Waiting for the Bell

等着引磬响

Those who are working hard will feel that a sitting period passes by very fast. Those who are not will feel that it is a long time to bear. Once, there was a person who was here for the first time to investigate Chan. Every time he sat down, he would start waiting for the bell to end the silent sit. Before the bell sounded, he would be all tied up and ill at ease sitting there. It would feel as if years had passed before he heard the bell. He felt relieved, but soon it would be silent again. Once again, he would feel as if he were tied up and had lost his freedom. He said that while he was sitting in meditation, his mind was full of rubbish and he could hardly clear it away.

会用功的人觉得每一支香的时间，好像一转眼那么快；不会用功的人，就觉得这是很长的时间。以前有个人第一次来参禅，他每坐下来，就等着开静的引磬响。引磬没有响的时候，就好像被人绑上似的，坐在那儿觉得很不自由，好像有几年那么长的时间；好不容易等引磬响，才解放一会儿，很快又止静，又被人绑上了。他说他坐在那个地方，满脑都是垃圾，总也搬不出去；

After a few years, the amount of rubbish has lessened and he no longer waits for the bell. Although he doesn’t do this anymore, I am sure many of you still do. This is because beginners in meditation feel that their waist and legs ache when they are seated. If they continue sitting, their heads begin to ache too. It is because the legs hurt that one starts disobeying the rules. If he does not feel like running away, he will want to stretch out his legs. This is impermissible. If you stretch out your legs in the Chan Hall, they will be chopped off! From now on, if anyone stretches out his or her legs, their legs will be hit by the board. Let’s see if you still want to stretch them out! Well, if you have no legs, you cannot possible stretch them.

过了这么多年，垃圾少一点，也不会再等着引磬响了。但是他不等，我相信有很多人还在等着，因为初初参禅的人坐一下，就腿痛腰痛；再坐坐，头也痛了，总是不舒服。因为腿痛，就要不守规矩了，不是想跑，而是想把腿伸开，这是不许可的。在禅堂里把腿伸出来，就要把腿剁了，看你还怎么伸！以后谁把腿伸出来，香板就朝腿砍下去，看看你还伸不伸？你没有腿了就不会伸了。