心念處:no attitude of criticizing or judging不是一位法官,而是一位科學家

Rahula, Walpola (2007). What the Buddha Taught《佛陀的啟示》: Revised and Expanded Edition with Texts from Suttas and Dhammapada . Grove/Atlantic, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

  • Now let us discuss the form of ‘meditation’ with regard to our minds. You should be fully aware of the fact whenever your mind is passionate or detached, whenever it is overpowered by hatred, ill-will, jealousy, or is full of love, compassion, whenever it is deluded or has a clear and right understanding, and so on and so forth. We must admit that very often we are afraid or ashamed to look at our own minds. So we prefer to avoid it. One should be bold and sincere and look at one’s own mind as one looks at one’s face in a mirror.1
    • 現在來談談有關心的修習。在你的情感熱烈奔放或泰然自若的時候,心中充滿瞋恚、嫉妒或是柔情、慈悲的時候,頭腦昏迷惶惑或是清楚明了的時候,凡此等等的時候,你對這種種情況都須完全有數。 我們必須承認,我們常常不敢或羞於觀察自心;所以,我們寧願逃避它。 我們應當勇敢誠懇的去正視自己的心念,就像在鏡中看自己的臉一樣。(註五)
  • Here is no attitude of criticizing or judging, or discriminating between right and wrong, or good and bad. It is simply observing, watching, examining. You are not a ^^judge^^, but a ^^scientist^^. When you observe your mind, and see its true nature clearly, you become dispassionate with regard to its emotions, sentiments and states. Thus you become detached and free, so that you may see things as they are.
    • 這時,我們的態度,不是批評裁判,也不是分辨是非善惡,只是單純的觀察、偵視、審度。 你不是一位^^法官^^,而是一位 #c:green^^科學家^^。 你觀察你的心,清清楚楚地看到它的真實性質時,你就不再會對它的情感、情緒與各種狀態產生意象。 這一來你就變得超脫自在,而能夠如實了知萬物的本來面目了。
  • Let us take one example. Say you are really angry, overpowered by anger, ill-will, hatred. It is curious, and paradoxical, that the man who is in anger is not really aware, not mindful that he is angry. The moment he becomes aware and mindful of that state of his mind, the moment he sees his anger, it becomes, as if it were, shy and ashamed, and begins to subside. You should examine its nature, how it arises, how it disappears.
    • 舉一個例來說:比方你真的生氣了。氣憤與憎恨心理使你失去了理性。 奇怪而矛盾的是:一個生氣的人,並不真正的知道他在生氣。 一旦他察覺這一心境,看到自己在生氣,他的怒火就好像變得不好意思,似乎自知其可恥而開始平息。 你應當審察它的性質,如何生起?如何消失?
  • Here again it should be remembered that you should not think ‘I am angry’, or of ‘my anger’. You should only be aware and mindful of the state of an angry mind. You are only observing and examining an angry mind objectively. This should be the attitude with regard to all sentiments, emotions, and states of mind.
    • 這時你又須切記:不可想「我在生氣」或想到「我的怒火」。 你只須明白了知你生氣的心情,以客觀的態度去觀察它、審查它。對一切情緒、情感與心境,都應採取這一態度。

法念處:on ethical, spiritual and intellectual subjects五蓋、七覺支、五蘊、四諦

Rahula, Walpola (2007). What the Buddha Taught《佛陀的啟示》: Revised and Expanded Edition with Texts from Suttas and Dhammapada . Grove/Atlantic, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

