Mindfulness In Plain English

佛教禅修直解

by Mahathera Henepola Gunaratana

德宝法师著作
梁国雄居士译

About the Author

作者简介

Venerable Henepola Gunaratana was ordained at the age of 12 as a Buddhist monk at a small temple in Malandeniya Village in Kurunegala District in Sri Lanka. His preceptor was Venerable Kiribatkumbure Sonuttara Mahathera. At the age of 20 he was given higher ordination in Kandy in 1947. He received his education from Vidyalankara College and Buddhist Missionary College in Colombo. Subsequently he traveled to India for five years of missionary work for the Mahabodhi Society, serving the Harijana (Untouchable) people in Sanchi, Delhi, and Bombay. Later he spent ten years as a missionary in M alaysia, serving as religious advisor to the Sasana Abhivurdhiwardhana Society, Buddhist Missionary Society and the Buddhist Youth Federation of Malaysia. He has been a teacher in Kishon Dial School and Temple Road Girls’ School and Principal of the Buddhist Institute of Kuala Lumppur.

At the invitation of the Sasana Sevaka Society, Venerable Gunaratana came to the United States in 1968 to serve as Hon. General Secretary of the Buddhist Vihara Society of Washington, D.C. In 1980 he was appointed President of the Society. During his years at the Vihara, he has taught courses in Buddhism, conducted meditation retreats, and lectured widely throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

He has also pursued his scholarly interests by earning a B.A., and M.A., and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the American University. He taught courses in Buddhism at the American University, Georgetown University and University of Maryland. His books and articles have been published in Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka and the United States.

Since 1973 he has been buddhist chaplin at The American University counseling students interested in Buddhism and Buddhist meditation. He is now president of the Bhavana Society in West Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley, about 100 miles from Washington, D.C. teaching meditation and conducting meditation retreats.

Preface

作者序言

In my experience I found that the most effective way to express something in order to make others understand is to use the simplest language. Also I learned from teaching that the more rigid the language the less effective it is. People do not respond to very stern and rigid language especially when we try to teach something which normally people don’t engage in during their daily life. Meditation appears to them as something that they cannot always do. As more people turn to meditation, they need more simplified instructions so they can practice by themselves without a teacher around. This book is the result of requests made by many meditators who need a very simple book written in ordinary colloquial language.

我的经验告诉自己，想别人明白，最有效的表达方式，是用最浅显通俗的语言。在教学中我也认识到，语言越刻板严谨，效果就越少，尤其是在教授别人一些从未接触过的东西时，用难懂的语言，是很难打动别人的。禅修不是人们熟悉的，由于越来越多人转向禅修，因此，他们需要更简单的指导，好让他们可以无师自学。这本简单、通俗易懂的禅修书，就是顺应此要求而写的。

In preparing this book I have been helped by many of my friends. I am deeply grateful to all of them. Especially I would like to express my deepest appreciation and sincere gratitude to John Patticord, Daniel J. Olmsted, Matthew Flickstein, Carol Flickstein, Patrick Hamilton, Genny Hamilton, Bill Mayne, Bhikkhu Dang Pham Jotika and Bhikkhu Sona for their most valuable suggestions, comments and criticisms of numerous points in preparing this book. Also thanks to Reverend Sister Sama and Chris O’Keefe for their support in production efforts.

在写本书过程中，我得到很多朋友的帮助，我对所有人皆深表感激，我想特别多谢：约翰．派迪确(John M. Peddicord)、丹尼尔．欧姆斯特(Daniel J. Olmsted)、马修．弗里克斯坦(Matthew Flickstein)、卡罗．弗里克斯坦(Carol Flickstein)、帕翠克．韩美顿(Patrick Hamilton)、郑妮．韩美顿(Genny Hamilton)、比尔．梅尼(Bill Mayne)、邓范．左狄卡比丘(Bhikkhu Dang Pham Jotika)、桑拿比丘(Bhikkhu Sona)等，他们在我撰写此书过程中，给了我很多宝贵的建议、批评与指正。伊利莎伯．雷特(Elizabeth Reid)对于在新版中所加入的后记，提供了宝贵的协助。此外，我亦要多谢萨玛尼师(ReverendSister Sama)和克里斯．奥奇菲(Chris O’Keefe )，她们一起帮助有关出版的一切事宜。

H. Gunaratana Mahathera

德宝法师(观勒拉坦拿法师)

Bhavana Society
Rt. 1 Box 218-3
High View, WV 26808
December 7, 1990

Introduction

导言

American Buddhism

美国的佛教

The subject of this book is Vipassana meditation practice. Repeat, practice. This is a meditation manual, a nuts-and-bolts, step-by-step guide to Insight meditation. It is meant to be practical. It is meant for use.

