控制妄想的秘诀

　　The Secret to Controlling Random Thoughts

　　结双跏趺坐，能消灭无量劫的业障，能了生死，生出无量功德。

　　Sitting in the lotus posture can eradicate karmic obstacles gathered over limitless eons,

　　end birth and death, and generate limitless merit and virtue.

　　万佛圣城每年都有几个禅七，每次七天。每年在弥陀圣诞时，先打一个佛七，然后连着又打三个禅七，为期二十一天。每年参加者，都是有始有终，功德圆满。今年希望参加者，也要贯彻始终，不可半途而废，退出禅堂；否则前功尽弃，浪费时间，一无所得。

　　The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas holds several Chan Meditation Sessions each year, each session lasting seven days. Every year when it”s time to celebrate Amitabha Buddha”s Anniversary, we first hold a seven-day Buddha Recitation Session, and then we hold a Chan Meditation Session for three weeks in a row, lasting a total of twenty-one days. Every year, those who take part come at the start and stay till the finish, so that their merit and virtue is complete. I hope this year”s participants will plan to stay for the duration of the session, and not quit halfway through and leave the Chan Hall, or else they”ll lose the virtue they have amassed. Having wasted their time, they”ll gain no benefit at all.

　　打坐的姿势，要端然正坐，腰要直，头要正，不可前俯，不可后仰，不可左斜，不可右歪，然后结双跏趺坐，就是把左脚放在右腿上，再把右脚搬到左腿上，这才合乎标准。因为结双跏趺坐容易入定，所以叫「降魔座」，又叫「金刚座」，又叫「莲华座」，这种姿势能消灭无量劫的业障，能了生死，生出无量功德。

　　The posture of meditation is to sit up straight and erect. Straighten your back, hold your head up properly, and don”t tip forward or tilt backwards. Lean neither to the left nor to the right. Cross your legs into the full-lotus position, that is, put your left foot on top of your right thigh, then your right foot on top of your left thigh. This is the standard posture for meditation. Because the full-lotus posture makes it easier to enter samadhi, it”s known as the "demon-quelling posture" or the "vajra posture." It”s also known as the "lotus posture." Sitting this way can eradicate limitless karmic obstacles gathered over eons; it can put an end to birth and death, and generate a limitless amount of merit and virtue.

　　在一开始打坐时，必须练习这种基本的坐姿，再调整身体，眼观鼻，鼻观口，口观心，这是控制妄想的秘诀。然后将呼吸调匀，不急不缓，使其自然。这时再参「念佛是谁？」时间久了，就会起作用。

　　It”s necessary to practice this posture when you first begin to meditate. When the body has been arranged this way, let your nose contemplate your mouth, and let your mouth contemplate your mind. This is the essential secret for controlling your idle thinking. Finally, make your breath harmonious and balanced, neither hurried nor suppressed; let it be natural. Then use the meditation topic of "Who is reciting the Buddha”s name

　　" and after a suitable period of time, your meditation will start to take effect.

　　参禅，好像「母鸡孵蛋」一样用功夫。母鸡虽在想鸡子，可是体不离蛋，专心致意在孵蛋。不是孵了五分钟，就跑出去，过了一个时候，又回来孵蛋，不到五分钟又跑了，这种情形，永远孵不出小鸡来。

　　The work of Chan meditation resembles a mother hen sitting on her nest. As the mother hen is thinking of her eggs, she never leaves the nest; she simply concentrates and keeps the eggs warm. She wouldn”t sit on the eggs for five minutes, then run away to do some other business, and later return to sit on the eggs once again, only to run away again five minutes later. The chicks would never hatch at that rate.

　　我们参禅打坐也是这样，要念兹在兹，不怕腰酸，不怕腿疼，不怕苦，不怕难。一心一意在参，参为什么？参「念佛是谁？」参到山穷水尽、水落石出的时候，便是开悟时。

　　The principle we observe in Chan meditation is the same. We must concentrate in each successive minute. Don”t fear an aching back or sore legs. Don”t be afraid of difficulty or pain. Simply concentrate with single-minded effort. Why

　　 We investigate "Who is reciting the Buddha”s name

　　" until "The mountains topple, the waters dry up, the tides recede, and the rocks appear," and it is at that moment that we can get enlightened.

　　参禅，又像「龙养珠」一样用工夫。龙时时刻刻保护牠的宝珠，没有不注意、不谨慎的时候。所以这个宝珠，一天比一天光明，牠昼夜六时精心地保护。参禅的人，也是这样，时刻不能生杂念。古德说：「一念不生全体现」，可以说妄念不生全体现。没有妄想，就会有所成就。

　　Investigating Chan is also similar to the way dragons nurture their pearls. Dragons watch over their precious pearls at all…

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