Study and Experiencing
研读与实际经验
Let us talk about the difference between studying Dharma ideas and applying them in practice. True Dharma study has only one purpose-to find a way out of the unsatisfactoriness of our lives and to achieve happiness and peace for ourselves and all beings. Our suffering has causes for its arising and a place to abide. Let us understand this process. When the heart is still, it is in its normal condition; when the mind moves, thought is constructed. Happiness and sorrow are part of this movement of mind, this thought construction. So also is restlessness, the desire to go' here and there. If you do not understand such movement, you will chase after thought constructions and be at their mercy.
让我们谈一谈，研究佛法思想和将它们放入修行之间的不同之处。真正的法义研究只有一个目的，那就是：在我们痛苦的生活中找到一条出路，以及为自己与众生达到快乐与平静。我们的苦生起是有其起因和停留的地方的。让我们来了解这个过程。当心平静时，它是在其原来的状态：当心动摇时，念头便形成了，而喜、悲皆属於这动摇的心和这念头结构中的一部份。掉举也是如此，欲望跑这儿、跑那儿的。如果你对这样的动摇并不了解，你就会受到念头的支配而任其摆布。
Therefore, the Buddha taught us to contemplate the movements of the mind. Watching the mind move, we can see its basic characteristics: endless flux, unsatisfactoriness and emptiness. You should be aware of and contemplate these mental phenomena. In this way, you can learn about the process of dependent origination. The Buddha taught that ignorance is the cause of the arising of all worldly phenomena and of our volitions. Volition gives rise to consciousness, and consciousness in turn gives rise to mind and body. This is the process of dependent origination.
因此，佛陀教我们要去思惟(观)变动的心。观照心的变动，我们便能看到其基本的特质：永恒地变迁、苦、空。你应该觉醒和思惟(观)这些心理状态。如此一来，你便可以学习到十二因缘的过程。佛陀教导，“无明”是一切世间因缘和“行”生起的“因”。“行”引发“识”，“识”引发“身”与“心”。这就是十二因缘的过程。
When we first study Buddhism, these traditional teachings may appear to make sense to us. But when the process is actually occurring within us, those who have only read about it cannot follow fast enough. Like a fruit falling from a tree, each link in the chain falls so fast that such people cannot tell what branches it has passed. When pleasurable sense contact takes place, for example, they are carried away by the sensation and are unable to notice how it happened.
当我们初学佛法时，这个传统的教义对我们也许有意义，但是，当这个过程实际地发生在我们心里时，那些光研读十二因缘的人，将跟随不上它们。就好比一粒水果从树上掉下来一样──每一环都掉落得如此迅速，使得这些人根本无法说出已经经过了哪些树枝。例如：当愉悦的感官接触发生时，他们便会被感觉所支配，无知它们是如何发生的。
Of course, the systematic outline of the process in the texts is accurate, but the experience is beyond textual study. Study does not tell you that this is the experience of ignorance arising, this is how volition feels, this is a particular kind of consciousness, this is the feeling of the different elements of body and mind. When you let go of a tree limb and fall to the ground, you do not go into detail about how many feet and inches you fell; you just hit the ground and experience the pain. No book can describe that.
当然，经典里对整个过程的有系统描述是很精密的，但，实际的经验却是超越经教研究的。研究并无法告诉你“这就是”无明生起的经验，“这就是”行的感觉，“这就是”特殊的意识，“这就是”身与心各个不同元素的感觉(受)。当你从树上掉到地上时，你并无法详细地算出你掉落了几尺几寸高──你就碰到地上了，然後经验到苦。没有任何一本书能够描述那种情形。
Formal Dharma study is systematic and refined, but reality does not follow a single track. Therefore, we must attest to what arises from the one who knows, from our deepest wisdom. When our innate wisdom, the one who knows, experiences the truth of the heart / mind, it will be dear that the mind is not our self. Not belonging to us, not I, not mine, ail of it must be dropped. As to our learning the names of all the elements of mind and consciousness, the Buddha did not want us to become attached to the words. He just wanted us to see that all this is impermanent, unsatisfactory, and empty of self. He taught only to let go. When these things arise, be aware of them, know them. Only a mind that can do this is properly trained.
