him. Even if some bold and reckless non-Buddhists came to debate the Buddha, they ultimately departed in defeat. Because they all clung to appearances, their teachings were not the complete great Dharma. In the end, they still took refuge in the Buddha and bowed their heads to become his disciples. |
| 香象奔波失却威，天龙寂听生欣悦。 | When the fragrant elephant runs about, it loses its majesty; devas and dragons listen silently and are filled with joy. |
| 众象之王叫香象。香象渡河不用奔波，而是站在水里就能截断众流。如果它为了逃避水流而奔波，那就失去威望了。这句话就表示我们的佛性是真理，是巍然不动的。 | The king of elephants is called the fragrant elephant. When crossing a river, the fragrant elephant need not struggle through the current; standing in the water, it can cut off all streams. If it ran about to evade the current, it would lose its majesty. This means that our buddha-nature is truth, towering and unmoving. |
| 波者，是说千变万化的妄想颠倒，我们学佛法就要截断千变万化的妄想颠倒，就象香象渡河一样，不奔波——不怕妄念起，而截断激流。“天龙寂听生欣悦”，天龙八部听到佛说法都欢喜无量，无不赞叹奉行，都来皈依佛，成为护法神。 | “Waves” refers to the endlessly changing deluded thoughts and inverted views. In studying the Buddhadharma, we must cut off these endlessly changing deluded thoughts and inverted views. Like the fragrant elephant crossing a river, we do not run about—that is, we do not fear the arising of deluded thoughts, but cut off the rushing current. “Devas and dragons listen silently and are filled with joy”: when the devas, dragons, and the eight classes of beings hear the Buddha teach, they rejoice immeasurably. All praise and uphold the teaching, take refuge in the Buddha, and become Dharma protectors. |
| 另有人将香象比作罗汉，平时很自恃自己的心得，及听到最上一乘法，则当下落败，失却威望。天龙比作登地的菩萨，以最上乘法印自己内证的境界，无比欣悦亲切。说得也很好。 | Others compare the fragrant elephant to an arhat, who ordinarily prides himself greatly on his own realization but, upon hearing the supreme One Vehicle Dharma, is immediately defeated and loses his majesty. They compare devas and dragons to bodhisattvas who have reached the bhūmis, who use the supreme Vehicle Dharma to confirm the state of their own inner realization and feel incomparable joy and intimacy. This explanation is also very good. |
| 但我以为要比还是将香象和天龙比作禅宗的大德，比较适合目下修道人的情况。一来禅宗素以龙象比作大善知识，二来现在邪法盛行，很多人弃正就邪，不妨说修正法的禅人不胜邪法的诱惑，因是奔波（就邪）而失去威；真正的大德——天龙则闻正法而欣悦，不为邪法所动。 | But I think it is more fitting, especially for practitioners today, to compare both the fragrant elephant and devas and dragons to great Chan masters. First, the Chan school has always used dragons and elephants as metaphors for great spiritual teachers. Second, deviant teachings are now prevalent, and many people abandon the true to follow the false. We may say that Chan practitioners who cultivate the true Dharma cannot withstand the allure of deviant teachings, and through their running about—that is, following the deviant—they lose their majesty. True great teachers—the devas and dragons—rejoice on hearing the true Dharma and are not swayed by deviant teachings. |
| 狮子儿，众随后，三岁即能大哮吼， | Lion cubs are followed by the multitude; at three years old, they can already roar mightily. |
| 大狮子的儿子是小狮子，虽然年纪轻，百兽也只能跟在后面，不敢超到它前面去。初悟道的人，尚未证到果地佛，就如同狮子儿，修外道的人，也不能越过初悟道的人。 | The offspring of a great lion is a lion cub. Though young, it can only be followed by the other beasts, who do not dare pass in front of it. A person who has initially realized the Way has not yet realized Buddhahood at the fruition stage, and is like a lion cub. Those who cultivate non-Buddhist paths likewise cannot surpass one who has initially realized the Way. |
| 因为初悟道的人证到根本了，而那些外道没证到根本，所以不行。“三岁即能大哮吼”，狮子儿虽然年纪轻，但已有狮子的根本性能，能象狮子王一样大哮吼，慑服群兽。初悟道的人也一样，因为他所悟到的理与果地佛所证到的理没有两样，他说法就等于代表佛说法，不怕外道来骚扰辩论。 | This is because one who has initially realized the Way has realized the root, whereas those on non-Buddhist paths have not; therefore, they cannot compare. “At three years old, they can already roar mightily”: though a lion cub is young, it already possesses the lion’s fundamental nature and can roar like the lion king, subduing the beasts. So too with one who has initially realized the Way. Because the principle he realizes is no different from that realized by a Buddha at the fruition stage, his teaching represents the Buddha’s teaching. He need not fear harassment or debate from non-Buddhists. |
| 若是野犴逐法王，百千妖怪虚开口。 | If a jackal pursues the Dharma King, a hundred thousand demons merely open their mouths in vain. |
| 狮子象征法王。野犴长得象狮子，似乎可以冒充狮子，但开口叫起来，没有狮子威猛，就露了馅，不能慑服群兽了。现在很多什么功、什么道，都说自己是佛法，其实都是外道冒充佛法，都是“妖怪”，说出的法都是以神通诱惑人，引人入歧途的邪法，不是正法，没有用处。 | The lion symbolizes the Dharma King. A jackal resembles a lion and may seem able to impersonate one, but when it opens its mouth to cry out, it lacks the lion’s majesty and reveals itself. It cannot subdue the beasts. Nowadays, many so-called qigong practices and ways claim to be Buddhadharma, but they are actually non-Buddhist paths impersonating Buddhadharma. They are all “demons.” Their teachings use spiritual powers to entice people and lead them astray; they are deviant teachings, not true Dharma, and are of no use. |
| 谁无念，谁无生，莫将镜影认作真， | Who is without thoughts? Who is without birth? Do not mistake a mirror’s reflection for the real thing. |
| 凡夫当然是有念头、有生死的，那我们悟道之后呢？是不是一个念头不生呢？这句话大家都以为，悟道之后当然是没有念头了，念头不生了。 | Ordinary beings certainly have thoughts and undergo birth and death. But after we realize the Way, what then? Does not a single thought arise? Everyone takes this line to mean that, after realizing the Way, of course there are no thoughts and no thoughts arise. |
| 那就错了！无念不是一个念头不生，而是生如不生叫无念，生而无住，不停留，是为不生。惠能大师不是说“不断百思想”，“对境心数起”嘛。“不断百思想”还是有思想啊，“对境心数起”还是要起念头啊。 | Then that is mistaken! No-thought does not mean that not a single thought arises. When thoughts arise as though they had not arisen, that is called no-thought; thoughts arise without abiding or lingering—this is non-arising. Did Master Huineng not say, “Do not cut off the hundred thoughts,” and “When encountering objects, the mind’s thoughts arise repeatedly”? “Do not cut off the hundred thoughts” still means there are thoughts; “when encountering objects, the mind’s thoughts arise repeatedly” still means thoughts must arise. |
| 所以我们要认识正路，不要认错路，以为是没有念头，死在那里不动。“谁无念，谁无生”，念头一起知道了，不跟它走、不停留，就是无念；无生，生生不已无所住叫无生，不是断绝种姓叫无生。 | Therefore, we must recognize the right path and not mistake the wrong path for it, thinking that one should have no thoughts and remain there motionless like a corpse. “Whoever has no-thought has non-arising”: when a thought arises, know it; do not follow it or linger on it—this is no-thought. Non-arising means that arising continues without end, yet there is no abiding; it does not mean cutting off one’s lineage and calling that non-arising. |
| 从前庞居士说：“有男不婚，有女不嫁，合家团圞圆，共说无生话。”他一家四口，有老婆，一儿一女，儿子不结婚，女儿不出嫁，他们一家四口都证道了，很希有的。 | Long ago, Layman Pang said: “A son who does not marry, a daughter who does not wed; the whole family sits together in perfect harmony, all speaking of non-arising.” His family had four members: himself, his wife, one son, and one daughter. The son did not marry, and the daughter did not wed. All four realized the Way—something exceedingly rare. |
| 后来有个大和尚和了一个偈子：“无男可婚，无女可嫁，大众团圞圆，说甚无生话？”和尚无妻子儿女，所以无男可婚，无女可嫁，但是有大众，庙中不只一个和尚，大家在一起和合修法，无话可说，又说什么无生话啊！说得都很好。 | Later, a great monk composed a responding verse: “No son to marry, no daughter to wed; the assembly sits together in perfect harmony—why speak of non-arising?” A monk has neither wife nor children, so he has no son to marry and no daughter to wed. Yet he has an assembly; there is more than one monk in a monastery. Everyone practices the Dharma harmoniously together. With nothing to say, why speak of non-arising? Both verses are very well put. |
| 一个说无生话，一个说甚无生话？各施妙手，妙到毫巅。但是无生者，不是不生为无生，不妨生生为无生。我们也可以另作一偈：“有男亦婚，有女亦嫁，子子复孙孙，是说无生话。 | One speaks of non-arising; the other asks, “Why speak of non-arising?” Each displays a marvelous skill, marvelous to the finest point. Yet non-arising does not mean that not arising is non-arising; there is no harm in continual arising being non-arising. We may also compose another verse: “A son may marry, a daughter may wed; generation after generation of children and grandchildren—this is speaking of non-arising.” |
| ”有儿子也可以结婚，有女儿也可以出嫁，儿子、女儿结婚了，儿子生孙子，孙子又生重孙子，子子孙孙，生生不已，而无动于衷，这就是无生！这是真心的无边妙用，不是死在那儿不动为无生。 | A son may marry, and a daughter may wed. When sons and daughters marry, sons have grandsons, and grandsons have great-grandsons: children and grandchildren, arising without end, yet one remains inwardly unmoved. This is non-arising! It is the boundless wondrous functioning of the true mind. Non-arising does not mean dying there without moving. |
| 生生不已是无生！这才显示佛法圆融无得。不要只看半边，以为无生是大家都不能动，都不要结婚，结婚就犯错误了。不相干！可以结婚，但不要著着在男女色欲上。著着在男女之色上，那就错误了，生死无穷了。 | Arising without end is non-arising! Only this reveals the perfect interpenetration of Buddhadharma, in which nothing is to be gained. Do not look at only one side and suppose that non-arising means that no one may move and no one may marry, and that marriage is therefore a mistake. It has nothing to do with that. One may marry, but one must not become attached to sexual desire between men and women. If one becomes attached to sexual desire, one is mistaken, and birth and death become endless. |
| 结婚后，养一个儿子，不再住着在色欲上，就没事了。这是起妙用啊。并不是以死在那儿不动为无生。“莫将镜影认作真”，这生生不已，子子孙孙都是镜中影子，不要当作真的，著在相上，那就错误了。 | After marrying and raising a son, if one no longer abides in sexual desire, there is no problem. This is wondrous functioning. Non-arising does not mean dying there without moving. “Do not mistake the reflection in the mirror for what is real.” This ceaseless arising, these children and grandchildren, are all reflections in a mirror. Do not take them as real. If you become attached to appearances, that is a mistake. |
| 这件事真能做到也不容易，又要生，又要无生，不是悟后起大功用，休想做到。有的人硬压着无生还好，一近女色不得了了，著在上面了，那就生死不了了。这就要特别注意。 | It is truly not easy to accomplish this: one must both give rise to life and remain in non-arising. Unless one gives rise to great functioning after awakening, one cannot hope to do so. Some people may be all right while forcibly suppressing thoughts in pursuit of non-arising, but once they come near sexual attraction, it becomes disastrous: they become attached to it, and then cannot be free of birth and death. This requires special attention. |
