信徒：某人的疾病開始影響到我了。我們應該犧牲自己的生活去幫助他們，還是放手讓他們去？

阿姜布拉姆（Ajahn Brahm）：

這其實要看對方是誰。如果那是你的母親或父親，在佛教中，我們對父母有特殊的責任。即使你不喜歡他們，他們仍然是你的媽媽和爸爸，所以這些責任依然存在。我不確定你們有多少人記得我在《開啟你心中的門》（Opening the Door of Your Heart）這本書中印的那首關於如何照顧自己母親的詩。我無法一字不差地背出來，但大意是這樣的：當你有母親，而她生病了——即使她一直一直要求東西——也要永遠保持善良，給她任何她需要的東西，因為總有一天她再也無法開口要求，而她將會離開人世。

這是一首很美的詩。最令人驚訝的是它的作者：一位名叫阿道夫·希特勒（Adolf Hitler）的紳士。當我讀到這首詩時，我感到非常震驚，即使像阿道夫·希特勒這樣的人，也對他的母親有如此美好的關懷。如果他都能有這樣的關心，你當然也可以。所以，如果是你的母親或父親，你就要盡全力去做。

當然，現在大家都有自己的限制。我們有事業要經營、寺院要照顧、要弘法教導、其他家人需要我們，有時父母還住在不同的州或國家、在世界的另一端。你盡量做到最好，但總有侷限。如果無法直接幫助他們，在佛教中最起碼我們永遠可以做的一件事，就是散播慈心（loving-kindness）——而這種慈心確實有幫助。

我主要在西方教導，在澳洲這裡，有時很難說服人們這些古老傳統真的有效，而不是迷信。這也是為什麼在禪修營結束時——當大家已經強力禪修了六、七、八或九天——我會請他們散播慈心。我們從一隻想像中的小貓開始，然後逐步擴大，直到送給真正需要的人。

以前我第一次這麼做時，會看鐘記下確切時間。結束後，我會告訴大家：我們特別把慈心送給你生命中現在最需要的那個人。禪修營結束回家後，無論他們在世界哪裡，都打電話給他們。先聊些家常，然後問：「今天下午，比如說3:10左右，你在做什麼？」我現在不再這麼做了，因為禪修營結束後的晚上，我開始接到許多電話：「阿姜布拉姆，真的有效！我問我生病的老姑姑，她說：『哦，太神奇了——那個時間我正在想你。』」或者：「我老爸也這麼說。」你確實建立了連結，它真的有效。

所以，這是你能為摯愛之人做的一件事，即使他們在世界另一端：向他們散播慈心。你或許無法親自到達，但你的心可以輕易跨越這些距離。

最後，有一位非常尊敬我的人——嗯，我不知道他到底有多尊敬我，但他確實很關心我——那是阿姜查（Ajahn Chah）。當我因叢林斑疹傷寒在烏汶醫院病得很重時，他來探望我。他時間不多，但對我說了一句話：「布拉姆，你要嘛好起來，要嘛就死掉。」然後他就離開了。問題是我完全無法反駁。我覺得有點沮喪，因為他說的太真實了，但他的床邊態度可以更好一點。（笑）

不過，這是真的：我們總有一天會生病。你要嘛好起來，要嘛就死掉——不會持續太久。奇怪的是，這其實相當令人安心。你不必永遠忍受痛苦；它很快就會過去。這是件好事，我們要知道。

你要試著幫助他們——找醫生、用藥，什麼都好——但最終，這是他們自己的選擇。我從不強迫任何僧尼；我盡量幫忙，但最後這是他們的旅程、他們的責任，你盡力做到最好即可。

佛陀有一條建議：如果你生病了，我們僧人有責任照顧其他生病的僧人；同樣，如果我生病了，我有責任誠實告訴照顧我的人，我到底感覺如何。對自己的症狀要誠實，對自己需要什麼也要誠實。最可怕的事是，人們非常願意幫忙，卻不知道你真正需要什麼。如果你能誠實告訴他們，他們就不會浪費時間給你不需要的東西。

多年前我就遇過這問題。那時沒什麼大病，但我在珀斯講法時咳嗽了幾聲。我看到幾個人出去，之後回來送了我一大堆藥——西藥、中藥、順勢療法、草藥，各種都有。大家都說：「這個對我有效，這個對我有效。」因為他們費了好大功夫，我就答應會吃一些：「拜託，吃吧。」好吧。結果我因為吃太多藥而病得更重。人們就是這麼善良，有時他們的善意值得為此生病——我是真心這麼說的。

總之，這就是苦。鐵質低？想補充劑？你得盡力說服他們。如果他們不想做，你無法強迫。我記得我母親得到阿茲海默症時，我只想花點時間照顧她，醫生說：「這是她每天必須吃的藥。她不喜歡，能不能確保她吃下去？」於是我那天把藥混進她的午餐。她吃著吃著，碰到藥就丟掉。我趁她不注意又放回去——就這小小的善意。但她一直注意到，又推開。你知道那種感覺：你盡全力了。

最後，當一個人——或許已到生命末期，不會活太久——他們的快樂與舒適變得重要。所以當她又丟掉時，我無法再讓她吃回去。我就不再試了。很多時候，你得讓人們以自己的方式生病。你試著幫助和關心，但最終，他們必須為自己的健康與長壽負責。

這有沒有道理？你試著幫助老爸或老媽，是的……最後還是得看他們自己。

——阿姜布拉姆

2023年10月–11月（3/22） | 9天禪修營 | 阿姜布拉姆 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr8BhHdM2FI&list=PLf9HOK_Rf1M6GlBVBdYU5_zus2c75tyWv&index=3

Devotee: someone’s illness has begun to affect me. Should we give up our own lives to help them or let them go?

Ajahn Brahm:

It depends, actually, on who they are. If that’s your mother or your father, in Buddhism we have special responsibilities toward our parents. Even if you don’t like them, they’re still your mom and dad, so those responsibilities remain. I’m not sure how many of you remember the poem I printed in *Opening the Door of Your Heart* about how to look after your own mother. I can’t recall it word for word, but it was something like: when you have a mother and she gets sick—even if she keeps asking and asking for things—always be kind and give her whatever she needs, because the time will come when she can ask no more, and she will die.

It was a beautiful poem. The most amazing thing about it was the author: a gentleman called Adolf Hitler. When I read that, it shocked me that even someone like Adolf Hitler had this beautiful concern for his mother. If he could have that kind of care, surely you can too. So if it’s your mother or father, you try to do your very best.

Of course, you’re all limited in what you can do these days. We have businesses to run, monasteries to look after, teachings to give, other family members who need us, and sometimes our parents are in a different state or country on the other side of the world. You try to do your very best, but there are limitations. If you can’t help them directly, the very least we can always do in Buddhism is give them loving-kindness—and that loving-kindness actually does help.

I teach mostly in the West, and here in Australia it’s sometimes hard to convince people that these ancient traditions really work; they’re not just superstition. That’s one reason why, at the end of a retreat—when people have been meditating strongly for six, seven, eight, or nine days—I ask them to spread loving-kindness. We start with an imaginary little kitten, then build it up until it reaches somebody who really needs it.

In the old days, when I first did this, I would look at the clock and note the exact time. Afterward, I’d tell people: we spread that loving-kindness especially to that one person in your life who really needs it right now. When you go home—once the retreat has ended—give them a call, wherever they are in the world. Do a bit of small talk first, then ask: “This afternoon at, say, 3:10 p.m., what were you doing?” I don’t do that anymore because the evening after the retreat finished, I started getting all these calls: “Ajahn Brahm, it worked! I asked my old auntie who was really sick, and she said, ‘Oh, it’s amazing—I was thinking of you at that exact time.’” Or: “My old father said the same thing.” You do actually make a connection. It does work.

So that’s one thing you can do for your loved ones, even if they’re on the other side of the world: spread that loving-kindness toward them. You may not be able to get there personally, but your mind can cross those gaps so easily.

In the end, one of the people who really respected me a lot—well, I don’t know how much he respected me, but he certainly cared for me—was Ajahn Chah. When I was very sick with scrub typhus in Ubon hospital, he came to visit me. He didn’t have much time, but he said something to me: “Brahmavamso, you’ll either get better or you’ll die.” And then he left. The problem was, I just couldn’t argue with that. I felt kind of frustrated because what he said was so true, but his bedside manner could have been much better. (laugh)

Still, it’s true: we all get sick one day. You’ll either get better or you’ll die—it won’t last. And strangely, that’s quite reassuring. You don’t have to put up with pain forever; it soon goes. That’s one nice thing to know.

You try to help them—doctors, medicines, whatever—but in the end, it’s their choice what they want to do. I’ve never forced any monk or nun; I try to help out as much as possible, but in the end it’s your journey, your responsibility, and you try to do the best you can.

One piece of advice from the Buddha is that if you’re sick, we monks have a responsibility to look after other sick monks—and if I’m sick, I have a responsibility to tell the people looking after me exactly how I feel. Be honest with your symptoms and honest about what you need. One of the terrible things is when people are so willing to help, but they don’t know what you actually need. If you can be honest with them, they don’t waste time giving you stuff you don’t really want.

Years ago, I had that problem. There wasn’t any great sickness at the time, but during a talk in Perth I coughed. I saw a few people go out; they came back afterward and presented me with all these medications—allopathy, Chinese medicine, homeopathy, herbal remedies, a whole lot. Everyone said, “This worked for me, this worked for me.” I promised I’d take some because people had gone to so much trouble: “Please, take it.” Okay. Then I got really sick from too much medication. People are just so kind, and sometimes their kindness is worth getting sick for—I say that with sincerity.

Anyway, it’s suffering. Low iron levels? Want supplements? You really have to try to convince them. If they don’t want to do it, you can’t make them. I remember my mother when she had Alzheimer’s. I just wanted to spend a little time caring for her, and the doctor said, “This is a little medicine she has to take every day. Can you make sure she consumes it? She doesn’t like it.” So I put some in her lunch that day. She was going through her meal, and when she came to the medicine, she threw it out. While she wasn’t looking, I threw it back in—just that little act of kindness. But she kept noticing and pushing it out. You know what it’s like: you’re trying your very best.

In the end, the person—maybe at the end of their life, not going to live much longer—their happiness and comfort become important. So when she threw it out again, I couldn’t make her take it back. I didn’t try anymore. A lot of times, you let people be sick in their own way. You try to help and care, but in the end, they have to take responsibility for their own health and their own long life.

Does that make sense to you? You try to help your old father or old mom, and yeah… it’s up to them.

----Ajahn Brahm

2023 October - November (3/22) | 9 day Retreat | Ajahn Brahm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr8BhHdM2FI&list=PLf9HOK_Rf1M6GlBVBdYU5_zus2c75tyWv&index=3

當我們的心因為病痛而跑來跑去不受控，代表著什麼呢？

代表我們對目前的狀態不滿。

因此心就會走去尋找快樂、逃避痛苦

儘管有些禪修者嘗試用一些他們擅長的業處，但未必能夠讓心定下來的

因為散亂的根本原因就是對當下不滿，試圖逃避現實

此時，可以放下一直在用的禪修業處，勇敢面對病痛

Ajahn Brahm 用 ‘kindfulness’ 一詞

當我們對病痛釋出善意的時候，我們也會同時具備正念

我們的心不再跑來跑去，而對當下滿足

此時病痛便是我們的禪修所緣了

What does it mean when our mind wanders uncontrollably due to illness or pain? 

It means we are dissatisfied with our current state. 

Thus, the mind seeks pleasure and tries to escape from suffering.

Although some meditators may try to use meditation objects they are skilled in, this may not necessarily calm the mind. 

The root cause of restlessness is dissatisfaction with the present moment and the attempt to escape reality.

At such times, we can let go of the meditation object we have been using and courageously face the illness or pain. 

Ajahn Brahm uses the term 'kindfulness.' 

When we extend kindness toward the pain or illness, we simultaneously cultivate mindfulness. 

Our mind no longer wanders, and we become content with the present moment.

At this point, the illness or pain itself becomes the object of our meditation.

Years back, I was asked to participate in a psychology experiment. This was after I learned how to meditate a little bit before I was ordained. And they had me put my hand in a bucket of ice water. My right hand went into the bucket. And they said to imagine that the warmth of my left hand is going to my right hand whenever it is cold and my right hand is going into the left. So I sat there for about 5 minutes. And then they said I could stop because I was breaking the curve.

I found out later that this experiment was designed. They divided people into three groups, one group was told, put your hand in there and when it gets painful, take it out. The second group was told put your hand in there and try to keep it in there as long as you can. The third group, which is the group that I was in, was told this method for thinking of the warmth of their warm hand going to warm up your cold hand and vice versa. And they found, of course, that the third group would keep their hand in the water much longer. Because they were given a a tool to use against the pain. So they were not, they were not afraid of it. That's the first lesson in dealing with pain.

Use whatever comfort you can have in the body. That you can generate through the breath and then you can use that to make yourself fearless in the face of the pain. And give you some tools to use with it. Ajahn Maha Boowa takes the next two steps, steps three and four, goes into a lot of detail. Once you're able to focus on the pain, ask yourself, what kind of perceptions do you have around the pain?  For instance, that pain in your knee. You see that it's the same thing as the knee? Irrationally would say it's not, but the way we actually approach the feeling of pain, often that's what it seems to be to be like. Then he says, well, focus on the fact that the knee is made out of the physical elements that make up the body.

Your sense of the body is made up of sense of energy, which is called breath or wind element, warmth, which is the fire element, coolness, which is the water element, and solidity, the earth element. That's what your knee is, your experience the knee is made of, but the pain is something else entirely. To try to see it as something separate. Or you can ask yourself where is the sharpest point of the pain?And if you're trying to follow around, you can see that it moves. Usually when you see a sharp part of the pain, we run away from it, but again, if you learn how to be fearless in the face of the pain, you find that it runs away from you. And sometimes it actually has that feeling that it separates out from the body. It's not in the body anymore. Where you can ask yourself, is the pain one solid block or is it discrete moments that arise and pass away? If it's just moments, it's a lot easier to deal with because you're just dealing with the moments in the present moment. Your past pain is not there. Your future fear of the pain, that's not there. All you have to deal with is a plain and remote present moment. It's a lot easier to deal with that way. Also if you see it as discrete moments, you can ask yourself when those moments arise, are they coming at you or are they going away from you?

I learned this lesson when I was being given a treatment for my back in Singapore one time. We went to see a Chinese doctor, Ajahn Keng took me there. And the doctor started rubbing oil on my back and at first it felt good, but then he rubbed harder and harder until my back was raw and they brought out some bamboo whisks and started beating me on the back. My first thought was what bad karma have I done that I need to experience this. But then I realized he wasn't going to stop. And then I noticed that if I thought that the pain was coming at me,it was hard to take, but I thought it was going away from me as soon as it arose, it was a lot easier to take. It's like sitting in the back of a car or the back seat is facing to the back. And should the car goes down the road, anything that comes into the range of your vision is going away from you already.

So lots of ways of changing the way you perceive the pain so you don't have to suffer so much from it. Here again, we're using verbal fabrication, mental fabrication, and bodily fabrication. With knowledge. In a skillful way. So you realize that how you approach the pain that's coming from past bad karma will make a difference between whether you suffer from it or not.

---Ajahn Thanissaro

2-12-2025

English transcribed by Dhamma friends

image cred. to aranyarefuge.org

多年前，我曾受邀參與一項心理學實驗。那時我剛學會一點禪修，尚未出家。他們要我把右手放進冰水桶裡，並指示：當右手感到冰冷時，就觀想左手的溫暖流向右手，右手則將冷感傳向左手。我如此坐了約五分鐘，後來他們告訴我可以停止了，因為我的表現「偏離了常態曲線」。

後來我得知，這實驗設計將受試者分為三組：第一組被告知「手痛就拿出來」；第二組是「盡可能忍耐久一點」；第三組——也就是我所在的組別——則學習這種「冷暖交替觀想」的方法。結果發現，第三組能將手浸在水中更久，因為他們掌握了應對疼痛的工具，因而無所畏懼。這是面對疼痛的第一課：運用身體中你能透過呼吸創造的舒適感，以此培養面對疼痛的勇氣，並獲得可用的方法。

阿姜摩訶布瓦則深入後兩個步驟（第三、四步），闡述得極為細緻。當你能專注於疼痛時，可問自己：你對疼痛抱持怎樣的認知？例如膝蓋的疼痛——你是否將其與膝蓋本身視為一體？理性上我們知道並非如此，但我們實際感受疼痛的方式卻常如此混淆。他建議：不妨專注於「膝蓋是由組成身體的物質元素所構成」的事實。

你對身體的感知，其實是由能量感（風界）、溫暖感（火界）、涼潤感（水界）與堅實感（地界）所組成。這就是你的膝蓋——你經驗中的膝蓋由這些構成，而疼痛卻是完全不同的東西。試著將它視為獨立的存在。

或者，你可以問自己：疼痛最尖銳的點在哪裡？若試著追蹤，會發現它其實在移動。通常我們會逃避疼痛的尖銳處，但如果你學會無畏地面對它，反而會發現是疼痛在避開你。有時甚至會感到它從身體分離出去，不再屬於身體。

你還可以問：疼痛是一個堅固的整體，還是生起又滅去的個別瞬間？如果只是瞬間，就容易應對得多，因為你只需處理當下的瞬間。過去的疼痛已逝，對未來的恐懼尚未生起，要面對的只是一個單純的當下——這樣容易多了。若視之為個別瞬間，也可觀察這些瞬間是朝你襲來，還是正離你而去？

我曾在新加坡接受背部治療時學到這一課. Ajahn Keng帶我去看一位中醫，醫生先在我背上抹油，起初感覺舒適，但他愈按愈重，直到背部發紅，接著拿出竹籤開始拍打。我第一個念頭是：「我造了什麼惡業，需受這種苦？」但隨即明白他不會停手。這時我注意到：若想著疼痛正襲向我，便難以承受；但若觀想它一生起即遠離，就容易得多。就像坐在後向的車座上，車行途中，所有映入眼簾的事物其實都在遠離你。

如此，透過許多方式改變對疼痛的認知，你就不必承受過多痛苦。在此，我們再次運用語造作、心造作與身造作——以智慧、以善巧的方式運用。於是你會明白：如何面對源於過去惡業的疼痛，將決定你是否為其所苦。

——阿姜坦尼沙羅 

2025年2月12日 

英文聽錄由法友協助 

圖片來自 aranyarefuge.org 

Another thing you have to learn how to tolerate is pain. You know, the Buddha does accept the fact that when pain comes to the body, you can use medicine. In fact, the rules for the monks are full of rules about proper medicines that can be used. It's because of the monks’ rules that we know so much about how medicine was practiced in the time of the Buddha.

