摘要：Many beginners in meditation often say that they have too many wandering thoughts during meditation and cannot calm down, asking i

经常听很多初学禅修的人说：打坐时妄想太多，静不下来，有什么办法可以对治？办法当然有，但我们必须先考察一下：为什么会出现这些妄想?

Many beginners in meditation often say that they have too many wandering thoughts during meditation and cannot calm down, asking if there is any way to overcome this. Of course, there is a way, but first, we must examine why these delusions arise.

心念是相续的，如果想在坐禅时心无旁骛，生活中就要时刻注意用心。打坐时出现得最频繁、最强烈的妄想，必定是我们平时最执著的。想要禅修得力，生活中就要心无所住，对一切境界如雁过长空，风吹竹叶，不留痕迹。心清净了，打坐时自然不会妄想联翩。

Thoughts are continuous; if we wish to meditate with undivided attention, we must always be mindful in our daily lives. The most frequent and intense delusions that arise during meditation are undoubtedly those to which we are most attached in our daily lives. To strengthen our meditation practice, we must live without clinging to anything, letting all experiences pass through like wild geese flying across the sky or wind blowing through bamboo leaves, leaving no trace. When the mind is purified, naturally, there will be no chain of wandering thoughts during meditation.

念佛也能息灭妄想。人们往往将念佛误以为老婆婆专修的法门，或以为念佛是在求佛。有个故事说，一位老婆婆整天念佛，小孙子听得很厌烦，于是就“奶奶，奶奶”地叫个不停。老婆婆嫌吵：没完没了地叫什么？孙子说：我叫了几声你就烦，可你总是不停地念佛，佛难道就不烦吗?

Chanting the Buddha’s name can also extinguish delusions. People often mistakenly think that chanting the Buddha’s name is a practice only for the elderly or that it is a way of praying for Buddha’s blessings. Here’s a story about a grandmother who chants the Buddha’s name all day, and her grandson, annoyed by the constant chanting, starts calling out “Grandma, Grandma” incessantly. Irritated, the grandmother asks why he keeps calling her, and the grandson replies, “You get annoyed when I call you a few times, but you chant the Buddha’s name non-stop, doesn’t that annoy the Buddha?”

故事中小孙子的看法，代表了许多人对念佛的误解。事实上，念佛是为了调御心态，息灭妄想，所谓“清珠投于浊水，浊水不得不清；佛号注入妄心，妄心不得不佛”。正如《大势至菩萨圆通章》所说：“都摄六根，净念相继，得三摩地，斯为第一。”可见，念佛也是对治妄想的良方。

This story reflects the common misunderstanding about chanting the Buddha’s name. In fact, chanting the Buddha’s name aims to regulate one’s mind and extinguish delusions, as it is said, “When clear water droplets are dropped into murky water, the murky water must turn clear; when the Buddha’s name enters the mind of delusion, the deluded mind must turn towards Buddha-nature.” As stated in the Maha-Stamaprapta Bodhisattva’s Preachment on Being Mindful of the Buddha, “Gathering all six senses, with successive pure mindfulness, attains samadhi. This is foremost.” Thus, chanting the Buddha’s name is indeed an effective remedy to combat delusions.

止观也能息灭妄想。止，梵语奢摩他，意为止息散乱，制心一处；观，梵语毗钵舍那，是对外境起观照。

Cessation and contemplation can extinguish delusions. Cessation, from the Sanskrit “Samatha,” means calming the scattered mind and concentrating it on one point; Contemplation, from the Sanskrit “Vipassana,” involves observation of external phenomena.

止观有小乘止观与大乘止观之分。小乘止观是从六根门头摄一而入，系缘而修。如修数息观是专注呼吸，知息出入，知息长短，知息冷暖，知息粗细。把心专注在呼吸上，心息相依，由粗而细，由细而无，从而息灭妄想。大乘止观则是在发菩提心的基础上，依大乘见地完成空性禅修。

There are distinctions between Theravada and Mahayana Samatha-Vipassana. Theravada practice involves focusing on a single sense, such as mindfulness of breathing, so one can focus on the breath and perceive its coming and going, length, temperature, and depth. By concentrating the mind on the breath, one can realize that the mind and breath are interconnected with each other. So, the breath moves from coarse to subtle, and finally to the absence of breath, thereby extinguishing delusions. Mahayana Samatha-Vipassana, on the other hand, is based on generating the bodhicitta (the mind of enlightenment) and accomplishes the meditation on emptiness from the Mahayana viewpoint.

摘自《生命的痛苦及其解脱》

作者：济群法师

Excerpted from:

Life’s Suffering and Its Liberation

By Master Jiqun

来源：云水三千