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寻灭法师

(1918–2003)

寻灭法师的一生，在出家之前，早已奠定于稳健而自律的修行基础之上。他出生于斯里兰卡帕纳杜拉（Panadura）一个虔诚的佛教家庭，自幼便对心的运作怀有浓厚的兴趣，也自然地培养出对修行的责任感。出家前，他曾任教职，后又担任高级警官。尽管世俗事务繁重，他始终未曾中断禅修，并在日常生活中持续观察内心的变化。身边的人常注意到，即使身处忙碌的世俗环境中，他依然以严肃而真诚的态度对待修行。

随着对佛法的投入日益加深，他逐渐意识到，若要真正深入理解法义，必须全然投入。最终，他放下稳定而成功的职业生涯，选择出家。出家后，寻灭法师修行严谨、探究深入，并透过研读经典与长时间的实修，不断检验与澄清自己的理解。他生活简朴，远离不必要的享受，始终安住于出家修行的根本要义之中。

基于自身的实证体悟，寻灭法师以清楚而善巧的方式，引导斯里兰卡及海外的弟子修行。他的教导以四念处为核心，为修行者提供一条直接观照因缘、无常，以及经验不断生灭的路径。在其指导下，弟子们逐渐稳固禅定（Samādhi），对身心活动生起更清明的觉察，并循序减少内心的烦恼。

1992年，应广超法师之邀请，寻灭法师前往新加坡教授禅修。其法脉传统上被认为可追溯至马欣达尊者（Arahant Mahinda Thera）与僧伽密多尊者（Arahant Saṅghamittā Therī）——阿育王的子女，亦是将佛教传入斯里兰卡的两位圣者。这一传承背景，反映了斯里兰卡**止观（Samatha–Vipassanā）**传统深厚而悠久的根源。

随着前来求学的人数逐渐增加，寻灭法师陆续设立禅修道场，以回应修行者的实际需要。他的教学风格务实而不偏重理论，强调因材施教，直接而贴近实际。许多弟子回忆，原本复杂难懂的法义，在他的引导下变得清楚明了——并非因为法被简化，而是因为他将法真实地落实于自身修行之中。

终其一生，寻灭法师的教导始终不离佛陀本怀。他常提醒弟子，苦谛揭示了生命中真实存在的苦与不圆满，而透过细致的观察，修行者将逐步体会一切法的无常与空性。唯有这种直接的体证，而非停留于概念上的理解，才能使内心逐渐放下执取，迈向解脱。

在斯里兰卡佛教界，寻灭法师被普遍尊重为一位难得一见、修证俱足的长老。其弟子们对他所留下的**止观传承（寻灭止观）**怀有深厚信心，并相信只要以稳定而真诚的态度持续修行，烦恼亦能逐步放下。

2003年，寻灭法师于八十五岁时圆寂。其后，部分舍利被迎请至中国金石禅林供奉并建塔，以此表达敬意，也反映了他一生所带来的真实而深远的影响。

他的影响并非透过制度或宏大的纪念形式延续，而是体现在至今仍依循他所教导之道路修行的众多实践者身上——以同样的真诚，继续走在这条修行之路上。

Venerable Amatha Gavesi

(1918–2003)

Venerable Amatha Gavesi’s life was shaped by steady discipline long before he became a monk. Born into a devout Buddhist family in Panadura, he grew up with a natural curiosity about the mind and a quiet sense of responsibility. Before ordaining, he lived as a teacher and later a senior police officer, but regardless of how demanding his work became, he always returned to meditation. Those around him noticed his habit of observing the mind with seriousness and sincerity, even during a busy secular life.

Eventually, his commitment to the Dhamma grew stronger than his professional responsibilities. Realizing that deeper understanding required full dedication, he left behind a successful career and ordained. As a monk, he practiced rigorously, questioned deeply, and refined his understanding through both study and long hours of meditation. He lived simply, avoided unnecessary comforts, and grounded himself in the essentials of the monastic path.

Drawing from his own direct realization, Venerable Amatha Gavesi guided disciples with clarity and skill, both in Sri Lanka and abroad. His instructions centered on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, giving practitioners a way to directly contemplate conditions, impermanence, and the continual arising-and-passing away of experience. Under his guidance, students deepened Samādhi, gained clearer insight into the activities of body and mind, and gradually reduced their mental defilements.

In 1992, at the invitation of Venerable Guangchao, he travelled to Singapore to teach meditation. His lineage is traditionally said to descend from Arahant Mahinda Thera and Arahant Saṅghamittā Therī, the son and daughter of Emperor Asoka — a connection that reflects the ancient roots of the Sri Lankan samatha–vipassanā tradition.

Over the years, he established meditation centres because more and more people sought guidance. His teaching style was practical rather than philosophical: grounded, direct, and tailored to the needs of each individual. Students recall how challenging concepts felt simple in his presence — not because he simplified the Dhamma, but because he embodied it.

Throughout his life, his teachings never strayed from the Buddha’s words. He often reminded students that the Truth of Suffering points to the realities of pain and difficulty, and that through careful observation one begins to see the impermanence and emptiness of all phenomena. This direct seeing — not theory — is what allows the heart to loosen its grasping and move toward liberation.

Within the Sri Lankan Buddhist community, he was widely respected as a rare and accomplished elder. His disciples hold deep confidence in the samatha–vipassanā lineage he left behind, trusting that through steady and sincere practice, they too can gradually put down their defilements.

After his passing in 2003 at the age of 85, some of his relics were invited to Jinshi Chanlin in China for enshrinement and the building of a stupa — a gesture of respect that reflects the quiet but genuine impact of his life.

His legacy continues not through institutions or monuments, but through the many practitioners who still follow the path he taught with the same sincerity he embodied.