Nature of Modern Life
現代生活的本質：
Today we are living in a world where people have to work very hard physically and mentally. Without hard work, there is no place for people in the modern society. Very often keen competition is going on everywhere. One is trying to beat the other in every sphere of life and man has no rest at all. Mind is the nucleus of life. When there is no real peace and rest in the mind, the whole life will collapse. People naturally try to overcome their miseries through pleasing the senses: they drink, gamble, sing and dance
all the time having the illusion that they are enjoying he real happiness of life. Sense stimulation is not the real way to have relaxation. The more we try to please the senses through sensual pleasures, the more will we become slaves to the senses. There will be no end to our craving for satisfaction. The real way to relax is to calm the senses by the control of mind. If we can control the mind, then we will be able to control everything. When the mind is free from mental disturbances it can see many things which others cannot see with their naked eyes. Ultimately, we will be able to attain our salvation and find peace and happiness.
今天，我們的生活非常忙碌，人們不辛勤的工作，就無法生存于現代社會。現代社會充滿了激烈的競爭，在每一個生活領域裏，都有人想盡辦法，無休無止的去打擊另外一個人。「心」是生命的核心，如果「心」中沒有和平與安甯，整個生命將會崩潰。人們很自然的以感官的樂趣來克製他們的憂慮，他們喝酒、賭博、唱歌、跳舞，把所有的時間幻想于他們在享受並獲得心情的愉快，這樣一來，就成爲感官欲樂的奴隸了，我們的欲望是永遠得不到滿足的。真正放松的辦法是：控製心識來冷靜我們的感官。如果，我們能控製心識，就能控製一切。當「心」完全被控製和淨化後，就能消除精神的困擾，就能看到別人用肉眼看不到的許多事物。到最後，我們將獲得解脫和找到和平與幸福。
To practise meditation, one must have strong determination, effort and patience. Immediate results cannot be expected. We must remember that it takes many years for a person to be qualified as a doctor, lawyer, mathematician, philosopher, historian or a scientist. Similarly to be a good meditator, it will take sometime for the person to control the elusive mind and to calm the senses. Practising meditation is like swimming in a river against the current. Therefore one must not lose patience for not being able to obtain rapid results. At the same time the meditator must also cultivate his morality. A congenial place for meditation is another important aspect. The meditator must have an object for his meditation, for without an object the jumping mind is not easy to trap. The object must not create lust, anger, delusion, and emotion in the meditator”s mind.
修學禅定要有堅韌不拔的決心、努力和耐心，不能企望馬上收效。我們應該知道，一名醫生、律師、數學家、哲學家、曆史學家或科學家，都是經過長時間的學習才獲得成就的。禅定也一樣，修行者要花很長的時間去控製那不可捉摸的「心」，然後才能獲得平靜。修學禅定如逆水行舟，一個人不能因爲得不到眼前的收獲而失去耐心。禅定的修學者必須培養他的道德。在適當的場所修行也很重要。修行者必須爲自己訂下目標，那顆跳躍的「心」不容易捕捉，所訂下的目標必須遠離貪、嗔、癡這叁種劣根性。
When we start to meditate, we switch the mind from the old imaginative way of thinking, or habitual thought into a new unimpeded or unusual way of thinking. While meditating when we breathe in mindfully, we absorb cosmic energy. When we breathe out mindfully with Metta; loving kindness, we purify the atmosphere. Intellect is necessary for the overcoming of emotionality and spiritual confusion as intuition is necessary for overcoming intellectual limitation and conceptual abstraction.
當我們開始修學禅定時，我們的「心」從舊有的或傳統的思考方式，轉變爲新的、無障礙和不尋常的思考方式。在修禅時，我們以整顆「心」在呼吸，我們吸進宇宙能源，呼出慈悲喜舍。淨化了整個胸懷，生起克服欲念和種種不善的智慧，以智慧克服了知識障礙、知識限製和抽象性的概念。
We spend most of our time on our body: to feed it, to clothe it, to cleanse it, to wash it, to beautify it, to relax it, but how much time do we spend on our mind for the same purposes
我們花了很多時間在我們的身體上，如：吃飯、穿衣服、洗澡、洗手、洗臉、化妝等等。可是，爲了同樣的目的，我們卻很少把時間花在我們的「心」。
Some people take the Buddha Image as an object and concentrate on it. Some concentrate on inhaling and exhaling. Whatever may be the method, if anyone tries to practise meditation, he is sure to find relaxation. Meditation will help him a great deal to have physical and mental health and to control the mind when it…
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