Chia Khoa Hoc Phat

Prologue
Introduction
I. Recollection of the Buddha
II. Goodwill
III. The Foul: Tranquility Meditation
IV. Mindfulness of Death: Insight Meditation
Epilogue
Translator's Appendix
Glossary

Mục Lục

Dẫn Nhập
Giới Thiệu
I. Quán Tưởng Đức Phật
II. Tâm Từ
III. Bất Tịnh: Thiền Tĩnh Lặng
IV. Quán Niệm cái Chết: Thiền Minh Sát
Kết Luận
Phụ Lục của Dịch Giả
Chú Giải

III. The Foul: Tranquillity Meditation

I.e., remove all befouling mental states from the mind. The things that befoul and darken the mind are the five Hindrances:

— Kama-chanda: sensual desires, taking pleasure in sensual objects (sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, ideas) and sensual moods (such as passion, aversion, and delusion).
— Byapada: ill will, malevolence, hatred.

— Thina-middha: torpor, lethargy, drowsiness, listlessness.

— Uddhacca-kukkucca: restlessness and anxiety.

— Vicikiccha: doubt, uncertainty.

When any of these unskillful states occupy the heart, it's not flourishing, blooming, or bright. For the heart to bloom, it has to be free from all five of the Hindrances; and for it to be free in this way, we have to develop concentration or absorption (jhana), which is composed of directed thought, evaluation, rapture, pleasure, and singleness of preoccupation (see below). The heart will then be clear, bright, and resplendent. In Pali, this is called "sobhana-citta." Thus, in this section we will discuss how to develop concentration as a means of eliminating the Hindrances as follows:

III. Bất Tịnh: Thiền Tĩnh Lặng

Nghĩa là, loại bỏ mọi trạng thái nhơ nhuốc tinh thần khỏi tâm. Những thứ làm nhơ nhuốc và đen tối tâm là năm Chướng ngại:

— Kama-chanda: dục vọng, ưa thích những đối tượng gợi cảm (hình ảnh, âm thanh, mùi, vị, xúc giác, ý tưởng) và tâm trạng gợi cảm (chẳng hạn như đam mê, ác cảm, và ảo tưởng).
— Byapada: ác ý, xấu xa, hận thù.

— Thina-middha: hôn trầm, lười biếng, buồn ngủ, thờ ơ.

— Uddhacca-kukkucca: bồn chồn và lo lắng.

— Vicikiccha: nghi ngờ, không chắc chắn.

Khi một trong những trạng thái thô thiển này chiếm giữ trái tim, nó sẽ không phát triễn, nở rộ, hay tươi sáng. Để trái tim nở rộ, nó phải thoát khỏi tất cả năm Chướng ngại; và để nó được tự do theo cách này, chúng ta phải phát triễn sự tập trung hay định (jhana), bao gồm tư duy hay quán niệm, thẩm định, sung sướng, an lạc và đề mục duy nhất (xem dưới đây). Sau đó tim sẽ được rõ ràng, tươi sáng, và rực rỡ. Trong tiếng Pali, đây gọi là "sobhana-citta." Do đó, trong phần này chúng ta sẽ thảo luận cách phát triễn thiền định như một phương tiện loại bỏ các Chướng ngại như sau:

A. "Among the forty themes, breath is supreme."

Sit in a half-lotus position, your right leg on top of your left; your hands palm-up in your lap, your right hand on top of your left. Keep your body comfortably erect and your mind on what you're doing. Don't let your thoughts go spinning forward or back. Be intent on keeping track of the present: the present of the body, or the in-and-out breath; and the present of the mind, or mindfulness and all-round alertness. The present of the body and the present of the mind should be brought together at a single point. In other words, make the object of the mind single and one. Focus your attention on the breath, keeping watch over it until you're clearly aware that, "This is the in-breath," and "This is the out." Once you can see clearly in this way, call to mind the virtues of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, gathering them into a single word, "Buddho." Then divide "Buddho" into two syllables, thinking "bud-" with the in-breath, and "dho" with the out, at the same time counting your breaths: "Bud-" in, "dho" out, one; "bud-" in, "dho" out, two; "bud-" in "dho" out, three, and so on up to ten. Then start counting again from one to nine; then one to eight, one to seven... six... five... four... three... two... one... zero. In other words:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4
1 2 3
1 2
1
0

"Trong số bốn mươi chủ đề, hơi thở là tối thượng."

Ngồi ở tư thế hoa sen bán-già, chân phải đặt trên chân trái; hai bàn tay mở đặt chồng lên nhau trên đùi, tay phải trên tay trái. Giữ thân thể thẳng một cách thoải mái và chú tâm vào những gì bạn đang làm. Đừng để tư tưởng của bạn đi lòng vòng. Kiên quyết theo dõi hiện tại: hiện tại của thân, hay hơi thở vào ra; và hiện tại của tâm, hay chánh niệm và cảnh giác toàn diện. Hiện tại của thân và hiện tại của tâm nên được kết hợp với nhau tại một điểm duy nhất. Nói cách khác, làm cho đối tượng của tâm đơn độc và là một. Tập trung sự chú ý của bạn vào hơi thở, liên tục theo dõi nó cho đến khi bạn nhận thức rõ ràng rằng, "Đây là hơi thở vào," và "Đây là hơi thở ra." Một khi bạn có thể thấy rõ ràng theo cách này, hảy nhắc nhở tâm về những phẩm hạnh của Phật, Pháp, và Tăng, tập hợp thành một chữ duy nhất, "Buddho." Rồi chia "Buddho" thành hai vần, niệm "bud-" với hơi thở vào, và "dho" với hơi thở ra, đồng thời đếm hơi thở của bạn: "Bud-" vào, "dho" ra, một; "Bud-" vào, "dho" ra, hai; "Bud-" vào, "dho" ra, ba; lên đến mười. Sau đó bắt đầu đếm lại từ một đến chín; rồi một đến tám, một đến bảy... sáu... năm... bốn... ba... hai... một... không. Nói cách khác:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4
1 2 3
1 2
1
0

Keep three points — the breath, your mindfulness, and your awareness — together in a single stream. If when you've finished counting you find that your mind still won't stay with the breath, start by counting again, from one to ten and so on to zero. Keep this up until you feel that your mind has settled down, and then stay with zero. In other words, you no longer have to count, you no longer have to think "Buddho." Simply keep careful watch over your breath and your awareness. Keep your awareness focused on a single point, being mindful and watchful. Don't send it in and out after the breath. When the breath comes in, you know. When it goes out, you know, but don't make your awareness go in or out. Keep it neutral and still. Keep watch only on the present. When you can do this, the five Hindrances won't be able to find entry into the mind. This is called "parikamma bhavana," repetition meditation.

At this point, the mind becomes light and can put aside its heavy burdens. When the mind is light, so is the body. In Pali this is called, "kaya-lahuta, citta-lahuta." The mind is peaceful and solitary — free from agitation and unrest — clear and calm with the refined sense of the breath. When the mind reaches this state, it's in the sphere of directed thought (vitakka), which is the first factor of jhana.

Now survey and examine the characteristics of the breath. Try adjusting the breath in four different ways: Breathe in long and out long, and see whether your mind is at ease with that sort of breath. Then breathe in short and out short to see whether you feel comfortable and at ease that way. Then see whether you feel at ease breathing in long and out short, or in short and out long. Continue breathing in whichever of these four ways feels most comfortable and then let that comfortable breath spread throughout the different parts of the body. At the same time, expand your sense of mindful awareness along with the breath.

Ghi nhớ ba điểm — hơi thở, chánh niệm, và nhận thức của bạn — cùng nhau trong một dòng duy nhất. Nếu khi bạn đếm xong và thấy rằng tâm bạn vẫn không ở lại với hơi thở, bắt đầu đếm lại, từ một đến mười và cứ tiếp tục như vậy đến không. Hảy duy trì điều này cho đến khi bạn cảm thấy tâm bạn đã lắng đọng, và sau đó ở lại với không. Nói cách khác, bạn không còn phải đếm, bạn không còn phải niệm "Buddho." Đơn giản chỉ cần theo dõi cẩn thận hơi thở và nhận thức của bạn. Giữ nhận thức của bạn tập trung vào một điểm duy nhất, chánh niệm và cảnh giác. Đừng để nó đi theo hơi thở vào và ra. Khi thở vào, bạn biết. Khi thở ra, bạn biết, nhưng đừng để cho nhận thức của bạn đi vào hay ra. Giữ nó trung tính và tĩnh lặng. Tiếp tục chỉ nhìn vào hiện tại. Khi bạn có thể làm điều này, năm Chướng ngại sẽ không thể tìm thấy đường vào tâm. Đây gọi là "parikamma bhavana," thiền lập lại.

Tại điểm này, tâm trở nên nhẹ và có thể đặt những gánh nặng của nó qua một bên. Khi tâm nhẹ, thân cũng vậy. Trong tiếng Pali đây gọi là, "kaya-lahuta, citta-lahuta." Tâm bình an và tịch mịch — không bị lo lắng và bồn chồn — sáng suốt và bình tĩnh với cảm giác tinh tế của hơi thở. Khi tâm đạt đến trạng thái này, nó nằm trong phạm vi của quán niệm (vitakka - tầm), đó là yếu tố đầu tiên của định.

Bây giờ quan sát và xem xét những đặc tính của hơi thở. Hảy thử điều chỉnh hơi thở theo bốn cách khác nhau: Thở vào dài và thở ra dài, và xem liệu tâm bạn có dễ chịu với kiểu thở đó không. Rồi thở vào ngắn và thở ra ngắn để xem liệu bạn cảm thấy thoải mái và bình an theo cách đó không. Sau đó xem liệu bạn cảm thấy dễ chịu khi thở vào dài và ra ngắn, hay vào ngắn và ra dài. Tiếp tục thở theo cách nào trong bốn cách này mà bạn cảm thấy thoải mái nhất và sau đó để hơi thở thoải mái đó lan tỏa khắp các phần khác nhau của thân thể. Đồng thời, mở rộng ý thức chánh niệm của bạn cùng với hơi thở.

When the breath runs throughout the body, and the sensations of breath in the various parts of the body are coordinated, they can be put to use, for example, to relieve feelings of pain. Your sense of mindfulness at this point is broad; your alertness, complete and mature. When mindfulness is spread throughout the body, this is called kayagatasati — mindfulness immersed in the body. Your frame of reference is large and expansive, and so is called "mahasatipatthana." Your alertness is present throughout, aware both of the causes — i.e., what you're doing — and of the results coming from what you've done. All of these characteristics are aspects of evaluation (vicara), the second factor of jhana.

Now that the body and mind have received nourishment — in other words, now that the breath has provided for the body, and mindfulness has provided for the mind — both body and mind are bound to reap results, i.e., rapture. The body is full and refreshed, free from restlessness. The mind is full and refreshed, free from anxiety and distraction, broad and blooming. This is called rapture (piti), which is the third factor of jhana.

Once fullness arises in this way, body and mind settle down and are still. In Pali this is termed "kaya-passaddhi, citta-passaddhi." This feeling of stillness leads to a sense of relaxation and ease for both body and mind, termed pleasure (sukha).

These are the beginning steps in dealing with the mind. Once you are able to follow them, you should make a point of practicing them repeatedly, back and forth, until you're skilled at entering concentration, staying in place, and withdrawing. Even just this much can form a path along which the mind can then progress, for it has to some extent already reached the level of upacara bhavana, threshold concentration.

Khi hơi thở chạy khắp thân thể, và cảm giác thở trong các phần khác nhau của thân được phối hợp, chúng có thể được đưa vào sử dụng, ví dụ, để làm giảm cảm giác đau. Ý thức chánh niệm của bạn tại điểm này rộng lớn; cảnh giác của bạn, hoàn chỉnh và thông thạo. Khi chánh niệm lan toả khắp thân thể, đây gọi là kayagatasati — quán niệm về thân. Khung tham chiếu của bạn lớn và trải rộng, và vì vậy được gọi là "mahasatipatthana." Cảnh giác của bạn hiện diện khắp nơi, nhận biết được cả hai nguyên nhân — tức là, những gì bạn đang làm — và kết quả đến từ những gì bạn đã làm. Tất cả những đặc tính này là khía cạnh của thẩm định (vicara), yếu tố thứ nhì của định.

Bây giờ thân và tâm đã nhận được dinh dưỡng — nói cách khác, bây giờ hơi thở đã cung cấp cho thân, và chánh niệm đã cung cấp cho tâm — cả thân và tâm tất sẽ gặt hái kết quả, tức là, sung sướng. Thân viên mãn và sảng khoái, không bồn chồn. Tâm viên mãn và sảng khoái, không lo lắng và nhiễu loạn, rộng lớn và nở rộ. Đây gọi là sung sướng (piti), yếu tố thứ ba của định.

Một khi sự viên mãn phát sinh theo cách này, thân và tâm lắng đọng và tĩnh lặng. Trong tiếng Pali đây gọi là "kaya-passaddhi, citta-passaddhi." Cảm giác tĩnh lặng này dẫn đến cảm giác thư thái và dễ chịu cho cả thân và tâm, gọi là an lạc (sukha).

Đây là những bước khởi đầu trong việc đối phó với tâm. Một khi bạn có thể làm theo chúng, bạn cần phải thực hành chúng liên tục, lập đi lập lại, cho đến khi bạn tinh thông trong việc nhập định, ở lại, và xuất định. Thậm chí chỉ bấy nhiêu thôi cũng có thể tạo thành một con đường để cho tâm có thể tiến triển, vì nó phần nào đó đã đạt đến mức độ của upacara bhavana, tâm cận định.

B. Focal points for the mind

These include: (1) the tip of the nose; (2) the middle of the head; (3) the palate; (4) the base of the throat; (5) the tip of the breastbone; (6) the "center," two inches above the navel. In centering the breath at any of these points, people who tend to have headaches shouldn't focus on any point above the base of the throat.

Coordinate the various aspects of breath in the body, such as the up-flowing breath, the down-flowing breath, the breath flowing in the stomach, the breath flowing in the intestines, the breath flowing along every part of the body, hot breath, cool breath, warm breath: Mesh these various sorts of breath so that they're balanced, even, and just right, so as to give rise to a sense of ease and comfort throughout the body. The purpose of examining and coordinating the breath is to expand your sense of mindfulness and awareness so that they are sensitive throughout the entire body. This will then benefit both body and mind. The enlarged sense of the body is termed mahabhuta-rupa; expanded awareness is termed mahaggatam cittam. This sense of awareness will then go on to reap the benefits of its beauty that will arise in various ways, leading it to the level of appana bhavana, fixed penetration.

B. Tiêu Điểm cho Tâm

Những điểm này bao gồm: (1) chóp mũi; (2) giữa đầu; (3) vòm miệng; (4) đáy cuống họng; (5) chóp xương ức; (6) "trung tâm", hai inches (5 centimeters) trên lỗ rốn. Khi tập trung hơi thở vào bất cứ điểm nào trong số này, người có xu hướng nhức đầu không nên tập trung vào bất cứ điểm nào phía trên đáy cuống họng.

Phối hợp các khía cạnh khác nhau của hơi thở trong thân, chẳng hạn như hơi thở chảy lên, hơi thở chảy xuống, hơi thở luân lưu trong bao tử, hơi thở luân lưu trong ruột, hơi thở luân lưu qua mọi phần của thân thể, hơi thở nóng, hơi thở mát, hơi thở ấm: Kết hợp các loại hơi thở này sao cho chúng cân bằng, đều nhau, và vừa phải, để tạo cảm giác dễ chịu và thoải mái khắp thân thể. Mục đích của việc kiểm tra và phối hợp hơi thở là để mở rộng cảm giác chánh niệm và nhận thức của bạn để chúng được cảm nhận khắp thân thể. Điều này sẽ mang lại lợi ích cho thân và tâm. Cảm giác mở rộng của thân được gọi là mahabhuta-rupa; nhận thức mở rộng được gọi là mahaggatam cittam. Ý thức này sau đó sẽ tiếp tục để gặt hái những lợi ích của vẻ đẹp của nó mà sẽ phát sinh theo nhiều cách khác nhau, dẫn đến mức độ của appana bhavana, tâm nhập định.

* * *

There are three types of blood in the human body:

1. Clear, white — arising from cool breath.
2. Light red, dark red — arising from warm breath.
3. Black, bluish black — arising from hot breath.

These different types of blood, as they nourish the nerves in the body, can cause people to have different tendencies:

1. Hot breath can make a person tend heavily toward being affectionate, easily attracted, and infatuated — tendencies that are associated with delusion.
2. Warm breath can cause a person to have moderate tendencies as far as affection is concerned, but strong tendencies toward a quick and violent temper — tendencies associated with anger.

3. Cool breath causes weak tendencies toward affection, but strong tendencies toward greed, craving material objects more than anything else.

* * *

Có ba loại máu trong thân thể người ta:

1. Trong, màu trắng — phát sinh từ hơi thở mát.
2. Đỏ nhạt, đỏ đậm — phát sinh từ hơi thở ấm.
3. Đen, xanh đen — phát sinh từ hơi thở nóng.

