一貫道郭明義

回答關於守玄的幾個問題

Some questions about concentration practice

1、守玄想睡 feeling sleepy during the practice

問：一守玄就想睡覺是不是守錯方法？

Q:  Am I doing the concentration practice in a wrong way if I feel sleepy?

    守玄，會想睡覺，這是常見的問題。是不是有錯誤？要視個人不同狀況而定。

    有幾種原因：

一：過勞，過度勞累或過度勤勞。

二：失眠，平常睡不好。

三：業力造成昏沉。

A:  This is a common question. However, there are some reasons for it. It depends on individual situation.

1. Being exhausted or working too hard.

2. Having sleeping problems in daily life.

3. Feeling dizzy and sleepy because of bad karmas.

一、過勞

1. Being exhausted or working too hard.

    有些人守玄想睡，是因為他的身體需要睡眠，而他卻沒有給身體睡眠。所以一守玄就想睡，那是啟動身體的本能也是修復的本能。

    Some people need more sleep, but they don’t give their body enough sleep. Therefore, as soon as they do the concentration practice, they start to feel sleepy. This is their instinct for recovery. 

    臺灣人的勤儉觀念有時把人逼得很慘，最常見的就是「勤勞」的觀念，勤勞固然很好，但是過度勤勞，把休息、睡覺當成罪惡，有時讓許多人的身體永遠呈現在疲勞、睡眠不足的狀態。

    Some people have wrong ideas to push others too hard, especially at work. They regard being diligent as the highest moral. Diligence is good, but they think of rest or sleep as a kind of sin. This makes many people dare not take enough rest, so they are always lacking of sleep or feeling tired. 

    除了勤儉的觀念以外，道親的「天時緊急」觀念，也是一個逼迫道親不敢休息的因素，休息就覺得自己怠惰，總是要不停的忙於道務，甚至到身體負荷過重。這種狀況下，守玄想睡覺是彌勒祖師在為我們催眠，再不睡健康就要亮紅燈了。

    Besides diligence, the idea that the end of the world is coming also keeps us working. Tao members, in this way, keep themselves busy with Tao affairs every day until they feel exhausted. In this situation, feeling sleepy during the practice is Maitriya Buddha’s blessing to make us sleep.

    其實適當的、充分的睡眠不僅不會妨礙辦道，反而可以更有效率、更有智慧的辦天事。睡眠不足或過於勞累，不論情緒、智慧、體能…都處於不佳狀態，不是最佳的辦道常態，偶而還好，長期如此絕對無益於道務。

    Actually, enough sleep won’t waste our time. On the contrary, it can make us more effective and wiser when practicing or transmitting Tao. If we are physically exhausted, we will feel bad mentally. With negative emotions or insufficient energy, we cannot perform Tao affairs very well.

二、失眠、憂鬱症：Insomnia, melancholy

    平時睡不著或很淺睡的人，要吃安眠藥的人、有憂鬱症的人…一守玄，身心就會調整到最急需的狀態。

   For those who have hard time falling asleep or who must take sleeping pills to have a sound sleep, concentrating on the Wisdom Door can adjust their body and mind to the best status, even effective for melancholy.

    憂鬱、失眠的人，身心最需要的不是智慧、慈悲…而是睡飽。

    Those people don’t need wisdom or compassion but enough sleep.

    一位長期失眠，要靠安眠藥睡覺的道親告訴後學，現在只要一守玄，立刻就能入睡，不需要吃安眠藥。

    A Tao member told me that after he did the concentration practice, he could sleep very well and didn’t need sleeping pills anymore.

    過勞、虛弱、淺睡、憂鬱…這些人，睡眠是最好的藥。但偏偏這些人往往對睡覺有罪惡感，守玄想睡更覺得自己懶散。

    For those who are weak, exhausted, sleepless, or melancholic, sleeping is the best medicine.

    其實睡覺是人類最好的醫療，動物生病或受傷時都會找一個安全的地方睡覺，好多天不吃東西，慢慢身體就自動復原。我們人類也應有這種本能，卻用思想遏阻我們的本能，強迫自己即使需要睡眠卻仍不停的工作、讀書、玩樂，日以繼夜，直到健康亮紅燈，躺在醫院時，才能有時間、有理由好好的睡一覺。

    Like animals, which always find a save place to recover after getting sick or hurt, sleeping is the best medicine for human beings. We have such instincts, too. But we are used to forcing ourselves to keep working or studying even when we need to sleep. We tend to work or study until we get so sick that we must stay in the hospital.

    醫學認為睡眠時腦中會分泌生長激素、血清張素、腎上腺素等，生長激素除會讓小孩子長大外，也會修補大人的身體細胞損傷，因此「該睡就要睡」。睡飽醒來時是心智警覺的高峰，不論學習、修持都是最佳狀況。

In medical field, they believe that human brains can secrete GROWTH hormone, Serotonin(5-hydroxytryptamine，或5-HT血清張素)、adrenalin when sleeping. growth hormone can not only help children grow up but also recover any damage in human cells for adults. Therefore, we should follow natural sense. When our body needs help, just go to bed. After a sound sleep, our minds will be very alert. Then, no matter studying or practicing, our body and mind will stay in the best status.
    所以守玄想睡，有時是因為身體在告訴我們：「我需要睡眠。」這時就好好享受一下守玄睡覺的香沉、修復。等到身心都修復道一個程度時，自然守玄就不會想睡。

To sum up, when we feel sleepy during the concentration practice, it sometimes means our body is telling us, “I need to sleep.” Just enjoy sleeping with focusing on the Wisdom Door. After our body and mind recover from its tiredness, we will not feel sleepy during the practice.

