Lecture No. 0117
Global Lamrim II
Lecture No. 0117
Tape ：New Version 01 24:51 ~ 36:40
Date ：2019/05/13 ~ 05/15
Outline: Foundation
Topic: Prologue – Opening veneration at the beginning of the commentary
Vol. 1 of Master’s discourse handbook Feng Shan Monastery version P13-L4 ~ P18-LL3
In the previous teachings, we have discussed “Nowadays those making effort at yoga have studied few [of the classic texts], while those who have studied much are not skilled in the key points of practice.” Here, Master strongly emphasized that one’s meditation practice must begin with listening to the teaching. Is it really so that practitioners have to begin their practice with listening? Did all masters of the past in the lineage do accordingly? Is there any exception? Probably some classmates may have such thought, so Master told us the story of the Sixth Patriarch; this is from the 1st recording of the newer edition of Master’s commentary. [00′43″]
[New version 01 24:51 ~ 36:40]
Let me elaborate this with a simple and true case as an example. Throughout the entire Chinese history, there were many great masters. One of the most remarkable ones is the Sixth Patriarch Hui-neng of the Zen meditation school. He was born in the south of the Five Ridges in southern China, which is the area around Guang-dong Province now. He was born in the early Tang dynasty. The place he grew up was considered the barbarian south, meaning the uncivilized place. One day in the countryside, he heard someone reciting the Diamond Sutra. When the reciting came to this part, “one’s mind should not dwell on any attachment”, he instantly realized it and was enlightened. Hearing this, we would respond, “Oh! How extraordinary the Sixth Patriarch master is!” Now, many of us have recited the Diamond Sutra for the entire life, yet nothing happens; our minds remaining as motionless as a log. I believe that many of you have recited the Diamond Sutra. I have also recited it many times, yet I couldn't understand it. Even after hearing the explanation, I still couldn’t understand it. The Sixth Patriarch had never listened to the explanation, but the moment he heard someone reciting it just merely once he was enlightened. It was said that he realized it all by himself! Was it really so? Not necessarily! I will just briefly follow up with part of the story. After hearing the recitation, he said, “Wow! Truly magnificent!” He then asked the person [about the greatness of the content], and this person replied, “Ah! I don’t understand it at all; all I can do is just casually recite it. But, there is a patriarch, living in Huang-mei [Hu-bei Province], the Fifth Patriarch of Huang-mei. Well, he is a marvelous eminent monk! You should look for him.” Therefore, the Sixth Patriarch headed north all the way and finally arrived at where the Fifth Patriarch Huang-mei lived to pay respect. [02′47″]
So the following is the part about the Fifth Patriarch, who was about to find a successor and pass the teaching throne! You may look into the Platform Sutra* on your own; here I’ll just go over it briefly. The Fifth Patriarch told his disciples, “Now I am going to pass on the teaching throne to the most outstanding one among all disciples!” And the Fifth Patriarch told them to compose a verse. At that time, the Fifth Patriarch had a senior disciple [Master Shen-xui]; in other words, he was the most outstanding disciple of all, well acclaimed by everyone as the most remarkable senior monk. He composed a verse. Although this senior disciple understood the teaching, he hesitated to present it, fearing what if the teacher said it was incorrect; wouldn’t that be quite embarrassing? So he thought about it for quite some time, not daring to turn it in. However, everyone would expect him to come forward with his verse; he had no other alternative but to ask someone to write it on the wall. So what was written on the wall was:
The body is a Bodhi tree
The mind like a bright mirror stand.
Time and again brush it clean,
And let no dust alight.Everyone read it, exclaiming, “Ah! How remarkable!” Just like that. What happened then? In fact, what this verse revealed was that the writer of the verse had not reached the qualified maturation state. However, his teacher, the Fifth Patriarch said, “Such level of understanding is considered pretty good!” Thereafter, everyone was reciting it. When the Sixth Patriarch heard one monk chanting, he asked, “What verse are you reciting?” The novice told him what had happened. Then the Sixth Patriarch said, “This won’t work! Not like that!” Surprisingly, the Sixth Patriarch said it was not like that. “Does that mean you know about it too?” “Right, I know it too!” Thus, he came up with his own verse, too. He went over to the same wall and asked someone to write for him,
Originally Bodhi has no tree,
The bright mirror has no stand.
