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English Translation:
Original Text:
不净如空，身心空寂，能所双亡
护眼色:绿 橙 棕 黑 字体:粗体 大 中 小 作者:达照法师 发布时间:2016-2-12 17:31:31 繁体字
English Translation:
The contemplation of impurity is indeed a simple yet effective method for removing attachment and craving toward the physical body and the dust-laden world; in the practice of the path of liberation it occupies a position of great importance. Because the reason sentient beings’ minds are trapped lies precisely in their clinging to the body and to things outside the body—inwardly this is a grasping after visual forms—the Buddha therefore instructs us: “Among beings who are strongly attached, practise the contemplation of impurity often!” When one’s contemplation of impurity has matured into the vision of “bare bones,” then every kind of craving for form is naturally overcome.
Original Text:
不净观确实是去除对色身、尘劳贪着的简易而有效的方法，在解脱道上的修行中占据了非常重要的位置。因为众生心灵被困的原因就是对身体及身外之物的黏着，在心灵上就是贪着色相，所以佛陀告诉我们要“多贪众生不净观”！当不净观成就骨人净观的时候，所有色相方面的贪着也就自然被克服了。
English Translation:
Once one is no longer bewildered by external things and can lightly experience “passing through a hundred flower thickets without a single leaf clinging to one’s body,” that is a skill tempered through training; then the bustling “multicoloured blossoms that would confuse the eyes” of the red dust of the world turn into the fresh greenness of “a traveller’s lodge where the new willows shine.” When the inner obstacles have been eliminated, an entirely new feeling naturally arises: the whole sky appears blue, drifting white clouds are a delicate happiness, green mountains and clear waters, the chanting of cicadas and song of birds, a gentle breeze arriving, thin mist like gauze—body and mind entrust themselves to the vast clean firmament, perception meets the natural world without seeking anything. What could still give rise to greed and grasping?!
Original Text:
当不再被外界的事物所迷惑，轻松地体验“百花丛中过，片叶不沾身”，那就是一种历练的功夫，而“乱花时欲迷人眼”的红尘滚滚也会变得“客舍青青柳色新” 了！心中的障碍消除了，自然会出现全新的感觉，看到天空都是蓝的，白云飘过都是一种曼妙的幸福，青山绿水，蝉鸣鸟叫，清风徐来，薄雾如纱，身心寄情于长空洁净，见闻觉受于自然无求，还有什么可以产生贪婪和执着的呢？！
English Translation:
Ordinarily, when people encounter impure things they generate feelings of aversion and rejection, and along with that arises the sensation of “duḥkha”—suffering. People dislike filth and uncleanliness, especially when it concerns their own bodies or those of others; they are even less willing to behold scenes of the whole body suppurating with pus or blackened with bruises, to the point that extreme nausea and distress may appear—these all lie within the domain of suffering.
Original Text:
通常人们对于不净的事物，总会产生抵触和排斥的心理，同时也就会有“苦”的觉受出现。人们都是不喜欢肮脏和不干净的东西，尤其是对于自身和他身来说，更不愿看到全身脓烂青淤的情景，甚至会出现极度恶心难受的反应，这些都是苦的范围。
English Translation:
Some people, through the contemplation of impurity, come to feel a powerful sense of “impermanence” with respect to the human world—especially toward a bodily form they once cherished. Practising the contemplation of impurity while still caught in passionate attachment, they find that not a trace of joy can be stirred up for the object they formerly treasured. What once was loved so intensely turns, in an instant, into profound revulsion; this mental transformation is both immense and swift, producing within the mind a vivid intuition of radical impermanence.
Original Text:
也有些人会通过不净观而对人世间产生“无常”的强烈感受，特别是针对自己喜欢的色身，在贪着爱恋的情形下，进行不净观之后，会发现自己对曾经所爱惜的对象丝毫都生不起喜悦感。而曾经是如何如何地爱惜的对境，瞬间成为了那么那么地厌恶，这种心理的变化既是巨大的，又是迅速的，这就给内心造成了极为无常的幻化感。
English Translation:
Others, after practising the contemplation of impurity, glimpse another facet of life’s truth—namely, the reality of “no-self.” All craving and hatred arise from a powerful sense of self. Once the contemplation of impurity has been mastered, the practitioner’s heart no longer clenches around desire and aversion; indeed, former emotions are scarcely worth paying attention to. Under the twin pressures of suffering and impermanence, the sense of self grows ever more distant and illusory, until finally one enters a fresh re-examination of that very self. Yet hidden behind suffering and impermanence there lies a pair of profound eyes of wisdom: the wisdom that sees no-self.
Original Text:
还有些人则会在不净观之后，看到了生命的一个侧面真相，那就是“无我”的真实。一切爱欲和仇恨都来源于强大的自我感觉，当不净观修成之后，行者内心对于爱欲和仇恨不再是那么咬牙切齿，甚至不会过多地搭理以往的那些情绪，在苦和无常的双重压力下，自我感觉越来越遥远、越来越虚幻，最后当然会进入对自我的重新审视阶段。而在苦和无常的背后，却深深地隐藏着一双智慧的眼睛，那就是无我的智慧。
English Translation:
Under the contemplation that illumines no-self, the ordinary person’s four fundamental inversions—the notions that life is permanent, pleasurable, possessed of a self, and pure—are completely dismantled. The resulting vision of life is one of impermanence, suffering, no-self, and impurity; thereby the wrong and inverted grasping of deluded thoughts is eliminated, and all the mental afflictions obstructing the mind vanish like smoke. The true mind presents itself like the open sky, reflecting mountains, rivers, and the myriad phenomena. When the sky shows not the slightest cloud, beneath that azure vault all things overflow with an inexhaustible, majestic vitality. The Buddha declared: “Because this arises, that arises; because this is, that is; because this ceases, that ceases; because this is absent, that is absent.”
Original Text:
在无我的智慧观照之下，凡夫四种颠倒：常、乐、我、净的人生观被彻底摧毁，从而得出的人生认知是：无常、苦、无我、不净，也因此消除了妄想执着的颠倒错谬，所有障碍心灵的烦恼也随之烟消云散。真心就像天空一样呈现出来，映衬着山河大地、森罗万象。天空中没有一丝云彩，湛蓝蔚蓝的天幕下，万物都充满着无尽庄严的蓬勃生机，佛说：此生故彼生，此有故彼有；此灭故彼灭，此无故彼无。
English Translation:
Impurity like space: when the contemplation of impurity reaches its utmost point, the whole realm of body and mind becomes a single field of emptiness and quiescence; subject and object are naturally both extinguished, self and others merge into non-duality, karmic obstacles have completely fallen away, and liberation stands immediately before one’s eyes. Impurity like space: the contemplation of impurity dissolves every inner knot, causes all external objects that entice body or mind to disappear from the pursuing gaze; inside and outside become bright and clean, ethereal and pellucid. Impurity like space means: without self, without others, without a world—yet flowers, moon, and pavilions still appear.
