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title: PART 1 - 無論三摩地有多深或多久，它本身不是最終目的 NO MATTER HOW DEEP OR CONTINUOUS
description: "NO MATTER HOW DEEP OR CONTINUOUS, samadhi is not an end in itself. Samadhi does not bring about an end to all suffering."
---

NO MATTER HOW DEEP OR CONTINUOUS, samadhi is not an end in itself. Samadhi does not bring about an end to all suffering. But samadhi does constitute an ideal platform from which to launch an all out assault on the kilesas that cause all suffering. The profound calm and concentration generated by samadhi form an excellent basis for the development of wisdom.

無論三摩地有多深或多久，它本身不是最終目的。三摩地不能使所有煩惱熄滅，不過它提供一個理想的平台，以便全力以赴攻擊帶來一切痛苦的煩惱。三摩地所產生的甚深寧靜與定力為智慧的修行提供卓越的基礎。

The problem is that samadhi is so peaceful and satisfying that the meditator inadvertently becomes addicted to it. This happened to me: for five years I was addicted to the tranquility of samadhi; so much so that I came to believe that this very tranquility was the essence of Nibbana. Only when my teacher, Acariya Mun, forced me to confront this misconception, was I able to move on to the practice of wisdom.

然而三摩地本身的問題在于，它是那麼的寧靜和令人滿足，以至禪修者一不小心就會耽溺其中。這發生在我身上：我耽溺在三摩地的平靜中五年，甚至相信這平靜就是涅槃的核心，直到我的老師阿姜曼(Venerable??cariyaMunBhūridatta)逼我正視這個錯誤的知見，我才能轉去修智慧。

Unless it supports the development of wisdom, samadhi can sidetrack a meditator from the path to the end of all suffering. All meditators who intensify their efforts to develop samadhi should be aware of this pitfall. Samadhi』s main function on the path of practice is to support and sustain the development of wisdom. It is well suited to this task because a mind that is calm and concentrated is fully satisfied, and does not seek external distractions. Thoughts about sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and tactile sensations no longer impinge upon an awareness that is firmly fixed in samadhi. Calm and concentration are the mind』s natural sustenance. Once it becomes satiated with its favorite nourishment, it does not wander off where it strays into idle thinking. It is now fully prepared to undertake the kind of purposeful thinking, investigation and reflection that constitute the practice of wisdom. If the mind has yet to settle down—if it still hankers after sense impressions, if it still wants to chase after thoughts and emotions—its investigations will never lead to true wisdom. They will lead only to discursive thought, guesswork and speculation—unfounded interpretations of reality based simply on what has been learned and remembered. Instead of leading to wisdom, and the cessation of suffering, such directionless thinking becomes samudaya—the primary cause of suffering.

除非用來支援智慧的開發，熄滅所有的痛苦，不然三摩地會引導禪修者誤入歧途，所有專精修行三摩地的禪者都應該意識到這陷阱。在修行中，三摩地的主要功能是支持和滋潤智慧的發展，它非常適合這項任務，因為寧靜和有定力的心會滿足，不再追尋外在的刺激。定在三摩地中的覺知不會受到與色、聲、香、味和觸相關的念頭沖擊。寧靜和定是心自然的營養，一旦它得到喜歡的營養就會心滿意足，不再胡思亂想。它現在已充分準備好負責智慧的修行，這包括了有目的的思維、觀察和反映。如果心還未安住下來——仍然追逐著感官感受，渴望著思想和情緒——那麼它的觀察就永遠不會帶來真正的智慧，結果只會導至妄想、猜測和推斷——只是按照過去的學習和記憶，對實相作出沒有根據的詮釋。這種散漫的思考不會帶來智慧和苦的熄滅，相反的，它成為集——苦的主要根源。

Since its sharp, inward focus complements the investigative and contemplative work of wisdom so well, the Lord Buddha taught us to first develop samadhi. A mind that remains undistracted by peripheral thoughts and emotions is able to focus exclusively on whatever arises in its field of awareness and to investigate such phenomena in light of the truth without the interference of guesswork or speculation. This is an important principle. The investigation proceeds smoothly, with fluency and skill. This is the nature of genuine wisdom: investigating, contemplating and understanding, but never being distracted or misled by conjecture.