  • Then there is a form of ‘meditation’ on ethical, spiritual and intellectual subjects. 另外,還有一種對於倫理、心靈與理性方面問題的修習。
    • All our studies, reading, discussions, conversation and deliberations on such subjects are included in this ‘meditation’. To read this book, and to think deeply about the subjects discussed in it, is a form of meditation. We have seen earlier1 that the conversation between Khemaka and the group of monks was a form of meditation which led to the realization of Nirvāṇa.
      • 我們對這類課題所作的一切研究、閱讀、商討、談論、思索,都包括在這類修習之內。閱讀本書並對書內所討論的題目作深刻的思考,都是一種修習。 在前面,我們已經看到差摩迦與一群比丘的一席話曾導致全體共證涅槃。這也是一種修習。
  • So, according to this form of meditation, you may study, think, and deliberate on the ^^Five Hindrances^^ (Nīvaraṇa), namely:
    • 1. lustful desires (kāmacchanda), 2. ill-will, hatred or anger (vyāpāda), 3. torpor and languor (thīna-middha), 4. restlessness and worry (uddhacca-kukkucca), 5. sceptical doubts (vicikicchā).
      • 因此,用這一種的修習方法,你可以研究、思量、審度下列的五蓋: (一)貪欲,(二)瞋恚,(三)睡眠,(四)掉悔,(五)疑法。
    • These five are considered as hindrances to any kind of clear understanding, as a matter of fact, to any kind of progress. When one is over-powered by them and when one does not know how to get rid of them, then one cannot understand right and wrong, or good and bad.
      • 這五蓋就是防礙任何明覺,事實上也就是防礙任何進步的五種障礙。 一個人如果被這五蓋所覆蔽而不知怎樣去袪除它們,他就不能分辨是非善惡。
  • One may also ‘meditate’ on the ^^Seven Factors of Enlightenment^^ (Bojjbaṅga).
    • They are: 1. Mindfulness (sati), i.e., to be aware and mindful in all activities and movements both physical and mental, as we discussed above. 2. Investigation and research into the various problems of doctrine (dhamma-vicaya). Included here are all our religious, ethical and philosophical studies, reading, researches, discussions, conversation, even attending lectures relating to such doctrinal subjects. 3. Energy (viriya), to work with determination till the end. 4. Joy (pīti), the quality quite contrary to the pessimistic, gloomy or melancholic attitude of mind.
    • 5. Relaxation (passaddhi) of both body and mind. One should not be stiff physically or mentally.
    • 6. Concentration (samādhi), as discussed above.
    • 7. Equanimity (upekkhā), i.e., to be able to face life in all its vicissitudes with calm of mind, tranquillity, without disturbance.
      • 你也可以修習七覺支,就是:
      • (一)念覺支:無論在從事精神或肉體活動的時候,隨時保持念念分明,如前文所述。
      • (二)擇法覺支:鑽研探究各種有關教義的問題。這包括一切宗教、倫理、以及哲學的學習、閱讀、研究、討論、交談、和參加有關教義的專題演講等。
      • (三)精進覺支:以堅定的決心,努力不懈,以底於成。
      • (四)喜覺支:與消極、憂鬱、悲愁、適正相反的心裡狀態。
      • (五)輕安覺支:身心的鬆弛,勿令身心僵硬呆滯。
      • (六)定覺支:前文已論及。
      • (七)行捨覺支:以寧靜安詳、不懼不亂的心情,應付人生一切變故。
  • To cultivate these qualities the most essential thing is a genuine ^^wish, will, or inclination^^. 要培育這些德性,最重要的事,是要有一個真正的誓願,立定一個百折不撓的志向。
    • Many other material and spiritual conditions conducive to the development of each quality are described in the texts.
      • 至於發展上述每一種品性所必須具備的物質以及精神條件,本書中另有敘述。
  • One may also ‘meditate’ on such subjects as the ^^Five Aggregates^^ investigating the question ‘What is a being?’ or ‘What is it that is called I?’,
    • 你也可以用五蘊做修習的題目,如參究「何為眾生?」「叫做我的是什麼?」等問題。
  • or on the ^^Four Noble Truths^^, as we discussed above. Study and investigation of those subjects constitute this fourth form of meditation, which leads to the realization of Ultimate Truth.
    • 也可以用四諦,如前文所論。參究這些問題,就構成第四種的修習方法(即法念住),以導致最高真理的親證。

受念處:sensations or feelings: 我的感覺 or 一種感覺

Rahula, Walpola (2007). What the Buddha Taught《佛陀的啟示》: Revised and Expanded Edition with Texts from Suttas and Dhammapada . Grove/Atlantic, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

my feeling我的感覺 或 a feeling 一種感覺; 如何生與滅…

  • Then there is a way of practising mental development (‘meditation’) with regard to all our sensations or feelings, whether happy, unhappy or neutral. Let us take only one example. You experience an unhappy, sorrowful sensation. In this state your mind is cloudy, hazy, not clear, it is depressed. In some cases, you do not even see clearly why you have that unhappy feeling.
    • 還有一種發展心智的方法,是關係我們的一切感受的;愉快的、不愉快的、既非愉快亦非不愉快的。 舉一個例子:比方你正經驗到一種不快樂而悲哀的情緒。在這種情況下,你的頭腦模糊不清,情緒低落。有時候,你甚至於不明白為什麼會有這種不快的情緒。
  • First of all, you should learn not to be unhappy about your unhappy feeling, not to be worried about your worries. But try to see clearly why there is a sensation or a feeling of unhappiness, or worry, or sorrow. Try to examine how it arises, its cause, how it disappears, its cessation. Try to examine it as if you are observing it from outside, without any subjective reaction, as a ^^scientist^^ observes some object.
    • 第一,你先得訓練自己不為不快的情緒而不快,不要為了煩惱而益增煩惱。 而須設法清楚的看到為什麼會有不快、煩惱或悲哀的情緒或感覺。 設法審察它如何 #c:green^^生起^^,生起的原因,以及如何 #c:green^^消失^^,如何止息。 要以一種置身事外的態度去觀察審度它,不要有絲毫主觀的反應;須像^^科學家^^觀察事物一樣。
  • Here, too, you should not look at it as ‘^^my feeling^^’ or ‘my sensation’ subjectively, but only look at it as ‘^^a feeling^^’ or ‘a sensation’ objectively. You should forget again the false idea of ‘I’.
    • 在這裡,你也不可以「^^我的感覺^^」、「我的情緒」的主觀態度來看它, 而只應客觀地視之為「^^一種感覺^^」、「一種情緒」。 你又得忘掉「我」的虛妄觀念。
  • When you see its nature, ^^how it arises^^ and ^^disappears^^, your mind grows dispassionate towards that sensation, and becomes detached and free. It is the same with regard to all sensations or feelings.
    • 你一旦看出它的本質,它如何^^生起^^,如何^^消失^^, 你心中對這情緒就漸漸的變得冷靜淡漠,無動於中,而成為超脫自在。 對於一切感受與情緒都是如此。

身念處2:正知每一舉動

Rahula, Walpola (2007). What the Buddha Taught《佛陀的啟示》: Revised and Expanded Edition with Texts from Suttas and Dhammapada . Grove/Atlantic, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