| 若以断灭为究竟，何异外道邪见人。 | If one takes annihilation as ultimate, how is one different from adherents of heterodox and misguided views? |
| 佛教是非空非有，亦空亦有，即空即有。不是断灭空，一样东西都没有。断灭空是邪见。我们要明白，空不是空无所有的空，而是不可得、取不到的空，也是随缘显相起用不住着的空。假如弄错了，认为一切都没有，这是断灭见，就大错了。持这见解的人是外道，认为生时是有，死时就没有了，那是外道邪见。 | Buddhism is neither empty nor existent, both empty and existent, and empty precisely as existent. It is not annihilationist emptiness, in which not a single thing exists. Annihilationist emptiness is a misguided view. We must understand that emptiness is not the emptiness of having nothing whatsoever; it is the emptiness of being unobtainable and beyond grasping. It is also the emptiness that manifests appearances and functions in accordance with conditions without abiding in them. If one misunderstands and believes that everything is nonexistent, that is an annihilationist view and a grave error. Those who hold this view follow a non-Buddhist path: they believe that one exists while alive but ceases to exist at death. That is a heterodox and misguided view. |
| 大丈夫，秉慧剑，般若锋兮金刚焰， | A great person wields the sword of wisdom—the edge of prajñā, the flame of vajra. |
| 我们学佛法，要有大丈夫气概，慷慨豪放，才能与佛相应。不是小家子气，这也舍不得放，那也舍不得丢，抓得很紧，佛法就难修了。 | In studying Buddhadharma, we must possess the bearing of a great person—generous and unrestrained—before we can accord with the Buddha. We must not be petty, unwilling to let go of this or cast aside that, clutching everything tightly. In that way, Buddhadharma is difficult to practice. |
| 一切事物都是假的，为什么不放呢？“秉慧剑”者，开大智慧，识得一切皆假，以之斩断一切烦恼。所有烦恼都是自己寻来的，著相来的。本来没有，硬去着相追求，结果白费精力一场空。 | All things are illusory, so why not let them go? To “wield the sword of wisdom” is to develop great wisdom, recognize that everything is illusory, and use this wisdom to cut through all afflictions. All afflictions are sought out by oneself; they arise from attachment to appearances. Originally there was nothing, yet one stubbornly clings to appearances and pursues them, exhausting one’s energy to no avail. |
| 我们学佛法就是开智慧，知道一切都没有，不去粘着，即自然斩断一切烦恼。念佛门中一句“阿弥陀佛”圣号，就是金刚王宝剑，把所有东西都斩断：一切情、一切爱、一切执著都无处着脚，故能心空无住而生西方极乐世界。相反，恋着这娑婆世界，到临命终时，绝计走不了，被情爱拉牢了，生不到西方。 | To study Buddhadharma is to develop wisdom: knowing that nothing can be grasped and not clinging to anything, one naturally cuts through all afflictions. In the Pure Land gate, the sacred name “Amitābha Buddha” is the vajra king’s precious sword, cutting through everything. All emotions, all loves, and all attachments find nowhere to stand; thus, with the mind empty and non-abiding, one can be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Conversely, if one clings lovingly to this Sahā world, one will certainly be unable to depart when death approaches. Bound fast by emotional attachment and love, one cannot be reborn in the West. |
| “大丈夫，秉慧剑”。这慧剑是什么？是般若法，是世出世的大智慧。有了它，才能不沾染物欲，才能成道，才能圆证佛果。 | “A great person wields the sword of wisdom.” What is this sword of wisdom? It is the Dharma of prajñā, the great wisdom of both the worldly and supramundane. Only with it can one remain unstained by material desires, realize the Way, and perfectly realize Buddhahood. |
| 我们时时刻刻都要以智慧行事，不管修净土，还是参禅、修密，都以开发般若为宗，把我们本有智慧发掘出来，才能成道。我们在未证到之前，就要利用“阿弥陀佛”或是密咒这把金刚王宝剑，把所有的执著都斩断。这般若利锋就好象无坚不摧、无物不毁的金刚大火焰一样，能将一切顽固的旧习烧毁无遗。 | At every moment, we must act through wisdom. Whether practicing Pure Land, investigating Chan, or practicing Esoteric Buddhism, we take the development of prajñā as our principle. Only by uncovering our inherent wisdom can we realize the Way. Before realization, we must use the vajra king’s precious sword of “Amitābha Buddha” or a mantra to cut through all attachments. This sharp edge of prajñā is like a great vajra flame that nothing can resist and nothing can withstand; it can burn away every stubborn old habitual tendency without remainder. |
| 非但能摧外道心，并且破除邪魔见。 | It not only destroys the minds of non-Buddhists, but also shatters the views of evil māras. |
| 般若智慧的妙用，非但能摧毁外道之心，就是邪魔之法也立不住脚。外道就是心外取法，不知自性是佛，以为心之外有东西。外道认为心之外有阳神，其实那是我们第七识变化而来的，不是真心。 | The wondrous functioning of prajñā-wisdom can not only destroy the minds of those on non-Buddhist paths; even the teachings of evil māras cannot find a foothold. A non-Buddhist path seeks Dharma outside the mind, not knowing that one’s intrinsic nature is Buddha, and supposes that something exists outside the mind. Such paths claim that there is a yang spirit outside the mind, but in fact this is transformed from our seventh consciousness; it is not the true mind. |
| 所以证到了般若大智慧，就明白一切东西都没有，外道之心就摧毁了。象吕纯阳祖师，原先修道教，后来见到黄龙祖师，认识了般若、金刚妙慧，他就皈依佛教了，外道也就摧毁了。 | Therefore, upon realizing the great wisdom of prajñā, one understands that nothing can be grasped, and the non-Buddhist mind is destroyed. Patriarch Lü Chunyang, for example, originally practiced Daoism. Later, when he met Patriarch Huanglong and recognized the wondrous wisdom of prajñā and vajra, he took refuge in Buddhism, and his non-Buddhist path was thereby overcome. |
| 邪魔比外道更差，外道还是心向正法，只是不知真心是佛、心外取法而已。邪魔之心就更不对了，说什么没有因果，没有六道轮回，甚至于弄些障眼法、魔术，拉人下魔坑，弄些邪法来害人。 | Evil māras are worse than non-Buddhist paths. Those on non-Buddhist paths still incline their minds toward the true Dharma; they simply do not know that the true mind is Buddha and seek Dharma outside the mind. The minds of evil māras are even more misguided. They claim that there is no cause and effect and no rebirth in the six realms; they may even employ deceptive tricks and magic to lure people into the pit of māras, using evil teachings to harm them. |
| 现在末法时代，邪法丛生，五花八门，什么会、什么道的都是邪法。我们要修正法，即时时刻刻不离心地修法。“离心一字，便同魔说”，离开我们真心说法修法，那就不是佛法，佛法是教我们转识成智，在心地上转换。所以念佛在心上转，把妄心转成佛心。认识正法之后，那些邪魔法就立不住脚了。 | Now, in this Dharma-ending age, evil teachings proliferate in every variety. Whatever kind of society or way they claim to be, they are all evil teachings. We must practice the true Dharma: at every moment, we must not depart from practice on the mind-ground. “To depart from mind by a single word is already to speak like a māra.” To expound or practice Dharma apart from our true mind is not Buddhadharma. Buddhadharma teaches us to transform consciousness into wisdom, to make the transformation on the mind-ground. Thus, in Buddha-recitation, we transform the deluded mind into the Buddha-mind. Once we recognize the true Dharma, those teachings of evil māras can no longer find a foothold. |
| 震法雷，击法鼓，海水奔腾须弥舞， | The Dharma thunder resounds, the Dharma drum is struck; the sea surges and Mount Sumeru dances. |
| 我们说正法，如同天上打雷，一切邪师都惊破了胆。尤其当我们打开本来、见到本性时，一切魔宫都震动了。不得了了，这个人成大道了。魔王、魔子、魔孙都团团转，着急得无法生存了。 | When we expound the true Dharma, it is like thunder sounding in the heavens, striking terror into every false teacher. Especially when we uncover our original nature and see our true nature, all the palaces of māras tremble. This is no small matter: this person has realized the great Way. The māra king, his children, and his descendants all run about in circles, so anxious that they can hardly survive. |
| 我们用念佛功夫、参禅功夫或修密功夫，打开本来。见到本性之后，一切外道、魔法再不能欺瞒、引诱我们，都无立足之地了。 | Through Buddha-recitation, Chan investigation, or Esoteric practice, we uncover our original nature. After seeing our true nature, no non-Buddhist path or māra teaching can deceive or entice us; they have no ground on which to stand. |
| “海水奔腾须弥舞”，因为我们修佛法是惊天动地的大事，不是一桩小事，所以海水都因之涌起波浪，就连世界上最大的山——须弥山也跳起了舞。 | “The sea surges and Mount Sumeru dances.” Because practicing Buddhadharma is a momentous undertaking that shakes heaven and earth, not a trivial matter, even the sea rises in waves, and Mount Sumeru—the greatest mountain in the world—begins to dance. |
| 我们真正见到大道时，海水枯干，须弥倒塌，为什么？因为一法不粘、一尘不染，就都没有了。反过来，一切都是我们真心的妙用，一切事相都是法身之显现，一切一切都是我们自己，离我们外没有东西。我们打开本来见到本性时，为欢喜地，因法喜充满之故，一切现象都变了，都变得喜笑颜开，欢乐融融。所以叫做“海水奔腾须弥舞”。 | When we truly see the great Way, the sea dries up and Mount Sumeru collapses. Why? Because, unstained by a single dharma or a single speck of dust, everything is gone. Conversely, everything is the wondrous functioning of our true mind; all phenomenal appearances are manifestations of the dharmakāya; everything, absolutely everything, is ourselves. Apart from us, there is nothing. When we uncover our original nature and see our true nature, we enter the Ground of Joy. Filled with Dharma joy, all appearances change: all become smiling and radiant, suffused with joy. This is called “the sea surges and Mount Sumeru dances.” |
| 毛头许里乾坤定，大千沙界寸土无。 | Within the tip of a hair, heaven and earth are settled; in the great thousand worlds, there is not an inch of earth. |
| “毛头”就是指我们一根头发、一根汗毛那么小，乾坤是指世界、宇宙那么大。这句话是说：整个世界这么大，就在我们一“毛头”里。为什么呢？因为我们的自性能大能小，我们的法身大而无外，小而无内。 | “The tip of a hair” refers to something as small as a single hair or body hair, while heaven and earth refer to a world or universe so vast. This means that the entire vast world is contained within the tip of one of our hairs. Why? Because our intrinsic nature can be great or small; our dharmakāya is so vast that nothing lies outside it, and so minute that nothing lies within it. |
| 放之则弥六合，布满乾坤；收之退藏于密，连“毛头”都没有。这是说我们佛性的妙用，潇洒自在。一切都是自己，“毛头”里转大法轮。大千世界就是佛的世界，每个佛的世界是三千大千世界。 | Released, it fills the six directions and pervades heaven and earth; withdrawn, it hides in the secret, and not even the tip of a hair remains. This describes the wondrous functioning of our Buddha-nature: free and at ease. Everything is oneself; within the tip of a hair, the great Dharma wheel turns. The great thousand worlds are the Buddha’s worlds, and each Buddha-world consists of three thousand great thousand worlds. |
| 大千世界这么大，何以一点泥土都没有？因为心即是土，土即是心。宗师说：“若人识得心，大地寸土无。 | Since the great thousand worlds are so vast, why is there not even a bit of earth? Because mind itself is earth, and earth itself is mind. A Chan master said: “If one recognizes the mind, the great earth contains not an inch of soil.” |
