--- title: 寧靜的森林水池 A Still Forest Pool - 序言 Introduction description: "by Ajahn Chah" --- A Still Forest Pool 寧靜的森林水池 by Ajahn Chah 阿姜 查 ------------- CONTENT Introduction 序 言 前 言 譯者的話 阿姜.查略傳 編者的話 PART 1 明了佛陀的教導 Understanding the Buddha』s Teachings PART 2 更正我們的知見 Correcting Our Views PART 3 生活就是我們的修行 Our Life Is Our Practice PART 4 禪坐和外相的修行 Meditation and Formal Practice PART 5 森林里的教導 Lessons in the Forest PART 6 覺悟 Realization --------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction 　　【序 言】 Suppose you were to go to Asia in the 1980s in search of living teachings of the Buddha, to discover if there are still monks and nuns practicing a life of simplicity and meditation, supported by alms-food, and dwelling in the forest. Perhaps you had read descriptions of the Buddha himself wondering with his monks in the forests of India, inviting men and women of good families to join him in cultivating wisdom and universal compassion, inviting them to live the simple life of a mendicant, to dedicate themselves to inner calm and awareness. Would you find this way of life alive today, twenty-five centuries later? And would its teachings still be applicable and relevant for-our modem society, our modem minds? 　　也許你要在一九八0年代的亞洲尋求佛陀在生活上的教導，及探求是否仍有出家的僧尼在實踐一種單純生活和禪修，以托缽為生、隱居于森林之中。也許你曾讀過佛陀與其弟子們在印度森林中游化，邀諸善男信女一齊加入長養智慧和廣大慈悲的行列，邀他們來過托缽僧的簡樸生活，獻身于內心的平靜和覺醒的描述。二千五百年後至今，你還能夠發現這種的生活方式嗎? 而且，這種教導對我們今日的現代杜會及現在的心仍然適用且息息相關嗎? You would land at a modem airport near Bangkok or Colombo or Rangoon. In your taxi you would drive through Asian city streets, passing cars, crowded busses, sidewalk vendors of tropical fruits. Every few blocks you would see the golden pagoda or spire of an urban Buddhist temple. But these are not the temples you have come to search for. They contain monks and nuns who study the ancient texts, who can chant and preach, and from this they teach. But to find the simple life of dwelling in the forest, the meditative living with robe and bowl, as old as the Buddha himself, you would have to leave the cities and their temples far behind. If it were Thailand, the country with the greatest number of monasteries and monks, you would board the train at busy Hualampong station, leaving early in the morning for the provinces of the far south or northeast. 　　當你在曼谷、可倫坡和仰光附近的現代化機場登陸後，計程車會帶你穿過亞洲城市的街道，來往的車潮、擁擠的巴士及人行道上賣水果的攤販。每幾個路口，你就會看到金色的寶塔和城市佛教寺院的頂尖。不過，這並不是你所要尋求的寺院。居住在這些寺院之中的，都是一些研究古老經文、可以唱誦和布教，並以此教化民眾的僧尼。可是，要找到一如佛陀往昔居于森林的簡樸生活、依袈裟和缽的禪修生活，你必須遠離城市及這些寺院。如果是在擁有最多寺院和僧侶的泰國，你便須要在一大清早出發，到繁忙的華南豐車站，搭車前往遙遠的南部或東北部的省份。 