  • 【正知當下每一舉動】
    • 另一種非常重要、實用而有益的修習方法(心智的發展)是:不論在做什麼事情的時候,動手也好,日常起居也好,從事公私工作也好,要時刻念茲在茲了了分明於你的每一舉動。
    • 你或臥或立或坐或行,或安眠,或曲臂伸腿,回顧前瞻,穿衣吃飯,言談靜默,大小便利,凡此一切以及其他種種活動,你必須時時刻刻了了分明於你所作的每一動作。也就是說,你必須生活在當前的瞬間中、在現在的行為中。這並不是說你不應想到過去未來。相反的,你在與眼前的時刻行為有關的方面,一樣可以想到過去未來。
    • 一般的人,並不生活在他們眼前的生活中,他們都生活在過去或未來裡。雖然看外表他們似乎是在此時此地做著些什麼,實際上,他們是生活在他們思想中的另一世界裡,生活在虛構的問題與苦悶裡。通常他們是活在過去的記憶中,或對未來的欲望與懸揣之中。因此,他們並不生活在他們目前在做的工作裡,也不樂於這工作。所以,他們就對現況不滿、不開心,而自然而然的不能對當前像是在做的工作,獻出全部的身心了。
    • 有時你在餐館裡,看見有人一邊吃飯一邊閱讀,這是一種很常見的事。他給你的印象是一個大忙人,連吃東西都沒有時間。你不知道他到底是在吃東西,還是在閱讀。你也許可以說他正兩事一起做,而實際上,他那樣也沒做,也那樣都做得沒味道。他的心神不寧而緊張,不樂意做目前正在做的事,不生活在眼前的瞬間,卻不知不覺地、愚蠢地想要逃避人生。(這意思卻不是說在吃飯的時候不可以和朋友談天)。
    • 不論你想什麼辦法,你都無法逃避人生。只要你活著,不管是在村鎮裡,還是在巖窟裡,你必須面對人生而生活。 真正的生活,是眼前的瞬間,不是已經死掉而消逝了的過去回憶, 也不是尚未出生的未來夢想。一個生活在眼前的瞬間中的人,所過的才是真正的人生,而他也是最快樂的人。
  • 【不悔既往,不冥索將來】
    • When asked why his disciples, who lived a simple and quiet life with only one meal a day, were so radiant, the Buddha replied: ‘They do not repent the past, nor do they brood over the future. They live in the present. Therefore they are radiant. By brooding over the future and repenting the past, fools dry up like green reeds cut down (in the sun).’1
      • 有人問佛,為什麼他的弟子們過著簡單平靜的生活,每天只吃一餐,卻如此神情煥發?佛說:「他們不悔既往,不冥索將來。他們生活在現前的時間中,因此他們都神采奕奕。愚蠢的人,又冥索未來,又追悔過去,就像碧綠的蘆葦在驕陽中被刈斷一般,一下子就枯萎了。」(註四)

【修習念住法:live in the action or live in the idea ‘I am’】

  • Mindfulness, or awareness, does not mean that you should think and be conscious ‘I am doing this’ or ‘I am doing that’. No. Just the contrary. The moment you think ‘I am doing this’, you become self-conscious, and then you do not ^^live in the action^^, but you ^^live in the idea ‘I am’^^, and consequently your work too is spoilt. You should forget yourself completely, and lose yourself in what you do.
    • 修習念住法,並不是要你想或是覺得「我在做這個」、「我在做那個」。不對!恰正相反。 你一想到「我在做這個」,你就覺得有個自己而不能^^生活在你的行為^^中了。 你是^^生活在「我存在」的意念^^裡,而你的工作也就糟蹋了。 你應當完全忘了自己,而全心全意的浸潤在工作中。
  • The moment a speaker becomes self-conscious and thinks ‘I am addressing an audience’, his speech is disturbed and his trend of thought broken. But when he forgets himself in his speech, in his subject, then he is at his best, he speaks well and explains things clearly.
    • 一個演講者一自覺到「我在對聽眾演講」,他的講話就混亂了,思緒也不連貫了。 但是如果他一心講演他的題目,整個地忘了自己,他的表現才是最好的。他一定講得很精彩,解釋的很明白。
  • All great work—artistic, poetic, intellectual or spiritual—is produced at those moments when its creators are lost completely in their actions, when they forget themselves altogether, and are free from self-consciousness.
    • 一切偉大的傑構,藝術的、詩歌的、智識的、心靈的,都是在它們的創作人完全浸潤在工作中的時候所產生的,在他們完全忘我而不自覺的時候所產生。
  • This mindfulness or awareness with regard to ^^our activities^^, taught by the Buddha, is to live in ^^the present moment^^, to live in ^^the present action^^. (This is also the Zen way which is based primarily on this teaching.)
    • 這個佛所傳授的,在一切時中都要念念分明(的念住法), 也就是要生活在眼前的一瞬間裡,生活在眼前的活動裡。(禪宗的方法,也是脫胎於此項教導。)
  • Here in this form of meditation, you haven’t got to perform any particular action in order to develop mindfulness, but you have only to be mindful and aware of whatever you may do.
    • 在這一種修習法門裡,你無須實施某種特定的活動才能發展念念分明的能力,你只須隨時了知你所做的一切事。
  • You haven’t got to spend one second of your precious time on this particular ‘meditation’: you have only to cultivate mindfulness and awareness always, day and night, with regard to all activities in your usual daily life.
    • 你不必專為特定的修習方法花費一秒鐘的寶貴時間,你只要養成經常警覺的習慣,不分晝夜, 在日常生活中的一切活動上,時刻都了了分明就可以了。
  • These two forms of ‘meditation’ discussed above are connected with our body.
    • 上述兩種修習方法,都與我們的身體有關。

