[师父是囚牢]

Teachers Are Prison

现在要谈的囚牢叫“师父”( ajahn )，尤其是指声名远播的师父。 在缅甸有某某“萨耶多”( Sayadaw )，在斯里兰卡有某某“阿姜”( Ajahn )，在西藏有某某“喇嘛”( Lama )，而在中国有某某“大师”( Master )，不管是全国性、区域性或地方性，每个地方都有家喻户晓的大师。人们执持自己的师父是唯一如法的师父，唯有自己的师父才是正确的，而其他师父则完全错误。他们拒绝去听闻其他师父的教法，对自己师父所开示的法，丝毫不加思索和判断，因此他们身陷于“师父之囚”中。他们把师父变成一座囚牢，然后身陷其中。这是一个真正荒谬可笑的执著，不管大师也好，一般师父也好，身陷其中的执著是一样的，都是不断从师父那边筑起一座座的囚牢。请千万不要陷入这种囚牢中！

Now we come to the prison called "ajahn" (teacher, master, guru), the famous teachers whose names reverberate afar. In Burma there's "Sayadaw This," in Sri Lanka there's "Bhante That," in Tibet there's "Lama So- and -so," in China there's "Master Whoever." Every place has its famous teacher whose name is bouncing around. Whether national, regional, provincial, or local, every place has got its Big Guru. Then people cling and attach to their teachers as being the only teacher who is correct; their teacher is right and all other teachers are completely wrong. They refuse to listen to other people's teachers. And they don't think about or examine the teachings of their own Ajahns. They get caught in the "Teacher Prison." They turn the teacher into a prison, then get caught in it. It's an attachment which is truly ridiculous. Whether a big teacher or a small teacher, it's upadana just the same. They keep building prisons out of their teachers and gurus. Please don't get caught in even this prison.