当下的力量 12

THE KEY TO THE SPIRITUAL DIMENSION

In life-threatening emergency situations, the shift in consciousness from time to presence sometimes happens naturally. The personality that has a past and a future momentarily recedes and is replaced by an intense conscious presence, very still but very alert at the same time. Whatever response is needed then arises out of that state of consciousness.

The reason why some people love to engage in dangerous activities, such as mountain climbing, car racing, and so on, although they may not be aware of it, is that it forces them into the Now — that intensely alive state that is free of time, free of problems, free of thinking, free of the burden of the personality. Slipping away from the present moment even for a second may mean death. Unfortunately, they come to depend on a particular activity to be in that state. But you don't need to climb the north face of the Eiger. You can enter that state now.

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Since ancient times, spiritual masters of all traditions have pointed to the Now as the key to the spiritual dimension. Despite this, it seems to have remained a secret. It is certainly not taught in churches and temples. If you go to a church, you may hear readings from the Gospels such as "Take no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself," or "Nobody who puts his hands to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God." Or you might hear the passage about the beautiful flowers that are not anxious about tomorrow but live with ease in the timeless Now and are provided for abundantly by God. The depth and radical nature of these teachings are not recognized. No one seems to realize that they are meant to be lived and so bring about a profound inner transformation.

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The whole essence of Zen consists in walking along the razor's edge of Now — to be so utterly, so completely present that no problem, no suffering, nothing that is not who you are in your essence, can survive in you. In the Now, in the absence of time, all your problems dissolve. Suffering needs time; it cannot survive in the Now.

The great Zen master Rinzai, in order to take his students' attention away from time, would often raise his finger and slowly ask: "What, at this moment, is lacking?" A powerful question that does not require an answer on the level of the mind. It is designed to take your attention deeply into the Now. A similar question in the Zen tradition is this: "If not now, when?"

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The Now is also central to the teaching of Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam. Sufis have a saying: "The Sufi is the son of time present." And Rumi, the great poet and teacher of Sufism, declares: "Past and future veil God from our sight; burn up both of them with fire."

Meister Eckhart, the thirteenth-century spiritual teacher, summed it all up beautifully "Time is what keeps the light from reaching us. There is no greater obstacle to God than time."

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ACCESSING THE POWER OF THE NOW

A moment ago, when you talked about the eternal present and the unreality of past and future, I found myself looking at that tree outside the window. I had looked at it a few times before, but this time it was different. The external perception had not changed much, except that the colors seemed brighter and more vibrant. But there was now an added dimension to it. This is hard to explain. I don't know how, but I was aware of something invisible that I felt was the essence of that tree, its inner spirit, if you like. And somehow I was part of that. I realize now that I hadn't truly seen the tree before, just a flat and dead image of it. When I look at the tree now, some of that awareness is still present, but I can feel it slipping away. You see, the experience is already receding into the past. Can something like this ever be more than affecting glimpse?

You were free of time for a moment. You moved into the Now and therefore perceived the tree without the screen of mind. The awareness of Being became part of your perception. With the timeless dimension comes a different kind of knowing, one that does not "kill" the spirit that lives within every creature and every thing. A knowing that does not destroy the sacredness and mystery of life but contains a deep love and reverence for all that is. A knowing of which the mind knows nothing.

The mind cannot know the tree. It can only know facts or information about the tree. My mind cannot know you, only labels, judgments, facts, and opinions about you. Being alone knows directly.

There is a place for mind and mind knowledge. It is in the practical realm of day-to-day living. However, when it takes over all aspects of your life, including your relationships with other human beings and with nature, it becomes a monstrous parasite that, unchecked, may well end up killing all life on the planet and finally itself by killing its host.

You have had a glimpse of how the timeless can transform your perceptions. But an experience is not enough, no matter how beautiful or profound. What is needed and what we are concerned with is a permanent shift in consciousness.

