當你穿越一片尚未被人們開墾和侵擾的森林，你不但會看到周圍豐富多彩的生命，也會遇到倒樹、枯木，以及舉步之間，腳下的腐葉和正在分解的物質。無論你望向何處，都會同時看見死亡和生命。
然而，細看下去，你會發現那正在分解的樹乾和腐爛的枝葉不但孕育新的生命，它們自己本身也是充滿生氣的。
微生物正在工作。分子正在重組自己。所以，死亡無處可尋。存在的只是不斷演變的生命形式。你，能從中領悟到什麼嗎？
死亡不是生命的反面。生命不存在反面。死亡的反面是出生。而生命，是永恆的。
***
自古以來，聖人們和詩人們都承認了人的存在猶如夢境一般的本質– 它看上去如此堅固與真實，然而卻又是那麼短暫易逝，隨時可能灰飛煙滅。
在瀕臨死亡的那一刻，你的人生故事，確實可能會顯得如一個即將結束的夢一般。然而即使是在夢中，一定也存在著一個真實不虛的本質。一定有一個令夢境發生於其中的意識；否則，夢無法存在。
那個意識– 是這個身體創造了它，還是意識創造了這個關於身體的夢、關於某人的夢？
為何大多數有過瀕死體驗的人都不再對死亡感到恐懼？仔細想想。
***
當然，你知道自己總有一天會死去，但那只是一個頭腦裡的概念，直到你第一次“親身”面對死亡：也許是你或你的親人遭遇重病，或發生事故，也許是你心愛的人辭世，死亡進入了你的生命，你意識到自己也難免一死。
大多數人在死亡面前，會出於恐懼選擇逃避，但是，如果你選擇不退縮，勇敢面對你的身體短暫易逝，隨時可能灰飛煙滅的這個事實，你就從對自己的這個身心結構，這個“我”的認同之中解脫出來一些。當你了解並接納所有生命形式變化無常的本性，一種不同尋常的安詳感就降臨在你的身上。
經由面對死亡，你的意識，在某種程度上，就從對外在形式的認同之中解脫了。這就是為什麼，在一些佛教的傳統中，僧侶要定期造訪停屍之處，並在屍體中間禪坐冥想。
在西方文化里，依然存在普遍的對死亡的否認。即使是老人們也試圖不去討論或思考死亡，屍體被隱藏起來。一個否定死亡的文化毫無疑問會流於膚淺和表面，它只關心外在的表現形式。一旦死亡被否定，生命就喪失了它的深度。我們失去了了解真正的我們是超越名字和形式的機會，也失去了了解那超越的向度的機會，這個可能性從我們的生命中消失了，因為死亡恰恰就是進入那個向度的門。
***
人們對各種結束總是感到不自在，因為每一個結束都是一個小小的死亡。這就是為什麼在很多不同的語言中，“再會”這個詞意思都是指“下一次再見你”。
無論何時，當一個體驗即將結束– 一次朋友聚會、一個假期、你的孩子離家– 你都小小地死了一次。一個曾經作為這個體驗顯現在你的意識之中的外在形式消融了。這常常會留下一種"空虛"的感覺，大多數人都竭力不去感受它，不去面對它。
如果你可以學著去接受，甚至歡迎你生命中的這些結束，你也許會發現那最初令你感到不安的空虛感，轉變成了一種內在廣闊的空間感，它使你感到深深的安詳。
每天這樣學著死去，你就對生命開放了自己。
***
大多數人感到他們的身份，他們的自我感，是如此寶貴的東西，他們不想失去它。這就是為什麼他們對死亡這麼恐懼。
“我”有一天會不復存在，這聽上去簡直無法想像，令人充滿恐懼。但是你將真正寶貴的“我”與你的名字、形式以及與之關聯的你的故事混淆了。那個“我”僅僅是意識場域中的一個短暫的形式而已。如果你所知道的只是這個形式身份，你就仍然不了解這個真正寶貴的正是你的本質，正是你內在最深處的“我是”，也就是意識本身。它是你內在的永恆– 它是你唯一不可能失去的東西。
***
無論何時，當你的生活中發生重大損失– 例如失去財產、家園、一段親密關係；或者丟掉了聲譽、工作、勞動能力– 在你裡面有些東西死去了。你感到自我被縮減了。也許還會感到一種迷茫。“沒有了這些……我是誰？”
當某個外在形式離開了你或消融，而你一直無意識地將它認同為你自己的一部分，這有可能會帶來巨大的痛苦。可以說，它就像是在你的存在結構裡留下了一個洞。
當這樣的情形發生時，不要否認或忽略你所感受到的痛苦或悲傷。接納它們的存在。你的頭腦總是傾向於圍繞著這個損失編寫一個故事，在這故事裡，頭腦分配給你一個受害者的角色，要對這頭腦的把戲保持覺知。恐懼、憤怒、怨恨或者自憐都是隨著這個角色而來的各種情緒。接下來，要覺知到在這些情緒和頭腦編造的故事背後的東西：那個洞，那個空間。你能否面對和接納這陌生的空虛感？如果你可以做到，你也許會發現它不再令人感到害怕。你也許會驚訝地發現從這空虛之中散發出來的寧靜安詳。
