..续本文上一页y with me for not ringing the bell to end the meditation early enough. In the later meditations she got into a beautiful peaceful state and was angry with me for ringing the bell too soon. The sessions were all the same length, exactly one hour. You just can”t win as a teacher, ringing the bell!
最近一次，我在悉尼主持一个禅期，面谈中，一位女士对我说，她一整天都迁怒於我，原因有两个。在早段的禅坐中，她修得很辛苦吃力，她迁怒於我，因为我不早些打钟；在後段的禅坐中，她进入了很美妙的平静状态，但却因为嫌我过早打钟，所以又迁怒於我。其实每一节的时间都相同，正正一小时。唉，做老师连打钟也不讨好！
This is what happens when you go anticipating the future, thinking, ”How many more minutes until the bell goes
” That is where you torture, yourself, where you pick up a heavy burden that is none of your business. So be very careful not to pick up the heavy suitcase of ”How many more minutes are there to go
” or ”What should I do next
” If that is what you are thinking, then you are not paying attention to what is happening now. You are not doing the meditation. You have lost the plot and are asking for trouble.
这便是当你一面打坐，一面期望未来，想著「还有几多分钟才响钟」时所会发生的事，这正是你自己折磨自己、背上与你无关的沉重负担之所在。所以，要很小心，不要背上「还有几多分钟？」或「之後我应怎样做？」等等这些重担。若你心中想著的便是这些，那么你便不是在注意著当下所发生的事，你不是在禅修，你已失却当下，自招烦恼。
In this stage of the meditation keep your attention right in the present moment, to the point where you don”t even know what day it is or what time it is-morning
afternoon
--don”t know! All you know is what moment it is-right now! In this way you arrive at this beautiful monastic time scale where you are just meditating in the moment, not aware of how many minutes have gone or how many remain, not even remembering what day it is.
在此禅修阶段中，你应把注意力保持在正正的当下，你要做到甚至不知道今天是星期几，或现在是甚么时间——早上？下午？——不知道！你所知道的只是心正在哪个时刻——当下！如是地，你进入了此种美妙的寺院时间尺度，你只是於当下禅修，不知道已过了多久，或还有多久，甚至记不起是哪一天。
Once, as a young monk in Thailand, I had actually forgotten what year it was! It is marvellous living in that realm that is timeless, a realm so much more free than the time-driven world we usually have to live in. In the timeless realm, you experience this moment, just as all wise beings have been experiencing this same moment for thousands of years. It has always been just like this, no different. You have come into the reality of ”now”.
有一次在泰国，我仍是一个年青僧人时，我当时的的确确已忘了是哪一年！生活於那种没有时间的领域中，比生活於我们平日受制於时间的世界里要自由得多，实在非凡。在无时间的领域中，你体验到此当下的刹那，就正像所有智者数千年以来一直都体验到此相同的刹那一样。它一直以来都就是这样，没有不同。你已进入了「当下」的实相。
The reality of now is magnificent and awesome. When you have abandoned all past and all future, it is as if you have come alive. You are here, you are mindful. This is the first stage of the meditation, just this mindfulness sustained only in the present. Reaching here, you have done a great deal. You have let go of the first burden which stops deep meditation. So put forth a lot of effort to reach this first stage until it is strong, firm and well established. Next we will refine the present moment awareness into the second stage of the meditation - silent awareness of the present moment.
当下的实相是很非凡、很令人惊叹的。能抛弃掉所有过去和未来，就好像获得重生一样。你没有走失，你有念住，这就是第一个禅定阶段——只有这念住，仅是维持在当下。你达到这一步，已是做了很多了，你已摆脱掉妨碍深层禅定的第一重障碍。因此，应花多点劲来达到这第一阶段，直至它很强劲、牢固、坚稳。接著，我们会把当下的觉知精炼至下一阶段——当下的默然觉知。
PART 2
第二部
”Silence is so much more productive of wisdom and clarity than thinking. ”
静默远比思维活动更能生出智慧和清明。
In part 1, I outlined the goal of this meditation, which is the beautiful silence, stillness and clarity of mind, pregnant with the most profound of insights. Then I pointed out the underlying theme which runs like an unbroken thread throughout all meditation, that is the letting go of material and mental burdens. Lastly, in Part 1, I described at length the practice which leads to what I call the first stage of this meditation, and that first stage is attained when the meditator comfortably abides in the present moment for long, unbroken periods of time. I made the point that ”The reality of now is magnificent…
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