楞嚴経生活”之一 | 阿赖耶和古老的习惯

楞嚴経生活”之一 | 阿赖耶和古老的习惯 

作者：Sitanshu Kumar

译者：River

译者注：S.K.来自印度，现居住在美国，他正在写一个对《大佛顶首楞严经》的注解。以下是开头部分（后续具体解释经文的部分尚未写成）的一些注解，这里以英汉对照的形式贴出。

Alaya

阿赖耶

From the Buddhist Gatha:
来自佛教偈颂：

Old Habits flow like torrents in
Alaya's subtle consciousness
Since the real yet unreal can create confusion
I have refrained from revealing it to you
古老的习惯像洪流一样
在阿赖耶微妙的意识中
因为那真实而又不真实的东西会造成迷惑
我一直没有显现给你

下面，让我们一起来理解这首佛偈中提到的几个很关键的词：

“Old habits”

“古老的习惯”

To some degree we are aware of our superficial habits，for example, reaching out unconsciously for a cookie jar when we do not have a slightest bit of hunger. Habits are always associated with a degree of non-awareness (if you are fully aware, does any action become habitual), where energies fueling thought are significantly narrowed, where next thought is immediately follows the previous one. In this case action is physical, which may be related to a disturbed state of bodily balance (slight hormonal abnormalities).

在一定程度上我们知道自己表层的习惯，比如说，在没有一点饥饿感的时候，我们会无意识的把手伸向饼干盒。习惯总是与一定程度的不觉知相联系的（如果你是充分觉知的，你会有任何行为变成习惯  性的吗），此时充满能量的思想在很大程度上变得狭窄，此时一个思想马上被下一个思想追随。在这种情况下行为是生理性的，这可以与某种被讨扰乱的身体状态相联系（轻微的荷尔蒙异常）。

The Buddha is obviously not referring to physical habits, but rather to habits in the sphere of the (human? Do animals have habits? Or do they only have habits?) mind. To give an example, some people have a habit of interrupting others in a conversation. What is it which prompts someone to interrupt a conversation? Here is one likely explanation: As one is listening to another there arises a counter (or sympathetic or unrelated, the point being there is a background process) thought. As each thought build its own momentum (excitation of the mind/nerve system), when a certain barrier is breached, the conversation gets interrupted. This habit of having more than one thought streams or thought contexts ( if you have noticed when there is only one thought context, the mind reaches a kind of stillness, in which the realization of time is diminished. It seems that rapid fluctuation of thought gives riseto perceptible time) is quite pervasive across humanity. Since it is so pervasive, it cannot be but ancient (working its way through our minds for thousands of years), it can be termed “old habit” in the sense the Buddha describes above. Since it cuts across the divides of humanity, there is a trans-personal aspect to it (all fundamental habits seem, with some variations, common to humankind and therefore trans-personal).
佛陀说的显然不是生理的习惯，而是心的层面的习惯（人？动物有习惯吗？还是说它们只有习惯？）

举个例子，有的人在谈话中有打断别人的习惯。是什么在促使一个人在对话中打断别人呢？这里是一个可能的解释：在你听别人说话的时候，你心中出现了一个反对的（或者赞同的，或者无关的，要点在于有一个背景的思想过程在进行）念头。因为每个思想会聚集它自己的力量（心/神经系统的兴奋），当某个障碍被冲破时，对话就被打断了。

这种同时进行多个思想流或者思想内容的习惯是人类很普遍的（你是否注意到在只有一个思想内容的时候，心会达到某种宁静，此时时间的感觉减弱了。看上去思想的快速波动产生了也可以感知到的时间）。因为它是如此的普遍，它必然是古老的（多少千年以来一直在我们的心中活动），它们可以在上述佛陀描述的意义上被称为“古老的习惯”。因为它普遍存在于不同的人群中，所有它有一种超越个人的意义（所有的根本性习惯似乎都是，带着一定的变化，人类所共同的，因此是超越个人的

''Alaya”

“阿赖耶”

