was that I have seen many people come to my programs,

驅使我寫這本禪修書籍之一個主要目的與靈感，是因為我發現到，

and generally be interested in meditation and there was a lot of curiosity,

許多人來參加我的課程，

and at the same time there was a lot of preconceptions.

而這些人通常對禪修有興趣，而且對其懷有很強的好奇心，

People had a lot of ideas about what meditation was.

但同時，這些人有許多先入為主的觀點。

And I found myself often trying to demystify the practice for people.

人們對禪修具有各種想法，

Trying to say it's a very simple practice and it does not have to be that complicated.

而我發現，我常常要試圖為大家去除禪修的神祕面紗。

But at the same time there's something to learn, there's something to engage in,

我想說的是，它是一個非常簡單的修行，它並不見得是那麼複雜的；

and there's actually a lot to delve into;

同時，禪修可以讓你學習、並參與其中，

because, in a sense meditation is delving into our own mind.

實際上，它確有許多值得我們探索研究的面向。

And from this point of view, one of the kind of main thrusts of what I am trying do

因為在某種意義上，禪修是探究我們自己的心，

with the practice of meditation, is that I feel like every single person

從這一點來看，我所要傳達的禪修要旨之一是：

has the ability and capability to do the practice of meditation;

我覺得每一個人，

regardless of really who they are,

都有能力練習禪坐，

as long as they can understand some very basic principles.

無論他們是誰，

And also incorporate the practice into their life.

只要能夠理解一些非常基本的原則，

And even really one of the main things is keeping the session short,

也可以將禪修應用於其個人的生活當中。

doing very brief five or ten minutes sessions. That it does not have to be this long process.

其中的要點之一，是我們可以修習短時間的打坐，

And many people I think have an idea of meditation,

例如，每次五或十分鐘，禪坐不需要花太長的時間。

and they have an image of maybe someone sitting in a meditation cave,

許多人對禪修有某種特定的想法，

or going off into some sort of deep trance, and so forth.

人們腦海中或會有某人在山洞中打坐的景象，

And really that's not the full purpose of the practice,

或是進入某種深沉的恍惚、入神狀況等等，

and one doesn’t need to do that.

但這些都不是禪修的全副目的，

If one chooses one can go off into a cave,

禪修者也不須這麼做。

but really whether one is in cave or whether one is sitting here,

如果一個人選擇進入山洞中修行，

it's the same mind, you know, it's the same being.

但不管這個人是在山洞裡、或就在這裡禪坐，

And many people spend much money and much time going to India or some place exotic,

都是一樣的心、一樣的生命存在。

to look for a teacher and then meditate. And all of a sudden guess who they find?

許多人花了許多金錢和時間、到印度或其他域外之地，

It’s the same person. And all of a sudden they say, "I could have,

他們尋找明師修禪。突然地，你猜他們找到誰？

you know, I could have done this a lot cheaper, you know. It would have been a lot easier."

他們找到的是這個同樣的人（自己），然後他們會說：

And sometimes it feels like, you know, we have a lot of ideas about practice,

「我原本可以花很少的費用來學習禪修，而且這又簡單得多！」(眾笑)

and it becomes very spiritual.

有時候我們對禪修有各式各樣的想法，

And ahh what is interesting with the practice of meditation

而它變得非常精神性。

and how I was sort of introduced to it, in terms of just everyday, that it was very normal.

禪修有什麼有趣之處？

You know I feel like it's like drinking water, in a sense of everyday situation.

我所知的禪修，以日常生活而言，禪修相當平凡無奇，

And why I am saying it's like drinking water, or an everyday situation,

就尋常日用而言，我覺得禪修就像是喝水一般；

is because my understanding of meditation is that it's simply relating to your mind.

為什麼我說禪修像喝水，或像是日常生活中的情況呢？

When we use the word in Tibetan, when we use the word meditation, we use the word Gom.

以我對禪修的了解，禪修只是與我們的心相關連。

And Gom has the root essence of the Tibetan word Kom, and it means familiarity.

禪修的藏文是「槓」(Gom)：

Now in Tibetan we have many, many different kinds of words for meditation.

「槓」(Gom) 有藏文「貢」(Kom) 的字根之意，指的是「熟悉」。

And obviously in English there is one basic word,

在藏文中，我們用許多不同的字詞用來描述禪修，

we use concentration or mindfulness, or contemplation, many things.

而顯然地，在英文中，只有一個基本字眼，

But really the word meditation is used over and over.

我們雖然用了「專注」、或「正念」，或是「冥思」詞彙，

But in Tibet there is, you could say there's not really one word,

事實上，在英文中「禪修」(meditation) 這詞已經被大眾反覆地使用，

but there're different ways of describing the practice.

但在西藏，則不僅只用一個字眼來形容禪修，

But in general the word is Kom, which means familiarity.

而可以用許多方式來描述、形容禪修。

And the quality here is that we are becoming familiar.

但一般而言仍以象徵「熟悉」的「貢」為主；

So the practice of meditation is, "I am sitting still becoming familiar with something."

