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[Lamrim·Meditation] DEALING WITH LAXITY AND EXCITEMENT P26

[Lamrim·Meditation] DEALING WITH LAXITY AND EXCITEMENT P26

第二明能生沉掉之因者。

(2′)) The underlying causes of laxity and excitement

《广论》【闻·思·修】Lamrim·Meditation

  掉举者,由贪为门,令心追趣色声等境,此应作意诸可厌事,能令心意向内摄录之因。以此息灭掉举无间,于先所缘等引其心。《修次初篇》云:“若忆先时散乱、嬉戏等事,见心时时掉举,尔时应当作意诸可厌事,谓无常等,由此能令掉举息灭。次应励力令心仍于前所缘境无作用转。《中观心论》亦云:“作意无常等,息灭掉举心。”又云:“观散相过患,摄录散乱心。《集学论》亦云:“若掉举时,应作意无常而善息灭。”故掉举太猛或太延长,应暂舍正修而修厌离,方至扼要;非是心一流散,即由摄录而安住之。掉举若未强力如许,则由摄录流散,令系所缘,如《摄波罗蜜多论》云:“若意掉举时,以止理遮止。”经中说云:“心善安住。《瑜伽》释为掉举对治。

  总之说二:若心掉动,应于所缘善住其心;若沉没时,于可欣境应善执持。如《声闻地》云:“由是其心于内摄略,若已下劣,或恐下劣,观见是已,尔时随取一种善持净相,令善执持,庆悦其心,是名善持其心。云何善住?即善持时,其心掉动,或恐掉动,观见是已,尔时还复于内摄略其心,于奢摩他令善安住。”心掉动时,不应作意净可欣境,以是向外散动因故。

  第二、明能生沈掉之因者:《本地分》云:“何等沈相?谓不守根门、食不知量、初夜后夜不勤修行觉寤加行、不正知住,是痴行性、耽著睡眠、无巧便慧,懈怠俱行欲、勤、心、观,不曾修习正奢摩他,于奢摩他未为纯善,一向思惟奢摩他相;其心昏暗,于所缘境不乐攀缘。沉没相者,于此应知是沉没因。“懈怠俱行”者,通勤、心、观。又前论云:“何等掉相?谓不守根等四,如前广说。是贪行性、不寂静性、无厌离心、无巧便慧,太举俱行欲等如前。不习精勤,未娴善持,唯一向修;由其随一随顺掉法亲里寻等动乱其心。掉举相者,谓掉举因。太举者,谓于可欣境太执其心;与此俱行欲等四法,即如前说。

  由是前说未修中间行持章中所示防护根门等四,于灭沈掉为要;复次,显然由知彼诸因已,若勤遮灭彼等,于灭沈掉极为利益。故沈掉虽微,皆以正知觉了,沈掉若何悉不忍受,须毕竟灭。若不尔者,《辨中边论》说是名“不作行”三摩地过。故或念云:微细掉举及散乱等,于初时中断亦不绝,故不应断。于是舍弃。又谓:彼等若无猛利、连锁过长,则力微劣、短促,不能造业,故不须断。不为断彼而起作行。此皆不知修习清净三摩地法,诈现为知,欺求定者,以其背离慈尊等师,于修三摩地法决择轨理。

  如是灭沈掉时,亦多先为掉举、散乱所障,故须励力断彼。由此励力便能止息粗显掉、散,获少住分,尔时应当励防沉没。心中励力防慎沉没之时,又有较前微细掉举障碍安住,为断彼故,又应策励。掉举退时,住分转增;尔时又有沉没现起,故于断沈又应励力。总之当从散、掉录心,内系所缘而求住分。随生住分,即当励防沉没,令发明晰势力。此二辗转修习无过胜三摩地,不应唯于澄净住分全无持力俱行明分而起希求。

《广论》 Pg370LL02-Pg372LL01

*《菩提道次第广论》原文改译——大慈恩译经基金会

 In the case of excitement, out of attachment your attention pursues objects such as forms and sounds; so in response to that, bring to mind disillusioning things that cause your attention to be drawn inward. As soon as this calms the excitement, settle your mind on the earlier object of meditation. Kamalasila’s first Stages of Meditation states:
  When you see that your mind is occasionally becoming excited as you recall previous excitement, play, and so forth, calm the excitement by bringing to mind disillusioning things, such as impermanence. Then strive to engage the object of meditation without your mind becoming involved in activity.

And Bhavaviveka’s Heart of the Middle Way states:
  Calm excitement by bringing to mind Impermanence and so forth.

And:
  Pull your mind back from distraction by noting
  The faults of the distracting objects.

Also, Santideva’s Compendium of Trainings states: “If excitement occurs, calm it by bringing impermanence to mind.

