开悟要印证才算数

　　Enlightenment Must Be Certified Before It Counts

　　开悟要经得起考验，否则成为大妄语，要堕无间地狱。

　　People who claim enlightenment have to stand up to the test; otherwise,

　　they are simply telling a great lie and will fall into the Relentless Hells.

　　在威音王佛以前，人人能开悟，不需要有人印证。在威音王佛以后，自觉开悟的人，一定要经过祖师或善知识(已开悟)印可证明才算数。好像在楞严法会上，有二十五位圣人，各述圆通，请释迦牟尼佛印证。

　　Before the time of the Buddha Awesome Voice, any person could get enlightened, and he wouldn”t need to be certified by another person. But after the time of the Buddha Awesome Voice, someone who feels he is enlightened must be certified by a Patriarch or an enlightened Good and Wise Advisor for it to really count. For example, The Shurangama Sutra lists the stories of twenty-five Sages who describe their perfect enlightenments and who request Shakyamuni Buddha to certify their attainments.

　　现在讲一个印证的公案。在唐朝有位永嘉大师，他生于浙江省永嘉县。因为他一生没有离开永嘉县，所以时人称为永嘉大师。他出家之后，研究天台教理，好修禅观，曾阅《维摩经》，豁然大悟。后来遇到玄策禅师(六祖的弟子)，永嘉大师就对他叙述此事。玄策建议他去曹溪参拜六祖，请求印证；否则无师自悟，乃是天然外道。

　　I”ll now tell the story of such a certification. In the Tang Dynasty of China there was a Great Master called Yongjia (Eternal Excellence) who was born in Yongjia county of Zhejiang Province. Because he stayed in Yongjia all his life, people gave him the name Great Master Yongjia. After he left the home-life, he studied the teachings of the Tian Tai School and cultivated meditative contemplation. One day while reading The Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra, he suddenly got enlightened. Soon after, he met a disciple of the Sixth Patriarch named Chan Master Xuance (Mystic Law), and told him his story. Master Xuance suggested that he go to Tsao Creek to study under the Sixth Patriarch and to request certification of his enlightenment. To do otherwise, to claim that one has become enlightened by oneself, without benefit of a teacher, would make one a follower of the externalists who believed in spontaneity.

　　他来到曹溪南华寺的时候，恰巧是六祖坐禅时间，他贡高我慢，来到六祖禅床前，也不问讯，也不顶礼，手执锡杖，右绕禅床三匝，振锡而立。

　　When he arrived at Nanhua Monastery in Tsao Creek, the Sixth Patriarch was meditating. Master Yongjia, full of pride, strode over to the front of the Patriarch”s meditation seat. Without even making a half-bow or full-bow, he simply grasped his tin staff, walked three times around the Patriarch”s seat, and then stood and rapped his staff on the ground.

　　六祖说：「沙门应具三千威仪，八万细行。行行无亏，名为沙门(译为勤息：勤修戒定慧，息灭贪瞋痴)。大德自何方而来，生大我慢？」

　　永嘉答：「生死事大，无常迅速。」

　　六祖说：「何不体取无生？了无速乎？」

　　永嘉答：「体即无生，了本无速。」

　　六祖说：「汝甚得无生之意。」

　　永嘉说：「无生岂有意耶？」

　　六祖说：「无意谁当分别？」

　　永嘉说：「分别亦非意！」

　　六祖说：「如是如是。」乃授与印可证明，成为六祖的法嗣。

　　The Sixth Patriarch said, "Shramanas (monks) ought to possess the Three Thousand Modes of Awesome Deportment, and the Eighty Thousand Subtle Manners. Only when one”s behavior is impeccable does one merit the name Shramana. [Shramana means "diligent and putting to rest." A Shramana "diligently cultivates precepts, concentration, and wisdom, and puts to rest greed, hatred, and stupidity."] Where do you, O Virtuous One, come from

　　 And why are you so arrogant

　　"

　　Master Yongjia answered, "Birth and death is the only important thing, and impermanence comes with haste."

　　The Sixth Patriarch said, "Then why don”t you embody birthless-ness; why don”t you understand no-haste

　　"

　　Master Yongjia answered, "The embodiment originally was not subject to birth. When you understand, then there is no further haste."

　　The Sixth Patriarch said, "You have really grasped the idea of birthlessness."

　　Master Yongjia said, "Do you mean to say that birthlessness is an idea

　　"

　　The Sixth Patriarch said, "If it isn”t an idea, then how can you distinguish it

　　"

　　Master Yongjia said, "Making distinctions is not an idea, either."

　　"You are so right! You are so right!" said the Sixth Patriarch, and thereupon certified him and made him his Dharma heir.

　　永嘉大师得六祖大师印证之后，即刻要回永嘉开元寺。六祖留他住一宿，次日再下山回永嘉。因为在一宿的…

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