The pace of life is often frantic, our minds are always busy,

不但生活步驟快，大腦時刻不停

and we're always doing something.

而且我們總是在做些什麼。

So with that in mind, I'd like you just to take a moment

在這樣的前提下，我希望你們花一點時間想想

to think, when did you last take any time to do nothing?

你上一次完全放空是什麼時候？

Just 10 minutes, undisturbed?

就算只是毫無干擾的十分鐘？

And when I say nothing, I do mean nothing.

當我說放空時，我的意思是真的什麼都不做。

So that's no emailing, texting, no Internet,

沒有電郵、沒有簡訊、沒有網路、

no TV, no chatting, no eating, no reading,

沒有電視、不說話、不吃東西、不看書、

not even sitting there reminiscing about the past

也不是坐在那裡回想往事

or planning for the future.

或是思考未來。

Simply doing nothing.

很簡單地完全放空。

I see a lot of very blank faces. (Laughter)

我看到很多茫然的臉龐。（笑聲）

My thinking is, you probably have to go a long way back.

我猜，這可能是很久以前的事了

And this is an extraordinary thing, right?

這很特別，不是嗎？

We're talking about our mind.

我們的腦袋。

The mind, our most valuable and precious resource,

腦袋，我們最有價值、最珍貴的資源，

through which we experience every single moment of our life,

透過它，我們經歷生命中的每一刻。

the mind that we rely upon

腦袋讓我們感覺

to be happy, content, emotionally stable as individuals,

開心、滿足、情緒穩定，

and at the same time to be kind and thoughtful

親切、懂事、

and considerate in our relationships with others.

顧慮到我們與別人的關係。

This is the same mind that we depend upon

同一個腦袋讓我們

to be focused, creative, spontaneous,

專心一意，創意無限，隨性發揮

and to perform at our very best in everything that we do.

讓我們把一切做到最好。

And yet, we don't take any time out to look after it.

就算如此，我們卻不曾認真花時間照顧它。

In fact, we spend more time looking after our cars,

事實上，我們花更多時間照顧我們的車子、

our clothes and our hair than we

我們的衣服、我們的頭髮

— okay, maybe not our hair, but you see where I'm going.

──或許頭髮不算，但你知道我的意思。

The result, of course, is that we get stressed.

果不其然，我們當然感到壓力。

You know, the mind whizzes away like a washing machine

你知道嗎？腦袋就像一台洗衣機，

going round and round, lots of difficult, confusing emotions,

一直在各種困難、困惑的情緒中轉來轉去，

and we don't really know how to deal with that,

而我們卻不知道怎麼處理，

and the sad fact is that we are so distracted

悲哀的事實是，我們分心到

that we're no longer present in the world in which we live.

沒有辦法活在當下。

We miss out on the things that are most important to us,

我們錯過對我們來說最重要的事，

and the crazy thing is that everybody just assumes,

瘋狂的是大家以為

well, that's the way life is, so we've just kind of got to get on with it.

人生就是這樣，所以我們就繼續這樣下去。

That's really not how it has to be.

其實我們大可改變現狀。

So I was about 11 when I went along

我大約是十一歲左右

to my first meditation class.

參加人生中的第一堂冥想課。

And trust me, it had all the stereotypes that you can imagine,

是的，它就像你想像的那樣：

the sitting cross-legged on the floor,

盤腿坐在地上、

the incense, the herbal tea, the vegetarians, the whole deal,

香氛、草茶、素食者，應有盡有，

but my mom was going and I was intrigued, so I went along with her.

但我媽要去而我覺得很有趣，於是就跟去了。

I'd also seen a few kung fu movies, and secretly

我也看過一些功夫電影，私底下，

I kind of thought I might be able to learn how to fly,

我甚至覺得我可以學會飛，

but I was very young at the time.

當然我當時年紀很小。

Now as I was there, I guess, like a lot of people,

當時，我猜很多人和我一樣，

I assumed that it was just an aspirin for the mind.

我以為那只是腦子用的阿斯匹靈。

You get stressed, you do some meditation.

壓力大的時候，就冥想一下。

I hadn't really thought that it could be sort of preventative in nature,

我沒想到它是有預防效果的，

until I was about 20, when a number of things happened

直到我 20 歲左右，幾件事情

in my life in quite quick succession,

很快地在我生命中發生，

really serious things which just flipped my life upside down

一些很嚴重的事把我生活弄得天翻地覆，

and all of a sudden I was inundated with thoughts,

我突然被情緒淹沒，

inundated with difficult emotions that I didn't know how to cope with.

被我不知道該怎麼應付的負面情緒淹沒。

Every time I sort of pushed one down,

每當我壓抑了一個，

another one would just sort of pop back up again.

