迷时师度，悟时自度

　　Confused, You Are Saved by a Teacher. Awakened, You Save Yourself.

　　要相信自己的智慧，不要相信自己的愚痴，这一点是非常重要的。

　　You should trust in your own wisdom, not your own stupidity. This is a very important distinction!

　　现在是打禅七(一九七七年十二月十五日)的时间，诸位时时刻刻要提起话头，去参禅，去用功。修道人要自己修行，不要依赖他人，更不要依赖师父。我们是打禅七，不是打师父七，这一点要弄清楚。有人这样想：「师父在万佛圣城的时候，我就用功修行；师父离开万佛圣城，我就不认真修行。」这种思想，实在要不得。无论师父在不在万佛圣城，都要勇猛精进地修行，贯彻始终，才有成就。否则尽做表面的工作，那是自欺欺人的行为，永远得不到解脱。

　　Now we are holding a Chan Session (December 15, 1977), and you should all be bringing up your meditation topic at every moment, as you investigate Chan and work at meditation. Cultivators of the Way practice on their own; they do not rely on other people, and even less should they rely on their teacher. We are holding a meditation retreat, not a "Teacher-retreat." Please be clear about this point. Someone is thinking: "The Venerable Master is here now at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, so I”ll take my cultivation seriously. Once he leaves, however, I won”t have to cultivate hard anymore." You should not think this way. Whether or not your teacher is at the City, you should cultivate with vigor. Finish what you”ve started, applying yourself with equal energy all the way through; only then can you succeed. Otherwise your work will always be superficial; you”ll only be fooling yourself and fooling others, and you”ll never get liberated.

　　参话头就是参「念佛是谁？」念佛是谁？这要参是哪一个？说是：「我在念佛。」那么我死了，这个「我」又跑到什么地方去？根本那不是「我」。这样说来，那是没有「我」了。既然没有「我」，那么还活着的时候，就不需要修行了？这是不正确的想法。应该怎样呢？就是要参本来的面目，父母未生以前的面目是什么样子？参明白了，就可开悟。

　　Investigating the meditation topic means asking, "Who is reciting the Buddha”s name

　　" Look into it! Who is it

　　 If you say, "I”m reciting!" then after you die, where has that "I" gone to

　　 In fact, the reciter isn”t "I" after all. As we investigate it, there is no "I" to be found. Since there”s no "I," then while I”m still alive, there”s no need to cultivate, is there

　　 This is a case of incorrect thinking. How should we think then

　　 We should investigate our basic identity. Who were we before our parents bore us

　　 What did we look like then

　　 When you understand the answer to that question, you can get enlightened.

　　念佛是哪一个？时时刻刻在追究，分分秒秒不放松。其实用这种功夫，就是以毒攻毒的方法。念佛是谁？虽然也是一个念，但是用一念控制一切念，用这个妄想停止一切妄想。制止到了极点的时候，水落石出，真相大白，便能开悟。

　　"Who is reciting the Buddha”s name

　　" Pursue this question ceaselessly. Don”t let up on it even for a moment. In fact, this technique is a way to use poison to counteract poison. Although the question, "Who is reciting the Buddha”s name

　　" is also a thought, we use one thought to control all other thoughts. One idle thought puts a stop to all idle thoughts. When those thoughts have been brought to an ultimate end, "the tide recedes and the rocks show through." We clearly perceive the true appearance of things, and then we can get enlightened.

　　什么是开悟？就是真真实实认识自己是怎么回事，证得空理，知道一切是虚妄，这是真知道。知道「本来无一物，何处惹尘埃」这种的境界，也就是明心见性的境界。所谓「明心无难事，见性不知愁」，明心的人，什么也不愁，所谓：

　　自古神仙无别法，

　　广生欢喜不生愁。

　　这是修道人的座右铭。

　　What does it mean to get enlightened

　　 It means you truly recognize what you”re all about. You realize the principle of emptiness and you know that all things are false. This is truly knowing. You know the state called, "Originally there was not a single thing. Where could dust alight

　　" It”s also called: "Understanding the mind and seeing the nature." It”s said that, When you understand the mind, nothing is difficult any more. When you see the nature, all worries are gone. People who understand the mind don”t worry about anything. As it is said:

　　The spirits and immortals of old had no special tricks; They were simply happy as could be, and they never worried.

　　This should be the benchmark of all cultivators of the Way.

　　修道人，无论遇到顺或逆的境界，皆不动心。若能有这样的定力，那就不会被境界所转，而能转境界，这才是修道人的真功夫。所谓

　　泰山崩前而不惊，

　　美色当前而不动。

　　Cultivators do not get upset no matter whether they encount…

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