沙彌親本講於2023年12月20日星期三晚 萬佛聖城大殿
All Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Venerable Master, Dharma Masters, and All Good Knowing Advisors, Amituofo! Tonight is Qin Ben’s turn to come up here practice sharing the Dharma with assembly, please correct me, if I say any thing wrong.
諸佛菩薩、宣公上人、諸位法師，及各位善知識們，阿彌陀佛! 今晚輪到沙彌親本，來這裡學習結法緣，如有說得不對的地方，敬請各位善知識們慈悲指正。
The topic I want to share tonight is the three short sections from “Encouraging Words of Master Wei-Shan Lin You.” This article complements the Essentials of the Sramanera Vinaya and the Rules of Deportment text, providing content that is conducive for novice monks and nuns to recite and memorize. In Vietnam, for those people who leave the home life to become as Novice monk or Novice nun, for the first three or four years, they have to memorize three sutras and repeat from memory without book. They are called “the Buddha and Patriarch Three Sutras.” The first one is The Sutra in Forty-Two Sections. The Second one is The Sutra on the Buddha’s Bequeathed Teachings. The third one is The Encouraging Text of Wei Shan Da Shi.
今晚我要分享的話題是《溈山大師警策文》當中的三小段，對沙彌和沙彌尼而言，除了背誦沙彌戒和沙彌律儀要略的戒文之外，若能背誦《溈山大師警策文》也是很有幫助的。在越南，出家最初的三、四年，他們必須背會三部經，即所謂「佛祖三經」，第一部是《佛說四十二章經》。第二部是《佛遺教經》，第三就是《溈山大師警策文》。
Wei Shan Da Shi belonged to the fourth generation. After the sixth patriarch Hui Neng. The first one is Nan Yue Chan Master; second is Ma Zu Chan Master; third one is Bai Zhang Chan Master; and the fourth one is Wei Shan Chan Master. He was born in 771AD and passed away in 853AD. He left the home-life at the age fifteen in the district (home town). At the age of twenty three he came to Jiang Xi to study with Bai Zhang Chan Master. Master Bai Zhang just saw immediately accept and let him enter the assembly. Among the assembly, he was appointed to be the kitchen manager.
溈山襌師是六祖惠能大師的四傳弟子(第四代)，第一代是南嶽禪師，第二代是馬祖禪師，第三代是百丈禪師，第四代是溈山禪師。他出生於西元771年，圓寂於西元853年，十五歲時出家。二十三歲時他來到江西拜百丈禪師為師，百丈禪師見狀立刻應允。在大衆會中，他被任命為典座。
One day he stand in attendance by Bai Zhang Chan Master. Bai Zhang Chan Master asked: Who? He replied “Me. Ling You.” Bai Zhang Chan Master told him, “You go dig the furnace to see if there is any fire?” He went to dig for the furnace and replied, “No Fire.” Master Bai Zhang stood up and went to dig deeper in the furnace, and found a little fire. He held up to show Wei Shan Chan Master, and said, “you said ‘No fire’, what is this?” Suddenly, Wei Shan Chan Master got enlightened at this point.
有一天，他擔任百丈禪師侍者。 百丈禪師問他說：「誰？」 溈山禪師回答：「弟子靈祐」。百丈禪師告訴他：「你去挖火爐，看看還有沒有火？」 他去挖火爐，並回答說：「沒有火」。百丈禪師站起來，往火爐的深處撥去，發現有一點火，舉起來給他看，說道：「你說『没有火』，這是什麼?」溈山禪師當下就開悟了！
Under Chan Master Wei Shan’s Dharma assembly there were more than 1,500 Bhikshus gathering to cultivate. So he wrote this Encouraging Text to urge and teach the left home people to diligently in cultivate to achieve enlightenment and transcend Birth and Death.
溈山禪師的道場，有一千五百多名比丘跟隨他修行。所以他寫下了這篇警策文，以勉勵和提醒出家的弟子們：精進修行，以早日證悟，了生脫死。
Text Passage: Our bodies were not born by themselves. Countless causes and conditions, including father’s essence and mother’s blood and our own former actions(Karma), came together to bring them into existence. Therefore, no one can escape the suffering of having the body. The four elements that support our bodies-Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind are not always in perfect harmony. Our bodies will not last forever.
「夫業繫受身，未免形累；稟父母之遺體，假眾緣而共成。雖乃四大扶持，常相違背。」
Our existence is as impermanent as the morning dew, the tree at the edge of the river, the vine climbing alongside of the well. Beings who are alive in the morning have to die by evening. Days and Night pass quickly, old age and death are inescapable. How can you sit around and let your life trickle away meaninglessly?
