英文原文
Do you ever feel that however many items you check off, there’s still not enough time in any given day, in fact the to-do list seems to be getting longer? My barista in this Denver cafe literally just said to me as I sat down to post this: “I’ve been seriously meaning to get along to those meditation classes, but every month seems to fill up so fast and I can’t find time. I need to find time!” Is life in general going faster than you expected, meaning you’re not getting all you wanted done?! Or that, let alone your own, even other people’s unmet needs and expectations weigh upon your soul? Despite the hundreds of time-saving gadgets our ancestors never dreamed of, this is a common complaint of modern life. There isn’t time for worldly chores for starters, and then there isn’t time left over for our meditation practice; and this is sufficiently frustrating to make anyone want to escape to the time-suck that is Netflix ... If any of this is the case, we need to learn about stretchy time ... As it says in the article I was talking about, Burned out? Start here: We really feel an extreme pressure — from inside and from the culture and from all sorts of sources — to overcome our built-in limitations. To fit more into the time that we have than anyone ever could. To exert more control over how things unfold. Because we feel that we must just to keep our heads above water in the modern world. These pressures that we’re drowning in, where are they coming from? What would Buddha say? He stands alongside us – still in every sense of the word – as we run in ever-speedier circles on those treadmills, and suggests that we take a break to be more present, the only moment there is, and notice our timeless inner peace. He encourages us to look inside us and see the truth, that everything depends on thought, and this means everything – including space, time, productivity, expectations, and all the to-do lists ever invented. That checking off all the to-do lists in the world can never bring us closer to control, productivity, or happiness than can getting stuff done in virtual reality or a dream. But that learning to live within the truth of impermanence and emptiness will mean this is okay, better than okay, for we’ll have all the time and space in the world. It’s probably not necessary to know all the technical equations of space and time unless we’re scientists; but it’s helpful to know enough about their conventional and ultimate natures to transcend ordinary, restrictive, crunchy perceptions of them. For time and space are interdependent and fluid, like a rainbow, and if we could realize that we’d be so very relaxed yet productive all day long. Studying and thinking about emptiness is by far the best investment of our time because we will get more than enough stretchy time back in return. Human beings who haven’t realized emptiness see what doesn’t exist and do not see what does exist. For example, we see things as permanent (or undergoing slow change) and not that they change moment by moment. And we see things as independent and objective and not that they depend 100% on each other and on the mind. No wonder we fall into so much deep water! Everywhere we look we perceive mind-generated versions of everything; all reality is subjective. However hard we search, we’ll never find a real world out there at all, good or bad, even correct or incorrect. I talk more about that here: No Buddhism. Everyone reading this article