---
title: 椰子殼 Coconut Shells
description: "欲是染著的，但首先我們必須有欲才能開始修行「道」。假設你到市場去買椰子，提著它們回來時，路上，有人問你：「你為什麼要買這些椰子呢？」"
---

〖椰子殼〗

 欲是染著的，但首先我們必須有欲才能開始修行「道」。假設你到市場去買椰子，提著它們回來時，路上，有人問你：「你為什麼要買這些椰子呢？」

 「買來吃啊！」

 「你連殼也吃嗎？」

 「當然不！」

 「我不相信。如果你不打算吃殼，又為什麼要買椰子呢？」

 好，你怎麼說？你要怎樣回答這個問題？

 我們是靠著欲望起修的，如果我們沒有欲望，我們就不會去修行。你知道嗎？！這樣思惟可以產生智慧。例如：那些椰子，你要連殼子也一起吃下去嗎？當然不！那又為什麼要椰子殼呢？因為椰子殼的用途是將椰子給包起來，吃了過後，再將殼給扔掉，就沒問題了。

 我們的修行也是如此。我們不是要吃殼，只不過現在還不是丟掉殼的時候。我們先將它們收藏起來，就如我們依靠欲望修行一樣，修行便是如此。如果有人硬要說我們連椰子殼也吃，那是他們的事，與我們無關，只要我們清楚自己在做什麼就夠了。

Coconut Shells

Desire is a defilement. But we must first have desire in order to start practicing the Way. Suppose you went to buy coconuts at the market and while carrying them back home someone asked: "Why did you buy those coconuts?" "I bought them to eat," you reply. "Are you going to eat the shells, too?" "Of course not!" "I don't believe you," he insists. "If you're not going to eat the shells, then why did you buy them?" Well, what do you say? How are you going to answer that question?

We practice with desire to begin with. If we didn't have desire, we wouldn't practice. Contemplating in this way can give rise to wisdom, you know. For example, those coconuts: Are you going to eat the shells as well? Of course not. Then why do you take them? They're useful for wrapping the coconuts in. If after eating the coconuts you throw the shells away, there is no problem. Our practice is the same. We keep desire first, just like we do with the coconut shells, for it's still not time to "throw" it away. This is how the practice is. If somebody wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, that's their business. We know what we're doing.