Original Text:
不净如空，不净观到了极致的时候，身心世界一片空寂，能所自然双亡，自他融入不二，业障皆已远离，解脱就在目前。不净如空，不净观让内在的所有纠结都化为乌有，让诱惑自身自心的所有外境从追索的目光中消失，内外明洁，空灵剔透。不净如空，就是：无我无人无世界，有花有月有楼台。
English Translation:
Dharma-teacher Dazhao: Contemplating the Body—Its Nature and Appearance
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Original Text:
达照法师：观身性相
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English Translation:
Chan never departs from the original mind, yet it also never departs from the original body. “Contemplating the body” Chan begins with oneself: by observing the body in all its aspects, one may enter through the perspectives of impermanence, suffering, no-self, impurity, and so forth, thereby removing the greed, anger, and delusion that arise on account of the body; or one may equally enter through permanence, bliss, self, and purity, thereby triggering the body’s supreme, marvellous function in accord with its own reality—truly inconceivable! To contemplate the body’s reality means to observe the most authentic and comprehensive configuration of oneself; the implication is that in daily life our observation of ourselves is not at all complete. Because our minds are scattered and disorderly, we actually know very little about our own bodies. The Chan method of contemplating the body proceeds layer by layer, penetrating more and more deeply; naturally it differs greatly from methods that contemplate the mind!
Original Text:
禅不离本心，但也不离本身。观身禅就是从自身入手，通过对身体的全方位观察，既能够从无常、苦、无我、不净等等角度契入，从而去除了因为身体而带来的贪嗔痴烦恼，又可以从常、乐、我、净的角度契入，从而开启了自身实相的无上妙用，真是不可思议！观身实相就是观察自身的最真实最全面的相状，言外之意即是平时我们对自身的观察并不全面。因为我们内心散乱无序，所以对自己的身体反而所知甚少。观身禅是层层深入观察自身的禅法，与观心禅法自然有着巨大的差别！
English Translation:
By observing the body that possesses appearances, one can awaken completely to the dependent-arising of life; once dependent-arising is fully realised, one is able to comprehend that all dharmas are of empty nature. To understand dependent-arising and empty nature is already to draw near to the Way. As the sūtras say: “To contemplate the nature and appearances of the body is the same as contemplating empty space.” Why is this said? Because in the process of Chan meditation, as meditative concentration deepens, the power of observation—or awareness—naturally progresses from shallow to deep; at the same time, through the balanced cultivation of concentration and wisdom, and through unremitting effort, the discerning power of wisdom likewise increases, so that at different stages one discovers different inner meanings of one’s own body. In the long run, comparing mind to mind, body to body, body to things, mind, body, and phenomena all become mutually integrated and unhindered; one realises that they all manifest under the propulsion of karmic force, all arising and ceasing through conditions, illusory in arising and ceasing, unborn and undying.
Original Text:
观察有相之身，亦能彻悟生命之缘起；彻悟缘起之法，即能了达万法之性空。明了缘起性空，则近乎道。如经云：观身性相同于虚空。为什么这么说呢？因为在禅修的过程中，随着禅定功夫的深入，观察力或觉察力自然而然地由浅入深；同时定慧等持，通过不懈努力，智慧的审察能力也随之提高，于是会在不同的阶段，发现自己身体的不同内涵。久而久之，将心比心、将身比身、将身比物，心、身、物都能够融会贯通，明了这一切都是在业力的驱使下呈现出来的，也都是缘生缘灭、幻生幻灭、不生不灭。
English Translation:
Beginning with the seven-point sitting posture, the practitioner turns inward to contemplate the body: without deluded thoughts, without discursive mentation, awareness bright and clear, the body-mind joyful and at ease. Entirely collected, one settles into absorption; body and mind become silent, unmoving and unshaken, neither leaning nor tilting. With the mind settled in accordance with the Dharma, meditative stability grows, making it easy to give rise to wisdom. When wisdom is full and the inner light gathers, one may behold the thirty-six elements within the body and various other scenes; when that inner light shines outward, one can also illuminate the coming and going of the five-aggregate “floating clouds,” so that inside and outside interpenetrate, with no self and no one else. In an instant all situations of rights and wrongs are forgotten—rounded, radiant, the body-mind world entirely illumined, the true aspect of all dharmas luminously present. From the body one awakens to the principle of the non-duality of nature and appearances: nature is appearances, appearances are nature; nature and appearances are perfectly interfused, all converging in completeness—freely unobstructed, indescribably subtle.
Original Text:
行者从七支坐法开始，内观自身，无妄无念，觉照明了，身心怡悦，浑然入定，身心寂然，不动不摇，不倚不斜，安心如法，定功增上，便易开慧。慧力充盈，心光内聚，即可观见身中三十六物，及诸种种景象；心光外露，亦可照见五蕴浮云虚幻出没，内外交融，无我无人，顿时忘却所有情境是非，圆坨坨、光灿灿，身心世界，无不遍照，诸法实相，朗然现前。从身明了性相不二之理，性即是相，相即是性，性相圆融，所趋皆圆，自在无碍，微妙无比。
English Translation:
If the four foundations of mindfulness constitute the core method of Chan meditation, then the Theravāda teaching of the four foundations serves only as the fundamental means toward liberation and the realisation of nirvāṇa; it is solely the Mahāyāna four foundations that form the unsurpassed, marvellous method leading toward bodhi. This is because the four foundations in the path of liberation, taken from the perspective of ordinary life, meticulously observe that notions of permanence, happiness, self, and purity—clung to in daily existence—are nothing but beautiful wishes of one’s own making; in fact, real life is not as imagined. Real life is full of limitation, narrowness, change, and lack of autonomy; it cannot possibly be eternal, immutable, or ultimately blissful. Hence, describing it with impermanence, suffering, no-self, and impurity is more objective, and finally one arrives at conclusions consonant with the liberation path.
