[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [修習止觀坐禪法要](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1915) › 1.1 # 修習止觀坐禪法要 1.1 修習止觀坐禪法要 1.1 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [1.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1915.1.1) 天台止觀有四本：一曰《圓頓止觀》，大師於荊州玉泉寺說，章安記為十卷；二曰漸次止觀，在瓦官寺說，弟子法慎記，本三十卷，章安治定為十卷，今《禪波羅蜜》是；三曰不定止觀。即陳尚書令毛喜請大師出，有一卷，今《六妙門》是；四曰小止觀，即今文是，大師為俗兄陳鍼出，寔大部之梗概，入道之樞機，曰止觀、曰定慧、曰寂照、曰明靜，皆同出而異名也。若夫窮萬法之源底，考諸佛之修證，莫若止觀。天台大師靈山親承，承止觀也；大蘇妙悟，悟止觀也；三昧所修，修止觀也；縱辯而說，說止觀也。故曰說己心中所行法門。則知台教宗部雖繁，要歸不出止觀。舍止觀不足以明天台道，不足以議天台教，故入道者不可不學，學者不可不修。奈何叔世寡薄馳走聲利，或膠固於名相，或混肴於闇證，其書雖存，而止觀之道蔑聞於世，得不為之痛心疾首哉。今以此書命工鏤板，將使聞者見者皆植大乘緣種，況有修有證者，則其利尚可量耶！予因對校乃為敘云。時紹聖二年仲秋朔，餘杭郡釋元照序。 > There are four versions of Tiantai calming and contemplation. The first is called the \*Perfect and Sudden Calming and Contemplation\*, taught by the Great Master at Yuquan Monastery in Jingzhou and recorded by Zhang'an in ten fascicles. The second is called the \*Gradual Calming and Contemplation\*, taught at Waguan Monastery, recorded by the disciple Fashen in thirty fascicles original text, and edited by Zhang'an down to ten fascicles; this is the present \*Dhyāna Pāramitā\*. The third is called the \*Indeterminate Calming and Contemplation\*, which the Great Master produced at the request of Mao Xi, Minister of the Department of State Affairs under the Chen, in one fascicle; this is the present \*Six Wondrous Dharma Gates\*. The fourth is called the \*Lesser Calming and Contemplation\*, which is this present text, produced by the Great Master for his lay elder brother Chen Zhen; it is truly an outline of the great work and the pivotal mechanism for entering the Path. Whether one calls it calming and contemplation, concentration and wisdom, stillness and illumination, or clarity and quietude, they all spring from the same source under different names. If one wishes to plumb the depth of the ten thousand dharmas and examine the cultivation and realization of all the Buddhas, nothing surpasses calming and contemplation. When the Great Master of Tiantai received transmission in person at Vulture Peak, he received calming and contemplation; his wondrous awakening at Mount Dasu was an awakening to calming and contemplation; what he cultivated in samādhi was the cultivation of calming and contemplation; what he spoke when expounding with unimpeded eloquence was the exposition of calming and contemplation. Hence it is said: he expounded the Dharma door practiced within his own mind. Thus we know that although the Tiantai teachings and doctrines are manifold, their ultimate focus does not go beyond calming and contemplation. Setting aside calming and contemplation, one cannot clarify the Tiantai path or discuss the Tiantai teaching. Therefore, those who enter the Path must not fail to learn it, and those who learn it must not fail to practice it. Alas, in this degenerate age of shallow virtue, people rush after fame and profit; some become rigidly attached to terms and marks, while others fall into the confusion of blind realization. Although this book survives, the way of calming and contemplation is scarcely heard of in the world—how could one not feel heartbroken and deeply grieved? Now, having ordered craftsmen to carve printing blocks for this book, we intend to let all who hear or see it plant the karmic seeds of the Mahāyāna, to say nothing of those who cultivate and realize it—how could the benefits be measured! Following collation, I have therefore written this preface. The first day of the second month of autumn in the second year of the Shaosheng reign period \[1095 CE\], preface by the Śramaṇa Yuanzhao of Yuhang Commandery. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Next: 1.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1915.1.2) - [Up: 1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1915.1) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1915~en-mt.1.1) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1915.1.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1915.1.1) · Pramāṇa