..續本文上一頁ne may think, "I should imitate Chan Master Miaodu and not go to the bathroom to relieve myself, but instead go in front of Guanyin”s altar." If you did that intentionally, you would be 108,000 miles away from the Way. You should know that Chan Master Miaodu was not imitating anyone else. Rather, he was single-mindedly contemplating, "Who is mindful of the Buddha

　　" Because his attention was devoted entirely to this question, he committed such an error. If you, on the other hand, set out deliberately to make that error, you are making a grave mistake. You shouldn”t even think about doing such a thing.

　　所謂「差之絲毫，謬之千裏。」在禅堂裏不用功修行，卻坐在那裏打妄想：「引磬怎麼還不響呢？開靜可以伸伸腿，直直腰。」或者打吃飯的妄想：「怎麼還不到吃飯的時候？肚子餓得受不了了。」甚至有人在數時間：「已經過去十二天，還有九天就功德圓滿了，快點過去吧！免得受罪。」人家打禅七，希望時間越長越好，能有開悟的機會；他坐在禅凳上，好像坐在針墊上，時刻不安甯，不是換腿，就是伸腰。人家在入定，他在想入非非，妄想重重。既然是這樣，何必來打禅七，裝模作樣做什麼？幹脆不要來參加，免得自找苦吃。

　　It”s said that "Being off by a hairsbreadth at the start will lead you astray by a thousand miles in the end." Some people are sitting in the meditation hall having idle thoughts: "How come the bell still hasn”t been rung

　　 When it rings, I”m going to stretch my legs and rest my back." Or we may wonder, "Isn”t it lunchtime yet

　　 I”m hungry as can be." Someone may even be counting the remaining time: "Twelve days have gone by, and we have nine more days to go until the merit and virtue is complete. I hope the time will pass quickly, so we can get this suffering over with." When people join a Chan Session, they ought to wish that the time would last, to give them more chances to get enlightened. Another person, as he sits, looks like someone sitting on a pincushion. He can”t be still for a minute, but either changes his legs around or stretches them out to rest his back. Other people may be entering samadhi, but this guy is thinking up a storm; his idle thoughts are several layers thick. If one carries on like this, then what is the point of joining a Chan Session in the first place

　　 Why maintain this pretense

　　 It would be better off simply not coming in the first place; one would save oneself a lot of trouble that way.

　　可是你要知道，想了生死，應該把「生死」二字挂在眉梢上，睜眼看見生死問題，閉眼不忘生死問題。要念茲在茲用功修行，才能了生死。你在禅堂不是念茲在茲想了生死，而是念茲在茲打妄想，唯恐妄想打少了不夠本，這是多麼可憐啊！

　　Know, however, that we should hang the question of birth and death right between our eyebrows, so that when our eyes are open we are looking directly at it, and even with our eyes closed we cannot forget this question. We must work and cultivate in each consecutive thought; only then can we end birth and death. You, on the other hand, are not thinking about birth and death in each consecutive thought as you sit in the Chan hall. You”re constantly indulging in idle thinking. You fear only that if your idle thoughts are too few, you”ll take a loss! How pathetic!

　　用功修道的人，一秒鍾也不可以打妄想，所謂「大事未明，如喪考妣。」生死大事沒有了，好像死了父母一樣地悲哀。所以在參禅的時候，一分一秒的時間也不可以空過，也不放松，時時刻刻用功修行。用功到了爐火純青的時候，自然就有感應；有了感應，功夫才能相應。就算已經開悟，也要再接再厲向前進，不可以躲懶偷安，化城自困，到此爲止，不向前走了。有這種思想，就是修道的絆腳石。

　　People who know how to apply themselves don”t indulge in idle thoughts for even an instant. It”s said that, "Until we actually understand the great matter, we should be as if attending the funeral of our parents." Before we have resolved the important matter of birth and death, we should be as sorrowful as if our parents had died. In the meditation hall, we cannot let the slightest fraction of time slip by. We cannot let up for an instant. We must work hard at our cultivation at all times. When we apply effort to an intense level, there will naturally be a response. When there is a response, our skill will touch the Way. Even if you are already enlightened, you must continue to persevere and advance. Don”t be lazy; don”t get trapped at the "Transformation City" and stop making progress. Such ideas are the stumbling blocks of cultivation.

　　明明知道辦不到，爲何還要打妄想呢？明明知道是妄想，爲何不收拾幹淨？這就是一般人的習氣毛病，明知故犯。說穿了，就是看不破，放不下，執東執西，著男著女，結果把寶貴的光陰都浪費了。

　　If we know clearly that idle thoughts cannot be realized, why do we still indulge in them

　　 If we know very well that they are merely idle thoughts, why don”t we simply clean them up

　　 Most people have this problem of knowing something is wrong but going ahead and doing it anyway. The truth is that we still can”t see through things or put them down. We are attached to this and that, attached to men or to women, and as a result, we waste all our precious time.

　　打禅七的時間是最寶貴的，因爲這是不容易遇到的良機。在這個期間，把一切妄想都抛到九霄雲外，讓心清淨一下，專想「念佛是誰？」不要打閑岔，大家努力來參！參！參！

　　The time spent in the meditation session is most valuable; it is a rare opportunity that is hard to meet. During this retreat, I urge you to throw your idle thoughts out past cloud nine! Give your mind a chance to be clean and pure; concentrate on asking "Who is mindful of the Buddha

　　" without interruption. All of you should work hard and investigate! Investigate! Investigate!

　　一九八○年禅七十二月開示

　　A talk given during a Chan session

　　in December, 1980

《妄想不斷不能開悟 We Wont Be Enlightened Until Our Idle Thoughts Stop!》全文閱讀結束。