《就在今生》In This Very Life

法本

《就在今生》佛陀的解脫之道
《In This Very Life》The Liberation Teachings of the Buddha

班迪达尊者（Sayādaw U Pandita）

This book is a collection of talks from the first three month retreat that Sayādaw taught at the Insight Meditation Society. He describes in detail both the practical journey of awakening and a profound theoretical model of understanding. These discourses reward a thoughtful reading, allowing the familiar aspects of the teachings to mature in our minds, and challenging us with new perspectives on some old and cherished viewpoints.

This book is a treasure house of applied Dhamma. May it help to awaken
wisdom and compassion in us all.

JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN

The Pāli terms in this text are meant to introduce a precision of meaning that is not possible in English. It is hoped that readers will pause and reflect in a way they might not, had the terms simply been translated.

一、基本戒律和禅修指导 Basic Morality and Meditation Instructions

我们禅修并非为了得到他人的赞美，而是为了促进世界和平。我们努力遵循佛陀的教法，并接受值得信赖的老师的指导，是希望自己也能达到如佛陀一般清净的境界。一旦明了这份清净原本就存在于自心，我们便可鼓励他人，并与他人分享此佛法与真理。
We do not practice meditation to gain admiration from anyone. Rather we practice to contribute to peace in the world. We try to follow the teachings of the Buddha, and take the instructions of trustworthy teachers, in hopes that we too can reach the Buddha’s state of purity. Having realized this purity within ourselves, we can inspire others and share this Dhamma, this truth.

佛陀的教法可概括为戒、定、慧三部分。
The Buddha's teachings can be summed up in three parts:
sīla, morality;
samādhi concentration; and
pañña, intuitive wisdom.

首先提到戒，因为它是其余两者定与慧的根基，其重要性再如何强调也不为过。缺少戒，便无法进一步地修习。对在家人而言，基本须修持的是五戒——不杀生、不偷盗、不邪淫、不妄语、不饮酒或摄取麻醉品。修持五戒培育出一种基本的清净，促使禅修之道上较易有所进展。
Sīla is spoken of first because it is the foundation for the other two. Its importance cannot be overstressed. Without sīla, no further practices can be undertaken. For laypeople the basic level of sīla consists of five precepts or training rules: refraining from taking life, refraining from taking what is not given, refraining from sexual misconduct, refraining from lying, and refraining from taking intoxicating substances. These observances foster a basic purity that makes it easy to progress along the path of practice.

基本人性 A BASIC SENSE OF HUMANITY

戒律并非是佛陀所传承下来的一套命令，也无须将之限制于佛教的教义中。实际上，戒是源起于基本的人性。例如，假设我们有股突如其来的怒气，想要去伤害别人，若是我们能易地而处，并诚实地考量自己计划中的行为，其即刻反应将会是：「不！不要这样对待我，那会是残忍与不合理的！」对我们计划中的行为若有这种感觉，便能相当肯定此举是恶的行为。
Sīla is not a set of commandments handed down by the Buddha, and it need not be confined to Buddhist teachings. It actually derives from a basic sense of humanity. For example, suppose we have a spurt of anger and want to harm another being. If we put ourselves in that other being's shoes, and honestly contemplate the action we have been planning, we will quickly answer, "No, I wouldn't want that done to me. That would be cruel and unjust." If we feel this way about some action that we plan, we can be quite sure that the action is unwholesome.

如此看来，戒律可视为我们与其他众生感同身受的显现。我们知道被人伤害的感觉是什么样的，因此便会以关怀和善解的心去避免伤害他人。我们应决定说实话，避免恶口、妄语或毁谤。随着修行戒除愤怒的行为和言语，粗劣的身口业将渐渐不再生起，或至少会减弱减少其出现的频率。
In this way, morality can be looked upon as a manifestation of our sense of oneness with other beings. We know what it feels like to be harmed, and out of loving care and consideration we undertake to avoid harming others. We should remain committed to truthful speech and avoid words that abuse, deceive or slander. As we practice refraining from angry actions and angry speech, then this gross and unwholesome mental state may gradually cease to arise, or at least it will become weaker and less frequent.

当然，愤怒并非是伤害他人的唯一原因。贪欲也会使人尝试以非法或不道德的手段去掠取某些东西；淫欲也会让人去执著别人的伴侣。同样地，如果我们顾及此举会伤害他人，便会努力避免向淫欲屈服。
Of course, anger is not the only reason we harm other beings. Greed might make us try to grab something in an illegal or unethical way. Or our sexual desire can attach itself to another person's partner；Here again, if we consider how much we could hurt someone, we will try hard to refrain from succumbing to lustful desire.

使人迷醉的酒精或麻醉品，即使是少量，也会让人变得不敏锐，更容易被粗劣的贪与嗔念所支配。有些人为毒品或酒精辩护，声称它们并非那么糟。实际上，它们是非常危险的，甚至会使善良的人变得疏忽大意。使人迷醉的东西就如罪行的帮凶一般，开启了众多问题之门，从仅是语无伦次，到难以解释的盛怒，甚至是会危及自己和他人性命的疏失。瘾毒与酗酒的后果是无法预测的，因此，戒绝一切迷幻品是保护其戒行的方法。
Even in small amounts, intoxicating substances can make us less sensitive, more easily swayed by gross motivations of anger and greed. Some people defend the use of drugs or alcohol saying that these substances are not so bad. On the contrary, they are very dangerous; they can lead even a good-hearted person into forgetfulness. Like accomplices to a crime, intoxicants open the door to a host of problems, from just talking nonsense, to inexplicable bursts of rage, to negligence that could be fatal to oneself or others. Indeed, any intoxicated person is unpredictable. Abstaining from intoxicants is therefore a way of protecting all the other precepts.

基于虔诚而想更深一层持戒的人，在家人有八戒与十戒，出家女众有十戒（此指南传出家女众），比丘有二二七条戒，在书末的词汇表中对各种戒有更多的说明。
For those whose devotion makes them wish to undertake a further discipline, there are also sets of eight and ten precepts for laypeople, ten precepts for nuns, and the Vinaya or 227 rules for monks. There is more information about these forms of sīla in the Glossary.

