禪關策進 1.51

1.51

生不知來處。謂之生大。死不知去處。謂之死大。臘月三十日到來。只落得手忙脚亂。何況前路茫茫。隨業受報。正是要緊事在。這箇是生死報境。若論生死業根。即今一念隨聲逐色。使得七顛八倒者便是。由是佛祖。運大慈悲。或教爾參禪。或教爾念佛。令汝掃除妄念。認取本來面目。做箇洒洒落落大解脫漢。而今不獲靈驗者。有三種病。第一不遇真善知識指示。第二不能痛將生死大事為念。悠悠漾漾。不覺打在無事甲裏。第三於世間虛名浮利。照不破。放不下。妄緣惡習上坐不斷。擺不脫。境風扇動處。不覺和身輥入業海中。東飄西泊去。真正道流。豈肯恁麼。當信祖師道。雜念紛飛。如何下手。一箇話頭。如鐵掃帚。轉掃轉多。轉多轉掃。掃不得。[拚-ㄙ+云]命掃。忽然掃破太虛空。萬別千差一路通。諸禪德。努力今生須了却。莫教永劫受餘殃○又有自疑念佛與參禪不同。不知參禪只圖識心見性。念佛者悟自性彌陀唯心淨土。豈有二理。經云。憶佛念佛現前當來。必定見佛。既曰現前見佛。則與參禪悟道有何異哉○答或問云。但將阿彌陀佛四字。做箇話頭。二六時中。直下提撕。至於一念不生。不涉階梯。徑超佛地。

Not knowing where one comes from at birth is called the great matter of birth; not knowing where one goes at death is called the great matter of death. When the thirtieth day of the twelfth month arrives, one is left only with fluster and panic. How much more so when the road ahead is vast and murky, receiving retribution according to one's karma—this is indeed the crucial matter! This is the realm of karmic retribution of birth and death. If one speaks of the karmic root of birth and death, it is right now this single thought that pursues sound and chases form, causing you to be turned topsy-turvy. For this reason, the buddhas and patriarchs, exercising great compassion, either teach you Chan investigation or teach you buddhānusmṛti, causing you to sweep away delusive thoughts, recognise your original face, and become an unburdened, untrammeled person of great liberation. That people nowadays obtain no efficacious result is due to three diseases: first, not meeting a true kalyāṇamitra to instruct them; second, being unable to take the great matter of birth and death keenly to heart, drifting along aimlessly and unwittingly falling into the shell of doing nothing; third, being unable to see through worldly empty fame and fleeting gain, unable to let them go, unable to sit through and cut off delusive conditions and bad habits, and unable to cast them off. Where the winds of sensory objects blow, one unwittingly plunges headlong into the sea of karma, drifting eastward and wandering westward. Would a true follower of the Way ever be willing to be like this? You should believe what an ancestral master said: 'When miscellaneous thoughts fly about in confusion, how should one set to work? A single huatou is like an iron broom: the more you sweep, the more they become; the more they become, the more you sweep. When you cannot sweep them away, risk your life and sweep! Suddenly you will sweep through great empty space; the ten thousand distinctions and thousand differences will all be penetrated by a single road.' Worthies of Chan, make effort in this lifetime to settle it; do not let yourselves suffer remaining calamities for eternal kalpas! Moreover, there are those who personally doubt whether buddhānusmṛti and Chan investigation are different, not knowing that Chan investigation aims only to recognise the mind and see the nature, while the one who practises buddhānusmṛti awakens to the Amitābha of one's own nature and the Pure Land of mind-only. How could there be two principles? A sūtra says: 'If you recollect the Buddha and be mindful of the Buddha, now or in the future you will certainly see the Buddha.' Since it says 'see the Buddha now,' what difference is there from Chan investigation and awakening to the Way? In response to someone's question, he said: 'Just take the four characters "A-mi-tuo-fo" as a huatou. Throughout the twenty-four hours, directly bring it to attention, until not a single thought arises; without stepping through stages, you will directly transcend to the buddha-ground.'