身念處1:憶念出入息法(數息觀)

Rahula, Walpola (2007). What the Buddha Taught《佛陀的啟示》: Revised and Expanded Edition with Texts from Suttas and Dhammapada . Grove/Atlantic, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

  • 【自然呼吸,隨觀長短5-10分鐘】
    • You breathe in and out all day and night, but you are never mindful of it, you never for a second concentrate your mind on it. Now you are going to do just this. Breathe in and out as usual, without any effort or strain. Now, bring your mind to concentrate on your breathing-in and breathing-out; let your mind watch and observe your breathing in and out; let your mind be aware and vigilant of your breathing in and out.
      • 每人日夜呼吸不停,但自己絲毫不覺,因為從未有人以分秒的時間,將心神貫注在呼吸上。而如今要做的,正是這個。(方法是)照平時一樣的一呼一吸,絲毫不要用力。只將心神集中於這呼出吸入上,凝神觀察這吸進呼出的動作,保持對這呼吸的警覺,使時刻都了了分明於這一動態。
    • When you breathe, you sometimes take deep breaths, sometimes not. This does not matter at all. Breathe normally and naturally. The only thing is that when you take deep breaths you should be aware that they are deep breaths, and so on.
      • 你呼吸時,有時深,有時淺。這並不打緊,只顧自自然然的呼吸去。惟一的一點是你在深呼吸時,心中須有數這些是深呼吸,如此這般。
    • In other words, your mind should be so fully concentrated on your breathing that you are aware of its movements and changes. Forget all other things, your surroundings, your environment; do not raise your eyes and look at anything. Try to do this for five or ten minutes.
      • 換言之,你的心力須集中在呼吸上,使你對於它的動作變化,無不了然於心。忘掉你的周圍環境以及其他一切事物,不可抬眼視物,這樣的試練五至十分鐘。
  • 【剎那定而漸長】
    • At the beginning you will find it extremely difficult to bring your mind to concentrate on your breathing. You will be astonished how your mind runs away. It does not stay. You begin to think of various things. You hear sounds outside. Your mind is disturbed and distracted. You may be dismayed and disappointed.
      • 開頭的時候,你會發覺全神貫注在呼吸上,非常的不容易。你會奇怪你的心怎麼這樣會跑,它就是不肯停下來。你想東想西,耳中只聽到外面的聲音。你的腦筋混亂、思緒紛飛。你也會覺得沮喪失望。
    • But if you continue to practise this exercise twice daily, morning and evening, for about five or ten minutes at a time, you will gradually, by and by, begin to concentrate your mind on your breathing. After a certain period, you will experience just that split second when your mind is fully concentrated on your breathing, when you will not hear even sounds nearby, when no external world exists for you.
      • 但是如果你繼續不停的練習,每天早晚各一次,每次五至十分鐘,慢慢的,你的心就會集中在呼吸上了。過了一段時間,你就會經驗到一剎那(的定境),你的心神全部貫注在呼吸上,連近身的聲音也都充耳不聞,一時間外境俱泯。
    • This slight moment is such a tremendous experience for you, full of joy, happiness and tranquility, that you would like to continue it. But still you cannot. Yet if you go on practising this regularly, you may repeat the experience again and again for longer and longer periods.
      • 這一短時間的(定境),是一種了不起的經驗,充滿了喜悅與寧靜。你但願能繼續保持它,但是這時你還做不到這一點。不過只要你經常不停的練習,這種經驗可以一次又一次的發生,而每次定的時間也會逐漸加長。
  • 【忘我之境乃至禪定、體證涅槃】
    • That is the moment when you lose yourself completely in your mindfulness of breathing. As long as you are conscious of yourself you can never concentrate on anything.
      • 這就是你繫心於呼吸上至忘我之境的時候了。只要你老覺得有你自己存在,你就不能集中注意力於任何別的東西。
    • This exercise of mindfulness of breathing, which is one of the simplest and easiest practices, is meant to develop concentration leading up to very high mystic attainments (dhyāna). Besides, the power of concentration is essential for any kind of deep understanding, penetration, insight into the nature of things, including the realization of Nirvāṇa.
      • 這個念念不離呼吸的修習法,是最簡單、最容易的一種。其目的在發展注意力,以達到非常高的禪定境界。此外,集中注意力(定力),對於任何深刻的了解、深透的內觀,以洞察萬物的本性包括體證涅槃,都是不可或缺的。
  • 【健康、安眠】
    • Apart from all this, this exercise on breathing gives you immediate results. It is good for your physical health, for relaxation, sound sleep, and for efficiency in your daily work. It makes you calm and tranquil. Even at moments when you are nervous or excited, if you practise this for a couple of minutes, you will see for yourself that you become immediately quiet and at peace. You feel as if you have awakened after a good rest.
      • 除了這些,呼吸的練習更有立竿見影的效驗。它對你的健康大有裨益;能增進你的安眠,鬆弛緊張的身心,增進日常工作的效率。它能使你寧靜安詳。即令在你精神緊張或興奮的時候,如果練習幾分鐘的數息,你就會馬上覺得安靜平定了下來,好像在一段休息之後剛剛醒覺一般。