增益禅修的细行
Refinements During a Retreat

在密集禅修期间，以有助于强化禅修的方法改变我们的某些行为将增益修行。禅修中，禁语与独居生活，分别是正语与不淫的适当表现。要吃得清淡，以避免昏沉，并削弱感官的欲望。佛陀建议中午以后直到隔日清晨禁食，如果很难做到，可在午后吃一点被允许的饮食项目。当禅修有成绩时，修行者将会充分发现到，佛法的滋味超越一切世间的滋味！
During a meditation retreat it becomes useful to change some of our conduct in ways that support the intensification of meditation practice. In a retreat, silence becomes the appropriate form of right speech, and celibacy that of sexual conduct. One eats lightly to prevent drowsiness and to weaken sensual appetite. The Buddha recommended fasting from noon until the following morning; or, if this is difficult, one could eat only a little in the afternoon. During the time one thus gains to practice, one may well discover that the taste of the Dhamma excels all worldly tastes!

洁净是另一个激励内观与智慧的方法。洗澡、修剪指甲与头发，并注意排便的规律，即所谓的内在洁净。衣着与寝室应当保持整齐清洁。依此奉行，可以让心清晰与敏锐。然而也不可执著洁净。在密集禅修中，装饰品、化妆品、香水以及花时间修饰身体的行为都不适当。
Cleanliness is another support for developing insight and wisdom. You should bathe, keep nails and hair trimmed, and take care to regulate the bowels. This is known as internal cleanliness. Externally, your clothing and bedroom should be tidy and neat. Such observance is said to bring clarity and lightness of mind. Obviously, you do not make cleanliness an obsession. In the context of a retreat, adornments, cosmetics, fragrances, and time-consuming practices to beautify and perfect the body are not appropriate.

事实上，世间没有任何装饰品胜过戒的清净。没有更大的庇护所及其他的基础能使内观与智慧开花结果。戒的美，并非涂抹于外表，而是发自于内心并映现于整个人的身上，戒适用于任何人，不论年龄、身份、家境，它是四季通用的装饰品。因此，请确保自身的品德是清新且具有活力的。
In fact, in this world there is no greater adornment than purity of conduct, no greater refuge, and no other basis for the flowering of insight and wisdom. Sīla brings a beauty that is not plastered onto the outside, but instead comes from the heart and is reflected in the entire person. Suitable for everyone, regardless of age, station or circumstance, truly it is the adornment for all seasons. So please be sure to keep your virtue fresh and alive.

然而，即使身口业净化到相当的程度，戒本身仍不足以调伏心。我们需要一个让心成熟的方法，帮助我们了解生命的真理，同时让心达到更高层次的证悟，这方法即是禅修。
Even if we refine our speech and actions to a large extent, however, sīla is not sufficient in itself to tame the mind. A method is needed to bring us to spiritual maturity, to help us realize the real nature of life and to bring the mind to a higher level of understanding. That method is meditation.

禅修指导 MEDITATION INSTRUCTIONS

坐禅（Sitting Meditation）

佛陀建议我们，无论于森林的树下，或任何安静的地方都适合禅修。他说，禅修者应安详地结跏趺坐。如果盘腿而坐确实有困难，可以采用其他坐姿。背部有毛病的人，坐在椅子上也无妨。为了使心平静，我们需确保身体处于祥和的状态，因此，选择一个可以持久又舒适的坐姿十分重要。
The Buddha suggested that either a forest place under a tree or any other very quiet place is best for meditation. He said the meditator should sit quietly and peacefully with legs crossed. If sitting with crossed legs proves to be too difficult, other sitting postures may be used. For those with back trouble a chair is quite acceptable. It is true that to achieve peace of mind, we must make sure our body is at peace. So it is important to choose a position that will be comfortable for a long period of time.

坐时背部要挺直，与地面成直角，但不要太僵硬。坐直的理由不难明白，就是因为拱起或弯曲背部，很快便会产生疼痛；此外，不靠外在支持而保持挺直的身精进，可激励禅修。
Sit with your back erect, at a right angle to the ground, but not too stiff. The reason for sitting straight is not difficult to see: An arched or crooked back will soon bring pain. Furthermore, the physical effort to remain upright without additional support energizes the meditation practice.

闭上双眼，将注意力置于腹部，自然呼吸，不要用力，不急不缓，只是正常地呼吸。吸气时，会察觉到腹部升起；呼气时，腹部下降。现在，把心更精确地导向主要目标，并全心专注于每个活动过程，觉知腹部升起时的感觉，从开始，中间到结束，然后，观察腹部下降时的感觉，从开始，中间直到结束。
Close your eyes. Now place your attention at the belly, at the abdomen. Breathe normally, not forcing your breathing, neither slowing it down nor hastening it, just a natural breath. You will become aware of certain sensations as you breathe in and the abdomen rises, as you breathe out and the abdomen falls. Now sharpen your aim and make sure that the mind is attentive to the entirety of each process. Be aware from the very beginning of all sensations involved in the rising. Maintain a steady attention through the middle and the end of the rising. Then be aware of the sensations of the falling movement of the abdomen from the beginning, through the middle, and to the very end of the falling.

描述腹部的起伏活动，有开始、中间与结束的阶段，只是为了让初学者知道，观照必须是持续且彻底的，并非是要刻意地将整个过程分成三段。尝试观照每个起、伏的活动，从开始直到结束，把它视为一个完整的过程、一个整体。不要过度用力地盯着目标，执著于寻找腹部起伏的开始和结束。
Although we describe the rising and falling as having a beginning, a middle and an end, this is only in order to show that your awareness should be continuous and thorough. We do not intend you to break these processes into three segments. You should try to be aware of each of these movements from beginning to end as one complete process, as a whole. Do not peer at the sensations with an overfocused mind, specifically looking to discover how the abdominal movement begins or ends.

在禅修中，同时具备精进与精确的瞄准，是很重要的。如此观照，心才会直接而有力地接触目标。一个有助于精密与准确观照的方法，是为觉知的目标做安稳的记录。温和地在心中默念出那感觉的名称，例如：「起、起……伏、伏。」
In this meditation it is very important to have both effort and precise aim, so that the mind meets the sensation directly and powerfully. One helpful aid to precision and accuracy is to make a soft mental note of the object of awareness, naming the sensation by saying the word gently and silently in the mind, like "rising, rising...falling, falling.”

收回闲逛的心
Returning from Wandering

有些片刻闲逛的心生起，会开始打妄想，这个时候要监视心！觉知自己正在「想」，并在心中专注默念：「想、想」，以观照这念头，好让自己清楚这状况，然后回到腹部的起伏。
There will be moments when the mind wanders off. You will start to think of something. At this time, watch the mind! Be aware that you are thinking. To clarify this to yourself, note the thought silently with the verbal label “thinking, thinking” and come back to the rising and falling.

