把握當下的覺

　　Maintaining Mindfulness in the Present Moment

　　朱逸飛講于萬佛城大殿1998年1月28日by Yifei Zhu at the Buddha Hall of the City of 10,000 Buddhas on Jan. 28, 1998

　　All Good Knowing Advisors! My name is Yifei Zhu. Today I will talk about mindfulness. In Buddhism mindfulness usually carries two meanings: first, mindfulness after enlightenment, which is Samyaksambodhi; and second, mindfulnessbefore enlightenment. I”d like to discuss the second one here. Because of this mindfulness, we have the chance to get enlightened. This mindfulnessalso can be called “false enlightenment”. But the “true” and the “false” are not totally separate from each other. We cannot reach true enlightenment without understanding false enlightenment. So, I will discuss what mindfulnessbefore enlightenment is and how we can maintain mindfulnessin our cultivation.

　　各位善知識，我叫朱逸飛。今天我想講「覺」。「覺」字在佛學上有兩層的意思，一個是開悟以後的正等正覺，我不敢去講這個境界。第二個，就是悟以前的覺，我們就是依覺而悟的。這個覺也可以稱爲是妄覺，但是真妄不二，要覺悟就離不開妄覺。所以我在這裏談一下什麼是這個悟前的覺，然後如何從修行中把握這個覺。

　　I was led to investigate mindfulness because after I had practiced intensive insight meditation in the Theravada tradition for several days, I reported my experience to a Theravada monk. He told me, “Your awareness lagged behind the event. You should always be in the present moment. If you are disturbed by something else, you may leave the object of mindfulness temporarily, but you should not leave the present moment.” His instructions were different from what I had learned about meditation before. I used to believe that I should never be apart from my object of investigation. I felt confused as I considered this problem after our conversation. Later, while I was sitting, a thought suddenly arose: “Being in the present moment is mindfulness; being away from the present moment is thinking. In cultivation, we should abide in mindfulness.” My confusion disappeared at that time.

　　我開始探討覺，是在我按照南傳的精進慧觀禅修法修了幾先天之後，當時我將心得請教了一位南傳的法師，他跟我說：「你的觀照在時間上落後。」他說：「你應當抓住當下的時刻，如果有外來幹擾你的所緣。你可以暫時離開那個所緣，但不要離開當下的時刻。」他這個說法，與我以前修禅定的知識，就有了出入，以前我一直認爲要緊守所緣的。那天，我就不斷地思考這個當下和禅定的關系，頭腦也有點混亂了。後來在打坐中，忽然間有一個念頭閃過，當下就是覺；離開當下就是念，修行修定應該定在覺上。這時，我感到心裏的混亂消失了。

　　After arriving at the City, I read many Sutras and meditated seriously in order to understand mindfulness. My understanding now is: mindfulness is very critical for anyone who truly wants to cultivate. Without mindfulness, our cultivation cannot reach high levels, much less end the cycle of birth and death. Here, I”d like to give a definition of mindfulness: What is mindfulness

　　 It”s the awareness that is clear, continuous, and in the present moment. These are the three conditions for mindfulness. If any one of them is missing, mindfulness loses its meaning. For example, without being in the present moment, mindfulnessbecomes thinking. There is attachment because the consciousness dwells on past events. Without the condition of the clear awareness, mindfulness becomes dull. Without the condition of continuity, mindfulness does not have power. It cannot see the reality of phenomena, and wisdom will not arise. Therefore, the essence of meditation is mindfulness. Only in mindfulness can we have both concentration and wisdom.

　　針對這個「覺」，來到聖城以後我就參看了很多經書，並且配合自己打坐。我現在的理解是：這個「覺」是我們每個想要真修行的人，必須具備的。沒有這個「覺」，修行沒有辦法深入，了生死也不可能。這裏我對這個「覺」下一個定義。什麼是「覺」呢？「覺」就是清晰的，連續不斷的，當下的覺知。離開了這叁個條件中的任何一個條件都不成爲覺。譬如你離開了當下時刻的覺知，那就成爲念了，就有執著。因爲你的意識停留在已過去的事件當中；離開了清晰這個條件，覺知就暗鈍麻木了；離開了連續不斷這個條件，覺就沒有力量，不能透視事物的實相，沒有法子産生智慧。所以說修慧的本質是在于覺；只有定在覺上才是定慧等持。

　　In any Buddhist practice, the establishment of mindfulness is the basic skill for giving rise to wisdom from concentration. It does not specifically belong to either Theravada or Mahayana. How can we establish mindfulness in our cultivation

　　 We can learn this from the three characteristics of mindfulness.

　　建立這個覺，實際上是每一個佛教法門當中由定發慧基…

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