坐禪三昧經 1.2

1.2

導師說難遇，聞者喜亦難；
大人所樂聽，小人所惡聞。
眾生可愍傷，墜老死嶮路；
野人恩愛奴，處畏癡不懼。
世界若大小，法無有常者；
一切不久留，暫現如電光。
是身屬老死，眾病之所歸；
薄皮覆不淨，愚惑為所欺。
汝常為老賊，吞滅盛壯色；
如華鬘枯朽，毀敗無所直。
頂生王功德，共釋天王坐；
報利福弘多，今日悉安在？
此王天人中，欲樂具為最；
死時極苦痛，以此可悟意。
諸欲初軟樂，後皆成大苦；
亦如怨初善，滅族禍在後。
是身為穢器，九孔常流惡；
亦如那利瘡，絕治於醫藥。
骨車力甚少，筋脈纏識轉；
汝以為妙乘，忍著無羞恥。
死人所聚處，委棄滿塜間；
生時所保惜，死則皆棄捐。
常當念如是，一心觀莫亂；
破癡倒黑暝，執炬以明觀。
若捨四念止，心無惡不造；
如象逸無鉤，終不順調道。
今日營此業，明日造彼事；
樂著不觀苦，不覺死賊至。
怱怱為己務，他事亦不閑；
死賊不待時，至則無脫緣。
如鹿渴赴泉，已飲方向水；
獵師無慈惠，不聽飲竟殺。
癡人亦如是，懃修諸事務；
死至不待時，誰當為汝護？
人心期富貴，五欲情未滿；
諸大國王輩，無得免此患。
仙人持呪箭，亦不免死生；
無常大象蹈，蟻蛭與地同。
且置一切人，諸佛正真覺；
越度生死流，亦復不常在。
以是故當知，汝所可愛樂；
悉應早捨離，一心求涅槃。
後捨身死時，誰當證知我；
復得遇法寶，及以不遇者。
久久佛日出，破大無明暝；
以放諸光明，示人道非道。
我從何所來？從何處而生？
何處得解脫？此疑誰當明？
佛聖一切智，久遠乃出世；
一心莫放逸，能破汝疑結。
彼不樂實利，好著弊惡心；
汝為眾生長，當求實法相。
誰能知死時，所趣從何道？
譬如風中燈，不知滅時節。
至道法不難，大聖指事說；
說智及智處，此二不假外。
汝若不放逸，一心常行道；
不久得涅槃，第一常樂處。
利智親善人，盡心敬佛法；
厭穢不淨身，離苦得解脫。
閑靜修寂志，結跏坐林間；
撿心不放逸，悟意覺諸緣。
若不厭有中，安睡不自悟；
不念世非常，可畏而不懼。
煩惱深無底，生死海無邊；
度苦舡未辦，安得樂睡眠？
是以當覺悟，莫以睡覆心。
於四供養中，知量知止足，
大怖俱未免，當宜懃精進；
一切苦至時，悔恨無所及。
衲衣樹下坐，如所應得食；
勿為貪味故，而自致毀敗。
食過知味處，美惡都無異；
愛好生憂苦，是以莫造愛。
行業世界中，美惡無不更；
一切已具受，當以是自抑。
若在畜獸中，唌草為具味；
地獄吞鐵丸，燃熱劇迸鐵。
若在薜荔中，膿吐火糞屎；
涕唾諸不淨，以此為上味。
若在天宮殿，七寶宮觀中；
天食蘇陀味，天女以娛心。
人中務貴處，七饌備眾味；
一切曾所更，今復何以愛？
往返世界中，厭更苦樂事；
雖未得涅槃，當懃求此利。

