四禅天的境界

　　The States of the Four Dhyana Heavens

　　一念不生全體現，六根忽動被雲遮。

　　When not even one thought arises, the entire substance appears.

　　But when the six sense organs suddenly move, you”re covered by clouds.

　　參禅參到忘人無我的境界，便到初禅「離生喜樂地」。在這個階段，破了衆生的執著，而得到禅悅爲食，法喜充滿的受用。在此定的境界上，呼吸停止，無呼無吸，不出不入，有一種特別的快樂。這種快樂，是妙不可言的，總之，這是一般人得不到的快樂。

　　When you as a Chan cultivator enter into a state where you forget yourself and forget others, you have reached the stage of the First Dhyana, which is called the Stage of the Happiness of Leaving Birth. At this stage, you have broken away from the attachments of living beings and experience the feeling of "taking Dhyana bliss as food and being filled with the joy of Dharma." In this samadhi, your breath will have stopped; you will no longer inhale or exhale. There is a unique happiness that is wonderful and inexpressible. This happiness is one that most people never experience.

　　二禅是「定生喜樂地」，在定中得到最大的歡喜。坐在那裏，不飲不食。脈搏也停止，等于死人一樣，可是還有意念，知道自己在靜坐。

　　The Second Dhyana is called the Stage of the Happiness of Producing Samadhi. In this samadhi, you experience the greatest joy. When you”re sitting, you don”t want to eat or drink. Your pulse has stopped. You”re just like a dead person, but you still have thoughts and you are aware that you are sitting in meditation.

　　叁禅是「離喜妙樂地」，在定中離開禅悅爲食、法喜充滿這種的歡喜，而得到一種妙樂。這種妙樂，沒有法子可以形容，是微妙不可思議的。在此境界，把念頭也止住了，沒有意念，所謂「一念不生全體現，六根忽動被雲遮。」

　　The Third Dhyana is the Stage of the Wonderful Bliss of Leaving Happiness. In this stage of samadhi, you leave the happiness of "taking Dhyana bliss as food and being filled with the joy of Dharma" and attain a kind of wonderful bliss that is impossible to describe. It”s subtle and inconceivable. In this particular state, your thoughts have stopped. You have no thoughts. It”s been described as: "When not even one thought arises, the entire substance appears. But when the six sense organs suddenly move, you”re covered by clouds."

　　四禅是「舍念清淨地」，到了這個境界，意念不但止住，而且也舍了。這時候，得到非常清淨、非常微妙的快樂。四禅的境界，還是凡夫的地位，尚未證果，不要以爲了不起。此境界離證果尚有一段距離，應該努力去參，再接再厲去參，進一步才到「五不還天」的境界，那才是入聖人法性流。

　　The Fourth Dhyana is the Stage of the Purity of Renouncing Thought. When you reach this state, not only are your thoughts stopped, they are eliminated entirely. At this time, you attain an extremely pure and wonderfully subtle joy. However, the state of the Fourth Dhyana is still at the stage of a common mortal. You have not yet realized fruition of your cultivation. Do not assume you are a special person, because you”re still far from realizing the fruition. You should still work hard at your cultivation and meditate diligently, because if you can advance, you”ll reach the state of the Five Heavens of No Return. That”s when you enter the Dharma-nature stream of sages.

　　有個無聞比丘，他參到四禅的境界，誤認爲證了果位，所以到處宣傳，自己證了果。因爲他對佛法不徹底了解的緣故，所以打妄語，最後墮于無間地獄。

　　There was a person known as the Unlearned Bhikshu, who had cultivated to the stage of the Fourth Dhyana, but mistakenly assumed that he had realized the fruition of Arhatship. He went about announcing that he had realized the fruition. Because he did not have a thorough understanding of the Buddhadharma, he uttered a major lie and later fell into the uninterrupted hells.