摩訶布瓦的智慧雋語(二)

以下的內容都將被雋刻在泰國摩訶布瓦紀念館的石牆上。

英譯者/戒寶尊者

中譯者/喬正一

• 「森林法」一詞並不是指從佛經中死記硬背而得來的「法」，而是依照放諸四海皆準的自然法則所呈現出的法。為了確定你們所經歷到的一切是真的抑或是假的，你們應該要思惟心中所生起的法，並與經文中所載的法則做一個比較對照。

• 「戒」、「定」、「慧」三學與那些決心親證「法」的修行人的心有直接的關聯。「戒」是指常態，也就是因戒德而當下生起的心智常態。在禪修中所體驗到的平靜與專注的心境則是在「定」中的心。而當我們照見身心不斷出現的自然法性，諸如無常、苦、無我，「慧」便開始在心中生起。

• 有關法律陳述與保護的法院案件，當某法官做出終局判決時，就代表該案件已經終結。然而有關在「心」中的內在案件，我們自己就是檢察官、被告及有罪的一造。在這種情況下，我們該向何處尋求一個不偏不倚的法官來給我們一個公正的裁判?我們是對自己起訴的一造，同時也是帶給自己傷害的人，除了我們自己的智慧，沒有任何人能夠公正地宣判什麼是對的及什麼是錯的。

• 基本上，造下善業與惡業的「心」就是生死輪迴的根本因緣。這個意思是說，「心」就像是一座大量出產善惡行為及其業果的工廠，不管我們的種族、信仰或社會地位為何，這使我們大家有時可以體驗到幸福，而有時則受苦。而這一切都可歸因於業力的力量，也就是在背後支持「心」製造出業力產物的驅動力。

• 真的有來生嗎?當昨日與今日兩者都存在過，我們又如何能防堵明日的到來?時序是一種永續的自然法則，沒有人能改變或阻止它的發生。今生與來生也同樣受制於這個不變的自然法則。

• 佛陀告誡我們不可低估生而為人的價值，畜生道中潛在低階的眾生數量多到無法估計，畜生類中有的誕生於水中，有的生於陸地，有的生在樹林間，有的則在山頂與地底下。因為很容易再生為動物，所以我們到處都能看得到動物眾生。而人身難得，因此，生而為人是一種福報的極致。

• 世尊有大智慧，所以他並沒有教我們如何去避苦，也就是逃避過去的惡業果報；他教我們如何去消滅苦的根本因緣，也就是直搗問題的核心。而根本因緣又被稱為「集諦」(samudaya)，也就是苦源。當苦的根源被斷除之後，苦本身就會自動止息。

• 眾生因業力因緣而存，因業而生，因業而活，因業而亡。只要生死輪迴仍掌控眾生的心，眾生就會繼承自己的業力果報。過去的行為所產生的果報如影隨形伴著那些「心」仍受煩惱統治的人，也正因如此，這個世界肯定有人類與各式各樣的動物。

• 如果你們想要奮力擺脫業力的影響，就必須精進，你們必須在修行中堅持不懈。同時，你們不要去預期努力之後的成果，只須致力在「因」上下功夫，相應的成果自會出現，不要先預設特定的期待。

• 只管專注在禪修上，不要去推斷從修行中可能生起的「道」、「果」及「涅槃」等成果；也不要對何時何地生起的成果去做任何的臆測。一旦「疑」生起，每一次的出現都要注意。每當它們(疑)出現時，就是與它們正面交鋒的正確時間與適當的地點，那便是戰勝無明煩惱的戰場。

• 世界各地的人都喜愛美好的事物，因此我們大家都應該以有益的方法讓自己提升，就算我們尚未超脫生死輪迴，我們仍可依靠保持前進動力的良善，使我們在未來極可能體驗到幸福快樂與繁榮昌盛。

• 佛教猶如可以把髒物洗乾淨的清水，這樣它們(髒物)就可以被洗乾淨了。「心」就好比髒物，因為它被憂悲苦惱所染污，它與那些負面情緒混雜在一起，所以不淨。各界一切類型的蒼生都是這樣染污了他們的心。

