悟觉妙天禅师《禅修英语-禅的境界》

悟觉妙天禅师《禅修英语-禅的境界》

坐禅要参禅Sitting Meditation Is To Realize Zen

什么是禅?一般人可能认为静坐或打坐就是禅，其实这只是禅的外表形式而已，最早的禅是从印度引进中国的，它的原名叫做「禅那」，是「静虑」的意思，意指「安静的思虑」；但这样的解释还是很模糊。

What is Zen? Generally people would consider sitting practice Zen. In fact, sitting practice is only the appearance of Zen. Zen was initially introduced to China from India. Its original name is ‘ dhyana ’, which means ‘to meditation quietly’. This interpretation still sounds vague.

禅的意义到底是什么?就是在「定」中产生无上的智慧，用这智慧来证一切事物的真如实相，这就是「禅」。

What exactly is the meaning of meditation quietly ?Actually, the meaning of Zen is to attain the highest wisdom in deep meditation and to realize the reality of all things and events with the highest wisdom.

我们常听人说：打坐要参禅。「参」什么?就是要参智慧，参事实的真相与实相，而不是在那里枯坐，如果光坐着不动，那么树木也是直立不动的，难道它也在坐禅?因为它不能参禅，所以不是在坐禅。

We always hear people say：”Sitting meditation is to realize Zen.” To realize what? To realize wisdom and the reality of all things and events. Just sitting quietly and motionlessly doesn’t make any sense. The trees are always motionles s. Are they sitting Zen meditation? As they are unable to realize Zen, they are not sitting meditation.

坐禅离不开参禅，要参无上的智慧，来印证事实的真相与真理。

Sitting meditation cannot be separated from realizing Zen,realize the highest wisdom in order to witness the reality and truth of all things and events.

禅是一种智慧，是宇宙的真如实相，以我个人的经验为例，十多年前，我曾有一段时间不吃饭，每天只吃水果，有一天，当我禅坐时，如果那阵子常吃木瓜，就会在定中看到木瓜的影像，如果是吃桂圆，就看到桂圆，吃西瓜也一样。后来，我发现一个真理，当水果的形体越小，它的叶子也越小，反之则越大。

Zen is the highest wisdom and the reality and truth of all things and events. I would like to explain the meaning of Zen further with my own personal ezperience. More then ten years ago for a long period of time, I didn’t eat anything expect for fruits. During this period of time, one day while sitting meditation, I found that the fruits I had eaten such as papaya, longan and watermelon all appeared in my vision. Later on, I found that smaller fruits have smaller leaves and by the same token, bigger fruits have larger leaves.

为什么会如此?因为叶子大，吸收阳光的面积也大，供应的养料也比较多，

所以如果要改良水果，就应该从改良叶子的大小下手。这是一个从禅定中发现禅的真理的实例。

Why? It’s because larger leaves take in more sunlight than smaller leaves and thus provide the fruits with better nutrients. So, if you want to improve the fruit, you must in the first place improve its leaves. I realized this truth in deep meditation. This is the evidence for the fact that the truth of Zen can be discovered in deep meditation.

当一个人活到四十、五十、六十岁的时候，气就开始从最高峰往下降。因为我们平时为了生活、为了工作，一直都在消耗精力、体力与脑力。等到有一天，身体的各种机能、功能都衰退了，就会影我们的健康；而这种「气」可以经由某一种方法来修炼，让身体里面的气非常畅通，非常饱满。所以借着守窍，可以导引、运转身体里面的气，做小周天的运转，所谓小周天的运转，就是让气在体内依循一定的轨道运转，等到大家都可以运转以后，就会发现自己体内的气会很自然地往上升，上升了以后，会很年轻。

When we get old, the muscles in our cheeks hang down. This is a phenomenon of aging.After sitting meditation and doing breathing exercise, the qi roses up naturally. Consequently, our metabolism becomes active and the muscles regain their elasticity. In other words, the degenerated organ are able to perform their normal function and we are able to regain our health through this practice.

一个人得到身心平衡之后，身体与精神都会非常轻松愉快，走起路来也轻飘飘的，这就是练气功禅的好处。

When one maintains a balance between body and mind, one feels relaxed and happy. If you walk, you have a feeling of lightness. This is an advantage of practicing Qigong Zen.