---
title: "Mindfulness In Plain English - Chapter 10: Dealing With Problems"
description: "by Mahathera Henepola Gunaratana"
---

Mindfulness In Plain English

佛教禪修直解

by Mahathera Henepola Gunaratana

德寶法師著作
梁國雄居士譯

Chapter 10: Dealing With Problems

第十章 問題的處理

You are going to run into problems in your meditation. Everybody does. Problems come in all shapes and sizes, and the only thing you can be absolutely certain about is that you will have some. The main trick in dealing with obstacles is to adopt the right attitude. Difficulties are an integral part of your practice. They aren't something to be avoided. They are something to be used. They provide invaluable opportunities for learning.

在禪修中你會偶然遇到問題，沒有人是不會的。出現的問題式樣繁多，有大有小，你肯定會遇到一些，而處理的訣竅在于有適當的態度。困難是禪修的一個有機組成部分，我們不必迴避它們，而是要利用它們，因為它們提供機會給我們學習。

The reason we are all stuck in life's mud is that we ceaselessly run from our problems and after our desires. Meditation provides us with a laboratory situation in which we can examine this syndrome and devise strategies for dealing with it. The various snags and hassles that arise during meditation are grist for the mill. They are the material on which we work. There is no pleasure without some degree of pain. There is no pain without some amount of pleasure. Life is composed of joys and miseries. They go hand-in-hand. Meditation is no exception. You will experience good times and bad times, ecstasies and frightening times.

我們之所以經常陷入人生困境，原因是：我們只懂不停地逃避問題，不停地追求欲望的滿足。禪修為我們提供一個像實驗室的環境，好讓我們審視此症狀(Syndrome), 從而制定出解決方案。禪修中出現的各種障礙、煩擾與問題，皆是可加利用並從中得益的，它們正是我們要加工的材料。沒有快樂不會包含一定程度的痛苦，也沒有痛苦不會包含一些快樂。人生就是由歡樂與苦難所組合而成，它們是手牽著手地走在一起的；禪修也不例外，你會經歷到好與壞的時光，也會遇上令人狂喜與恐怖的時候。

So don't be surprised when you hit some experience that feels like a brick wall. Don't think you are special. Every seasoned meditator has had his own brick walls. They come up again and again. Just expect them and be ready to cope. Your ability to cope with trouble depends upon your attitude. If you can learn to regard these hassles as opportunities, as chances to develop in your practice, you'll make progress. Your ability to deal with some issue that arises in meditation will carry over into the rest of your life and allow you to smooth out the big issues that really bother you. If you try to avoid each piece of nastiness that arises in meditation, you are simply reinforcing the habit that has already made life seem so unbearable at times.

因此，當碰上似無路可走的禪修境況時，不要震驚，不要以為這是你的特殊遭遇，其實每一位經驗豐富的禪修者都會各自遇上類似的情況，它們會一次又一次地出現，只須有此預防，隨時準備應付即可。你應付困擾的能力取決于你的態度，如果你學懂視這些障礙、煩擾與問題為禪修發展的良機，你就會有進展。處理禪修問題的能力，自然會融入你的生活，助你解決煩擾的重大難題。如果你試圖迴避禪修中出現的每一個棘手問題，那只會強化那些已使人生頗為難耐的習慣而已。

It is essential to learn to confront the less pleasant aspects of existence. Our job as meditators is to learn to be patient with ourselves, to see ourselves in an unbiased way, complete with all our sorrows and inadequacies. We have to learn to be kind to ourselves. In the long run, avoiding unpleasantness is a very unkind thing to do to yourself. Paradoxically, kindness entails confronting unpleasantness when it arises. One popular human strategy for dealing with difficulty is autosuggestion: when something nasty pops up, you convince yourself it is pleasant rather than unpleasant. The Buddha's tactic is quite the reverse. Rather than hide it or disguise it, the Buddha's teaching urges you to examine it to death. Buddhism advises you not to implant feelings that you don't really have or avoid feelings that you do have. If you are miserable you are miserable; this is the reality, that is what is happening, so confront that. Look it square in the eye without flinching. When you are having a bad time, examine the badness, observe it mindfully, study the phenomenon and learn its mechanics. The way out of a trap is to study the trap itself, learn how it is built. You do this by taking the thing apart piece by piece. The trap can't trap you if it has been taken to pieces. The result is freedom.

學會面對生存中不如意的事情是重要的。作為禪修者，我們的工作是要學會容忍自己、公平地看待自己的所有苦惱與不足之處，要學會對自己友善。長遠來說，迴避不如意的事情是對自己很不友善的做法。在不如意事生起時能勇于面對它，雖似反常，其實是一種友善的表現。

一種眾人皆知的處理困難的策略是「自我暗示」，例如：一件壞事突然發生了，你即用「塞翁失馬，焉知非福」等語言來不斷安慰自己。佛陀所教的戰術與此相反，力勸我們與其去掩飾它、躲避它，不如去仔細、徹底地考察它，直至它消失為止。佛教主張：不可摻雜你實際上沒有的感受，也不可迴避你實際上有的感受。如果你很苦惱，這是現實正發生的事情，那就要面對它，正視它，不可畏懼退縮。在不幸的日子里，要檢視不幸的本身，留意地觀察它，研究那個現象，了解它的結構與運作方式。擺脫陷阱的方法，在于研究陷阱本身，了解它是怎麼制造出來的。你要把它一件一件地拆開，被拆開的陷阱就不再能困住你了，結果是自由、解脫。

This point is essential, but it is one of the least understood aspects of Buddhist philosophy. Those who have studied Buddhism superficially are quick to conclude that it is a pessimistic set of teachings, always harping on unpleasant things like suffering, always urging us to confront the uncomfortable realities of pain, death and illness. Buddhist thinkers do not regard themselves as pessimists--quite the opposite, actually. Pain exists in the universe; some measure of it is unavoidable. Learning to deal with it is not pessimism, but a very pragmatic form of optimism. How would you deal with the death of your spouse? How would you feel if you lost your mother tomorrow? Or your sister or your closest friend? Suppose you lost your job, your savings, and the use of your hands, on the same day; could you face the prospect of spending the rest of your life in a wheelchair? How are you going to cope with the pain of terminal cancer if you contract it, and how will you deal with your own death, when that approaches? You may escape most of these misfortunes, but you won't escape all of them. Most of us lose friends and relatives at some time during our lives; all of us get sick now and then; at the very least you are going to die someday. You can suffer through things like that or you can face them openly--the choice is yours.