经教的研究是有组织系统，且严谨的，但是，真理绝非仅此而已。因此，我们必须以“觉知者”、以我们最深层的智慧来证实生起的一切。当我们原有的智慧──觉知者，经验到心的真相时，它使会清楚地明了心并不是我们自己，不属於我们、不是我，也不是我的，一切的一切都必须舍掉。对於我们所学习的心、识元素的名相，佛陀也不希望我们去执著。他只是希望让我们看到这一切都是无常、苦和空的。他只教导我们放下。当这些东西生起时，觉知它们、了知它们。只有能够做到这点的心，才算正确地训练过。
When the mind is stirred up, the various mental formations, thought constructions, and reactions start arising from it, building and proliferating continually. Just let them be, the good as well as the bad. The Buddha said simply, "Give them up." But for us, it is necessary to study our own minds to know how it is possible to give them up.
当心被扰动时，种种法尘、念头、反应便由之生起，并且不断地营造和造作。只要让它们去，不论好、坏都一样。佛陀只说：“舍弃它们。”但对我们而言，探究自己的心，以知道如何方能舍弃它们，是必要的。
If we look at the model of the elements of mind, we see that it follows a natural sequence: mental factors are thus, consciousness arises and passes like this, and so forth. We can see in our own practice that when we have right understanding and awareness, then right thought, right speech, right action, and right livelihood automatically follow. Different mental elements arise from that very one who knows. The one who knows is like a lamp. If understanding is right, thought and all the other factors will be right as well, like the light emanating from the lamp. As we watch with awareness, right understanding grows.
如果我们观察心理元素的形态，我们会看到，心是追随自然顺序的──心理元素是这样子的：识生起然後就这样消逝等等。我们可以在自我的修行中看到，当我们拥有正见及正念时，正思惟、正语、正业、正命自然会随之生起。各种不同的心理元素会从这个觉知者生起。觉知者就有如一盏灯，如果知见正确的话，思惟和其他的因素也会跟著正确：就如同从灯中射出来的光。当我们以觉知观照时，正见就会增长。
When we examine all that we call mind, we see only a conglomeration of mental elements, not a self. Then where can we stand? Feeling, memory, all the five-aggregates of mind and body are shifting like leaves in the wind. We can discover this through meditation.
当我们审视这一切，也就是所谓的心时，我们看到的会只是一个心理元素的聚合体，而不是个自我。那我们以何而立？受、想、身、心约五蕴就如风中的落叶般变化不定。我们可以经由禅坐发现这点。
Meditation is like a single log of wood. Insight and investigation are one end of the log; calm and concentration are the other end. If you lift up the whole log, both sides come up at once. Which is concentration and which is insight? Just this mind.
禅坐就如同一根木头，内观和审视是木头的一端，平静与专注则是另一端。如果你举起整块木头，两端必会同时被举起。哪个是定而哪个是慧呢，只是这颗心罢了。
You cannot really separate concentration, inner tranquility, and insight. They are just as a mango that is first green and sour, then yellow and sweet, but not two different fruits. One grows into the other without the first, we would never have the second. Such terms are only conventions for teaching; We should not be attached to the language. The only source of true knowledge is to see what is within ourself. Only this kind of study has an end and is the study of real value.
你是无法将定与慧绝然地分开的。它们就好像一颗起初青涩，後来甜熟的芒果，而不是两颗不同的水果。这个成长为那个，没有了前者，也不会有後者。这样的分法只是教导上的方便罢了，我们不该去执著语言。唯一真实的智慧根源，就是去看见自我内在的一切。只有这种的学习才有终点，也才是学习的真正价值所在。
The calmness of the mind at the beginning stage of concentration arises from the simple practice of one pointedness. But when this calm departs, we suffer because we have become attached to it. The attainment of tranquility is not yet the end, according to the Buddha. Becoming and suffering still exist.
