..续本文上一页er and lower jaws are brought together, with the tongue against the palate. Then, close your eyes to avert the outside lights and sit stably as though the body were a stone. Do not move your hands or feet while sitting in meditating. Such are the basic means to approach dhyāna. In a nutshell, the accurate way to adjust one”s body is not too loose or too strict. [Keep in a comfortable, relaxing way.]

　　若身息调和，但一亦足。次当闭口，唇齿纔相拄着，舌向上腭。次当闭眼，纔令断外光而已。当端身正坐，犹如奠石；无得身首四肢切尔摇动。是为初入禅定调身之法。举要言之：不宽、不急、是身调相。

　　Fourth, as an incipient, to adjust breathe when sit in meditating, frequently manifests in the following phenomena: windy respiration, gasping respiration, lopsided breathing, and pure respiration. The first three modes are unadjusted conditions; the last, the adjusted one. What, then, are the phenomena of windy respiration, gasping respiration, and lopsided breathing

　　 When sit down to meditate, perceive that the breath passing in and out of the nostrils makes noise. This is windy. When sit down to meditate, the breathing makes no noise, but is broken and uneven. This is gasping. When sit down to meditate, there has no noise, nor is gasping, but still the breathing is unequal and not smooth. This is lopsided breathing. What is pure respiration, then

　　 The pure respiration, having not such unadjusted conditions, is of a state that the breathing is in a stable harmony, smoothly passing in and out of the nostrils, regular and balanced, through which the mind attains constantly calm and joy in the Law. This is pure respiration. Remember. If staying with wind, the mind will be confused. If staying with gasping, the mind will make no progress in contemplation. And, if staying with lopsided breathing, the mind will be tired out soon. Only then staying with the pure respiration can the dhyāna be at hand. So, when twined by the three unadjusted conditions, the mind can never rest in peace, much less can it approach the dhyāna.

　　四、初入禅调息法者，息有四种相：一、风，二、喘，三、气，四、息。前三为不调相，后一为调相。云何为风相？坐时则鼻中息出入觉有声，是风也。云何喘相？坐时息虽无声，而出入结滞不通，是喘相也。云何气相？坐时息虽无声，亦不结滞，而出入不细，是气相也。云何息相？不声不结不粗，出入绵绵，若存若亡，资神安隐，情抱悦豫，此是息相也。守风则散，守喘则结，守气则劳，守息即定。坐时有风、喘、气三相，是名不调；而用心者，复为心患，心亦难定。若欲调之，当依三法：一者、下着安心，二者、宽放身体，三者、想气遍毛孔出入通同无障。若细其心，令息微微然。息调则众患不生，其心易定。是名行者初入定时调息方法。举要言之：不涩不滑，是调息相也。

　　Of the three unadjusted conditions, here are three solutions: (1) Discontinue the distresses that delude clear mind so as to stay calm. (2) Relax the body; let the limps of the body be easily arranged. (3) Contemplate on that the vital energy of the body goes in and out of the pores freely. Thus, the breath can be regulated and even. And, the mind, step by step, can be much able to approach the state of dhyāna when the breath is adjusted and even. Therefore, to regulate one”s breath is the first means to begin one”s very own contemplation.

　　Lastly, to be able to arrive at dhyāna by means of sitting meditation, one has to regulate his/her mind in accordance with three schemes: (1) in penetrating the condition of absolute rest, (2) in staying with the condition, and (3) being out of it.

　　In penetrating, it has two respects. Firstly, regulate all perplexed thoughts to a horizontal state. Secondly, adjust the body and the mind properly—let the body sit in a position that is not too loose or strict; let the mind be away from increasing emotion, dullness, and fickleness. Now, how can one know that his/her mind is in dullness

　　 It shows as follows: When sit in meditating, the head drops often, and the mind is murky, unclear, and makes nothing out of it. The condition can be healed if one keeps focusing on his/her nose tip—thus the mind can concentrate on one point. What is the fickleness, then

　　 When sitting in meditation, the body is ill at easy; the mind is desultorily wandering about, sways to and fro. This is fickleness. To heal it, on…

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