..续本文上一页ll. At that point the body feels like a cloud of mist, little points of sensation, and each little sensation has the potential to be any one of these four properties. When your sense of the body is reduced to what the French would call pointillism, it”s a lot easier, simply with a thought, to emphasize either the heaviness or the lightness, the movement, the warmth or the coolness of those sensations, the sensation-potentials you”ve got there. This way you accomplish two things at once. On the one hand you balance out the body. Whenever one type of sensation feels too oppressive, you can think of the opposing sensation to balance it out. On the other, you start seeing the role of present intention in your awareness, in your experience of the present moment in a very visceral way.
你可以在定的任何阶段这样做，不过在气寂止时最有效。那时候，身感像一团雾，一团细小的觉点，每个小觉知都有成为这四种元素之任一的潜势。当你的身感还原到法语所说的 pointillism——“点彩”时[5]，要想只用一个意念，来强化诸身感之中的重性或者轻性，动性或者暖性、凉性，做起来就容易多了，那些觉受潜势你那里已经存在着。这样你同时成就了两件事。一方面，你平衡了身体。任何时候，你觉得某一种觉受过于压抑，你可以观想对立的那个觉受，使之平衡。另一方面，你在以一种极其切身的方式体验当下的过程中，开始看见当下的动机在你的觉知中的作用。
When things grow very still and balanced in terms of these four properties, with this mist of potential sensations that can go in any direction(any kind of sensation
), you can also focus on the space between the points. Realize that the space is boundless. It goes through the body and out in all directions. Just think that: “infinite space.” Stay with the sensation of infinite space that comes along with the perception. The potential for it is always there; it”s simply that the perception arouses it. It”s a very pleasant state to get in. Things seem a lot less solid, a lot less oppressive. You don”t feel so trapped in the body.
当这四元素达到极其寂止、平衡，存在这股可以朝任一[身感的]方向转化的觉受潜势之雾时，你也可以专注那些点之间的空间。你要意识到，那个空间是无边界的。它穿过身体，朝向各个方向。你就观想：“无限空间。” 定在随着那个辨识而来的无限空间感中。该潜势是一直在那里的；只不过那个辨识把它唤起了。进入这个状态里是极其愉悦的。那里似乎坚硬感弱了许多，压抑感弱了许多。被困在身内的感觉也不那么强了。
Ajaan Fuang once had a student, an old woman, who started practicing meditation with him when he was getting ready to leave Wat Asokaram. After he left, she had to practice on her own for quite a while. One evening, when she was sitting in meditation with the group in the meditation hall, a voice came to her and said, “You”re going to die tonight.” She was a little taken aback, but then she reminded herself, “Well, if I”m going to die, the best way is to die meditating.” So she just sat there and watched to see what would happen as the body dies, to see what it would be like. There was an actual sensation of the body beginning to fall apart. “All of the various properties were going their separate ways,” she said, “like a house on fire. There was no place in the body where you could focus your awareness and have any sense of comfort at all.” So for a moment she felt lost, but then she remembered, “Well, there”s the space property.” So she focused in on the space property, and all that sense of the house on fire suddenly disappeared. There was a very strong sense of infinite space. There was always the potential to go back to the body. (This is something you”ll notice when you”re at this point in your meditation: There are the spots that could provide a potential for the form of the body but you chose not to focus on them. Instead you focus on the sense of space in between and all around. There”s a sense of boundlessness that goes with it.
阿姜放过去有个弟子，是一位老妇人，前来开始跟他学修禅定时，他正在准备离开阿育王寺。等他离开后，很长时间里她不得不自己修练。有天晚上，她在禅堂与大家共修时，有一个声音来对她说，“今晚你会死。” 她有点吃惊，不过，她接着提醒自己，“ 好吧，如果要死，最好是死在禅定当中。”于是她就坐在那里，观察身体死去时发生什么。真有一种身体开始破散的感觉。“各种元素都各自分开，走自己的路，”她说，“就像一座着火的房子。身内没有一处可以让觉知安定下来，得到舒适感。”于是，有一阵子，她不知所措，不过接着她想起来：“噢，还有空间元素。”于是她就定入了空间元素，所有那些房子着火的感觉突然消失了。有一股极其强烈的无限空间感。回到身体的可能性总是存在的。(你的禅定达到这个程度时将会注意到这一点：有些部位可以提供体形的潜势，不过你选择不专注那里[6]。而是专注它们相互之间和四周的那个空间感。伴随着它的是一股无边无界之感。)
When she came out of meditat…
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