---
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/cmcxr5xpm00i5i904xx2sd0qn"
---

### 答德王

> King of Virtue

承問身性之異者。雖則常所知。實非常所盡證。非不證也。葢以自背。故謂之迷。豈其皆無而修得之也。貧道即以現前指出。可使日用親證焉。身猶萬象。性猶虗空。萬象去來生滅不停。皆為虗空之所容受。而虗空亘古亘今。凝然不變也。身之動靜生滅。莫不皆現自性之中。而自性能知去來動靜生滅。寧不如虗空亘古亘今不受生死者乎。若能一念不生。身心當下無有處所。何處見有生死來。所以貧道勸人常住無念。自然前後泯淨。即此無念。頓入大光明藏。總法界都是個自己法性。從上佛祖都向此中安住。何必臨終求驗也。昔者有鬼逼禪師。橋上打坐。隱聞眾鬼相語云。今日有替代來也。他鬼問曰。替代者何人。曰戴銕帽者即替身也。至晚天雨。岸上人頂銕鍋入河濯足。禪師急止之。語其故。其人即回。鬼嗔曰。何等禿物敗吾好事。我當報之。繇是鬼皆圍遶欲害僧。僧即斂念不動。鬼曰。好一座塔。人從那裏去了。少時鬼散。僧作念云。鬼去也。鬼復聚云。來也來也。僧復斂念。鬼云又不見了。如是者三。豁然大悟。時人號為鬼逼禪師。當其念動。鬼得以見之。此即生死宛然。念斂則鬼尚不見。更何能害之。鬼所得見者。皆繇我心生滅故。或有或無。然我自性。若存若滅。若去若來。皆現知中。湛然常住。更求方所。似差一著也。敢問大王此中用力已久。亦有片時入寂不。倘亦有入寂時。還見有身心不。若有身心。不名禪寂。若有禪寂。畢竟沒有身心。既無身心。寧有方所歸乎。此時無身可得。無心可起。臨終有何異焉。若無異者。何不當下使其無心。而乃俟臨終求驗耶。

> You ask about the difference between body and nature. This is something people often know about intellectually, but it is rarely something they fully realize in experience. It’s not that they cannot realize it, but they turn away from it—that’s what we call confusion. It’s not that these things don’t exist and can only be gained through practice. Let me point it out directly using everyday life, so you can verify it yourself. The body is like the myriad phenomena; nature is like empty space. Phenomena come and go, arise and cease without stop, yet they are all contained within space. Space itself, however, remains unchanged and solid throughout all time. The body’s movements, stillness, arising, and ceasing all appear within one’s own nature. And this nature knows the coming and going, the movement and stillness, the arising and ceasing—surely it is like space, which remains unchanging through all time and is beyond birth and death? If you can stop a single thought, then right now the body and mind have no location. Where can you find birth or death then? This is why I always tell people to abide in non-thought. Naturally, past and future are purified together. In this non-thought, you suddenly enter the great treasury of light. The entire universe becomes just your own Dharma-nature. All the Buddhas and Patriarchs from the past abide right here—why must you wait for the moment of death to seek proof? In the past, there was a monk who was chased by ghosts. He sat in meditation on a bridge and overheard ghosts talking: “Today someone will come to take our place.” Another ghost asked, “Who is the substitute?” The reply: “Someone wearing an iron hat will be the substitute.” That evening it rained. A man from the shore carried an iron pot on his head and went to wash his feet in the river. The monk urgently stopped him and told him why. The man went back. The ghosts were furious and said, “What bald monk has ruined our business? We’ll get back at him!” The ghosts surrounded the monk and tried to harm him. The monk collected his thoughts and remained still. The ghosts said, “What a nice pagoda! Where did that person go?” After a while, the ghosts dispersed. The monk then thought, “The ghosts are gone.” The ghosts immediately gathered again and said, “He’s back! He’s back!” The monk again collected his thoughts, and the ghosts said, “He’s gone again.” This happened three times, and the monk suddenly had a great awakening. People later called him the Ghost-Chasing Monk. When his thoughts stirred, the ghosts could see him—this is the clear manifestation of birth and death. When he collected his thoughts, even the ghosts couldn’t see him, so how could they harm him? What the ghosts could see was always due to the arising and ceasing of my mind—now present, now absent. Yet my own nature, whether present or absent, coming or going, always appears within the knowing mind. It is clear and constantly abiding. If you still seek a specific location, that seems to be missing the mark by a hair. May I ask you, Great King: after practicing for so long, have you ever had a moment of entering stillness? If you have, do you still see a body or mind? If there is body and mind, then it is not the stillness of meditation. If there is meditative stillness, then ultimately there is no body or mind. If there is no body or mind, where would you seek a destination? At that moment, there is no body to be found and no mind to arise. How is this different from the moment of death? If it is no different, then why not directly make the mind absent right now, instead of waiting for the moment of death to seek proof?