久參自然會開悟

　　Long-term Meditation Will Naturally Bring You to Enlightenment

　　參到山窮水盡的時候，自然有好消息，柳暗花明的境界便會出現在眼前。

　　Keep searching until "the mountains vanish and the rivers disappear." Then spontaneously, the good news will arrive, and you will experience a state "beyond the shadows of the willows and the vivid blossoms."

　　參禅時，眼觀鼻、鼻觀口、口觀心，這是基本的法則，可以控製心猿意馬，不令它向外馳求。在禅堂參禅，不可東張西望，如果前顧後盼，心就跑到外邊去了，禅就參不下去。這一點，各位要特別注意！禅七的光陰，非常寶貴，可以說是分秒必爭，不能空過，要把握時機來參禅，參禅才能得大智慧。

　　The basic rule in Chan meditation is: "Let your eyes contemplate your nose; let your nose contemplate your mouth; let your mouth contemplate your mind." This allows us to control the monkey of the mind and rein in the wild horse of our thoughts, so that they stop running outside seeking things. As we sit in the meditation hall, we may not stare left and right, because if we gaze all around, then our mind will wander outside, and we won”t be able to investigate Chan. Please pay heed to this point, everyone! The time in a meditation retreat is extremely valuable; you could say that there is not a second to lose. We must seize the time and investigate Chan, because only through this investigation can we attain wisdom.

　　修道人不要把臭皮囊視爲寶貝。沒有這種思想，才能用功修道；如果有這種思想，就會做它的奴隸，一天到晚爲它服務。所以真正修道的人，將身體視爲臭皮囊，不去重視它；如果重視，則成爲修道的障礙，所謂「借假修真」，只是方便而已。

　　Cultivators of the Way should not treat their skin-bag of a body as a treasure. Only people who are free of this idea can apply effort in cultivating the Way. If you treat your body as a precious thing, then you will become its slave and serve its whims all day long. Therefore, genuine cultivators treat the body as a "stinking bag of skin" and don”t prize it highly. Valuing the body is an obstacle to cultivation. We should merely "borrow the false to cultivate what is true," and see it as just an expedient means.

　　在禅堂裏，最大的忌諱，就是在參禅中睡覺。一般人參禅，容易犯的兩種毛病：一爲掉舉，一爲昏沈；不是打妄想，就是打瞌睡。用功的人，聚精會神在參，絕對不會睡覺。若是入定，另當別論。

　　The biggest taboo in the Chan Hall is sleeping during meditation. Most meditators have two problems: restlessness and torpor. That is, if they aren”t indulging in idle thinking, they”ll be dozing off. Those who know how to work hard, however, will be concentrating their energy on their inquiry; they will absolutely not be sleeping. And if they can enter samadhi, then that”s another story altogether.

　　坐禅可以證得正定正受，也就是叁昧。若能證得此境界，便會如如不動，了了常明。如何能證得此境界？就要下一番苦功夫，勇猛精進，心無妄想，到一念不生全體現的時候，就找到本來的面目，本地的風光。

　　Through meditation, you can attain "proper concentration and proper reception," which is samadhi. If you realize this state, then you will be "Thus, thus, unmoving, understanding and perfectly clear." How can you reach this state

　　 You must put in a period of vigorous effort and rid your mind of idle thoughts. Then, "when not even one thought arises, the entire substance comes into view," and you will discover your original face, your fundamental identity.

　　坐禅的關鍵，就在念茲在茲參話頭。所謂「久參自然開悟」，參到山窮水盡的時候，自然有好消息，柳暗花明的境界便會出現在眼前。有人說：「我參加這麼多次禅七，爲什麼還不開悟？」因爲你不能忍耐一切苦，只想開悟。要知道開悟是從積功累德而來，久而久之，功德圓滿，自然開悟。可是你一點功德也沒有，就想開悟，簡直是癡心妄想，癞蛤蟆想吃天鵝肉，那是辦不到的。

　　The key to meditation is to investigate the meditation topic in thought after thought. A saying goes, "After long-term investigation, you will naturally attain enlightenment." Keep searching until "the mountains vanish and the rivers disappear," and the good news will naturally arrive, and you will experience a state "beyond the shadows of the willows and the vivid blossoms." Someone may say, "I”ve attended so many retreats; why haven”t I become enlightened

　　" It”s because you haven”t been able to endure all kinds of suffering with only the wish to become enlightened. You should realize enlightenment comes from the accumulation of merit and virtue. In time, your merit and virtue will become full, and you will naturally attain enlightenment. To wish for enlightenment without creating any merit or virtue is simply vain thinking. As it”s said, "A warty frog has no hope of tasting the flesh of the great, white swan." It”s simply impossible.

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