时间：05/03/2025 05/04/2025
地点：星湖禅修中心
主讲：龙示林
佛法知识
正定的训练
在佛教修行中，正定常常被误解为一种特殊的禅定体验，或是进入某种宁静、空白、喜悦的状态。也有人将正定视为修行的终极成果，一旦获得，似乎便已完成修行。然而，从佛法的整体脉络来看，正定并不是为了追求体验，而是一种心的能力，一种在清醒中安住、不被扰动的稳定力量。正定的训练，核心并不在于“进入什么状态”，而在于“心是否具备安住与如实观照的条件”。
正定之所以被称为“正”，是因为它并非任何形式的专注都算数。若专注建立在贪著、逃避或自我强化之上，即便心暂时安静，也不属于正定。正定必须与正见相应，与离贪、离嗔、离痴的方向一致。换言之，正定并不是让心躲进一个舒适的角落，而是让心在清醒中稳定下来，能够承载智慧的生起。
正定的训练，离不开前行的基础。若戒行松散，身口不断制造冲突，心便难以真正安定；若正念不足，心频繁走神，定力便无法持续。因此，正定并非孤立的技巧，而是戒、念逐渐成熟后的自然结果。当生活中的粗重扰动减少，觉知力逐渐稳定，心才有可能真正汇聚。
在实际训练中，正定往往从对单一对象的持续安住开始，例如呼吸、身体感受或某种稳定的所缘。训练的重点，并不是“抓紧对象”，而是减少散乱。每一次觉察到走神，并温和地回到所缘，都是在培养正定。正定并不来自强迫，而来自反复回归。
随着训练的深入，心会逐渐体验到统一感。念头减少了，内在的拉扯减弱了，专注变得自然。然而，这一阶段恰恰容易生起新的执着。对宁静的贪著、对散乱的厌恶，都会破坏正定的平衡。真正的正定，既不追逐安静，也不排斥干扰，而是在变化中保持稳定。
正定并不意味着感受的消失，而是意味着心不再被感受左右。身体仍然有感觉，外界仍然有声音，但心不再被牵着走。这种稳定，并非僵硬的控制，而是一种柔软的安住。越是试图控制，定力越容易破裂；越是允许而不随行，定力反而加深。
在修行过程中，正定的一个重要转折点，是从“专注某物”转向“心本身的稳定”。此时，定不再依赖于特定对象，而是一种整体的安住力。心能够在各种经验中保持不散乱的品质，这种定，才真正具有解脱的潜能。
需要强调的是，正定并不是脱离生活的状态。真正的正定，会逐渐渗透到行、住、坐、卧之中。在说话时不失觉知，在行动时不散乱，在压力中仍能稳住，这些都是正定成熟的表现。若定力只存在于禅坐中，而一进入生活便完全消失，那仍然是未成熟的定。
正定的训练，也需要防止两个极端。一是昏沉，心似乎安静，却缺乏清醒；二是紧绷，用力维持专注，导致疲惫与僵硬。正定始终伴随着明亮的觉知与适度的放松。清醒与安住并行，是正定的重要标志。
从修行整体来看，正定的意义，并不在于它本身有多深，而在于它为智慧提供了承载的空间。没有定，智慧难以深入；没有智慧，定也容易变成停滞。因此，正定并不是终点，而是桥梁，是让心从散乱走向洞见的重要通道。
最终，正定的训练，并不是要塑造一个“很会入定的人”，而是让心具备稳定而不迷失的能力。当心能够安住于当下，而不被境界牵引，修行才真正走向成熟。正定，正是在这样的训练中，逐步成为解脱之道中不可或缺的力量。
Date: 05/03/2025 05/04/2025
Location: Star Lake Meditation Center
Teacher: Shilin Long
Dharma Knowledge
The Training of Right Concentration
In Buddhist practice, right concentration is often misunderstood as a special meditative experience or the attainment of a state of calm, emptiness, or bliss. Some even regard it as the final goal of practice, believing that once such states are reached, the path is complete. From the perspective of the Buddhist path as a whole, however, right concentration is not about acquiring experiences, but about cultivating a capacity of mind—a stable, lucid steadiness that is not easily shaken. The training of right concentration is not concerned with entering particular states, but with whether the mind can remain settled and capable of clear observation.
Right concentration is called “right” because not every form of focus qualifies. Concentration driven by craving, escapism, or self-enhancement does not constitute right concentration, even if the mind becomes temporarily quiet. Right concentration must be aligned with right view and oriented toward non-greed, non-aversion, and non-delusion. Rather than providing a refuge from reality, it stabilizes the mind so that insight can arise.
The training of right concentration depends on supportive conditions. When ethical conduct is unstable and actions continually generate conflict, the mind cannot truly settle. When mindfulness is weak and attention frequently wanders, concentration cannot endure. For this reason, right concentration is not an isolated technique, but a natural development arising from the maturation of ethical conduct and mindfulness. As coarse disturbances lessen and awareness becomes steadier, the mind gradually gathers.
In practical training, right concentration often begins with sustained attention to a single object, such as the breath, bodily sensations, or another stable focus. The emphasis is not on gripping the object tightly, but on reducing distraction. Each time the practitioner notices wandering and gently returns to the object, concentration is strengthened. Right concentration grows not through force, but through repeated return.
As training deepens, the mind may experience a sense of unification. Thoughts decrease, inner friction softens, and attention becomes more continuous. At this stage, new attachments easily arise—attachment to calm, aversion to distraction. Both undermine the balance of right concentration. Genuine right concentration neither chases tranquility nor resists disturbance; it remains stable amid changing conditions.
Right concentration does not imply the disappearance of sensations, but the absence of being driven by them. The body still feels, sounds still occur, but the mind is no longer pulled along. This stability is not rigid control, but a flexible settling. The more one tries to control experience, the more concentration fractures; the more one allows without following, the deeper concentration becomes.
An important turning point in training occurs when concentration shifts from dependence on a specific object to a general steadiness of mind itself. At this stage, concentration is no longer object-bound, but functions as an overall quality of non-dispersal across experiences. This form of concentration possesses genuine liberating potential.
It is crucial to understand that right concentration is not confined to formal meditation. As it matures, it naturally permeates walking, standing, sitting, and lying down. Remaining aware while speaking, staying centered while acting, and maintaining stability under pressure are all expressions of developed concentration. If concentration exists only during sitting practice and collapses immediately in daily life, it remains immature.
Training in right concentration also requires avoiding two extremes. One is dullness, in which the mind appears calm but lacks clarity. The other is tension, in which effort becomes tight and exhausting. Right concentration always includes brightness of awareness and an appropriate degree of ease. The coexistence of alertness and relaxation is a key sign of its presence.
Within the broader path, the value of right concentration lies not in its depth alone, but in its role as a support for wisdom. Without concentration, insight lacks depth; without insight, concentration risks stagnation. Right concentration is therefore not an endpoint, but a bridge—a crucial passage from mental dispersion to direct understanding.
Ultimately, the training of right concentration is not about becoming someone skilled at entering meditative states, but about cultivating a mind that is stable without being lost. When the mind can remain present without being carried away by conditions, practice reaches maturity. Through such training, right concentration becomes an indispensable force on the path to liberation.
