恩愛關: Barrier of Favour and Love
“人生雖有百年期，夭壽窮通莫預知，昨日街頭猶走馬，今朝棺内已眠屍”，此謂人生苦短，看淡世事恩愛，急修大道，方能跳出三界，把握生死。人生在世，萬般皆假，惟有性命是真，大病身危，雖有至親至愛，也替不得患難，代不得苦楚，生平恩情，到此亦無其奈何。但父子兄弟夫婦既聚會在一本戲中，為父者亦必做出為父的道理，為子、為夫、為婦、為親、為友當知各行道理，在自己本分中應當如是，但不過心中明白具是逢場作戲，大家合伙，將这一本戲順順序序作個完結，彼此便了事，既不傷天倫，又不昧本性。便是在家出家，在塵出塵，綜觀古今歷代祖師，能大成其道者，皆無牽無掛，灑灑脫脫，一心專志，勇猛精進，誓達彼岸。
‘Even though there are one hundred years to human life, there can be no fore-knowledge of whether one dies young or has a long life, nor of failure or success. Yesterday one was still galloping on horseback in the streets; today one is already a sleeping corpse inside a coffin.’
This is called the bitter shortness of human life. Looking indifferently at worldly affairs and [the receiving of] favour and love, it is only through urgent cultivation of the great Dao that one can escape from the three realms and take hold of life and death.
For a human born in this world, all the ten thousand [things] are false and only one’s inner nature and life-destiny are real. When one’s body [encounters] great illnesses and perils, even those who have the utmost affection and love [for oneself] cannot take on those adversities and hardships in one’s place, nor can they bear that misery instead of one. From all the favour and affection [one has received] through one’s entire life, at this point, nothing can avail.
Concerning the relationship between father and son, brother and sister, and husband and wife, who are assembled together in this drama [of life]: as a father, it is necessary to act in accordance with the principles of being a father; as a son, husband, wife, relative and friend, likewise, one should know the established principles for each [role]. One’s own role should also be performed in this way. However, one should understand clearly within one’s heart-mind that to act thus is simply to play [one’s part] within a stage drama. With their companions, everyone simply follows this drama scene by scene to its final conclusion. This then [marks] the end [of their relations] with each other. Not only does [playing one’s role] maintain one’s family bonds, but it also does not obscure one’s original inner nature.
Whether one is a layman or a renunciant, in the dusty [world] or leaving it, one should take a broad view of the ancestral masters of all generations past and present who were capable of the great achievement of the Dao. As they were all without entanglements and without concerns, free and unrestrained, with a single heart-mind and focussed determination, they valiantly and fiercely forged ahead, having vowed to reach the far shore.
Post-Scriptum: Excerpt from ‘The 49 Barriers of Cultivating the Dao’. The original text contains extensive commentaries by Xing De (Li Shifu). The commentaries are also deeply knowledgeable in Chinese tradition, bridging Daoism with Buddhism, Confucianism and even Christianity, and possess a rare mystical depth stemming from Xing De’s long-term practice.
Post-Post-Scriptum: Prints of the 49 Barrier illustrations by the talented Jen King are available from: https://www.jenniferkingstudio.com/collections/134112