同样的练习，要运用在其他觉知的目标（所缘境）上；目标会在所谓的六根门：眼、耳、鼻、舌、身、意，任何一根门生起。尽管行者有精进地依指示修习，却没有人能保持绝对圆满的专注于腹部的起伏，其他次要目标必然会生起而变得明显。因此，禅修目标的范围包括我们所有六根触六尘产生的色、声、香、味、触与法（如幻想或情绪）时的经验。一旦觉知到任何一种目标生起时，就要集中念力直接观照它，并在心中和缓地做出标记。
The same practice should be used for objects of awareness that arise at any of what are called the six sense doors: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. Despite making an effort to do so, no one can remain perfectly focused on the rising and falling of the abdomen forever. Other objects inevitably arise and become predominant. Thus, the sphere of meditation encompasses all of our experiences: sights, sounds, smells, tastes, sensations in the body and mental objects such as visions in the imagination or emotions. When any of these objects arise you should focus direct awareness on them, and use a gentle verbal label "spoken" in the mind.

坐禅时，如果有其他目标强烈冲击觉知心，使得注意力从腹部的起伏转移，这时就必须清楚地观照这个目标。例如，有个响亮的声音在禅修时生起，在它一生起时便警觉地转移观照。将觉知声音作为直接的经验，并轻轻地默念：「听到、听到」，把目标简明地指认出来。当声音逐渐消失及不再明显，就回到腹部的起伏。这是坐禅中要遵守的基本原则。
During a sitting meditation, if another object impinges strongly on the awareness so as to draw it away from the rising and falling of the abdomen, this object must be clearly noted. For example, if a loud sound arises during your meditation, consciously direct your attention toward that sound as soon as it arises. Be aware of the sound as a direct experience, and also identify it succinctly with the soft internal verbal label “hearing, hearing." When the sound fades and is no longer predominant, come back to the rising and falling. This is the basic principle to follow in sitting meditation.

标记目标时，不必使用复杂的语言，最好是简单的一个字。对眼睛、耳朵与舌头等根门目标而言，只要简单地标记：「看到、看到……听到、听到……尝到、尝到」。而对于身体的感觉，则可选择用稍有叙述性的词语，例如：温暖、压迫、僵硬或移动等。
In making the verbal label, there is no need for complex language. simple word is best. For the eye, ear, and tongue doors we simply say, "Seeing, seeing... Hearings, hearing... Tastings, tasting.” For sensations in the body we may choose a slightly more descriptive term like warmth, pressure, hardness, or motion.
法念处的目标，则呈现出令人困惑的多样性。但实际上，它们只列入几个明确的范畴，例如：思考、想像、回忆、计划与幻想等。但要记住，运用标记的技巧，目的不在于增进辞汇能力，而是帮助我们清楚地察觉我们的实际经验，同时不陷入其中。标记促使心力与专注力的增长。在禅修中，我们探索一种对名色深入、清晰与精确的觉知。这直觉会展现出我们生命的真理，即名色过程的本质。
Mental objects appear to present a bewildering diversity, but actually they fall into just a few clear categories such as thinking, imagining, remembering, planning, and visualizing. But remember that in using the labeling technique, your goal is not to gain verbal skills. Labeling technique helps us to perceive clearly the actual qualities of our experience, without getting immersed in the content. It develops mental power and focus. In meditation we seek a deep, clear, precise awareness of the mind and body. This direct awareness shows us the truth about our lives, the actual nature of mental and physical processes.

禅修并非在一小时的禅坐后便结束，而是一整天都可以持续练习。当你起坐时，必须小心观照。从想睁开眼睛的意念开始，观：「想要、想要……睁开、睁开。」如实体验想要的心念及感受张开眼睛的感觉。继续以充分的观察力，审慎且精确地观照每个姿势的转变，直到站起来，开始走路那一刻。
Meditation need not come to an end after an hour of sitting. It can be carried out continuously through the day. When you get up from sitting, you must note carefully beginning with the intention to open the eyes. "Intending intending... Opening, opening." Experience the mental event of intending, and feel the sensations of opening the eyes. Continue to note carefully and precisely, with full observing power, through the whole transition of postures until the moment you have stood up, and when you begin to walk.

一整天中，也应当觉知并观照一切日常的活动，诸如：伸直、弯曲手臂、拿起汤匙、穿上衣服、刷牙、关门、开门、闭眼、吃东西……等，所有活动都要小心地以正念及一个和缓的标记做观照。
Throughout the day you should also be aware, and mentally note, all other activities, such as stretching, bending your arm, taking a spoon, putting on clothes, brushing your teeth, closing the door, opening the door, closing your eyelids, eating, and so forth. All of these activities should be noted with careful awareness and a soft mental label.

除了熟睡的几个小时之外，一切醒着的时刻，都要努力保持持续的正念。其实这并不是一项繁重的工作，就只是在禅坐及行禅时，纯粹地保持正念，观照任何当下生起的目标。
Apart from the hours of sound sleep, you should try to maintain continuous mindfulness throughout your waking hours. Actually this is not a heavy task; it is just sitting and walking and simply observing whatever occurs.

行禅 WALKING MEDITATION

在密集禅修的一整天中，通常是以相同的时间，交替进行坐禅与正规的行禅。一小时行禅算是标准的时间，四十五分钟也可以。对正规的行禅来说，修禅者可选择一条大约二十歩长的路径，循着路线慢慢地来回行走。
During a retreat it is usual to alternate periods of sitting meditation with periods of formal walking meditation of about the same duration, one after another throughout the day. One hour is a standard period, but forty-five minutes can also be used. For formal walking, retreatants choose a lane of about twenty steps in length and walk slowly back and forth along it.

在日常生活中，行禅也可以是非常有益的。禅坐前正式地行禅一小段时间，例如十分钟，有利于心力的集中。除此好处外，在行禅中所培育的正念，帮助我们于日常活动中，警觉地四处移动身体。
In daily life, walking meditation can also be very helpful. A short period — say ten minutes — of formal walking meditation before sitting serves to focus the mind. Beyond this advantage, the awareness developed in walking meditation is useful to all of us as we move our bodies from place to place in the course of a normal day.

行禅，培养平衡且精准的正念与持久的定力。在行禅时，可觉察到非常深奥的佛法，甚至获得证悟！事实上，于坐禅前不行禅的行者，就如耗尽电池的车一般，很难在坐禅时发动正念的引擎。
Walking meditation develops balance and accuracy of awareness as well as durability of concentration. One can observe very profound aspects of the Dhamma while walking, and even get enlightened! In fact a yogi who does not do walking meditation before sitting is like a car with a rundown battery. He or she will have a difficult time starting the engine of mindfulness when sitting.