But he also notes that there are a lot of times when no matter what medicine you give, a pain will not go away. You also know that you're going to have to face in the future, pains of illness, pains of aging, and the pain of death. You don't want your mind to be shaken by these things. And if you're afraid of pain, people can use that fear against you. We see politicians doing this all the time. If you don't want to be pushed around by other people, you have to learn how not to be afraid of pain. You have to learn how to tolerate it. The Buddha’s instructions to deal with pain come in his instructions on how to do breath meditation.

There's a series of four steps that deal with feelings. Says you're trying to breathe, breathe in and out with sensitive to a sense of refreshment. You breathe in and out, sensitive to pleasure. You breathe in and out, sensitive to mental fabrications. In other words, the perceptions you're using and the feelings you're producing. And then you're trying to calm that effect. Know the various forest Ajahns and Ajahn Lee focuses most attention on those first 2 steps. In other words, saying that when there's a pain in one part of the body, you don't focus there right away. You focus on the parts of the body that you can make comfortable by the way you breathe. For the time being, let the pain have that part of the body. You lay claim to another part. That's your foundation.

The image he gives is of eating a mango. If you cut open a mango and discover a rotten spot, you don't eat the rotten spot. You cut that out and you eat just the the good part remaining. In the same way, you can find parts of the body that you can make comfortable by the way you breathe. So focus there and then when you feel secure there, then you can think of that good breath energy going through the pain. Say there's a pain in your knee, in your right knee but the left side of your body is comfortable. Well, think of the good breath energy and the left side going down the spine, going out the leg, through the pain, out the foot.

Don’t make it stop at the pain. Sometimes we have a feeling there's a wall around the pain that the energy cannot penetrate, but that's not a good perception to have. This is where Ajahn Lee’s instructions to move into the third step, being sensitive to your perceptions, and the fourth step in learning to calm them. Think of the pain as being porous. The breath energy can go right through. Sometimes when you do that, the pain will actually go away. At the very least, you dissolve any patterns of tension around it which can only aggravate the pain. But the important thing is you'll learn how not to be afraid of the pain. You can face it, and you can deal with it. Because you have a technique.

---Ajahn Thanissaro

2-12-2025

English transcribed by Dhamma friends

image cred. to original owner

你必須學會忍受的另一件事是疼痛。佛陀確實接受這個事實：當身體感到疼痛時，可以採用醫藥治療。實際上，比丘戒律中有許多關於適當用藥的規範，正是因為這些戒律，我們才得以了解佛陀時代的醫療實踐。

但他也指出，很多時候無論使用何種藥物，疼痛仍不會消失。我們也必須認知，未來必將面對病痛、老苦與死亡的折磨。你不希望自己的心被這些動搖；如果你畏懼疼痛，他人就可能利用這種恐懼來操控你——我們時常看到政治人物如此行事。若不想受人擺布，就必須學會無懼於痛，學會承受它。

佛陀關於面對疼痛的教導，蘊含在他教授呼吸禪修的指引中。其中有一段針對感受的四個步驟：嘗試呼吸時，出息入息覺知清新之感；出息入息覺知愉悅之感；出息入息覺知心之造作（亦即你所運用的想與所生起的受）；接著試著平靜這些影響。

據我所知，許多森林派阿姜與阿姜李最注重前兩個步驟。也就是說，當身體某處感到疼痛時，不要立刻專注於該處，而應將注意力放在能透過呼吸調節而感到舒適的部位。暫時將疼痛的部位「交出去」，你佔據另一處身體部位作為根基。

阿姜李用的比喻是吃芒果：切開芒果若發現有腐壞處，你不會吃腐壞的部分，而是切掉它，只吃剩餘完好的部分。同樣地，你可以找到身體中能透過呼吸調節而舒適的部位，專注於那裡。當你在那裡感到安穩後，再想像良好的呼吸能量流經痛處。比如右膝疼痛，但左側身體舒適，那麼就觀想左側的良性能量沿脊椎下行，經過腿部、穿透痛處，再從腳底流出。

不要讓能量停在痛處。有時我們感覺疼痛周圍彷彿有牆，能量無法穿透，但這並非有益的認知。此時阿姜李的教導會引導我們進入第三步——覺知自身的「想」，以及第四步學習平靜它們。將疼痛想像為多孔隙的，呼吸能量可以直接穿透。有時這樣做，疼痛確實會消失；至少，你能化解疼痛周圍的緊繃模式，而這種緊繃只會加劇痛苦。

但最重要的是，你將學會不再恐懼疼痛。你能面對它、處理它，因為你掌握了方法。

——阿姜坦尼沙羅 

2025年2月12日 

英文聽錄由法友協助 

當有人說自己生病了，問該怎麼辦時，答案就是：當下在你面前的東西——那就是最重要的事。要覺知現在正在發生的事。不要試圖擺脫它，或把它變成別的東西。只要關心它。不要試圖治好它或推開它——只要單純地關心它。

When people say they’re sick and ask what they should do, the answer is: whatever is right in front of you—that’s the most important thing. Be aware of what’s happening right now. Don’t try to get rid of it or change it into something else. Just care for it. Don’t try to cure it or push it away—simply care for it.

---Ajahn Brahm

Effective Management by Ajahn Brahm 6th Nov 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcseeNZfl3M

**弟子：** 

祈請師父賜予力量⋯⋯今日弟子從凌晨三點開始修習「念佛」（พุทโธ），雖偶有雜念浮起，但心中始終保持覺知。當感受生起時，便觀照感受；有時感受消散，有時仍在。 

弟子每日設鬧鐘於凌晨五點起床，但往往提前醒來，約靜坐一小時三十分鐘。今日持續觀照感受，雖偶有分心、期盼感受趕快消散或想結束靜坐，但最終仍堅持到五點⋯⋯懇請師父給予鼓勵與支持。 

目前，弟子已觸及感受生起的根源，明白自己的「念佛」定力仍不足，必須更加精進用功。弟子正努力追隨師父——戰勝煩惱的榜樣⋯⋯至誠頂禮，感恩師父賜予力量。 

**師父開示：** 

觀照身體的苦受（เวทนา）時，切勿生起「希望苦受消失」的念頭。若一心只想讓它止息、消逝，反而會加深痛苦，最終將失去耐心，因而退出禪修。如此一來，未來的修行便難以進步。 

依佛法教導，應如實觀照苦受，體認其「無常」的本質，讓內心真正清明洞見苦受的真相。時候到了，它自然會消散，無須強迫或操控。如此反覆觀照，若心趨平靜，便安住於平靜之中——一切智慧將自然顯現。 

**Disciple:** 

I humbly ask for your encouragement, venerable father... Today I sat in meditation focusing on "Buddho" from 3 a.m. There were some wandering thoughts now and then, but I remained aware. When sensations arose, I observed them; sometimes they ceased, sometimes not. 

I set my alarm for 5 a.m. every day, but I often wake up earlier, managing about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Today, I kept observing the sensations, though occasionally I got distracted, wishing they would cease or wanting to end the session. Still, I persisted until 5 a.m. ... I ask for your spiritual support, venerable father. 

Now, I have touched the root cause of these sensations. I realize that my concentration on "Buddho" is not yet firm enough—I need to intensify my effort and diligence. Currently, I am striving to follow in your footsteps, O conqueror of defilements... With reverence, I seek your strength. 

**Master's Reply:** 

When contemplating painful sensations, do not think of wanting them to disappear. If you wish for them to cease or vanish, the pain will actually intensify, and in the end, you will lose patience and withdraw from meditation. Future practice will then not progress. 

According to the Dhamma, one should contemplate sensations, seeing them as impermanent. Let your mind truly understand and see the reality of sensations. When the time comes, they will release on their own—no need to force them to let go. Keep reflecting back and forth in this way. If the mind becomes calm, let it be calm. Then, everything will be understood naturally. 

——— 

Luang Por Somkiat Chitmaro 

Wat Pa Tham Phra Thep Nimit, Udon Thani 

February 18, 2025

cred. to วัดป่าถ้ำพระเทพนิมิตร-หลวงพ่อสมเกียรติ ชิตมาโร

《黃帝內經》說：「下醫治病，中醫治人，上醫治心」

下等的醫生只是治療表面的病症，此為治標不治本

中等的醫生考慮到病人的整體，所以能夠更有效地治療病人

然而，最高等的醫生卻能治癒病人的精神痛苦，把快樂帶給病人。

當一個人開心沒有煩惱，他生起的心生色法都是高品質的。 許多由於心結而造成的身體疾病都能被根治。

就算一個人的身體疾病沒有好起來，但只要他的心沒有痛苦，這已經是最好的結果了。

而怎樣能夠去除精神上的痛苦？

體證四聖諦：

苦聖諦：各種負面情緒、不好的遭遇、這副身心本身就是不讓人滿意的

苦集聖諦：渴愛是痛苦的原因

苦滅聖諦：渴愛的熄滅是痛苦的熄滅

導向苦滅之道聖諦：八聖道

而誰是發現並教導四聖諦的人？ 終極大神醫--佛陀

The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon states: "The inferior physician treats diseases, the mediocre physician treats the person, and the superior physician treats the heart."

An inferior physician only addresses superficial symptoms, which is treating the manifestations rather than the root cause.

A mediocre physician considers the patient as a whole, thus being able to treat more effectively.

However, the highest physician can heal the patient's mental suffering and bring joy to them. When a person is happy and free from defilements, the mind-generated materials that arise are of high quality. Many physical illnesses caused by mental knots can be fundamentally cured.

Even if a person's physical illness does not improve, as long as their heart is free from suffering, this is already the best outcome.

How, then, can mental suffering be eliminated? 

By realizing the Four Noble Truths: 

The Noble Truth of Suffering: Various negative emotions, unfortunate experiences, and this very body and mind themselves are unsatisfactory. 

The Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering: Craving is the cause of suffering. 

The Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering: The extinguishing of craving is the cessation of suffering. 

The Noble Truth of the Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering: The Noble Eightfold Path.

And who is the one who discovered and taught the Four Noble Truths? The ultimate great physician—the Buddha.

Devotee: What is the best way of scanning our body in meditation?

Ajahn Brahm: Just ask your body. Ask right now—ask your nose, "How do you feel?" My nose is now itchy.

As soon as I ask a question, you can actually feel what it needs. How does your left ear feel right now? This is no joke; be serious. And then you can actually feel the sensation there.

If you have any diseases, cancers, or injuries—you know, you ladies—how does your breast feel? Too many people just suffer from breast cancer. They have all the signs, but they don't pay attention to them. Why don't you learn about your body? I teach this at the local cancer support association—they call it Solaris now. That's actually how you learn how your body is. If you feel there's something there that's not quite right, greet it with loving kindness. And that loving kindness is very strong. It's amazing how things relax and how healing happens.

2024 March - April (3/19) | 9 day Retreat | Ajahn Brahm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDZg8Umfqe4&list=PLf9HOK_Rf1M4SpK06V5lfdyKBS5dr4jtP&index=3

學員：禪修時，掃描身體的最佳方法是什麼？

阿姜布拉姆：直接問你的身體。現在就問——問你的鼻子：「你感覺如何？」我的鼻子現在有點癢。一旦我提出問題，你其實就能感受到它的需求。你的左耳此刻感覺如何？這不是玩笑，要認真對待。然後你就能真切感受到那裡的覺受。

如果你有任何疾病、癌症或傷痛——各位女士，請特別留意——你的乳房感覺如何？太多人深受乳腺癌之苦。身體早已發出所有信號，他們卻未曾留意。為何不學習了解自己的身體呢？我在當地的癌症支持協會教授這個方法——他們現在稱之為「索拉里斯」。這正是你學習傾聽身體的方式。如果你感覺到某處不太對勁，就用慈心去關照它。這份慈心非常強大，事物如何鬆弛、療癒如何發生，其過程令人驚歎。

2024年3月-4月 (3月19日) | 9日禪修營 | 阿姜布拉姆

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDZg8Umfqe4&list=PLf9HOK_Rf1M4SpK06V5lfdyKBS5dr4jtP&index=3

Devotee: Can you please explain more what you mean by being kind to the Future? 

Ajahn Brahm: You're kind to the Future when you allow it to be. You open the door of your heart to the Future unconditionally—that's what kindness means. So don't worry about it. Whatever happens will be good. If this Monastery burns down, well, I've got to be cremated anyway, so it's all done on the spot, and I can have a nice peaceful life. It's a lot of work looking after a monastery or a retreat center. So being kind, when you understand what kindness is, is allowing it to be—opening the door of your heart to the future, whatever it is. Sometimes it's painful, sometimes it's pleasant, sometimes it's good fun.

You ever notice you can't have pleasure without pain? If it was just all pleasurable, you'd just take it for granted. That's why somebody said a long time ago, "What is happiness? Just a space between two periods of unpleasantness. What is unpleasantness? The space between two periods of pain." You know, I noticed that. I've already told you about that experience with scrub typhus. I've never felt as healthy as when I came out of the hospital, and the reason was I had something to compare it with. Otherwise, are you sure that when it's hurting, it really is hurting, or is it just not as pleasurable as it used to be? I think I remember reading some article about some chef or some epicure—somebody who really liked food—and he said how terrible the food was at this restaurant because it only had a three-star chef. He used to go to four-star chef restaurants, and if you're used to going to four-star restaurants, then going to a three-star restaurant was really rubbish food. If you're used to eating here at Jhana Grove... I better be careful what I say... is it delicious food here?  (yes) There's going to be a lot of suffering when you go back home. You see how much suffering and happiness is about comparisons.

So with the future, don't compare. Just open the door of your heart to the Future, whatever happens. You'll be able to survive. If you lose all your money and you're destitute, you can become a monk or a nun. Yay, exactly! Sometimes I resolve I'm not going to talk too much about these questions, but I can't resist it. When I was 19, I fell in love with a beautiful girl, and after about six months she dumped me. Thank you so much! If she hadn't dumped me, I could never be a monk, so I've got a lot of gratitude for her. So when that happens to you—when something awful happens and your partner dumps you or something happens, you lose your job—yay, now you're free! Yeah, I agree. Someone's understanding. So what it really means is just your attitude. You can actually be kind to the Future. See what happens. Just life—it teaches you so much.

I know that sometimes people think, "Oh, they'd love to have security"—a nice relationship, a nice house, enough money in the bank. I still remember this story about this guy who made a fortune in the 1920s. He invested wisely, and before the stock market crash came, he cashed out all his money, so he never lost. He was really set for life. So he thought, "Be intelligent. Why just have all this money? Why just live in the United States? Let's look throughout the whole world and find a nice place to spend the rest of his life." He had enough money to go anywhere, build a nice house, get servants, eat whatever he wanted, get a place with a nice climate. So he went to the library and did his research, and he found one of these islands in the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. Hardly anyone knew about it—great climate, very nice people, very quiet—a place where he settled and built a house. Hardly anyone knew what it was called in those days, but we all know it now. It's called Guadalcanal. And during the Second World War, his nice peaceful idyllic retreat became a war zone. Two of the major battles of the Second World War in the South Pacific were on Guadalcanal. So his idyllic place became so noisy. He actually survived—he was very lucky to survive. Be careful when you choose your idyllic place---Jhana Grove, next to Serpentine, but you never know what's going to happen in the future. Maybe Kim Jong-un has got a missile already with our name on it—I don't know. But it doesn't matter whatever happens. If it does... I mean, they're not that clever, so it'll probably miss. (laugh) probably in the monastery  down in Albany. That's where you live anyway. (looking at other monastics--joking) 

So that's what it means to be kind to the Future. You don't know what's going to happen next. And the one thing I do know about the future is that it is unpredictable. I never, ever thought when I became a monk that I would come to Australia. It wasn't my home country—I was born in the UK. Ajahn Chah sent me here. I told you the story why I came here, and I'm still here because of my resolution, my determination: I'm not going to ask to go anywhere; Ajahn sends me, and I won't leave until he tells me to come back. And after he sent me to Australia, two weeks later he had a stroke and couldn't speak anymore. He couldn't ask me to go anywhere else. I got stuck here, and I've been here for over 40 years now because of that. That's true. It doesn't matter where you are, it's fine. So anyway, just don't worry about the future.

