---
title: "湛然圓澄禪師語錄 · 答德王"
description: "湛然圆澄禅师语录由明代禅宗高僧湛然圆澄所述，其门人明凡记录，丁元公与祁骏佳编撰。该书成书于明末佛教复兴时期，收录圆澄禅师的开示、法语、公案及书信，集中体现其禅学思想与修行指导，倡导直指人心、见性成佛的曹洞宗风。作为明代禅宗重要文献，该语录不仅传承了临济与曹洞宗的精髓，对后世禅修者具有深远影响，是研究明清佛教禅宗思想与实践的重要典籍。"
url: "https://rushiwowen.co/en/r/cmcxr5xpm00i3i904ugd35w7p"
---

### 答德王

> King of Virtue

客歲重蒙頒賜。垂念山衲。何以克當。又承下問。愧不能深慰聖懷。聊裁寸忱。諒大王已洞鑒之矣。山僧向欲上京請藏。特謁聖顏。面陳衷曲。余為南北眾友苦留。兼聞遼警。故中止耳。茲者蘊真來。重蒙慈賜。感荷無已。惟炷香佛前祈祝洪福萬安。壽固天地。道德彌高。等泰山之聳耀。見知朗豁。似滄海之淵深。位齊不退。心契真如。總法界以為家。視四生若親子。此即山僧之所禱也。蘊真回。先肅此啟。餘容面報。

> Last year, I was truly honored to receive your generous gift. Having the Emperor’s memory extend to this simple mountain monk is a kindness I hardly deserve. You were kind enough to seek counsel from me, but I regret that I was unable to provide the wisdom fitting to ease the imperial mind. I have written something from my humble heart, and trust that Your Majesty has fully understood it. I once intended to come to the capital to request a complete Buddhist canon, and had hoped to meet Your Majesty in person to speak directly. However, I was held back by my many friends from both north and south, and I also learned of the alarms raised in Liaodong — and so the journey was set aside. Now, with Venerable Yunzhen’s arrival, I am once again graced by your kind attention, and my gratitude is too great to express. All I can do is burn incense before the Buddha and pray that Your Majesty enjoys boundless blessings, a life as enduring as heaven and earth, and virtue that grows ever higher. May you be as majestic and radiant as Mount Tai, and as clear and profound as the vast ocean. May you attain a position unwavering, with a heart attuned to True Suchness, regarding the entire universe as your home, and all living beings as your own children. That is the prayer of this humble mountain monk. As Yunzhen returns, I offer this preliminary message in reply. Whatever remains, we may speak of face to face.

承問。生死到來。如何預知時至。此則不難。若能念念了達目前生滅。凡起一念。凡滅一念。俱要了知。則生死不待預期。自然瞞不得矣。故古人有言。死時應盡終須盡。坐脫立亡唬小兒。酪出乳中無別法。死而何苦欲先知。但時中不可差過也。二問。死後杳無踪跡者。譬如大王睡熟時。亦嘗做夢不。四體調適不動。與死何異。然則夢中所有善惡是非。苦樂得失了了不昧。豈盡無踪跡耶。但他人不見。以之為無。自己則未嘗無也。三問。善知識臨終有病者。此所謂異熟業也。夫知識秪此一生。則永出三界。所有曠劫積集業債。於此畢酧。不待再來也。如人遠去不返。所有陳債俱要索還。如不遠去。債主不急索。此必然之理矣。凡夫無病而有預知者有二種。一謂多生所積戒殺功成。二為報其現生無事真實。必非詐謀多事者能之也。四問。枯骨埋塟有吉凶者。教中所謂名言習氣也。諺曰。一人傳虗。萬人傳實。況人身四大。共稟五行。順則為吉。逆則為凶。豈特枯骨為然。架屋造船。皆有休咎分焉。五問。坐禪。開眼閉眼皆不論。祇要念念不昧。了了嘗知。自然寂不失炤。作得主宰。故曰。不論禪定解脫。祇要見性。此之謂也。六問。雜念紛飛。如何作觀。古人有言。以紛飛之心。窮彼紛飛之念。窮之無處。彼紛飛之念自然無矣。此乃還源之妙觀。非彼觀動觀靜觀彼觀此之可比也。七問。身中果有三魂七魄。不知有魂管尸骨不。此皆聖賢指凡夫。迷一真性。枉受輪迴。不了自心作一多解。故曰。原是一精明。分成六和合。如能獲悟。則一根若返源。六用成解脫。又云。尚非其一。何處有六。一六既非。三七何有。不可以迷為解。自起深疑也。八問。身中十二宮辰。此本玄門外道。執色身為自己者。作此說也。不聞老子云。吾有大患。為吾有身。若能了悟能依之色身不有。則所依之十二宮辰何在。亦不可執無有身落於斷見。何則。人人有法身常住。不生不滅。備之在我。終不繇他。儒云。未知生焉知死。又云。天開於子。地闢於丑。人生於寅。究之於未分已前。混沌已後。惟一虗空。何有十二宮辰。天地可譬人身。虗空可譬法身。迷成兩途。悟惟一致。所謂三魂七魄。十二宮辰。不可執其定有定無也。拙衲管見如此。惟大王鑒之於文字語言之前。自知曠劫已來。無有一物一名。可稱外有。直下孤明獨立。無物當情。縱橫去住。豈讓於佛。諒大王早見及此。為愍末世眾生。故作此問。發明向上大事。示彼苦海舟航。真菩薩之再來也。柰貧道智淺才疎。不能少副所問為慚爾。

