修道不要爭第一
Don”t Compete to Be Number One As You Cultivate the Way
好的給人家，壞的自己留著。
Let others have the desirable things, while keeping the undesirable things for yourself.
現在參禅的人，盡在皮毛上用功夫，把參禅當做比賽，來爭第一。你能坐叁小時，我就要坐五小時，勝過你一招。有這種心理作祟，焉能開悟？就是坐了八萬大劫，也不能明心見性。爲什麼？因爲你有勝負心。所謂：
爭是勝負心，與道相違背；
便生四相心，由何得叁昧？
The participants in our Chan Session are working at a very superficial level. They”ve turned meditation into a contest to see who”ll win first place. They are thinking: "If you meditate for three hours, then I”ll meditate for five hours, so that I can keep the upper hand." If you let such thoughts control you, can you really expect to get enlightened
Even if you sat still for eighty thousand great eons, you”d still be unable to understand your mind and see your nature. Why
Because you have thoughts of victory and defeat.
Fighting brings an attitude of victory
and defeat
That stands in opposition to the Way.
Further, it provokes the four marks,
Which sends samadhi-power far away.
這首偈頌，是警惕修道人，不可爭第一。功夫到家，智慧現前，自然會有人評判你是第一，那才是真第一。如果心想第一，有這種勝負心，就與道相違背了。
This verse warns cultivators not to fight to be number one. When your spiritual skill matures and your wisdom appears, other people will spontaneously acclaim you as number one. Then you can be considered truly number one. But if you contend to be first, then your attitude of victory and defeat stands in opposition to the Way.
修道的人，要像水一樣，有謙卑心，不爭功、不貪德，好的給人家，壞的自己留著。老子說：
上善若水，水善利萬物而不爭。
處衆人之所惡，故幾于道矣。
Cultivators of the Way should be like water, humble and modest, neither contending for merit nor striving for virtue. They bestow advantages on others and keep the disadvantages for themselves. Lao Zi said,
The highest kind of goodness resembles water,
As it benefits all things and never contends.
It stays in places that most people despise,
And thus it approaches the Way.
上善，就是第一流的修行者，如水一般，向低窪之處流去。雖然水對萬物有利益，可是它不爭功德。不論是飛潛動植，或是胎卵濕化，它都一視同仁，供給所需。修道人，亦複如是，對一切衆生，都視爲過去的父母、未來的諸佛，要慈悲爲懷，方便爲門，拯救他們出離苦海。凡是衆人所不願意住的地方，也要去住，有這種的思想，就離道很近了。凡是有勝負心，就不合乎修道的宗旨，就違背了道。
"The highest goodness" refers to the best kind of cultivators who resemble water as it flows into the lowest places. Although water benefits all things, it refuses to compete for merit and virtue. Whether it is birds, fish, beasts, plants, or creatures born from wombs, eggs, moisture, or transformation, water treats them all with equal kindness and gives them all whatever they need. Cultivators of the Way are just like water, in that they regard all living beings as their parents from lives past and as Buddhas of the future. We make kindness and compassion our duty and expedient resourcefulness our practice as we rescue living beings from the sea of suffering. A cultivator is willing to dwell in places where most living beings are unwilling to stay. With this attitude, he stays close to the Way. Any thoughts of victory and defeat do not accord with the creed of a cultivator and stand in opposition to the Way.
修道人要沒有四相心。「無我相」，誰在修道？修道的人也沒有了。「無人相」，沒有和人比賽的心。「無衆生相」，我相沒有，人相沒有，所以衆生相也空。「無壽者相」，既然衆生相也空了，那來的壽者相？若是有爭強論勝的思想，就有四相心；有了四相心，從什麼地方能得到正定正受？這個道理，不妨琢磨琢磨。一言以蔽之：
有四相心，即是凡夫；
無四相心，即是菩薩。
Cultivators of the Way want to be free of the four marks. They want to have no mark of self. Ask yourself: "Who is this here cultivating the Way
" You”ll find that there isn”t anyone cultivat-ing. They want to have no mark of others; they have no thoughts of competing with others. They want to have no mark of living beings. Since they have no marks of self or others, quite naturally, the mark of living beings is also emptied out. They want to have no mark of a life span: Since the mark of living beings has been emptied out, how could there be any mark of a life span
But once you indulge in thoughts of victory, the four marks will arise. Once they arise, how can yo…
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