• 在每一個依次接連相續的修行層次上，「法」會呈現出愈趨上乘的態勢。隨著我們抵達越來越高的法位階，法的光輝將在我們的心中一步一步地增長。當我們修持布施與持戒時，「法」在修行的初階是上乘卓越的。而當我們開發「定」與「慧」，「法」在修行的中階是上乘卓越的。當然，當某人的「心」已臻苦邊盡(涅槃)的修行末階時，「法」是無與倫比的上乘卓越。在清淨的終極階段，「法」的上乘卓越是無法計量的。

• 佛陀教我們要在心中按部就班累積美德，這樣那些美德最終將成長茁壯，直到它們發揮全部的潛力。同時，他教我們要逐步消除負面的特質，直到它們消失，不留一點痕跡。換言之，佛陀教導我們要增長應該增長的，滅除應該要滅除的。

• 當你們著手禪修時，不要去理會外界的紛擾。只管持續念住在「心」與業處的接觸之上，不要分神。當念頭一閃神從業處之上溜走，就表示你們缺少精進。精進並不是取決於你們是否坐、站、走或躺，而是取決於正念專注。當正念專注持續支持「心」，「念」便跟隨著心智活動去決定它將朝著正確或錯誤的方向前進，這就是精進的意義。

• 請接納世尊的法則，並將其牢牢地豎立在你們的心中。然後，把「你」這個概念給移除，以便法則(淨與單純)得以保留。之後，不管你們往何處去，也不論你們身在何處，你們都將是自己與他人的平安與幸福之源。

• 清楚地領悟苦因又稱作「集」，它包含三部分:欲愛(kāmataṅhā)、色愛(bhavataṅhā)及無色愛(vibhavataṅhā)。清楚地領悟透過「戒」、「定」、「慧」的修持，幸福的成因可以被實現。清楚地領悟「苦」起因於「苦因」，這項領悟使我們得以認識修行之道，也就是正向苦因的息滅帶了幸福。對這些基本真諦的領悟，又稱之為「絕對的自在」。

• 不明白自己心性的聰明人只對外在的事物精明，然而一旦涉及到他們自己，他們就變得笨拙。為了徹底洞悉自己的心，人們必須把他們的注意力轉向內在觀照心的覺知性，也就是包括生死輪迴的根本因緣，這種覺知性囊括了眾苦的基礎。

• 觀照我們內心的覺知性是必要的，這樣才能清楚地洞悉它就像其他一切事物一樣都受制於存有的三種特質。無常(Anicca) ，到處都在不斷地改變；苦(Dukkha) ，被「苦」所惑，令我們陷溺在痛苦中；無我( Anatta) ，在不斷變化的事物及陷溺在苦之中，又怎麼可能有「我」及「我所」?我們內心的覺知性遠比世上任何事物都還要更難以捉摸。

• 每一個人所累積的功德多寡都具體取決於此人過去業行的品質，不可能去借用他人的功德，每一個人都只能承受他自己所掙來的功德果報，這就是為什麼人與人之間的性情、行為舉止、彼此的言語、知識及聰明才智會有那麼大的差異。這些情況都是依據每一個人所累積的功德而有所不同。

• 「Bhāra have pañca khandhā」的意思是:五蘊實在是沉重的負擔。既然如此，在五蘊中又怎麼可能找得到樂趣?既然有生就必有死，那麼來生的五蘊也是負擔。五蘊是使我們承受沉重苦痛的極權霸主，而這就是我們應以觀智去清晰照見的負擔。

• 與我們為敵的無明僅因我們心中的愚痴而生，而「法」的功德則是我們的盟軍，它們僅因心中本有的智慧所生。唯有愚痴才會讓無明將我們緊緊地繫縛住；而唯有觀智才能讓我們掙脫無明的心。

• 什麼是無明的根本因緣?根深蒂固的愚痴就是它們的根本因緣。什麼是愚痴?在解析愚痴的各種態樣時，我們發現看到是愚痴，聽到是愚痴，聞到是愚痴，嚐到是愚痴。事實上，由於心的根本愚痴，我們會被感官接觸到的一切所欺騙，而這正是我們必須窮盡正念與觀智之力來面對愚痴的關鍵時刻。

