..續本文上一頁ll. At that point the body feels like a cloud of mist, little points of sensation, and each little sensation has the potential to be any one of these four properties. When your sense of the body is reduced to what the French would call pointillism, it”s a lot easier, simply with a thought, to emphasize either the heaviness or the lightness, the movement, the warmth or the coolness of those sensations, the sensation-potentials you”ve got there. This way you accomplish two things at once. On the one hand you balance out the body. Whenever one type of sensation feels too oppressive, you can think of the opposing sensation to balance it out. On the other, you start seeing the role of present intention in your awareness, in your experience of the present moment in a very visceral way.
你可以在定的任何階段這樣做，不過在氣寂止時最有效。那時候，身感像一團霧，一團細小的覺點，每個小覺知都有成爲這四種元素之任一的潛勢。當你的身感還原到法語所說的 pointillism——“點彩”時[5]，要想只用一個意念，來強化諸身感之中的重性或者輕性，動性或者暖性、涼性，做起來就容易多了，那些覺受潛勢你那裏已經存在著。這樣你同時成就了兩件事。一方面，你平衡了身體。任何時候，你覺得某一種覺受過于壓抑，你可以觀想對立的那個覺受，使之平衡。另一方面，你在以一種極其切身的方式體驗當下的過程中，開始看見當下的動機在你的覺知中的作用。
When things grow very still and balanced in terms of these four properties, with this mist of potential sensations that can go in any direction(any kind of sensation
), you can also focus on the space between the points. Realize that the space is boundless. It goes through the body and out in all directions. Just think that: “infinite space.” Stay with the sensation of infinite space that comes along with the perception. The potential for it is always there; it”s simply that the perception arouses it. It”s a very pleasant state to get in. Things seem a lot less solid, a lot less oppressive. You don”t feel so trapped in the body.
當這四元素達到極其寂止、平衡，存在這股可以朝任一[身感的]方向轉化的覺受潛勢之霧時，你也可以專注那些點之間的空間。你要意識到，那個空間是無邊界的。它穿過身體，朝向各個方向。你就觀想：“無限空間。” 定在隨著那個辨識而來的無限空間感中。該潛勢是一直在那裏的；只不過那個辨識把它喚起了。進入這個狀態裏是極其愉悅的。那裏似乎堅硬感弱了許多，壓抑感弱了許多。被困在身內的感覺也不那麼強了。
Ajaan Fuang once had a student, an old woman, who started practicing meditation with him when he was getting ready to leave Wat Asokaram. After he left, she had to practice on her own for quite a while. One evening, when she was sitting in meditation with the group in the meditation hall, a voice came to her and said, “You”re going to die tonight.” She was a little taken aback, but then she reminded herself, “Well, if I”m going to die, the best way is to die meditating.” So she just sat there and watched to see what would happen as the body dies, to see what it would be like. There was an actual sensation of the body beginning to fall apart. “All of the various properties were going their separate ways,” she said, “like a house on fire. There was no place in the body where you could focus your awareness and have any sense of comfort at all.” So for a moment she felt lost, but then she remembered, “Well, there”s the space property.” So she focused in on the space property, and all that sense of the house on fire suddenly disappeared. There was a very strong sense of infinite space. There was always the potential to go back to the body. (This is something you”ll notice when you”re at this point in your meditation: There are the spots that could provide a potential for the form of the body but you chose not to focus on them. Instead you focus on the sense of space in between and all around. There”s a sense of boundlessness that goes with it.
阿姜放過去有個弟子，是一位老婦人，前來開始跟他學修禅定時，他正在准備離開阿育王寺。等他離開後，很長時間裏她不得不自己修練。有天晚上，她在禅堂與大家共修時，有一個聲音來對她說，“今晚你會死。” 她有點吃驚，不過，她接著提醒自己，“ 好吧，如果要死，最好是死在禅定當中。”于是她就坐在那裏，觀察身體死去時發生什麼。真有一種身體開始破散的感覺。“各種元素都各自分開，走自己的路，”她說，“就像一座著火的房子。身內沒有一處可以讓覺知安定下來，得到舒適感。”于是，有一陣子，她不知所措，不過接著她想起來：“噢，還有空間元素。”于是她就定入了空間元素，所有那些房子著火的感覺突然消失了。有一股極其強烈的無限空間感。回到身體的可能性總是存在的。(你的禅定達到這個程度時將會注意到這一點：有些部位可以提供體形的潛勢，不過你選擇不專注那裏[6]。而是專注它們相互之間和四周的那個空間感。伴隨著它的是一股無邊無界之感。)
When she came out of meditat…
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