..續本文上一頁re and pain, heat and cold and so on) has long since closed down and this is not a physical feeling. It is just ”perceived” as similar to pleasure. Some see a white light, some a gold star, some a blue pearl... the important fact to know is that they are all describing the same phenomena. They all experience the same pure mental object and these different details are added by their different perceptions.

　　其他禅修者的想蘊則選擇以肉體感受來描述心的這種首次顯露，例如極深的平靜或強烈的狂喜。同樣地，[經驗樂與痛、冷與熱等等的] 身識早已關閉，所以這並不是一種肉體感覺，只是被「想」成似是一種悅樂而已。一些人看到白光，一些看到金色的星，一些看到藍寶珠……要知道清楚的是，他們全都是在描述相同的現象、全都是在經驗著相同的純心識對象，只是他們有不同的觀感，所以才加上這些不同的描述細節。

　　You can recognize a nimitta by the following six features:

　　你可以以下六種特點來斷定那是否禅相：

　　1. It appears only after the fifth stage of the meditation, after the meditator has been with the beautiful breath for a long time;

　　2. It appears when the breath disappears;

　　3. It only comes when the external five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch are completely absent;

　　4. It manifests only in the silent mind, when descriptive thoughts (inner speech) are totally absent;

　　5. It is strange but powerfully attractive; and

　　6. It is a beautifully simple object.

　　一、它只出現於第五個禅定階段之後，即在禅修者觀著美妙呼吸已有一段長時間之後；

　　二、它出現於呼吸消失時；

　　叁、它只出現於色、聲、香、味、觸等的外五境完全隱卻之時；

　　四、它只在靜默的心中展現，其時描述性的思維運作 (內部講話) 完全停止；

　　五、它很奇特但極之吸引；

　　六、它是個簡單得美妙的對象。

　　I mention these features so that you may distinguish real nimittas from imaginary ones.

　　我提及這些特點，可讓你可分辨到甚麼是真禅相、甚麼是幻想出來的禅相。

　　 The sixth stage, then, is called experiencing the beautiful nimitta. It is achieved when one lets go of the body, thought, and the five senses (including the awareness of the breath) so completely that only the beautiful nimitta remains.

　　因此，第六階段便名爲「體驗美妙禅相」。當我們把身體、思想和五感官 (包括對呼吸的覺知) 都完全放下，只剩下美妙的禅相時，這便可成就。

　　Sometimes when the nimitta first arises it may appear” dull”. In this case, one should immediately go back to the previous stage of the meditation, continuous silent awareness of the beautiful breath. One has moved to the nimitta too soon. Sometimes the nimitta is bright but unstable, flashing on and off like a lighthouse beacon and then disappearing. This too shows that you have left he beautiful breath too early. One must be able to sustain one”s attention on the beautiful breath with ease for a long, long time before the mind is capable of maintaining clear attention on the far more subtle nimitta. So train the mind on the beautiful breath, train it patiently and diligently, then when it is time to go on to the nimitta, it is bright, stable and easy to sustain.

　　有些時候，當禅相首次生起，可能會很「暗淡」，在此情況下，你應立刻返回前一個階段，即對美妙呼吸的持續默然覺知階段，你轉去禅相轉得太快了。又有些時候，禅相很明亮但不穩定，如燈塔的燈光般亮下熄下，然後更消失掉。同樣，這顯示出你是太早離開了美妙的呼吸。禅相遠比呼吸微細很多，你必須能輕易地將注意力保持在美妙的呼吸上一段很長的時間，然後心才能把清晰的注意力保持在禅相上。所以，先在美妙的呼吸上好好地把心修練好，耐心勤奮地修練，然後，當是時候轉移至禅相上時，禅相便會明亮、穩定和容易保持。

　　The main reason why the nimitta can appear dull is that the depth of contentment is too shallow. You are still ”wanting” something. Usually, you are wanting the bright nimitta or you are wanting Jhana. Remember, and this is important, Jhanas are states of letting go, incredibly deep states of contentment. So give away the hungry m, ind, develop contentment on the beautiful breath and the nimitta and Jhana will happen by themselves.

　　禅相暗淡的主要原因，是你的滿足程度太淺的緣故，你仍然「想要」些甚麼。通常的情況是，你想要有明亮的禅相，或你想要禅那。記住，這是很重要的，禅那是放下的狀態、是十分深層的滿足狀態。因此，送走那饑餓的心，於美妙呼吸上發展出滿足吧，然後禅相和禅那便會自然出現。

　　Put another way, the reason why the nimitta is unstable is because the” doer” just will not stop interfering. The” doer” is the controller, the back seat driver, always getting involved where it does not belong and messing everything up. This meditation is a natural process of coming to rest and it requires ”you” to get out of the way completely. Deep meditation only occurs when you really let go, and this means REALLY LET GO to the point that the process becomes inaccessibl…

《正定初階 The Basic Method of Meditation》全文未完，請進入下頁繼續閱讀…