Why Are We Here?
为何我们生于此？
by Ajahn Chah
阿姜 查 禅师
这次雨安居我不太有力，身体欠安，所以来山上呼吸点新鲜空气。人们来拜防，我也无法如往常般接待他们，因声音沙哑，气息奄奄。大家现在还能看见这身体坐在这里，也算是种福份，很快就会看不见了。气将尽，声将息，它们会如其他所有因缘和合的事物般，随著其他支撑的元素一起消逝，佛陀称此为「灭尽衰灭」(khaya vayam)。
This Rains Retreat I don't have much strength, I'm not well, so I've come up to this mountain here to get some fresh air. People come to visit but I can't really receive them like I used to because my voice is just about had it, my breath is just about gone. You can count it a blessing that there is still this body sitting here for you all to see now. This is a blessing in itself. Soon you won't see it. The breath will be finished, the voice will be gone. They will fare in accordance with supporting factors, like all compounded things. The Lord Buddha called it khaya vayam, the decline and dissolution of all conditioned phenomena.
(根本没有任何人只有地、水、火、风)
它们如何坏灭?想像一块冰，它原来只是水，将它冷冻后就变成冰，但不久就融化了。取一大块冰放在太阳下，可以看见它如何消解，身体也差不多是如此。它会逐渐瓦解，不久就只剩下一滩水，这就称为「灭尽衰灭」。自古以来，它一直如此，当我们出生时，就带著这坏灭的本质来到世间，无从回避，从一出生，老、病、死就和我们结伴而来。
How do they decline? Consider a lump of ice. Originally it was simply water...they freeze it and it becomes ice. But it doesn't take long before it's melted. Take a big lump of ice, say as big as this tape recorder here, and leave it out in the sun. You can see how it declines, much the same as the body. It will gradually disintegrate. In not many hours or minutes all that's left is a puddle of water. This is called khaya vayam, the decline and dissolution of all compounded things. It's been this way for a long time now, ever since the beginning of time. When we are born we bring this inherent nature into the world with us, we can't avoid it. At birth we bring old age, sickness and death along with us.
所以，佛陀要说「灭尽衰灭」。现在，所有坐在讲堂里的人，无论比丘、沙弥或在家男女，无一例外，都是一堆会坏灭元素的组合。现在这堆东西就如冰块一样坚固，冰块从水开始，暂时变成冰，然后融化。你们能看见自己身体的这个败坏过程吗?看看这身体每天都在老化——头髪在变老，指甲在变老，每样东西都在变老。
So this is why the Buddha said khaya vayam, the decline and dissolution of all compounded things. All of us sitting here in this hall now, monks, novices, laymen and laywomen, are without exception "lumps of deterioration." Right now the lump is hard, just like the lump of ice. It starts out as water, becomes ice for a while and then melts again. Can you see this decline in yourself? Look at this body. It's aging every day ... hair is aging, nails are aging...everything is aging!
你们不会一直都像这样，会吗?过去的你们要比现在小很多，现在长大与成熟了。从现在起，你们将随顺自然的方式，慢慢衰老。身体就如冰块一样衰坏，很快就消失了。
一切的身体都是由地、水、火、风四大元素所组成，匪聚后称之为「人」。我们受它迷惑，说它是男人或女人，为它命名而称某某先生、女士等，如此一来，更容易相互辨认。但事实上，其中没有任何「人」，只有地、水、火、风。当它们聚合成形时，我们称这结果为「人」，但切莫高兴得太早，若真的深入观察它，其中根本没有任何「人」。
You weren't like this before, were you? You were probably much smaller than this. Now you've grown up and matured. From now on you will decline, following the way of nature. The body declines just like the lump of ice. Soon, just like the lump of ice, it's all gone. All bodies are composed of the four elements of earth, water, wind and fire. A body is the confluence of earth, water, wind, and fire, which we proceed to call a person. Originally it's hard to say what you could call it, but now we call it a "person." We get infatuated with it, saying it's a male, a female, giving it names, Mr., Mrs., and so on, so that we can identify each other more easily. But actually there isn't anybody there. There's earth, water, wind and fire. When they come together in this known form we call the result a "person." Now don't get excited over it. If you really look into it there isn't anyone there.
身体坚硬的部分——肉、皮肤、骨头等，称为「地界」；身体液体的部分则是「水界」；身体温暖的机能是「火界」；在身体里流动的气体则是「风界」。
That which is solid in the body, the flesh, skin, bones and so on, are called the earth element. Those aspects of the body which are liquid are the water element. The faculty of warmth in the body is the fire element, while the winds coursing through the body are the wind element.