| ”证到本性，一切都收归自性了，心外哪里还有土在？！所以修法到最后叫作“法界究竟”，什么法也没有，什么神通都没有，什么佛也没有了。有点滴所得，有些微存在，都不是最后了手时。 | Once one realizes one’s true nature, everything returns to intrinsic nature. Where, outside the mind, could there still be any earth? Therefore, the final stage of practice is called “the ultimate Dharma realm”: there is no dharma at all, no spiritual powers at all, and no Buddha at all. If there is even the slightest attainment or the most minute thing remaining, one has not yet reached the final completion. |
| 没有到究竟地步的时候，见光、见佛、发神通的都有，因未究竟，未免着相。这些人还喜欢到大众面前去炫耀：我有神通啊。其实这不是神通，这只是一点点妙用现前，或是鬼神附体。真正大神通是无所著着，潇洒自在，一切漏尽，那才是大神通。 | Before reaching the ultimate stage, people may see light, see Buddhas, or manifest spiritual powers. Because they have not yet reached the ultimate, they cannot avoid attachment to appearances. Such people also like to display themselves before others, saying, “I have spiritual powers!” In fact, this is not spiritual power; it is merely a little wondrous functioning appearing, or perhaps possession by ghosts or spirits. True great spiritual powers are non-attachment, freedom and ease, and the exhaustion of all outflows. That alone is great spiritual power. |
| 让他谤，任他毁，把火烧天徒自累， | Let them slander; let them defame. If they set fire to the sky, they only weary themselves. |
| 学佛法就要有容人之量。佛教法门很多，各各不同。在不认得彼此法门玄妙不同的时候，免不了要毁谤他人。比如修净土宗的人常常毁谤密宗不好，其实他们自己离不开密法。 | To study the Buddha Dharma, one must have the capacity to accommodate others. There are many Buddhist dharma gates, each different from the others. Before one understands the subtle differences among these dharma gates, one cannot avoid slandering others. For example, practitioners of the Pure Land school often disparage Esoteric Buddhism, yet they themselves cannot do without esoteric practices. |
| 他们除了念“阿弥陀佛”之外，还要念大悲咒、楞严咒、十小咒、往生咒等，这不是密法吗？反过来却说密法不好，这不是自己毁谤自己吗？可怜他们于不知不觉中造了大罪业，自己还自鸣得意哩！从前弘一法师初出家，亦不知密法是怎么回事，他也说过密宗五花八门、眼花缭乱，不好。 | In addition to reciting “Amitābha Buddha,” they also recite the Great Compassion Mantra, the Śūraṅgama Mantra, the Ten Lesser Mantras, the Rebirth Mantra, and so forth. Are these not esoteric practices? Yet they turn around and say that Esoteric Buddhism is no good. Is this not slandering themselves? Pitifully, they commit grave karmic offenses without even realizing it, while still feeling smug about themselves! When Dharma Master Hongyi first became a monastic, he too did not understand what Esoteric Buddhism was about. He also said that the Esoteric school was bewilderingly diverse and confusing, and therefore no good. |
| 后来他看了密宗教义，深深钦佩，密宗原来这么完善、这么圆满，因而忏悔，作了一篇忏悔文，告诫后人不懂密宗就不要谤密法。不懂就是不懂，不要装懂逞能，以免无知造罪。自己的好就说自己的好，不要说别人不好。 | Later, after reading the teachings of Esoteric Buddhism, he came to admire them deeply. Esoteric Buddhism, he realized, was so complete and perfect. He therefore repented and wrote an essay of repentance, warning later generations not to slander Esoteric Buddhism if they did not understand it. Not understanding means not understanding; do not pretend to understand and show off your abilities, lest ignorance lead you to commit offenses. Speak well of what is good in your own practice, but do not speak ill of others. |
| 各人修各人的法，随他诽谤，不必疑惧，不必烦恼，只要自己修的是正法，他人无中生有的来毁谤，那只是“把火烧天徒自累”。这种人等于拿个火把来烧天，烧得着吗？徒然自己劳累费神而已，有何用哉！ | Each person practices their own dharma. Let others slander as they will; there is no need for doubt, fear, or affliction. So long as one practices the true Dharma, others' groundless slanders are merely “trying to burn the sky with fire, only exhausting themselves.” Such people are like those who take a torch to burn the sky. Can they burn it? They only weary and trouble themselves for nothing. What use is that? |
| 我闻恰是空中风，何碍甚深大三昧！ | What I hear is but wind in empty space—how could it hinder profound great samādhi! |
| 假使有人诽谤佛法，我们听过之后，就象风吹过去一样，不要理他。因为和他辩论之后，更会引起他的诽谤心理，当他自己慢慢省悟之后，他就会懊悔的。他所说的那些废话、诽谤话，对于我们所修证的三昧是没有伤害妨碍的。 | If someone slanders the Buddha Dharma, after hearing it, let it pass like the wind. Do not pay attention to it. For if you argue with them, it will only provoke them to slander more. When they gradually come to understand for themselves, they will regret it. The foolish and slanderous words they speak do no harm and cause no obstruction to the samādhi we cultivate and realize. |
| 三昧即正定、正受，不受一切受为正受。任何事情都不接受，非但一切诽谤不接受、不动心，就是一切赞叹褒奖也不动心，这才是真正的正定、正受。 | Samādhi means right concentration and right receptivity. Not receiving any sensations is right receptivity. One accepts nothing at all: not only does one refuse to accept any slander or be moved by it, but one is also unmoved by all praise and commendation. Only this is genuine right concentration and right receptivity. |
| 一切声，皆实相，恶音善语无二样， | All sounds are the true aspect; harsh sounds and kind words are no different. |
| 一切声音都是尘，故善恶没有二样。我们所听到的声音，有的是赞扬、好听的话，有的是难听的诽谤的话，但恶语善言无二样，都是声尘、是客人，无足轻重。我们要认得这能说话的是谁，能听到声音的是谁。 | All sounds are sense objects; therefore, good and evil are no different. Some of the sounds we hear are praise and pleasing words, while others are harsh words of slander. Yet malicious speech and kind words are no different: they are all sound-objects, mere guests, and of no great importance. We must recognize who it is that speaks and who it is that hears sounds. |
| 认得主人，才不枉用功。我们的闻性、我们的性能没好没坏，没有断续相。但凡夫都跟声尘转，他骂我，我就光火，他拍马屁，我心里就开心。这都是为声尘所转，为境所夺，上当了。我们要转境，不为境转。 | Only when we recognize the host have we not practiced in vain. Our faculty of hearing, our intrinsic nature, is neither good nor bad and has no appearance of interruption or continuity. Yet ordinary beings all follow sound-objects: when someone curses me, I become enraged; when someone flatters me, I feel delighted. This is being turned by sound-objects, being carried away by circumstances, and being deceived. We must turn circumstances rather than be turned by them. |
| 大家要知道，声尘本身亦无好坏，是我们的妄心妄起分别，才产生好坏之见。举个例子，一位苏州客人骂一位东北老乡“堂勿收”！这位老乡不懂苏州话，听了还哈哈大笑。 | Everyone should know that sound-objects themselves are neither good nor bad. It is only our deluded minds, falsely giving rise to discrimination, that produce views of good and bad. For example, a Suzhou visitor cursed a fellow villager from the Northeast, saying, “Tang wu shou!” The fellow villager did not understand the Suzhou dialect and merely laughed heartily when he heard it. |
| 经别人告诉他：这是骂你很毒的话，说你这人很坏，死在路上，善堂都不来给你收尸。老乡听了大怒，和苏州人打了起来。可见这都是妄心作怪。所以我们修法要时时刻刻见性，不让妄心抬头，才能了生脱死，证成大道。 | Later, someone told him: “That is a vicious curse. It says that you are such a bad person that, if you die by the roadside, not even a charitable burial hall will come to collect your corpse.” The fellow villager flew into a rage upon hearing this and fought with the Suzhou man. This shows that it was all the mischief of the deluded mind. Therefore, in practicing the Dharma, we must see our true nature at every moment and not allow the deluded mind to raise its head. Only then can we be liberated from birth and death and realize the great Way. |
| 不因谤赞别冤亲，方契本心平等相。 | Do not distinguish enemies from kin because of slander or praise; only then do you accord with the equal aspect of the original mind. |
| 不要因为他称赞我，或诽谤我，而分别这是我的亲家，那是我的冤家。我们不要有冤亲之分，要一视同仁，大家都是佛。这就是大丈夫气概。不要有小女子气概：“这个人骂我，记住他，有机会报复他。 | Do not distinguish someone as a friend because they praise me, or as an enemy because they slander me. We should not divide people into enemies and kin, but regard all equally; everyone is Buddha. This is the spirit of a great person. Do not have the spirit of a petty woman: “This person cursed me. Remember him; when I have the chance, I will take revenge on him.” |
| ”那就坏了，那就不能成佛了，成佛的心量要象虚空一样广大，能容纳万物。我们能够不分别冤亲，“方契本心平等相”。我们的心是平等的，为什么？因为心无相，而且大家都是佛，所以都是平等的。 | That would be disastrous; then one could not become a Buddha. The mind-capacity required to become a Buddha must be as vast as empty space, able to contain all things. When we do not distinguish enemies from kin, only then do we accord with the equal aspect of the original mind. Our minds are equal—why? Because mind is without form, and because everyone is Buddha; therefore, all are equal. |
| 但一有相，就不平等了，就有男相、女相，善相、恶相等等之分了。阿弥陀佛是平等平等又平等的，他不因为我们念佛就接引我们，不念佛，就不接引我们，有冤亲之分。那是我们凡夫的猜度之心，不是佛的心。 | But as soon as there is form, there is no equality: there are distinctions such as male form and female form, good form and bad form, and so forth. Amitābha Buddha is equal, equal, and equal again. He does not guide us merely because we recite the Buddha's name, while refusing to guide us if we do not, thereby making distinctions between enemies and kin. That is the conjecturing mind of ordinary beings, not the mind of the Buddha. |
| 佛的心是平等的，非但你相信佛法、修佛法，他来救度你，就是你不相信佛法、不修佛法，他也兴无缘大慈，照样接引你。所以我们要用佛心来改造我们的妄心，不要凭我们的凡夫心来猜度佛的心。 | The Buddha's mind is equal. Not only does he come to save and liberate you if you believe in and practice the Buddha Dharma; even if you do not believe in or practice the Buddha Dharma, he still arouses unconditional great compassion and guides you just the same. Therefore, we must use the Buddha's mind to transform our deluded minds, rather than use our ordinary beings' minds to speculate about the Buddha's mind. |
| 赞无增，谤无减，空中鸟迹著云天， | Praise adds nothing; slander takes nothing away. A bird's trace in empty space is inscribed upon the cloudy sky. |
| 我们的佛性是不增不减的，不会因为他称赞我，我的佛性就增加了；他诽谤我，我的佛性就减少了。纵然未悟道，处于凡夫地，也不减一分光明；即使证道了，也不增加一分光明。我们修法学道不要著相，称赞也好，诽谤也好，听过后就象鸟在空中飞过一样，心中不着痕迹，这样我们的心就平等了，易于成道了。 | Our Buddha-nature neither increases nor decreases. It does not increase because someone praises me, nor does it decrease because someone slanders me. Even if one has not awakened to the Way and remains at the level of an ordinary being, its luminosity is not diminished in the least; even if one has realized the Way, its luminosity does not increase in the least. In practicing the Dharma and studying the Way, we must not cling to appearances. Whether hearing praise or slander, let it be like a bird flying through empty space, leaving no trace in the mind. Then our minds will be equal, and realization of the Way will come more easily. |
