控製妄想的秘訣

　　The Secret to Controlling Random Thoughts

　　結雙跏趺坐，能消滅無量劫的業障，能了生死，生出無量功德。

　　Sitting in the lotus posture can eradicate karmic obstacles gathered over limitless eons,

　　end birth and death, and generate limitless merit and virtue.

　　萬佛聖城每年都有幾個禅七，每次七天。每年在彌陀聖誕時，先打一個佛七，然後連著又打叁個禅七，爲期二十一天。每年參加者，都是有始有終，功德圓滿。今年希望參加者，也要貫徹始終，不可半途而廢，退出禅堂；否則前功盡棄，浪費時間，一無所得。

　　The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas holds several Chan Meditation Sessions each year, each session lasting seven days. Every year when it”s time to celebrate Amitabha Buddha”s Anniversary, we first hold a seven-day Buddha Recitation Session, and then we hold a Chan Meditation Session for three weeks in a row, lasting a total of twenty-one days. Every year, those who take part come at the start and stay till the finish, so that their merit and virtue is complete. I hope this year”s participants will plan to stay for the duration of the session, and not quit halfway through and leave the Chan Hall, or else they”ll lose the virtue they have amassed. Having wasted their time, they”ll gain no benefit at all.

　　打坐的姿勢，要端然正坐，腰要直，頭要正，不可前俯，不可後仰，不可左斜，不可右歪，然後結雙跏趺坐，就是把左腳放在右腿上，再把右腳搬到左腿上，這才合乎標准。因爲結雙跏趺坐容易入定，所以叫「降魔座」，又叫「金剛座」，又叫「蓮華座」，這種姿勢能消滅無量劫的業障，能了生死，生出無量功德。

　　The posture of meditation is to sit up straight and erect. Straighten your back, hold your head up properly, and don”t tip forward or tilt backwards. Lean neither to the left nor to the right. Cross your legs into the full-lotus position, that is, put your left foot on top of your right thigh, then your right foot on top of your left thigh. This is the standard posture for meditation. Because the full-lotus posture makes it easier to enter samadhi, it”s known as the "demon-quelling posture" or the "vajra posture." It”s also known as the "lotus posture." Sitting this way can eradicate limitless karmic obstacles gathered over eons; it can put an end to birth and death, and generate a limitless amount of merit and virtue.

　　在一開始打坐時，必須練習這種基本的坐姿，再調整身體，眼觀鼻，鼻觀口，口觀心，這是控製妄想的秘訣。然後將呼吸調勻，不急不緩，使其自然。這時再參「念佛是誰？」時間久了，就會起作用。

　　It”s necessary to practice this posture when you first begin to meditate. When the body has been arranged this way, let your nose contemplate your mouth, and let your mouth contemplate your mind. This is the essential secret for controlling your idle thinking. Finally, make your breath harmonious and balanced, neither hurried nor suppressed; let it be natural. Then use the meditation topic of "Who is reciting the Buddha”s name

　　" and after a suitable period of time, your meditation will start to take effect.

　　參禅，好像「母雞孵蛋」一樣用功夫。母雞雖在想雞子，可是體不離蛋，專心致意在孵蛋。不是孵了五分鍾，就跑出去，過了一個時候，又回來孵蛋，不到五分鍾又跑了，這種情形，永遠孵不出小雞來。

　　The work of Chan meditation resembles a mother hen sitting on her nest. As the mother hen is thinking of her eggs, she never leaves the nest; she simply concentrates and keeps the eggs warm. She wouldn”t sit on the eggs for five minutes, then run away to do some other business, and later return to sit on the eggs once again, only to run away again five minutes later. The chicks would never hatch at that rate.

　　我們參禅打坐也是這樣，要念茲在茲，不怕腰酸，不怕腿疼，不怕苦，不怕難。一心一意在參，參爲什麼？參「念佛是誰？」參到山窮水盡、水落石出的時候，便是開悟時。

　　The principle we observe in Chan meditation is the same. We must concentrate in each successive minute. Don”t fear an aching back or sore legs. Don”t be afraid of difficulty or pain. Simply concentrate with single-minded effort. Why

　　 We investigate "Who is reciting the Buddha”s name

　　" until "The mountains topple, the waters dry up, the tides recede, and the rocks appear," and it is at that moment that we can get enlightened.

　　參禅，又像「龍養珠」一樣用工夫。龍時時刻刻保護牠的寶珠，沒有不注意、不謹慎的時候。所以這個寶珠，一天比一天光明，牠晝夜六時精心地保護。參禅的人，也是這樣，時刻不能生雜念。古德說：「一念不生全體現」，可以說妄念不生全體現。沒有妄想，就會有所成就。

　　Investigating Chan is also similar to the way dragons nurture their pearls. Dragons watch over their precious pearls at all…

《控製妄想的秘訣 The Secret to Controlling Random Thoughts》全文未完，請進入下頁繼續閱讀…