There are already many comprehensive books on Buddhism as a philosophy, and on the theoretical aspects of Buddhist meditation. If you are interested in that material we urge you to read those books. Many of them are excellent. This book is a ’How to.’ It is written for those who actually want to meditate and especially for those who want to start now. There are very few qualified teachers of the Buddhist style of meditation in the United States of America. It is our intention to give you the basic data you need to get off to a flying start. Only those who follow the instructions given here can say whether we have succeeded or failed. Only those who actually meditate regularly and diligently can judge our effort. No book can possibly cover every problem that a meditator may run into. You will need to meet a qualified teacher eventually. In the mean time, however, these are the basic ground rules; a full understanding of these pages will take you a very long way.

本书的主题是内观禅(Vipassana Meditation)[1]的修习，我重复，是修习。这是一本禅修手册，一本有关内观禅具体细节与步骤的指南书，它是为了可供实际应用而写的。坊间已有很多广泛论述佛教义理或佛教禅修理论的书，如果对那些资料有兴趣，我也鼓励你们去阅读，其中实有很多精品。可是，这本书是一本「怎么去做」的禅修指南书，它是为了实在需要禅修的人而写的，尤其是那些想立刻起步的人。在美国，有资格指导佛教禅修的导师实在很少，因此，我们想给你所需的基本资讯，好让你可飞快地开始。只有那些跟随本书指引去做的读者，才能评论我们的成败得失，也只有那些勤奋和经常如法修习的读者，才能对我们的努力作出评价。没有一本书可以涵盖禅修者有可能遇上的所有问题，最后你还是要会见一位有资格的导师，直接向他请教。不过，在这期间，请先翻阅本书，里面载有禅修的基本原则，对它们若能完全了解，已可令你进步不少了。

There are many styles of meditation. Every major religious tradition has some sort of procedure which they call meditation, and the word is often very loosely used. Please understand that this volume deals exclusively with the Vipassana style of meditation as taught and practiced in South and Southeast Asian Buddhism. It is often translated as Insight meditation, since the purpose of this system is to give the meditator insight into the nature of reality and accurate understanding of how everything works.

「禅修」的方式很多，每一个较大的宗教传统都有其所称的「禅修」程序，而这个词又经常被滥用。所以，请先了解，这是一本专论内观禅修法的书，它是南传佛教[2]历来传习的禅法。Vipassana Bhavana 这巴利文，通常被英译为Insight Meditation，意思是「内观禅(为达致内观智慧的禅修)」，因为此种禅系的目的，是要令行者洞悉现实的本质，正确地了解各种事物(诸法)的基本运作方式。

Buddhism as a whole is quite different from the theological religions with which Westerners are most familiar. It is a direct entrance to a spiritual or divine realm without addressing deities or other ’agents’. Its flavor is intensely clinical, much more akin to what we would call psychology than to what we would usually call religion. It is an ever-ongoing investigation of reality, a microscopic examination of the very process of perception. Its intention is to pick apart the screen of lies and delusions through which we normally view the world, and thus to reveal the face of ultimate reality. Vipassana meditation is an ancient and elegant technique for doing just that.

整体来说，佛教与西方人最熟识的神学宗教是颇为不同的，它可以令人直接进入非凡的心灵或圣者境界，无需神祇或媒介的帮助。它有强烈的临床意味── 类似医生辨症论治那么客观和慎重，它又近似「心理学」多于一般所称的「宗教」。佛教徒的修习，是一种对现实持续不断的考察活动，也是一种对感知本身的微观审查活动，它的目的是要撕开笼罩着我们、使我们经常迷惑和受骗的面纱，从而显露现实的本来面目。内观禅修就是为了此目的而出现的一种古老而优雅的技巧。

Theravada Buddhism presents us with an effective system for exploring the deeper levels of the mind, down to the very root of consciousness itself. It also offers a considerable system of reverence and rituals in which those techniques are contained. This beautiful tradition is the natural result of its 2,500-year development within the highly traditional cultures of South and Southeast Asia.

