看清痛苦的根源

在世俗社會裡，大多數人生活得很無奈，生活的目標也不清楚，不知道怎樣才是一種正確的生活。通常會認為，衣食住行具足了，生活就會好起來。實際上衣食住行僅僅是生活的條件而已。在社會上，每個人都希望「我要有一個好的身體、一份好的工作、一部好的車子、一座好的房子」等等。

Most people in the secular world drift about in life, not knowing clearly what their goal in life is and how to lead it in a proper way. It is a normal belief that life will only become more satisfactory with fancy clothes, abundant food, spacious living space and convenient means to travel; almost everyone hopes for better health, better jobs, better cars and better houses, which, as a matter of fact, are just a part of the conditions for life.

也就是說，所有的一切，跟「我」是相聯繫的。別人有的東西想擁有，別人沒有的東西也想擁有，並且自己有的，想要比別人更多、更好、更新。這說明我們的內心是不斷往外貪求的，向物質層面不斷掠取，不知不覺就會追求物質、依賴物質，而不能自拔。

All these material expectations are linked to an "I". "I" want to have what others do and do not have, and "I" want to have more in quantity, quality and fashion. This exposes their minds to constant pursuit and possession of external objects, which eventually traps "I" into a pit of excessive material reliance.

佛法不這樣看問題。在佛法的概念里，一個人物質條件越豐富，不等於他幸福快樂就越多。一個人的幸福快樂，也不能說和物質條件沒有任何關係，但卻不是根據物質的多寡來判斷的，更多的是看一個人是否能從對物慾的依賴當中解脫出來，繼而獲得心靈上的喜悅和自在。

Buddhism holds a different view. It teaches that incremental material wealth does not necessarily add wellbeing to life. Though the quality of life does have a certain link to material comfort, it is not defined by that alone, but more by one s capacity to liberate oneself from material reliance, and thus to obtain spiritual joy and freedom.

這種追求不僅僅在寺院里才有所體現，在社會上、在家裡、在自己工作崗位上，也是如此。我們對生活是一種什麼樣的認知和追求，這種認知和追求用佛教的語言來講，就是自己的知見。

Such pursuit is not only reflected in monastic life, but also found in our society, families and workplaces. What we perceive of and aspire for in life is, in Buddhist terms, our views.

不少人在社會上很痛苦，痛苦的表現是方方面面的。但是痛苦的根源卻是同一個，即「無知、無明」。不是說沒有知識、沒有文化、沒有能力就是無明。「無明」是因為對事物不能正確認知，對於染凈的因果，即雜染的業因、清凈的業因，看不清楚。染污的果報就是六道輪迴；清凈的果報就是四諦、十二因緣、六度萬行等等。

Many people suffer from various kinds of suffering in society. All this suffering arises from one root, i.e., ignorance. We suffer from ignorance not because we are illiterate, humbly educated or poorly competent, but because we are incapable of perceiving things in a right way by distinguishing contaminated causes from uncontaminated ones. We need to understand that contaminated causes result in cyclic existence in the six realms and uncontaminated ones result in the Four Noble Truths, the Twelve Nidanas, all practices embodied within the Six Paramitas, and so on.

透由無明一分分地去除，智慧一分分地增長，就能夠慢慢認識清楚：什麼樣的行為，會導致什麼樣的結果；自己現在所受的痛苦與快樂，是過去的行為造成的。學習佛法，就是來認清痛苦和究竟快樂的根源。

With the gradual elimination of ignorance and gradual growth of wisdom, we will realize that specific results derive from specific actions, and that our current sufferings and happiness have all resulted from previous actions. This is the purpose of learning the Buddha Dharma, i.e., to understand clearly the root causes of suffering and ultimate happiness.

什麼叫做智慧呢？我們常常講：「從聞思修，入三摩地」「親近善士，聽聞正法，如理作意，法隨法行」。 聽聞正法是聞慧，如理作意是思慧，法隨法行是修慧，這便是聞思修的三種慧。智慧就是這麼來的。

Then what is wisdom? We often say "enter into Samadhi through study, reflection and meditation", and "rely on excellent persons, listen to the sublime teachings, fix your attention properly on them, and cultivate a practice that conforms with the teachings". Listening to the sublime teachings gives us the wisdom that comes from study, fixing your attention properly on them gives us the wisdom that comes from reflection, and cultivating a practice that conforms with the teachings gives us the wisdom that comes from meditation. These are the three kinds of wisdom that come from study, reflection and meditation, and this is how the wisdom is obtained.

也許每個人都會說，自己很無明，經常發脾氣、想不開等。但是如何來認識智慧？對大家來說就是一個比較難的題目了。

Though most people may understand clearly that their bad temper and narrow-mindness is a form of ignorance, it can be a quite difficult task for them to understand wisdom.

千經萬論，無非是引導我們開智慧、得大智慧，得大智慧才能夠破無明。反過來說，破無明的結果，就是得到智慧。比如一間屋子裡一片漆黑，燈光一亮，無明黑暗自然就沒有了；燈一閉，無明黑暗又出來了。無明和智慧就是暗和明的關係，不可能同時存在。

To reveal the hidden wisdom is the single ultimate purpose of all sutras and treatises. Wisdom can repel the darkness of ignorance, or in other words, wisdom is attainable by repelling ignorance. For example, when you turn on the light in a dark room, there is no more darkness, and when you turn off the light, darkness comes back again. As the brightness and darkness don t exist at the same time, wisdom does not coexist with ignorance either.

來源：學誠大和尚開示《不立文字》

Source: With or Without Words, by Ven. Master Xuecheng

翻譯：北京龍泉寺翻譯中心

Translated by: Beijing Longquan Monastery Translation Center

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