Someone once asked Ajahn Chah to predict the future. You know that story? This guy said, "Look, I look after you. You're a good monk—can you read my fortune?" And Ajahn said, "Good monks don't do that." The guy said, "I know they don't do that, but you can do that, and I've helped you out. You gave a talk about gratitude—come on, show some gratitude. Ajahn, read the lines on my palm." That's what Ajahn Chah did. He said, "This is the only time I'm going to do this." And he read the lines on this man's palm. "Give me your hand." And he started tracing them really slowly. "I can't rush this; I've got to make it accurate." And every now and again, Ajahn would pause and go, "Oh... oh..." In our language, he was winding him up something terrible. He wasn't saying, you know? This poor guy was getting more and more excited. And then, when Ajahn finished, he said, "Sir, I'm not going to lie to you." "I know you're not going to lie to me. What's my future going to be? Say it! What is it? Come on, quick!" He was so excited for the answer. And Ajahn said, "When I told the future, it's not going to be wrong yet." "I know that. What's it going to be?" And Ajahn said, "Sir, your future is uncertain." (laugh) And Ajahn Chah wasn't wrong. That's a wonderful answer. So when you're kind to the Future, allow it to be uncertain. Don't predict it's going to go wrong.

I've seen so many times... I've got to answer this one—it's one of my lovely stories. This guy, his name was Ted. He was from Lancashire, and he had cancer—lung cancer because, in those days, everyone smoked. No one told him it was bad for your health, but eventually he got cancer. He went into one of the first hospices we had here in Perth, in the St. John of God Hospital over in Murdoch. So I went to see him there, and he told me that on the first day he got into this hospice—basically a one-way ticket; you go in there in a wheelchair, and you go out in a box; you're not supposed to survive; it's just palliative care to make sure your death is nice and easy—the nurse asked him, "What would you like to eat for dinner?" And he said, "I've got all these sicknesses and diseases. I've got high cholesterol; I can't have anything oily or greasy. I've got diabetes; I can't have anything syrupy or sweet. I've got hardened arteries; I can't have anything salty." And the nurse stopped him: "Listen, Ted. You're not going to die of a heart attack or diabetes problems. You've got lung cancer. You've got about six days to live—that's what's going to kill you, the cancer. You can eat whatever you want."

I know Teddy—his eyes went big, and he said, "Really?" "Yes." So he ordered all these greasy, sweet, sugary, salty foods his wife would not let him eat for the last four or five years. He really enjoyed himself. And about seven days later, he was in remission, and he walked out of the hospital on his own two legs. He survived. Just the joy and the freedom, the happiness, the energy of having some decent food in his body got him into remission. So anyone who's got cancer here, please make sure you get the most juiciest, sweetest, most delicious food.

He eventually died six months later. He went back into the same hospice and died properly. But you know, he had an extra six months. I think you can all understand how that works. Just the joy and the energy you give to your body and mind—that is also important as therapy. Do you understand?

**信眾**：可以請您再多解釋一下，您所說的「對未來仁慈」是什麼意思嗎？

**阿姜布拉姆**：當你容許未來以其本然的樣貌呈現時，你就是對未來仁慈。你無條件地敞開心門迎接未來——這就是仁慈的意義。所以不用擔心。無論發生什麼，都會是好的。如果這座寺院燒毀了，嗯，反正我終究是要被火化的，所以當場就處理完了，我反而能過上一個安寧的好日子。照顧一座寺院或禪修中心可是件大工程。所以，仁慈——當你了解仁慈是什麼時——就是容許一切如其所示，敞開心門面對未來，無論它是什麼。有時它是痛苦的，有時它是愉悅的，有時它很有趣。

你有沒有注意到，沒有痛苦就沒有快樂？如果一切都只有快樂，你就會視為理所當然。這就是為什麼很久以前有人說：「快樂是什麼？不過是兩段不愉快之間的間隙。快樂是什麼？不過是兩段痛苦之間的間隙。」你知道嗎，我注意到了。我已經跟你們講過我得叢林斑疹傷寒的經歷了。我從來沒有像出院時感覺那麼健康過，原因就在於我有東西可以對比。否則，你怎麼能確定當你覺得痛時，它是真的痛，還是只是沒有以前那麼愉悅了呢？我記得讀過一篇文章，關於某位廚師或美食家——一個很喜歡美食的人——他說某家餐廳的食物有多糟糕，因為那裏只有三星級的廚師。他過去常去四星級廚師的餐廳，如果你習慣了去四星級餐廳，那麼去三星級餐廳的食物就真的很糟。如果你習慣了在這裡「禪林」（Jhana Grove）吃飯……我最好小心點說……這裡的食物美味嗎？（眾答：是）那你回家的時候可要受罪了。你看到了嗎，苦與樂有多少是來自於比較。

所以，對於未來，不要比較。無論發生什麼，只管敞開心門迎接未來。你一定能活下去的。如果你失去所有錢財，一貧如洗，你可以成為比丘或比丘尼。沒錯，正是這樣！有時候我決心不多談這些問題，但我就是忍不住。我十九歲的時候，愛上了一個美麗的女孩，大約六個月後，她甩了我。真是太感謝她了！如果她沒有甩了我，我永遠不可能成為比丘，所以我對她充滿感激。所以，當這種事發生在你身上——當可怕的事情發生，你的伴侶離開你，或者你失去工作——太好了，現在你自由了！是的，我同意。有人懂了。所以，這真正的意義就在於你的心態。你確實可以對未來仁慈。看看會發生什麼。這就是生活——它教會你太多。

我知道有時候人們會想：「噢，他們多麼渴望安全感」——一段美好的關係，一棟舒適的房子，銀行裡有足夠的存款。我仍然記得這個故事，關於一個在1920年代發了大財的人。他投資得當，在股市崩盤前，他兌現了所有的錢，所以他一毛錢都沒損失。他這輩子真的衣食無憂了。於是他想：「聰明點。為什麼只是擁有這些錢？為什麼只待在美國？讓我們看看全世界，找個好地方度過餘生。」他有足夠的錢去任何地方，蓋一棟好房子，請傭人，吃任何他想吃的東西，找個氣候宜人的地方。於是他去了圖書館，做了研究，在南太平洋的索羅門群島中找到了一個島嶼。當時幾乎沒人知道那個地方——氣候絕佳，居民和善，非常寧靜——他在那裡定居下來，蓋了房子。那個年代幾乎沒人知道它叫什麼，但我們現在都知道了。它叫做「瓜達康納爾島」（Guadalcanal）。第二次世界大戰期間，他那寧靜祥和的世外桃源變成了戰區。南太平洋兩場重要的戰役就發生在瓜達康納爾島。所以他那田園詩般的地方變得嘈雜不堪。他其實活了下來——他非常幸運地活了下來。小心你選擇的理想之地——我們「禪林」，靠近塞潘泰恩（Serpentine），但你永遠不知道未來會發生什麼。也許金正恩已經有顆飛彈寫著我們的名字了——我不知道。但無論發生什麼都沒關係。如果真的發生……我的意思是，他們沒那麼聰明，所以很可能會打偏。（笑）可能打到奧班尼（Albany）的寺院。反正你就住那裡嘛。（開玩笑地看向其他僧眾）

所以，這就是「對未來仁慈」的意義。你不知道接下來會發生什麼。而我確實知道的關於未來的一件事，就是它是不可預測的。當我成為比丘時，我從未、從未想過我會來到澳洲。這不是我的祖國——我出生在英國。阿姜查（Ajahn Chah）派我來的。我告訴過你們我來這裡的故事，而我還留在這裡是因為我的決意：我不會要求去任何地方；阿姜派我去哪我就去哪，除非他叫我回去，否則我不會離開。而他派我來澳洲兩個星期後，他就中風不能再說話了。他沒辦法再派我去任何其他地方。我被困在這裡了，也因此我在這裡已經超過四十年了。這是真的。無論你在哪裡，都沒關係。所以，總之，不要擔心未來。

有一次，有人請阿姜查預測未來。你們知道那個故事嗎？那個人說：「聽著，我照顧過你。你是個好比丘——你能幫我算命嗎？」阿姜說：「好比丘不做那種事。」那人說：「我知道他們不做，但你可以做啊，而且我幫過你。你講過關於感恩的開示——拜託，表示點感激吧。阿姜，看看我的手相。」阿姜查就照做了。他說：「我只做這一次。」然後他看了這個人的手相。「把手給我。」他開始非常緩慢地描繪那些紋路。「我不能急，必須準確。」阿姜時不時會停下來，發出「噢……噢……」的聲音。用我們的話說，他是在故意吊對方胃口，吊得很厲害。他其實什麼也沒說，你知道嗎？這個可憐的傢伙越來越興奮。然後，當阿姜看完時，他說：「先生，我不會對你撒謊。」「我知道你不會對我說謊。我的未來會怎樣？說吧！是什麼？快點說啊！」他非常急切地想知道答案。阿姜說：「當我說出預言時，它目前還不會錯。」「我知道。到底是什麼？」阿姜說：「先生，你的未來是『不確定的』。」（笑）阿姜查沒有說錯。這真是個絕妙的答案。所以，當你對未來仁慈時，就容許它是不確定的吧。不要預測它會變糟。

我見過很多次……我一定要講這個——這是我最喜歡的故事之一。這個人名叫泰德（Ted）。他來自蘭開夏郡（Lancashire），他得了癌症——肺癌，因為在那個年代，每個人都抽菸。沒人告訴他那對健康有害，但他最終還是得了癌症。他住進了我們在伯斯（Perth）最早設立的安寧療護中心之一，位於默多克（Murdoch）的聖約翰上帝醫院（St. John of God Hospital）。我去那裡看他，他告訴我，他住進這家安寧療護中心的第一天——基本上就是一張單程票；你坐著輪椅進去，躺在棺材裡出來；你本來就活不了；那只是安寧緩和療護，確保你安詳離世——護士問他：「你晚餐想吃什麼？」他說：「我有一大堆病。我有高膽固醇，不能吃任何油膩的食物。我有糖尿病，不能吃任何含糖或太甜的東西。我有動脈硬化，不能吃任何鹹的東西。」護士打斷了他：「聽著，泰德。你不會死於心臟病或糖尿病併發症。你得的是肺癌。你大概還有六天可活——這才是會要你命的，癌症。你可以吃任何你想吃的東西。」

我了解泰德——他的眼睛瞪大了，說：「真的嗎？」「是的。」於是他點了所有他妻子過去四、五年來不讓他吃的那些油膩、甜膩、高糖、高鹽的食物。他真的很享受。大約七天後，他的病情緩解了，他靠自己的雙腿走出了醫院。他活下來了。僅僅是喜悅、自由、快樂，以及身體攝取適當食物所帶來的能量，就讓他的病情好轉了。所以，這裡如果有誰得了癌症，請務必確保你吃到最多汁、最甜、最美味的食物。

他最終在六個月後去世了。他回到了同一家安寧療護中心，安詳地離世了。但你知道嗎，他多活了六個月。我想你們都能理解這是如何發生的。你給予身體和心靈的喜悅與能量——這作為一種療法也是非常重要的。你們明白了嗎？

2024年3月-4月 (3/19) | 9日禪修營 | 阿姜布拉姆

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDZg8Umfqe4&list=PLf9HOK_Rf1M4SpK06V5lfdyKBS5dr4jtP&index=3

I've had so many experiences where you have been in pain or an ache or a difficulty and you use that mindfulness and kindness and the things which really shouldn't disappear do disappear--- I mean, illnesses or sicknesses or pains. And I think I did mention one of the first times that happened to me. It was again just in the old days, we used to use the word blow my mind. It is a really bad toothache. No medication, nothing I knew to get rid of this pain which was stopping me sleeping until eventually , I said ,'there was nothing else to do. Let's let go. '

And you've heard those words so many times. I had heard those words hundreds of times. But then you had to do it because you had no choice. And that was magnificent. You know, you just a word or a couple of words. No medications, no sort of massaging something or no sort of exercising this or changing that. Just that thought, let it go and then the pain did go. It's kind of like miraculous!

But then it wasn't a miracle. It was just me being there late at night. And to see that happening ,and this was not imagining things. It showed me just how even with disturbances in the body  with that degree of kindness--and I said yesterday that letting go is kindness--that kindness even disturbances and pain can vanish. And then once the body relaxes, it's like it's not any business for you anymore. You don't have to do anything. You just leave it alone.

image cred. to buddhistdoor global

2025 April (8/19) | 9 day Retreat | Ajahn Brahm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KUBmLuKiyY&list=PLf9HOK_Rf1M4Imi4ppID6Rb9NScchKviX&index=8

我經歷過許多次這樣的時刻：當你處於痛苦、不適或困境中，運用正念與善意，那些理應不會消失的事物竟真的消散了——我指的是疾病、不適或疼痛。我想我確實提過最早經歷這類體驗的其中一次。那也是在早年時期，我們當時常用「震撼我心」這樣的說法。那是一次非常嚴重的牙痛。沒有藥物，也沒有任何我知道的方法能消除這種讓我無法入睡的疼痛，直到最終，我告訴自己：「別無他法了，放下吧。」

你已聽過這些話無數次。我也聽過這些話千百遍。但當時你別無選擇，只能真正去實踐。而那體驗太美妙了。你知道嗎？僅憑一個念頭或幾句話，無需藥物、無須按摩、無須運動或改變什麼。僅僅是那個「放下」的念頭，疼痛便真的消失了。這簡直像奇蹟一樣！

但後來我明白這並非奇蹟。那只是深夜獨處的我，親眼見證了這件事的發生——這絕非幻想。它讓我看到，即使身體出現擾動，憑藉那種程度的善意——正如我昨天所說，放下就是善意——連擾動與疼痛都能消融。一旦身體放鬆，就像它不再是你需要操心的事了。你無需再做什麼，只需任其自然。

2025年4月 (8/19) | 九日禪修 | 阿姜布拉姆

法其實就是常態。因此我們必須了解到身心的常態是什麼樣子的。

學習是為了了解到身心的常態，學並不是為了超越常態

有些人說：‘哎呀，最近經常生病啊！必須要去做功德，放生牛’

努力地想去逃避常態。事實上，沒有誰可以逃得掉。連佛陀都逃不掉啊。佛陀到某一天也會生病，什麼也做不了，那就只能生病。有好幾個病，例如他在臨死之前大便出血。為什麼他必須要給人罵呢？因為那是他的業的果報，逃避不了的，他也沒有想過要逃。因為他的心已經明白了常態了，心就不再動搖。無論好的境界或者不好的境界來接觸，心都不動搖。

我們就來學習，直至心能夠接受常態。讓心願意接受身心（常態）的方法，方法就是修觀禪

The Dhamma is essentially the natural state. Therefore, we must understand what the natural state of the body and mind is like.  

We study to understand the natural state of the body and mind; the purpose of learning is not to transcend this natural state.  

Some people say, "Oh, I’ve been getting sick a lot lately! I must do good deeds, like releasing cattle to save their lives."  

They strive hard to escape the natural state. In reality, no one can escape it. Even the Buddha couldn’t escape it. There came a time when the Buddha also fell ill and could do nothing about it—he simply had to endure the sickness. He suffered from several illnesses; for example, before his death, he passed blood with his stool. Why did he have to endure being criticized? Because it was the karmic result of his past actions—unavoidable. Nor did he try to avoid it, because his mind had already understood the natural state and was no longer shaken. Whether pleasant or unpleasant circumstances arose, his mind remained unmoved.  

So, let us study until our minds can accept the natural state. Let the mind be willing to accept  the （natural state of  the）body and mind—the method being the practice of Vipassana meditation.

----Luang Por Pramote

2025.11.16

佛陀說，對於沒有聽聞過佛法的一般人，當他們病痛時，就好像中了兩支箭那樣，同時遭遇身體和心靈上的痛苦

但有聽聞過佛法的聖弟子，當他們病痛時，只會遭遇身體上的痛苦，不會遭遇心靈上的痛苦 （SN36.6）

當我們病痛，心也一起痛時，發生了什麼事情？我們想歪了。

我們把身體當成是‘我的’了

例如我們頭痛，我們會把頭當成是‘我的’頭，所以心就很痛了

我們肚子痛，我們會把肚子當成是‘我的’肚子，所以心就很痛了

我們腳痛，我們會把腳當成是‘我的’腳，所以心就很痛了

身體怎會真正屬於我們的呢？如果真的屬於我們的話，我們理應可以命令它立即不要病痛

每次我們心痛，都是我們想歪了

一旦我們重新想得正確，

頭痛時心不再痛

肚子痛時心不再痛

腳痛時心不再痛

我們的心便從痛苦中解脫出來

The Buddha said that for ordinary people who have not heard the Dhamma, when they fall ill, it is as if they are struck by two arrows: they suffer both physical and mental pain.

However, for the noble disciples who have heard the Dhamma, when they fall ill, they only experience physical pain and do not suffer mentally. (SN36.6)

What happens when we are ill and our mind also suffers? We think incorrectly.

We regard the body as "mine."

For example, when we have a headache, we think of the head as "my" head, so the mind suffers.

When we have a stomach ache, we think of the stomach as "my" stomach, so the mind suffers.

When we have foot pain, we think of the foot as "my" foot, so the mind suffers.

How can the body truly belong to us? If it really belonged to us, we should be able to command it to stop being ill immediately.

Every time our mind suffers, it is because we are thinking incorrectly.

Once we correct our thinking:

When the head hurts, the mind no longer suffers.

When the stomach hurts, the mind no longer suffers.

When the foot hurts, the mind no longer suffers.

Our mind is thus liberated from suffering.

