(任何时候都可以禅修)
It is crucial for you to understand what meditation is. It is not some special posture, and it's not just a set of mental exercises. Meditation is a cultivation of mindfulness and the application of that mindfulness once cultivated. You do not have to sit to meditate. You can meditate while washing the dishes. You can meditate in the shower, or roller skating, or typing letters. Meditation is awareness, and it must be applied to each and every activity of one's life. This isn't easy.
了解禅修是什么对你很重要，它不是一些特殊姿势，也不是一套心灵体操；禅修是静观的培育及对刚培育出来的静观之运用。你不一定要坐着来禅修，你可以在洗碟时禅修，可以在洗澡时禅修，也可以在溜冰或写信时禅修。禅修即是觉察或觉知，它必须被运用于人生的所有活动之中，这并不容易。
We specifically cultivate awareness through the seated posture in a quiet place because that's the easiest situation in which to do so. Meditation in motion is harder. Meditation in the midst of fast-paced noisy activity is harder still. And meditation in the midst of intensely egoistic activities like romance or arguments is the ultimate challenge. The beginner will have his hands full with less stressful activities.
我们选择在安静的地方用坐姿来培育觉察力，是因为那是最容易修习的情境。在行动中禅修则较难，在节奏快速、热闹嘈杂的活动中禅修则更难，而在极度自我中心的活动中，例如：谈情说爱或激烈争论中禅修，那真是测试极限的挑战。事实上，初学者在低压力的禅修活动中已忙得不可开交。
Yet the ultimate goal of practice remains: to build one's concentration and awareness to a level of strength that will remain unwavering even in the midst of the pressures of life in contemporary society. Life offers many challenges and the serious meditator is very seldom bored.
可是，禅修练习的终极目标依然是：建立起定力(集中力)与觉察力至足够的强度水平，好让禅修者能在现代的社会的生活压力下，仍然可以屹立不摇。对于生活中源源不绝的挑战，认真的禅修者是极少会感到厌烦的。
Carrying your meditation into the events of your daily life is not a simple process. Try it and you will see. That transition point between the end of your meditation session and the beginning of 'real life' is a long jump. It's too long for most of us. We find our calm and concentration evaporating within minutes, leaving us apparently no better off than before. In order to bridge this gulf, Buddhists over the centuries have devised an array of exercises aimed at smoothing the transition. They take that jump and break it down into little steps. Each step can be practiced by itself.
把禅修带入你的日常生活之中，决不是一个简单的过程，试一试你就会明白。从坐禅结束到「现实生活」的开始之转捩点是一大跃进，对大多数人而言，那个距离实在太长了。我们发觉在几分钟之内，我们的平静与定力被蒸发得无影无踪，接下来的状态并不比以前好。为了跨越这道鸿沟，佛教徒在过去多个世纪以来，已设计出一系列的练习方法，以便顺利促成这个转移。他们成功了大跃进，然后把它分成几个小部分，每一部分都可以单独练习。