for example has your own version of it and, for that matter, of the writer and of yourselves; and where is the article etc other than these versions? Even the observer mind doesn’t exist objectively but depends on its objects and its moments, for example. If you read this article again in a month, it may appear, and be, completely different. A growing understanding of emptiness leads to increasing flexibility, creativity, and freedom because we understand that by transforming our thoughts we literally transform our world. Everything is relational, not objective. Things exist and change only relative to each other. In Buddhism we say that things exist relative to their causes, parts, basis of imputation, name, and conceptual imputation – the five types of dependent relationship. For example, a rose depends on its seed – it is not that seed, but take the seed away and the rose disappears. A rose depends on its petals – it is not those petals, but take the petals away and the rose disappears. A rose depends on its basis of imputation, its parts – it is not the basis of imputation, but take this away and the rose disappears. A rose depends on its name – it is not that name, but take the name away and the rose disappears. If we understand these four, we can understand the fifth most subtle type of dependent relationship, that a rose depends on imputation by thought – it is not conceptual imputation, but take that conceptual imputation away and the rose disappears. Another way of understanding this: the rose depends on mere appearance – it is not mere appearance, but take the mere appearance away and the rose disappears. So there’s not much there to grasp on to! As Venerable Geshe-la put it: Things barely exist. The rose being dependent related in these five ways is its conventional nature and the disappearance or mere absence of the rose is its ultimate nature. And you can’t have one without the other. This applies to every impermanent phenomenon, which is most of the things we think about and interact with. And, as I mentioned here, it’s fun to meditate on these five types of dependent relationship for time and space. Time, first. There’s a case for understanding “time” as past, present, and future; or cause and effect; or impermanence. None of these exists outside of things, they are characteristics of impermanent phenomena. Let’s use impermanence – you can choose gross or subtle impermanence. Impermanence clearly depends on causes. It also depends on parts – the impermanence of the rose, the petals, the stem, the observer, etc. It depends on a basis of imputation. It depends on name. It depends on conceptual imputation. For example, a rainbow arises and ceases newly moment by moment in dependence upon causes and conditions, and stringing its moments together is done entirely by our mind. Or the stills of a movie are strung together by our imputation to give the illusion of movement. The only continuation is what we impute as continuation. Impermanence is none of these things – causes, parts, etc – but take any of them away and there is no impermanence. Time is therefore unfindable, empty, and entirely dependent on thought. What about space? Let’s take produced space, the space we see around us, the space that is made of atoms and changes color at night. Space depends on its causes – for example, if I move over to the next chair, there is now space where I was sitting that was not there before, and the space