现在参禅的人，尽在皮毛上用功夫，把参禅当做比赛，来争第一。你能坐三小时，我就要坐五小时，胜过你一招。有这种心理作祟，焉能开悟？就是坐了八万大劫，也不能明心见性。为什么？因为你有胜负心。所谓：

争是胜负心， 与道相违背；
便生四相心， 由何得三昧？

The participants in our Chan Session are working at a very superficial level. They've turned meditation into a contest to see who'll win first place. They are thinking: "If you meditate for three hours, then I'll meditate for five hours, so that I can keep the upper hand." If you let such thoughts control you, can you really expect to get enlightened? Even if you sat still for eighty thousand great eons, you'd still be unable to understand your mind and see your nature. Why? Because you have thoughts of victory and defeat.

Fighting brings an attitude of victory
    and defeat
That stands in opposition to the Way.
Further, it provokes the four marks,
Which sends samadhi-power far away.

这首偈颂，是警惕修道人，不可争第一。功夫到家，智慧现前，自然会有人评判你是第一，那才是真第一。如果心想第一，有这种胜负心，就与道相违背了。

This verse warns cultivators not to fight to be number one. When your spiritual skill matures and your wisdom appears, other people will spontaneously acclaim you as number one. Then you can be considered truly number one. But if you contend to be first, then your attitude of victory and defeat stands in opposition to the Way.

修道的人，要像水一样，有谦卑心，不争功、不贪德，好的给人家，坏的自己留着。老子说：

上善若水，水善利万物而不争。
处众人之所恶，故几于道矣。

Cultivators of the Way should be like water, humble and modest, neither contending for merit nor striving for virtue. They bestow advantages on others and keep the disadvantages for themselves. Lao Zi said,

The highest kind of goodness resembles water,
As it benefits all things and never contends.
It stays in places that most people despise,
And thus it approaches the Way.

上善，就是第一流的修行者，如水一般，向低洼之处流去。虽然水对万物有利益，可是它不争功德。不论是飞潜动植，或是胎卵湿化，它都一视同仁，供给所需。修道人，亦复如是，对一切众生，都视为过去的父母、未来的诸佛，要慈悲为怀，方便为门，拯救他们出离苦海。凡是众人所不愿意住的地方，也要去住，有这种的思想，就离道很近了。凡是有胜负心，就不合乎修道的宗旨，就违背了道。

"The highest goodness" refers to the best kind of cultivators who resemble water as it flows into the lowest places. Although water benefits all things, it refuses to compete for merit and virtue. Whether it is birds, fish, beasts, plants, or creatures born from wombs, eggs, moisture, or transformation, water treats them all with equal kindness and gives them all whatever they need. Cultivators of the Way are just like water, in that they regard all living beings as their parents from lives past and as Buddhas of the future. We make kindness and compassion our duty and expedient resourcefulness our practice as we rescue living beings from the sea of suffering. A cultivator is willing to dwell in places where most living beings are unwilling to stay. With this attitude, he stays close to the Way. Any thoughts of victory and defeat do not accord with the creed of a cultivator and stand in opposition to the Way.

修道人要没有四相心。“无我相”，谁在修道？修道的人也没有了。“无人相”，没有和人比赛的心。“无众生相”，我相没有，人相没有，所以众生相也空。“无寿者相”，既然众生相也空了，那来的寿者相？若是有争强论胜的思想，就有四相心；有了四相心，从什么地方能得到正定正受？这个道理，不妨琢磨琢磨。一言以蔽之：

有四相心，即是凡夫；
无四相心，即是菩萨。

Cultivators of the Way want to be free of the four marks. They want to have no mark of self. Ask yourself: "Who is this here cultivating the Way?" You'll find that there isn't anyone cultivat-ing. They want to have no mark of others; they have no thoughts of competing with others. They want to have no mark of living beings. Since they have no marks of self or others, quite naturally, the mark of living beings is also emptied out. They want to have no mark of a life span: Since the mark of living beings has been emptied out, how could there be any mark of a life span? But once you indulge in thoughts of victory, the four marks will arise. Once they arise, how can you attain "proper concentration and proper reception?" Why don't you try this out in practice? In a word, anyone who maintains the four marks is an ordinary person. But someone who can be free of them is a Bodhisattva.

