第一个障碍 The First Obstacle

　　Part 2: Walking The Path 第2篇：行道

　　2-2. The Path of Peace 平静之道

　　2-2-1. Practicing Dhamma 修习佛法

　　2-2-1-2. The First Obstacle 第一个障碍

　　The first obstacle in developing Vipassana can appear when we make movements with the body and Sati is aware of it. Wisdom arises in the mind that knows reality as it really is. That is, it knows Rupa-Nama; it knows instability, impermanence and non-selfhood; it knows convention; it knows religion, knows Buddhism, knows evil and knows merit. This is wisdom knowing through Vipassana. But it's only just the outer bark of Vipassana, still not able to deal with suffering. It is just knowing in knowing; it is knowing through thought, knowing the scriptures. It is defilement due to Vipassana. The obstacle is that when this kind of knowledge arises, we get buried in it, a kind of knowledge that is still similar to being inside a cave.

　　当我们身体做着动作且正念觉知着它，这样修习毘婆舍那时，会出现第一个障碍。这个障碍是由内心生起的如实知实相的智慧所导致的，也就是说，虽然这种智慧能知道色名(身心)、知道苦、无常及无我、知道世俗法、知道宗教、知道佛教、知道罪恶以及知道功德，且是经由修习毘婆舍那而知道的一种智慧(注：即依经典文字、念头思惟而知道的智能，或依文字起观照的智能；或禅思之慧)；但是，这样的智慧只是毘婆舍那的外皮而已，还不能灭苦。它只是「知道」的一种“知道”(It is just knowing in knowing.)，也就是说，是经由念头思惟而「知(道)」的“知道”、只是“知道”经典的义理，因此实际上，这种知道是观障(defilement due to Vipassana,毘婆奢那生起的染污烦恼)。如果当这样的智慧生起时，我们执着而埋陷其中，那就成了第一个障碍，这样的智慧其实是相当于仍在洞穴内的智慧。

　　Therefore, next we must try and find a method to get out of the cave, to pull ourselves out of that knowledge, gradually, by watching our thoughts. As soon as a thought flashes up, know, see, and understand that it has come up. This is practicing Dhamma a little bit deeper.

　　因此，下一步我们就必须去寻找一个走出洞穴的方法，也就是，藉由看见我们的念头，慢慢地把我们从那个智慧黑洞中拉出来；当念头一生起，就要知道、看见并且了解它生起了，这是修习佛法的一个更深的层次(即看念头修习阶段)。

　　Ordinarily, a tree has an outer bark. When one removes the outer bark, he reaches the layer with the nourishing sap inside. Removing that layer, one reaches the white wood. Removing that, one comes to the heartwood. Buddhism is the same. Knowing Rupa-Nama, evil and merit is also knowledge; but it is outer knowledge, enough to deal with suffering on one level, such as not being foolish by believing in auspicious things and lucky omens, or in ghosts and angels. But when one is in such a state, greed, hatred and delusion are still there, because one doesn't know the origin or source of it.

　　通常，树有一层外皮；除掉外皮就会达到里面有一营养树汁的那一层；再除掉那一层，就达到了白木：再除掉白木，就来至木心。佛法也是一样，知道色名(身心)、罪恶和功德也是一种智慧，但它是外层智慧，只能对治某一层次的苦，比如，不会迷信吉祥物、吉兆或鬼神而受骗，但一个人达到这个阶段的智慧，还是会有贪、瞋、痴，因为他不知道它们的起源。

　　To solve this problem, to know the origin of the arising of greed, hatred and delusion, we must watch our minds, like a cat that waits for a chance to grab a mouse. As soon as a though comes up in the mind, look at it and fix on it so that it is known in time. A though comes. Whack, cut it off straight away! Another one, whack, cut it off right there! Do this often. Thoughts will thereby decrease and awareness will increase. Just as with the positive and the negative. When there is more of the positive, the negative lessens. We start off never having seen thought, thinking a hundred things and never seeing a single thought. But when we are watching like this, we catch it once and cut it off. The remaining thoughts are less than a hundred now and will steadily decrease step-by-step, as long as we keep at it.

　　想要解决这个问题，想要知道贪、瞋、痴生起的起源，我们必须观照我们的心，必须像一只等待机会去捉老鼠的猫。当心中一生起念头，必须看着它并注视着它，以便能立即知道它。一个念头生起！碰的一声！立即切断它！又来个念头，碰的一声！当场切断它！不断地这样做，念头就会减少，而觉性将会增强；就如正与反一样，当正面愈多反面就愈少。我们刚开始时一点也看不见念头，想了一百件事却没看到一个念头，但是当我们能这样看见念头——一抓住它就切断它，念头就会少于一百，并且只要我们持续地练习，念头就会逐步平稳定地减少。

　　We keep gazing like this, a thought comes, we cut it off, another one arises, we drop it. When we think a hundred thoughts and we know ninety-five of them, it shows that we have a lot of awareness. Just five thoughts left that we can't keep up with. Right here is where we have to put forth effort: watch thought but don't be caught up in the thought. When we know and see all the hundred thoughts, keep up with every thought every time, it is equal to knowing and seeing exactly where greed, hatred and delusion are born. We have to cut them off so that defilements are unable to arise. This is called to keep abreast by knowing, to know in time. Knowing how to prevent, knowing how to solve. This is where we're able to deal with Lobha, Dosa &Moha.