Since there is nothing, to begin with,
Where can the dust alight?This is a very well-known story! Wow! By reading this verse, everyone felt how extraordinary the Sixth Patriarch is! [04′44″]
[*The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch]
We may infer from the above episode that as soon as the Sixth Patriarch heard the reciting of the Diamond Sutra, he comprehended it immediately. Actually, can you say that he didn’t comprehend it? That was not quite so. Well, then can you say that he comprehended it? There is more to this story. Let me continue so you will know. Thereafter, everyone got into a rumpus, and the Fifth Patriarch heard the noise outside and took a look! There was another verse. A great master like the Fifth Patriarch certainly knew it was from the Sixth Patriarch. Such verse must come from someone who had already realized the true nature of reality. However, if the Fifth Patriarch passed the teaching throne onto the Sixth Patriarch right away, it would cause a rumpus! Suppose over here now, if the senior monks have no part of it and I just randomly pick a Mr. Chang to pass him the transmission, would you all be mad at him? The rumpus is very likely to happen! It is a similar situation in this story. The Sixth Patriarch appeared to be not good at anything, and he was the most junior one in the monastery; besides he was an uncouth southern barbarian, who was not skillful in the local dialect. Such a candidate won’t work. Hence, the Fifth Patriarch also said, “Erase it!” And, “This one is also not good enough; it is not working either!” Since the teacher said no, that was it! Actually, the Sixth Patriarch did reach some enlightenment; however, both the teacher and the disciple stayed calm and collected; the teacher did not say anything, and the disciple remained obedient. Afterward, what did the Sixth Patriarch do? He continued pounding rice. To put it in our present term, he was doing hard menial work. We don’t do so over here; we would have you clean up the toilet and do chores in the yard all day long, and that’s all. [06′20″]
Later, one day after a couple of months. How long had he worked? He had done the hard menial work for about eight months without receiving any teaching from his teacher, but he did not feel, “What? I came all the way here. You have ignored me for eight months without paying any attention to me!” He did not react this way. One day, the Fifth Patriarch seemed to go for a walk [in the monastery] and reached the place where the Sixth Patriarch was pounding the rice. Seeing him pounding rice there, the Fifth Patriarch asked, “Is the rice ready?” “It is ready.” We may not quite understand this conversation; let me explain it. The rice was not processed by the machine as we have now. In the past, there was a coarse grinder; after the rice was ground; do you know the unprocessed rice grain? The rice grain is hulled, right? There are two layers of protection covering the rice grains, a coarse husk, and a finer hull. After the first time of grinding, the coarse husk is removed. I have seen such a grinder when I was young, but we did not use it given that we already had machines then. The grinder is to remove the coarse husk. Then, normally people would put the roughly ground rice in a stone mortar, which the Sixth Patriarch used to pound the rice. After the rice grains are pounded, the rubbing between the grains will gradually remove the finer hull. [07′47″]
In a place like a monastery with so many people there, there were big and small stone mortars; a big monastery would usually need a huge one, so this was what the Sixth Patriarch was assigned to do. Since he was kind of thin, he needed to apply the concept of the lever to pound the rice. The Sixth Patriarch stepped on the lever, let go, and the stone would “flutter” once; then the pestle would pound the rice in the mortar, just like that. Since the Sixth Patriarch was thin and small, he did not have enough strength; thus he tied a piece of rock around his waist. And when he stepped on the pestle, with the added weight of the rock, he could lift the lever and let it go to pound the rice. That was how it worked. Therefore, gradually the finer hulls were removed, and the pounding is done. By sieving the rice after pounding, the bran can be separated from the rice grains. This was the process. [08′53″]