此點很重要，但很可惜，原來這是佛教思想中最鮮為人知、最鮮為人了解的其中一個方面。那些對佛教只有淺薄認識與研究的人，會很快妄下斷語，說佛教是一套悲觀的學說和教導，不停地說些令人不快的事情，還經常要人面對不適意的現實，如痛苦、病患、死亡等。事實剛好相反，佛教思想家並不認為自己是悲觀主義者。世間苦痛，人生難免，學習應付苦痛實不算悲觀，而是一種很務實的樂觀主義。配偶過世時你怎樣應付？如果明天你的母親離世你的感受如何？如果是你的姊妹或你的親密朋友離世，你又會怎樣？又或者在同一日內，你失去了你的工作、你的儲蓄、以及你的雙腿，你能面對要在輪椅中渡過下半生的境況嗎？如果不幸染上末期癌症，你怎麼應付？另外，臨近死亡時你如何面對它？你或許可以避免大部分上述的不幸，但你總不可能避免全部的。大部分人會在有生之年失去朋友及親屬，所有人都會久不久就生病，無論如何，你總會有死亡之一日的。你可以在這些不幸之中苦惱地渡過，你亦可坦率地、公然地面對它們，你是完全有選擇的。

Pain is inevitable, suffering is not. Pain and suffering are two different animals. If any of these tragedies strike you in your present state of mind, you will suffer. The habit patterns that presently control your mind will lock you into that suffering and there will be no escape. A bit of time spent in learning alternatives to those habit patterns is time will-invested. Most human beings spend all their energies devising ways to increase their pleasure and decrease their pain. Buddhism does not advise that you cease this activity altogether. Money and security are fine. Pain should be avoided where possible. Nobody is telling you to give away all your possessions or seek out needless pain, but Buddhism does advise you to invest some of your time and energy in learning to deal with unpleasantness, because some pain is unavoidable.

痛苦(身苦)難免，煩惱(心苦)可消，因為，身苦與心苦是兩種截然不同的事。如果你的心受到上述某些不幸所打擊，你將會苦惱不堪；由于內心正受習氣所控，你將被煩惱所困，不得解脫。故此，用一點時間去了解免受習氣影響的方法是很值得的。大部分人都殫精竭力地設法離苦得樂，佛教並不主張你完全停止這些活動。金錢與安定是好的，痛苦亦應盡量避免，沒有人在勸你要捐出自己的所有財產，或追求不必要的痛苦，不過，佛教確實有勸你用一點時間與精力，好好學習應付令你不快意的東西，因為有些痛苦是人生難免的。當你看到一輛卡車正向你沖來，就應不顧一切地躲開，同樣道理，請用一點時間作禪修。學習好處理令你不適的東西，是武裝自己去好好處理那無形卡車的唯一妙法。

When you see a truck bearing down on you, by all means jump out of the way. But spend some time in meditation, too. Learning to deal with discomfort is the only way you'll be ready to handle the truck you didn't see.

Problems arise in your practice. Some of them will be physical, some will be emotional, and some will be attitudinal. All of them are confrontable and each has its own specific response. All of them are opportunities to free yourself.

問題是會在禪修中出現的，其中有些屬生理，有些屬情緒，有些屬態度。所有這些問題都是可面對的，而每一種也有其自己的獨特回應，全部都是可令你解脫的良機。

Problem 1: Physical Pain

問題一：身體上的疼痛

Nobody likes pain, yet everybody has some sometime. It is one of life's most common experiences and is bound to arise in your meditation in one form or another. Handling pain is a two-stage process. First, get rid of the pain if possible or at least get rid of it as much as possible. Then, if some pain lingers, use it as an abject of meditation.

沒有人會喜歡痛，但人人總會在某些時候有一些，這是人生普遍體驗之一，而且，在禪修之中，痛一定會以某種形態出現的。

The first step is physical handling. Maybe the pain is an illness of one sort or another, a headache, fever, bruises or whatever. In this case, employ standard medical treatments before you sit down to meditate: take your medicine, apply your liniment, do whatever you ordinarily do. Then there are certain pains that are specific to the seated posture. If you never spend much time sitting cross-legged on the floor, there will be an adjustment period. Some discomfort is nearly inevitable. According to where the pain is, there are specific remedies. If the pain is in the leg or knees, check you pants. If they are tight or made of thick material, that could be the problem. Try to change it. Check your cushion, too. It should be about three inches in height when compressed. If the pain is around your waist, try loosening your belt. Loosen the waistband of your pants is that is necessary. If you experience pain in your lower back, your posture is probably at fault. Slouching will never be comfortable, so straighten up. Don't be tight or rigid, but do keep your spine erect. Pain in the neck or upper back has several sources. The first is improper hand position. Your hands should be resting comfortably in your lap. Don't pull them up to your waist. Relax your arms and your neck muscles. Don't let your head droop forward. Keep it up and aligned with the rest of the spine.

處理痛的過程可分兩步：第一，如果可能的話，把痛完全消除，或把它減至最低；第二，假使仍有痛殘留不散，就把它作為禪修的對象來處理。第一步是從身體上著手，痛也許來自某種疾病，例如：頭痛、發燒、損傷、或是別的什麼。在這種情況下，在你開始禪坐之前，最好先采用常規的醫療，例如：吃藥、涂點藥膏、或使用慣常的方法。

此外，有些疼痛是與特定的坐姿有關的，如果你從未試過長時間在地上盤腿而坐，那就需要一段適應期了。少許不舒服是會有的，那幾乎是無法避免。針對身體不同地方的疼痛，可有不同的特別緩解方法，例如：若痛在小腿，可檢查一下你的褲子，如果它是太緊或太厚，那可能是問題所在，試換一條褲子看看；坐墊也要檢查一下，它應在壓扁後有三吋高左右；如果疼痛在腰部周圍，就要解松你的腰帶；疼痛若在後腰下部，你的坐姿可能有些不對，如懶散地坐著一定不會舒服的，要挺直身子來坐，不宜太緊張或太僵硬，但要保持脊椎正直；頸部或後背的疼痛有幾個來源，首先是不正當的手部姿勢，你的雙手應舒適地放在你大腿區域的上部，不可把它們拉近到你的腰部，放松你的手臂和頸部肌肉，頭部不可向前垂下，要保持頭部平正，且與脊椎垂直地排成一線。

After you have made all these various adjustments, you may find you still have some lingering pain. If that is the case, try step two. Make the pain your object of meditation. Don't jump up and down and get excited. Just observe the pain mindfully. When the pain becomes demanding, you will find it pulling your attention off the breath. Don't fight back. Just let your attention slide easily over onto the simple sensation. Go into the pain fully. Don't block the experience. Explore the feeling. Get beyond your avoiding reaction and go into the pure sensations that lie below that.

