Commentary on the Samādhi Meditation Sūtra
Chapter One Proclaiming Impermanence and Exhorting Diligence
Original text:导师说难遇 闻者喜亦难
大人所乐听 小人所恶闻
众生可愍伤 坠老死险路
野人恩爱奴 处畏痴不惧
世界若大小 法无有常者
一切不久留 暂现如电光
是身属老死 众病之所归
薄皮覆不净 愚惑为所欺
汝常为老贼 吞灭盛壮色
如华鬘枯朽 毁败无所直
Explanation: The great teacher of the three realms, Śākyamuni Buddha, said that this Zuochan Sanmei Jing (Sūtra on the Samādhi of Sitting Meditation) is difficult to encounter and hard to meet. It is also extremely difficult for those who hear this sutra to give rise to a mind of joy. Only those who have made the great resolve to seek the unsurpassed Buddha Way are willing to listen to it, while those of narrow capacity who are unwilling to seek unsurpassed bodhi are unwilling to listen. Sentient beings are truly worthy of pity and lamentation: they have fallen onto the perilous road of birth, aging, sickness, and death, becoming slaves of love and attachment in the wilderness of birth and death, dwelling in fearsome places yet not knowing fear. Whether the world is large or small, no dharma in the world endures without perishing; no dharma remains for long — all appear only temporarily and then vanish as swiftly as a flash of lightning.
This impermanent form-body is the gathering place of birth, aging, sickness, death, and all afflictions; a thin layer of skin covers filthy and impure things, and the deluded are deceived by such an impure form-body. You are constantly being devoured by the thief of aging, which swallows up your healthy and vigorous body, just like a flower garland that, once withered, rotted, and ruined, has no value whatsoever.
Original text:顶生王功德 共释天王坐
报利福弘多 今日悉安在
此王天人中 欲乐具为最
死时极苦痛 以此可悟意
诸欲初软乐 后皆成大苦
亦如怨初善 灭族祸在后
是身为秽器 九孔常流恶
亦如那利疮 绝治于医药
骨车力甚少 筋脉缠识转
汝以为妙乘 忍着无羞耻
死人所聚处 委弃满塳间
生时所保惜 死则皆弃捐
Explanation: In the past there was the wheel-turning sage king Māndhātṛ (the Crown-Born King). After he ruled the four continents, he ascended to heaven and shared a single seat with Śakra Devānām Indra, the lord of the desire realm, dividing dominion over the heavenly realm; his karmic retribution was extraordinary and his merit vast — but where is he now? Among humans and devas this Crown-Born King possessed the most superb objects of enjoyment, yet at the time of death he suffered the utmost agony. From this one should awaken to a truth: the pleasures of the five desires in the world may at first be comfortable and joyful, but in the end they all become tremendous suffering. It is like when enemies first meet: at the outset all is amicable, but the calamity that exterminates one's clan to the ninth generation follows hard behind.
This body of the five aggregates is a vessel replete with filthy things; from its nine apertures there constantly flow foul discharges and impurities, and it is like a malignant sore for which medicine can no longer avail. A cart made of bones has very little pulling power; with sinews and veins entwined around it, several consciousnesses turn and operate within it in this way. Yet you all take it to be a most wonderful carriage to ride, enduring its torments without the slightest sense of shame, until at last it is cast away in the wilderness among the graves where the dead gather. While alive you protect and cherish it in every possible way; after death it is all abandoned outright.