So the Fifth Patriarch Haung-mei walked toward the stone mortar, picked up a staff, and knocked on the stone mortar saying, “Is the rice ready?” That was all he asked. What was the answer from the Sixth Patriarch? “It has been ready for a long time, except that one thing is still missing.” “What’s missing?” “It needs to be sieved.” That was how rice pounding was done. Are you able to follow the dialogues between the teacher and the disciple? Usually, we just read through it in such a careless manner that we don’t comprehend it. In fact, that is the way we are! For instance, while you were sweeping, I came by and asked, “Are you done with the sweeping?” You replied, “We are almost done; we only need to scoop it up into the dustpan, dump it, and that would be it!” Just like that. It was what was happening then and the Fifth Patriarch thus asked. “Very well!” said the Fifth Patriarch. After this, the Fifth Patriarch kept his composure, turned around and walked away. With a staff on his hand, he turned around. Let me put it this way; the earlier conversation took place while the Fifth Patriarch was facing the stone mortar; thus when the Fifth Patriarch turned around, he turned his back to the Sixth Patriarch; and he rapped on the stone mortar three times with his staff, “knock, knock, knock!” After rapping three times, he walked away, as if he had done it unintentionally. [10′19″]
In fact, there were quite a few embedded meanings in this occurrence! The conversation, turning his back, and the three times of rapping [on the stone mortar] were all with embedded meaning. Consequently, in the dead of that night, the Sixth Patriarch stole quietly into the Fifth Patriarch’s room. The Fifth Patriarch was waiting for him. He took the Diamond Sutra and started explaining to the Sixth Patriarch, just like that. While giving the teaching, the Fifth Patriarch used his kasaya as the cover so that no one would notice. What exactly did he teach? No one knew. Nevertheless, the Sixth Patriarch did say something, “Ah! How unexpected! All phenomena are within the intrinsic nature. …” such and such. This is all recorded in the Platform Sutra. [11′08″]
Why do I mention this specifically? That is to say: about eight or nine months earlier, the Sixth Patriarch… or to be more specific, if we count the distance from the south of the Five Ridges to the monastery where the Fifth Patriarch lived, it would take several months to travel on the road. So, we may assume that the Sixth Patriarch had already heard the Diamond Sutra one year earlier; upon hearing “one’s mind should not dwell on any attachment”, he realized it. And later, the Sixth Patriarch came to stay in the monastery of where the Fifth Patriarch resided for a whole year. He kept waiting till the night when the Fifth Patriarch explained to him the Diamond Sutra. The Sixth Patriarch responded, “Ah, this is it! This is how it is! Just like that!” He repeated, “This is how it is!” many times. So, did he understand [Diamond Sutra] the first time he heard it? He did not understand it at first. What about us? Although each one of us has the different intellectual capacity, we are more or less able to share a bit about what we have learned. For example, right now after reading something or hearing some teaching, you may respond, “Ah! Got it! I got it!” We more or less understand something, but what exactly do we understand? Our understanding is at its literal level. Yet, there are even different levels of the literal understanding; or we may more or less have experiential comprehension of the text. However, as for the ultimate truth, we can’t realize it until a great master explains the teaching to us as demonstrated by such great monk as the Six Patriarch. [12′32″]
[Reference source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huineng]
That’s the story of the Sixth Patriarch. Many of you might already learn his story while you were quite young, so did I. Back then, all young Buddhists seemed to take him as their idol, admiring him very much. Even though I have read the story for so many times, I would read it over again and again from time to time especially this very popular and well-known verse written by the Sixth Patriarch:
Originally Bodhi has no tree,
The bright mirror has no stand.
Since there is nothing, to begin with,
Where can the dust alight?