我們都應盡快限制或鏟起所有煩惱

試想像，如果有一天，我們突然殘廢，一生註定要臥倒在床

不能進食，不能聽音樂、不能看電影，不能買好嗅的東西，身體因為疾病而疼痛不堪

我們該怎麼辦？

如果我們本身有很多的渴求，想要這個想要那個，那就糟糕了！

第二聖諦：渴愛是痛苦的原因

我們肯定會痛不欲生，淚流滿面

但如果我們從現在起，能夠超越對欲樂的渴求，盡快捨斷對身體的執著，那麼到時候，連一丁點痛苦都不能闖進我們心裡

參考佛陀臨死時的狀況。

當時佛陀得了很重的病，生起強烈的痛楚，有性命危險。世尊保持念和正知，忍受這些痛楚而不受困擾。

如果任何人能夠做到好像佛陀那樣，這是很了不起的

We should all strive to restrict or uproot our defilements as soon as possible.

Imagine if one day we suddenly became disabled, condemned to lie in bed for the rest of our lives— 

unable to eat, unable to listen to music, unable to watch movies, unable to buy nice-smelling things, and our bodies wracked with pain from illness. 

What should we do then?

If we already harbor many cravings—wanting this, wanting that—then it would be terrible! 

The Second Noble Truth: Craving is the cause of suffering. 

We would surely be in unbearable agony, weeping bitterly.

But if, from now on, we can transcend the craving for sensual pleasures and swiftly abandon attachment to the body, then when such a time comes, not even a trace of suffering can invade our hearts.

Consider the circumstances of the Buddha’s passing. 

At that time, the Buddha was severely ill, experiencing intense, life-threatening pain. Yet the World-Honored One maintained mindfulness and clear comprehension, enduring the pain without being disturbed. (DN16)

If anyone can achieve what the Buddha did, that is truly remarkable.

如果身體生起病痛

內心不斷渴求、掙扎著想要康復、無病痛

這不是佛教徒，這是一般人的思維

如果是抵達佛教核心的佛教徒

應該要了知身體本來就是不讓人滿意的，會老、病痛、死，是最正常不過的了

此時應該拋下身體，放下對身體的執著，能否醫治則隨順因緣，不能就算了

此時精神上的痛苦就會熄滅

If the body falls ill 

and the mind constantly craves and struggles for recovery and freedom from pain, 

this is not the way of a Buddhist—it is the thinking of an ordinary person. 

A Buddhist who has reached the core of the teachings 

should understand that the body is inherently unsatisfactory—aging, sickness, and death are entirely natural. 

At such times, one should let go of the body, release attachment to it, and accept treatment according to conditions. If healing is not possible, so be it. 

Then, the mental suffering will cease. 

當一個人身體病痛時，沒有學習過佛法是無法從苦中逃脫的

因為他們認為身體是‘我的’，所以想要這個身體不要病痛，想要這個身體康復

因為他們認為心是‘我’或‘我的’，所以希望心能夠尋求一個更好、 沒有病痛的身體

不斷飢渴和掙扎，結果是什麼？痛苦咯！

佛教徒知道脫苦海的方法

就是停止渴求，把身體放下！

如果透過渴求，病痛立即就消失；整個世界都隨我們心意而行，想要什麼就有什麼；那麼快樂，為什麼還會有修行人？

正正就是因為沒有一樣東西真是完全隨我們的意願而行，所以才有人尋找解脫的方法

如果我們能夠放下身體，身體的病痛便再也不能影響到心

怎樣放下？我們要認清這個身體並不是‘我’或‘我的’，連心也不是‘我’或‘我的’

唯有這個是解決方法

如果我們能夠完全放下一切，痛苦的止息就在這裡....

When a person experiences physical illness, those who haven't studied the Dharma cannot escape suffering.  

Because they regard the body as "mine," they desperately want this body to be free from illness, hoping it will recover.  

Because they consider the mind as "me" or "mine," they wish for the mind to seek a better, pain-free body.  

But what is the result of this endless craving and struggle? Suffering, of course!  

Buddhists know the way to escape this ocean of suffering:  

**Stop craving and let go of the body!**  

If suffering could disappear instantly just by wishing, if the whole world obeyed our desires—if we could have anything we wanted—then why would spiritual seekers exist?  

Precisely because nothing truly follows our will that people seek liberation.  

If we can let go of the body, its illness can no longer disturb the mind.  

How do we let go? **We must realize that this body is neither "me" nor "mine," and even the mind is not "me" nor "mine."**  

This is the only true solution.  

If we can completely relinquish all cravings, **the cessation of suffering is right here...**  

我們生病時

心痛苦也是要病， 心不痛苦也是要病

那為什麼要痛苦呢？ 容許自己繼續痛苦下去根本就是白白受苦的傻人

痛苦的原因是內心的渴求和掙扎

渴求和掙扎的熄滅就是痛苦的熄滅

如果生病時心不掙扎不痛苦、保持平靜和喜悅

這才是有智慧的表現

但如果以為生病時看醫生等於渴求，這也是傻瓜

就連佛陀和阿羅漢生病時都會看醫生，如果我們認為看醫生是問題就是我們自己的問題

事實上，佛陀和阿羅漢空掉自我

他們不會覺得身心是“我”或“我的”

他們看待這副身心就如看待外人一樣，都只是大自然元素

看醫生治病就等於慈悲這副身心

就如 Ajahn Brahm 所教導，對於一切眾生，包括自己，都應有平等的慈悲

When we are sick, 

the mind feel troubled,  we remain ill

The mind feel at ease , we remain ill

So why choose suffering? Allowing oneself to wallow in pain is nothing but foolish, pointless torment. 

The root of suffering lies in craving and struggle. 

The cessation of craving and struggle is the cessation of suffering. 

If, during illness, the mind remains untroubled—calm and even joyful— 

that is true wisdom. 

But thinking that seeking medical treatment is itself a form of craving is also foolish. 

Even the Buddha and Arahants sought medical care when ill. If we see going to the doctor is problematic, then we ourselves are problematic! 

In truth, the Buddha and Arahants had emptied themselves of ego. 

They did not regard body and mind as "me" or "mine." 

To them, this body was no different from that of any other person , just natural elements

Seeking medical treatment is an act of compassion toward this body-mind. 

As Ajahn Brahm teaches, we should extend equal compassion to all beings—including ourselves. 

精神科(PSY)被翻譯為身心治療科翻譯得好😂

根據阿比達摩，我們這個身體，由四種物質組成

1.溫度所生的物質

2.食物所生的物質

3.業力所生的物質

4.心所生的物質

有許多時候，只要心保持良善和愉快；許多身體上的疾病都會迎刃而解。

這是因為心所產生的物質都是高質素的，自然可以淨化整個身體。

例如有中醫就說過，他曾有位末期癌症的病人。在得知末期的消息後，她保持樂觀開朗。誒，然後過了好像近十年還在生。

一項2020年出版的研究指出，對於患有精神健康問題的癌症病患而言，接受精神健康治療可能有助延長壽命

這項針對美國退伍軍人事務部(VA)醫療系統內5萬多名接受肺癌治療的退伍軍人進行研究發現：

同時患有精神疾病並接受精神健康治療（包括濫用藥物治療）的患者，其存活時間明顯比未參與這類治療計畫的患者更長。（ Berchuck  et. al ,2020) 1.

所以當一個人開心，有良好的精神健康，少一點貪嗔癡，是有機會讓身體疾病消失或改善的。

有些人有所謂疑病症。就是沒有明確醫學根據下，認定自己患有某種疾病。就算是做了檢查說沒有，他依然會說自己有病。然後就會被送去見精神科醫生。

這種或許因焦慮、 恐懼、 固執而生的疾病，假如內心的定力一培育起來，或許就能立刻驅除所謂身體的疾病。

所謂精神科，有時根本就是身心治療科😂

note:

1.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32496507/

《命運》

問 ：今生貧窮、多病的果報，跟過去世有關嗎？如果有，是不是宿命論，還是常見？

帕奧禪師答：對於這件事，你必須分辨人道生活與天道、地獄道生活的差異。天道與地獄道，稱為業果生活地，意即該道的眾生，透過業力的果報而得到其生活。人道，則稱為精進果生活地，意即人道的眾生，透過精進的結果，而得到其生活。

由於過去世業力的緣故，天道與地獄道的眾生，不需要付出任何的努力，自然就能得到快樂或痛苦的生活。人道的眾生則不同，他們的生活，不僅與過去世的業力有關，也受到今世的努力與智慧影響。因此，業力、努力與智慧，是決定人生幸福的三個因素。

就以你所提到的貧富問題為例，如果一個人有發財的善業成熟，並且付出足夠的努力與運用智慧，他就能夠變成大富翁，並且享用自己的財富。

然而，如果一個人只是有發財的善業成熟，但是不付出努力，也不運用智慧，那麼即使得到了大量的財富，他也無法保有其財富，終究會失去而變得貧窮落魄。

生在佛陀時代的大富長者子，就是一個很好的例子，他與妻子都各得到多達八億元的遺產，然而，後來他們失去了所有的財富，而變成了乞丐。

除此之外，儘管他有足夠的善業力，能支持他在那一世就證得阿羅漢果，但由於他不付出努力與運用智慧，來修行佛法，所以他一直到死亡，都還只是一個可憐的凡夫。

如果一個人，沒有致富的善業力成熟，但是付出努力與運用智慧，去努力賺錢，他無法變成大富翁。然而，他仍能享有某種程度的舒適生活。由此可見，在人間，人們的努力與智慧，比過過世的業力更為重要。

有一個關於三條魚的故事，能夠給我們更清楚的了解：從前，有個漁夫在恆河捉到了三條魚。在這三條魚當中，一條相信努力，一條相信業力，另一條相信智慧。

相信努力的那條魚，認為自己單靠努力，就能夠逃脫，因此它一再地奮力跳躍，企圖掙脫漁網。漁夫被它激怒了，就用划船的槳狠狠地打它，把它打死了。

相信業力的那條魚，認為自己若有逃脫厄運的善業，該業力會自動地產生果報。因此，它就靜靜地躺在甲板上，等待好運自動來臨，一點也不想付出任何努力。

第三條魚相信智慧，它認為自己能採取理智的行動而逃脫，因此，它一直觀察周圍的情況，留意適合採取行動的時機。

漁夫將船劃向岸邊，當船接近岸邊時，他一腳跨上岸，另一腳還留在船上。那時，他無意中讓漁網，打開了一道縫隙，那條相信智慧的魚，把握住這稍縱即逝的良機，迅速地從那道縫隙中，跳出漁網，落入水中，並且立刻遊回恒河去。

由這個故事的啟示，我們可以了解到，智慧是這三個因素當中最重要的。

至於生病，有四項可能的因素，即業力、心理、時節(火界)與食物。因此，並非所有疾病都由業力造成。

佛教是分辨道理的，教導人有因才有果，沒有因就沒有果。如此的因果正見，既不是宿命論，也不是常見。

如果你相信自己的命運，已經完全注定，無法改變，那麼你就是宿命論者。根據佛陀的教導，當一個業力成熟，而且即將結成果報時，那業力的果報，是決定的、無法改變的；但是，當一個業力尚未成熟時，它的果報，是尚未決定的、是可以改變的。

大目犍連尊者，就是一個明顯的例子：在他般涅槃之前，他在過去世的某一生中，企圖殺害父母的惡業成熟了，因此，他被痛打到全身的每一塊骨頭都粉碎。即使他已經證得阿羅漢果，仍然無法改變這種惡報。

然而，由於他已經斷盡一切煩惱，所以除了當生已經成熟的那些業力之外，其他所有的業力，都不能產生出果報。般涅槃之後，他就解脫了生死輪迴，這已經改變了命運。

如果你相信，你的前世和今世是同一個人，意即同樣的那個人，從前世，投生到今世來；或者，你相信有一個靈魂，從一世投生到另一世，那麼你就是有常見。

根據佛陀的教導，沒有靈魂或自我存在。你的前世，只是由剎那生滅的名色法構成；你的今世，也是由剎那生滅的名色法構成，它們是不同的，沒有一個不變的「你」或「人」存在。

然而，有情透過離世累積的業力，產生今世的有情五蘊，它們之間有因果關係，而不是完全不相關的。因此，佛教既不是宿命論，也不是常見。

"Destiny"

Question: Is the result of poverty and illness in this life related to past lives? If so, is it fate or something else?

Pak Auk Sayadaw's Answer: Regarding this matter, you must distinguish between human existence and the lives in heavenly realms or hell. Heavenly and hellish existences are considered "lives of karmic results," meaning beings in those realms receive their lives through the results of their karma. Human existence, on the other hand, is termed "lives of diligent results," meaning that beings in the human realm derive their lives from their efforts and diligence.

Due to the karmic forces from past lives, beings in heavenly and hellish realms do not need to exert any effort; they naturally receive joyful or painful lives. Human beings are different; their lives are influenced not only by karmic forces from past lives but also by their efforts and wisdom in this life. Therefore, karma, effort, and wisdom are the three factors that determine happiness in life.

Taking the issue of wealth as an example: if a person has good karma for wealth that is maturing and puts in sufficient effort and wisdom, they can become very wealthy and enjoy their riches.

However, if a person has matured good karma for wealth but does not make an effort or use wisdom, even if they receive a large fortune, they will not be able to maintain it and will eventually lose it, becoming impoverished.

A prime example is a wealthy elder during the Buddha's time, who inherited up to 800 million from his wife. However, they later lost all their wealth and became beggars.

Moreover, even though he had enough good karma to attain Arahantship in that life, due to not putting in effort and wisdom to practice the Dharma, he remained a pitiable ordinary person until death.

If a person does not have matured good karma for wealth but puts in effort and uses wisdom to earn money, they may not become a millionaire. However, they can still enjoy a certain level of comfortable living. This shows that in the human realm, effort and wisdom are more important than past karmic forces.

There is a story about three fish that illustrates this clearly: once, a fisherman caught three fish in the Ganges. Among them, one believed in effort, one believed in karma, and the other believed in wisdom.

The fish that believed in effort thought it could escape solely by trying hard, so it kept jumping to break free from the net. The fisherman, angered by its struggle, hit it with a paddle, killing it.

The fish that believed in karma thought that if it had good karma for escaping misfortune, that karma would automatically yield results. So, it lay still on the deck, waiting for good fortune to come without putting in any effort.

The third fish believed in wisdom. It thought it could take rational action to escape, so it observed the surroundings and waited for the right moment to act.

As the fisherman rowed toward the shore, he stepped onto the shore with one foot while the other remained on the boat. At that moment, he inadvertently opened a gap in the net, and the wise fish seized this fleeting opportunity, quickly jumping through the gap and returning to the water.

From this story, we can understand that wisdom is the most important of the three factors.

Regarding illness, there are four possible factors: karma, psychology, season (environment), and food. Therefore, not all illnesses are caused by karma.

Buddhism teaches us to discern the truth: there is a cause for every effect; without a cause, there is no effect. This understanding of cause and effect is neither fatalism nor eternalism.

If you believe that your destiny is entirely predetermined and unchangeable, then you are a fatalist. According to the Buddha's teachings, when a karma matures and is about to yield results, that result is determined and unchangeable; however, when a karma has not yet matured, its results are undecided and can be changed.

Venerable Mahamogallana is a clear example: before his parinirvana, a bad karma from a past life in which he attempted to kill his parents matured, leading him to suffer immense physical pain. Even though he had attained Arhatship, he could not change this karmic result.

However, because he had completely eradicated all defilements, aside from the matured karmas from that life, all other karmas could not produce results. After parinirbanna, he was liberated from the cycle of birth and death, which changed his destiny.

If you believe that your past and present lives are the same person, meaning the same individual reborn, or that there is a soul that transitions from one life to another, then you have an eternalist view.

According to the Buddha's teachings, there is no soul or self that exists. Your past life is composed of momentary arising and passing away of phenomena, just as your present life is also made up of momentary phenomena; they are different, and there is no unchanging "you" or "person" that exists.

However, sentient beings accumulate karma through their lives, which produces the five aggregates in this life. There is a causal relationship between them, rather than being completely unrelated. Thus, Buddhism is neither fatalism nor eternalism.

遇見不喜歡的人事物，您會怎樣處理？

一般人會欲求快樂，希望痛苦消失

如果患上絕症，就會希望絕症消失，獲得健康的身體。

如果知道餘生已經不可能了，就會想下世有全世界最健康的身體，對嗎？

這是無聞凡夫的做法，所有人的做法

佛陀的聖弟子是智慧比較高的一群

他們知道，無論如何，都是苦。

這個身體就算是健康，都還要不斷辛勞地去除不適：飢餓、口渴、 過冷、 過熱、 疲倦、 大便、 小便....

所有的人事物，都是苦.... 為什麼？ 自己來自己去，根本留不住，終究會壞滅

如果還要下一生有最健康的身體，其實即是想要苦

如果想要下一生只遇到一切美好的人事物，也是想要苦

有人試過只遇到美好人事物嗎？ 沒有....

所以這些希求是不切實際的

聖弟子知道身體和一切都是苦，所以放下了它們.

放下它們後內心便不再痛苦，永久保持極樂

除此之外，沒有其他出路

所謂的其他出路，必然會讓您失望痛哭的....

How do you handle encounters with people or things you dislike?
Most people seek happiness and hope to eliminate suffering.

If faced with a terminal illness, one would wish for the illness to disappear and regain a healthy body.
 

If they know that they have no hppe for the rest of their life, they might wish for the healthiest body in the next life, right?

This is the approach of ordinary, unlearned people—everyone is like  this.

The Buddha’s noble disciples are a more intelligent group.

They understand that, regardless, everything is suffering.