「無常老病，不與人期，朝存夕亡，剎那異世。譬如春霜曉露，倏忽即無；岸樹井藤，豈能長久？念念迅速，一剎那間，轉息即是來生，何乃晏然空過?」
When we decide to become a monk or a nun, we leave behind the opportunity to support our parents and serve our country. We do this because we are determined to practice wholeheartedly and realize complete liberation, to put aside old habits and learn the way to transcend Birth and Deaths.
「父母不供甘旨，六親固以棄離，不能安國治邦，家業頓捐繼嗣。緬離鄉黨剃髮稟師，內勤克念之功，外弘不諍之德，迥脫塵世，冀期出離。」
At the beginning of this passage Chan Master Wei Shan said: Due to the constraints of karma, we must receive this body. After receiving this body, we have to endure the suffering of the body. Lso Tsu also said: Because I have a body, there is Great disaster. Lao Tsu saw that because we have a body, there will be disaster, but he did not mention the cause of having a body. Chan Master Wei Shan looked through the eyes of a Buddhist monk, he saw that the reason why our body is here is not by chance but because karma has drawn us here, it is impossible to avoid suffering.
在這段警策文的開頭，溈山禪師說：「由於業力的牽引，我們必須得到這個色身。當我們得到這個身體之後，我們就必須忍受身體的痛苦。」 老子也說：「吾所以有大患者，為吾有身。」老子看到因為有身體就會有憂愁苦惱，但他沒有提到有身體的原因。溈山禪師以佛教僧人的眼光來看，我們的身體之所以來到這裡，不是偶然的，而是業力把我們牽引到這裡來的，我們不可能避免痛苦。
He clearly pointed out the cause of suffering when carrying this body, no matter whether the body is rich or poor. All are suffering. This is the spiritual truth of the noble truth in Buddhism. If we still create the karma, we still receive a body, and with a body there is suffering, because this body is impermanent and perishable, fragile, no one can escape, whether a king or a beggar, intelligent, or dull. Having a body comes with all kinds of sufferings. Such as birth, old age, illness, and death, separation from love ones, meeting with enemies, wishes but not being achieved, …etc.
他清楚地指出了這個色身痛苦的原因，無論這個身體是富有還是貧窮。眾生皆苦，這是佛教聖諦的真理。如果我們仍然造業，我們仍然得到一個身體，而有了身體就會有痛苦，因為這個身體是無常、易壞、脆弱的，沒有人能夠逃脫，無論是國王還是乞丐，無論是聰明還是愚鈍，有了身體就伴隨著各種痛苦。如生、老、病、死、怨憎會苦、愛别離苦、求不得苦、、等。
We have a body due to karma, so how do we have a body?
The father’s essence and mother’s blood combine to form the fetus, then karma leads the consciousness into the fetus. That fetus is slowly nourished by the four external elements through the mother’s breathing and food, gradually grows into a form with all the organs completed then leaving the mother’s womb and after leaving the mother’s womb, it is also nourished by the four external elements.
我們因業而有身體，那如何得到身體呢？ 父精母血結合成胎兒，然後業力將意識引入胎兒。胎兒透過母親的呼吸和食物，慢慢地受到外在四大(地水火風)的滋養，逐漸成長為五臟俱全的形態，然後離開母親的子宮，之後也受到外四大的滋養。
Although this body is supported by the four great elements for its existence. But these four elements often oppose each other. Because the Earth does not like wind, water does not like fire, fire meets water and fire goes out. The earth meets the wind and the earth trembles. If the four elements are out of balance, the body will not be at peace. When the wind is higher than the earth, the body aches. When the wind is lower than the earth, the breath is not clear. When there is too much water and little fire, the body becomes skinny.
雖然這個身體是由四大支撐而存在的，但是這四大往往是互相對立。風尅地，水尅火，火遇水就滅了。地遇風，大地震動。如果四大不調，身體就會不安寧。當風高過地時，身體就會疼痛。風低於地時，呼吸不順暢。水多火少，則身體瘦弱。
Our lives not much different from the dew on the tips of the branches, just glitter and immediately dries up. Like a tree leans against a cliff, it only takes one gust of wind to topple into the water, there is no guarantee. Life is like the Vine climbing alongside the well .The Vine climbing alongside of the well. In the Buddhist scriptures, there was a person who committed a crime and received the death penalty. The king ordered two elephants to step on him to death. When two elephants came close to him, he started running.
我們的生命與樹梢上的露珠沒有多大區別，只是閃閃發光，很快就乾涸了。就像一棵懸崖邊上的樹，一陣風就能倒在水裡，沒有任何保障。人生就像井邊的藤蔓。井邊的藤蔓。佛經裡有一個人被判了死刑，國王命令讓兩隻大象把他踩死。當兩隻大象靠近他時，他開始奔跑。
While running on the way he saw a well, he immediately jumped down because he was afraid of being stepped on by the elephants. The man saw the vine climbing alongside of the well, so he grabbed the vine and slid down. Halfway there, he encountered three dragons spewing fire. He had to hold on tightly to the vine halfway. Then that person intended to lean on the edge of the well for safe support, but instead he saw four poisonous snakes sticking out their tongues. At that time, the condemned man was only wearing a dangling vine, unable to move up or down neither back or forth.