The Guide’s preaching is hard to encounter, / and those who hear it and rejoice are also rare; / what the great person delights to hear, / the petty person loathes to hear. / Sentient beings are truly pitiable, / falling onto the perilous path of aging and death; / slaves to affection and worldly folk, / dwelling in fearful places yet not afraid through folly. / Whether the worlds be great or small, / in phenomena there is nothing permanent; / not one abides for long, / appearing briefly like a flash of lightning. / This body belongs to aging and death, / the refuge to which all sicknesses flock; / a thin skin covering impurity, / the foolish and deluded are cheated by it. / You are constantly devoured by the thief of old age, / which swallows up your vigorous, flourishing form; / like a withered flower garland, / ruined and broken, of no worth at all. / Through King Māndhātṛ's merit, / he sat together with Śakra, King of the Gods; / his recompense and great fortune were vastly abundant, / yet where are they all today? / Among gods and humans, this king / was supreme in having every sensual pleasure; / yet when dying he suffered extreme agony; / through this one may awaken one's mind. / All sensual desires are pleasant and soft at first, / but in the end they all become great suffering; / just as an enemy seems kind at first, / but the disaster of wiping out one's clan comes afterward. / This body is a vessel of filth, / its nine apertures constantly flowing with foulness; / it is also like a nārī-ulcer, / utterly beyond the cure of medicine. / The chariot of bones has very little strength, / driven as sinews and veins entangle consciousness; / you take it to be a wonderful vehicle, / tolerating and clinging to it without shame. / Where the dead are gathered, / the graves are filled with abandoned bodies; / what was cherished and guarded in life / is completely cast away at death. / One should constantly be mindful like this, / single-mindedly contemplating without distraction; / destroying the dark blindness of foolish inversion, / holding a torch to contemplate clearly. / If one abandons the four applications of mindfulness, / there is no evil the mind will not commit; / like an elephant running wild without a hook, / it will never follow the path of taming. / Today attending to this business, / tomorrow creating that affair; / delighting and clinging without contemplating suffering, / unaware that the thief of death has arrived. / Hurriedly occupied with one's own affairs, / yet never having leisure from other matters; / the thief of death does not wait for time; / when it arrives, there is no condition for escape. / Like a thirsty deer rushing to a spring, / turning toward the water having already drunk, / the hunter has no kindness or mercy, / not letting it finish drinking before he kills it. / A foolish person is also like this, / diligently cultivating all kinds of affairs; / death arrives without waiting for time; / who then will protect you? / Human minds hope for wealth and honor, / their craving for the five sensual pleasures never sated; / even all the great kings / cannot escape this peril. / Rṣis wielding mantra-empowered arrows / likewise cannot escape death and birth; / trampled by the great elephant of impermanence, / an anthill and the flat ground become the same. / Set aside all [ordinary] people; / the Buddhas, the Rightly and Truly Awakened, / having crossed over the stream of saṃsāra, / likewise do not remain forever. / Therefore one should know / that all one loves and delights in / should quickly be abandoned and left behind, / single-mindedly seeking nirvāṇa. / Later, when giving up this body at death, / who will bear witness to whether I / shall encounter the jewel of the Dharma again, / or whether I shall fail to encounter it? / Only once in a long time does the sun of the Buddha arise, / destroying the great darkness of ignorance; / by emitting all kinds of radiant light, / showing people the path and the non-path. / From where have I come? / From what place was I born? / Where shall I attain liberation? / Who will clarify these doubts? / The Buddha, the Sage of All-Knowledge, / appears in the world only after long ages; / with a single mind do not be negligent, / for he can shatter your knot of doubts. / Those [fools] do not delight in true benefit, / but love clinging to wretched, evil thoughts; / you are an elder among sentient beings, / and should seek the true mark of dharmas. / Who can know at the time of death / what path one will go toward? / It is just like a lamp in the wind, / of which the time of extinction is unknown. / The Dharma of the ultimate path is not difficult; / the Great Sage explained it pointing to actual things: / he taught wisdom and the basis of wisdom; / these two do not rely on anything external. / If you are not negligent, / and constantly practice the Way with a single mind, / you will before long attain nirvāṇa, / the foremost place of eternal bliss. / With sharp wisdom, draw near to good people; / revere the Buddha's Dharma with all your heart; / detest the foul, impure body; / leave suffering behind and attain liberation. / In quietude, cultivate a tranquil resolve, / sitting cross-legged in the forest; / guarding the mind without negligence, / awakening the intellect to perceive all conditions. / If one does not weary of existence, / but sleeps peacefully without self-awakening, / not mindful that the world is impermanent, / one does not fear what is truly fearful. / Afflictions are fathomless, / and the ocean of saṃsāra is boundless; / the raft to cross over suffering has not yet been prepared; / how can you find pleasure in sleeping? / Therefore, one should awaken, / and not let sleep cover the mind. / Among the four requisites, / know moderation and know contentment; / having not yet escaped the great terrors, / one should apply diligent vigor; / when all kinds of suffering arrive, / regret and remorse will be of no avail. / Sitting under a tree in patched robes, / eating as one ought to receive; / do not, out of craving for flavors, / bring about your own ruin. / Once food has passed the place of tasting, / good and bad are not different at all; / love and fondness give rise to sorrow and suffering; / therefore, do not generate craving. / In the world of karma and actions, / there is nothing good or bad that has not been experienced; / having fully undergone everything already, / one should restrain oneself through this. / If born among beasts, / slobber and grass are considered full delicacies; / in the hells, one swallows iron pellets, / burning hot, fiercer than bursting iron. / If born among the pretas, / pus, vomit, blazing feces, and dung, / snot, spittle, and all kinds of filth / are taken to be the supreme delicacies. / If in the heavenly palaces, / amid palaces and towers of the seven treasures, / one eats the heavenly sudhā flavor, / and heavenly maidens delight the mind. / In the honored positions among humans, / seven delicacies provide all kinds of flavors; / having previously experienced all of them, / why love them again now? / Wandering back and forth through the world, / one tires of experiencing both suffering and joy; / though one has not yet attained nirvāṇa, / one should diligently seek this benefit.