你說，「我聽經聽了這麼久，沒有這麼講的。」為什麼一定要像你聽的那麼講呢？這經是歡喜怎麼講怎麼講，飛天遁地好像龍似的，怎麼講都可以。那麼降魔杵是什麼呢？降魔杵就是你那個定力，你有了定力就是有降魔杵；沒有定力就是沒有降魔杵，現在明白了。你坐禪就會生出定力，生出定力就把妄想給打死了。你再坐禪，就會生出慧力，慧力就是智慧力，智慧力就把那個妄想也給殺了。所以這「常好坐禪」，就常常願意修習定力，這是菩薩所應該修行的。
那麼在什麼地方坐禪呢？跑戲院子裡一邊看戲一邊坐禪，可以不可以？到電影院裡去一邊看電影一邊坐禪，可不可以？你要是會坐禪了，到什麼地方都可以；不會坐禪呢，是不可以的。會坐禪是「行也禪，坐也禪，語默動靜體安然」。
「夢裡明明有六趣，覺後空空無大千」，你若是覺悟了，這大千世界都沒有了，何況其他的東西呢？你作夢的時候才有六道輪迴，生生死死、死死生生，你這個也放不下，那一個捨不了。哦！這是你husband（丈夫），那是你的wife(妻子），那個又是你爸爸媽媽，七扯八拉的一大堆，那沒有意思。
這個要怎麼樣呢？你若是沒有得到定力坐禪，要在閒處。這個「閒」，說「我明白了，是要不做工，一天到晚很清閒很懶惰的，那是正對我的脾胃了。我就不願意做工，那我就坐禪去了。」這個「閒」是「不是鬧熱的地方」，清閒的地方，就是寂靜的地方，就是阿蘭若處。阿蘭若處就是寂靜處，沒有喧鬧處，是那個閒。所以「在於閒處」，你不要好像頭先那人說「門外漢是不是羅漢呢？」真好笑了，門外漢怎麼會像是羅漢？門外漢就是一個什麼也不懂的人，那叫門外漢，他說是不是個羅漢。這樣我聽得真是，這是美國人學中文真是有特別的妙處，門外漢變成阿羅漢，或者是將來，將來可以，不過不是現在。
「修攝其心」：在於閒處要修攝其心，修就是修行的修，攝，攝就是好像用吸鐵石，總吸著那塊鐵，這叫攝。攝什麼呢？攝心，攝心就是不叫你心跑。你說，「我心還會跑嗎？」你心不會跑嗎？你心不但跑，而且還跑得十萬八千裏，不知道往什麼地方跑去了。前一念跑到歐洲去了，後一念又到了澳洲了，再後一念又到了亞洲，越南的大炮「踫！踫！踫！」喔，打死很多人。你說，你也不用錢也不用買票，五大洲都遊遍了。你以為是很便宜的事情，其實啊！費了你很多油，你在你自性裡頭那個gasoline(汽油)你用了很多，不過你不覺得。那gasoline幹什麼的？可以放光的，你用了它就沒有光了，光就黑暗了。我講這裡頭的確有真正道理，你明白了，這是很有用的，不要用那麼多gasoline；你若不明白，將來用完了就變成一個黑暗的，跑到餓鬼道去。所以孟子說，「人有雞犬放，則知求之；有放心，而不知求，哀哉！」
說人養這個雞和那個狗，牠若跑了你就知道各處找去，喔！我這個雞丟了，我這個犬沒有了；趕快登一個報紙；put advertisement說我的狗丟了，你們誰有看見，給我打個電話到397－3675，那個地方就可以找著我了。這就是那個puhungtion做的事情，你們知道嗎？有放心而不知求，可是啊！你那個心跑了，他就不知道找。
待續
|
|
You say, "I've been listening to Sutra lectures for a long time, but I have never heard an explanation like this." Why does it have to be explained in a way you have already heard? Sutras can be explained any way one likes as long as one accords with principle, just as a dragon can fly up to the heavens and hide in the earth. What is the demon-quelling pestle? It is your samadhi power. If you have samadhi power, you have a demon- quelling pestle; if you don't have samadhi power, you don't have a demon-quelling pestle. Now do you understand? Dhyana can give rise to samadhi power. Giving rise to samadhi power, you can beat your false thoughts to death. If you continue sitting in dhyana, you will give rise to wisdom power. The power of wisdom can also kill false thoughts. For that reason, Bodhisattvas always delight in sitting in dhyana. They like to cultivate samadhi power.
"Where should one sit in dhyana? Can it be done at a playhouse while watching a play? Can it be done at the movie theater while watching a movie?" you ask. If you are able to sit in dhyana, then you can do it anywhere at all. If you are not able to sit in dhyana yet, then you certainly could not do it in those places. If you are able to sit in dhyana, then
When moving, it's dhyana, when quiet, it's dhyana;
Speaking, silent, moving, or still,
The substance is at peace.
In the dream, the six paths are clearly seen;
But once awake, all is empty, and even the universe
does not exist!
If you awaken, then even the three-thousand-great-thousand world system does not exist, how much the less anything else. While you are still in the dream, the six paths of rebirth exist. You get born again and again, and die again and again. You can't put this down, and you can't give up that. 'That' is your husband. 'That' is your wife. 'That' is your father and 'that' is your mother, and there's many more—a whole bunch of entanglements! It's really meaningless.
"What should we do, then?" If you have not yet attained samadhi power, then when sitting in dhyana, you should sit in a quiet place. The Chinese character for "quiet" can also mean "idle," and so you say, "I understand. I shouldn't do any work, right? I should be idle all day long. To put it another way, I can be lazy. Well, that's just my style. I don't like to work, so I'll sit in dhyana!" Here, the word doesn't mean "idle," it means a place that is not busy and noisy. It means an aranya, a tranquil and pure place. You don't want to mistake the meaning of the word here and think it means you can be idle. Don't be like a certain disciple who mistakenly thought that men wai han, which means amateur, was the same as luo han, which means Arhat. How funny! This is one of the wonderful things that happens when Americans are learning Chinese. He thought "an amateur" was "an Arhat." Well, maybe in the future he will become one, but he isn't one now.
In a quiet place, Bodhisattvas enjoy cultivating collecting their thoughts. They cultivate collecting their thoughts, just as a magnet collects iron filings. They don't let their minds run away.
"Oh? My mind can run away?" you ask. Oh? Did you think it couldn't? Not only does your mind run away, it runs for 108,000 miles! You don't even know where it's run off to. In the first thought, it runs to Europe. In the second thought, you've gone to Australia. In the next thought, it's in Asia. It's in Vietnam at the front line fighting with the guns going off "bang, bang, bang!" and many people being killed. You don't have to use any money or buy any tickets, and you can traverse the five continents. You think you are getting a bargain, but in fact you are using a tremendous amount of your "gasoline"—the gasoline (energy) of your own nature. You just don't realize it. What is that gasoline good for? It can enable you to emit light. If you use it up, you don't have any light. Without light you will be dark. What I'm saying right now definitely contains genuine principle. If you understand, then it will be very helpful to you. Don't use so much gasoline! If you don't understand, then after you have used up your gasoline you will become dark and run off to the path of hungry ghosts. Mencius said:
When people lose their chickens and dogs,
they know to go looking for them.
But when their minds run away,
they don't even know to search for them.
What a sad state of affairs!
When a chicken or dog runs away, their owners know to look for them. "Oh no," they cry, "My pet is gone!" They immediately put an advertisement in the newspaper saying, "If you see my lost dog, please call 397-3675." But when their minds fly off in all directions, they do nothing about it.
To be continued |