The first hour's journey would take you clear of the urban sprawl, beyond the houses, businesses, and shanties backed up along the railway track. Vast plains of central Thailand would roll by, the green rice bowl of Southeast Asia. Mile after mile of paddy fields, checkerboarded into lots by small dikes between fields and rhythmically divided by canals and waterways. On the horizon of this sea of rice, every few miles in four or five directions you would see islands-dense clusters of palm and banana trees. If your train rolled close enough to one of these palm islands, you would see the glint of an orange-roofed monastery and cluster of wooden houses on stilts that make up a Southeast Asian village. 　　第一個小時的旅途中，火車一路蜿蜒，帶你遠離喧囂的都市、遠離房子、事業和一路破陋的房子。越過泰國中部的浩瀚平原，東南亞的米鄉，一路綿延的稻田，被田間的田梗劃出仟陌縱橫，並由溝渠和水道有規律的劃分。在這一片稻海的地平線上，每隔幾哩，就會往四、五個地方上看到由濃密叢生的棕櫚樹及香蕉樹所組成的島群。如果你的火車走得更近這些棕櫚島群，你便能夠看到一座橙色的寺院屋頂在閃爍和一叢叢由支柱架起的木屋所組成的東南亞村落。 Every settled village, whether with five hundred or two thousand residents, has at least one monastery. It serves as the place for prayer, for ceremony, as the meeting hall, and for many years also served as the village school. Here is the place where most young men of the village will ordain at age twenty, for one year or three months, to learn enough of the ways of the Buddha to "ripen" into mature members of their society. The monastery is probably run by a few older, simple, and well-meaning monks who have studied some of the classic texts and know enough of ceremonies and of the basic teachings to serve as village priests. This monastery is an integral and beautiful part of village life, but it is not the temple you have come to search for. 　　每一個村落，無論有五百或二千居民，至少都會有一家寺院，寺院是提供村民做析禱、儀式、會議的場地，多年來，也一直被充作村落的學校。這些村落大部份的青年男子都會在二十歲時出家一年或三個月，學習佛陀種種的教示，以備「成熟」地進入成人杜會。寺院大多由幾位年長、單純而且曾研讀過古經文的慈悲僧侶所主持，他們熟知各種儀式及教示村民的基礎教義。這種寺院是鄉村生活里不可或缺和最美好的部份，但是，這仍不是你所要尋求的寺院。 Your train heads north toward the ancient capitol of Auddhaya, filled with the ruins of magnificent temples and 'broken palaces that were sacked centuries ago in the periodic wars with neighboring kingdoms. The spirit of these magnificent ruins remains in the enormous stone Buddhas, imperturbably weathering the centuries. 　　你的火車繼續朝北走向古代的首都──奧達雅。當地充滿著幾世紀前與鄰國戰爭時，慘遭戰火掠奪的華麗寺院之廢墟與殘破宮殿。這些雄偉遺跡的精神仍保留在巨大的石雕佛像之中，沉著地渡過數世紀。 Now your train turns east for the long journey toward the Lao border, across the reaches of the Korat Plateau. Hour after hour the land passes. Still you see rice paddies and villages, but they gradually become sparser and poorer. The canals and lush gardens of Central Thai villages, mango trees, and tropical greenery turn into a simpler landscape. Houses are smaller. Village monasteries still gleam, but they too are smaller and simpler. Here an older, more self-sufficient way of life is preserved. You can see women weaving hand loomed blankets on their porches, while rice farmers work and children tend the water buffalo in wet gullies alongside the railroad tracks. 　　現在，你的火車轉往另一段漫長旅途的東方，穿越克拉特平原，駛向寮國邊境。一小時又一小時，越過一哩又一哩的陸地，你依然會看到稻田和村落，但是，它們逐漸變得越來越稀疏和貧窮。