學佛法的人必須要有擇法眼，認識是法、非法，黑法、白法，善法、惡法。切記不要以是為非，以非為是，或將黑作白，拿白當黑，或以善為惡，以惡為善，這都是顛倒。想認識這些法，一定要有擇法眼。

Students of the Buddhadharma must have the Dharma-selecting Eye so they can recognize right dharmas and wrong dharmas, black dharmas and white dharmas, good dharmas and bad dharmas. Be sure you never take right as wrong and wrong as right; or black as white, and white as black; or good as bad, and bad as good--that's all upside-down. If you want to recognize these dharmas, you must certainly have the Dharma-selecting Eye.

首先要無我相，若有我相，就生種種障礙，而無智慧。有了我相，就生出自私心，跟著就陸續生出自利心、有所求心、貪心。若又求不到，也貪不到，就生鬥爭心，與人爭強論勝。

First of all, you cannot have the mark of self. If you have the mark of self, all kinds of obstacles will arise, and you will have no wisdom. Once there is a mark of self, selfish thoughts arise, followed by thoughts of benefiting the self and thoughts of seeking and greed. If you do not obtain what you seek and crave, contentious thoughts arise, and you will struggle with others to see who is stronger.

如果能沒有「我相」，則什麼叫「我」？誰是我？我又是誰？想一想，參一參「念佛是誰？」這「念佛是誰？」不是念的，你念來念去是沒有用的，而是要參，參如同用錐子錐一個東西，錐出窟窿了才算透，才能徹悟明白。

If you can have no mark of self, then what is the self? Who am I? Ponder and investigate: "Who is mindful of the Buddha?" The question "Who...?" isn't meant to be recited. It's of no use if you keep reciting it. You must investigate it. Investigation can be compared to drilling a hole. When you drill all the way through, you will thoroughly understand.

一時不明白，一時都要參；
時時不明白，時時都要參。

If for one moment you don't understand,
For one moment you must investigate.
If for every moment you don't understand,
For every moment you must investigate.

參也不是猜測的，你若猜「我念佛？你念佛？他念佛？誰念佛呢？」猜來猜去是猜不著的，而是要找這個「誰…？」這個誰字就是金剛王寶劍，就是智慧劍。若用智慧劍把其他妄想全斬斷了，智慧自然現前。

Investigating doesn't mean guessing. You guess, "Well, I'm mindful of the Buddha, you're mindful of the Buddha, and he's mindful of the Buddha, too? So who's mindful of the Buddha?" You can keep guessing, but you won't get the answer. Rather, you must search for the "who." The word "who" is the Vajra King Jeweled Sword, the sword of wisdom. You must use the wisdom sword to cut through all other idle thoughts, and then wisdom will spontaneously appear.

參禪這法門你若不認識、不明白，而像念佛號似的，以為念得越多越好，這是錯誤的。不需要念得多，最好能拉長長的聲，念幾個鐘頭也念不完，甚至參八萬大劫也不間斷，這才是真正參禪。

If you don't understand the Dharma-door of investigating Chan and you think the more you recite the better, just like reciting the Buddha's name, that's a mistake. You don't need to recite many times, but ideally you should stretch out the sound and keep it going for a few hours, or even for eighty-four thousand eons, without a break. Then you're really investigating Chan.

為什麼要參「念佛是誰？」這「誰」字本來也是多餘，但因為我們人就像猴子，總要找事做，找東找西。若有個「誰」字擋著，那些妄想也就沒有了，這是以毒攻毒的法門，參禪就是勤拂拭，沒有妄想才是「時時勤拂拭」。為什麼要勤拂拭？因為「勿使惹塵埃」，這是「掃一切法，離一切相」的法門。

Why do we want to investigate "Who is mindful of the Buddha?"? The word "who" is basically superfluous, but we are like monkeys, always looking around for something to do. If there is the word "who" acting as a shield, then all those idle thoughts will disappear. This Dharma-door uses poison to fight poison. To investigate Chan simply means to diligently wipe (the mirror of the mind) clean. Only when we are free of all random thoughts are we "diligently wiping it clean at all times." We want to wipe it clean so it won't get dusty. This is the Dharma-door of "sweeping away all dharmas, and separating from all marks."

若是沒有擇法眼，不認識真法，就不會參；不會參就是白費功夫。若不認識正法，就會跟邪法跑，所以擇法眼是最重要的。

If you don't have the Dharma-selecting Eye and you don't recognize the true Dharma, then you won't know how to investi-gate. If you don't know how to investigate, then you're just wasting your effort. If you don't recognize the proper Dharma, then you'll follow after deviant dharmas. That's why the Dharma-selecting Eye is so important.

一九八二年十二月四日晚間開示於
萬佛聖城