禪關策進 1.48

1.48

先師高峯和尚。教人惟以所參話頭。蘊之於懷。行也如是參。坐也如是參。參到用力不及處留意不得時。驀忽打脫。方知成佛。其來舊矣。這一著子。是從上佛祖了生脫死之已驗三昧。惟貴信得及久遠不退轉。更無有不獲其相應者○看話頭做工夫。最是立脚穩當。悟處親切。縱此生不悟。但信心不退。不隔一生兩生。更無不獲開悟者○或三十年二十年。未即開悟。不須別求方便。但心不異緣。意絕諸妄。孜孜不捨。只向所參話上。立定脚頭。𢬵取生與同生死與同死。誰管三生五生。十生百生。若不徹悟。決定不休。有此正因。不患大事之不了明也○病中做工夫。也不要爾精進勇猛。也不要爾撐眉努目。但要爾心如木石。意若死灰。將四大幻身。撇向他方世界之外。由他病也得。活也得。死也得。有人看也得。無人看也得。香鮮也得。臭爛也得。醫得健來。活到一百二十歲也得。如或便死。被宿業牽。入鑊湯爐炭裏也得。如是境界中。都不動搖。但切切將箇沒滋味話頭。向藥爐邊枕頭上。默默咨參。不得放捨。

“My late master, Reverend Gaofeng, taught people solely to harbor within their bosom the huatou they investigate. When walking, investigate like this; when sitting, investigate like this. When you investigate to the point where applied effort cannot reach and where attention cannot be placed, it suddenly strips away, and only then do you realize that becoming a Buddha has been ancient from the beginning. This move is the proven samādhi of the buddhas and patriarchs from above for resolving birth and escaping death. It only values having firm faith and remaining non-retrograde for a long time; there has never been one who did not attain its resonance.

“Inspecting the huatou to apply effort is the most solid footing and the most intimate point of awakening. Even if you do not awaken in this life, so long as faith does not regress, not a life or two will intervene before there is no one who does not attain awakening.

“Even if for twenty or thirty years you do not immediately attain awakening, there is no need to seek other expedient means. Simply keep the mind free from different conditions, sever all delusions in the intellect, and tirelessly without letting go, firmly stand your feet upon the phrase you investigate, pledging to share life with it in life and share death with it in death. Who cares about three lives, five lives, ten lives, or a hundred lives? If you do not awaken thoroughly, you must resolve never to stop. With this correct cause, you need not worry that the great matter will not be clarified.

“When applying effort during illness, neither does it require you to be energetic and vigorous, nor does it require you to raise your brows and glare your eyes. It only requires your mind to be like wood and stone, your intellect like dead ashes. Cast the illusory body of the four great elements beyond other realms. Let it be sick, let it live, let it die; let someone care for it, let no one care for it; let it be fragrant and fresh, let it be foul and rotten; let it be cured to health to live to one hundred and twenty years; or if you die immediately, dragged by past karma into the boiling cauldron and furnace coals—let that be too. Amidst such realms, remain completely unmoved. Only earnestly take this flavorless huatou, and beside the medicine stove and upon the pillow, silently inquire and investigate it, never letting it go.”