A FOREST DHAMMA PUBLICATION OF BAAN TAAD FOREST MONASTERY

　　PART 1

　　ARAHATTAMAGGA

　　The Direct Route to the End of All Suffering

　　阿羅漢向：滅苦正道*

　　A Compilation of Venerable Acariya Maha Boowa”s Dhamma Talks

　　About the Development of His Meditation Practice.

　　阿姜摩诃布瓦尊者自身禅修經曆的開示彙編

　　At present, all that is left of Buddhism are the words of the Buddha. Only his teachings—the scriptures—remain. Please be aware of this. Due to the corruption caused by the defiling nature of the kilesas, true spiritual principles are no longer practiced in present-day Buddhism. As Buddhists, we constantly allow our minds to be agitated and confused, engulfed in mental defilements that assail us from every direction. They so overpower our minds that we never rise above these contaminating influences, no matter how hard we try. The vast majority of people are not even interested enough to try: They simply close their eyes and allow the onslaught to overwhelm them. They don”t even attempt to put up the least amount of resistance. Since they lack the mindfulness needed to pay attention to the consequences of their thoughts, all their thinking and all they do and say are instances of the kilesas giving them a beating. They surrendered to the power of these ruinous forces such a long time ago that they now lack any motivation to restrain their wayward thoughts. When mindfulness is absent, the kilesas work with impunity, day and night, in every sphere of activity. In the process, they increasingly burden and oppress the hearts and minds of people everywhere with dukkha.

　　今的佛教，僅剩下佛陀的語言文字，只有他的教導——經文——還保留著。請注意這點。如今佛教界受到煩惱染汙的侵蝕，已經沒有真正的修行。身爲佛教徒，我們一直讓自己的心混亂和迷惑，沈沒在煩惱中，被其全方位地痛擊。這些煩惱已製伏我們的心，使到我們不管多麼努力，都無法反抗它們的影響。絕大部分人甚至連嘗試抵抗的意志都沒有：他們只是閉上眼睛，任由煩惱的攻擊落在身上，根本不願作出任何的努力去抗拒。由于缺乏念住去觀察心念的影響，他們的思想和一切行爲語言都成了煩惱的表現。長久以來他們都屈服于墮落的力量，以至現在缺乏動力來製伏妄念。沒有了念住，煩惱就放肆妄爲，夜以繼日地影響一切層面的行爲。在這過程中，煩惱不斷施加負擔與壓力，使人們的心識受苦。

　　In the time of the Buddha, his direct disciples were true practitioners of the way of Buddhism. They renounced the world for the express purpose of transcending dukkha. Regardless of their social status, age or gender, when they ordained under the Buddha”s guidance, they changed their habitual ways of thinking, acting, and speaking to the way of Dhamma. Casting the kilesas aside, the disciples ceased to follow their lead from that moment on. With earnest effort, they directed all their energy toward purifying their hearts and cleansing them of the contamination created by the kilesas.

　　佛陀時代，隨佛出家的弟子是佛教真正的修行者，他們爲了盡快超越苦而舍棄世間。在佛陀座下出家受教後，不管之前的社會地位、年齡或性別如何，他們都如法地改變舊有的思想、行爲和語言習慣。那些弟子們從那時起就把煩惱舍棄一旁，不再受擺布。他們誠心誠意精進用功，消除煩惱染汙，淨化內心。

　　In essence, earnest effort is synonymous with a meditator”s endeavor to maintain steady and continuous mindful awareness, always striving to keep a constant watch on the mind.

　　從根本上來說，誠心修行的意思是修行者努力地保持穩定的念住覺知，不斷地觀察心念。當念住無時無刻不在覺察著我們一切的姿勢、所有的思維與情緒活動時，這就是“正精進”。

　　When mindfulness oversees all our mental and emotional activities, at all times in all postures, this is called “right effort”. Whether we”re engaged in formal meditation practice or not, if we earnestly endeavor to keep our minds firmly focused in the present moment, we constantly offset the threat posed by the kilesas. The kilesas work tirelessly to churn out thoughts of the past and the future. This distracts the mind, drawing it away from the present moment, and from the mindful awareness that maintains our effort.

　　不管我們是否在進行正式的禅修，只要誠心地努力讓我們的心專注于當下，就能持續製止煩惱發出的威脅。煩惱會無止息地炮製過去與未來的念頭，擾亂心，把心拖離當下，拖離維持修行的念住覺知。

　　For this reason, meditators should not allow their minds to wander into worldly thoughts about the past or the future. Such thinking is invariably bound up with the kilesas, and thus, hinders practice. Instead of following the tendency of the kilesas to focus externally on the affairs of the world outside, meditat…

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