在定的初阶段的平静之心，是从简单的专注修行中生起的。但是，当这种平静消失时，我们会痛苦，是因为我们去执著它。根据佛陀所言，达到了平静仍然不是终点，因为，“有”和“苦”依然存在。
Thus, the Buddha took this concentration, this tranquility, and contemplated further. He searched out the truth of the matter until he was no longer attached to tranquility. Tranquility is just another relative reality, one of numerous mental formations, only a stage on the path. If you are attached to it, you will find yourself still stuck in birth and becoming, based on your pleasure in tranquility. When tranquility ceases, agitation will begin and you will be attached even more.
因此，佛陀利用这个“定”或“平静”来进一步地思惟(观)。他一直寻求事实的真相直到他不再执著平静(定)为止。平静只是真理的一面──种种法尘的其中之一，只是道上的一个阶段罢了。如果你执著它的话，曾发现自己仍陷於“生”与“有”之中，仿似你在平静的喜悦为依赖。但当平静一消失，就会开始烦恼，而你，将会执著得更深。
The Buddha went on to examine becoming and birth to see where they arise. As he did not yet know the truth of the matter, he used his mind to contemplate further, to investigate all the mental elements that arose. Whether tranquil or not, he continued to penetrate, to examine further, until he finally realized that all that he saw, all the five aggregates of body and mind, were like a red-hot iron ball. When it is red-hot all over, where can you find a cool spot to touch? The same is true of the five aggregates-to grasp any part causes pain. Therefore, you should not get attached even to tranquility or concentration; you should not say that peace or tranquility is you or yours. To do so just creates the painful illusion of self, the world of attachment and delusion, another red-hot iron ball.
佛陀为了看到“有”和“生”是从哪里生起，所以继续不断地审视它们。在他仍未明了事实的真相时，他用他的心进一步地思惟，以观照所有生起的心理元素。不论平静与否，他都进一步地继续洞察和审视，直到他最後觉悟了他所看到的一切──身、心的五蕴，就好像一颗炽红的热铁球一般。富它四面皆热时，你哪里找得到一处清凉的地方可以触摸?五蕴的真相也是一样──执著任何一部份都会造成苦。因此，即使连定(平静)都不该去执著；你不应该说平静是你或你的，这样做的话，只会造成自我的痛苦、执著和愚痴的世间、另一个炽热的铁球。
In our practice, our tendency is to grasp, to take experiences as me and mine. If you think, '1 am calm, I am agitated, I am good or bad, I am happy or unhappy," this clinging causes more becoming and birth. When happiness ends, suffering appears; when suffering ends, happiness appears. You will see yourself unceasingly vacillating between heaven and hell. The Buddha saw that the condition of his mind was thus, and he knew, because of this birth and becoming, his liberation was not yet complete. So he took up these elements of experience and contemplated their true nature. Because of grasping, birth and death exist. Becoming glad is birth; becoming dejected is death. Having died, we are then born; having been born, we die. This birth and death from one moment to the next is like the endless spinning of a wheel.
在我们的修行中，执取经验为我和我的是我们的倾向。如果你认为：“我很平静、我恨烦恼、我好或我坏、我高兴或不高兴”这种执著只曾造成更多“有”和“生”。当快乐结束时，痛苦生起：当痛苦结束时，快乐生起。你会看到自己在天堂与地狱之间游离不定。佛陀看到自己的心的状态是如此的，他也明白，就因为这个“有”和“生”，所以他的解脱仍末圆满。因此，他利用了这些经验的元素来思惟(观)它们的真实本然。因为执著，“生”和“死”所以存在。变得高兴是“生”，变得沮丧是“死”。死了以後，我们便生；生了之後，我们必死。从这一刹那到下一刹那的生与死，就如同一个不停转动的轮子。
The Buddha saw that whatever the mind gives rise to are just transitory, conditioned phenomena, which are really empty. When this dawned on him, he let go, gave up, and found an end to suffering. You too must understand these matters according to the truth. When you know things as they are, you will see that these elements of mind are a deception, in keeping with. the Buddha's teaching that this mind has nothing, does not arise, is not born, and does not die with anyone. It is free, shining, resplendent, with nothing to occupy it. The mind becomes occupied only because it misunderstands and is deluded by these conditioned phenomena, this false sense of self.
