The Fundamentals of Meditation Practice

靜坐入門

Part 1 (第一部）
The Foundation Of Meditation Practice
爲什麽要静坐

Why Meditate?

When you are caught up in the emotional upheaval of greed, anger and delusion, you may find yourself succumbing to some very real physical ailments; and when you are ill, the world may seem to be a very dismal place. That is not to say, however, that all of our illnesses are due to extreme emotions. Exposure to substances to which you may be allergic can alter everything about you. It can cause violent mood swings, depression, hallucinations and all sorts of physical effects, including actual tissue damage. Whatever the cause, disease is most often accompanied by an assortment of disruptive emotions. Programs that have been designed to make therapeutic use of relaxation methods and meditation have proved to be effective in curbing both the physical effects and the emotions which accompany them. Yet, as beneficial as they may be, such methods can take one only so far.

In the Buddhist tradition, meditation is used to defuse the source of all the trouble-the illusion of self and other. In Ch'an (or Zen), the aim is to overcome thought and defilement. Having done this, and with thoughts no longer stirring, the real substance of mind becomes evident. Without thoughts and without the illusion of self and other, greed, anger and hatred have no place to arise; and the energy that was tied up by those illusions becomes available, helping to provide an overall improvement in health. That is why meditation is called The Fundamental Practice.

最基本的修養法

靜坐可以澄清思慮，增進健康，是修養身心的一種重要方法。
我們生活在這個世界上，免不了有種種疾病，一切疾病又可分爲身和心兩方面，除身上所發生的疾病以外，凡一切貪欲、憤怒、憂怖、驕慢等等不正常的思想現象，都叫做心病。我們平時往往隻注意身病，對于心病，一般都不予重視。實際上，身病的發生，大部份是由于心虛氣弱；而心虛氣弱，主要是由于憂思驚怒，心神惱亂所造成。凡貪食、貪得、貪勝等等都足以招緻疾病；且貪之不得，勢必生瞋，貪瞋發展的結果，可以使心蕩氣促，膽驚肝旺，六脈震動，五髒沸騰，因而氣血耗損，風寒暑濕燥火六種外邪，也都乘虛而入。各種藥石，隻能救身病于一時，假使不從根本治療，那末雖一時痊愈，而緻病的根源未去，仍随時有遭其侵襲的危險。人們在忙于生活、人事之餘，不知設法安定思想，降伏煩惱，甚至有貪得無厭，縱欲忘身的。這樣處處與自己過不去，神志既然渙散，氣血便失調和，因此往往遭受疾病羸弱的痛苦，這是非常可惜的。據研究，人在精神好的時候，可以分泌出一些有益的激素、酶和乙酰膽堿，這些物質有利于身心健康，能把血液的流量，神經細胞的興奮，調節到最佳狀态。相反終日郁悶憂傷，貪瞋癡慢，就會使這種有益激素分泌紊亂，内髒器官功能失調，發生胃痙攣，引起血壓升高，造成冠狀動脈閉塞，還特别容易引起心髒病。所以我們要求身體的健康，自應去除疾病，要除病就須先補氣，要補氣就須先養性，要養性就須先調伏煩惱妄心，使心不動搖，自然精氣内充，抵抗力強，疾病便無從發生了。所以我國較早的一部中醫學文獻《内經》說：“恬淡虛無，真氣從之，精神内守，病安從來。”
靜坐的實踐，可以使我們散亂的心念，逐步歸于凝定，心定則氣和，氣和則血順，不但可以祛病強身，而且可以去除主觀的迷妄，獲得究竟的安樂，所以靜坐的确是最基本的修養法。