..续本文上一页lained in the text; the glossary at the back of the book gives definitions for any that aren”t, plus additional information on many that are.

　　A greater challenge lies in getting a feel for the author”s point of view. In meditation, we are dealing with the body and mind as experienced from the inside. Ajaan Lee practiced meditation most of his adult life. He had long experience in viewing the body and mind from that perspective, and so it is only natural that his choice of terms should reflect it.

　　For example, when he refers to the breath or breath sensations, he is speaking not only of the air going in and out of the lungs, but also of the way breathing feels, from the inside, throughout the entire body. Similarly, the "elements" (dhatu) of the body are not the chemical elements. Instead, they are elementary feelings -- energy, warmth, liquidity, solidity, emptiness, and consciousness -- the way the body presents itself directly to inner awareness. The only way to get past the strangeness of this sort of terminology is to start exploring your own body and mind from the inside and to gain a sense of which terms apply to which of your own personal experiences. Only then will these terms fulfill their intended purpose -- as tools for refining your inner sensitivities -- for the truth of meditation lies, not in understanding the words, but in mastering the skill that leads to a direct understanding of awareness itself.

　　You might compare this book to a recipe. If you simply read the recipe, you can”t -- even if you understand all the terms -- get any flavor or nourishment from it. If you follow the first few steps and then give up when it starts getting difficult, you”ve wasted your time. But if you follow it all the way, you can then set it aside and simply enjoy the results of your own cooking.

　　My hope is that this book will be helpful in your personal exploration into the benefits that come from keeping the breath in mind.

　　Thanissaro Bhikkhu

　　(Geoffrey DeGraff)

　　Metta Forest Monastery

　　PO Box 1409

　　Valley Center, CA 92082

　　--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

　　Keeping the Breath in Mind

　　Introduction

　　This book is a guide to the practice of centering the mind. There are two sections: The first deals almost exclusively with the mind. But because the well-being of the mind depends to some extent on the body, I have included a second section [Method 2] that shows how to use the body to benefit the mind.

　　From what I”ve observed in my own practice, there is only one path that is short, easy, effective, and pleasant, and at the same time has hardly anything to lead you astray: the path of keeping the breath in mind, the same path the Lord Buddha himself used with such good results. I hope that you won”t make things difficult for yourself by being hesitant or uncertain, by taking this or that teaching from here or there; and that, instead, you”ll earnestly set your mind on getting in touch with your own breath and following it as far as it can take you. From there, you will enter the stage of liberating insight, leading to the mind itself. Ultimately, pure knowing -- buddha -- will stand out on its own. That”s when you”ll reach an attainment trustworthy and sure. In other words, if you let the breath follow its own nature, and the mind its own nature, the results of your practice will without a doubt be all that you hope for.

　　Ordinarily, the nature of the heart, if it isn”t trained and put into order, is to fall in with preoccupations that are stressful and bad. This is why we have to search for a principle -- a Dhamma -- with which to train ourselves if we hope for happiness that”s stable and secure. If our hearts have no inner principle, no center in which to dwell, we”re …

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