Các loại máu này, khi chúng nuôi dưỡng dây thần kinh trong thân thể, có thể khiến cho người ta có khuynh hướng khác nhau:

1. Hơi thở nóng có thể khiến người ta có khuynh hướng thương mến sâu đậm, dễ bị thu hút, và say mê — những khuynh hướng liên quan đến ảo tưởng.
2. Hơi thở ấm có thể khiến người ta có khuynh hướng thương mến vừa phải, nhưng mạnh mẽ nghiêng về tính khí nóng nảy và hung bạo — những khuynh hướng liên quan đến giận dữ.
3. Hơi thở mát gây ra những khuynh hướng yếu về tình cảm, nhưng mạnh mẽ nghiêng về tham lam, ham muốn đối tượng vật chất hơn bất cứ thứ gì khác.

If we know clearly which physical properties are aggravating greed, anger, or delusion, we can destroy the corresponding properties and these states of mind will weaken on their own.

"Remove the fuel, and the fire won't blaze."

To adjust these properties skillfully gives rise to discernment, which lies at the essence of being skillful. Adjust the property of warmth so that the blood is clear and light red, and your discernment will be quick, your nerves healthy, your thinking perceptive, subtle, and deep. In other words, to make heavier use of the nerves in the physical heart is the way of the Dhamma. As for the nerves of the brain, to use them a great deal leads to restlessness, distraction, and heavy defilements.

These are just a few of the issues related to the breath. There are many, many more, that people of discernment should discover on their own. Ñana-dhatu-vijja: knowledge of the subtleties of all 18 elements (dhatu), the 22 pre-eminent qualities (indriya), the six sense media (ayatana); acute insight into the qualities of the mind; expertise in concentration. Concentration gives rise to liberating insight, acquaintance with the process of fashioning;

nibbida — disenchantment; viraga — disengagement; nirodha — utter disbanding; vimutti — a mind released from the mundane; santi — peace of heart; paramam sukham — the ease that is ultimate bliss.

Nếu chúng ta biết rõ những đặc tính thể chất nào làm trầm trọng thêm lòng tham, sân, si, chúng ta có thể phá hủy những đặc tính tương ứng và những trạng thái tâm này sẽ tự suy yếu.

"Bỏ nhiên liệu đi, và lửa sẽ không cháy."

Điều chỉnh những đặc tính này một cách khéo léo sẽ làm phát sinh nhận thức phân biệt, vốn nằm ở bản chất của sự khéo léo. Điều chỉnh đặc tính ấm để máu được trong và đỏ nhạt, và khả năng nhận biết của bạn sẽ nhanh chóng, thần kinh khỏe mạnh, suy nghĩ sáng suốt, tinh tế, và sâu sắc. Nói cách khác, tận dụng nhiều hơn những dây thần kinh trong trái tim là cách của Pháp. Đối với những dây thần kinh của não, sử dụng chúng quá nhiều sẽ dẫn đến bồn chồn, mất tập trung, và phiền não nặng nề.

Đây chỉ là một số vấn đề liên quan đến hơi thở. Còn rất nhiều, rất nhiều điều khác nữa mà những người sáng suốt nên tự khám phá. Ñana-dhatu-vijja: kiến thức về sự tinh tế của tất cả 18 yếu tố (dhatu), 22 phẩm chất ưu việt, sáu môi trường giác quan (ayatana); cái nhìn sâu sắc về các phẩm chất của tâm; lão luyện trong sự tập trung hay định. Định làm phát sinh tuệ giác giải thoát, làm quen với tiến trình của sự cấu thành;

nibbida — giác ngộ; viraga — buông bỏ; nirodha — hoàn toàn tan rã; vimutti — tâm thoát khỏi trần tục; santi — tim bình yên; paramam sukham — an lạc là niềm hạnh phúc tối thượng.

C. Images

These are of two sorts:

1. Uggaha nimitta: images as they are first perceived.
2. Patibhaga nimitta: adjusted images.

Images of either sort can appear at certain mental moments or with certain people. When the mind becomes still, uggaha nimittas can appear in either of two ways:

— from mental notes made in the past;
— on their own, without our ever having thought of the matter.

Uggaha nimittas of both sorts can be either beneficial or harmful, true or false, so we shouldn't place complete trust in them. If we're thoroughly mindful and alert, they can be beneficial. But if our powers of reference are weak or if we lack strength of mind, we're likely to follow the drift of whatever images appear, sometimes losing our bearings to the point where we latch on to the images as being real.

C. Linh Ảnh

Có hai loại:

1. Uggaha nimitta: linh ảnh khi chúng được cảm nhận lần đầu tiên.
2. Patibhaga nimitta: linh ảnh được điều chỉnh.

Cả hai loại linh ảnh đều có thể xuất hiện tại thời điểm tâm linh cụ thể nào hay với một số người cụ thể nào đó. Khi tâm trở nên tĩnh lặng, uggaha nimittas có thể xuất hiện theo một trong hai cách:

— từ những ghi nhận tâm linh thực hiện trong quá khứ;
— tự chúng xuất hiện, mà chúng ta không bao giờ nghĩ về vấn đề này.

Cả hai loại linh ảnh Uggaha đều có thể có lợi hay có hại, đúng hay sai, vì vậy chúng ta không nên đặt niềm tin hoàn toàn vào chúng. Nếu chúng ta triệt để chánh niệm và cảnh giác, chúng có thể có lợi. Nhưng nếu năng lực tham chiếu của chúng ta yếu hay nếu chúng ta thiếu sức mạnh tâm linh, chúng ta có thể trôi dạt theo bất cứ linh ảnh nào xuất hiện, đôi khi mất định hướng đến mức chúng ta bám vào những linh ảnh đó như là thật.

Uggaha nimittas are of two sorts:

a. Sensation-images: e.g., seeing images of our own body, of other people, of animals, or of corpses; images of black, red, blue or white. Sometimes these images are true, sometimes not. Sometimes images arise by way of the ear — for example, we may hear the voice of a person talking. Sometimes they arise by way of the nose — we may smell fragrant scents or foul, like those of a corpse. Sometimes images are sensed by the body — the body may feel small or large, tall or short. All of these sensations are classed as uggaha nimittas. If the mind is strong and resilient, they can act as a means for the arising of liberating insight. If our powers of reference are weak, though, they can turn into corruptions of insight (vipassanupakkilesa), in which we fall for the objects we experience, believing them to be true. Even when they're true, things that are false can mingle in with them — like a man sitting under the open sky: When the sun shines, he's bound to have a shadow. The man really exists, and the shadow is connected with him, but the shadow isn't really the man. Thus, we're taught to let go of what's true and real; things that are untrue will then fall from our grasp as well.
b. Thought-images: When the breath is subtle and the mind is still and unoccupied, things can occur to it. Sometimes we may think of a question and then immediately know the answer. Sometimes we don't even have to think: The knowledge pops into the mind on its own. Things of this sort are also classed as uggaha nimittas. Sometimes they may be true, sometimes false, sometimes mixed. You can't trust them to be absolutely true. Sometimes they're true, and that truth is what leads us to fall for them. For example, they may be true about three things and false about seven. Once we've placed our confidence in them, even the false things will appear true to us. This is one way of giving rise to the corruptions of insight.

Uggaha nimittas có hai loại:

a. Linh ảnh cảm giác: tức là, nhìn thấy hình ảnh của chính thân thể chúng ta, của người khác, của loài thú, hay của xác chết; hình ảnh đen, đỏ, xanh hay trắng. Đôi khi những linh ảnh này là thật, đôi khi không. Đôi khi linh ảnh phát sinh qua đường tai — ví dụ, chúng ta có thể nghe tiếng người nói chuyện. Đôi khi chúng phát sinh qua đường mũi — chúng ta có thể ngửi thấy mùi thơm hay mùi thối, giống như mùi của xác chết. Đôi khi linh ảnh được cảm nhận bằng thân — thân có thể cảm thấy nhỏ hay to, cao hay thấp. Tất cả những cảm giác này được xếp loại là uggaha nimittas. Nếu tâm mạnh và kiên cường, chúng có thể hành động như một phương tiện cho việc phát sinh tuệ giác giải thoát. Tuy nhiên, nếu năng lực tham chiếu của chúng ta yếu, chúng có thể biến thành sự đồi trụy của trí tuệ (vipassanupakkilesa), trong đó chúng ta si mê những đối tượng mà chúng ta trải nghiệm, tin rằng chúng là thật. Ngay cả khi chúng là thật, những thứ giả có thể trộn lẫn vào chúng — giống như một người ngồi dưới bầu trời rộng mở: Khi mặt trời chiếu sáng, ông ta tất có cái bóng. Người đó thật sự hiện hữu, và cái bóng kết nối với ông, nhưng cái bóng không thật sự là người đó. Vì vậy, chúng ta được dạy buông bỏ những gì đúng và có thật; những thứ không có thật sau đó cũng sẽ rơi khỏi tầm nắm bắt của chúng ta.
b. Linh ảnh tư tưởng: Khi hơi thở tinh tế và tâm tĩnh lặng và thanh thản, mọi thứ có thể xảy ra với nó. Đôi khi chúng ta có thể nghĩ ra một câu hỏi và ngay lập tức biết câu trả lời. Đôi khi chúng ta thậm chí không cần phải suy nghĩ: Kiến thức tự nó xuất hiện trong tâm. Những thứ thuộc loại này cũng được xếp loại là uggaha nimittas. Đôi khi chúng có thể đúng, đôi khi sai, đôi khi lẫn lộn. Bạn không thể tin chúng là hoàn toàn đúng. Đôi khi chúng là thật, và sự thật đó là những gì khiến chúng ta si mê chúng. Ví dụ, chúng có thể đúng về ba điều và sai về bảy điều. Một khi chúng ta đặt niềm tin vào chúng, ngay cả những điều sai cũng sẽ xuất hiện đúng với chúng ta. Đây là một cách làm phát sinh sự đồi trụy của trí tuệ.

So when sensation-images or thought-images arise in one way or another, you should then practice adjusting and analyzing them (patibhaga nimitta). In other words, when a visual image arises, if it's large, make it small, far, near, large, small, appear, and disappear. Analyze it into its various parts and then let it go. Don't let these images influence the mind. Instead, have the mind influence the images, as you will. If you aren't able to do this, then don't get involved with them. Disregard them and return to your original practice with the breath.

If a thought-image arises by way of the mind, stop, take your bearings, and consider exactly how much truth there is to the knowledge it gives. Even if it's true, you shouldn't latch onto what you know or see. If you latch onto your knowledge, it'll become a corruption of insight. If you latch on to your views, they'll become a form of attachment and conceit, in which you assume yourself to be this or that. Thus, you should let go of these things, in line with their true nature. If you aren't wise to them, they can skew your practice so that you miss out on the highest good.

Vì vậy khi linh ảnh cảm giác hay linh ảnh tư tưởng phát sinh theo cách này hay cách nọ, bạn nên thực hành việc điều chỉnh và phân tích chúng (patibhaga nimitta). Nói cách khác, khi một linh ảnh phát sinh, nếu nó lớn, làm cho nó nhỏ, xa, gần, lớn, nhỏ, xuất hiện, và biến mất. Phân tích nó thành nhiều phần khác nhau và sau đó buông nó ra. Đừng để những linh ảnh này ảnh hưởng đến tâm. Thay vào đó, hảy để tâm ảnh hưởng đến các linh ảnh, như bạn muốn. Nếu bạn không thể làm điều này, thì đừng dính líu với chúng. Bỏ qua chúng và trở lại với sự thực hành hơi thở ban đầu của bạn.

Nếu một linh ảnh tư tưởng phát sinh qua tâm, ngừng lại, định hướng, và xem xét chính xác có bao nhiêu sự thật trong kiến thức mà nó mang lại. Thậm chí nếu nó đúng, bạn không nên bám vào những gì bạn biết hay thấy. Nếu bạn bám vào kiến thức của mình, nó sẽ trở thành sự đồi trụy của trí tuệ. Nếu bạn bám vào quan điểm của mình, chúng sẽ trở thành một hình thức chấp thủ và tự phụ, trong đó bạn giả định mình là cái này hay cái nọ. Do đó, bạn nên buông bỏ những điều này, phù hợp với bản tánh thật sự của chúng. Nếu bạn không khôn khéo với chúng, chúng có thể làm lệch hướng thực hành của bạn khiến bạn bỏ lỡ điều tốt lành nhất.

D. The Ten Corruptions of Insight

1. Obhasa: a bright light that enables you to see places both far and near.
2. Ñana: knowledge enabling you to know in an uncanny way things you never before knew, such as pubbenivasanussati-ñana, the ability to remember previous lifetimes. Even knowledge of this sort, though, can mislead you. If you learn good things about your past, you may get pleased. If you learn bad or undesirable things about your past, you may get displeased. Cutupapata-ñana: Sometimes you may learn how people and other living beings die and are reborn — knowing, for instance, where they are reborn when they have died from this world — which can cause you to become engrossed in the various things you come to know and see. As you become more and more engrossed, false knowledge can step in, and yet you still assume it to be true.

3. Piti: a sense of physical and mental fullness and satisfaction, full to the point of infatuation — physically satisfied to the point where you don't feel hunger or thirst, heat or cold; mentally satisfied to the point where you become engrossed and oblivious, lazy and lethargic, perhaps deciding that you've already achieved the goal. What's actually happened is that you've swallowed your mood down whole.

4. Passaddhi: The body is at peace and the mind serene, to the point where you don't want to encounter anything in the world. You see the world as being unpeaceful and you don't want to have anything to do with it. Actually, if the mind is really at peace, everything in the world will also be at peace. People who are addicted to a sense of peace won't want to do any physical work or even think about anything, because they're stuck on that sense of peace as a constant preoccupation.

5. Sukha: Once there's peace, there's a sense of physical and mental pleasure and ease; and once there's a great deal of pleasure, you come to hate pain, seeing pleasure as something good and pain as something bad. Your view of things falls into two parts. (Actually, pleasure doesn't come from anywhere else but pain.) Pain is the same thing as pleasure: When pleasure arises, pain is its shadow; when pain arise, pleasure is its shadow. As long as you don't understand this, you give rise to a kind of defilement — again, you swallow your mood down whole. When a deep and arresting sense of relaxation, stillness, ease, or freedom from disturbance arises, you get engrossed in that feeling. What has happened is that you're simply stuck on a pleasing mental state.

6. Adhimokkha: being disposed to believing that your knowledge and the things you know are true. Once "true" takes a stance, "false" is bound to enter the picture. True and false go together, i.e., they're one and the same thing. For example, suppose we ask, "Is Nai Daeng at home?" and someone answers, "No, he isn't." If Nai Daeng really exists and he's really at home, then when that person says, "He's not at home," he's lying. But if Nai Daeng doesn't exist, that person can't lie. Thus, true and false are one and the same...

7. Paggaha: excessive persistence, leading to restlessness. You're simply fastened on your preoccupation and too strongly focused on your goal...

8. Upatthana: being obsessed with a particular item you've come to know or see, refusing to let it go.

9. Upekkha: indifference, not wanting to meet with anything, be aware of anything, think about anything, or figure anything out; assuming that you've let go completely. Actually, though, this is a misunderstanding of that very mental moment.

10. Nikanti: being content with your various preoccupations, simply attached to the things you experience or see.

D. Mười sự Đồi trụy của Trí tuệ

1. Obhasa: một ánh sáng rực rỡ cho phép bạn nhìn thấy những nơi xa và gần.
2. Ñana: kiến thức cho phép bạn biết những điều kỳ lạ mà bạn chưa từng biết, chẳng hạn như pubbenivasanussati-ñana, khả năng nhớ những kiếp sống trước. Tuy nhiên, ngay cả loại kiến thức này cũng có thể đánh lừa bạn. Nếu bạn biết những điều tốt về quá khứ của mình, bạn có thể sẽ thấy hài lòng. Nếu bạn biết những điều xấu hay không mong muốn về quá khứ của mình, bạn có thể cảm thấy không hài lòng. Cutupapata-ñana: Đôi khi bạn có thể biết được cách người ta và chúng sinh khác chết và tái sinh — chẳng hạn như, biết nơi họ tái sinh khi họ giã từ thế giới này — điều đó có thể khiến bạn trở nên say mê với những thứ khác nhau mà bạn biết và thấy. Khi bạn càng trở nên say mê hơn, kiến thức sai lầm có thể bước vào, nhưng bạn vẫn cho rằng nó là đúng.

3. Piti: một cảm giác viên mãn và hài lòng về thể chất và tinh thần, viên mãn đến mức say mê — hài lòng thể chất đến mức bạn không cảm thấy đói hay khát, nóng hay lạnh; hài lòng tinh thần đến mức bạn trở nên mải mê và không biết gì, lười biếng và thờ ơ, có lẽ quyết định rằng bạn đã đạt được mục tiêu. Điều thật sự xảy ra là bạn đã nuốt chửng toàn bộ tâm trạng của mình.

4. Passaddhi: Thân bình an và tâm thanh thản, đến mức bạn không muốn gặp bất cứ điều gì trên thế giới. Bạn thấy thế giới không bình an và bạn không muốn liên quan đến nó. Thật ra, nếu tâm thật sự bình an, mọi thứ trên thế giới cũng sẽ bình an. Những người nghiện cảm giác bình an sẽ không muốn làm bất cứ việc gì hay thậm chí nghĩ về bất cứ điều gì, bởi vì họ bị mắc kẹt trong cảm giác bình an đó như một mối bận tâm thường xuyên.