如上述般調整之後，你也許還有些疼痛殘留未散，那麼，就要試行第二步了，即把疼痛作為你的禪修對象。不要突然起身，也不要激動，只須專心地觀察著它。當疼痛變得劇烈時，你會發覺，你的注意力已被它從氣息(原本的禪修對象)拉到它那里去了，不可還擊，只須讓注意力輕易地滑動至那簡單感覺之上，然後全然地進入那疼痛之中，不可阻撓那時的體驗，要探索那個時候的感受，要超越你的逃避反應，還要進入那感受之中，體驗著那感受里面的單純感覺。

You will discover that there are two things present. The first is the simple sensation--pain itself. Second is your resistance to that sensation. Resistance reaction is partly mental and partly physical. The physical part consists of tensing the muscles in and around the painful area. Relax those muscles. Take them one by one and relax each one very thoroughly. This step alone probably diminishes the pain significantly. Then go after the mental side of the resistance. Just as you are tensing physically, you are also tensing psychologically. You are clamping down mentally on the sensation of pain, trying to screen it off and reject it from consciousness. The rejection is a wordless, "I don't like this feeling" or "go away" attitude. It is very subtle. But it is there, and you can find it if you really look. Locate it and relax that, too.

你會發現兩樣東西：第一樣是單純的感覺── 疼痛本身，第二樣是你對那感覺的抵抗。抵抗反應有部分屬心理、有部分屬生理，例如：圍繞疼痛區域的肌肉緊張屬生理那部分，放松那里的肌肉，將它們逐一地徹底放松，也許此步驟本身已把疼痛大大減輕。接著便可處理心理上的抗拒了，就像你有生理上的緊張一樣，你也會有心理上的緊張，你會在心理上壓制疼痛的感覺，努力把它從意識之中排擠出去。此種排擠是一種無言的「我不喜歡這種感受」或「走開」的態度，此心微妙細緻，你若認真視察就能發現，找到它後就把它一併放松。

That last part is more subtle. There are really no human words to describe this action precisely. The best way to get a handle on it is by analogy. Examine what you did to those tight muscles and transfer that same action over to the mental sphere; relax the mind in the same way that you relax the body. Buddhism recognizes that the body and mind are tightly linked. This is so true that many people will not see this as a two-step procedure. For them to relax the body is to relax the mind and vice versa. These people will experience the entire relaxation, mental and physical, as a single process. In any case, just let go completely till you awareness slows down past that barrier which you yourself erected. It was a gap, a sense of distance between self and others. It was a borderline between 'me' and 'the pain'. Dissolve that barrier, and separation vanishes. You slow down into that sea of surging sensation and you merge with the pain. You become the pain. You watch its ebb and flow and something surprising happens. It no longer hurts. Suffering is gone. Only the pain remains, an experience, nothing more. The 'me' who was being hurt has gone. The result is freedom from pain.

最後那部分是較難捉摸的，也是無法用語言文字作精密的描述，最好的掌握方法可能是用類比法。試檢查一下你處理緊張肌肉的辦法，然後轉用于心理(精神)上的領域。佛教認為身心是緊密聯系的，此聯系的緊密程度令很多人皆察覺不到此過程有兩個步驟，對他們來說，放松身體即放松內心，放松內心即放松身體，因此，他們體驗到的身心放松只是一個過程而已。無論如何，要全然放下，讓覺知心慢慢地超越你自己豎立的障礙(內心的抗拒)── 一種自我與別人的距離感，一條「自我」與「疼痛」的分界線，若能銷毀那障礙，間隔即可消失。你要慢慢潛入波濤洶湧的感覺之海里面，與疼痛融合為一，你變成感覺本身，觀察著它的減退與流動，跟著，令人驚奇的事情發生了，它不再干擾你，煩惱亦在瞬間消失，只有痛的感受本身，沒有「我」在受傷害，你結果便從疼痛中得到解脫。

This is an incremental process. In the beginning, you can expect to succeed with small pains and be defeated by big ones. Like most of our skills, it grows with practice. The more you practice, the bigger the pain you can handle.

這是一個漸進式的過程。開始時，你可戰勝小痛但輸給大痛，像其他技藝一樣，它會隨著練習而進步的，你越多練習就越能應付更強大的疼痛。

Please understand fully. There is no masochism being advocated here. Self- mortification is not the point.This is an exercise in awareness, not in sadism. If the pain becomes excruciating, go ahead and move, but move slowly and mindfully. Observe your movements. See how it feels to move. Watch what it does to the pain. Watch the pain diminish. Try not to move too much though. The less you move, the easier it is to remain fully mindful. New meditators sometimes say they have trouble remaining mindful when pain is present. This difficulty stems from a misunderstanding. These students are conceiving mindfulness as something distinct from the experience of pain. It is not. Mindfulness never exists by itself. It always has some object and one object is as good as another. Pain is a mental state. You can be mindful of pain just as you are mindful of breathing.

請充分了解，這里不是鼓吹「自虐或苦行」，這是一種「覺察力」的鍛鍊，不是「施虐狂(Sadism)」的行為。如果疼痛變得非常劇烈難忍，請儘管移動身體，但要緩慢且專心地去做，留意觀察你的動作，看看移動時是怎麼樣的感受，留心觀察那動作對疼痛的效應，並且注意著疼痛的減輕。不過，可不要移動得太多，因為，移動得越少，則越容易保持充分的靜觀。初學者有時會說，他們在疼痛時無法保持靜觀；其實這種困難是由于誤解所致，這些學員以為靜觀是有別于疼痛感受的東西，這是不對的。靜觀從來就不可能單獨存在，它總是要有對象的，任何對象皆可，疼痛是一種心態，你是可以像靜觀呼吸一樣來靜觀疼痛的。

The rules we covered in Chapter 4 apply to pain just as they apply to any other mental state. You must be careful not to reach beyond the sensation and not to fall short of it. Don't add anything to it, and don't miss any part of it. Don't muddy the pure experience with concepts or pictures or discursive thinking. And keep your awareness right in the present time, right with the pain, so that you won't miss its beginning or its end. Pain not viewed in the clear light of mindfulness gives rise to emotional reactions like fear, anxiety, or anger. If it is properly viewed, we have no such reaction. It will be just sensation, just simple energy. Once you have learned this technique with physical pain, you can then generalize it in the rest of your life. You can use it on any unpleasant sensation. What works on pain will work on anxiety or chronic depression. This technique is one of life's most useful and generalizable skills. It is patience.

