---
title: "湛然圓澄禪師語錄 · 受生幻智二法門序"
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/cmcxr5xst00lji9041pllr8cf"
---

### 受生幻智二法門序

> Preface to the Two Dharma Gates of Birth and Illusory Wisdom

夫道無方也。行無門也。無方則隨時破立。無門則惟利是從。此古今不刊之格也。世有無知者不善所擇。多諸偽濫。惟智者之所慨焉。且時人作預修。還受生錢者。經教無文。不根若此。若云人之受生。必於曹案假借使用。閻君豈贓濫之徒耶。若云死後無可使用。必須預寄獄庫。吾未見世人先將財帛寄司獄。以備入監之費。恐智者弗為爾。人能修德。則天人欽仰。心希聖賢。則國家褒寵。刑憲地獄。豈有二焉。復謂婦人生產。必入血湖。遙指目連為證。且地獄者幽冥也。幽冥也者。無識無知。無識無知。而云羽州追陽縣。不知何省所屬矣。夫有陰陽則有夫婦。有夫婦則有產育。產育者必入血湖。豈閻君不繇產育而生于木石耶。如亦繇之。則伊母在獄。而子何治乎。曰若然則血湖之說不足信也。曰非不足信。間為一種婦人不生敬慎者之所設。非施之一槩也。予每私議如此。豈知有同音者焉。嘉禾鹿園居士葉君。儒門白足。藝苑高奎。初則淹貫六經。今也闇閑釋典。慨此二謬。刻此二門望轉其習。一曰。妙德夜神說菩薩受生藏。二曰。摩耶夫人說大願幻智解脫門。懇予作序。余愧幼不讀書。又兼學淺。安能與大方鬪巧。然其用心。正合愚意。聊為解說。夫受生者。以法界無礙自在力。於一切處受生。非一人道。其猶月行霄漢。影落百川。然非心意思議所及。豈錢帛囑託使之然乎。誕育者。以真心無性三昧門。於一切處誕育。非一如來。其猶虗空。體非萬象而不拒萬象發揮。尚非鐵圍石壁所障。豈血湖地獄使之可拘乎。統三世為一際。生即不生。十世古今。始終不離於當念。閻君云乎哉。徧十方為幻腹。無生即生。無邊剎海。自他不隔於毫端。血湖云乎哉。苟能如是。則未離兜率已降王宮。未出母胎度人已畢。直下承當。即名佛子。信心一念。已越諸流。如斯妙利。非葉君其孰能知之。

> The Ultimate Way has no fixed place; its practice has no single gate. Without fixed place, it adapts and transforms with time. Without a single gate, it simply follows what is beneficial. This is an unchanging principle through the ages. Foolish people, lacking understanding, make poor choices and engage in many false and superstitious practices, which wise people deeply lament. Consider the current custom of people making advance preparations by "repaying birth-debt money." There is no scriptural basis for this; it is utterly groundless. If we say that when people are born, they must borrow from the celestial treasury, then would the King of Hell be a corrupt official? If we claim that after death we need money and must deposit it in the prison treasury beforehand, I have never seen anyone depositing money with the jailer to prepare for future imprisonment—wise people would never do such a thing. If a person cultivates virtue, gods and humans will respect them. If their hearts aspire to sainthood, the state will honor them. How could there be a separate worldly prison and hell? Some also claim that women giving birth must enter the Blood Lake hell, citing Maudgalyayana as proof. But hell is a realm of darkness, without consciousness or knowledge. To say that there is a place called "Yuzhou's Zhaoyang County" for this—in what province could it possibly be? Where there are male and female, there is marriage; where there is marriage, there is childbirth. If childbirth necessarily leads to the Blood Lake hell, then was the King of Hell not born from a mother, but from wood or stone? If he was also born from a mother, then his mother would be in hell—how could he rule over it? If you argue that this disproves the Blood Lake story, it is not that it is entirely false, but rather that it was established as a warning for a certain type of woman who lacks reverence and care—not meant to be applied universally. I have had these thoughts privately for a long time. Little did I know there were like-minded people. Layman Ye of the Deer Garden in Jiaxing, a learned scholar and accomplished artist, first mastered the Six Classics and now deeply understands the Buddhist scriptures. Lamenting these two superstitions, he printed two texts to correct the custom: one is "The Bodhisattva Sudhanashri’s Discourse on the Womb of Enlightenment," and the other is "Queen Maya’s Teaching on the Great Vow of Illusory Wisdom and Liberation." He asked me to write a preface. I am ashamed that I was not well-read in youth and my learning is shallow—how could I match the skill of great masters? Yet his intention aligns with my own, so I will offer this explanation. Regarding birth: Through the unimpeded power of the Dharma realm, the enlightened one is born everywhere, not merely in the human realm. It is like the moon traveling through the sky, its reflection appearing in a hundred rivers—this cannot be grasped by ordinary thought. How could money or bribery make it so? Regarding childbirth: Through the samadhi of true mind without fixed nature, the enlightened one is born everywhere, not just as one Buddha. It is like space itself: its essence is not the myriad phenomena, yet it does not hinder their manifestation. Not even walls of iron or stone can obstruct it—how could a Blood Lake hell confine it? Unifying the three times into a single moment: birth is no-birth. The past and future of ten ages never depart from this very thought. What need is there for the King of Hell? Pervading the ten directions as an illusory womb: no-birth is true birth. Boundless worlds and oceans, self and others—not a hair's breadth apart. What need is there for a Blood Lake? If you can realize this, then before descending from the Tushita Heaven, you have already entered the royal palace. Before leaving the mother's womb, you have already completed the liberation of beings. Directly take hold of this—then you are called a child of the Buddha. With one thought of faith, you have already transcended all streams. Such wondrous benefits—who but Layman Ye could truly understand them?