Letter Seventeen 第十七封
| 2022-10-21 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 第十七封 |
Letter Seventeen |
| 尊敬的恩师： |
Revered and Gracious Teacher: |
| 祝您少病少恼常沐法乐 愿您转妙法轮度诸众生 修持记录： 2月8日——2月15日：六印第一座——第八座。四印最易结，六印最难结。难在二无名指甲不易同时抵在右大指上。 |
May you have fewer illnesses and afflictions and ever bathe in the joy of the Dharma. May you turn the wondrous Dharma wheel and liberate all sentient beings. Record of practice: February 8–15: the first through eighth sessions of the Sixth Mudrā. The Fourth Mudrā is the easiest to form, and the Sixth Mudrā the most difficult. The difficulty lies in making the nails of both ring fingers simultaneously touch the right thumb. |
| 尽管交叉处向指尖移，也只能使二无名指甲抵大指上节，二小指甲抵大指下节文。四指甲都抵大指上节文很难办到。【不必俱抵上节文。】二中指二指头并直伸，拆开二分，有师父教导，夹一布团，尚不难做到。 |
Even if I move the crossing point toward the fingertips, I can only make the two ring-finger nails touch the upper joint of the thumb and the two little-finger nails touch the crease below the thumb joint. It is very difficult to make all four fingernails touch the crease at the upper thumb joint. [They need not all touch the crease at the upper joint.] With the two middle fingers held together and extended straight, then separated by about two fen, it is not too difficult to do as the Master instructed and place a small wad of cloth between them. |
| 【最好能不用布团夹在指中。】 2月16日——2月22日：百座后首期。自此日起，七日一循环。星期五二印，余六日四印。每日早起，坐二小时已成生活习惯，约5时入座，七时起座。 |
[It is best not to use a wad of cloth between the fingers.] February 16–22: the first week after one hundred sessions. From this day onward, each cycle consists of seven days. On Fridays I use the Second Mudrā, and on the other six days the Fourth Mudrā. Rising early each day and sitting for two hours has become a habit of life. I generally sit at about five o’clock and rise from the seat at seven. |
| 马蹄表声若存若亡，若不留意，整座似不闻表响。一想起表，嘀嗒声便清晰可闻。弟子“初于闻中，入流亡所”的功夫尚不到家。【坐中不可想什么，须一切放下，自然晏然入定。 |
The ticking of the alarm clock seems to be there and not there. If I do not attend to it, it seems that throughout the entire session I do not hear it. As soon as I think of the clock, however, its ticking becomes clearly audible. This disciple’s practice of “initially entering the current of hearing and forgetting the object” is still inadequate. [During meditation, do not think of anything. You must let go of everything, and then you will naturally enter samādhi peacefully. |
| 】 《佛心经品亦通大随求陀罗尼经》似是两部经名，一部经是《佛心经》，一部经是《大随求陀罗尼经》。“品亦通”三字之意，是说《佛心经》中某些品与《大随求陀罗尼经》中某些品是相通的。 |
] The Buddha-Heart Sūtra, Also Corresponding to the Great Wish-Fulfilling Dhāraṇī seems to be the titles of two sūtras: one is The Buddha-Heart Sutra, and the other is the Great Wish-Fulfilling Dhāraṇī Sūtra. The three characters pin yi tong, “also corresponding,” mean that certain sections of The Buddha-Heart Sutra correspond to certain sections of the Great Wish-Fulfilling Dhāraṇī Sūtra. |
| 弟子对经名的理解若不对，请师父教导。【心中心咒乃与大随求陀罗尼的第八咒相同，故云“亦通”也。】约人·法·喻七种立名，“佛心”是法，“大随求陀罗尼”亦是法，二经均是单法立名。 |
If this disciple’s understanding of the title is incorrect, please instruct me, Master. [The Heart-of-Heart mantra is identical with the eighth mantra of the Great Wish-Fulfilling Dhāraṇī; hence it is said to “also correspond.”] According to the seven ways of naming by person, dharma, and metaphor, “Buddha-heart” is a dharma, and “Great Wish-Fulfilling Dhāraṇī” is also a dharma; both sūtras are named solely by dharma. |
