普說
General Discourse
「大凡參學之士，盡謂無常迅速，生死事大，不憚勤勞，參尋知識，決擇正因，圖脫生死，往往多被逆順境緣因循流轉，不知不覺過了二三十年，業識茫茫，無本可據，一旦火風分散，宛轉漂零，依前混在生死海中，頭出頭沒，人天鬼畜都無自由，卻與不曾參學之人等無有異。其故何也？病在最初為生死之心不真不切，而所遇師德不青不黃，不問學者如何若何，汎將平生在冊子上記持的相似言語向伊胡說一上。學者既無切心，復不具眼，以心意識一時領會，便道佛法不過如此，不復知有本分鉗鎚，縱使遇之，他亦不識，一向在意根下思量卜度，扶籬摸壁，禾莠不分，金鋀莫辨。有認昭昭靈靈六塵緣影以為本命元辰，呈拳豎指，揚眉瞬目，不自知其非者；有認黑山下、鬼窟裏閉眉合眼，冥冥蒙蒙，以為靜勝三昧而耽味者；有馳騁文字，漁獵見聞，將他先聖糟粕之餘咀來嚼去，意識依通，不更求妙悟者；有的見祖師門牆高峻，不能鑽仰，以自見處引他世典理性諸文，漫證宗乘，非思議法，外以重附儒紳，內以輕印徒屬，使人天諸乘皆無定趣，而祖道西來番為孟浪，縱有悔悟之時，業已不能改者；有的認無明現量為即心自性，有的認放曠不拘為隨緣無礙，以至破律儀、毀禁戒、無忌憚者；又有多少焦芽敗種，被邪師外道毒氣所傷，不堪救者。嗚呼！佛法到此，豈不深可悲痛也哉！山僧今日事不獲已，引古人見道因緣，與大眾證據去也。昔道明禪師趁及六祖將奪衣缽，因提掇不動，乃曰：『我為法來，非為衣也，唯冀開示。』祖曰：『汝但斂念，善惡都莫思量，自然得入清淨心體。』明稟語，祖曰：『不思善，不思惡，正恁麼時，阿那個是明上座本來面目？』明當下大悟，遍身流汗，泣禮數拜，曰：『如人飲水，冷煖自知。』百丈大師侍馬祖，行次，見一群野鴨飛過，祖曰：『是甚麼？』丈曰：『野鴨子。』祖曰：『甚麼處去也？』丈曰：『飛過去也。』祖遂把丈鼻搊，負痛失聲，祖曰：『又道飛過去也。』丈於言下大悟。大珠禪師參馬祖，祖問：『來此擬須何事？』珠曰：『來求佛法。』祖曰：『自家寶藏不顧，拋家散走作麼？』珠曰：『阿那個是慧海寶藏？』祖曰：『即今問我者是汝寶藏，一切具足，更無少欠，使用自在，何假外求？』珠於言下頓悟，自心不由知覺。水潦和尚參馬祖，問：『如何是西來的的意？』祖曰：『禮拜著。』水潦纔禮拜，被祖當胸踏倒，遂大悟，起來拍手呵呵大笑，曰：『也大奇！也大奇！百千三昧、無量妙義，秪向一毫頭上識得根源去也。』敢問大眾：如何是四位尊宿悟處？眉橫鼻直，人人是同，不可謂古人別有奇特事也。」卓拄杖，云：「拄杖子忍俊不禁，為大眾說破了也。且道拄杖子說個甚麼？咄！若於山僧喝下見得，便見四尊宿悟處，便踏著本地風光，不被一切賢聖熱瞞，便不墮如上種種惡知見窠臼中；如其未委，須是參取個方便法門始得。千七百則葛藤，俱是古人入道方便之門。近來真師隱遁，宗社寂寥，唯是念佛一門直截簡易，諸方衲子參禪念佛者蓋十人而九矣。教中道：『人身難得，中國難生，佛法難遇。』現前緇白大眾以丈夫身生太平世，仗佛餘光熏聞大法，非可容易。人生百歲，七十者稀，中間修短不齊，報緣多故，一息不返，便是來生。無常卒然難可預定，今以非容易之身處難預定之日，豈不深可憂懼而猛省乎哉？諸仁者！正好趁四大強健、眾苦未到之時，直將一句阿彌陀佛把做一件天大的大事頓在面前：南無阿彌陀佛。隨又追云：念佛的是誰？如是逼拶之時，念念不間斷，念念無異緣，一切苦樂逆順境界、千態萬狀現在前時，此念佛心無少轉動，無少退屈，如握一柄金剛王寶劍相似，諸貪嗔癡、妄想顛倒、虛偽習氣盤據六根門首，內牽外應，為賊媒者，不問過去、現在、未來，一齊斬斷，單單只是個念佛之心，如大風輪，如大火聚，一切物存著不得，一切物向傍不得，山河大地都盧是阿彌陀清淨法身，明暗色空徹底是念佛人普光明藏。如是念時，孜孜尒，兀兀尒，念來念去，日久月深，驀忽間懸崖失腳，和個念的啐地斷去，便見淨穢兩邦無異無別，高低九品無欠無餘，十萬億土不隔毫端，諸上善人常相圍繞，金地寶池遍在微塵剎土，風林水鳥深譚不二圓音，阿彌陀佛從來奉覲。達磨祖師一場㦬懡。到這裏，佛祖尚且不可奈何，何處更有生死可得？生死不可得，則涅槃不可得；生死、涅槃不可得，則眾生不可得、諸佛不可得，淨土、穢土亦不可得。沒量大人不妨於不可得處熾然往生，成就佛道，他方此界廣度含生。雖然如是，須知向上更有三世諸佛盡力道不得的句在。且道作麼生是三世諸佛盡力道不得的句？」擲拄杖云：「諦聽！諦聽！」
Generally speaking, those who study the Way all say that impermanence is swift and the matter of birth and death is immense. They spare no toil in seeking out teachers of knowledge to discern the true cause and liberate themselves from birth and death. Yet, more often than not, they are carried along by favorable and adverse conditions, drifting through twenty or thirty years without even realizing it. Their karma and consciousness vast and murky, they have no foundation to rely on. When the four elements finally disperse, they wander and tumble, once again submerged in the sea of birth and death, heads popping up and down. Among humans, heavens, ghosts, and animals, they have no freedom—no different from those who never studied the Way at all.
Why is this? The root of the illness lies in the initial resolve: the mind seeking liberation from birth and death is not genuine or urgent. Furthermore, the teachers they encounter are neither here nor there—lacking real substance. Without considering the student's true state, they casually spout memorized words and phrases from texts, babbling on aimlessly. Since the student lacks a sincere mind and lacks discerning eyes, they grasp it all with their mind and consciousness, thinking, "Buddhism