警世
Warning to the World
夫不體道本，沒溺生死，處胎卵濕化、橫竪飛沈之類。於中失人身者如大地之土，得人身者如爪上之塵；於人身中，多生邊夷下賤；及處中國，或受女身；若為男子，癃殘百疾；設得丈夫十相具足者，處恐畏世，生五濁時。以肉為身，以氣為命，一報之內，如石火風燈，逝波殘照，瞬息而已！於中少夭非橫殂者，不計其數；或有得天年，壽極耳順，萬中無一；脫得知命之歲，除童稚無知，至三十豪、四十富，且約其間三十年。於中有疾病、災禍、愁憂、苦惱，居強半矣！所以昔人有言，浮生一月之中，可開口而咲，只四五日矣。故知憂長喜促、樂少苦多，如在萬仞之危峯，似處千尋之滄海，縱得少樂，畢慮漂沈！且夫有生勞我處胎，有老奪我壯色，有病損我形貌，有死壤我神靈，有榮縱我驕奢，有辱敗我意氣，有貴使我憍倨，有賤挫我行藏，有富恣我貪婪，有貧乏我依報，有樂動我情地，有苦痛我精神，有讚起我高心，有毀滅我聲價；乃至寒則逼切我體，熱則煩悶我襟，渴則乾我喉，饑則羸我腹，驚則懾我魄，懼則喪我魂，憂則撓我神，惱則敗我志，順則長我愛，逆則起我憎，親則牽我情，疎則生我恨，害則殞我體，愁則結我腸；乃至遇境生心，隨情動念，或美或惡，俱不稱懷，皆長業輪，盡喪道本。其或更詭於君、悖於父，傲其物、趨其時，獸其心、狐其意，苟其利、徇其名，誑其人、諂其行，附其勢、欺其孤，淵其殃、崇其業，扇其火、吹其風，驟其塵、背其覺，邪其種、睽其真，但顧前、非慮後，只謀去、靡思回，唯求生、焉知滅，則念念燒煮，步步溝隍矣！如今或得剎那在世，須蘊仁慈，行善修心，除非去惡。書云：「作善降之百祥，作不善降之百殃。」是以世間逆順、種種因緣，空受身心妄苦，皆為不知三界唯是一心。以前五識，眼、耳、鼻、舌、身，及第八識，皆是現量所得，無心外法；以第六明了意識比量計度而成外境。全是想生，隨念而至；若無想念，萬法無形。故經云：「想滅間靜，識停無為。」又云：「諸法不牢固，唯立在於念，善解見空者，一切無想念。」若了一心之旨，心外自然無法可陳，豈有欣戚關懷、是非干念？佛頌云：「未達境唯心，起種種分別，達境唯心已，分別即不生。既了境唯心，便捨外塵相，從此息分別，悟平等真空。」故《起信論》云：「一切境界，唯心妄動。心若不起，一切境界相滅，唯一真心遍一切處。」是故三界虛偽、唯心所作，離心即無六塵境界；乃至一切分別，即分別自心，心不見心，無相可得。先德云：「心外有法，生死輪迴；心外無法，生死永棄。」經云：「諸法所生，唯心所現。」論云：「三界無別法，但是一心作。」既信一心，須以禪定冥合。如經云：「若能教三千大千世界眾生令行十善，不如一食頃一心靜處入一相法門。」若能諦了自心，以此定慧相應，則能不動塵勞，便成正覺。平生所遇，莫越於斯，普勸後賢，可書紳耳。
Those who fail to recognize the fundamental nature of the Tao drown in the cycle of birth and death, dwelling among the forms of womb-born, egg-born, moisture-born, and transformation-born—creatures that crawl, fly, swim, and burrow. Among these, the number who lose human form is like the dirt of the great earth, while those who attain it are like the dust on a fingernail. And among human forms, many are born in remote, barbaric lands or lowly stations. Some who are born in the central lands receive a female body. Among males, many suffer from deformity and a hundred ailments. Even if one is blessed with a male body possessing all ten marks of excellence, they are born in an age of fear, during the time of five impurities. With a body of flesh and a life sustained by breath, within a single lifetime, existence is but a spark from flint, a lamp in the wind, a fading wave, or the last rays of sunset—gone in an instant! Among people, countless die young or meet untimely, violent ends. As for those who live out their natural lifespan, reaching the age of sixty, hardly one in ten thousand achieves this. If we suppose they live until fifty, subtracting childhood ignorance, the prime years from thirty to forty span only about thirty years. In that time, disease, disaster, sorrow, and affliction occupy more than half! Thus an ancient said, "In a floating life of one month, one can genuinely open their mouth to laugh for only four or five days." Hence, we know that sorrow is long and joy short, happiness scarce and suffering abundant—like standing on a perilous peak ten thousand feet high, or adrift in a vast ocean a thousand fathoms deep. Even the slightest joy is overshadowed by the dread of sinking and drowning.