| 若约佛为人，约心为法，《佛心经》便是人法立名。怎样才算对呢？ 【后者对，但这些是天台宗的说法，与心宗无甚关系。因它宗的五时说法，有很多不妥处。】菩提流支奉诏译经，约是五世纪事，宣武帝请师译经。 |
If Buddha is taken as the person and heart as the dharma, then The Buddha-Heart Sutra is named by person and dharma. Which is correct? [The latter is correct, but these are Tiantai school teachings and have little to do with the Mind school. Moreover, its theory of the five periods of teaching has many inadequacies.] Bodhiruci translated sūtras by imperial edict, presumably in the fifth century, when Emperor Xuanwu invited him to translate them. |
| 弟子所知，仅限于此。法师生平及宣武帝是梁朝君主吗？【非梁乃唐也，法师生平事迹不详，只知翻译经文很多。】 上卷末：“尔时大众闻此法已，欢喜奉行，礼佛而退。”已至流通分。 |
This is all that this disciple knows. Was the Dharma Master’s lifetime, and Emperor Xuanwu, during the Liang dynasty? [It was not the Liang but the Tang dynasty. Details of the Dharma Master’s life are unknown; we know only that he translated many sūtras.] At the end of the upper volume: “At that time, having heard this Dharma, the assembly rejoiced, faithfully accepted it, bowed to the Buddha, and withdrew.” This has already reached the dissemination section. |
| 【《佛心经品亦通大随求陀罗尼》至此已终。】下卷首云：“尔时阿难处大众中”，不知如何连贯。【下卷乃另述随心陀罗尼，故云“法别”，统属心中心印心之法，故别为上下卷。】上卷末注：佛心中心经卷上。 |
[The Buddha-Heart Sūtra, Also Corresponding to the Great Wish-Fulfilling Dhāraṇī ends here.] At the beginning of the lower volume it says, “At that time, Ānanda was among the great assembly.” I do not know how this connects. [The lower volume separately expounds the Wish-Fulfilling Dhāraṇī, and thus says that “the dharma differs.” Together, they belong to the Heart-of-Heart Mind-Seal Dharma, and are therefore separately arranged as upper and lower volumes.] The note at the end of the upper volume reads: “Buddha-Heart Heart-of-Heart Sūtra, Upper Volume.” |
| 下卷经题：佛心中心印品中卷下 法别 下卷末注：佛说心中心经卷下 这是一经多名，还是多经选品合为一经，请恩师开示。祝恩师 常沐法乐！【此法虽为释迦文佛所说，但本尊为随求菩萨，而随求菩萨又为观世音菩萨所化也。故密宗中，如只供一尊观世音菩萨，即可代表一切诸佛。】 |
The title of the lower volume reads: “Buddha-Heart Heart-of-Heart Mind-Seal Section, Middle Volume, Lower Dharma, Separate Dharma.” The note at the end of the lower volume reads: “The Buddha’s Teaching of the Heart-of-Heart Sūtra, Lower Volume.” Is this one sūtra with multiple titles, or are selections from several sūtras combined into one? I respectfully request your instruction, gracious Teacher. May you ever bathe in the joy of the Dharma! [Although this Dharma was taught by Śākyamuni Buddha, its yidam is the Wish-Fulfilling Bodhisattva, who is in turn an emanation of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva. Therefore, in Esoteric Buddhism, offering to Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva alone can represent all Buddhas.] |
| 弟子 齐志军 顶礼 |
Your disciple, Qi Zhijun, bows in reverence |
| 1990年2月22日 |
February 22, 1990 |
| 【永寿童子】上师说的天台宗五时说法，有不妥之处。到底不妥在什么处呢？ |
[Youth Yongshou] The Master says that the Tiantai school’s doctrine of the five periods of teaching has some inadequacies. Precisely where are its inadequacies? |
| 【LVM】举一个例子吧：《四十二章经》属于何时说法？你可能明确地知道，这是一部小乘经典，应属于阿含时。 |