| 太虚饮光消契阔，幽谷回声话晚烟。 | Vast emptiness drinks in the light, dissolving all distance; echoes in a secluded valley speak amid the evening smoke. |
| 这两句用风景来形容我们的胸怀宽大，形容我们的自性就这样美妙。“太虚饮光”，即一切光辉、一切景象无不包括在太虚空里。“消契阔”，就是没有什么亲疏之分。契者，契合也；阔者，疏远也。 | These two lines use scenery to portray the vastness of our hearts and the wondrous beauty of our intrinsic nature. “Vast emptiness drinks in the light” means that all radiance and all appearances are contained within the vast sky of emptiness. “Dissolving all distance” means that there is no distinction between intimacy and estrangement. Qi means affinity; kuo means distance. |
| 这是说太虚空中不因为有种种不同景象而分亲疏，也就是说我们不要分谁是亲家或是冤家，要平等平等又平等地对待一切人。他说我坏话，我们要细细思考一下，我是不是有这个过错啊？如果有这个过错，应当忏悔改过。 | This means that vast empty space does not distinguish intimacy from estrangement because of the many different appearances within it. Likewise, we should not distinguish who is a friend and who is an enemy, but treat everyone with equality upon equality upon equality. If someone speaks ill of us, we should carefully reflect: “Do I have this fault?” If we do, we should repent and correct it. |
| 假如没有这个过错，就勉励自己将来不要犯这个过错。所以大丈夫是闻过则喜，从无怨恨他人之心。不可因我没有这个过错，你诬蔑我、冤枉我，而怀恨在心。 | If we do not have this fault, then we should encourage ourselves not to commit it in the future. Thus a great person is glad to hear of their faults and never harbors resentment toward others. We must not bear hatred in our hearts merely because, though we do not have this fault, someone maligns or wrongs us. |
| 现在很多寺庙中的佛徒常相互不相容，都因著我见，没有平等心，而起纷争。其实同是为了学佛修道，大家要心怀坦荡，不着一物，和气相处。假如有什么事情处理不当、意见不同，可以坐下来商量，照正确的方向去做。 | Nowadays, Buddhist followers in many temples often cannot tolerate one another. All this arises because they cling to views of self, lack an equal mind, and thus give rise to disputes. Yet since all are studying Buddhism and cultivating the Way, everyone should be open-hearted, cling to nothing, and live together harmoniously. If some matter has not been handled properly or opinions differ, people may sit down and discuss it, then proceed in the correct direction. |
| 不要执著我见，以我为是，别人的都不是，互不相容而引起纷争、从而破坏佛教。大家既然修佛法，就是佛的弟子，佛的儿子，都是一家人，怎么还有怨亲分别呢？须赶快改过。团结一致，才能振兴圣教。 | Do not cling to views of self, taking oneself as right and everyone else as wrong, refusing to tolerate one another, thereby causing disputes and damaging Buddhism. Since everyone practices the Buddha Dharma, all are the Buddha's disciples and children, members of one family. How can there still be distinctions between enemies and kin? We must quickly correct this. Only through unity can we revitalize the sacred teaching. |
| “幽谷回声”，就是深山幽谷中没有人烟，空气能照你说话的声音原样回过来，表示静洁幽深、心空如洗的境界。“话晚烟”，就是我们到外面去玩，傍晚夕阳西下，看见四处的村庄烧晚饭的烟都冒起来，应该回家了。 | “Echoes in a secluded valley” refers to a deep mountain valley without human habitation, where the air returns the sound of your speech exactly as it was. It conveys a state that is still, pure, secluded, profound, and as empty and clean as if washed. “Speaking amid the evening smoke” refers to going out for recreation and, as the sun sets in the evening, seeing cooking smoke rise from villages everywhere: it is time to return home. |
| 这句话是借风景来说我们修法要回老家（法界家），不要因闹意见而耽搁在半途上。回到老家，大家就没有异议没有矛盾了。这两句话也是愚公用来叙述自己的心胸。 | This line uses scenery to say that in practicing the Dharma we should return to our original home—the home of the dharma realm—and not be delayed midway because of disagreements. Once we return to our original home, there will be no differing opinions or conflicts. These two lines were also used by Yugong to describe the breadth of his own heart. |
| 愚公当时下山弘法，因大众皆不知“心中心法”是何法门，无人向其受法，不能满弘法之愿，乃小施神通。因此引起太虚大师与印光大师的不满，略有微言。但愚公为了弘法，忍辱负重，未作反应。 | When Yugong descended from the mountain to propagate the Dharma, the public did not know what kind of dharma gate the Heart-of-Heart Dharma was. No one came to receive the Dharma from him, and he could not fulfill his vow to spread the Dharma. He therefore displayed a small spiritual power. This aroused the dissatisfaction of Master Taixu and Master Yinguang, who made some mild critical remarks. But for the sake of propagating the Dharma, Yugong endured humiliation and heavy burdens without responding. |
| 后付法先师骧陆公，即行归隐。歌中“太虚饮光消契阔”者，即谓和二师不存芥蒂也。归隐时还有一种误会，当时适值北洋军阀内战，逼愚公现神通为其打仗，愚公不允，化装遁去。不知内情者，误以为现神通失灵而隐去，不亦冤乎！ | Later, after transmitting the Dharma to his late teacher, Mr. Xianglu, he withdrew into seclusion. The phrase in the song, “Vast emptiness drinks in the light, dissolving all distance,” means that he harbored no resentment toward the two masters. There was another misunderstanding when he withdrew into seclusion. At that time, war had broken out among the Beiyang warlords, who pressured Yugong to display spiritual powers for their military campaign. Yugong refused and escaped in disguise. Those who did not know the circumstances mistakenly believed that his spiritual powers had failed and that he had therefore gone into seclusion. Was this not unjust? |
| 默时说，说时默，大施门开无壅塞， | In silence there is speech; in speech there is silence. The gate of great giving stands open, without congestion or obstruction. |
| “默时说，说时默”，说的时候不著相，等于没有说，而没有说的时候就是说。为什么呢？因为佛性无相，非言思所能及，无话可说，故有说有闻不是真说真闻，无说无闻才是真说真闻。 | “In silence there is speech; in speech there is silence” means that when speaking, one does not cling to appearances, and thus it is as though one had not spoken; and when one has not spoken, that itself is speech. Why? Because Buddha-nature is formless and lies beyond the reach of words and thought; there is nothing to say. Thus, speaking and hearing are not true speaking and true hearing; no speaking and no hearing are true speaking and true hearing. |
| 而且一切法不是有声音才是说法，做手势也是说法，咳嗽一声也是说法，打你一下，骂你一句也是说法。谚云：“此时无声胜有声。”《弥陀经》云：风声鸟语都是法音之宣流。可见不一定说话才是说法。 | Moreover, it is not only speech with sound that constitutes teaching the Dharma. Gesturing is also teaching the Dharma; a cough is also teaching the Dharma; striking you once or scolding you once is also teaching the Dharma. As the proverb says, “At this moment, silence surpasses sound.” The Amitābha Sūtra says that the sounds of wind and birds are all proclamations of the Dharma sound. Thus, speaking aloud is not necessarily teaching the Dharma. |
| “大施门开无壅塞”，修佛法须一切施光，一丝不挂，一尘不染，留住一点也不行，有佛法在也不行，要连佛法都不可得才行，这叫“大施门开”。壅者，拥挤。塞者，堵住。 | “The gate of great giving stands open, without congestion or obstruction” means that in practicing the Buddha Dharma one must give everything away, be utterly bare, and remain unstained by a single speck of dust. One cannot retain even a single thing; one cannot even retain the Buddha Dharma. One must reach the point where even the Buddha Dharma is unobtainable. This is called “the gate of great giving stands open.” Yong means congestion; se means blockage. |
| 所有的都施光了，还有什么壅塞呢？四通八达，八面来风，毫无去留，胸怀坦荡，才能证大道。所以修道就要大施门开，把所有的东西都施光、倒光，桶底脱落，才能容纳万物而圆证佛果。假如人家说句话，与你的意见不同，就觉刺耳，心里不开心，那就不好了。 | When everything has been given away, what obstruction can remain? Open in all directions, with winds coming from every side; nothing comes or goes, and the heart is broad and open—only then can one realize the great Way. Therefore, in cultivating the Way, one must throw open the gate of giving, give away and empty out everything, until the bottom drops out of the bucket. Only then can one contain all things and perfectly realize Buddhahood. If someone says something contrary to your own view and you find it grating, becoming unhappy within, that is no good. |
| 有人问我解何宗？我为摩诃般若客。 | Someone asked me what school I expound. I am a guest of Mahāprajñā. |
| 大愚师公传的是心中心法，起初大家不知道这是什么法？所以有人会问：“你是什么宗啊？是净土，是禅宗，还是密宗？”其实什么宗也没有。佛法就是教人认识根本，莫执外相，恢复本来。 | What Patriarch Dayu transmitted was the Heart-of-Heart Dharma. At first, no one knew what kind of Dharma this was, so some would ask, “What school do you belong to? Pure Land, Chan, or Esoteric Buddhism?” In truth, there is no school at all. The Buddhadharma teaches people to recognize the root, not to cling to external appearances, and to recover their original nature. |
| 佛在世时，也不分宗立派，就是对机说法，宗是后来才建立的。“我为摩诃般若客”，摩诃者，大也，般若意为智慧，只要你证到摩诃般若，一切宗都在里面了，所以心中心法包括中国的十大宗，无有一宗不包括在内。 | When the Buddha was alive, he did not divide teachings into schools or establish sects; he simply taught according to each person’s capacity. Schools were established only later. “I am a guest of Mahāprajñā”: mahā means great, and prajñā means wisdom. So long as you realize Mahāprajñā, all schools are contained within it. Thus, the Heart-of-Heart Dharma encompasses the ten major schools of Chinese Buddhism; there is not one school that it does not include. |
| 比如法相宗，破相见性即是；华严宗，圆证十方，十方诸佛在我心中，我在十方诸佛心中，彼此交参无碍即得。所以一切宗都在里面。 | For example, in the Dharma Characteristics School, to relinquish appearances and see one’s true nature is precisely its teaching. In the Huayan school, one perfectly realizes the ten directions: the Buddhas of the ten directions are within my mind, and I am within the minds of the Buddhas of the ten directions; they interpenetrate one another without obstruction. Thus, all schools are contained within it. |
| 昔曾说，今懒说，山河大地广长舌， | In the past I spoke; now I am too lazy to speak. The mountains, rivers, and great earth are the broad, long tongue. |
| 大愚师公从前也是时时说法，大江南北广度众生，后来把法交给徒弟王骧陆接着说。所以他作这首解脱歌时，不说法了。虽然是“今懒说”，但不是不说法，山河大地都在说法。无时无刻不在说法。所以有人看流水就开悟了。 | In earlier times, Patriarch Dayu also taught the Dharma constantly, widely liberating sentient beings north and south of the great river. Later, he entrusted the Dharma to his disciple Wang Xianglu to continue teaching it. Therefore, when he composed this Song of Liberation, he no longer taught the Dharma. Although he said, “now I am too lazy to speak,” this did not mean that the Dharma was not being taught. The mountains, rivers, and great earth are all teaching the Dharma. They teach it without pause, at every moment. Thus, some people awaken upon seeing flowing water. |