身念處2:正知每一舉動

The Setting-up of Mindfulness《念住經》(DN 22, MN 10)_Rahula(2007)

Rahula, Walpola (2007). What the Buddha Taught《佛陀的啟示》: Revised and Expanded Edition with Texts from Suttas and Dhammapada . Grove/Atlantic, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

……【《念住經》總說:sati念mindfulness, awareness; anupassanā隨觀attention, observation】
The discourse is divided into four main sections: the first section deals with our body (kāya), the second with our feelings and sensations (vedanā), the third with the mind (citta), and the fourth with various moral and intellectual subjects (dhamma).

這部經共分四大部份: 第一部分是關於身體的,第二部分關於感覺與感受,第三部分關於心智, 第四部分則關於各種道德的與理性的課題(法)。

  • It should be clearly borne in mind that whatever the form of ‘meditation’ may be, the essential thing is mindfulness or awareness (sati), attention or observation (anupassanā).
    • 這裡有一事必須明白牢記:不論修習什麼方法,要緊的是念念分明,憶持不忘,並須注意觀察

身念處1:憶念出入息法(數息觀)

身念處2:正知每一舉動

受念處:sensations or feelings: 我的感覺 or 一種感覺

心念處:no attitude of criticizing or judging不是一位法官,而是一位科學家

法念處:on ethical, spiritual and intellectual subjects五蓋、七覺支、五蘊、四諦

Ch. 7 ‘MEDITATION’ OR MENTAL CULTURE: BHĀVANĀ修習:心智的培育【止、觀】

Rahula(1974)What the Buddha Taught《佛陀的啟示》: (p. 110ff.)

