在北宋末年，中國有一位民族英雄，名叫岳飛。他幼年喪父，母親很賢慧，母子兩人相依為命。幼年時，他母親教他識字、練字，因為家貧無錢買筆、紙等，所以他在沙堆上練字，而成為書法家。青年時，他去投軍，母親在他背上刺「精忠報國」四個字，以提醒他時時不忘救國家民族的大志願。

In the final years of the Northern Song Dynasty in China, there lived a great hero named Yue Fei. His father passed away when he was young. His mother was worthy and wise. Mother and son had only each other to rely upon for support. She taught her young son to read and practice penmanship. Since the family was too poor to afford pens, ink, and paper, he practiced writing characters in the sand, and eventually became an accomplished calligrapher. Yue Fei entered military service at an early age. His mother tattooed on his back the slogan, "Give your all in service to the country." He never forgot his great vow to save his country's people.

此時金人侵宋，佔領汴京（開封），執徽、欽二宗北去。康王構在杭州建國，成為南宋，稱為宋高宗，用秦檜為相，當時文人主和，武人主戰。岳飛大破金兵於朱仙鎮（離汴京很近），有直搗黃龍（吉林農安）的壯志，不幸被秦檜嫉妒，用十二道假金牌召他回京城。岳飛有「忠君愛國」的思想，於是奉命班師回京。他過長江時，經過江中的金山寺，乃去拜訪道悅禪師。

This was the era when the Tartars (the Jin Dynasty) invaded the Song Dynasty and captured the capital of Bianjing (Kaifeng). They kidnapped the two Emperors Hui and Qin and took them to the North. The King of Kang set up his capital at Hangzhou and named it the Southern Song Dynasty, calling himself Emperor Gao. He appointed Qin Kuai as Prime Minister. At that time, the literati advocated peace while the military advocated going to war with the Tartars. General Yue Fei gave the Tartars a devastating defeat at the town of Zhuxian (close to Bianjing) and planned to attack their capital towards Yellow Dragon (near Jilin Nongan). Unfortunately, Qin Kuai was jealous and so issued twelve false summonses commanding him to return to the capital. Yue Fei's credo was "loyal subjects are patriots to the end." Thus he led the army back to the capital. En route he passed by Gold Mountain Monastery, in the middle of the Yangtze River, where he stopped to pay his respects to Chan Master Daoyue (Joy of the Way).

道悅和尚勸他不要回京城去，在金山寺（鎮江）出家修行，可以免是非。岳飛將生死置之度外，認為軍人的天職，就是服從命令，沒有「將在外，君命有所不受」的思想，所以拒絕道悅和尚一番盛意。臨行時，道悅和尚就作一首偈頌，說：

歲底不足，
謹防天哭；
奉下兩點，
將人害毒。

The monk urged him not to return to the capital, but to leave the home-life and cultivate the Way at Gold Mountain Monastery in Zhenjiang. That way he could avoid all political scandals and conflict. Yue Fei did not take the matter of birth and death seriously, feeling instead that the duty of a military man was to follow orders. He did not follow the philosophy that, "When the general is in the field, he can choose not to follow the emperor's commands." Thus he rejected Master Daoyue's wise suggestion. Before he left, Master Daoyue wrote him a verse that said,

Before New Year's day,
be very cautious of heaven's tears;
A gift with two dots beneath it will harm you grievously.

岳飛回杭州，秦檜用「莫須有」三字，使岳飛父子下獄。等到臨刑的時候，他才了悟道悅和尚這首偈頌的意思。那年的過年是十二月二十九日，同時天降大雨，岳飛在獄中聽到雨聲，知道大難臨頭，想起道悅和尚的讖言終於應驗了。「奉下兩點」，就是「秦」字。他果然被斬於風波亭。

Yue Fei returned to Hangzhou, and Qin Kuai sent a message reading "No grounds necessary," which was a command to imprison both Yue Fei and his son. As he approached the executioner's block, Yue Fei suddenly realized the meaning hidden in Master Daoyue's verse. On New Year's eve, which fell on the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month that year, the heavens poured forth a heavy rain. Hearing the rain as he sat in jail, Yue Fei knew his death was at hand; the prophecy in the Chan Master's verse was about to be fulfilled. When you write two dots beneath the word "gift" you get the word "Qin," the name of Prime Minister Qin Kuai. Yue Fei was executed at Fengbo Pagoda.

秦檜問監斬人：「岳飛臨刑時，說些什麼話？」監斬人說：「只聽他說，悔不聽金山寺道悅和尚的話，所以有今天的下場。」秦檜一聽大怒，派何立去金山寺，捉拿道悅和尚。道悅和尚頭一天在定中就曉得這段因緣，乃留下一首偈語：

何立自南來，
我往西方走；
若非佛法大，
豈不落他手。

Qin Kuai asked the executioner what Yue Fei's final words had been. The executioner said, "I heard him say, have met my end today, only because I didn't heed the advice of Chan Master Daoyue of Gold Mountain.'" Qin Kuai flew into a rage and ordered Heli to hurry to Gold Mountain Monastery and arrest Master Daoyue. But the day before, while in Chan samadhi, Master Daoyue had foreseen this situation and had written another verse, which said,

Heli is coming from the South,
but I am going to the West.
If my strength in the Dharma were not sufficient, I would surely have fallen into the villain's hands.

寫完之後，即刻圓寂。第二天，何立來到金山寺，老禪師已經圓寂了。

After he wrote this verse, he entered the stillness of Nirvana. When Heli reached the temple the next day, Master Daoyue had already entered Nirvana.

這證明坐禪的功夫到了極點，便可控制生死，願意何時往生，就何時往生，都操縱在自己的手中，那是很自然的現象。古時禪師都有這種功夫，生死自如，遂心如意。在唐朝有位禪師，名叫鄧隱峰，可以倒立而圓寂；近代金山活佛可以站立而圓寂。這都是由於禪定的功夫，所以可以來去自由，不受一切的限制。

This story proves that when you have perfected the skill of Chan meditation, you can control your own birth and death. You can go off to rebirth at any time you choose. You are in control of the process, and it is a very natural matter. Chan Masters of the past all possessed this ability. They could be born and die as they wished. In the Tang Dynasty there was a Chan Master named Deng Yinfeng (Hidden Summit) who entered Nirvana while standing on his head. The contemporary monk, the Living Buddha of Gold Mountain, entered Nirvana while standing up. Due to their skill in Chan meditation, they could come and go as they pleased, without any restrictions.

一九八○年禪七 十二月開示