泰國中部鄉村的運河和青翠的花園、芒果樹以及熱帶植物變成一幅非常單純的景致。房子比較小了，但村里小而簡樸的寺院依舊閃爍。在這兒，仍然保持著古老、自給自足的生活方式。你會看到，當農夫在工作和小孩子在沿著鐵軌旁的溝渠中照料水牛時，婦女們在門廊下織毛毯。 The rural countryside in these lesser developed provinces holds much of what remains of the tradition of forest monks and nuns. It still has regions of forest and jungle, small thickly covered mountains, and unsettled borderlands. And for many centuries it has supported forest monks and monasteries dedicated to the preservation and realization of the enlightenment of the Buddha. For the most part these monks do not function as village priests, nor do they teach school, nor study and preserve the language of the ancient written scriptures. Their intent is to live fully and realize in their own hearts and minds the insight and inner peace taught by the Buddha. 　　在這些低度開發的省份里的鄉村，仍保留了許多傳統的森林僧、尼。這里仍然有大片的森林和叢林地區，濃密地覆蓋著山脈和未開發的邊界地帶。而幾世紀以來，這些鄉村一直都支持著森林僧和寺院致力于保存領悟佛陀的覺悟。因為，大抵來說，這些僧侶並不做村落的布教師，也不教書、也不做研究和保留古代手抄的經文。他們的目的是要全心全意地生活，和覺悟佛陀教導的自心內觀及內在的平靜。 If you left the train and made your way by bus or hired car down some dirt road to such a monastery, one of dozens in northeast Thailand, what would you find? Would the teachings and way of practice be relevant in the 1980s? Would the insight and awareness training address the needs of one coming from a modern and complex society? 　　如果你下了火車，改坐巴士或租汽車，經過一些泥濘路，來到了泰國東北無數寺院中的任何一座，你會發現什麼？這樣的教導和修行方法會和一九八0年代相契嗎?內觀和覺醒的訓練可以滿足一個來自現代化和複雜杜會的人的需求嗎? You would discover that many Westerners had come before you. Since 1965 hundreds of Europeans and Americans like you have come to visit and learn in the forest. Some came to study for short periods and then returned home to integrate what they learned into their household life. Some came to train more thoroughly as monks for one, two, or more years and then return home. Another group found life in the forest to be a rich and compelling way to live, and these remain in monasteries to this day. 　　你曾發現很多西方人在你之前就已來過了。自從一九六五年以來，就有上百位像你一樣的歐洲及美國人，來到這森林里參訪及學習。有些人短期的學習過後，就回到家里，將他們所學的融入在家的生活當中。有些則出家一、二年或更多年，做更徹底的訓練，然後才回家。然而一些發現森林生活是一種富足而莊嚴的生活方式的人，至今依然留在寺院里。 For each of these groups the teachings have spoken directly to their hearts and minds, offering them a wise and conscious way to live. At first the way may seem almost easy, deceptively simple. But upon attempting to put the Buddha's way into practice, one discovers that it is not so easy. Yet, despite the effort it takes, these people feel that nothing could be more valuable than to discover the Dharma* or truth in one's own life. 　　對這些人而言，教法已直接地與他們的心對話了，供給了他們一種智慧和自覺的生活方式。剛開始，這種方式看起來也許幾乎很簡單──表面上很簡單。但是，在試圖將佛陀的方法付諸實踐之後，我們會發現並不那　容易。然而，不論需要多努力，這些人仍然認為沒有比在自己的生命中發現「法」與真理更值得的東西。 