第四章所述的規則適用于任何心態，對于疼痛也不例外。不過必須小心，靜觀感覺時不要過猶不及，不要加油添醋，不要有所遺漏，更不可以概念、圖像、或散漫無關的思想等弄髒那純粹的感受經驗。要保持覺知于當下與疼痛之中，這樣才不會遺漏它的開始與結束。疼痛若不能被清楚地觀照(靜觀)，就會生起恐懼、焦慮或憤怒等情緒反應；若能被適當地觀照，那些反應就不會生起，而只有感覺本身── 單純的能量。一旦你學懂這種處理疼痛的方法，就可以把這方法推廣，應用到你人生的其他方面，你可用于任何不適意的感覺，事實上，適用于疼痛的方法，對焦慮或長期的抑郁症也是有效的。這是人生最有用、最可普及的技巧之一，我們稱之為「忍耐」。

Problem 2: Legs Going To Sleep

問題二：腿腳麻木

It is very common for beginners to have their legs fall asleep or go numb during meditation. They are simply not accustomed to the cross-legged posture. Some people get very anxious about this. They feel they must get up and move around. A few are completely convinced that they will get gangrene from lack of circulation. Numbness in the leg is nothing to worry about. it is caused by nerve-pinch, not by lack of circulation. You can't damage the tissues of your legs by sitting. So relax. When your legs fall asleep in meditation, just mindfully observe the phenomenon. Examine what it feels like. It may be sort of uncomfortable, but it is not painful unless you tense up. Just stay calm and watch it. It does not matter if your legs go numb and stay that way for the whole period. After you have meditated for some time, that numbness gradually will disappear. Your body simply adjusts to daily practice. Then you can sit for very long sessions with no numbness whatever.

初學者在禪坐時，腿腳發生麻木是常有的事情，那是由于他們對禪坐的坐姿不適應所致。有些人對此十分擔憂，他們覺得非要站起來活動一下不可，有少數人更相信，由于血液循環受阻，他們身體的某部分會壞死。腿腳麻木實無須擔心，它是神經受壓而引起的捏痛，而非由于血液循環受阻，此坐姿是不會損害你的腿腳組織的，因此，不要緊張，放松一下吧！如果你的腿腳在禪坐時麻木，只須留意地觀察著此現象即可，試審察一下那感覺是怎麼樣的，也許那只是一種不適的感覺而已，你如果不緊張，它還不算痛苦，只管保持平靜和觀察著它即可。就算腿腳在整個禪坐中持續麻木也不打緊，繼續禪修一段日子，麻木自會慢慢消失的，你的身體是會隨著日常的修習而自動調適的，不久之後，你就算坐上很長時間，也不會再有麻木的現象出現了。

Problem 3: Odd Sensations

問題三：奇異的感覺

People experience all manner of varied phenomena in meditation. Some people get itches. Others feel tingling, deep relaxation, a feeling of lightness or a floating sensation. You may feel yourself growing or shrinking or rising up in the air. Beginners often get quite excited over such sensations. As relaxation sets in, the nervous system simply begins to pass sensory signals more efficiently. Large amounts of previously blocked sensory data can pour through, giving rise to all manner of unique sensations. It does not signify anything in particular. It is just sensation. So simply employ the normal technique. Watch it come up and watch it pass away. Don't get involved.

在禪修中，人們會體驗到各式各樣的現象，例如感到痕癢、輕微的刺痛、深度的松弛、身輕或浮動等感覺。你也許會感到自己在膨脹、縮小或在空中升起來。初學者大多因此而激動興奮，不用擔心，在修習初期，你是不太可能會升空而起的。在禪修之中，當放松現象出現時，神經系統開始更有效地傳遞感覺訊息，大量以前受阻的感覺訊息得以輕易流通，從而產生了各式各樣的奇異感覺，那並不意味什麼，只是感覺而已。因此，只管如常地運用此技巧即可；即觀察著它的生起、觀察著它的消失，不要介入。

Problem 4: Drowsiness

問題四：昏沉(昏昏欲睡)

It is quite common to experience drowsiness during meditation. You become very calm and relaxed. That is exactly what is supposed to happen. Unfortunately, we ordinarily experience this lovely state only when we are falling asleep, and we associate it with that process. So naturally, you begin to drift off. When you find this happening, apply your mindfulness to the state of drowsiness itself. Drowsiness has certain definite characteristics. It does certain things to your thought process. Find out what. It has certain body feelings associated with it. Locate those.

在禪修中感到昏沉是常有的事。你變得非常平靜與放松，那正是禪修的意料中事，不幸的是，我們通常只有在睡著時，才會體驗到這種美好狀態，而我們就把它與那過程聯系在一起，于是便自然慢慢入睡了。當你發現這種情況時，就要立即靜觀昏沉本身。昏沉有一些明顯特性，它會影響你的心念，試把它們找出來；它與某些身體感覺有關，試找出它們的位置。這種探究性的覺察是昏沉的最好對治方法，會令它很快消失的。如果不成功，你的昏沉很可能與身體有關，那就要找出原因來處理了。如果你禪坐前吃得很飽，那可能是做成昏沉的原因。因此，快將禪坐前要少吃一些，或者，在飽餐一頓後要等上一個小時後才可禪坐。還有，不可忽視明顯的因由，如整天辛勞工作後才禪坐，自然疲倦嗜睡了；又如你前晚睡眠不足，就先要處理好身體的需要才好禪坐。不要向昏沉屈服，保持清醒與警覺，因為昏沉與禪修時的心意集中是截然不同的兩種體驗。你在昏沉中是無法得到嶄新領悟的，它們只有在禪修中才可以得到。如你真的昏昏欲睡，可以深吸一口氣，然後屏息靜氣，越久越好，跟著慢慢地呼出來，如是地重複，直至你的身體發暖與昏沉消失為止，之後，便可返回來靜觀氣息。

This inquisitive awareness is the direct opposite of drowsiness, and will evaporate it. If it does not, then you should suspect a physical cause of your sleepiness. Search that out and handle it. If you have just eaten large meal, that could be the cause. It is best to eat lightly before you meditate. Or wait an hour after a big meal. And don't overlook the obvious either. If you have been out loading bricks all day, you are naturally going to be tired. The same is true if you only got a few hours sleep the night before. Take care of your body's physical needs. Then meditate. Do not give in to sleepiness. Stay awake and mindful, for sleep and meditative concentration are two diametrically opposite experiences. You will not gain any new insight from sleep, but only from meditation. If you are very sleepy then take a deep breath and hold it as long as you can. Then breathe out slowly. Take another deep breath again, hold it as long as you can and breathe out slowly. Repeat this exercise until your body warms up and sleepiness fades away. Then return to your breath.

