愿意何时往生，就何时往生，来去自由。

You can go off to rebirth at any time you choose; you are free to come and go as you please.

在北宋末年，中国有一位民族英雄，名叫岳飞。他幼年丧父，母亲很贤慧，母子两人相依为命。幼年时，他母亲教他识字、练字，因为家贫无钱买笔、纸等，所以他在沙堆上练字，而成为书法家。青年时，他去投军，母亲在他背上刺「精忠报国」四个字，以提醒他时时不忘救国家民族的大志愿。

In the final years of the Northern Song Dynasty in China, there lived a great hero named Yue Fei. His father passed away when he was young. His mother was worthy and wise. Mother and son had only each other to rely upon for support. She taught her young son to read and practice penmanship. Since the family was too poor to afford pens, ink, and paper, he practiced writing characters in the sand, and eventually became an accomplished calligrapher. Yue Fei entered military service at an early age. His mother tattooed on his back the slogan, Give your all in service to the country. He never forgot his great vow to save his countrys people.

此时金人侵宋，占领汴京（开封），执徽、钦二宗北去。康王构在杭州建国，成为南宋，称为宋高宗，用秦桧为相，当时文人主和，武人主战。岳飞大破金兵于朱仙镇（离汴京很近），有直捣黄龙（吉林农安）的壮志，不幸被秦桧嫉妒，用十二道假金牌召他回京城。岳飞有「忠君爱国」的思想，于是奉命班师回京。他过长江时，经过江中的金山寺，乃去拜访道悦禅师。

This was the era when the Tartars （the Jin Dynasty） invaded the Song Dynasty and captured the capital of Bianjing （Kaifeng）。 They kidnapped the two Emperors Hui and Qin and took them to the North. The King of Kang set up his capital at Hangzhou and named it the Southern Song Dynasty, calling himself Emperor Gao. He appointed Qin Kuai as Prime Minister. At that time, the literati advocated peace while the military advocated going to war with the Tartars. General Yue Fei gave the Tartars a devastating defeat at the town of Zhuxian （close to Bianjing） and planned to attack their capital towards Yellow Dragon （near Jilin Nongan）。 Unfortunately, Qin Kuai was jealous and so issued twelve false summonses commanding him to return to the capital. Yue Feis credo was loyal subjects are patriots to the end. Thus he led the army back to the capital. En route he passed by Gold Mountain Monastery, in the middle of the Yangtze River, where he stopped to pay his respects to Chan Master Daoyue （Joy of the Way）。

道悦和尚劝他不要回京城去，在金山寺（镇江）出家修行，可以免是非。岳飞将生死置之度外，认为军人的天职，就是服从命令，没有「将在外，君命有所不受」的思想，所以拒绝道悦和尚一番盛意。临行时，道悦和尚就作一首偈颂，说：

岁底不足，

谨防天哭；

奉下两点，

将人害毒。

The monk urged him not to return to the capital, but to leave the home-life and cultivate the Way at Gold Mountain Monastery in Zhenjiang. That way he could avoid all political scandals and conflict. Yue Fei did not take the matter of birth and death seriously, feeling instead that the duty of a military man was to follow orders. He did not follow the philosophy that, When the general is in the field, he can choose not to follow the emperors commands. Thus he rejected Master Daoyues wise suggestion. Before he left, Master Daoyue wrote him a verse that said,

Before New Years day,

be very cautious of heavens tears;

A gift with two dots beneath it will harm you grievously.

岳飞回杭州，秦桧用「莫须有」三字，使岳飞父子下狱。等到临刑的时候，他才了悟道悦和尚这首偈颂的意思。那年的过年是十二月二十九日，同时天降大雨，岳飞在狱中听到雨声，知道大难临头，想起道悦和尚的谶言终于应验了。「奉下两点」，就是「秦」字。他果然被斩于风波亭。

Yue Fei returned to Hangzhou, and Qin Kuai sent a message reading No grounds necessary, which was a command to imprison both Yue Fei and his son. As he approached the executioners block, Yue Fei suddenly realized the meaning hidden in Master Daoyues verse. On New Years eve, which fell on the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month that year, the heavens poured forth a heavy rain. Hearing the rain as he sat in jail, Yue Fei knew his death was at hand; the prophecy in the Chan Masters verse was about to be fulfilled. When you write two dots beneath the word gift you get the word Qin, the name of Prime Minister Qin Kuai. Yue Fei was executed at Fengbo Pagoda.

秦桧问监斩人：「岳飞临刑时，说些什么话？」监斩人说：「只听他说，悔不听金山寺道悦和尚的话，所以有今天的下场。」秦桧一听大怒，派何立去金山寺，捉拿道悦和尚。道悦和尚头一天在定中就晓得这段因缘，乃留下一首偈语：

何立自南来，

我往西方走；

若非佛法大，

岂不落他手。

Qin Kuai asked the executioner what Yue Feis final words had been. The executioner said, I heard him say, have met my end today, only because I didnt heed the advice of Chan Master Daoyue of Gold Mountain. Qin Kuai flew into a rage and ordered Heli to hurry to Gold Mountain Monastery and arrest Master Daoyue. But the day before, while in Chan samadhi, Master Daoyue had foreseen this situation and had written another verse, which said,

Heli is coming from the South,

but I am going to the West.

If my strength in the Dharma were not sufficient, I would surely have fallen into the villains hands.

写完之后，即刻圆寂。第二天，何立来到金山寺，老禅师已经圆寂了。

After he wrote this verse, he entered the stillness of Nirvana. When Heli reached the temple the next day, Master Daoyue had already entered Nirvana.

这证明坐禅的功夫到了极点，便可控制生死，愿意何时往生，就何时往生，都操纵在自己的手中，那是很自然的现象。古时禅师都有这种功夫，生死自如，遂心如意。在唐朝有位禅师，名叫邓隐峰，可以倒立而圆寂；近代金山活佛可以站立而圆寂。这都是由于禅定的功夫，所以可以来去自由，不受一切的限制。

This story proves that when you have perfected the skill of Chan meditation, you can control your own birth and death. You can go off to rebirth at any time you choose. You are in control of the process, and it is a very natural matter. Chan Masters of the past all possessed this ability. They could be born and die as they wished. In the Tang Dynasty there was a Chan Master named Deng Yinfeng （Hidden Summit） who entered Nirvana while standing on his head. The contemporary monk, the Living Buddha of Gold Mountain, entered Nirvana while standing up. Due to their skill in Chan meditation, they could come and go as they pleased, without any restrictions.

一九八○年禅七十二月开示

A talk given during a Chan session

in December, 1980