So break the old pattern of present-moment denial and present-moment resistance. Make it your practice to withdraw attention from past and future whenever they are not needed. Step out of the time dimension as much as possible in everyday life. If you find it hard to enter the Now directly, start by observing the habitual tendency of your mind to want to escape from the Now. You will observe that the future is usually imagined as either better or worse than the present. If the imagined future is better, it gives you hope or pleasurable anticipation. If it is worse, it creates anxiety. Both are illusory. Through self-observation, more presence comes into your life automatically. The moment you realize you are not present, you are present. Whenever you are able to observe your mind, you are no longer trapped in it. Another factor has come in, something that is not of the mind: the witnessing presence.

Be present as the watcher of your mind — of your thoughts and emotions as well as your reactions in various situations. Be at least as interested in your reactions as in the situation or person that causes you to react. Notice also how often your attention is in the past or future. Don't judge or analyze what you observe. Watch the thought, feel the emotion, observe the reaction. Don’t make a personal problem out of them. You will then feel something more powerful than any of those things that you observe: the still, observing presence itself behind the content of your mind, the silent watcher.

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Intense presence is needed when certain situations trigger a reaction with a strong emotional charge, such as when your self-image is threatened, a challenge comes into your life that triggers fear, things "go wrong," or an emotional complex from the past is brought up. In those instances, the tendency is for you to become "unconscious." The reaction or emotion takes you over — you "become" it. You act it out. You justify, make wrong, attack, defend . . . except that it isn't you, it's the reactive pattern, the mind in its habitual survival mode.

Identification with the mind gives it more energy;, observation of the mind withdraws energy from it. Identification with the mind creates more time; observation of the mind opens up the dimension of the timeless. The energy that is withdrawn from the mind turns into presence. Once you can feel what it means to be present, it becomes much easier to simply choose to step out of the time dimension whenever time is not needed for practical purposes and move more deeply into the Now. This does not impair your ability to use time — past or future — when you need to refer to it for practical matters. Nor does it impair your ability to use your mind. In fact, it enhances it. When you do use your mind, it will be sharper, more focused.

进入灵性殿堂的关键

在生命受到威胁的紧急情况下，意识会很自然地从时间转变到当下。那个有着过去和未来思维的人格会立即撤退，被强烈的临在意识代替，同时它会变得非常警惕和宁静。此时任何即时的反应都是从有意识的状态开启的。

有些人喜欢参加冒险性的活动，如爬山、赛车等，原因是这些活动迫使他们进入当下时刻——在这些高度紧张的时刻里，他们能从时间、从问题、从思维中解放出来。即使一秒钟不活在当下，都有可能面临死亡的威胁。不幸的是，为了进入这种当下时刻，他们必须依赖一种特殊的活动。其实你不必去攀登艾格尔峰，在当下，你就可以进入那种状态。

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自古以来，各门各派的心灵导师都指出当下时刻是开悟的关键。尽管如此，它仍然是为人所不知的秘密。当然，教堂和寺庙是不会教这些东西的。如果你去教堂，你可能会听到这样的教导：不为明日思量，明日自有安排。“那些把手扶犁而频频回顾的人不适合进入上帝王国。”或者你可能会听到这样的篇章：美丽的花儿不会为明天而担忧，它们安逸地生活在永恒的当下，上帝赐予了其丰富的供养。

这些语句中所蕴藏的深刻、激进的本质并不为人所知。似乎没有人意识到，他们注定要在世上走一遭，好完成一个深刻的内在转变。

禅宗的本质就体现在“在当下的刀锋边缘上走路”——完全地进入当下就不会有问题，就不会有痛苦，在你本质中不是你的东西就不会在你之内生存。当下这一刻，当时间缺席时，你所有的问题都会消失。苦难只有在时间中才能存在，在当下它无法存活。

伟大的临济禅师为了把他的学生的注意力从时间中带出来，经常竖起一根指头慢慢地问道：“当下，缺什么？”这是一个不需要大脑就能回答的强有力的问题，目的是让你将注意力集中在当下。禅宗的传统里还有一个类似的问题，那就是：“若非当下，何时？”