Even if this body is healthy, it still requires constant effort to remove discomfort: hunger, thirst, being too cold, being too hot, fatigue, needing to pee and poop...

All things and experiences are suffering... Why? Because they come and go themselves; they cannot be retained and will ultimately perish.

If one wishes for the healthiest body in the next life, they are actually desiring suffering.

If one wants to encounter only beautiful people and things in the next life, they also desire suffering.
 

Has anyone ever experienced only beautiful people and things? No...

Thus, these desires are unrealistic.

The noble disciples understand that the body and everything are suffering, so they let go of them.
Once they let go, their mind are no longer in pain, and they can maintain ultimate bliss permanently.

Beyond this, there is no other way.
 

Any so-called alternative will inevitably lead to disappointment and tears...

當我們生病時，什麼都專注不到，心裡很混亂和痛苦，怎麼辦？怎樣修行？

很簡單而已，修習法念住的四聖諦篇吧！

現在身體上的痛苦，知道它；心靈上的痛苦，也知道它。我們知道痛苦為痛苦。痛苦的東西為什麼還抓住？因此我們放下它們，這是知道苦聖諦

然後找出痛苦的原因--那是我們的渴求啊！我們也知道它。

我們覺察到，假如我們內心繼續掙扎，就會繼續在當下痛苦、 未來也要繼續投胎受一切痛苦。

縱使現在沒病痛，假如縱容內心的渴求，未來肯定會痛哭流淚的！

我們因此努力去除內心的渴求。這個被稱為知道苦集聖諦

當我們內心不再掙扎，我們發現心靈上的痛苦立即消除。

苦暫時滅去了。這是苦滅聖諦

我們透過思維和覺察以上的道理，事實上就是在修習八聖道。

了知到這個四聖諦本身就是正見

我們讓心遠離渴求和掙扎，停止繼續呻吟、 停止身體繼續不受控地掙扎，保持平靜。這是正思維、 正語、 正業、 正命

我們努力地去除自己內心的渴愛，讓內心保持平靜、 具有正念。這本身就是在修習正精進、 正念、 正定。

根本不用強力地專注或做些什麼，輕鬆放鬆地去除內心的掙扎和渴求，就能體驗到苦的熄滅。

我們看到痛苦因為渴愛生起而生，痛苦因渴愛的滅除而滅

我們看到它們的生滅

放下對世間一切的執著

噢～這已經是修行了

When we are sick, we can’t focus on anything; our minds are chaotic and in pain. What should we do? How do we practice?

It's quite simple: practice the Mindfulness of Four Noble Truths!

Acknowledge the physical pain; recognize the mental anguish as well. We know pain as pain. Why hold onto what is painful? Therefore, we let go of them. This is understanding the Truth of Suffering.

Then, we identify the cause of suffering—it is our craving! We also recognize it.
We realize that if we continue to struggle internally, we will remain in pain in the present and continue to be reborn into suffering in the future.
Even if we are not in pain now, if we let our cravings breed, we will surely weep and cry in the future!
Thus, we strive to eliminate our inner cravings. This is known as understanding the Truth of the Origin of Suffering.

When we no longer struggle within, we discover that mental pain disappears immediately.
Suffering temporarily ceases. This is the Truth of the Cessation of Suffering.

By contemplating and recognizing these principles, we are actually practicing the Noble Eightfold Path.
Understanding these Four Noble Truths itself is right view.
We allow our hearts to be free from craving and struggle, stop the groaning, and cease the uncontrolled physical struggles, maintaining calmness. This is right thought, right speech, right action, and right livelihood.
We diligently work to eliminate our inner cravings, keeping our minds calm and mindful. This itself is practicing right effort, right mindfulness, and right stillness.

There’s no need for intense focus or forced effort; simply relax and let go of the inner struggles and cravings; then we can experience the cessation of suffering.
We see that suffering arises from craving, and suffering ceases with the cessation of craving.
We observe their arising and passing away.
Let go of all attachments to the world.

Oh, this is already practice!

如果我們生病怎麼辦？

噢～實在是佳音，是迅速提升我們修行的機會

就如佛陀所說，一般人身體遭遇痛苦時，心也會跟著苦（SN36.6)就好像被兩支箭一起射中

佛陀形容這些人為無聞凡夫

但如果是一位聖弟子，就只會遭受一支箭：身體的疼痛。 他們的心不會跟著痛的

如果誰可以做到身痛心不痛，噢，這是初果聖者的心境。就算道果還未生起在心中，已經體驗到了

就如佛陀在四聖諦裡解釋，痛苦源自於心中的渴愛。

一旦我們去除關於身體的渴愛，就不會因為身體而苦

Ajahn Suchart 說：‘比如當身體疼痛而你無法改變時，就與疼痛共處。不要試圖通過服用止痛藥來擺脫疼痛，因為你可能最終會對止痛藥上癮，並且它們會變得比幫助更多地傷害你。因此，就讓身體待著，讓感受待著。這樣，你就成為了初果。初果聖者不害怕老、疾病或死亡。’

‘（他們的）心不執著身體 ’

‘一旦你能放下對身體和痛苦感受的執著，那麼你就已經克服了第一個束縛 （自我的見解/身見）’

Ajahn Golf 也說‘初果他看到比較粗的--這個身體不是我，這個心也沒有我，比較粗的 ’

大師父們說的都一樣

任何人一旦能夠讓心超越病痛，噢～恭喜，他已經像個初果聖者了。

What should we do if we get sick?

Oh, it's truly good news—it's a excellent opportunity to elevate our practice.

As the Buddha said, when ordinary people experience physical pain, their minds also suffer (SN 36.6), just like being struck by two arrows simultaneously. The Buddha described such people as uninstructed common worldlings.

However, if one is a noble disciple, they will only suffer from one arrow: the pain in the body. Their mind will not follow the pain.

If someone can achieve a state where the body aches but the mind does not suffer, oh, this is the mind of a stream-enterer. Even if the path and fruit have not yet arisen in their heart, they have already experienced it.

As the Buddha explained in the Four Noble Truths, suffering originates from craving in the heart. Once we remove the craving related to the body, we will not suffer because of it.

Ajahn Suchart said: “For example, when there is bodily pain that you cannot change, just be with the pain. Don't try to escape it with painkillers, as you might ultimately become addicted to them, and they can do more harm than good. Therefore, let the body be, let the feelings be. In this way, you become a stream-enterer. A stream-enterer does not fear aging, illness, or death.”

“Their heart does not cling to the body.”

“Once you can let go of attachment to the body and the feelings of pain, you have already overcome the first fetter (the view of self).”

Ajahn Golf also said, “A stream-enterer sees more clearly—that this body is not me, and this mind is also not me, seeing more clearly.”

The great masters all say the same thing.

Anyone who can elevate their heart beyond illness, oh—congratulations, they are like a stream-enterer.

提到感恩，大家聯想起什麼？

有些人會聯想起基督教。他們的確很重視這一項美德，甚至聽過有基督徒的名字就被改為 ‘X感恩’ --真的，不是開玩笑😂

這是好事。

例如見過有一個病人，去醫院看病

看完病後，他就問醫生護士：‘平時醫院有那些意見回饋的條碼的～ 為什麼這裡沒有？ 我想表達對你們服務的感謝。’

他繼續說起他的病歷。幾年前他原來被診斷只剩下半年壽命，然後奇蹟地卻能活到現在。

他說，他非常感謝每一位醫治過他的醫生，每一次都會寫下感謝的字句感謝醫護。

一個常常懷有感恩之心的人--就好像這位病人一樣--是很容易滿足的，心靈也會很健康。 因為一些小事，已經能讓他滿足快樂。 因為滿足，所以不會過於貪求世間的一切，自然也不容易因欲求不滿而起嗔心。整體的煩惱也會很薄

佛陀曾說，他不見除了知足外，有其他東西讓善法增長，不善法減退（AN1.65)

當一個人常懷感恩之心，知足之心；他的心靈品質非常高。

二十多層天界，越上去，那些天神的滿足感就越高。好像四天王天還需要好像人類般的性愛來填補自心，越上去的性愛就越淡薄；到梵天界，那些梵天神根本就不用性愛，他們的心滿足和快樂到不可思議。

這位病人雖是人類的身體，心已經在天界了。

When it comes to gratitude, what do people associate it with? Some might link it to Christianity. 

True, they indeed place great importance on this virtue, and it is even heard of  that Christians having their names being "X Gan en (Grateful in chinese)"—no joke! 😂

This is a good thing. 

For example, once there was a patient who went to the hospital for treatment. After his appointment, he asked the doctors and nurses, "Why aren't there any feedback QR codes here? I want to express my gratitude for your service."

He continued to share his medical history. A few years ago, he had been diagnosed with only six months to live, yet miraculously, he was still alive today. 

He expressed deep gratitude for every doctor who treated him and would write thank-you notes after each visit.

A person who often harbors a sense of gratitude—like this patient—is easily satisfied, and their mind will be very healthy. 

Small things can bring them joy

and because they are content, they are less likely to crave for things in this world, making it less easy for hated to arise from unfulfilled desires. 

Overall, their defilement will be quite thin.

The Buddha once said that he did not see anything other than contentment that allows wholesome qualities to flourish and unwholesome qualities to diminish (AN1.65).

 When a person constantly embodies gratitude and contentment, their spiritual quality is very high.

The higher the heavenly realms, the more the sense of contentment. For instance, in the realm of the Four Heavenly Kings, gods still seek human-like sexual pleasures to fill their hearts;  but as one ascends, those sexual pleasure become less course. 

In the realm of Brahmas, the Brahmas do not require sexual pleasures at all; their hearts are filled with an incredible sense of satisfaction and happiness.

This patient, although in a human body, already has a heart that resides in the heavenly realm.

Perhaps due to his abudant wholesome qualities, he is able to extend his life

Clinging to the self leads to superficial fixes.

When people see Luang Phor,

they want to excuse themselves—to go see a doctor instead!

Because they only fix the symptoms, not the cause.

We must understand that clinging to the self

leads us to focus on changing others instead of ourselves.

And when we prioritize the self,

even our oxygen levels become imbalanced!

Do you agree?

That’s why we meditate—

to restore what is right.

To bring back proper oxygen levels.

When we exhale,

we expel waste—carbon dioxide.

執著於自我只會導致表面的解決方案。

當人們看到隆波時，他們卻想離開——去看醫生！

因為他們只是修補症狀，而不是根本原因。

我們必須理解，執著於自我使我們專注於改變他人，而不是改變自己。

當我們優先考慮自我時，甚至連氧氣水平也會失衡！你同意嗎？

這就是為什麼我們要冥想——恢復正確的狀態，帶回正常的氧氣水平。

當我們呼氣時，我們排出廢物——二氧化碳。

---Luang Por Ganha

四界分別觀的療愈力量

剛介紹四大的觀法，會發現感受是很短暫的，不斷在變化，是無常的，這種是很粗淺的毘婆舍那觀。

四大另一個好處是能夠讓我們身體健康，四大能讓我們平衡，生病是因為四大不平衡，在生病時你可以用另外的特質平衡我們的身體，我們會比較快恢復。近幾年很多人得癌症，如果有修四大，可以用四大來療愈癌症。我們現在只是觀念上知道瞭解，當你修習時是實際的經驗，當別人或自己有一天得癌症時，就可以用四大來療愈。舉例來說，如何以四大療愈？一個人修四大，當他可以從近行定出來，以禪相的光照向他不舒服的地方，有人甚至可以看到腫瘤。接著讓心專注在腫瘤上，當心專注時會產生熱，如果他還可以利用胃火的熱，去消融腫瘤。我們的心是有大力量的，心能產生熱，腫瘤產生熱後，會變得比較軟，四大的治療法要每天做，大約要做三至四星期，視腫瘤的情況而定，當這樣做時身體會熱，會流很多汗或排尿，這表示不好的能量排出來。內心強大的火的力量可以破壞癌細胞。

在五年前我也被測出有癌症，醫生告訴我要停止一切的活動，準備開刀，我很固執，我就用這樣的方法自我治療，經過兩星期腫瘤消失一半，醫生好奇問我：你吃了什麼藥，怎麼腫瘤好一半？我說：沒有吃藥，我打坐。醫生因此也想學打坐，我繼續自己治療了兩年。因此大家學會禪修，也可以用禪修照顧自己的健康。還有在禪修時，動機、意念很重要，我們要對佛陀的教法有信心，我們對法有信心，法也會保護我們。

當醫生跟我說我只能活兩年，我聽了有點難過，我就回想我這一生，我沒有傷害過別人，出家後我也持戒清淨。我之所以會難過不是因為會死去，是因為我不能弘揚佛法，因此我決定弘揚佛法，這樣我死了也沒關係。因為我們對佛陀有信心，所以會出家，我們是有責任的，就是要弘揚佛法。我們的責任是我們活著不是只為自己，要為其它人修學佛法而努力。

前一陣子在澳洲，我可能有一點中風，我的左腳不能動，我不敢跟任何人說，因為他們知道了會不讓我做任何弘法活動，我就自己用四大的方法治療，還有自己做按摩，經過四個星期，我的腿就可以動了，就可以來這裡和大家一起禪修。我在所有禪修活動中，來臺灣和大家一起禪修，我是不會放棄的，因為我知道很多比丘尼會聚集在這裡，大家會很希望好好的來禪修，想要得定、得到毘婆舍那，我知道大家可以利益很多人，所以希望大家很努力，能夠得定、得毘婆舍那觀

面對疼痛，您會如何處理？

有許多森林派的大師父們都慣於遠離城市去行腳，有時遇上生病，身體疼痛的情況，他們往往未能就醫。他們憑著正念與止觀，克服了一個又一個的疾病。心會在觀照的過程中進入安止定，之後痛楚和疾病或許會自此消失。

他們是怎樣觀照的呢？

總括而言，他們會以智慧分離正在遭受疼痛的五蘊：

色，（分離為四大）

受，（痛苦的感受）

想，（對於疼痛的記憶功能）

行，（關於疼痛的任何思維歷程）

識 （心，單純的覺知）

接著會探索它們的關聯性，了知到它們彼此之間是如何地相互影響

或觀照/思維它們的無常，苦和無我

如此實行，最後疼痛消失，心會進入安止定。

這也是一些本身無法進入禪那者，進入禪那的一個可行方法。一般上，根據阿姜考的自身經歷，如此觀照5-6個小時後就能進入禪那

以下是各大師父的教導：

=======

阿姜曼以正念及觀智直接去觀照他所經歷的疼痛感，

1.讓它們分解成身體的四大元素，然後逐一徹底去分析它們。

他審查觀照色蘊（rūpa）

2.以及其中的疼痛感（受蘊）；

3.他解析了能假定身體的某一部或他部處於疼痛中的記憶功能（想蘊）；

4.並解析了能認知身體處於疼痛中的思維歷程（行蘊）。

以上這些關鍵處，都是他持續念「身」、「痛」、「心」時以正念與觀智鎖定的對象

就這樣他從黃昏到半夜堅持不懈去【探索它們的關聯性】。

經過了這樣的歷程，因為他完全【洞悉了它們彼此之間是如何地相互影響】，於是成功地擺脫了胃痛所引起的折磨。

就在他領悟的那一刻，他的「心」凝神收攝進入了絕對的寧靜（定境）—— 看到了心意無量無邊地茁壯擴展，身體的病痛徹底地消失了。

疾病、疼痛以及心所專注的對象業處也都同時消失了。

（阿姜曼正傳）

------

阿姜曼：你該做的是，用你的直觀智去一併分析這三者（身，痛，心）。以這種方式，你將能發現每一個實相

（阿姜曼正傳）

-----

阿姜曼：當痛苦生起時，應該專注在痛苦上並試著去了解它的本質。不管我們經驗到的痛苦有多少，一切的痛苦都只是苦聖諦的一種展現

（阿姜曼正傳）

------

阿姜曼：我可以大膽地表明,在我病重之際,透過思維從我內在生起的苦,我已獲得心的強大力量。本著真實的正念和智慧,我【清楚地看到了苦的生、住、異、滅】。了知苦諦的心變得寧靜與平和,不再四處攀緣事物以求改變苦的狀態;反之,它卓然獨立,堅定地停駐在真諦之中。心中已無會製造麻煩或引發不當行為的東西,也沒有虛妄的事物能進入而造成疑慮或不安。在這種情況下,苦受或者完全止息,或即便還在,它們也很難去壓倒心了。

（阿姜考傳）

-----

阿姜曼：現在,苦受的真相正以清清楚楚的樣貌,在你的身心之中宣告它的存在。別讓這個疼痛自動奉上的機會白白流失。相反地,我要你從那疼痛的感受中提取出真相,並讓正念和智慧去分析它。接著【妥善地標記它,使它在你心中留下難以磨滅的印象】。。從此,它將成為你對苦諦已獲得清晰解悟的一個例證,那是遍及佛陀教法的四聖諦中的第一諦。

（阿姜考傳）

---------

阿姜考：阿姜曼教導我應該以正念和智慧去奮戰,去分離及分析諸蘊,審察它們,將它們看個清楚。

現在,這苦受是屬於哪一蘊[khandha]?是身體,或記憶,或思緒和想像,或是意識,或者是心呢?若都不是,【那為何我聲稱這苦受是我——我在受苦——苦受真的是

我的嗎?我真的是這苦受?或者是什麼?】今天我必須找出這真相。因此,如果這疼痛不停止,而且我無法用真實的正念與智慧洞徹這苦受，那我將繼續在此坐禪,至死方歇,在所不惜。但我肯定不會離開這座位,徒讓苦受譏笑與嘲弄。’

從那一刻起,正念和智慧開始拼命地分析,宛如那是性命交關之事。這個心與痛之間的生死搏鬥持續了五個小時。隨後,我知道了每個蘊各自的真相。特別是,經由智慧我對受蘊的了知最為清楚。當諸蘊的各個層面已被徹底全面地觀察,苦受立即消失。從那時起,對於真實法,比如“苦諦”,我有了不可動搖的信心。接著,我了知了真諦,不再有任何的迷惑與懷疑。

（阿姜考傳）

--------

阿姜摩訶布瓦：我直接探索痛楚，強迫心行動起來，智慧從不曾如此運作過，然而當心被逼入絕境時，智慧激發起來行動，從每個角度緊跟著狀態，直至全面警覺疼痛、身體和心的狀態，瞭解每一個都是各別的真實。接著疼痛、身體和心各別分開徹底消失，我不曾面對過類似的情況，身體從我的覺知中消失，痛徹底熄滅，剩下的只是一個單純在覺知的明覺。這個明覺不是我們想像中那麼明顯的那種，此時僅僅是單純的明覺，非常微細，非常精妙，非常令人驚訝。

（阿姜摩訶布瓦傳）

"A Joyful Heart is Good Medicine"

The Bible in Catholic Christianity says: "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a sorrowful heart dries up the bones."

