【The Meditation Session – Actual Session - how to sustain meditation in general 】- You might try to sustain your meditation by jumping to this and that object of meditation (2)

For each one of our experiences: I want to practice Zen, did it work? I want to recite Buddha’s name, was I mindful? I want to confess, was it effective? Alas, it just won’t work. I believe everyone has this experience, right! You wish to recite with full concentration, yet you end up being distracted. You want to visualize Buddha, and it just won’t arise. You try not to be attached and [the mind] wants to stick to it. You want to calm down, yet you can’t help but get angry. Why? Well! This is it. The virtuous objects of meditation you aspire to, just can’t be taken up as “your object of meditation”! The author did not say there is a possibility, he just tells you it is definitely impossible – these are the words from the virtuous teacher. What is the cause? It’s the preceding phrase; “you might try to sustain your meditation by jumping to this and that object of meditation.” Our marginal encountering [of the teaching], wow! We think that we are on the right track and think that it is meditation.

However, here is the clarification: eventually, the [jumping to this and that object of meditation] effect will still be there, just whirling around for immeasurable eons. By then, if you meet Buddha and he will teach this to you, so [you] will know it properly. However, by that time, what will he still tell you? He will still tell you this content in its entirety, and you still have to follow the stages to achieve. In between, you have traveled in such a big circle, for what? For a detour and suffering that was not justifiable.

SOURCE 来源 :

24A 18’00” Vol 3 of Master Jih-Chang’s Discourse P264 LL1
English Lamrim Vol 1 P99

日常师父法语📡24A 18’00”手抄稿第3册P264 LL1

修持轨理 正行 - 总共修法 : 任遇所缘，即便修者2

我们每一个人经验，我想参禅，参起来了吗？我想念佛，念起来了吗？我想忏悔，有效果吗？欸，就是不行，我想大家都有这个经验吧！你希望念得一心不乱，偏偏要乱；你要想观佛，偏偏观不起来；你要它不贪，它偏偏要贪；你要它不发脾气，你就是忍不住。为什么？喏！就是就这个。嘿，你要所希望的善所缘境，它“定不随转”!他还不是用一个怀疑，他就告诉你一定办不到，善知识告诉我们的话。原因为什么啊？就是前面一句话——“任遇所缘”，我们碰见一点，哎哟！我们觉得对了，修行了。

不过这里要说明，它最后这个效果还是有的，只是转了无量无边劫以后，那时遇见了佛他跟你讲了，成功了。可是要晓得，那个时候跟你讲了还是什么啊？还是把完完整整的内容告诉你，你还是如其次第，那个时候才成功。中间经过这么大个圈子，干什么啊？走了冤枉路，白吃辛苦。