• 念想往往會趨向兩個走向的一種，思惟可以朝著造成苦的方向而行，將「心」與生死輪迴緊緊地給綁在一起，這種思惟稱之為「苦因」(集諦)。思惟也可以趨向於運用觀智來領悟苦因，從而使「心」擺脫苦因的束縛，這樣的思惟稱之為「道諦」。第一種情形是邪思惟，而第二種情形則是正思惟。

• 「信」、「精進」、「念」、「定」及「慧」等五根構成了佛教禪修中向前行的道路，任何成就五力的人，不管是出家人或在家人，男人或女人，此人都已贏得禪修中成功的權利，此人從修行中所獲得的成果將注定是圓滿究竟的。

• 了解到我們是如何一次又一次、一生又一生經歷生與死，令人感到不安。我們今生並沒有什麼不同:我們注定再次死亡。就這一點而言，今生與來世並沒有多大的差異。像這樣經歷生與死，就是我們存有的本質。當我們看待生與死，就是在看我們生命的故事。

• 四聖諦之間彼此互有關連，凡是照見四聖諦中的任何一諦都必將同時連帶思惟其他三諦。比如說，欲滅除苦因，就必須先領悟苦的本質是什麼。「苦」是我們在體驗四聖諦中最明顯的一環，當觀智去找「苦」的本質時，就會不可避免也照見出「苦因」，因為兩者接連相續。

• 當你們在修行的時候，不要去關注身心以外的紛擾，也不要對身心以外的事物挑毛病，相反的，應該要去留意自己心中生起的塵俗紛擾。整個世間都融合在你們的心中，你們的心包含了苦因與趨向滅苦之道，然而你們的內心世界是如此之廣，以致於難以洞悉無明煩惱；是如此微細與難以捉摸，以致於始終無法看出該解決哪一個煩惱，以及該用什麼樣的方法去解決。

• 我們為了諸事吉祥順遂而布施、持戒與禪修，如此一來，即便我們仍在生死輪迴中徘徊，我們仍可持續增長心中的功德。這樣的生活方式，至少是一種可以讓我們避免劇苦的方法，並且當我們努力實踐徹底苦滅終極目標的同時，在痛恐與苦難很常見的世間會是一種可讓我們體驗某程度快樂的機緣。

• 浪費時間是一種人類潛力無意義的浪費，人不會永生，生命在每一天的每一刻都不停的改變，不容人們片刻休憩與喘息，未能照見人生即大苦的人將無法在他們生而為人的那一世中獲得任何的利益。

• 禪修者都應該要了解革除心智染污的重要性。不要跟隨心的慾望起舞，因為心具有向下沉淪的惡勢力，使人道德淪喪，接著每下愈況，直到失控，然後不得不承認被擊敗，這樣的人故意放任惡勢力把心給擊垮，儘管他明知這樣是不對的，他還是坐視不管。

• 解脫與涅槃都是世間的詞彙，源自於日常的世間語言。如果我們不用世俗的概念來討論法義，那麼修行人在尋求涅槃的過程中便完全掌握不住它的意義。因此，這些概念是有必要的，就算對於已領悟涅槃而拋棄一切的概念並不再有疑惑的人也是一樣。

• 將佛教的教義付諸實踐時，我們首先應看到我們想要實現的結果，然後調整我們的修行模式，以臻預期的結果。我們應該不畏艱難，當我們遇到修行上不可避免的阻礙而陷入困境時，這種憂懼將會成為我們朝向目標順利前進的障礙。

• 請保持正念活在當下，並立馬改正你的錯誤，以確使這些錯誤不會日復一日被放任不處理。如此一來，你們才能當下解決現在及將來產生的問題。事實上，我未來遭遇的情況與我們當下的行為有直接的關聯。如果你們不能改進當下的品質，那麼未來必將因而衰敗。