行禅，由注意行走的过程所组成。如果走得相当快，就注意双脚的活动，心中标记：「左歩、右歩、左歩、右歩」，并以正念密切注意遍及脚部跨歩时的实际感觉。如果走得较慢，就要注意观照每一个脚部「提起」、「推前」与「放下」的活动。在任何提起、推前或放下的活动情况中，禅修者都必须试着将心保持在脚部活动时的感觉。
Walking meditation consists of paying attention to the walking process. If you are moving fairly rapidly, make a mental note of the movement of the legs, “Left, right, left right” and use your awareness to follow the actual sensations throughout the leg area. If you are moving more slowly, note the lifting, moving and placing of each foot. In each case you must try to keep your mind on just the sensations of walking.

当走到歩道尽头，所有生起的过程，如：停住、站住、转身及再度开歩，都要注意观照。除非遇到地上有障碍物，否则不要低头看脚，在致力于觉知提起、推前或放下的感觉时，心中执持脚的影像并无助益。你要专注于感觉本身，而不是视觉的。对很多人来说，当他们能纯粹地觉知诸如轻盈、刺痛、冷、热等色法的目标时，便是个极好的发现。
Notice what processes occur when you stop at the end of the lane, when you stand still, when you turn and begin walking again. Do not watch your feet unless this becomes necessary due to some obstacle on the ground; it is unhelpful to hold the image of a foot in your mind while you are trying to be aware of sensations. You want to focus on the sensations themselves, and these are not visual. For many people it is a fascinating discovery when they are able to have a pure, bare perception of physical objects such as lightness, tingling, cold, and warmth.

通常我们将行禅分成三个明显的动作，即：脚部的提起、推前和放下。为扶助精确的觉知，我们清楚地区分这些动作，在每个动作开始时，轻缓地做标记，并确保心清楚、有力地跟随活动直到结束。重点是在脚部开始往下移动时，就要即刻观照那放下的活动。
Usually we divide walking into three distinct movements: lifting, moving and placing the foot. To support a precise awareness, we separate the movements clearly, making a soft mental label at the beginning of each movement, and making sure that our awareness follows it clearly and powerfully until it ends. One minor but important point is to begin noting the placing movement at the instant that the foot begins to move downward.

发现感觉中的新世界
A New World in Sensations

让我们看看提脚的活动。我们都知道它观念性的名称，但在禅修中，重要的是洞察观念的背后，以了解整个提脚活动的本质。从想要提起的意念开始，持续到整个实际的过程结束，当中包含着许多感觉。
Let us consider lifting. We know its conventional name, but in meditation it is important to penetrate behind that conventional concept and to understand the true nature of the whole process of lifting, beginning with the intention to lift and continuing through the actual process, which involves many sensations.

观照提脚时的精进力，不得过剩或不及。心的清晰及精确的瞄准力，是有助于平衡精进力的。当心具足平衡的「精进力」和精确的「瞄准力」时，「正念」就会扎实地建立位于觉知的目标上。只有在这三项因素：精进、准确和正念都存在时，「定力」才会增长。当然，定力是心力的集中、一境性。其特相是不使心变得散乱或涣散。
Our effort to be aware of lifting the foot must neither overshoot the sensation nor weakly fall short of this target. Precise and accurate mental aim helps balance our effort. When our effort is balanced and our aim is precise, mindfulness will firmly establish itself on the object of awareness. It is only in the presence of these three factors — effort, accuracy and mindfulness — that concentration develops. Concentration, of course, is collectedness of mind, one-pointedness. Its characteristic is to keep consciousness from becoming diffuse or dispersed.

当我们远看成排爬行的蚂蚁时，觉得它似乎是条静止的线；但当趋进看时，觉察它开始摇晃和震动；更近一点看时，则发现这条线分解成一只只的蚂蚁。于是我们明瞭起先那条线的概念，只不过是个幻觉。现在已清楚地察觉到这条线，是由一只接一只的蚂蚁连接而成。
As we get closer and closer to this lifting process, we will see that it is like a line of ants crawling across the road. From afar the line may appear to be static, but from closer up it begins to shimmer and vibrate. And from even closer the line breaks up into individual ants, and we see that our notion of a line was just an illusion. We now accurately perceive the line of ants as one ant after another ant, after another ant.

同样的，在行禅中，随着正念越来越接近提脚的过程，当心准确地观照提脚的全程活动时，内观智慧将更加接近观照的目标。观智愈接近，就更能清楚地体悟到提脚过程的真实本质。这是一个令人惊异的事实！当我们的心经由毗婆舍那禅修而内观智慧生起并加深时，所有存在的真理特相，便会以确切的顺序显现出来，此一顺序即是「观智的进展」。
Exactly like this, when we look accurately at the lifting process from beginning to end, the mental factor or quality of consciousness called “insight” comes nearer to the object of observation. The nearer insight comes, the clearer the true nature of the lifting process can be seen. It is an amazing fact about the human mind that when insight arises and deepens through vipassanā or insight, meditation practice, particular aspects of the truth about existence tend to be revealed in a definite order. This order is known as the progress of insight.

禅修者开始体会到的最初观智，并非来自智力或思考，而是相当直觉的。提脚的过程是由清楚的名法与色法所组成，它们成对地一同生起。属于色法的是身体的感觉，属于名法的是觉知；名、色法是互相关联的，可却又彼此不同。
The first insight which meditators commonly experience is to begin to comprehend — not intellectually or by reasoning, but quite intuitively — that the lifting process is composed of distinct mental and material phenomena occurring together, as a pair. The physical sensations, which are material, are linked with, but different from, the awareness, which is mental.

我们开始察觉到整个系列的觉知心与身体的感觉，并开始领会有关名法与色法的因果关系。我们以最鲜明与直截的心发现——名法引生色法，例如：想要提起脚的念头，引发了身体的动作；也会发现——色法引生名法，例如：当身体感觉到非常热时，心中产生想要换到阴凉的地方行禅的念头。这种对因果的领悟，即「缘摄受智」，它会有多种的显现形式。但当它生起时，人生对我们而言似乎比以前单纯多了。我们的人生，只不过是一系列名色的因果连续罢了！这是标准「观智过程」中的第二观智。
We begin to see a whole succession of mental events and physical sensations, and to appreciate the conditionality that relates mind and matter. We see with the greatest freshness and immediacy that mind causes matter — as when our intention to lift the foot initiates the physical sensations of movement, and we see that matter causes mind — as when a physical sensation of strong heat generates a wish to move our walking meditation into a shady spot. The insight into cause and effect can take a great variety of forms; but when it arises, our life seem far more simple to us than ever before. Our life is no more than a chain of mental and physical causes and effects. This is the second insight in the classical progress of insight.