  • 【身心二病】
    • The Buddha said: ‘O bhikkhus, there are two kinds of illness. What are those two? Physical illness and mental illness. There seem to be people who enjoy freedom from physical illness even for a year or two . . . even for a hundred years or more. But, O bhikkhus, rare in this world are those who enjoy freedom from mental illness even for one moment, except those who are free from mental defilements’ (i.e., except arahants).1
      • 佛說:「比丘們!病有兩種。那兩種呢?肉體的病和心智的病。有人可以一年、兩年、甚至一百年、一百多年肉體都不生病。但是,比丘們啊!世間除了心無染著的人(就是說,除了阿羅漢以外(註一) ,心智方面能有片刻不生病的的人,都是稀有難得的啊!」
  • 【對「修習」的誤解】
    • The Buddha’s teaching, particularly his way of ‘meditation’, aims at producing a state of perfect mental health, equilibrium and tranquility. It is unfortunate that hardly any other section of the Buddha’s teaching is so much misunderstood as ‘meditation’, both by Buddhists and non-Buddhists. The moment the word ‘meditation’ is mentioned, one thinks of an escape from the daily activities of life; assuming a particular posture, like a statue in some cave or cell in a monastery, in some remote place cut off from society; and musing on, or being absorbed in, some kind of mystic or mysterious thought or trance. True Buddhist ‘meditation’ does not mean this kind of escape at all. The Buddha’s teaching on this subject was so wrongly, or so little understood, that in later times the way of ‘meditation’ deteriorated deteriorated and degenerated into a kind of ritual or ceremony almost technical in its routine.2
      • 佛的教誨,尤其是他所教的修習方法,其目的在培養健康、均衡和寧靜的心理,使臻完美。不幸的是:佛教中幾乎沒有什麼法門,像「修習」那樣被教徒及非教徒所誤解。只要一提到「修習」,馬上就使人想到逃避日常生活,擺起某種姿勢,像石窟裡或寺院佛堂中的塑像一般,在遠離塵囂的處所,以從事某種秘密或神秘的冥想,或專注於神遊。真正佛教的修習,完全不是這種的逃避。佛在這一主題方面所教的內容,大大的被誤解或極少的被了解。以致到了後世,修習方法變質敗壞,竟成為一種儀式,其手續繁雜幾乎成為專門學問了。(註二)
    • Most people are interested in meditation or yoga in order to gain some spiritual or mystic powers like the ‘third eye’, which others do not possess. There was some time ago a Buddhist nun in India who was trying to develop a power to see through her ears, while she was still in the possession of the ‘power’ of perfect eyesight! This kind of idea is nothing but ‘spiritual perversion’. It is always a question of desire, ‘thirst’ for power.
      • 大多數的人對於修習(或稱瑜伽)有興趣,其目的乃在獲得若干精神或秘密的力量,諸如為旁人所無的「第三隻眼」等。若干年前,就曾有一位印度佛教尼師,想練成以耳視物的神通。而當時她的視力極好,並未喪失。這種念頭無他,只是精神顛倒而已;所以仍然只是渴求權力的貪欲在作祟。
  • 【bhāvanā(修習)mental culture or mental development.】
    • The word meditation is a very poor substitute for the original term bhāvanā, which means ‘culture’ or ‘development’, i.e., mental culture or mental development. The Buddhist bhāvanā, properly speaking, is mental culture in the full sense of the term.
      • 英文中所用以代表巴利原文bhāvanā(修習)的meditation(沈思、冥索)一詞,十分不妥。Bhāvanā的意義是培育、發展,尤指心智的培育與發展。肯定點說,佛教中的修習,正是百分之百的心智培育的意思。
    • It aims at cleansing the mind of impurities and disturbances, such as lustful desires, hatred, ill-will, indolence, worries and restlessness, sceptical doubts, and cultivating such qualities as concentration, awareness, intelligence, will, energy, the analytical faculty, confidence, joy, tranquility, leading finally to the attainment of highest wisdom which sees the nature of things as they are, and realizes the Ultímate Truth, Nirvāṇa.
      • 它的目的,在滌蕩淫欲、憎恚、怠惰、焦慮、不安、疑惑等心智方面的騷亂不淨, 一方面又培育集中的注意力、清明的心智、知識、意志力、精進力、分析力、自信、歡喜心、 寧靜的心境等優良品性,以冀最後導致如實知見一切事物本性的最高智慧,而證入最後的真理、涅槃。
  • 【1. 心一境性(亦稱奢摩他、三摩地、止等)】
    • There are two forms of meditation.
    • One is the development of mental concentration (samatha or samādhi), of one-pointedness of mind (cittekaggatā, Skt. cittaikāgratā), by various methods prescribed in the texts, leading up to the highest mystic states such as ‘the Sphere of Nothingness’ or ‘the Sphere of Neither-Perception-nor-Non-Perception’. All these mystic states, according to the Buddha, are mind-created, mind-produced, conditioned (saṃkhata).1 They have nothing to do with Reality, Truth, Nirvāṇa.
      • 修習有兩種。一種是發展注意力使能集中,所謂心一境性(亦稱奢摩他、三摩地、止等)。
      • 經中有許多方法,修之可以達到最高的神秘境界如無所有處、非想非非想處等。這些境界,跟據佛說,都是心造心生的、是緣成的(有為法)。它們與實相、真理、涅槃無關。
    • This form of meditation existed before the Buddha. Hence it is not purely Buddhist, but it is not excluded from the field of Buddhist meditation. However it is not essential for the realization of Nirvāṇ a. The Buddha himself, before his Enlightenment, studied these yogic practices under different teachers and attained to the highest mystic states; but he was not satisfied with them, because they did not give complete liberation, they did not give insight into the Ultimate Reality. He considered these mystic states only as ‘happy living in this existence’ (diṭṭhadhammasukhavihāra), or ‘peaceful living’ (santavihāra), and nothing more.2
      • 這一種的修習,在佛世以前已經有了。因此,它不是純粹佛教的,但是佛教也並未將它從佛教的修習方法中剔除。 可是這種方法並不是證入涅槃的要件。佛在自己證正覺以前,就曾在不同的師門下,學過這種瑜伽法門,而達到了最高的神秘境界。可是,他並不以之為滿足,因為它們並不能予他以徹底的解脫,也不能使他親見最終的實相。他認為這種神秘境界只是「此生中愉快的生活」或「平靜的生活」,如此而已。(註三)
  • 【2. vipassanā (Skt. vipaśyanā or vidarśanā), ‘Insight’觀:an analytical method based on ^^mindfulness, awareness, vigilance, observation^^.
    • He therefore discovered the other form of ‘meditation’ known as vipassanā (Skt. vipaśyanā or vidarśanā), ‘Insight’ into the nature of things, leading to the complete liberation of mind, to the realization of the Ultimate Truth, Nirvāṇa.
      • 因此,他發明了另一種的修習,叫做毘婆舍那(觀),深刻地察照萬物的本性,
      • 以導致心靈的完全解脫,而證入最終的真理、涅槃。
    • This is essentially Buddhist ‘meditation’, Buddhist mental culture. It is an analytical method^^ based on ^^mindfulness, awareness, vigilance, observation. It is impossible to do justice to such a vast subject in a few pages. However an attempt is made here to give a very brief and rough idea of the true Buddhist ‘meditation’, mental culture or mental development, in a practical way.
      • 這才是主要的佛教的修習的方法、佛教的心智培育法。 它是根據觀察、警覺、洞照與憶念而作的一種分析法
      • 在區區數頁短紙中,要詳論這一項廣泛的議題,是不可能的。 以下只是一個簡單而粗淺的嘗試,以略明真正的佛教修習-心智的培育或心智的發展-其實用的方法為如何而已。

2.1.4 The Threefold Value of Bare Attention純粹注意力的三重價值pp. 29-40

Thera, Nyanaponika (1962). The Heart of Buddhist Meditation: The Buddha’s Way of Mindfulness. London Rider & Co.. (1992)Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society pp. 225

目次

2.1.4.(1) The Value of Bare Attention for Knowing the Mind 純粹注意力之價值(1)認識內心

2.1 Bare Attention(念sati, mindfulness)pp. 25-40

Thera, Nyanaponika (1962). The Heart of Buddhist Meditation: The Buddha’s Way of Mindfulness. London Rider & Co.. (1992)Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society pp. 225

目次:

2.1.1 What is Bare Attention(念sati, mindfulness) 何謂純粹注意力?
2.1.2 Thoroughness徹底性【貫徹始終;正精進】
2.1.3 Obtaining the Bare Object 獲得純粹注意力
2.1.4 The Threefold Value of Bare Attention純粹注意力的三重價值

2.1.1 What is Bare Attention(念sati, mindfulness) 何謂純粹注意力?

Bare Attention is the clear and single-minded awareness of what actually happens to us and in us, at the successive moments of perception. It is called ‘bare’, because it attends just to the bare facts of a perception as presented either through the five physical senses or through the mind which, for Buddhist thought, constitutes the sixth sense.