• 當我們開展佛教的修行時，我們必須仰賴禪修與既定的修行原則來保持精進，在修行道上的每一步，給予「心」前進所需要的內在力量。就此而言，戒律的沃土與禪修中「心」的沃土會一直齊心協力地運作。當心智的培育得到了適當的滋養，「心」將會因為在各方面變得越來越好而有好的收穫。

• The term Forest Dhamma does not refer to Dhamma that is learned by rote or memorized from the scriptures. Rather, it expresses itself according to natural principles that can be found everywhere in the world. To determine whether what you experience is true or false you should consider the Dhamma that arises in your mind and compare that with the Dhamma principles expressed in the scriptures.
• Moral virtue, concentration and wisdom are principles that are directly linked to the minds of those who are determined to practice the Dhamma. Moral virtue refers to normality – normality of mind in the present moment arises as moral virtue. The calm and concentrated mind experienced in meditation is the mind in samā As we investigate the nature of natural principles like anicca, dukkha and anattā that are constantly there in the body and the mind, wisdom begins to arise in our minds.
• In court cases that involve legal statements and protections, when a judge gives the final verdict that is the end of the matter. But in internal cases involving the mind, we ourselves are the prosecutor, the accused and the guilty party. In that case, where can we find an unbiased judge to give us a fair verdict? We are the ones who have brought a case against ourselves, and the ones who have brought harm to ourselves. Other than our own wisdom, there is nothing else capable of declaring a fair verdict on what is right and what is wrong.
• Fundamentally, the mind that creates good and bad kamma is the root cause of the cycle of rebirth. In that sense, the mind is like a factory churning out good and bad actions along with their karmic consequences, which causes all of us regardless of our race, creed or social status to sometimes experience happiness and at other times suffering. This happens due to the power of the kilesas, which are the driving force behind the mind’s creation of kamma.
• Will there be another life after this one? When yesterday and today both occurred, how can we prevent tomorrow from occurring? That time sequence is a self-perpetuating law of nature that no one can change or prevent from happening. This life and the next life are also subject to the same unchanging natural law.
• The Buddha advised us not to underestimate the value of a human birth. The number of possible lower births in the animal realm are incalculable. Animal species are born in the water, on land, in the trees, on the tops of mountains and underground. Because it’s easy to be reborn as an animal, we see animal life everywhere we look. It’s much more difficult to experience human birth. For that reason, a human rebirth is the height of good fortune.
• The Lord Buddha was so wise that instead of teaching us how to prevent suffering, which is a result of past actions, he taught us how to eliminate the root cause of suffering, which goes right to the heart of the matter. That root cause is known as samudaya, which means the birthplace of suffering. When the root cause of suffering is eliminated, suffering itself will automatically come to an end.
• All living beings exist with karmic causes and conditions. They are born with kamma, they live their lives with kamma and they pass away with kamma. As long as the cycle of birth and death rules over their hearts, living beings will always be heirs to the consequences of their karmic actions. The moral consequences of past actions will always go hand-in-hand with those who still have kilesas reigning over their hearts. For that very reason, the world will never be without human beings and animals of various kinds.
• When striving to transcend the effects of kamma, you must rely on the effort you make. You must persevere in the practice without easing up. At the same time, you should not prejudge the results of your efforts. By applying yourself diligently to causes, the appropriate results will arise on their own. You should not set up specific expectations in advance.
• Be diligent in meditation but do not speculate about results like Magga, Phala and Nibbāna, which may arise from your practice. Don’t assume anything about when and where the results will arise. When doubts arise, take note of them each time they show up. Wheneever they show up is the right time and the right place to deal with them. That is the battleground where victory over the kilesas is achieved.
• People everywhere in the world appreciate good things. So we should all try to improve ourselves in a good and beneficial way. Even if we have not transcended the cycle of birth and death, we can count on that goodness to keep the momentum going, making it very likely that we will experience happiness and prosperity in the future.
• Buddhism is like clean water used to wash dirty things so that they too can become clean. The mind can be compared to something dirty because it is defiled by sadness and despair. The mind is unclean because it is mixed up with those emotional states. All types of living beings from every realm of existence pollute their minds in this way.
