剛才好像有人不明白這個獅子座，甚麼叫獅子座？獅子座，也就是佛所坐的法座，它的名字叫獅子座，因為佛說法就好像獅子吼似的，因為獅子是獸中之王，牠若一吼叫的時候，百獸皆懼。所以才說，《永嘉大師證道歌》這樣說，「獅子吼無畏說，百獸聞之皆腦裂，香象奔波失卻威，天龍寂聽生欣悅。」這就是說，佛說法就好像獅子吼似的。獅子一吼，百獸皆懼，都恐懼起來。大笨象本來是很有力量，但是牠一聽獅子吼，牠也老實了，也就趴在地下，威風也沒有了。所以說「香象奔波失卻威，天龍寂聽生欣悅」，天龍八部都歡喜聽到這聲音，所以叫獅子座。還有結跏趺坐，甚麼叫結跏趺坐呢？你看佛坐那個座位，佛那個腿是這樣的，這麼雙盤起來，這叫結跏趺坐，又叫金剛坐。結這個坐有甚麼好處呢？結這個坐就是降魔座位。尤其是修坐禪的人，若能以結跏趺坐最好。這個能降伏其心，能以不散亂，在中國有這麼幾句話「金山的腿子」。
金山的人在江天寺，在金山哪坐禪的人腿子最好，為甚麼？他不准翻腿子，你要是坐的時候想把腿子痛了翻一翻，就要挨打的，用香板打。你若再痛，都要咬著牙挺著，把牙咬緊了，這樣挺著，不可以翻腿子，也不可以動彈。那麼這樣子的規矩，這樣子時間一久了，誰也不敢翻腿，腿就變成聽話了，就不痛了。所以在金山的「禪和子」，這禪和子他腿子最好，坐得最好。「高旻香」，高旻寺一天它坐這個香的時間呢，譬如我們這坐一個鐘頭，起來叫行香，它一分鐘也不差錯的，連一分鐘也不錯。到開靜的時候，一定要開靜；到止靜的時候，一定要止靜，一秒鐘也不錯。那「香」的時間守得最嚴，這叫高旻香。海潮寺的「哩啦腔」，上海有個海潮寺，甚麼叫哩啦腔呢？哩啦腔啊，就是不守規矩，一天到晚哩哩啦啦地講話，隨隨便便講話，這叫哩啦腔。這是中國在佛教有這麼的一個傳說，說：「金山的腿子高旻香，海潮寺的哩啦腔。」那麼這個哩啦腔呢，就是在佛教裡的比丘不守規矩，都跑到那一個地方去。就好像那個普陀山，因為那五百羅漢怕守規矩，觀音菩薩請他們去，他不去，五百羅漢說你那兒規矩太嚴了！我們不到你那兒去。所以觀音菩薩改話說：好！你們再來，我的什麼規矩都不守，不需要守，你願意幹什麼就幹什麼。所以到普陀山的和尚幹什麼的都有，抽煙、喝酒啊；但是沒有吃肉的。那個地方因為沒有賣肉的，普陀山沒有肉賣，這出家人、在家人都要吃齋的，那普陀山就是這樣。
這個跏趺坐很容易生定，最初你當然要忍著一點囉！它痛一點，你不要怕腿子痛，不要像個小孩子似的，痛一點就忍不了了。那小孩子一痛一點就哭起來，後就叫起媽媽來了，我們現在都是大丈夫，要學大丈夫，大丈夫啊！就要忍人所不能忍的，越痛我越要忍著，你最好這個參悟話頭，有很多話頭可以參。他們日本人參悟話頭，參悟一個什麼字呢？一個「無」字，就這有無的「無」啊，「無、無……」，也就好像中國人哪，參那個「念佛是誰」似的，他念這個「無」字。中國人就念這個「誰」字，念佛是誰呢？啊！參這個「誰」字。又有的參哪！什麼呢？參這個「父母未生以前的本來面目」。我父母生出我，是這麼樣子一個人，在我父母沒生我以前，我是一個什麼樣子的相貌？我的本來面目是什麼樣子的？這也是一個話頭。參悟「念佛是誰」？誰念的佛呢？這也是一個話頭。他們日本人哪！參悟，參一個「無」。我現在教你們，也可以參一個「有」。因為這無有定法，沒有定法。你若說有一定的，說我教你參這個「念佛是誰」，這個「念佛是誰啊？」很不容易找的。究竟是誰？啊？有的人就找不著了，找了幾年也找不著這個「誰」。那麼有的啊參「父母未生以前的本來面目」，父母生了我是這個樣子，我沒生以前是什麼樣子？也找不著，也看不見。日本人他們參這個「無」，無、無、無、……什麼都沒有了。什麼都沒有了，還是沒找著，所以啊，我現在教你們參一個「有」，說有、有、有、……，不是說這麼有、有、有。這要怎麼樣子呢？世間上一切都能沒有，什麼都可以沒有。那麼什麼都沒有，到底有一個「有」沒有呢？有一個能不能沒有的東西呢？你找這一個，一切都沒有，這都完了，這化為烏有，那又有什麼意思呢？那麼在這個什麼都沒有了，究竟那一個是有的呢？找那個有的。什麼一切都能了，就是都能完啊，都可以斷滅，什麼是不斷滅的呢？你找那個不斷滅的。你若找著那個不斷滅的，那你也就開悟了；你若找著那個真能不能沒有的，也就是開悟了；你要看見、找著你父母未生以前的本來面目，那也是開悟了；你找著念佛是誰了，也是開悟了。但是要找著了才算，你找不著，只口頭禪，那是沒有用的。人家所說出來的，你再跟著說。那都不是的。
待續
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Someone is wondering just what is meant by a lion throne. The Lion Throne is the seat the Buddha sits on when he speaks the Dharma. We call it the Lion Throne because the Buddha speaks the Dharma like the roar of the lion. The lion is the king of beasts and when the lion roars the animals are all afraid. In his
Song of Enlightenment the Great Master Yung-jya wrote:
The roar of the lion is fearless proclamation.