Problem 5: Inability To Concentrate

問題五：無法集中心意

An overactive, jumping attention is something that everybody experiences from time to time. It is generally handled by techniques presented in the chapter on distractions. You should also be informed, however, that there are certain external factors which contribute to this phenomenon. And these are best handled by simple adjustments in your schedule. Mental images are powerful entities. They can remain in the mind for long periods. All of the storytelling arts are direct manipulation of such material, and to the extent the writer has done his job well, the characters and images presented will have a powerful and lingering effect on the mind. If you have been to the best movie of the year, the meditation which follows is going to be full of those images. If you are halfway through the scariest horror novel you ever read, your meditation is going to be full of monsters. So switch the order of events. Do your meditation first. Then read or go to the movies.

心念有時過度活躍，人人皆會遇到，一般的對治方法會在後面有關「處理分心」的章節中闡釋。然而，有幾個產生這現象的外因，也應在這里告知你們，而最好的處理方法是調整你的時間表。心理影像是很有力量的東西，它們能長時間停留在你的心間，講故事的藝術只是直接運用這些材料，如果作家運用了得，人物的性格、影像就會在人們的心中產生有力和難于磨滅的效果。如果你在禪坐前剛看過今年的最佳影片，禪坐時心中將充滿影片中的人物與影像。如果你看了半部非常恐怖的小說之後禪坐，禪坐時自然充滿妖魔鬼怪。因此，要把上述的次序調換，即先禪坐，後看電影或看書。

Another influential factor is your own emotional state. If there is some real conflict in your life, that agitation will carry over into meditation. Try to resolve your immediate daily conflicts before meditation when you can. Your life will run smoother, and you won't be pondering uselessly in your practice. But don't use this advice as a way to avoid meditation. Sometimes you can't resolve every issue before you sit. Just go ahead and sit anyway. Use your meditation to let go of all the egocentric attitudes that keep you trapped within your own limited viewpoint. Your problems will resolve much more easily thereafter. And then there are those days when it seems that the mind will never rest, but your can't locate any apparent cause. Remember the cyclic alternation we spoke of earlier. Meditation goes in cycles. You have good days and you have bad days.

另外一個影響因素是你的情緒狀態。如果生活中有些矛盾或沖突未獲解決，那內心的激動是會帶到禪修之中的。應盡可能在禪坐前了結當日的矛盾沖突，那麼，生活自然順暢，禪修時也不致滿腦子思想。但是，切不可以此建議作為逃避禪修的藉口。有時，你是無法在禪坐前把所有問題都完全解決的，此時不要理會什麼了，只管進行禪坐吧！就用禪坐來放下你以自我為中心的、有局限性的觀點與態度，禪修之後，問題往往會較易解決。另外，有些日子，內心好像一刻也停不下來，而你也找不到明顯的原因。記得我們提過的周期改變嗎？禪修也會有周期性的，你會有好日子，亦會有壞日子的。

Vipassana meditation is primarily an exercise in awareness. Emptying the mind is not as important as being mindful of what the mind is doing. If you are frantic and you can't do a thing to stop it, just observe. It is all you. The result will be one more step forward in your journey of self-exploration. Above all, don't get frustrated over the nonstop chatter of your mind. That babble is just one more thing to be mindful of.

內觀禪主要是覺察力的鍛鍊，令心留意覺察心的當下活動比令心空寂更為重要。如果心意狂亂而你又無法阻止時，就觀察著它好了，它全是你的東西，結果你會在自我探索的旅程中，又向前邁進一步了。至為重要的是，不要因為內心的不停思緒、自言自語等而沮喪，那些東西(嘰哩咕嚕的內心話語)只不過是我們要留意觀察的另一樣東西而已。

Problem 6: Boredom

問題六：厭煩

It is difficult to imagine anything more inherently boring than sitting still for an hour with nothing to do but feel the air going in and out of your nose. You are going to run into boredom repeatedly in your meditation. Everybody does. Boredom is a mental state and should be treated as such. A few simple strategies will help you to cope.

坐著一小時，當中什麼也不做，只感受著氣息的進出，還有比這做法更厭煩的事嗎？很難想像吧？在禪修中，你會屢屢感到厭煩，人人都會的。厭煩只是一種心態，應作如是理解。有幾個簡單辦法可幫你去應付它的：

Tactic A: Re-establish true mindfulness

方法一：重新提起可靠的靜觀力

If the breath seems an exceedingly dull thing to observe over and over, you may rest assured of one thing: You have ceased to observe the process with true mindfulness. Mindfulness is never boring. Look again. Don't assume that you know what breath is. Don't take it for granted that you have already seen everything there is to see. If you do, you are conceptualizing the process. You are not observing its living reality. When you are clearly mindful of breath or indeed anything else, it is never boring. Mindfulness looks at everything with the eyes of a child, with the sense of wonder. Mindfulness sees every second as if it were the first and the only second in the universe. So look again.

如果不斷覺得觀察氣息是件十分厭煩的事，有一點可以肯定，你已失去可靠的靜觀力來觀察呼吸的過程了。靜觀從來都不會令人厭煩的，再觀察一下！不要假設你已知道什麼是呼吸，不要想當然地以為你已看遍所有要看的東西，如果這樣做的話，你是在概念化那個過程，而不是在觀察著那活生生的現實了。當你清楚地覺察著呼吸或任何現象時，是絕不會感厭煩的，靜觀就好像一個小孩，以充滿好奇的眼光來看待任何事物，靜觀看待每一刻的態度是：

Tactic B: Observe your mental state

方法二：觀察你的心態

Look at your state of boredom mindfully. What is boredom? Where is boredom? What does it feel like? What are its mental component? Does it have any physical feeling? What does it do to your thought process? Take a fresh look at boredom, as if you have never experienced that state before.

留心地觀察你的厭煩心態，什麼是厭煩？厭煩在哪里？你感到它是怎麼樣的？它由什麼心理成分所構成？它是否有任何肉體上的感受？它對你的思想過程有什麼作用？試用一新鮮的眼光來看待厭煩，就好像你從未體驗過那種心態一樣。

Problem 7: Fear

問題七：恐懼

States of fear sometimes arise during meditation for no discernible reason. It is a common phenomenon, and there can be a number of causes. You may be experiencing the effect of something repressed long ago. Remember, thoughts arise first in the unconscious. The emotional contents of a thought complex often leach through into your conscious awareness long before the thought itself surfaces. If you sit through the fear, the memory itself may bubble up where you can endure it.