随着定力增长，我们甚至能更深入地发现一提脚过程所发生的现象是无常与无我的。它们奇特的一个接着一个急速生起和消失。这是下一个「观智」，是专注的心变得有能力，直接觉知存在的下一层面。
As we develop concentration we see even more deeply that these phenomena of the lifting process are impermanent, impersonal, appearing and disappearing one by one at fantastic speed. This is the next level of insight, the next aspect of existence that concentrated awareness becomes capable of seeing directly.

正在发生的事物背后并没有「一个人」；根据因果法则，现象的生起与消逝是个空无的过程。这活动与实体的假象就如电影。就一般的看法，电影是充满着角色与物体，与真实世界无异。但若把电影的速度放慢，就会发现——实际上它是由一幅幅不同的静止胶卷所构成。
There is no one behind what is happening; the phenomena arise and pass away as an empty process, according to the law of cause and effect. This illusion of movement and solidity is like a movie. To ordinary perception it seems full of characters and objects, all the semblances of a world. But if we slow the movie down we will see that it is actually composed of separate, static frames of film.

以行禅发现正道
Discovering the Path by Walking

若以正念观照单一的提脚过程，也就是说心与活动一致，以正念洞察正在发生事物的真实本质，就会在当下开启了佛陀所教导的解脱道。佛陀的八正道，即一般所称的「中道」，包含八个要素：正见、正思惟、正语、正业、正命、正精进、正念与正定。
When one is very mindful during a single lifting process - that is to say, when the mind is with the movement, penetrating with mindfulness into the true nature of what is happening at that moment - the path to liberation taught by the Buddha opens up. The Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path, often known as the Middle Way or Middle Path, consists of the eight factors of right view or understanding, right thought or aim, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration.

于正念稳固的那一刹那，八正道中的五支便会活跃于心中，亦即正精进、正念、正定、正思惟；而当我们开始对诸法的本质有所领悟，正见也会生起。这八正道中的五支现起之际，心便完全地解脱各种杂染。
During any moment of strong mindfulness, five of the eight path factors come alive in consciousness. There is right effort; there is mindfulness; there is one-pointedness or concentration; there is right aim; and as we begin to have insight into the true nature of the phenomena, right view also arises. And during a moment when these five factors of the Eightfold Path are present, consciousness is completely free from any sort of defilement.

在运用净化了的心，洞察正在发生事物的本质时，我们便从「自我」的假相或愚痴中解脱，只觉知到现象的生起和消失。观智使得我们对因果的机制，有了直觉的领悟，明白名色如何互相关联，并对诸法的本质不再存有错误的观念。
As we make use of that purified consciousness to penetrate into the true nature of what is happening, we become free of the delusion or illusion of self; we see only bare phenomena coming and going. When insight gives us intuitive comprehension of the mechanism of cause and effect, how mind and matter are related to one another, we free ourselves of misconceptions about the nature of phenomena.

觉知到每个目标只维持一刹那，我们从「有常」和「相续性」的错误观念解脱出来。也因为了解无常与其背后潜藏的苦，我们从「身心非苦」的错误观念中解脱出来。
Seeing that each object lasts only for a moment, we free ourselves of the illusion of permanence, the illusion of continuity. As we understand impermanence and its underlying unsatisfactoriness, we are freed from the illusion that our mind and body are not suffering.

实修中对「无我」的了解，使我们不再骄傲自大，亦摆脱有常、自我的邪见。在仔细观察提脚的过程时，我们彻见名色是苦，因而消除执著。有「常存法」之称的三种心法——我慢、邪见与执著，是由于不知胜义谛，而助长导致娑婆生命永久轮转的执著和苦。于行禅时审慎的专注，会击碎这些「常存法」，让我们更接近解脱。
This direct seeing of impersonality brings freedom from pride and conceit, as well as freedom from the wrong view that we have an abiding self. When we carefully observe the lifting process, we see mind and body as unsatisfactory and so are freed from craving. These three states of mind - conceit, wrong view and craving - are called “the perpetuating dhammas.” They help to perpetuate existence in samsāra, the cycle of craving and suffering which is caused by ignorance of ultimate truth. Careful attention in walking meditation shatters the perpetuating dhammas, bringing us closer to freedom.

你会发现，观照脚的提起，竟有如此令人难以置信的潜在价值 ! 而这一切都存在于向前推动及把脚放下的活动中。当然，以上在行禅所使用的深入和详尽的观照方式 , 也必须应用在坐禅时的腹部起伏，以及其它一切的身体活动上。
You can see that noting the lifting of one's foot has incredible possibilities! These are no less present in moving the foot forward and in placing it on the ground. Naturally, the depth and detail of awareness described in these walking instructions should also be applied to noting the abdominal movement in sitting, and all other physical movements.

行禅的五项利益
Five Benefits of Walking Meditation

佛陀叙述行禅，有五项额外且独特的利益。首先，常练习行禅的人，具有长途跋涉的耐力。这点在佛陀时代是重要的，当时的比丘 (bhikkhu) 与比丘尼 (bhikkhunl)，除了步行以外，再也没有其它交通工具。今日禅修的你，可以想像自己是位比丘，而这行禅可增进身体的健康。
The Buddha described five additional specific benefits of walking meditation. The first is that one who does walking meditation will have the stamina to go on long journeys. This was important in the Buddha's time, when bhikkhus and bhikkhunis, monks and nuns, had no form of transportation other than their feet and legs. You who are meditating today can consider yourselves to be bhikkhus, and can think of this benefit simply as physical strengthening.

行禅的第二项利益，是让禅修本身带来耐力。行禅需要双重精进力。除了一般需要用来提脚的机械性的精进力之外，还需精进观照活动的心力，这正是八正道中的正精进。如果这双重的精进力，持续维持在整个提脚、推前与放下的活动中，便能强化心的稳固坚 定能力。其重要性是所有毗婆舍那行者都知道的。
The second benefit is that walking meditation brings stamina for the practice of meditation itself. During walking meditation a double effort is needed. In addition to the ordinary, mechanical effort needed to lift the foot, there is also the mental effort to be aware of the movement - and this is the factor of right effort from the Noble Eightfold Path. If this double effort continues through the movements of lifting, pushing and placing, it strengthens the capacity for that strong, consistent mental effort all yogis know is crucial to vipassanā practice.