5. Sukha: Một khi có sự bình an thì có cảm giác vui sướng và dễ chịu về thể chất và tinh thần; và một khi có nhiều vui sướng, bạn sẽ ghét đau khổ, xem vui sướng là điều tốt và đau khổ là điều xấu. Quan điểm của bạn về mọi thứ được chia thành hai phần. (Thật ra, vui sướng không đến từ đâu khác ngoài đau khổ.) Đau khổ giống như vui sướng: Khi vui sướng phát sinh, đau khổ là cái bóng của nó; khi đau khổ phát sinh, vui sướng là cái bóng của nó. Hễ mà bạn không hiểu điều này, bạn làm phát sinh một loại phiền não — một lần nữa, bạn nuốt chửng toàn bộ tâm trạng của mình. Khi cảm giác thư thái, tĩnh lặng, dễ chịu, hay thoát khỏi sự xáo trộn một cách sâu đậm nảy sinh, bạn bị đắm chìm trong cảm giác đó. Điều đã xảy ra là bạn chỉ đơn giản bị mắc kẹt vào trạng thái tinh thần thoải mái.

6. Adhimokkha: bị sắp đặt vào việc tin rằng kiến thức của bạn và những thứ bạn biết là đúng. Một khi "đúng" lên tiếng, "sai" tất sẽ nhập cuộc. Đúng và sai đi với nhau, tức là, chúng là một và giống nhau. Ví dụ, giả sử chúng ta hỏi, "Nai Daeng có ở nhà không?" và ai đó trả lời, "Không, ông ấy không có." Nếu Nai Daeng thật sự hiện hữu và ông ấy thật sự ở nhà, thì khi người đó nói, "Ông ấy không có ở nhà," họ nói dối. Nhưng nếu Nai Daeng không hiện hữu, người đó không thể nói dối. Như vậy, đúng và sai là một và giống nhau...

7. Paggaha: kiên trì quá mức, dẫn đến bồn chồn. Bạn chỉ đơn giản là bị cuốn vào mối bận tâm và quá tập trung vào mục tiêu của mình...

8. Upatthana: bị ám ảnh bởi một đối tượng cụ thể mà bạn đã biết hay nhìn thấy, từ chối buông bỏ nó.

9. Upekkha: thờ ơ, không muốn tiếp xúc với bất cứ điều gì, nhận biết bất cứ điều gì, nghĩ về bất cứ điều gì, hay giải quyết bất cứ điều gì; giả định rằng bạn đã hoàn toàn buông bỏ. Tuy nhiên, thật ra đây là sự hiểu lầm về khoảnh khắc tinh thần đó

10. Nikanti: hài lòng với một số mối bận tâm của bạn, chỉ đơn giản bám vào những thứ bạn trải nghiệm hay nhìn thấy.

All of these things, if we aren't wise to them, can corrupt the heart. So, as meditators, we should attend to them and reflect on them until we understand them thoroughly. Only then will we be able to give rise to liberating insight, clear knowledge of the four truths:

1. Physical and mental stress, i.e., the things that burden the body or mind. Physical and mental pleasure and ease, though, are also classed as stress because they are subject to change.
2. The factors that enable these forms of stress to arise are three:

a. Kama-tanha: craving for attractive and appealing sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, and ideas; fastening onto these things, grabbing hold of them as belonging to the self. This is one factor that enables stress to arise. (The mind flashes out.)
b. Bhava-tanha: desire for things to be this way or that at times when they can't be the way we want them; wanting things to be a certain way outside of the proper time or occasion. This is called "being hungry" — like a person who hungers for food but has no food to eat and so acts in a way that shows, "I'm a person who wants to eat." Bhava-tanha is another factor that enables stress to arise. (The mind strays.)

c. Vibhava-tanha: not wanting things to be this way or that, e.g., having been born, not wanting to die; not wanting to be deprived of the worldly things we've acquired: for example, having status and wealth and yet not wanting our status and wealth to leave us. The truth of the matter is that there's no way it can be avoided. As soon as the change comes, we thus feel stress and pain. (The mind flinches.)

Punappunam pilitatta
sansaranta bhavabhave:

"Repeated oppression,
wandering on from one state of becoming to another."

Tất cả những điều này, nếu chúng ta không khôn ngoan, có thể làm đồi trụy trái tim. Vì vậy, là thiền giả, chúng ta nên để ý đến chúng và quán chiếu chúng cho đến khi chúng ta hiểu thấu đáo về chúng. Chỉ khi đó, chúng ta mới có thể phát sinh được tuệ giác giải thoát, có kiến thức rõ ràng về bốn chân lý:

1. Căng thẳng thể chất và tinh thần, tức là, những thứ tạo gánh nặng cho thân hay tâm. Tuy nhiên, vui sướng và thoải mái thể chất và tinh thần cũng được xếp loại là căng thẳng vì chúng có thể thay đổi.
2. Có ba yếu tố tạo điều kiện cho các dạng căng thẳng này phát sinh:

a. Kama-tanha: khao khát những hình ảnh, âm thanh, mùi, vị, cảm giác xúc giác, và ý tưởng có sức hấp dẫn và mời gọi; bám vào những thứ này, nắm lấy chúng như thuộc về mình. Đây là một yếu tố khiến căng thẳng phát sinh. (Tâm lóe lên.)
b. Bhava-tanha: mong muốn mọi thứ diễn ra theo cách này hay cách nọ vào những lúc chúng không thể theo cách chúng ta muốn; muốn mọi thứ diễn ra theo một cách cụ thể nằm ngoài thời điểm hay cơ hội thích hợp. Đây gọi là "đói" — giống như một người đói bụng nhưng không có thức ăn để ăn và vì vậy hành động theo cách cho thấy, "Tôi là người muốn ăn." Bhava-tanha là một yếu tố khác tạo điều kiện cho căng thẳng phát sinh. (Tâm đi lạc).

c. Vibhava-tanha: không muốn mọi thứ diễn ra theo cách này hay cách nọ, tức là, được sinh ra, không muốn chết; không muốn bị tước đoạt những thứ thế tục mà chúng ta đã kiếm được: ví dụ, có địa vị và tài sản nhưng không muốn địa vị và tài sản của chúng ta ra đi. Sự thật của vấn đề là không cách nào tránh khỏi. Ngay khi sự thay đổi đến, chúng ta sẽ cảm thấy căng thẳng và đau khổ. (Tâm nao núng.)

Punappunam pilitatta
sansaranta bhavabhave:

"Áp bức lặp lại,
lang thang từ trạng thái trở thành cái này qua cái nọ."

Different states of becoming arise first in the mind, then giving rise to birth. Thus, people of discernment let go of these things, causing:

3. Nirodha — cessation or disbanding — to appear in the heart. In other words, the mind discovers the limits of craving and lets it go through the practice of insight meditation, letting go of all fashionings, both good and bad. To be able to let go in this way, we have to develop:

4. Magga — the Path — so as to make it powerful. In other words, we have to give rise to pure discernment within our own minds so that we can know the truth. Stress is a truth; its cause is a truth; its cessation and the Path are truths: To know in this way is liberating insight. And then when we let all four truths fall away from us so that we gain release from "true," that's when we'll reach deathlessness (amata dhamma). Truths have their drawbacks in that untrue things are mixed in with them. Wherever real money exists, there's bound to be counterfeit. Wherever there are rich people, there are bound to be thieves waiting to rob them. This is why release has to let go of truths before it can reach nibbana.

Các trạng thái khác nhau của sự trở thành đầu tiên nảy sinh trong tâm, sau đó phát sinh ra sự tái sinh. Do đó, người sáng suốt buông bỏ những thứ này, dẫn đến:
3. Nirodha — chấm dứt hay tan rã — xuất hiện trong tim. Nói cách khác, tâm khám phá ra những giới hạn của ham muốn và buông bỏ nó qua sự thực hành thiền minh sát, buông bỏ mọi sự cấu thành, cả tốt lẫn xấu. Để có thể buông bỏ theo cách này, chúng ta phải phát triễn:

4. Magga — Đạo (con đường) — để làm cho nó mạnh mẽ. Nói cách khác, chúng ta phải phát triễn trí tuệ thuần khiết trong tâm của mình để chúng ta có thể biết sự thật. Căng thẳng là sự thật; nguyên nhân của nó là sự thật; sự chấm dứt của nó và Đạo là sự thật: Biết theo cách này là tuệ giác giải thoát. Và sau đó khi chúng ta để cho tất cả bốn chân lý rơi khỏi chúng ta để chúng ta thoát khỏi "sự thật," đó là khi chúng ta sẽ đạt đến bất tử (amata dhamma). Sự thật có nhược điểm ở chỗ những thứ không thật được trộn lẫn với chúng. Nơi nào có tiền thật tất sẽ có tiền giả. Nơi nào có người giàu tất sẽ có kẻ trộm chực chờ để cướp của họ. Đây là lý do tại sao sự giải thoát phải buông bỏ sự thật trước khi nó có thể đạt đến niết bàn.

Meditators, then, should acquaint themselves with the enemies of concentration, so as to keep their distance from all five of the Hindrances, the two sorts of uggaha nimittas, and the ten corruptions of insight. The mind will then be able to gain release from all things defiling, dirty, and damp. What this means is that the mind doesn't hold onto anything at all. It lets go of supposings, meanings, practice, and attainment. Above cause and beyond effect: That's the aim of the Buddha's teachings.

Those who want to get rid of kama-tanha — desire and attraction for the six types of sensory objects — have to develop virtue that's pure all the way to the heart: This is termed heightened virtue (adhisila). Those who are to get rid of bhava-tanha — thoughts that stray out, choosing objects to dwell on — first have to develop Right Concentration, pure and circumspect: This is termed heightened mind (adhicitta). Those who are to get rid of vibhava-tanha — attachment to knowledge and viewpoints, attainments and states of becoming, theories and conceits — will first have to develop clear-seeing discernment, cognitive skill that's pure and fully developed: This is heightened discernment (adhipañña). Thus, the threefold training — virtue, concentration, and discernment — is a group of truths that can let go of the causes of stress. Other than this, there's no way to release.

Vì vậy, thiền giả nên làm quen với kẻ thù của định, để giữ khoảng cách với tất cả năm Chướng ngại, hai loại uggaha nimittas, và mười sự đồi trụy của trí tuệ. Sau đó tâm sẽ có thể đạt được giải thoát khỏi mọi ô uế, dơ bẩn và ẩm thấp. Có nghĩa là tâm không bám vào cái gì cả. Nó buông bỏ những giả sử, ý nghĩa, thực hành, và chứng đắc. Bên trên nguyên nhân và bên ngoài hiệu quả: Đó là mục đích của giáo lý Đức Phật.

Những ai muốn loại bỏ kama-tanha — mong muốn và bị hấp dẫn bởi sáu loại đối tượng giác quan — phải phát triễn đức hạnh tinh khiết đến tận trái tim: Đây gọi là đức hạnh cao thượng (adhisila). Những ai muốn loại bỏ bhava-tanha — tư tưởng lầm lạc, lựa chọn đối tượng để trụ — đầu tiên phải phát triễn Chánh Định, thanh tịnh và thận trọng: Đây gọi là tâm cao thượng (adhicitta). Những ai muốn loại bỏ vibhava-tantra — gắn bó với kiến thức và quan điểm, chứng đắc và trạng thái trở thành, lý thuyết và sự tự phụ — đầu tiên phải phát triễn minh kiến, kỹ năng nhận thức thuần túy và phát triễn trọn vẹn: Đây gọi là trí tuệ cao thượng (adhipañña). Do đó, ba sự rèn luyện — giới, định, và tuệ — là một nhóm chân lý có thể loại bỏ nguyên nhân của căng thẳng. Ngoài điều này, không có cách nào để giải thoát.

IV. Mindfulness of Death: Insight Meditation

I.e., keep death in mind. This is where the mind advances to the development of liberating insight, taking death as its theme. "Death" here refers to the death occurring in the present — physical sensations arising and passing away, mental acts arising and passing away, all in a moment of awareness. Only when you're aware on this level can you be classed as being mindful of death.

Now that we've brought up the topic of death, we have to reflect on birth, seeing how many ways sensations are born and how many ways mental acts are born. This is something a person with a quiet mind can know.

A. Sensations have up to five levels of refinement:

1. Hina-rupa: coarse sensations, sensations of discomfort, aches and pains. When these arise, focus on what causes them until they disappear.
2. Panita-rupa: exquisite sensations that make the body feel pleasurable, light, and refined. Focus on what causes them until they disappear...

3. Sukhumala-rupa: delicate sensations, tender, yielding, and agile. When they arise, focus on what causes them until they disappear.

4. Olarika-rupa: physical sensations that give a sense of grandeur, exuberance, brightness, and exultation: "Mukhavanno vipassidati." When they arise, focus on finding out what causes them until they disappear...

IV. Quán Niệm cái Chết: Thiền Minh Sát

Tức là, giữ cái chết trong tâm. Đây là nơi tâm tiến tới sự phát triễn tuệ giác giải thoát, lấy cái chết làm chủ đề của nó. "Chết" ở đây đề cập đến cái chết xảy ra trong hiện tại — những cảm giác thể chất sinh và diệt, những hành động tinh thần sinh và diệt, tất cả đều trong một khoảnh khắc của nhận thức. Chỉ khi bạn nhận thức được ở mức độ này thì bạn mới có thể được xếp loại là quán niệm về cái chết.

Bây giờ chúng ta đã đề cập đến chủ đề về cái chết, chúng ta phải quán chiếu về sinh ra, xem có bao nhiêu cách cảm giác được sinh ra và bao nhiêu cách hoạt động tinh thần được sinh ra. Đây là điều mà một người với tâm tĩnh lặng có thể biết.

A. Cảm giác có đến năm mức độ tinh tế:

1. Hina-rupa: cảm giác thô thiển, cảm giác khó chịu, nhức mỏi và đau đớn. Khi những cảm giác này phát sinh, tập trung vào những gì gây ra chúng cho đến khi chúng biến mất.
2. Panita-rupa: cảm giác tinh tế làm cho thân cảm thấy dễ chịu, nhẹ nhàng, và tinh tế. Tập trung vào những gì gây ra chúng cho đến khi chúng biến mất...

3. Sukhumala-rupa: cảm giác tinh tế, dịu dàng, năng suất, và lanh lẹ. Khi chúng phát sinh, tập trung vào những gì gây ra chúng cho đến khi chúng biến mất.

4. Olarika-rupa: cảm giác thể chất mang lại cảm giác tráng lệ, hăng hái, tươi sáng, và vui sướng: "Mukhavanno vipassidati." Khi chúng phát sinh, tập trung tìm hiểu nguyên nhân gây ra chúng cho đến khi chúng biến mất...

All four of these sensations arise and disband by their very nature; and it's possible to find out where they first appear.

5. "Mano-bhava": imagined circumstances that appear through the power of the mind. When they arise, focus on keeping track of them until they disappear. Once you're able to know in this way, you enter the sphere of true mindfulness of death.

An explanation of this sort of sensation: When the mind is quiet and steadily concentrated, it has the power to create images in the imagination (inner sensations, or sensations within sensations). Whatever images it thinks of will then appear to it; and once they appear, the mind tends to enter into them and take up residence. (It can go great distances.) If the mind fastens onto these sensations, it is said to take birth — simply because it has no sense of death.

Cả bốn cảm giác này sinh ra và biến mất bởi bản tánh của chúng; và có thể tìm thấy nơi chúng xuất hiện lúc ban đầu.

5. "Mano-bhava": những trạng huống tưởng tượng xuất hiện qua năng lực của tâm. Khi chúng phát sinh, tập trung theo dõi chúng cho đến khi chúng biến mất. Một khi bạn có thể biết theo cách này, bạn bước vào lĩnh vực của quán niệm thật sự về cái chết.

Giải thích về loại cảm giác này: Khi tâm yên tĩnh và tập trung đều đặn, nó có sức mạnh tạo ra hình ảnh trong trí tưởng tượng (cảm giác bên trong, hay cảm giác trong cảm giác). Bất cứ hình ảnh nào nó nghĩ đến sẽ xuất hiện theo ý nó; và một khi chúng xuất hiện, tâm có khuynh hướng bước vào chúng và ở đó. (Nó có thể đi rất xa). Nếu tâm bám vào những cảm giác này, nó được cho là có sinh — chỉ vì nó không có cảm giác về cái chết.

These sensations can appear in any of five ways:

a. arising from the posture of the body, disappearing when the posture changes;
b. arising from thoughts imbued with greed, hatred, or delusion — arising, taking a stance, and then disbanding;

c. arising with an in-breath and disbanding with the following out-breath;

d. arising from the cleansing of the blood in the lungs — appearing and disbanding in a single instant;

e. arising from the heart's pumping blood into the various parts of the body, the pressure of the blood causing sensations to arise that correspond to sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile sensations. Sensations of this sort are arising and disbanding every moment.