From the moment of your entry into a forest monastery like Wat Ba Pong, the spirit of practice is evident. There is the stillness of trees rustling and the quiet movement of monks doing chores or mindful walking meditation. The whole monastery is spread over a hundred acres, divided into two sections form monks and nuns. The simple unadorned cottages are individually nestled in small forest clearings so that there are trees and silent paths between them. In the central area of the Wat are the main teaching hall, dining area, and chapel for ordination. The whole forest setting supports the atmosphere of simplicity and renunciation. You feel that you have finally arrived. 　　打從你進入一個像巴蓬寺的森林道場的那一刻，修行的精神便隨處可見。那里有樹林沙沙作響的寧靜和僧侶們做雜事或經行的安詳舉止。整座寺院占地一百多英畝(目前更大)，分成僧、尼兩個部份。簡樸而未經裝飾的小茅蓬，分別座落在小森林的空地上，所以周遭有樹林和樹林間的走道。在寺院的中心地帶，是主要的講堂、齋堂和戒壇。整座森林的布局彌漫著單純而離欲的氣氛。你發現你終于到達了。 The monks who live in those monasteries have chosen to follow this uncomplicated and disciplined way of practice called dhudanga. The tradition of forest monks who voluntarily choose to follow a more austere way of life dates back to the Buddha, who allowed a supplementary code of thirteen special precepts, limiting the robes, food, and dwellings of monks. At the heart of this life style are few possessions, much meditation, and a once-daily round of alms-food begging. This way of life spread with the rest of Buddhism into the thick forests of Burma, Thailand, and Laos, places filled with caves and wild terrain, ideal for such intensive practice. These ascetic monks have traditionally been wanderers, living singly or in small groups, moving from one rural area to another, and using handmade cloth umbrella tents hung from trees as their temporary abode. Practical Dharma teachings from one of the greatest forest monasteries, Wat Ba Pong, and its master Achaan Chah have been translated and compiled and are offered to the West in this book. 　　住在這些寺院里的僧侶選擇了遵循這種稱作「苦行」的簡單而有紀律的修行方式。這些傳統的森林僧自願選擇要遵循佛陀時代，佛陀所允許的十三條戒，限制衣、食和住的更嚴格的生活方式。這種生活方式的核心是，很少的身外之物，很多的禪修，和一天一次的托缽乞食。這種的生活方式傳入了充滿洞穴、荒野的濃密森林之緬甸、泰國、寮國，這些地方是這類精進修行的最佳理想。這些苦行僧有傳統的行腳者，獨處或與小團體共住，從一個村落到另一個村落，用手制的傘帳掛在樹上，做為他們臨時的居所。幾座最大的森林道場之一的巴蓬寺及其住持阿姜 查的實用教法，已被翻譯及編輯成此書，並且在西方流傳。 Achaan Chah and his teachers, Achaan Tong Rath and Achaan Mum, themselves spent many years walking and meditating in these forests to develop their practice. From them and other forest teachers has come a legacy of immediate and powerful Dharma teachings, directed not toward ritual Buddhism or scholastic learning, but toward those who wish to purify their hearts and vision by actually living the teachings of the Buddha. 　　阿姜 查與其老師──阿姜 通拉和阿姜 瞞(又譯曼)，曾多年在這些森林中經行和禪坐，以增長他們的修行。經由他們和其他森林禪師們中，產生了一種即時有力的佛法教示遺產，直指那些期望淨化心靈和由實際的生活中觀察佛陀教導的人，而非指向那些形式佛教或學術的學習。 