[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) › [大慧普覺禪師語錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1998a) › 29.19 # 大慧普覺禪師語錄 29.19 大慧普覺禪師語錄 29.19 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [29.19](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1998a.29.19) 收書，知為此一大事因緣甚力，大丈夫漢所作所為當如是耳。無常迅速生死事大，過了一日，則銷了一日好事，可畏可畏。左右春秋鼎盛，正是作業不識好惡時，能回此心學無上菩提，此是世界上第一等難容靈利漢，五濁界中有甚麼奇特事，過如此段因緣？趁色力彊健早回頭，以臨老回頭，其力量勝百千萬億倍，老漢私為左右喜。前此寫去法語，曾時時覷看否？第一記取，不得起心動念肚裏熱忙急要悟，纔作此念，則被此念塞斷路頭，永不能得悟矣。祖師云：「執之失度，必入邪路，放之自然，體無去住。」此乃祖師吐心吐膽為人處也。但日用費力處莫要做，此箇門中不容費力，老漢常為人說此話，得力處乃是省力處，省力處乃是得力處，若起一念希望心求悟入處，大似人在自家堂屋裏坐，却問他人覓住處無異。但把生死兩字，貼左鼻尖兒上，不要忘了時時提撕話頭，提來提去，生處自熟，熟處自生矣。此語已寫在空相道人書中，請同此書，互換一看，便了得也。 > I received your letter and know that you are exerting great effort for the sake of this one great causal condition. The actions and deeds of a great man should indeed be like this! Impermanence is swift and the matter of life and death is great; when one day passes, one day's good fortune is consumed—truly fearful, truly fearful. You, sir, are in the prime of your life, which is precisely the time when people create karma without knowing good from bad; that you are able to turn this mind around to study unexcelled bodhi makes you a quick-witted fellow of the highest order in this world, difficult to accommodate. What extraordinary thing in the realm of the five turbidities surpasses this matter? To take advantage of your robust physical strength and turn back early has strength hundreds of thousands of myriads of times greater than turning back on approaching old age; this old fellow privately rejoices for you. As for the dharma words I wrote and sent previously, have you looked into them from time to time? First and foremost, remember: you must not stir your mind and move your thoughts, becoming frantic in your belly with a rush to attain enlightenment. The moment you give rise to such a thought, the road ahead is blocked by it, and you will never be able to attain enlightenment. An ancestral master said: "To grasp it is to lose measure, and one will surely enter an errant path; release it to what is natural, and its substance neither goes nor stays." This is where the ancestral masters poured out their hearts and guts for the sake of others. Just do not engage in strenuous effort in your daily activities; within this gate, strenuous effort is not permitted. This old fellow often says to people: the place where one gains strength is precisely the place where one saves strength; the place where one saves strength is precisely the place where one gains strength. If you give rise to a single thought of expectation seeking a place of awakening, it is very much like a man sitting in his own hall and yet asking someone else to find him a place to dwell—no different at all. Simply stick the two words "life" and "death" onto the tip of your nose, and do not forget to constantly bring up and reflect upon the huatou. Bringing it up again and again, what is unfamiliar will naturally become familiar, and what is familiar will naturally become unfamiliar. These words have already been written in the letter to the Daoren Kongxiang; please read them along with that letter, exchanging them back and forth, and then you will understand. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 29.18](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1998a.29.18) - [Next: 29.20](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1998a.29.20) - [Up: 29](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1998a.29) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1998a~en-mt.29.19) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1998a.29.19](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1998a.29.19) · Pramāṇa