放下这个臭皮囊！修行最重要的是求‘心’解脱，不是要处处惦记着这个身躯，被这个身体度走了。如果有什么境界，也不要执着‘得到什么’，凡是有所得的都是生灭相，还不是那个真如，也就是我们本来的真面目。

Let go this foul body! The most important goal of practice is to seek liberation, not to tend to the desires of our physical body and let it control us. Also, remember not to cling to any mental state during practice. Whatever can be attained is arising-and-ceasing appearance, hence it is not the True Suchness, nor our intrinsic nature.

 

身体就像房子一样会坏的，即使再怎么修补，还是有破绽。我们要将这个身体放下，不要太保护它，毕竟它是幻化的。但是我们要藉假修真，好好利用它来修行。

Our body, just like a house, will eventually decay; however hard we try to mend it, it can never be free of problems. Let go of excessive concern about this body, and do not be too fastidious about it; but what we can do is to make the best use of this "illusive" body for real practice.

 

这个臭皮囊是暂借我们住的，但我们却往往为了执着它而产生种种贪念，造下无量无边的业。

This foul body is just a temporary residence for us. Unfortunately, we all become strongly attached to it, and our greediness that arises due to our incessant pursuits to satisfy its carving has in turn created immeasurable negative karma for us.

 

我们这个假体难免有病苦，但这属小病；有妄想、贪、瞋、痴，才真是大病。大病若不去除，就还要继续轮回，这就得靠我们平常多服‘阿弥陀佛’的药，而临终保持正念最重要。一个人往生时，若能一句‘阿弥陀佛’持得清清楚楚、稳稳当当，必能承佛慈力，横超六趣。否则意识灭掉，死后将往何处去？

Diseases are inevitable with this illusory body of ours, but they are not as perilous as the ailments of delusion, greed, anger, and ignorance. The latter will keep us in the cycle of rebirths if we do not find a cure. The most effective prescription is reciting "Amitabha Buddha", and retaining right mindfulness at our deathbed is crucial. At that critical moment, if we can recite "Amitabha Buddha" distinctly and steadily, by the mercy of the Buddha we will be able to transcend the six divisions of rebirths. Otherwise, with our consciousness ceased, we have no control of where we will end up after we die.

 

 以前虚云老和尚一件衣服，破了补、补了再穿，有一餐没一餐的，不断勇猛精进地舍身求道，就是为了‘了生脱死’。

Master Hsu Yun used to live a very simple life. He wore clothes with multi-layered patches and could not even count on food for the next meal. But such hardships did not deter him from diligent practice. He had only one goal in mind: to be liberated from the cycle of births and deaths.

 

好的东西，我们没做适当地处理，把它弄坏了，就有过失，就得落因果。

If we wreck something because of our carelessness or improper handling, we are at fault and have to take the consequences.

 

处事要谨慎小心，凡事皆有因果。能吃的东西给扔掉，或者放坏了，皆逃不了因果。因果丝毫不爽，谁也替代不了。‘各人吃饭各人饱，各人生死各人了。’

Be careful on what we do for nothing is beyond the law of causality; even things as trivial as throwing away edible food or letting it spoil will have their consequences. Nobody else can take the consequences for what we do, and there is no escape from the law of causality. "What one eats feeds oneself only. Similarly, the cycle of our own births and deaths can only be ended by ourselves."

 

 修行要舍掉一切六根对六尘的执着，如果对这世间还有任何的贪恋，临命终时就会现出那个境，使人为境所转，起颠倒想，仍旧落入六道轮回。所以平时对一切人、我、是、非就要看破、放下，到了临命终时，才能冲过业障，超越生死。

During practice, we have to relinquish the attachments of our sense faculties to the six sense objects (gunas). Otherwise, the thing we crave for will appear at our deathbed to distract us. If it prevails and our mind is perverted, we will remain in the cycle of rebirths. Relinquish all our discriminations between self and others and the judgments of right or wrong. Then, when we are breathing our last breath, this practice will help us transcend our karmic obstructions and the cycle of births and deaths.

 

不要误认这个色身是‘我’，它只不过是随业受报，四大和合的假壳子；真正的‘我’是我们的真如妙心，就是本自具足的佛性。我们应以修行来找回自己不生不灭的本来面目，用这个不生不灭的佛心应对一切。

Do not mistake this physical form of ours as the real "self". It is nothing but a rewarded illusive case built with the four great elements to bear our karmic fruition. The real "self" is the True Suchness [bhuta-tathata] or the fully accomplished buddha-nature. Therefore, we should, through diligent practice, retrieve this intrinsic nature which is neither arising nor ceasing and confront everything with this neither-arising-nor-ceasing buddha-mind.

 

------Translated from Analects of Master Kuang-chin（编译自《广钦老和尚开示录》）