[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [坐禪三昧經](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.614) › 1.2 # 坐禪三昧經 1.2 坐禪三昧經 1.2 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [1.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.614.1.2) 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. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 1.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.614.1.1) - [Next: 1.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.614.1.3) - [Up: 1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.614.1) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.614~en-mt.1.2) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.614.1.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.614.1.2) · Pramāṇa