無論何時，當死亡發生，當一個生命形式消融，神，這個無形的、未顯化的，就透過這消融的形式所留下的開放空間，散發出光芒。這就是為什么生命中最神聖的事就是死亡。這就是為什麼，經由對死亡的沉思與接納，神的安詳會降臨於你。
***
每個人的歷程都是如此短暫，生命轉瞬即逝。有什麼是不受限於生與死的嗎？有什麼是永恆的嗎？
想想看：如果只有一種顏色，比如藍色，整個世界和其中的萬物如果都是藍色，那麼就不存在藍色了。必須有什麼不是藍色，這樣藍色才能被認出來；否則，藍色就無法“凸顯”，無法存在。
同樣的道理，是否也需要存在某種並不短暫、並不易逝的東西，好讓萬物的變化無常能夠被認出呢？換句話說：如果萬事萬物，包括你在內，都不是持久不變的，你還能認出這一點嗎？你能覺知並目睹萬物包括你自己轉瞬即逝的本性，這個事實不正意味著你內在有某個東西是永不衰落的嗎？
當你二十歲的時候，你覺知到你的身體強壯而充滿活力；六十年之後，你覺知到你的身體羸弱而衰老。自二十歲以來，你的想法或許也改變了很多，但那個知道你的身體是年輕或衰老，知道你的想法已經改變的那一份覺知一直都沒有變過。那個覺知是你內在的永恆– 是意識本身。它就是無形的合一生命。你會失去它嗎？不會，因為你就是它。
***
有些人在臨終前變得非常安詳，幾乎是發光的，彷彿有什麼東西在這消逝的軀體裡閃耀著光芒。
可以這麼說，有時侯，病得很嚴重或歲數很大的老人會在他們生命的最後幾週、幾個月，甚至幾年裡，變得幾乎透明。當他們看著你時，你也許會看見他們眼中放射出光芒。再也沒有心理上的痛苦了。他們已經臣服，所以這個人，這個頭腦製造的小我，已經消融了。他們已經“在死亡之前死了”，他們已經發現了內心深處的安詳，了悟了他們內在的永恆不朽。
***
在每一個意外和災難裡，都蘊含著一場我們通常不知道的潛在的救贖。
突如其來的死亡所帶來的巨大震撼可以迫使你的意識徹底脫離對形式的認同。在身體死去的最後時刻，以及在死亡的那一刻，你經驗到自己就是脫離形體的意識。突然，再也沒有恐懼，只有寧靜，你了知到“一切安好”，而死亡只是一種外在形式的消融罷了。於是，你意識到，死亡終究是虛幻的– 正如你曾認同為自己的這個軀體一樣虛幻。
***
死亡，並不是現代文化想要讓你相信的那樣，是異常的事，或者是所有事件中最可怕的事，它其實是這個世界上最自然的事，死亡與它對應的出生一樣自然，死與生密不可分。當你坐在一個即將死去的人身邊時，記住這一點。
在見證和陪伴一個人的死亡時,保持臨在，是一項莫大的榮耀，也是一個神聖的行為。
當你坐在一個瀕死的人身邊，不要否定這個經驗的任何一個面向。不要否定正在發生的事，也不要否定你的感受。發現自己什麼也做不了也許會令你感到無助、悲傷，或是憤怒。接納你的感受。接著再深入一步：接納此時你什麼也做不了，徹底地接納這一點。你無法掌控這一切。對這個經驗的每一個面向都深深地臣服，臣服於你的感受，臣服於這個瀕死的人可能體驗到的痛苦或不適。你的意識的臣服狀態和那伴隨而來的寧靜將給這瀕死的人帶來巨大的幫助，並使這轉化過程更加容易。如果感到想說話，這話語將會來自於你內在的寧靜。但是語言是次要的。
伴隨著這寧靜而來的，是深深的祝福：安詳。
翻譯：遊由
~~~原文如下~~~
Chapter 9
Death and the Eternal
When you walk though a forest that has not been tamed and interfered with by
man, you will see not only abundant life around you, but you will also encounter
fallen trees and decaying trunks, rotting leaves and decomposing matter at every
step. Wherever you look, you will find death as well as life.