is nothing more than this." They no longer know about the fundamental hammer and tongs of self-cultivation. Even if they meet such tools, they don't recognize them. Always measuring and deliberating in the realm of the sixth consciousness, they grope along fences and feel walls, unable to distinguish wheat from weeds or gold from brass. Some mistake the fleeting reflections of the six sense objects—this bright, aware quality—as their true life-force, gesturing with fists and pointing fingers, raising eyebrows and blinking eyes, unaware they are wrong. Some, in the dark mountain and ghost cave, close their eyes to the world, sinking into a murky, hazy state, mistaking it for the samadhi of calm stillness and indulging in it. Some race through words and phrases, fishing for views and hearsay, chewing on the leftover dregs of the ancient sages, relying on intellectual understanding, never seeking deeper awakening. Some see how steep and lofty the ancestral school is, cannot penetrate it, and then draw on their own views, citing worldly classics and rational texts to casually verify the school's teachings, which lie beyond conceptual thought. Outwardly they fawn over Confucian literati, inwardly they lightly impress their disciples, causing the vehicles of humans and gods to lose all direction. The ancestral Way brought from the West becomes frivolous. Even if they later realize their mistake, it's too late to change. Some mistake the immediate experience of ignorance for the mind's true nature. Some mistake unbridled license for spontaneous non-obstruction, breaking precepts and rules without restraint. There are also many withered sprouts and rotten seeds, poisoned by the toxic energy of false teachers and heretical paths, beyond salvation.
Alas! Has Buddhism come to this? How deeply sorrowful!
Today, I, this mountain monk, with no other recourse, will cite the enlightenment stories of ancients as evidence for the assembly. Long ago, Chan Master Daoming pursued the Sixth Patriarch, aiming to seize his robe and bowl. When he couldn't lift them, he said, "I have come for the Dharma, not for the robe. I only ask for instruction." The Patriarch said, "Just collect your thoughts, and do not think of good or evil. Then you will naturally enter the pure mind-body." Daoming took this instruction and asked, "When not thinking of good or evil, at that very moment, what is the original face of Superior Daoming?" At that, Daoming was greatly awakened, sweat pouring from his whole body. He wept, bowed repeatedly, and said, "Like one who drinks water knows for himself whether it is cold or warm."
Great Master Baizhang served Mazu. One day as they walked, a flock of wild ducks flew by. Mazu asked, "What is that?" Baizhang replied, "Wild ducks." Mazu asked, "Where have they gone?" Baizhang said, "They have flown away." Mazu then grabbed Baizhang's nose and twisted it. Baizhang winced in pain and cried out. Mazu said, "And you say they have flown away." Baizhang was greatly awakened at that moment.
