參禪首先要沒有我相，為什麼要參「念佛是誰」？就是不要有一個我。你若真正把功夫用上路了，你就不會有其他的妄想，也不會覺得腿痛，因為把腿痛和妄想都忘了，就是單單提起來這一句話頭：「念佛是誰？」這一念參下去，能把時間都給改變了，能把境界都給趕跑了。
怎麼說能把時間給縮短了呢？你用功用得相應，參這個「誰」，方才坐這地方，它就開靜了，不覺得是坐一個鐘頭，或者半個鐘頭，或者兩個鐘頭，不覺得。就是這麼一閉眼睛，把眼睛睜開、閉上這麼一個時候，已經開靜丑C你想一想，這是不是把時間給縮短了、改變了？你單單就「念佛是誰」參下去，你這時候腿痛也不知道痛，腰痛也不知道痛。因為你沒有心了－－你沒有這個執著的心了，所以坐這地方不覺得怎麼樣難過，腿也不痛；就是它痛，你也不知道痛。也不要說是：「啊！我怎麼還沒有得到一點好處呢？」就因為你這個第二念－－想要得到好處這一念，那已經就把功夫失去了。
用功的人，這個「誰」字總是不能斷的，問一聲：「是誰？」再問一聲：「是誰？」把這個心意識都參沒有了，心也空了，身也空了，意也空了，這識也空了。你打妄想，就是由這個第六意識生出來的，這第六意識叫你打妄想，叫你知道痛，叫你忍受不住，都是它來作怪。你若能把這個心意識都打破了、參破了，不被它所轉了，這是一個會用功的人。會用功的人，不要說你天天用功相應，就是很少的時間，你這一念相應了，就能開智慧，也就是所說的開悟。所以古人說：
若人靜坐一須臾
勝造恆沙七寶塔
「若人靜坐一須臾」，就這麼一須臾的時候，你真能靜下來。「勝造恆沙七寶塔」，你若能以真正入定、靜得住，這一須臾的時間，或者一秒鐘的期間，這把你無量劫生死的罪都可以滅了。
為什麼人要參禪呢？也就是這個道理。你只要能以靜得住，用功用得相應，比你造恆河沙數那麼多的七寶佛塔都有功德。你造恆河沙數的七寶佛塔，只是能供佛，令人見相發心，有一種影響的力量；你自己這靜坐一須臾呢，這就是造真佛，也可以說是造活佛。那麼你自性恢復本有的智慧光明，這才是一個真正的功德。在外邊你造恆河沙數七寶佛塔，那只不過是一個有為法，你現在修的是無為法。這個靜坐，這是修無為法，所以說「若人靜坐一須臾，勝造恆沙七寶塔。」那麼這個一須臾的功德就有那麼大，你若是能一個鐘頭清清靜靜的、明明了了的，也不昏沉，不是睡著覺了，但是就覺得這個時間很快就過去了。
真正用功的人打七，不知道是打幾天的，因為不需要自己管。好像我以前在空青山那兒打禪七，打了十個禪七，打完了，我不知道怎麼十個禪七這麼快了了，因為有人管理這個七的日子，不要自己去計算去，覺得很快就過去。腿也不痛，坐一個鐘頭、兩個鐘頭，整天在那兒坐著，它也不痛，這是把腿子這個痛的毛病給降伏了。一定要坐時間久，它就降伏了，它就聽話了。
不單你個人痛啊，這個用功，初初是很困難的，腿也痛，腰也痛，總覺得什麼都不太自在。那麼在這個時候，你若能有忍力，再有定心，有一種定力，把這一切的困難都會克服了，都會打破這個關。你打破這個關，才另有一重天。
你有什麼境界？這個境界是從想像來的、是真的，是不是啊？但是打妄想願意看這個境界，這就是假的；你若沒有打妄想，根本就沒有想，由第一念生出來的，這就是真的。你若是先有一個主觀說：「哦！我要看蓮花。」哦！這兒就有個蓮花。這是假的。「啊！我要看佛。」哦！這佛就來了。這也是假的。你要看什麼就有什麼，那就是假的；你若沒有要看，你沒有打這個妄想，你看見，那是真的。這個念未生––一念未生的時候，你見著什麼境界，多數是真的，有的時候也是幻化的。那麼最主要就是在這個一念未生的時候，若有什麼境界，那就是有一點意思了。
並且參禪不要有境界，要什麼也沒有，就是要空；連空都空了它，也不要怕，也不要歡喜。你若有一種恐懼，這也會著魔的；你有一種歡喜，有歡喜魔來。你看《楞嚴經》那五十種陰魔，那都是坐禪中的境界。你若能明白那種境界了，你所見的什麼，就不會被這境界轉了。所謂「佛來佛斬，魔來魔斬」。佛來了，也不要著住到佛上；魔來了，也不要著住到魔上，不要執著。不要：「哦！這佛來了。」生大歡喜了，這也是不得其正了。有所恐懼，則不得其正；有所好樂，則不得其正；有所忿懥，則不得其正。所以你若能以在這個靜中如如不動，遇到什麼境界也不動的，也不生分別心，也不追這個境界。境界現前了，隨它現；不現前，也不要找境界；見到境界，也不要隨著境界轉。
因為我們人由無始劫以來，在八識田裡頭，什麼境界都有的。你這一靜了，它就現出來了。好像那個水很渾的，你若是總搖動這個水，它不清；你這水，你放到那個地方停止，叫它澄靜下來，它那種渾的東西、那種塵埃，就都到那個水底下去了，那麼那個水就清了。這也就好像你這一定，這心也清了。「心清水現月」，心裡清了，好像那個水裡現出月亮來似的。「意定天無雲」，你那個意若入了定了，那天上好像沒有雲彩似的。
所以，不要管這個境界是真的、是假的，你用功這才是真的。不過這個境界來了，你也不要像有一班他不明白的人說：「哎呀！這是不好啊！你著魔。」你因為用功，才有這個境界；你若不用功，根本就沒有，什麼也都沒有的。所以不要怕。真正明白了，要一切無著住，什麼也不著住。 |
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When investigating Chan, first of all you should have no mark of self. Why do we investigate the topic "Who is mindful of the Buddha?" To get rid of the self. If you really work hard and really make progress, then you won't have any other false thoughts. You won't feel pain in your legs. Since you forget both pain in the legs and false thoughts, then you only single-mindedly ponder the topic of "Who is mindful of the Buddha?" Such continuous deep concentration can change time and can chase away