平常心 Normality - 第二個障礙 The Second Obstacle
Part 2: Walking The Path 第2篇：行道
2-2. The Path of Peace 平靜之道
2-2-1. Practicing Dhamma 修習佛法
2-2-1-3. The Second Obstacle 第二個障礙
The second obstacle in developing insight is that when we begin to understand and see this point, we are able to destroy greed, hatred and delusion to some extent; but at the same time, joy is lying concealed within it. The Buddha says this is still not right. Joy is darkness, but it is white darkness. Joy is due to our satisfaction and pride that we can do it. White darkness is frightening because it is hard to see. Black darkness is easy to see because it is dark. Being caught up in joy is to see wrong as right; because as soon as we can destroy some defilements, we don’t watch at the point where the defilements are destroyed, but we get sucked into the point where joy arises. Therefore joy is an obstacle in attaining higher stages to Nibbana.
修習內觀的第二個障礙就是，當我們了解及看見這點(即佛法的要點是修心與看見念頭)，我們的修行便能夠斷除貪、瞋、痴到某一程度，但是要注意！喜悅也就同時暗藏在里頭了。佛陀說這還是不對，喜悅是黑暗，而且是白色的黑暗，這種喜悅是由于自滿和自傲我們能修到這個程度所引起的。黑色的黑暗因為是黑色，所以容易看見，白色的黑暗很難看見，所以是更可怕的。被纏在喜悅之中是由于把錯的看成對的，因為當我們能斷除一些煩惱時，我們在煩惱被斷除的那個當下沒有看見(心念)，而在喜悅生起的那個當下卷入其中。因此喜悅是在趣向更高層次涅槃聖果時的一種障礙。
Being caught up in joy is equal to being caught up in thinking. A thought comes up and we get caught up in the thought; so we don’t see the thought. When we get caught up in joy, we don’t see joy; and we’re just content with joy. Because of this, the Buddha teaches us to pull ourselves out of the thoughts that we’re thinking, to stand outside of it. Then we will see our thoughts.
被纏在喜悅中就等于被纏在念頭之中。當念頭生起時，我們被纏在其中，所以才沒看見念頭；當我們被纏在喜悅之中，我們就不能看見喜悅，而滿足于喜悅之中﹝不見廬山真面目，只緣身在此山中﹞。因為這樣，佛陀教導我們：要把我們自己從想東想西的念頭中拉出來，站到它的外面來，這樣才能看見我們的念頭。
People who still don’t know and see their thoughts say just the same, that they know thought. But in reality they don’t understand that thoughts come up continuously, and they get caught up in them. Those who have joy or are attached to the peace of tranquility-meditation are the same. They are caught up in peacefulness, don’t know that peace is delusion, and thus get caught up in peace. It is comparable to someone who doesn’t know how to turn on the light. He or she turns the light bulb. No light appears. The person who pulls him or herself out of thought and knows and sees thoughts may be compared to someone who know how to turn on the light; that person turns on the switch and light does appear. So we have to know the origin of thought and come to an understanding with these little thoughts of ours. Then we will have as much ability as an electric light in brightening the interior of the mind, just as one correctly turns on the light with the switch. When we’re looking at our minds, there is no greed, hatred and delusion. But the moment that we’re not looking and lose awareness, greed, hatred and delusion can come back, and we can get caught up in them. It’s just like a car driving along the road. At the place where the car passes there is a wind blowing behind it; leaves and dust flap and flutter at the back of the car. Thoughts of greed, hatred and delusion flash up for a moment, and we follow them. How can we still say that we know thought? In reality we don’t see thought, but we get caught up in it.
