Retreat Is an Intensive Charging Up of Wisdom

 

“Mahamudra: Essence and Practice”( Book II)

 

Retreat Is an Intensive Charging Up of Wisdom

 

◎Chen Yixin: What should we do in a retreat?

 

●Xue Mo: In a genuine retreat, we meditate all the time except sleeping and eating.

 

When I was in retreat, I meditated for four sittings a day, three hours per sitting. When off the seat, you can chant mantras, practice visualization or do something else. Most of my writing was completed during the intervals of meditation.

 

In retreat, you can move about, but you can’t talk or go out of the retreat room. In addition to the four sittings of meditation a day, most of the rest time is used to chant mantras or do visualization. You can set the length of your retreat time yourself, a few months, a few years, or more than ten years. In the past 20 years, except for a number of big events at which I had to be present, I have been in retreat all the time. I have a house used for retreat and even my family don’t know where it is. Most of the time after I was twenty was spent on meditation in my retreat room.

 

Nowadays, people don’t have so much time for meditation, but you can make it a rule to separate yourself from everything for an hour every morning to let your mind quiet down. We need to know that sitting for meditation is very necessary. Without it, it will be very hard to acquire meditative concentration.

 

As for meditation in daily life, it focuses mainly on breaking attachment. You should try your best to do everything, but when it is done, don’t be too obsessed with them. It is like painting in empty air with a brush. When you are actually painting, you need to be concentrated, but nothing is left in the air. That is to say, when you have done something, let it be and there is no need to be concerned about it all the time.

 

◎Chen Yixin: It is quite hard for ordinary people to practice Kundalini. Can we just do chanting?

 

●Xue Mo: It is hard to practice treasure-bottle qi at the beginning. But as long as you stick it out, you will naturally enter into a certain state. In Vajrayana, visualization is very important. In most cases, chanting is only an assistance to visualization.

 

◎Chen Yixin: Some people say that chanting interferes with visualization.

 

●Xue Mo: If that is the case, you can recite silently or just listen. There is no need to chant aloud.

 

The reason why some practitioners accomplish nothing in practice of the creation stage is that they have turned stage of visualizing into that of chanting. A parrot which imitates human speech doesn’t know what it is talking about. The ritual of visualization bears a spirit which enables you to enter into a state of greatness and profundity and clear away your attachment.

 

      The purpose of the visualizing ritual is to increase faith and achieve meditative concentration. If you are able to enter into concentration and remain in that state, then you don’t have to practice visualization according to the ritual. When I was practicing visualization in the past, I often found myself unable to go on, because it was easy for me to remain in the meditative state of emptiness and brightness. It seemed at first that I was not doing visualization. Rather, I myself became the Yidam or I entered into the nature of emptiness. Later, I asked my guru, “When I have entered into concentration, do I have to go on with the ritual?” He answered, “No, you don’t have to.” He told me that the purpose of visualization is to enter into real concentration. When you are able to remain in that bright and clear concentration of Mahamudra, it is the best meditation. He said that at that time, qi has entered the central chakra. If you can maintain it, the state of emptiness and brightness will become increasingly stable and profound.

 

During the visualization practice, whatever phenomena arise, ignore it. What you need to do is remain in the state of emptiness and brightness. When you can’t enter into it or remain in it steadily, you can practice keeping emptiness and brightness in mind. If you enter into emptiness and brightness during your practice, it means that you have found the key to Buddhist practice. Of course, you are still far from the destination and you may encounter all kinds of situations along the way. As your practice improves, you need different methods and techniques to help you achieve the nature of emptiness. In Shangpa Kagyu teachings, the practice of an earlier stage is the basis for the practice of the next stage.

 

I must emphasize here that whatever level of practice you are at, the most important thing is always faith. Even the Buddha can’t help one who lacks faith and has a lot of doubt.

 

Notice

 

Translated by non-professional volunteers, there would be some inaccuracies in the translation. You are welcome to offer us some advice for emendation. Please feel free to contact us.We also look forward to you joining our voluntary translation team.

 

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《光明大手印：实修心髓》下

 

闭关是集中的智慧充电

 

◎陈亦新：如果闭关的话，那应该怎么做？

 

●雪漠：真正的闭关除了睡眠和吃饭之外，一天的其他时间都在禅修。

 

我闭关的时候，每天座上要修四座，每座三个小时。座下也可以持咒观想，也可以做一些其他事情。我的写作，大多就是在禅修的间隙进行的。

 

闭关时可以走路，可以行动，但不能说话，不能外出。闭关时，除每天四座之外，大部分时间也要持诵与观修。闭关时间可以自己定，几个月，或者几年、十几年不等。我在过去的二十多年里，除了一些非去不可的大型活动外，我几乎都用来闭关了。我有一个连家人都不知道的独立关房。我二十多岁后的大部分时间，就独自在关房里清修。

 

现代人没有那么多的时间来禅修，但你可以每天早晨坚持用一个小时把自己封闭起来，让心安静下来。要知道，在修行的过程中，座上修是非常必要的，如果没有座上修，是不容易得定的。

 

至于在生活中禅修，大多以破执为主。凡事要认真地去做，却不要过于执著。一切都要像彩笔描空，你在画的时候非常认真，但是在空中却留不下任何痕迹。对于任何事，你做了也就做了，但做完之后再不要去执著，不要牵挂它。

 

◎陈亦新：一般人修拙火有一定的难度，单纯地念诵可以吗？

 

●雪漠：刚开始修宝瓶气有些困难，但只要坚持，你就会自然而然地进入某种状态。单纯的念诵仅仅只是念诵而已。在密乘中，观想很重要。许多时候的念诵只是为了帮助观修。

 

◎陈亦新：有人说在念诵的时候，会影响观修的。

 

●雪漠：如果出现这种状况，则可以默念或者聆听，不一定非要出声。

 

有些人修生起次第没有成就的原因就在于，他们把观修次第变成了念诵次第。就如同一只鹦鹉在学说话的时候，它自己并不知道是什么意思。观修仪轨承载的是一种精神，它可以让你变得很博大，能够消除你的执著。

 

观修仪轨的目的是为了修信心和得定。要是能够入定，安住在定境中也可以的，不一定非得按顺序去观修完。过去，在观修仪轨的过程中，我也常常出现修不下去的状况，因为我会很容易就安住在明空定境中。最初，在观修的时候，我仿佛并不是在观修，而是自己直接变成了本尊，或是契入了空性。后来，我就去问上师：“当我入定时，要不要接着再按仪轨修下去？”上师回答我说：“不需要。”他说，观修的目的就是为了达到真正的“定”，当你能安住于一种明明朗朗的大手印定境时，就是最好的修。他说在那个时候，气进入了中脉。如果一直保任这种状态，久而久之，明空之境就会越来越稳定而广大。

 

在观修过程中，无论出现任何境界都不要去理睬，只要安住于明空就够了。当你不能稳定地安住和契入时，忆持明空也是一种修行。当你在修行的过程中契入明空时，说明你已经找到了修行之门。当然，它离真正的修行目的地还很远，会可能遇到不同的状况。当你的修行层次逐渐提升时，还需要有不同的方法助你证得空性。在香巴噶举教法中，前一个阶段的修行，是后一个阶段的基础。

 

需要强调的是，修行无论达到怎样的层次，最主要的还是信心。如果一个人多疑而没有信心，佛也没有办法度他。

 

 

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