Meditation

　　禅定

　　Meditation is the psychological approach to mental culture, training and purification.

　　禅定是陶冶心智、訓練和淨化心靈的重要途徑。

　　In place of prayer, Buddhist practise meditation for mental culture and for spiritual development. No one can attain Nibbana or salvation without developing the mind through meditation. Any amount of meritorious deeds alone will not lead a person to attain the final goal without the corresponding mental purification. Naturally, the untrained mind is very elusive and persuades people to commit evil and become slaves of the senses. Imagination and emotions always mislead man if his mind is not properly trained. One who knows how to practise meditation will be able to control one”s mind when it is misled by the senses.

　　佛教徒以修學禅定代替祈禱，從而發展心靈力量、陶冶心性。沒有一個人能不透過禅定而發展心識，進而獲得解脫。一個人如果無法淨化自己的心識，有了再大的功德，也無法完成終極的目標──涅槃。自然的，「心」很容易引起幻覺和犯罪的傾向，「心」引導「人」去做感官的奴隸。如果，「心」沒有接受適當的訓練，幻覺和波動的情緒將誤導人們。當一個人知道如何修學禅定時，就能在他的感官起誤導作用時，控製他自己的「心」。

　　Most of the troubles which we are confronting today are due to the untrained and uncultured mind. It is already established that meditation is the remedy for many physical and mental sickness. Medical authorities and great psychologists the world over say that mental frustration, worries, miseries, anxieties, tension and fear are the causes of many diseases, stomach ulcers, gastritis, nervous complaints and mental sickness. And even latent sickness will be aggravated through such mental conditions.

　　今天，大多數人所面對的煩惱和錯誤的觀念，就是因爲我們有一顆未經訓練和不文明的「心」。禅定能有效的治療許多生理和心理的疾病，很多醫學權威和著名的心理學家都認爲，當心理受到挫折，憂郁、悲傷、焦慮、緊張和畏懼所幹擾時，都是造成疾病的因素，如：高血壓、心髒病、腸胃潰瘍、胃病、精神病和各種的心理疾病等。同時，其它存在的疾病，也會因爲這些心理因素而導致加重或惡化。

　　When the conscious ”I” frets too much, worries too much, or grieves too long and too intensely, then troubles develop in the body. Gastric ulcers, tuberculosis, coronary diseases and a host of functional disorders are the products of mental and emotional imbalance. In the case of children, the decay of the teeth and defective eye-sight are frequently related to emotional disorders.

　　當意識到「我」有太多的煩惱、太多的憂郁、太多的悲傷和太緊張時，這些煩惱就在身體中展開，導致高血壓、心髒病、腸胃潰瘍、胃病、精神病和各種心理疾病，這些疾病都是心理與情緒不協調所産生的。在兒童疾病中，齲齒和眼疾，通常與心情不安有相互的關系。

　　Many of these sicknesses and disorders can be avoided if people could spend a few minutes a day to calm their senses through the practice of mediation. Many people do not believe this or are too lazy to practise meditation owing to lack of understanding. Some people say that mediation is only a waste of time. We must remember that every spiritual master in this world attained the highest point of his life through the practice of meditation. They are honored today by millions of people because they have done tremendous service to mankind with their supreme knowledge and patience which they obtained through the practice of meditation.

　　如果，一個人在一天中，能利用幾分鍾的時間，進行禅定的鍛煉，就能避免很多種因身心失調而産生的疾病。很多人不相信或因爲懶惰而不修學禅定，是因爲對禅定缺乏了解，而有些人卻認爲禅定太浪費時間了。我們必須知道，在這世界，所有在精神領域有成就，能達到生命至高點的人，都是從禅定中鍛煉而來的。

　　他們今天被千萬人所崇敬，因爲他們以卓越的智慧爲人類做出巨大的貢獻，而這些智慧就是從禅定中得到的。

　　Meditation should not be a task to which we force ourselves ”with gritted teeth and clenched fists”; it should rather be something that draws us, because it fills us with joy and inspiration. So long as we have to force ourselves, we are not yet ready for meditation. Instead of meditating we are violating our true nature. Instead of relaxing and letting go, we are holding on to our ego, to our will power. In this way meditation becomes a game of ambition, of personal achievement and aggrandizement. Meditation is like love: a spontaneous experience

　　not something that can be forced or acquired by strenuous effort.

　　禅定並不是強迫自己「咬緊牙關，握緊拳頭」的學習，而是放松自己，使自己充滿愉悅和靈感，只要有一點強迫性的存在，就不是在修學禅定。我們不去修學禅定，反而去做那些歪悖真性的事，執著于「我」，執著于感官的欲樂，不肯放松自己和放下自我。如果這樣的話，禅定將變成野心家的遊戲了。爲了想達到個人的欲望而自我膨脹。禅定如同愛，是一種自發性的經驗，不需要強迫也不需要激烈的努力就能獲得。

　　Therefore Buddhist mediation has no other purpose than to bring the mind back into the present, into the state of fully awakened consciousness, by clearing it from all obstacles that have been created by habit or tradition.

　　因此，佛教的禅定並沒有其它目的，而是把「心」帶給現實的生活，進入充滿覺醒的意識狀態，以覺醒的意識狀態來清除業習帶來的障礙。

　　The Buddha obtained His Enlightenment through the development of His mind. He did not seek pine power to help Him. He gained His wisdom through self-effort by practising meditation. To have a healthy body and mind and to have peace in life, one must learn how to practise meditation.

　　佛陀的覺悟是透過他自己努力精進于心靈的發展，並沒有得到「神」的幫助，他從禅定中獲得智慧。要想擁有健全的身心和愉快的生活，就必須修學禅定。

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