What is so good about samadhi

　　定有什麼好？

　　Why should we meditate regularly

　　 We are slowly cultivating samadhi. When you first begin to meditate, of course your mind cannot enter samadhi. In an instant, your mind travels to heaven, to hell, to where the Buddhas or Bodhisattvas are, and before long you are back with horses, cows, sheep, or dogs. It needs no bus ticket and travels wherever it pleases. It is because you cannot control your mind—you have no samadhi. Now, when you do not want your mind to travel wherever it pleases, you are cultivating samadhi.

　　Someone may say, “It is good not to have samadhi! For example, look at dancers; they are always happily jumping around. What is the use of cultivating samadhi

　　 You become like a log or a statue sitting there. It is too rigid!” What is good about samadhi

　　 Originally there was nothing good about samadhi, but you cultivators who want to open up your wisdom must cultivate samadhi. Without samadhi, your wisdom cannot shine forth. If you have a monkey mind, you then have no samadhi and you will not have any wisdom at all. Wisdom comes from samadhi. If you do not want to be ignorant anymore, you have to cultivate samadhi!

　　爲什麼要常打坐呢？就是一點一點在修定。初學的時候，你的心裏沒有定力，一會兒跑到天上，又一會兒跑到地獄；忽而跑到佛那兒，忽而又跑到菩薩那兒，不久又跑到馬牛羊雞犬豕裏邊。它不需要買車票，天堂地獄隨意都可以到，什麼地方都去，就因爲沒有定。現在不要你的心東跑西跑、南跑北跑、上跑下跑，這是在修定。有人說：「『不定』那是最好的，你看跳舞都是跳跳鑽鑽的，哪有個定？定有什麼意思，像個木頭似的，木雕泥像坐在那個地方，有什麼好？我覺得這太死板了！」定有什麼好處？本來定是沒有什麼好處，不過你們想要修定的人，想要開智慧，就一定要修定；你沒有定，就沒有智慧。你的心散亂，就是沒有定，也就不會有智慧，智慧是由定那裏來的。你想要不愚癡嗎？就要修定！