Upon closer scrutiny, however, you will discover that the decomposing tree trunk
and rotting leaves not only give birth to new life, but are full of life themselves.
Microorganisms are at work. Molecules are rearranging themselves. So death isn't
to be found anywhere. There is only the metamorphosis of life forms. What can
you learn from this?
Death is not the opposite of life. Life has no opposite. The opposite of death is
birth. Life is eternal.
***
Sages and poets throughout the ages have recognized the dreamlike quality of
human existence–seemingly so solid and real and yet so fleeting that it could
dissolve at any moment.
At the hour of your death, the story of your life may, indeed, appear to you like a
dream that is coming to an end. Yet even in a dream there must be an essence that
is real. There must be a consciousness in which the dream happens; otherwise, it
would not be.
That consciousness–does the body create it or does consciousness create the dream
of body, the dream of somebody?
Why have most of those who went through a near-death experience lost their fear
of death? Reflect upon this.
* **
Of course you know you are going to die, but that remains a mere mental concept
until you meet death “in person” for the first time: through a serious illness or an
accident that happens to you or someone close to you, or through the passing away
of a loved one, death enters your life as the awareness of your own mortality.
Most people turn away from it in fear, but if you do not flinch and face the fact that
your body is fleeting and could dissolve at any moment, there is some degree of
disidentification, however slight, from your own physical and psychological form,
the “me.” When you see and accept the impermanent nature of all life forms, a
strange sense of peace comes upon you.
Through facing death , your consciousness is freed to some extent from
identification with form. This is why in some Buddhist traditions, the monks
regularly visit the morgue to sit and meditate among the dead bodies.
There is still a widespread denial of death in Western cultures. Even old people try
not to speak or think about it, and dead bodies are hidden away. A culture that
denies death inevitably becomes shallow and superficial, concerned only with the
external form of things. When death is denied, life loses its depth. The possibility
of knowing who we are beyond name and form, the dimension of the transcendent,
disappears from our lives because death is the opening into that dimension.
***
People tend to be uncomfortable with endings, because every ending is a little
death. That's why in many languages, the word for “good-bye” means “see you
again.”
Whenever an experience comes to an end–a gathering of friends, a vacation, your
children leaving home–you die a little death. A “form” that appeared in your
consciousness as that experience dissolves. Often this leaves behind a feeling of
emptiness that most people try hard not to feel, not to face.
If you can learn to accept and even welcome the endings in your life, you may find
that the feeling of emptiness that initially felt uncomfortable turns into a sense of
inner spaciousness that is deeply peaceful.
By learning to die daily in this way, you open yourself to Life.
***
Most people feel that their identity, their sense of self, is something incredibly
precious that they don't want to lose. That is why they have such fear of death.
It seems unimaginable and frightening that “I” could cease to exist. But you
confuse that precious “I” with your name and form and a story associated with it.
That “I” is no more than a temporary formation in the field of consciousness.
As long as that form identity is all you know, you are not aware that this
preciousness is your own essence, your innermost sense of I Am, which is
consciousness itself. It is the eternal in you–and that's the only thing you cannot
lose.
