大慧普覺禪師語錄 25.14

25.14

I have read your letter carefully several times, and it is sufficient to see that you have resolved upon an iron and stone mind, establishing a decisive determination and refusing to be careless; simply acting like this, when you hold on until the thirtieth day of the twelfth month, you will also be able to grapple face to face with Old Master Yama, to say nothing of opening wide the eye atop the crown of your head, grasping the vajra-king precious sword, and sitting atop the crown of Vairocana! Zonggao once said to friends of the Way outside worldly bonds: 'Students of the Way nowadays only seek quick results, unaware that they are mistaken. Instead they say: "Having no concerns and reducing conditions, sitting quietly and investigating the substance, is wasting time; it is better to read several scrolls of scriptures, recite the Buddha's name several times, make more prostrations before the Buddha, and repent of the transgressions committed throughout one's life, so as to avoid the iron rod in Old Master Yama's hand." This is what fools do. Nowadays, Daoists use a completely deluded mind to imagine the essence of the sun and the radiance of the moon, swallowing clouds and ingesting qi, and yet they are still able to preserve their form and dwell in the world without being oppressed by cold and heat—how much more so if one turns this mind and this thought completely into prajñā? The past sages clearly had a saying: "Like the microscopic insect that can alight everywhere, except it cannot alight upon flames; sentient beings are also like this: they can cognize conditions everywhere, except they cannot cognize conditions upon prajñā." If in every thought you do not retreat from your initial resolve, taking your own mind and consciousness that cognizes the dust and toil of the world and turning it back to hold against prajñā, then even if you do not penetrate thoroughly in this lifetime, when your life comes to an end you certainly will not be pulled by evil karma to fall into evil destinies; coming forth in the next life, according to the power of your vows in this lifetime, you will certainly be within prajñā, enjoying its ready-made function. This is a certainty, not to be doubted. The things of the realm of sentient beings need not be studied: from beginningless time they have been practiced until familiar, and the road is also familiar, naturally finding their source wherever you turn; you must push them aside. The mind that studies worldly-transcending prajñā has been turned against since beginningless time; when first hearing a good friend speak of it, naturally one cannot comprehend it. You must establish a decisive determination to oppose it head-on; the two definitely cannot stand together. If you enter deeply here, there will be no need to drive things away over there—the various māras and heterodox ways will naturally flee into hiding. "Make the unfamiliar familiar, and make the familiar unfamiliar"—it is precisely for this reason. In the place where you apply effort in your daily activities, grasp the handle; when you gradually feel it saves effort, that is precisely where you gain strength.'