Original Text:
如果说四念处是禅修的核心方法，那么南传的四念处法仅仅只是走向解脱、证悟涅槃的根本方法，只有大乘佛法的四念处才是趋向菩提的无上妙法。因为解脱道的四念处是从现实人生的角度，深入仔细地观察到：现实人生中所执着的永恒、快乐、自我、清净等都只是一厢情愿的美好愿望而已，事实上现实的人生并非想象的那样，现实的人生充满了局限、狭隘、变数、不能自主，也不可能是永恒不变和究竟快乐的。所以用无常、苦、无我、不净来做一个更加客观的描述，最终得出了解脱道相应的结论。
English Translation:
When the flourishing age of Mahāyāna Buddhism arrived, this pattern of thinking in terms of opposites—right and wrong, good and bad, wholesome and unwholesome, ordinary and saintly—was repeatedly refuted. Mahāyāna holds an even deeper and more complete view of the four foundations of mindfulness: namely, that life is already complete and perfect; one only needs to realise it and then cultivate on the basis of that realisation—there is no need to memorise doctrines or to remodel reality. Since realisation is required, begin directly with the body’s own nature: observe the nature of oneself, which has always been thus—such-like, unmoving, unborn, undying, nature and appearances non-dual; whatever comes and goes is thoroughly understood, like empty space, free and unobstructed. ——Published in Oriental Morning Post, 2 January 2016, page B05
Original Text:
时至大乘佛法兴盛时期，这种对错、好坏、善恶、凡圣只是对立而言的思维模式就被反复地否认了。大乘佛法对四念处还有更加深刻而又完整的看法，也就是大乘所说的生命都是圆满的、完美的，只需要去悟、悟后起修，不需要去记忆和改造。既然要去体悟，那就直接从身体的本性上着手，观察自身之性质，原本都是如此这般的如如不动、不生不灭、性相一如，能来所来，皆悉了然，犹如虚空，自在无碍。----发表于《东方早报》（2016年1月2日第B05版）
English Translation:
Dharma-teacher Dazhao: The Basic Conditions for Entering Meditative Absorption
Blog “Sea of Wisdom—Dazhao Fashi” Posted 18 June 2015 07:54
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Original Text:
达照法师：进入禅定的基本条件
智慧海达照法师的博客达照法师2015-06-18 07:54
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English Translation:
To obtain a meditative experience that accords with principle and Dharma, one must understand the basic conditions for entering absorption—what the scriptures call the five “grove-merits” (jhāna-factors) indispensable for deep practice: initial application (vitarka), sustained application (vicāra), joy (pīti), bliss (sukha), and single-pointed equanimity (upekkhā). That is:
• Initial application—one must have a searching mind toward one’s own sensations, bringing to light even the subtlest feeling exactly as it is;
• Sustained application—with firm will one guards the discovered feeling, not allowing other discursive thoughts to intrude, purely holding each noticed sensation;
• Joy—letting that guarded feeling evoke a mood of delight and a bodily sense of rapture;
• Bliss—an inner gladness, a satisfaction and vibrant ease that arises from a balanced state of body and mind, such that both simultaneously experience happiness;
• Equanimity at one point—the most fundamental: wholehearted, unified concentration, casting aside all stray thoughts, single-mindedly safeguarding the sensations occurring in the body.
With these five jhāna-factors present, one can abide for a long while in the domain of “joy of meditation.”
Original Text:
要想获得如理如法的禅定觉受，就需明白进入禅定的基本条件，即所谓禅法支林功德，就是深入禅修必须具备的五个方面：寻、伺、喜、乐、舍。也就是对自身的觉受要有寻找之心，哪怕是极为微小的一个觉受都要原原本本地找出来（寻）；并且对所寻找出来的感觉需要坚定的意志力来伺守住，不让别的心念妄想参与其中，纯粹地守住觉察到的每一个感觉（伺）；并让这种感觉引发喜悦的情怀，引发身体的喜悦感（喜）；内心的愉悦，发自内心深处的一种身心平衡状态下的满足感和兴奋，身心同时感到了快乐（乐）；但最根本的就是心一境性，即全神贯注的、身心合一的专注力，摈弃一切妄念，专心致志守护着身体所发生的觉受（舍）。有了这五支的禅林功德，那就会长时间保持着“禅悦”的境界。
English Translation:
When all five basic conditions are present, one may begin from the coarse level of “contemplating the body,” deliberately seeking out every condition of the body, then guarding it so that stability and delight arise while concentration is never weakened. Proceeding a little deeper to “contemplating feeling,” one becomes perfectly aware of every bodily-mental sensation and gains an irreplaceable sense of joy; at once the body-mind grows light and free, and every sensation acquires a faint aesthetic quality. At that point one must slowly withdraw the range of attention so that it gathers upon the inner “experiencer of sensations”—that which we ordinarily call “mind.” This requires the practice of mindfulness-of-mind (cittānupassanā).
Original Text:
在这五种基本条件都具备的情况下，也可以从粗浅的“观身”开始就寻找身体的每一种状况，继而守住，产生安定和愉悦，同时专注力不能减少。进而到稍微深一点的“观受”上，对身心的所有觉受都了如指掌，并能从中获得不可替代的愉悦感，顿时身心会变得轻松自在，所有的感觉都会隐隐约约地产生美感。此时，需要把注意力的范围慢慢地收摄到内在的“觉受者”上，也就是通常我们认为的“心”上面来，这就需要有心念处的修法了。
English Translation:
Mindfulness-of-mind means releasing the fixation on sensations themselves and, instead, focusing still further upon the “one who experiences.” The scriptures say: “Gather the mind in one point and there is nothing that cannot be accomplished.” Returning to the mind’s original, pristine state, you discover that life is profoundly rich and multicoloured. The most primordial place is this very mind: shedding its heavy false shell, it reveals our original face in full. The practical method for mindfulness-of-mind is completed in three progressive steps.
Original Text:
心念处就是放下对觉受的专注和执着，而是要从觉受上更进一步地专注“觉受者”，通常会认为是我们的心。佛经说：制心一处，无事不办。回归生命的原始本真状态上，你就会发现生命是如此的丰富多彩、色彩斑斓。最原始的地方就是自己的这颗心，也就是蜕下厚厚的虚伪外装，全然透露出吾人的本来面目。对于心念处的用功方法就是分开三个步骤逐渐来完成。
English Translation:
First, perceive your own inner emotions, stray thoughts, unwholesome ideas, and afflictions; recognise that you are, in truth, a veritable field of vexations. All mental movements arise from various value-judgements—trace them to their roots and clarify the arising, abiding, change, and passing away of every thought so that, ideally, all is seen at a glance.
Second, behold the place behind emotions and thoughts where there are no emotions and thoughts; watch every rise and fall of mind and mood as six dragons dancing—each fluctuation is clearly observed, and the power of awareness is never lost. Once this concentration is gradually cultivated, even the most unbearable emotions and external circumstances can no longer disturb the heart.
Third, see that both the thoughts and emotions perceived, being dependently arisen, are without self-nature—empty through and through; likewise, the inner faculty that perceives them is dependently arisen and empty. When subject and object both vanish, mind and scene interpenetrate, and the three angles from which a thought arises (object-thought, subject-thought, and their simultaneous disappearance) all appear vividly at once. At this point, the mindfulness-of-mind practice has reached consummate mastery, and the merit is immense.
