..续本文上一页as described above, our good impulses and wise reflections will have greater scope to emerge and express themselves freely and spontaneously. Their natural flow will give us greater confidence in the power of the good within us; it will also carry more conviction for others. That spontaneity of the good will not be erratic, for it will have deep and firm roots in previous methodical training. Here appears a way by which a premeditated good thought (sasankharika-kusala) may be transformed into a spontaneous good thought (asankharika-kusala-citta). According to the psychology of the Abhidhamma, such a thought, if combined with knowledge, takes the first place in the scale of ethical values. In this way we shall achieve a practical understanding of a saying in The Secret of the Golden Flower:[7] "If one attains intentionally to an unintentional state one has comprehension." This saying invites a paraphrase in Pali terms: Sasankharena asankharijam pattabbam, "by premeditated intentional effort spontaneity can be won."

　　If the numerous aids to mental growth and liberation found in the Buddha”s teaching are wisely utilized, there is actually nothing that can finally withstand the Satipatthana method; and this method starts with the simple practice of learning to pause and stop for bare attention.

　　SLOWING-DOWN

　　Against the impetuosity, rashness and heedlessness of the untrained mind, the practice of pausing and stopping sets up a deliberate slowing-down. The demands of modern life, however, make it impracticable to introduce such a slow-down of function into the routine of the average working day. But as an antidote against the harmful consequences of the hectic speed of modern life, it is all the more important to cultivate that practice in one”s leisure hours, especially in periods of strict Satipatthana practice. Such practice will also bestow the worldly benefits of greater calm, efficiency and skill in one”s daily round of work.

　　For the purpose of meditative development, slowing-down serves as an effective training in heedfulness, sense-control, and concentration. But apart from that, it has a more specific significance for meditative practice. In the commentary to the Satipatthana Sutta, it is said that the slowing down of movements may help in regaining lost concentration on a chosen object. A monk, so we read, had bent his arm quickly without remembering his subject of meditation as his rule of practice demanded. On becoming aware of that omission he took his arm back to its previous position and repeated the movement mindfully. The subject of meditation referred to was probably "clearly comprehending action," as mentioned in the Satipatthana Sutta: "In bending and stretching he acts with clear comprehension."

　　The slowing-down of certain bodily movements during strict meditative training is particularly helpful in gaining insight-knowledge (vipassana-ñana), especially the direct awareness of change and non-self. To a great extent, it is the rapidity of movement that strengthens the illusions of unity, identity, and substantiality in what is actually a complex evanescent process. Therefore, in the strict practice of Satipatthana, the slowing down of such actions as walking, bending and stretching, so as to discern the several phases of each movement, provides a powerful aid for direct insight into the three characteristics of all phenomena. The meditator”s contemplation will gain increasing force and significance if he notices clearly how each partial phase of the process observed arises and ceases by itself, and nothing of it goes over or "transmigrates" to the next phase.

　　Under the influence of pausing for bare attention, the average rhythm of our everyday actions, speech and thoughts will also become more quiet and …

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