大德真君 慈悲訓示
同德壇 · 2025.06.30 · New York
20250630NYtd1
這是一篇大德真君藉三才借竅降臨、奉老Φ敕旨而頒的結緣訓——話語簡短，卻字字為與在座眾人接上一分道緣。全篇以一首四聯鎮壇詩層層鋪展：先揭《禮記》大同的理想，天下為公、選賢與能、講信修睦，把修道安放在最寬廣的格局；再言德行輕如羽毛、切近可求，唯須如江河汲源、由微至著，一點一滴踏實積累。第三聯直指最易走岔之處——真經本無字、不在紙上，若捨自心而向外求法，便如歧路亡羊，愈追愈迷。末聯落到擔當上：如守境之君、如師曠抱琴堅守其志，遇難能定、扶危竭誠，把一片真心毫無保留地傾注向前。
A brief connection-teaching (結緣訓) given by the True Lord of Great Virtue, descending through the three talents to speak a short word that forms a bond with those gathered, bearing the Eternal Mother’s decree. Its four-couplet altar verse traces a single path: it opens on the Great Unity vision of the Book of Rites — a world that belongs to all, where the worthy are raised up and trust and harmony are kept — then insists that the virtue which builds such a world is light as a feather and near at hand, made substantial only by the patient stacking of small acts, as a river runs wide from its source. It warns against the characteristic error of seeking outside oneself: the true scripture has no words and is not found on paper, and to hunt for the Way anywhere but within is to lose the sheep among the forking roads. It closes in the register of steadfast service — the guardian who protects the realm, the blind musician Shi Kuang holding his zither — settling calamity, upholding those in peril, and going forth with nothing held back.
About this editionAI-assisted study edition — the Chinese original is canonical; English is pending our elders’ review.
鎮壇詩 Altar-Stabilizing Verse
這兩句一字不差取自《禮記·禮運》的大同章，是華人文化裡對理想世界最古老、也最高遠的描繪。「天下為公」是說：當那條至公至正的大道真正通行於世，天下便不再是一家一姓的私產，而是眾人所共有共享；在位者不憑血緣裙帶，而按德行才能來推舉，人與人之間講求誠信、修習和睦。以此開篇，是把整篇教義安放在最寬廣的格局上——修道不只是獨善其身，而是要先在自己胸中立起那顆沒有私心、天下為公的心。外在的大同，其實從每一個人內心去除私念開始。
These two lines are lifted whole from the Great Unity (大同) passage of the Book of Rites (禮記·禮運) — the oldest and most far-reaching picture of the ideal world in Chinese culture. “The world belongs to all” (天下為公) means that when the utterly impartial Great Dao truly prevails, the world is no longer the private property of one family or surname but is held and shared in common; those in office are raised not by blood or connection but by virtue and ability, and people keep faith with one another and cultivate harmony. To open here is to set the whole teaching on the widest possible horizon: cultivation is not merely perfecting oneself in private but first raising up within one’s own breast a heart free of selfish motive, public-minded toward all. The outer Great Unity begins, in fact, with each person removing private thoughts from within.
上句「德輶如羽」化自《詩經·大雅·烝民》的「德輶如毛」：德行其實輕巧、切近，不是遙不可及的重擔——只要你肯真心去求，它自然就來到身邊。下句轉入積累的功夫：一條大河之所以寬闊，是因為源頭活水不斷注入；一切偉大都由微小一點一滴累積而顯現。合起來是說：修德不難，難在肯不肯下手去求、能不能守住源頭、日日累積。輕忽它，德就永遠與你無關；踏實積之，涓滴也終能匯成廣川。
The upper line “virtue is light as a feather” (德輶如羽) reworks 詩經·大雅·烝民’s “virtue is light as down” (德輶如毛) from the Book of Songs: virtue is really light and near at hand, no far-off burden — reach for it sincerely and it comes to you of itself. The lower line turns to the work of accumulation: a great river runs wide because living water keeps feeding it from the source; all greatness becomes manifest through the piling up of small increments, drop by drop. Together they say: cultivating virtue is not hard — what is hard is whether you will set your hand to seeking it, whether you can hold to the source, whether you accumulate day after day. Treat it lightly and virtue stays forever unrelated to you; build it up in earnest and even trickles finally merge into a wide stream.
這一聯直指修道最容易走岔之處。「真經無字，不在紙上」是禪門「教外別傳」的心法——真理無法被一行行字句框住，要在自己心地上親自體證。「心外求法，亡羊歧路」則是雙重的警戒：離開自己的本心去別處尋道，方向就錯了；又借《列子·說符》「歧路亡羊」的故事——岔路之中又有岔路，越追越迷，終究找不回。若把道向心外去找，路越多，人越亂，離道越遠。真經、真道，都要回到自己這顆心上來求。
This couplet points straight at where cultivation most easily goes astray. “The true scripture has no words; it is not on paper” is the Chan mind-method of a transmission outside the texts (教外別傳): the truth cannot be framed line by line — it must be verified for oneself on the ground of one’s own heart. “To seek the Dharma outside the mind is to lose the sheep among the forking roads” is a double warning: leave your own original heart to look for the Dao elsewhere and the direction is already wrong; and, borrowing the parable “the sheep lost at the fork” from the Liezi (列子·說符) — forks within forks, so that the more one chases the more lost one becomes, and the sheep is never recovered. Seek the Dao outside the mind and the more roads there are, the more scattered one grows, the further from the Dao. The true scripture, the true Dao, must both be sought back in this heart of one’s own.
