又有一個果地到這地方他做領袖，天天向我來叩頭。他叩頭叩得以後有一個周彌勒，看他叩頭，他說是我叫他們叩的頭。其實我不叫人叩頭給我，我知道我自己沒有道德，所以不歡喜人給我叩頭。那麼這個人他也就顛顛倒倒這麼給我叩頭，他因為要鄭重其事，他覺得他老資格了，不好意思就這麼開玩笑的樣子來叩頭，以後開開玩笑把他自己開得沒有面子來了。這佛教講堂到現在是有一些規矩了，並且你們這些個美國人也立了這規矩說不講話，這個我最同意的，因為我也不歡喜講話。你們也不要和我講話，我也不和你講話，大家都少麻煩。現在這是很好了，比以前有規矩了。以後我相信一天比一天會好，因為美國樣樣都是很美麗的，這個規矩也一定不會很醜陋的。
常好坐禪。在於閒處。修攝其心。文殊師利。是名初親近處。
「常好坐禪」：這個坐禪，你好才可以坐禪；你不好，就是坐禪也沒有什麼用。所以我們暑假班這一班人，可以說都是常好坐禪的。常好坐禪就是修行菩薩道最要緊的一個條件，若不好坐禪，就是好散亂，坐禪就會得到定力。
那麼禪是坐的嗎？是坐的，也不是坐的。在坐禪那時候就是坐的，在沒坐之前不是坐的，你坐完了之後也不是坐的。實際上這個禪你站著也是禪，坐著也是禪，走路也是禪，睡覺也是禪。你若會了這個禪，行、住、坐、臥都是禪。不過在你沒有明白這個禪之前，你必須要先坐禪。你得到禪了，就離不開禪了，行住坐臥離不開禪。這個禪也就是你，你也就是禪；禪也就跟著你，你也就跟著禪，如影隨形想離都離不開了，那就是個定力，這是坐禪。
這麼講來講去這個「禪」倒是個什麼？什麼也不是。你若認為它是個什麼，就有所著住了，就是什麼也不是；什麼也不是，就是無所著住。
說這是不著邊際的話。當然啦！若有邊際就不是禪了。禪就是沒有邊際，就是空的，空的，生出來你的定力，生出三昧來。
禪是半梵語，具足叫「禪那」，是梵語，此雲就叫思惟修，又叫靜慮，就是坐在那個地方思惟修，坐到那個地方靜慮。你若不會用功，就是坐在那個地方打妄想；打打妄想，就把妄想都打跑了，妄想打跑了，就沒有妄想了。
你不要以為打妄想是個壞的名詞，這個「打妄想」是不錯的，你能把妄想給打跑了，和它鬥爭。妄想一生出來，你就用降魔杵打它一杵，把妄想打死了；打死了它等一等又有一個生出來，你一降魔杵把它又打死了；再生出來一個，你一降魔杵把它又打死了。降魔杵打，有的時候打死，它又活了。那麼這回怎麼樣？就用斬魔劍。你看妄想一出來，你這斬魔劍一劍就給斬去了，斬去它就不會再活了，所以斬魔劍是很厲害的，你把妄想給斬死了你那智慧就生出來了。智慧就是斬魔劍，你有智慧就有斬魔劍，你沒有智慧就沒有斬魔劍。
待續
上人語錄
※我們要養氣，不要生氣。
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So, another disciple took the lead and started bowing to me every day. Seeing this, someone said that I had told everyone to bow to me. But I never said that, because I know I have no virtue. That's why I don't like people to bow to me. That person also started bowing to me, in a flippant way. He didn't do it seriously, because he felt he was an old-timer, and that it would have been beneath him to bow to me seriously. So he bowed as a joke, but later he felt he no longer had any face to come here. The Buddhist Lecture Hall has established some rules now, and you Americans have set up the rule that people shouldn't talk. I agree completely with that rule, I don't like to talk either. If we talk less to each other, we will create less trouble. You are doing quite well now, and the rules are much better kept than in the beginning. I believe that day by day it will get even better. In America [in Chinese, literally "the beautiful country"] everything is beautiful, and so I'm sure that the rules established here will not be ugly either.
Sutra:
They always delight in sitting in dhyana and, in a quiet place, cultivating collecting their thoughts. Manjushri, this is called the first range of association.
Commentary:
You must delight in sitting in dhyana, and then you will be able to do so. If you don't delight in doing so, then even though you may sit in dhyana, it won't be of any use. They always delight in sitting in dhyana. This is the most important requisite for cultivating the Bodhisattva Way. If you don't delight in sitting in dhyana, I believe you will be quite scattered. If you sit in dhyana, you can obtain samadhi power.
"Do you have to 'sit' in dhyana?" Yes, and no. We can define "not sitting" as being before you have ever sat in meditation. However, after you have done the sitting, can also be defined as "not sitting." The actual period when you are sitting in meditation can be defined as "sitting." And so I say it's also not sitting, because once you have achieved dhyana, then when you sit you are in dhyana, when you walk you are in dhyana, when you are asleep you are in dhyana: when moving, when still, when awake and when asleep, it's all dhyana. But before you have understood dhyana, you must first sit in dhyana. Once you have attained dhyana, you never leave it. In movement and stillness, in waking and sleeping, dhyana is you and you are dhyana. Dhyana follows you, and you follow dhyana. Just as a shadow follows a form, you couldn't leave it even if you wanted to. That's samadhi power.
"You've been talking and talking about it, but exactly what is dhyana?" It isn't anything at all! If you think it is something, you have an attachment. It is not anything at all, so there is no attachment to anything.
You say, "What you are saying is too indefinite." Of course! If it were definite, it wouldn't be dhyana. Dhyana is not definite. It is emptiness. Out of emptiness your samadhi power arises.
"Chan" is the abbreviated Chinese transliteration for the Sanskrit word "dhyana." The entire transliteration is "chan no." Translated, dhyana means "cultivating one's thoughts" and "quieting reflection." You sit there and cultivate your thoughts; you sit there and quiet your reflections. If you don't know how to apply effort, then you will sit there and strike up false thoughts. You should chase those false thoughts away. Once you chase away the false thoughts, you won't have any.
You should not think that "striking up false thoughts" is necessarily a bad expression. Change it to "chasing away false thoughts," and it's not bad. Do battle with your false thoughts. When a false thought first arises, use the demon-quelling pestle to beat it to death. When the next one comes up, use the demon-quelling pestle to beat that one to death, too. Sometimes after you have beaten one to death with the demon-quelling pestle, the same one comes back to life again. In that case you should use the demon-slicing sword. With it, you can slice right through a false thought the moment you see it arise. Once it's sliced in two, it won't come back to life again. That's how powerful the demon-slicing sword is. Once you slice through your false thoughts until they die, then your wisdom can arise. Wisdom, in fact, is the demon-slicing sword. If you have wisdom, you have a demon-slicing sword; if you don't have wisdom, you won't have a demon-slicing sword either.
To be continued
Venerable Master's Dharma Words
We should nurture our energy, and not expend it in a fit of temper. |