在禪修中，有時會出現莫名奇妙的恐懼，這是常有的現象，原因有多種：(一)你可能經驗到很久之前被壓抑事件的後果，請緊記，念頭首先是在「無意識」中冒起的，在念頭被覺察到之前，它的情緒部分已有一段長時間由「無意識」過濾到意識之中了。如果你能坐至恐懼消失為止，那個記憶氣泡本身可能已在你的忍耐限度內升出水面、消失了。

Or you may be dealing directly with that fear which we all fear: 'fear of the unknown'. At some point in your meditation career, you will be struck with the seriousness of what you are actually doing. You are tearing down the wall of illusion you have always used to explain life to yourself and to shield yourself from the intense flame of reality. You are about to meet ultimate truth face to face. That is scary. But it has to be dealt with eventually. Go ahead and dive right in.

(二)你可能要直接面對所有人都會有的恐懼── 對未知的恐懼。禪修至某一階段時，你會對自己正從事之活動的嚴重性感到震撼，你正在拆毀那堵幻有之牆，而它正是你慣常用來向自己解釋生命、用來保護自己免于受現實烈火所傷害的東西。你即將和現實面對面相遇了，那是令人恐懼的事，但終究是要面對的，繼續前進！不必猶疑，馬上投入吧！

A third possibility: the fear that your are feeling may be self- generated. It may be arising out of unskillful concentration. You may have set an unconscious program to 'examine what comes up.' Thus when a frightening fantasy arises, concentration locks onto it and the fantasy feeds on the energy of your attention and grows. The real problem here is that mindfulness is weak. If mindfulness was strongly developed, it would notice this switch of attention as soon as it occurred and handle the situation in the usual manner. Not matter what the source of your fear, mindfulness is the cure. Observe the emotional reactions that come along and know them for what they are. Stand aside from the process and don't get involved. Treat the whole dynamic as if you were an interested bystander. Most importantly, don't fight the situation. Don't try to repress the memories or the feelings or the fantasies. Just step out of the way and let the whole mess bubble up and flow past. It can't hurt you. It is just memory. It is only fantasy. It is nothing but fear.

(三)你感到的恐懼可能是自己造成的，也許是你的不善巧關注所產生的。你可能在「無意識」中設立了一個程序── 「檢查一下有什麼出現」，結果，當可怕的幻想(Fantasy)出現時，注意力就被鎖定在它上面，幻想得到注意力提供的能量，自會不斷增強。這里的真正問題在于(對主要禪修對象的)留意觀察能力的不足，如果留意觀察能力已足夠強勁，這種注意力的轉移，一出現已被它覺察到，並且以常法妥善處理了。無論你的恐懼源自什麼，留意覺察都可以把它治愈。要精確、如實地觀察恐懼，不要執著它，只是觀看著它的生起與增長，研究一下它的效應，看看它如何影響你的感受、以及如何影響你的身體。當發覺自己被可怕的幻想困擾時，只須專心地觀察著它們即可。看到圖像時就視之為圖像，看到記憶時就視之為記憶，觀察伴隨而來的各種情緒反應，如實地了知它們，站在過程的旁邊觀察，不要介入，要讓自己好像是一個感興趣的旁觀者一樣，來對待整個動態情況。最重要的是，不要與情境斗爭，不要嘗試抑制記憶、感受或幻想，只須置身事外，讓它們全都冒出來、流過去即可。它是不會傷害你的，它只是記憶，它只是幻想，它只不過是恐懼之心而已。

When you let it run its course in the arena of conscious attention, it won't sink back into the unconscious. It won't come back to haunt you later. It will be gone for good.

在有意識的觀察下，當你讓恐懼無阻地表演完畢後，它將不會再度下沉到「無意識」里，更不會再出來纏住你，它將永遠地一去不返。

Problem 8: Agitation

問題八：煩躁不安

Restlessness is often a cover-up for some deeper experience taking place in the unconscious. We humans are great at repressing things. Rather than confronting some unpleasant thought we experience, we try to bury it. We won't have to deal with the issue. Unfortunately, we usually don't succeed, at least not fully. We hide the thought, but the mental energy we use to cover it up sits there and boils. The result is that sense of uneasiness which we call agitation or restlessness. There is nothing you can put your finger on. But you don't feel at ease. You can't relax. When this uncomfortable state arises in mediation, just observe it. Don't let it rule you. Don't jump up and run off. And don't struggle with it and try to make it go away. Just let it be there and watch it closely. Then the repressed material will eventually surface and you will find out what you have been worrying about.

煩躁不安的心境，往往是「無意識」為自己內部感受的一種掩飾手段。我們人類很善于壓抑，不願面對令人不快的心念，往往選擇把它掩藏起來，以為從此就可無須處理那問題了。不幸的是，我們通常都不會成功，至少不能完全成功。我們把心念隱藏，可是，掩藏所用的心理能量還在那里，且在沸騰。結果就出現了那種我們叫煩亂不安的不自在感覺。你弄不清楚是什麼原因，總之，你就是覺得不自在、無法放松。當這種不適的感覺在禪修中出現時，只須觀察著它即可。不要讓它支配你，不要跳起來逃走，不要與它爭斗，也不要試圖去趕走它，就讓它在那里，只須密切地觀察著它即可，那麼，被壓抑的東西終究會浮現出來，到時你便可知道自己一直在擔憂什麼了。

The unpleasant experience that you have been trying to avoid could be almost anything: Guilt, greed or problems. It could be a low-grade pain or subtle sickness or approaching illness. Whatever it is, let it arise and look at it mindfully. If you just sit still and observe your agitation, it will eventually pass. Sitting through restlessness is a little breakthrough in your meditation career. It will teach you much. You will find that agitation is actually a rather superficial mental state. It is inherently ephemeral. It comes and it goes. It has no real grip on you at all. Here again the rest of your life will profit.