As great masters emerged in this forest tradition, laypersons and monks sought them out for teaching advice. Often, to make themselves available, these teachers would stop wandering and settle in a particular forest area where a dhudanga monastery would grow up around them. As population pressures have increased in this century, fewer forest areas are left for wanderers, and these forest monastery preserves of past and current masters are becoming the dwelling place of most ascetic and practice-oriented monks. 　　當偉大的禪師在這種森林傳統中出現時，在家居士和出家人都會把他們請出來教導眾生。通常，這些老師為了讓自己發揮作用，他們會停止行腳，並在一特定的森林地帶安住下來，往往這便形成了一個苦行的道場。正當這世紀的人口壓力逐漸增加，造成行腳僧的森林范圍愈來愈小，這些由過去及現今的大師們所提供的森林道場于是成為大部份苦行、修行僧的居留處所。 Wat Ba Pong monastery developed when Achaan Chah, after years of travel and meditation study, returned to settle in a thick forest grove near the village of his birth. The grove, uninhabited by humans, was known as a place of cobras, tigers, and ghosts-the perfect location for a forest monk, according to Achaan Chah. Around him a large monastery grew up. 　　巴蓬寺是阿姜 查在經過了多年的云游及禪修，回到地出生的村落附近之濃密森林里設立後，開始成長的。那片森林罕無人跡，以眼鏡蛇、老虎和鬼魅聞名的地方──對阿姜 查而言，這是森林僧最完美的居所。一個大的道場環繞著他逐漸成長。 From its beginnings as a few thatched huts in the forest, Wat Ba Pong has developed into one of the largest and best-run monasteries in Thailand. As Achaan Chah's skill and fame as a teacher have become widespread, the number of visitors and devotees has rapidly increased. In response to requests from devotees throughout Thailand, over fifty branch monasteries under the guidance of abbots trained by Achaan Chah have also been opened, including one near Wat Ba Pong especially designed for the many Western students who have come to seek Achaan Chah's guidance in the teachings. In recent years several branch monasteries and associated centers have been opened in Western countries as well, most notably the large forest Wat at Chithurst, England, run by Abbot Sumedho, Achaan Chah's Senior Western disciple. 　　剛開始只有稀疏幾間草頂的茅蓬散布在森林之中，到後來巴蓬寺卻發展成泰國國內最大和運作得最好的道場之一。正當阿姜 查這位老師的善巧及名聲廣泛傳開之際，訪客及徒眾的數量迅速地增加。為了回應全泰國信眾的請求，五十幾所(目前有一百多所)在阿姜 查訓練的住持之引導下的寺院皆已成立──包括巴蓬寺附近一所為許多來尋求阿姜 查在教法上的教導的西方學生特別設計的道場。近幾年當中，在西方國家也成立了許多家分院及聯合中心，最著名的大叢林寺，是在英國的chithurst，由阿姜 查資深的西方弟子蘇美多所主持。 Achaan Chah's teachings contain what has been called "the heart of Buddhist meditation," the direct and simple practices of calming the heart and opening the mind to true insight. This way of mindfulness or insight meditation has become a rapidly growing form of Buddhist practice in the West. Taught by monks and laypeople who have themselves studied in forest monasteries or intensive retreat centers, it provides a universal and direct way of training our bodies, our hearts, and our minds. It can teach us how to deal with greed and fear and sorrow and how to learn a path of patience, wisdom, and selfless compassion. This book is meant to provide guidance and counsel for those who wish to practice. 　　阿姜 查的教導包括了被稱作「佛教禪修核心」的教導──直接而單純的靜心和為真實內觀打開心胸的修行。