第八辑 把心带回家 Volume 8: Bringing the Mind Home
你可以在禅坐的地方摆上一朵花，点上一炷香或者一根蜡烛。
You can make of the place where you meditate a simple paradise, with one flower, one stick of incense, one candle, ...
过去人很喜欢点蜡烛，蜡烛在过去人心目中是特别好的一种东西。现在人点蜡烛没感觉了。
In the past, people liked to light candles. Candles were considered very good at that time. Nowadays, people no longer have the same feeling about lighting candles.
要是倒退两百年前，蜡烛是好东西，就觉得特别好，带来光明，你对它会生起一种很大的欢喜心。不知道你们还想得起来吗？两百年前点蜡烛的感觉。那个时候有蜡烛、有个油灯，那都觉得真好，光明。
If we were to go back two hundred years, candles were considered a good thing. People at that time thought they were very good, as they brought light and evoked great joy. Can you imagine the feeling of lighting candles from two hundred years ago? At that time, having a candle or an oil lamp would be regarded as wonderful, as it brought light.
停电的时候点上一支蜡烛，或者点上一个油灯，你就觉得太好了，带来光明；但是有了这样的光明以后就觉得蜡烛不好，有烟，会把房间熏黑；煤油灯你也不喜欢，嫌它脏。
If you light a candle or an oil lamp during a power outage, you would feel wonderful, as it brings light. However, now that there are electric lights available, you may find candles less appealing due to the smoke which may dirty the room; you may not like kerosene lamps either, finding them dirty.
所以我们现在用这样的灯来供佛是更好的，我们一定要用最好的光明来供养佛菩萨的像。
Therefore, nowadays, it's better to use electric lights to make offerings to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. We must offer the best kind of brightness to the images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
我们用这样的灯来供佛，肯定是更加地殊胜，它也是发光的东西，又干净又亮堂，光明还有各种色彩，感觉就不一样。发明灯的人福报太大了，他肯定在光明天上，永享光明。
When we use such lights to make offerings to the Buddha, it's certainly better. They emit light, are clean and bright, with various colors, creating a different feeling. The person who invented the light bulb has accumulated immense merits. They must be in a bright heaven now, eternally enjoying the brightness.
你可以在禅坐的地方摆上一朵你喜欢的花，点上一炷香或者一盏灯，供奉上师的照片或护法神、佛像，简单而庄严；
You can make of the place where you meditate a simple paradise, with your favorite flower, one stick of incense, one lamp, one photograph of an enlightened master, or one statue of a deity or a Buddha.
你可以把最寻常的房间变成温馨神圣的地方，让你像会晤老朋友一般喜悦而快乐地接触你的真我；
You can transform the most ordinary of rooms into an intimate sacred space, into an environment where every day you come to the meeting with your true self with all the joy and happy ceremony of one old friend greeting another.
“真我”，不是假我，不是自我意识，不是我执，而是把你的我执打开，喜悦而快乐地接触到你的真心，不戴面具，把你的面具都全部脱开，把你的我执打破，方法很多。
"True self" is not false self, not self-consciousness, not self-attachment. Instead, it's about releasing your self-attachment and touching your true mind joyfully and happily. Don't wear masks, remove all your masks completely, eradicate your self-attachment — there are many methods to achieve this.
如果你发现位居于闹市之中不容易禅修，你要有创意，走进大自然。大自然永远是灵感的源泉。
And if you find that meditation does not come easily in your city room, be inventive and go out into nature. Nature is always an unfailing fountain of inspiration.
为了让你的心静下来，你可以在破晓的时分到公园散步，或观赏园中的玫瑰花的露珠。
To calm your mind, go for a walk at dawn in the park or watch the dew on a rose in a garden.
露珠晶莹剔透，可能当时就启发了你的智慧。
The dewdrops are crystal clear, which might inspire your wisdom instantly.
你可以躺在地上仰望天空，让你的心扩展到浩瀚的太虚，
Lie on the ground and gaze up into the sky, and let your mind expand into its spaciousness.
你们心量小的人就尽量到楼顶上看天空。
For those narrow-minded, you can go to the rooftop and look at the sky.
你心情不好的时候看看天，遥望一下天空，想一想哪个星星上有外星人——你这样想一想，可能你烦恼的心情就没了。你可以想象：这个时候如果飞碟来一个就好了，把你接到什么地方去做客。
When you are in a low mood, looking at the sky and pondering which star might have aliens may help dispel your vexations. You can imagine: If a UFO were to appear now and take me somewhere for a trip, wouldn't that be wonderful?
让外界的天空在你的心里面唤醒另一片天空；你可以站在溪边，让你的心和溪水奔流融合在一起，与潺潺的水声合而为一；你可以站在瀑布边，让它具有疗效的笑声净化你的心灵；
Let the sky outside awake a sky inside your mind. Stand by a stream and mingle your mind with its rushing; become one with its ceaseless sound. Sit by a waterfall and let its healing laughter purify your spirit.
但有些人到瀑布边听到的不是笑声，是哭声。所以还是你的心态决定的，你心情好，就觉得它是笑声，哗哗地笑。有些人听着就变成呜呜地哭了，看到瀑布像眼泪一样就哭起来。
However, when some people come to the waterfall, they can't hear laughter, but rather crying. So, it's determined by your mind. When you are in a good mood, you may perceive it as laughter. Whereas, for some people, it becomes sobbing; when they see the waterfall like tears, they start crying.
你可以在沙滩上散步，让海风甜蜜地吹拂你的脸；
Walk on a beach and take the sea wind full and sweet against your face.
这个时候也可以激发你禅修的灵感。只要你有正知正念，这些境界都可以把你的正念激发出来。
This circumstance can also ignite your inspiration of meditation. As long as you maintain mindfulness and introspection, these states can all inspire your mindfulness.
你可以赞叹，并利用月光之美安静你的心；
Celebrate and use the beauty of moonlight to poise your mind.
你看到月光，宁静的月光，然后你的心也变得很宁静。
Seeing the serene moonlight, your mind will also become serene.
你可以坐在湖边或者花园中静静地呼吸，
Sit by a lake or in a garden and, breathing quietly.
这些都是帮助激发我们修行的。
All of these can help inspire our spiritual practice.
易明之光 Mini读书@2023