Meeting the Guru (Jamgön Kongtrül)

觐见上师（蒋贡康楚）
Part 1
第一章
IN ONE OF HIS SEMINARS, Trungpa Rinpoche talked about his experiences with his root
guru, Jamgön Kongtrül of Sechen:
在他的一次研讨会上，创巴仁波切谈到了他与他的根本上师——雪谦的蒋贡康楚的经历：
When my root guru first came to our monastery, I was nine years old. The day before
he arrived, it was decided that my head was to be shaved again, which is an
excruciating experience. The razor was somewhat dull, there wasn’t enough soap, and
in place of shaving lotion, the sulfur deposit from hot mineral springs was used.
当我的根本上师第一次来到我们的寺院时，我才九岁。在他到达的前一天，我决定再次剃光头，这是一次痛苦的
经历。剃须刀有点钝，肥皂也不够，只能用热矿泉的硫磺沉淀代替剃须膏。
Whenever I complained, I was told that if I want to meet this great teacher, I
better just endure it, and that half of my head is already shaved anyway, so the
rest of the job better be completed. After having gone through that ordeal, I felt
a sense of relief and expectation for the next day.
每当我抱怨的时候，我都被告知，如果我想见到这位伟大的老师，我还是忍着吧，反正我的半个头都已经剃光了，
剩下的工作最好完成。在经历了那次磨难之后，我感到一种解脱和对第二天的期待。
In the traditional welcoming ceremony, I was the one who had to precede him with
the incense stick to lead him to the place where he was to stay. The first glimpse
of him was of a kindly old monk, nothing extraordinary about him particularly,
except that he seemed to find everything that he saw very funny.
He kept on laughing and making little jokes about this and that, commenting about
the doorways and his seat and the musicians.
The situation was very simple. He sat down in his seat in a somewhat sloppy way
that one wouldn’t expect of a great teacher.
I had been taught that a great teacher would be extraordinarily refined, so Jamgön
Kongtrül’s spontaneity and sloppiness called forth in me a sense of kinship with
him because my tutors constantly accused me of being sloppy myself, giving me
examples of the tenth Trungpa’s style.
So I felt somewhat relieved and almost expected them to correct his actions as they
used to do mine, but they accepted them and in fact began to appreciate them.
在传统的欢迎仪式上，我是必须在他之前用香柱引导他到他下榻处的人。第一眼看到他是一位和蔼的老僧人，他
并没有什么特别之处，只是他似乎觉得他所看到的一切都很有趣。
他不停地大笑，开这个或那个的小玩笑，评论门口、他的座位和奏乐者。
情况很简单。他在位子上坐了下来，有点草率地坐在位子上，这貌似是一个伟大的老师身上所不会发生的。
因为我总被教导说一位伟大的老师会非常精致，所以蒋贡康楚的随性和不拘小节让我反而对他产生了一种亲近感，
因为我的导师们不断地指责我的草率，还给我举了十世创巴风格的例子。
总之我松了口气，几乎希望他们像以前那样纠正他的行为，但他们接受了他，实际上开始欣赏那些行为。
I felt that they had kept hidden from me this new area of wisdom that is actually
possible if a person is disciplined and well trained.
This was my first glimpse of crazy wisdom.
我觉得他们一直对我隐藏这个新的智慧领域，如果一个人有纪律和训练有素，这实际上是可能的。
这是我第一次看到“疯智”。
I was very attracted to this person who for the first time showed me that my own
style was okay. I myself could be spontaneous, and a holy man could be very human
rather than superhuman or divine, an understanding that in my experience had been
rejected in the past.
我很喜欢这个人，他第一次向我显示了我自己的风格还可以。我自己可以是自发的，一个圣人可以是非常人性的，
而不是超人或神圣的，根据我的经验，这种理解在过去曾被拒绝过。
Several extraordinary things about Jamgön Kongtrül of Sechen were that occasionally
he would stop conversing as though he didn’t care for anything in particular or as
though he were completely open, and then after a while he would continue.
