緇門警訓 1.29

1.29

夫出家者發足超方心形異俗。紹隆聖種震懾魔軍。用報四恩拔濟三有。若不如此。濫廁僧倫言行荒疎。虛霑信施。昔年行處寸步不移。恍惚一生將何憑恃。況乃堂堂僧相容貌可觀。皆是宿植善根感斯異報。便擬端然拱手。不貴寸陰事業不勤。功果無因克就。豈可一生空過。抑亦來業無裨。辭親決志披緇。意欲等超何所曉夕思忖。豈可遷延過時。心期佛法棟梁。用作後來龜鏡。常以如此未能少分相應。出言須涉於典章。談說乃傍於稽古。形儀挺特意氣高閑遠。行要假良朋。數數清於耳目。住止必須擇伴。時時聞於未聞。故云。生我者父母。成我者朋友。親附善者如霧露中行。雖不濕衣時時有潤。狎習惡者長惡知見。曉夕造惡。即目交報歿後沈淪。一失人身萬劫不復。忠言逆耳。豈不銘心者哉。便能澡心。育德晦迹韜名蘊素。精神喧囂。止絕。若欲參禪學道。頓超方便之門。心契玄津研幾精妙。決擇深奧啟悟真源。博問先知親近善友。此宗難得其妙。切須子細用心。可中頓悟正因。便是出塵階漸。此則破三界二十五有。內外諸法盡知不實。從心變起悉是假名。不用將心湊泊。但情不附物。物豈礙人。任他法性周流莫斷莫續。聞聲見色蓋是尋常。遮邊那邊應用不闕。如斯行止實不枉披法服。亦乃酬報四恩拔濟三有。生生若能不退。佛階決定可期。往來三界之賓。出沒為他作。則此之一學最妙最玄。但辦肯心必不相賺。若有中流之士。未能頓超。且於教法留心。溫尋貝葉精搜義理。傳唱敷揚接引後來。報佛恩德。時光亦不虛棄。必須以此扶持。住止威儀便是僧中法器。豈不見倚松之葛上聳千尋。附託勝因方能廣益。懇修齋戒莫謾虧踰。世世生生殊妙因果。不可等閑過日兀兀度時。可惜光陰。不求升進。徒消十方信施。亦乃孤負四恩。積累轉深。心塵易壅觸途成滯。人所輕欺。古云。彼既丈夫我亦爾。不應自輕而退屈。若不如此徒在緇門。荏苒一生殊無所益。伏望興決烈之志。開特達之懷。舉措看他上流。莫擅隨於庸鄙。今生便須決斷想料。不由別人息意忘緣。不與諸塵作對。心空境寂。只為久滯不通。熟覽斯文時時警策。強作主宰莫狥人情。業果所牽誠難逃避。聲和嚮順形直影端。因果歷然豈無憂懼。故經云。假使百千劫。所作業不亡。因緣會遇時。果報還自受。故知三界刑罰縈絆殺人。弩力勤修莫空過日。深知過患方乃相勸行持。願百劫千生處處同為法侶。乃為銘曰。