第三，据佛陀所说，坐禅与行禅之间的平衡有益健康，这依次加速修行的进步。显然的，生病时很难禅修，坐太久会导致许多色身的毛病，变换姿势与行禅的活动，会使肌肉恢复活力并促进循环，这有助于预防疾病。
Thirdly, according to the Buddha, a balance between sitting and walking contributes to good health, which in turn speeds progress in practice. Obviously it is difficult to meditate when we are sick. Too much sitting can cause many physical ailments. But the shift of posture and the movements of walking revive the muscles and stimulate circulation, helping prevent illness.

行禅的第四项利益是帮助消化。消化不良会导致许多不适，因而成为修行的障碍。行禅能保持肠道通畅，使昏沈和睡眠减到最少。饭后与禅坐前应该好好的行禅以驱逐睡意。在早晨起床后立即行禅建立正念，是避免在一天的第一支坐禅时段，就打瞌睡的好方法。
The fourth benefit is that walking meditation assists digestion. Improper digestion produces a lot of discomfort and is thus a hindrance to practice. Walking keeps the bowels clear, minimizing sloth and torpor; After a meal, and before sitting, one should do a good walking meditation to forestall drowsiness. Walking as soon as one gets up in the morning is also a good way to establish mindfulness and to avoid a nodding head in the first sitting of the day.

行禅最后一项利益，也是最重要的一项利益，即是建立持久的定力。当心在行走时，专注于每个活动阶段，定力变得持续。每个脚步都在为接下来的坐禅建立基础，帮助心时时刻刻地保持在目标上，最终在最深的层次揭露出实相本质。
Last, but not least, of the benefits of walking is that it builds durable concentration. As the mind works to focus on each section of the movement during a walking session, concentration becomes continuous. Every step builds the foundation for the sitting that follows, helping the mind stay with the object from moment to moment - eventually to reveal the true nature of reality at the deepest level.

以汽车电池来做比喻，如果汽车从不开动，电池就会耗尽。一个从不行禅的行者，是很难坐在蒲团上而有任何进展的；但勤于行禅的人，将自动地将稳固的正念与坚实的定力带入坐禅中。
This is why I use the simile of a car battery. If a car is never driven, its battery runs down. A yogi who never does walking meditation will have a difficult time getting anywhere when he or she sits down on the cushion. But one who is diligent in walking will automatically carry strong mindfulness and firm concentration into sitting meditation.

我希望各位都能成功地完成这项练习，愿大家持戒清净，于言行中增长戒品，以创造出开展三摩地与智慧的因缘。
I hope that all of you will be successful in completely carrying out this practice. May you be pure in your precepts, cultivating them in speech and action, thus creating the conditions for developing samādhi and wisdom.

May you follow these meditation instructions carefully, noting each moment's experience with deep, accurate and precise mindfulness, so that you will penetrate into the true nature of reality. May you see how mind and matter constitute all experiences, how these two are interrelated by cause and effect, how all experiences are characterized by impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and absence of self so that you may eventually realize nibbāna - the unconditioned state that uproots mental defilements - here and now.

小参 THE INTERVIEW

修毗婆舍那禅，有如耕耘一片花园，我们有清晰且完美的观察力，也就是用来观照诸法的「正念」种子。为了培育这颗种子，培植这棵树苗，收成其卓越智慧的果实，我们必须遵循五个步骤，即所谓的「五种保护」或「五资助」(Five Nuggahitas)。
Vipassanā meditation is like planting a garden. We have the seed of clear and complete vision, which is the mindfulness with which we observe phenomena. In order to cultivate this seed, nurture the plant, and reap its fruit of transcendent wisdom, there are five procedures we must follow. These are called the Five Protections, or the Five Nuggahitas.

五资助
The Five Protections

就如园丁所做的一般，我们必须在自己小小的土地上围起篱笆，以防止鹿与兔子等大型动物在种子一发芽时，就吞噬了它们柔弱的嫩叶。
As gardeners do, we must build a fence around our little plot to protect against large animals, deer and rabbits, who might devour our tender plant as soon as it tries to sprout.

第一种是「戒资助」(sīla nuggahita)，即「戒」的保护。以免受粗野的行为扰动我们的心，障碍定力与智慧的生起。
This first protection is sīla nuggahita, morality's protection against gross and wild behavior which agitates the mind and prevents concentration and wisdom from ever appearing.

接着，必须为种子浇水，即是要听闻佛法的开示并阅读经典，然后审慎地应用所获得的知识。正如过度浇水会使种子腐坏，我们闻法的目的只是为了澄清观念，决不是要令自己困惑或迷失于种种概念的迷阵中。这第二种保护，称为「闻资助」(sutta nuggahita)。
Second, we must water the seed. This means listening to discourses on the Dhamma and reading texts, then carefully applying the understanding we have gained. Just as overwatering will rot a seed, our goal here is only clarification. It is definitely not to bewilder ourselves, getting lost in a maze of concepts. This second protection is called sutta nuggahita.

第三种我将在此详述的保护，是「议资助」(sākacchā nuggahita)，即与导师讨论。可用栽培花草的许多程序来比拟。植物在不同时期需要不同的东西，根部附近的土壤需要翻松，但又不可过度，否则根部会失去它的抓地力；枝叶也需要细心的修剪，过于繁茂的树要修整。同样地，当我们与老师讨论禅修时，老师会依不同的需要，给予不同的指导，好让我们保持在正道上。
The third protection is the one I will dwell on here. It is sākacchā nuggahita, discussion with a teacher, and it is likened to the many processes involved in cultivating a plant. Plants need different things at different times. Soil may need to be loosened around the roots, but not too much, or the roots will lose their grip in the soil. Leaves must be trimmed, again with care. Overshadowing plants must be cut down. In just this way, when we discuss our practice with a teacher, the teacher will give different instructions depending on what is needed to keep us on the right path.

第四种保护是「止资助」(samatha nuggahita)，「定力」的保护，是不让毛虫与杂草的不善心接近。当修习时，我们很精进地觉知当下，诸如观照任何六根门：眼、耳、鼻、舌、身、意，所生起的目标。当心如此明确地专注且充满活力时，贪、嗔、痴就无机会潜入。因此，可将定力比喻为清除花草附近的杂草，或是使用一种非常有益且自然的杀虫剂。
The fourth protection is samatha nuggahita, the protection of concentration, which keeps off the caterpillars and weeds of unwholesome states of mind. As we practice we make a strong effort to be aware of whatever is actually arising at the six sense doors - eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind - in the present moment. When the mind is sharply focused and energetic in this way, greed, hatred and delusion have no opportunity to creep in. Thus, concentration can be compared to weeding the area around the plant, or to applying a very wholesome and natural type of pesticide.