Những cảm giác này có thể xuất hiện theo một trong năm cách:

a. phát sinh từ tư thế của thân thể, biến mất khi tư thế thay đổi;
b. phát sinh từ những suy nghĩ nhiễm tham, sân, hay si — phát sinh, thể hiện lập trường, rồi tan rã;

c. phát sinh với hơi thở vào và tan rã với hơi thở ra;

d. phát sinh từ việc làm sạch máu trong phổi — xuất hiện và biến mất trong một khoảnh khắc;

e. phát sinh từ việc tim bơm máu vào các bộ phận khác nhau của thân thể, áp suất của máu gây ra các cảm giác phát sinh tương ứng với hình ảnh, âm thanh, mùi, vị, và cảm giác xúc giác. Những cảm giác kiểu này phát sinh và tan rã trong từng khoảnh khắc.

Another class of sensation is termed "gocara-rupa" — sensations that circle around the physical body. There are five sorts — light, sound, smells, tastes, and tactile sensations — each having five levels. For instance, common light travels slowly; in the flash of an eye it runs for a league and then dies away. The second level, subtle light, goes further; and the third level goes further still. The fourth and fifth levels can travel the entire universe. The same holds true for sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile sensations. The relationships between all the potentials in the universe are interacting at every moment, differing only as to whether they're fast or slow. This is the inequality that has been termed "anicca-lakkhana" — inherent inconstancy. Whoever is ignorant is bound to think that all this is impossible, but actually this is the way things already are by their nature. We'll come to know this through vijja — cognitive skill — not through ordinary labels and concepts. This is called true knowing, which meditators who develop the inner eye will realize for themselves: knowing the arising of these sensations, their persisting and their disbanding, in terms of their primary qualities and basic regularity.

Knowing things for what they really are.
Release, purity, dispassion, disbanding;
Nibbanam paramam sukham:
Nibbana is the ultimate ease.

Một loại cảm giác khác được gọi là "gocara-rupa" — những cảm giác luân lưu trong thân thể. Có năm loại — ánh sáng, âm thanh, mùi, vị và cảm giác xúc giác — mỗi loại có năm mức độ. Ví dụ, ánh sáng thông thường truyền chậm; trong chớp mắt nó chạy được vài dặm rồi biến mất. Mức độ thứ nhì, ánh sáng tinh tế, đi xa hơn; và mức độ thứ ba còn xa hơn nữa. Mức độ thứ tư và năm có thể du hành toàn bộ vũ trụ. Điều này cũng đúng đối với âm thanh, mùi, vị, và cảm giác xúc giác. Mối quan hệ giữa tất cả những tiềm năng trong vũ trụ tương tác ở mọi khoảnh khắc, chỉ khác biệt ở chỗ liệu chúng nhanh hay chậm. Đây là sự không đồng đều được gọi là "anicca-lakkhana" — tính hay thay đổi cố hữu. Ai thiếu hiểu biết hẳn sẽ nghĩ rằng tất cả những điều này là không thể, nhưng thật ra đây là cách mọi thứ vốn đã là do bản chất của chúng. Chúng ta sẽ biết điều này qua vijja — kỹ năng nhận thức — không phải qua các nhãn hiệu và khái niệm thông thường. Đây gọi là biết đúng, mà các thiền giả phát triễn con mắt nội tâm sẽ tự mình nhận ra: biết sự phát sinh của những cảm giác này, sự kiên trì của chúng và sự tan rã của chúng, về những phẩm chất chủ yếu của chúng và tính thường xuyên căn bản của chúng.

Biết thật tánh của vạn vật.
Giải thoát, thanh tịnh, bình tĩnh, tan rã;
Nibbanam paramam sukham:
Niết bàn là sự bình an tối thượng.

B. As for mental acts that arise and die, their timespan is many thousands of times faster than that of sensations. To be able to keep track of their arising and dying away, our awareness has to be still. The four kinds of mental acts are:

— Vedana: the mind's experience of feelings of pleasure, pain, and indifference.
— Sañña: recognizing and labeling the objects of the mind.

— Sankhara: mental fabrications or fashionings of good and bad.

— Viññana: distinct consciousness or cognizance of objects.

B. Đối với các hành động tinh thần phát sinh và tan rã, thời gian của chúng nhanh hơn gấp ngàn lần so với thời gian của cảm giác. Để có thể theo dõi sự phát sinh và tan rã của chúng, nhận thức của chúng ta phải tĩnh lặng. Có bốn loại hành động tinh thần:

— Vedana: kinh nghiệm của tâm về cảm giác vui sướng, đau đớn, và thờ ơ.
— Sañña: nhận biết và đặt tên các đối tượng của tâm.

— Sankhara: tâm ngụy tạo hay cấu thành tốt và xấu.

— Viññana: ý thức rõ ràng hay hiểu biết các đối tượng.

One class of these mental acts stays in place, arising and disbanding with reference to the immediate present. Another class is termed "gocara vedana" "gocara sañña," etc., which go out to refer to the world. Each of these has five levels, differing as to whether they're common, refined, or subtle, slow or fast. These five levels connect with each other, running out in stages, and then circling back to their starting point, disbanding and then arising again — all without end.

When we don't have the skill to discern the primary sensations and mental acts that stay in place, we can't see into the "gocara" sensations and mental acts that go flowing around. This is termed "avijja," the unawareness that opens the way for connecting consciousness (patisandhi viññana), giving rise to the act of fashioning (sankhara), which is the essence of kamma. This gives fruit as sensations and feelings that are followed by craving, and then the act of labeling, which gives rise to another level of consciousness — of sensory objects — and then the cycle goes circling on. This is termed the "khandha-vatta," the cycle of the aggregates, circling and changing unevenly and inconsistently. To see this is called aniccanupassana-ñana, the knowledge that keeps track of inconstancy as it occurs. This is known through the inner eye, i.e., the skill of genuine discernment.

Một loại của những hành động tinh thần này ở tại chỗ, phát sinh và tan rã liên quan đến hiện tại trước mắt. Một loại khác được gọi là "gocara vedana" "gocara sañña,", v.v., đi ra ngoài để tham khảo thế giới. Mỗi loại có năm mức độ, khác nhau về việc liệu chúng thông thường, khôn khéo, hay tinh tế, chậm hay nhanh. Năm mức độ này liên kết với nhau, chạy ra theo từng giai đoạn, và sau đó quay trở lại điểm xuất phát của chúng, tan rã và rồi phát sinh lại — tất cả đều không có kết thúc.

Khi chúng ta không có kỹ năng để phân biệt các cảm giác chủ yếu và hành động tinh thần ở tại chỗ, chúng ta không thể nhìn vào các cảm giác "gocara" và các hành động tinh thần đang diễn ra xung quanh. Đây gọi là "avijja - vô minh," sự thiếu hiểu biết mở đường cho việc kết nối ý thức (patisandhi viññana), dẫn đến hành vi cấu thành (sankhara - hành uẩn), vốn là cốt lõi của kamma - nghiệp. Điều này mang lại kết quả như là cảm giác và cảm xúc theo sau bởi ham muốn, và sau đó là hành động đặt tên, dẫn đến một mức độ khác của ý thức — các đối tượng giác quan — và rồi chu kỳ tiếp tục luân hồi. Đây gọi là "khanda-vatta," chu kỳ của các uẩn, luân hồi và thay đổi không đồng đều và không tương xứng. Việc nhìn thấy điều này được gọi là aniccanupassana-ñana, kiến thức theo dõi tính hay thay đổi (vô thường) khi nó xảy ra. Điều này được biết qua con mắt nội tâm, tức là, kỹ năng phân biệt chính xác.

Thus, those who practice the exercises of insight meditation should use their sensitivities and circumspection to the full if they hope to gain release from unawareness. Fashionings, in this context, are like waves on the ocean. If we're out in a boat on the ocean when the waves are high, our vision is curtailed. Our senses of hearing, smell, taste, touch, and ideation are all curtailed. We won't be able to perceive far into the distance. What this means is that when our minds are immersed in the Hindrances, we won't be able to perceive death at all. But once we've been able to suppress the Hindrances, it's like taking a boat across the ocean when there are no waves. We'll be able to see objects far in the distance. Our eyes will be clear-seeing, our ears clear-hearing, our senses of smell, taste, touch and ideation will be broad and wide open. The water will be clear, and the light brilliant. We'll be able to know all around us.

In the same way, those who are to know death clearly have to begin by practicing concentration as a foundation for developing liberating insight. How do the five sorts of above-mentioned sensation arise? What are their causes? How do they disappear? How do physical and mental feelings arise? How do they disappear? What are their causes? How do labels and concepts arise? What are their causes? How do they disappear? How do mental fashionings arise? What are their causes? How do they disappear? How does consciousness arise by way of the senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and ideation? What are its causes? How does it disappear?

Vì vậy, những ai thực hành tu tập thiền minh sát nên sử dụng sự nhạy cảm và thận trọng của họ trọn vẹn nếu họ hy vọng được giải thoát khỏi sự thiếu hiểu biết. Hành vi cấu thành, trong bối cảnh này, giống như những làn sóng trên biển. Nếu chúng ta ở trong một chiếc thuyền trên biển khi sóng lớn, tầm nhìn của chúng ta bị hạn chế. Các giác quan thính giác, khứu giác, vị giác, xúc giác, và thức giác của chúng ta đều bị hạn chế. Chúng ta sẽ không thể nhận thức được ở khoảng cách xa. Điều này có nghĩa là khi tâm chúng ta bị đắm chìm trong các Chướng ngại, chúng ta sẽ không thể nhận thức được cái chết. Nhưng một khi chúng ta có thể khống chế Chướng ngại, nó giống như đi thuyền trên biển khi không có sóng. Chúng ta sẽ có thể nhìn thấy cảnh vật ở rất xa. Mắt chúng ta sẽ nhìn rõ, tai chúng ta sẽ nghe rõ, khứu giác, vị giác, xúc giác và thức giác của chúng ta sẽ rộng mở. Nước sẽ trong, và ánh sáng rực rỡ. Chúng ta sẽ có thể biết tất cả xung quanh chúng ta.

Tương tự như vậy, những ai muốn biết rõ cái chết thì phải bắt đầu bằng cách thực hành thiền định như một nền tảng cho việc phát triễn tuệ giác giải thoát. Năm loại cảm giác đề cập ở trên phát sinh như thế nào? Nguyên nhân của chúng là gì? Chúng biến mất như thế nào? Những cảm giác thể chất và tinh thần phát sinh như thế nào? Chúng biến mất như thế nào? Nguyên nhân của chúng là gì? Nhãn hiệu và khái niệm phát sinh như thế nào? Nguyên nhân của chúng là gì? Chúng biến mất như thế nào? Những sự cấu thành tinh thần phát sinh như thế nào? Nguyên nhân của chúng là gì? Chúng biến mất như thế nào? Ý thức phát sinh qua cách của thị giác, thính giác, khứu giác, vị giác, xúc giác, và thức giác như thế nào? Nguyên nhân của nó là gì? Nó biến mất như thế nào?

Altogether there are four levels to each of the five aggregates (khandhas): external and internal, staying in place and streaming outward. These can be known at all times, but only people who have the discernment that comes from training the mind in tranquillity and insight meditation will be able to know death on this level.

The discernment that arises in this way has been termed pubbenivasanussati-ñana, i.e., understanding past sensations, future sensations, and sensations in the present. These sensations differ in the way they arise and pass away. To know this is to have mastered one cognitive skill.

Cutupapata-ñana: With discernment of this sort, we're able to keep track of the states of our own mind as they arise and disappear, sometimes good as they arise and good as they disappear, sometimes bad as they arise and bad as they disappear, sometimes good as they arise and bad as they disappear, sometimes bad as they arise and good as they disappear. To be able to keep track in this way is to know states of being and birth.

Asavakkhaya-ñana: When the discernment of this skill arises, it leads to disenchantment with the way sensations and mental acts arise and disappear and then arise again, simply circling about: coarser sensations going through the cycle slowly, more refined sensations going quickly; coarser mental acts going slowly, more refined mental acts going quickly. When you can keep track of this, you know one form of stress. Now focus attention back on your own mind to see whether or not it's neutral at that moment. If the mind approves of its knowledge or of the things it knows, that's kamasukhallikanuyoga — indulgence in pleasure. If the mind disapproves of its knowledge or of the things it knows, that's attakilamathanuyoga, indulgence in self-infliction. Once you've seen this, make the mind neutral toward whatever it may know: That moment of awareness is the mental state forming the Path. When the Path arises, the causes of stress disband. Try your best to keep that mental state going. Follow that train of awareness as much as you can. The mind when it's in that state is said to be developing the Path — and at whatever moment the Path stands firm, disbanding and relinquishing occur.

Nói chung có bốn mức độ cho mỗi một trong năm uẩn (khandhas): bên ngoài và bên trong, ở tại chỗ và truyền ra ngoài. Những điều này có thể biết được vào mọi lúc, nhưng chỉ những người có tuệ phân biệt đến từ việc rèn luyện tâm trong sự tĩnh lặng và thiền minh sát mới có thể biết cái chết ở mức độ này.

Tuệ phân biệt phát sinh theo cách này được gọi là pubbenivasanussati-ñana, tức là, hiểu biết các cảm giác trong quá khứ, cảm giác trong tương lai và cảm giác trong hiện tại. Những cảm giác này khác nhau về cách chúng phát sinh và biến mất. Để biết điều này là đã tinh thông kỹ năng nhận thức.

Cutupapata-ñana: Với tuệ phân biệt kiểu này, chúng ta có thể theo dõi các trạng thái của tâm chúng ta khi chúng phát sinh và biến mất, đôi khi tốt khi chúng phát sinh và tốt khi chúng biến mất, đôi khi xấu khi chúng phát sinh và xấu khi chúng biến mất, đôi khi tốt khi chúng phát sinh và xấu khi chúng biến mất, đôi khi xấu khi chúng phát sinh và tốt khi chúng biến mất. Để có thể theo dõi bằng cách này là để biết các trạng thái của sự hiện hữu và sinh ra.

Asavakkhaya-ñana: Khi tuệ phân biệt kiểu này phát sinh, nó dẫn đến tỉnh ngộ với cách cảm giác và hành động tinh thần phát sinh và biến mất rồi lại phát sinh, chỉ đơn giản quay vòng: cảm giác thô hơn trải qua chu kỳ chậm, cảm giác tinh tế hơn thì đi nhanh; hành động tinh thần thô thì đi chậm, hành động tinh thần tinh tế hơn thì đi nhanh. Khi bạn có thể theo dõi điều này, bạn biết một dạng căng thẳng. Bây giờ tập trung sự chú ý trở lại tâm của bạn để xem liệu nó có trung tính vào thời điểm đó hay không. Nếu tâm chấp nhận kiến thức của nó hay những thứ nó biết, đó là kamasukhallikanuyoga — mê đắm trong niềm vui. Nếu tâm không chấp nhận kiến thức của nó hay những thứ nó biết, đó là attakilamathanuyoga, mê đắm trong việc tự hành hạ. Một khi bạn nhìn thấy điều này, làm tâm trung tính với bất cứ thứ gì nó có thể biết: Khoảnh khắc nhận thức đó là trạng thái tâm linh hình thành Đạo. Khi Đạo phát sinh, những nguyên nhân của căng thẳng tan rã. Cố gắng hết sức để duy trì trạng thái tâm linh đó. Dõi theo chuỗi nhận thức đó nhiều nhất có thể. Tâm khi ở trạng thái đó được cho là đang phát triễn Đạo — và bất cứ lúc nào Đạo đứng vững, sự tan rã và từ bỏ xảy ra.

When you can do this, you reach the level where you know death clearly. People who know death in this way are then able to reduce the number of their own deaths. Some of the Noble Ones have seven more deaths ahead of them, some have only one more, others go beyond death entirely. These Noble Ones are people who understand birth and death, and for this reason have only a few deaths left to them. Ordinary people who understand their own birth and death on this level are hard to find. Common, ordinary birth and death aren't especially necessary; but people who don't understand the Dhamma have to put up with birth and death as a common thing.

So whoever is to know death on this level will have to develop the cognitive skill that comes from training the mind. The skill, here, is knowing which preoccupations of the mind are in the past, which are in the future, and which are in the present. This is cognitive skill (vijja). Letting go of the past, letting go of the future, letting go of the present, not latching onto anything at all: This is purity and release.

As for unawareness, it's the exact opposite, i.e., not knowing what's past, not knowing what's future, not knowing what's present — that is, the arising and falling away of sensations and mental acts, or body and mind — or at most knowing only on the level of labels and concepts remembered from what other people have said, not knowing on the level of awareness that we've developed on our own. All of this is classed as avijja, or unawareness.

Khi bạn có thể làm điều này, bạn đạt đến mức mà bạn biết rõ cái chết. Người biết cái chết theo cách này thì có thể giảm thiểu số lần chết của họ. Một số bậc Thánh hiền có bảy lần chết nữa trong tương lai, một số chỉ có một lần, các vị khác vượt qua cái chết hoàn toàn. Các bậc Thánh hiền này là người thông hiểu sinh và tử, và vì lý do này họ chỉ còn lại một vài lần chết. Hiếm thấy người bình thường hiểu rõ sinh và tử của chính họ ở mức độ này. Nói chung, sinh và tử bình thường thì không đặc biệt cần thiết; nhưng người không hiểu Pháp phải chấp nhận sinh và tử như một lẽ thường tình.

