现在是讨论问题的时间，谁有问题就提出来，让大家研究研究。有人提出“念佛是谁”的问题。在《金刚经》上说：“应无所住而生其心”，若有一个地方，那就是“住”；无所住就是不思善、不思恶，就在这个地方上用功。要是注意在一个地方，想好、想不好，这都是执着。修行就是修无所执着；什么执着都没有了，把自己的身体也忘了。连身体都没有了，还有什么执着呢？
Now is the time for questions and answers. Whoever has questions can bring them up, and we can all investigate them together. Someone raised the question of "Who is mindful of the Buddha?" The Vajra Sutra says, "One should produce the mind which dwells nowhere." If there is a place, there is still dwelling. Dwelling nowhere means thinking of neither good nor evil. This is where we should focus our effort. If we pay attention to the place, thinking of it as good or bad, these are all attachments. We practice in order to be free from attachments. We want to get rid of all attachments and forget even our bodies. Without a body, how could we still have attachments?
在打坐参襌时，什么都不念，只念“念佛是谁？”念佛是哪一个？就找这个“谁”。什么时候找到“谁”，什么时候就开悟。找不到，一天要找，十天要找，百天要找，千天要找，万天要找。一年十年百年千年万年，都是在找这个；什么时候找到，什么时候才了。
When we sit in meditation, we shouldn't think of anything but the question: "Who is mindful of the Buddha?" Who is the one being mindful of the Buddha? Look for the "who." When you find out "who" it is, you will be enlightened. If you can't find it, you must keep searching for one day, ten days, a hundred, a thousand days, ten thousand days! You continue searching for one year, ten, a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand years, not stopping until you find it.
不能想快，不是像吸鸦片烟，吸完就过瘾了，没有那么容易的事情，那是骗人的法门。修真正的法门，要自己努力用功，不要有揠苗助长的想：“快点长大吧！快点长高吧！”这是错误的思想。
You cannot speed up the process. It's not like taking drugs and getting an immediate high. It's not that easy. Any "easy" practice is just a gimmick. A real method of practice requires hard work. Don't be like the farmer who tried to help his crops grow faster by pulling the shoots upwards. That's a mistake.
“念佛是谁？”能把一切妄念都斩断了，一切欲念都斩断了，也就是斩尽十大魔军。这个“谁”字，就是金刚王宝剑，什么都斩干净，什么都没有了。并不是执着哪一个地方，“凡所有相，皆是虚妄，若见诸相非相，即见如来。”有所执着，就是人心；无有执着，就是道心。打坐不参这个“谁”字，妄想就生出来，这样不会开悟。参话头就是以毒攻毒，用妄想来控制妄想，也就是用一个妄想去调伏多个妄想，到了山穷水尽无路可走时，转身处便是开悟时。
Contemplating "Who is mindful of Buddha?" can cut through all random thoughts and desires. This one thought destroys ten great demon armies. The word "who" is like a jeweled vajra sword that slashes through everything until there are no further attachments. "All appearances are false and illusory. If one sees all appearances as nonappearances, one sees the Thus Come One." It is human nature to be attached. Freedom from attachments is the Way. If we don't look into the question of "who" as we sit in meditation, random thoughts will arise and hinder our enlightenment. Investigating the question is a way of fighting fire with fire, focusing on one thought to subdue other random thoughts. When we reach a point in our investigation where we can neither go forward nor turn back, right then we'll become enlightened.
一九八Ｏ年九月九日开示
A talk given on September 9, 1980
