..续本文上一页s some point to it. Since, at this stage, you have realized that most of our thinking is really pointless anyway, that it gets you nowhere, only giving you many headaches, you gladly and easily spend much time in inner quiet.
若我们能抛弃内部的讲话，并长时间安住於当下的默然觉知上，直至能体会到个中的乐趣，这会是我们极棒的成就。静默远比思维活动更能生出智慧和清明。当你体会到内心静了下来时是如何地更写意和更宝贵，那么你便会觉得静默变得更具吸引力和更重要了。内部静默成为心向往之事，心经常会选择静默，心甚至会在觉得真的有需要、真的应该时，才会去思想。时至此阶段，你已体会到你的大部份思想活动实在都是无谓的、没有助益，只会经常令你头痛，你於是便会高兴地、很容易地放很多时间於内部的宁静中。
The second stage of this meditation, then, is ”silent awareness of the present moment”. You may spend the majority of your time just developing these two stages because if you can get this far then you have gone a long way indeed in your meditation. In that silent awareness of” Just Now” you will experience much peace, joy and consequent wisdom.
因此，此初阶禅法的第二阶段便是当下的默然觉知。你或许要用上你大部份时间来开发这两个阶段，因为若能达至这地步，可说是在禅修上已走了一段很长的路了。在此种对「此刻」的默然觉知中，你会经验到很多的平静、乐趣和随之而来的智慧。
If you want to go further, then instead of being silently aware of whatever comes into the mind, you choose silent present moment awareness of just ONE THING. That ONE THING can be the experience of breathing, the idea of loving kindness (Metta), a coloured circle visualised in the mind (Kasina) or several other, less common, focal points for awareness. Here we will describe the silent present moment awareness of the breath, the third stage of the meditation.
若你想更深入，那便不用对任何走进心内的对象都作默然觉知，你可选择仅是默然地觉知著当下的「一个对象」。这「一个对象」可以是呼吸的体验、可以是慈爱 (mettŒ) 的心念，也可以是於心内观想的一只色碟 (kasiöa)，或其他几种比较少用的觉知聚焦对象。在此我们会谈谈当下对呼吸的默然觉知。
Choosing to fix one”s attention on one thing is letting go of persity and moving to its opposite, unity. As the mind begins to unity, sustaining attention on just one thing, the experience of peace, bliss and power increases significantly. You discover here that the persity of consciousness, attending to six different senses-like having six telephones on one”s desk ringing at the same time-is such a burden. Letting go of this persity only permitting one telephone, a private line at that, on one”s desk-is such a relief it generates bliss. The understanding that persity is a burden is crucial to being able to settle on the breath.
选择将注意力固定於一个对象上，是舍弃多样对象，转向与其相反之统一。当心开始收摄统一，持续地注意著仅一个对象，其时所体验到的平静、妙乐和力量便会激增。此时你发觉到意识的多样化，注意著六个不同的根门——有如有六个电话在你桌面上同时响起一样——真是一种负担，而放下此种多样化——如桌上只留有一个电话、一条私人线——是多么的如释重负，这会产生妙乐。当你体会到这种多样性是一种负担，你便很容易安定於呼吸上。
If you have developed silent awareness of the present moment carefully for long periods of time, then you will find it quite easy to turn that awareness on to the breath and follow that breath from moment to moment without interruption. This is because the two major obstacles to breath meditation have already been subdued. The first of these two obstacles is the mind”s tendency to go off into the past or future, and the second obstacle is the inner speech. This is why I teach the two preliminary stages of present moment awareness and silent awareness of the present moment as a solid preparation for deeper meditation on the breath.
如果你已用了很长时间很精心地发展出当下的默然觉知，那你便会发觉很容易把那种觉知转移到呼吸上，并能刹那复刹那地跟随著呼吸，没有中断，这是因为观呼吸禅法的两个主要障碍经已被压止了。这两个障碍的第一个便是心会很容易走失，跑到过去或未来去，第二个则是内部的讲话。这便是为何我在教观呼吸禅法之前，总会先教当下的觉知和当下的默然觉知，以作为进入更深层禅定所需的扎实准备功夫的原因了。
It often happens that meditators start breath meditation when their mind is still jumping around between past and future, and when awareness is being drowned by the inner commentary. With no preparation they find breath meditation so difficult, even impossible, and give up in frustration. They give up because they did not start at the right place. They did not perform the preparatory work before taking up the breath as a focus of their attention. However, if your mind has been well prepared by completing these first two stages then you will find when you turn to the breath, you can sustai…
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