..續本文上一頁y with me for not ringing the bell to end the meditation early enough. In the later meditations she got into a beautiful peaceful state and was angry with me for ringing the bell too soon. The sessions were all the same length, exactly one hour. You just can”t win as a teacher, ringing the bell!
最近一次，我在悉尼主持一個禅期，面談中，一位女士對我說，她一整天都遷怒於我，原因有兩個。在早段的禅坐中，她修得很辛苦吃力，她遷怒於我，因爲我不早些打鍾；在後段的禅坐中，她進入了很美妙的平靜狀態，但卻因爲嫌我過早打鍾，所以又遷怒於我。其實每一節的時間都相同，正正一小時。唉，做老師連打鍾也不討好！
This is what happens when you go anticipating the future, thinking, ”How many more minutes until the bell goes
” That is where you torture, yourself, where you pick up a heavy burden that is none of your business. So be very careful not to pick up the heavy suitcase of ”How many more minutes are there to go
” or ”What should I do next
” If that is what you are thinking, then you are not paying attention to what is happening now. You are not doing the meditation. You have lost the plot and are asking for trouble.
這便是當你一面打坐，一面期望未來，想著「還有幾多分鍾才響鍾」時所會發生的事，這正是你自己折磨自己、背上與你無關的沈重負擔之所在。所以，要很小心，不要背上「還有幾多分鍾？」或「之後我應怎樣做？」等等這些重擔。若你心中想著的便是這些，那麼你便不是在注意著當下所發生的事，你不是在禅修，你已失卻當下，自招煩惱。
In this stage of the meditation keep your attention right in the present moment, to the point where you don”t even know what day it is or what time it is-morning
afternoon
--don”t know! All you know is what moment it is-right now! In this way you arrive at this beautiful monastic time scale where you are just meditating in the moment, not aware of how many minutes have gone or how many remain, not even remembering what day it is.
在此禅修階段中，你應把注意力保持在正正的當下，你要做到甚至不知道今天是星期幾，或現在是甚麼時間——早上？下午？——不知道！你所知道的只是心正在哪個時刻——當下！如是地，你進入了此種美妙的寺院時間尺度，你只是於當下禅修，不知道已過了多久，或還有多久，甚至記不起是哪一天。
Once, as a young monk in Thailand, I had actually forgotten what year it was! It is marvellous living in that realm that is timeless, a realm so much more free than the time-driven world we usually have to live in. In the timeless realm, you experience this moment, just as all wise beings have been experiencing this same moment for thousands of years. It has always been just like this, no different. You have come into the reality of ”now”.
有一次在泰國，我仍是一個年青僧人時，我當時的的確確已忘了是哪一年！生活於那種沒有時間的領域中，比生活於我們平日受製於時間的世界裏要自由得多，實在非凡。在無時間的領域中，你體驗到此當下的刹那，就正像所有智者數千年以來一直都體驗到此相同的刹那一樣。它一直以來都就是這樣，沒有不同。你已進入了「當下」的實相。
The reality of now is magnificent and awesome. When you have abandoned all past and all future, it is as if you have come alive. You are here, you are mindful. This is the first stage of the meditation, just this mindfulness sustained only in the present. Reaching here, you have done a great deal. You have let go of the first burden which stops deep meditation. So put forth a lot of effort to reach this first stage until it is strong, firm and well established. Next we will refine the present moment awareness into the second stage of the meditation - silent awareness of the present moment.
當下的實相是很非凡、很令人驚歎的。能抛棄掉所有過去和未來，就好像獲得重生一樣。你沒有走失，你有念住，這就是第一個禅定階段——只有這念住，僅是維持在當下。你達到這一步，已是做了很多了，你已擺脫掉妨礙深層禅定的第一重障礙。因此，應花多點勁來達到這第一階段，直至它很強勁、牢固、堅穩。接著，我們會把當下的覺知精煉至下一階段——當下的默然覺知。
PART 2
第二部
”Silence is so much more productive of wisdom and clarity than thinking. ”
靜默遠比思維活動更能生出智慧和清明。
In part 1, I outlined the goal of this meditation, which is the beautiful silence, stillness and clarity of mind, pregnant with the most profound of insights. Then I pointed out the underlying theme which runs like an unbroken thread throughout all meditation, that is the letting go of material and mental burdens. Lastly, in Part 1, I described at length the practice which leads to what I call the first stage of this meditation, and that first stage is attained when the meditator comfortably abides in the present moment for long, unbroken periods of time. I made the point that ”The reality of now is magnificent…
《正定初階 The Basic Method of Meditation》全文未完，請進入下頁繼續閱讀…