三、業力造成昏沉。feeling dizzy or sleepy because of bad karmas.

    守玄想睡，另外一個原因和前面二個相反，有些人太散漫，心無法集中。平日就常處於昏沉散漫，當然一守玄就陷入昏沉。

    Still another reason for feeling sleepy is contrary to the above ones. Some people are too wander-minded. They cannot concentrate in daily life, so when doing the focusing practice, they feel sleepy.

    如果平時沒有失眠，也沒有過勞，一守玄就想睡，表示你是太散漫易昏沉，平常不動腦筋，常處於昏沉，守玄時習性會浮現，一守玄就想睡。

    If you don’t have sleeping problems or are not exhausted in daily life, but you still have sleepy problems during the practice, it means you are wander-minded and lacking of the habit of  exercising  wit.

    這時要提醒自己不要閉眼守玄，連七分閉、八分閉…都不要，平視前方或看佛燈，堅持守玄，去除昏沉。

    For such people, they should remind themselves not to close their eyes when concentrating on the Wisdom Door. Just look at the Buddha lamp or looking in front directly. Persevere to concentrate on the Wisdom Door, and it will help you keep awake.

    剛開始可能還是會睡著，只要堅持修持，慢慢昏沉的業力消除，就不會一守玄就想睡。

    This may not work first, but as long as they can keep doing the practice, gradually the bad karma may be purified. They will start to have clear and wonderful feelings during the practice. 

2、問：玄關式呼吸和一般呼吸有什麼不同？

Q：What’s the difference between breathing through the Wisdom Door and ordinary breathing?

答：我們時時刻刻都在呼吸，玄關式呼吸和一般呼吸不同有二點：

A：Every moment, we keep breathing. There are three differences between our ordinary breathing and the breathing practice.

１、玄關式呼吸時，知道自己是在吸氣還是呼氣

２、吸氣時，玄關有重重的感覺；呼氣時玄關也有重重的感覺。

３、玄關式呼吸時，妄念較少，一般呼吸時妄念不斷。

1、When breathing through the Wisdom Door, we are aware that we are either inhaling or exhaling.

2、Our Wisdom Door has a magnetic feeling when inhaling and exhaling.

3、We have much fewer thoughts when doing the breathing practice. On the contrary, our minds have distractive thoughts in ordinary breathing.

3、問：一般的靜坐或打坐也是讓心靜下來，玄關式呼吸有什麼不一樣？

Q：Some methods in meditation also aim to make our minds calm down. What’s the difference from breathing through the Wisdom Door?

答：

    玄關式呼吸確實也是在除去妄念，以一般人的說法就是讓心靜下來。如果靜坐或打坐也能達到很好的效果我們就不必另外傳這種玄關呼吸直接去打坐就好了，一般的打作或靜坐如果沒有很好的上師，是坐不出什麼結果的，台灣有一個很有名的靜坐中心一進去就坐十天什麼都沒敎你，有人坐不到一天就要抓狂。

A：

    The aim of the breathing practice is to purify our thoughts; that is, to make our minds calm down. If meditation can achieve such good effects, we will not need this method. In the meditation, it needs a great master to be able to settle our minds and purify our thoughts. Without a master, a common person can hardly make his minds calm down.

    In Taiwan , there is a famous meditation center, where people do the practice by themselves for ten days. They don’t have any master to instruct them. Therefore, some people fail to continue the practice and then escape.

為什麼無法在打坐中靜下來？

    Why can’t we calm down during the meditation?

    如果把我們的心比喻成一頭牛，一頭如西班牙奔牛節的牛，一放出圍欄就四處狂奔。而我們想要徒手把這狂奔的牛抓住，是不可能的，但是如果能夠在牛鼻子上套一個銅環，從這個環來牽制牛，牛就只好慢慢的聽話，玄關就像牛的鼻孔上的銅環，是一個可以制住我們狂奔的心牛的一個關鍵點，如再加上無字真經就更能馴服這頭心牛了。

    If we compare our mind to a bull in bull-running festival(奔牛節). It keeps wandering crazily after running out of the fence圍欄 . It’s impossible for us to try to grasp the crazy bull by our hand. However, if we can use a nose ring to control the bull, it will become obedient. The Wisdom Door is like the nose ring for our minds. It is the key to control our distracting mind. With Five Word Sutra, it will be much easier to control the mind because the Sutra is like a rope linked to the nose ring.

    如果光是打坐而沒有玄關這個牛繩，就像用一張網子把牛網住，不讓牠動，希望這樣牛可以安靜下來。牛被網住是限制了牠不能動，但一定掙扎著要脫離網子，所以動得更厲害，不能安靜下來。

    Using meditation to control the mind is just like trapping a bull in the net. It prevents the bull from running and hopes it to calm down. The bull is truly limited, but it surely will struggle to escape. So, it may move more terribly.

    This is the same as our body and mind. In meditation, our body is sitting still. However, our minds keep wandering far away. Only by breathing through the Wisdom Door can our minds return to the right place.