This was reportedly shared by an oncologist at Hong Kong's Sanatorium Hospital.

He said that if you can bring joy to your patients, you have succeeded.

Our mind have a significant impact on our health.

The Abhidhamma states that our physical body arises from four causes: 1. mind 2. temperature 3. karma 4. food.

Some people are often anxious, depressed, or tense, which makes them susceptible to illness; some even develop cancer as a result. A troubled mind can give rise to poor physical conditions, thereby affecting health.

Conversely, if our minds are good and strong, they can sometimes overcome disease and extend life.

In SN 46.14-16, it is recorded that Venerable Mahakasapa and Venerable Moggallana were once ill, but when the Buddha spoke to them about the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, their minds became joyful and confident, and they were immediately healed.

The Buddha also experienced this; while he was ill, he asked Venerable Mahachunda to recite the Seven Factors of Enlightenment. After the recitation, the Buddha's illness was cured.

I have also heard a traditional Chinese medicine doctor share his experience. Among his patients was one with terminal cancer. After following his advice and maintaining a positive mindset, that patient has survived for over ten years.

A cheerful mind is free from greed, worry, fear, and confusion; it harbors pure wholesome mind. This whole mind gives rise to many beneficial bodily substances, helping to extend her life.

There are even more interesting examples, such as Por Khao Wanchart Yimme (White Father). He has been suffering from two types of terminal cancer, enduring extreme pain for over ten years. Yet, he has managed to prolong his life through the practice of the  Four bases of miraculous powers. Por Khao's mind is incredibly strong; even with intense physical pain and sores on his feet, he continues to live happily as if nothing is wrong. When his wounds need to be cleaned, his body experiences severe pain, but he enters deep meditationto bypass it. A clear, joyful heart naturally gives rise to many healthy good-quality bodily substances, extending life.

"A joyful heart is good medicine, but a sorrowful heart dries up the bones."

By removing inner defilements and cultivating virtues, concentration, and wisdom, we can keep our hearts joyful and cool. Then everyone can live a longer life.

《喜樂的心乃是良藥》

天主教基督教的聖經中說：‘喜樂的心乃是良藥，憂傷的（心）使骨枯乾。‘

據說這是香港養和醫院一位腫瘤科醫生分享的。

他說，如果你做到讓病人喜樂，你就成功了。

我們的心對我們的健康是影響很大的。

阿比達摩中說，我們的身體物質，有四種原因而生：1.心 2.溫度 3.業 4.食物

有些人常常焦慮，抑鬱，緊張，那是很容易患上疾病的，有些人更因此而生癌症。不善的心會生起不好的身體物質，從而影響健康的。

反之，假如我們的心好，有力量，有時是可以破除疾病，延長壽命的

在SN46.14-16中就記載，大迦葉尊者和大目揵連尊者曾經生病，但因為佛陀為他們說起七覺支，他們的心變得喜悅淨信，病竟然立即好了。

佛陀有一次也是這樣，在生病時，請摩訶純陀尊者背誦七覺支。在尊者念完後，佛陀的病也好了。

也聽過有中醫師分享。他的病人中有末期癌症的病人。但聽了他的建議後，保持心境開朗，至今存活了十多年了。

開朗的心境沒有貪婪，擔憂，害怕，混亂，沒有煩惱；是純純的善心。善心生起了許多好的心生色法，幫她延長了壽命。

也有更有趣的事例。就是Por Khao Wanchart Yimme （白父）。他身患兩種末期癌症，承受極度猛烈的痛楚十幾年了。但他就是靠修習四神足而延壽的。Por Khao 的心非常強大，就算身體劇痛，腳部長滿爛肉，依然若無其事地快活生活。當要洗傷口時，他的身體會發出猛烈的痛楚，他就會入定去避過它。心清涼快樂，自然能夠生出許多健康健全的心生色法，延長壽命。

‘喜樂的心乃是良藥，憂傷的（心）使骨枯乾。‘

去除內心的煩惱，培育美德，定力和智慧，讓心清涼快樂。那麼人都長命些

《如何處理打坐時的腿痛？How to Handle Leg Pain During Meditation? 》

信徒：如何處理打坐中的腿痛？

Ajahn Golf : 腿痛的話，把腿砍掉啊（笑）

要不要？ （不要） 

沒有人想要，所以有腿給你痛也是一種幸福，還是要殘廢呢？

不要殘廢，對嗎？所以我們腿會這樣痛，是很自然的一部分；

那些不會痛的，是死人來的。

那我們在坐禪的時候怎樣去處理腿痛呢？

就是在腿痛之前，我們盡快讓這個心定下來。

當我們心平靜，定下來的時候。這個痛也是會生起，但是不會干擾到這個心。

如果心不平靜的話，那就做好痛的心理準備囖。

但是痛也是好，因為它不會讓我們去胡思亂想，我們的心就會跟在這個痛那裡。

其中有一個方法就是我們把它拆開，就是去到了解：感受是一個，身體是一個，心又是另一個；

它們不是同一個東西，只是有關係而已。

我們無論幾次地超越這些感受，我們要正思維這些感受不是我，我不是感受，沒有我在感受裡面，裡面沒有我。

當我們去明白這個感受之後，不是說這個苦受就會消失；而只是因為我們明白了這個感受之後，心不會因為感受而痛苦。

另外一個方法，就是讓這個Buddho 很快，很緊密地連續下去。

這個時候就沒有覺知我們的呼吸，我們咬住我們的牙齒，這樣讓它度過。

就是很快地Buddho 一直下去，然後心入定，那個感受就消失；

但是這個不是每一個人可以做得到的。也不是每一次能夠成功。

再一個方法，就是純粹地知道它。

苦受生起，只是純粹地知道它；

知道下去，苦是應該去了解它的；

但是這樣的知道下去，是要一定的忍耐的。

這個就是覺知，看那個感受，覺知下去；

然後去覺知這個感受，它的變化，這個苦受沒有那麼強烈；

從很強烈，慢慢鬆開，然後消失。

這樣去覺知這個感受變化的整個過程，從生起，變化，到滅去。

這個感受，就好像太陽上升一樣。

太陽剛剛升起的時候，就是早上；

慢慢升到中午的時候，天空的中間的時侯，就會很熱；

然後開始向下，那個熱力，就慢慢減少。

這個苦受也是一樣。

這個苦不應該去怕它，而是去覺知它。

這個苦就好比喻為磨刀的石頭，就是讓我們的智慧越磨越鋒利。

我們了解到這個苦是去除這個我，了解它無我的存在。

我們不要期待這個苦不會再生起。這個苦，我們何時打坐，也是有苦受出來。

這個苦受也是會一起跟隨著我們；直到我們死去，也是會有這些苦受生起。

每一次靜坐都一定要苦受的，但也不用傷心；

你不是一個人在受這個苦受，其他人也是一樣，也是有腿痛。

阿贊也是有腿痛。 （笑）

每個人都是有腿痛，就是很正常的事情，不用去害怕。

如果我們害怕的話，就不敢再去靜坐。

我們可以只是純粹地覺知知道它，還是我們把它拆開，好像腳是腳，感受是感受，心是心。

就是這樣拆開之後，我們就純粹地覺知它下去。

另外就是當我們常常靜坐的時候，我們身體是會自己調整過來。

（例如）本來是打坐15分鐘，腿就痛了；

我們常常打坐的話，就會20分鐘，25分鐘才會腳痛。

就好像那些運動員，他們跑步，剛剛跑步的時候，就會酸痛，他的腿啊；

當他每天跑步的時候，他跑步的時間就會越來越長，他的體力，會越來越好。

當我們一直修下去，發展智慧，思維這個法，思維那個法的時候；

那些無常，苦，無我的時候，這些感受也會忘記它，所以你不用去怕他。

這些痛，苦受，它就是從我們出生到現在，就是一直跟隨我們。 

我們思維了解說：這個痛不是我，我不是痛；我只是這個心的覺知，覺知這個痛。痛不是我。

（太陽）很曬的陽光，就好像在曬這個屋子，那這個人，就在這屋裡面。

當這個太陽曬到這個家，在屋裡的人也會感受到熱。

當這個苦受，這些痛燃燒這個身體，這個心也會知道它的；

但是這個太陽，陽光，不是這個屋子，也不是這個人，

這個人也不是那一間屋子。

那是不同的東西。

這些各樣的東西，也是在隨它各自的運作；

好像這個感受，它自己生起，停留，然後滅去；

就是這樣生，變異，滅。

這個身體有它的運作，它出生了，它會慢慢老病死；

而這個心，它也有它的功能，它就是知道。

有什麼生起，它就會很自然地知道它；

當這個痛生起，苦受生起，我們自然會生起它。

就算不想知道，也是會知道這個痛。

我們只是要覺知這個快樂也是不能的，所以才會說這個快樂也是無我。

Devotee: How should we handle leg pain during meditation?

Ajahn Golf: If your legs hurt, just chop them off! (laughs)

Would you do that? (No!) 

Nobody wants No one would want that. So having legs that can feel pain is actually a blessing. 

Would you rather be disabled? No, right?

The pain in our legs is a natural part of the process.

Those who don't feel pain are dead people.

So how do we handle leg pain during meditation?

Before the pain becomes intense, we should try to quickly establish concentration. When our mind is peaceful and concentrated, pain will still arise, but it won't disturb the mind. If the mind isn't peaceful, then we should be mentally prepared for the pain.

Pain can actually be beneficial because it prevents our mind from wandering - our attention stays with the pain.

One method is to break it down - understand that feeling is one thing, body is another, and mind is yet another. They're not the same thing, they're just interconnected. 

No matter how many times we transcend these sensations, we must contemplate correctly that feeling is not self, I am not the feeling, there is no self in feeling, and no self exists within it. When we understand this, it doesn't mean the unpleasant feeling will disappear. Rather, after understanding the nature of feeling, the mind won't suffer because of it.

Another method is to recite "Buddho" quickly and continuously, without awareness of breathing. We can clench our teeth and get through it. 

Recite "Buddho" rapidly until the mind enters concentration and the sensation disappears. However, not everyone can do this, and it doesn't always work.

Another approach is to simply know it. When painful feeling arises, just be aware of it. We should understand suffering instead of rejecting it. This kind of knowing requires patience. 

This is mindfulness - observing the feeling, being aware of it, noticing how the feeling changes, how the intensity of pain isn't constant. From very intense, it gradually loosens and disappears. Be aware of this whole process of feeling - its arising, changing, and cessation.

This feeling is like the sun rising. When the sun first rises in the morning, then gradually reaches noon at its peak, it's very hot. Then it begins to descend, and the heat gradually decreases. Pain is the same way.

We shouldn't fear this suffering. Instead, we should be aware of it. This suffering is like a whetstone that sharpens our wisdom. 

So we understand this suffering as removing the self, understanding non-self. We shouldn't expect that this suffering will never arise again. 

This suffering will appear whenever we meditate. These painful feelings will accompany us until death. 

Don't be sad that meditation always involves pain - you're not alone in experiencing this. Others feel leg pain too. Even Ajahn has leg pain (laughs).

So everyone experiences leg pain - it's completely normal, don't be afraid. If we're afraid, we won't dare to meditate again. We can either simply be aware of it, or break it down - feet are feet, feelings are feelings, mind is mind - after breaking it down this way, we simply maintain awareness.

Also, when we meditate regularly, our body will adjust naturally. Initially, legs might hurt after 15 minutes. With regular practice, it might extend to 20 or 25 minutes before pain appears.

It's like athletes who run. At first, their legs get sore. But with daily running, they can run longer, and their endurance improves.

As we continue practicing and developing wisdom, contemplating Dhamma and the three characteristics (impermanence, suffering, non-self), we might even forget about these sensations.

So don't be afraid. This pain, these unpleasant feelings, have been with us since birth.

We contemplate and understand that this pain is not me, I am not the pain. I am just the awareness of the mind, aware of this pain. Pain is not me.

It's like sunlight shining on a house, and a person inside the house. When the sun shines on the house, the person inside feels the heat. Similarly, when pain burns in the body, the mind knows it. But the sunlight is neither the house nor the person. The person is not the house. They are different things. These various elements operate according to their own nature.

Like feelings - they arise, persist, and cease. This is their nature of arising, changing, and ceasing.

The body has its own functioning - it's born, ages, gets sick, and dies.

And the mind has its function - it knows. So whatever arises, it naturally knows it. When pain arises, unpleasant feelings arise, we naturally know them. Even if we don't want to know, we still know this pain. 

We can't choose to be aware of only happiness. That's why they say happiness too is non-self.

---Ajahn Golf 阿贊高爾夫 อาจารย์กอล์ฟ 

09/12/2023 @Penang Bodhi Heart Sanctuary, George Town, Pulau Penang, Malaysia

<1：18：14

摘錄自Excerpted from：

https://www.facebook.com/100087367309533/videos/1313526372653195

《應對痛處的策略》

信徒：用Buddho的方式去修，可是像剛才很痛的時候，我就告訴我自己很痛很痛很痛，突然就不痛了，請問這個是正確的嗎？

Ajahn Golf : 是對的，有時阿贊自己坐的時候也會很痛。當很痛的時候，我就會念：‘死了，死了。’當反覆地這樣念下去，心也會平靜下來。這個方法就是其中一個方法。當你想到這個方法來解決當下的情況，這個方法就是一個好方法，而且是對的方法。就好像拳手那樣，當他上擂台比賽時，之前所訓練過的招數，他忘記怎樣用，當下就見招拆招。

相反地，如果這個感受（也就是“痛”的感受）升起來時，你就開始思維：‘今天坐夠了，今天坐夠了。’，就選擇放棄，這種方法是不正確的。阿贊想讓大家明白，我們每個人打坐肯定會痛的，這個是正常的。即使到了今天，阿贊打坐都會覺得痛。

然而，阿贊已經明白這個“痛”，因為過去不斷地去思維這個“痛”是什麼來的。阿贊已經看得清清楚楚，這個“痛”是什麼來的。當我完全了解這個“痛”時，就可以放下這個“痛”。

就好像A和B兩個人一直以來都是有恩怨的，吵吵鬧鬧。有時A贏B，有時B贏A。但是隨著時間的推移，大家關係慢慢變好了。

就好像我們來看這個痛，和這個感受對抗，一直去對抗，直到已經完全認識了它。由一開始吵吵鬧鬧，到後來變成朋友，各走各路。你有你的責任，我有我的責任。

【痛是心的測試器】 

所以這個感受，當它升起時，我們不用去怕它。因為佛陀教導，當苦升起來，我們應當去思維它。有時這個受，都可以作為一個工具。當這個痛、感受升起時，我們的心處於什麼狀態？我們當下的心是否平靜？它是一個測試器，測試這個心。

如果我們不能守護住這個心，當我們將死之時，這個痛、這個感受，還重過現在我們所面對的痛。如果我們這樣不斷地去適應它，或者認識它，當我們面對老、病、死時，這些所謂的受就不能影響我們了。

【應對方法 1：不理它】

當我們打坐時，這個痛感覺不是很強烈，就不用理會它，只需保持在自己的業處上面就行了。

【應對方法2：專注這個痛】

當這個感受越來越強烈，甚至令到你不能不理會它時，你就要全身的力量去看住這個痛、這個感受是怎麼一回事。這個時候，就要保持我們的正念，用全身的力量去專注在這個“受”。這個時候，這個“受”就成為了你的業處了。你可以選擇一直看著它會呈現什麼樣的狀態給你，痛會痛到什麼程度。

【應對方法3：修觀禪】 

或者你可以用另一個方法，即“vipassana”，即“觀”。

 你可以自問自答：

“誰在痛？你的腳痛，還是心痛？”

“這個痛，是痛在腳，還是心呢？”

“如果是腳痛，有沒有聽到腳跟你說它痛？”

“如果是心痛，心沒有一個實體、主我，它怎樣會痛呢？”

“那問題來了，誰在痛呢？”

所以這個受，它就是在受的種類裡面。它會升起來讓心覺知，然後維持一段時間，之後又會自己滅去。如果我們有智慧，就會看到這個受不是我們的。我們就不會對它執著，不會怕它。這就是當我們打坐時，這個痛、這個受，升起來的應對方法。

【總結】 

第一種，就是如果可以不去理會它，就不會理會它，保持在我們的業處上面就可以了。

第二種，如果這個感受很強烈，強烈到我們不能不理會它時，我們就用全身的力去看住它，去看它是什麼一回事，它痛可以痛到多痛？

第三種，就是用智慧去分別，即：受蘊、身體和心都不是一體的。每一樣東西都不屬於我們，只是在生和滅。我們要利用這個受作為禪修的工具來升起智慧，之後才可以把它放下。要給大家明白和知道一點就是，不是說我們坐在這裡打坐，我們用定力讓這個受滅了，或者讓這個受不再升起。

這個受會一直跟著直到我們死去。但是這個受，如果我們早些認識它，我們的心就不會給它影響。明白嗎？

"Strategies for Dealing with Pain"

Devotee: I practice meditation by repeating “Buddho” in my mind, but when the pain becomes intense, I tell myself, “It's very painful, very painful,” and suddenly, the pain fades away. Is this correct?