[LVM] Let us take one example. To which period of teaching does the Sutra in Forty-Two Sections belong? You may know clearly that it is a Hīnayāna sūtra and should belong to the Āgama period. |
| 再看《四十二章经》的这一章：“佛言：饭恶人百，不如饭一善人；饭善人千，不如饭一持五戒者；饭五戒者万，不如饭一须陀洹；饭百万须陀洹，不如饭一斯陀含；饭千万斯陀含，不如饭一阿那含；饭一亿阿那含，不如饭一阿 |
Now consider this chapter of the Sutra in Forty-Two Sections: |
| 罗汉；饭十亿阿罗汉，不如饭一辟支佛；饭百亿辟支佛，不如饭一三世诸佛；饭千亿三世诸佛，不如饭一无念无住无修无证之者。”这章经文没有提到菩萨，显然属于小乘经典。 |
“The Buddha said: Feeding one hundred evil people is not equal to feeding one good person; feeding one thousand good people is not equal to feeding one person who upholds the five precepts; feeding ten thousand people who uphold the five precepts is not equal to feeding one srotāpanna; feeding one million srotāpannas is not equal to feeding one sakadāgāmin; feeding ten million sakadāgāmins is not equal to feeding one anāgāmin; feeding one hundred million anāgāmins is not equal to feeding one arhat; feeding one billion arhats is not equal to feeding one pratyekabuddha; feeding ten billion pratyekabuddhas is not equal to feeding all the Buddhas of the three times; feeding one hundred billion Buddhas of the three times is not equal to feeding one who is without thought, without abiding, without practice, and without realization.” This chapter does not mention bodhisattvas and is plainly a Hīnayāna sūtra. |
| 但是，最后那一句超佛越祖的“无念无住无修无证之者”总不会是阿含时所说之法吧！所以，尽管天台宗“五时说法”的教义颇有道理，十分方便，非常可取，为古今大德交口称赞，也不能把话说绝了。虽然瑕不掩瑜，也还是有不妥之处的。 |
Yet surely the final phrase, “one who is without thought, without abiding, without practice, and without realization,” which transcends Buddhas and patriarchs, is not a teaching spoken during the Āgama period! Therefore, although the Tiantai school’s doctrine of the “five periods of teaching” is quite reasonable, highly expedient, and very commendable, and has been universally praised by eminent masters both ancient and modern, one cannot state it too absolutely. Though its merits outweigh its flaws, it still has some inadequacies. |
| 【永寿童子】我觉得心密学子看了《佛心经》上卷，基本就可以懂得如何修法了。下卷多谈神通，可不可以在流通时只印刷上卷？ |
[Youth Yongshou] I feel that once students of the Mind-Seal school have read the upper volume of The Buddha-Heart Sutra, they basically understand how to practice the Dharma. The lower volume speaks much of spiritual powers. When it is circulated, might only the upper volume be printed? |
| 【LVM】在形成大藏的漫长岁月里，免不了有些经典会散失，当然也会有被抢救回来的。既是被抢救，就难免有些许残缺。既有残缺，也当有补救措施。有一个文绉绉的词，叫做“会集”，其实这就是补救残缺的方法。 |
[LVM] Over the long centuries in which the Buddhist canon took shape, some sūtras were inevitably lost, while others were of course recovered. Once recovered, they inevitably had some slight deficiencies. Where there are deficiencies, remedial measures are needed. There is a somewhat literary term, “compilation”; in fact, this is a method of remedying deficiencies. |
| 《佛心经》上下两卷，明显有经过古人会集的痕迹。尽管如此，毕竟已经收进大藏，成为一体。若只流通上卷，岂不复起残缺之感了么！ |
The upper and lower volumes of The Buddha-Heart Sutra clearly bear traces of having been compiled by people of old. Even so, they have after all been included in the Buddhist canon and have become one whole. If only the upper volume were circulated, would that not revive the sense of incompleteness? |
