How shall we gain a thorough understanding of no-self? In the practice of Chan Buddhism, it is by asking spiritual practitioners to contemplate the topics of inquiry like “Who am I?” and “What was my original face before my birth?” Among the objects that we perceive, does the name represent me, or does the body, mind, or identity represent me? Through analysis, we recognize and realize that all of these are corruptible and only have a temporary relationship with us.

如何通达无我？禅宗修行中，是让学人参话头，参“我是谁”,参“父母未生前本来面目”。在我们通常认定的对象中：名字是不是我？身体、想法、身份……是不是我？通过分析可以认识到：这一切都是会败坏的，和我们只有暂时的关系。

In the Shurangama Sutra, the nature of self is elucidated through “seeking the nature of mind in seven ways and discerning the emptiness in eight returnings.” I will not go into the details here, but there is a crucial sentence at the end of the paragraph: “That which can be returned to other sources is clearly not you; that which can be returned nowhere is none other than you.” It reveals to us that whatever can be deconstructed is only an illusion of being—a false self. Only the last state of existence, which is not deconstructible and neither arises nor ceases, is the true “original face.”

《楞严经》中，是通过“七处征心、八还辩见”来认识自我。相关内容不在此一一展开，但最后有一句非常关键：“诸可还者，自然非汝；不汝还者，非汝而谁？”告诉我们：凡是可以被解构的，只是存在的假相，是一种假我。只有最后那个没什么可解构的、不生不灭的存在，才是真正的“本来面目”。

We need to frequently ask ourselves: “Who am I? What ultimately represents me?” By asking and pondering repeatedly, eventually, we would realize that many of our seemingly reasonable pursuits are senseless; many of the things we desperately want to grasp are actually the wrong ones. Since these pursuits are senseless and we grasp thewrong things, we do not have to worry about gains and losses for these things or even spend our whole lives chasing them.

我们要经常问问自己：我是谁？究竟什么代表着我？问一问，想一想，就会发现，很多貌似理所当然的追求，其实很无谓；很多拼命想要抓取的东西，其实抓错了。既然很无谓，既然抓错了，自然不必为此患得患失，耗费一生光阴。

Many of our afflictions come from the expectations that our family will always be happy, our careers will be prosperous forever, and our bodies will stay youthful forever. In fact, all of these things are impermanent, and they only stay with us temporarily. Only by seeing the truth clearly can we not build up expectations and go through unnecessary sufferings. Therefore, no-self helps us not only know ourselves but also find ourselves.

我们的很多痛苦都来自期待，希望家庭永远美满，希望事业长盛不衰，希望身体青春常在……事实上，这一切都是无常变化的，和我们只是短暂的一期一会。只有看清真相，才不会建立期待，由此带来不必要的痛苦。所以说，无我是帮助我们认识自己，找回自己。

摘自《禅意设计“十二字箴言”》

版权所有：济群法师

Excerpted from:

A Six-word Maxim Regarding the Practice of Chan Design

by Master Jiqun