這種正念或內觀的里修方式已在西方佛教修行中迅速地長成。經由這些曾親自在森林道場和精進禪修中心參學過的僧侶和居士們的教導，提供了一種直接訓練我們身、心之方法。這種方法能教導我們該如何處理貪婪、畏懼及悲傷的問題，並且教導我們如何學習耐力、智慧及無私的慈悲之道。 Achaan Chah's own practice started early in life and developed through years of wandering and austerity under the guidance of several great forest masters. He laughingly recalls how, even as a child, he wanted to play monk when the other children played house and would come to them with a make believe begging bowl asking for candy and sweets. But his own practice was difficult, he relates, and the qualities of patience and endurance he developed are central to the teachings he gives his own disciples. A great inspiration for Achaan Chah as a young monk came from sitting at his father's sickbed during the last days and weeks of his father's life, directly facing the fact of decay and death. 'When we don't understand death," Achaan Chah teaches, "life can be very confusing." Because of this experience, Achaan Chah was strongly motivated in his practice to discover the causes of our worldly suffering and the source of peace and freedom taught by the Buddha. By his own account, he held nothing back, giving up everything for the Dharma, the truth. He encountered much hardship and suffering, including doubts of all kinds as well as physical illness and pain. Yet he stayed in the forest and sat-sat and watched-and, even though there were days when he could do nothing but cry, he brought what he calls a quality of daring to his practice. Out of this daring eventually grew wisdom, a joyful spirit, and an uncanny ability to help others. Given spontaneously in the Thai and Lao languages, the teachings in this book reflect this joyful spirit of practice. Their flavor is clearly monastic, oriented to the community of men who have renounced the household life to join Achaan Chah in the forest. Hence frequent reference is made to he rather than he or she, and the emphasis is on the monks (an active community of forest nuns also exists) rather than laypersons. Yet the quality of the Dharma expressed here is immediate and universal, appropriate to each of us. Achaan Chah addresses the basic human problems of greed, fear, hatred, and delusion, insisting that we become aware of these states and of the real suffering that they cause in our lives and in our world. This teaching, the Four Noble Truths, is the first given by the Buddha and describes suffering, its cause, and the path to its end. 　　以泰語或寮語自然地陳述，在本書的教導中反映了阿姜 查修行精神的歡喜。其風格很明顯是僧院的──針對那些舍棄家庭生活而來到森林中，加入阿姜 查的行列的男眾團體。因此例行用字是以「他」來代替「他」或「她」，並且都是在強調比丘而非居士(森林團體中也有尼眾存在)。然而，在這里所表現的佛法特質卻是立即而普遍的──適合我們每一個人。阿姜 查說，貪婪、恐懼、瞠恚和愚癡的人類的基本問題，他強調我們要覺醒這些狀態，了知它們在我們的生活及世界上所造成的真實痛苦。四聖諦的教法，是佛陀初次所演說的，說明了苦、苦的起因、道和苦的熄滅。 