摩訶止觀 5.137

5.137

若俱不得安，當復云何？夫心神冥昧，椶利怳𭝏，汩起汩滅，難可執持；倏去倏來，不易關禁。雖復止之，馳疾颺炎；雖復觀之，闇逾漆墨。加功苦至，散惑倍隆。敵強力弱，鷸蚌相扼；既不得進，又不可退。當殉命奉道，薦以肌骨；誓巧安心，方便迴轉，令得相應成觀行位也。

If neither can attain stability, what should be done then? The mental faculty is dark and obscure, sharp and swift, agitated and flurried, abruptly arising and abruptly perishing, difficult to grasp and hold; suddenly departing and suddenly arriving, it is not easy to lock and restrain. Although one calms it, it races swiftly like soaring flames; although one contemplates it, it is darker than lacquer. The more effort and bitter striving one adds, the more scattered delusions multiply. The adversary is strong and one's strength is weak, locked like the snipe and the clam; one can neither advance nor retreat. One must sacrifice one's life to uphold the Path, offering flesh and bones; vowing to skillfully settle the mind, one uses skillful means to redirect it, causing it to correspond and achieve the rank of the practice of contemplation.