Vì vậy, bất cứ ai muốn hiểu cái chết ở mức độ này sẽ phải phát triễn kỹ năng nhận thức đến từ việc rèn luyện tâm. Kỹ năng, ở đây, là biết mối bận tâm nào là ở quá khứ, mối nào là ở tương lai, mối nào là ở hiện tại. Đây là kỹ năng nhận thức (vijja). Buông bỏ quá khứ, buông bỏ tương lai, buông bỏ hiện tại, không bám vào bất cứ điều gì cả: Đây là sự thanh tịnh và giải thoát.

Còn đối với sự thiếu hiểu biết thì hoàn toàn ngược lại, tức là, không biết cái gì là quá khứ, không biết cái gì là tương lai, không biết cái gì là hiện tại — nghĩa là, sự sinh và diệt của cảm giác và hành động tinh thần, hay thân và tâm — hay nhiều nhất là chỉ biết ở mức độ đặt nhãn hiệu và khái niệm nhớ được từ những gì người khác đã nói, không biết ở mức độ nhận thức mà chúng ta đã phát triễn cho riêng mình. Tất cả điều này được xếp loại là avijja - vô minh, hay thiếu hiểu biết.

No matter how much we may use words of wisdom and discernment, it still won't gain us release. For instance, we may know that things are inconstant, but we still fall for inconstant things. We may know about things that are stressful, but we still fall for them. We may know that things are not-self, but we still fall for things that are not-self. Our knowledge of inconstancy, stress, and not-self isn't true. Then how are these things truly known? Like this:

Knowing both sides,
Letting go both ways,
Shedding everything.

"Knowing both sides" means knowing what's constant and what's inconstant, what's stress and what's ease, what's not-self and what's self. "Letting go both ways" means not latching onto things that are constant or inconstant, not latching onto stress or ease, not latching onto self or not-self. "Shedding everything" means not holding onto past, present, or future: Awareness doesn't head forward or back, and yet you can't say that it's taking a stance.

Yavadeva ñanamattaya patissatimattaya
anissito ca viharati
na ca kiñci loke upadiyati.

"Simply mindful and aware, the mind remains independent, not attached to anything in the world."

Cho dù chúng ta có thể sử dụng những từ khôn ngoan và sáng suốt đến mức nào, nó vẫn không giúp chúng ta được giải thoát. Ví dụ, chúng ta có thể biết rằng vạn vật vô thường, nhưng chúng ta vẫn yêu thích những thứ vô thường. Chúng ta có thể biết những thứ gây căng thẳng, nhưng chúng ta vẫn yêu thích chúng. Chúng ta có thể biết rằng vạn vật vô ngã, nhưng chúng ta vẫn yêu thích những thứ vô ngã. Kiến thức của chúng ta về vô thường, căng thẳng, và vô ngã là không thật. Vậy thì những thứ này thật sự được biết như thế nào? Như thế này:

Biết cả hai phía,
Buông cả hai cách
Bỏ rơi mọi thứ.

"Biết cả hai phía" nghĩa là biết những gì thường hằng và những gì vô thường, những gì căng thẳng và những gì dễ chịu, những gì vô ngã và những gì có tự ngã. "Buông cả hai cách" nghĩa là không bám vào những thứ thường hằng hay vô thường, không bám vào căng thẳng hay dễ chịu, không bám vào tự ngã hay vô ngã. "Bỏ rơi mọi thứ" nghĩa là không bám vào quá khứ, hiện tại, hay tương lai: Nhận thức không hướng về phía trước hay phía sau, thế nhưng bạn không thể nói rằng nó thể hiện lập trường.

Yavadeva ñanamattaya patissatimattaya
anissito ca viharati
na ca kiñci loke upadiyati.

"Chỉ cần chánh niệm và nhận thức, tâm vẫn độc lập, không bám vào bất cứ thứ gì trên đời."

Epilogue

I. There are three sets of results arising from the practice.

Set A

1. Pubbenivasanussati-ñana: the ability to remember previous lives.
2. Cutupapata-ñana: the ability to know how the living beings of the world die and are reborn.

3. Asavakkhaya-ñana: understanding how to put an end to the defilements of the heart.

Set B

1. Vipassana-ñana: clear insight, through training the mind, into phenomena in and of themselves, in terms of the four Noble Truths.
2. Manomayiddhi: psychic power, making things appear in line with your thoughts — for example, thinking of a visual image that then appears to the physical eye. Those who are to develop this skill must first become expert at uggaha nimittas.

3. Iddhividhi: the ability to change such images as you like. Those who are to develop this skill must first become expert in patibhaga nimittas.

4. Dibbacakkhu: clairvoyance, the ability to see great distances. Only people with good optic nerves — and who understand how to adjust the physical properties in the body so as to keep the nerves charged and awake — will be able to develop this skill.

5. Dibbasota: clairaudience, the ability to hear sounds at great distances. Only people whose auditory nerves are good — and who understand how to adjust the properties in the body so that they act as a conducting medium — will be able to develop this skill.

6. Cetopariya-ñana: knowing the thoughts and mental states of other people. To do this, you first have to adjust the fluids nourishing your heart muscles so that they're clean and pure.

7. Pubbenivasanussati-ñana: the ability to remember previous lives, knowing by means of mental images or intuitive verbal knowledge. To remember past lives, you first have to understand how to interchange the physical properties in the body.

8. Asavakkhaya-ñana: knowing the causes for mental defilement; knowing the means for putting an end to mental fermentations.

Set C

1. Attha-patisambhida-ñana: acumen in understanding the meaning of various teachings.
2. Dhamma-patisambhida-ñana: acumen — acquired by means of your own heart — with regard to all fashioned properties and qualities.

3. Nirutti-patisambhida-ñana: the ability to understand by means of the heart the affairs and languages of people and other living beings in the world.

4. Patibhana-patisambhida-ñana: the intuitive ability to respond promptly and aptly in situations where you're called on to speak; the ability to respond to an opponent without having to think: Simply by focusing the mind heavily down, the right response will appear on its own, just as a flashlight gives off light immediately as we press the switch.

Kết Luận

I. Có ba nhóm kết quả phát sinh từ sự thực hành.

Nhóm A

1. Pubbenivasanussati-ñana: khả năng nhớ những kiếp trước.
2. Cutupapata-ñana: khả năng biết chúng sinh trên thế giới chết và tái sinh như thế nào.

3. Asavakkhaya-ñana: hiểu làm thế nào để chấm dứt phiền não của trái tim.

Nhóm B

1. Vipassana-ñana: cái nhìn sâu sắc rõ ràng, qua việc rèn luyện tâm, vào các hiện tượng trong tự tánh của chúng, theo Tứ Diệu Đế.
2. Manomayiddhi: sức mạnh tâm linh, làm mọi thứ xuất hiện phù hợp với suy nghĩ của bạn — ví dụ, nghĩ về một linh ảnh mà sau đó xuất hiện với mắt trần. Những ai muốn phát triễn kỹ năng này trước tiên phải trở thành bậc thầy về uggaha nimittas.

3. Iddhividhi: khả năng thay đổi các linh ảnh như thế theo ý bạn. Những ai muốn phát triễn kỹ năng này trước tiên phải trở thành bậc thầy về patibhaga nimittas.

4. Dibbacakkhu: thiên nhãn thông, khả năng nhìn thấy ở khoảng cách rất xa. Chỉ những người có thần kinh thị giác tốt — và biết cách điều chỉnh các đặc tính vật lý trong thân thể để giữ cho các dây thần kinh hoạt động và tỉnh táo — mới có thể phát triễn kỹ năng này.

5. Dibbasota: thiên nhĩ thông, khả năng nghe âm thanh ở khoảng cách rất xa. Chỉ những người có thần kinh thính giác tốt — và biết cách điều chỉnh các đặc tính trong thân thể để chúng hoạt động như phương tiện truyền tải — mới có thể phát triễn kỹ năng này.

6. Cetopariya-ñana: biết suy nghĩ và trạng thái tinh thần của người khác. Để làm điều này, trước tiên bạn phải điều chỉnh dung dịch nuôi dưỡng cơ tim sao cho sạch và tinh khiết.

7. Pubbenivasanussati-ñana: khả năng nhớ những kiếp trước, biết bằng phương tiện linh ảnh hay kiến thức trực giác qua lời nói. Để nhớ tiền kiếp, trước tiên bạn phải hiểu cách hoán đổi các đặc tính vật lý trong thân thể.

8. Asavakkhaya-ñana: biết nguyên nhân khiến tâm bị phiền não; biết phương cách chấm dứt phiền não ô trược.

Nhóm C

1. Attha-patisambhida-ñana: nhạy bén trong việc hiểu ý nghĩa cuả các giáo lý khác nhau.
2. Dhamma-patisambhida-ñana: nhạy bén — có được bằng trái tim của chính bạn — liên quan đến tất cả các đặc tính và phẩm chất cấu thành.

3. Nirutti-patisambhida-ñana: khả năng hiểu biết bằng trái tim các vấn đề và ngôn ngữ của người ta và các sinh vật khác trên thế giới.

4. Patibhana-patisambhida-ñana: khả năng trực giác để phản ứng kịp thời và khôn khéo trong tình huống bạn được yêu cầu phát biểu; khả năng đối đáp với đối thủ mà không cần phải suy nghĩ: Chỉ cần tập trung tâm xuống, câu trả lời đúng sẽ tự xuất hiện, giống như đèn pin phát sáng ngay lập tức khi chúng ta bấm công tắc.

* * *

Taken together, all of these skills arise exclusively from training the heart and are called bhavana-maya-pañña — discernment developed through training the mind. They can't be taught. You have to know them on your own. Thus, they can be called paccatta-vijja, personal skills. If you're astute enough, they can all become transcendent. If not, they all become mundane. Thus, the principles of discernment are two:

1. Mundane discernment: studying and memorizing a great deal, thinking and evaluating a great deal, and then understanding on the common level of labels and concepts.

2. Transcendent discernment: knowledge that comes from practicing Right Concentration; intuitive understanding that arises naturally on its own within the heart, beyond the scope of the world; clear insight; release from all views, conceits, defilements, and fermentations of the mind.

* * *

Tóm lại, tất cả các kỹ năng này hoàn toàn phát sinh từ việc rèn luyện trái tim và được gọi là bhavana-maya-pañña — tuệ phân biệt phát triễn qua việc rèn luyện tâm. Chúng không thể được giảng dạy. Bạn phải tự biết chúng. Vì vậy, chúng có thể được gọi là paccatta-vijja, kỹ năng cá nhân. Nếu bạn nhạy bén đủ, chúng đều có thể trở nên siêu việt. Nếu không, chúng đều trở nên trần tục. Do đó, có hai nguyên tắc của tuệ phân biệt:

1. Tuệ phân biệt trần tục: nghiên cứu và ghi nhớ rất nhiều, suy nghĩ và thẩm định rất nhiều, và sau đó hiểu ở mức độ thông thường của nhãn hiệu và khái niệm.

2. Tuệ phân biệt siêu việt: kiến thức đến từ việc thực hành Chánh Định; hiểu biết trực giác vốn phát sinh một cách tự nhiên trong tim, bên ngoài phạm vi của thế giới; cái nhìn sâu sắc rõ ràng; thoát khỏi mọi quan điểm, tự phụ, phiền não, và ô trược của tâm.

* * *

II. Upakara dhamma. There are three sets of qualities that are of help in giving rise to cognitive skill.

Set A

1. Sila-sanvara: taking good care of your virtue — your manners and conduct in thought, word, and deed — following such principles as the ten guidelines (kammapatha).
2. Indriya-sanvara: being constantly mindful of the six "gateways" — the senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and ideation — making sure they don't give rise to anything that would disturb your own peace or that of others.

3. Bhojane mattannuta: having a sense of moderation in the amount of food you eat — not too much, not too little, eating only food that's compatible with your physical make-up; making sure that it's light food: Otherwise, you'll have to eat only half-full or on the small side. As far as food is concerned, if you can get by on only one meal a day, you'll find it much easier to train the mind.

* * *

II. Upakara dhamma. Có ba nhóm phẩm chất giúp ích cho việc hình thành kỹ năng nhận thức.

Nhóm A

1. Sila-sanvara: gìn giữ đức hạnh của bạn — cách cư xử và hành vi của bạn trong tư tưởng, lời nói, và việc làm — tuân theo các nguyên tắc như mười hướng dẫn (kammapatha).
2. Indriya-sanvara: thường xuyên lưu tâm đến sáu "cổng" — các giác quan như thị giác, thính giác, khứu giác, vị giác, xúc giác, và thức giác — đảm bảo rằng chúng không làm phát sinh bất cứ điều gì có thể gây xáo trộn sự bình an của chính bạn hay của người khác.

3. Bhojane mattannuta: ý thức về việc điều độ lượng thức ăn — không nhiều quá, không ít quá, chỉ ăn thức ăn phù hợp với thể chất của bạn; đảm bảo rằng đó là thức ăn nhẹ: Nếu không, bạn sẽ chỉ ăn nửa phần hay một phần nhỏ. Đối với thức ăn, nếu bạn có thể chỉ ăn một bữa mỗi ngày, bạn sẽ thấy dễ hơn nhiều trong việc rèn luyện tâm.

There are three ways of eating:

a. Stuffing yourself full. This interferes with concentration and is termed "being greedy."
b. Eating just enough to keep the body going. This is termed "being content with what you have."

c. Eating no more than half full. This is termed "being a person of few wants," who has no worries associated with food and whose body weighs lightly. Just as a tree with light heartwood won't sink when it falls in the water, so the meditation of such a person is not inclined to lead to anything low. The senses of such a person — the nerves of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body — tend toward peacefulness and are well-suited for helping the mind to attain peace.

Có ba cách ăn:
a. Nhét đầy bụng. Điều này cản trở sự tập trung và được gọi là "tham lam."
b. Ăn vừa đủ để thân thể vận hành. Điều này gọi là "hài lòng với những gì bạn có."

c. Ăn lưng bụng. Điều này gọi là "người có ít mong muốn," không có những lo lắng liên quan đến thức ăn và thân thể có trọng lượng nhẹ. Giống như cái cây có tâm gỗ nhẹ sẽ không chìm khi rơi xuống nước, nên thiền định của một người như vậy không có khuynh hướng dẫn đến điều gì thấp kém. Các giác quan của người đó — các dây thần kinh của mắt, tai, mũi, lưỡi, và thân — có khuynh hướng tiến đến sự bình an và rất thích hợp cho việc giúp tâm đạt được sự bình an.

4. Jagariyanuyoga: awakening the physical properties of the body by developing the factor that fashions the body (kaya-sankhara), i.e., adjusting the in-and-out breath so that it's thoroughly beneficial to the properties of earth, water, wind, and fire within the body. This is termed developing mindfulness immersed in the body (kayagatasati-bhavana), as in the verse:

Suppabuddham pabujjhanti
sada gotamasavaka
Yesam diva ca ratto ca
niccam kayagatasati.

"The disciples of the Buddha Gotama are always well alert, their mindfulness constantly, by day and by night, immersed in the body"... their mindfulness charging the body whether their eyes are open or closed.

At the same time, we have to understand how to keep the mind wide awake through developing jhana, starting with directed thought, evaluation, rapture, pleasure, and singleness of object (see below). The mind will then awaken from its forgetfulness. With regard to forgetfulness, the Buddha taught that when the mind gets drawn in by its objects, it faints for a spell. If this happens often enough to become a habit, it gives rise to delusion, leaving us no way to give rise to the discernment of liberating insight.

4. Jagariyanuyoga: đánh thức các đặc tính vật lý của thân thể bằng cách phát triễn yếu tố cấu thành thân thể (kaya-sankhara), tức là, điều chỉnh hơi thở vào và ra sao cho hoàn toàn có lợi cho các đặc tính đất, nước, gió, và lửa trong thân thể. Điều này gọi là phát triễn quán niệm thân (kayagatasati-bhavana), như trong câu thơ:

Suppabuddham pabujjhanti
sada gotamasavaka
Yesam diva ca ratto ca
niccam kayagatasati.

"Các vị đệ tử của Đức Phật Gotama luôn luôn tỉnh giác, quán niệm liên tục, ngày đêm, đắm chìm trong thân"... quán niệm của họ nạp năng lượng cho thân dù mắt của họ mở hay nhắm.

Đồng thời, chúng ta phải hiểu làm thế nào để giữ tâm tỉnh giác qua việc phát triển thiền định (jhana), bắt đầu với tư duy/quán niệm, thẩm định, sung sướng, an lạc, và đề mục duy nhất (xem dưới đây). Sau đó tâm sẽ thức tỉnh khỏi sự lãng quên của nó. Liên quan đến sự lãng quên, Đức Phật dạy rằng tâm bị lôi cuốn vào các đối tượng của nó, nó bị bất tỉnh. Nếu điều này xảy ra thường xuyên đến mức trở thành thói quen, nó sinh ra ảo tưởng, khiến chúng ta không cách nào làm phát sinh tuệ phân biệt của tuệ giác giải thoát.

Set B

1. Saddha: conviction, i.e., being convinced of the causes of goodness and of the results that will come from acting in line with those causes.
2. Hiri: inner shame at the thought of doing evil, not daring to do evil either openly or secretly, because we realize that there are no secret places in the world. Even if other people don't see us doing evil, we ourselves are sure to see.