| 噢，原来水随地形而流无有住着，又水尽管流，而未尝流，还是川流不息的。也就是说修法随缘起念，无住无滞即得；尽管生死变灭，自性不生不灭，亘古长存，山河大地与森罗万象都是我们自性所显现，离心无物。所以苏东坡有诗云：“溪身便是广长舌，山色无非法性身。”良有以也。 | “Ah, so water flows according to the terrain without abiding anywhere. Though the water keeps flowing, it has never truly flowed, and yet it flows on without ceasing.” This means that, in practicing the Dharma, thoughts may arise in accordance with conditions, but one need only remain without abiding or stagnation. Though birth and death continually change and perish, intrinsic nature neither arises nor ceases; it abides from time immemorial. The mountains, rivers, great earth, and the myriad forms of the world are all manifestations of our intrinsic nature. Apart from mind, there are no things. Thus Su Dongpo wrote: “The stream itself is the broad, long tongue; the mountain hues are none other than the Dharma-nature body.” There is good reason for this. |
| 或是或非人不识，逆行顺行天莫测！ | Whether right or wrong, people do not recognize it; whether proceeding against or with the current, even heaven cannot fathom it! |
| 我们的妙用或是或非，就是有时顺人情做，有时逆人情做。只要对人有益，不管自己的名誉。象济公，就是鲜明的例子，他要遮盖自己，不要被人看出是大菩萨。 | Our wondrous functioning may seem right or wrong: at times we act in accord with ordinary human sentiments, and at times against them. So long as it benefits others, we do not concern ourselves with our own reputation. Ji Gong is a clear example. He wished to conceal himself, so that people would not recognize him as a great bodhisattva. |
| 常常做些俗人看不顺眼的事，他不沽名钓誉，不为自己的名声着想，只要对众生有益的事他就做。这种或是或非的力用，不但人不识，就是天道也不能测量，我们的妙用就是这样的深邃。 | He often did things that ordinary people found objectionable. He did not seek fame or reputation, nor did he consider his own good name. So long as something benefited sentient beings, he did it. This functioning that may seem right or wrong is not recognized by people, and even the heavenly order cannot measure it. Such is the profundity of our wondrous functioning. |
| 常独行，常独步，脚底草鞋狞似虎， | Ever walking alone, ever treading alone, the straw sandals beneath his feet are fierce as tigers. |
| 修道人常常独行独步，独往独来，不和大众一块走，为什么？因为阳春白雪，曲高和寡。“脚底草鞋狞似虎”，穿草鞋走路是出家和尚的本色。“狞似虎”，象老虎一样威猛、威严，把一切豺、狼、狐、犬都吓跑了，把一切一切邪魔、外道都慑服了。表示修道的人一切不著，毫无挂碍。大地平沉、虚空粉碎才是本色道人的无比力用。 | Practitioners of the Way often walk and travel alone, coming and going by themselves rather than with the crowd. Why? Because “the melody of white snow in spring is lofty, and few can join in.” “The straw sandals beneath his feet are fierce as tigers”: wearing straw sandals while walking is the natural appearance of a monastic. “Fierce as tigers” means mighty and imposing like a tiger, frightening away all jackals, wolves, foxes, and dogs, and subduing every sort of demon and non-Buddhist path. It signifies that practitioners of the Way cling to nothing and are free of all hindrance. When the great earth levels and sinks away and empty space shatters, this is the incomparable functioning of one who is true to their original nature. |
| 举趾粉碎金刚地，不觉踏断来时路。 | Lifting his foot, he shatters the vajra ground; unaware, he treads through the road by which he came. |
| 地象金刚不坏，但是举趾也粉碎了，为什么？因为大地平沉，虚空粉碎，都没有了。那天我们游山时说过：“举手写出飞禽迹，下步踏断流水声。 | The ground is indestructible like vajra, yet merely lifting one’s foot shatters it. Why? Because the great earth has leveled and sunk away, and empty space has shattered; all are gone. When we visited the mountains that day, we said: “Raise a hand and trace the tracks of birds in flight; take a step and tread through the sound of running water.” |
| ”鸟在空中飞，举手就把鸟在空中的痕迹画出来了，走一步路，把哗哗的流水也踏断了。这是对证道人行径的写照。心不著相，一点都没有，就证到这个境界。我们念佛念到这个地步，也是一样。 | A bird flies through the sky, and with one’s raised hand one draws its traces in the air. Taking a step, one even treads through the rushing sound of flowing water. This portrays the conduct of one who has realized the Way. When the mind clings to no appearances whatsoever, one realizes this state. It is the same when we recite the Buddha’s name until we reach this point. |
| “不觉踏断来时路”，来就是生来，去就是死去。生来死去这条路断了，生死就断绝了。生死是我们的妄想心。妄想，著相才有，悟道后就转为妙用。 | “Unaware, he treads through the road by which he came”: coming means being born, and going means dying. When the road of coming and going, of birth and death, is cut off, birth and death cease. Birth and death are our deluded thinking. Deluded thoughts exist only through clinging to appearances; after realizing the Way, they are transformed into wondrous functioning. |
| 所以思想不是没有，还是有，只要不著相就是妙用，著相就是妄想，差一点也不行。所以要注意，悟道之后不是没有思想，还是有，那时思想就是妙用，转识成智了。凡夫著相、著有，这是妄想、生死的根本。悟道之后就断了。 | Thus, thoughts do not disappear altogether; they still exist. So long as one does not cling to appearances, they are wondrous functioning; if one clings to appearances, they are deluded thoughts. Even the slightest difference will not do. Therefore, take note: after realizing the Way, thoughts have not vanished; they remain, but at that time they are wondrous functioning, for consciousness has been transformed into wisdom. Ordinary beings cling to appearances and to existence; this is the root of deluded thought and birth and death. After realizing the Way, it is cut off. |
| 疯颠汉，无字经，信口掉舌说不尽， | Madman, wordless scripture, babbling at random without ever exhausting it. |
| 我现在就是在这儿疯疯傻傻地说话呀。我们的真心是无字经，真经是没有字的。有字的经都是假经，因为有字的经都有话说，有话说就有说不到的地方。 | I am now here speaking like a mad fool. Our true mind is a wordless scripture; the true scripture has no words. Scriptures with words are all false scriptures, because any scripture with words has something to say, and wherever there is something to say, there are things it cannot say. |
| 我们的本性是无法描绘，无法写照的，说出来的话都不过是旁敲侧击，在边上说说，说不到实体。所以真经是没有字的。“信口掉舌说不尽”，一切了义不了义，一切世法、出世法，怎么说都说不尽，为什么？本没有话说，说出来的，都不能尽其真实义。 | Our intrinsic nature cannot be depicted or described. Whatever is spoken merely approaches it indirectly, speaking around its edges without reaching the reality itself. Therefore, the true scripture has no words. “Babbling at random without ever exhausting it”: all definitive and provisional teachings, all worldly and supramundane dharmas, cannot be fully expressed, however one may speak of them. Why? Originally there is nothing to say; whatever is said cannot exhaust their true meaning. |
| 海底金乌天上日，目中童子眼前人。 | The golden crow beneath the sea, the sun in the sky; the child within the eye, the person before one’s eyes. |
| 这是指示我们见性。“金乌”指太阳，“海底金乌”指太阳落山，落到海平面下去了。升到天上就是太阳。“目中童子”，眼睛当中有个童子，即瞳仁，也就是你自己啊。这就是告诉我们，真性在什么地方啊？就在眼面前，就是你能见能闻的那个东西，没有这个东西就没有瞳仁啊。所以时时刻刻见相，就要时时刻刻见性。 | This points us toward seeing our true nature. The “golden crow” refers to the sun; the “golden crow beneath the sea” refers to the sun setting below the horizon. When it rises into the sky, it is the sun. The “child within the eye” is the pupil, and it is you yourself. This tells us where true nature is: it is right before our eyes; it is that which enables you to see and hear. Without it, there would be no pupil. Therefore, whenever you see an appearance, you should at that very moment see your true nature. |
| 觉即了，不施功，物我俱亡心境空， | Awakening is enough; no further effort is required. Things and self both vanish, and mind and objects are empty. |
| “觉即了”，觉悟了，大地平沉，一切都没有了。“不施功”，不用再做什么功夫了。《圆觉经》云：“知幻即离，不作方便，离幻即觉，亦无渐次。”做功夫，只要知道一切皆幻，不去执着，则当下成道。 | “Awakening is enough”: once awakened, the great earth levels and sinks away, and everything disappears. “No further effort is required”: there is no need to undertake any more practice. The Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment says: “Knowing illusion, one is immediately free from it; no expedient means are needed. Free from illusion, one is awakened; nor are there stages.” In practice, one need only know that all things are illusory and refrain from clinging to them; then one realizes the Way immediately. |
| 所以我们说，道属悟，不属修。“物我俱亡心境空”，有我就有物，有物就有我，这是相对应的。我没有，哪里有物呢？物没有，哪里有我呢？所以心空就根尘脱落、物我俱亡，本性即现前了。我们念佛，念到能念佛的心，所念的佛号，一时脱落，就心境空亡，证见大道了。 | Therefore, we say that the Way belongs to awakening, not to cultivation. “Things and self both vanish, and mind and objects are empty”: where there is self, there are things; where there are things, there is self. They arise in mutual dependence. If there is no self, where can things be? If there are no things, where can self be? Thus, when mind is empty, the sense faculties and their objects fall away, things and self both vanish, and intrinsic nature appears before one. When we recite the Buddha’s name until the mind that recites and the Buddha-name that is recited both fall away at once, mind and objects are emptied, and we realize and see the great Way. |
| 菡萏枝枝撑夜月，木犀叶叶扇香风。 | Lotus blossoms, each stem supporting the night moon; sweet osmanthus, each leaf fanning fragrant breezes. |
| 这句话是说无情说法。“菡萏”就是荷花，即佛性所表示的莲花。荷花有出淤泥而不染的美德，这表示我们虽在这个苦恼的世界、污染的世界，但真心是不污染的。“枝枝”，叶子尚未出水。 | This speaks of the insentient teaching the Dharma. “Lotus blossoms” are lotuses, the flowers that represent Buddha-nature. Lotuses have the virtue of emerging from mud unstained; this signifies that although we live in this world of suffering and defilement, our true mind remains undefiled. “Each stem” indicates that the leaves have not yet emerged from the water. |
| “夜月”，月亮的光明要到夜里才大放。就是说我们在未出尘劳时，真心也不污染，也是光明的。出尘劳之后，它就大放光明。一切众生都有佛性，佛性在众生身上并不少一分。 | The “night moon” shines forth brilliantly only at night. This means that before we have emerged from worldly toil, the true mind is still undefiled and luminous. After emerging from worldly toil, it shines forth with great radiance. All sentient beings possess Buddha-nature; Buddha-nature is not diminished by even a fraction in sentient beings. |