在巴蓬寺有具看来既非男也非女的身体，它是具骷髅，挂在大会堂中。看著它，你不会有男人或女人的感觉。人们彼此询问那是男人或女人，而所能做的只是茫然地面面相觑。它只足具骷髅，所有的皮、肉都消失了。
At Wat Ba Pong we have a body which is neither male or female. It's the skeleton hanging in the main hall. Looking at it you don't get the feeling that it's a man or a woman. People ask each other whether it's a man or a woman and all they can do is look blankly at each other. It's only a skeleton, all the skin and flesh are gone.
(人们从不曾真正看过自己)
人们对这些事都很无知。有些人来到巴蓬寺，走进大会堂，看见骷髅立刻夺门而出!他们不忍卒睹，害怕骷髅。我想这些人以前一定未看过自己，他们应该反省骷髅的珍贵价值。要到寺院来必须乘车或走路，若没有骨头，怎么办得到?他们能走路吗?但坐车来到巴蓬寺，走进大会堂，看见骷髅却夺门而出!他们从未看过这东西，其实他们生来就有一副，却从未看过它。
People are ignorant of these things. Some go to Wat Ba Pong, into the main hall, see the skeletons...and then come running right out again! They can't bear to look. They're afraid, afraid of the skeletons. I figure these people have never seen themselves before. Afraid of the skeletons... they don't reflect on the great value of a skeleton. To get to the monastery they had to ride in a car or walk... if they didn't have bones how would they be? Would they be able to walk about like that? But they ride their cars to Wat Ba Pong, go into the main hall, see the skeletons and run straight back out again! They've never seen such a thing before. They're born with it and yet they've never seen it.
现在有机会看见，真的非常幸运。即使老人看见也会受到惊吓，这究竟是怎么一回事?这表示他们对自己完全陌生，不曾真的认识自己，也许回家后会失眠三、四天……不过，他们仍和一副骷髅睡在一起!无伦穿衣、吃饭或做任何事都在一起，但他们却害怕它。
It's very fortunate that they have a chance to see it now. Even older people see the skeletons and get scared... What's all the fuss about? This shows that they're not at all in touch with themselves, they don't really know themselves. Maybe they go home and still can't sleep for three or four days... and yet they're sleeping with a skeleton! They get dressed with it, eat food with it, do everything with it... and yet they're scared of it.
人们如此疏于接触自己，真是可怜!他们总是向外看，看树、看人、看外界事物，说：「这个是大的」、「那个是小的」、「这是短的」、「那是长的」。他们如此急于看其他东西，但从不曾看过自己。老实说，人们真的很可怜，他们没有皈依处。
This shows how out of touch people are with themselves. How pitiful! They're always looking outwards, at trees, at other people, at external objects, saying "this one is big," "that's small," "that's short," "that's long." They're so busy looking at other things they never see themselves. To be honest, people are really pitiful. They have no refuge.
在受戒仪式中，戒子必须学习五项基本的禅修主题：头发、体毛、指甲、牙齿、皮肤。①有些学生和受过教育者在仪式中听到这部分时会暗自窃笑：「到底阿姜想教我们什么呢?竟然教导一生下就有的头发，他无须教这些，他们早就知道了。为何要教导我们早已知道的事呢?」
In the ordination ceremonies the ordinees must learn the five basic meditation themes: kesa, head hair; loma, body hair; nakha, nails; danta, teeth; taco, skin. Some of the students and educated people snigger to themselves when they hear this part of the ordination ceremony..."What's the Ajahn trying to teach us here? Teaching us about hair when we've had it for ages. He doesn't have to teach us about this, we know it already. Why bother teaching us something we already know?"
愚人就是如此，自以为早就看过头发了。我告诉他们，当我说「看头发」时，意思是如实地看见它，如实地看见体毛、指甲、牙齿与皮肤。
Dim people are like this, they think they can see the hair already. I tell them that when I say to "see the hair" I mean to see it as it really is. See body hair as it really is, see nails, teeth and skin as they really are.
这才是我所谓的「看」——不是表面上的看，而是如实地看。若能看见它们的实相，就不会迷失于事物之中。头发、指甲、牙齿、皮肤的实相是什么?它们漂亮吗?干净吗?有任何真实的实体吗?是稳固的吗?不!它们什么都不是。它们既不漂亮，也无实体，但我们想像它们有。
That's what I call "seeing" -- not seeing in a superficial way, but seeing in accordance with the truth. We wouldn't be so sunk up to the ears in things if we could see things as they really are. Hair, nails, teeth, skin ... what are they really like? Are they pretty? Are they clean? Do they have any real substance? Are they stable? No... there's nothing to them. They're not pretty but we imagine them to be so. They're not substantial but we imagine them to be so.
