太上老君《清静经》上说：

The Classic of Eternal Purity and Stillness, by the High Master Lao Zi, says:

“众生所以不得真道者，为有妄心。
既有妄心，即惊其神。
既惊其神，即着万物。
既着万物，即生贪求。
既生贪求，即是烦恼。
烦恼妄想，忧苦身心。
便遭浊辱，流浪生死，
常沉苦海，永失真道。
真常之道，悟者自得。
得悟道者，常清静矣。”

Why do living beings fail to obtain
     the True Way?
Because they have false thoughts.
With false thoughts, the spirit is disturbed.
Once the spirit is disturbed,
It attaches to external things.
Attaching to external things produces greed.
Greed leads to affliction.
Afflictions and false thinking in turn
Trouble and vex both body and mind.
Thus they meet with foul disgrace and
Wander in birth and death,
Constantly immersed in the sea of
     suffering and
Forever losing the True Way.
The true and everlasting Way is attained
By those who are awakened.
Those who awaken to the Way
Are eternally pure and calm.

我们无论用什么功，也不能与道相应，总是不上路，这是什么原因？就是因为我们有个虚妄不实的“妄心”。好高骛远，求名求利，这都是妄心。有了妄心，对于自性就有动摇，好像一桶水，不动时，沙泥沉底，则水清净；若是用棒子（妄心）把水搅拌成浊水，那么就不辨真假、不分善恶，这时，择法眼也不具足，智慧也不现前。

When people work hard in their cultivation yet don’t have a response, it is because they are using the false mind to seek what is lofty and distant. For example, when people seek fame and profit, the false mind is at work. The false mind disturbs the intrinsic nature. It is like a pail of water gradually becoming clear as the silt and sand sink to the bottom. But when the water is stirred up, it becomes turbid again. When we use our false mind, we muddy the water of our intrinsic nature, and we are unable to distinguish between true and false. We lack Dharma-selecting vision and our wisdom doesn’t come forth. We become unclear just like that muddy water.

“水浊不清”，就着住在万物，乱七八糟，找不出头绪，为什么？因为着住在万物上，便生贪求心，认为万物是真实的。贪求心生出来，就有烦恼。贪求到也烦恼，贪求不到也烦恼，因为烦恼和妄想交织在一起，就被五浊恶世的浊埋没了，那就不能恢复清净，因为这样，所以生了又死，死了又生，生生不息，永无了期。生的时候，不知道是怎样生的，所以 糊涂；死的时候，不知道怎样死的，还是糊涂。不但生时糊涂，死时糊涂，就是活着，也是糊涂。糊涂一辈子，也没有弄清楚，所以流浪生死，就把真心丢了。真心遗失，就掉到苦海中，爬不出来。若能明白这种道理，就是开悟。不会被虚妄不实的境界所转，而智慧实时现前。有了智慧，就不颠倒。

When we become attached to external things, everything gets all muddled and confused and we can’t find our way out. Our minds turn to greed (because we think everything external is real), and this greedy mind is the source of our afflictions. If we get what we seek, we are afflicted; and if we don’t get what we seek, we are still afflicted. When the mind gets tangled up in afflictions and false thoughts, it drowns in the muddy river of the evil world of five turbidities, and cannot return to purity. For that very reason we are born and we die; we die and are then reborn. At birth we are unaware of how we got here; when we die, we don’t know the reason for our death. Not only are we muddled at the time of birth and death, we are muddled all during our lives, and we never become clear. We have been wandering in birth and death and have lost our true mind. Since the true mind is lost, we fall into the sea of suffering and are unable to get out. If we can understand this principle, we can get enlightened. Then we won’t be turned by false states. Our wisdom will come forth, and we won’t be confused anymore.

在《楞严经》上说：“狂心顿歇，歇即菩提。”我们为什么和道不相应呢？就因为“狂心”没有休息。这个狂心，就是不满现实的心，也就是贪而无厌的心，也就是有憎有爱的心。若把这种心停止，就是智慧，就是觉道，就是佛性的本体。可是我们把这个真理忽略了。所以在 糊涂境界上，处之泰然，悠哉游哉，不想办法出离三界的生死苦海。

The Shurangama Sutra says, “When the mad mind stops, that very stopping is Bodhi.” Why don’t we have any response in the Way? Because the mad mind has not stopped. This mad mind is dissatisfied with the way things are; it is insatiable-it is the mind of love and hate. If we can put this mind to rest, then we have wisdom; we have the enlightened Way, the substance of the Buddha-nature. But in fact we have ignored this principle. We wallow in our muddled state, feeling perfectly at ease, and make no attempt to escape from the bitter ocean of birth and death.