　　我们持续像这样看着念头，一个念头生起，切断它；又一个生起，放下它！当我们起了一百个念头，而能知道95个，就表示我们有了相当强的觉性，只有五个念头跟不上，到这里我们必须更加用功突破：要看住念头而不被念头抓住。当我们知道并看见所有一百个念头，每次一有个念头都跟得上，那就等于，贪瞋痴一生起我们就能知道与看见。我们必须切断它们，让烦恼无法生起，这样就称为「因知道而与念头同步」，也就是能「当下知道」。这样就能知道如何防范？知道如何解决？而这也正是我们可以对治贪、瞋、痴的地方。

　　Defilements can arise because we get deluded right here. We don't know that their origin is right here. This refers to even someone who goes to the monastery to listen to talks, who makes offerings, who keeps precepts and develops both tranquility and insight-meditation. If that person has still never seen his or her own thoughts, then that person is still far from the Truth taught by the Buddha. Contrariwise, even if a person has never gone to a monastery to listen to the Dhamma, has never made offerings or kept precepts, but is always aware of what his or her mind is thinking, that person equals with knowing. He keeps abreast of thoughts, knows how to prevent, knows how to solve and knows how to conquer every time. That person is close to the Truth, the Dhamma taught by the Buddha.

　　烦恼可以生起是因为我们在当下迷惑了，我们不知道它们的起源就在当下，这是说，即使一个人到寺院去听法、布施、持戒与修习止禅及内观禅，只要他还是看不见自己的的念头，那就还离佛陀教导的真理很远。相反的，即使有人从未到过寺院听法，从未布施或持戒，但他能时时觉知内心在想什么，那就等于知道了。他和念头同步，随时都知道如何防范？知道如何解决？知道如何克服？这样的人就离真理、离佛陀教导的正法不远了。

　　Have you ever heard of the Buddha having taught that the Dhamma exists already? But there is nobody with discernment who can dig it up and find it; so it stays undiscovered. Because it is undiscovered, people make merit, give offerings, keep precepts and do Samatha-meditation in order to develop good habits. So we believe that it is meritorious and wholesome to accumulate those things for the next life or for the future. This is wrong understanding. The Buddha didn't teach like this. The Buddha taught us to see our own minds.

　　你是否曾听过佛陀教导说「法本来存在」呢？应该都有，但话虽如此，却没有一个具法眼的人能挖到并找到它，以致它仍未被发现。因为它仍未被发现，所以我们才去做功德、布施、持戒及修止禅等来开发善行，而且我们相信这样累积善行是有功德的，并且未来或下一世可以得到利益。但是！这是错误的理解！佛陀不是这么教的，祂教导我们去看我们自己的心。

　　We have heard the story of the monk Vakkali, who was attached to the Buddha's body and never looked at his own mind. When he was corrected by the Buddha, he became so upset that he was going to jump from a cliff and die. The Buddha stopped him and taught him that it is difficult to get born as a human being. And it's very rare for a human being have an opportunity to listen to the Dhamma from a Nobel person. The Buddha said further that His body was just material. After his death it would rot and stink. That is not the Buddha. The real Buddha can be found within the monk Vakkali. The Dhamma that is present in all people, that is, cleanliness, brightness and peace, which is the Buddha.

　　我们听过瓦克利(Vakkali)比丘的故事，他执着于佛陀的身相，而从不去看他自己的心。当他被佛陀纠正时，心里非常难过，因而想去跳崖寻死。佛陀阻止他且教导他说：「投生为人是很难的，而能从圣人听闻正法也是非常稀有的。」佛陀更进一步说：他的身体只是物质的色身，死后又会腐烂发臭，那不是佛陀，真正的佛陀可以在瓦克利比丘自己里头找到，存在于所有人之中的正法就是，清净、光明与平静——这就是佛陀！

　　The Buddha proclaimed, ‘whoever sees the Dhamma, sees Me. Whoever doesn't see the Dhamma, doesn't see Me, even when taking hold of My robe or My finger’. The monk Vakkali woke up and started to work with the mind; and he saw his own thinking.

　　佛陀说：「见法者即是见我；不见法者即不见我；即使抓着我的法衣或手指，也未见我。」瓦克利比丘一听就觉醒了，他开始治心修心，并且看见了自己的念头。

　　(Seeing The Dhamma 见法)

　　I would like to remind you once more that the word Dhamma refers to our seeing our own minds at the moment that we are acting, talking or thinking. This is what is called seeing the Dhamma. I dare to insist that the very life of the Dhamma exists in all people without exception, no matter whether you are a man or a woman, a monk or a novice; no matter what nationality you may have, whatever language you may speak of whatever clothes you may wear. It's all the same. The Dhamma are the actions of body, speech and mind. Actions of the body other people can see; actions of speech others can hear; but actions of the mind others are not able to see. You can only see them yourself. For this reason, the monk Vakkali felt at ease viewing it like this. Whether he saw the body of the Buddha or not, he would feel at ease because he saw the real Buddha; that is, really seeing according to reality, an ability that exists in everyone.