由于三摩地尖銳而往內專注，能很好地輔助智慧進行觀察和思維的工作，因此佛世尊教導我們先修三摩地。心能夠保持不被周圍的思想和情緒所干擾的話，就能全神專注在覺知范圍內生起的一切，並且依照實際觀察這現象，不受猜想或推測介入——這是一個重要的原則。觀察能流暢和熟練順利地進行，這是真正智慧的本性：觀察，思維和明白而決不受猜想干擾或誤導。

The practice of wisdom begins with the human body, the grossest and most visible component of our personal identity. The object is to penetrate the reality of its true nature. Is our body what we』ve always assumed it to be—an integral and desirable part of who we really are? To test this assumption we must thoroughly investigate the body by mentally deconstructing it into its constituent parts, section by section, piece by piece. We must research the truth about the body with which we are so familiar by viewing it from different angles. Begin with the hair on the head, the hair on the body, the nails, the teeth and the skin, and move on to the flesh, blood, sinews and bones. Then dissect the inner organs, one by one, until the whole body is completely dismembered. Analyze this conglomeration of disparate parts to clearly understand its true nature.

智慧的修行從人的身體——自我身分最粗糙和明顯的組合開始。這樣做的目的是為了穿透實相的真正本質。我們的身體是否就如我們理所當然的假設那樣——一個完整和理想中我們真正的自我？要驗證這個假設我們必須全面地觀察身體，內心把它分解成各組合部位，一個部位銜接一個部位，一片連接一片。對這副熟悉不過的身體，我們必須從不同的角度來研究它的真相，開始從頭髮、體毛、指甲、牙齒和皮膚，然後移到肉、血、肌腱和骨頭。接著解剖內部的器官，一個連接一個，直至整個身體從頭到腳肢解，分析這整個組合的不同部位，清楚明白它的真正本質。

If you find it difficult to investigate your own body in this way, begin by mentally dissecting someone else』s body. Choose a body external to yourself; for instance, a body of the opposite sex. Visualize each part, each organ of that body as best you can, and ask yourself: Which piece is truly attractive? Which part is actually seductive? Place the hair in one pile, the nails and teeth in another; do the same with the skin, the flesh, the sinews and the bones. Which pile deserves to be an object of your desire? Examine them closely and answer with total honesty. Strip off the skin and pile it in front of you. Where is the beauty in this mass of tissue, this thin veneer that covers up the meat and entrails? Do those various parts add up to a person? Once the skin is removed, what can we find to admire in the human body? Men and women—they are all the same. Not a shred of beauty can be found in the body of a human being. It is just a bag of flesh and blood and bones that manages to deceive everyone in the world into lusting after it.

假如你覺得這樣觀察自己的身體有困難，那麼可以在心里解剖別人的身體。選擇一副別人的軀體，比如，一個異性的身體，盡己之能觀想它的每一部分，每一器官，同時問你自己：哪一片真正吸引人？哪一部位真正引誘人？把頭髮放在一堆，指甲和牙齒另一堆，皮膚、肉、肌腱和骨頭各一堆，哪一堆是你所喜歡的對象？仔細地檢驗它們，絕對真誠地回答。把皮剝下來放在你面前，這團組織、把肌肉和內臟包起來的薄片，哪里漂亮？這些不同的部位加起來成為一個人嗎？一旦皮被拿掉，人類的身體有什麼值得愛慕的？男人和女人——全都一樣。在人類的身體上，找不到哪怕是一丁點的漂亮，就只不過是一包足以欺瞞全世界所有人生起貪欲的肉、血和骨頭罷了。

It is wisdom』s duty to expose that deception. Examine the skin carefully. Skin is the great deceiver. Because it wraps up the entire human body, it』s the part we always see. But what does it wrap up? It wraps up the animal flesh, the muscles, the fluids and the fat. It wraps up the skeleton with the tendons and the sinews. It wraps up the liver, the kidneys, the stomach, the intestines, and all the internal organs. No one has ever suggested that the body』s innards are desirable things of beauty, worthy of being admired with passion and yearning. Probing deeply, without fear or hesitation, wisdom exposes the plain truth about the body. Don』t be fooled by a thin veil of scaly tissue. Peel it off and see what lies underneath. This is the practice of wisdom.

