..续本文上一页re and pain, heat and cold and so on) has long since closed down and this is not a physical feeling. It is just ”perceived” as similar to pleasure. Some see a white light, some a gold star, some a blue pearl... the important fact to know is that they are all describing the same phenomena. They all experience the same pure mental object and these different details are added by their different perceptions.

　　其他禅修者的想蕴则选择以肉体感受来描述心的这种首次显露，例如极深的平静或强烈的狂喜。同样地，[经验乐与痛、冷与热等等的] 身识早已关闭，所以这并不是一种肉体感觉，只是被「想」成似是一种悦乐而已。一些人看到白光，一些看到金色的星，一些看到蓝宝珠……要知道清楚的是，他们全都是在描述相同的现象、全都是在经验著相同的纯心识对象，只是他们有不同的观感，所以才加上这些不同的描述细节。

　　You can recognize a nimitta by the following six features:

　　你可以以下六种特点来断定那是否禅相：

　　1. It appears only after the fifth stage of the meditation, after the meditator has been with the beautiful breath for a long time;

　　2. It appears when the breath disappears;

　　3. It only comes when the external five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch are completely absent;

　　4. It manifests only in the silent mind, when descriptive thoughts (inner speech) are totally absent;

　　5. It is strange but powerfully attractive; and

　　6. It is a beautifully simple object.

　　一、它只出现於第五个禅定阶段之後，即在禅修者观著美妙呼吸已有一段长时间之後；

　　二、它出现於呼吸消失时；

　　三、它只出现於色、声、香、味、触等的外五境完全隐却之时；

　　四、它只在静默的心中展现，其时描述性的思维运作 (内部讲话) 完全停止；

　　五、它很奇特但极之吸引；

　　六、它是个简单得美妙的对象。

　　I mention these features so that you may distinguish real nimittas from imaginary ones.

　　我提及这些特点，可让你可分辨到甚么是真禅相、甚么是幻想出来的禅相。

　　 The sixth stage, then, is called experiencing the beautiful nimitta. It is achieved when one lets go of the body, thought, and the five senses (including the awareness of the breath) so completely that only the beautiful nimitta remains.

　　因此，第六阶段便名为「体验美妙禅相」。当我们把身体、思想和五感官 (包括对呼吸的觉知) 都完全放下，只剩下美妙的禅相时，这便可成就。

　　Sometimes when the nimitta first arises it may appear” dull”. In this case, one should immediately go back to the previous stage of the meditation, continuous silent awareness of the beautiful breath. One has moved to the nimitta too soon. Sometimes the nimitta is bright but unstable, flashing on and off like a lighthouse beacon and then disappearing. This too shows that you have left he beautiful breath too early. One must be able to sustain one”s attention on the beautiful breath with ease for a long, long time before the mind is capable of maintaining clear attention on the far more subtle nimitta. So train the mind on the beautiful breath, train it patiently and diligently, then when it is time to go on to the nimitta, it is bright, stable and easy to sustain.

　　有些时候，当禅相首次生起，可能会很「暗淡」，在此情况下，你应立刻返回前一个阶段，即对美妙呼吸的持续默然觉知阶段，你转去禅相转得太快了。又有些时候，禅相很明亮但不稳定，如灯塔的灯光般亮下熄下，然後更消失掉。同样，这显示出你是太早离开了美妙的呼吸。禅相远比呼吸微细很多，你必须能轻易地将注意力保持在美妙的呼吸上一段很长的时间，然後心才能把清晰的注意力保持在禅相上。所以，先在美妙的呼吸上好好地把心修练好，耐心勤奋地修练，然後，当是时候转移至禅相上时，禅相便会明亮、稳定和容易保持。

　　The main reason why the nimitta can appear dull is that the depth of contentment is too shallow. You are still ”wanting” something. Usually, you are wanting the bright nimitta or you are wanting Jhana. Remember, and this is important, Jhanas are states of letting go, incredibly deep states of contentment. So give away the hungry m, ind, develop contentment on the beautiful breath and the nimitta and Jhana will happen by themselves.

　　禅相暗淡的主要原因，是你的满足程度太浅的缘故，你仍然「想要」些甚么。通常的情况是，你想要有明亮的禅相，或你想要禅那。记住，这是很重要的，禅那是放下的状态、是十分深层的满足状态。因此，送走那饥饿的心，於美妙呼吸上发展出满足吧，然後禅相和禅那便会自然出现。

　　Put another way, the reason why the nimitta is unstable is because the” doer” just will not stop interfering. The” doer” is the controller, the back seat driver, always getting involved where it does not belong and messing everything up. This meditation is a natural process of coming to rest and it requires ”you” to get out of the way completely. Deep meditation only occurs when you really let go, and this means REALLY LET GO to the point that the process becomes inaccessibl…

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