| “木犀叶叶扇香风”，木犀是桂花，瓣瓣都香，我们的真性就象桂花一样，都会扇香风，都是妙用无穷，就是不认识，为境所迷，追逐外境，着相造业，苦恼万分。所以要及早回头，虔修佛法。 | “Sweet osmanthus, each leaf fanning fragrant breezes”: sweet osmanthus is the cassia flower, and every petal is fragrant. Our true nature is like the cassia flower: all can fan fragrant breezes, and its wondrous functioning is inexhaustible. Yet we do not recognize it. Deluded by circumstances, we chase after external objects, cling to appearances, create karma, and suffer greatly. Therefore, we must turn back as early as possible and sincerely cultivate the Buddhadharma. |
| 有等人，寻经论，终年求解不起行， | There are those who search through sūtras and treatises, seeking understanding all year long but never putting it into practice. |
| 有些知识分子，晓得佛法的好处，所以研究经论。“经”是佛所教导我们修行的话，“论”是菩萨阐述的心得和理论。他们一天到晚只是研究名相，讲道理而不修行。特别是有些法相宗人，专门研究佛学，不事修行，似乎没有用处。“知而不行，是谓不知。”这是王阳明说的颠扑不破的真理。 | Some intellectuals know the benefits of the Buddhadharma and therefore study sūtras and treatises. Sūtras are the Buddha’s instructions on practice, while treatises expound the realizations and theories of bodhisattvas. Yet they spend all day merely studying technical classifications and discussing doctrines without practicing. Some followers of the Dharma Characteristics School in particular devote themselves solely to Buddhist studies and do not engage in practice; this seems to be of no use. “To know but not act is not truly to know.” This is Wang Yangming’s incontrovertible truth. |
| 分别名相那知休，入海算沙徒自辛。 | Distinguishing names and appearances, how could they ever stop? Counting sand upon entering the sea, they toil in vain. |
| 这是说那些知识分子在八万四千法门上讨论，分别无休无止，却不去修行，这好比入海数沙子一样无益。海中沙子多的不得了，数得清吗？徒然自己辛苦劳碌，毫无用处。 | This refers to those intellectuals who discuss and discriminate endlessly among the eighty-four thousand dharma gates, yet do not practice. It is as useless as entering the sea to count grains of sand. There are immeasurably many grains of sand in the sea; can they be counted? One merely exhausts oneself to no purpose. |
| 佛当日，曾叮咛，数他珍宝无己分， | In the Buddha’s day, he repeatedly admonished us: counting another’s treasures brings no share to oneself. |
| 佛在世时告诉我们，须自己努力用功，不要数别人的珍宝。就是说我们仅研读经论，不依之修行，却在那儿分别别人有没有开悟，这对自己没有用处。 | When the Buddha was alive, he told us that we must make our own diligent effort and not count other people’s treasures. That is, if we merely study sūtras and treatises without practicing in accordance with them, while discriminating over whether others have awakened, it is of no use to us. |
| 从来蹭蹬行不利，难免枉堕文字坑。 | Always stumbling, one’s progress is unsuccessful; one can hardly avoid falling vainly into the pit of words. |
| 走路如果脚步不健，不勇往直前，在那儿兜圈子，这个法修修，那个法修修，走走又回来，徒费精力，没有用处。“难免枉堕文字坑”是说如果徒事研究，吟诗作文而不切实修持，就要掉在文字坑里面，把自己埋葬了。 | If one’s steps are unsteady and one does not press forward bravely, but circles about—practicing one method for a while, then another, moving on and then returning—one merely wastes energy to no purpose. “One can hardly avoid falling vainly into the pit of words” means that if one merely pursues study, composes poetry and prose, and does not practice earnestly, one will fall into the pit of words and bury oneself there. |
| 所以有些人非但自己不好好修行，而且做坏事，用考据学考据佛经，说《楞严经》、《大乘起信论》等是伪造的。堕在坑里，坑害别人，自己还不知道，这未免太愚痴了。 | Thus, some people not only fail to cultivate properly themselves, but also do evil: using textual criticism to scrutinize the Buddhist scriptures, they claim that the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna, and so forth are forgeries. They have fallen into a pit and are harming others, yet do not know it themselves. Is this not utterly foolish? |
| 亦愚痴，亦憨呆，海上蜃楼生实解， | Foolish too, and dull-witted too—they take mirages over the sea to be real. |
| 这种人不是很愚痴吗？数他人的珍宝，有什么用处？海上蜃楼是太阳光照在海上的雾气所显现出来的假相，却把它当真的了。 | Are such people not profoundly foolish? What use is there in counting others’ treasures? A mirage over the sea is an illusory appearance produced when sunlight shines upon mist above the ocean, yet they take it to be real. |
| 执指为月枉施功，根尘法中盲摩揣。 | Mistaking the finger for the moon, they exert themselves in vain; amid the faculties, objects, and dharmas, they grope about blindly. |
| 手指指向月亮，教他见月亮。结果他不见月亮，只见手指，那就错误了。著了文字相，而不见手所指之月——本性。于是在根尘法中盲摩揣，根尘，即心境，在思想与尘境上瞎猜，指鹿为马地以光明或佛像等为本性。其实这不是言语所能及，思想所能到的，须真参实究才能证到。 | A finger points to the moon in order to show someone the moon. But if he does not see the moon and sees only the finger, he has gone wrong. Clinging to the marks of words and letters, he fails to see the moon to which the finger points—his intrinsic nature. Thus, amid the faculties, objects, and dharmas—that is, mind and its objects—he blindly speculates about thoughts and sense objects, mistaking lights, images of Buddhas, and the like for his intrinsic nature. In fact, this is beyond the reach of words and thought; one must truly investigate and genuinely cultivate in order to realize it. |
| 心为根，境为尘，两种犹如镜上痕， | Mind is the faculty; objects are the dust. The two are like marks upon a mirror. |
| 心是根，境界是尘劳，这两种犹如我们法身镜上的痕迹、灰尘，俱须扫除掉，要根尘脱落才能证道。我们修法就要做到根尘脱落，不然难见本性。 | Mind is the faculty, and circumstances are defiling dust. These two are like stains and dust upon the mirror of our dharmakāya; both must be swept away. Only when the sense faculties and their objects fall away can one realize the Way. In our practice, we must bring about the falling away of faculties and objects; otherwise, it is difficult to see one’s intrinsic nature. |
| 痕垢尽净光始现，心境双亡性乃真。 | When all stains and grime are cleared away, the light first appears; when both mind and objects vanish, one’s nature is then true. |
| 等到镜子上的灰尘、龌龊都消光了，那光明就放出来了。这是说当我们修法得当，忽然根尘脱落，心光就显现了。“心境双亡”，持咒、念佛的妄心与所持之咒和所念佛号都脱落了，那就见到本性了。所以修法不要执著，认为有咒可持、有佛号可念而抓紧不放，须要念到能所双亡，才能见真性。 | When the dust and grime on the mirror have all been cleared away, its light shines forth. This means that when we practice correctly and the faculties and their objects suddenly fall away, the intrinsic luminosity of mind appears. When “both mind and objects vanish,” the deluded mind that recites mantras or invokes the Buddha, together with the mantra being recited and the Buddha-name being invoked, all fall away; then one sees one’s intrinsic nature. Therefore, do not cling to practice, thinking that there is a mantra to recite or a Buddha-name to invoke and grasping them tightly. One must recite until subject and object both fall away; only then can one see one’s true nature. |
| 非不非，是不是，毫厘差之千里失， | Right and wrong, yes and no: a deviation of a hair’s breadth leads to an error of a thousand miles. |
| 不要管是非得失，一切是非没有定论。因为人的知见、爱好、性格不同，和时间、兴趣的差异而生出或是或非的不同见解，所以没有一定的是非。 | Do not concern yourself with right and wrong, gain and loss. There is no fixed conclusion regarding all such right and wrong, because people’s views, preferences, and dispositions differ, as do times and interests; thus differing views of what is right and what is wrong arise, and there is no fixed right or wrong. |
| “毫厘差之千里失”，出发点差一点，走下去就会相差很远，毫厘之差，天地悬殊。所以我们修道要认识正路，在心地上修，不要在相上修，心地法门实诞生王子，如皇帝的太子，将来一定成佛。 | “A deviation of a hair’s breadth leads to an error of a thousand miles”: if the point of departure is off by even a little, the distance grows very great as one proceeds. A difference of a hair’s breadth makes heaven and earth far apart. Therefore, in cultivating the Way, we must recognize the right path and cultivate on the mind-ground, rather than cultivate appearances. The Mind-Ground Dharma Gate truly gives birth to a royal prince: like the emperor’s crown prince, one will certainly become a Buddha in the future. |
| 其他法门都是外围功勋，顶多封王封侯，不能做皇帝，即不能成佛。不要执着神通，听从邪法，要知道成道的正因，掌握原则而奋力前进。我们已经指了又指，千万不要错过。 | All other dharma gates are merely peripheral merits. At most, one may be enfeoffed as a king or marquis; one cannot become the emperor—that is, one cannot become a Buddha. Do not cling to spiritual powers or follow deviant teachings. You must understand the right causes for realizing the Way, grasp the principles, and press forward with vigor. We have pointed this out again and again; do not miss it. |
| 是即龙女顿成佛，非则善星人身失。 | If it is right, the Dragon Girl at once becomes a Buddha; if it is wrong, Good Star loses his human body. |
| 这儿有两个典故。一是“龙女顿成佛”，讲的是修行的路走正确了，就能如龙女献珠，马上成佛。龙女献珠是《华严经》上讲的故事，成佛不难，只要我们通身放下，马上即能成佛。“非则善星人身失”，这是第二个典故。意指本来蛮好的佛性，但是因地不正，走入歧途，结果人身也得不到，到畜生道里去了。 | There are two allusions here. The first is “the Dragon Girl at once becomes a Buddha.” It means that if one follows the correct path of practice, one can, like the Dragon Girl offering her jewel, become a Buddha immediately. The story of the Dragon Girl offering her jewel is told in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra. Becoming a Buddha is not difficult: so long as we let go completely, we can at once become Buddhas. “If it is wrong, Good Star loses his human body” is the second allusion. It means that although one’s Buddha-nature was originally quite sound, if one’s causal ground is improper and one strays onto a wrong path, one will ultimately fail even to obtain a human body and will fall into the animal realm. |
| 种性邪，错知解，不达如来本性怀， | With deviant dispositions and mistaken understanding, one fails to comprehend the Tathāgata’s intent regarding intrinsic nature. |
| “种性”即人的根性，有许多种。有大乘见、二乘见、凡夫见、外道见、邪道见等等。如果种姓不正，再加知解错误，那就不能懂得如来真正的意思去修正法，证成广度众生的菩提大道了。 | “Disposition” means a person’s spiritual capacity, of which there are many kinds: Mahāyāna views, views of the two vehicles, ordinary persons’ views, heterodox views, deviant-path views, and so forth. If one’s disposition is not right and one’s understanding is also mistaken, one cannot comprehend the Tathāgata’s true intent, practice the true Dharma, realize the great bodhi path, and liberate sentient beings extensively. |
| 二乘苦行非究竟，外道炼身终必坏。 | The ascetic practices of the two vehicles are not ultimate; the bodily refinements of non-Buddhist paths must ultimately perish. |