Also, although he was supposed to be very near-sighted and when reading a letter
had to hold it up very close to his eyes, yet sometimes he would spot people miles
away.
雪谦蒋贡康楚的几个不同寻常的地方是，他偶尔会停止交谈，好像他不关心任何特别的事情，或者好像他完全敞
开心扉，然后过了一段时间他会继续交谈。
还有，虽然他本来应该是非常近视的，看信的时候必须把信举到离眼睛很近的地方，但有时他也会在几英里外看
到人。
It was somewhat confusing; he somehow did not fit into the social norm expected of
a great guru. His spontaneity caused my tutor and bursar, who usually presented
themselves to me as being well prepared and imperturbable, to become embarrassed
and bewildered, which was a new experience for me.
这有点令人困惑；不知何故他并不符合社会规范对一位伟大大师所期望的。他的自发性使我的经师和管家——他
们通常在我面前总表现得准备充分、处变不惊——变得尴尬和迷惑，这对我来说是一种新的体验。
The first problem that I came across was to understand Jamgön Kongtrül dialect. I
worked very hard, not having a translator at the time, and within about two weeks,
I could speak his dialect.
我遇到的第一个问题是理解蒋贡康楚的方言。我非常努力，当时没有翻译，大约两周后，我就可以说他的方言了。
Jamgön Kongtrül found it very funny that his own monks were very pleased at this
but that my tutor and bursar were somewhat worried that I would become a frivolous
actor, imitating everything. In fact, I was able to translate for them when he
talked.
令蒋贡康楚觉得很可笑的是，他自己的僧侣对此很高兴，但我的经师和管家却有点担心我会成为一个模仿一切的
轻浮的演员。事实上，当他说话时，我可以为他们翻译。
Jamgön Kongtrül decided to stay for a while at Dorje Khyung Dzong, the retreat
center at which the fourth Trungpa had meditated. This was the occasion for me to
receive my first instruction in meditation, which was very simple.
蒋贡康楚决定在多杰琼宗（Dorje Khyung Dzong）停留一段时间，这是第四世创巴禅修的闭关中心。这是我第
一次接受禅修指导的机会，这很简单。
I came at about seven o’clock in the morning, presented the traditional gifts, and
sat down, feeling very inquisitive about it and thinking that it would make me
Buddha on the spot or that something might come through. As I sat in front of him,
the first sunbeams shone through the latticework of the window.
早上七点左右我就来了，献上传统的礼物，坐下，心里很好奇，心想这会当场成佛，或者可能会发生点什么。当
我坐在他面前时，第一缕阳光正透过窗户的格子照进来。
He began to talk about mind, and he asked me, “Do you have a mind?” I answered,
“Well, I think so many things; therefore, I must have a mind.” He had a good laugh
at that. Then he said, “Let’s sit together and do nothing for a few seconds,” which
we did.
I expected something extraordinary to happen, like suddenly seeing some great
vision, but nothing happened, and he was very pleased.
他开始谈论心，他问我：“你有心吗？”我回答说：“嗯，我能思考很多事情；因此，我必定有心。”他笑得很
开心。然后他说，“让我们坐在一起，几秒钟内什么都不做，”我们照做了。
我本以为会发生一些不寻常的事情，比如突然看到一些伟大的境相，但什么也没发生，可他很高兴。
I was confused, not understanding why he was pleased that nothing actually had
happened. He told me not to talk about it to any of his people or to my tutors, but
I wasn’t sure what not to tell, as there was nothing to talk about.
我很困惑，不明白他为什么对实际上没有发生任何事情感到高兴。他告诉我不要和其他的任何人包括我的经师谈
论这件事，但我不确定有什么不该泄露，因为根本没有什么可谈的。
Therefore, when I went back to my room, I tried to visualize the whole process, the
conversation, the atmosphere, the sun shining through the tinted windows, its beams
striking the floor, his face, his posture, his smile, and his sudden excitement.
But I couldn’t understand exactly what had happened, and as I had heard that one is
supposed to have great faith and conviction, I felt that maybe I was lacking in
faith and conviction.