3. Ottappa: fear of evil, not being attracted to the idea of doing evil; viewing bad kamma as a poisonous cobra raising its head and spreading its hood, and thus not daring to go near.

4. Bahusacca: studying and training yourself constantly, seeking advice from those who are knowledgeable and expert in the practice. Don't associate with people who have no knowledge of the matters in which you are interested.

5. Viriya: persistence in abandoning the defilements of the mind — i.e., the Hindrances; perseverance in giving rise to good within the mind by developing such things as the first jhana. Briefly put, there are three ways to do this: being persistent in giving rise to the good, in maintaining the good, and in constantly developing the good that has already arisen.

6. Satipatthana: giving your powers of reference a frame and a focal point by developing mindfulness immersed in the body ("kesa, loma") or mindfulness of breathing, etc.

7. Pañña: discernment; circumspection that's all-encompassing and fully reasonable in doing good, in maintaining the good, and in using the good so as to be of benefit at large — for low-level benefits, intermediate benefits, and ultimate benefits, with regard to this life, lives to come, and the ultimate benefit, nibbana. This is what is meant by discernment.

Nhóm B

1. Saddha: niềm tin, tức là, tin chắc vào những nguyên nhân của điều thiện và kết quả đến từ việc hành động phù hợp với những nguyên nhân đó.
2. Hiri: cảm thấy xấu hổ với ý nghĩ làm điều ác, không dám làm điều ác dù công khai hay bí mật, bởi vì chúng ta nhận ra rằng không nơi nào bí mật trên thế giới. Thậm chí nếu người khác không thấy chúng ta làm điều ác, bản thân chúng ta chắc chắn sẽ thấy.

3. Ottappa: sợ điều ác, không bị ý tưởng làm điều ác lôi cuốn; coi nghiệp ác là con rắn hổ mang độc ngẩng đầu và phùng mang, do đó không dám đến gần.

4. Bahusacca: học tập và rèn luyện bản thân liên tục, tìm kiếm lời khuyên từ những người am hiểu và tinh thông trong sự thực hành. Đừng kết giao với những người không có kiến thức về những vấn đề mà bạn quan tâm.

5. Viriya: kiên trì từ bỏ phiền não ô trược của tâm — tức là, Chướng ngại; kiên trì trong việc làm phát sinh điều thiện trong tâm bằng cách phát triễn những thứ như tầng thiền jhana thứ nhất. Nói ngắn gọn, có ba cách để làm việc này: kiên trì trong việc làm phát sinh điều thiện, duy trì điều thiện, và liên tục phát triễn điều thiện đã phát sinh.

6. Satipatthana: tạo cho năng lực tham chiếu của bạn một niệm xứ và một tiêu điểm bằng cách phát triễn quán niệm thân ("kesa, loma") hay quán niệm hơi thở, v.v.

7. Pañña: trí tuệ; sự thận trọng bao hàm tất cả và hoàn toàn hợp lý trong việc làm điều thiện, duy trì điều thiện, và sử dụng điều thiện để mang lại lợi ích nói chung — lợi ích cấp thấp, lợi ích cấp trung, và lợi ích tối thượng, đối với kiếp này, kiếp sau, và lợi ích tối thượng, niết bàn. Đây là ý nghĩa của trí tuệ phân biệt.

Set C

1. The first jhana. Vitakka: Think of an object for the mind to focus on. Vicara: Evaluate the object on which you have focused. For example, once you are focused on keeping track of the breath, take a good look at the various breath-sensations in the body. Learn how to adjust and change whichever part or aspect is uncomfortable. Learn how to use whichever part feels good so as to be of benefit to the body and mind. Keep this up continually, and results will appear: The body will feel light and full, permeated with a sense of rapture and refreshment (piti). Awareness will be full and all-round, with no distracting restlessness. At this point, both mind and body are quiet, just as a child lying in a cradle with a doll to play with won't cry. The body is thus at ease, and the mind relaxed (sukha). Ekaggatam cittam: The mind sticks steadily with a single object, without grasping after past or future, comfortably focused in the present. This much qualifies as jhana.
2. The second jhana. Directed thought and evaluation disappear; awareness settles in on its sense of ease and rapture. The body is relaxed, the mind quiet and serene. The body feels full, like the earth saturated with rain water to the point where puddles form. The mind feels brighter and clearer. As awareness focuses more heavily on its one object, it expands itself even further, letting go of the sense of rapture and entering the third jhana.

3. The third jhana has two factors:

a. Sukha, its taste: physical pleasure; cool mental pleasure and peace.
b. Ekaggatarammana: Awareness is firm and fixed in a snug fit with its object. As it focuses strongly and forcibly expands itself, a bright sense of light appears. The mind seems much more open and blooming than before. As you focus in with complete mindfulness and alertness, the sense of pleasure begins to waver, and as the mind adjusts its focus slightly it enters the fourth jhana.

4. The fourth jhana has two factors:

a. Upekkha: equanimity with regard to objects. Past, future, and the grosser sense of the body in the present disappear.
b. Ekaggatarammana: The mind is solitary, its mindfulness full and bright — as if you were sitting in a brightly-lit, empty room with your work finished, free to relax as you like. The mind rests, its energy strong and expansive.

Now withdraw from this level back out to the first and then enter in again. As you do this repeatedly, liberating insight will arise on its own, just like a light connected to a battery: When we press down on the switch, the light flashes out on its own. And then we can use whatever color of bulb we want and put it to use in whatever way we like, depending on our own skill and ingenuity. In other words, the skills mentioned above will appear.

Nhóm C

1. Tầng thiền jhana thứ nhất. Vitakka: Nghĩ về một đối tượng cho tâm tập trung vào. Vicara: Thẩm định đối tượng mà bạn đã tập trung vào. Ví dụ, một khi bạn tập trung vào việc theo dõi hơi thở, quan sát kỹ các cảm giác thở khác nhau trong thân. Học cách điều chỉnh và thay đổi bất cứ phần nào hay khía cạnh nào không thoải mái. Học cách sử dụng bất cứ phần nào cảm thấy tốt để có lợi cho thân và tâm. Liên tục duy trì điều này, và kết quả sẽ xuất hiện: Thân sẽ cảm thấy nhẹ nhàng và đầy đủ, thẩm thấu với cảm giác hoan hỉ và sảng khoái (piti). Nhận thức sẽ đầy đủ và toàn diện, không bị bồn chồn mất tập trung. Tại thời điểm này, cả tâm và thân đều yên lặng, giống như một em bé nằm trong nôi với con búp bê để chơi cùng sẽ không khóc. Do đó thân dễ chịu, và tâm thoải mái (sukha). Ekaggatam cittam: Tâm trụ vững vào một đề mục duy nhất, không bám vào quá khứ hay tương lai, thoải mái tập trung vào hiện tại. Điều này đủ tiêu chuẩn là thiền jhana.
2. Tầng thiền jhana thứ nhì. Quán niệm và thẩm định biến mất; nhận thức lắng đọng trong cảm giác bình an và hoan hỉ. Thân thoải mái, tâm yên tĩnh và thanh thản. Thân cảm thấy tràn đầy, giống như trái đất thấm đẫm nước mưa đến mức tạo thành những vũng nước. Tâm cảm thấy sáng sủa và minh mẫn hơn. Khi nhận thức tập trung nhiều hơn vào đề mục duy nhất của nó, nó tự mở rộng hơn nữa, buông bỏ cảm giác hoan hỉ và bước vào tầng thiền jhana thứ ba.

3. Tầng thiền jhana thứ ba có hai yếu tố:

a. Sukha, hương vị của nó: niềm vui thể chất; niềm vui tinh thần mát mẻ và bình an.
b. Ekaggatarammana: Nhận thức vững chắc và ổn định vừa khít với đối tượng của nó. Khi nó mạnh mẽ tập trung và mạnh dạn tự mở rộng, một cảm giác sáng xuất hiện. Tâm dường như thoáng mở và nở rộ hơn trước rất nhiều. Khi bạn tập trung vào với chánh niệm và cảnh giác hoàn toàn, cảm giác vui sướng bắt đầu dao động, và khi tâm điều chỉnh sự tập trung một chút, nó bước vào tầng thiền jhana thứ tư.

4. Tầng thiền jhana thứ tư có hai yếu tố:

a. Upekkha: tâm xả liên quan đến các đối tượng. Quá khứ, tương lai, và cảm giác thô hơn của thân ở hiện tại biến mất.
b. Ekaggatarammana: Tâm tịch mịch, chánh niệm của nó viên mãn và tươi sáng — như thể bạn đang ngồi trong một căn phòng trống trải và sáng sủa khi đã hoàn thành công việc của mình, tự do thư giãn theo ý muốn. Tâm nghỉ ngơi, năng lượng của nó mạnh mẽ và mở rộng.

Bây giờ xuất khỏi tầng này trở lại tầng thiền thứ nhất và nhập định lần nữa. Khi bạn lặp đi lặp lại việc này, tuệ giác giải thoát sẽ tự phát sinh, giống như đèn kết nối với pin: Khi chúng ta bật công tắc, đèn tự tỏa sáng. Và sau đó chúng ta có thể dùng bất cứ bóng đèn màu nào chúng ta muốn và đem nó ra dùng cho bất cứ cách nào chúng ta thích, tùy theo kỹ năng và sự khéo léo của chính chúng ta. Nói cách khác, các kỹ năng nói trên sẽ xuất hiện.

* * *

People who develop jhana fall into three classes:

1. Those who attain only the first level and then gain liberating insight right then and there are said to excel in discernment (paññadhika). They Awaken quickly, and their release is termed pañña-vimutti, release through discernment.
2. Those who develop jhana to the fourth level, there gaining liberating insight into the Noble Truths, are said to excel in conviction (saddhadhika). They develop a moderate number of skills, and their Awakening occurs at a moderate rate. Their release is the first level of ceto-vimutti, release through concentration.

3. Those who become skilled at the four levels of jhana — adept at entering, staying in place, and withdrawing — and then go all the way to the four levels of arupa-jhana, after which they withdraw back to the first jhana, over and over again, until finally intuitive knowledge, the cognitive skills, and liberating discernment arise, giving release from mental fermentation and defilement: These people are said to excel in persistence (viriyadhika). People who practice jhana a great deal, developing strong energy and bright inner light, can Awaken suddenly in a single mental instant, as soon as discernment first arises. Their release is cetopariyavimutti, release through mastery of concentration.

These are the results to be gained by meditators. But there have to be causes — our own actions — before the results can come fully developed.

* * *

Những người phát triễn thiền jhana thuộc ba hạng:

1. Những người chỉ đạt đến tầng thiền thứ nhất và có được tuệ giác giải thoát ngay sau đó và được cho là có trí tuệ vượt trội (paññadhika - Trí tuệ Ba la mật). Họ Giác Ngộ nhanh chóng, và sự giải thoát của họ được gọi là pañña-vimutti, giải thoát qua trí tuệ.
2. Những người phát triễn thiền jhana đến tầng thứ tư, rồi đạt được tuệ giác giải thoát về Tứ Diệu Đế, được cho là có niềm tin vượt trội (saddhadhika - Niềm tin Ba la mật). Họ phát triễn kỹ năng với số lượng vừa phải, và sự Giác Ngộ của họ xảy ra với tốc độ vừa phải. Sự giải thoát của họ là mức độ đầu tiên của ceto-vimutti, giải thoát qua thiền định.

3. Những người trở nên tinh thông ở bốn tầng thiền jhana — tinh thông trong việc nhập, ở lại, và xuất định — rồi đi đến cả bốn tầng thiền vô sắc, sau đó họ xuất định và đi trở lại tầng thiền jhana thứ nhất, lặp đi lặp lại, cho đến khi kiến thức trực giác, kỹ năng nhận thức, và tuệ phân biệt phát sinh, dẫn đến giải thoát khỏi phiền não ô trược tinh thần: Những người này được cho là tinh tấn vượt trội (viriyadhika - Tinh tấn Ba la mật). Những người thực hành thiền jhana rất nhiều, phát triễn năng lực mạnh mẽ và ánh sáng tâm linh rực rỡ, có thể đột nhiên Giác Ngộ trong một khoảnh khắc tâm linh, ngay khi tuệ giác phân biệt vừa xuất hiện. Sự giải thoát của họ là cetopariyavimutti, giải thoát qua sự tinh thông thiền định.

Đây là những kết quả mà người hành thiền đạt được. Nhưng phải có nguyên nhân — hành động của chính chúng ta — trước khi kết quả có thể phát triễn trọn vẹn.

Translator's Appendix

The "Seven Important Sets of Principles" listed in the prologue to Basic Themes are common to all schools of Buddhism. In the Pali canon they appear in a number of discourses (e.g., Maha-parinibbana Sutta, Pasadika Sutta, etc.) as the Buddha's own summary of the essential points of his teaching. Many of these principles are discussed in connection with various aspects of the practice at different points in this book. What follows is a selection of excerpts from Ajaan Lee's other writings and talks dealing with these principles as they relate directly to the practice of keeping the breath in mind.

* * *

The four frames of reference when we sit in meditation: The breath is "body"; comfort and discomfort are "feeling"; purity and clarity are states of "mind"; and steadiness of mind is "mental quality."

* * *

Chanda: being content to focus on the breath. Viriya: trying to adjust the breath so that it's comfortable. Citta: paying attention to how the breath is flowing. Vimansa: knowing how to use the breath to benefit every part of the body. If we follow these four "paths to success," they will lead us to liberating insight.

Phụ Lục của Dịch Giả

"Bảy bộ Nguyên tắc Quan trọng" được liệt kê trong phần dẫn nhập của Các Chủ đề Thiền định Căn bản thông dụng với tất cả các trường phái Phật giáo. Trong kinh điển Pali, chúng xuất hiện trong một số bài kinh (ví dụ, Maha-parinibana Sutta, Pasadika Sutta, v.v.) như là bản tóm tắt của chính Đức Phật về những điểm cốt yếu trong giáo pháp của ngài. Nhiều trong số những nguyên tắc này được thảo luận liên quan đến các khía cạnh khác nhau của sự thực hành tại các điểm khác nhau trong quyển sách này. Sau đây là tuyển tập các trích đoạn từ các bài viết và bài nói chuyện khác của Ajaan Lee đề cập đến những nguyên tắc này vì chúng liên quan trực tiếp với việc thực hành giữ hơi thở trong tâm.

* * *

Bốn khung tham chiếu (tứ niệm xứ) khi chúng ta ngồi thiền: Hơi thở là "thân"; thoải mái và khó chịu là "cảm giác"; thanh tịnh và sáng suốt là các trạng thái của "tâm"; và sự ổn định của tâm là "phẩm chất tinh thần"

* * *

Chanda: bằng lòng tập trung vào hơi thở. Viriya: cố gắng điều chỉnh hơi thở cho thoải mái. Citta: chú ý đến cách hơi thở lưu thông. Vimansa: biết sử dụng hơi thở để có lợi cho mọi phần của thân thể. Nếu chúng ta đi theo bốn "con đưòng dẫn đến thành công" này, chúng sẽ dẫn chúng ta đến tuệ giác giải thoát.

* * *

In order to divest our hearts of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, etc., we have to develop concentration, which is composed of seven basic qualities:

1. Sati-sambojjhanga: The mind is centered firmly on the breath, aware of the body, feelings, mind, and mental qualities.
2. Dhamma-vicaya-sambojjhanga: We let the breath spread throughout the body, making an enlarged frame of reference. We know how to adjust, improve, choose, and use our breaths so that they give us comfort. We throw out whichever breaths are harmful and foster whichever ones are beneficial.

3. Viriya-sambojjhanga: We don't abandon or forget the breath. We stick with it, and it sticks with us as we keep warding the Hindrances from the heart. We don't fasten on or become involved with distracting perceptions. We keep trying to make our stillness of mind stronger and stronger.

4. Piti-sambojjhanga: When the mind is quiet, the breath is full and refreshing. We are free from the Hindrances and from every sort of restlessness, like a white cloth that's spotlessly clean. When the mind is clear in this way, it feels nothing but comfort and fullness, which gives rise to a sense of satisfaction, termed "rapture."

5. Passaddhi-sambojjhanga: The breath is solid throughout the body. The elements are at peace, and so is the mind. Nothing feels troublesome or aroused.

6. Samadhi-sambojjhanga: The breath is firm, steady, and unwavering. The mind takes a firm stance in a single preoccupation.

7. Upekkha-sambojjhanga: When body, feelings, mind, and mental qualities are fully snug with one another in these two types of breath — when the mind stays with these aspects of the breath — it doesn't have to fashion anything at all. It doesn't latch onto any manifestation of good or bad. Neutral and unperturbed, it doesn't approve or disapprove of anything.

* * *

Để gạt bỏ hình ảnh, âm thanh, mùi, vị, v.v., ra khỏi trái tim, chúng ta phải phát triễn sự tập trung, bao gồm bảy phẩm chất căn bản:

1. Sati-sambojjhanga: Tâm tập trung vững chắc vào hơi thở, ý thức về thân, cảm giác, tâm, và các phẩm chất tinh thần.
2. Dhamma-vicaya-sambojjhanga: Chúng ta để hơi thở lan tỏa khắp thân thể, làm một khung tham chiếu rộng lớn. Chúng ta biết cách điều chỉnh, cải thiện, chọn lựa, và sử dụng hơi thở để chúng mang lại cho chúng ta sự thoải mái. Chúng ta loại bỏ hơi thở nào có hại và nuôi dưỡng hơi thở nào có lợi.