Great Master Dazhu went to see Mazu. Mazu asked, "What do you come here seeking?" Dazhu said, "I come seeking the Dharma." Mazu replied, "You ignore your own treasure, why run away from home doing such pointless things?" Dazhu asked, "What is my treasure?" Mazu said, "Just this very one who asks me is your treasure. It is completely full, lacking nothing. You can use it as you please—why seek outside?" Dazhu was instantly awakened, realizing that this mind needed no conceptual understanding.
Chan Master Shuiliao visited Mazu and asked, "What is the true meaning of Bodhidharma's coming from the West?" Mazu said, "Make a bow." As Shuiliao bowed, Mazu kicked him over, and he was greatly awakened. Rising, he clapped his hands and laughed heartily, saying, "How wonderful! How wonderful! All hundreds and thousands of samadhis and countless wondrous meanings—I now recognize their source on the tip of a single hair!"
I ask the assembly: What is the place of enlightenment for these four venerable masters? Each of you has eyebrows and a nose—this is the same for everyone. One cannot say the ancients had anything extraordinary.
Striking the staff, the master said: This staff can't help but speak out, revealing everything for the assembly. Now, what does the staff say? Hmph! If you see it in this old monk's shout, you will see the enlightenment place of those four masters. Then you will stand on the original landscape, not deceived by any sages or worthy ones. You will not fall into any of those false views and depraved patterns. If you still haven't grasped it, you must take up a skillful means and delve into it. The seventeen hundred koans are all skillful entrances on the path.
Recently, true teachers have hidden away, and the ancestral community is desolate. Only the Dharma-door of reciting the Buddha's name is direct and simple. Among the patch-robed monks everywhere, nine out of ten practice Chan or recite the Buddha's name. The scriptures say: "A human body is hard to obtain; birth in a central land is hard to encounter; the Buddha's Dharma is hard to meet." Presently, renunciants and laypeople, with a male body, born in a peaceful era, able to hear the Great Dharma thanks to the Buddha's remaining light—this is no small matter. Of a hundred years of life, those who reach seventy are few. Lifespan varies, and karmic conditions are complex. If your breath doesn't return, you're in a next life. Impermanence comes suddenly and is hard to predict. With a body so hard to obtain, encountering a time so uncertain, shouldn't you deeply fear and wake up sharply?
Good people! Right now, while your four elements are strong and before manifold sufferings arrive, take this one phrase, "Amitabha Buddha," and set it before you as a great, great matter: Namo Amitabha Buddha. Then pursue it further: "Who is reciting the Buddha's name?" Keep squeezing yourself like this, moment after moment, with no interruption, no other focus. When all kinds of bitter, joyful, adverse, and favorable states appear before you—countless forms—this mind reciting the Buddha does not waver, does not retreat. It is like holding a King of Vajra swords, cutting through greed, anger, delusion, false thoughts, inverted views, and all the habitual tendencies lurking at the gates of the six senses—internally pulling, externally responding, acting as an agent of thieves. Cut them all down, past, present, and future. Just this alone: the mind reciting the Buddha. It is like a great wind-wheel or a mass of blazing fire, where nothing can stay, nothing can approach. Mountains, rivers, and the great earth are all Amitabha's pure Dharmakaya. Light and dark, form and emptiness are entirely the vast treasury of light of the person reciting the Buddha. Recite like this with diligence and unwavering focus. Recite on and on, day after day, month deepening into month. Suddenly, as if falling from a cliff, that 'reciter' itself is split and broken. Then you see that pure and impure lands are no different, no distinct. The nine grades of the Pure Land are fully present, lacking nothing. The land of Buddha a hundred billion lands away is not a hair's tip away. All the good people are constantly around you. Golden grounds and jeweled ponds are everywhere in the motes of dust. The wind in the forests, the birds over the waters, all deeply expound the perfect sound of non-duality. Amitabha Buddha is always before you. Even Bodhidharma's coming from the West becomes quite a foolish affair. At this point, even Buddhas and ancestors can do nothing. Where then can there be any birth and death? Since birth and death are unobtainable, so is nirvana unobtainable. Since birth and death and nirvana are unobtainable, so are beings and Buddhas unobtainable; so are pure and impure lands unobtainable. An immeasurable person can, right within the unobtainable, fervently take rebirth, accomplish Buddhahood, and everywhere, in this world and others, save all sentient beings.
Nevertheless, you must know there is a phrase further above, which even the Buddhas of the three times cannot express with all their might. So, what is that phrase? The master tossed the staff and said, "Listen carefully! Listen carefully!"