currently next to me is now filled up. It depends on its parts – for example, the space in this café and the space outside of the big blue sky. It depends on its basis of imputation. It depends on its name. And, if we realize all that about it, we’ll see that space does not exist from its own side in the slightest and therefore is not other than mere appearance, dependent on conceptual imputation or thought. That might feel like enough philosophy for one article! But I can’t stop here ... Time and space also depend entirely on each other and are therefore not independent or objective. I was talking in that earlier article about meeting a friend at the Moma, let’s call him Brian – to do this, I need not just Brian’s location but the time he’ll be there. In other words, x, y, z, t all depend on each other – if we look for them existing in and of themselves, they’ll simply disappear into emptiness, their true nature. Things move in time and space only relative to each other – we can observe this on a gross level, eg, seeing the landscape whizz by when we’re on a train; and this is even more the case at subtler levels of impermanence. X, y, z, t also depend on the observer, such as the observer in the carriage. We may see Brian at that time and location, but where and when is he really? Where and when is that landscape? Where and when are space and time in a dream? That’s what we do in samsara, we think we are just moving through space and time that it is all around us, outside us, objective. But it is all projected, like a dream. So what, really, is the hurry? Where and when are we all hurrying up to be!? How is this practical?! you may be wondering. To which I’d reply: I am probably not explaining this clearly enough, for which I apologize, but I still recommend you try out meditating on the dependent relationship of time and space just to see what happens. See if it helps release your grasping at limited or even problematical time and space. See how you are creating time and space with your own thoughts, so that if you don’t like what you’re creating, you now have the chance to create something new. That you have the power to expand space and time. For the Tantric practitioners amongst you, I don’t think that we can engage successfully in the first bringing without some understanding that time and space are empty, that we can expand our BAM-mind or HUM-mind to the infinite edges of time and space, and beyond, because this is only a thought away. There is no real, fixed, objective time and space out there and consciousness over here. Rather, they arise and disappear together. I’d love to hear how you get on, including any wise comments from seasoned practitioners who’ve been experimenting with this kind of meditation for years.
中文翻译
你是否曾感觉，无论你划掉多少待办事项，一天的时间总是不够用，事实上待办清单似乎越来越长？我在丹佛这家咖啡馆的咖啡师在我坐下来发布这篇文章时对我说：“我一直很想去上那些冥想课，但每个月似乎都过得飞快，我找不到时间。我需要找到时间！”生活是否总体上比你预期的要快，意味着你没有完成所有想做的事？或者，更不用说自己的需求，甚至他人的未满足需求和期望也压在你的心头？尽管我们的祖先从未梦想过数百种节省时间的设备，但这是现代生活的普遍抱怨。首先，没有时间处理世俗琐事，然后就没有时间进行冥想练习；这足以让任何人感到沮丧，想要逃避到像Netflix这样的时间吞噬者中……如果任何情况属实，我们需要了解弹性时间……正如我在那篇文章中所说，精疲力竭？从这里开始：我们真的感到极端的压力——来自内部、文化和各种来源——要克服我们固有的限制。要在我们拥有的时间里塞进比任何人都多的东西。要对事情的展开施加更多控制。因为我们觉得在现代世界中，我们必须这样做才能勉强维持。我们淹没在这些压力中，它们来自哪里？佛陀会怎么说？当我们以越来越快的速度在跑步机上奔跑时，他站在我们身边——在每一个意义上都是如此——并建议我们休息一下，更加专注于当下，这是唯一的时刻，并注意到我们永恒的内在平静。他鼓励我们向内看，看到真相，即一切都依赖于思想，这意味着一切——包括空间、时间、生产力、期望和所有曾经发明的待办清单。划掉世界上所有的待办清单，永远不会比在虚拟现实或梦中完成任务更接近控制、生产力或幸福。但学会生活在无常和空性的真相中，意味着这没关系，甚至更好，因为我们将拥有世界上所有的时间和空间。