Original Text:
第一是要看到自己内在的情绪、杂念、恶念、烦恼等等，明了自己也是个名副其实的烦恼场，一切心念都从各种各样的价值观而来，追根究底地把所有心念的生住异灭弄清楚，最好是能够一目了然。第二是要看到自己情绪、心念背后的没有情绪和心念的地方，看住一切心念和情绪的来来去去，就好像是六龙跳舞，所有的心念起伏来去都很清楚，不令遗失觉照之力。这个专注力慢慢培养起来之后，世间最难堪的情绪和外缘也无从干扰内心了。第三是要看到：所看见的心念和情绪缘起无自性，空空如也，能看见的内在觉察力也是缘起无自性，空空如也，能所双亡，心境交融，心念升起来的三个角度(所念、能念、能所双亡)都同时赫然呈现，此时的心念处禅法就达到了炉火纯青的地步，功德也是巨大的。
English Translation:
Finally comes the cultivation of mindfulness-of-dhammas (dhammānupassanā). One surveys all dharmas—internal and external, material and mental, that is, the dependent-arising of the five aggregates shared by body-mind and world—and contemplates them thoroughly and minutely. The conclusion reached should accord with the Buddha’s teaching: “Clearly behold the emptiness of the five aggregates and cross all suffering and calamity.” While observing all dharmas, one perceives impermanence, for every phenomenon in the world is nothing but the unfolding of impermanence; seeing impermanence, one then sees no-self, because behind impermanent things there is no governing self nor any object that could truly be governed—impermanent dependent-arising is itself empty by nature. Seeing no-self is to see nirvāṇa: nirvāṇa is without subject or object, originally beyond seeing and not beyond seeing, where words fail and thought ceases, neither coming nor going nor abiding in the present. Only thus can one truly obtain the sublime benefit of the body-contemplation Chan method. (Text by Dharma-teacher Dazhao)
Original Text:
最后是法念处的修习。对身心内外一切万法，也就是色心二法，或者说五蕴的缘起法，对这些身心世界共同拥有的万事万物，一一进行全面细致地观照，所得结论便能符合佛陀的教诲，就是“照见五蕴皆空，度一切苦厄”。观察一切法的同时，就能见到无常，因为世间一切万法无非都是无常的演绎而已；见无常就能见到无我，因为无常的事物背后并没有任何一个能主宰的自我，或可以被主宰的实物，无常的缘起本质即是性空；见无我即见涅槃，涅槃无能所，本来不可见，亦不可不见，言亡虑绝，非去来今。如此方能真正得到观身禅法的殊胜利益。（文：达照法师）
English Translation:
Dharma-teacher Dazhao: How Can One Distinguish Genuine Right Knowledge and Right View?
Posted by “Thus It Is” [article ‧ space ‧ message] Date: 8 February 2016 15:32 Bookmark Share on Weibo, WeChat, Alipay Support the True Dharma
Original Text:
达照法师：如何分辩真正的正知正见？
发布：如是 ［文章 空间 留言］ 日期:2016/2/8 15:32:00 收藏 微博、微信、支付宝分享 护持正法
English Translation:
When speaking of right knowledge and right view, the scriptures tell us that the Buddha taught the Dharma to beings on the basis of two truths—the conventional truth and the ultimate truth. They also say: “Without gaining the conventional truth, one cannot gain the ultimate truth.” What does this mean? It means there are two kinds of view. One is the view of ordinary life in the world, which teaches you how to be a good person. The second is the supramundane right knowledge and right view of the Buddha-Dharma. What is the highest worldly view? Merely two words: cause and effect. If, after living several decades as a human being, you can understand the meaning of “cause and effect,” you will certainly not go far astray.
I once met an elderly gentleman, ninety-five years old, who told me he had already seen five generations pass away. As a child he watched his grandfather die; when grown he saw his father die; later he witnessed peers and even his son die; now even a grandson has died. Having seen so many deaths, he summed up his experience thus: “Good produces good results; evil produces evil results. Those who do good deeds will surely have descendants who fare well; those who do evil will not themselves fare well for long.” Therefore, in my view, within the highest worldly wisdom and right view, everything can be encompassed by the two words “cause and effect.” That is the first point.
Original Text:
谈到正知正见，按照佛经里面说，佛依二谛为众生说法，就是依世俗谛和第一义谛。又说，不得世俗谛则不得第一义谛。什么意思呢?就是知见有两种，一种是现实人生的知见，世间的知见，就是叫你怎么做个好人。第二种就是出世间的佛法的正知正见。世间的最高的知见是什么?就是两个字：因果。如果你这一生做人，做了几十年能够明白因果两个字，你这人肯定不会差到哪里去。我认识到一个老先生，95岁，他告诉我，他已经见过五代人去世了。小时候看到他爷爷去世，长大了父亲去世，再长大了他的同辈以及儿子去世，现在也有他的孙子去世了。他见过的人已经很多了，他说得出的经验就是：善有善报，恶有恶报。做好事的，他一定子孙后代都好;做坏事的，过不了多长时间自己都不好了。所以，按照世间的最高的智慧、正知正见来看，我觉得只有因果两个字能够概括所有人类的最高的智慧，那这是第一点。
English Translation:
The second point is the supramundane right view—the right knowledge and right view within the Buddha-Dharma. The Buddha tells us that our lives, revolving in the six realms of rebirth, cling to the notion of self; ordinary people are entangled in rights and wrongs, love and hate, forming a dualistic world of opposition. Behind this duality lies life’s very root! What is that root? The reason we circle in birth-and-death is that we have lost our true self; we feel there is an “I,” yet our understanding of that “I” is inadequate and mistaken. The “I” we believe in does not actually exist—like the moon reflected in water. Originally there is no moon in the water, yet we insist there is and toil strenuously to “save” it. Though there is no real moon in the water, there is a moon-image. We must realise that the water’s moon-image exists because there is a moon in the sky.
In Buddhist terms, the buddha-nature or true mind is the moon in the sky; the deluded mind is the moon in water. The true mind is no-mind, the true mind is no-self. Mistaking our illusions for self is like taking the water-moon as the real moon. If, one day, you see that there is no moon in the water, you are liberated—seeing in everyday life that there is no “I,” all the sufferings of saṃsāra are released. Yet this state is neither sheer emptiness nor real existence. If one asserts emptiness—“there is nothing at all”—and thus concludes there is no moon-image, that is nihilism (annihilation view). If one asserts existence—insisting there really is a moon in the water—that is the eternalist view of non-Buddhists.
Therefore, genuine right knowledge and right view comprise two aspects: first, the insight into emptiness and no-self, i.e. that there is no moon in the water; second, the middle-way right view—neither empty nor existent. We speak of emptiness because we cling to true existence; we speak of presence because indeed there is an image, for the real moon shines in the sky. When you awaken to mind-nature, generate the bodhi-mind, and attain buddhahood, then you truly possess right knowledge and right view. Namo Amitābha!