(身体就是禅修的主题)
人们确实迷恋头发、指甲、牙齿、皮肤这些东西，佛陀以身体的这些部分作为禅修的主题，教导我们要觉知它们。
Hair, nails, teeth, skin... people are really hooked on these things. The Buddha established these things as the basic themes for meditation, he taught us to know these things.
身体是短暂、不圆满与无主的，既非「我」，也非「我的」。我们一生下来就被骗了，它们其实是污秽的。假设一星期不洗澡，还会有人敢靠近我们吗?我们闻起来臭死了!当许多人一起辛勤工作，都汗如雨下时，那味道是很可怕的。回家用香皂和清水刷洗身体后，香皂的香气取代了它，味道就比较好闻了。擦香皂似乎会让身体变香，但事实上，它的臭味仍然存在，只是暂时被压抑住而已。当香皂味消失后，身体的味道就回来了。
They are Transient, Imperfect and Ownerless; they are not "me" or "them." We are born with and deluded by these things, but really they are foul. Suppose we didn't bathe for a week, could we bear to be close to each other? We'd really smell bad. When people sweat a lot, such as when a lot of people are working hard together, the smell is awful. We go back home and rub ourselves down with soap and water and the smell abates somewhat, the fragrance of the soap replaces it. Rubbing soap on the body may make it seem fragrant, but actually the bad smell of the body is still there, temporarily suppressed. When the smell of the soap is gone the smell of the body comes back again.
(真正皈依处即在自己的心)
现在，我们普遍认为身体是漂亮、可爱、长寿而强壮，且永不衰老、生病或死亡。我们受到身体的迷惑，因此忽略真实的皈依处——心，就在自己身体里面。
我们现在坐在这讲堂里，或许很大，但不可能是真实的皈依处。我们可能认为讲堂是我们的，但它不是，鸽子、壁虎和蜥蜴也在此寻求庇护，我们和其他生物一起住在这里，这只是个暂时的栖身之所，我们迟早得离开它。人们将这些栖身之所，误认为真实的皈依处。
Now we tend to think these bodies are pretty, delightful, long lasting and strong. We tend to think that we will never age, get sick or die. We are charmed and fooled by the body, and so we are ignorant of the true refuge within ourselves. The true place of refuge is the mind. The mind is our true refuge. This hall here may be pretty big but it can't be a true refuge. Pigeons take shelter here, geckos take shelter here, lizards take shelter here...We may think the hall belongs to us but it doesn't. We live here together with everything else. This is only a temporary shelter, soon we must leave it. People take these shelters for refuge.
因此，佛陀说寻找你的皈依处，意思是寻找你的真心。这颗心非常重要，人们通常都不注意重要的事物，反而花时间在不重要的事物上。例如当整理家务时，他们会弯下身来擦地板、清洗碗盘等，但从不曾注意过自己的心。这颗心可能发臭了，他们可能很生气，板著一张臭脸在洗盘子。他们未看到自己的心不太干净，这就是我所说的「把暂时的栖身之所当成皈依处」。他们美化房子和住家，但从未想到要美化自己的心；他们没有检视痛苦。
So the Buddha said to find your refuge. That means to find your real heart. This heart is very important. People don't usually look at important things, they spend most of their time looking at unimportant things. For example, when they do the house cleaning they may be bent on cleaning up the house, washing the dishes and so on, but they fail to notice their own hearts. Their heart may be rotten, they may be feeling angry, washing the dishes with a sour expression on their face. That their own hearts are not very clean they fail to see. This is what I call "taking a temporary shelter for a refuge." They beautify house and home but they don't think of beautifying their own hearts. They don't examine suffering. The heart is the important thing.
佛陀教导我们，在自己的内心寻找皈依处——「当自皈依」。还有谁能成为你的皈依处呢?你可能想依赖其他的事物，但它们是不可靠的；只有当你真正在心里找到皈依时，才能真正依赖其他的事物。
The Buddha taught to find a refuge within your own heart: Attahi attano natho -- "Make yourself a refuge unto yourself." Who else can be your refuge? The true refuge is the heart, nothing else. You may try to depend on other things but they aren't a sure thing. You can only really depend on other things if you already have a refuge within yourself. You must have your own refuge first before you can depend on anything else, be it a teacher, family, friends or relatives.
