修道不要争第一
Don”t Compete to Be Number One As You Cultivate the Way
好的给人家，坏的自己留着。
Let others have the desirable things, while keeping the undesirable things for yourself.
现在参禅的人，尽在皮毛上用功夫，把参禅当做比赛，来争第一。你能坐三小时，我就要坐五小时，胜过你一招。有这种心理作祟，焉能开悟？就是坐了八万大劫，也不能明心见性。为什么？因为你有胜负心。所谓：
争是胜负心，与道相违背；
便生四相心，由何得三昧？
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.
这首偈颂，是警惕修道人，不可争第一。功夫到家，智慧现前，自然会有人评判你是第一，那才是真第一。如果心想第一，有这种胜负心，就与道相违背了。
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，要像水一样，有谦卑心，不争功、不贪德，好的给人家，坏的自己留着。老子说：
上善若水，水善利万物而不争。
处众人之所恶，故几于道矣。
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，向低洼之处流去。虽然水对万物有利益，可是它不争功德。不论是飞潜动植，或是胎卵湿化，它都一视同仁，供给所需。修道人，亦复如是，对一切众生，都视为过去的父母、未来的诸佛，要慈悲为怀，方便为门，拯救他们出离苦海。凡是众人所不愿意住的地方，也要去住，有这种的思想，就离道很近了。凡是有胜负心，就不合乎修道的宗旨，就违背了道。
"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.
修道人要没有四相心。「无我相」，谁在修道？修道的人也没有了。「无人相」，没有和人比赛的心。「无众生相」，我相没有，人相没有，所以众生相也空。「无寿者相」，既然众生相也空了，那来的寿者相？若是有争强论胜的思想，就有四相心；有了四相心，从什么地方能得到正定正受？这个道理，不妨琢磨琢磨。一言以蔽之：
有四相心，即是凡夫；
无四相心，即是菩萨。
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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