因此，当我回到自己的房间时，我试图想象整个过程，谈话，气氛，透过彩色窗户照进来的阳光，照射在地板上
的光束，他的脸，他的姿势，他的微笑，他突然激动。但是我不能确切地理解发生了什么，而且我听说一个人应
该有很大的信心和信念，我觉得我可能缺乏信心和信念。
During my second meeting with him to review what development had taken place, he
asked me what had happened at our first meeting. I said, “Actually, nothing
happened. I can’t see what it’s all about.” He said, “Let’s sit together again.” We
sat together again and exactly the same thing happened — nothing happened, but
something did happen.
在我第二次与他会面以审视有何进展时，他问我在我们第一次会面时发生了什么。我说：“其实，什么都没发生。
我看不出这到底是怎么回事。”他说：“我们再一起禅坐吧。”我们再次一同禅坐，于是发生了完全相同的事情
——什么也没发生，但又确实发生了一些什么。
Maybe it was just my visual perception of the room, its light, or the sun shining
through. The whole atmosphere of the room was very light. Traces of incense could
be smelled. When I sat on the cushion next to him, everything smelled very fresh
and felt very light. Then he began to instruct me in the shamatha-vipashyana
practice of watching the breath.
也许这只是我对房间、光线或阳光的视觉感知。整个房间的气氛很轻松。可以闻到一丝香火的味道。当我坐在他
旁边的垫子上时，一切都闻起来很新鲜，感觉很轻。然后他开始指导我观察呼吸的止观修法。
That was a great help because then something actually happens simultaneously with
nothing happening, and I found that I was able to re-create that feeling.
那是一个很大的帮助，因为实际上一些事情实际上是在没有发生的情况下同时发生的，我发现我能够重新创造那
种感觉。
I met with him again after he moved back from the retreat center to the monastery.
I was very excited and wanted to show him what I experienced. He was pleased when
he watched me and told me to go ahead but not tell anyone about it.
在他从闭关中心搬回寺院后，我再次见到他。我非常兴奋，想向他展示我的经验。当他看着我并告诉我继续修持
但不要告诉任何人时，他显然很高兴。
Then I asked him, “What about enlightenment?” By this time I felt more relaxed with
him, and he too was very light and open and delightful, making puns and jokes,
constantly joyful with occasional silliness, which I found quite thrilling.
He answered, “There is no such thing as enlightenment. This is it.”
I was bewildered and then asked, “If that’s so, do I still have to study with my
tutor and have all that hassle?” He became very sad, almost in tears, and said,
“Don’t worry. Everything will be okay. Come and visit me in my monastery four years
from now.”
然后我问他：“证悟是什么呢？”到了这个时候，我觉得和他在一起更放松了，他也很轻松、开放、愉快，会说
双关语和笑话，时常快乐，偶尔会犯傻，我觉得这很令人兴奋。
他回答说：“没有证悟这回事。就是这个。”
我一头雾水，问道：“如果是这样，我还得跟导师一起学习，还那么麻烦吗？”他变得非常难过，几乎要流泪了，
说：“别担心。所有事情都会好起来的。四年后来我的寺院拜访我。”
Many students from my monastery had personal meditation interviews with Jamgön
Kongtrül. Some of them thought they were having mahamudra experiences, and he would
recommend that they return to their breath, a suggestion that offended some of them
who thought that they were being told to revert to a more primitive level.
我寺院的许多学生都曾与蒋贡康楚进行过个人禅修会谈。他们中的有些人认为他们正在经历大手印，他则会建议
他们恢复呼吸，这个建议冒犯了某些人，他们认为他们是被告知要恢复到更低阶的水平。
But others were delighted with the correction, having been uncertain of what they
were doing. The atmosphere created by Jamgön Kongtrül was so solid and so definite
that one had simply to tune into that atmosphere.
但其他人对纠正感到高兴，因为他们并不知道自己在做什么。蒋贡康楚创造的气氛是如此的稳固和明确，以至于
人们只需要简单地调整到那种气氛中。
I remember feeling that atmosphere all the time. When one was approaching his
residence, one felt some kind of radiation, and when one came closer, the
atmosphere became more and more dense so that when one opened the door into his
rooms, there was a feeling of uncertainty, fear, but at the same time, a feeling in
the bottom of one’s heart somewhat of being tickled: pain and pleasure together,
sweet and sour at once.