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汲取当下的力量

刚才，当你谈到永恒的临在和过去以及未来的非现实性时，我发现我正在观察窗外的树。在此之前我已经观察过了几次，但是这次却有所不同。外在的感觉没有发生多大的变化，只是树叶的颜色变得更亮、更具生命力，好像多了一个角度，这很难解释。我不知道如何去解释，但是我觉察到了我所感觉到的一种无形的东西，这些无形的东西是那棵树的本质，是它的内在精神，而且我是这个本质的一部分。现在我认识到，在这之前我并没有真正地看过这棵树，我之前所见到的只是这棵树的一个平面的、无生命的形象。当我现在再看这棵树时，那种特殊意识的一部分仍然存在，但是，我能感觉到它在逐渐地消失。你看，这种体验已经退去了，这种感觉可以长久些吗？

你是在一瞬间脱离了时间。你进入了当下时刻，因此你没有通过大脑去感知那棵树。这种对本体的觉知成为你感知的一部分。这种无时间意识逐渐成为一种认识，它不会扼杀存在于每个生物和每件事情中的灵性。这种认识并没有损坏生命的神圣与神秘，而是包含着对所有一切存在的深深的爱与尊重。大脑对这种认识是一无所知的。

大脑不会真正地认识树木，它仅知道有关树的事实或信息。我的大脑也不会认识你，它只知道有关你的特征、判断、事实和观点。只有本体才会直接地知道。

对于大脑和有关大脑的知识而言，它们在日常生活的实际领域中占有一席之地。然而，当它控制你生活中的一切层面时，包括你与别人以及与自然的关系时，它就会变成一种可怕的寄生虫，如果不加以控制的话，最终它会结束地球上所有的生命，并且通过结束它的主体而结束自己。

如果想象的未来比现在更好，它会给你希望，或让你愉悦地期待；如果它比现在更糟，会让你焦虑——其实这两者都是幻象。

现在，你或许已经多少了解到了无时间状态可以如何转变你的感知。但是，光有体验是远远不够的，不管它是多么美好或深刻。我们所需要的和所关注的是意识层面的永久转变。

所以，请打破那种抗拒当下、否定当下的旧模式。请把对当下时刻的意识作为一种习惯，当不需要关注过去和未来时，把你的注意力从它们之中解放出来。在日常生活中，尽可能地从时间的意识中把自己解放出来。如果你发现很难直接进入当下时刻，那么请你从观察自己老想要脱离当下时刻的惯性开始。这样，你将会观察到，你总是把未来想得比现在更好或更坏。如果想象的未来比现在更好，它会给你希望，或让你愉悦地期待；如果它比现在更糟，会让你焦虑——其实这两者都是幻象。通过自我观察，更多的临在意识会自动地进入你的生活之中。在意识到你没有进入当下的那一刻，你就在当下了。任何时候，当你有能力观察你的思维时，你就不会再落入它的陷阱。这时，另外一个不属于思维的东西就来临了：观察者的临在。

保持临在，随时观察你的思维、想法、情绪以及在各种情况下你的反应。请多关注自己对各种人、事、物的反应，至少像你关注让你有反应的人或事情一样。同时关注你的注意力是否常常跑到过去或未来之中。不要去判断或分析你所观察到的内容，就只是观察你的想法，感受你的情绪，关注你的反应，而不要把它们变成个人问题。这样你将会感觉到一些比你所有观察到的更为有力量的东西：在思维背后，那个宁静的、观察的临在本身——宁静的观察者。

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当某种情况引发强烈的情绪反应时——比如当你的自我形象受到威胁时，或者生活中的某个挑战引发你的恐惧时，或者当事情出错时，或是过去的一个情结被触发时——你就需要强烈的临在意识了。在这些情况下，你会容易变得无意识。对这些情况的反应或因这些情况而产生的情绪控制了你，你就变成了它。你还会因此采取行动，去责怪、攻击、防卫等。只是，它不是你。它是一种反应模式，是处于惯性求生状态中的思维。

思维认同给予了思维更多的能量，对思维的观察却能把能量撤回；思维认同创造了更多的时间，对思维的观察却能开启无时间的领域。而这些从思维中撤回的能量就会转变为临在。一旦你感觉到临在，你就能在实际生活中不需要时间的时候，更容易地从时间中解放出来，并更深地进入当下。这不会降低你利用时间——过去和未来——的能力，当你需要利用时间来完成实际事务时。这也不会降低你利用大脑的能力。实际上，它会加强大脑的能力。当你在用大脑时，它将会变得更为敏锐、更为集中。