很多還不能知道和看見自己念頭的人，往往都會說他們知道和看見念頭，但實際上他們並不懂什麼是知道和看見，為什麼呢？因為他們的念頭還在不停地生起，且他們被纏于其中。那些得到喜悅或迷執于止禪的平靜的人也是一樣，他們被纏在平靜之中，他們不知道那種平靜是一種迷惑，因而纏于平靜之中。這就像一個不知道如何開燈的人，他不按開關而拼命去轉燈泡，因此燈不會亮；而一個把自己從念頭中拉出來並且知道並看見念頭的人，就像一個知道如何開燈的人，他按下開關，燈就亮了。所以，我們必須知道念頭的起處，並且了解這些細微的念頭，這樣，我們就會像按下開關正確開燈的那個人一樣，擁有如電燈一般的光明，照亮我們內心。當我們看見自己的心時，就沒有貪、瞋、癡；反之，當我們沒有看見且沒有覺知念頭的當下，貪、瞋、癡就又會回來，並且我們會被纏在其中，這就像在路上跑的一輛車，一路上車後都有風在吹著，而樹葉和灰塵在車後飄動飛揚，貪、瞋、痴的念頭剎那而起，且我們跟著它們團團轉，這樣我們怎麼還能夠說我們知道念頭呢？實際上我們沒看見念頭，而是纏于其中。
The Buddha teaches that whoever doesn’t see one’s own thoughts is a heedless person. Heedlessness is poison to one’s life, it’s like being dead. This is what I said: It stinks! The Buddha said that there is nothing that stinks as much as the mind that has greed, hatred and delusion, the mind that is stained, the dirty mind.
佛陀教導我們：沒有看見自己念頭的人，是個沒有正念的人。沒有正念是一個人生命的毒藥，就等于死了一樣！我得這麼說：它奇臭無比！佛陀也說過：沒有任何東西比有貪瞋癡的心還臭！這種心是染污的，是骯髒的心。
Our real mind isn’t dirty of stained at all. It’s like a light bulb. The filament in the bulb is not dirty, but dust can settle on the outside of the bulb; the inside is still as bright as before. Or we could compare it with the sun. When clouds obscure the light from coming to the earth, it gets dark; but the sun is still as bright as before.
我們真正的心是一點都沒有染污骯髒的，它就像是個燈泡，燈泡內的燈絲沒有髒，所以，雖然灰塵落在燈泡外面，外面的燈光會暗一點，但里面還是像以前一樣明亮。或者我們可以用太陽來比喻：當烏云遮住了太陽，陽光照不到地球，天色就會變暗，但是，這時太陽還是像以前一樣明亮。
(Vijja-Avijja 明-無明)
People who don’t see thought and get caught up in thought are called people in the cycle of dependent origination; they are people that don’t know.
沒看見念頭而纏于念頭中的人叫做落在緣起的循環之中的人，他們是不知道(無明)的人。
We’ve probably heard this: Avijja is the condition for formation to arise; formations are the condition for the birth of consciousness; consciousness conditions mentality/materiality; mentality/materiality conditions the six senses; the sis senses condition contact; contact conditions feeling; feeling conditions craving; craving conditions clinging; clinging conditions being; being; conditions birth; and birth conditions old age, death and suffering. It’s a cycle. Avijja translates as not knowing; we say that we know, but we don’t see our minds. Instead we get caught up in thought. As for the word Vijja, it means knowing, seeing one’s own thoughts. A thought comes up, we see it, and it stops. It’s like a cat and a mouse. If we don’t have a cat at home, the mice are not afraid; but when we have a cat, it will catch the mice as soon as they show their faces. The mice die of shock when they get caught. They can die even though the cat doesn’t bite. They have such shock; never been caught by a cat before. This is similar to our fixing on thoughts in our minds: when a thought comes, we know it in time; and it immediately stops, comes to a halt, can’t concoct any further. This is called Vijja, knowing, to know in time, knowing how to prevent, knowing how to solve and knowing how to conquer – just like a cat and a mouse.
