(６)接下来，也许有人想更了解佛法而问我们：
“可以用什么比喻‘法’？”

6) Now we may be asked next, for the sake of better understanding of the Dhamma,

6) “To what may the Dhamma be compared?”

　　佛陀说：“‘法’可比喻为筏”，他用“筏”这个字是因为当时普遍用筏渡河，以筏喻“法”很容易了解，这个比喻具有非常重大的意义，因为它提醒我们，不应该去黏著“法”，以致忘了自己，而自高自大地以为我是老师、学者或是哲学家。

THE BUDDHA SAID, “The Dhamma may be compared to a raft.” He used the word “raft” because in those days rafts were commonly used for crossing rivers, and this explanation of the Dharnma as a raft could be readily understood. This has a very important meaning. One should not become so attached to the Dhamma that one forgets oneself, that one becomes proud of being a teacher, a scholar, or a man of learning.

　　如果忘记“法”只是筏，将会引生以上的危机。

If one forgets that the Dhamma is just a raft, this danger will arise.

　　“法”是筏，是载我们渡彼岸的工具，一旦到了彼岸，并且上了陆，我们就不可能还愚蠢地背着筏。

The Dhamma is a raft, a vehicle that will carry us across to the other bank. Having reached the further shore and gone up on land, we should not be so foolish as to carry the raft along with us.

　　这在教导我们要以正确的方法使用它，而不要因执着它，以致忘了自己。如果不理解筏的用处，我们就会用它互相夸耀、争执，有时或许还用它来竞赛呢！这一切毫无是处，只是徒然耗损精力罢了！

This is meant to teach us to recognize and use the Dhamma as merely a means to an end, not to grasp at and cling to it to the point of forgetting ourselves. If we don’t recognize the true function of this raft, we may find ourselves keeping it for show or as something to quarrel over. Sometimes it is regarded as a race to be run, which is wasteful and useless.

　　“法”如筏，它应该被正确地应用于渡过河流。

It should be used as intended, for crossing over, for crossing the stream.

　　“法”比喻为筏，“法”的智慧应该用来渡过苦海，不应该以它为唇枪舌剑而相互伤害；不可执着它，甚至已到岸、登陆了，还背着筏，不愿与它分手。“法”比喻为筏，还意味着不论在家人或出家人都一样可以应用它。

 Knowledge of Dhamma should be used to cross over beyond suffering. It should not be retained for detrimental purposes, for fighting with that sharp-edged weapon the tongue, for arguing, or as an object of ceremonial obeisance. Finally, don’t grasp at and cling to it so that, even after having reached the shore, having landed, you are not willing to leave the raft behind., but want to carry if along with you.