禪關策進 1.65

1.65

須要發勇猛心。立決定志。將平生悟得的學得的。一切佛法四六文章語言三昧。一掃掃向大洋海裏去。更莫舉著。把八萬四千微細念頭。一坐坐斷。却將本參話頭。一提提起疑來疑去。拶來拶去。凝定身心。討箇分曉。以悟為則。不可向公案上卜度經書上尋覓。直須卒地斷爆地拆方始到家。若是話頭提不起連舉三遍。便覺有力。若身力疲倦。心識怉懆。却輕輕下地。打一轉再上蒲團。將本參話。如前挨拶。若纔上蒲團。便打磕睡。開得眼來。胡思亂想。轉身下地。三三兩兩。交頭接耳。大語細話。記取一肚皮語錄經書。逞能舌辨。如此用心。臘月三十日到來。總用不著。

You must give rise to a courageous mind and establish resolute determination. Take all that you have awakened to and learned throughout your life—all the Buddha Dharma, four-and-six parallel prose, and literary samādhi—and sweep it all away into the vast ocean; never mention it again. Cut off all eighty-four thousand subtle thoughts with a single sitting. Then take up your fundamental huatou, raise it again and again, doubting and doubting, pressing and pressing, steadying body and mind to find out clearly, taking awakening as the standard. You must not make conjectures based on gongans or search within the sūtras and books; you must directly snap it off abruptly and burst it open completely before you finally reach home. If the huatou cannot be raised, raise it three times in succession, and you will feel it gain power. If your physical strength is fatigued and your mind is restless, then gently step down to the ground, walk a round, and get back onto the meditation cushion, pressing forward with the fundamental huatou as before. If, as soon as you get onto the cushion, you doze off, open your eyes and indulge in wild thinking, then turn around, step down to the ground, and in groups of twos and threes whisper together, talking loudly and softly, memorising a bellyful of recorded sayings and sūtras to show off your glib tongue—if you use your mind like this, when the thirtieth day of the twelfth month arrives, none of it will be of any use.