06/01/2022

曹山大師喜歡在茶餘飯後舞動一條禪杖, 身體因此十分健壯。一天, 一位弟子接過禪杖, 說道:「師父身強體鍵, 弟子卻通身是病, 請師父醫治。」

曹山知道他說的不是身體而是心, 斷然拒絕:「不醫!」

弟子無論如何也沒想到師父會這樣說, 追問:「為何不醫?」

曹山說道:「讓你求死不得, 求生不能!」

求死不得, 求生不能, 是參禪必須經歷的一個階段。祖師說, 大死一回, 方能契入禪的超脫境界。

當然, 這裡的生死, 指的不是肉體而是心。

Zen Master Cao Shan likes to dance with a zen stick after meals, so his body is very healthy.

One day, a disciple took the stick and said, "Shifu has a strong and healthy body, but the disciple is very sick. Please heal me."

Cao Shan knew that he was not talking about the body but the mind. He flatly refused, "No!"

The disciple never expected such a reply from his Shifu and asked, "Why not?"

Cao Shan said, "So you cannot ask for life nor death!"

Unable to seek life and death is a stage all zen practitioners must go through. The patriarchs said that only after a great "death" can one experience their true nature.

But of course, life and death here do not refer to the body; it refers to our mind.