3. Viriya-sambojjhanga: Chúng ta không bỏ rơi hay quên hơi thở. Chúng ta gắn bó với nó, và nó gắn bó với chúng ta khi chúng ta tiếp tục ngăn chặn những Chướng ngại đến với trái tim. Chúng ta không dính líu hay quan hệ với những nhận thức gây rối trí. Chúng ta tiếp tục cố gắng giữ sự tĩnh lặng của tâm ngày cành mạnh mẽ hơn.

4. Piti-sambojjhanga: Khi tâm tĩnh lặng, hơi thở trọn vẹn và sảng khoái. Chúng ta thoát khỏi Chướng ngại và mọi kiểu bồn chồn, giống như tấm vải trắng sạch sẽ. Khi tâm minh mẫn theo cách này, nó không cảm thấy gì ngoài sự thoải mái và trọn vẹn, dẫn đến một cảm giác hài lòng, gọi là "hoan hỉ."

5. Passaddhi-sambojjhanga: Hơi thở mạnh mẽ khắp thân thể. Các yếu tố được bình an, và tâm cũng vậy. Không có gì cảm thấy phiền phức hay kích thích.

6. Samadhi-sambojjhanga: Hơi thở vững chắc, đều đặn, và không dao động. Tâm kiên cố trụ vào một đề mục duy nhất.

7. Upekkha-sambojjhanga: Khi thân, cảm giác, tâm, và các phẩm chất tinh thần hoàn toàn hòa hợp với nhau trong hai loại hơi thở này — khi tâm ở lại với các khía cạnh này của hơi thở — nó không cần phải ngụy tạo bất cứ điều gì. Nó không bám vào bất cứ biểu hiện tốt hay xấu nào. Trung lập và điềm tĩnh, nó không chấp thuận hay kháng cự bất cứ điều gì.

* * *

When mindfulness saturates the body the way flame saturates every thread in the mantle of a Coleman lantern, the elements throughout the body work together like a group of people working together on a job: Each person helps a little here and there, and in no time at all — almost effortlessly — the job is done. Just as the mantle of a Coleman lantern whose every thread is soaked in flame becomes light, white, and dazzling, so if you soak your mind in mindfulness until it's aware of the entire body, both the body and mind become buoyant. When you think using the power of mindfulness, your sense of the body will immediately become thoroughly bright, helping to develop both body and mind. You'll be able to sit or stand for long periods of time without getting tired, to walk for great distances without getting fatigued, to go for unusually long periods of time on just a little food without getting hungry, or to go without food and sleep altogether for several days running without losing energy.

As for the heart, it will become pure, open, and free from blemish. The mind will become bright, energetic, and strong. Saddha-balam: Your conviction will run like a car running without stop along the road. Viriya-balam: Your persistence will accelerate and advance. Sati-balam: Your mindfulness will be robust and vigorous. Samadhi-balam: Your concentration will become unwavering and resilient. No activity will be able to kill it. In other words, no matter what you're doing — sitting, standing, walking, talking, whatever — as soon as you think of practicing concentration, your mind will immediately be centered. Whenever you want it, just think of it and you have it. When your concentration is this powerful, insight meditation is no problem. Pañña-balam: Your discernment will be like a double-edged sword: Your discernment of what's outside will be sharp; your discernment of what's inside will be sharp.

When these five strengths appear in the heart, the heart will be fully mature. Your conviction, persistence, mindfulness, concentration, and discernment will all be mature and pre-eminent in their own spheres. It's the nature of mature adults that they cooperate. When they work together on a job, they finish it. So it is when you have these five adults working together for you: You'll be able to complete any task. Your mind will have the power to demolish every defilement in the heart, just as a nuclear bomb can demolish anything anywhere in the world.

* * *

Khi chánh niệm thẩm thấu thân thể giống như cách lửa thẩm thấu từng sợi chỉ tiêm dầu của đèn lồng Coleman, các yếu tố khắp thân thể làm việc với nhau giống như một nhóm người cùng làm một công việc: Mỗi người giúp một chút ở chỗ này chỗ kia, và chẳng mấy chốc — hầu như không cần nỗ lực — công việc hoàn thành. Giống như tiêm dầu của đèn lồng Coleman mà từng sợi chỉ thấm đẫm trong lửa trở nên sáng, trắng, và rực rỡ, vì vậy nếu bạn thấm đẫm tâm mình trong chánh niệm cho đến khi nó nhận thức được toàn bộ thân thể, cả thân và tâm trở nên linh hoạt. Khi bạn suy nghĩ bằng cách sử dụng sức mạnh của chánh niệm, ý thức của bạn về thân sẽ ngay lập tức trở nên hoàn toàn sáng sủa, giúp phát triễn cả thân và tâm. Bạn sẽ có thể ngồi hay đứng một thời gian dài mà không bị mỏi, đi bộ quãng đường xa mà không bị mệt, đi xa trong thời gian dài chỉ với ít thức ăn mà không bị đói, hay đi không ăn không ngủ trong vài ngày mà không mất sức.

Đối với trái tim, nó sẽ trở nên thanh tịnh, cởi mở, và không có tì vết. Tâm sẽ trở nên tươi sáng, linh hoạt, và mạnh mẽ. Saddha-balam: Niềm tin của bạn sẽ chạy như một chiếc xe chạy không ngừng dọc đường. Viriya-balam: Sự kiên trì của bạn sẽ tăng tốc và thăng tiến. Sati-balam: Chánh niệm của bạn sẽ mạnh mẽ và tràn đầy năng lượng. Samadhi-balam: Sự tập trung của bạn sẽ trở nên ổn định và kiên cường. Không một hoạt động nào có thể hủy diệt nó. Nói cách khác, bất kể bạn đang làm gì — ngồi, đứng, đi, nói, bất cứ điều gì — ngay khi bạn nghĩ đến việc thực hành sự tập trung, tâm bạn sẽ được tập trung ngay lập tức. Bất cứ khi nào bạn muốn nó, chỉ cần nghĩ về nó và bạn có nó. Khi sự tập trung của bạn mạnh mẽ đến mức này, không có vấn đề gì với thiền minh sát. Pañña-balam: Tuệ phân biệt của bạn sẽ giống như con dao hai lưỡi: Tuệ phân biệt của bạn về những gì ở ngoài sẽ sắc bén; tuệ phân biệt của bạn về những gì ở trong sẽ sắc bén.

Khi năm sức mạnh này xuất hiện trong trái tim, tim sẽ trưởng thành viên mãn. Niềm tin, sự kiên trì, chánh niệm, sự tập trung, và tuệ phân biệt của bạn sẽ đều trưởng thành như người lớn và vượt trội trong các lĩnh vực của riêng chúng. Bản chất của những người trưởng thành là họ hợp tác. Khi cùng nhau làm một công việc, họ hoàn thành nó. Vì vậy khi bạn có năm người lớn này cùng làm việc cho bạn: Bạn sẽ có thể hoàn thành bất cứ nhiệm vụ nào. Tâm bạn sẽ có năng lực để phá hủy mọi phiền não ô trược trong trái tim, giống như một quả bom nguyên tử có thể phá hủy bất cứ thứ gì ở bất cứ nơi nào trên thế giới.

* * *

When your concentration has strength, it gives rise to discernment: the ability to see stress, its cause, its disbanding, and the Path to its disbanding, all clearly within the breath. We can explain this as follows: The in-and-out breath is stress — the in-breath the stress of arising, the out-breath the stress of passing away. Not being aware of the breath as it goes in and out, not knowing the characteristics of the breath: This is the cause of stress. Knowing when the breath is coming in, knowing when it's going out, knowing its characteristics clearly — i.e., keeping your views in line with the truth of the breath: This is Right View, part of the Noble Path. Knowing which ways of breathing are uncomfortable, knowing how to vary the breath; knowing, "That way of breathing is uncomfortable; we'll have to breathe like this in order to feel at ease": This is Right Intention. The mental factors that think about and properly evaluate all aspects of the breath are Right Speech. Knowing various ways of improving the breath; breathing, for example, in long and out long, in short and out short, in short and out long, in long and out short, until you come across the breath that's most comfortable for you: This is Right Action. Knowing how to use the breath to purify the blood, how to let this purified blood nourish the heart muscles, how to adjust the breath so that it eases the body and soothes the mind, how to breathe so that you feel full and refreshed in body and mind: This is Right Livelihood. Trying to adjust the breath so that it comforts the body and mind, and to keep trying as long as you aren't fully at ease: This is Right Effort. Being mindful of the in-and-out breath at all times, knowing the various aspects of the breath — the up-flowing breath, the down-flowing breath, the breath in the stomach, the breath in the intestines, the breath flowing along the muscles and out to every pore — keeping track of these things with every in-and-out breath: This is Right Mindfulness. A mind intent only on matters of the breath, not pulling any other objects in to interfere, until the breath is refined, giving rise to fixed absorption and then liberating insight: This is Right Concentration.

When all of these aspects of the Noble Path — virtue, concentration, and discernment — are brought together fully mature within the heart, you gain insight into all aspects of the breath, knowing that, "Breathing this way gives rise to good mental states; breathing that way gives rise to bad mental states." You let go of the factors — i.e., the breath in all its aspects — that fashion the body, the factors that fashion speech, the factors that fashion the mind, whether good or bad, letting them be as they truly are, in line with their own inherent nature: This is the disbanding of stress.

* * *

Khi sự tập trung của bạn có sức mạnh, nó mang lại tuệ phân biệt: khả năng nhìn thấy căng thẳng/khổ, nguyên nhân của nó, sự tan rã của nó, và con đường/Đạo dẫn đến sự tan rã của nó, tất cả rõ ràng trong hơi thở. Chúng ta có thể giải thích điều này như sau: Hơi thở vào-và-ra là khổ — hơi thở vào là khổ của sinh, hơi thở ra là khổ của diệt. Không nhận thức được hơi thở khi nó đi vào và ra, không biết các đặc tính của hơi thở: Đây là nguyên nhân của khổ. Biết khi hơi thở đi vào, biết khi nó đi ra, biết các đặc tính của nó rõ ràng — tức là, giữ quan điểm của bạn phù hợp với sự thật của hơi thở: Đây là Chánh Kiến, một phần của Bát Chánh Đạo. Biết cách thở nào không thoải mái, biết cách thay đổi hơi thở; biết rằng, "Cách thở đó không thoải mái; chúng ta sẽ phải thở như thế này để cảm thấy thoải mái:" Đây là Chánh Tư Duy. Các yếu tố tinh thần mà suy nghĩ và thẩm định đúng mọi khía cạnh của hơi thở là Chánh Ngữ. Biết nhiều cách khác nhau để cải thiện hơi thở; ví dụ, thở vào dài và ra dài, vào ngắn và ra ngắn, vào ngắn và ra dài, vào dài và ra ngắn, cho đến khi bạn tìm thấy hơi thở thích hợp nhất cho bạn: Đây là Chánh Nghiệp. Biết cách sử dụng hơi thở để thanh lọc máu, cách làm máu tinh khiết này nuôi dưỡng cơ tim, cách điều chỉnh hơi thở để nó làm thoải mái thân và xoa dịu tâm, cách thở để bạn cảm thấy đầy đủ và sảng khoái trong thân và tâm: Đây là Chánh Mạng. Cố gắng điều chỉnh để thoải mái cho thân và tâm, và tiếp tục cố gắng hễ mà bạn không hoàn toàn thoải mái: Đây là Chánh Tinh Tấn. Luôn luôn chú ý đến hơi thở vào và ra, biết các khía cạnh khác nhau của hơi thở — hơi thở đi lên, hơi thở đi xuống, hơi thở trong bao tử, hơi thở trong ruột, hơi thở truyền qua bắp thịt và đến từng lỗ chân lông — theo dõi những điều này với từng hơi thở vào-và-ra: Đây là Chánh Niệm. Một tâm chuyên chú vào các vấn đề của hơi thở, không kéo bất cứ đối tượng nào khác xen vào, cho đến khi hơi thở được tinh khiết, làm phát sinh định vững chắc và sau đó là tuệ giác giải thoát: Đây là Chánh Định.

Khi tất cả các khía cạnh này của Bát Chánh Đạo — giới, định, và tuệ — được kết hợp lại với nhau hoàn toàn trưởng thành trong trái tim, bạn có được cái nhìn sáng suốt về tất cả các khía cạnh của hơi thở, biết rằng, "Thở theo cách này dẫn đến các trạng thái tinh thần tốt; thở theo cách kia dẫn đến các trạng thái tinh thần xấu." Bạn buông bỏ các yếu tố — tức là, hơi thở trong mọi khía cạnh của nó — cấu thành thân, các yếu tố cấu thành lời nói, các yếu tố cấu thành tâm, dù tốt hay xấu, để chúng như chúng thật sự là, phù hợp với bản tính cố hữu của chúng: Đây là sự tan rã của khổ.

Glossary

Apaya: States of deprivation, i.e., the four lower realms of existence: rebirth in hell, as a hungry ghost, as an angry demon, or as a common animal. In Buddhism, none of these states are regarded as eternal conditions.

Arahant: A "worthy one" or "pure one," i.e., a person whose heart no longer has any defilements and is thus not destined for further rebirth. A title for the Buddha and the highest level of his Noble Disciples.

Ariyadhana: "Noble Wealth," i.e., qualities that serve as "capital" in the quest for liberation: conviction, virtue, conscience, fear of evil, erudition, generosity, and discernment.

Ayatana: Sense media, i.e., the six senses (the five physical senses plus the intellect) and their corresponding objects.

Bhavanga (-pada, -citta): The mind's underlying preoccupation or resting state, which determines its state of being and to which it reverts in between its responses to stimuli.

Brahma: An inhabitant of the higher heavens (of form and formlessness), a position earned — but not forever — through the cultivation of virtue and meditative absorption (jhana), along with the attitudes of limitless love, compassion, appreciation, and equanimity.

Chú Giải

Apaya: Các trạng thái khốn khổ, tức là, bốn cõi thấp hơn của sự sống: tái sinh trong địa ngục, như ngạ quỷ, như quỷ giận dử (a-tu-la), hay như loài thú. Trong Phật giáo, không một trong các trạng thái này được xem là điều kiện vĩnh cửu.

Arahant: Một "bậc đáng kính trọng" hay "bậc thanh tịnh", tức là, người mà trái tim không còn phiền não ô trược nào và vì thế không còn tái sinh. Một danh hiệu cho Đức Phật và cấp bậc cao nhất cho các vị Thánh Đệ tử của ngài.

Ariyadhana: "Tài sản Thánh", tức là, những phẩm chất phục vụ như là "vốn" trong hành trình tìm kiếm sự giải thoát: niềm tin, đức hạnh, lương tâm, sợ điều ác, uyên bác, rộng lượng, và sáng suốt.

Ayatana: Phương tiện cảm giác, tức là, sáu giác quan (năm giác quan vật lý cộng với ý thức) và các đối tượng tương ứng của chúng.

Bhavanga (-pada, -citta): Mối bận tâm tiềm ẩn hay trạng thái nghỉ ngơi của tâm, quyết định trạng thái hiện hữu của nó và để nó trở về giữa các phản ứng của nó với kích thích.

Brahma: Phạm Thiên. Cư dân của các cõi thiên cao hơn (sắc và vô sắc), một vị trí có được — nhưng không phải vĩnh cửu — qua sự trau giồi đức hạnh và thiền định (jhana), cùng với thái độ của tình yêu thương vô hạn, từ bi, hỉ, và xả.

Dhamma: Event; phenomenon; the way things are in and of themselves; quality — both in its neutral and in its positive senses: (1) the basic qualities into which natural phenomena — mental and physical — can be analyzed; the terms in which things are known by the sense of ideation. Also, any teaching that analyzes phenomena into their basic terms. This is one sense in which the Buddha's doctrine is his "Dhamma." (2) The quality of one's heart and mind, as manifest by the rectitude, fairness, compassion, composure, discernment, etc., revealed in one's actions. The manifestations can be enumerated and prescribed as principles (again, "dhamma" — another sense in which the Buddha's doctrine is his Dhamma) that can then be put into practice and developed as means of removing shoddiness from the heart so that its genuine, unchanging quality can become fully apparent from within: This is the Buddha's Dhamma in its ultimate sense.

Dhatu: Element, property, potential. Basic forces that, when aroused out of their latent state, cause activity on the physical or psychological level. In traditional Thai physics, which is based on the physics of the Pali canon, the four dhatu of earth, water, fire, and wind are said to permeate all matter in latent or potential form. To become manifest, they have to be aroused. Thus, for example, the act of starting a fire is explained as the arousal of the fire-dhatu (tejas), which already exists in the air and in the object to be ignited. Once this is "seized," it clings to the fuel, and the object will be on fire. The fire will continue burning as long as tejas has sustenance to cling to. When it runs out of sustenance or is forced to let go, it will grow quiet — returning to its normal, latent state — and the individual fire will go out.