當他來到一口井邊時，因為害怕被大象踩到，他立即跳了下去。 那人看到藤蔓爬到了井邊，於是他抓住藤蔓就滑了下去。滑到一半，遇到三頭噴火的龍，中途必須緊緊抓住藤蔓。那人本來想靠井邊以求安全，卻見四條毒蛇伸出舌頭。當時，犯人身上只掛在一根懸空的藤蔓，無法上下移動，也無法前後擺動。
Unfortunately, there were two mice, one white and one black, taking turns gnawing (chewing) on the vine that was about to break. The life of a prisoner on death row is so fragile! However, while confused, he raised his faced up and suddenly a swarm of bees flew by and dripped down five drops of honey into his mouth. The sweetness of honey made that person happy and forgot all the hardships and sufferings he was facing.
不幸的是，有兩隻老鼠，一白一黑，輪流啃著即將折斷的藤蔓。死囚的生命是如此脆弱！然而正惶惑間，他抬起頭來，突然一群蜜蜂飛來，將五滴蜂蜜滴進了他的嘴裡。蜂蜜的甜味使人感到幸福，忘記了他所面臨的所有艱辛和痛苦。
Try asking how confused that person was! The Buddha used this example to describe the passion of living beings. Two elephants chasing a criminal are examples of suffering and destruction, meaning impermanence is forcing people to death. The Vine climbing alongside the well symbolizes that human life is too fragile. Three fire-breathing dragons symbolize the three poisons .greed, anger, and ignorance that are burning people.
試著問問那個人有多惶惑？佛陀用這個例子來形容眾生的激情。兩隻大象追趕罪犯，就是痛苦和毀滅的例子，意味著無常正在逼死人。井邊的藤蔓攀爬，象徵人的生命太脆弱； 三條噴火龍象徵灼燒人的貪、瞋、癡三毒。
The four poisonous snakes represent the four elements, earth, water, wind, and fire. If they are not compatible, they can break up at any time. The two white and black mice biting the Vine are a metaphor for day and night, each passing moment means life get closer to the death. Five drops of honey metaphor for the five desires, wealth, form, fame, eating, sleeping, but people in their passion forget the great suffering of impermanence that is overwhelmingly raging.
四毒蛇代表地、水、風、火四大元素。 如果它們不相容，它們隨時可能解體。咬著藤蔓的兩隻白鼠和黑鼠象徵白天和黑夜，每一個瞬間的流逝都意味著生命離死亡更近。五滴蜜比喻五欲，財、色、名、食、睡，卻讓人熱切忘卻無常大苦的肆虐。
All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas started from the skillful means of kindness to rescue living beings. In the Lotus Sutra, living beings are tempted to indulge in the five desires, like children in a house on fire, but they are always indulging in fun and do not realize it. The father wants to save his children from the fire, so he lures them out with special and beautiful toys. Because the children wanted those toys, they escaped from the burning house.
諸佛菩薩，都是從善巧方便來拯救眾生的。《法華經》中說，眾生受五欲誘惑，如火宅中的小孩子，總是沉迷於玩樂而不知危險。父親想救孩子脫離火宅，所以他以玩好之具引誘他們。因為孩子們想要玩具，所以他們逃離了著火的房子。
In this world, if anyone can realize this and know that they are deluded, it is possible that one day they will awaken. But those of us who are self-centered and satisfied in that situation will forever suffer in the cycle of Samsara and the suffering of the six paths. That’s why Patriarch Wei Shan wants to wake us up, especially monastics, to practice diligently to reach the goal of enlightenment and liberation.
在這個世界上，如果有人能認識到這一點，知道自己是癡心妄想，也許有一天會醒悟，但我們這些以自我為中心、滿足於這種情況的人，將永遠在輪迴和痛苦中，受苦於六道中。這就是為什麼溈山祖師想要喚醒我們，特別是出家人要精進修行，以達到證悟解脫的目標。
To conclude tonight’s sharing, Qin Ben wish everyone in the next Amitabha Recitation session and the three-weeks meditation will be vigorous to find out the flame of our Buddha’s nature that exists in each of us. Just like Bai Zhang Da Shi showed the Chan Master Wei Shan. Amitabha!
結束今晚的分享，親本祝福大家在接下來的彌陀七和三週的禪修中，精進地找出我們每個人身上存在的佛性火焰，就像百丈大師向溈山襌師展示的那樣。阿彌陀佛！