上座部佛教(Theravada Buddhism)[3]给我们提供了一个有效的系统，它可以帮助我们探索内心深处，直达意识本身的根源。它也提供了一个相当庞大的宗教崇敬与仪式系统，里面也包含上述的禅修技巧。这个优秀传统，是在南亚与东南亚的浓厚传统文化中，历经了二千五百多年的发展而自然形成的。

In this volume, we will make every effort to separate the ornamental and the fundamental and to present only the naked plain truth itself. Those readers who are of a ritual bent may investigate the Theravada practice in other books, and will find there a vast wealth of customs and ceremony, a rich tradition full of beauty and significance. Those of a more clinical bent may use just the techniques themselves, applying them within whichever philosophical and emotional context they wish. The practice is the thing.

在本书中，我们将尽一切努力把装饰品与根本内容分开，只呈报简单直接的真理。偏好仪式的读者，可研读其他有关上座部做法的书籍，你会在那里发现大量的习俗与仪式，那是一个富丽的传统，既多采多姿而又充满意义。务实的读者只需亲自实行那些禅修技巧，并且把它们在思想上或情绪上应用起来即可。实修才是重点。

The distinction between Vipassana meditation and other styles of meditation is crucial and needs to be fully understood. Buddhism addresses two major types of meditation. They are different mental skills, modes of functioning or qualities of consciousness. In Pali, the original language of Theravada literature, they are called ’Vipassana’ and ’Samatha’.

了解内观禅与其他禅修方式的区别是至关重要的，不可以含糊不清。佛教的禅修主要有两种，它们是不同的心智技巧或运作模式，有着不同的意识特性。在巴利文，即上座部经典的原始记录文字中，它们被称为Vipassana Bhavana(内观禅、观禅或毗婆舍那)与SamathaBhavana(止禅或奢摩他)[4]。

’Vipassana’ can be translated as ’insight’, a clear awareness of exactly what is happening as it happens. ’Samatha’ can be translated as ’concentration’ or ’tranquility’. It is a state in which the mind is brought to rest, focused only on one item and not allowed to wander. When this is done, a deep calm pervades body and mind, a state of tranquility which must be experienced to be understood. Most systems of meditation emphasize the Samatha component. The meditator focuses his mind upon some items, such as prayer, a certain type of box, a chant, a candle flame, a religious image or whatever, and excludes all other thoughts and perceptions from his consciousness. The result is a state of rapture which lasts until the meditator ends the session of sitting. It is beautiful, delightful meaningful and alluring, but only temporary. Vipassana meditation address the other component, insight.

Vipassana 可译作Insight (内观或观)，一种对当下、正在发生的事情的如实清楚觉知。Samatha 可译作Concentration(集中、定)或Tranquillity(静、止)，一种不涣散、已安静下来、集中于某一对象的心理状态；在此状态的人，会感到一种甚深的平静遍布身心，那种平静唯亲证始能了解。大多数的禅修系统皆着重止禅成分，禅修者把心念集中于某一对象，例如：一篇愿文(祈祷文)、一首歌颂、一支烛火、或一个宗教性的肖像，同时排除意识内所有其他思想与知觉，渐渐达致一种喜乐，它会持续至禅坐完毕为止。它是美妙的、令人高兴的、有意义的、令人着迷的，不过也是短暂的。

The Vipassana meditator uses his concentration as a tool by which his awareness can chip away at the wall of illusion which cuts him off from the living light of reality. It is a gradual process of ever-increasing awareness and into the inner workings of reality itself. It takes years, but one day the meditator chisels through that wall and tumbles into the presence of light. The transformation is complete. It’s called liberation, and it’s permanent. Liberation is the goal of all buddhist systems of practice. But the routes to attainment of the end are quite diverse.

内观禅致力于另一成分── 内观或观，内观禅修者以定力为工具，好让他们以觉知凿穿遮蔽着现实光芒的错觉墙壁。过程是渐进式的，觉知将可逐渐增强至洞悉现实本身的内部运作。也许要花数年时间，可是总有一天，禅修者可凿穿墙壁，豁然看到光芒。那转变是彻底的，可称之为「解脱」，而且是永久的。「解脱」是所有佛教修行体系的目标，不过，达此目标的路径却是多种多样的。

There are an enormous number of distinct sects within Buddhism. But they divide into two broad streams of thought -- Mahayana and Theravada. Mahayana Buddhism prevails throughout East Asia, shaping the cultures of China, Korea, Japan, Nepal, Tibet and Vietnam. The most widely known of the Mahayana systems is Zen, practiced mainly in Japan, Korea, Vietnam and the United States. The Theravada system of practice prevails in South and Southeast Asia in the countries of Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Laos and Cambodia. This book deals with Theravada practice.