I would ponder its meaning as well, but usually, I could not understand it clearly. Actually, without studying the Vipassana [v.3 wisdom Insight], it is hard for one to figure it out clearly. [13′15″]
Why is that I invite everyone to listen to this story again here? Because in the newer edition of Master’s commentary, the key point that Master wanted to express is: however brilliant the practitioners are, they would still need the guidance from their virtuous teachers. Without the guidance from virtuous teachers, actually it would be very hard for one to reach the height of ultimate enlightenment. Master specifically emphasized this! When I read the story of the Sixth Patriarch again this time, I notice the attitude of a suitable disciple. Take notice! From the verse he wrote, [we can infer that] he must have known that he manifested a much more profound state of mind than Master Shen-xiu, [the outstanding, senior-ranking disciple of the Fifth Patriarch, who wrote the first verse on the wall]. Nevertheless, though his teacher the Fifth Patriarch ordered the verse to be erased, it didn’t diminish the recognition the teacher had for the Sixth Patriarch. Here, think about it, the reason why the Sixth Patriarch came all the way from miles and miles away to seek the guidance from the Fifth Patriarch is to realize the meaning of “one’s mind should not dwell on any attachment”, even searching for the meaning of all phenomena. Therefore, the Sixth Patriarch did not have any particular thought about his teacher’s reactions; he just obediently took it all, which Master described as “the disciple remained obedient.” The Sixth Patriarch did not feel that his verse was much better, or how could the teacher consider Shen-xui's work his equal and had both verses erased? Nor did he feel that the teacher should at least give him some comment or share some of his thought whatsoever. Never did these thoughts flash across his mind! Here, we can all think about it. [14′45″]
After that, the Sixth Patriarch continued with the heavy labor from morning till night. The most touching part is that the Sixth Patriarch, being thin and small, tied a piece of rock around his waist. Take heed! How mindful he was in doing such physically demanding work! He was not opportunistic at all. We all know how strenuous it is to have a piece of rock tied around one’s waist, keep pounding day after day. And it was not just one or two