Original Text:
第二点是出世间的正见，佛法当中的正知正见。佛告诉我们，我们在六道当中轮回的生命是有我执的，有凡夫的是非对错、爱恨情仇，有对立的二元世界。这个二元的背后，是生命的根本!根本是什么?我们大家轮回的原因是迷失了自我，我们感觉到有一个我，而实际上对这个我的认识是不到位的，是错误的。我们所认识的那个我，是不存在的，相当于水中的月亮一样。水中本来没有月亮，我们愣是觉得水中有个月亮，然后为了救水中的月亮，付出了很多的辛苦。虽然这水中并没有月亮，但是水中有月影。我们要知道，水中有月影是因为天上有月亮。佛教讲的佛性真心，是指天上的月亮，讲的妄心是指水中的月亮。真心是无心，真心是无我，我们把自己的妄想当成我，就把水中的月亮当成真月亮了。如果有一天，你看见水中没有月亮了，你就解脱了。就在生活当中看见没有我了，你轮回所有的痛苦都解脱。但是它并不是空的，也不是有的。如果说空，什么都没有，说水中没有月亮，结果认为月影也没有，那就是错了，这是断灭见。如果说是有了，好像就又说水中就是有个月亮，这是常见外道。所以真正的正知正见，一个是无我的空性见，就是水中没月亮。第二个叫中道正见，就是不是空的，也不是有的。说空是因为我们执着它实有才说它是空的;说有是因为它确实有个月影，因为天上有月亮。大家如果明心见性了，发菩提心，成佛了，这才是具足真正的正知正见。阿弥陀佛!
English Translation:
Dharma-teacher Dazhao: Stages in Realising Mind-nature
Posted by “Purity Is Emptiness” Date: 23 August 2014 08:28 Bookmark Share on Weibo, WeChat, Alipay Support the True Dharma
Original Text:
达照法师：明心见性的阶段
发布：清净乃空 ［文章 空间 留言］ 日期:2014/8/23 8:28:00 收藏 微博、微信、支付宝分享 护持正法
Section I This Shore of Birth-and-Death—Receiving Retribution According to Karma
English Translation:
At present we remain only on this shore of birth-and-death, spinning round and round. At best, when you think “I have no stray thoughts; I’ll stop here,” you are reborn in heaven; a little worse—when anger flares and quarrels arise—you plunge into hell. Endlessly we leap up and down inside the wheel of the six paths, never finding peace.
If we lack the resolve to see straight through to the essence of the dependently-arisen world, we will go on drifting and muddling through—getting by however we can, playing monk for a day and just striking the gong for that day; when the head aches we treat the head, when the foot hurts we treat the foot; when there’s no food we hunt for food, when there are no clothes we hunt for clothes—yet when no coffin is at hand, we must rely on others to find one. Any being still caught in saṃsāra deals only with what is immediate, brief, and shaped by karma and retribution.
Why is the Buddha-Dharma honoured through the ages, its power unmatched, spanning the ten directions and the three times? Not only do human beings need it now; any being in any realm of the six paths likewise needs to understand the truth of life. Thus Great-Master Huineng tells us that, first of all, in terms of view you must utterly shatter attachment to “self” and “others,” even to “worldly” and “supramundane.”
Original Text:
一、生死此岸 随业受报
我们现在只停留在生死的此岸，一直在那里打转，最多你想到：“我没妄想了，我停下来了。”上天堂去了;再差一点，你想到生气要打架，有矛盾心里烦，下地狱去了，总是在这个六道的轮子里、樊笼里面，上窜下跳不得安宁。
那么如果没有一眼看透缘起世界的本质的这种决心，我们还会悠悠霍霍，还会将就苟且，每天都是得过且过，做一天和尚撞一天钟，头痛医头，脚痛医脚，没饭吃了去找饭吃，没衣服穿了去找衣服穿，但是没棺材了要靠别人找了。就是每一个众生只要在轮回中，他所解决的问题全部都是眼前的、短暂的、随业受报的问题。
为什么佛法是韵高千古，力挡万夫，贯穿十方三世，不但是我们现在人间需要，就是六道中任何一道众生，都需要明白他生命的真相。所以六祖大师告诉我们，你在见地上先要能够彻底打破有我有人的，甚至有世间有出世间的这种执著。
Section II Practising Ceaselessly—Letting the Six Faculties Fall into No Dust
English Translation:
Master Shenxiu said:
“The body is a Bodhi tree,
The mind a clear mirror-stand;
Time and again polish it diligently,
Let no dust alight.”
This corresponds to everyone’s present “seven-day retreat”: at every moment polish away your dust—fixed opinions, ingrained habits, deluded thoughts and inversions—right at the gateways of your six faculties. The moment any faculty falls into its six kinds of dust you immediately shake the dust off; when thought sinks into dharmic dust you abandon it at once—this is “polish diligently at all times,” truly every hour, every minute, every second, keeping the six faculties from sinking into the six dust-worlds.
Original Text:
二、时时用功 不落六尘
神秀大师讲的是：“身是菩提树，心如明镜台，时时勤拂拭，勿使惹尘埃。”这就相当于大家现在打七，时时勤拂拭，心像明镜台一样，你现在一个念头都没有，完全明白，这就像镜子。大家的眼睛也是一面镜子，你眼睛睁在这里，不把眼睛污染了，你眼光所及一切景象一目了然;但是如果你眼睛污染了，你在眼根上产生了眼识，你喜欢看某一个人、某一件事，其它旁边的眼光所及的事物，却淡漠不见。
神秀大师告诉我们的用功方法，就是你时时都要在你六根门头，擦拭自己的尘埃：各种成见、各种串习、各种妄想颠倒，就在你六根门头擦拭。也就是你六根落入六尘了，马上把尘脱开，不要被它落入;思想落入法尘了，马上舍弃，没有概念，叫时时勤拂拭，真是时时每时每刻每分每秒，都能够让六根不落在六尘上。
English Translation:
Section III Originally Not One Thing—Where Could Dust Alight?
Yet Great-Master Huineng tells us:
“Bodhi originally has no tree;
The bright mirror is likewise no stand.
Since originally not one thing exists,
Where can dust alight?”
Where, then, is this “dust”? This verse is a wondrous method that points straight to the true mind. “The bright mirror is likewise no stand”: although you still see and hear all things as before—your six faculties are not dulled and the six kinds of dust have not changed—yet the self-constructed notion that “this bright mirror is my mind,” the attachment to a self, is penetrated right on the spot.