除非我们是科学家，否则可能没有必要知道所有关于空间和时间的技术方程；但了解它们的世俗和究竟本性，足以超越普通、限制性、僵化的感知，是有帮助的。因为时间和空间是相互依存且流动的，就像彩虹一样，如果我们能意识到这一点，我们会整天非常放松且高效。研究和思考空性是我们时间的最佳投资，因为我们将获得足够多的弹性时间作为回报。未认识到空性的人类看到不存在的东西，却看不到存在的东西。例如，我们认为事物是永恒的（或经历缓慢变化），而不是它们每时每刻都在变化。我们认为事物是独立和客观的，而不是它们100%相互依赖并依赖于心。难怪我们陷入如此深的困境！无论我们看向哪里，我们都感知到心生成的一切版本；所有现实都是主观的。无论我们多么努力地搜索，我们永远找不到一个真实的世界，无论是好是坏，甚至是对是错。我在这里更多地谈论这一点：没有佛教。例如，每个阅读这篇文章的人都有自己的版本，以及作者和你自己的版本；除了这些版本，文章等在哪里？甚至观察者的心也不是客观存在的，而是依赖于其对象和时刻。如果你一个月后再读这篇文章，它可能会出现，并且完全不同。对空性的日益理解导致灵活性、创造力和自由的增加，因为我们明白，通过转变我们的思想，我们实际上转变了我们的世界。一切都是相关的，而不是客观的。事物仅相对于彼此存在和变化。在佛教中，我们说事物相对于其因、部分、假立基、名称和概念假立而存在——五种类型的依赖关系。例如，玫瑰依赖于它的种子——它不是那个种子，但拿走种子，玫瑰就消失了。玫瑰依赖于它的花瓣——它不是那些花瓣，但拿走花瓣，玫瑰就消失了。玫瑰依赖于它的假立基，它的部分——它不是假立基，但拿走这个，玫瑰就消失了。玫瑰依赖于它的名称——它不是那个名称，但拿走名称，玫瑰就消失了。如果我们理解这四种，我们可以理解第五种最微妙的依赖关系，即玫瑰依赖于思想的假立——它不是概念假立，但拿走那个概念假立，玫瑰就消失了。另一种理解方式是：玫瑰依赖于仅仅的显现——它不是仅仅的显现，但拿走仅仅的显现，玫瑰就消失了。所以没有什么可以抓住的！正如尊贵的格西拉所说：事物几乎不存在。玫瑰以这五种方式依赖相关是其世俗本性，玫瑰的消失或仅仅的缺失是其究竟本性。你不能没有其中一个。这适用于每一个无常现象，这是我们思考和互动的大多数事物。而且，正如我在这里提到的，冥想这五种类型的依赖关系对于时间和空间是有趣的。首先是时间。有一种观点将“时间”理解为过去、现在和未来；或因果；或无常。这些都不存在于事物之外，它们是无常现象的特征。让我们使用无常——你可以选择粗大或细微的无常。无常显然依赖于因。它也依赖于部分——玫瑰的无常、花瓣、茎、观察者等。它依赖于假立基。它依赖于名称。它依赖于概念假立。例如，彩虹依赖于因缘每时每刻新生和灭去，将其时刻串联起来完全由我们的心完成。或者电影的画面由我们的假立串联起来，给人以运动的幻觉。唯一的连续是我们假立为连续的东西。无常不是这些东西——因、部分等——但拿走任何一个，就没有无常。因此，时间是找不到的、空的，完全依赖于思想。空间呢？让我们以产生的空间为例，我们周围看到的空间，由原子组成并在夜晚改变颜色的空间。空间依赖于其因——例如，如果我移到旁边的椅子上，我现在坐的地方就有了空间，而之前没有，我旁边的空间现在被填满了。它依赖于其部分——例如，这家咖啡馆的空间和外面广阔蓝天的空间。它依赖于其假立基。它依赖于其名称。而且，如果我们意识到所有这些，我们会看到空间丝毫不是自性存在的，因此不过是仅仅的显现，依赖于概念假立或思想。这可能感觉像是一篇文章中足够的哲学！但我不能在这里停止……时间和空间也完全相互依赖，因此不是独立或客观的。我在那篇早先的文章中谈到在Moma见一个朋友，让我们叫他布莱恩——要做到这一点，我不仅需要布莱恩的位置，还需要他会在那里的时间。换句话说，x、y、z、t都相互依赖——如果我们寻找它们自性存在，它们将简单地消失于空性，它们的真实本性。事物仅在时间和空间中相对于彼此移动——我们可以在粗大层面上观察到这一点，例如，在火车上看到风景飞驰而过；这在更细微的无常层面上更是如此。X、y、z、t也依赖于观察者，例如车厢中的观察者。我们可能在那时那地看到布莱恩，但他真的在哪里和何时？那风景在哪里和何时？梦中的空间和时间在哪里和何时？这就是我们在轮回中所做的，我们认为我们只是穿过围绕我们、在我们之外、客观的空间和时间。但这一切都是投射的，就像梦一样。那么，真的，匆忙是什么？我们都在匆忙赶往哪里和何时！？这如何实用？！你可能想知道。对此我会回答：我可能解释得不够清楚，为此我道歉，但我仍然建议你尝试冥想时间和空间的依赖关系，看看会发生什么。看看它是否帮助你释放对有限甚至有问题的时间和空间的执着。看看你如何用自己的思想创造时间和空间，所以如果你不喜欢你创造的东西，你现在有机会创造新的东西。你有能力扩展空间和时间。对于你们中的密宗修行者，我认为，如果没有一些理解时间和空间是空的，我们可以将我们的BAM心或HUM心扩展到时间和空间的无限边缘，甚至超越，因为这只是一念之遥，我们无法成功地参与第一次生起。那里没有真实、固定、客观的时间和空间，意识在这里。相反，它们一起生起和消失。我很想听听你的进展，包括那些多年来一直尝试这种冥想的资深修行者的明智评论。
文章概要
本文探讨了佛教时间管理技巧，特别是“弹性时间”的概念。文章从现代人普遍感到时间不够用的现象入手，指出尽管科技发达，但人们仍面临时间压力，导致无法兼顾世俗事务和冥想修行。作者提出，佛陀教导我们向内看，认识到一切依赖于思想，包括时间、空间和生产力。通过理解无常和空性，我们可以超越对时间和空间的僵化感知，认识到它们相互依存、流动如彩虹的本质。文章详细解释了五种依赖关系，以玫瑰为例说明事物如何依赖于因、部分、假立基、名称和概念假立，从而揭示时间和空间的空性。作者鼓励读者冥想这些依赖关系，以释放对有限时间和空间的执着，并强调通过转变思想，我们可以扩展时间和空间，创造更灵活、高效的生活。对于密宗修行者，文章提到理解时间和空间的空性有助于修行。整体上，文章结合哲学讨论和实践建议，旨在帮助读者在忙碌生活中找到内在平静和弹性时间。
高德明老师的评价
用12岁初中生可以听懂的语音来重复翻译的内容：这篇文章就像在说，我们常常觉得时间不够用，要做的事情太多，压力好大。但佛陀告诉我们，其实时间和空间不是固定不变的，它们像彩虹一样会变化，而且和我们自己的想法有关。如果我们明白一切都在变化，没有什么是永远不变的，我们就能放松下来，不再那么着急。比如，一朵玫瑰看起来很美，但它需要种子、花瓣、名字和我们的想法才能存在，如果少了这些，玫瑰就不见了。时间和空间也是这样，它们依赖于很多因素，不是独立存在的。所以，当我们感到时间紧张时，可以试着冥想，想想时间和空间是怎么来的，这样我们就能创造更多的时间，让生活更轻松。
佛学的各个宗派视角评价，突出《显密圆通成佛心要集》的视角：从佛学宗派视角看，本文主要基于大乘佛教的空性和无常教义，特别是中观和唯识思想，强调时间和空间的依赖性和空性。在显宗方面，文章契合般若经典，如《心经》的“色即是空”，教导我们超越对时间和空间的执着。从密宗视角，文章提到密宗修行者可以通过理解空性扩展心识，这与无上瑜伽部的修行相关。突出《显密圆通成佛心要集》的视角，该经典强调显密圆融，本文的弹性时间观可视为一种方便法门，帮助修行者在日常生活中应用空性智慧。准提法作为显密圆通的法门，其优点在于简便易行，本文的冥想建议可与准提咒结合，通过观想时间和空间的空性，快速积累福德智慧，解决时间管理问题，实现即身成佛的目标。
在修行实践上可以应用的和可以解决人们的十个问题：在修行实践上，本文的弹性时间观可应用于日常，帮助人们解决以下十个问题：1. 时间不够用的焦虑感，通过冥想空性减少压力；2. 工作效率低下，通过观想时间和空间的流动性提升专注；3. 人际关系紧张，通过理解依赖关系培养包容心；4. 生活节奏过快，通过当下觉察放慢脚步；5. 精神疲惫，通过内在平静恢复能量；6. 目标达成困难，通过转变思想调整期望；7. 情绪波动，通过无常观保持稳定；8. 自我价值感低，通过空性认识放下执着；9. 环境适应问题，通过空间观增强灵活性；10. 修行时间不足，通过弹性时间整合冥想。准提法的优点在于其普适性，可结合这些应用，通过持咒和观想，快速净化业障，增强智慧，使人们在忙碌生活中轻松实践，获得解脱。