Now, one who has left household life sets forth to transcend worldly bounds, distinct from the vulgar in both mind and appearance. He carries forward the lineage of the Sages, strikes terror into the armies of Māra, and acts to repay the four debts of gratitude and rescue the traidhātuka. If one is not like this, one falsely mingles in the saṅgha's ranks, negligent in words and deeds, vainly accepting the offerings of the faithful. Making not an inch of progress on the path of past years, wandering through a lifetime, on what will one rely? Moreover, one has a magnificent monastic appearance with an impressive demeanor, which is entirely the result of roots of goodness planted in past lives bringing forth this extraordinary retribution. Yet if you intend merely to sit upright with folded hands, not valuing an inch of time and not diligent in your vocation, the fruit of attainment will have no cause to be achieved. How can a lifetime be passed in vain, so that it also brings no benefit to future karma? Bidding farewell to parents, with determined resolve you put on the black robes; what was it you intended to transcend? Reflecting day and night, how can you let the time slip by? Your mind aims to be a pillar of the Buddhadharma and serve as a mirror for future generations. If you are constantly like this, you will still fail to correspond even slightly with the Path. When you speak, it must concern the scriptures; your conversations must rely on antiquity. Your appearance and deportment should be upright and distinguished, your mood detached and leisurely. Travelling far requires good companions to frequently purify your ears and eyes; dwelling in a place requires choosing associates to constantly hear what has not yet been heard. Therefore it is said: "Those who gave birth to me are my parents; those who brought me to completion are my friends." Drawing near to the good is like walking amidst fog and dew: though your clothes are not soaked, they are constantly moistened. Associating with the evil increases evil views; doing evil morning and evening, the retribution appears before one's eyes, and after death one sinks into lower realms. Once the human body is lost, it will not be regained for myriad kalpas. Sincere advice is bitter to the ear; how could one not engrave it upon the heart? One must cleanse the mind, nurture virtue, conceal one's traces, hide one's name, maintain plainness, nourish one's spirit, and put an end to noise and clamour. If you wish to practice Chan inquiry and learn the Path, swiftly transcending the gate of expedient means, your mind must tally with the profound ford and examine the subtle springs of action, choosing the deep and hidden, and awakening to the true source. Inquire extensively of those of prior wisdom and draw near to good friends. The subtlety of this school is difficult to attain; you must apply your mind with great care. If you can suddenly awaken to the correct cause, that is the gradual stage for transcending worldly dust. This shatters the traidhātuka and the twenty-five realms of existence; inner and outer dharmas are all known to be unreal, transformed and arisen from the mind, all being mere provisional names. There is no need to make the mind seek to conform; as long as the passions do not attach to things, how can things obstruct a person? Let the nature of dharmas flow everywhere, neither severed nor continuous. Hearing sounds and seeing forms are entirely ordinary; whether on this side or that side, responses are never lacking. In such conduct and deportment, one truly does not wear the dharma robes in vain, and one also repays the four debts of gratitude and rescues the traidhātuka. If life after life one does not retrogress, the stage of Buddhahood can certainly be expected. As a guest passing through the traidhātuka, coming and going to act as a model for others, this single practice is the most wondrous and the most profound. Only cultivate a resolved mind, and it will surely not deceive you. If there are persons of middling capacity who cannot suddenly transcend, let them keep their minds on the teachings, reviewing the palm-leaf scriptures, closely searching into the principles and meanings, chanting, expounding, and proclaiming them to guide those who come after, repaying the kindness of the Buddha; thus time will also not be discarded in vain. One must rely on this for support; dwelling in dignified deportment, one is then a vessel of the Dharma within the saṅgha. Have you not seen that the vine clinging to the pine towers up a thousand fathoms? Only by relying on superior conditions can one provide widespread benefit. Earnestly cultivate the fasting precepts; do not carelessly violate them. In life after life, wondrous causes and fruits will unfold. You must not pass the days casually, spending your time in a daze. Regretting the passage of time without seeking advancement, you vainly consume the offerings of the faithful from the ten directions, and you also fail the four debts of gratitude. As accumulations grow ever deeper, the dust of the mind easily clogs, encountering obstacles at every turn, despised and mocked by others. An ancient said: "Since he is a great man, I am also one; one should not belittle oneself and shrink back." If it is not so, you remain vainly within the black-robed order, passing an entire life with absolutely no benefit. I humbly hope you will arouse a resolute and fierce will, open a mind of extraordinary realization, model your conduct after those of the higher stream, and do not arbitrarily follow the vulgar and base. In this life you must make a decisive resolution; reflection does not depend on others. Put an end to thoughts and forget conditions, not confronting the objects of the senses. The mind is empty and the sphere of objects is tranquil; it is only because you have long been stagnant that you do not penetrate it. Peruse this text thoroughly and admonish yourself at all times; act firmly as your own master, and do not follow human sentiment. Bound by the fruits of karma, it is truly difficult to escape. When the sound is harmonious, the echo conforms; when the form is upright, the shadow is straight. Cause and effect are distinct and clear—how could there be no fear? Therefore a sūtra states: "Even after hundreds of thousands of kalpas, karma that is done does not perish; when causes and conditions meet, one receives the retribution oneself." Therefore know that the punishments of the traidhātuka bind and kill people. Strive diligently to cultivate, and do not pass your days in vain. It is only because I deeply know the faults and perils that I encourage you to uphold and practice. May we be Dharma companions together everywhere for hundreds of kalpas and thousands of lives! Thus I have composed this inscription: