WHY DO WE SPEAK OF A “CONVENTIONAL” CITTA and an “absolutely pure” citta
Are they actually two different cittas
Not at all. It remains the same citta. When it is controlled by conventional realities, such as kilesas and ãsavas, that is one condition of the citta. But when the faculty of wisdom has scrubbed it clean until this condition has totally disintegrated, the true citta, the true Dhamma, the one that can stand the test, will not disintegrate and disappear along with it. Only the conditions of anicca, dukkha and anattã, which infiltrate the citta, actually disappear.
爲什麼我們要分“世俗”的心和“絕對解脫”的心？它們是兩個不同的心嗎？不盡然如此，它們還是同一個心。當世俗的真實，例如煩惱和漏控製著它時，這是心的一個狀態。當智慧功能淨化這狀況使到它徹底地崩潰分解，那可經得起考驗的，真正的心、真正的法，不會與之一起崩潰消失。只有那滲入心的無常、苦和無我的狀態會消失。
No matter how subtle the kilesas may be, they are still conditioned by anicca, dukkha, and anattã, and therefore, must be conventional phenomena. Once these things have completely disintegrated, the true citta, the one that has transcended conventional reality, becomes fully apparent. This is called the citta”s Absolute Freedom, or the citta”s Absolute Purity. All connections continuing from the citta”s previous condition have been severed forever. Now utterly pure, the citta”s essential knowing nature remains alone on its own.
不論煩惱多麼的微細，它仍然受無常、苦和無我所支配，所以必然只是世間相。一旦它徹底崩潰，那真正的心、超越世俗谛的心，就會全面地展現。這稱作心的絕對解脫，或心的絕對清淨。一切之前和心的聯系已經永遠截斷，現在只是絕對的清淨，心知道的根本特性自己單獨存在。
We cannot say where in the body this essential knowing nature is centered. Previously, with the conventional citta, it formed a prominent point that we could clearly see and know. For example, in samãdhi we knew that it was centered in the middle of the chest because the knowing quality of our awareness stood out prominently there. The calm, the brightness, and the radiance appeared to emanate conspicuously from that point. We could see this for ourselves. All meditators whose level of calm has reached the very base of samãdhi realize that the center of “what knows” stands out prominently in the region of the heart. They will not argue that it is centered in the brain, as those who have no experience in the practice of samãdhi are always claiming.
我們不能說這知道的根本特性集中在身體的哪個部位。這之前，世俗的心，形成一個明顯的點，讓我們可以看見並知道。比如在叁摩地中，我們知道它位于胸口中心，因爲覺知那能知的特性很明顯處在那裏。平靜、明亮和光輝從那一點耀眼地顯示出來，我們自己可以看見。所有禅定能入基本叁摩地的禅修行者都會明了“能知”的中心明顯地在胸口。他們不會辨稱它在頭腦裏，就像那些沒有叁摩地經驗的人通常說的那樣。
But when the same citta has been cleansed until it is pure, that center then disappears. One can no longer say that the citta is located above or below, or that it is situated at any specific point in the body. It is now pure awareness, a knowing quality that is so subtle and refined that it transcends all conventional designations whatsoever. Still, in saying that it is “exceedingly refined”, we are obliged to use a conventional figure of speech that cannot possibly express the truth; for, of course, the notion of extreme refinement is itself a convention. Since this refined awareness does not have a point or a center, it is impossible to specifically locate its position. There is only that essential knowing, with absolutely nothing infiltrating it. Although it still exists amid the same khandhas with which it used to intermix, it no longer shares any common characteristics with them. It is a world apart. Only then do we know clearly that the body, the khandhas, and the citta are all distinct and separate realities.
可是當這顆同樣的心徹底淨化之後，那個中心就消失了。我們不再說心位于上或下，或安住在身體的哪個部位。現在它是純淨的覺知，一個那麼微細精致，超越一切世俗稱謂的知道的特性。當我們說“特別的精致”，是因爲世間的語言無法表達真相，當然用絕對的精致這樣的說法也是相對的。由于這微細的覺知沒有一個點或中心，它不可能安住在某一部位。它只是知道的根本特性，絕對沒有任何東西滲透進去。雖然它仍然在諸蘊中，這些蘊跟之前心和它們混合一起時一樣，可是此時心不再和它們擁有任何相同的性質，那是兩個不同的世界。只有至此我們才清楚知道身體、蘊和心是完全不同和分開的實相。