• The Dhamma appears more superb at each successive level of the practice. The splendor of Dhamma will increase in our minds step-by-step as we attain higher and higher levels of Dhamma. Dhamma is superb in the beginning stage of the practice when we practice generosity and moral virtue. Dhamma is superb in the middle stage of the practice when we develop concentration and wisdom. And of course, Dhamma is incomparably superb in the final stage of someone whose mind has attained the end of all suffering – Nibbana. At that ultimate stage of purity, Dhamma is superb beyond all reckoning.
• The Buddha taught us to gradually accumulate virtuous qualities in our hearts. In that way, those virtues will eventually grow and flourish until they reach their full potential. At the same time, he taught us to gradually eliminate unwholesome qualities until they disappear, leaving no trace behind. In other words, the Buddha taught us to promote that which should be promoted and to eliminate that should be eliminated.
• When you are putting forth effort in meditation, don’t be concerned with external matters. Just be constantly mindful of the mind’s contact with the meditation object, without missing a beat. When mindfulness slips from the object, your diligence is lacking. Diligence does not depend on whether you are sitting, standing, walking or lying down. Diligence depends on mindfulness. When mindfulness constantly supports the mind, awareness follows mental activity to determine if it is heading in the right direction or the wrong direction. This is the meaning of diligent effort.
• Please take the Dhamma principles of the Lord Buddha and establish them firmly in your mind. Then remove the idea of “you” from your mind so that only the principles of Dhamma remain – pure and simple. After that, wherever you go or wherever you live you will be a source of peace and happiness to yourself and everyone else.
• Clearly comprehending the cause of suffering is called “samudaya,” which has three parts: kāmataṅhā, bhavataṅhā and vibhavataṅhā. Clearly comprehending the cause of happiness is achieved by practicing moral virtue, concentration and wisdom. Clearly comprehending the truth that suffering results from its causes leads to the understanding that the path of practice which leads to the cessation of the causes of suffering brings happiness. The clear comprehension of these basic truths is called “absolute freedom.”
• Intelligent people who do not know the nature of their own minds are smart only about external matters, but they are stupid when it comes to themselves. In order to thoroughly understand their own minds, people must turn their attention inside to investigate the mind’s knowing nature, which contains the root cause of the cycle of rebirth. This knowing nature contains the basis of all suffering.
• It is necessary to investigate our inner knowing nature to see clearly that it is subject to the three characteristics of existence just like everything else. Anicca – constant change everywhere. Dukkha – misled by suffering we become stuck in pain. Anatta – how can something that is constantly changing and stuck in suffering be oneself or belong to oneself? Our inner knowing nature is a reality that is far more subtle than anything else in the whole world.
• The amount of accumulated merit that each person possesses depends specifically on the quality of that person’s past actions. It is not possible to borrow and use someone else’s merit. One deserves only that merit which one has earned. That is the reason why there is such a difference between peoples’ temperaments, their manners and their behavior; such a difference between their speech, their knowledge and their intelligence. Those conditions differ according to each person’s accumulated merit.
• “Bhāra have pañca khandhā”: The five aggregates are indeed a heavy burden. That being the case, where can we find any satisfaction in the five aggregates? Those aggregates that we will have in future births will also be a burden, since once they are born they will die. The aggregates will be our overlords burdening us with the weight of their own pain. This is a burden that we should investigate clearly with wisdom.
• The kilesas that are our enemies arise only from the ignorance of our own minds. The virtues of Dhamma are our allies, and they arise only from the mind’s innate wisdom. Only our ignorance allows the kilesas to tie us up in knots; only our wisdom allows us to rid our minds of the kilesas.
• What is the root cause of the kilesas? Deep-seated ignorance is their root cause. Ignorance of what? When analyzing the various ways in which the mind is ignorant, we find that when seeing there is ignorance, when hearing there is ignorance, when smelling there is ignorance and when tasting there is ignorance. In fact, due to the mind’s fundamental ignorance, we are deceived by whatever contacts the senses. It is at this point of ignorance that we must focus our faculties of mindfulness and wisdom.
