余问养生于吴子。得二言焉∶曰和，曰安。何谓和？曰∶子不见天地之为寒暑乎？寒暑
之极，至为折胶流金而物不以为病。其变者微也，寒暑之变。昼与日俱逝，夜与月并驰。俯
仰之间屡变，而人不知者。微之至，和之极也。使此二极者相寻而狎至，则人之死久矣。何
谓安？曰∶吾尝自牢山，浮赫达于淮，遇大风焉，舟中之人，如附于桔槔。而与之上下，
如蹈车轮而行。反逆眩乱不可止，而吾饮食起居如他日，吾非有异术也。惟莫与之争，而听
其所为。顾凡病我者举非物也。食中有蛆，人之见者必呕也。其不见而食者，未尝呕也。请
察其所从生。论八珍者必咽言粪秽者必唾，二者未尝与我接也。唾与咽何从生哉？果生于我
乎？知其生于我也。则虽与之接而不变安之至也，安则物之感我者轻，和则我之应物者顺。
外轻内顺，而生理备矣。吴子古之静者也，其观于物也审矣，是以私识其言，而时省观焉！
任性逍遥，随缘放旷。但尽凡心，别无胜解。以我观之，凡心尽处，胜解卓然。但此胜
解，不属有无，不通言话，故祖师。教人到此便住，如眼翳尽。眼自有明医师只有除翳药，
何曾有求明药。明若可求，即还是翳固不可翳中求明，即不可言翳外无明。夫世之昧者，便
将颓然无知，认作佛地。若此是佛，猫儿狗儿得饱熟睡，腹摇鼻息。与土木同，当恁么时，
可谓无一毫思念，岂谓猫儿狗儿已入佛地。故凡学人，当观妄除爱，自粗及细，念念不忘，
会作一日得无所除。弟所教我者是如此否？因见二偈警策。孔君不觉耸然，更以问之。书至
此，墙外有悍妇与夫相殴骂。声飞灰火，如猪嘶狗嗥。因念他一点圆明，正在猪嘶狗嗥里面。
譬
元丰六年。
I asked Wu Zi about the method of nourishing life, and he gave me two words: "Harmony" (He, 和) and "Peace/Tranquility" (An, 安).
What is meant by Harmony? He said: "Have you not observed the changes of cold and heat in heaven and earth? When cold and heat reach their extremes—cold enough to snap glue and hot enough to melt metal—the myriad things do not consider this a disease. This is because their changes are subtle. The changes of cold and heat pass away with the sun during the day and gallop with the moon at night. In the brief moment of bowing and raising one's head, changes occur repeatedly, yet people are unaware of them. This subtlety reaching its utmost limit is the extreme of Harmony. If these two extremes were to seek each other out and arrive frequently and intimately, humans would have died long ago."
What is meant by Tranquility? He said: "I once traveled from Laoshan, floating via Heda to Huai, where I encountered strong winds. The people in the boat swayed like objects hanging on a qigao (a lever for drawing water), rising and falling as if treading on wheels, turning upside down with dizziness and chaos that could not be stopped. Yet my eating, drinking, resting, and moving were exactly as usual. I did not possess any special technique; I simply did not contend with the external wind and waves, but listened to their natural course. Reflecting on it, all things that harmed me were ultimately not external entities themselves. If there were maggots in food, seeing them would surely cause vomiting; but if unseen and eaten, no one ever vomited. Please examine where these reactions arise. When discussing the eight delicacies, people must swallow saliva; when speaking of filth, people must spit phlegm. These two substances (saliva and phlegm) have never physically touched me. From where then do they arise? Do they truly arise within me? Knowing that they arise from my own mind, even upon contact with external phenomena, my state remains unchanged. This is the extreme of Tranquility. With Tranquility, the influence of external things upon me becomes light; with Harmony, my response to things becomes smooth. External influence is light, internal responsiveness is smooth, and the principle of life is complete."
Wu Zi was an ancient man of stillness; his observation of things was precise. Therefore, I privately recorded his words and often reflect upon them.
Acting freely and unfettered, following circumstances with an open heart. Simply fulfilling the ordinary mind, there is no superior understanding. In my view, where the ordinary mind ends, the superior understanding stands forth clearly. However, this superior understanding does not belong to existence or non-existence, nor can it be expressed in words. Thus, the Patriarchs taught people to stop here. It is like when eye cataracts (Yi, 翳) are removed, clarity naturally appears. Physicians only have medicines to remove cataracts; have they ever had medicines to seek clarity? If clarity could be sought, it would still be a cataract. One certainly cannot seek clarity within cataracts, nor can one say there is no clarity outside of cataracts. The ignorant people of the world mistake listless ignorance for the Buddha-ground. If this were so, cats and dogs, after eating their fill and sleeping soundly, with bellies shaking and nasal breathing steady, would be like wood and stone. At such times, one could say they harbor not a single thought. Does this mean cats and dogs have entered the Buddha-ground? Therefore, all practitioners should observe deluded thoughts and eliminate attachments, progressing from coarse to subtle, keeping mindfulness unceasing, until one day achieving a state of nothing to eliminate. Is this what your brother taught you? Upon seeing two gathas (verses) as warnings, Kong Jun involuntarily stood up in awe and asked others about them again. While writing this letter, outside the wall, a fierce woman and her husband were beating and cursing each other. Their voices flew like flying ash and fire, sounding like pigs squealing and dogs barking. I reflected that their single spot of perfect luminosity was precisely within the pig squeals and dog barks.
The sixth year of Yuanfeng.