急哭的菩薩 A Crying Bodhisattva

修學佛法，必須依靠善知識。善知識，需要我們主動去希求。你去找善知識時，他不一定有時間，有時候想見都不容易見得到。那麼怎麼辦呢？必須要有強大的求法的心。佛法是緣起法，善知識一心一意想把法傳下來；作為學人，我們必須去求。沒有廣大的希求心，法就傳不下來。古代多少高僧大德不遠萬里，置生死不顧，西行求法，他們的行誼策勵了一代又一代的出家人為法忘軀。

Relying on virtuous teachers is essential in Buddhist learning and practice. To have a virtuous teacher to rely on, we have to yearn for him, because the teacher we admire may not be available when we visit him, or it might sometimes be difficult for us to meet him. Then what should we do? This is when a powerful yearning for the Dharma is needed. The Buddha Dharma as a revelation of the nature of dependent arising is a treasure that numerous good teachers have been endeavoring to pass down, provided that there are students eager enough to beseech their teachings. In ancient times, there were great masters who risked their own lives and trekked for thousands of miles all the way to India on pilgrimage, whose deeds and spirits have encouraged many generations of monks and nuns to be committed to the Dharma.

般若經裡面記載了常啼菩薩求法的公案，所謂常啼就是天天哭泣。因為他非常想學般若經，但是學不到，也遇不到善知識，急得天天哭，就名為「常啼菩薩」。他至誠求法的心終於得到了感應，有一天空中有聲音說，你的法緣不在這裡，你的法緣在東方，有一位法涌論師跟你有緣，是你宿生的善知識，你應該到他那裡求學。常啼菩薩聽了後非常高興，馬上就到東方去找他的老師，經歷了種種的難行苦行，終於得以在法涌論師座下聽聞般若經，而且得到了很高的成就。因為他求法的心至誠懇切，所以能夠感得空中有聲音指點他。

In the Maha-prajnaparamita Sutra there is a story about Ever Wailing Bodhisattva. The name shows that he used to cry every day, because he longed desperately to learn this sutra, but had access to neither the scripture nor a good teacher. Feeling sad, he wept day after day and was thus called 『Ever Wailing Bodhisattva』. Finally, he heard a voice in the sky telling him that his Dharma affinity was in the east where a master named Fayong had been his teacher in his previous lives. He was so delighted that he wasted no time in heading for the east. Having experienced all kinds of hardship, he became a disciple of Master Fayong, learned the sutra from him, and attained great achievement. There would not have been the voice in the sky had he not been so sincere and earnest in seeking the teachings.

凈土宗的祖師、人稱彌陀化身的善導大師在二十多歲時，聽說道綽禪師在晉陽開闡凈土宗風，不遠千里長途跋涉，尋師訪道。據《新修往生傳》記載：「時逢玄冬之首，風飄落葉，填滿深坑，遂挈瓶缽入中安坐，一心念佛，不覺已度數日。乃聞空中聲曰：可得前行，所在游履無復掛礙。遂出坑進程，至綽禪師所，展會夙心。」

Master Shandao, the second patriarch of Pure Land School, known as the embodiment of Amitabha Buddha, travelled a long way in his twenties to look for Master Daochuo who was reportedly delivering systematic lectures on the Pure Land Doctrine in Jinyang. According to Newly Compiled Biographies of Those Who Attained Deliverance in the Pure Land, it was in early winter when Shandao was on his pilgrimage. Seeing a deep pit filled with fallen leaves, he sat on the leaves with his bowls and bottles, chanting Amitabha』s name in meditative absorption for days. Then he heard a voice in the sky encouraging him to move forward as there would be no obstacles ahead. He left the pit and moved on all the way to Master Daochuo』s place and fulfilled his wish.

對於善導大師的參訪，道綽禪師非常歡喜，知道眼前這位年輕行者將是自己的後繼者，因而為他詳細解說彌陀本願與《觀無量壽經》的真意。善導大師在道綽禪師的指授下，一切疑問當下冰解，徹底領悟了凈土法門的真髓，成為道綽禪師門下傑出的弟子。

Master Daochuo was delighted to see Shandao. He recognized this young practitioner as his successor and expounded for him Amitabha』s original wishes and the true meaning of the Amitayurdhyana-sutra, also translated into English as the Sutra of the Meditation on the Buddha of Immeasurable Life (Guan Wu Liang Shou Jing). The teaching solved Shandao』s doubts and questions about the Pure Land and revealed to him the essence of this school, making him an outstanding student of Master Daochuo.

在經典中，佛菩薩、祖師大德求法的公案有很多，乃至於像釋迦牟尼佛尚未證得佛果前為求半偈捨身、慧可大師斷臂求法等，在常人看來都無法想像，卻給後代學人留下了永恆不朽的精神，策勵著我們在學法路上精進不懈。

There are many stories about bodhisattvas, patriarchs and masters searching for virtuous teachers in the Buddhist scriptures, including ones beyond the imagination of the mortals, such as Shakyamuni Buddha sacrificing his life for half a verse in one of his past lives and Master Huike cutting off one of his arms for mind transmission. These role model stories are a reminder of the immortal spirit of the past sages, encouraging later generations to persevere on the path of cultivation.

來源：學誠大和尚開示《不立文字》

Source: With or Without Words, by Ven. Master Xuechheng

翻譯：北京龍泉寺翻譯中心

Translated by: Beijing Longquan Monastery Translation Center

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