我們可能聽過：無明是行生起的條件，行是識生起的條件，識緣起名色，名色緣起六入，六入緣起觸，觸緣起受，受緣起貪愛，貪愛緣起執取，執取緣起存在(有)，存在(有)緣起生，而生緣起老、死和苦；這是循環不斷的。「Avijja(無明)」翻譯為不知道；意即我們沒看見自己的心，反而纏于念頭之中。至于「Vijja(明)」，意思為知道並看見自己的念頭，也就是，一個念頭生起，我們就看見它，使它止滅。這就像是貓捉老鼠：如果家里沒有貓，那老鼠就不會害怕，但如果我們有貓，只要老鼠一露面，貓就會去抓牠。老鼠被抓到時會驚嚇而死，即便貓還沒咬下去，它們可能就嚇死了，因為牠們以前從未被貓抓過，所以嚇成這樣。這和我們覺知心中的念頭一樣，當一個念頭生起，我們當下知道它，它就立刻停下來，並且中斷而不能再繼續妄想，這就叫做明(Vijja)、知道。這是當下知道，並且知道如何阻止、知道如何解決以及知道如何克服——就像貓捉老鼠一樣。
If we don’t reflect on the teachings of the Buddha, we don’t understand them, and we argue and debate about the teachings, competing with each other. This is not right! Someone who has studied the teaching and employs that knowledge as a tool for killing defilement or dealing with suffering is doing it right, according to the Buddha’s intention. These days, we study the Buddhist scriptures until we have degrees, up to the ninth level. Some may look at their own thoughts, but some never watch their minds at all. Whoever has studied but never seen his or her own thoughts, says the Buddha, are like a termite that makes holes and eats books. With academic studies it’s the same: studying until one has university degrees, but still never watching one’s mind. Such persons know about other people but don’t know and see themselves. These people are not considered wise in Buddhism because their knowledge is only of use in an academic way, but is not useful spiritually. When we have a university degree we should deal with our minds also, that is, eliminate defilements, the coarse ones as well as the medium and subtle ones.
如果我們不深思，就不能了解佛陀的教導，並且在這些教導上會起爭辯，彼此互不相讓，這樣是不對的！學過那些教導並且將那些知識當作滅除煩惱或解脫痛苦之工具的人，是依照佛陀的意旨而如法修行。這個時代，我們學習佛教經典只為了獲得學位，一直到第九級學位；有些人可能會看他們自己的念頭，但有些人就一點都不去看他們的心。佛陀說：「學了教導但卻從不去看自己念頭的人，就像是一只白蟻只會挖洞和咬書本。」做學術研究的人也一樣，他們一直研究到獲得大學學位，但從未去看自己的心，這樣的人他們只知道外在別人的事，但卻從來不向內知道與看見自己。在佛教里，這樣的人不被認為是有智慧的，因為他們的知識只能用在學術理論上，而對精神上沒有裨益。當我們有了大學學位之後，還是要修治我們的心，也就是說，要滅除煩惱，包括粗、中、細等三種煩惱。
(Going Against The Stream Of Thought 對抗念頭的洪流)
We’ve all probably heard that the Buddha at one time practiced by tormenting Himself, but saw that that method was wrong and stopped it. After that, He partook of food offered by a lady named Sujata. The Buddha asked her, 『Do you offer just the food or is the tray included as well?』 Se answered that all was offered. Having finished the meal, the Buddha took the tray to the bank of the river and made the following resolution: If He would be Enlightened, may the tray placed on the water flow against the current.
我們可能聽過：佛陀曾經藉折磨自己來修行，後來祂明白這方法是錯的，于是停止那種修習。隨後，他吃了蘇佳達(Sujata)女士所供養的食物，且佛陀問她：你是只供養食物還是連盤子也一起供養？她回答說：全部都供養。于是佛陀吃完之後，就帶著盤子到河邊，把它放在水上，並發願：假若他能證悟，願那個盤子能逆流而上。
This is not a true story; it’s an illustration and has meaning on the level of the mind. The tray is the mind, the water represents the defilements, and the Buddha working with the mind, is the action of going against the stream. The Buddha didn’t let His mind follow the defilements. The current of the water is the current of thought. Following defilements is easy, everyone is doing it already; and so we have suffering!
這不是真實的故事，只是個例子，而且有心靈層面的意涵，盤子是比喻心，水比喻煩惱，而盤子逆流而上則是比喻佛陀對治其心，沒有讓他的心跟著煩惱走。水流是比喻念流。隨煩惱念流而轉很容易，每個人都是這樣，然而我們也正因此而受苦！
The Buddha practice going against the stream of defilements for the extinguishing of suffering by watching the mind, seeing His own mind thinking. As soon as a thought would come up and there was desire to follow what the eye saw, the ear heard, the nose smelled, the tongue tasted or the body felt, the Buddha saw those thoughts as defilements. He practiced going against the current of thought, not following the thoughts, which want things. Practicing like this, knowledge arose in Him and He was Enlightened.
