緇門警訓 5.6

5.6

汝師年老中山寺。朝暮無人可瞻侍。不歸掃洒執巾瓶。師資禮法合也未。汝母兼又年紀高。除汝一人更無二。望斷秋風未見歸。倚門日日長垂淚。離師棄母入山來。所圖畢竟成何事。安貧樂道固所難。住箇茅菴豈容易。也要種竹栽松。也要鉏山掘地。也要運水搬柴。也要澆蔬灌芋。也要行道諷經。也要攝心除睡。藜羹黍飯塞飢瘡。淡虀薄粥通腸胃。人生皆為口體忙。我亦未免形骸累。自家心地如未明。業識茫茫無本據。水邊林下暫經過。吾汝皆非久居計。月江和尚有書來。勉汝歸寧有深意。開緘未讀便抽身。不負來音全孝義。有言孝為百行先。在俗在僧誰不然。侍師奉母名敬田。何須入眾并參禪。忽然思靜又嫌喧。短策不妨閑往還。

Your master is old at Zhongshan Monastery,
Morning and evening with no one to look after and attend to him.
Not returning to sweep and sprinkle, or hold the towel and pitcher—
Does this accord with the ritual propriety between master and disciple, or not?
Your mother is, moreover, advanced in years;
Besides you alone, there is no second child.
Looking out through the autumn wind, she has not seen you return;
Leaning on the gate day by day, her tears long flow down.
Leaving your master and abandoning your mother to enter the mountains,
What, after all, do your aims accomplish?
Being content with poverty and delighting in the Path is indeed difficult;
Dwelling in a thatched hut—how could it be easy?
One must plant bamboo and cultivate pines;
one must hoe the mountains and dig the earth;
One must carry water and haul firewood;
one must water the vegetables and irrigate the taros;
One must practice the Path and recite scriptures;
one must gather the mind and banish sleep.
Goosefoot broth and millet rice plug the wound of hunger;
Bland pickles and thin congee clear the bowels and stomach.
In human life all are busy for the sake of mouth and body;
I too cannot escape the burden of this physical frame.
If your own mind-ground is not yet illumined,
The karmic consciousness is vast and adrift, without a fundamental basis.
Passing through by waterside and under trees for a short while,
For neither me nor you is this a plan for long dwelling.
Upādhyāya Yuejiang has sent a letter,
Urging you to return home to inquire [after your kin] with deep meaning.
Opening the seal, before reading it, immediately withdraw your person;
Do not fail the incoming message, fulfilling both filial piety and righteousness.
There is a saying: 'Filial piety comes first among the hundred practices';
Be it among the laity or among the monastic saṅgha, who is not like this?
Attending to one's master and revering one's mother is called the field of respect;
What need is there to enter the assembly and practice Chan inquiry?
If suddenly you long for quiet and dislike clamour,
With a short walking stick it is fine to leisurely come and go.