[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) › 30.15 # 大慧普覺禪師語錄 30.15 大慧普覺禪師語錄 30.15 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [30.15](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1998a.30.15) 示諭：「能行佛事而不解禪語，能與不解，無別無同。」但知能行者即是禪語，會禪語而不能行佛事，如人在水底坐叫渴、飯籮裏坐叫飢何異？當知禪語即佛事，佛事即禪語，能行能解，在人不在法。若更向箇裏覓同覓別，則是空拳指上生實解，根境法中虛揑怪，如却行而求前，轉急轉遲，轉疎轉遠矣。要得徑截心地豁如，但將能與不能、解與不解、同與不同、別與不別，能如是思量、如是卜度者，掃向他方世界，却向不可掃處看，是有是無、是同是別。驀然心思意想絕，當恁麼時，自不著問人矣。 > Your letter says: "One can practice Buddhist affairs without understanding Chan words; between ability and non-understanding, there is neither distinction nor identity." You should know that being able to practice is itself Chan words; to understand Chan words yet be unable to practice Buddhist affairs—how is that different from sitting under water crying of thirst, or sitting in a rice basket crying of hunger? You should know that Chan words are Buddhist affairs, and Buddhist affairs are Chan words; ability to practice and ability to understand depend on the person, not on the Dharma. If you further look for identity and distinction in this, that is giving rise to real understanding on an empty fist and a pointing finger, falsely conjuring up monstrosities among sense-faculties, sense-objects, and dharmas; it is like walking backward while seeking to go forward—the more urgent you are, the more delayed it is, and the more alienated and distant it becomes. If you want the mind ground to be directly clear and broad, just take ability and inability, understanding and non-understanding, identity and non-identity, distinction and non-distinction—the one who can deliberate and calculate in this way—and sweep it away into other worlds; then look toward the place that cannot be swept away, to see whether it exists or does not exist, whether it is identical or distinct. Suddenly thinking and conceptualizing will be severed; at such a moment, you will naturally not need to ask others. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 30.14](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1998a.30.14) - [Next: 30.16](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1998a.30.16) - [Up: 30](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1998a.30) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1998a~en-mt.30.15) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1998a.30.15](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1998a.30.15) · Pramāṇa