緇門警訓 7.18

7.18

此心清淨猶如虛空。無一點相貌。舉心動念全乖法體。纔退步便相應。只是不肯退步。纔放下便安樂。只是不肯放下。大都是無始劫來慣習成了也。古人學道先打當貪嗔癡。然後放教一切處冷啾啾地。如臘月裏扇子相似。直是無人覻著。亡得名利甘得淡薄。世間心輕微。道念自然濃厚。匾檐山和尚一生拾橡子煮喫。永嘉大師不喫。钁頭下菜。高僧惠休三十年著一緉鞋。百補千綴。遇軟地行則赤脚。恐損他信施信心物難消。他總是妻子口中減削。將來供養。爾了便要邀福懺罪。爾十二時中種種受用。盡出他人之力。未饑而食未寒而衣。未垢而浴未困而眠。道眼未明心漏未盡。如何消得。故古德云。為成道業施將來。道業未成爭消得。山僧遮裏不可與爾諸人打粥飯過日也。若是坐消信施。諸天不喜。麁茶淡飯也難消他底。如今初學比丘飽食高眠。取性過日猶嫌不稱意。在出家人。如一塊磨刀石。一切人要刀快便來。爾石上磨張三也來磨。李四也來磨。磨來磨去別人刀快。自家石漸消薄。有底更嫌他人不來。我石上磨。有甚便宜處。進食如進毒。受施如受箭。幣厚言甘。道人所畏。爾灼然與道相應。萬兩黃金亦消得。此事不是說了便休。須是實到遮箇田地始得。高談大論瞞人自瞞。大不濟事。如今叢林中無人說著遮般話也。莫道焦山長老說禪。全無孔竅。記取記取。伏惟珍重。

This mind is pure just like empty space, without the slightest mark. Arousing the mind and stirring thoughts completely deviates from the Dharma-body. As soon as you take a step back, you immediately accord with it; it is just that you are unwilling to take a step back. As soon as you lay it down, you immediately find peace and joy; it is just that you are unwilling to lay it down. For the most part, it has simply become a habit developed across beginningless kalpas. When the ancients studied the Way, they first cleared away greed, anger, and delusion, and then let all places become stone cold, just like a fan in the twelfth month, so that truly no one looked upon them. Able to forget fame and profit, and willing to accept plainness and simplicity, worldly thoughts became slight and delicate, and thoughts of the Way naturally grew deep and substantial. Upādhyāya of Mount Bianyan gathered acorns to boil and eat all his life; Great Master Yongjia did not eat vegetables cut down under a hoe; the eminent monk Huixiu wore one pair of shoes for thirty years, mended a hundred times and stitched a thousand times, and when he encountered soft ground on which to walk, he went barefoot, fearing he might damage the offerings of the faithful. Offerings of faith are hard to digest: they are always deducted from what wives and children put in their mouths to bring for offerings, so that they may seek blessings and repent sins for you. Throughout the twelve periods of the day, your various enjoyments all come from the labor of others: eating before you are hungry, dressing before you are cold, bathing before you are soiled, and sleeping before you are weary. With the eye of the Way not yet clear and mental outflows not yet exhausted, how can you digest them? Therefore an ancient virtuous one said: 'Offerings are brought so that one may accomplish the karmic work of the Way; if the karmic work of the Way is not accomplished, how can one digest them?' Here, this mountain monk cannot just pass the days with you people eating congee and rice! If you idly digest offerings of faith, the devas will not be pleased, and even coarse tea and plain rice will be hard for you to digest. Nowadays, newly studying bhikṣus eat their fill and sleep soundly, indulging their desires to pass the days, yet they still complain that things do not suit their wishes. A person who has left home is like a whetstone: whenever anyone wants their knife sharp, they come to sharpen it on your stone. Zhang the Third comes to sharpen, and Li the Fourth comes to sharpen; as they sharpen and sharpen, others' knives become sharp, while one's own stone gradually wears thin! Some even complain that others do not come to sharpen on their stone—what benefit is there in that? Receiving food is like taking poison; receiving an offering is like taking an arrow. Generous gifts and sweet words are what a person of the Way dreads. If you truly accord with the Way, even ten thousand ounces of gold can be digested. This matter is not finished just by talking about it; you must truly reach this ground before you are done. Grand talk and broad discourses deceive others and deceive oneself; they are of no help at all. Nowadays, within the monasteries, no one speaks such words. Do not say that the sthavira of Jiaoshan speaks of Chan without any aperture at all. Remember this! Remember this! Respectfully, take care!