days; it was almost a year! It must have been very harsh for him to keep pounding for eight or night month’s duration. Notice the integrity of the Sixth Patriarch! He was very sincere and earnest in doing such a job as menial as pounding rice for such a long time. About the conversation he had with the Fifth Patriarch, Master specifically illustrated it with an example we are familiar with. Master said, “‘Are you done with the sweeping?’ You replied, ‘We are almost done; we only need to scoop it up into the dustpan, dump it, and that would be it!’” The dialogue was just as simple as that. [15′38″]
What did Master try to teach us here? That is for a devoted disciple who earnestly seeks the teaching, he would take every single word the virtuous teacher has said to heart, seeing it as a guide the teacher tries to instruct or regarding it as an alert to be vigilant about. And for a suitable disciple whose state of mind is fully prepared and ready, one would be able to perceive each gesture the virtuous teacher made very clearly. Therefore, we should learn from the Sixth Patriarch and examine ourselves. [What about us?] We may be clueless even when the teacher has explicitly expressed his idea, right? Sometimes our teachers repeat the teaching several times and even have us discuss it, yet still, we could not understand it. If Master had rapped the stone mortar with a staff three times, “knock, knock, knock” not sure what would the outcome be? Not sure what would it turn out to be? Both the teacher and the Sixth Patriarch didn’t express verbally, but the Sixth Patriarch instantly realized that “Oh! The teacher is about to give me the transmission; he is going to impart sutra to me.” They both kept it a very low profile. Master vividly told us the story of the Sixth Patriarch; we should take it to heart and try our best to be a suitable disciple! [16′42″]
I have mentioned this example of the Sixth Patriarch, but then on second thought: Well! Isn’t it true that everyone should begin learning Dharma from listening to the teaching? The Sixth Patriarch did not study much, either! He just heard someone reciting the verse from the Diamond Sutra: “one’s mind should not dwell on any attachment”, and he instantly was enlightened! Then, he developed a very strong aspiration to seek the teaching of the Diamond Sutra, which shows that not everyone should start practicing from studying the sutras first! Would we have such doubt? If there is such doubt, then Master explained it in the first edition of the commentary. [17′15″]