• Thoughts tend to move in one of two directions. Thinking can move in a direction that causes suffering, binding the mind to the cycle of birth and death. Such thinking is called “the cause of suffering.” Or thinking can move in a direction that uses wisdom to understand the cause of suffering for the purpose of unbinding the mind from that cause. Such thinking is called “the path.” In the first instance the mind thinks in the wrong way, and in the second it thinks in the right way.
• Faith, effort, mindfulness, concentration and wisdom – these five factors constitute the path forward in Buddhist meditation. Anyone who is accomplished in these five powers, be it a monk or a layperson, a man or a woman, that person has earned the right to be successful in meditation. The results such a person gains from the practice will inevitably be full and complete.
• It is disturbing to realize how we experience birth and death over and over again, life after life. Our present life is no different: we are certain to die once more. In that sense, this life is not much different from the next life. Going through birth and death like this is the nature of our existence. When we look at birth and death, we are looking at the story of our lives.
• The Four Noble Truths are all interrelated. Those who investigate one Noble Truth will invariably have to reflect on the other three at the same time. For instance, by endeavoring to uproot the cause of suffering, it is necessary to first understand the nature of suffering itself. Suffering is the most obvious aspect of the Four Noble Truths that we experience. When wisdom searches for the nature of suffering it will inevitably discover its cause as well, since the two are links in the same sequence.
• When you are practicing the Dhamma, do not look outward and find fault with matters outside yourself. Instead, notice the worldly matters that arise inside your own mind. The entire world comes together in your own mind. Your mind contains the cause of suffering and the path leading to the cessation of suffering. But your mental world is so extensive that you are not able to understand the kilesas easily. It is so refined and subtle that you cannot always see which kilesas need to be solved and which methods should be used to solve them.
• We practice generosity, moral virtue and meditation in order to prosper in all our daily activities. In this way, we continue to increase the goodness in our hearts, even though we still wander through the cycle of birth and death. Living in that way, at least we have a means to avoid the worst of suffering and an opportunity to experience some measure of happiness in a world where pain and suffering are normal, while we strive to reach the final goal – the complete cessation of all suffering.
• Wasting time is a useless waste of one’s human potential. A human birth does not last forever. Life is constantly changing every instant of every day, never allowing people to relax and breathe freely even for a moment. Those who do not observe the great mass of suffering that life entails will fail to gain any benefits from their lives as a human beings.
• Meditators should see the importance of reforming their mental defilements. Don’t just follow the heart’s desires because the heart has bad influences that tend to push it on a downward course. A moral decline then gradually sets in that continues to grow worse until it cannot be stopped, and then one is forced to admit defeat. Such a person knowingly allows bad influences to drag the mind down. Even though he knows it is wrong, he cannot help but let these things take their course.
• The words Vimutti and Nibbana are conventional terms of speech, born out of everyday conventional language. If we did not use conventional concepts to refer to the Dhamma, practitioners would not have anything of meaning to hold onto in their search for Nibbana. For that reason, the concepts are necessary, even though one who realizes Nibbana abandons all concepts and has no further doubts.
• In putting Buddhism into practice, we should first look at the results we intend to achieve and then adjust our mode of practice so that it leads to the desired results. We should do this without being concerned about the difficulties involved. If we get backed into a corner when faced with the inevitable hardships of practice, that concern will become a hindrance to our smooth progress towards the goal.
• Please stay focused in the present moment and correct your faults immediately to make sure that those faults do not remain unresolved day after day. In that way, you will be able to resolve your problems each moment as they arise now and in the future. In truth, the circumstances we meet in the future are directly related to our actions in the present. If you cannot improve the quality of the present moment, then future moments will suffer a decline accordingly.
• When developing Buddhist practice, we must depend on meditation and the established principles of practice to support our efforts, to give the mind the inner strength that it needs to progress at each step of the path. In this matter, the fertile soil of the precepts and the fertile soil of the mind in meditation always work together in unison. When mental cultivation receives the right nutrients, the mind will reap good results as it gradually changes for the better in all respects.