“The Scientific Basis and Application of Meditation“005《冥想的科学基础与应用》连载005

五

对于人类而言，生命是最大的资本，如果以上帝造人的文化视角看，生命无疑是上帝赐予人类最大的礼物。那么，当疾病与死亡来临时，在我们生命的牌局里，上帝的底牌究竟是什么？我的学生心印，她就幸运地知道了上帝的底牌，然后扼住了命运的咽喉。

心印，生前曾任国内某知名潮流杂志主编，二十九岁那年，被诊断患了舌癌，是晚期，医生说她只能活几个月。那天傍晚，当她得知自己患上绝症时，她感到一种巨大的恐惧向她袭来，随后她就给我打电话，那时我正走在北京的街头上，我在电话里就问她，你现在什么感觉？她说一片恐惧，没有任何念头。我就对她说，这是多么好的修道机缘啊！于是，我就给她以短信方式编了一个偈语：“恐惧融诸念，彼时空荡荡。”意思是，恐惧袭来的时候，你把所有的念头融入你的恐惧，这个时候你会感到巨大的空寂，一切念头都断了。这时候，“无法也无我，空寂而明朗”，要“无执亦无舍，如梦更如幻”，然后，我叫她“警觉并宽坦”。在那个巨大的恐惧袭来时，我这样开示她：“祈请且聆听，放下诸尘缘，认知自心性，法身已绚烂。悟道见法性，登堂渐入殿。修道保任之，忆持光明相。”后来，我将这个偈子改了两个字，放进了《真心》（中国大百科全书出版社）中。

就这样，我只是这样点了一下，她巨大的恐惧就消失了，生命也发生了变化。虽然我们不能一下子让她的病消除，但我们可以解除她的恐惧，可以升华她的生命，可以让她的人生更有价值、更有意义。从另一种角度看，对于她来说，这病也不是坏事。此前，不明白时，她是一个时尚杂志主编，其生命中的所有行为，客观上都是为了增加人的欲望。明白之后，她就能做一些利众的事。她从一个煽动人欲望的个体，升华为能利众的人，显然得益于疾病。

那时，我就对心印说：修道的本质不是去改变世界，而是世界改变不了你。禅修的目的不是为了不得病，而是为了得病也改变不了你。修道的人也会得病，但他发自心底的那份明白和清凉是任何病都扼杀不了的。所以，我们修行的目的也不是为了改变世界，而是为了改变自己。当我们每个人都改变了自己的时候，世界也就改变了。修炼是对内而不是对外的，是为了点燃心灵之光，而不是借助心外的什么。

世界上的一切显现，都在检验你的心是燃烧着的火炬，还是画在纸上的火炬？有些学者也能把禅修讲得头头是道，他画出的火炬也非常好，特别像火炬，而且他可以用不同的方式来画，用油画、国画、水彩画，甚至也可以用电脑制作，他也能明白火的性质和作用，但这个火炬就是点亮不了自己，也点亮不了世界。我们每一个人需要点燃的，是心灵的火炬。所以，我告诉很多与我有缘的朋友，世界是一个调心的道具。你要看当世界变化的时候，你的心是不是跟着它跑了？你是不是真的实现了自由和自主？当你不跟随它、如如不动的时候，你的心会像一面镜子照出大千世界，但镜子本身却如如不动。

所以，心灵瑜伽并不认为超越就是躲避这个世界，或是看破红尘躲到寺院里，躲到小小的房子里。有人信奉一句话：“避人得自在，入世一无能。”说我避开人、不见人就得到了自在。我对那朋友说：你要是不见人的话，你也不是人。所以说，一定要在见人的时候，心还能属于你自己。你如果在世上历练的时候，心也能属于自己，这才算真正的让心属于你自己，真正的成为自己心灵的主人。

我经常对学生说，人生中最可怕的不是困难，而是绝望。之所以说信仰是抑郁症病人的重要救赎方式，就是因为有宗教信仰的人不会绝望。有时候，有了希望，人就能继续拼搏下去，哪怕有再多的挫折，有再多来自灵魂深处的痛苦，他也不会放弃，其实，只要不放弃，人就有希望，就能战胜自己。而且，信仰是自己的，只要你明白，你的信仰，是为了让自己升华，让自己成长，你就没啥好担心的了。你所有的担心，都只是天上的云罢了，信仰的大风一吹，云就散了，烦恼也没了。所以，真信仰者，是很少有烦恼的，他们不追求物质等外在的东西，只想净化自己的心灵。

所以，心印最了不起的地方就在于，面对一般人都会放弃的绝境，她反而实现了最彻底的蜕变，从一个脆弱的人，一个绝望的抑郁症舌癌患者，升华为一个能利益社会的人。这才是真正的生命奇迹。

心印的故事，后来我以此为蓝本，写了一部长篇小说《爱不落下》。樊代明先生看后，他说：“人文是探索人性和呵护健康的学问，是整体整合医学的重要内容。人类健康主要包括身体健康和心理健康。身体健康是医学的任务，心理健康需要人文滋养。前者发展很快，后者尚需发展。雪漠的《爱不落下》是用人文精神抚慰患者心灵痛苦的有益尝试。可以看出，人文就像手术刀或药片去除身体疾痛一样，能够祛除心灵痛苦，对健康有重要价值。”

编辑公众号：澄心冥想

5

For humans, life is the greatest asset. From the cultural perspective that God created humanity, life is undoubtedly the greatest gift given by God. So, when disease and death come, what is God’s hidden card in the game of our lives? My student Xinyin was fortunate enough to know God’s hidden card and thus grasped her fate by the throat.

