怎樣去選擇禪修業處呢？ How do we choose our meditation object?
怎樣去選擇禪修業處呢？ How do we choose our meditation object?
根據SNA6.1 佛陀的智慧辨析出六種人：「貪行者、瞋行者、癡行者、尋行者、信行者、慧行者」
以下是六種性行及特徵的簡述：
• 貪行（rāga-carita）：柔軟、緩慢、愛美、執著怡人的對象。
• 瞋行（dosa-carita）：急躁、粗暴、易怒、厭惡不悅意的對象。
• 癡行（moha-carita）：遲疑、混亂、昏沉、易受影響、人云亦云。
• 信行（saddhā-carita）：慷慨、信任、歡喜善法。
• 覺行（buddhi-carita）：敏銳、分析、具迫切感、厭離心。
• 尋行（vitakka-carita）：散亂、多尋伺、健談、易沉悶
對於這六種人，可以透過大致性的原則來授予禪修業處：
業處又有分止禪業處、觀禪業處
止禪業處就是四十業處了：
1. 十遍處（Kasina）：取特定顏色或元素的相作為專注對象，包含地、水、火、風、青、黃、赤、白、虛空、光明遍處/識遍。
2. 十不淨（Asubha）：觀察屍體膨脹、腐爛等十個階段
3. 十隨念（Anussati）：憶念佛、法、僧、戒、施、天神、死亡、寂止/涅槃、安般（呼吸）、身念處。
4. 四梵住（Brahmavihara）：修習慈、悲、喜、捨四種無量心。
5. 四無色定（Arupa）：超越色相的禪定，包含空無邊處、識無邊處、無所有處、非想非非想處。
6. 食厭想（Aharapatikulasanna）：思維食物的令人厭惡之處
7. 四界差別（Catudhatuvavatthana）：分析身體的地（堅硬）、水（潮濕）、火（溫暖）、風（流動）四種元素
觀業處就有四念住：
身念住：1. 入出息念 2. 行住坐臥篇 3. 正知身體各種行為 4. 三十二個身體部分的不淨篇 5. 四界篇 6. 遺體分解篇
受念住： 觀察身體和精神上的苦受、樂受、不苦不樂受的生滅
心念住：觀察種種心的狀態的生滅
法念住：1. 五蓋篇 2. 五蘊篇 3. 六處篇 4. 七覺支篇 5. 四聖諦篇
可以這樣授予禪修業處：
貪行：十不淨觀（asubha）、身至念（kāyagatāsati）——身念處核心，對治貪著身體與美色。
瞋行：四梵住（mettā, karuṇā, muditā, upekkhā；慈悲喜捨）、四色遍（藍黃赤白—因為顏色美麗、精緻、明亮、純淨、令人愉悅，能有效對治他們的粗重、不悅、厭惡）。因為他們急躁，心變得快、比常人敏捷，所以可以融入心念處或法念住等精細、複雜的觀業處來培育觀智。
癡行 ：死隨念（《慈經》義注），因為能讓昏沉者提起逼迫感而‘醒來’。光遍禪也是方法之一
尋行：安般念（ānāpānasati）（身念處）、地遍（因為它像「大地」般穩固，能「鎮住」心的漂移。）
信行：六隨念（佛、法、僧、戒、施、天）——增長信心。因為善心常常生起，所以可修習心念住和法念處（尤其是覺支篇）。
覺行：死念（maraṇasati）、寂止隨念（upasamānussati）、四界分別（catudhātu-vavatthāna）、食厭想（āhāre paṭikkūla-saññā）——分析性強，適合身念處（四界）或法念處（比較複雜，但對他們來說會很好玩）。
其他適合一切性行的止禪業處包括地、水、火、風、空、識、光明遍禪、四無色定。
According to SNA6.1,The Buddha’s wisdom distinguished six types of people: “greed-character, aversion-character, delusion-character, speculative-character, faith-character, wisdom-character.”
Below is a brief description of the six character types and their characteristics:
- **Greed-character (rāga-carita)**: soft, slow, loves beauty, clings to pleasant objects.
- **Aversion-character (dosa-carita)**: impatient, rough, irritable, averse to unpleasant objects.
