夜深人靜時When All is Quiet In The Dead of Night
一天裡的時段，吾最喜歡的是夜深人靜時。吾之所以喜歡這時段，並非此時段，談情說愛最好，並非此時段，睡覺最好，並非此時段，逛街最好……。吾之所以喜歡這時段，是因為這時段比較寧靜。最近吾有向學生，及一位想跟吾學佛的客人透露，吾不喜歡這世界，實在有夠吵。
不知是否年紀的增長，又或者有些自閉症，吾觀照自心的結論是兩者皆不是。靜中才能有效地思維，而唯有「特靜」的思維，才能夠「喚醒」我們迷妄的心靈，增慧而最後見性成佛。成佛是所有學佛者，最終極的目標，若無此目標，學佛已非學佛。
「靜」，並不是祇有修行人，才需要練習的，一般人也很應該習之。國與國之間的戰爭，人與人之間的鬥爭，甚至夫妻及情侶之間的爭吵，皆是因為不懂得「靜」。我們放眼這世間，種種的人與事，明而易知「靜」的重要性。天下太平之時，夫妻相見如賓之時、情侶情投意合之時，應在世人學會「靜」之日。
佛門與道家，皆有教導如何將財、色、名、食、睡五欲，轉化成清淨的功德。在夜深人靜時，大多的人都已入夢鄉，吾有時雖也已就寢。但吾所睡的床，已不是妳你們所睡的床，吾所入的夢鄉，也非妳你們所入的夢鄉，這就是深一層的修行，將「靜」延伸到睡眠裡，不讓白天的修行在夜夢裡全部殆盡。
夜深人靜時，千萬不可太過地放鬆，很多的悔恨，皆在此時犯下，一「犯」足成千古恨。
My favorite time of the day is the wee hours, when all is quiet and serene. I like this period most not because this is the best time for romance, or that it is the best time for a good snooze, and definitely not because this is the best time to roam the malls. I like it because it is relatively peaceful compared to other hours in the day. I recently told my student and a client who wished to learn the Dharma from me, that this world was too noisy for my liking.
I am not sure if I feel this way due to age or perhaps autism, but after looking deep inside my heart, I gathered it is neither. Only in stillness will one’s thinking be efficacious, and only in extreme stillness, we can awaken our lost and deluded souls, grow in insightful wisdom and finally discover the innate Buddha nature in us to attain Enlightenment. To achieve Buddhahood is the ultimate aim of all Buddhists. If there is no such goal to begin with, learning the Dharma is but an illusion.
Stillness is a quality that should be practiced by spiritual practitioners. This quality should most certainly be practiced by the common folks as well. Wars between nations, struggles between individuals, and even quarrels between married couples and lovers arise because they do not understand stillness. When we cast our gaze throughout the world and observe the happenings, we would easily understand the importance of stillness. Only when humans learn the art of stillness will we see widespread peace, with harmonious and loving relationships among married couples and lovers.
In the teachings of Buddhism and Taoism, there are practices that train us to transform the ills from the greed for wealth, form, fame, food and sleep into pure merits. In the dead of the night, when most people are deep in sleep, I would sometimes be resting as well. However, the bed I sleep in is not the same as yours. Neither is the dreamland I go into the same as yours. This is a deeper level of spiritual cultivation where I extend the stillness into my sleep, not letting the fruits of my cultivation during the daytime go to a complete waste in my sleep.
In the dead of the night, when all is quiet, it pays not to be overly slack. Many wrongs are most often committed in such hours. And one wrong can result in an eternity of regret.