Xinyin was the editor-in-chief of a well-known fashion magazine in China. At the age of 29, she was diagnosed with late-stage tongue cancer, and the doctors said she only had a few months to live. That evening, when she learned she had a terminal illness, an overwhelming fear engulfed her. She called me while I was walking on the streets of Beijing. I asked her over the phone, “How do you feel right now?” She replied, “Total fear, no other thoughts.” I said to her, “What a great opportunity for spiritual practice!” I then sent her a verse via text: “Let fear dissolve all thoughts, and in that moment, there is emptiness.” This meant that when fear strikes, you should let all your thoughts melt into that fear, and in that moment, you will experience a vast emptiness, where all thoughts vanish. At that point, “there is no self, only emptiness and clarity,” and you should “neither cling nor abandon; life is as dreamlike and illusory.” I also told her to “be alert and open-hearted.” As the great fear overwhelmed her, I guided her with these words: “Pray and listen, let go of worldly attachments, recognize your true nature, for your Dharma body has already blossomed. Realizing the essence of the Dharma, step onto the path and gradually enter the inner sanctum. With practice, maintain and remember the light.” Later, I modified two words in this verse and included it in my book *True Heart* (published by the China Encyclopedia Publishing House).

Just like that, I pointed the way, and her immense fear disappeared, transforming her life. Although we couldn’t immediately cure her illness, we could dispel her fear, elevate her life, and make it more valuable and meaningful. From another perspective, the illness wasn’t entirely a bad thing for her. Before, when she lacked understanding, she was an editor-in-chief of a fashion magazine, and everything she did in her life objectively fueled people’s desires. Once she understood, she began to do things that benefited others. She transformed from someone who stirred people’s desires to someone who benefited society, a transformation clearly brought about by her illness.

At that time, I told Xinyin: The essence of spiritual practice is not to change the world but to remain unchanged by the world. The purpose of Zen meditation is not to avoid illness but to remain unshaken by illness. Even practitioners fall ill, but the clarity and calmness they have deep within cannot be destroyed by any illness. Therefore, the goal of practice is not to change the world but to change oneself. When each of us changes ourselves, the world will change too. Spiritual cultivation is inward, not outward. It’s about igniting the light of the heart, not relying on anything external.

Everything in the world is a test of whether your heart is a burning torch or just a torch drawn on paper. Some scholars can eloquently speak about Zen meditation, and they can draw a torch very well, one that looks exactly like a real torch. They can use different media, such as oil painting, traditional Chinese painting, watercolor, or even digital creation, and they understand the nature and function of fire. But this torch can neither light themselves nor the world. Each of us needs to ignite the torch of the heart. So, I tell many friends who are connected with me that the world is a tool to adjust the heart. You must observe whether your heart is swayed when the world changes. Have you truly achieved freedom and autonomy? When you no longer follow the world, remaining unmoved, your heart will reflect the vast world like a mirror, yet the mirror itself remains still.

Thus, spiritual yoga does not view transcendence as escaping the world, nor as renouncing the mundane and hiding in a temple or a small house. Some people believe in the saying, “Avoiding people brings freedom, while engaging with the world leads to incompetence.” They think that by avoiding others, they achieve freedom. I told a friend, “If you don’t see people, you are no longer human.” So, it’s essential that when you interact with people, your heart still belongs to you. If your heart remains yours when you experience the world, only then can you truly claim it as your own and truly become the master of your heart.

I often tell my students that the most terrifying thing in life is not hardship but despair. The reason faith is such an important salvation for people with depression is that those with faith will not despair. Sometimes, with hope, people can continue to strive forward, no matter how many setbacks they face or how much soul-crushing pain they endure. They will not give up. As long as they don’t give up, they have hope and can overcome themselves. Moreover, faith is personal. Once you understand that your faith is meant to elevate and grow you, you have nothing to worry about. All your worries are just clouds in the sky. When the wind of faith blows, the clouds disperse, and the troubles vanish. Therefore, true believers seldom have worries. They don’t seek external things like material wealth but only strive to purify their hearts.

This is what makes Xinyin remarkable. In the face of an overwhelming situation that most people would give up on, she instead underwent a complete transformation. From a fragile person, a terminally ill tongue cancer patient with depression, she was elevated into someone who could benefit society. That is the true miracle of life.

Inspired by Xinyin’s story, I later wrote a novel called *Love Never Falls*. After reading it, Professor Fan Daiming said: “Humanities explore human nature and nurture health. It is an important part of integrated medicine. Human health includes both physical and psychological well-being. The task of medicine is to address physical health, while psychological health requires nourishment from the humanities. The former has developed rapidly, while the latter still needs growth. Xue Mo’s *Love Never Falls* is a valuable attempt to soothe the suffering of patients’ souls with the spirit of the humanities. As can be seen, the humanities, like a scalpel or medicine, can relieve physical pain and remove the suffering of the soul, playing an important role in health.”