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《正法印》

 

PROPER DHARMA SEAL

妙法蓮華經淺釋
The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra With Commentary

【卷四 提婆達多品第十二 】

Roll 4, Chapter 12, Devadatta

宣化上人講 Commentary by the Venerable Master Hua
國際譯經學院記錄 Translated by the International Translation Institute
修訂版 Revised version

禪那波羅蜜。什麼叫一個禪呢?禪,是 半梵話,具足就叫「禪那」。禪那,在中國的簡稱就說是「禪」。一般人所知道的,說是禪宗、教宗、律宗、密宗、淨土宗,這五大宗。雖然一般人都知道說是參禪 打坐,可是沒有學過佛法的人,對這個「禪」的這一個字是認識,這個意思呢?就是不明白,就知道「禪」這一個字。他不知道這個「禪」是個印度話,在中國有這 個「禪」字,而不知道這個意思。印度話叫禪那,翻譯過來這個意思叫什麼呢?叫「思惟修」。思惟,就是你用思想去思惟思惟,你想一想,想什麼呢?想那個沒有 的,想那個有的,想那個也有也沒有的,這是禪。想那個沒有的,就是一個「無」;想那個有的,就是一個「有」,也有也沒有,想,又想有,又想沒有,所以就參 悟話頭,說是「念佛是誰」,這叫參禪。

參禪哪,所以叫參。這個「參」,就好 像用這麼一個錐子錐窟窿似的,錐不透,一定要錐,錐透了,這叫破本參;把這窟窿錐透了,露出光明來了。在這個黑暗的屋子裡邊,窗戶、門都沒有,就用這個錐 子鑽窟窿,鑽出來一個窟窿,就透進來光明了,這就是你在一個愚癡人的時候,什麼也不明白,這就等於在那一個黑暗的屋子裡一樣,沒有窗戶,也沒有門。你用這 個參禪的功夫,參透了,就透進光明來了,這是一個參禪。這一個參禪,又有一個比喻,比喻什麼呢?昨天晚間,我不是告訴你們有一個貓,為什麼我就要講那個 貓?就是因為給今天這個參禪預備的。參禪像什麼呢?就像「如貓捕鼠」,就像那個貓捉老鼠似的,在那兒看著,看著,瞪著眼睛看進那個老鼠洞,啊!這麼看著, 看著,老鼠一出來,上去一抓,把這老鼠給叼住了,老鼠沒有法子跑了。什麼叫老鼠?就是你那個無明,就是在那個黑屋子裡邊,沒有光明,那就好像捉老鼠似的。 你透出光明了,把老鼠給捉住了,這如貓捕鼠。

又有一個比喻,像什麼呢?好像那個 「龍養珠」似的。這龍啊,所最放不下的就是那一粒珠。兩個龍搶那一粒珠子。啊!牠最愛惜的那個龍珠。這個龍珠比牠生命還寶貴,所以牠總要想方法保護這個珠 子。參禪的人,也就這樣子,好像龍保養那個珠子一樣,念茲在茲。念茲,念著這個地方;在茲,就在這個地方,這叫念茲在茲。念茲在茲這叫什麼呢?這就是觀自 在。你若能觀自在,這就念茲在茲;你若不能觀自在,那就跑了嘛!跑了。什麼叫跑了?就是打妄想。你那一打妄想,就不自在了;你不打妄想,那個時候就是自 在。所以你們說那個「觀自在」怎麼樣翻譯?就是不打妄想的時候,就叫自在。

「念動百事有」,你這一打妄想,什麼 事情都現出來了。「念止萬事無」,念若停止了,喔!萬事都沒有了。所以,我常常的對你們講:心止念絕是真富貴。你這個妄想心也止了,你這個妄念也斷了,也 絕了,這是真正的富貴。為什麼呢?你沒有貪心了,沒有貪心的人就是富貴人;你有貪心,那就是窮人。你若不窮,那為什麼要貪啊?貪,就是因為自己沒有、不 夠,所以有貪心。有一百萬,想貪兩百萬;兩百萬,哦!想貪二仟萬;兩仟萬想貪兩萬萬,總也不知足。為什麼他都不知足呢?就是怕窮,就是怕沒有,所以他就貪 了,不知足。所以說,你不知足,就是苦;你若知足了,就是樂,你不貪了就是。所以說「心止念絕真富貴」,這才是真正的富貴哪!

