时间：04/26/2025 04/27/2025
地点：星湖禅修中心
主讲：龙示林
佛法知识
正念的培养
正念，常被理解为一种放松技巧或情绪管理方法，但在佛教修行中，正念并不仅仅是让人感觉更好的一种工具，而是一种根本性的觉知能力。它指的是在当下如实地知晓正在发生的身心经验，而不被拉走、不被遮蔽、不被扭曲。正念的培养，不是为了制造某种特殊状态，而是为了恢复对现实的直接接触。
正念的核心特质，是清楚而不评判。所谓清楚，是知道身体正在做什么、感受正在如何变化、念头正在如何生起；所谓不评判，并不是没有判断力，而是不急于贴标签、不立刻卷入喜欢与讨厌。当觉知保持这种开放而稳定的品质，经验便不再自动转化为反应，心也因此获得了空间。
正念之所以需要培养，是因为多数时候，心处在无意识的惯性之中。身体在行动，心却在回忆或想象；情绪在起伏，人却在合理化或压抑。正念并不是添加什么新的东西，而是减少走神与自动反应的程度，让心回到正在发生的事实之中。这种回归，看似简单，却需要持续练习。
在培养正念的过程中，常见的误解之一，是把正念当作“控制念头”。当杂念出现时，试图立刻排除或压制，反而制造紧张。真正的正念，不是让念头消失，而是清楚地知道“念头正在出现”。只要觉知存在，念头即便来去，正念依然在场。
正念的培养，通常从身体入手。呼吸、行走、站立、进食，都是稳定而直接的觉知对象。通过反复将注意力带回身体的实际感受，心逐渐学会停留，而不是四处游走。这并不是机械地盯着某个对象，而是以温和而持续的兴趣，陪伴当下的经验。
随着正念的稳定，觉知会自然扩展到感受与情绪。当愉快、不愉快或中性的感受出现时，修行者学习只是看见，而不立刻追逐或排斥。情绪不再是必须被压制或宣泄的东西，而成为可以被观察、理解并自然变化的过程。正念在这里，开始显现其解脱的力量。
更进一步，正念也会照见念头与自我叙事。平日里，许多念头被误认为“我”或“事实”，正念则让人看到：念头只是条件和经验的产物。当这一点被反复验证，心对念头的黏着便逐渐松动。正念不是让人变得冷漠，而是让人不再被每一个故事牵着走。
在日常生活中，正念的培养并不要求脱离工作或关系。相反，真正的训练往往发生在复杂情境中。觉知说话时的语气，觉知情绪升起时的身体反应，觉知选择发生前的那一刻冲动，这些都是正念的实际应用。正念不是只存在于打坐中的状态，而是贯穿生活的能力。
正念的培养，需要耐心与善意。心走神并不是失败，而是被看见的机会。每一次发现走神并温和地带回，正念都在加深。若带着自责或苛求，觉知反而会收缩；若带着理解与持续的兴趣，正念便会稳步成长。
随着长期培养，正念会逐渐改变一个人的生活方式。反应变慢了，选择变清楚了，对自己与他人的理解变深了。并非生活不再有挑战，而是面对挑战时，不再完全失去觉知。正是在这一点上，正念显示出它并非技巧，而是修行的核心力量。
因此，正念的培养，不是为了逃离现实，而是为了更真实地活着。当心能够安住于当下而不迷失，当经验能够被如实看见而不被操控，苦便开始减少，智慧便开始生起。正念，正是在这一持续的觉知中，逐步引导生命走向清明与自由。
Date: 04/26/2025 04/27/2025
Location: Star Lake Meditation Center
Teacher: Shilin Long
Dharma Knowledge
The Cultivation of Mindfulness
Mindfulness is often understood as a relaxation technique or a method of emotional regulation. In Buddhist practice, however, mindfulness is not merely a tool for feeling better, but a fundamental capacity of awareness. It refers to knowing present experience as it is, in the moment, without drifting away, obscuring it, or distorting it. The cultivation of mindfulness is not about creating special states, but about restoring direct contact with reality.
The core quality of mindfulness is clarity without judgment. Clarity means knowing what the body is doing, how sensations are changing, and how thoughts are arising. Non-judgment does not mean a lack of discernment, but refraining from immediately labeling experiences as good or bad and becoming entangled in preference and aversion. When awareness maintains this open and steady quality, experience no longer automatically turns into reaction, and the mind gains space.
Mindfulness needs to be cultivated because most of the time the mind operates on autopilot. The body may be acting while the mind is lost in memory or anticipation; emotions may surge while the mind rationalizes or suppresses them. Mindfulness does not add something new, but reduces distraction and automatic reaction, allowing the mind to return to what is actually happening. This return may seem simple, but it requires consistent practice.
One common misunderstanding in cultivating mindfulness is treating it as an attempt to control thoughts. When distractions arise, trying to force them away only creates tension. Genuine mindfulness does not require thoughts to disappear; it simply knows that “a thought is present.” As long as awareness is present, thoughts can come and go without undermining mindfulness.
The cultivation of mindfulness often begins with the body. Breathing, walking, standing, and eating provide stable and immediate objects of awareness. By repeatedly returning attention to actual bodily sensations, the mind gradually learns to remain present instead of wandering. This is not mechanical fixation, but a gentle and sustained interest in present experience.
As mindfulness stabilizes, awareness naturally extends to feelings and emotions. When pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral sensations arise, the practitioner learns to observe them without immediately chasing or resisting them. Emotions are no longer things that must be suppressed or discharged, but processes that can be observed, understood, and allowed to change. Here, mindfulness begins to reveal its liberating power.
With further development, mindfulness also illuminates thoughts and self-narratives. Many thoughts are habitually taken to be “me” or “reality.” Mindfulness allows one to see that thoughts are conditioned phenomena. As this insight is repeatedly verified, attachment to mental stories gradually loosens. Mindfulness does not make one indifferent, but frees one from being dragged by every narrative.
In daily life, cultivating mindfulness does not require withdrawal from work or relationships. On the contrary, genuine training often takes place in complex situations. Being aware of tone while speaking, noticing bodily reactions as emotions arise, and recognizing impulses just before choices are made are all practical applications of mindfulness. Mindfulness is not confined to meditation sessions; it is a capacity that permeates life.
The cultivation of mindfulness requires patience and kindness. Mind-wandering is not failure, but an opportunity for recognition. Each moment of noticing distraction and gently returning strengthens mindfulness. When practice is driven by self-criticism or force, awareness contracts; when guided by understanding and sustained curiosity, mindfulness grows steadily.
Over time, mindfulness gradually reshapes the way one lives. Reactions slow down, choices become clearer, and understanding of oneself and others deepens. Life does not become free of challenges, but one no longer loses awareness entirely when challenges arise. In this way, mindfulness reveals itself not as a technique, but as a central power of practice.
Thus, the cultivation of mindfulness is not an escape from reality, but a way of living more fully within it. When the mind can remain present without being lost, and experiences can be known without being controlled, suffering begins to lessen and wisdom begins to emerge. Through this continuous awareness, mindfulness gently but steadily guides life toward clarity and freedom.