 So, if very strong or prolonged excitement arises, it is crucial that you relax the meditation for a while and cultivate a sense of disenchantment, rather than attempting to pull in your mind and direct it back to the object of meditation every time it becomes scattered. For excitement that is not so dominant, draw in the scattered attention, and fix your attention upon the object of meditation. This is because Aryasura’s Compendium of the Perfections states:

  When your mind becomes excited stop this disturbance
  By calming it and stabilizing your attention.

And Asanga’s texts on the levels say that the sutra passage, “you focus your mind,” refers to a remedy for excitement.

 It is generally said that if your mind is excited, you should focus on the object of meditation, while if it is lax, you should think about a delightful object. Asanga’s Sravaka Levels states:

  Thus, once your mind has become withdrawn inward and you note that there is slackness or the threat of slackness, maintain and gladden your mind by thinking of any inspiring things. This is maintaining your mind. How do you settle your mind? While maintaining your mind, when you note that your mind is excited or that there is the threat of excitement, withdraw your mind inward and settle in a calming stabilization.

When your mind is excited, do not bring to mind inspiring and delightful objects because this will cause your mind to be distracted outward.

(2′)) The underlying causes of laxity and excitement

Asanga’s Levels of Yogic Deeds states:

  What are the signs of laxity? Not restraining the sensory faculties; not eating in moderation; not making an effort to practice rather than sleeping during the early and later parts of the night; ongoing lack of vigilance; deluded behavior; over-sleeping; being unskillful; being lazy in one’s aspirations, joyous perseverance, intention, and analysis; giving only partial attention to serenity without accustoming yourself to it and fully refining it; letting your mind stay as though in darkness; and not delighting in focusing on the object of meditation.

Here, “signs of laxity” should be understood as the causes of laxity. The word “lazy” applies to joyous perseverance, intention, and analysis, as well as to aspirations. The same text also states:

  What are the signs of excitement? The first four points listed above for the signs of laxity-not restraining the sensory faculties, etc.; behaving with attachment; having a disquieted manner; lacking a sense of disenchantment; being unskillful; having a great sense of grasping in your aspiration, etc.; failing to accustom yourself to joyous perseverance; meditating in an unbalanced way without refining your apprehension of the object of meditation; and being distracted by any sort of exciting topic, such as thoughts about relatives.

The “signs of excitement” are the causes of excitement. “Great grasping” is an excessive mental hold on a delightful object. “Aspiration, etc.” refers to the four points [aspiration, joyous perseverance, intention, and analysis] explained earlier.

 Thus the four practices of which restraint of the sensory faculties is the first, which were discussed earlier in the section on practice between meditation sessions, are important for stopping both laxity and excitement. Moreover, if you recognize those causes and try to stop them, this is obviously very helpful for interrupting laxity and excitement. Therefore, use vigilance to notice even subtle laxity and excitement. You should stop laxity and excitement in every possible way, not tolerating them in any form. Maitreya’s Separation of the Middle from the Extremes says that failing to do this is a fault of concentration called “non-application.

 Some may gradually give up, thinking, “Slight excitement and distraction persist even though I cut them off at the outset, so I shall not cut them off.” Or if laxity and excitement are not strong and do not persist for long periods, they may think, “Since they are weak and of brief duration, I do not accumulate karmic obstructions. So I do not need to cut them off.” Those who think this way and fail to apply themselves to the elimination of these hindrances do not know the right way to achieve concentration, yet pretend that they do. They deceive those who aspire to concentration, for their approach places them outside the tradition of methods for attaining concentration laid down by teachers such as the venerable Maitreya.

 Moreover, in terms of counteracting laxity and excitement, at the outset you will most often be interrupted by excitement and distraction, so strive to eliminate them. If, by working on this, you stop gross excitement and distraction, then you will get a little bit of stability; at this point, make an effort to guard against laxity. If you are on guard against laxity with a heightened awareness, then excitement-more subtle than before-may again interrupt your stability. So strive to eliminate this; if you do stop it, then stability will increase. Then laxity will again arise, so try to eliminate laxity.

 In summary, withdraw your mind from scattering and excitement, inwardly fixing it upon the object of meditation, and seek stability. Each time stability occurs, take great precautions against laxity and bring forth a vivid intensity. You will achieve flawless concentration by alternating between these two. Do not expect to attain stability by means of mere limpidity, which lacks the vividness that goes along with an intense way of apprehending the object.

Lamrim Chenmo Vol. 3 Pg65L05-Pg67LL10


References 参考资料:​​
  1. 《菩提道次第廣論》全文下載
  2. The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (Tib. Lam rim chen mo) (Volume 3), Shambhala Publications
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