..續本文上一頁ors must focus internally and become aware of the mind”s inner world. This is essential.

　　因此，禅修者不應該讓心遊蕩于過去與未來的俗念。這類妄念無疑會受煩惱控製，進而障礙修行。禅修者必須往內專注于覺知內心世界，而不是受煩惱影響往外攀緣注意外面的世界，這點非常重要。

　　Largely because they are not sufficiently resolute in applying basic principles of meditation, many meditators fail to gain satisfactory results. I always teach my pupils to be very precise in their pursuit and to have a clear and specific focus in their meditation. That way they are sure to get good results. It is important to find a suitable object of attention to properly prepare the mind for this kind of work. I usually recommend a preparatory meditation-word whose continuous mental repetition acts as an anchor that quickly grounds the meditator”s mind in a state of meditative calm and concentration. If a meditator simply focuses attention on the presence of awareness in the mind without a meditation-word to anchor him, the results are bound to be hit and miss. The mind”s knowing presence is too subtle to give mindfulness a firm basis, so the mind soon strays into thinking and distraction—lured by the siren call of the kilesas. Meditation practice then becomes patchy. At certain times it seems to progress smoothly, almost effortlessly, only to become suddenly and unexpectedly difficult. It falters, and all apparent progress disappears. With its confidence shaken, the mind is left floundering. However, if we use a meditation-word as an anchor to solidly ground our mindfulness, then the mind is sure to attain a state of meditative calm and concentration in the shortest possible time. It will also have the means to maintain that calm state with ease.

　　許多禅者修不到滿意的成果，主要是因爲他們對修行的基本原則不夠堅持。我通常教導弟子們要有非常明確的修行目標，禅修要有個清晰具體的專注點，這樣他們肯定會獲得好成果。選擇一個適合的專注對象，把心調整好來進行這類工作，是非常重要的。一般上我會建議藉著內心不斷持念一個入門的念誦詞，把它當作錨，那樣禅修者的心會很快靜下來入定。假如禅修者只是專注于心當下的知覺，沒有以念誦詞作爲錨拴住心，那修行成果將會是時好時壞，這是因爲心的知覺太微細了，無法成爲念住穩固的基礎，很快的心會受煩惱引誘，迷失于妄想與幹擾。這樣一來禅修就變得不一貫，有時它會進行得順暢，不費吹灰之力，然後突然毫無預兆地困難起來，整個修行變得搖擺不定，所有表面的進展都消失無蹤。此時信心會受到打擊，心會陷入掙紮當中。但假使我們用念誦詞作爲錨來鞏固念住，那麼心就肯定能在最短的時間內靜下來證入禅定，並能以這個方便輕易地保持住定境。

　　I am speaking here from personal experience. When I first began to meditate, my practice lacked a solid foundation. Since I had yet to discover the right method to look after my mind, my practice was in a state of constant flux. It would make steady progress for awhile only to decline rapidly and fall back to its original untutored condition. Due to the intense effort I exerted in the beginning, my mind succeeded in attaining a calm and concentrated state of samadhi. It felt as substantial and stable as a mountain. Still lacking a suitable method for maintaining this state, I took it easy and rested on my laurels. That was when my practice suffered a decline. My practice began to deteriorate, but I didn”t know how to reverse the decline. So I thought long and hard, trying to find a firm basis on which I could expect to stabilize my mind. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that mindfulness had deserted me because my fundamentals were wrong: I lacked a meditation-word to act as a precise focus for my attention.

　　我會從個人的經驗說起。開始禅修時，我的修行缺乏穩固的基礎。由于還未找到正確的方法守護我的心，我的修行一直漂浮不定。它會穩定地進展一陣子，然後迅速地退墮，掉回到原來還未修行的程度。由于我在開始階段勤奮用功，心成功地進入平靜專注的叁摩地，感覺到像座山那麼堅固穩定。盡管此時還未掌握適當的方法保持這個境界，我卻漫不經心地滿足于自己的成就了。就在這一點，我的修行遭遇退步了。雖然修行開始退墮，而我卻不知道要如何扭轉情況。這讓我花了很長時間艱苦摸索，嘗試找出一個堅固的基礎來穩住我的心。最後我得出結論：念住棄我而去是因爲基礎打錯了——我缺乏一個念誦詞作爲念住精確的專注點。

　　I was forced to begin my practice anew. This time I first drove a stake firmly into the ground and held tightly to it no matter what happened. That stake was buddho, the recollection of the Buddha. I made the meditation-word buddho the sole object of my attention. I focused on the mental repetition of buddho to the exclusion of everything else. Buddho became my sole objective even as I made sure that mindfulness was always in control to d…

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