| “二乘苦行非究竟”，罗汉道、辟支佛道的修行非究竟。为什么呢？因为法执未亡，变易生死未了，这叫有余涅槃，不究竟。“外道炼身”，现在很多人练气功，以为做气功身体能永远不坏、长生不老，这不可能。 | “The ascetic practices of the two vehicles are not ultimate”: the cultivation of the path of the arhats and pratyekabuddhas is not ultimate. Why? Because attachment to dharmas has not yet vanished, and transformational birth and death has not yet been brought to an end. This is called nirvana with remainder, and it is not ultimate. As for “the bodily refinements of non-Buddhist paths,” many people now practice qigong, thinking that it can keep their bodies forever from decaying and enable them to live forever without aging. This is impossible. |
| 肉身色体就是活一千年也还是要死的，所以说“终必坏”。修道教的人也讲究炼色身，名为性命双修，其实这色身的命不可能长生不老，试看修道教的长老有几个是色身长住的？不都是过去了吗。 | Even if the physical body were to live for a thousand years, it would still have to die; hence, it “must ultimately perish.” Practitioners of Daoism also emphasize refining the physical body, calling it the joint cultivation of nature and life. Yet the life of this physical body cannot be immortal and ageless. Look at the Daoist elders: how many have remained permanently in their physical bodies? Have they not all passed away? |
| 按实讲来，性即是命，命即是性，性实乃一切事物的根本，它是亘古亘今长存，永久不坏的，这才是长生不老。所以修佛法，明心见性，即得长生妙诀。 | In truth, nature is life, and life is nature. Nature is in fact the root of all things; it endures from ancient times to the present, forever abiding and never decaying. This alone is true immortality. Therefore, by practicing the Buddhadharma and realizing the mind and seeing one’s true nature, one obtains the wondrous secret of immortality. |
| 不思议，解脱力，恒沙大地载不起， | Inconceivable is the power of liberation: even the earth of worlds as numerous as the Ganges sands cannot bear it. |
| “解脱”就是明白一切都不可得，不要去妄求而自己束缚自己，就自然得解脱。这种解脱之力大得想象不到，不可思议，连象·恒沙那么多世界的大地都载不起来。为什么？三世诸佛皆一口吞尽，何况区区世界！ | “Liberation” means understanding that nothing can be obtained, ceasing to seek vainly and bind oneself, and thereby naturally attaining liberation. The power of such liberation is unimaginably great and inconceivable; even the earth supporting worlds as numerous as the Ganges sands cannot bear it. Why? The Buddhas of the three times can swallow them all in a single mouthful—how much less these trifling worlds! |
| 摩诃般若波罗蜜，甚深般若波罗蜜。 | Mahāprajñāpāramitā, profound prajñāpāramitā. |
| 这两句是赞叹般若波罗蜜的伟大。般若是大智慧，是慈航。波罗蜜是渡过生死苦海到彼岸。依般若之慈航才能渡过生死苦海而达彼岸，故般若是成功之母，是证道成佛之依恃，也是整个佛教的擎天柱。 | These two lines praise the greatness of prajñāpāramitā. Prajñā is great wisdom, the compassionate vessel. Pāramitā means crossing the bitter sea of birth and death to reach the other shore. Only by relying on the compassionate vessel of prajñā can one cross the bitter sea of birth and death and reach the other shore. Thus, prajñā is the mother of accomplishment, the support upon which one relies to realize the Way and attain Buddhahood, and the pillar that upholds all Buddhism. |
| 无般若则不能成事，无般若则无一切。伟矣哉，般若波罗蜜！因之，我们须时时刻刻毋忘般若波罗蜜，依靠它的力量，渡过重重魔障而达彼岸，亦幸甚矣。 | Without prajñā, nothing can be accomplished; without prajñā, there is nothing at all. How great is prajñāpāramitā! Therefore, we must never forget prajñāpāramitā for even a moment. Relying on its power, we may cross layer upon layer of demonic obstacles and reach the other shore—what good fortune this is! |
| 圆顿教，没人情，翻身踏倒涅槃城， | The perfect and sudden teaching shows no human sentiment: turn around and trample down the city of nirvāṇa. |
| 圆顿大教是不讲人情世故的。因为法身无相，一丝不挂，一法不立，如有点滴存在就非是了。故大乘教是单刀直入，一切斩断，没人情。如讲人情就不能剿绝一切，亲见法身了。“翻身踏倒涅槃城”是指我们现在著相，为凡夫，如翻过身来不着相就成佛，到彼岸之上了。“踏倒涅槃城”，就是什么地方也不住，涅槃亦不可得。 | The great perfect and sudden teaching does not speak of worldly human sentiments. Since the dharmakāya is without marks, utterly bare, and does not establish a single dharma, even the slightest thing remaining would make it other than what it is. Therefore, the Mahāyāna teaching cuts directly to the point and severs everything; it shows no human sentiment. If one speaks of human sentiment, one cannot cut off everything completely and personally see the dharmakāya. “Turn around and trample down the city of nirvāṇa” means that we are now attached to appearances and are ordinary beings; if we turn around and cease clinging to appearances, we become Buddhas and reach the other shore. To “trample down the city of nirvāṇa” means abiding nowhere at all: even nirvāṇa cannot be obtained. |
| 威音那畔至今日，好个风流画不成！ | From the other side of King Vīnadhi to the present day—what splendid grace cannot be painted! |
| 威音王即指我们的法身。“威音”即大音希声，无所不包。“那畔”就是指世界未形成之前，生起世界之后就变成这畔，就变成此岸了。 | King Vīnadhi refers to our dharmakāya. “Vīnadhi” means that the great sound is scarcely heard, yet encompasses all. “That side” refers to the time before the world was formed; after the world arose, it became “this side,” the near shore. |
| 所以我们要恢复我们的本性，就要到达威音王那畔，证到一切色、声、香、味、触、法都消殒的时节。 | Therefore, if we are to recover our intrinsic nature, we must reach the other side of King Vīnadhi and realize the point at which all forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles, and dharmas have vanished. |
| 我们由无明包裹，造生死业，沦落到今天，所幸知过，闻法修道了，就须兢兢业业精勤修习，以期恢复本性光明，渡过生死苦海，到达那畔，方不辜负此生。一旦打开本来，亲见本性，就潇洒自在、欢乐安祥无可比拟了，这种境界是没有办法描绘的。所谓“心行路绝，言语道断”，只有自己证到那个地步才知道。 | Enveloped by ignorance, we create the karma of birth and death and have fallen into our present condition. Fortunately, we recognize our errors, hear the Dharma, and cultivate the Way. We must therefore practice diligently and conscientiously, hoping to restore the luminosity of our intrinsic nature, cross the bitter sea of birth and death, and reach that other side, so that this life will not have been lived in vain. Once our original nature is opened and we personally see it, our ease, freedom, joy, and serenity are beyond compare. This state cannot be described. As it is said, “the path of mental activity is cut off, and the way of words is ended.” Only when one personally realizes that stage does one know. |
| 方便门，善巧开，火中生莲终不坏， | Skillful means open the gate; lotus flowers born in fire never perish. |
| 我们修佛法都是方便门，本来没有法，所以叫“法本法无法”，“善巧开”就是对机说法，这个宗开这个门，那个宗开那个门，但都是一个目的。净土宗是开的一个善巧门，以念佛方法将凡心转成佛心，往生净土而成道。 | All our Buddhist practices are gates of skillful means. Originally there is no dharma, which is why it is said, “The dharma that is originally dharma is without dharma.” “Opening skillfully” means teaching according to the recipient’s capacity: this school opens this gate, that school opens that gate, but all have one aim. The Pure Land school opens a skillful gate: through Buddha-recitation, it transforms the ordinary mind into the Buddha-mind, enabling one to be reborn in the Pure Land and realize the Way. |
| 但假如我们念佛念得不得力，也可以修别的法以期速成，不是固执不变的。反之，修密法不成，也可修净土。“火中生莲终不坏”，火中生的莲花，表示经得起考验。 | But if our Buddha-recitation lacks strength, we may also practice another dharma in the hope of swift accomplishment; we need not cling rigidly to one method. Conversely, if one does not succeed in Esoteric Buddhism, one may practice the Pure Land method. “Lotus flowers born in fire never perish” means that lotuses growing amid fire can withstand testing. |
| 我们这个娑婆世界是五浊恶世，非常烦恼，每个家庭都有一本难念的经，能在烦恼当中锻炼得心空净，不粘著，而证到本性，那力量就大得不得了。大慧杲禅师说，这种人比出家人修法力量大二十倍，可以永生永世不退转，直至成果地佛而不坏。 | This Sahā world of the five turbidities is exceedingly afflicted; every family has its own difficult scripture to recite. If, amid afflictions, one can train oneself until the mind is empty and pure, free from attachment, and realizes one’s intrinsic nature, one’s strength becomes inconceivably great. Chan Master Dahui Gao said that such a person possesses twenty times the strength of a monastic practitioner and can remain irreversible through life after life, right up to the fruition ground of Buddhahood, without perishing. |
| 勇施犯重悟无生，早已成佛无障碍。 | Yongshi committed grave offenses yet awakened to the unborn; having long since become a Buddha, he encountered no obstacles. |
| “勇施”，学佛要大智大勇，所以寺庙里的大殿叫大雄宝殿。“犯重”，犯戒有轻有重。假使我们犯戒了，要有大勇之心，思过，忏悔，不再犯。这儿“重”有重（音中）、重（音从）两种解释。犯了之后再犯叫“犯重”。 | “Yongshi” means that to study Buddhism one must possess great wisdom and great courage; therefore, the main hall of a monastery is called the Hall of the Great Hero. “Committing grave offenses” refers to violations of the precepts, which may be light or grave. If we violate the precepts, we must have the great courage to reflect upon our errors, repent, and refrain from repeating them. Here, “grave” has two interpretations: it may mean grave, or repeated. To commit an offense again after having committed it once is called “repeatedly committing an offense.” |
| 现在的人根基差，可能犯重，所以假如第二次再犯，要格外小心谨慎。不能光想：“唉呀！我犯戒了，不得了了。”要勇于改掉，绝对不能一而再、再而三，否则永世不得翻身。 | People today have poor spiritual foundations and may commit offenses repeatedly. Therefore, if one commits an offense a second time, one must be especially careful and vigilant. One must not merely think, “Oh no! I have broken the precepts; this is terrible.” One must courageously correct oneself and absolutely must not do it again and again; otherwise, one will never be able to turn oneself around throughout future lives. |
| “悟无生”的悟字非常重要，你若悟了，那罪过就无足轻重了，因为悟后心空了，过去所犯的错误犹如梦中做的，现在醒了，并未做过，所以就了了。不悟，心空不了，这罪障就盯着你，所以了则空，不了则要还宿债。 | In “awakening to the unborn,” the word “awakening” is extremely important. If you awaken, those offenses become insignificant, because after awakening the mind is empty. Errors committed in the past are like things done in a dream: now that you have awakened, they were never actually done, and so they are settled. If you do not awaken, the mind cannot become empty, and those karmic obstacles will continue to fasten upon you. Thus, when one has resolved them, they are empty; when one has not resolved them, one must repay past karmic debts. |
| “早已成佛无障碍”，施光心空，无所住着，就成佛了。复次，古印度有一位比丘名勇施，因犯四种根本大戒，心不安，求忏悔除罪，后遇一尊者，教以推寻犯罪根源，最后发觉罪性本空，了不可得，而豁然大悟，见自本性，证成大道。 | “Having long ago become a Buddha, unobstructed”: when one bestows light, the mind is empty, and there is non-abiding, one becomes a Buddha. Furthermore, in ancient India there was a bhikshu named Yongshi. Because he had violated the four fundamental great precepts, his mind was unsettled, and he sought repentance to remove his offenses. Later he met a venerable one, who taught him to investigate the root of his transgression. In the end, he discovered that the nature of sin is originally empty and utterly unobtainable. He suddenly awakened, saw his own original nature, and realized the great Way. |