Original text:常当念如是 一心观莫乱
破痴倒黑暝 执炬以明观
若舍四念止 心无恶不造
如象逸无钩 终不顺调道
今日营此业 明日造彼事
乐着不观苦 不觉死贼至
匆匆为己务 他事亦不闲
死贼不待时 至则无脱缘
如鹿渴赴泉 已饮方向水
猎师无慈惠 不听饮竟杀
痴人亦如是 勤修诸事务
死至不待时 谁当为汝护
Explanation: You should constantly hold this thought: contemplate and practice this dharma with single-minded focus, letting the mind not scatter; you must break through the great dark mansion of delusion, confusion, and inversion, holding in hand the torch of wisdom and observing with clear eyes. If you abandon the practice of śamatha and vipaśyanā on the four foundations of mindfulness, there will be no evil the mind will not commit. It is like an elephant that roams free and unrestrained without hook or fetter, never able to follow the path pointed out by the elephant trainer. Today you carry out this task, tomorrow you manage that affair; you delight in and cling to what you do without observing the suffering within it, and before you know it the thief of death has arrived.
Throughout one's whole life one busily builds up one's own enterprises, expending effort and concern on other matters as well. Yet the thief of death does not wait for the proper season; when he arrives, you will have no chance of escape. It is like a wild deer that, tormented by thirst, rushes to a spring; just as it is drinking the water it has only just found, the hunter, utterly devoid of compassion and kindness, kills the deer before it has finished drinking. The deluded person is just like this: diligently engaged in all sorts of enterprises, death comes without choosing its moment — when the time comes, who will come to protect you?
Original text:人心期富贵 五欲情未满
诸大国王辈 无得免此患
仙人持咒箭 亦不免死生
无常大象蹈 蚁蛭与地同
且置一切人 诸佛正真觉
越度生死流 亦复不常在
以是故当知 汝所可爱乐
悉应早舍离 一心求涅槃
后舍身死时 谁当证知我
复得遇法宝 及以不遇者
Explanation: Human hearts all hope for great wealth and noble rank, and sentient beings' craving for the five desires never knows satisfaction. Among all the great kings, not one can escape this fault of birth and death. Those long-lived ṛṣis in the mountains, wielding swords empowered by mantras as they cultivated their practices, still could not escape the round of birth and death. Once the great elephant of impermanence stamps down with one foot, sentient beings are all flattened against the ground like ants. Not to speak of ordinary people: even the buddhas, having accomplished unsurpassed perfect enlightenment and transcended the stream of birth and death, still do not remain permanently in the world. Therefore you should know that all the people, things, and affairs you find lovely and delightful should be abandoned early on, and with single mind you should seek the bliss of nirvāṇa. At the final moment of relinquishing the body and dying, who will know whether I encountered the treasure store of the Buddha's dharma or not?
Original text:久久佛日出 破大无明暝
以放诸光明 示人道非道
我从何所来 从何处而生
何处得解脱 此疑谁当明
佛圣一切智 久违乃出世
一心莫放逸 能破汝疑结
彼不乐实利 好着弊恶心
汝为众生长 当求实法相
谁能知死时 所趣从何道
譬如风中灯 不知灭时节
至道法不难 大圣指事说
说智及智处 此二不假外
Explanation: Only after vast and distant kalpas does one encounter a buddha appearing in the world, breaking the immense darkness of ignorance in the world and radiating for sentient beings the great treasure store of brilliant light of wisdom, showing them what is the right path and what is not. Sentient beings thereupon give rise to doubts in their minds: Where do I come from? From what place was I born? Where can I attain liberation? Who can resolve these doubts for me? The Buddha is the great sage of the world, the omniscient one, appearing in the world only after long and distant kalpas. You should contemplate and deliberate with single mind, without distraction, and then you will be able to break through the knot of your doubts.
In your past lives you did not delight in true benefit; your mental conduct was petty and corrupt. Now you are elders among sentient beings and should pursue the dharma of true reality. Who can know, at the time of one's death, which realm one will head for and by what path? It is like a solitary lamp in the wind — no one knows at what moment it will be extinguished. The Buddha's dharma that leads through to the great way of bodhi is not difficult, for the Buddha, the great sage, has already paved these roads, telling the assembly that obtaining wisdom and the place where wisdom operates are both not to be sought outside the mind.