states. Why do I say it can shorten time? When you begin to get a response from applying effort in investigating "who?" then you will have no more than sat down when you will hear the bell ring to end the sit. You will not be aware that one hour or half an hour or two hours have passed. The end of the sitting period will come faster than the blink of an eye. Isn't that a case of time being shortened and changed? Simply by investigating the topic "Who is mindful of the Buddha?" you can cause your awareness of leg pain and back pain to vanish. It vanishes because you don't have your mind on it. Since you don't have that attachment in your mind, when you sit there, you won't feel uncomfortable. Your legs won't hurt. Even if they do hurt, you won't be aware of the pain. And so you don't want to say, "Why aren't I attaining any tangible result?" Just because of that second thought-wanting some tangible results-you have already lost your skill.
Who truly know how to work do not lose track of the topic "who?" Little by little they inquire into "who" until mind, intellect, and consciousness all vanish. The mind becomes empty; the body is also empty; the intellect is empty, and the consciousness is empty. When you strike up false thoughts, it is the sixth consciousness that they come from. The sixth consciousness causes you to strike up false thought, causes you to register pain, and causes you to be unable to bear any more. All of those are distortions of the sixth consciousness. If you are able to smash the mind, intellect and consciousness--if you investigate until you break through them, so that you can't be turned by such thoughts--then you are one who truly knows how to work. Not to mention gaining responses every day in your application of effort, if you gain a response for even the space of a thought, you can open your wisdom, which is another way of saying you can become enlightened.
An ancient saying goes,
If someone sits quietly for an instant,
That is better than building pagodas made of the seven jewels in number
like the Ganges' sands.
"If someone sits quietly for an instant"--even for such a brief period of time; if you can truly become quiet, "then that is better than building pagodas made of the seven jewels in number like the Ganges' sands." If you can genuinely enter samadhi--stay quiet--for an instant, for just a moment in time, then that in itself can eradicate infinite kalpas of offenses that bind us to birth and death. That is why we need to investigate Chan. As long as you can sit quietly, the merit and virtue will be much better than that of building pagodas of the seven jewels numbering like Ganges' sands.