(我是谁？我为何出生？)
因此，你们所有的人，无论在家与出家，今天来到这里，请仔细思考这个教导。反问自己：「我是谁?我为何在这里?我为何出生?」有些人并不知道。他们想要快乐，但痛苦却从不曾停止，无论贫富、老少都同样痛苦。一切都是苦。为什么?因为他们没有智慧，穷人因贫困而不快乐，富人则因拥有太多而不快乐。
So all of you, both laypeople and homeless ones who have come to visit today, please consider this teaching. Ask yourselves, "Who am I? Why am I here?" Ask yourselves, "Why was I born?" Some people don't know. They want to be happy but the suffering never stops. Rich or poor, young or old, they suffer just the same. It's all suffering. And why? Because they have no wisdom. The poor are unhappy because they don't have enough, and the rich are unhappy because they have too much to look after.
当我还是个年轻沙弥时，曾说过一个譬喻，是关于拥有财富与仆人的快乐——男仆与女仆各一百名，大象、乳牛与水牛各一百头，任何东西都是一百件。这在家人真的非常享受这一切，但你能想像照顾各一百头水牛、乳牛与各一百个男、女仆人的情形吗?你能想像必须照顾这一切吗?
In the past, as a young novice, I gave a Dhamma discourse. I talked about the happiness of wealth and possessions, having servants and so on... A hundred male servants, a hundred female servants, a hundred elephants, a hundred cows, a hundred buffaloes...a hundred of everything! The laypeople really lapped it up. But can you imagine looking after a hundred buffaloes? Or a hundred cows, a hundred male and female servants...can you imagine having to look after all of that? Would that be fun?
人们未考虑到事情的这一面，他们只想拥有上百的乳牛、水牛、仆人……。但我说五十头水牛可能就太多了，光为那些畜生绑上绳子就不得了了!但人们从未想到这点，只想到获得的快乐，而未想到涉入其中的麻烦。
People don't consider this side of things. They have the desire to possess...to have the cows, the buffaloes, the servants... hundreds of them. But I say fifty buffaloes would be too much. Just twining the rope for all those brutes would be too much already! But people don't consider this, they only think of the pleasure of acquiring. They don't consider the trouble involved.
(想要是苦想不要也是苦)
若没有智慧，身边的每样事物都会成为痛苦的根源；若有智慧，这些事物则会带领我们脱离痛苦。眼、耳、鼻、舌、身、意……你知道，眼睛不一定是好东西，当心情不好时，只是看到别人就能让你生气和失眠。你也可能在谈恋爱，若得不到想要的，爱情也是一种苦。因为贪欲，所以爱与恨都是痛苦。
If we don't have wisdom everything round us will be a source of suffering. If we are wise these things will lead us out of suffering. Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind...Eyes aren't necessarily good things, you know. If you are in a bad mood just seeing other people can make you angry and make you lose sleep. Or you can fall in love with others. Love is suffering, too, if you don't get what you want. Love and hate are both suffering, because of desire.
想要是苦，想不要也是苦，想要的东西即使得到后，仍然是苦，因为会害怕失去。一切是苦，你应如何和它相处呢?你可能有栋大豪宅，但若心不好，它就永远无法如你所愿。
Wanting is suffering, wanting not to have is suffering. Wanting to acquire things... even if you get them it's still suffering because you're afraid you'll lose them. There's only suffering. How are you going to live with that? You may have a large, luxurious house, but if your heart isn't good it never really works out as you expected.
你应看看自己。我们为何出生?这一生真的有得到什么东西吗?人们在乡下从小就开始种田，当长到十七、八岁时，便匆匆忙忙地结婚，唯恐没有足够的时间赚钱。他们从年轻时就开始工作，以为会变得有钱，直到七十、八十甚至九十岁都还在种田。我问他们：「你从出生就一直工作到现在，如今差不多要走了，你能带走什么呢?」除了「我不知道」之外，他们不晓得还能说些什么。
Therefore, you should all take a look at yourselves. Why were we born? Do we ever really attain anything in this life? In the countryside here people start planting rice right from childhood. When they reach seventeen or eighteen they rush off and get married, afraid they won't have enough time to make their fortunes. They start working from an early age thinking they'll get rich that way. They plant rice until they're seventy or eighty or even ninety years old. I ask them. "From the day you were born you've been working. Now it's almost time to go, what are you going to take with you?" They don't know what to say.
关于这部分，我们有则谚语：「别沿途停下来采草莓，在你晓得以前，暮色早已降临。」他们进退两难，只能以一句「我不知道」来搪塞，坐在草莓园中狼吞虎咽：「我不知道，我不知道……」
All they can say is, "Beats me!" We have a saying in these parts, "Don't tarry picking berries along the way ... before you know it, night falls." Just because of this "Beats me!" They're neither here nor there, content with just a "beats me"... sitting among the branches of the berry tree, gorging themselves with berries... "Beats me, beats me..."