See how attachment causes suffering, Achaan Chah declares over and over. Study it in your experience. See the ever-changing nature of sight, sound, perception, feeling, and thought. Understanding the impermanent, insecure, selfless nature of life is Achaan Chah's message to us, for only when we see and accept all three characteristics can we live in peace. The forest tradition works directly with our understanding of and our resistance to these truths, with our fears -and anger and desires. Achaan Chah tells us to confront our defilements and to use the tools of renunciation, perseverance, and awareness to overcome them. He urges us to learn not to be lost in our moods and anxieties but to train ourselves instead to see clearly and directly the true nature of mind and the world. 　　阿姜 查一次又一次地強調，要去洞見執著是如何形成苦的。在你的經驗中學習，洞見色、聲和受、想、行永恆的變遷本質。要了解生命的無常、苦、無我的本質是阿姜 查給予我們的訊息，因為，唯有當我們明了和接受三法印(無常、苦、無我)，我們方能在平靜中生活。森林的傳統直接地對我們對這些真理的領悟和抵抗發生作用，也直接地對冶我們的恐懼、瞠怒和貪欲。阿姜 查告訴我們要去面對煩惱(雜染)，並利用厭離、耐力及覺醒的工具去對冶它們。他策勵我們要學習不去迷失在情緒和焦慮之中，訓練自己能清楚而直接地看到心和世間的真實本然。 Inspiration comes from Achaan Chah's clarity and joy and the directness of his ways of practice in the forest. To be around him awakens in one the spirit of inquiry, humor, wonderment, understanding, and a deep sense of inner peace. If these pages capture a bit of that spirit in their instructions and tales of the forest life and inspire you to further practice, then their purpose is well served. 　　我們的感動是來自于阿姜 查的清晰及喜悅，以及他在森林中的直接的修行方式。跟他在一起會喚醒我們內在好奇、幽默、驚嘆、領悟的精神，和一種深層的內在平靜。假如能從這些章節之中的指導和森林生活的故事捕捉到一點點精神，進而啟發你更進一步地去修行，那麼此書的目的便已達到了。 So listen to Achaan Chah carefully and take him to heart, for he teaches practice, not theory, and human happiness and freedom are his concerns. In the early years when WatBa Pong was starting to attract many visitors, a series of signs was posted along the entry path. "You there, coming to visit," the first one said, "be quite We're trying to meditate." Another stated simply, "To practice Dharma and realize truth is the only thing of value in this life. Isn't it time to begin?" In this spirit, Achaan Chah speaks to us directly, inviting us to quiet our hearts and investigate the truth of life. Isn't it time that we begin? 　　因此，仔細地聆聽阿姜 查，並將他放入心中，因為他教導的是實踐，而不是理論，更何況，人類的幸福與解脫才是他所關切的。早年當巴蓬寺開始吸引許多訪客時，沿著入口的步道上張貼了一系列的標語。第一張是說：「你來到這兒拜訪，請肅靜!我們正在禪坐。」另一張標語簡單地說：「修習佛法及覺悟真理是這期生命中唯一有價值的事，何不由現在開始？」在這種精神里，阿姜 查直接地對我們述說，邀請我們來安靜我們的心，並去觀察生命的真理。現在，不就是開始的時候嗎? ---------------- 　　【前 言】 　　多年來阿姜 查以寮、泰語展開社會弘化工作，而他在西方英語系杜會的影響力，則是由于他那些有能力把寮、泰語譯成英文的西方弟子的努力而獲致。雖然，目前這些英文作品流傳到華人世界已經有一段時間，特別是在新加坡、馬來西亞，而最近是台灣，但美中不足的是，讀者群僅限于精通英文的華人，而這些從阿姜 查的教導中得到啟示、鼓舞的華人讀者，對于同胞中有人因為不懂英文或英文能力淺，而沒有機會從阿姜 查言語中的智慧得益，一直引以為憾。 　　本書是在佛教寺院僧俗二眾的發心奉獻下協力完成。他們來自台灣、香港、新加坡、馬來西亞等地。他們不僅熟知中、英文，受重要的是：由于他們對佛法都已有深刻的體驗和認知，因而對阿姜 查的教化都能有所領悟且真切理解。也由于他們的善行以及為弘揚佛法不惜一切代價的願心，此刻，這份作品才能呈現在您的手中。 　　