When the hundred wild beasts hear it, their brains split,
And the musk-elephant flees in confusion, losing his awesomeness.
The gods and dragons listen in stillness and in great joy.
When the lion roars, all the animals are scared to death! Elephants are actually very strong, but when they hear the lion roar they are subdued. They cower on the ground, bereft of all dignity. That's why it says,
And the musk-elephant flees in confusion, losing his awesomeness. The gods and dragons listen in stillness and in great joy. The gods and dragons hear it and are delighted. The position the Buddha assumes when he sits on the throne is called the lotus posture. His legs are crossed in full lotus. It is also called the Vajra position. What advantage does it have? It is used for subduing demons. Most especially for those who sleep sitting up, it's best to sit in lotus posture. In this way you can subdue your mind and prevent it from becoming scattered. In China they have the saying "Gold Mountain has the legs." That's because the Chan cultivators at Jyang-tyan Monastery in Gold Mountain, China were famous for their stamina in meditation. Why? They didn't allow people to take their legs out of lotus posture. If while sitting, you wanted to take your legs out of lotus posture, you would be struck with the board. No matter how much your legs hurt, you had to grit your teeth and bear it. You couldn't release your legs or move around. Those were the rules they had. After awhile, no one dared to take their legs out of the posture, and their legs became compliant. They no longer hurt. That's why the Chan cultivators at Gold Mountain had the best legs. They were the best meditators around. They also say "Gau-min has the incense." At Gau-min Monastery, the incense would be lit for the duration of a sit and it would never vary by even a minute. When it was time to end the sit, they would end it. When it was time to begin a sit, they would start. They wouldn't be off even by a second. Their sitting time was extremely punctual. So it's said, "Gau-min has the incense." And "Hai-chau Monastery has the chatter." Hai-chau Monastery is in Shanghai. What does the "chatter" refer to? It refers to people who didn't follow the rules, and chatted from morning to night, casually talking all the time. This is a Buddhist saying in China: "Gold Mountain has the legs, Gau-min has the incense, and Hai-chau Monastery has the chatter." This "chatter" refers to Bhikshus who don't follow the rules in Buddhism. They all end up in that place. This is like the story of the five hundred Arhats who were invited to Potola Mountain by Gwan Yin Bodhisattva, and declined to go because they were intimidated by the regulations. They said, "Your rules are too strict there, so we won't go." Then Gwan Yin Bodhisattva said, "Fine! If you come, you don't have to follow any rules. You can do anything you want." That's why the monks who go to Potola Mountain do all kinds of things. They smoke and they drink wine, but they don't eat meat. Since no meat is sold on Potola Mountain, the left-home people and laypeople all have to eat vegetarian food there. That's how it is at Potola Mountain.
When you are seated in the lotus posture, it is very easy for you to enter samadhi. At the beginning you have to bear a little pain, of course. If your legs hurt a bit, don't be afraid of the pain. Don't be like a little child who is not able to take any pain. As soon as the child feels a little pain, it starts crying and calling for its mama. We are all great heroes now, and we must learn from great heroes. Great heroes are able to endure what others cannot endure. The more it hurts, the more we have to bear up. The best thing for you to do is to look into your
hua-tou (meditation topic). There are many meditation topics that you can investigate. The Japanese people investigate and enlighten to the word "Wu" which means "nothing." They think, "Wu, wu...", just like the Chinese investigate the question of "Who is reciting the Buddha's name?" and look into the word "swei" which means "who." Who is the one reciting the Buddha's name? They look for the "who." Others may investigate the question, "Before my parents gave birth to me, what was my original face?" After my parents gave birth to me, I know what kind of person I am. But what appearance did I have before I was born? What was my original face? This is also a meditation topic. The question "Who is reciting the Buddha's name?" is another meditation topic. Japanese people investigate and enlighten to the word "nothing", but I'll tell you that you can also look into the word "something"! There are no fixed, definite dharmas. If you say something is fixed, and insist that I told you to investigate the topic, "Who is reciting the Buddha's name?" it will be difficult to discover the answer to that question. Ultimately, who is it? People may investigate for years and not find an answer. Some people investigate the question, "Before my parents gave birth to me, what was my original face?" This is what I look like after my parents gave birth to me. What did I look like before being born? It cannot be found, nor can it be seen. The Japanese investigate "nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing,..." until everything is gone. Everything has disappeared, yet they still haven't found it. So now, I'll teach you all to investigate "something"! You say, "Something, something, something..." But you shouldn't just say, "Something, something, something." Everything in the world comes to an end and becomes nothing. If everything becomes nothing, is there anything that's not gone? Is there something that doesn't become nothing? Look for it! If everything comes to an end and becomes nothing, then what meaning is there? Everything comes to an end. Ultimately, what exists? Look for that thing! Everything comes to an end and is reduced to nothing. What is there that is not annihilated? If you find that thing which really cannot be reduced to nothing, just that is enlightenment. If you can find it, you become enlightened. If you find out what your original face was before your parents gave birth to you, then you will also become enlightened. If you find out who is reciting the Buddha's name, you will become enlightened, too. But you must really find out for it to count. If you cannot find it and you just indulge in Chan banter, that's useless. You can't just repeat the things other people have said, either.
to be continued |