Original Text:
但是六祖大师告诉我们：“菩提本无树，明镜亦非台，本来无一物，何处惹尘埃。”这尘埃在哪里啊?这是直指真心的妙法，明镜亦非台，虽然你还照样能够看万物、听万物，六根没有傻掉，六尘也没有变化，但是自以为有的这种自我认知，自我的执著，把明镜当成是自己的心的这种观念，却当下透过。
English Translation:
During our seven-day retreat we must strike directly at this point. Your eyes still see, ears still hear; yet some take that very capacity to see and hear as their mind-nature, supposing it “exists.” Huineng strikes with a single word—“not”: “Bodhi originally has no tree… originally not one thing.” Here “originally not one thing” is the root.
Breaking through the fundamental koan means seeing that, for body-mind and its realm of root-and-dust, “originally not one thing” applies. Compare your present mental states and vexations to this—then you can gauge your own level and confirm whether you truly recognise that body-mind and world are “originally not one thing”; where, then, could dust adhere?
Original Text:
那我们打七就要打这个，你眼睛还是照样能看，耳朵能听，有人把这个能看能听，就当作自己的心性了，当作有了，六祖大师一棒子下来，告诉你菩提本无树，用一个无字轻轻地带过，本来无一物，无一物中无尽藏，本来无一物这是根本。
破本参就是见到本来无一物，本来无一物这个词现在还是很白话，我们大家如果对自己的根尘世界、心思烦恼，用本来无一物去一对照，你就能判别出自己的思想境界、观念如何，能够确认身心世界本来无一物，尘埃自然就无处可染。
Section IV Subject and Object Both Vanish—Continuous Maintenance
A. Letting Go of the Object of Attention
English Translation:
What is to be done? The teacher instructs us:
“Where subject and object vanish, self-nature appears;
Maintain it continuously—do not forget it lightly.”
The place where subject and object vanish has two levels. I often explain: the first level is to let the object (the “other”) drop away while provisionally retaining the subject (the “knower”). Those of you capable of joining a seven-day retreat should at least reach this stage; if you do, progress here will be swift. Failing to reach it, the retreat at most makes your legs ache a few days. While you may console yourself—“Let the pain be karmic purification”—you are still unable, moment by moment, to discard the six-dust objects.
Original Text:
第四节 能所双亡 绵密保任
一、放下所缘之境
怎么办呢?上师告诉我们：“能所亡处自性现，绵密保任勿轻忘。”能所亡处就是能所双亡，这个能所亡处有两层境界。
我经常跟大家讲，第一层就是能跟所，先把所亡掉，把能先保住，就是我们要求大家能够有能力打七的，要做到这步功夫。如果做到了，你过来打七那进步很快;这步做不到，在这里打七，充其量是让你腿受几天苦。苦死了心里还想：“这么苦就当消业障吧，我业障消掉以后总会好一点的。”就是你做不到把六尘的境界，随时都舍弃掉。
English Translation:
Of the six dusts, the first five (sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles) are comparatively easy to drop: seeing is as though not seeing, hearing as though not hearing. Truly abandoning them at every moment is not simple, but still feasible. Most difficult is dharma-dust, the dust of thoughts.
Thoughts resemble fallen leaves in autumn: sweep them away and a gust of wind scatters more over the ground. Just after casting aside the previous thought, the next floods in through the back gate.
Original Text:
六尘的前面五尘比较好办，我们看见跟没看见一样，听到跟没听到一样，眼耳鼻舌身，其实真随时都把它舍弃也不太容易的，但这个还算容易，就是这个法尘相当难。
法尘就是我们的妄想，你要能够看到妄想生起来之前，妄想就像秋风扫落叶，扫不干净，秋风一吹，你刚扫完，它又落了一地啊，刚刚前念才把这些抛弃，后面一念后门它就马上冲进来了。
English Translation:
Professor Nan Huai-Chin voiced it well:
“Autumn wind heaps fallen leaves in messy piles;
Sweep them clean—again they fall a hundred times.
Laugh once, sit calmly in leisure—
Let them lie on the ground and turn to ash by themselves.”
Quit sweeping—why expend such effort? Laugh heartily, sit at ease: let thoughts come and go. This is the first-level state: dropping the object while the subject “laughs, resting leisurely”—sitting right there as the knowing.
Original Text:
所以南怀瑾老师说的一句话说得好：“秋风落叶乱为堆，扫尽还来千百回，一笑罢休闲处坐，任它着地自成灰。”不要扫它了，那么吃力那么累干什么，哈哈一笑往那一坐好了，它要来就来，要走就走吧，它会着地自成灰的，这就是第一重境界：把所放下，能还是一笑罢休闲处坐，坐在那里就是能。
English Translation:
B. Four Statements about the Mind
Those who are able to sit a seven-day retreat generally do not wear a pained, furrow-brow expression; whenever such suffering shows on the face, one knows the “thief” is present—pain arises, wandering thoughts appear. If truly without wandering thoughts, one would “laugh and sit leisurely,” the features relaxed.
Last New Year I met a young man of twenty who wanted to retreat into deep mountains and live on tree-leaves. He told me four sentences that impressed me greatly. Trained in nutrition at university, he intended to quit school; his mother, frightened, brought him to me. I had never before seen a twenty-year-old so steady—steady, not heavy—so calm and unhurried. Within was a peace surpassing anyone I have met, monastics included; he once drank only water for twenty days.
First sentence: “All suffering comes from desire.”—utterly true. Consider: do we not suffer from the desire to awaken? Second sentence: “The mind has no creases; the mind is unfolded.” When our minds grow more diligent, legs aching, anxiety pressing, they twist into knots, yet he—after twenty days without food—felt his mind perfectly unfolded, like an unwrinkled sheet of paper.
Third sentence: “The mind bears no cracks.” Do we not carry countless scars within? He perceived none. Fourth sentence: “The mind is unconditionally joyful.” When you can set down the dust of dharmas, you too will sense that the mind is indeed joyful without conditions—but this still belongs to the first-level state where the object is dropped while the subject remains. Even Lao-zi, for all his greatness, reached only this level; thus a young fellow attaining it is truly remarkable, evidence of deep karmic roots.