Ajahn Golf: Yes, that’s correct. Sometimes when I meditate, I experience pain as well. When the pain becomes overwhelming, I might remind myself of death by repeating "Dying, dying." After doing this for a while, my mind calms down. This is one approach while dealing with the pain. As long as it helps manage the situation at the moment, it’s a valid approach.

It’s like a boxer in the ring. If they forget the techniques they’ve learnt, they have to respond spontaneously to whatever comes up. But if you start thinking, “I’ve meditated enough today, let’s stop now,” then this approach is wrong. I want to emphasize that experiencing pain while meditating is completely normal. Even now, I still feel pain when I meditate.

However, over the years of practicing meditation, I’ve come to understand the nature of this "pain." I can clearly see where it comes from, and once I fully understand it, I can let it go. 

It’s similar to a situation where two people, A and B, have a long-standing grudge. They argue back and forth. Sometimes A wins, sometimes B wins. But over time, their relationship improves and they understand each other better. 

In the same way, when we meditate, we face the pain, struggle with it, and eventually, we come to fully understand it.

[Pain as a Tester of the Mind]

When the pain arises, there’s no need to fear it. The Lord Buddha taught us that when suffering arises, we should reflect on it. Sometimes, this pain or sensation can actually be used as a tester to look into our mind: How does the mind react to pain? Is it calm, or does it become disturbed?

If we can’t guard our mind, then when we approach death, this pain will be even more intense than what we feel now. However, if we learn to adapt to and understand the pain, then when we face aging, illness, and death, these sensations will no longer affect us.

[Three Methods for Dealing with Pain while Meditating]

1. Ignore It: If the pain isn’t too intense, ignore it and stay focused on your meditation object. Let the pain pass on its own.

2. Focus on the Pain: If the pain becomes stronger and you can’t ignore it, direct your full attention to it. Observe it closely. Let the pain become the object of your meditation. Watch how it manifests, how intense it gets, and how it changes over time.

3. Practice Vipassana: Alternatively, you can apply vipassana meditation by asking yourself:

- "Who is in pain? Is it my foot or my mind?"

- "Is the pain in my foot, or in my mind?"

- "If it's my foot, does my foot actually tell me that it hurts?"

- "If it’s the mind, since the mind is non-self, how could it possibly hurt?"

- "So, who is really in pain?"

The sensation of pain arises as part of the aggregate of feelings. It appears to make us aware, stays for a while, and then fades away on its own. If we have wisdom, we’ll see that this sensation is not truly “ours.” We won’t cling to it, and we won’t fear it. This is the right way to handle pain during meditation.

[Summary]

The first method is to ignore the pain if it’s not too strong. Stay focused on your meditation object and carry on.

The second method is when the sensation becomes too strong and cannot be ignored, keep your mindfulness and focus on the sensation. Observe it and see how it manifests and how intense it becomes.

The third method is using wisdom to discern that the aggregates—our sensations, the body, and the mind—are not truly “ours”. Everything is impermanent, arising and passing away. If we use this pain as a tool for meditation, it will help us cultivate wisdom. Also, it’s important to understand that this isn’t about using concentration to make the pain disappear or prevent it from arising.

In fact, this sensation will follow us throughout our lives. But if we learn to recognize it early, it will no longer disturb our mind. Does this make sense?

摘錄自 Excerpted from (<32:55): https://www.facebook.com/100087367309533/videos/962868325710055

信徒：當身體不舒服時，可以把身體的不舒服來觀嗎？可以把痛當作所緣來觀嗎？觀它的生起，然後滅去。不是我的。有身體，就會生病，是自然的法則。把痛苦當作所緣可以嗎？

Ajahn Golf:可以。如果這樣做的話，就是越好越正確的。尤其是當一個修行者他的病痛來的時候，他的不舒服；是他做觀的好時機。所以我們提升我們的正念智慧，就是這個時候了。因為我們在那個情況，就是我們好像在戰場上，我們就是要去修行，然後去看我們的正念跟智慧去到哪裡。所以要這個病痛作為我們培養正念智慧的場地

所以這個時候，就是我們去觀這個身體，思維這個病痛，讓生起正念智慧最好的時機。而這個身體，我們就交給醫生，交給藥，去吃藥。而這個心，就是以這個法來治療它。就是要用這個觀，這個法。

然後當我們病痛的時候，我們這樣去思維去觀，去修行的時候，心是很有力量的。如果我們沒有去修的話，我們就會白白浪費了這個智慧，然後我們的心會很軟弱。所以當我們病痛，不舒服的時候，不需要用這個病痛而害怕難過，而是因為我們有很好的機會去修行。就是業也是自己的幸運。誰想做一個幸運的修行者？

10/12/2023 @Penang Bodhi Heart Sanctuary, George Town, Pulau Penang, Malaysia

<55：07

摘錄自：

https://www.facebook.com/100087367309533/videos/1384255112495310

You understand that all those negative emotions which run through people; that’s what make someone sick, not make them living a long life. It’s amazing in my monastery, all the people keep coming to my monastery , has been such a long time now since anybody has died! I told this in the monastery, it is quite remarkable! Because if any of the disciples dies, I have to go to funerals. I know when the people die or they don’t die.

It has been a long while, when is the last funeral that I went to? You see! It actually works!  You meditate and come to this joy and long life! That is why some of the monks in California, they check this out , they ask if this is true; and I answer ,’ yes, it is true.’ That if someone is a meditator, a good meditator, or a meditator who comes to retreat ; and tick ‘yes’, you do get a deduction from your health premium. When you have your health insurance, and you meditate, you get a reduction. 

The reason is, everybody knows. If you let go of your negativity, you become a healthier person. 

---Ajahn Brahm  13-7-2024

Excerpted from:

https://ajahnbrahmpodcast.stream/episodes/stop-trying-to-meditate-ajahn-brahm?fbclid=IwY2xjawILwtZleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHSe5VtSq8CbSvbXXExWyxytCjxqosXsiZXyBIjz09tpG4E3teOIDiv6v1g_aem_jvjwEvVwJYDaWCxztKApAQ

你明白，所有那些在人心內流動的負面情緒，正是使人生病的原因，而不是讓他們活得更久。在我的寺院裡，所有來我寺院的人，已經很長一段時間沒有人去世了！我在寺院裡提到這一點，真的很了不起！因為如果有弟子去世，我就必須去參加葬禮。我知道人們何時去世或未去世。

已經有一段時間了，我上一次參加的葬禮是什麼時候？你看！這真的有效！你禪修就能獲得快樂和長壽！這就是為什麼加州的一些僧侶來驗證這一點，詢問這是否真的？

我回答說，‘是的，這是真的。’

如果某人是禪修者，或者是好的靜修者；他們在健康保險上勾選‘是’，你的健康保險賠費就會減少。

原因是，大家都知道。如果你放下你的負面情緒，你會變得更健康。

---Ajahn Brahm 2024年7月13日

摘自：

https://ajahnbrahmpodcast.stream/episodes/stop-trying-to-meditate-ajahn-brahm?fbclid=IwY2xjawILwtZleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHSe5VtSq8CbSvbXXExWyxytCjxqosXsiZXyBIjz09tpG4E3teOIDiv6v1g_aem_jvjwEvVwJYDaWCxztKApAQ

Devotee: Is there something written in the dharma about the importance of keeping the body in a healthy and fit state? And how does yoga fit in this picture?

Ajahn Brahm: It's helpful to be in a fit and healthy state. I remember the Buddha—actually, the Bodhisatta, Siddhattha Gotama before he became the Buddha—was trying all sorts of practices and nothing was working. And then he remembered as a six or seven-year-old kid, when his father was doing a ceremony and Siddhattha Gotama was bored out of his head, he went into a deep meditation under the rose apple tree. He was that young; he got into first jhāna, and afterwards when he came out, he forgot all about it. And later on, after going through all of these many, many practices, nothing was working for him. Then he remembered that first jhāna, and in the Mahā Saccaka Sutta, he said maybe this jhāna is the way to Bodhi. Then he realized, yes, it is. And so he also knew it is difficult—not impossible, but difficult—to get into such a deep meditation when you are not healthy. So that's why he started eating, sleeping, and getting himself fit and healthy again, and it worked for him. Under the Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya, he got into the jhānas and then gained the insights to become fully enlightened. And when he went to see his first five ascetic disciples or friends, they looked at him and he was now looking healthy, not thin anymore. And straight away they said to him, "Oh, I know you can't be getting anywhere. Look how healthy you look." They really thought that the way to get enlightened was to be ascetic. That's one of the reasons why the Buddha gave his first teaching, the Middle Way.

And there's another monk whom I know—please tell me if I go too far—another monk whom I know very well, and he had this really big disease, scrub typhus, for about four weeks, and nothing was working. He was getting sicker and sicker and weaker and weaker. And, you know, sometimes I say that when your back is against the wall and nothing is working, there's a great opportunity. So now he wasn't fit and healthy at all—the weakest he's ever been in his life—and he decided, "Well, why not? Let's get into some meditation." And that monk told me that he got into a jhāna, which was shocking—someone so weak, so ill, getting into such a deep meditation. Yeah, it was the end of the fever. So, it's easier if you're healthy, but it's not impossible if you're sick. Does that answer the question for you? So, all you're getting anyway—do I go too far?

2025 October (5/18) | 9 day Retreat | Ajahn Brahm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4W5W5EuPGM&list=PLf9HOK_Rf1M64DjGAtJ-I0-xNRgPiP3Sr&index=7

**信眾**：佛法中有沒有記載關於保持身體健康與強健狀態的重要性？瑜伽在其中又扮演什麼角色？

**阿姜布拉姆**：保持強健與健康的狀態是有幫助的。我記得佛陀——其實是菩薩，即成佛前的悉達多·喬達摩——當時嘗試了各種修行方法，但都沒有效果。後來他想起自己六、七歲時，父親正在進行一場儀式，悉達多·喬達摩感到極度無聊，於是走到一株玫瑰蘋果樹下進入了深層的禪定。他那時年紀還那麼小，卻進入了初禪，而當他出定後，就把這事全忘了。後來，在經歷了許許多多的修行之後，什麼方法對他都不起作用。這時他想起了那第一次的禪那，在《摩訶薩遮迦經》中，他說或許這禪那就是通往菩提之道。接著他意識到，是的，正是如此。他也明白，當身體不健康時，要進入如此深的禪定是困難的——並非不可能，但很困難。所以他才開始進食、睡覺，讓自己重新恢復強健與健康，而這方法對他奏效了。在菩提伽耶的菩提樹下，他進入了禪那，隨後獲得了證悟的智慧，達至完全覺醒。當他去見最初的五位苦行弟子或朋友時，他們看著他，發現他現在看起來很健康，不再瘦弱了。他們立刻對他說：「哦，我知道你不可能有什麼成就。看看你氣色多好。」他們當時真的認為，要開悟就必須苦行。這也是佛陀初次開示「中道」的原因之一。

我還認識另一位比丘——如果我說得太遠請告訴我——一位我很熟悉的比丘，他曾患上一種很嚴重的疾病，叢林斑疹傷寒，持續了約四週，什麼辦法都沒用。他病得越來越重，身體也越來越虛弱。你知道嗎，有時候我會說，當你被逼到絕境、一籌莫展時，往往蘊藏著巨大的機會。那時他一點也不強健健康——是他生命中最虛弱的時刻——而他決定：「好吧，何不試試呢？讓我來禪修吧。」那位比丘告訴我，他進入了禪那，這令人震驚——一個如此虛弱、病重的人，竟能進入如此深的禪定。是的，高燒就在那之後退了。所以，如果你健康，會比較容易，但生病時也並非不可能。這回答你的問題了嗎？那麼，總之你得到的答案是——我說得太遠了嗎？

2025年十月 (5/18) | 9日禪修營 | 阿姜布拉姆 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4W5W5EuPGM&list=PLf9HOK_Rf1M64DjGAtJ-I0-xNRgPiP3Sr&index=7

Devotee: How to avoid drowsiness during meditation?

Ajahn Brahm: please, a cup of coffee or a cup of tea is okay sometimes. But obviously, the key is to make sure you sleep well at night. Again, you know there's a lot of insomnia in our current world, and a lot of times, people cure insomnia through mindfulness practice. So when you go to bed tonight, don't just go to sleep and start thinking about things; practice the first stages of meditation: present moment awareness.

How can you do that now? How many of you sleep in bed with your shoes on or slippers on? Do any of you do that? You take your slippers off before you get into bed. So, as you take your slippers off before you go into bed, let the left slipper represent your past. Think that that's your past; you take the slipper off and put it under your bed. And as you take off the right slipper, just imagine your right slipper is your future, and you take that off and put it under your bed. You never take the past and future into bed with you. That's a dirty habit, like taking your shoes into bed.

Which means, if you identify the left shoe with the past and the right shoe with the future, just do that little imagination. It means when you go into bed, you're not carrying all the stuff which happened to you so far today and all the worries, anxieties, and fears of the future. You don't take that into bed with you either. This means that the cause of so much insomnia—worry about the future, lingering being hurt about the past—doesn't go into bed with you, so you can really relax and have a very beautiful, deep sleep. Just simple things like that help you relax enough to get a good night's sleep.

You know, there are not that many people who sleep well, which is one of the reasons why, in the current world where so much is asked of you—you have to work hard, get up early, get to work on time, with so much you have to do every day—so you really need to learn how to sleep well. So, in the few hours you do have in bed, you make the best use of them. And if you can sleep well, just imagine how much energy you will have in life and how much health you will have. There are so many sicknesses that come from tightness: cancers, cardiac problems, and just so much other stuff. Grumpiness, not knowing how to have a good relationship with anybody because you're just… so much stuff comes from just a simple thing like not learning how to sleep well.

So here, just that simple exercise—let go of the past, let go of the future. You go in there and just have nothing to worry about at all, and you can have a very good night's sleep. It also means you don't have all these dreams which activate your brain; you know, you can sleep deeply and peacefully. And the other thing to do is just to practice that letting go, making peace, being kind, being gentle as you go to sleep. Make peace with yourself, be kind to your body, really relax it, be kind to your mind and be very gentle. And that's what you take into sleep with you: making peace, kindness, gentleness. If you have any dreams, you have these beautiful, soft, kind dreams; you wake up feeling so refreshed.

And that's the sort of thing you can do. And if you can do things like that, you don't get even sleepy during the meditation. If you do, it's just because you've been working extra hard, so just accept that. But the sleepiness gets reduced enormously, and your happiness and health increases. So try that. Learn how to sleep on this retreat: sleep deeply, sleep well, sleep softly, peacefully, kind, gently. Like in the second factor of the Eightfold Path, it doesn't just lead to Nibbana; it leads to deep, peaceful sleep.

Q&A by Ajahn Brahm at Jhana Grove Meditation Retreat Centre on 1 July 2014

信徒提問：如何避免禪修時昏沉嗜睡？

阿姜布拉姆：偶爾喝杯咖啡或茶也無妨。但顯然，關鍵在於確保夜間睡眠品質。要知道當今世界失眠問題普遍，而許多人正是透過正念練習來治癒失眠。今晚就寢時，不要躺下就開始胡思亂想，請實踐禪修的初階要領：保持覺知當下。

具體該怎麼做？你們有多少人穿著鞋子或拖鞋睡覺？有誰這樣嗎？你們上床前都會脫掉拖鞋吧？當你脫鞋準備就寢時，不妨將左拖鞋視為你的過去，想像把「過去」脫下塞進床底；右拖鞋則代表未來，同樣將「未來」脫下置於床下。永遠別帶著過去與未來上床，這就像穿著鞋履臥榻般糟糕。

透過這個簡單的意象練習——左鞋代表過去，右鞋象徵未來——意味著當你躺下時，不再背負今日種種與未來憂懼。導致失眠的主因（對未來的焦慮、過往創傷的糾結）便不會隨你入眠，如此你才能真正放鬆，享受深沉美好的睡眠。正是這些簡單方法能助你充分鬆弛，獲得優質睡眠。

當今社會鮮少有人能安睡，這正是因為我們被過度要求：必須努力工作、早起準時上班、每日應接不暇的事務......因此你實在需要學習如何睡好覺。在有限的臥床時間裡最大化利用，若能安睡，試想人生將獲得多少活力與健康？太多疾病源於緊繃狀態：癌症、心臟問題，還有各種其他症狀。暴躁易怒、人際關係失和......諸多困擾竟都源自「未能學會好好睡覺」這般簡單的原因。

所以請實踐這個簡單練習：放下過去，放下未來。躺下時無牽無掛，自然能享有安眠。這同時意味著不再受紛亂夢境干擾大腦，你將能深沉寧靜地安寢。另一要點是練習「放下」：入睡時締造和平、懷抱善良、保持柔軟。對自己善良，善待身體令其徹底放鬆，溫柔善良地對待心念。帶著這份寧靜、善良與溫柔入眠，即便做夢也將是美好輕柔的夢境，醒來時必感煥然一新。

若能實踐這些方法，禪修時便不易昏沉。若仍感睏倦，不過是過度操勞所致，坦然接受即可。但睡意將大幅消減，幸福感和健康狀態則會提升。請務必嘗試：在此禪修期間學習睡眠之道——睡得深沉、睡得香甜、睡得輕柔、睡得安詳、帶著善良與溫軟。正如八正道第二支所示，這不僅通向涅槃，更引領我們邁向深沉寧靜的睡眠。

阿姜布拉姆於2014年7月1日在禪修園的問答開示

《A monk who recover from epilepsy by mindfulness and meditation 一位透過正念與禪修克服癲癇的僧人》

This other monk,he was a very good friend of mine. He was in the US Marines during the Vietnam War; he actually volunteered to get tougher. He was really a bad guy, he said he used to go out in gangs in New York with motorbike chains—he called it "playing for keeps." He volunteered to join the Marines and go to the war to get tougher, to become more of a hoodlum.