智慧的任務就是揭開這個騙局。仔細檢驗皮，皮是個大騙子，因為它包裹了整個軀體，它是我們整天看到的部分。不過它包裹了什麼呢？它包裹了軀體的肌肉、體液和脂肪，它用筋和肌腱包裹著骨架，它包著肝、腎、胃、腸和所有的內部器官。沒有人認為身體的內臟是漂亮，值得欲望熱切貪愛的。深深地探索，不要畏懼或猶豫不決，智慧會將身體的真相暴露出來，不要被一層組織乾燥的薄紗所愚弄，把它剝開來，看看下面是什麼。這是智慧的修行。

In order to really see the truth of this matter for yourself, in a clear and precise way that leaves no room for doubt, you must be very persistent and very diligent. Merely doing this meditation practice once or twice, or from time to time, will not be enough to bring conclusive results. You must approach the practice as if it』s your life』s work—as though nothing else in the world matters except the analysis you are working on at that moment. Time is not a factor; place is not a factor; ease and comfort are not factors. Regardless of how long it takes or how difficult the work proves to be, you must relentlessly stick with body contemplation until all doubt and uncertainty are eliminated.

要清楚明確，沒有一絲疑惑地親自真正看到這事情的真相，你必須要有非常的恆心毅力和精進。只是禪修一兩次，或者偶爾為之將無法帶來決定性的成果。你得把這當作一輩子的工作——彷彿除了你正在做的這分析，世界上沒有任何事情是重要的。時間不重要，地方不重要，安閒舒適不重要。不管這工作需要多長時間、多麼困難，你必須不屈不饒地緊緊抓著這觀身法門，直到一切疑惑和不確定消除。

Body contemplation should occupy every breath, every thought, every movement until the mind becomes thoroughly saturated with it. Nothing short of total commitment will bring genuine and direct insight into the truth. When body contemplation is practiced with single-minded intensity, each successive body part becomes a kind of fuel feeding the fires of mindfulness and wisdom. Mindfulness and wisdom then become a conflagration consuming the human body section by section, part by part, as they examine and investigate the truth with a burning intensity. This is what is meant by tapadhamma.

身念住的修行是每一呼吸、每一念頭、每一動作都在修，直到心全面地滲透它，缺乏拼到底的決心不會帶來對實相真正和直接的內觀。當身念住修到一心不亂的程度，身體每一連接的部位都成為念住和智慧之火的燃料。念住和智慧成為大火聚，燃燒似的檢驗觀察真相，一片一片、一部位一部位地燃燒身體，這是火法(tapadhamma)的意義。

Focus intently on those body parts that really capture your attention, the ones whose truth feels most obvious to you. Use them as whetstones to sharpen your wisdom. Expose them and tear them apart until their inherently disgusting and repulsive nature becomes apparent. Asubha meditation is insight into the repulsiveness of the human body. This is the body』s natural condition; by nature, it is filthy and disgusting. Essentially, the whole body is a living, stinking corpse—a breathing cesspool full of fetid waste. Only a paper thin covering of skin makes the whole mess look presentable. We are all being deceived by the outer wrapping, which conceals the fundamental repulsiveness from view. Merely removing the skin reveals the body』s true nature.

全心專注那些真正吸引你注意力，最令你感到真實的部位，把它們當作磨利你智慧的磨刀石。揭開它們，把它們撕裂使到內在令人厭惡反感的本質變得明顯。不淨觀是洞察人身的不淨，這是身體自然的情況，它本來就是污穢令人厭惡。本質上，整個身體是一個活的、發惡臭的尸體——一個能呼吸，裝滿了污水的糞池。只不過一層薄紙般的皮令整團糞便體面見得了人，我們全部都被這外面的包裝欺騙了，它覆蓋了最根本的厭惡，不讓人見到，只需把皮除去就暴露了身體真正的本性。

By comparison to the flesh and internal organs, the skin appears attractive. But examine it more closely. Skin is scaly, creased, and wrinkled; it exudes sweat and grease and offensive odors. We must scrub it daily just to keep it clean. How attractive is that? And the skin is firmly wedded to the underlying flesh, and thus inextricably linked to the loathsome interior. The more deeply wisdom probes, the more repulsive the body appears. From the skin on through to the bones, nothing is the least bit pleasing.

把皮跟膚肉或內臟比較，它顯得吸引人，可是作更仔細的檢查，我們會看到皮膚布滿鱗屑皺紋，它會分泌汗液和油脂，散發體臭，我們每天必須洗擦使它保持清潔。這有多吸引人？還有皮緊緊與它下面的肉結合，使它不可避免地與內在不淨聯系起來。智慧越深入探索，身體越顯現得令人厭惡，從皮膚到骨頭，找不到一點可愛之處。