(看不见未来的痛苦以为永远不会发生)
当年轻时你认为单身不太好，觉得有点寂寞，所以去找个伴陪你一起生活。两个人在一起后又有摩擦!单身太寂寥，和别人一起生活又有摩擦。
When you're still young you think that being single is not so good, you feel a bit lonely. So you find a partner to live with. Put two together and there's friction! Living alone is too quiet, but living with others there's friction.
当孩子年幼时，父母亲心想：「等他们长大后，我们的日子就会好过一点。」他们养育三个、四个或五个小孩，认为孩子长大后，负担将会减轻。但当孩子长大后，负担却变得更重。就如有一大一小两块木头，你丢掉小的拿起大的，认为会轻一点，但当然不是如此。当孩子年幼时，他们不太会烦你，顶多一团饭或一根香蕉就好了。当他们长大时，想要一辆摩托车或汽车!好了，你爱小孩，无法拒绝他们，所以设法满足他们。
When children are small the parents think, "When they get bigger we'll be better off." They raise their children, three, four, or five of them, thinking that when the children are grown up their burden will be lighter. But when the children grow up they get even heavier. Like two pieces of wood, one big and one small. You throw away the small one and take the bigger one, thinking it will be lighter, but of course it's not. When children are small they don't bother you very much, just a ball of rice and a banana now and then. When they grow up they want a motorcycle or a car! Well, you love your children, you can't refuse. So you try to give them what they want.
问题来了，有时父母亲会为此而争吵：「不要给他买车，我们没有那么多钱!」但由于你爱小孩，所以便想办法借钱，也许还得省吃俭用，才能为孩子买东西呢!接著又有教育的问题：「等他们完成学业后，一切就没问题了。」但学无止境，他们何时才会结束?只有佛学才有完成之时，其他的学科都只是绕著圈圈打转，到头来可真令人头痛。若家里有四、五个小孩，父母亲会天天吵个不停。
Problems...Sometimes the parents get into arguments over it..."Don't go and buy him a car, we haven't got enough money!" But when you love your children you've got to borrow the money from somewhere. Maybe the parents even have to go without to get the things their children want. Then there's education. "When they've finished their studies, we'll be right." There's no end to the studying! What are they going to finish? Only in the science of Buddhism is there a point of completion, all the other sciences just go round in circles. In the end it's real headache. If there's a house with four or five children in it the parents argue every day.
我们看不见未来等在前面的痛苦，以为它永远不会发生，当发生时，我们才看见它。那种身体与生俱来的痛苦，是很难预见的。
The suffering that is waiting in the future we fail to see, we think it will never happen. When it happens, then we know. that kind of suffering, the suffering inherent in our bodies, is hard to foresee.
我童年在牧牛时，会拿木炭擦牙齿，以使它们洁白，回家看镜子，它们是如此美好又洁白，我被自己的骨头给愚弄了。当我五、六十岁时，牙齿开始松动，掉落时非常疼痛，尤其当吃饭时真的很痛，嘴巴好像被踢到一样，只得去找牙医通通拔掉。现在我使用假牙，真牙带给我许多麻烦，我不得不把它们全部拔掉，一次十六颗。牙医不愿一次拔十六颗牙，但我对他说：「请把它们全部拔掉，一切后果我自行负责。」所以他一次就全部拔掉。但那真的是很鲁莽，拔掉牙齿后，我有两、三天完全无法进食。
When I was a child minding the buffaloes I'd take charcoal and rub it on my teeth to make them white. I'd go back home and look in the mirror and see them so nice and white...I was getting fooled by my own bones, that's all. When I reached fifty or sixty my teeth started to get loose. When the teeth start falling out it hurts so much, when you eat it feels as if you've been kicked in the mouth. It really hurts. I've been through this one already. So I just got the dentist to take them all out. Now I've got false teeth. My real teeth were giving me so much trouble I just had them all taken out, sixteen in one go. The dentist was reluctant to take out sixteen teeth at once, but I said to him, "Just take them out, I'll take the consequences." So he took them all out at once. Some were still good, too, at least five of them. Took them all out. But it was really touch and go. After having them out I couldn't eat any food for two or three days.
(身体并不值得信赖)
小时候牧牛时，我认为磨亮牙齿是件很棒的事。我喜欢我的牙齿，认为它们很好。但最后它们还是得离开，那疼痛几乎要了我的命。经年累月都被牙痛折磨，有时上、下牙龈还会同时肿起来呢!