Original text:汝若不放逸 一心常行道
不久得涅槃 第一常乐处
利智亲善人 尽心敬佛法
厌秽不净身 离苦得解脱
闲静修寂志 结跏坐林间
捡心不放逸 悟意觉诸缘
若不厌有中 安睡不自悟
不念世非常 可畏而不惧
烦恼深无底 生死海无边
度苦舡未办 安得乐睡眠
是以当觉悟 莫以睡覆心
于四供养中 知量知止足
Explanation: If in your cultivation you can be single-mindedly diligent and unremitting, constantly cultivating the Buddha's path with an undivided mind, before long you will realize great nirvāṇa and reach the foremost, everlasting place of permanence and bliss. Those of sharp faculties and wisdom should frequently draw near to good spiritual friends, revering the Buddha's dharma with all their heart and strength; only by wearying of the filthy, impure form-body can one leave suffering behind and attain liberation. Cultivate at leisure in quietude, living simply with lofty aspiration; constantly sit in full lotus among the trees, gathering in your own mind without laxity, comprehending the dharma-meaning I teach, and awakening to the illusoriness of all objective conditions.
If the mind cannot weary of the existence of the three realms, it sleeps soundly with an easy conscience, unawakened, not mindful of the impermanence of the world, and knowing no fear of this fearsome world. The afflictions are so deep that they have no bottom, and thus the ocean of birth and death is boundless. When the dharma-boat that can ferry you across the sea of suffering of birth and death has not yet been built, how can you contentedly indulge in sleep? Therefore you should awaken, and no longer cover your mind set on cultivating the path with sleep. Among the four kinds of offerings of food and drink, bedding, and medicine, you should well know measure and contentment, without excessive demands.
Original text:大怖俱未免 当宜勤精进
一切苦至时 悔恨无所及
衲衣树下坐 如所应得食
勿为贪味故 而自致毁败
食过知味处 美恶都无异
爱好生忧苦 是以莫造爱
行业世界中 美恶无不更
一切已具受 当以是自抑
Explanation: When the great terror and anxiety of birth and death have not yet been escaped, one should diligently cultivate with courageous vigor. Do not wait until all sufferings arrive, when regret piles upon regret and there is no escape. You should wear the patched monastic robe and sit upright beneath trees, contemplating the Buddha's dharma, eating food in accordance with what you ought to receive; do not, out of craving for flavors, bring ruin upon your own practice of the path. After eating you will know that all flavors, good or bad, make no difference; do not be picky about the taste of food — where there is fondness, there is sorrow and suffering, so do not create the karma of craving and attachment. Living in the great thousand-worlds, there is nothing among good and bad experiences that one has not undergone; having fully experienced all things, one should therefore subdue and rein in one's own mind, craving and seeking no more.
Original text:若在畜兽中 唌草为具味
地狱吞铁丸 燃热剧迸铁
若在薜荔中 脓吐火粪屎
涕唾诸不净 以此为上味
若在天宫殿 七宝宫观中
天食苏陀味 天女以娱心
人中务贵处 七馔备众味
一切曾所更 今复何以爱
往返世界中 厌更苦乐事
虽未得涅槃 当勤求此利
Explanation: In your past lives, when you were reborn among animals and wild beasts, you ate wild grass as your finest food; when reborn in the hells, you swallowed iron pellets as food — pellets burning so fiercely and scalding hot, with sparks bursting forth, yet because of evil karma you had no choice but to eat them; when reborn among pretas (hungry ghosts), you took as your finest food the pus and phlegm, raging fire, excrement, urine, mucus, and other such impurities discharged by humans. When reborn in the seven-jeweled palaces in the heavens, you ate celestial food such as sūda of supreme flavor and heavenly nectar, with celestial nymphs to delight your heart. When reborn in wealthy and noble human families, you ate the seven kinds of rare delicacies, complete with all colors, fragrances, and flavors. All of this you have experienced; why then, out of craving and attachment, should you now continue to travel back and forth through the six realms, undergoing again all manner of painful and pleasant things? You have not yet realized the bliss of nirvāṇa, so you should strive diligently to obtain this supreme benefit and merit.
