Looking at Your Own Eyes

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“Many people try to find a spiritual path where they do not have to face themselves but where they can still liberate themselves – liberate themselves from themselves, in fact. In truth, this is impossible. We cannot do that. We have to be honest with ourselves. We have to see our gut, our real shit, our most undesirable parts. We have to see that. That is the foundation of warriorship and the basis of conquering fear. We have to face our fear; we have to look at it, study it, work with it, and practice meditation with it.”

多數人只想找到某種修持途徑去逃避面對自己，希望藉此把自己從自我的牢獄中解放出來。但那是不可能的。我們必須誠實面對自己，直面自己的五腑六臟，直面自己最見不得人的地方。我們必須通過徹底研究自己來認識自己。在此基礎上，我們才能著手去征服恐懼。

“The approach of mindfulness of life is that if you are meditating in a room, you are meditating in a room. You don’t regard the room as a cave. If you are breathing, you are breathing, rather than convincing yourself you are a motionless rock. You keep your eyes open and simply let yourself be where you are. There are no imaginations involved with this approach. You just go through with your situation as it is. If your meditation place is in a rich setting, just be in the midst of it. If it is in a simple setting, just be in the midst of that. You are not trying to get away from here to somewhere else. You are tuning in simply and directly to your process of life. This practice is the essence of here and now. In this way, meditation becomes an actual part of life, rather than just a practice or exercise. It becomes inseparable from the instinct to live that accompanies all one’s existence. That instinct to live can be seen as containing awareness, meditation, mindfulness. It constantly tunes us in to what is happening.”

正念的意思，是當你在房間裡冥想時，你只是在房間裡冥想。你不將房間視為洞穴。當你呼吸時，你只是呼吸著，不把自己視然一塊巋然不動的石頭。如果你冥想的地方擺設豪華，你就老老實實置身中間; 如果你冥想的地方擺設簡樸，你也老老實實置身中間。不要想著從這裡到別處去; 簡單直接面對你的人生就好。冥想不是修行或鍛鍊，冥想就是人生。

“But as long as we follow a spiritual approach promising salvation, miracles, liberation, then we are bound by the ‘golden chain of spirituality.’ Such a chain might be beautiful to wear, with its inlaid jewels and intricate carvings, but nevertheless, it imprisons us. People think they can wear the golden chain for decoration without being imprisoned by it, but they are deceiving themselves. As long as one’s approach to spirituality is based upon enriching ego, then it is spiritual materialism, a suicidal process rather than a creative one.”

如果我們遵循靈修途徑是為了達致解放、奇蹟，或者自由，那我們就被拴上了一條”靈修金鍊”。戴著這么條金鍊也許美觀，鑲嵌其上的珠寶溢彩流光，花邊也精細別緻，但同時它也是桎梏和鐐銬。人們以為可以戴著它而不被它束縛，但他們是在自欺欺人。只要你的修行目的是出於強化自我，它便成了靈修物質主義。

“One characteristic of a dharmic person, someone who practices meditation and the teachings of the Buddha, is to prevent too many activities, or you could say, reduce activities. That actually boils down to cutting nonfunctional talking, cutting the baby-sitter mentality, the entertainment mentality. You can get yourself into all kinds of projects, all kinds of engagements. You can become chummy with the world so that you don’t have to hold your discipline or your mindfulness properly. You involve yourself in constant, constant activity. Sometimes you don’t even know what you are doing; you just come up with the idea that you need to be occupied with something, but you can’t put your finger on anything: the possibilities are infinite. Getting chummy with the situation involves lots of activity. According to the basic principles of Buddhism, you have to cut that down. When you become too chummy with your world, too familiar with your world, it becomes endless.”

一個皈依佛法的修行人，必須盡量減少活動。放棄無聊的交談和保姆的心態，以及各種娛樂需要。否則一不小心，你就會讓自己捲入各種項目和人事。一旦跟世界往來過於密切，你勢必鬆弛了持戒和正念，活動會變得沒完沒了。有時你簡直不知自己在幹嗎，只是不停被驅使著要去做點什么，各種可能性多如牛毛。如果你真想依法修行的話，你就必須把活動減至最少。聽由自己隨波逐流的話，紛擾只會沒完沒了。

“A great teacher of meditation once said, ‘Meditating is trying to look at your own eyes without using a mirror.’ That’s a very mysterious statement. How can we look at our own eyes without a mirror? The idea stops us in our tracks. But maybe we can explore that in our practice. The only way to solve this riddle is just to be there.”

一位大德曾說: “冥想就是不用鏡子卻能看見你自己的眼睛。” 這說法很耐人尋味。不用鏡子如何能看到自己的眼睛? 如果我們想解開謎底的話，唯一的辦法是自己去試試看。

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~ Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (秋陽創巴仁波切) ~

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