你一直想逃避的令你不快的感受，差不多可以是任何事情：如內疚、貪欲或其他問題；也可以是輕微的疼痛、難知的隱疾、或即將到來的病患。不管是什麼，就讓它呈現出來和留意地觀察著它即可。如果你只坐著不動和觀察著你的煩躁不安，它終究會消逝而去的。能安坐不動直至你的煩躁不安完全消逝，這行動本身實是你禪修生涯中的一個小小突破。它教懂你很多事情，你會發現，煩躁不安其實是一種頗為表面的心理狀態，它天性命短，一來即走，不會久留，對你根本沒有真正的控制力。

Problem 9: Trying Too Hard

問題九：努力過度

Advanced meditators are generally found to be pretty jovial men and women. They possess that most valuable of all human treasures, a sense of humor. It is not the superficial witty repartee of the talk show host. It is a real sense of humor. They can laugh at their own human failures. They can chuckle at personal disasters. Beginners in meditation are often much too serious for their own good. So laugh a little. It is important to learn to loosen up in your session, to relax into your meditation. You need to learn to flow with whatever happens. You can't do that if you are tensed and striving, taking it all so very, very seriously. New meditators are often overly eager for results. They are full of enormous and inflated expectations. They jump right in and expect incredible results in no time flat. They push. They tense. They sweat and strain, and it is all so terribly, terribly grim and solemn. This state of tension is the direct antithesis of mindfulness. So naturally they achieve little. Then they decide that this meditation is not so exciting after all. It did not give them what they wanted. They chuck it aside. It should be pointed out that you learn about meditation only by meditating. You learn what meditation is all about and where it leads only through direct experience of the thing itself. Therefore the beginner does not know where he is headed because he has developed little sense of where his practice is leading.

你會發覺，禪修老手一般都是很快樂的人，他們擁有人類最寶貴的財富── 幽默感。它不是媒體節目主持人的那種膚淺的詼諧妙語，它是一種真正的幽默感。他們能夠嘲笑自己本身的人性缺憾，他們能夠面對個人的災難而輕聲發笑。禪修新手往往為了成就而過分認真。因此，笑一笑吧！在禪修中學會間中放松一下、緩和片刻是重要的。無論任何事情發生，你都要學會客觀地去觀察它們。如果你在緊張、在奮斗，把一切都看得那麼非常認真，那是無法做得到的。

禪修新手往往因求勝心切而過分認真，他們充滿巨大的、夸張的期望，他們迅即投入，希望花短暫時間就可得到令人難以置信的結果，他們奮力推進、緊張、流汗、竭盡全力，這一切都那麼地非常嚴肅、非常莊重。這種緊張狀態剛好與留意覺察相反，他們的成就自然很少，接著，他們認為禪修畢竟沒有刺激，不能滿足要求，于是就把禪修輕易地拋棄了。應該指出的是，只有在禪修實踐之中你才能知道什麼是禪修，你想知道禪修到底是怎麼一回事，它的目的何在，只有靠自己去直接體驗它才行。因此，禪修新手之所以不知方向，乃因為他們的實踐不足以培養到充分的方向感出來。

The novice's expectation is inherently unrealistic and uninformed. As a newcomer to meditation, he or she would expect all the wrong things, and those expectations do you no good at all. They get in the way. Trying too hard leads to rigidity and unhappiness, to guilt and self-condemnation. When you are trying too hard, your effort becomes mechanical and that defeats mindfulness before it even gets started. You are well-advised to drop all that. Drop your expectations and straining. Simply meditate with a steady and balanced effort. Enjoy your mediation and don't load yourself down with sweat and struggles. Just be mindful. The meditation itself will take care of the future.

新手的期待本質上是不實際的和愚昧的，作為禪修新手，你是會生起各式各樣的錯誤期待的，它們對你畢竟沒有好處，只會造成妨礙。過分努力會產生僵硬與不愉快、內疚與自責等。如果用功過度，你的努力會變得機械化，使留意覺察在生起前便遭打擊。你應有見識地把它們統統放下，放下你的期待與過分努力，只簡單地以穩定而平衡的努力禪修，享受你的禪修，不用汗流浹背地搏斗來加重自己的負擔，只管留意覺察，禪修本身自會對你的前途有所安排。

Problem 10: Discouragement

問題十：喪失信心(氣餒)

The direct upshot of pushing too hard is frustration. You are in a state of tension. You get nowhere. You realize you are not making the progress you expected, so you get discouraged. You feel like a failure. It is all a very natural cycle, but a totally avoidable one. The source is striving after unrealistic expectations. Nevertheless, it is a common enough syndrome and, in spite of all the best advice, you may find it happening to you. There is a solution. If you find yourself discouraged, just observe your state of mind clearly. Don't add anything to it. Just watch it. A sense of failure is only another ephemeral emotional reaction. If you get involved, it feeds on your energy and grows. If you simply stand aside and watch it, it passes away.

過度用功的最後結果會令人喪失信心。因為，你長時處于一種緊張狀態，你沒有任何進展，你發覺自己沒有取得預期的進步，于是就會氣餒、失去信心，你感覺好像失敗了。這是一個非常自然的循環過程，但卻是可以完全避免的。根源是追求不切實際的目標。然而，那是一個十分普遍的綜合症狀，儘管已有很多一流的忠告和勸諭，它還是會發生在你身上的。這里有一個良策，假使你發覺自己心灰意冷時，只管清楚地觀察你當下的心態，不可對它添加任何東西，只是觀察著它即可。挫敗感只不過是另一個短暫的情緒反應，如果你介入其中，它就會得到能量而增長；如果你能超然地旁觀著它，它自然會消逝而去。

If you are discouraged over your perceived failure in meditation, that is especially easy to deal with. You feel you have failed in your practice. You have failed to be mindful. Simply become mindful of that sense of failure. You have just re-established your mindfulness with that single step. The reason for your sense of failure is nothing but memory. There is no such thing as failure in meditation. There are setbacks and difficulties. But there is no failure unless you give up entirely. Even if you spend twenty solid years getting nowhere, you can be mindful at any second you choose to do so. It is your decision. Regretting is only one more way of being unmindful. The instant that you realize that you have been unmindful, that realization itself is an act of mindfulness. So continue the process. Don't get sidetracked in an emotional reaction.

