|
古來，我佛度人，無非就是斷除妄念。自我披剃出家以來，時時都是堅決根除妄念。發勇猛心，不隨妄想習氣轉；在
一切時中，不分行住坐臥，動靜一相，本自如如。妄念不生，自然疾病減少，並能健康長壽。古德說：「若能識得心，大地無寸土」。全部佛法歸結到一點，即是斷
除妄念。妄念，又稱為「妄想」。例如，我們早晨睜眼，腦筋裡不斷想事情，種種念頭，種種幻想，公事私事，人我是非，八百年前的往事，都像電影一幕一幕地過
去，又像奔流不息的瀑布，沒有一分一秒停止。這個常常想事的心，就是「妄心」。斷妄心實在不容易。古人說：「斷妄念如斷四十里流」，談何容易！
我們每天從早到晚，一切動作與思維，都離不開妄念；妄念是分別心、第六識。如眼之於色，耳之於聲，鼻之於香，
舌之於味，身之於觸，意之於想，皆是識的作用。內有眼、耳、鼻、舌、身、意、六根，外有色、聲、香、味、觸、法、六塵；六根和六塵一接觸，就產生六識。此
六識因為受了第七末那識「執我」之影響，一切語言行為，莫不為自己打算，以我為本位，因而發生人我是非，種種煩惱。此「執我」之一念，即是根本無明。由此
無明，便造種種業，受種種報，以致流轉生死，永無止息。我們想拔除生死之本，對於永無休歇的六識心浪，必須予以停止，相續不斷的意識便不起作用；此時的心
理狀態是動靜如如，湛寂常照，靈明不眛，不思維過去、現在、未來一切事物，故稱之為「無念」。如能永遠維持此心之寂靜，那麼，健康長壽，永保青春，不過是
隨之而來的副產物而已。
此種無念真心，是絕諸對待，沒有大小、方圓、長短、善惡、是非、垢淨、增減、生滅、來去等相；一塵不染，空空
洞洞，什麼都比不上。這是禪宗所求的終極目標––明心見性，也就是祖師的指標，在二六時中，不分行、住、坐、臥、動、靜，一相本自如如；妄念不生，何患長
壽不了？若不如此，總是忙忙碌碌，從朝至暮，從生到死，空過光陰；在修持上固然是勞而無功，在身上也永遠不得安定。這樣，和健康長壽也是背道而馳的。
因此，我們應當知道，妄念對於人生實在是關係太大，必須以真對治。
|
|
In ancient times, the Buddha had
no other means for saving people than teaching them get rid of false
thoughts. Ever since I left the home-life, I have worked persistently
to get rid of my false thoughts in every moment. I have brought forth a
vigorous resolve and refused to be affected by false thoughts and bad
habits. At all times, whether I am moving or still, sleeping or awake,
I have tried to remain in a state of unmoving thusness. When one is
free of false thoughts, one will naturally be healthy and long-lived
and not get sick as often. The virtuous ones of old said, “Once the
mind is recognized, the earth no longer exists.” All of the Buddha’s
teachings go back to the basic principle of eliminating false thoughts,
that is, fanciful thoughts. From the time we open our eyes in the
morning, thoughts, ideas, and fantasies race nonstop through our minds;
we think of public affairs, private matters, gossip, and even things
that happened 800 years ago. Scene after scene flashes onto our mental
movie screens. Our minds are like flowing waterfalls that don’t stop
for a second. This ceaselessly thinking mind is the false mind, and
it’s no easy task to stop it. The ancients said, “Stopping the false
mind would be like damming up a river for forty miles.” It’s easier
said than done.
From dawn till dusk each day, our
movements and thoughts are inseparable from the false mind. The false
mind is the discriminating mind, the sixth consciousness. It is
functioning of the consciousnesses that enables the eyes to perceive
forms, the ears to perceive sounds, the nose to perceive smells, the
tongue to perceive flavors, the body to perceive contact, and the mind
to perceive thoughts. When the six internal sense organs (eyes, ears,
nose, tongue, body, and mind) come into contact with the six kinds of
external sense data (forms, sounds, smells, flavors, contact, and
dharmas), the six consciousnesses are brought into being. Because the
sixth consciousness is influenced by the seventh consciousness with its
attachment to a self, all speech and actions are based on the self and
motivated by the wish to benefit the self. This leads to
discriminations between self and others and to all kinds of
afflictions. That one thought of “attachment to self” is none other
than our fundamental ignorance. Based on ignorance, we create various
kinds of karma and incur various sorts of retribution, so that we must
undergo endless rounds of birth and death. Should we want to uproot the
foundation of birth and death, we must calm the restless waves of the
conscious mind and interrupt its continuous functioning. At that time
the mind will be in a state of perpetual thusness, profoundly still and
eternally illuminating, spiritually bright and unconfused, not thinking
of anything in the past, present or future. That is called “having no
thought.” If one can maintain that peaceful state of mind, then health,
longevity, and eternal youth will come as natural by-products.
The true mind which is free of
thought is absolute; it precludes all dualities. There are no
distinctions of great or small, round or square, long or short, good or
evil, right or wrong, pure or defiled, increasing or decreasing,
production or extinction, coming or going. Undefiled by a single speck
of dust, it is empty and beyond compare. That is the ultimate goal
sought for in the Chan sect—understanding the mind and seeing the
nature. It is also what the patriarchs pointed to. At all times,
whether one is moving or still, sleeping or awake, the One Mark is
originally thus. If one has no false thoughts, how can one worry about
not attaining long life? On the other hand, if we are busy and hectic
from morning to night, from birth until death, then we are letting the
time go by in vain. Not only will we fail in our cultivation, but we
will also be unable to find peace and calm. We will be running in the
opposite direction from health and longevity.
Therefore, we should realize what
a tremendous influence false thinking has upon our lives. We must use a
true method to deal with
|