如果上述的四种资助具足，观智便有机会开展。然而，行者多半会执着初期的观智，以及与定力强时有关的不寻常经验。不幸的是，这些都会阻碍他们的修行，让他们无法成就更深层次的观智。于此，第五种保护，「观资助」（vipassanā nuggahita）开始运作。那就是持续有力地保持高水准的禅修，绝不停下来浪费时间享受安宁的心，或其它由定力所带来的喜悦。执着这种喜悦叫「欲求爱」（nikantī tanhā)，它如蜘蛛网、蚜虫、霉菌、小蜘蛛般微小，这些带有黏性的小东西，终究会扼杀花草的成长。
If these first four protections are present, insights have the opportunity to blossom. However, yogis tend to become attached to early insights and unusual experiences related to strong concentration. Unfortunately, this will hinder their practice from ripening into the deeper levels of vipassanā. Here, the fifth protection, vipassanā nuggahita, comes into play. This is meditation which continues forcefully at a high level, not stopping to dawdle in the enjoyment of peace of mind nor other pleasures of concentration. Craving for these pleasures is called nikantī tanhā. It is subtle, like cobwebs, aphids, mildew, tiny spiders - sticky little things that can eventually choke off a plant’s growth.

然而，即使行者陷入这种陷阱，一位好的老师还是可以在小参中发现这个情况，并轻轻地将他推回正轨。这就是为何与老师讨论自己的经验，对禅修是如此重要的保护。
Even if a yogi gets caught in such booby traps, however, a good teacher can find out about this in the interview and nudge him or her back onto the straight path. This is why discussing one's experiences with a teacher is such an important protection for meditation practice.

小参的步骤
The Interview Process

在密集的毗婆舍那禅修期间，应尽可能地经常进行个人小参，最好每天都有。小参有正式的结构，行者依下列方法表达自己的经验后，老师会针对个别的细节提出问题，之后再简要地给予评论与指示。
During an intensive vipassanā retreat, personal interviews are held as often as possible, ideally every day. Interviews are formally structured. After the yogi presents his or her experiences as described below, the teacher may ask questions relating to particular details before giving a pithy comment or instruction.

小参的步骤相当简单，要能在十分钟内表达自己禅修时的精华。把它当作是在报告对自己所做的研究，这实际上即是毗婆舍那。试着遵循科学界使用的标准：简洁、精确且严谨。
The interview process is quite simple. You should be able to communicate the essence of your practice in about ten minutes. Consider that you are reporting on your research into yourself, which is what vipassanā actually is. Try to adhere to the standards used in the scientific world: brevity, accuracy and precision.

首先，报告最近二十四小时内，花在坐禅与行禅的时间各有多少。如果对此相当诚实坦白，便可以显示出对修行的诚意。其次，描述坐禅的情况。无须详述每次的坐禅，如果坐的情况类似，可将其特色合并在一起做综合报告。试着描述一次或多次最清楚的坐禅细节。从禅修的主要目标——腹部的起伏开始报告，之后再加入其它于六根门生起的目标。
First, report how many hours of sitting you did and how many of walking in the most recent twenty-four-hour period. If you are quite truthful and honest about this, it will show the sincerity of your practice. Next, describe your sitting practice. It is not necessary to describe each sitting in detail. If sittings are similar, you may combine their traits together in a general report. Try using details from the clearest sitting or sittings. Begin your description with the primary object of meditation, the rise and fall of the abdomen. After this you may add other objects that arose at any of the six sense doors.

描述完坐禅后，才进入行禅的报告。在这里只要直接叙述与行禅活动相关的经验，不要像报告坐禅那样的报告一系列的目标。如果在行禅中使用三分法：提起、推前、放下，报告时就应试着报告每一分法中的经验。
After describing the sitting, go into your walking practice. Here you must only describe experiences directly connected with your walking movements - do not include a range of objects as you might in reporting a sitting. If you use the three-part method of lifting, moving and placing in your walking meditation, try to include each segment and the experiences you had with it.

这一切目标，其实包括任何禅修目标。请以三个阶段来报告自己的经验。第一、确认出现什么；第二、如何观照它；第三、察觉、感觉或了解了什么，也就是说当观照时，发生了什么事。
For all of these objects, indeed with any object of meditation, please report your experience in three phases. One, you identify what occurred. Two, you report how you noted it. And three, you describe what you saw, or felt, or understood; that is, what happened when you noted it.

让我们以主要目标——腹部的起伏活动为例，第一件要做的事，是识别腹部上升过程的生起:「上」出现。
Let us take as an example the primary object, the rising and falling movement of the abdomen. The first thing to do is to identify the occurrence of the rising process.
“Rising occurred.”

其次，要去观照它，并在心中做标记——观照它「上」。
The second phase is to note it, give it a silent verbal label.
“I noted it as ‘rising’.”

第三阶段是描述「上」怎么了？观照「上」时，这是我的经验，我所感受到的不同感觉，也就是当时那些感觉的变化。
The third phase is to describe what happened to the rising.
"As I noted ‘rising’, this is what I experienced, the different sensations I felt. This was the behavior of the sensations at that time."

然后以同样的三阶段描述法继续小参，报告「下」的过程，与坐禅时生起的其它次要目标。先报告目标的生起，描述如何观照它，叙述接下来的经验，直到目标消失或注意力移至它处。
Then you continue the interview by using the same three-phase description for the falling process and the other objects that arise during sitting. You mention the object's occurrence, describe how you noted it and relate your subsequent experiences until the object disappears or your attention moves elsewhere.

或许打个比方会有助于明了。想像我正坐在你面前，突然间我向空中伸出手并张开手掌，以便让你看到我握着一颗苹果。你将注意力转向苹果，你识别它，并（由于这是个比拟）对自己说「苹果」。现在，你继续识别苹果是红的、圆的且富有光泽。最后我慢慢握拳，苹果便消失了。
Perhaps an analogy will serve to clarify. Imagine that I am sitting in front of you, and suddenly I raise my hand into the air and open it so that you can see that I am holding an apple. You direct your attention toward this apple; you recognize it and (because this is an analogy) you say the word "apple" to yourself. Now you go on to discern that the apple is red, round and shiny. At last I slowly close my hand so that the apple disappears.

