Waiting for the Bell

　　等著引磬響

　　Those who are working hard will feel that a sitting period passes by very fast. Those who are not will feel that it is a long time to bear. Once, there was a person who was here for the first time to investigate Chan. Every time he sat down, he would start waiting for the bell to end the silent sit. Before the bell sounded, he would be all tied up and ill at ease sitting there. It would feel as if years had passed before he heard the bell. He felt relieved, but soon it would be silent again. Once again, he would feel as if he were tied up and had lost his freedom. He said that while he was sitting in meditation, his mind was full of rubbish and he could hardly clear it away.

　　會用功的人覺得每一支香的時間，好像一轉眼那麼快；不會用功的人，就覺得這是很長的時間。以前有個人第一次來參禅，他每坐下來，就等著開靜的引磬響。引磬沒有響的時候，就好像被人綁上似的，坐在那兒覺得很不自由，好像有幾年那麼長的時間；好不容易等引磬響，才解放一會兒，很快又止靜，又被人綁上了。他說他坐在那個地方，滿腦都是垃圾，總也搬不出去；

　　After a few years, the amount of rubbish has lessened and he no longer waits for the bell. Although he doesn”t do this anymore, I am sure many of you still do. This is because beginners in meditation feel that their waist and legs ache when they are seated. If they continue sitting, their heads begin to ache too. It is because the legs hurt that one starts disobeying the rules. If he does not feel like running away, he will want to stretch out his legs. This is impermissible. If you stretch out your legs in the Chan Hall, they will be chopped off! From now on, if anyone stretches out his or her legs, their legs will be hit by the board. Let”s see if you still want to stretch them out! Well, if you have no legs, you cannot possible stretch them.

　　過了這麼多年，垃圾少一點，也不會再等著引磬響了。但是他不等，我相信有很多人還在等著，因爲初初參禅的人坐一下，就腿痛腰痛；再坐坐，頭也痛了，總是不舒服。因爲腿痛，就要不守規矩了，不是想跑，而是想把腿伸開，這是不許可的。在禅堂裏把腿伸出來，就要把腿剁了，看你還怎麼伸！以後誰把腿伸出來，香板就朝腿砍下去，看看你還伸不伸？你沒有腿了就不會伸了。