我們要向所有曾參與制作本書的人士，無論是設計、校對、謄稿、助印等等，都致予無上的謝意，願三寶之光常照在您們的心里，賜予您們平安、快樂。您曾注意到我們並沒有提到任何人的名字，也沒有對任何人特別地讚許。這正是遵循阿姜 查的教導：「不要試圖想成為什麼：不要做阿羅漢、不要做菩薩、什麼都別做……」……乃至譯者。 一位弟子 　　【譯者的話】 　　如果有人發現一顆閃亮的星星，他沒有權利放進自己的口袋獨享光輝，而必須公諸于世，使每個人都能分享這份光耀。基于這個理由，我們很高興有機會參與將阿姜 查的教示譯成中文的工作，因為如此一來，其他人也能同樣地得到那從阿姜 查的佛法開示中閃耀出來的智慧之光! 　　中譯阿姜 查的作品，並非易事。如果照句直譯，恐怕曾顯得生澀難懂：假若以比較自由約方式意譯，雖然文句會比較流暢，可是恐怕又會失于準確度不夠;還有一種可能是，因譯者筆調的關系使譯文學術意味太濃，不符合阿姜 查的風格。他本人很少閱讀，有一回，他被問到有什麼佛書可以推薦給人讀時，他指著自己的心說：「只有這一本!」 　　在譯書的過程中，我們盡量以不同的方式求得折衷，希望能既不失去阿姜查簡明的開示風格，又能無損他見解的精辟入微。假若由于我們的轉譯，使阿姜 查的佛法之「星」減損了原有的光芒，我們在此深致歉意。而我們之所以不自量力試譯，只是因為我們實在不忍讓這顆光輝奪目的星星，只收藏在某人口袋里，卻不能普照人間。 　　任何人的翻譯，永遠沒有所謂最好或最壞的翻譯，有的只是風格的不同。原書真正的含義能被譯出而且讓讀者分享，這才是最重要的。 　　當您手中捧著這本書時，那從阿姜 查內心閃耀出來的法之「星」光，只要能讓您捕捉到即使是一絲的微光，進而為您的人生帶來方向和啟示，那麼我們的工作就算圓滿完成了。 　　【阿姜 查略傳】 　　阿姜 查，于一九一八年六月十七日，出生在泰國東北部烏汶Rajathani鎮附近的一個小村莊。 　　九到十七歲之間，他是一位沙彌，在還俗幫助父母務農之前的那段時日里，他接受了基礎教育。到了二十歲，他決定回復出家生活，並于一九三九年四月廿六日受了比丘戒。 阿姜 查早期的僧侶生活，遵循一種研習佛教教義及巴利經文的傳統模式。在第五年時，他的父親得重病而逝：人命的脆弱和不確定，直接的提醒了他。這促使他去深思有關生命的真正目的，因為，雖然他已有多方面的涉獵並且精通巴利文，但對于痛苦的滅除，似乎並沒有更進一步親身的了解。厭離之感開始在心中升起，終于(在一九四六年)，他放棄了學業，並開始了托缽行腳。 他走了大約四百公里到達泰國中部，沿途睡在森林，行乞于村落。他在一座能夠用心地學習和修習毗奈耶(僧侶戒律)的寺院住了下來。那時，他聽說了有關阿姜 瞞——一位備受推崇的禪坐大師。渴望能見到如此一位有成就的老師，阿姜 查出發步行往東北部去尋找他。 這時，阿姜 查正與一項有決定性的問題做掙扎。他研讀過戒、定與慧的教理，雖然那些內文陳述詳盡且細節精細，但他卻不知如何將它們實際地付諸實踐。阿姜 瞞告訴他，雖然這些教化的確廣博，但在本質上卻很單純;有了「正念」的安置，如果看到了在內心生起的每件事物，當下便是真正的修行之道了。這種簡潔而又直接的教導，對阿姜 查來說，是一種啟示，也因此改變了他修行的方法。這條路是明確的! 　　接下來的七年間，阿姜 查在這種簡樸的森林傳統方式中修行：為了開展禪坐，行遍鄉間，尋找安靜而隱蔽的地方。他住在老虎和眼鏡蛇成群出沒的叢林，甚至停尸場；利用對死亡的省思來克服恐懼，並洞察生命的真正意義。 　　經過多年的流浪，一九五四年，他受邀返回故鄉的村子，就在一處熱病橫行、鬼魅出沒，稱作「巴蓬」的森林附近住了下來。不顧瘧疾的困境、簡陋的住處以及稀少的食物，追隨他的弟子，人數越來越多。現在被人稱為巴蓬寺的寺院就是設立在那兒的，而最後地，分院也在別處被建立了起來。 　　在阿姜 查寺院里的訓練是十分嚴厲且冷峻的。阿姜 查經常將他們的弟子們推到最極限，去測驗他們耐久的能力，期使他們能開展耐心和決心。他有時發起費時且表面上看起來毫無意義的工作計劃，由此去頓挫他們對平靜的執著。這重點經常放在屈服于事物的本然樣子，而最大的強調點著重于嚴格的毗奈耶(戒)之遵守上。 　　一九七七年，阿姜 查應邀訪問英國，並留下一些比丘僧團在那兒。 　　阿姜 查于一九七九年回到英國，隨後轉往美國、加拿大去訪問並教學。 　　一九八一年，再度出游後，由于糖尿病所致，阿姜 查的健康逐漸走下坡，也因此無法于雨季時在巴蓬寺安居。 　　當病情惡化，他以自己的身體作為一種教導 ──「萬物皆無常」的一種活生生的示例。他不斷地提醒人們，要努力在他們自心里處找到一個真實的歸依處，因為，他不再有很多的時間能教他們了。 　　在一九八一年「雨期」結束前，他被送往曼谷做一個手術。幾個月內，他停止了說話，並逐漸失去了對四肢的控制，終至全然癱瘓而臥病在床。從此以後，他被比丘弟子們全心全力地照顧和服侍;他們都感激且樂于有機會服侍曾經如此有耐性和慈悲地引導一條正道給那麼多人的一位老師。 　　一九九二年，一月十六日，上午五時二十分，阿姜 查在他的寺院，泰國烏汶的巴蓬寺，于隨侍的比丘們面前，安詳地離開了人間。 　　【編者的話】 　　本書內容取自Jack Koinfield和Paul Breiter編著之A Still Forest Pool，原以英文出版。然而，我們並沒有取用原版的全部內容，因為有些部份已在阿姜 查早期的書籍中就已出版(泰國國際叢林寺院出版之《菩提智(Bodhinyana)》一書)，如：問與答的部份，已由我們翻譯並收錄于《靜止的流水》一書中。我們希望能藉著這個機會，感謝作者之一的Paul Breiter，鼓勵我們翻譯此書，如今方能使華語杜會得此受益。 　　阿姜查個人的修行開始于他人生的早期，並經過多年的行腳和在幾位偉大的森林禪師們的嚴指導下增進。他笑著回憶說，他還是小孩子的時候，當其他小朋友玩扮家家酒時，他已喜歡演僧侶，並拿著一個假的缽向他們要糖果和甜食。但是，他個人修行卻非常艱難，他說，他增長的耐力與毅力的特質，是他給弟子們的教導核心。阿姜查仍是一位年青的出家人時，一個很大的啟示得自于坐在只剩下最後幾天、幾星期生命的父床邊，直接面對著衰危及死亡的事實。阿姜 查教導：「當我們不了解死亡時，生命是非常困惑的。」由于這個經驗，使得阿姜 查在修行中引發強烈的動機，要去發現我們世間痛苦的起因及佛陀所教導的解脫及平靜的根源。據他所言，他毫無保留，為了「法」和真理，他舍棄了一切。遭遇過許多困境與苦難，包括各種的疑惑及身體的病痛。然而，他依然待在森林里坐著──坐著和觀照──甚至有時候，他除了哭泣之外，什麼地無法做。他在修行中增長了一種他所謂的「無畏」的特質。從這「無畏」當中最後長成智慧──一種喜悅的精神，以及一種不可思議的能力去幫助他人。