2019年
不垢不淨
Neither defiled nor pure
南禪朋友假期愉快！
南禪精舍《般若心經》講述近尾聲，我在「不垢不淨」的講課
裡提到人容易在算盡一切得與失後再去做事情，計算得失本來
就是生存法則，談不上對或者錯！
對於一個想前進的修行者，「不垢不淨」確是必然要修學的。
人們都喜歡風光的事情，但每件成功的事情，都由處理「垢」
的概念做出來的，不能知道個人需要求進步的點，如何塑造好的成品（淨的概念），「不垢不淨」帶出大腦對「垢」的認
知，而讓願意前進的人蹲下來尋求自己的問題點。
唐朝鑒真和尚東渡日本，幾次的失敗再加眼睛也瞎掉，是否該
用業障論斷？！或者是想做事情的人們更該不計世俗的評價，
去做自己認為該做的事呢？！而平凡如我輩者，都是許多前進
者血汗下的獲益人！
「不垢不淨」化解自己的算計，為自我的前進跨越！
半寄（般若心經講課記念文，2019）
Friends of NanZen, hope you’re enjoying your vacation!
Our discussion of the Heart Sutra is nearly finished. In
the session on
“neither defiled nor pure” I mentioned that people
tend to do things
after calculating all the expected gains and
losses. Calculating gains
and losses is a kind of survival strategy, and it
can’t be said to be
right or wrong. For anyone on the path of Buddhist
Practice, it’s
necessary to know what is meant by “neither defiled
nor pure.”
Everybody likes it when things turn out well, but
every successful
endeavor inevitably entails dealing with some kind
of “impurity.”
Now, if you don’t have a clear goal in mind, you won’t
get good
results (purity). The idea of “neither defiled nor
pure” helps clarify
what “purity” really is; it also helps someone
intent on making
progress to introspect on whatever problems one may
be facing.
Consider the Tang dynasty monk Jianzhen;
he failed multiple times
in his attempts to reach Japan,
and ended up losing his sight. Should
we attribute his misfortunes to
obstructive past karma? When
attempting to do something, should
one disregard conventional
values and go ahead with it no matter
what others think about it?
Such ordinary practitioners as we are,
we all benefit from our
antecessors’
experience gaining from their
sweat and toil. This idea of “neither
defiled nor pure” reconciles your
contradictory perceptions,
allowing
you to move forward.
Banji (reflections on a series of talks on the Heart
Sutra in 2019)
Master Ban Ji
Translated by Ken Kraynak