佛教内部有很多不同宗派，它们都可归纳为两大思想主流：大乘与上座部(北传与南传佛教)。大乘佛教(Mahayana Buddhism)[5]普遍流行于东亚地区，影响着中国、韩国、日本、尼泊尔、西藏和越南等国的文化。其中最广为人知的大乘体系是禅宗(Zen)，它的修持多见于日本、韩国、越南和美国。上座部佛教则多见于南亚和东南亚的国家，其中包括斯里兰卡(锡兰)、泰国、缅甸、寮国和柬埔寨，本书所论仅涉上座部佛教的修持。

The traditional Theravada literature describes the techniques of both Samatha (concentration and tranquility of mind) and Vipassana (insight or clear awareness). There are forty different subjects of meditation described in the Pali literature. They are recommended as objects of concentration and as subjects of investigation leading to insight. But this is a basic manual, and we limit our discussion to the most fundamental of those recommended objects--breathing. This book is an introduction to the attainment of mindfulness through bare attention to, and clear comprehension of, the whole process of breathing. Using the breath as his primary focus of attention, the meditator applies participatory observation to the intirety of his own perceptual universe. He learns to watch changes occurring in all physical experiences, in feelings and in perceptions. He learns to study his own mental activities and the fluctuations in the character of consciousness itself. All of these changes are occurring perpetually and are present in every moment of our experiences.

传统的上座部文献对止禅与内观禅皆有描述，据巴利文典籍所载，禅修对象(所缘)可有四十种，它们都可以被用作为止禅的对象来修习定力、或内观禅的考察对象来达致内观智慧。由于这是一本基础手册，我们将只讨论其中最基本的禅修对象── 呼吸。本书是内观禅的入门书，它将描述如何透过对整个呼吸过程的单纯注意与清楚觉知，来达致正念(专注或静观)。内观禅修者以呼吸为主要的集中对象，继而对自己的全部感知世界进行参与式的观察。禅修者要学习观看所有身体、感受、或知觉上的经验变化，并且要学习观察自己的心理活动与意识本身的波动。这一切变化皆在持续发生，且是我们随时都可以经验得到的。

Meditation is a living activity, an inherently experiential activity. It cannot be taught as a purely scholastic subject. The living heart of the process must come from the teacher’s own personal experience. Nevertheless, there is a vast fund of codified material on the subject which is the product of some of the most intelligent and deeply illumined human beings ever to walk the earth. This literature is worthy of attention. Most of the points given in this book are drawn from the Tipitaka, which is the three-section collected work in which the Buddah’s original teachings have been preserved. The Tipitaka is comprised of the Vinaya, the code of discipline for monks, nuns, and lay people; the Suttas, public discourses attributed to the Buddha; and the Abhidhamma, a set of deep psycho-philosophical teachings.

禅修是一种活泼的、根源于内在经验的活动，它不可能被视为一纯学科来教授，那过程的活泼心法，得来自导师的亲身体验。话虽如此，仍有大量有关禅修的典籍被流传下来，其中就有不少是出于世间有才智的大彻大悟者，这类文献是相当值得留意的。本书的大多数观点均引自巴利文的三藏(Tipitaka)，它是佛陀的原始教诫的辑录，三藏包括(一)律藏，内含比丘、比丘尼及在家人的戒律；(二)经藏，内含佛陀对大众的开示；(三)论藏，内含有关心理及哲学的深奥论着。

In the first century after Christ, an eminent Buddhist scholar named Upatissa wrote the Vimuttimagga, (The Path of Freedom) in which he summarized the Buddha’s teachings on meditation. In the fifth century A.C. (after Christ,) another great Buddhist scholar named Buddhaghosa covered the same ground in a second scholastic thesis--the Visuddhimagga, (The Path of Purification) which is the standard text on meditation even today. Modern meditation teachers rely on the Tipitaka and upon their own personal experiences.

公元一世纪时，杰出的佛学家优波提沙(Upatissa)写下了《解脱道论(Vimuttimagga)》，里面把佛陀的禅修教导做了一番概括。公元五世纪时，另一位伟大的佛学家觉音(Buddhaghosa)依照同样的立论基础，写成了《清净道论(Visuddhimagga)》， 此书至今仍为禅修的标准教材。

It is our intention to present you with the clearest and most concise directions for Vipassana meditation available in the English language. But this book offers you a foot in the door. It’s up to you to take the first few steps on the road to the discovery of who you are and what it all means. It is a journey worth taking. We wish you success.

我们的意图是：以最清晰、简洁和扼要的指引，为英语世界的大众介绍内观禅修。本书助你入门，至于你是否继续前进，找出你是谁及其中的意义，则要靠你自己去决定了。这是一个很值得踏上的旅程，祝你成功！