--- title: "湛然圓澄禪師語錄 · 答李借假居士(名化龍東南海人)" 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/cmcxr5xpm00i7i904vgs0n11o" --- ### 答李借假居士名化龍。󳱮東南海人 > Response to Layman Li JiejiaAlso known as Huā Lóng, from the Southeast China region 三復來書。知老居士宿承願力。來此末世。現宰官身。求出世道。為眾生作軌範也。不則妙年何能不為富貴所沈。而知有此事耶。相似知解。或者有之。何能決然長齋。若曰非再來人。吾必不信矣。蒙示依疏論淨土話頭等語。皆是途徑之說。可信不可執。何以故。無真實立故。徒使人終日取捨勞心費力無益也。公何不體取六祖之言。不思善。不思惡。只恁麼參。自然心入無生。湛然常寂。此語何等徑直。遠離途徑。直下自信。所謂成佛。無尚於此矣。貧道自慚無德。空為海內所知。荷蒙玉翰遙頒。下情愧汗。不敢以繁詞穢耳。僅以所知錄呈。若能擔當。則一念相應。即一念佛。百念千念亦復如是。切勿墮隨言執見。說有禪可參。便作禪解見。說有淨土。便作淨土解。說有經論。便作經論。解。說有戒律。便作戒律解。如是等皆是隨言作計。被他所轉。迷背自心。終無了日。如云未悟者。公初不知有出世事緣。經論乃知。知即悟也。若云不能修行。此一念長齋已是修行。若推以廣之。則萬德萬行。作福方便。皆從此一念發起也。若云未明大事。但看不思善。不思惡。兩頭坐斷。中間自虗。此祖師之言。公能不信乎。若信則大事已明。不須更明。貧道所知。如是而已。 > I have read your letter three times. I now understand that you, an elder layperson, have come to this degenerate age, driven by the strength of your past vows, holding an official position while seeking the path of transcendence, to serve as a model for all beings. Otherwise, how could someone so young resist the lure of wealth and status, and instead be aware of such matters? You may have some intellectual understanding of the Dharma, but could you so decisively take up a long-term vegetarian practice? If you were not a reincarnated bodhisattva, I would not believe it. You mentioned relying on commentaries and treatises about the Pure Land, and using "huatou" (meditation topics)—these are merely a path, useful to follow but not to cling to. Why? Because they lack genuine stability. They only cause one to constantly pick and choose, exhausting the mind and effort without real benefit. Why not embody the words of the Sixth Patriarch? Don't think of good, don't think of evil—just contemplate like this. Then the mind naturally enters the unborn, clear and ever still. How direct this teaching is! It departs from all paths, brings immediate faith. This is the supreme way to become a Buddha. I am unworthy of the praise I have received, and though I am known across the land, when you honored me with your letter, I was humbled and perspired with shame. I dare not bore you with many words. I offer only what I know: if you can take it up, then one moment of true recognition is one moment of Buddha. A hundred, a thousand moments are the same. Do not fall into the trap of clinging to words, making "Chan" into something to grasp, "Pure Land" into a fixed concept, "sutras and commentaries" into mere doctrines, or "precepts" into rigid rules. All of these are being trapped by words and led by them, turning away from your own mind, with no day of liberation. As for the claim that you haven't awakened: you once did not even know of transcendental matters, but through the sutras and commentaries, you came to know. To know is to awaken. And if you say you cannot practice, then that one thought of long-term vegetarianism is already practice. Extend it further, and all virtues, all practices, all ways of creating blessings arise from this one thought. If you still say the great matter is not clear, then simply observe: "Don't think of good, don't think of evil." Cut off both ends; the middle is empty on its own. This is the word of the Patriarchs. Can you not trust it? If you trust it, then the great matter is already clear—there is no need to clarify further. This is all I know.