广游

Traveling About

“踏破鞋子不如坐破垫子。”这是我时常自勉的一句话。很多修行人，都以当行游僧为乐，为了参学、为了朝圣，今天到这个寺庙挂单，明天到那个圣山拜访，忙得不亦乐乎。对此举动，我实在不以为然。

“To wear out cushions by sitting on them is better than to wear out shoes by traveling about.” This is the adage I always employ to encourage myself. Many practitioners take pride in being roaming spiritual seekers. They happily busy themselves over pilgrimages or visiting Dharma centers. One day they pull up to a temple for a short stay overnight and the next day they are on a pilgrimage to a certain sacred mountain. But to such behaviors, I do have my reasons for disapproval.

华智仁波切说过一段话：为了旅游而朝拜神山，为了快乐而去往寂地，表面上看来是修行，其实不然。

Patrul Rinpoche reminded us once: “For the purpose of sightseeing, one visits the sacred mountains; for gaining pleasure, one goes to see the sage’s place of solitude. On the surface, one seems to be doing something spiritual, but in reality that’s not the case.”

身为修行人，在未通达真如境界前，应以修心为己任，不要像浮萍一样四处飘荡。日日被境风所吹，心随外境而四处晃荡，将宝贵的大好光阴白白空过，一旦老病忽至，后悔已经晚矣。

Before reaching the stage of true realization, we practitioners should maintain training the mind as the top priority and avoid drifting around like rootless weeds. If we give in to distracted minds and roam about, we are certain to waste the most precious life. Suddenly aging and illness butt in uninvited, but it’s too late to cry over spilled milk.

即使想广游，也宜神游而不必劳身。书中自有三千乾坤，一部华严，权作游访旅程，身在方丈之中，遍游华藏世界。无边刹海，任心驰骋，远胜过徒劳身心的奔波。还可避免劳命伤财、顶风冒雨，偶尔还会遭遇山石塌方、强盗野兽袭击，甚至丧失生命等危险。您不妨试试。

To satisfy the wish of going places, it is more advantageous to do it mentally rather than physically. All three thousand worlds are hidden in book pages. The Avatamsaka Sutra, for instance, is a complete tour guide of the cosmos. While staying put, one’s imagination journeys at will to the infinite Avatamsaka Cosmology; it is far better than taking trips that tire the body and the mind. Armchair traveling in books saves one from encountering bad weather, landslides, earthquakes, bandits, wild beasts, even the danger of losing one’s life or possessions and so on. I urge you to check it out.

真心修行的人们，可否思考一下我的忠言？

True spiritual seekers, will you think over my suggestions?

壬午年五月十八日 　
2002年6月27日 　

18th of May, Year of RenWu
June 27, 2002