Before, as a young child minding the buffaloes, I used to think that polishing the teeth was a great thing to do. I loved my teeth, I thought they were good things. But in the end they had to go. The pain almost killed me. I suffered from toothache for months, years. Sometimes both my gums were swollen at once.
你们将来可能有机会亲身经验这件事，若你的牙齿还不错，每天刷牙以保持光亮、洁白，小心!它们日后可能会开你一个大玩笑。
Some of you may get a chance to experience this for yourselves someday. If your teeth are still good and you're brushing them everyday to keep them nice and white...watch out! They may start playing tricks with you later on.
现在，我只是让你们知道这些事，关于这痛苦是从我们的身体里生起的，身体里并无任何东西值得信赖。当年轻时它还不错，但年老时它就会开始不灵光，每样东西都开始摇摇欲坠。一切因缘皆随顺自然法则而行，无论我们哭或笑、处于痛苦或险阻中、生或死，对它们而言都没有差别，没有任何知识或科学可改变这自然法则。你也许可找个牙医看牙，但即使他能医治，它们终究会走上自然的道路。最后，连牙医也会有相同的困扰，一切事物终归毁坏。
Now I'm just letting you know about these things...the suffering that arises from within, that arises within our own bodies. There's nothing within the body you can depend on. It's not too bad when you're still young, but as you get older things begin to break down. Everything begins to fall apart. Conditions go their natural way. Whether we laugh or cry over them they just go on their way. It makes no difference how we live or die, makes no difference to them. And there's no knowledge or science which can prevent this natural course of things. You may get a dentist to look at your teeth, but even if he can fix them they still eventually go their natural way. Eventually even the dentist has the same trouble. Everything falls apart in the end.
(趁年轻有力时修行莫等待年老)
趁著还有些活力，我们应该深思这些事，应趁年轻时修行。若你想作功德，赶紧起身力行，莫留待老年。大多数人想等年老时才上寺院修行，不论男女都说同样的话：「我想等年老时再说。」我不知他们为何那么说，一个老人还能有多少活力?让他们和年轻人赛跑，看看有何差别。留待老年才修行，犹如他们永远不会死一样。当他们到五、六十岁时，「嗨，婆婆!让我们去寺院吧!」「亲爱的，你去吧!我的耳朵已经不灵光了。」
These are things which we should contemplate while we still have some vigor, we should practice while we're young. If you want to make merit then hurry up and do so, don't just leave it up to the oldies. Most people just wait until they get old before they will go to a monastery and try to practice Dhamma. Women and men say the same thing..."Wait till I get old first." I don't know why they say that, does an old person have much vigor? Let them try racing with a young person and see what the difference is. Why do they leave it till they get old? Just like they're never going to die. When they get to fifty or sixty years old or more..."Hey, Grandma! Let's go to the monastery!" "You go ahead, my ears aren't so good any more."
你们了解我的意思吗?当她的耳朵还好时，她听些什么呢?「我不知道!」只管采草莓，最后耳朵不灵了才去寺院。那是没有希望的，她在听开示，但对内容却毫无头绪。人们一直等到无能为力时，才想到要修行佛法。
You see what I mean? When her ears were good what was she listening to? "Beats me!" ... just dallying with the berries. Finally when her ears are gone she goes to the temple. It's hopeless. She listens to the sermon but she hasn't got a clue what they're saying. People wait till they're all used up before they'll think of practicing the Dhamma.
这些事是你们应该去观察的，它们是我们的继承物，会变得愈来愈沈重，成为每个人的负担。过去我的脚强壮耐跑，现在只是走路就很吃力：以前脚带著我，现在我得带著它们。小时候我看到老人从座位上站起来时会发出呻吟，即使到了这地步，他们仍未学到教训。坐下时，他们「哎哟!」站起来，他们也「哎哟!」一直都这样「哎哟!」但他们不知是什么让自己如此呻吟。
Today's talk may be useful for those of you who can understand it. These are things which you should begin to observe, they are our inheritance. They will gradually get heavier and heavier, a burden for each of us to bear. In the past my legs were strong, I could run. Now just walking around they feel heavy. Before, my legs carried me. Now, I have to carry them. When I was a child I'd see old people getting up from their seat..."Oh!" Getting up they groan, "Oh!" There's always this "Oh!" But they don't know what it is that makes them groan like that.
