圓悟佛果禪師語錄 14.9

14.9

Investigating this matter requires penetrating birth and death; how could it be a minor matter? One must be sharp, fierce, and earnest in resolve, regarding faith with gravity as if saving one's head from burning, before there can be even a slight degree of accord. One often sees students of Chan who rely on worldly intellect and cleverness, merely seeking to supply material for conversation and spread their renown, considering it an exalted pursuit and striving to outdo others; this only increases self-views, like throwing oil onto a fire so that its flames flare up even more fiercely. When the thirtieth day of the twelfth month arrives, they are bewildered and in disarray, deriving not the slightest strength at all. This is truly because from the very beginning they lacked the proper cause, so that in the end their labors yield no result. Therefore, when the virtuous ones of old urged people to practice the Chan of the nirvāṇa hall, they truly had a profound intention. When it comes to the border between birth and death, handling it is truly not easy; only someone of great attainment and transcendent realization, rousing sharp faculties and courage to cut it off directly, will find no difficulty. However, although this relies on one's own root power, it also requires skillful means. In ordinary, minor circumstances, if one can turn freely and penetrate through, not preserving understanding and not establishing views, so that the whole being is chilled and ready-made, and if one practices and nurtures it until it is thoroughly mature, then when conditions cease, one will naturally be free from fear. There will only be pure emptiness and crystalline clarity, with not a single dharma affecting one's feelings. It is like letting go of one's hands over a sheer precipice, abandoning everything without the slightest lingering attachment; one thought is ten thousand years, and ten thousand years are one thought. Searching for birth, it cannot be found at all; how could there be death? Therefore, that the virtuous ones of old could pass away while sitting or standing, or shed their mortal remains while walking or upside down, all acting with such vigor, was because in ordinary times they had purified and purged themselves clean. Xianglin took forty years to become of one piece; Yongquan after forty years still had missteps. Shishuang urged people to rest and cease, to be like an incense burner in an ancient temple. Yongjia said: 'The essence is itself unarisen; realization originally has no speed.' It is precisely by being cautious and reverent, constantly mindful of this and nothing else, that one attains unobstructed freedom. After discarding this life, one attains a mind-made body, following one's own inclinations, and subsequent retributions are all dispelled through principle and not drawn by karma; is this not what is meant by penetrating and being freed from birth and death? As long as karmic conditions have not yet ceased, amidst the human world there are so many intersecting and reciprocal involvements; one must handle them with ample ease and plenty of room to spare. Each person follows their own conditioned lot in life; one need not loathe the noisy and seek the quiet. Merely keep the inside empty and the outside compliant, and even amidst a bustling marketplace or boiling water, one will remain tranquil and secure. The moment the slightest thorn of view arises, one will fail to pass through.