Original Text:
二、关于心的四句话
我们能打七的坐在那里，基本上脸上都不会有皱着眉头难受的样子，一看难受的样子就知道你那个贼在那里，痛起来了，妄想来了。真是没有妄想，他是一笑罢休闲处坐，他的脸上是舒展的。 在今年正月，我碰到一个二十岁的小伙子，他想到深山里面去吃树叶，他跟我讲了几句话，我觉得这个人很厉害。 学营养学的，上大学不想上了，他想跑到深山里面去，他妈吓死了，把他带过来。我没有见过二十岁的人这么沉稳，沉稳不是沉重，这么坦然的，他的内心非常平静，平静到在座诸位都达不到，所有我见过的出家人也没达到过，讲话很轻、很慢，他曾经有二十天不吃饭只喝水。
第一句话他讲的，他发现，他说：“所有的痛苦都来源于欲望。”我觉得简直是真理哦，你看看，我们想开悟的欲望有没有，你想你就痛苦了，跟你说，所有的痛苦来源于欲望。
第二句话讲的是，他在那段时间所体会到的对心的形容，非常好，他说：“心是没有皱褶的，心是舒展的。”心是舒展的，很平，就是你的脸，眉头没有皱起来，舒展的，心舒展了你的眉毛也是舒展的，脸色也是舒展的，所以第二句，心是舒展的，心是没有皱褶的。 你看看我们大家的心里，越用功、越打坐、越着急越纠成一团，腿痛的时候也会纠成一团，手印散了也会纠成一团，哪里不舒服就马上纠成一团。而他二十天不吃饭，他能体会到心是舒展的，就像一张纸没有皱褶一样，没有皱褶的，我们大家看看心里是不是有皱褶，我们说佛陀慈悲的双手，能抚平我心中的创伤，就把我们自己抚平了，但是一个很年轻的人他体会到，自己的心是没有皱褶的。
第三句话是：“心是没有裂痕的。”我们大家有没有伤痕累累啊，那个裂痕在哪里，他能体会到心是没有裂痕的。 第四句话说：“心是无条件地快乐。”所以当你能够把这个法尘的概念都放下的时候，你能体会到心确实是无条件地快乐，但这还是第一层境界，能所亡处啊。 中国的老子这么了不起了，他也就达到这样一层境界而已，所以我觉得，一个小孩子他能够达到这样的境界，很不容易的，很有善根的。
English Translation:
III. Subject and Object Both Perish
The elders tell us: “Where subject and object vanish, self-nature appears.”
There is a second level of attainment here: both the subject that knows and the object that is known must be eradicated, extinguished, ground to dust. At that very instant one must act decisively—without the slightest mercy—flinging the entire ego away. If your courage is insufficient, you will toss it only to pick it up again, because it was hurled away by volitional consciousness; next time the thought returns, the “I-root” sprouts once more. A person with true mettle really dares to discard the self. What gives that mettle? Complete renunciation (chūlì-mind) and the bodhi-mind. Renunciation sees that this world—our six sense faculties, their six kinds of dust, and the six consciousnesses—is the total content of our suffering.
Having understood that body and mind alike contain not the least speck worth cherishing or clinging to—that is renunciation. The bodhi-mind is the willingness, through life after life, gladly to surrender head, eyes, brain, and marrow for all beings. With such courage, giving up the self is as easy as turning the hand. With that prerequisite in place, we add a period of time-fixed, knife-edge effort: after several days of intense practice you must choose, at the razor’s edge, between saṃsāra and liberation. If even the tiniest reluctance remains, you tumble into the pit of rebirth; if none remains, you will be shattered—“One lucid instant surpasses a hundred million eons; what is the worth of grinding body and bones to dust?” Every inner attachment to self and to the roots-and-dust world drops away; when earth and sky level out, the self-nature spoken of by the elders appears.
Original Text:
三、能所双亡
那么老人告诉我们：“能所亡处自性现。”
它有第二层境界，就是把能和所都要消灭、销亡、粉碎。所以当机立断也就是在这个时候，毫不留情地把我们的自我，全部给它扔扔掉了。如果你气魄不够，扔掉了还会把它捡回来的，因为你用意识把它扔掉，下回想想，还是有我在那里，那个根又会冒起来的。 气魄够的人，他确实敢把自己扔掉，气魄够了是什么，就是具足出离心和菩提心的人，出离心就是看到这个世界，我们拥有的六根六尘六识，是我们一切痛苦的内容。
我知道了我的身体、我的思想，这一切无有一毫值得留念，值得你在那里纠结和固执的，这是出离心，菩提心就是生生世世，哪怕舍弃头目脑髓为一切众生，也能够心甘情愿，这种气魄有了，那么你舍弃自我易如反掌。 所以有这样的一个前提以后，再加上我们通过克期取证，几天用功下来，就在刀锋上、刀刃上做选择，千钧一发之际，你要选择轮回还是选择解脱。还有一丝一毫地舍不得，你就掉到轮回的坑里；如果你没有舍不得，那你就粉身碎骨：“一句了然超百亿，碎身粉骨何足酬。”所有内在的自我执著和根尘全部脱落，大地平沉以后，老人说的自性现。
English Translation:
IV. The Manifestation of Self-Nature
How does self-nature appear? Only where subject and object are cut off: every function of the six roots, their dusts, and the six consciousnesses is the display of self-nature. Throughout the ages great Chan masters have demonstrated this in countless ways—raising a single finger, throwing a punch, giving a thunderous shout—only to show you that with your own roots, dusts, and consciousnesses, with eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind, at any place and any moment, no expression departs from the present suchness.
Thus Chan-master Yunmen said, “Flow with the waves after severing the currents.” Only after you have cut through the many currents can you ride the billows: karma comes, so let it come; karma goes, so let it go. If past karma allows me eighty years of life, I do not need eighty-one; should past karma call me away tomorrow, I will not wait until the day after. All is according to karma, freely coming and going.
Original Text:
四、自性显现
自性怎么显现哪？只有能所断处，你的根尘识所有的表现，全部都是自性现。历代祖师大德做种种的展示，举一个指头也好，打一拳也好，大吼一声也好，无非告诉你，用你的根、用你的尘、用你的识、用你眼耳鼻舌六根门头，随时随处，任何表现不离当下，那就是回转根尘啊！
所以云门禅师说随波逐流啊，你只有截断众流以后，才能够随波逐浪啊。业来了就来了，业走了就走了，过去的业让我活八十岁，我不要活到八十一岁，过去的业要是让我明天走，我不要等到后天，没有关系，一切随业，来去自在。
English Translation:
If, in everyday life, your conduct is high—living by the five precepts and ten wholesome deeds—then when you practise it is like fish in water: cultivation proceeds amid the simple acts of dressing and eating.
If, by contrast, you carry unwholesome habits—jealousy, greed, the petite-bourgeois taste for comfort—you must still temper yourself in daily affairs; upon meeting conditions the mind may yet run after them. But do not worry: what chases those conditions is merely karmic momentum, not “you.”
Original Text:
如果我们平常在生活中的品行好，就是做人的标准很高，已经做得非常善，比如说五戒十善已经做的很好，那你用起功来就如鱼得水，基本上用功就在穿衣吃饭当中。
如果我们平常有一些不良的习惯，比如说嫉妒心啊，或者是贪欲的心啊，享受生活的那种小资的生活态度啊，那你在生活中还需要磨炼，一对境还会跟着境跑。 但是不要紧，跟着境跑的只是一种业的惯性，而不是你。
English Translation:
Before the eradication of self-grasping, the one who runs after circumstances is entirely “I.” After subject and object both perish, when mind again arises with conditions and runs after them, what runs is only karma—an old habit of living—still running on, yet the one following behind is rootless, for the root of saṃsāra has already been severed.