如果苹果是禅修的主要目标，你要如何报告关于苹果的经验？你会说：「苹果出现，我观照它：“苹果，苹果”；我察觉它是红的、圆的且富有光泽；然后苹果慢慢地消失。」
How would you report your experience of the apple, if the apple were your primary object of meditation? You would say, "The apple appeared. I noted it as 'apple' and I noticed that it was red, round and shiny. Then the apple slowly disappeared. ”

因此，你会对有关苹果做出三个阶段的精确报告。首先，当苹果出现的刹那，你能察觉到它。接着，将注意力移到苹果，并辨别它是什么，由于你以苹果为「禅修」的目标，你特别精进地在心中标记它。第三，你继续注意苹果，并识别它如何从你的觉知消失。
Thus, you would have reported in a precise way on the three phases of your involvement with the apple. First, there was the moment when the apple appeared and you became able to perceive it. Second, you directed your attention to the apple and recognized what it was; since you were "practicing meditation" with the apple, you made the particular effort to label it verbally in your mind. Third, you continued attending to the apple and discerned its qualities, as well as the manner of its passing out of your awareness.

这三个步骤与实际毗婆舍那禅修，所必须遵循的步骤相同；不同的当然是，你所观照与报告的是腹部起伏的经验。一个告诫：你观察那虚构苹果时的任务，不要延伸到揣想其多汁的样子，或想像你正在吃它！同样地，在禅修小参中，你的描述必须限制在直接的经验，而非你对目标的揣测、想像或你所认为的。
This three-step process is the same one you must follow in actual vipassanā meditation, except, of course, that you observe and report on your experiences of the rising and falling of your abdomen. One warning: your duty to observe the fictitious apple does not extend to imagining the apple's juiciness or visualizing yourself eating it! Similarly, in a meditation interview, you must restrict your descriptions to what you have experienced directly, rather than what you may imagine, visualize and opine about the object.

你会发现：这种报告方式，其实是实际毗婆舍那禅修时，该如何运作正念的一种指引。因此，小参有助于禅修。它除了是接受老师指导的机会外，还附加了更深一层的动机。行者通常会发现被指示做这类报告，对自己的禅修有激励的效果，因为这样的要求，所以行者会尽可能清楚地专注于自己的禅修经验。
As you can see, this style of reporting is a guide for how awareness should be functioning in actual vipassanā mediation. For this reason, meditation interviews are helpful for an additional reason beyond the chance to receive a teacher's guidance. Yogis often find that being required to produce a report of this kind has a galvanizing effect on their meditation practice, for it asks them to focus on their experiences as clearly as they possibly can.

觉知、精确、坚忍
Awareness, Accuracy, Perseverance

漠不关心、漫不经心，或散漫、无意识地注视目标是不够的，这不是不费心思地背诵一些心理公式的练习，而是必须全心投入观照目标，把注意力全部导向目标，越精确越好。如此地保持注意力，以便能洞察目标的实相。
It is not enough to look at the object indifferently, haphazardly, or in an unmindful, automatic way. This is not a practice where you mindlessly recite some mental formula. You must look at the object with full commitment, with all of your heart. Directing your whole attention toward the object, as accurately as possible, you keep your attention there so that you can penetrate into the object's true nature.

尽管我们尽最大的努力，心还是无法经常规规矩矩地保持在腹部的起伏，它闲逛去了。这时，新的目标——闲逛的心生起，要如何处理呢？我们要觉知闲逛，这是第一阶段。第二阶段是在心中标记:「闲逛、闲逛」。闲逛生起多久后，我们才觉知到它？一秒？两分钟？半小时？在我们标记它后，又发生什么事？闲逛的心立即消失了吗？还是继续闲逛？或是思绪慢慢减弱而最后消失了？在旧的目标消失之前，是否有发现任何新的目标生起？如果完全无法观照闲逛的心，必须将此告诉老师。
Despite our best efforts, the mind may not always be so well-behaved as to remain with our abdomen. It wanders off. At this point a new object, the wandering mind, has arisen. How do we handle this? We become aware of the wandering. This is the first phase. Now the second phase: we label it as “wandering, wandering.” How soon after its arising were we aware of the wandering? One second, two minutes, half an hour? And what happens after we label it? Does the wandering mind disappear instantly? Does the mind just keep on wandering? Or do the thoughts reduce in intensity and eventually disappear? Does a new object arise before we have seen the disappearance of the old one? If you cannot note the wandering mind at all, you should tell the teacher about this, too.

一旦闲逛的心消逝，就回复到观照腹部的起伏。必须要描述自己的注意力，是否能回到腹部。若能在报告中说出新的目标生起前，心通常在起伏活动上停留多久，也是好的。
If the wandering mind disappears, you come back to the rising and falling. You should make a point to describe whether you are able to come back to it. In your reports it is good, also, to say how long the mind usually remained with the rising and falling movements before a new object arose.

禅坐一段时间之后，各种疼痛与不悦的感受一定会生起。例如：突然生起一阵痒，一个新的目标，你标记它「痒、痒」。这痒变化不明显或越来越强烈？是否有变弱或消失？有新的目标生起吗？譬如想抓痒的欲望？这些都应尽量明确地描述。
Pains and aches, unpleasant sensations, are sure to arise after some time of sitting. Say an itch suddenly appears - a new object. You label it as ‘itching’. Does the itch get worse or remain the same? Does it change or disappear? Do new objects arise, such as a wish to scratch? All this should be described as precisely as possible.

同样的，对于各种影像、声音、味道、冷热、紧绷、震动、刺痛，以及川流不息、无止尽的心念处目标也是一样，要如实观照。不论何种目标，只须应用这同样的三步骤原则。
It is the same with visions and sights, sounds and tastes, heat and cold, tightness, vibrations, tinglings, the unending procession of objects of consciousness. No matter what the object, you only have to apply the same three-step principle to it.

这一切过程的操作，就像在进行一项沉默的研究、来到了我们自己最接近的体验，不要问自己一大堆问题而迷失在思虑之中。对老师来说，重要的是，你是否能够觉知任何生起的目标；是否拥有精确的心观照目标，及保持忍心毅力观照到底；是否能坚忍地完整观察到目标。
All of this process is done as a silent investigation, coming very dose to our experience - not asking ourselves a lot of questions and getting lost in thought. What is important to the teacher is whether you could be aware of whatever object has arisen, whether you had the accuracy of mind to be mindful of it, and the perseverance to observe it fully.

对老师要诚实，如果无法发现目标或观照它，或是无法注意到目标，或在标记后仍无任何经验，这并不意味着你修行很糟！清楚和明确的报告，可以让老师评估你的修行，进而指出错误或加以纠正，好让你回归正道。
Be honest with your teacher. If you are unable to find the object, or note it, or experience anything at all after making a mental label, it may not always mean that you are practicing poorly! A clear and precise report enables the teacher to assess your practice; then point out mistakes or make corrections to put you back on the right path.

愿你在这些小参的指导中，获得利益。但愿将来有一天，老师能协助你去帮助你自己。
May you benefit from these interview instructions. May a teacher someday help you help yourself.