[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) › [緇門警訓](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2023) › 5.4 # 緇門警訓 5.4 緇門警訓 5.4 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [5.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2023.5.4) 大凡行脚須以道心為重。不可受現成供養。等閑過日。須將生死二字貼在額頭上。每日十二時中裂轉面皮。討箇分曉始得。若只隨群逐隊打鬨過日。忽然死了。閻羅老子打算飯錢。莫道我不曾說與爾來。若是做工夫。須要時時檢點刻刻提撕。那裏是得力處。那裏是不得力處。那裏是打失處。那裏是不打失處。若如此檢點做工夫時。定有到家時候。有一等辦道人。經又不看佛又不禮。纔上蒲團便打瞌睡。及至醒來胡思亂想。纔下蒲團便與人說雜話。若是如此辦道。至彌勒佛下生時。也未有入手底時節。須是猛著精采。提一箇無字。晝參夜參與他廝睚。不可坐在無事甲裏。又不可在蒲團上死坐。須要活弄。恐雜念紛飛起時。千萬不可與他廝睚轉鬪轉多。有人到這裡不識進退。解免不下成風成顛。壞了一生。宜向紛飛起處輕輕放下。轉身下地行一遭。又上蒲團。開兩眼揑兩拳。竪起脊梁。依前提起所參話頭。便覺清涼。如一鍋沸湯攙一杓冷水相似。若如此做工夫。日久歲深自有到家時節。工夫未入手不可生煩惱。恐煩惱魔入心。若覺得力不可生歡喜。恐歡喜魔入心。種種禪病說之不盡。如眾中有老成道伴。千萬時時請益。若無將前輩。祖師教人做工夫語言看一遍。如親見相似。如今向此道者難得其人。千萬努力。向前望汝早早打破漆桶歸來。與老僧揩背。偈曰。瞻風撥草離家時。一念途中善護持。近日叢林風味別。脚頭到處著便宜。 > In general, on an itinerant pilgrimage one must take the mind for the Path as paramount. You must not receive ready-made offerings and idly pass the days. You must stick the two characters 'birth and death' upon your forehead, and throughout the twelve periods of every day tear off your face to demand a clear accounting before you are done. If you only follow the crowd, run in a pack, and spend your days causing a clamour, then when you suddenly die and Old Man Yama tallies your food money, do not say I never told you! If you are doing cultivation, you must constantly examine and moment by moment raise awareness: Where is there strength? Where is there no strength? Where has it been lost? Where has it not been lost? If you examine yourself and do your cultivation in this way, there will definitely come a time when you reach home. There is a class of practitioners who neither read the scriptures nor bow to the Buddha; no sooner do they step onto the meditation cushion than they doze off, and once awake they indulge in wild and random thoughts; no sooner do they step off the meditation cushion than they chatter idly with others. If you cultivate like this, even when Maitreya Buddha descends to be born, you will not yet have found a way in. You must vigorously summon your spirit, bring up the single word 'Mu', and confront it face to face day and night. You must not sit in the shell of doing nothing, nor may you sit dead upon the meditation cushion; you must handle it with vitality. If you fear that miscellaneous thoughts are arising in profusion, you must by no means confront them face to face; the more you battle them, the more they will multiply. There are people who, reaching this point, do not know when to advance or retreat, cannot untie and discharge them, and so become manic and mad, ruining their entire lives. You should gently let go right where the profusion arises, turn around, go down to the floor, take a walk around, and then get back on the meditation cushion. Open both eyes, clench both fists, straighten your spine, and as before raise the huatou you are inquiring into; you will immediately feel clear and cool, just like pouring a ladle of cold water into a pot of boiling soup. If you do your cultivation in this way, over months and years there will naturally come a time when you reach home. When the cultivation has not yet taken hold, you must not give rise to afflictions, lest the demon of afflictions enter your mind; if you feel you have gained strength, you must not give rise to joy, lest the demon of joy enter your mind. The various Chan illnesses are too numerous to recount. If there is a seasoned companion on the Path in the assembly, by all means ask for guidance at all times. If there is none, take the words of the former generations and ancestral masters teaching people how to do cultivation and read them through once, just as if meeting them in person. Nowadays, people who turn toward this Path are rare to find. Put forth all your effort! Moving forward, I hope you will quickly smash the lacquer bucket and return to scrub this old monk's back. The verse says: > When looking to the wind and parting the grass as you leave home, > Well protect the single thought along the road. > In recent days the flavour of the monasteries has become strange; > Wherever your feet lead, be on your guard. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 5.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2023.5.3) - [Next: 5.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2023.5.5) - [Up: 5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2023.5) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2023~en-mt.5.4) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2023.5.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2023.5.4) · Pramāṇa