佛陀看到，无论心生起什么，都只是无常的──因缘和合的事物，实际上是空的。当他明白这点时，他放下、他舍弃，因而找到了苦的尽头。你们也必须要如实地了解这些。富你明了事物的本然时，你会看到，这些心的元素都只是个骗术──根据佛陀的教导，这类心什么也不是、不生起、也没生，更不跟任何人死去。它是自在的、光明的、灿烂的，没有任何东西可以侵占它。心会被占据是因为心曲解了，而且被这些和合现象──这个假的我的意识所迷惑。
Therefore, the Buddha had us look at our minds. What exists in the beginning? Truly, not anything. This emptiness does not arise and die with phenomena. When it contacts something good, it does not become good; when it contacts something bad, it does not become bad. The pure mind knows these objects clearly, knows that they are not substantial.
因此，佛陀让我们观察自己的心。开始时，有什么存在?事实上，什么也没有。这个“空”是不跟和合现象一起生、灭的。当心接触到好的事物时，它不会也跟著变好：当它接触到不好的事物时，它也不会跟著变得不好。清净的心清楚地觉知这些对象，觉知它们都不是实体。
When the mind Of the meditator abides like this, no doubt exists. Is there becoming? Is there birth? We need not ask anyone. Having examined the elements of mind, the Buddha let them go and became merely one who was aware of them. He just watched with equanimity. Conditions leading to birth did not exist for him. With his complete knowledge, he called them all impermanent, unsatisfactory, empty of self. Therefore, he became the one who knows with certainty. The one who knows sees according to this truth and does not become happy or sad according to changing conditions. This is true peace, free of birth, aging, sickness, and death, not dependent on causes, results, or conditions, beyond happiness and suffering, above good and evil. Nothing can be spoken about it. No conditions promote it any longer.
当一位禅修者的心如此安住时，是不会有疑惑的。有“有”吗?有“生”吗？我们不需问任何人。审视了心的元素之後，佛陀便放下它们，然後只做一个在旁觉知的人。他平静地观照。对他而言，导致“生”的条件并不存在。以他圆满的智慧，说它们皆是无常、苦和无我。因此，他确实成为一位觉知者。觉知者如实地彻见，而不因变迁的现象而快乐、悲伤。这才是真实的平静，解脱了生、老、病、死，不缘因果或因缘，超越了苦、乐、善、恶。它无法形容，任何条件都不再能动摇它。
Therefore, develop samadhi, calm and insight; learn to make them arise in your mind and really use them. Otherwise, you will know only the words of Buddhism and with the best intentions, go around merely describing the characteristics of existence. You may be clever, but when things arise in your mind, will you follow them? When you come into contact with something you like, will you immediately become attached? Can you let go of it? When unpleasant experiences arise, does the one who knows hold that dislike in his mind, or does he let go? If you see things that you dislike and still hold on to or condemn them, you should reconsider-this is not yet correct, not yet the supreme. If you observe your mind in this way, you will truly know for yourself.
因此，增长三摩地、平静和内观，学习去让它们在心中生起，然後确实地运用它们。否则的话，你只认识了佛法的名相，虽然拥有很好的动机，但也只能四处去说明事物的特质。你也许很聪明，但当事物在心中生起时，你会追逐它们吗?当你接触到你所喜爱的事物时，你会立刻执著它们吗?你能够放下它吗？当不悦的经验生起时，觉知者会执著於心，还是会放下?当你看到你所厌恶的事物时，还依然执著或谴责它们的话，就应该反省──这还是不对的、还不是究竟的。如果你如此审视你的心，你自己会确实地明了。
I did not practice using textbook terms; I just looked at this one who knows. If it hates someone, question why. If it loves someone, question why. Probing all arising back to its origin, you can solve the problem of clinging and hating and get them to leave you alone. Everything comes back to and arises from the one who knows. But repeated practice is crucial.
我并没有用教科书来修行，我只是看著这个觉知者。如果它恨某人的话，问问为什 ；如果它爱某人的话，也问问为什么；将一切生起的事物追究回它的本来，你便能够解决执取与憎恨的问题，并让它们离你而去。一切都将回归觉知者、生起於觉知者。然而，反覆地修行是重要的。
