1) Deeply breathing in and out from the Dantian/Hara in you lower belly (7 times).
2) Bringing your attention gradually from the eyes to the nose, then to the mouth and to the heart, keeping no images whatsoever in your heart and mind (7 times).
3) Breathing naturally and focusing your attention on the breath.
4) Listening to Silence in everything.

The fourth step is the most important one – Listening to silence, or listening to the sound of no sound. This is also called “listening to the sound of One Hand.” What is the sound of One Hand? There is a Chan story that can give you a hint about this.

There was once a young novice who watched every day as his Master instructed people in Chan. Every time someone would ask him a question, the Master would just raise one finger without saying a single word. “That is so easy” thought the young novice, “I can do that too.” One day, as his master was traveling away from the temple, a visitor arrived who asked about instruction in Chan. As he had seen his Master do, the young boy, who was about ten years old, lifted his hand and raised one finger, thinking that this would help people to become enlightened, even though he did not quite understand how.

When his Master came back, he asked the young boy: “How did you teach people the Dharma?” Raising his finger, the boy answered: “This how I did it – just the way I learned it from you.” Hearing this, the Master instantly drew a knife and cut off the boy’s finger. Screaming, the boy ran away as fast as he could. Someone stopped and asked him “Why are you crying like that?” The boy answered: “When someone asked me about the Dharma, I raised my finger like this…” and, having completely forgotten that the finger had been cut off, the boy lifted up his hand, saw that the finger was gone – and became enlightened! He really became enlightened. “Enlightened about what?” you may ask. He had realized “Emptiness.”

This young novice had observed all day long how his Master raised his finger when asked a Dharma question, but never clearly understood what this finger was all about. But when the finger was suddenly cut off, and when he noticed that it was no longer there, he realized that, from the beginning, there is no such thing as an “I”!

When you practice listening to silence, follow the teaching of the Heart Sutra, and listen without “eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind” and without “color, sound, smell, taste, touch, thing.” Don’t wait like the young novice for someone to cut off your finger to become enlightened some day!

Dharma Master Hsin Tao
(Translated by Maria Reis Habito)

隻手之聲

靈鷲山的禪修法門—平安禪，四個步驟當中的第四個步驟，也是最主要的方法—聆聽寂靜，聆聽無聲之聲，聆聽隻手之聲，什麼是隻手之聲呢？有個禪宗故事，滿能詮釋隻手之聲的含意。

以前有個小沙彌每天看著他的師父接引眾生，眾生提出疑問時，師父不講話就只伸出一隻手指頭，他想著：哇，那麼簡單，那他照著做就行了。於是，某天他的師父出去遊方，客人要來請法，那麼這個十幾歲的小沙彌，就學著他的師父，把一隻手指頭拿出來，客人照樣瞭悟了，但他卻也不曉得為什麼。

有一天他的師父回來了，就問他，「你都怎麼跟人家講法的？」於是小沙彌就把手指頭拿出來，說：「我就學你這樣子啊，你這樣啊，我也這樣啊」，這時師父便拿出一把刀把他的手指頭切掉了，十幾歲的孩子就哭著跑了出去。有人問他哭什麼，小沙彌說：「人家來問法的時候，我就把手指頭拿出來...」，小沙彌突然忘了手指頭被砍掉，拿出來一看，手指頭沒有了，小沙彌開悟了！真的開悟了，悟什麼？就是這個「空」被他悟到了！

僧眾春安居 心道法師說禪宗故事

小沙彌整天學著師父把手指頭拿出來，卻搞不清楚手指頭是什麼！砍掉他的手指頭時，看到自己的手指沒有了，喔！原來是沒有「我」！

所以大家聆聽寂靜，要無眼耳鼻舌身意，無色身香味觸法地聆聽，不用像小沙彌一樣等到手指被切掉，才到開悟這一天！禪修，就是要下功夫，踏實的去做，總會有那麼一天，明心見性！

─── 心道法師