修道人要记住《金刚经》的四句偈：“一切有为法，如梦幻泡影，如露亦如电，应作如是观。”凡是有形有相的，皆是有为法。有为法，好像作梦，好像幻化，好像泡沫，好像影子，好像电光，皆是虚妄而无实体。一切的一切，皆应该这样来观察，才能明白真实的道理，就不会 执著，不会打妄想了。

Cultivators should remember this verse from the Vajra Sutra,

All things born of conditions are like dreams,
Like illusions, bubbles, and shadows;
Like dewdrops, like flashes of lightning:
Contemplate them in these ways.

Anything with shape or form is considered a "dharma born of conditions." All things born of conditions are like dreams, illusory transformations, bubbles of foam, and shadows. Like dewdrops and lightning, they are false and unreal. By contemplating everything in this way, we will be able to understand the truth, let go of attachments, and put an end to random thoughts.

在《金刚经》上又说：“过去心不可得。现在心不可得。未来心不可得。”过去心为什么不可得？因为过去已经过去了，还管它做什么。现在心为什么不可得？因为现在念念不停。你说这是现在，等你说完，现在又过去了，时间不会停留的。未来心为什么不可得？因为还没有来嘛！你说那是未来，可是它又来了，连未来也没有。所以过去、现在、未来，三心了不可得。能依佛所说的法去修行，直截了当可达涅盘之境。

The Vajra Sutra also says, "Past thoughts cannot be obtained, present thoughts cannot be obtained, and future thoughts cannot be obtained." Why can't we get at past thoughts? Because they've already gone by. What's the point of worrying over them? Why can't we get at present thoughts? Because the present moment doesn't stop for even an instant. If you claim that this moment is the present, as soon as the words leave your mouth, that "present" has already gone by; time never stops. Why do we say that future thoughts cannot be obtained? Because the future hasn't yet arrived. You may admit that it hasn't yet come, but right then it arrives, so the "not-yet-come" (literal Chinese translation for "future") doesn't exist either. Therefore, the past, the present, and future are three thoughts that cannot possibly be obtained. If we can cultivate according to the Dharma that the Buddha spoke, then straightaway, we can realize the state of Nirvana.

修道人要依正知正见的法为准绳，勇猛修习。这时候，“离言说相”，言说的相也没有了，没有什么话可说的。“离心缘相”，心缘的相也没有了，没有什么缘可攀的。“离文字相”，文字的相也没有了，没有什么文字可代表，可说出来。既然说不出来，还有什么可回忆？还有什么放不下？还有什么可认真？各位！要在这个地方用功，不可在皮毛上用功。

Cultivators of the Way must use proper knowledge and views as their standard and cultivate vigorously. Our goal is to "leave behind the mark of speech," so that there's nothing left to say. We also want to "leave behind the mark of the mind and its conditions," so that there's nothing left to climb on. We want to "leave behind the mark of written words." Once words also are gone, they can't represent our speech at all. Since there's no way to express with words, what is there to remember? What is there that we can't put down? What is left to take so seriously? We should apply ourselves to this, and stop toying with the superficial aspects.

有人在想：“今天坐禅，腿不知疼，腰不知酸，不知不觉到开静的时间。”因为你在睡觉嘛！当然什么也不知道。不要误认是境界，若是有这个 执著，则容易走火入魔，大上其当。

Someone is thinking, "Today in meditation, my legs didn't hurt and my back has stopped aching. Before I knew it, it was time to stand up and walk." That's because you were sleeping! Of course you knew nothing at all! Don't misinterpret this state. If you become attached, then you can easily enter a demonic state and be taken in.

各位注意！凡是从外来的境界，不要注意它，不要理会它，听其自然，不随它转。在《楞严经》上讲得非常明白，希望参禅者，要彻底研究“五十阴魔”的来龙去脉。《楞严经》是参禅人的宝鉴，所有修道人宜深入钻研。

Pay attention to this, everyone! Pay no heed to external states. Ignore them completely. Let states come and go naturally. Don't let them influence you one way or the other. The Shurangama Sutra explains this matter quite clearly. I hope that all Chan meditators will look into the details of the Fifty Skandha-demon States of that Sutra very thoroughly. The Shurangama Sutra serves as a precious mirror for Chan meditators, and every cultivator of the Way ought to be thoroughly familiar with it.