純粹注意力是對我們感知過程中實際發生的事情以及我們內在狀態的明確、專注的意識。 它被稱為「純粹」,是因為它只關注感知通過五種物理感官或佛教思想中構成第六感官的心靈呈現的感知事實。

When attending to that sixfold sense impression, attention or mindfulness is kept to a bare registering of the facts observed, without reacting to them by deed, speech or by mental comment which may be one of self-reference (like, dislike, etc), judgement or reflection.

當關注這種六重感知時,注意力或正念只保持對觀察到的事實的純粹記錄,不會通過行動、言語或者可能是自我參照(喜歡、不喜歡等)、判斷或反思等心理評論而對它們做出反應

If during the time, short or long, given to the practice of Bare Attention, any such comments arise in one’s mind, they themselves are made objects of Bare Attention, and are neither repudiated nor pursued, but are dismissed, after a brief mental note has been made of them.

如果在給予純粹注意力的實踐期間,任何此類評論在一個人的腦海中出現,它們本身就成為純粹注意力的對象,既不被否定也不被追求,只是在對它們進行簡短的心識筆記後被忽略。

This may suffice here for indicating the general principle underlying the practice of Bare Attention. Detailed information on the methodical practice will be given in Chapters Four and Five. In the following pages, we shall deal with the theoretical and practical significance of Bare Attention, and with the results to be expected from its application.

這些可能足以說明純粹注意力實踐的一般原則。有關有系統的實踐的詳細資訊將在第四和第五章中給出。在下幾頁中,我們將討論純粹注意力的理論和實踐意義,以及應用純粹注意力所能帶來的結果。

It was thought advisable to dwell on these subjects in some greater detail, so that those who wish to take up a practice which, to some, will appear unusual, may start with some confidence in its efficacy, and an understanding of its purpose. It is, however, only by one’s own personal experience gained in the course of persistent practice, that this initial confidence and understanding will find final and indubitable confirmation.

我們認為有必要詳細討論這些主題,以便那些希望開始進行一種對一些人來說看起來不尋常的實踐的人能夠對其有效性有所信心,並了解其目的。然而,只有通過個人在堅持實踐的過程中獲得的經驗,這種初始的信心和理解才會得到最終和不容置疑的確認。

2.1.2 Thoroughness徹底性【貫徹始終;正精進】

Every effort of worth requires thoroughness if it is to achieve its purpose; particularly so if the work is as lofty and arduous as that mapped out by the Buddha in the Noble Eightfold Path, leading to the Extinction of Suffering. Among the eight factors of that Path, it is Right Mindfulness that represents that indispensable element of thoroughness, though Right Mindfulness has many other aspects in addition.

每一項值得付出的努力都需要徹底性才能實現其目的,特別是如果這項工作像佛陀在「通向苦滅之八正道」中所設計的那樣高尚而艱鉅。在這條道路的八個因素中,正念代表著這種不可或缺的徹底性元素,雖然正念還有許多其他方面。

In the Buddhist scriptures one of the qualities attributed to Right Mindfulness is called ‘non superficiality’, and this is, of course, just a negative way of expressing our positive term ‘thoroughness’.

在佛教經典中,正念所歸屬的一種品質被稱為「非表面性」,這當然只是表達我們的正面詞語「徹底性」的一種負面方式。

It is obvious that the practice of Right Mindfulness itself will have to employ thoroughness of procedure to the highest extent. The absence or neglect of it would be just the opposite of a quality deserving the name of Mindfulness, and would deprive the method of its chances of success. Just as detrimental consequences must result from an unstable and carelessly laid foundation, so the blessings of a solid and reliable one will extend far into the future.

很明顯,正念實踐本身必須盡最大的努力使用徹底性的程序。缺乏或忽視這種程序,將是一種不配得到正念名稱的品質相反,並剝奪了這種方法成功的機會。就像不穩定和粗心的基礎會產生有害後果一樣,堅實和可靠的基礎的祝福將延伸到遠方的未來。

Therefore, Right Mindfulness starts at the beginning. In employing the method of Bare Attention, it goes back to the seed state of things. Applied to the activity of mind this means that observation reverts to the very first phase of the process of perception, when the mind is in a purely receptive state and when attention is restricted to a bare noticing of the object (see pp. 18f).

因此,「正念」從一開始就注重徹底性。在使用「純粹注意力」的方法時,它回到事物的種子狀態。對於心靈活動的應用來說,這意味著觀察回歸到感知過程的第一個階段,當時心識處於純粹的接受狀態,而注意力僅限於對對象的純粹注意(見第18頁)。

That phase is of a very short and hardly perceptible duration, and, as we have said, it furnishes a superficial, incomplete and often faulty picture of the object. It is the task of the next perceptual phase to correct and to supplement that first impression, but this is not always done. Often the first impression is taken for granted, and even new distortions, characteristic of the more complex mental functions of the second stage, are added.