前一聯講「向內求」，這一聯便落到「向外行」的擔當。「君魚保境」以一位守護一方疆土的君子為喻，說明盡忠職守、護持所在之境的精神。「師曠抱琴」用晉國樂師師曠的典故——師曠雙目失明，卻操守堅正；懷抱著琴，正象徵一個人緊緊守住自己的原則，不因任何處境而放手。末句「定難扶危，竭誠以赴」是全篇的收束：遇危難要去平定，見人身處險境要去扶持，而且要把一片誠心全然傾注、毫無保留地奔赴向前。這是把前面所立的公心、所修的德行、所悟的真道，最終落實成一份不留餘力的實在擔當。
Where the previous couplet spoke of seeking within, this one lands on the outward responsibility of standing for others. “The guardian protects the realm” (君魚保境) figures a person of principle who watches over the territory entrusted to him — the spirit of fulfilling one’s charge faithfully and protecting the place in one’s keeping. “Shi Kuang holds his zither” (師曠抱琴) draws on Shi Kuang, the Grand Musician of the state of Jin — blind, yet unbending in his integrity; to embrace the zither is to hold fast to one’s principles and never let go for any circumstance. The closing line — “settle calamity, uphold those in peril, go forth with sincerity poured out to the last” — gathers up the whole teaching: when danger comes, go and steady it; when someone stands in peril, go and lift them up; and give a whole heart of sincerity utterly, rushing forward with nothing held back. This is where the public heart established, the virtue cultivated, and the true Dao realized are finally made solid as a real responsibility carried out with nothing spared.
這一篇結緣訓，由大德真君藉三才借竅降壇；鎮壇詩四聯層層遞進，是全篇的濃縮精華。首聯一字不差取自《禮記·禮運》大同章「大道之行，天下為公」，把修道安放在最寬廣的格局——修己不只獨善其身，更要先在胸中立起一顆去除私念、天下為公的心。次聯化《詩經》「德輶如毛」，言德行其實輕巧切近、求之即至，然大河賴源、偉業由微，貴在肯下手求、日日踏實積累。三聯直指修道最易走岔之處：真經無字，不在紙上；若捨本心而向外求法，便如《列子》歧路亡羊，岔中有岔，路越分而人越迷。末聯落到擔當上：如守境之君子、抱琴之師曠那般堅正的操守，遇難能定、扶危竭誠，把前面所立的公心、所修的德行、所悟的真道，全然傾注成一份不留餘力的實行。四聯合觀，正是一條由立志、積德、返求本心、到挺身力行的完整脈絡。
This opening round of a 結緣訓 — a teaching given by the True Lord of Great Virtue to form a bond of affinity with those gathered — carries the whole teaching in four progressing couplets. It sets the horizon first: lifting when the Great Dao prevails, the world belongs to all whole from the Great Unity passage of the Book of Rites, it asks the seeker to raise up, before anything else, a heart emptied of private motive and turned toward the common good. The second couplet brings that horizon near — virtue, echoing the Book of Songs, is light as a feather, close at hand and answering the moment one reaches for it, yet substantial only through patient accumulation, as a river runs wide only because it never stops drawing from its source, and the great is built from the small added a little at a time. The third turns inward and names the characteristic error: the true scripture has no words and is not on paper, so to hunt for the truth anywhere but one’s own heart is, as in the Liezi, to lose the sheep among ever-forking roads — the more one searches outward, the more the paths divide and the further one strays. The last couplet makes it visible as service: like the guardian who keeps the realm and Shi Kuang who held his zither unbending, one steadies calamity, lifts those in peril, and goes forth with nothing held back. Read together, the four move as a single path — from the vision of a world made whole, to daily accumulated virtue, to the return inward, to wholehearted action for others.
吾乃 Self-Introduction
自報身分雖簡短，卻點出了這一場相見的本色。降臨此壇者奉老Φ的敕旨而來，隨老前人的法駕降臨，一進門先向皇Φ的聖駕參拜，再回身問候大眾——各位可都安好；這份先於教誨的關懷，正是仙佛的慈心。最後「時亦有限，吾不多談」，隨即一聲爽朗的「哈哈」，如實道出了結緣訓的本色：時間有限，話不必多，這一場相見本就是為了與眾人結下一分道緣。簡短，正是它的圓滿。
Brief as it is, this self-introduction reveals the true character of the meeting. The one who comes to this altar arrives bearing the Eternal Mother’s decree, following the Grand Elder’s carriage; on entering, reverence is first paid to the Sovereign Mother’s presence, and only then the turn to greet the assembly — is everyone well? That care, coming before any instruction, is the compassion at the heart of the visit. The close — “time, too, is limited; I will not speak at length,” followed by a hearty “Ha ha!” — voices plainly the nature of an affinity teaching (結緣訓): the time is short, the words need not be many, for this encounter exists precisely to form one strand of Dao-affinity with all gathered. Its brevity is its very completeness.
自報身分這一段簡短而莊重：大德真君奉老Φ敕旨、隨老前人法駕降臨此壇，一進門已先向皇Φ聖駕參拜行禮，再回身問候在座大眾——各位可都安好，末言「時亦有限，吾不多談」，隨即一聲「哈哈」作結。這聲爽朗的笑，正道出結緣訓的本色：話不必多，這一場相見本就是為了與眾人結下一分道緣，簡短即是它的圓滿。
Only here does the teaching name its bearer, and it does so briefly. The True Lord of Great Virtue comes bearing the Eternal Mother’s decree, following the Grand Elder to the altar, and on entering first pays reverence to the Sovereign Mother before turning to greet the assembly — is everyone at peace? The care precedes the lesson; then, declining to overstay, the teaching yields with time, too, is limited — I will not speak at length. Ha ha! That warm, unforced laugh is the very character of a 結緣訓: the point was never a long discourse but the affinity formed in this brief meeting — and its brevity is its completeness.