禪林寶訓 2.45

2.45

Fojian said: "If one does not worry for the sake of the Way, one's exercise of mind will not be far-reaching; if one always abides in ease, the application of one's will will not be grand. The ancients experienced hardships and tasted perils and hindrances, and only then enjoyed lifelong peace. When matters are difficult, the will is sharp; when one endures bitter toil, one's contemplation is deep. Thus one can turn calamity into fortune and transform things into the Way. I often see students pursuing things while forgetting the Way, turning their backs on light to throw themselves into darkness. Thereupon, they disguise their own incapacities and deceive others, taking it for wisdom; they compel others where they fall short and insult them, taking it for superiority. Deceiving others in this way, they do not realise there are awakened forebears who cannot be deceived; obscuring things from others in this way, they do not realise there is public opinion that cannot be obscured. Therefore, those who consider themselves wise are regarded as foolish by others; those who consider themselves lofty are brought low by others. Only the worthy are not like this. They hold that affairs are scattered and endless, while ability has boundaries and limits. If one wishes to compass endless affairs with limited wisdom, one's understanding will be biased and one's spirit exhausted. Therefore, in the Great Way there will surely be something deficient." (Yu Xiu Zizhi Shu)