「私欲斷盡真福田」,這個私,就是自 私那個私。欲,就是欲念的欲,英文叫 desire, selfish desire,最壞不過的。「私欲斷盡真福田」哪!你若沒有私欲了,那才是真正的有福報啦。你一天到晚不是貪這個,就是想那個,這個欲望一天比一天增加, 那就沒有福報了。你不打妄想,也不爭,也不貪,也沒有什麼欲望,這就是福,就是福田。所以參禪就是像這樣子,好像貓捕老鼠,又像龍保護牠那個珠子那樣的注 意。但是你說:「我修行不想像貓那麼樣子,盡抓老鼠,殺生;我也不想像龍那麼樣子,飛天遁地的,飛到天上,又跑到海裡去。」

那麼,我現在再給你舉一個例子,像什 麼呢?「如雞孵卵」,像雞抱小雞子那樣子的。雞抱小雞子,你知道怎麼樣嗎?「卵以想生,胎因情有」,龍是個化生,這個貓是胎生。我們現在說這個卵生,雞抱 小雞子就這麼想,想什麼呢?想:「我在這兒啊,這小雞子到時候一定它會出來的,一定會有一個小的小雞子現出來。」你參禪也是這樣子,就像那個老母雞抱小雞 子似的。你看,「喔!有一天我會開悟的。我用一天功,我自性就會現出一點光明;我天天用功,天天就會現出智慧光明來。總有一天我要和佛是一樣的,無二無別 的。」你這麼參來參去,就像那個老母雞抱小雞子一樣的,你有一天就會成功啦!這是參禪。


Dhyana, the next Paramita, is a Sanskrit word which means “the cultivation of thought.” The Chinese transliteration is “Chan.” Many Chinese people, if they have not studied Buddhism, are not aware that the Chinese word Chan comes from Sanskrit. They know the word Chan, but they don’t know its meaning. It is one of the five major schools of Buddhism: Chan, Teaching, Vinaya, Secret, and Pure Land. When you cultivate Dhyana, you cultivate a hua tou, or meditation topic, such as “Who is mindful of the Buddha?” You are then thinking in terms of existence and non-existence, and both the existence and non-existence of existence and non-existence! When you meditate you “investigate Dhyana.” It’s like drilling a hole through something. You just keep drilling and drilling until you get through. In the same way you keep investigating until you “break through.” It’s like being in a dark, windowless room and drilling a hole in the wall until the light shines through. As a deluded person lacking understanding, you are in a “dark room.”

Investigating Dhyana is also like a cat stalking a mouse. I talked about the cat yesterday, just getting ready to bring him up again today! Now if a cat is after a mouse, he will wait and wait by the mousehole for the mouse to show his little head. As soon as it does—zap!—it’s caught. What does the mouse represent? Ignorance. Just as ignorance was likened to a “dark room” in the previous analogy, so too, when you finally “see the light” in meditation, it’s like catching the mouse. Investigating Dhyana is also like a dragon watching over its pearl. Dragons are more attached to their pearls than to their very lives. So they always take very good care of them. Meditators focus their concentration in the same way on their topic and never let it wander. This is also known as “contemplating at ease.” If you can contemplate at ease, then you are focusing in thought after thought. If you can’t, then your mind wanders away from your topic and you have false thinking. Contemplating at ease means not having false thinking. So we say,

When your thoughts stir, the myriad affairs arise.
When your thoughts stop, all affairs cease.

As soon as you strike up false thinking, everything starts happening. When your thoughts stop, then nothing is happening! I often tell you:

When the mind stops and thoughts cease, that is true wealth and honor.
When desire and selfishness are ended,that is the true field of blessings.

Why? Because you are without greed. People who are not greedy are wealthy. Greedy people are poor. If they weren’t poor, why would they still want “more"? Why would they be greedy? People are greedy because they don’t feel they have enough. If they have a million dollars, they want two million. If they have two million, they want two billion, and so on, and they are never satisfied. Why not? Because they are afraid of being poor. People who can’t be satisfied are always miserable. People who know how to be content are always happy.

When desire and selfishness come to an end, that is the genuine field of blessings. People without blessings are always greedy for something. If you don’t have false thinking, if you don’t compete, and if you have no desires, then you are blessed.

Investigating Dhyana, then, is like a cat stalking a mouse or a dragon guarding its pearl.

“I don’t want to be like a cat or a dragon! Cats kill mice and dragons just run around all the time, from the sky to the ocean.”

Then I will give you another analogy. It’s like a chicken hatching an egg. The Shurangama Sutra says,

Womb-born beings are born from emotion
Egg-born beings are born from thought

When the hen sits on her eggs she thinks, “My chicks are going to hatch right on time; they are going to be fine little chicks!” Sitting in meditation one thinks, “One of these days for sure I am going to get enlightened. Every day I work on my meditation, I get that much more light. If I work every day I will gain more and more light, and eventually, I will be one with the Buddha.” Thinking like this—like an old hen thinking about her eggs—sooner or later, you will be successful.

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