Meeting with other teachers did not really tickle the heart. Being with him brought
a strong sense of energy and reality, an experience that was by no means a dream,
but very much alive.
我记得一直感受到那种气氛。走近他的住处，就感觉到了某种辐射，越走越近时，气氛会越来越浓，打开房门的
时候，有一种不安、恐惧的感觉。同时，心底有种被挠痒痒的感觉：痛与乐并存，酸甜苦辣。
与其他老师会面并没有真正让心痒痒。和他在一起带来了强烈的能量和现实感，这种体验绝不是梦，而是充满活
力。
When I was older, I would make up lists of questions to ask him during our
interviews, but as soon as I would look at the list, the questions seemed
completely absurd and made no sense at all. Toward the end of my stay with Jamgön
Kongtrül, he would usually check on how my studies with Khenpo Gangshar were going:
how much I understood in terms of scholarship, philosophy, and facts and figures,
and what I understood on the intuitive level.
当我长大后，我会在觐见时列出问题来问他，但当我检查这些问题时，这些问题似乎完全荒谬，毫无意义。在我
与蒋贡康楚待在一起时，他通常会检查我在堪布冈夏处的学习进展如何：我在 scholarship, philosophy,
和 facts and figures 方面的理解程度，以及我在直觉层面上的了悟程度。
Later, I began to take fewer notes but to write some six-syllable poetry that I
would give to him when I visited him, which he carefully corrected. Later, I would
just scribble something down, and there were fewer corrections.
I thought that he was getting bored with all my poems, but actually he read them
all. He said, “If you write with an intention, it doesn’t work. You have to write
without intention.”
后来，我开始少记笔记，只写了一些六字诗，拜访他时送给他，他仔细纠正。再后来我就随便写点东西，改正的
就少了。
我以为他对我所有的诗都厌烦了，但实际上他把它们都读完了。他说：“如果你有意图地写作，那是行不通的。
你必须无意识地写作。”
We had a three-hour session together in which he would write one line, and I would
write the next line.
When he read though the three pages we had written together, it sounded like his
own writing, not mine. This was not particularly helpful to me as it was too much
of an ego boost.
我们一起共处了三个小时，期间他会写一行，我会写下一行。
当他阅读我们一起写的三页时，听起来像就是他自己写的，而不是我的。可这对我来说并不是特别有帮助，因为
它太助长自我了。
I began to write a lot of poetry, writing formal poems instead of letters. I felt
that I was becoming too literate, too good at mimicking, but Jamgön Kongtrül did
not discourage me.
我开始写很多诗，写正式的诗而不是信。我觉得我变得太有文化了，太擅长模仿了，但蒋贡康楚并没有遏制我。
He began to introduce me to great poets or scholars who visited him, and I would be
asked to write a poem on the spot, which made me feel that I was somewhat of a
showpiece. At that time, I began to write dohas and various short sadhanas. I
slowly developed a sense of vajra pride in expressing myself, that in essence
everything was okay and that Jamgön Kongtrül’s approval was not the main point.
他开始把我介绍给拜访他的大诗人或学者，我会被要求当场写一首诗，这让我觉得自己有点像个摆设。那时，我
开始写对仗体和各种短的仪轨。我慢慢地在表达自己时产生了一种金刚自豪感，（只因）“本质上”一切都很好，
蒋贡康楚的认可与否并非重点所在。
One particular sadhana that I wrote, he said, influenced him so much that he was
still high on it the next day, a remark that I was uncertain whether to interpret
as sarcastic or real.
他说，我写的一个特别的仪轨对他影响很大，以至于第二天他仍然对它很感兴趣，我不确定是否将其解释为讽刺
或真实的评论。
End Part 1
Chogyam Trungpa, Collected Works of Chogyam Trungpa Vol 9, Shambhala Publications.