The “Alaya” (meaning home) is where these habits reside, where each individual contribution flows in. One experiment conducted on some monkeys may be illustrative. A homogeneous group monkeys was divided, one group was placed on an island and the other kept on the mainland. The group on the island was taught some new hunting techniques. After some time, it was observed that the group on the mainland started to hunt in a similar fashion. Although, this only provides an indirect evidence of “Alaya” of habits, it does point towards the unity in consciousness. The emphasis in human life should be to step away from the stream consciousness of habits, or put it differently negating the “Alaya” of habits.
“阿赖耶”（家园的意思）是这些习惯的住所，每个个人的贡献都流入那里。一个关于猴子的实验也许能说明一些问题。一群相似的猴子被分为两组，一组被放在一个岛上，而另一组放在陆地上。放在岛上的那一组猴子被训练了一种新的狩猎技巧。一段时间以后，可以观察到陆地上的那一组猴子也开始以类似的方式狩猎。虽然这仅仅提供了一个习惯的“阿赖耶”的间接证据，但它却是指向意识的统一性的。人类生活的重点应该是走出习惯意识之流，或者换句话说，否定习惯的“阿赖耶”。

“Since the real yet unreal” 

“因为那真实而又不真实的东西”

Now this gets a little harder. Perhaps an example will illustrate the point. Is thought real or unreal? Consider the process of day dreaming. Dreaming is real in thesense that we can (mind, the sixth sense) perceive it ( if it was totally non-perceivable we could not talk about it) but it is unreal in another sense, since none of the events “really” happen. All that transpires is a series of images in the brain, with the associated chemical activities, which create a feeling somewhat equivalent to what may happen in life. It is a movement of images, or imagination filled with desire. Contrast it to somebody pinching you, when you feel real physical pain. All mental processes can be said to be real yet unreal since they are fleeting, they arise in conjunction with residues and leave a residue as they fade out. The Buddha says that we carry many such subtle habits, in the “Alaya” or the home (of habits), which are a hindrance to true awakening.

这似乎更难理解一些。也许可以用一个例子来说明。

思想是真实的还是不真实的？我们看看做梦的过程。

梦可以说是真实的，因为我们（心，第六感觉）能感知它（如果它是完全无法感知的我们就没法谈论它了），但是它又是不真实的，因为那些事件并没有“真的”发生。实际发生的只是头脑中的一系列图像，以及相应的化学活动，它们制造了一种与现实中发生的事情在某种程度上类似的感觉。它是一种充满了欲望的图像，或者说想像的运动。与别人掐你一下，你会感觉到真实的生理痛苦相比，所有心理过程可以说是既真实又不真实，因为它们是短暂的。它们与某种留下的痕迹相关联而升起，而在它们离开时又留下新的痕迹。佛陀说我们带着很多这样的微妙的习惯，在（习惯的）“阿赖耶”或者说家园中，而这是真正觉醒的一种障碍。

Meditation

冥想

May I be aware today of habit prone thought
By fixing my gaze with unwavering attention
May this ancient energy be released
Cleaning the mind-heart complex
让我今天觉知到容易陷入习惯的思想
通过毫不动摇的注意力把我的目光凝聚
让这古老的能量被释放
净化这心与智的复合体

During morning meditation, try to fix your mind on a particular thought context which has been with you recently. An example would be to a particular anxiety or resistance that you have recently developed. Notice, without trying to get rid of it, how much of your mental being it has gripped, and how it is interfering with your normal activity. Then thinking of it as sacred energy, slowly release it. Think of all negativity in a like minded fashion, and release them. By doing this you will become more aware of the habit forming process that occurs in the mind.
在早晨的冥想中，把你的心放在某个特定的最近经常出现的思想内容上。比如说你最近开始形成的某种特定的焦虑或抵触。不带试图改变它的意图，而是注意到你的心理存在是多么地被它所控制，以及它是如何影响你的正常活动的。然后把它看成一种神圣的能量，慢慢地释放它。所有的负面东西都可以这样看，并释放它们。通过这样做你会更加能够觉知到内心习惯形成的过程。

作者介绍

Sitanshu Kumar出生于古城贝纳拉斯，印度恒河沿岸的精神之都。五岁起进入附近的克里希那穆提学校学习了十年，后来在印度首都新德里学习电气工程。他毕业于加州洛杉矶的物理和电气工程专业，目前居住在加州硅谷。

他从十岁起就对寻求真理产生了浓厚的兴趣。自1976年开始学习克氏的教义，1979年开始学习佛陀的教义。他愿意和任何人在任何时候探讨生活，他相信可以洞察真理，而不存储任何结论。Sitanshu第一次见到克是在他5岁的时候，从远处看，他觉得克是金色的。此后，每年当克访问Rajghat（圣雄甘地墓）时，他都会见到克。