修行 开启人生新视野 |
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修行学佛从各方面帮助了我，尤其是工作上的协助。最近，我去应征货物搬运工，选择这份工作是因为需要钱，也考量到时间上的弹性，让我可以在其他地方继续找工作。 起初，这份工作似乎超过负荷。这份工作不只极度地需要体能，同时非常紧绷，但却缺乏应有的在职训练，我必须从做中学习。好几次，工作几乎是不可能的任务，从午夜工作，直到凌晨，我发现自己也怀疑着：人生的此刻，为什么会在如洞穴般的空间中，做着这样的工作？ 修行，是让我坚持下去最主要的助力。我开始提醒自己，是业力带我到这里，藉由精进用功、自我反省，终将通过人生的这一关。我开始将这份工作，视为个人成长的机会。当工作耗费体力时，便思惟透过这个费劲的工作，转为锻炼色身的机会；如果工作要求严苛，就藉此反省个人生涯，并且思考着对我而言，在工作中什么是最重要的？与其感到厌恶，我也开始懂得感恩：由于这些极需体力的工作，让我有能力养家活口。 若能专注当下，也是工作最顺利的时候，我只要心无旁骛地观照现前的需求。然而面对麻木、冷漠的同事，或是如雪崩、波涛般，来势汹汹的各种形状、尺寸以及重量的包裹，都是工作压力的来源，也难以避免地造成刹那、刹那的情绪起伏；但是当我不再执着时，夜晚也不再感觉那么漫长。依循着佛法修行的道理，让我可以用坚定的心念，面对每个转变。 我开始了解到，正念能帮助我度过工作中艰困的转变，同样地，也可以应用在每个人生活中的每一刻。藉由禅修静坐和听经闻法，让我对专注和觉性有更深的体会。 修行，让每天曲曲折折的悲欢人生，展开了新的视野。这五年来的修行，虽然仍有精进努力的空间，但我会继续坚持下去，如同一朵含苞待放的花儿，需要水和关爱，必须天天照顾，以免因为疏忽而枯萎。但，这是一朵值得呵护的花朵，因为它的缤纷色彩与香气的滋养，为我的人生带来多彩和芬芳，并回复了生机。 (My practice has helped in numerous ways, and one way in which it is helping currently is with work. Recently, I applied for a job as a package handler. I took the position both because I needed the money and because I thought it would provide schedule flexibility to continue looking for work elsewhere. At first, the job seemed overwhelming. Not only was the work exceedingly demanding physically, but it was very stressful and even the needed training was lacking. I had to learn by doing. At times, it seemed like an impossible task. Working from midnight until the wee hours of the morning, I found myself wondering why I was there, in that cavernous space, doing that job at this point in my life. The main thing that helps me persevere was my practice. I began reminding myself that my karma brought me to this place, and that by diligently applying myself and reflecting on my situation, I would eventually progress through this station in life. I started looking at the job as an opportunity to grow as a person. If the job was physically taxing, I would use the exertion as an opportunity to get in better physical shape. If the job duties were onerous, I used this chance to reflect on my career, and to think about what is the most important to me in terms of work. And rather than feel resentful, I also began to be thankful that through this most physically demanding of jobs, I was able to provide for my family. I have been most successful when I've immersed myself only the now—by diligently attending to the demands of the moment only. The nights feel less long when I refrain from attaching to the momentary emotions which inevitably arise in such stressful work, whether the source be insensitive or uncaring co-workers, or simply the demands created by what at times feels like an avalanche or tidal wave of packages of all shapes, sizes and weights bearing down on me constantly. It is adherence to what I've learned through my practice that allows me to face each shift with the necessary resolve. I've come to understand that the mindset that helps me get through difficult shifts at work is the same mindset that one can apply every moment throughout their day. Meditation and sutra study has helped me develop this more immersive sense of focus and awareness. My practice has given me perspective on the day-to-day vicissitudes of life—both the joys and the sorrows. My practice—now five years long and counting—remains a work in progress. Like a budding flower that needs water and attention, I have to attend to it daily lest it wilt from neglect. But it is a flower well worth preserving because of the beneficial colors and fragrances it has brought back to my life. )
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