這個階段的持續時間非常短暫,幾乎不可察覺,正如我們所說,它提供了對對象的表面、不完整且經常是錯誤的印象。下一個感知階段的任務是修正並補充第一個印象,但這並不總是會做到。通常第一個印象被視為理所當然,甚至添加了第二階段更複雜心理功能的新扭曲。

Here starts the work of Bare Attention, being a deliberate cultivation and strengthening of that first receptive state of mind, giving it a longer chance to fulfil its important task in the process of cognition. Bare Attention proves the thoroughness of its procedure by cleansing and preparing the ground carefully for all subsequent mental processes.

這裡開始了「純粹注意力」的工作,它是對心識最初接受狀態的有意栽培和加強,使其有更長時間來完成認知過程中的重要任務。

By that cleansing function, it serves the high purpose of the entire Method set forth in the Discourse: ‘for the purification of beings…’, which, in the Commentary, is explained as the purification, or cleansing, of mind.

通過這種潔淨功能,「純粹注意力」精心為所有後續心理過程清理並準備好了土地。通過這種潔淨功能,它實現了《經》中所設立的整個方法的崇高目的:“為了淨化眾生……”,在注釋書中,它被解釋為淨化或潔淨心識。

2.1.3 Obtaining the Bare Object 獲得純粹注意力

  • Bare attention consists in a bare and exact registering of the object. This is not as easy a task as it may appear, since it is not what we normally do, except when engaged in disinterested investigation. Normally man is not concerned with a disinterested knowledge of ‘things as they truly are’, but with ‘handling’ and judging them from the view point of his self-interest, which may be wide or narrow, noble or low.
    • 純粹注意力的態度在於對物體的純粹和精確的記錄。這不是一件容易的事情,因為除非從事客觀的調查,否則這不是我們通常做的事情。通常人不關心“事物的真實本質”,而是從他的自我利益的角度“處理”和判斷它們,這可能是廣泛的或狹窄的、高貴的或低俗的。
  • He tacks labels to the things which form his physical and mental universe, and these labels mostly show clearly the impress of his self-interest and his limited vision. It is such an assemblage of labels in which he generally lives and which determines his actions and reactions.
    • 他將標籤貼在形成他的物理和心理宇宙的事物上,這些標籤大多清楚地顯示出他的自我利益和有限的視野的印象。 他通常生活在這樣的標籤集合中,這些標籤決定了他的行動和反應。
  • Hence the attitude of Bare Attention—bare of labels—will open to man a new world. He will first find out that, where he believed himself to be dealing with a unity, i.e. with a single object presented by a single act of perception, there is, in fact, multiplicity, i.e. a whole series of different physical and mental processes presented by corresponding acts of perception, following each other in quick succession.
    • 因此,純粹注意力(無標籤)的態度將為人類開啟一個新世界。 他首先會發現,當他認為自己正在處理一個統一體,即一個由單一感知行為呈現的單一物體時,實際上存在著多樣性,即由相應的感知行為呈現的一整個不同的物理和心理過程,這些過程在快速的連續中跟隨著。
  • He will further notice with consternation how rarely he is aware of a bare or pure object without any alien admixture. For instance, the normal visual perception if it is of any interest to the observer will rarely present the visual object pure and simple, but the object will appear in the light of added subjective judgements, as: beautiful or ugly, pleasant or unpleasant, useful, useless or harmful. If it concerns a living being, there will also enter into it the preconceived notion: ‘This is a personality, an Ego, just as “I" am, too’.
    • 他還將驚訝地注意到,他很少意識到沒有任何外來成分的純粹物體。 例如,如果普通的視覺感知對觀察者有興趣,它很少會呈現出純粹的視覺物體,而是以附加的主觀判斷的形式出現,例如:美麗或醜陋,愉悅或不愉悅,有用、無用或有害。如果涉及到一個生物,還會加入預先設定的觀念:“這是一個人格,一個自我,就像“我”一樣”。
  • In that condition, i.e. closely intertwined with subjective additions, the perception will sink into the store-house of memory. When recalled by associative thinking, it will exert its distorting influence also on future perceptions of similar objects, as well as on the judgements, decisions, moods, etc., connected with them.
    • 在這種緊密相關的主觀添加條件下,感知將沉入記憶的儲藏庫。 當通過聯想思維召回時,它也將對類似物體的未來感知以及與之相關的判斷、決策、情緒等產生扭曲影響。
  • It is the task of Bare Attention to eliminate all those alien additions from the object proper that is then in the field of perception. These additions may be considered later singly if wanted, but the initial object of perception has to be kept free from them. This will demand persistent practice during which the attention, gradually growing in its keenness, will, as it were, use sieves of increasingly finer meshes by which first the grosser and then ever subtler admixtures will be separated until the bare object remains.
    • 純粹注意力的任務是從感知範圍內的物體中消除所有那些外來的添加物。 如果需要,這些添加物可以稍後逐一考慮,但最初的感知對象必須保持不受它們的影響。 這需要持久的練習,透過這種練習,注意力逐漸增強,就像使用越來越細的篩子一樣,先分離較粗的,然後分離更微妙的添加物,直到僅剩下純粹的物體。

2. Mindfulness and Clear Comprehension (念sati與正知sampajañña) pp. 25-52

Thera, Nyanaponika (1962). The Heart of Buddhist Meditation: The Buddha’s Way of Mindfulness. London Rider & Co.. (1992)Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society pp. 225