另一個就開始浮出。

It was a really very stressful time.

那是一段壓力非常大的日子。

I guess we all deal with stress in different ways.

我猜我們應付壓力的方式都不一樣。

Some people will bury themselves in work,

有些人會把自己埋在工作中，

grateful for the distraction.

很慶幸有事情可以分心。

Others will turn to their friends, their family, looking for support.

有些人會轉向朋友、家人來尋找幫助。

Some people hit the bottle, start taking medication.

有些人喝酒、吃藥。

My own way of dealing with it was to become a monk.

我處理的方式是成為一位僧侶。

So I quit my degree, I headed off to the Himalayas,

所以我離開學校，前往喜馬拉雅，

I became a monk, and I started studying meditation.

我成為一位僧侶，開始學習冥想。

People often ask me what I learned from that time.

人們常問我那段時間學到什麼。

Well, obviously it changed things.

恩，當然有改變事情。

Let's face it, becoming a celibate monk

讓我們面對現實吧！

is going to change a number of things.

當一位禁慾的僧侶是會改變很多事的。

But it was more than that.

但改變是更多的。

It taught me -- it gave me a greater appreciation,

它教會我，讓我更感激、

an understanding for the present moment.

更瞭解當下。

By that I mean not being lost in thought,

我是說不陷入自己的想法中，

not being distracted,

不分心，

not being overwhelmed by difficult emotions,

不被各種負面情緒淹沒、

but instead learning how to be in the here and now,

而是學著如何在當下存在，

how to be mindful, how to be present.

如何集中注意力、如何存在。

I think the present moment is so underrated.

我覺得當下常被忽略。

It sounds so ordinary, and yet we spend so little time

它聽起來很正常，但我們花在當下的時間之少，

in the present moment that it's anything but ordinary.

讓活在當下變成一件很鮮有的事。

There was a research paper that came out of Harvard,

最近哈佛發表了一個研究，

just recently, that said on average our minds

說一個正常的腦袋平均有

are lost in thought almost 47 percent of the time.

百分之 47 的時間是迷失在思考當中。

Forty-seven percent.

百分之四十七。

At the same time, this sort of constant mind-wandering

同時，這樣的持續性的腦袋漫遊

is also a direct cause of unhappiness.

是造成不開心的直接原因。

Now we're not here for that long anyway,

我們在世上的時間並不長，

but to spend almost half of our life lost in thought

卻花了近一半的人生迷失在思考中

and potentially quite unhappy,

並且往往造成我們不開心，

dunno, it just kind of seems tragic, actually,

這難道不是一種悲劇嗎？

especially when there's something we can do about it,

尤其是我們明明可以作些改變，

when there's a positive, practical, achievable,

有個正面、實在、可達成、

scientifically proven technique

也很科學的技巧，

which allows our mind to be more healthy,

讓我們腦袋更健康、

to be more mindful and less distracted.

更專注、更不容易分心。

And the beauty of it is that even though

而最棒的是雖然我們

it need only take about 10 minutes a day,

每天只花十分鐘，

it impacts our entire life.

它能影響整個人生。

But we need to know how to do it.

但我們需要知道怎麼做。

We need an exercise. We need a framework

我們需要練習。我們需要架構

to learn how to be more mindful.

讓我們學習如何更專注。

That's essentially what meditation is.

這正是冥想的本質。

It's familiarizing ourselves with the present moment.

它讓我們更熟悉當下。

But we also need to know how to approach it

但我們需要知道用什麼方式接近它

in the right way to get the best from it.

才能達到最好的效果。

And that's what these are for, in case you've been wondering,

這就是這些東西的作用，

because most people assume

人們常以為

that meditation is all about stopping thoughts,

冥想是停止思考、

getting rid of emotions, somehow controlling the mind,

驅離情緒、控制腦袋，

but actually it's quite different from that.

事實上卻不是這樣。

It's more about stepping back,

它比較像是往後退一步，

seeing the thought clearly,

更清楚地看思維，

witnessing it coming and going, emotions coming and going

以一個輕鬆、專注、沒有任何成見的腦袋

without judgment, but with a relaxed, focused mind.

來看思維的來去、看情緒的來去。

So for example, right now,

舉例來說，現在，

if I focus too much on the balls, then there's no way

如果我太專注在這些球上，我就沒有辦法放鬆

that I can relax and talk to you at the same time.

並同時跟你們講話。

Equally, if I relax too much talking to you,

同樣的，如果我過於放鬆來跟你們講話，

then there's no way I can focus on the balls. I'm going to drop them.