如果你在禪修中因感到失敗而氣餒，那就特別容易處理了。你感到禪修失敗，那是因為你疏忽了靜觀，只須立即留意覺察那個失敗感即可，這一步正好重新提起你的靜觀力。造成失敗的感覺，全因一個記憶而已。禪修是沒有所謂失敗的，有的只是退步與困難；除非你完全放棄，否則是不會有失敗的。即使你禪修了整整二十年仍一無所獲，你只須在任何一刻選擇靜觀，還是可以立即靜觀起來的，一切全在乎你的決定；後悔只不過是另一種失念(unmindful)情況，你若在一瞬間了解到自己失念，那了解本身就是一個靜觀活動。因此，繼續上述的過程吧！不可因情緒反應而偏離正道。

Problem 11: Resistance To Meditation

問題十一：抗拒禪修

There are times when you don't feel like meditating. The very idea seems obnoxious. Missing a single practice session is scarcely important, but it very easily becomes a habit. It is wiser to push on through the resistance. Go sit anyway. Observe this feeling of aversion. In most cases it is a passing emotion, a flash in the pan that will evaporate right in front of your eyes. Five minutes after you sid down it is gone. In other cases it is due to some sour mood that day, and it lasts longer. Still, it does pass. And it is better to get rid of it in twenty or thirty minutes of meditation than to carry it around with you and let it ruin the rest of your day. Another time, resistance may be due to some difficulty you are having with the practice itself. You may or may not know what that difficulty is. If the problem is known, handle it by one of the techniques given in this book. Once the problem is gone, resistance will be gone. If the problem is unknown, then you are going to have to tough it out. Just sit through the resistance and observe that mindfully. When it has finally run its course, it will pass. Then the problem causing it will probably bubble up in its wake, and you can deal with that.

有些時候你不想進行禪修，這想法看來頗令人不快。禪修少一次好像不太緊要，但很易會成為一種習慣，較明智的做法是，勉為其難地繼續禪修，總之就去坐，觀察此厭惡感受，在大多數情況下，它只是一種飛逝而去的情緒、在你眼前曇花一現的閃光而已。只須坐上五分鍾左右，它就會消聲匿跡。在其他情況下，由于當天的厭煩情緒，它會逗留多一點時間才散。總之，它仍是會走的；況且，用上二、三十分鍾的禪修去消除它，總比整天帶著它來破壞自己的心情好。有時候抗拒的出現，是由于在禪修上碰到一些困難，你可能知道，亦可能不知道那困難是什麼。如果知道問題所在，就按本書所述的方法來處理。一旦問題消失，抗拒的情緒也會自然消失的。如果不知道問題所在，那就要不畏縮地、堅決地忍受它，直至它消失為止。只管繼續觀察著那抗拒情緒，一直坐至它完全消失為止。待它按常規發展完畢，它自會消失的。跟著，產生它的根本原因就會隨即自然浮現出來，那就好處理了。

If resistance to meditation is a common feature of your practice, then you should suspect some subtle error in your basic attitude. Meditation is not a ritual conducted in a particular posture. It is not a painful exercise, or period of enforced boredom. And it is not some grim, solemn, obligation. Meditation is mindfulness. it is a new way of seeing and it is a form of play. Meditation is your friend. Come to regard it as such and resistance will wash away like smoke on a summer breeze.

如果抗拒情緒在你禪修中持續地經常發生，那就要懷疑本身的基本態度是否有一些隱微的錯誤了。禪修不是一種以特殊姿勢來進行的宗教儀式，它不是一種痛苦的修煉，也不是要在強制下渡過一段厭煩的時光。它不是一種要板起面孔來完成的義務。禪修是留意觀察，它是一種觀看事物的新方法，也是游戲的一種方式。禪修是你的朋友，若能用此態度去對待禪修，你的抗拒情緒自可煙消云散。

If you try all these possibilities and the resistance remains, then there may be a problem. There can be certain metaphysical snags that a meditator runs into which go far beyond the scope of this book. It is not common for new meditators to hit these, but it can happen. Don't give up. Go get help. Seek out qualified teachers of the Vipassana style of meditation and ask them to help you resolve the situation. Such people exist for exactly that purpose.

如果試過上述所有的可能性後，抗拒情緒仍然存在，那就可能是個問題了。禪修者可能碰到某些超自然的障礙，而這是遠遠超出本書所能討論的范圍。這問題在初學者中是罕見的，卻是有可能發生的。不要放棄，去尋求幫助，找一位夠水準的、修習內觀禪的大師，請求他來幫你走出困境，這些人正是為了此目的而生存于世上的。

Problem 12: Stupor or Dullness

問題十二：昏沉遲鈍

We have already discussed the sinking mind phenomenon. But there is a special route to that state you should watch for. Mental dullness can result as an unwanted byproduct of deepening concentration. As your relaxation deepens, muscles loosen and nerve transmission changes. This produces a very calm and light feeling in the body. you feel very still and somewhat divorced from the body. this is a very pleasant state and at first your concentration is quite good, nicely centered on the breath. As it continues, however, the pleasant feeling intensify and they distract your attention from the breath. You start to really enjoy that state and your mindfulness goes way down. Your attention winds up scattered, drifting listlessly through vague clouds of bliss. The result is a very unmindful state, sort of an ecstatic stupor. The cure, of course, is mindfulness. Mindfully observe these phenomena and they will dissipate. When blissful feelings arise accept them. There is no need to avoid them. Don't get wrapped up in them. They are physical feelings, so treat them as such. Observe feelings as feelings. Observe dullness as dullness. Watch them rise and watch them pass. Don't get involved.

我們已(在問題四中)討論過心的昏沉現象了，但要注意，有另一特殊途徑也會進入那種狀態：內心的昏沉遲鈍可以是定力加深時之不想要的副產品。隨著你的松弛加深，肌肉會放松，腦神經的傳導亦會改變，這會在身體產生一種非常平靜和輕盈的感覺，你感到非常寧靜，而且有點似與身體脫離的感覺，這是美好的感受，它很好地集中在呼吸之上。可是，再繼續下去時，那適意的感受會增強，從而令你分心，注意力離開了呼吸，你開始真的享受那境界了，你的靜觀力走下坡了。你的注意力終于渙散了，在迷糊不清的禪悅云霧中懶洋洋地漂移，結果便產生了此種缺乏靜觀力的狀態，一種類似心醉神迷的昏沉遲鈍。它的對治方法當然是靜觀，專心地觀察這些現象，它們就會消散的。當那些迷人的感受生起時，要接受它們，不用去迴避它們，不要被它們纏住，它們只是生理上的感受，因此，應就此事實去處理它們。如其為感受則觀察其為感受，如其為昏沉遲鈍則觀察其為昏沉遲鈍，觀察它們的生起，亦要觀察它們的消逝，不要介入，也不要與之糾纏。

You will have problems in meditation. Everybody does. You can treat them as terrible torments, or as challenges to be overcome. If you regard them as burdens, you suffering will only increase. If you regard them as opportunities to learn and to grow, your spiritual prospects are unlimited.

你會在禪修中碰到問題，任何人都會，你可以視它們為可怕的折磨，或是要克服的挑戰。如果你視它們為負擔，你的苦惱只會有增無減，如果你視它們為學習與成長機會，你的心智發展前景一定無可限量。