So he joined the Marines and said in a firefight somewhere—he was a radio operator—he told me one of his friends got hit in the foot. They called it a "million-dollar wound," meaning he'd be cashiered out of the army with a pension, would not really need to do much, and he would walk with a hobble, but he would be able to do anything else in life as a veteran. And this fellow was just laughing, "You lucky whatever..." and because he was laughing at his friend who just got wounded, he lost his mindfulness and he got shot in the back of the head by the Vietcong. A bullet just caved because he wasn't paying attention, as he was laughing.

He was evacuated by helicopter, and even the medics in the ER, who were really tough, just told him that they had to take a lot of his brain out, and he wasn't going to be able to see anymore, he was going to be blind. So he told me that under the bandages he said, "As soon as I can, I'm gonna commit suicide," and he would have done it; he was fearless, tough as anything. Well, apparently when they took the bandages off he could see. He didn't know why, but now he had his full vision. He was on a pension—a thousand dollars of wealth a long time ago—so he could do whatever he wanted, didn't need to work, and enjoyed his life. He eventually became a monk because sometimes he didn't know what to do, and he became a good person, a really nice monk, a very good friend.

The trouble was, though, that he had epileptic fits because of the injury to his brain. He told me that they come out of the blue and he'd just be incapacitated; people had to make sure he didn't bite his tongue or whatever. Anyway, he used his mindfulness and meditation; he started becoming aware of how those fits progressed. He was really listening to them, understanding his body, and he started to catch them earlier and earlier and earlier. He could actually trace the progression of a fit, start to see the signs—whatever they were—and see them build up and build up, and then he'd have a full-blown fit. But by catching them earlier and earlier and earlier, he soon managed to get them so early he knew a fit was coming, and he could actually take another course of action to avoid it. He'd usually just go into his room and get really relaxed with some meditation, and the fits never came again. That's how he avoided them, just with mindfulness, understanding his own body, and seeing them earlier and earlier and earlier until they just didn't come.

Unfortunately, later on in his life, because of those injuries, they said there was so much damage to the brain that it could happen—and it did happen; he got a brain tumor and that's what he died from. But what he was saying beforehand about the way you catch it earlier, you listen to your body, understand your body, and what was a fit—catch it so early it's like he had a fork in the road: "If I carry on this, it's gonna be an epileptic fit, but I can catch it so early and go another route to avoid it altogether." That's fascinating—understanding, learning your body. And some of it's intuitive; you can understand it really does need some salt, it needs some water, it needs to rest, whatever it needs—exercise. And this is knowing how to stop worrying; your heart is this weak, so just relax it.

這位僧人曾是我的摯友。越戰期間他服役於美國海軍陸戰隊，當初是自願入伍以求磨練心志。他曾是個不折不扣的壞小子，自述在紐約混幫派時常帶著機車鏈條鬥毆——他稱之為「玩真的」。為了變得更強悍、更蠻橫，他主動加入海軍陸戰隊投身戰場。

在部隊擔任通訊兵時，有次遭遇槍戰，他同袍的腳部中彈——這種傷被稱作「百萬黃金傷」，意味著傷者能領撫恤金退伍，雖會跛腳但終生無虞。當時他笑著調侃：「你這傢伙真走運...」正因分心嘲笑受傷的戰友，他被越共從後腦射中。那顆子彈原本不會致命，卻因他大笑時喪失正念而穿透顱骨。

他被直升機後送急救，連見慣生死的前線軍醫都直言不諱：為清除腦部損傷必須切除大塊腦組織，他將永久失明。纏著繃帶時他曾對我說：「等我能動了就要自我了斷。」以他無所畏懼的剛烈性格，確實做得出來。但拆繃帶後奇蹟般重見光明，連他自己都無法解釋。靠著當年堪稱優渥的千元月退俸，他過著隨心所欲的生活，最後因不知道該做什麼選擇出家，成為慈悲為懷的修行者，也是我珍重的良師益友。

然而腦傷遺留的癲癇始終困擾著他。他說發作總是猝不及防，瞬間喪失行動力，需旁人防止他咬舌自傷。直到他開始運用正念與禪修，逐漸洞察癲癇發作的徵兆週期。透過深刻覺察身體訊號，他愈來愈早預見發作前兆，甚至能完整追蹤病情演化軌跡——從細微跡象累積至全面爆發。當他能在發作初期就察覺時，便轉入禪室以禪修深度放鬆，從此再未經歷癲癇發作。正是憑藉對身心的精微覺知，將預警時間不斷提前，終至徹底化解發作循環。

遺憾的是，多年後當年腦傷引發的後遺症依然奪走他的生命——醫師曾警告嚴重腦組織損傷可能導致腦瘤，最終一語成讖。但他留下的體悟發人深省：就像站在命運的岔路口，若能及早讀懂身體警訊，就能在癲癇降臨前轉向避開。這份對身體的覺察智慧何等深刻！有些感知是直覺性的——你懂得身體需要鹽分、水分、休息或運動。正如明白如何安撫焦慮：當感知心臟脆弱時，只需溫柔地放下執念。

2018 Ajahn Brahm’s Jhana Grove Retreat with BIF & EF 2018-07-17 3.QA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2OxqIB8oQU&list=PL-E16hq8cBIonUhAIo1J_vjR7vD0Avtva&index=12 

《How to cope with insomnia》

Devotee: what can I do to relax and get a good sleep at night ?

Ajahn Brahm: so first of all, don't worry about getting to sleep

...... when you don't worry at all, it was easy to go to sleep and sometimes I thought, 'hang on a moment , my bed as a monk do so much work and stuff and sitting cross-legged, it had been sitting cross-legged meditating for a while,  lying down on a sort of comfortable mattress, a nice duvet or blanket, it's one of the most comfortable positions in my day,  relaxed,  laying out.'

have you ever had that experience , you wake up in the morning , and you've had enough sleep; you don't need to go to the toilets, it's so nice and cozy; it's why that some genius invented the snooze buttons on your alarm clocks. Because it's so comft , that you don't want to get up;  you just put a snooze button and stay a little bit longer under the pillows;  it's nice and cozy. 

so I worked on that principle, that when I was awake,  who wants to go to sleep! this is the most comfortable position I get into in the whole day;  relax,  warm , cozy,  snuggling into my pillow. Who wants to miss out on this wonderful cozy experience? so I said I don't want to go to sleep . And as soon as I thought that, I fell fast asleep . 

 I don't doubted this psychology , when you want to go to sleep you can't.

You don't mind going to sleep, don't go to sleep; then you do.

And number two here. I did notice.

On these retreats , sometimes that people come up to me and they said they couldn't go to sleep at night, and even though you've got this wonderful rooms all by yourselves, personal rooms, and you've got your own Suites,  and it's really comfortable. And you know, we put a lot of funds and effort trying to make these rooms comfortable for you; but people can't go to sleep.

But then when they come in the morning to meditate,

they're fast asleep. So after a while, you know,  you just use your logic and reason, I say now obviously you can understand the reason why.

When you try to meditate, you fall asleep; when you try to fall asleep, you're wide awake.

so if you ever have sleepiness in this meditation hall,  when you come in here ; try to fall asleep, then you have no sloth and torpor at all you'll be wide awake,  your mind will be (laugh)

and when you want to go to sleep at night, you go into your room , you lay down on your bed,  and you try to meditate . There you go fast asleep .

Now of course you know that's I've exaggerated a point in there,  just to make it very clear that what is going on there.

It's wanting makes you tense , and that tension stops you go to sleep . 

They just relax ,  'If I go to sleep , then go to sleep. if I don't go to sleep, doesn't matter, either way it's fine. And then, okay, if I can't go to sleep,  I just meditate just meditate, make my mind really peaceful, so nice, peaceful, still , cozy in my bed;  then you go fast asleep.

just relax,  and that's where you find you're going to sleep, but wanting to go to sleep is not relaxing . 

And there you get a good sleep at night 

2019 Jhana Grove retreat

<如何應對失眠>

修行者：我該怎麼做才能在晚上放鬆並獲得良好的睡眠？

阿姜·布拉姆：首先，不要擔心入睡。

……當你完全不擔心時，其實很容易入睡。有時我會想，「等等，我作為一個僧侶，做了這麼多工作，坐著打坐，已經坐了一會兒，躺在一張舒適的床墊上，蓋著一條柔軟的被子，這是我一天中最舒服的姿勢，放鬆～躺著～」

你有沒有過這樣的經驗？早上醒來時，睡得剛剛好；不需要上廁所，感覺如此舒適；這就是為什麼有些天才發明了鬧鐘的貪睡鍵。因為實在太舒服了，你不想起床；你只需按一下貪睡鍵，繼續在枕頭下待一會兒，真是舒服。

所以我就是在這個原則上下功夫。當我還醒著的時候，誰想要入睡呢？ 這是我一天中最舒適的位置：放鬆、溫暖、舒適，依偎在我的枕頭上。

誰想要錯過這樣美好的舒適體驗？所以我不想入睡。

當我一這麼想，我就快速入睡了。

我不懷疑這種心理學，當你想要入睡時，你反而睡不著。

你不在乎入睡，然後你卻能睡著。

第二點。我注意到，在這些禪修營中，有時候有人來找我，說他們晚上無法入睡。即使你擁有如此舒適的私人房間和套房，我們也花了很多資金和精力來讓這些房間變得舒適，但人們卻無法入睡。

但當他們早上來冥想時，他們卻睡得很香。

所以經過一段時間，你就能用邏輯推理，我說現在顯然你可以理解原因。

當你試著冥想時，你會入睡；

當你試著入睡時，你卻保持清醒。

所以如果你在這個冥想廳裡感到困倦；試著入睡，然後你根本不會感到昏沉睡眠，你會非常清醒（笑）。

當你想晚上入睡時，你進入你的房間，躺在床上，試著冥想。然後你就會快速入睡。

當然，你知道我在這裡夸張了一些，只是為了讓這一切變得清晰。

想要使你緊張，而那種緊張會阻止你入睡。

所以，放鬆吧。「如果我能入睡，那就入睡；如果我不能入睡，沒關係，兩種情況都好。」然後，好吧，如果我不能入睡，我就冥想，讓我的心靈變得非常平靜，這樣在床上會感到如此舒服、安靜；然後你就會快速入睡。

只需放鬆，而這就是你會入睡的時刻，但想要入睡並不是放鬆。

這樣你就能在晚上獲得良好的睡眠。

——2019年Jhana Grove 禪修營

《People unnecessarily see the doctor due to 'self'》

When you base everything on the self,

you see Luang Phor’s face and think,

"I’m going to leave Luang Phor to see a doctor."

If those who stay at the temple don’t leave to see a doctor,

they leave to see family or friends.

Because that’s what it is.

If we abandon the self,

our mind will be well,

our body will be well.

I’ve been dealing with this for a long time.

I know some people hold on to their self-identity,

saying, "I have a condition."

If I step on the ground, I’ll get sick.

This is what they say.

But I tell them to walk and exercise.

It will make them stronger.

Walking on the ground will help them touch nature.

They tell me they can’t walk on the ground,

because their self-identity won’t let them.

Do you see? The self is like that.

----Luang Por Ganha

17-4-2025

《人們因為「自我」而不必要地看醫生》

當你一切都以自我為基礎時，
你看到隆波的臉就會想，
「我要離開隆波去看醫生。」
如果那些留在寺廟的人不去看醫生，
他們也會去見家人或朋友。
因為情況就是這樣。

如果我們放棄自我，
我們的心靈會健康，
我們的身體會健康。

我與這些事情打交道已經很久了。
我知道有些人堅持自己的‘自我’，
說：「我有病。」
如果我踩到地面，我就會生病。
這就是他們的說法。

但我告訴他們要走路和運動。
這會讓他們變得更強壯。
走在地面上會幫助他們接觸自然。
他們告訴我他們不能走在地上，
因為他們的自我不允許。

你看到了嗎？自我就是這樣。

----隆波甘哈

17-4-2025

日前，全球最長壽人瑞Maria Branyas Morera在西班牙逝世，享年117歲。她曾分享長壽秘訣指，

她不僅靠運氣和良好的基因，還要有紀律、平靜、情緒穩定，無憂慮，無遺憾、樂觀積極、遠離麻煩友（Toxic people，意指情緒不穩定、對他人造成負面影響的人）等

Maria Branyas Morera從未去過醫院，從未骨折過，她一切都很好，也不曾出現身體疼痛；而且極之長壽。

這是源自於她過去不殺生，不傷害別人身體的果報

Maria Branyas Morera 也有種種美德。造就了她的健康長壽。

她生活紀律，這是有戒有正念的表現。一個沒有正念的人，不會懂得守護根門。當感官接觸到外境的時候，就會生起貪嗔癡不能自制，毫無紀律。但Maria Branyas Morera 卻做到正念和不疏忽大意的美德。

Maria Branyas Morera 內心有定力，因此她平靜、情緒穩定，無憂慮，無遺憾、樂觀積極。 她有禪定的美德

Maria Branyas Morera 還有一樣東西好，就是她會遠離麻煩友。麻煩人就是那些煩惱厚重的不善人。他們貪婪，傲慢，妒忌，吝嗇，脾氣差，尖酸刻薄，無惡不作，心散亂。

當一個人遠離惡友，親近善友時，他便會具備種種美德。

在法句經109中，佛陀說：習慣禮敬於是那些長者，四法便會增長，它們是壽命，美貌，快樂與力量。

長者就是指那些有美德的人。外國很少和尚，多數是天主教基督教的神職人員。 一個人必須要自我感不會太強，有足夠的謙卑之心，才會去禮敬尊重他們。而善友是一個強大的條件去造就我們的美德/

增長壽命的意思是，假如一個人原本的令生業可以讓他活到117 歲，但在70歲有一個命劫，過不到這一關就會在70歲死去。但因為他有禮敬有德者的習慣，所以這個善業會讓他躲過這一關，成功活完117歲。

Recently, the world's oldest person, Maria Branyas Morera, passed away in Spain at the age of 117. She shared her secrets to longevity, stating that she relied not only on luck and good genes but also on discipline, calmness, emotional stability, a carefree attitude, a lack of regrets, optimism, and staying away from toxic people.

Maria Branyas Morera had never been to a hospital, never suffered a fracture, and had always felt well without any physical pain; she lived an extremely long life. This longevity stemmed from her past actions of not killing and not harming others.

Maria Branyas Morera possessed various virtues that contributed to her health and longevity. She maintained a disciplined lifestyle, which reflects having precepts and mindfulness. A person without mindfulness does not understand how to guard the sense doors. When the senses come into contact with external objects, greed, hatred, and delusion can arise uncontrollably and without discipline. However, Maria Branyas Morera exemplified the virtues of mindfulness and vigilance.

With a stable mind, Maria Branyas Morera remained calm, emotionally stable, carefree, without regrets, and optimistic. She had the virtue of samdhi (stillness of mind).

Another aspect of her well-being was her choice to stay away from toxic people. toxic people are those burdened with afflictions. They are greedy, arrogant, envious, stingy, ill-tempered, sharp-tongued, and engage in all kinds of wrongdoing, with scattered minds. When a person distances themselves from bad friends and associates with good friends, they will cultivate various virtues.

In the Dhammapada, verse 109, the Buddha states: “By habitually honoring those elders, four qualities will increase: longevity, beauty, happiness, and strength.” Elders refer to those who possess virtues. There are few monks in foreign countries; most are clergy from Catholicism or Christianity. A person must have a moderate sense of self and sufficient humility to honor and respect them. Good friends provide a powerful condition for cultivating our virtues.

The meaning of increasing longevity is that if a person’s karma allows them to live to 117, but they face a life-threatening challenge at 70, they would die if they cannot overcome it. However, because they have the habit of honoring the virtuous, this good karma allows them to avoid that challenge and successfully live to 117.

Luang Por Ganha once said：'Don’t become overweight. When I see someone too fat, it’s from putting the self at the center. If this gentleman is self centred, he will suffer from diabetes.。‘ (November 10th, 2024)

It is because when we are self-centred, we will keep on wanting , non-stop eating🥹 

Luang Por Ganha 曾說：'不要過重。當我看到有人太肥的時候，那是由於他們把自我放到中心處。假如這個男人是自我中心的話，他會有糖尿病的。‘ (November 10th, 2024)

這是因為當我們自我中心時，我們會不斷想要想要，吃過不停