Furthermore, birth exhausts me in the womb, old age robs me of my youthful vigor, illness deforms my appearance, death extinguishes my spirit. Honor indulges my arrogance, disgrace defeats my pride. Nobility makes me haughty, lowliness crushes my confidence. Wealth feeds my greed, poverty deprives me of support. Joy stirs my emotions, suffering pains my spirit. Praise raises my conceit, blame destroys my reputation. Cold torments my body, heat suffocates my mind, thirst parches my throat, hunger weakens my belly, fright seizes my soul, terror steals my spirit, worry unsettles my mind, annoyance ruins my resolve. Favorable conditions breed my attachments, opposition provokes my resentment. Closeness draws my affection, distance gives rise to my hatred. Harm destroys my body, grief knots my intestines. In every encounter with circumstances, we produce thoughts, and with these thoughts come feelings and intentions—be they good or bad, none truly satisfy the heart. All of these actions only deepen the wheel of karma and utterly destroy the foundation of the Tao. If one further betrays the ruler, disobeys the father, acts arrogantly toward others, chases the trends of the times, hides a beastly heart behind a fox-like mind, pursues profit and fame, deceives people and flatters their deeds, clings to power and bullies the weak, stockpiles misfortune and exalts material achievements, fans the flames and blows the wind, stirs up the dust of illusion and turns away from enlightenment, corrupts one's nature and alienates truth, thinks only of the present with no regard for the future, plans only to leave without considering the return, seeks only life without knowing death—then every moment is spent burning and boiling, and every step brings one closer to a ditch or a chasm.
Now, if we are fortunate enough to remain in this world for even an instant, we must nurture kindness, practice good deeds, cultivate the mind, and abandon evil. The scriptures say: "Do good, and a hundred blessings descend; do evil, and a hundred calamities befall." Therefore, the worldly experiences of adversity and good fortune, and all their various causes and conditions, are merely the false suffering of body and mind suffered in vain—all because we do not realize that the three realms are nothing but the One Mind. The five consciousnesses—sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch—together with the eighth consciousness (Alaya-vijnana), are all direct perception (pratyaksha), with no object existing outside the mind. It is only through the sixth consciousness—the active, discriminating mind—that we measure and conceive of external objects. All of this is born from thought, arriving with every passing idea. If there were no thoughts and imaginations, the ten thousand dharmas would have no form. Thus the sutra says: "When thoughts cease, there is tranquility; when consciousness stops, there is non-action." It also says: "All dharmas are not stable; they rely solely on thought. One who skillfully understands and sees emptiness has no thoughts or imaginings at all."
If we comprehend the principle of the One Mind, then naturally there will be no phenomena outside the mind to speak of. How could there be any joy or sorrow to occupy the heart, or right and wrong to trouble the mind? The Buddha's verse says: "Before realizing that the realm is merely mind, we create all kinds of discriminations. Having realized that the realm is merely mind, discriminations no longer arise. Having understood that the realm is merely mind, we abandon external objects and their marks. From then on, we cease all discrimination and awaken to the equal, true emptiness."
Thus, the *Awakening of Faith* states: "All realms are merely the deluded stirrings of the mind. If the mind does not stir, all appearances of realms cease, and only the One True Mind pervades everywhere." For this reason, the three realms are illusory—created only by the mind. Apart from the mind, there are no objects of the six senses; likewise, all discrimination is discrimination of one's own mind. The mind does not see the mind, and no marks can be obtained. An ancient worthy said: "If there is a dharma outside the mind, there is the cycle of birth and death. If there is no dharma outside the mind, the cycle of birth and death is forever abandoned." The sutra says: "All dharmas arise—they are all manifested by the mind." The treatise says: "The three realms have no separate dharmas; they are all the creation of the One Mind."
Having believed in the One Mind, one must unite with it through Chan meditation. As the sutra says: "To teach the beings of the three thousand great thousand worlds to practice the ten good deeds is not as good as, for the duration of a single meal, sitting quietly with a focused mind, entering the dharma-door of One Mark." If one can truly understand one's own mind and unite meditative concentration (samadhi) with wisdom (prajna), then one can transform afflictions without moving and attain perfect enlightenment. Nothing one encounters in a lifetime surpasses this teaching. I urge all future cultivators: take this to heart and inscribe it on your sleeve.