..续本文上一页 Noble Eightfold Path to come out of dukkha, he says you have to do so by exploring the entire field of vedanā: “Tissannaṃ vedanānaṃ pariññāya ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo bhāvetabbo—You have to practice the Noble Eightfold Path to explore the entire field of these three vedanās, pleasant, unpleasant and neutral.”

　　Similarly, when the Buddha tells you to practice the four satipaṭṭhānas, he says, “Tissannaṃ vedanānaṃ pariññāya cattāro satipaṭṭhāna bhāvetabbo—You have to practice the four satipaṭṭhānas by exploring these three vedanās.” Without exploring the entire field of vedanā, you cannot explored the entire field of dukkha. You can not fulfill even the First Noble Truth and can never fulfill the other three.

　　With all four satipaṭṭhānas—observation of the body, observation of sensation, observation of mind and observation of mental contents—you must keep on understanding the arising and passing of vedanā at the experiential level, from moment to moment. With all four satipaṭṭhānas, the Buddha emphasized the importance of exploring the entire field of dukkha at the level of vedanā. Without it, there is every possibility of clinging to some experience. You cannot transcend all sensory experiences unless you understand that every sensory experience is dukkha.

　　Thus everything taught by the Buddha must at a deeper level be with vedanā. This is true even of what is normally thought of as the preliminary step of observing sīla, the moral precepts—that is, abstaining from unwholesome actions of body and speech. For example, a situation has arisen where there is a strong likelihood that you will break a particular sīla by killing, or stealing, or performing sexual misconduct, or speaking lies and deceiving others, or becoming intoxicated. But you stop, you refrain from doing that. You are able to stop because you observe sensations in the body. Then you are not merely working at the surface of the mind. You are not merely restraining your physical and vocal actions. You are working at the deep mental level as well.

　　The urge to break a sīla originates because of the sensation that arises, pleasant or unpleasant. And because of this particular sensation, the volition in turn arises to do something physically or vocally that is not in your own interests or the interests of others.

　　However, when you are with sensation, you are working at the deepest level of the mind. And you are following the instructions of the Buddha to explore the entire field of vedanā. And as with sīla, when you practice samādhi, developing concentration, you have to remain aware of the sensations, pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. And when you develop your paññā, wisdom, you have to be aware of sensations. Sīla, samādhi, paññā—the entire practice of the Buddha”s teaching must be with the awareness of sensation.

　　If you remain aware of sensation and understand that it is arising, passing, arising, passing, you will eventually reach the stage of nirodha. You will be able to say, “Kataṃ buddhāna-sāsanaṃ—The Buddha”s teaching, what he wanted me to do, has been done completely. Natthi dāni punabbhavo”ti—there is no new life for me. I have finished, I have done what the Buddha intended me to do, what the Dhamma intended me to do.”

　　Work diligently, intelligently, understanding Dhamma, understanding the pitfalls. Keep working hard to become firm in Dhamma and attain real happiness.

　　Bhavatu sabba maṅgalaṃ—May all beings be happy!

《Fulfilling the Teaching of the Buddha》全文阅读结束。