When you build Ganges' sands' pagodas of the seven jewels, you are merely making material offerings to the Buddhas, which may serve to influence people to bring forth their own resolve. If you can sit quietly in an instant, you are creating a true Buddha, which is to say, a living Buddha. Returning to the self-nature and gaining the original light of wisdom is genuine merit and virtue. Building external pagodas of the seven jewels like sands in the Ganges is a conditioned dharma. What you are doing is an unconditioned Dharma. Sitting quietly is cultivating an unconditioned Dharma. That's why it's said, "If someone sits quietly for an instant, that is better than building pagodas made of the seven jewels in number like the Ganges' sands." Well, since just one instant's merit and virtue is that great, how much the more is that derived from sitting pure and still, astute and clear, without dozing off or falling asleep for an entire hour, and yet feeling that the time has passed swiftly.
Someone who is really working hard at developing his skill will not even know how many days have passed in a Chan session, because there is no need for him to pay attention to the time. When I meditated for ten weeks on Kongqing (Empty Blue) Mountain, I had no idea ten weeks could pass so fast. Since there were people to take care of counting the days, I didn't need to keep track of it myself, and so I felt the time passed very fast. My legs didn't hurt either. I sat for one hour, two hours, and even the entire day, and they never hurt because I'd broken through the pain barrier. After you have sat for a long time, the pain will subside and settle down.
You are not alone in experiencing pain. Anyone who has just begun to meditate will experience all kinds of discomfort, such as pain in the legs and aches in the back; they will feel uncomfortable all over. At that time, if you can summon your patience and concentrate your mind, you will have the kind of samadhi-power needed to defeat all difficulties. You will be able to break through all barriers. Once you break through those barriers, another vista opens up.
What states have you had? Did your state come from your imagination or was it real? If it's merely false thinking about wanting to see a certain state, then it's phony. If you weren't having false thinking, if basically you weren't thinking at all, then it's true. If you have the thought beforehand, "Oh! I want to see lotus flowers" and then a flower shows up, then that's phony. Or you think, "Ah! I want to see a Buddha" and, wow! A Buddha appears. That's also phony. If you first want to see anything and then you see it, that is phony. But if you had no thought of wanting to see and you saw, then that's true. If you haven't had a prior false thought--before such a thought ever comes up--then if you see some state you didn't think of beforehand, then in most cases the state will be true. Of course sometimes even then it's just an illusion. What is most important is that no thought of it has come up beforehand. Then, if you have some state, there may be something to it.
However, in investigating Chan, one shouldn't want states to arise. We don't want there to be anything, only emptiness--not even emptiness. It means having even emptiness be empty, and yet being without fear and without joy. If you experience a kind of fear, then you will be open to attacks by demons. If you experience a kind of happiness, then a demon of happiness will come. Look at the Fifty Skandha-demons discussed in the Shurangama Sutra. All of those states could be encountered when meditating. If you are clear about those states, you will not be turned by any state that you may see. There is a saying, "If the Buddha comes, smash him. If a demon comes, beat him away." If a Buddha comes, don't become attached to that Buddha. If a demon comes, don't become attracted to that demon. Do not have any attachments. Don't think: "Wow! A Buddha has come!" and be overjoyed about it, because then you will not act properly. If you are under the influence of passion, fear, or fond regard, you will also be incorrect in your conduct. Therefore, you must be able to remain "thus thus unmoving" in stillness; you must remain unmoved no matter what state you encounter so that you do not give rise to discriminations about it and you do not pursue it.
If a state appears, let it be. If no state appears, don't look for any. If you perceive a state, don't be turned by it. From limitless kalpas past until the present, we have accumulated all kinds of states of mind within the field of our eighth consciousness. Sitting quietly allows these states to come forth. By analogy, if you keep stirring muddy water, it will not be clear. But if you put the water some place and don't disturb it, then all the mud and sediment will sink to the bottom and the water will become clear. It's the same with you. Once you sit quietly, your mind will become clear.
"The mind's clarity is like that of water in which the moon can reflect." Your mind's clarity will be like the clarity of water that allows the moon to reflect in it. "The intellect in samadhi is like a cloudless sky." If the mind is in samadhi, if you can enter samadhi, then that's like a clear day without any clouds. And so pay no attention to whether a state of mind is true or false. Working hard is true. On the other hand, you also shouldn't go to the other extreme when a state comes up. Many people don't understand what's happening, and so they say, "Ah! This is not good. You are possessed by a demon." In fact it is because you've worked hard that you encounter such a state. If you hadn't worked hard, nothing at all would have happened. And so do not be afraid. True understanding is not being attached to anything. Don't be attached to anything at all. |
