基督徒的念誦修法
林鈺堂博士英著
弟子隨和女居士中譯
並經林博士校訂
對基督徒而言，除了參與教會的聚會及查經班外，主要的靈修似乎就是作禱告。要確切地表達一個祈禱文並不容易。這牽涉到：一、對基督教義的認知，二、對在禱告的個人或團體目前的當務之急的體認，以及三、信心的表達，願意跟隨聖神的指引而非個人自私的利害考慮，並且具有對一切大眾的善意。作禱告通常都只有短短的時間，而個人生命中所遭遇的困難卻可能無定期的延續。當所有個人所能想到的都已在禱告中陳述了，還有什麼可以做來使個人的生活契合基督教的教義呢？除了禱告之外，研讀聖經也是很好的選擇。在基督教的傳統中，有沒有任何其他的靈修方法可以帶來很大的幫助，但卻不需要用到大量的思考呢？事實上在俄國東正教教會內有這樣的傳承。
這個修法就是不斷地重覆念誦一個簡短的禱文，而此禱文，叫做〈耶穌禱文〉，內容如下：「主耶穌基督，神的兒子，請慈憫我這罪人！」
如果一位基督徒養成了每天在固定的時間（默默地或出聲）念誦這個禱文有一定的遍數，比方說，不間斷地念一千遍，的習慣的話，那麼她或他就比較容易與耶穌的恩典建立起密切的屬靈關係。在艱困時期或者緊要關頭，一個習慣於這個修法的基督徒就能夠容易地，甚至不假思索地，依賴這個修法而與聖神的恩典維持聯繫。由於這個禱文的簡短，不間斷地重覆它就變成一種靈修的念誦。因此通常在禱文中運用的推理思考就被略過，而誦者可能馬上沉潛於超越文字及觀念的心靈溝通。
保存在俄國東正教教會內有關於這個修法的教授包括了供更專志的基督徒的種種進階訓練。其中包括進行多年獨居的靜默覆誦此禱文，直到行者能夠自然地隨每一次心跳覆誦一次。達到這種成就的基督徒往往會顯示有能力以靈療治病或者有效地驅邪。有興趣的讀者可以參考以下這本書︰《〈耶穌禱文〉論》，伊格納修斯‧布萊恩禪諾夫，拉惹路斯神父譯，元素叢書。
採用念誦的修法，對一般人而言，有很多好理由及利益。這在我所寫的一篇〈談念佛〉中已詳盡的解說了。讀者中的基督徒們若僅以「耶穌」或〈耶穌禱文〉來取代該文中的「阿彌陀佛」，便可見到其理論是一樣通達的。當有人要我給個建議時，我往往建議修個念誦法。對於向我詢求建議的基督徒們，我就建議念〈耶穌禱文〉。這樣他們就能基于他們心中已建立的信仰，而在熟悉的情境內獲得精神上的幫助。我希望透過這個修法所養成的靈修成長終究能夠帶領他們邁向更高的精神領域的探索。
感謝安‧柯萊對這篇文章所作的校訂。
加州愛爾舍利多市
一九九六年三月三日
Chanting
Practice for Christians
For a Christian,
the main spiritual practice, besides attending church services and Bible
studies, seems to be prayer. It is not easy to formulate a prayer. It involves:
1. knowledge of the Christian teaching, 2. awareness of the immediate concern
of the person or group conducting the prayer, and 3. expression of faith,
willingness to follow divine guidance instead of one's selfish interests, and
good will toward all. A prayer usually lasts for only a short time, but the
difficulty one encounters in life may linger on indefinitely. After all that
one can think of has been uttered in a prayer, what more can be done to sustain
one in the light of the Christian teaching? Bible study is a good alternative
to prayer. Is there any other spiritual practice in the Christian tradition
that may be of great help but does not demand much use of reasoning? Indeed,
there is one maintained in the Russian Orthodox Church.
The practice is to
repeat a short prayer continuously; and the prayer, called the "Prayer of
Jesus," is as follows: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a
sinner.
If a Christian
forms the habit of repeating (silently or audibly) this prayer daily, at a
definite time for a certain number of repetitions, e.g., 1,000 repetitions
continuously, then it will become easier for him or her to establish a
spiritual affinity with the Grace of Jesus. In time of difficulty or crisis, a
Christian who is accustomed to this practice can easily or even automatically
rely on this practice to stay in touch with the divine Grace. Due to the
shortness of this prayer, continuous repetition of it becomes a kind of
spiritual chanting. Hence, the usual employment of reasoning in a prayer is
bypassed and one may readily become absorbed in the spiritual communion that is
beyond words and conceptuality.
The teachings on
this practice as preserved in the Russian Orthodox Church include more advanced
training for the more devoted Christians. They include silent repetitions done
in solitude for years until the prayer is repeated automatically with each
heartbeat. A Christian attaining such mastery often exhibits an ability to
provide spiritual healing of diseases or perform exorcism effectively.
Interested readers may consult the following book: On the Prayer of Jesus,
Ignatius Brianchaninov, tr. by Father Lazarus, Element Books.
There are many
good reasons and benefits for ordinary people to adopt a chanting practice. I
have written an article, "On Chanting 'Amitabha'," which contains
detailed explanations. Christian readers may simply substitute "Amitabha"
with "Jesus" or the "Prayer of Jesus" and find the
reasoning similarly applicable. When people ask me for advice, I often
recommend a chanting practice. To Christians seeking my advice I recommend
chanting the "Prayer of Jesus" so that they may get the spiritual
help within a familiar context based on a faith already established in their
hearts. I hope that the spiritual growth they will cultivate through this
practice would eventually carry them upward toward higher spiritual quests.
Thanks to Ann
Klein for editing this article.
March 3, 1996
El Cerrito, California
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