No Ajahn Chah《序言》Introduction

No Ajahn Chah

何來阿姜 查

Reflections

Compiled & Edited by

Dhamma Garden Transcribed to the Internet by

Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery

阿姜 查著、法園編譯群編譯、王明光校對

Once there was a layman who came to Ajahn Chah and asked him who Ajahn Chah was. Ajahn Chah, seeing that the spiritual development of the individual was not very advanced, pointed to himself and said, “This, this is Ajahn Chah.”

有一次，一位居士來拜訪阿姜 查，並問他，誰是阿姜查。阿姜查看這個人在性靈上的開拓還不是很高，于是便指著自己說：「這個，這個就是阿姜 查。」

On another occasion, someone else asked Ajahn Chah the same question. This time, however, seeing that the questioner』s capacity to understand the Dhamma was higher, Ajahn Chah answered by saying “Ajahn Chah? There is NO Ajahn Chah.”

又有一次，另一個人問阿姜 查同樣的問題，但是，這次阿姜查看問問題的人對法的理解能力較高，所以阿姜 查便回答他說：「阿姜查？沒有阿姜 查！」

The quotations in this collection have been taken from Bodhinayana, A Taste of Freedom, A Still Forest Pool, Samadhi Bhavana, Seeing the Way, Living Dhamma, Food for the Heart, and Venerable Father, A Life with Ajahn Chah. Some quotations come from a personal collection hitherto unpublished.

Introduction

《序言》

When people would say to Ajahn Chah that they found it impossible to practice in society, he would ask them, “If I poked you in the chest with a burning stick, would you say that indeed you were suffering, but since you live in society you can』t get away from it?” Ajahn Chah』s response makes a point not unlike the Buddha』s parable of the poisoned arrow. The Buddha tells of a man who had been shot by an arrow and would not let anyone pull it out until his questions about the arrow, the bow and the archer were all answered. The only problem was that the wounded man would probably die before he could get the replies to all his questions. What the wounded man had to realize was that he was in pain and dying, and he should do something about that right away.

當有人跟阿姜　查說，他們發現要在社會中修行是件不可能的事時，阿姜　查會告訴他們說：「如果我同一枝燒熱的棍子刺在你的胸口上，你會說雖然你很痛苦，但是，因為你身在社會中，所以無法逃脫嗎？」阿姜　查回答所提出的與佛陀的毒箭之喻並無兩樣。佛陀說，曾有一人被一枝箭射傷，他非得等到他對箭、弓和射手的問題都得到回答，否則絶不讓任何人將箭拔出。問題是，在他的問題仍未被完全解答前，他大概已經死了。這位受傷的人應明白，他身受重傷，而且瀕臨死亡，應該馬上做處理才是。

Ajahn Chah emphasized this point over and over again in his teachings: you』re suffering; do something about it now! He wouldn』t spend much time talking about peace, wisdom, or Nibbanic states but rather the practice of constantly being aware of what was happening within the body and mind within the present moment, learning how to simply watch and let go. Meditation, he』d say, was not getting things, but getting rid of things. Even when asked about the peace one could attain through practice, he would instead rather speak of the confusion that one should first get rid of, for, as he put it, peace is the end of confusion.

阿姜　查在他的教導中一再地強調這點：痛苦，就要馬上解決！他不會花太多時間談論平靜、智慧或涅槃的境界，相反地，他強調持續不斷地修行，覺知身心當下的狀況，學習如何單純地觀照和放下。他說，禪坐，並不是 要得，而是要舍。即使問他透過修行便可達到的平靜，他會反倒回答我們應先除去煩惱，因為，就如他所言，平靜便是煩惱的止熄。

This collection reflects not only on suffering and meditation practice but also gives us some insight into impermanence, virtue, non-self and so on.

這本語錄不僅對苦和禪修做了省思，同時也帶給我們一些深入無常、戒德和無我等等的內觀。

We hope that the reader with take this little book as a companion and “good friend” for moments of quiet reflection, and perhaps get a glimpse of the “no-Ajahn Chah” who used to say, “I』m always talking about things to develop and things to give up, but, really there』s 『nothing』 to develop and 『nothing』 to give up.

我們希望讀者能將這本小冊子當做靜思時的夥伴和「善知識」，並且對時常說：「我總是說要增長、要舍棄，但是，實際上，根本『沒有東西』可以增長，『沒有東西』可以舍棄啊！」的「何來阿姜　查」得以一瞥。