On the level of the human body, diseases are explained as resulting from the aggravation or imbalance of any of these four physical properties. Diseases are classified by how they feel: Fevers are attributed to the fire property, dizziness and faintness to the wind property, constipation to the earth property, etc. Well-being is defined as a state in which none of these properties is dominant. All are quiet, unaroused, balanced and still.

There are a number of lists of dhatus given in the Pali canon. The six dhatus are the four physical properties plus space and consciousness. The 18 dhatus are the six senses, their respective objects, and the acts of consciousness associated with each.

Dhamma: Sự kiện; hiện tượng; cách mọi thứ là tự bản tánh của chúng; phẩm chất — ở cả khía cạnh trung tính và tích cực của nó: (1) những phẩm chất căn bản mà trong đó các hiện tượng tự nhiên — tinh thần và thể chất —có thể được phân tích; các thuật ngữ mà trong đó mọi thứ được biết đến bằng ý nghĩa của khái niệm. Cũng vậy, bất cứ sự giảng dạy nào phân tích các hiện tượng vào các thuật ngữ căn bản của chúng. Đây là một ý nghĩa mà trong đó giáo lý của Đức Phật là "Giáo Pháp" của ngài. (2) Phẩm chất của trái tim và tâm trí của một người, thể hiện bởi tính chính trực, công bằng, từ bi, điềm tĩnh, sáng suốt, v.v. biểu lộ trong các hành động của người đó. Các biểu hiện có thể được liệt kê và quy định như các nguyên tắc (một lần nữa, "dhamma" — một ý nghĩa khác mà trong đó giáo lý của Đức Phật là Giáo Pháp của ngài) mà sau đó có thể đưa vào thực hành và phát triễn như là phương tiện loại bỏ sự kém cỏi khỏi trái tim để phẩm chất chân chính, không thay đổi của nó có thể trở nên hoàn toàn rõ ràng từ bên trong: Đây là Giáo Pháp của Đức Phật trong ý nghĩa tối thượng của nó.

Dhatu: Nguyên tố, đặc tính, tiềm năng. Các lực căn bản, khi được đánh thức khỏi trạng thái tiềm ẩn của chúng, gây ra hoạt động ở mức độ vật lý hay tâm lý. Trong vật lý học truyền thống của Thái, dựa trên vật lý học của kinh điển Pali, bốn dhatu đất, nước, lửa, và gió được cho là thấm vào mọi vật chất ở dạng ngủ hay tiềm năng. Để trở thành biểu hiện, chúng phải được đánh thức. Vì thế, ví dụ như, hành động bắt đầu một ngọn lửa được giải thích là sự đánh thức dhatu lửa (tejas), vốn đã hiện hữu trong không khí và trong vật thể được đốt cháy. Một khi vật này bị "nắm bắt", nó bám vào nhiên liệu, và vật đó sẽ bốc cháy. Ngọn lửa sẽ tiếp tục cháy hễ mà tejas có vật chất để bám vào. Khi nó không còn vật bám hay bị buộc phải buông bỏ, nó sẽ yên lặng — trở lại trạng thái tiềm ẩn bình thường của nó — và ngọn lửa riêng lẻ sẽ tắt.

Ở mức độ thân thể loài người, bệnh tật được giải thích là do sự trầm trọng hơn hay mất cân bằng của bất cứ đặc tính nào trong bốn đặc tính vật lý này. Bệnh tật được phân loại theo cách chúng được cảm nhận: Sốt do đặc tính lửa, chóng mặt và ngất xỉu do đặc tính gió, táo bón do đặc tính đất, v.v. Khỏe mạnh được định nghĩa là trạng thái trong đó không có đặc tính nào trong số này chiếm ưu thế. Tất cả đều yên tĩnh, không bị đánh thức, cân bằng và tĩnh lặng.

Một số dhatus được liệt kê trong kinh điển Pali. Sáu dhatus là bốn đặc tính vật lý cộng với không gian và ý thức. 18 Dhatus là sáu giác quan, các đối tượng tương ứng của chúng, và các hành vi ý thức liên quan đến mỗi giác quan.

Gotarabhu-ñana: "Change of lineage knowledge" — the glimpse of nibbana that changes one from an ordinary, run-of-the-mill person to a Noble One. This is also classed as "ñana-dassana visuddhi," purity of knowledge and vision.

Indra: King of the gods in the sensual heavens.

Indriya: Pre-eminent or dominating qualities. The 22 qualities that can dominate consciousness are: the senses of vision, hearing, smell, taste, touch, ideation; femininity, masculinity, life; pleasure, pain, joy, sorrow, equanimity; conviction, persistence, mindfulness, concentration, discernment; the realization that "I shall come to know the unknown," final knowledge, the state of final-knower.

Jhana: Absorption in a single object or preoccupation. Rupa-jhana refers to absorption in a physical sensation; arupa-jhana, to absorption in a mental notion or state. When Ajaan Lee uses the term "jhana" by itself, he is usually referring to rupa-jhana.

Kamma: Acts of intention that result in states of being and birth.

Kammapatha: Ten guidelines for moral conduct — not killing, not stealing, not engaging in sexual misconduct, not lying, not speaking divisively, not using coarse or vulgar language, not speaking idly, not coveting, not harboring anger, holding right views.

Kasina: An object stared at with the purpose of fixing an image of it in one's consciousness, the image then being manipulated to fill the totality of one's awareness.

Kesa: Hair of the head; the first in the list of 32 parts of the body used as a meditation theme for counteracting lust.

Khandha: Aggregate — the component parts of sensory perception; physical and mental phenomena as they are directly experienced: rupa — sensations, sense data; vedana — feelings of pleasure, pain, and indifference that result from the mind's savoring of its objects; sañña — labels, names, allusions; sankhara thought-formations (see below); viññana — sensory consciousness.

Gotarabhu-ñana: "Thay đổi cội rể kiến thức" — cái nhìn thoáng qua về niết bàn làm thay đổi một người từ người bình thường thành một Bậc Thánh. Điều này cũng được phân loại là "ñana-dassana visuddhi," sự thanh tịnh của kiến thức và trí tuệ.

Indra: Đế Thích. Vua của chư thiên ở cõi Trời Đao Lợi.

Indriya: Những phẩm chất ưu việt hay ưu thế. 22 phẩm chất có thể chi phối ý thức là: thị giác, thính giác, khứu giác, vị giác, xúc giác, thức giác; nữ tính, nam tính, đời sống; vui sướng, đau khổ, hoan hỉ, buồn phiền, bình thản; niềm tin, kiên trì, chánh niệm, tập trung, sáng suốt; nhận thức rằng "Tôi sẽ biết điều chưa biết", kiến thức cuối cùng, trạng thái của người biết đến cùng.

Jhana: Thiền định trong một đối tượng hay mối bận tâm duy nhất. Rupa-jhana - sắc thiền đề cập đến thiền định trong một cảm giác vật lý; arupa-jhana - vô sắc thiền, thiền định trong một khái niệm hay trạng thái tinh thần. Khi Ajaan Lee sử dụng từ "jhana" một mình, ông thường đề cập đến rupa-jhana.

Kamma: Những hành động có chủ ý mà kết quả là các trạng thái hiện hữu hay sinh ra.

Kammapatha: Mười hướng dẫn cho hành vi đạo đức — không sát sinh, không trộm cắp, không tà dâm, không nói dối, không nói lời chia rẽ, không sử dụng ngôn từ lỗ mãng hay thô tục, không nói vu vơ, không tham dục, không nuôi dưỡng sân hận, giữ chánh kiến.

Kasina: Một đối tượng để nhìn chằm chằm với mục đích đặt hình ảnh của nó trong tâm thức của một người, hình ảnh sau đó được điều khiển để lấp đầy toàn bộ nhận thức của người đó.

Kesa: Tóc; đề mục đầu tiên trong danh sách 32 phần của thân thể được sử dụng làm chủ đề thiền để chống lại dục vọng.

Khandha: Uẩn — các thành phần của tri giác; các hiện tượng vật lý và tinh thần như chúng được trực tiếp trải nghiệm: rupa — cảm giác, dữ liệu cảm giác; vedana — cảm giác vui sướng, đau khổ, và thờ ơ đến từ việc tâm nếm trải các đối tượng của nó; sañña — khái niệm, tên gọi, ám chỉ; sankhara tư tưởng hình thành (xem bên dưới); viññana — thức giác.

Nibbana: The "unbinding" of the mind from sensations and mental acts, preoccupations and suppositions. As this term is also used to refer to the extinguishing of a fire, it carries the connotations of stilling, cooling, and peace. (The use of the word "unbinding" to refer to the extinguishing of a fire is best understood in light of the way fire was viewed at the time of the Buddha. See "dhatu.")

Niramisa-sukha: Literally, "un-raw" pleasure, or pleasure "not of the flesh." The bliss and ease of nibbana, a pleasure independent of sensations or mental acts.

Nirodha: Disbanding, disappearance, cessation. In the absolute sense, this refers to the utter disbanding of stress and its causes. In an applied sense, it can refer to the temporary and partial suppression of defilement and stress attained in tranquillity meditation.

Nivarana: Hindrances; mental qualities that hinder the mind from attaining concentration and discernment: sensual desire, ill will, torpor & lethargy, restlessness & anxiety, and uncertainty.

Pali: The name of the most ancient recension of the Buddhist scriptures now extant and — by extension — of the language in which it was composed.

Patimokkha: The basic monastic code, composed of 227 rules.

Sankhara: Fashioning — the forces and factors that fashion things, the process of fashioning, and the fashioned things that result. As the fourth khandha, this refers to the act of fashioning thoughts, urges, etc. within the mind. As a blanket term for all five khandhas, it refers to all things, physical or psychological, fashioned by nature.

Stupa: Originally, a tumulus or burial mound enshrining relics of the Buddha or objects associated with his life. Over the centuries, however, this has developed into the tall, spired monuments familiar in temples in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Burma; and into the pagodas of China, Korea and Japan.

Tejas: See "dhatu."

Nibbana: Sự "không ràng buộc" của tâm đối với những cảm giác và hành vi tinh thần, những mối bận tâm và giả định. Vì thuật ngữ này cũng được dùng để chỉ sự dập tắt lửa, nó mang hàm ý của tĩnh lặng, làm mát, và bình an. (Việc sử dụng từ "không ràng buộc" để chỉ sự dập tắt lửa được hiểu rỏ nhất theo cách nhìn lửa vào thời Đức Phật. Xem "dhatu.")

Niramisa-sukha: Nghĩa đen là niềm vui "không thô/tinh tế", hay niềm vui "không phải thể xác". Hạnh phúc và bình an của niết bàn, một niềm vui không phụ thuộc vào cảm giác hay hành vi tinh thần.

Nirodha: Tan rã, biến mất, chấm dứt. Theo nghĩa tuyệt đối, điều này đề cập đến sự tan rã hoàn toàn của căng thẳng và nguyên nhân của nó. Theo nghĩa ứng dụng, nó có thể đề cập đến sự chế ngự tạm thời và phần nào phiền não và căng thẳng đạt được trong thiền tĩnh lặng.

Nivarana: Chướng ngại; những phẩm chất tinh thần cản trở tâm không đạt được định và tuệ: dục vọng, ý xấu, hôn trầm & dã dượi, bồn chồn & lo lắng, và không chắc chắn.

Pali: Tên của phiên bản chỉnh sửa cổ xưa nhất của kinh điển Phật giáo hiện nay còn tồn tại và — bởi vì — của ngôn ngữ mà nó được soạn thảo.

Patimokha: Bộ luật tu viện căn bản, gồm có 227 quy luật.

Sankhara: Cấu thành — những lực và yếu tố cấu thành mọi thứ, tiến trình cấu thành, và những thứ được cấu thành từ đó. Là khandha thứ tư (hành uẩn), điều này đề cập đến hành động cấu thành tư tưởng, khát vọng, v.v. trong tâm. Là một từ khái quát cho cả năm uẩn, nó đề cập đến tất cả mọi thứ, vật lý hay tâm lý, được cấu thành do bản tánh.

Stupa: Ban đầu là tháp hay gò mộ để lưu giữ xá lợi của Đức Phật hay các vật dụng liên hệ với cuộc đời của ngài. Tuy nhiên, qua nhiều thế kỷ, nó được phát triễn thành những tượng đài cao, hình xoắn ốc quen thuộc trong các ngôi đền ở Thái Lan, Tích Lan và Miến Điện; và thành những ngôi chùa ở Trung Hoa, Đại Hàn và Nhật Bản.

Tejas: Xem "dhatu."

________________________________________________________________________________

The translations in this book are based on the editions printed during Ajaan Lee's lifetime that seem most definitive and complete. At certain points, these editions differ from those currently available. In particular, I was able to locate a copy of the essay, Basic Themes, containing corrections in Ajaan Lee's own hand. These have been incorporated in the translation.

If these translations are in any way inaccurate or misleading, I ask forgiveness of the author and reader for having unwittingly stood in their way. As for whatever may be accurate — conducive to the aims intended by the author — I hope the reader will make the best use of it, translating it a few steps further, into the heart, so as to attain those aims.

— The translator

Sabbe satta sada hontu
avera sukhajivino.
Katam puññaphalam mayham
sabbe bhagi bhavantu te.

May all living beings always live happily,
free from animosity.
May all share in the blessings
springing from the good I have done.

________________________________________________________________________________

Những phiên dịch trong quyển sách này dựa trên các ấn bản được in trong thời sanh tiền của Ajaan Lee dường như là hoàn chỉnh và rõ ràng nhất. Ở một số điểm, các ấn bản này khác với các ấn bản hiện có. Đặc biệt là, tôi đã có thể tìm thấy một bản sao của bài luận, Basic Themes, có các sửa chữa bằng tay của chính Ajaan Lee. Những ghi chú này đã được phối hợp trong bản dịch.

Nếu những phiên dịch này không chính xác hay gây hiểu lầm theo bất kỳ cách nào, tôi xin tác giả và độc giả tha thứ vì đã vô tình cản đường họ. Đối với bất cứ điều gì có thể chính xác — có lợi cho mục tiêu dự định của tác giả — tôi hy vọng độc giả sẽ sử dụng nó một cách tốt nhất, dịch thêm vài bước nữa, đi vào trái tim, để đạt được những mục tiêu này.

— Dịch giả

Sabbe satta sada hontu
avera sukhajivino.
Katam puññaphalam mayham
sabbe bhagi bhavantu te.

Cầu mong tất cả chúng sinh luôn sống hạnh phúc,
không còn thù hận.
Cầu mong tất cả được chia sẻ phước lành
nảy sinh từ điều thiện tôi đã làm.

The text of this page ("Basic Themes", by Metta Forest Monastery) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions. Transcribed from a file provided by the translator. Last revised for Access to Insight on 30 November 2013.

Bài viết của trang này ("Basic Themes - Các Chủ đề Thiền định Căn bản", Metta Forest Monastery) được cấp giấy phép bởi Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Để xem bản sao của giấy phép, hảy truy cập http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Các tài liệu liên kết từ trang này có thể bị hạn chế. Chép lại từ tài liệu được cung cấp bởi dịch giả. Chỉnh sửa cuối cho Access to Insight vào ngày 30 tháng 11, năm 2013.

How to cite this document (a suggested style): "Basic Themes", by Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo (Phra Suddhidhammaransi Gambhiramedhacariya), translated from the Thai by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/lee/themes.html .

Editor's note: Inquiries concerning this book may be addressed to: The Abbot, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 U.S.A.

Làm thế nào để trích dẫn tài liệu này (một đề nghị bút pháp): "Basic Themes - Các Chủ đề Thiền định Căn bản", bởi Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo (Phra Suddhidhammaransi Gambhiramedhacariya), dịch từ Thái ngữ bởi Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), ngày 30 tháng 11 năm 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/lee/themes.html .

Chú thích của Biên tập viên: Thắc mắc liên quan đến quyển sách này có thể được gởi đến: The Abbot, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 U.S.A.

Chủ biên và điều hành: TT Thích Giác Đẳng.

Những đóng góp dịch thuật xin gửi về TT Thích Giác Đẳng tại phamdang0308@gmail.com

Cập nhập ngày: Thứ Ba 02-16-2021

Kỹ thuật trình bày: Minh Hạnh & Thiện Pháp

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Basic Themes - Các Chủ đề Thiền định Căn bản

Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo (Phra Suddhidhammaransi Gambhiramedhacariya) - 1995

translated from the Thai by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Tỳ khưu Thanissaro dịch từ Thái ngữ sang Anh ngữ

Việt dịch : Thủy Tú

Contents

Mục Lục

III. The Foul: Tranquillity Meditation

III. Bất Tịnh: Thiền Tĩnh Lặng

A. "Among the forty themes, breath is supreme."

"Trong số bốn mươi chủ đề, hơi thở là tối thượng."

B. Focal points for the mind

B. Tiêu Điểm cho Tâm

C. Images

C. Linh Ảnh

D. The Ten Corruptions of Insight

D. Mười sự Đồi trụy của Trí tuệ

IV. Mindfulness of Death: Insight Meditation

IV. Quán Niệm cái Chết: Thiền Minh Sát

Epilogue

Set A

Set B

Set C

Kết Luận

Nhóm A

Nhóm B

Nhóm C

Set A

Nhóm A

Set B

Nhóm B

Set C

Nhóm C

Translator's Appendix

Phụ Lục của Dịch Giả

Glossary

Chú Giải