經驗內在的寧靜

寧靜是發自內心，而不是來自外部的東西。寧靜並不意味著不說話或不做任何事，而是你的內心不被干擾。如果你真正地經驗寧靜，那麼無論遇到什麼情況，你都享受著安寧與平靜。 有時你會以為寧靜等同於自己的緘默不語，或周圍的一片死寂，但是內在的言談卻不停的在腦海中進行。那絕不是寧靜。⋯⋯ 讓我們改變思維和觀察方式。我們必須認識到寧靜來自我們內心，而不是有沒有言談等聲。

Silence is something that comes from your heart, not from outside. Silence doesn’t mean not talking and not doing things; it means that you are not disturbed inside. If you’re truly silent, then no matter what situation you find yourself in you can enjoy the silence. There are moments when you think you’re silent and all around is silent, but talking is going on all the time inside your head. That’s not silence. …… Let us change our way of thinking and our way of looking. We have to realize that silence comes from our heart and not from the absence of talk.

~ excerpted from The Heart of the Matter by Thich Nhat Hanh, winter 2009

小語：

禪修時，有人會預設『我要放空⋯⋯』或『我要達成某些目的⋯⋯』，其實一旦有『我要⋯⋯』的各種預設，又如何能真正的經驗寧靜呢？

生活中，有人以為只要不說話或找一個無人干擾的地方，就能找到寧靜，真的是如此嗎？

一行禪師簡單的隻字片言——寧靜發自內心而不是來自外部——提示了我們如何真正的感受安寧與平靜。願你我都能經驗那一份內在的寧靜。