【The Meditation Session – Actual Session - how to sustain meditation in general 】- what is meditation?

【That which is known as “meditation” is the act of sustaining an object of meditation and specific subjective aspects by repeatedly focusing your mind upon a virtuous object of meditation. 】

With just this one statement, what is meditation? “Repeatedly” means to continue with no interruption, uninterrupted; uninterrupted to do what? To “sustain and protect” our object of meditation and specific subjective aspects. What is “focusing upon”? What is the sign of “focusing upon”? “Focusing upon” is like what we often describe as the monkey clinging to something such as the tree. For ancient scholars, it is called “focusing.” Now we would call it “grasping”, just like that. This grasping hand is an external sign. Now, our minds also grasp onto something in the same way. When a mind grasps something - this is the subjective aspect of the mind - which is your psychological activity. That is the state [of grasping], and the text describes it clearly. Moreover, we should be very clear with the state of mind as well. Most of the time, theoretically we say, “Alas! What is the cause of our state as ordinary beings? [The cause is] attachment to the two kinds of self.” What is the meaning of attachment? That is grasping, you are focused on clinging to it. What are you clinging to? You are focusing and clinging on both the selfness-of-the-person and the selfness-of-knowledge. So now our practice is to do away with [both kinds of self]. Well, excuse me! The author did not ask us to get rid of it. The focus is still required – but we should now cling to a virtuous object. However, what we focused on before was nonvirtuous. So, this is the definite order of applying the teaching, the required steps.

SOURCE 来源 :

24A 03’31” Vol 3 of Master Jih-Chang’s Discourse P257 L3
English Lamrim Vol 1 P99

日常师父法语📡24A 03’31”手抄稿第3册P257 L3

修持轨理 正行 - 总共修法 : 什么是“修”呢？

【所言修者。谓其数数于善所缘，令心安住，将护修习所缘行相。】

就这么一句话。这修是什么呀？“数数”就是不断地，不断地、不断地，不断地干什么啊？“将护”——保护我们的所缘的行相。什么是“缘”,缘的相是什么？“缘”就是平常我们说猴子攀那个东西，那个手就缘树，古来人说，文言叫“缘”，现在我们就“抓住”，就是这样。那个手去抓住的是外面的；现在呢，我们心也抓住一样东西，就这样。那个心抓住这样东西的这个状态，那个就是心理的行相，就是你的心理行为，那个相状就是这样，那文字很清楚。然后呢，我们内心上那个状态也应该很清楚。平常我们理论上面都是说：“唉呀！我们现在所以众生为什么啊？两种执。”执的意思什么？就是攀缘的，你把它牢牢把住。缘什么啊？缘我、缘法两样东西。所以现在我们修的时候是去掉它；欸，对不起啊！他并不是叫我们去掉，还是要缘——缘善所缘的，不过，以前我们缘的是恶的。所以它这个修行一定的次第，一定的次第。