1-2-9. PEACE AND NIBBANA寂静与涅槃

Nibbana translates as peace. People's mind, when it is just in its normal state, is peaceful, it's called nibbana. On seeing lights, colors, ghosts and angels, how can it be in peace ? I 'm asking you sitting here now : 'Right now, what is your mind like, is it peaceful, is there any greed, hatred or delusion?

Answer : 'Ordinary'. Ordinary and peaceful are the same. The Buddha teaches that there is no higher happiness than peace. There are 2 kinds of peace or it has 2 characteristics. Please reflect on this well and choose the right one:

涅槃可以翻译为寂静安祥，当我们的心恢复平常的状态时是寂静安祥的，那就叫做涅槃。当看到光、色彩或鬼神时，心怎么能寂静安祥呢？我现在问在坐的诸位；”你们的心现在当下怎样呢？寂静安祥吗？有任何贪、瞋、痴吗？”(大众回答：「平常。」) 平常和寂静安祥是一样的，佛陀教导说没有比寂静安祥更高的喜乐。不过要注意，有二种的寂静安祥或者说是它有两种特质，请诸位好好地思惟选择正确的一种：

1. Peace under the influence of delusion, it is called peace in the cave. Someone in a cave is in the dark, wherever you go, it's a hassle. This is the person who sits for the sake of peace, sitting as stiff as a rock. He or she doesn't see the mind, doesn't see thought arising.

l. 第一种是带有无明与愚痴的寂静安祥。这种被称为洞穴内的寂静安祥，在洞穴中是一片黑暗的，不管你到哪里都是很麻烦的(洞穴内的寂静安祥亦复如是)。这种寂静是某些人为了想要寂静而坐着不动，坐到像石头一样，所以他们不能看见自心，不能看见念头生起。

2. Peace through awareness and wisdom. Because it is without greed, hatred and delusion, one knows and sees one's own mind and is aware of acting, speaking and thinking.

2. 第二种是带有觉知与智慧的寂静安祥。这种因为没有贪瞋痴，所以他们能知道和看见自己的心，并且能觉知到身、语、意的行为。

To summarise : Nibbana means the extinguishing of defilements, the normal mind. Someone with a normal mind like this, as soon as a thought comes up, whack, it is caught straight away. But someone who does not have a normal mind can think about 100 or 1000 things without seeing one's own thought.

总的说来：涅槃是烦恼的止灭，是平常心。一个有这样平常心的人，当念头一起来，叭！一声！立刻就被抓到了。但一个失去平常心的人，可能想了一百或一千件事情，却都还看不到自己的念头。

As for the words virtue-concentration-wisdom, the Buddha teaches that virtue is a tool for uprooting coarse defilement, concentration is a tool for uprooting medium defilement and wisdom is the tool for uprooting the subtle defilements. These are words, they are in the books, in the scriptures, handed down by teachers. In practice, the crude defilements are greed, hatred and delusion, impurities, craving, clinging and intentional action. The middle defilements are being stuck, not seeing clearly, it is called a not knowing-kind-of-knowing or peace under the influence of delusion. The refined defilements are getting stuck in the most subtle knowledge of the mind, namely knowing the origin of thought and knowing and seeing the state of arising/passing, which is still a white kind of darkness, it is extremely refined but abnormal. We don't know these subtle defilements, we see suffering as happiness but in reality it is a white kind of darkness, it comes softly and gently, in a flash. So in practicing Dhamma; observe thoughts arising in the mind, as soon as there is a thought, whack ! See it, just like a cat catching a mouse !

至于所谓的戒-定-慧，佛陀教导说：「“戒”是断除粗重烦恼的工具，“定”是断除中等烦恼的工具，“慧”是断除微细烦恼的工具。」这在历代老师们流传下来的着书或圣典中都有载明。修行中，粗重的烦恼就是指贪、瞋、痴、杂染、贪爱、执取及有意志的造作行为。中等烦恼是指我们心为境所困而不能清楚明见，这种叫做不知道的知道，或带有无明愚痴的寂静安祥。微细烦恼是指执着心中最微细的智慧，也就是说他有了智慧，能知道念头的起处，也能知道并看到那生灭的状态，但因为有执着，所以这种还是白光中的一丝黑暗，这已经是非常微细了，但还是不正常的。我们由于不知道这种微细的烦恼，所以把苦看成是乐的，而事实上，它是白光中的一丝黑暗，还是会不知不觉的剎那生起。所以，在修习正法时，要觉知心中生起的念头。只要一有念头，叭的一声！就看到它！像猫捉老鼠那样。