***
Whenever any kind of deep loss occurs in your life–such as loss of possessions,
your home, a close relationship ; or loss of your reputation, job, or physical
abilities–something inside you dies. You feel diminished in your sense of who you
are. There may also be a certain disorientation. “Without this...who am I?”
When a form that you had unconsciously identified with as part of yourself leaves
you or dissolves, that can be extremely painful. It leaves a hole, so to speak, in the
fabric of your existence.
When this happens, don't deny or ignore the pain or the sadness that you feel.
Accept that it is there. Beware of your mind's tendency to construct a story around
that loss in which you are assigned the role of victim. Fear, anger, resentment, or
self-pity are the emotions that go with that role. Then become aware of what lies
behind those emotions as well as behind the mind-made story: that hole, that empty
space. Can you face and accept that strange sense of emptiness? If you do, you may
find that it is no longer a fearful place. You may be surprised to find peace
emanating from it.
Whenever death occurs, whenever a life form dissolves, God, the formless and
unmanifested, shines through the opening left by the dissolving form. That is why
the most sacred thing in life is death. That is why the peace of God can come to you
through the contemplation and acceptance of death.
***
How short-lived every human experience is, how fleeting our lives. Is there
anything that is not subject to birth and death, anything that is eternal?
Consider this: if there were only one color, let us say blue, and the entire world and
everything in it were blue, then there would be no blue. There needs to be
something that is not blue so that blue can be recognized; otherwise, it would not
“stand out,” would not exist.
In the same way, does it not require something that is not fleeting and impermanent
for the fleetingness of all things to be recognized? In other words: if everything,
including yourself, were impermanent, would you even know it? Does the fact that
you are aware of and can witness the short-lived nature of all forms, including your
own, not mean that there is something in you that is not subject to decay?
When you are twenty, you are aware of your body as strong and vigorous; sixty
years later, you are aware of your body as weakened and old. Your thinking too
may have changed from when you were twenty, but the awareness that knows that
your body is young or old or that your thinking has changed has undergone no
change. That awareness is the eternal in you–consciousness itself. It is the formless
One Life. Can you lose It? No, because you are It.
***
Some people become deeply peaceful and almost luminous just before they die, as
if something is shining through the dissolving form.
Sometimes it happens that very ill or old people become almost transparent, so to
speak, in the last few weeks, months, or even years of their lives. As they look at
you, you may see a light shining through their eyes. There is no psychological
suffering left. They have surrendered and so the person, the mind-made egoic
“me, ” has already dissolved. They have “died before they died” and found the deep
inner peace that is the realization of the deathless within themselves.
***
To every accident and disaster there is a potentially redemptive dimension that we
are usually unaware of.
The tremendous shock of totally unexpected, imminent death can have the effect of
forcing your consciousness completely out of identification with form. In the last
few moments before physical death, and as you die, you then experience yourself
as consciousness free of form. Suddenly, there is no more fear, just peace and a
knowing that “all is well” and that death is only a form dissolving. Death is then
recognized as ultimately illusory–as illusory as the form you had identified with as
yourself.
***
Death is not an anomaly or the most dreadful of all events as modern culture would
have you believe, but the most natural thing in the world, inseparable from and just
as natural as its other polarity–birth. Remind yourself of this when you sit with a
dying person.
It is a great privilege and a sacred act to be present at a person's death as a witness
and companion.
When you sit with a dying person, do not deny any aspect of that experience. Do
not deny what is happening and do not deny your feelings. The recognition that
there is nothing you can do may make you feel helpless, sad, or angry. Accept what
you feel. Then go one step further: accept that there is nothing you can do, and
accept it completely. You are not in control. Deeply surrender to every aspect of
that experience, your feelings as well as any pain or discomfort the dying person
may be experiencing. Your surrendered state of consciousness and the stillness that
comes with it will greatly assist the dying person and ease their transition. If words
are called for, they will come out of the stillness within you. But they will be
secondary.
With the stillness comes the benediction: peace.
摘自： Stillness Speaks
翻譯：遊由
轉自：http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4fd2f38b0100u93v.html
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