而這個字詞的本質是指，我們變得愈來愈熟悉於，

And as I become more familiar,

禪修即是：「我靜坐、而後對某事越來越熟悉。」

my understanding and depth of the subject begins to really penetrate,

在我更為熟悉之後，

whether it's wisdom, whether it's compassion,

我對這個主題的深度和瞭解開始真正穿透，

or whether it's just simply following my breath, trying to relax.

無論是智慧，或是慈悲，

Just relaxing with who we are.

或只是簡單地跟隨我的呼吸，試圖放鬆，

So there is always a notion that we are becoming familiar with something.

只要放鬆於我們之本然狀態。

I think the key thing here is that,

因此禪修即是我們對某個事物感到熟悉，

what is it that we can become familiar with in meditation that is beneficial?

我認為這裡的關鍵是，

And a lot of times in the beginning, because people come to meditation

在禪修中，我們對哪些事物感到熟悉、方是有益的？

because they hear about the lack of,

一開始，人們來修禪坐，

or you could say the amount of stress and it reduces the stress, it helps us relax.

因為他們聽到說，

So often in the beginning we use the breath. The breath is something that's consistent,

禪坐可以減輕壓力，它可以幫助我們放鬆，

and when we breathe we can exhale a lot of the tension.

所以往往在起頭時，我們使用呼吸。呼吸總是始終如一的，

And breathing itself, in terms of meditation principle,

而當我們呼吸時，我們可以呼出大量的緊張情緒。

is very much connected with consciousness.

呼吸本身，以禪修原則而言，

And it helps in terms of relaxation of the mind.

則與「意識」連結甚深，

It helps in terms of relaxation of the body.

它有助於心的鬆弛，

So initially we become familiar with breathing.

亦有助身體的放鬆。

And I think there is a lot of potency in the breathing.

起初，我們對呼吸感到漸漸熟悉，

But one of the main principles is just settling down:

我認為呼吸本身有許多效能，

having a sense of relaxation, having a sense of strength.

但其主要原則之一是讓心沉靜，

And later we can, if we want to go on a,

有一種放鬆感、一種力量感，

for example, being a buddhist we meditated on compassion, or wisdom, or selflessness.

之後，如果我們願意繼續修行，

Then later we focus on those principles:

如作為佛教徒，我們可以禪修思惟慈悲、智慧、無我等主題，

we contemplate those words, we contemplate those meanings.

我們專注於這些原則之上，

We are becoming more and more familiar with that.

我們思惟這些字詞、思惟其意義，

So from that point of view people say, you know to me,

對它們越來越覺得熟悉。

"I meditate" or "I do not meditate".

所以從這樣的觀點來看時，人們常對我說：

And from my point of view I say, "Well actually you are always meditating."

「我禪修，」或「我不禪修。」

Because you are always becoming familiar with something.

以我的觀點，我會說：「其實你們一直都在禪修的。」

You get up in the morning and we are constantly meditating.

因為你們總是會對某種事物感到熟悉，

Now generally speaking we can look and say, "Is that meditation beneficial?"

早上起床之後，我們就不斷地在禪修。

You know "What is it that we rise with?"

一般而言，我們可以檢視：「這種禪修有益處嗎？」

Often we rise in the morning and we have anxiety, we have anger, we have jealousy.

「我們起床時伴隨著什麼感覺呢？」

So naturally we are becoming familiar with jealousy.

我們經常在早上起床後，心中就充滿焦慮、憤怒、妒忌了，

Somebody has something we want, and after a while we are really good meditators.

所以我們很自然地就會對妒忌感到熟悉。

We do not wander at all. We are completely focused and you know.

有人擁有我們想要的東西，而一段時間後，我們就會是很好的禪修者，一直禪修於妒忌之上；

So we know how to meditate. And the same thing with anger,

我們一心不亂地禪修於妒忌之上，完全集中；

it’s like you know we start contemplating and start thinking about it, our mind,

因此，我們的確知道如何禪修的。同樣的，憤怒亦然。

even if we try to do something else, it comes back to anger.

這就好像我們開始去思惟我們的心時，

"That person I don’t know what..

即使我們嘗試做別的事情，我們仍然會回到憤怒上。

they cut me off in traffic I am going to go get em now".

「那個我不認識的人…

You know, we are going to chase them down the road

他們插到我車子前面、阻擋了我的去路，我可要給他一點顏色瞧瞧！」

or later we are going to do something to somebody.

於是我們就會在路上追逐他們，

So that is the other part of meditation, because meditation is contemplation,

或者等一下我們會對某些人進行報復。

familiarity with a subject and later it is action or engaged.

而這便是禪修的另一部份，因為禪修就是思惟修，

In Tibetan we say gom, and then what follows that is called chingle or activity.

熟悉一個主題之後，即是行動或參與進行。

Then we engage.

藏文說「槓」，然後接著下來是「欽磊」(chingle) 或活動，

Because the point of meditation is that we are honing and we're strengthening something

然後我們參與其中。

that is very important and precious, so that we can actually actualize it.

因為禪修的要點是讓我們磨練與強化某種