大慧普覺禪師語錄 26.15

26.15

You instructed me: "Ever since receiving your letter, whenever I encounter unavoidable situations in the midst of turmoil, I always examine myself, yet I have not had the effort of exerting strength." This very place that cannot be avoided is itself the effort! If you further exert strength to examine yourself, you will turn away from it and be far off. Formerly, the Old Master of Huayan in Weifu said: "The Buddha-dharma is in the place of daily activities, in walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, in drinking tea and eating food, in speaking and inquiring of one another, in all that is done and undertaken. When you raise a thought and stir contemplation, that again is not it." Right at the place that cannot be avoided, by all means avoid giving rise to a thought, stirring contemplation, and thinking of examining yourself. The Ancestral Master said: "When discrimination does not arise, the empty radiance illuminates by itself." Furthermore, Layman Pang said: "In daily affairs there is no difference, / Only I myself harmonize naturally. / In nothing is there grasping or rejection; / In nowhere is there obstinate discord. / For whom are the red and purple titles? / The hills and mounds are free from any speck of dust. / Spiritual penetrations and wondrous functions— / Hauling water and carrying firewood." Moreover, the ancient sages said: "As long as there is discrimination and calculation in the mind, all views and measurements of one's own mind are dreams." Remember this well: when it cannot be avoided, do not further conjecture with the mind. When you do not conjecture with the mind, everything is readily apparent. Nor do you need to pay attention to sharpness, nor do you need to pay attention to dullness; it has nothing whatsoever to do with sharpness or dullness, nor does it have anything to do with stillness or turmoil. Right at the time when it cannot be avoided, you will suddenly drop your cloth bag, and unwittingly clap your hands and laugh aloud. Remember this, remember this: if one uses a single hair's breadth of effort to attain verification in this matter, it is like trying to grab and rub empty space with one's hand—it only increases one's own toil. When responding to circumstances, simply respond; when you want to sit quietly, simply sit quietly. When sitting, do not cling to the sitting as ultimate. Nowadays, false masters mostly take silent illumination and quiet sitting to be the ultimate dharma, confusing and misleading later generations. Fearless of incurring resentment, I forcefully denigrate it in order to repay the Buddha's kindness and save people from the degenerations of the Final Age.