即使到了这时候，人们仍不了解身体的祸害，永远不知何时会和它分离。这样的痛苦，纯粹是因缘随顺自然法则所造成，人们称它为关节炎、风湿病、痛风等，医师开药方，但永远无法完全治瘛。最后它还是会毁坏，连医师也是如此!这是因缘随顺自然的轨道而行，这是它们的法则，它们的本质。
Even when it gets to this extent people don't see the bane of the body. You never know when you're going to be parted from it. what's causing all the pain is simply conditions going about their natural way. People call it arthritis, rheumatism, gout and so on, the doctor prescribes medicines, but it never completely heals. In the end it falls apart, even the doctor! This is conditions faring along their natural course. This is their way, their nature.
现在，请看这个!若你早点看见它，就会好过一点，一如看见毒蛇在前方的路上，便可避开而不被咬到；若未看见牠，就可能会一脚踩上去。
Now take a look at this. If you see it in advance you'll be better off, like seeing a poisonous snake on the path ahead of you. If you see it there you can get out of its way and not get bitten. If you don't see it you may keep on walking and step on it. And then it bites.
痛苦生起时，人们往往不知所措，应如何处置它呢?他们想要避开痛苦，想要解脱：但当它生起时，却不知如何对待它。他们就如此浑浑噩噩地活著，直到衰老、生病……然后死亡。
If suffering arises people don't know what to do. Where to go to treat it? They want to avoid suffering, they want to be free of it but they don't know how to treat it when it arises. And they live on like this until they get old...and sick...and die...
从前，据说在人生重病时，最亲的人应在其耳边轻声地念「Bud-dho、Bud-dho」，此时念佛对他而言有什么用?念佛对一个朝不保夕的人而言有何利益?为何不趁年轻力壮时学习念佛呢?如今在气息奄奄时，你上前对她说：「妈妈!Bud-dho、Bud-dho!」为何要浪费自己的时间呢?你只会令她感到困惑，不如让她平静地去吧!
In olden times it was said that if someone was mortally ill one of the next of kin should whisper "Bud-dho, Bud-dho" in their ear. What are they going to do with Buddho? what good is Buddho going to be for them when they're almost on the funeral pyre? Why didn't they learn Buddho when they were young and healthy? Now with the breaths coming fitfully you go up and say, "Mother...Buddho, Buddho!" Why waste your time? You'll only confuse her, let her go peacefully.
People don't know how to solve problems within their own hearts, they don't have a refuge. They get angry easily and have a lot of desires. Why is this? Because they have no refuge.
(有了「家眷」就只能待在限制区)
当人们新婚时，夫妻相处融洽，但年过半百后，却无法相互了解。无论太太说什么，先生都难以忍受，而无论先生怎么说，太太也都充耳不闻。彼此形同陌路。
When people are newly married they can get on together all right, but after age fifty or so they can't understand each other. Whatever the wife says the husband finds intolerable. Whatever the husband says the wife won't listen. They turn their backs on each other.
我是持平地说，因为我不曾结婚。我为何不曾组过家庭呢?只要看「家眷」(household)②这个字，就可知道它是怎么一回事。什么是「家眷」呢?「眷」就是种「约束」(hold)，若有人拿绳子将坐在这里的我们捆绑起来，你作何感想?那就叫做「被约束」(being held)，范围受到限制。男人住在其限制范围内，女人亦然。
「家眷」此字颇为沈重，不要小看它，它是个真正的杀手。「眷爱」或「约束」是个痛苦的象徵。你哪里也去不了，只能待在限制的范围里。
When I read this word "household" ... this is a heavy one. This word is no trifling matter, it's a real killer. The word "hold" is a symbol of suffering. You can't go anywhere, you've got to stay within your circle of confinement.
我们再看看「家」(house)这个字，它是指「闹哄哄的地方」。你们烤过辣椒吗?整间屋子都很呛人，熏得人眼派直流。「家眷」这个字就透露了烦恼的讯息，它不值得投入生命，因为它我才能出家，并坚持不还俗。
Now I'm just talking because I've never had a family before. Why haven't I had a family? Just looking at this word "household" [1] I knew what it was all about. What is a "household"? This is a "hold": If somebody were to get some rope and tie us up while we were sitting here, what would that be like? That's called "being held." Whatever that's like, "being held" is like that. There is a circle of confinement. The man lives within his circle of confinement, and the woman lives within her circle of confinement.
「家眷，是令人恐惧的，它会困住你，让你无法脱身。你必须操心孩子、金钱与其他各种问题，到死都争吵不休。但你能去哪里?你被绑住了，无论它有多痛苦，你哪儿也去不了，泪流不尽，若无家的束缚，也许就可不再流泪，除此之外别无他法。
Now we come to the word "house." This means "that which hassles." Have you ever toasted chilies? The whole house chokes and sneezes. This word "household" spells confusion, it's not worth the trouble. Because of this word I was able to ordain and not disrobe. "Household" is frightening. You're stuck and can't go anywhere. Problems with the children, with money and all the rest. But where can you go? You're tied down. There are sons and daughters, arguments in profusion until your dying day, and there's nowhere else to go to no matter how much suffering it is. The tears pour out and they keep pouring. The tears will never be finished with his "household," you know. If there's no household you might be able to finish with the tears but not otherwise.
