..續本文上一頁There are two things beginning meditators should search for as external aids to their practice:
對于初學坐禅者而言，有兩事外緣需尋求：
1. Suitable companions (puggala-sappaya): Be judicious in choosing people to associate with. Search only for companions who have peace of mind. This can be any group at all, as long as the group as a whole is aiming for mental peace.
1. 同參道友(puggala-sappaya)：當明智選擇心靜而意趣相投的同參，這可以是任何團體，只要大家都是平和心靈的尋求者即可。
2. A suitable location (senasana-sappaya): Choose a quiet place with an agreeable atmosphere, far from human society. Places of this sort, providing physical seclusion, are conducive to the practice of meditation. Examples listed in the Canon include caverns and caves, the shade of an over-hanging cliff-face, the forest wilderness, and empty houses or buildings where not too many people will come passing by. Places like this are an excellent aid and support for a beginning meditator.
2. 恰當的場所(senasana-sappaya)：選擇一處靜谧、惬意的所在，遠離人群愦鬧。像這樣的場所可令行人保持隱居的狀態，從而易于修禅。經典中對此的描述是：大小山洞，懸崖峭壁上的背陰處，野外森林，或者人迹罕至的空曠房屋。如上所舉場所，對于初學坐禅的行者而言，皆可視爲理想的助緣。
Finally, according to the Gemstones, if one clings to worldly desires, one is “tied to becoming.” To help detach from desires, one needs to further abandon the five fetters. The Digha Nikāya states that when five hindrances are abandoned, one sees “gladness arises within him; thus gladdened, rapture arises in him; and when he is rapturous his body becomes tranquil.” After these kinds of efforts have been completed, then one is ready for the practice of the śamatha and vipaśyanā meditation. These ideas are respectively presented in the chapter IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII of The Basic Principles. The last two chapters illustrate the benefits that a practitioner of śamatha and vipaśyanā meditation can attain.
如是之後，則需诃欲，棄五蓋。《寶石經》雲：“貪欲故有生。” 至于棄五蓋，《長阿含經》以爲：當行人舍棄五蓋之後，輕安喜樂隨起，則身心寂然。 在具足這樣的條件之下，行者可以進而修習止觀。這一點，我們可以從《童蒙止觀》一書的第四，五，六，七，八章中讀到。第九、第十章則闡述了，通過止觀的修習，行者可以獲得切身的真實利益。
Shi Zhenguan October 17, 2011
Los Angeles
釋振冠
2011年冬
于美國洛杉矶
Preface [from Master Yuanzhao]
序
There are four Tiantai texts on meditation. First, The Complete and Immediate Meditation, which Venerable Master Zhiyi once preached at Yuquan 玉泉monastery in Jingzhou 荊州, was recorded by his disciple Zhangan 章安in ten volumes. Second, The Mystic Trance and Wisdom, or Gradual Meditation, which the Master discoursed at Waguan 瓦官monastery, was first recorded by his disciple Fashen 法慎in thirty volumes, later edited to ten by Zhangan. Third, the Irregular Meditation, or the Six Wonderful Doors of Dharma, is the one that once Minister Chen陳尚書 demanded Mao Xi 毛喜to invite the Master to teach; it is one volume in total. Fourth is entitled The Basic Principles of Caming (Śamatha) and Insight (Vipaśyanā) Meditaion, taught by the Master to his lay, elder brother Chen Zhen 陳針.
天臺止觀有四本：一曰《圓頓止觀》，大師于荊州玉泉寺說，章安記爲十卷；二曰漸次止觀，在瓦官寺說，弟子法慎記，本叁十卷，章安治定爲十卷，今《禅波羅蜜》是；叁曰不定止觀。即陳尚書令毛喜請大師出，有一卷，今《六妙門》是；四曰小止觀，即今文是，大師爲俗兄陳針出。
The keynotes of the great Tripiṭaka and the vital accesses for arriving at enlightenment are śamatha and vipaśyanā, absorption and understanding, silencing and shining, clearness and calmness. They are different in terms but similar in origin. If we delve deeply into the springhead of Ten-thousand Dharmas and verify the accomplishment that all Buddhas have achieved, there should be nothing other than śamatha and vipaśyanā. What the great Master of Tiantai inherited from the peak of Gṛdhrakūṭa is the teaching of śamatha and vipaśyanā; The wonderful enlightenment the Master accomplished on Mt. Dasu大蘇山 was the result of the practice of śamatha and vipaśyanā meditation. All stages of Samādhi that the Master had ever achieved were through the practice of śamatha and vipa&…
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