【全球广论 II 讲次: 0117】
讲次 0117
科判 道前基础
主题 〈皈敬颂〉造论宗旨
音档 新版 01 24:51 ~ 36:40
日期 2019/05/13 ~ 05/15
广论段落 P1-LL1 今勤瑜伽多寡闻……复乏理辩教义力
手抄页/行 凤山寺版：第1册 P13-L4 ~ P18-LL3
手抄段落 我这里举一个简单的......一直等到他老师讲才体会得到。
前一节课我们讲了[今勤瑜伽多寡闻，广闻不善于修要]，在这里边师父很强调修行一定要从听闻开始。那么修行一定要从听闻开始吗？在传承祖师里都是这样的吗？有没有不一样的示现呢？可能有些同学心里也会现起这样的一个想法，所以师父就给我们讲了六祖大师的故事，是在新版的《广论》第一卷的部分。 [00′43″]
我这里举一个简单的实际上的事例、比喻来说明。在这个整个的汉人的中国人的历史上面，有很多了不起的大祖师，这个大祖师当中有一个最了不起的大祖师之一，是禅门的六祖惠能大师。他是南方人——岭南，拿现在来说的话广东一带。他是初唐人，那个时候那个地方叫南蛮，就是没开化的地方。他有一天在乡下，听见有人念《金刚经》，念《金刚经》就念到[应无所住而生其心]，他就恍然大悟，开悟了。我们说：[哦！这个六祖大师这个人真好了不起！]我们现在很多人念了《金刚经》，念了一辈子，一动都不动，像木头一样。我想在座大家很多人都念过《金刚经》嘛，我也念过很多遍，什么都不懂；听人家讲过，还是不懂。他既没有听人家讲，就这么念一遍，开悟了，应该说，他自己就懂了吧！实际上是不是呢？不一定。这个故事的下面，我是只叙述这个很简单的一部分。那因为他听见了说：[啊，这么好啊！]他就问这个人，这个人说：[啊！我是不懂，我随便念。现在有一个祖师，他在黄梅，黄梅五祖，哦，这是一个了不起的大德！你去找他。]所以他就专门向北方，最后到这个黄梅礼五祖。 [02′47″]
那么这里有一个公案，五祖要传法啦！然后这个《坛经》上面你们自己看一下，我只是简单说一下。说：[现在我要传那个法了，看看你们这么多弟子，哪一个最精采就传给谁！」结果叫他们写一个偈。他那个时候有一个上座，换句话说那个弟子当中最了不起的一个，大家认以为这个最了不起的上座，他写了一个偈。他自己虽然是了解，可是他不敢拿上来，说万一老师说不对，那不是不好意思吗？这样。所以他想了半天，又不敢拿上去，但是呢，大家都等着他，不拿出来又不行，所以他就叫人家写在这个墙上面。所以他就写在墙上：[身如菩提树，心如明镜台，时时勤拂拭，勿令染尘埃。]就这样。大家一看，[啊，好了不起！]就这样。那结果呢？这个实际上这个偈表示条件还不够，不过他的那个老师就说：[那这样去用功已经不错啦！]那最后大家就拿这个东西去念。这个六祖大师听见人家一念，那时问他：[你念的什么啊？]说有这么一回事情。六祖说：[这个、这个不行！这个不行！]六祖居然说这个不行，[那难道你也懂吗？][对，我也懂啊！]所以他也跑了去也写一个。他就跑到那同样的地方叫人家写一个：[菩提本无树，明镜亦非台，本来无一物，何处染尘埃。]非常有名的公案哪！啊！大家觉得，一看那个偈晓得那个六祖何等地了不起！ [04′44″]
从这个故事里面我们会听见，以为六祖大师听了《金刚经》就懂了。实际上你说他不懂吗？不对。是，说他懂吗？下面还有个故事，我讲下去你们就知道。结果大家哄起来了，这个，五祖在里边听见有人外面那儿哄，一看！这样，一个偈。五祖是一个脑筋，那这种人，祖师当然晓得，晓得这个是六祖写的。这个偈是通常说明心见性了，可是他现在如果传给他的话，这个下面就要起哄啊！那譬如说我们现在这地方，那个上座都没有份，我随便挑一个张某某给了他了，那你们大家会不会气他啊？这个很可能会这样的现象啊！这个故事就有很类似的这种状态。他平常嘛处处地方就不行，来了是最晚来的一个，而且是南蛮一个蛮子，话都不通的，这么一个人，这样。所以他也是说：[抹掉了！]说：[也一样不行、一样不行！]那既然是老师说不行，也就算了！实际上他是有名堂的，可是他那个师徒之间都不动声色，老师也没有说什么，那个徒弟乖乖的。那六祖去了以后干什么？去舂碓米，换句话说，拿现在来说，做苦工。我们现在这里不会做这件事情啊，那给你打扫厕所、跑去到院子里面一天到晚忙这个，这样。 [06′20″]
那后来有一天，经过了好几个月。他在那地方做了几个月？做了八个月苦工，也从来没有老师给他讲什么话，他也不会觉得：[什么？把我跑得来，一丢，丢了八个月，理都不理我啊！]他也没这样。有一天，那黄梅五祖好像跑出去散步，随便七转八转就跑到那个舂米的地方去，看见他正在舂米。他就问，说：[你那个米舂熟了没有啊？][舂熟了。]这个大家现在不太懂，我简单说一下。那个米啊，不像现在用机器打的。以前有一种粗的磨子，它磨了以后，那个米——不是本来是稻，稻你们知道吧？稻不是外面有保护的那个吗？那个里边有粗糠跟细糠。第一次磨了以后，那个粗糠磨掉。那种磨子我小的时候还曾经看见过，可是已经用不着了，那时已经有机器来了以后。他先把那个东西磨一下，那个粗糠磨掉了。粗糠磨掉了以后呢，然后一般的人家就有一个石臼，他就去在里边用一个东西来舂。那舂了以后，然后这个细糠慢慢地就米与米之间大家摩擦，那个细糠就脱掉。 [07′47″]
那么像这种人多的地方，那个舂的那个石臼有大有小的，像那种大的道场都是很大的，所以他六祖大师专门做这件事情。然后因为他身体比较瘦，要舂那个米的，要把那个，那是一个杠杆的原理，他要把它踩下去，一松，那个石头就[蹬！]一下，使那个舂子就舂到那米里边，这样。所以因为这个六祖大德身体很瘦小，那力量不够，所以他身上面绑了一块石头，然后踩在那个舂子上面的话，石头加重了，把那个抬起来，一放，掉下去。这样一件事情。所以慢慢、慢慢地碾掉那米的糠，那细糠舂掉了，这样子那个米就舂熟了。舂熟了以后筛一下，筛一下那个糠就筛掉了，那个米就留下来了，就这样的一件事情。 [08′53″]
