What is so good about samadhi?

定有什么好？

Why should we meditate regularly? We are slowly cultivating samadhi. When you first begin to meditate, of course your mind cannot enter samadhi. In an instant, your mind travels to heaven, to hell, to where the Buddhas or Bodhisattvas are, and before long you are back with horses, cows, sheep, or dogs. It needs no bus ticket and travels wherever it pleases. It is because you cannot control your mind—you have no samadhi. Now, when you do not want your mind to travel wherever it pleases, you are cultivating samadhi.

Someone may say, “It is good not to have samadhi! For example, look at dancers; they are always happily jumping around. What is the use of cultivating samadhi? You become like a log or a statue sitting there. It is too rigid!” What is good about samadhi? Originally there was nothing good about samadhi, but you cultivators who want to open up your wisdom must cultivate samadhi. Without samadhi, your wisdom cannot shine forth. If you have a monkey mind, you then have no samadhi and you will not have any wisdom at all. Wisdom comes from samadhi. If you do not want to be ignorant anymore, you have to cultivate samadhi!

为什么要常打坐呢？就是一点一点在修定。初学的时候，你的心里没有定力，一会儿跑到天上，又一会儿跑到地狱；忽而跑到佛那儿，忽而又跑到菩萨那儿，不久又跑到马牛羊鸡犬豕里边。它不需要买车票，天堂地狱随意都可以到，什么地方都去，就因为没有定。现在不要你的心东跑西跑、南跑北跑、上跑下跑，这是在修定。有人说：「『不定』那是最好的，你看跳舞都是跳跳钻钻的，哪有个定？定有什么意思，像个木头似的，木雕泥像坐在那个地方，有什么好？我觉得这太死板了！」定有什么好处？本来定是没有什么好处，不过你们想要修定的人，想要开智慧，就一定要修定；你没有定，就没有智慧。你的心散乱，就是没有定，也就不会有智慧，智慧是由定那里来的。你想要不愚痴吗？就要修定！