(谁说受够了那只是在骗自己)
仔细深思这一切，若你还不了解，也许未来会了解。有人已学过它而到达某种程度，有人则已快解脱束缚。「我应留下来或该离开呢?」巴蓬寺大约有七、八十间茅篷，当快住满时，我告诉执事比丘留下几间空房，以保留给一些和配偶吵架的人。结果不出所料，没多久就有位女士拎著皮箱前来。「隆波，我受够了这世界。」「唉!别那么说，没那么严重啦!」然后丈夫也来说他受不了了。待在寺院两、三天后，他们的厌世感就消失了。
Consider this matter. If you haven't come across it yet you may later on. Some people have experienced it already to a certain extent. Some are already at the end of their tether..."Will I stay or will I go?" At Wat Ba Pong there are about seventy or eighty huts (kuti). when they're almost full I tell the monk in charge to keep a few empty, just in case somebody has an argument with their spouse...Sure enough, in no long time a lady will arrive with her bags..."I'm fed up with the world, Luang Por." "Whoa! Don't say that. Those words are really heavy." Then the husband comes and says he's fed up too. After two or three days in the monastery their world-weariness disappears.
他们说受够了，那只是在骗自己。
他们前往茅篷独自静坐，不久后便开始心想：「老婆何时会来请我回家?」他们并非真的知道问题出在何处，厌世感跑到哪里去了?在某些事情上一遇到挫折就到寺院来。在家里任何事都看不顺眼：丈夫不对，妻子不对。但经过三天安静的思考后，「嗯!老婆才是对的，是我错了。」「老公是对的，我不该这么难过。」他们换边站了。
事情就是如此，所以我看淡世间，我已知道它的前因后果，因此选择比丘的生活。
They say they're fed up but they're just fooling themselves. When they go off to a kuti and sit in the quiet by themselves, after a while the thoughts come..."When's the wife going to come and ask me to go home?" They don't really know what's going on. What is this "world-weariness" of theirs? They get upset over something and come running to the monastery. At home everything looked wrong...the husband was wrong, the wife was wrong...after three days' quiet thinking..."Hmmm, the wife was right after all, it was I who was wrong." "Hubby was right, I shouldn't have got so upset." They change sides. This is how it is, that's why I don't take the world too seriously. I know its ins and outs already, that's why I've chosen to live as a monk.
这是你们的家庭作业。无论你们是务农或在城里工作，好好地思考我说的话。问你自己：「我为何出生?我能带走什么?」反覆地问自己。若确实地做就会变得有智慧，否则便会继续无知。若现在无法完全了解，也许不久后就能了解。「哦!那就是隆波所说的意思，我以前一直无法了解。」
I would like to present today's talk to all of you for homework. Whether you're in the fields or working in the city, take these words and consider them... "Why was I born? What can I take with me?" Ask yourselves over and over. If you ask yourself these questions often you'll become wise. If you don't reflect on these things you will remain ignorant. Listening to today's talk, you may get some understanding, if not now, then maybe when you get home. Perhaps this evening. When you're listening to the talk everything is subdued, but maybe things are waiting for you in the car. When you get in the car it may get in with you. When you get home it may all become clear..."Oh, that's what Luang Por meant. I couldn't see it before."
我想今天这样就够了。若讲太久，这把老骨头会太累了!
I think that's enough for today. If I talk too long this old body gets tired.
[注释]
①这是「身念处」十四种禅修法之一，是将身体分成三十二部分作为禅修的主题，前五项即是头发、体毛、指甲、牙齿、皮肤。修持时以厌恶作意正念于身体各部分的不净，是止业处；若以四界(地、水、火、风)观照，是观业处。修习此法能去除对五蕴的执著而获得解脱，是佛教特有的修行方式。参见《清净道论》第八<说随念业处品>与第十一<说定品>。
②这是个泰语的文字游戏。泰文的家庭是khrop khrua，字面上意指「灶房」或「火窟」。英译本是选择一个相对应的字来表示，而非依泰文直译。
Notes:
[1] There is a play on words in the Thai language here based on the word for family -- Krorp krua -- which literally means "kitchen-frame" or "roasting circle." In the English translation we have opted for a corresponding English word rather than attempt a literal translation of the Thai.