　　我要再次提醒你们，“法”这个字是指我们身语意的活动；在身口意活动的当下看见我们自己的心，这就是所谓的“见法”。我敢保证法的命脉存在于所有人之中，没有例外——不管你是男人或女人、比丘或沙弥、是什么国籍、说什么语言或穿什么衣服——都一样。“法”就是身语意的活动；身躯的活动别人可以看见；言语的活动别人可以听见；但是，心的活动别人无法看见，只有自己能看见。基于这个原因，所以瓦克利比丘这样看着自己的心并感到安心；不管是否看见佛陀的色身，他都会感到安心，因为他看见了真正的佛陀，也就是如实地真见，这是每个人都本来具足的。

　　The Buddha once described seeing in this way: with flowers, black, red, white or whatever colour, they are all ready to bloom when touched by sunshine. That I'm giving you these reflections right now is the same: Anyone can apply them in daily life, whether man or woman, whatever clothes he or she may be wearing, whatever religion is upheld. It can be used by everyone in the same way, because we all have a body and mind. When one sees one's own mind at the moment that it thinks, this indicates that one sees one's own mind at the origin or source of thought. The Buddha points to though, which must be watched with awareness, but one must not get caught up in the thoughts. Whoever sees this, he or se is called by the Buddha a flower that is ready to bloom when the sun shines. The word sunshine refers to the teachings of the Buddha that direct us to practice with the mind. Whatever work you do, control your thoughts with awareness. Some people don't do it yet, because they're not interested. But when we are interested, when we are suffering, we must be ready to do it.

　　这种「见」，佛陀曾这么比喻说：无论黑色、红色、白色或任何色的花，只要得到到阳光的抚触，都能缤纷绽开。我现在跟你们说“见法、见心”的这些观点也一样，任何人都可以将之应用于日常生活中，不管你是男人、女人、穿什么衣服、信仰什么宗教，任何人都可以如法泡制加以应用，因为——我们都有身与心。在这里“阳光”就是指“引导我们去修心的佛陀的教导”，依此教导之光，任何人在起念的当下看见自己的心，这就表示他在念头的起处看见自己的心。佛陀特别注重念头，我们必须用觉性去看着(观照)它，但不能陷入念头之中。任何人只要能这样看见心念，佛陀便称他为——阳光下缤纷绽开的花朵。不管你做什么工作，要用觉性去控制你的念头，有些人还不这么去修，因为他们对这个没兴趣(而对诵经、作功德的事修较有兴趣)；不过，当我们有兴趣时或当我们受苦时，我们就必须立即这么去修。

　　There are 84,000 teachings in Buddhism. They are not for reciting and for performing ceremonies. That was not the Buddha's intention. The Buddha's teachings have nothing at all to do with superstition. They are to be practiced only in order to solve the suffering of the mind. Some people might argue that without ceremonies and rituals Buddhism can't extinguish suffering. This fails to understand the meaning in the right way. We've heard that in the time of the Buddha, when He would expound the Dhamma to people, there were many people who would open the eye to see the Dhamma and enter the stream of Nibbana from the first stage of enlightenment upwards by the time the discourse was finished. They didn't have to perform rites and rituals other than working with the mind, as the Buddha indicated.

　　在佛教里有八万四千种教导，这些不是为了唱诵和仪式，那不是佛陀教导的用意，佛陀的教导和迷信完全无关，修习佛法只是为了解决我们内心的痛苦。有些人也许会争论说：没有典礼和仪式，佛教就不能灭苦。这是没有正确了解佛法的意义，我们都听过，在佛陀的时代，每当祂向人们说法时，往往有许多人开启了见法眼，并且在说法结束之前，就证入初果以上的涅槃法流，他们除了依佛陀的教示修心，并不须去弄什么典礼或仪式。

　　Wherever we explain the Dhamma, if we don't make this point, our words are a stain. Why are they a stain? They are a stain because we don't indicate the way that people who are interested in the Dhamma must practice in order to free oneself from suffering and defilements. And they are a stain because we thereby abandon these effective teachings. Therefore, may you all try to understand this point without fail. If we don't practice according to this important teaching, then we fail to understand the teaching of the Buddha.

　　当我们解说佛法时，如果没有指出这一点，那我们的话就是一种污染，为什么这些话是污染呢？因为我们没有为那些对佛法有兴趣并想要解脱自己痛苦烦恼的人们，指出这一条必须修学的正道，反而舍弃了这些正确的教导，所以岂不是一种污染呢！？因此，希望你们对这一点都能理解无误。如果我们没有依这个重要的教导来修行，那我们就并没有了解佛陀的教导。