觀心論疏 3.11

3.11

四息諸緣務者，緣務妨禪，由來甚矣。蘭若比丘去喧就靜，云何營造緣務壞蘭若行？非所應也。緣務有四：一生活、二人事、三技能、四學問。生活緣務者，經紀生方，觸途紛糺，得一失一，喪道亂心。若動營眾事，則隨自意攝，非今所論。二人事者，慶弔俯仰，低昂造聘，此往彼來，來往不絕。況復眾人交絡，擾攘追尋。夫違親離師，本求要道，更結三州，還敦五郡，意欲何之？倒裳索領，鑽火求氷，非所應也。三技能者，醫方、卜筮、泥木、彩畫、棊、書、呪術等是也。皮文美角膏煎鐸毀傷已害身，況修出世之道！而當樹林招鳥腐氣來蠅，豈不摧折污辱乎？四學問者，讀誦經論、問答勝負等是也。領持記憶，心勞志倦，言論往復，水濁珠昏，何暇更得修於觀心？此事尚捨，況前三務耶！觀心生活者，愛是養業之法，如水潤種，因愛有憂，因憂有畏，若能斷愛，名息生活緣務也。人事是業，業生三界，往來五道，以愛潤業，處處受生，若無業者，愛無所潤也。技術習學等者，未得聖道不得修通，妄想之法障於般若，般若如虛空，無戲論、無文字，若得般若，如得如意珠。但一心修，何邃怱怱用神通為？習學未得無生忍而修世智辯聰、種種分別，皆是瓦礫，非真寶珠。若能停住，水則澄清，下觀瑠璃，安徐取寶。欲行大道，不應從彼小逕中學也。

Fourth, ceasing all distracting duties: Distracting duties have long hindered dhyāna. An āraṇyaka bhikṣu leaves bustle and approaches quietude; how could they manage distracting duties and ruin their āraṇyaka practice? It is not appropriate. There are four kinds of distracting duties: first, livelihood; second, social affairs; third, crafts and skills; fourth, scholarship. Livelihood duties: managing ways of making a living, which become tangled and disorderly at every turn; gaining one thing and losing another, destroying the Way and confusing the mind. If one busies oneself with various tasks, that belongs to following one's own intent and is not under discussion here. Second, social affairs: congratulations and condolences, bowing and scraping, visiting and sending messages, back and forth without end; moreover, crowds of people intermingling, chasing about in turmoil. Now, leaving kin and parting from teachers originally aimed to seek the essential Way; to forge ties anew across three provinces and strengthen bonds in five commanderies—where does one intend to go? Turning the robe upside down to find the collar, or drilling fire to seek ice—it is not appropriate. Third, crafts and skills: medicine, divination, masonry and carpentry, painting, chess, calligraphy, spells, and the like. Fine patterns of skin, beautiful horns, melting fat, and cracked bells harm the self and damage the body, how much more when cultivating the supramundane Way! Like forests inviting birds or rotting stench attracting flies, would one not be broken and defiled? Fourth, scholarship: reciting sūtras and treatises, debating victory and defeat, and the like. Holding and memorizing them wearies the mind and exhausts the will; words going back and forth make the water turbid and the pearl dim; what leisure remains to cultivate contemplation of mind? Even this matter is to be cast aside, how much more the previous three duties! Livelihood in contemplation of mind: craving is the dharma that nourishes karma, like water moistening a seed; through craving arises grief, and through grief arises fear. If one can sever craving, it is called ceasing the duties of livelihood. Social affairs are karma; karma gives birth to the three realms and shuttling between the five paths. Moistening karma with craving leads to taking rebirth everywhere. If there is no karma, craving has nothing to moisten. As for skills, learning, and the like: without having attained the noble path, one must not cultivate supernormal powers; the phenomena of vain thoughts obstruct prajñā. Prajñā is like empty space, without conceptual proliferation and without words; if one attains prajñā, it is like obtaining a wish-fulfilling jewel. Simply cultivate with a single mind; why be in a hasty rush to use supernormal powers? Studying without having attained the forbearance of non-arising, while cultivating worldly wisdom, eloquence, and various discriminations—these are all broken tiles and rubble, not genuine precious pearls. If one can bring things to a stop, the water becomes clear, and looking down one sees lapis lazuli, calmly and slowly retrieving the jewel. Desiring to walk the Great Path, one should not learn from those small byways.