所以那个黄梅五祖啊，就跑过去，到那个石臼旁边拿了一个杖，敲敲那个石臼：[这个米熟了没有啊？]他就问了这个六祖这样的一句话。六祖怎么回答啊？ [已经熟了很久了，但是还欠一样东西。][欠什么？][要筛一下。]这个舂米本来就是这样。那么他们师徒两个的对答，你们懂不懂啊？我们平常粗枝大叶去看，不懂的。那事实也就是如此嘛！譬如说，你们在那儿扫地，我就跑过去问：[扫好了没有啊？]你们说：[扫好了，只要把它畚斗畚起来，丢出去就完了！]就是这样。这个是一个现成的一个状态，所以五祖就问。 [那么好。]问完了以后，也就像家常便饭不动声色，那五祖就回过头来，就走了。他拿了一个手杖，回过头来的时候拿那个手杖，譬如说，本来我是面对着这个石臼来问话，那个五祖，等他回过头来，他背对着；等到他背对的时候，拿那个手杖就在那个舂米的石臼上面敲了三下，[笃、笃、笃！]敲了三下，那个好像一个无意识的动作这样，走掉了。 [10′19″]
实际上这个里边都是玄机啊！他那个对答、背过来、敲三下，都是玄机。所以那天晚上半夜里三更，那六祖就偷偷地跑到五祖的房里去。五祖在那儿等着他，他就拿了《金刚经》来给他讲道理，就这样。然后讲的时候，他用他的袈裟，那个袈裟把它遮起来，所以不让人家知道。他到底说什么？不知道。可是有几句话，那个六祖说：[啊！何其自性本具万法，何其自性......]如何如何，那个《坛经》上面都有说这个话。 [11′08″]
我为什么要特别讲这句话呢？就是说，六祖大师在八、九个月以前，实际上应该算起来，从岭南到这个五祖的道场要走好几个月，假定说一年以前，已经听见了，一听《金刚经》 [应无所住而生其心]，已经了解了。结果又跑到五祖这个道场住了一年，一直等到半夜里边，那五祖拿了《金刚经》给他讲，他说：[啊，原来是这个样！啊，原来是这个样的！原来是这个样的！]说了很多[原来这个样]，那表示他本来懂不懂？原来并不懂。我们呢？个人由于个人的脑筋，这个灵敏程度的不一样，多少会讲一点。比如说我们现在来讲，看了以后，或者讲了以后，你说：[啊，懂了，懂了！]多少会懂一点，懂一点什么？文字相。文字相上面也有深浅的不同，或者文字的内涵多少有一点体验，可是它究竟的内容，这个地方就告诉我们，就像六祖大师这么了不起的人，究竟的状态当中，究竟的这个状态，一直等到他老师讲才体会得到。 [12′32″]
六祖大师的故事听完了。可能很多同学对于六祖大师的故事很小就知道了，我也是。那个时候应该所有的佛教青年都觉得六祖大师好像是偶像一样，很崇拜六祖大师。像这个公案其实都已经看过很多次了，但是还是过一段时间就看一遍、过一段时间就看一遍。尤其是对于六祖大师写的[菩提本无树，明镜亦非台，本来无一物，何处惹尘埃。]这个也会放在心上去想一想是什么意思，但多半也想不清楚。实际上不学毗钵舍那，也很难想清楚。 [13′15″]
这个故事为什么我要在这个地方请大家再听一下呢？因为师父在第二卷讲的时候，师父的诠释的要点主要是说：多精彩的人都得要有善知识引领，没有善知识引领的话，实际上还是很难到达究竟的证悟的高度。这里面师父就很强调啊！我这一次再读六祖大师的故事的时候，我们可以看到这个弟子相。你看！他自己写的那几句，他一定知道是比当时的神秀大师写得深的，但是他的老师就是五祖大师还是命令人把它擦掉了，对他的证悟经验表示一样的。这个时候，因为千里迢迢来寻五祖，想要了解[应无所住而生其心]，乃至《金刚经》所有的意义到底是什么，所以六祖大师对善知识的作法没有什么想法，就乖乖的——师父用了一个[徒弟乖乖的]。没有任何觉得我写得这么好，怎么老师觉得跟他平等，一样都擦掉了呢？应该至少评论几句或者心里有什么想法，全都没有！这个地方大家可以想一想。 [14′45″]
接着呢，他还在那儿做苦工，从早到晚忙。这里面最感动的是，说六祖大师比较瘦小，他居然在腰上绑了一个石头。你看！像他做这个苦工是多么地用心啊！一点点投机取巧的心思都没有。大家都知道如果在腰上绑一个石头的话，天天磨、天天磨，那不是磨一天、两天哪，快到一年吧！八、九个月这样的时间，所以一定是很辛苦的。看六祖大师的人品啊！就做舂米这样一个事情，是非常非常认真地做。而且过了这么长时间，五祖大师去看他，他俩的对话，师父特别还把这个对话用现代版的方式再给我们讲一下。师父说：[扫好了没啊？]说：[扫好了，只是用畚斗畚起来丢出去就完了。]就这样一个简单的对话。 [15′38″]
在这里边要讲一个什么样的道理？就是对于一个希求于法的弟子来说，善知识的每一句话、每一句话，他都会觉得是在点化自己，或者在警醒自己什么内涵。所以对于一个准备好了的心来说，善知识的一举一动他都非常地明白。像我们要学六祖大师，观察一下自己，就算老师明明白白地讲都听不明白，对吧？还要讲很多遍，然后要讨论，还是听不明白。如果说拿着一个手杖在那个石臼上敲三下，[咚、咚、咚！]不知道会想出什么样子来？不知道是会想成什么花样来？六祖大师他们师徒都没有讲话的，就知道：[喔！原来要给我传法了，要给我讲经了。]非常地低调。师父非常非常生动地给我们讲了六祖大师的故事，我们要好好地努力，成就弟子相！ [16′42″]
我讲了这个六祖大师的例子，再想一下：欸！不是所有的人都要从听闻开始吗？六祖大师也没广闻啊！他就是听别人念的《金刚经》[应无所住而生其心]，就突然开悟了！然后就生起了去寻觅《金刚经》的要义强烈的道心。那也不是所有的人都一定要广闻啊！我们会不会有这样的疑问呢？如果有这样的疑问的话，接下来师父在旧版《广论》就解释了。 [17′15″]