Enlightened by Himself

There was a novice monk called Tam Tri entering the assembly of the pagoda.

Tam Tri seemed to lose confidence in himself. One day, he, on his own,  came to the Zen Master to ask for advice. The old Master Zen realized that he was old and weak, and could no longer live more. It was the time he wanted to teach and extend knowledge for him. Therefore, Zen Master was not afraid of weak legs, and tried to guide his further practice.  

When they went to a narrow bridge, Tam Tri saw his Master was walking unsteadily and could fall down the river, he rushed and led him across the bridge immediately. The Zen Master did not accept and said:

• We must walk by ourselves, breathe by ourselves and drink by ourselves. Don’t worry about me. Let me go by myself.

   

The Zen Master had just stopped his words, the novice Tam Tri realized it.

On the way of practicing as the way of life, even though we see any excellent  teacher or eminent sage, we ourselves go ahead through the bridge directing to success. All in all, forward by ourselves.

Translate into English by Le Thien An.

Nguyên văn:

自己解脱自己

      ä¸›æž—寺院里来了一位名叫心智的小沙弥，勤奋好学、聪明灵动，颇得通明禅师的器重。可是，心智刻苦禅修几年之后，居然不见长进，聪明依然，悟性无增。

心智对自己似乎也失去了信心，有一天，他独自找到通明禅师，央求师傅为他指引开示。年迈的通明禅师认为自己年老体弱、来日无多，也正想开示、点化一下自己的爱徒。于是，不顾自己腿脚失健，硬撑着领心智再次行脚觅道。

当师徒二人来到一座非常狭窄的桥时，心智看师傅晃晃悠悠走路的样子，怕师傅走路不稳掉到河里去，就赶紧去搀扶通明禅师。通明禅师执意不让弟子搀扶，对心智说：“路要靠自己走，桥要靠自己过，气要靠自己喘，水要靠自己喝......你不要管我，我自己过去。”

通明言下，心智豁然开悟。

求学之路、人生之路上，无论遇到怎样卓越的导师和先贤，前进的道路和走向成功的桥梁，最终还得靠自己过去。

 

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