禪和 參禪的英文
問:為何 jhana 在英文裡被譯為”absorption”?答:Absorption 意思是吸住,指禪修者的心被所緣境吸住。
問:有學者把‘參’譯為”investigation”,但是,‘參’字並無‘審查’之意,而是‘看’。憑著祖師們的智慧,‘看’也與‘觀’字分別了。
答:把參話頭的[參]翻譯為 investigation 當然是錯誤的。南宋大慧宗皋禪師說參話(他沒用參話頭三個字,只用舉話或參話二字,後人加[頭]字,並無意義)的要領有三:提、覤、追。無法用一個英文字表達,可以音譯,再加解釋,如 ch’an hua-tou (This is a technique of Chinese Lin-chi Ch’an school which denotes the practice of raising, peeping and chasing a question in order toproduce a cluster of questions. When this cluster of questions is broken, the practitioner is considered as enlightened.)