恰到好處是中道

　　Doing It Just Right is the Middle Way

　　緊了繃，慢了松，不緊不慢才成功。

　　Too tight, and it”ll break. Too slack, and it”ll be loose. Neither tight nor slack, and it will turn out right.

　　參禅的法門，要念茲在茲。時時刻刻都要回光返照，也不要緊，也不要慢，所謂：

　　緊了繃，慢了松，

　　不緊不慢才成功。

　　In the Dharma-door of investigating Chan, you must fix your attention on what you are doing. At all times, you should return the light and reflect within. Don”t be too tense, and don”t be too slack. It”s said,

　　Too tight, and it”ll break. Too slack,

　　and it”ll be loose.

　　Neither tight nor slack,

　　and it will turn out right.

　　不緊不慢就是中道，行住坐臥不離這個，離了這個，就是錯過。這個是什麼，就是中道了義。

　　Being neither tense nor slack is the Middle Way. Walking, standing, sitting and lying down, don”t be apart from this. Once you leave this, you have missed it. What is this

　　 It”s the ultimate meaning of the Middle Way.

　　參禅要不偏不倚，不要太過，也不要不及，太過或不及，那不是中道。不落空有二邊，才是中道。所謂「中道就是非空非有」，也就是真空妙有。無著于真空，無礙于妙有，真空妙有不可取，也不可舍，取也不得，舍也不可，這是真空妙有的境界。

　　In investigating Chan, you must be impartial, not leaning to one side. Don”t go too far, and don”t fail to go far enough. If you go too far, or not far enough, it”s not the Middle Way. If you don”t fall into the two extremes of emptiness and existence, then that”s the Middle Way. It”s said, “The Middle Way is neither emptiness nor existence.” It is True Emptiness and Wonderful Existence. Do not be attached to true emptiness, and do not be obstructed by wonderful existence, for true emptiness and wonderful existence cannot be grasped or renounced. You cannot take hold of them or let go of them. That”s the state of true emptiness and wonderful existence.

　　用功的人，要有始有終，才能有所成就，所謂「貫徹始終」。不可一曝十寒，遇難即退，半途而廢，那是沒有出息的人，古人說：

　　修道不怕慢，只怕站。

　　When you are applying effort, you should finish what you start; only then will you accomplish anything. As it”s said, “Carry it through from beginning to end.” You shouldn”t “put it in the sun for one day and freeze it for ten,” retreat in the face of difficulty, or give up halfway─that”s the behavior of people without backbone. The ancients said,

　　In cultivation, don”t be afraid to go slowly.

　　Just be afraid of standing still.

　　平時用功參禅，照顧自己的話頭，用自己的金剛寶劍(智慧)，斬斷一切的妄想；妄想斬斷，智慧現前；有了智慧光明，破了無明的黑暗；無明破除，就出離叁界，不受生死，也就是闖過生命之輪(十二因緣)的關。

　　In your daily investigation of Chan, be mindful of your own meditation topic, and slash through all your idle thoughts with your Vajra-jewelled sword of wisdom. When idle thinking is severed, wisdom will arise. With the light of wisdom, you can smash through the gloom of ignorance. Once ignorance is smashed, you can transcend the Three Realms, escape birth and death, and crash your way out of the wheel of life (i.e. the twelve links of conditioned co-production).

　　用功修道的人，要有忍耐心，無論怎樣辛苦，都要忍受，忍就能到彼岸，所以各位打禅七，不要怕辛苦，所謂「苦盡甘來」。「不在最底下，到不了最頂上。」要知道萬丈高樓乃是從平地建起，不是在虛空造成的。所以我們參禅的人，要從根本上入手，就是把妄想驅除。若能把妄想製止，這時候，

　　心清水現月，

　　意定天無雲。

　　Those who apply effort in cultivating the Way must have patience. No matter how hard it is, you must patiently bear it. With patience you can reach the other shore. So in joining this Chan Session, you all should not be afraid of hardship. It”s said, “When bitterness ends, sweetness comes.” If you don”t start at the very bottom, you can”t reach the top. Remember that a ten thousand foot skyscraper is built from the ground up. It isn”t built in mid-air. Therefore, Chan cultivators must start with the basics, which are to get rid of idle thinking. If you can stop your idle thoughts, then at that point,

　　The moon appears in the waters of

　　a pure heart;

　　There are no clouds in the sky of

　　a calm mind.

　　心平百難皆散，意定萬事皆平，所謂：

　　心止念絕真富貴，

　　私欲斷盡真福田。

　　When the heart is at peace, all problems go away; When the mind is still, the myriad things are in harmony. As it is said,

　　True wealth is stopping the mind and cutting off thought;

　　True fields of blessings are devoid of all selfis…

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