> \*\*1. On Knowing the Time of Death\*\* You ask: "When death comes, how can one know its time in advance?" This is not difficult. If you clearly perceive every arising and ceasing thought in the present moment—both when a thought arises and when it fades away—then you will not need to predict death beforehand, for it will naturally be impossible to deceive you. As the ancients said: "When the time for death comes, it must end; sitting upright or standing to die merely frightens children. Milk already contains the essence for making cheese—there is no separate method. Why must one suffer to know death in advance? But do not let the time slip away." \*\*2. On Whether the Afterlife Has no Trace\*\* You ask: "After death, there is no trace left. Is this like when a king falls into deep sleep, does he still dream? When the body is relaxed and still, is it any different from death? Yet in dreams, there is clarity about good and evil, right and wrong, suffering and joy, gain and loss. Are there no traces at all? It is only that others see nothing and call it nonexistent, while the one who dreams does not find it absent." \*\*3. On Why a Wise Teacher Falls Ill at Death\*\* You ask: "Why does a wise teacher become ill at the moment of death?" This is a matter of residual karma from past lives. Such a teacher, in this one life, has permanently transcended the three realms (desire, form, and formlessness). All the karmic debts accumulated over countless eons will be settled entirely in this life, without needing to return. It is like someone far away who will not return; all outstanding debts must be claimed. If one does not go far, debtors are not in a hurry to collect—this is the natural principle. Ordinary people who know their death in advance without illness fall into two categories: first, those whose accumulated merit from refraining from killing across many lifetimes has matured; second, those whose current life is genuinely simple and free from deceit, not those who engage in schemes and trouble. \*\*4. On Whether Buried Bones Bring Good or Bad Fortune\*\* You ask: "Do buried bones bring good or bad fortune?" This is what the teachings call the habitual imprints of speech. As the saying goes: "One person spreads falsehood, ten thousand believe it real." Moreover, the human body is composed of the four elements, which collectively embody the five phases (wood, fire, earth, metal, water). Harmony brings good fortune, disharmony brings bad. Do you think this is unique to bones? Building houses or ships also has auspicious and inauspicious signs. \*\*5. On Meditation\*\* Whether you meditate with eyes open or closed matters not. The key is to remain mindful in every moment, clearly aware, and naturally calm without losing awareness. Thus one becomes the master of one's mind. Hence the saying: "It is not about meditative absorption or liberation; it is about seeing one's true nature." \*\*6. On Dealing with Distracting Thoughts\*\* You ask: "When many distracting thoughts arise, how should one contemplate?" The ancients said: "Use the very mind that stirs with thoughts to investigate those thoughts. When you find no place for them, those thoughts will naturally cease." This is the subtle contemplation of returning to the source, not comparable to observing movement or stillness, object or subject. \*\*7. On the Soul and Corpse\*\* You ask: "Do humans actually have three souls and seven spirits? Does one soul govern the corpse?" All such talk is the sages pointing to the average person who, deluded about their one true nature, suffers endless cycles of rebirth. Unable to understand the original mind, they divide it into many parts. Hence it is said: "Originally there is One Pure Awareness, which splits into six functions." If you gain awakening, then when even one sense root returns to its source, all six functions become liberation. Furthermore: "It is not even one; where would six come from? If one and six are both nonexistent, where would three and seven be found?" Do not take delusion as understanding and create deep doubt in yourself. \*\*8. On the Twelve Palaces Within the Body\*\* You ask: "Are there twelve palaces within the body?" This comes from Daoist and non-Buddhist traditions that cling to the physical body as the self. Haven't you heard Laozi say: "I have a great trouble because I have a body"? If you realize that the dependent physical body is not real, then where are the twelve palaces on which it depends? Yet you should not cling to the idea that there is no body and fall into nihilism. Why? Every person has a Dharma body that is eternally present, unborn and undying. It is complete within oneself and ultimately not dependent on anything external. As Confucius said: "If you do not understand life, how can you understand death?" And further: "Heaven opens at the Hour of the Rat, Earth opens at the Hour of the Ox, and humans are born at the Hour of the Tiger." If you investigate before this division—beyond chaos—there is only empty space. Where are the twelve palaces? Heaven and Earth can be compared to the human body; empty space can be compared to the Dharma body. When deluded, they become two separate paths; when awakened, they are one. Thus, the three souls, seven spirits, and twelve palaces should not be clung to as either existing or not existing. This humble monk's view is thus. I only ask that the King see beyond words and letters, and spontaneously realize that since beginningless time, there has never been a single thing or name that could be called "outside." Directly, it is singular, luminous, independent—nothing exists to oppose it. Free to go or stay, how would this differ from the Buddha? I suspect the King has long understood this. Out of compassion for sentient beings in this degenerate age, you have posed these questions to clarify the supreme matter, pointing out a boat for crossing the sea of suffering. You are truly a Bodhisattva incarnate. I only regret that my own wisdom is shallow and my talent lacking, so I cannot fully match your inquiry—this is my shame.