| 一切处，悉兰若，无闹无静无牵挂， | Everywhere is an araṇya: no clamor, no quiet, no attachment. |
| “兰若”即寺院，是清静场所，修道的胜地。一般修行人都希望得一个清净场所修道，但如心不静，纵然有清净场所，也无助于事。因修道以心为主，如心静，再闹的地方也无碍于事。故说一切地方都是清静场所也。 | “Araṇya” means a monastery, a tranquil place and an excellent site for cultivating the Way. Ordinary practitioners all hope to find a quiet place in which to practice. But if the mind is not quiet, even having such a place is of no help. Since cultivating the Way takes the mind as primary, when the mind is quiet, even the noisiest place presents no hindrance. Thus, every place may be called a tranquil place. |
| 我们初修法固然以清净地方为宜，但如无适当处所，也不要去分这个地方吵闹，那个地方清净，还以心空为宜！不要粘著在吵闹、清静上面。 | When we first begin practicing, a quiet place is certainly preferable. But if no suitable place is available, do not discriminate that one place is noisy and another quiet. It is better to keep the mind empty. Do not become attached to noise or quiet. |
| 怡然幽居无遮殿，游戏人间实潇洒。 | Serenely dwelling in seclusion in the Uncovered Hall, one freely roams the human world. |
| “怡然”，就是心很安详快乐，心空空地一样东西都没有。“无遮殿”，这个殿是没有任何遮盖的东西，就是我们的真心，不是另有什么地方叫无遮殿。也就是说我们的真心本来不动，本来一法不立，本来清净无染，不管外界怎么吵闹，跟我不相干，我自如游戏人间，潇洒自在，无所挂牵。 | “Serenely” means that the mind is peaceful and joyful, empty of every single thing. The “Uncovered Hall” is a hall without anything covering it; it is our true mind, not some other place called the Uncovered Hall. That is to say, our true mind is originally unmoving, originally not establishing a single dharma, originally pure and unstained. No matter how noisy the external world may be, it has nothing to do with me. I freely roam the human world, at ease and untroubled, with nothing to weigh upon me. |
| 江月照，松风吹，更于何处觅作为， | The river moon shines; the pine wind blows. Where else is there any action to seek? |
| “江月照，松风吹”，这是以景写心。一个清静的夜晚，月在天上，照在江里，江水很清，月影照在里面很清爽。我们念佛持咒也是这样，念到心如清水，佛就如月亮一样照在心上。“松风吹”，风从松叶上吹过来很清香。 | “The river moon shines; the pine wind blows” uses scenery to depict the mind. On a tranquil night, the moon hangs in the sky and shines upon the river. The river water is clear, and the moon’s reflection within it is fresh and bright. Our Buddha-recitation and mantra recitation are the same: when we recite until the mind is like clear water, the Buddha shines upon the mind like the moon. “The pine wind blows” means that the wind passes through the pine needles, carrying a pure fragrance. |
| 譬喻心清净了，随你怎么闹，心都清净无烦。到此时心空如洗，无修、无得、无证，还有什么作为呢？所以我们念佛悟道、参禅悟道都一样。 | This is an analogy for when the mind has become pure: no matter how much disturbance there is, the mind remains pure and free of affliction. At this point, the mind is empty and washed clean; there is no cultivation, no attainment, and no realization. What action could there still be? Thus, whether we recite the Buddha’s name and awaken to the Way or investigate Chan and awaken to the Way, it is the same. |
| 万世古今如电拂，三千刹海一芦苇。 | The ages of past and present pass like a flash of lightning; the ocean of three thousand kṣetras is but a single reed. |
| 时间过得很快，就象拂尘一扫，电光一闪那么快就过去了。我们这个世界看起来已有几亿年了，但也不过象闪电一扫而已，所以无可粘著，任何世界都一样不可得。三千大千世界，象尘尘刹刹的海一样，虽多得不得了，也不过象一根芦苇一样不可得。 | Time passes very quickly, as quickly as a sweep of a whisk or a flash of lightning. Our world appears to have existed for hundreds of millions of years, yet it is no more than a flash of lightning. Therefore, there is nothing to which one can cling; every world is likewise unobtainable. The three thousand great thousand worlds are like an ocean of kṣetras, innumerable beyond measure, yet they too are no more obtainable than a single reed. |
| 旃檀林，无杂树，郁密幽深狮子住， | In the sandalwood grove there are no other trees; dense and deep, it is the dwelling place of lions. |
| “旃檀林”，就是檀香树。“无杂树”，就是说这里一根杂草也没有。就是说我们的心和一切大众的心都是佛性，无有染杂，本来香洁，只须觉悟，不粘尘劳，即能恢复本性，安居于郁密幽深的旃檀林了。 | “The sandalwood grove” means sandalwood trees. “No other trees” means that not even a blade of miscellaneous grass is found there. It means that the minds of ourselves and all people are Buddha-nature, free from defilement and admixture, originally fragrant and pure. We need only awaken and not cling to worldly dust and toil; then we can restore our original nature and dwell peacefully in the dense and secluded sandalwood grove. |
| 境静林间独自游，走兽飞禽皆远去。 | In a quiet realm, I roam alone through the forest; beasts and birds have all gone far away. |
| 在这环境幽静的大树林中独自来往。表示心空无住，不与万物为侣而独往独来。因为绝对真心没有相对的东西，故清净无染，称独往独来。有相对东西就有人我是非，不清净了。但心真清净了，即入闹市，亦如幽林。“走兽飞禽皆远去”，就是妄念颠倒和一切污染的东西都没有了。 | One comes and goes alone in this great forest of quiet surroundings. This signifies that the mind is empty and non-abiding, not keeping company with the myriad things but coming and going alone. Since the absolute true mind has nothing relative to it, it is pure and unstained, and is called “coming and going alone.” Where there are relative things, there are self and others, right and wrong; then there is no purity. But when the mind is truly pure, even upon entering a bustling marketplace, it is like being in a secluded forest. “Beasts and birds have all gone far away” means that deluded, inverted thoughts and every defiling thing have disappeared. |
| 心境明，照无碍，廓然莹彻周法界， | Mind and objects are clear, illumination is unhindered; vast and crystalline, it pervades the dharma realm. |
| 心中一切妄念都没有了，它就朗照大千，无所障碍，象《弥陀经》上讲的：“彼佛光明无量，照十方国，无所障碍。”我们的性能也是如此。“廓然”，辽阔虚空，“莹彻”是光亮无比，一点灰尘都没有，“法界”，即十法界，四圣六凡，都朗照无遗。 | When all deluded thoughts in the mind have vanished, it brightly illuminates the great thousand worlds without any obstruction, just as the Amitābha Sūtra says: “That Buddha’s light is immeasurable, illuminating the lands of the ten directions without obstruction.” Our intrinsic nature is likewise. “Vast” means boundless empty space; “crystalline” means incomparably bright, without a speck of dust. The “dharma realm” is the ten dharma realms—the four noble realms and six ordinary realms—all illuminated without omission. |
| 万象森罗隐现中，一颗圆明无内外。 | Amid the appearing and vanishing of the myriad forms, one perfect luminosity has neither within nor without. |
| “万象森罗隐现中”，就是现在的山河大地、饮食起居和千差万别的事境在我们心中时隐时现，而绝对真心则圆照一切，无内无外。因任何事物都是它显现变化的，而一切转瞬都没有，皆是虚幻，故圆照而无内外也。 | “Amid the appearing and vanishing of the myriad forms” means that the mountains, rivers, earth, food and daily activities, and the countless diverse circumstances of life appear and disappear within our minds. Yet the absolute true mind perfectly illuminates all things, without inside or outside. Since every phenomenon is its manifestation and transformation, and all vanish in an instant and are illusory, its perfect illumination has neither within nor without. |
| 日可冷，月可热，邪见何能坏真说， | The sun may grow cold, the moon may grow hot, but how could wrong views destroy the true teaching? |
| 纵然太阳可以冷却，月亮可以热起来，但是邪见不能把真理毁坏掉。 | Even if the sun could become cold and the moon hot, wrong views could not destroy the truth. |
| 无筋空力大无比，螳螂岂能拒车辙？ | The power of emptiness, without sinews, is immeasurably great; how could a mantis block the ruts of a cart? |
| 一点支撑的东西都没有，即无筋。假如有支撑，那就有筋有骨了。无筋无骨，一点东西都没有的空力是最大的。风的力量比水、火的力量都大。将来坏这四禅天，火烧初禅天，水淹二禅天，风吹三禅天。 | There is nothing at all to provide support—this is what is meant by “without sinews.” If there were support, then there would be sinews and bones. The power of emptiness, without sinews or bones and without a single thing, is the greatest power. The power of wind exceeds that of water and fire. In the future, when these four dhyāna heavens are destroyed, fire burns the first dhyāna heaven, water floods the second, and wind blows apart the third. |
| 无筋空力，即我们的心力，比这力量更大。“螳螂岂能拒车辙”，螳螂的腿就象一把刀，但它能挡住车轮吗？挡不住，车子一滚就把它压死了。 | The power of emptiness without sinews is the power of our own minds, and it is even greater than these forces. “How could a mantis block the ruts of a cart?” A mantis’s legs are like knives, but can it stop a cartwheel? It cannot. Once the cart rolls forward, it crushes the mantis to death. |
| 如实唱，如实听，未曾开口已和竟， | Speak as it truly is; hear as it truly is. Before the mouth has opened, the response is already complete. |
| 真正说是无说，真正听是无听，没开口已讲完了，现在说是多说了。 | True speaking is no speaking, and true hearing is no hearing. Before the mouth opens, all has already been said; what is spoken now is superfluous. |
| 三世诸佛齐唱和，尽未来际无穷尽。 | The Buddhas of the three times join in singing this refrain; throughout the future without end, it is inexhaustible. |
| 《证道歌》是永嘉禅师作的，《解脱歌》是大愚师公依照永嘉禅师的原韵和唱的。尽未来际，三世诸佛唱和此歌无有穷尽。因此歌是心声，心是亘古长存、无有尽时的，故歌亦长和唱无尽。又三世诸佛说即无说，无说即说，故风声鸟语、山崩海啸，无不是此歌之唱和。尽未来际，世界无穷，此歌亦无尽也！ | The Song of Enlightenment was composed by Chan Master Yongjia, while the Song of Liberation was sung in response by Patriarch Dayu, following Yongjia Chan Master’s original rhyme. Throughout the future without end, the Buddhas of the three times sing this song in response without exhaustion. For this song is the voice of mind, and mind endures through all antiquity without ever coming to an end; therefore, the song too is endlessly sung in response. Moreover, the Buddhas of the three times speak without speaking, and without speaking they speak. Thus, the sound of wind, the cries of birds, mountain collapses, and ocean roars are all responsive singing of this song. Throughout the future without end, worlds are infinite, and this song too is inexhaustible. |
| 歌毕不觉哈哈大笑，和者喝曰：不怕开了口合不得吗？诸人且道，这疯汉哈哈大笑，毕竟作么生？ | When the song ended, he burst into laughter. The respondent shouted, “Are you not afraid that, once you open your mouth, you will be unable to close it?” Tell me, everyone: why exactly is this madman laughing so heartily? |
| 我们大愚法师这么哈哈大笑，大家说说看，究竟为什么？ | Our Dharma Master Dayu laughed heartily in this way. Tell me, everyone: why exactly? |
| 父母所生口，终不向你道！可怜生，直落得一场么罗！ | A mouth born of one’s parents will never tell you! What a pity—you end up in a complete muddle! |