佛陀為了滅苦，因此藉由觀心——看見自己的念頭——來對抗煩惱流，當念頭一生起，並且有貪欲隨著眼見、耳聞、鼻嗅、舌嘗或身覺而流轉，祂便看見這些念頭，並了解它們是煩惱。佛陀精進修習以對抗念頭之流，不跟隨著那些想東想西的念頭流轉，祂這樣修習，所以自心生起了智慧而覺悟。
The thing that the Buddha points out to us to practice is to know thought with awareness, looking at our own minds. Whatever thought comes up, we should know and understand it, so that the thought does not proliferate further. When thought flashes up, we watch it with awareness; and the thought stops by itself. In practicing Dhamma, the thing to be careful about is the knowledge that knows things outside of ourselves. This kind of knowledge is defilement due to Vipassana. When we have such knowledge, it gives rise to gladness and joy. Joy is called white darkness. It is wrong knowing. Don’t get attached to joy! Continuing the practice to the end, until we clearly see our thoughts, their origin and their source, we come at last to the state of arising/passing. It is a break-off, a final exhaustion. I’ve compared it many times with a rope, tightly tied on both sides and being cut in the middle with a knife. The rope breaks; one cannot pull it together again, that is, one can’t use it anymore. The twelve senses are similar: on seeing a form with the eye, on hearing a sound with the ear, etc., let there only just be seeing and hearing and so on. Don’t concoct it into beautiful or ugly, good or bad, pleasing or displeasing sound, the sound of a woman, the sound of a man, etc. Just simply see or hear neutrally. But these are still mere words. In practice, we have to look and see and break them apart. When they are broken, there is not more concocting; the senses are not able to reach each other anymore.
佛陀為我們指出的修行之道就是：看我們自己的心，並且用覺性來覺知念頭。不管生起甚麼念頭，我們都必須知道並了解它，不要讓念頭繼續擴散，在念頭瞬間閃現時，用覺性看住它，念頭自然就會停止。修習佛法時，我們必須小心的一樣東西便是：對于自己身心以外事物的知解智慧，雖然就某種層面而言，它可以說是一種智慧，但這種智慧仍然是一種修習毘婆舍那而生起的煩惱。當我們有了這樣的智慧，會讓我們心中感到高興和喜悅，這種喜悅被稱為白色的黑暗，是不正確的智慧，不要執取那種喜悅！要進一步練習直到終點，也就是，直到我們清楚看見念頭以及它們的起處而最終達到看見自心生/滅的狀態(the state of arising/passing)，那就煩惱頓脫並且是永盡無余，我常常用一條兩端綁在柱子上且繃得緊緊的繩子來作比喻，當我們用刀在繩子中間切斷它：繩子會頓然斷開，並且無法再把它拉靠在一起，也就是說，它再也不能作用了。十二處(六根與六塵)也如同這樣：當眼睛看見東西、耳朵聽到聲音…等等的時候，見就只是見、聽就只是聽…等等(意即根與塵如繩子般斷開)，不會去分別它是美或丑、好或壞、悅耳或不悅耳、女聲或男聲…等等，只是單純中性地看或聽，但是這些只是文字說說而已，在修習過程中，我們必須努力去觀照、看見並且斷開它們，只有當它們斷開之後，它們才不會再作怪，十二處(六根與六塵)才不會再彼此接觸。
(Cleanliness, Brightness And Peace 清淨、光明與平靜)
Our Minds are already Clean, Bright and Peaceful! Clean means not dirty, because there are no defilements. Bright means there is wisdom, seeing our minds, or life. Peaceful means having stopped, there is no longer anything further to add.
Our Minds are already Clean, Bright and Peaceful! Clean means not dirty, because there are no defilements. Bright means there is wisdom, seeing our minds, or life. Peaceful means having stopped, there is no longer anything further to add.
到這里我們的心就已經清淨、光明與平靜了！「清淨」意思是不污染，因為沒有了煩惱；「光明」意思是具足了智慧，能看見我們的心或生命；「平靜」意思是它已止靜，不需再另外修什麼了。(另譯：我們的心本來就是清淨、光明與平靜的！「清淨」意思是它本不污染，因為它元無煩惱；「光明」意思是它本具智慧，本來能見我們的心或生命；「平靜」意思是它本已止靜，不需再另外修什麼而使之平靜。