那麼我就沒有辦法注意球。球會掉。

Now in life, and in meditation, there'll be times

在人生中和在冥想中，有些時候

when the focus becomes a little bit too intense,

我們會過份專注

and life starts to feel a bit like this.

然後人生就變成像這樣。

It's a very uncomfortable way to live life,

緊張、壓力大

when you get this tight and stressed.

是一種很不舒服的生活方式。

At other times, we might take our foot off the gas a little bit too much,

在其他時候，我們在油門上的腳可能又放得太鬆，

and things just become a sort of little bit like this.

事情就開始變成這樣。

Of course in meditation — (Snores) —

當然在冥想時 ─（打呼）─

we're going to end up falling asleep.

我們會睡著。

So we're looking for a balance, a focused relaxation

所以我們在找得是一種平衡，專注的放鬆，

where we can allow thoughts to come and go

讓我們的思想得以自由來去

without all the usual involvement.

沒有平常的那些干擾。

Now, what usually happens when we're learning to be mindful

在我們學習專注的過程中

is that we get distracted by a thought.

我們常因一個思緒而分心。

Let's say this is an anxious thought.

假設這是個令人焦慮的想法。

So everything's going fine, and then we see the anxious thought,

當一切正常，我們突然想到這件焦慮的事，

and it's like, "Oh, didn't realize I was worried about that."

就像「喔，我竟不知道我正在擔心那個。」

You go back to it, repeat it. "Oh, I am worried.

你回想、再次對自己重複。「喔，我是擔心的。

Oh, I really am worried. Wow, there's so much anxiety."

喔，我真的好擔心。天啊，我好焦慮！」

And before we know it, right,

在我們意識到之前，

we're anxious about feeling anxious.

我們正在為感到焦慮而焦慮。

You know, this is crazy. We do this all the time,

這真的很瘋狂。我們卻常常這樣，

even on an everyday level.

甚至每天都這樣。

If you think about the last time, I dunno,

想想你最後一次

you had a wobbly tooth.

發現一顆動搖的牙齒。

You know it's wobbly, and you know that it hurts.

你知道它在晃，你也知道它會痛。

But what do you do every 20, 30 seconds?

然後你每20，30秒對自己重複什麼？

(Mumbling) It does hurt. And we reinforce the storyline, right?

（喃喃自語）真的好痛。然後一直對自己這麼說，

And we just keep telling ourselves,

反覆的說，

and we do it all the time. And it's only in learning

我們往往如此。唯有學著旁觀你的思考

to watch the mind in this way that we can start to let go

才能讓我們學會放手

of those storylines and patterns of mind.

不再用過去的模式重複這些想法。

But when you sit down and you watch the mind in this way,

但當你坐下來並用這種方式旁觀你的思考模式，

you might see many different patterns.

你可能會看到許多完全不一樣的模式。

You might find a mind that's really restless and --

你可能會發現腦袋是非常不安份的──

the whole time.

隨時。

Don't be surprised if you feel a bit agitated in your body

不要驚訝當你坐下來什麼都不做，想著自己什麼都不做時

when you sit down to do nothing and your mind feels like that.

你的身體會有些焦躁。

You might find a mind that's very dull

你可能會發現你的腦袋感覺很無趣、很無聊，

and boring, and it's just, almost mechanical,

幾乎是機械性的，

it just seems it's as if you're

就像是你每天起床、

getting up, going to work, eat, sleep, get up, work.

去工作、吃飯、睡覺、起床、上班。

Or it might just be that one little nagging thought

或有可能就是有那麼一個擾人的想法

that just goes round and round and round your mind.

一直在那邊轉呀轉呀轉的。

Well, whatever it is, meditation offers

不管是什麼，冥想提供的是一個機會，

the opportunity, the potential to step back

可以後退一不

and to get a different perspective,

從不同的角度觀看，

to see that things aren't always as they appear.

許多事並不是它們平日表現出來的那樣。

We can't change

我們不能改變

every little thing that happens to us in life,

生活中的每一樣小東西，

but we can change the way that we experience it.

但我們可以改變我們怎麼感受它。

That's the potential of meditation, of mindfulness.

這是冥想、專注能帶來的。

You don't have to burn any incense,

你不需要香氛、

and you definitely don't have to sit on the floor.

也不需要坐在地上。

All you need to do is to take 10 minutes out a day

你只需要每天花十分鐘後退一步，

to step back, to familiarize yourself with the present moment

熟悉當下的時光，

so that you get to experience a greater sense

讓你可以感受到一個更高層級

of focus, calm and clarity in your life.

的專注、平靜、以及對生命的澈悟。

Thank you very much. (Applause)

謝謝。（掌聲）