Original Text:
我们现在如果没有破除我执之前，跟着跑的那个全是我，能所双亡以后，你再随境生心，再跟着境跑，跑过去的全部是一种业，也就是说过去的一种生活惯性，还跟着跑，但是背后跟着跑的那个人，却是没有根的，轮回的根已经被斩掉了。
English Translation:
V. Continuous Maintenance (miàn-mì bǎorèn)
Original Text:
五、绵密保任
English Translation:
Therefore, when practising you must engage in continuous maintenance and never forget it lightly; do not allow it to slip from mind—this applies to those who practise with diligence and zeal.
Original Text:
所以在用功的时候，叫绵密保任勿轻忘，不要轻易地忘记，这是对于精进用功的人来说。
English Translation:
Lining the two verses up we glimpse the gist: “Where subject and object perish, self-nature appears; maintain it continuously—do not forget.”
Original Text:
那么这个两句话连起来，我们就可以看出端倪：“能所亡处自性现，绵密保任莫轻忘。”
English Translation:
For those who, in sitting a seven-day retreat, have already dropped the object yet still retain the subject, true cultivation is precisely this continuous maintenance—do not let the six dusts turn you about. This moment is critical: with total focus, remain unmoved by outer conditions and unturned by inner mind—see clearly, sit at ease with a smile, relaxed, free of tangled discomfort.
Original Text:
对于能跟所脱开，所已经忘记，能还没有忘，就是我们打七这种效果的人，你真正要修行的，确实要绵密保任，不要轻易地被六尘所转。这个是很关键的时刻，就是要全神贯注、不随境转，外不被境迁、内不随心转，就清清楚楚，一笑罢休闲处坐，也很轻松，也不要觉得很纠结很难受。
English Translation:
Keep an eye on it—yet lightly. In this work “maintenance” has two aspects: bǎo means raising it up and holding it; rèn means relaxing it, letting it be. When a wandering thought arises, tell yourself “the thief has come”; release it at once, relax, then eat when it is time to eat, walk when it is time to walk, speak when it is time to speak.
Original Text:
盯着它，但是轻轻松松地盯着，就是在这里用功的时候，也叫保任，保就是需要提起来、抓住它，任就是放松它、任其自然。所以你妄想来了，告诉自己贼来了，好，一放下轻轻松松了，然后你该吃饭的吃饭，该走路的走路，该说话的说话。
English Translation:
While talking you may carelessly seize upon a remark—mind again follows it. The teacher’s phrase strikes you as useful; immediately deluded thought has already appeared. Good: let it go at once, pay it no heed—each time you put it down, that is rèn.
Original Text:
说着说着一不小心又抓住被说的话了，心又随它转了，师父讲到哪个话我听得觉得有受用了，你早就妄想出来了，好，马上一放不理它，这样呢，只要你一放，这就是任了。
English Translation:
It is like a fledgling bird learning to fly. When its feet push off the ground, that instant of contact is bǎo; once its wings spread and lift it from the earth, that is rèn.
Original Text:
跟小鸟学飞是一样的，这个鸟脚跟一点地，它一飞起来，一飞起来因为翅膀太软了，马上又掉下来，那个脚一点地那一下叫做保，翅膀已经张开已经离开地了那叫任。
English Translation:
At first your skill in letting-be is poor—no sooner do you let than you crash, sticking fast again. What to do? Keep flying; the little bird must flap incessantly.
Original Text:
你一开始任的功夫很差的，任一下马上就掉到地上，马上就粘着了，怎么办？继续飞，所以小鸟要不停地飞不停地飞。
English Translation:
A bird generally needs three to five days before it can fly steadily after first taking wing. Those of keen faculties among us need three to five years; we fly farther but the task is harder. With slightly thinner roots, thirty to fifty years’ effort may be required to form a stable “sheet.” Thus, after completing a thousand sittings in three years, some fret: “Why have I still not seen nature? I gained some benefit—does this mean I have not awakened?” Growing impatient and slackening effort—this is a great mistake!
Original Text:
小鸟一般三五天它就能够飞出去了，就能飞得比较稳了，从它学飞开始。 我们上根利智的人也要三五年，我们飞得比它厉害了，比较难一点；这个善根稍微薄一点的，要三五十年功夫才能真正做成片。 所以这里面呢，大家修三年一千座修满，好像觉得怎么还没有见性呐，有一点受用了，是不是还没有成佛啊，好像就着急了，就不用功了，大错特错！
English Translation:
Examine how much karmic habit you carry: now is the perfect chance—loosen, open, and fly. So practise continuous maintenance in this way. Before awakening, guard until not a single thought is born; once held, relax within that feeling, letting it be—then practice is light and easy. After subject and object both perish and the essence is verified, you must apply it in daily life; the amount of maintenance depends on the strength of your habits.
Original Text:
你要看自己过去的业习有多少，现在你正好可以借这个机会，放松放开去飞，所以这样子绵密保任。悟之前，在一念不生之前保住，一保住以后，就在这种感觉当中，放松放松，让它自然，那用功很轻松。 然后能所双亡了，证体以后要起用，在生活中起用，根据你的习气的多少，来看你的保任。
English Translation:
With few habits, the periods of letting-be grow longer and the moments of holding may be brief—hold once, and immediately let, letting things be naturally.
Original Text:
习气少，任的时间长一点，保的时间可能少一点，一保马上就任了，任其自然。
English Translation:
The term bǎorèn was coined by the Chan tradition and is excellent. “Continuous maintenance,” the elders tell us: mì (fine) means diligence—refined and unmixed; jìn (advance) means progressing without retreat. Thus diligent cultivation is nothing other than continuous maintenance—and even after awakening one must still maintain continuously.
Original Text:
保任这个词是禅宗创造的，用得非常好！绵密保任哪，老人告诉我们，密就是精进，精而不杂叫做密，精密啊，进而不退叫进，所以精进修行就是绵密保任，所以悟以后还要绵密保任。
English Translation:
How long must it be maintained? “Plant your heel firmly with no bias; seeking nothing at all, the Way is truly constant.” Planting the heel means that when subject and object have both vanished, the heel is already on the ground—one has landed—knowing there is no self, no persons, no world. Yet, in daily life and work one must achieve total non-seeking; then one’s Way returns to the middle path. Therefore, from the very first arousal of effort one must, decisively in the moment, let subject and object perish.
Original Text:
要保到什么时候？“立定脚跟无偏颇，一切无求道真常。”
立定脚跟，其实你能所双亡的时候，脚跟已经踩地了，已经落地了，知道无我无人无世界，但是在生活中、在工作中，要做到一切无求，你的道就回归中道了，所以从发心用功当下想要打开，必须要当机立断能所双亡。