- **Delusion-character (moha-carita)**: hesitant, confused, dull, easily influenced, follows what others say.
- **Faith-character (saddhā-carita)**: generous, trusting, delights in wholesome Dhamma.
- **Wisdom-character (buddhi-carita)**: sharp, analytical, has a sense of urgency, has disenchantment.
- **Speculative-character (vitakka-carita)**: scattered, full of thinking and pondering, talkative, easily bored.
For these six types of people, meditation subjects can be assigned according to general principles.
Meditation subjects are divided into tranquility meditation subjects and insight meditation subjects.
**Tranquility meditation subjects** are the forty meditation subjects:
1. Ten kasiṇas (Kasina): taking the nimitta of specific colors or elements as the object of stillness, including earth, water, fire, wind, blue, yellow, red, white, space, and light/consciousness kasiṇa.
2. Ten loathsome objects (Asubha): observing the ten stages of a corpse’s swelling, decay, etc.
3. Ten recollections (Anussati): recollecting the Buddha, Dhamma, Saṅgha, virtue, generosity, deities, death, peace/Nibbāna, mindfulness of breathing (ānāpāna), and body contemplation.
4. Four divine abidings (Brahmavihāra): cultivating the four immeasurable minds of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity.
5. Four immaterial attainments (Arūpa): jhānas transcending the form realm, including the base of infinite space, base of infinite consciousness, base of nothingness, and base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception.
6. Perception of the loathsomeness of food (Āhāre paṭikūla-saññā): reflecting on the repulsive aspects of food.
7. Analysis of the four elements (Catudhātu-vavatthāna): analyzing the four elements in the body — earth (hardness), water (cohesion), fire (temperature), wind (motion).
**Insight meditation subjects** are the four foundations of mindfulness:
- Contemplation of the body: 1. Mindfulness of breathing 2. Postures (walking, standing, sitting, lying) 3. Clear comprehension of bodily activities 4. Loathsomeness of the thirty-two parts of the body 5. Four elements 6. Decomposition of the corpse
- Contemplation of feelings: Observing the arising and ceasing of painful, pleasant, and neutral feelings in body and mind
- Contemplation of mind: Observing the arising and ceasing of various states of mind
- Contemplation of dhammas: 1. Five hindrances 2. Five aggregates 3. Six sense bases 4. Seven factors of enlightenment 5. Four Noble Truths
Meditation subjects can be assigned as follows:
**Greed-character**: Ten loathsome objects (asubha), body contemplation (kāyagatāsati) — core of mindfulness of body , to counteract attachment to the body and beauty.
**Aversion-character**: Four divine abidings (mettā, karuṇā, muditā, upekkhā; loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, equanimity), four color kasiṇas (blue, yellow, red, white — because colors are beautiful, refined, bright, pure, and pleasing, effectively counteracting their coarseness, displeasure, and aversion). Because they are impatient and their minds change quickly, faster than ordinary people, they can incorporate more refined and complex insight subjects such as contemplation of mind or dhammas to develop insight knowledge.
**Delusion-character**: Recollection of death (from the commentary on the Metta Sutta), because it can make the dull person forcefully “wake up.” One can also try light kasina.
**Speculative-character**: Mindfulness of breathing (ānāpānasati) (body contemplation), earth kasiṇa (because it is stable like the “earth,” able to “stabilize” the drifting of the mind).
**Faith-character**: Six recollections (Buddha, Dhamma, Saṅgha, virtue, generosity, deities) — to increase faith. Because wholesome minds often arise, they can practice mindfulness of mind and dhammas (especially the factors of enlightenment section).
**Wisdom-character**: Recollection of death (maraṇasati), recollection of peace (upasamānussati), analysis of the four elements (catudhātu-vavatthāna), perception of the loathsomeness of food (āhāre paṭikkūla-saññā) — strong in analysis, suitable for body contemplation (four elements) or dhammas contemplation (more complex, but fun for them).
Other tranquility meditation subjects suitable for all character types include earth, water, fire, wind, space, consciousness, light kasiṇa, and the four immaterial attainments.