[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) › [虛堂和尚語錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2000) › 10.85 # 虛堂和尚語錄 10.85 虛堂和尚語錄 10.85 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [10.85](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2000.10.85) 如石含玉，非精鑑焉能識其真；道在己躬，苟外求難以適其妙。鑑之弗精則隱微，求之不敏則溟涬，要明體道之源，非朝夕而可求之者也。故我竺土老師，守志不堅，棄萬乘尊榮，受六年饑凍，於臘月八夜，忽覩明星，不離草座，入不思議之境，說一大藏葛藤，籠絡天地日月，包括陰陽造化，致於有情無情，總出他影子不得，三賢十聖無不傾心，外道天魔悉皆拱手，可以報君親，厚風俗，鎮浮去偽，潛利陰益者多矣。末後却道，始從鹿野苑，終至跋提河，於是二中間，未甞譚一字。可殺漏逗，從茲關鑰不嚴，便見殊方異域，赤縣神州，海藏金文，無處不有，豈止乎破一微塵，而出此經卷而已哉。高麗淑法師者，竺土老師之眷屬也，宿熏既深，航海而來，遠致一身，願滿十藏，綿歷風霜，其志愈篤，遍尋知識，求所未聞，儻能未展經絛，入此阿字法門，則五千餘卷總是切脚。且道，切箇什麼字？㘞！驀然眼皮綻，不得忘却老僧。宋景定癸亥秋八月，虛堂叟書于四明雪竇西菴。 > Just as a stone contains jade, without keen discernment how could one recognize its authenticity? The Way is within one's own person; if one seeks it externally, it is difficult to accord with its subtlety. If discernment is not keen, it remains hidden and minute; if seeking is not agile, it remains obscure and vague. To clarify the source of realizing the Way is not something that can be sought in a single morning or evening. Therefore, our old teacher of India, not holding firmly to his resolution, abandoned the dignity and honor of ten thousand chariots and suffered six years of hunger and cold; on the eighth night of the twelfth month, suddenly beholding the bright star, without leaving the grass seat he entered an inconceivable realm and expounded an entire canon of entangling vines, snaring heaven and earth, sun and moon, encompassing yin and yang and the transformative workings of nature, so that sentient and insentient beings could not escape his shadow. The three ranks of sages and ten stages of holy beings all inclined their hearts; the non-Buddhists and celestial demons all folded their hands. It can repay rulers and parents, enrich customs, suppress levity and dispel falsity, providing many hidden benefits and secret assistances. At the very end, however, he said that from the Deer Park at first to the Hirañyavatī River at last, in between these two he had never spoken a single word. How utterly leaky and careless! From then on, the gates and keys were not strictly kept, and we see that across exotic regions and foreign lands, in the Divine Continent of the Red District, the golden writings of the ocean treasury are everywhere present. How could it merely be breaking open a single dust mote to bring forth this sutra scroll? Dharma Master Suk of Goryeo is a kin of the Indian old teacher; having deeply cultivated past seeds, he sailed across the sea, bringing himself from afar, vowing to complete ten sets of the canon. Traversing wind and frost, his determination grew ever more earnest, seeking out spiritual friends everywhere and inquiring into what he had not yet heard. If before unrolling the sutra cord you can enter this Dharma-gate of the letter 'A', then the five thousand-odd fascicles will all be mere spelling guides. Tell me: what character does it spell? Huo! Suddenly your eyelids burst open—do not forget this old monk. Written in the eighth month of autumn in the guihai year of the Jingding reign of the Song by the Old Man of Xutang at the Western Hermitage of Xuedou in Siming. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 10.84](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2000.10.84) - [Next: 10.86](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2000.10.86) - [Up: 10](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2000.10) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2000~en-mt.10.85) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2000.10.85](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2000.10.85) · Pramāṇa