認識無限生命 Understanding Infinite Life

在廟裡我們常常聽到「無限生命」這樣一個命題。我們如何以無限生命來審視自己的人生？如何以無限生命的基本框架來看待自己的一生？如何以無限生命來認識自己完整的存在？也就是說，我們能夠完整認識到自己存在的時候，對自己的生命才能夠看得清楚。所以完整認識到無限生命的存在，就是要認識過去是怎麼存在的、現在是怎麼存在的、未來是怎麼存在的。

In the monastery, we often hear the proposition of 「infinite life」. How should we scrutinize our lives from the perspective of infinite life? How should we view our current lifetime within the framework of infinite life? How should we recognize our comprehensive existence from the perspective of infinite life? In other words, only when we completely understand our existence can we see our lives clearly. As such, to have a complete understanding of the existence of infinite life is to obtain an understanding of how life existed in the past, exists in the present, and will exist in the future.

過去的存在我們不曉得，未來的存在我們也難以預料，現在是怎麼存在的？能不能認識得清楚？如果認識不了，我們就跟瞎子一樣，長短方圓、青黃赤白分不清楚。我們不曉得自己真正要怎麼辦，怎麼來用功？我們生命要的是什麼，祈求的是什麼？如何來豐富自己生命的內涵？如何來培植自己成就佛道的資糧？如何相信業果？如何生起皈依心？

If we are not familiar with the existence of the past, how can we predict the existence of the future, or how can we understand our existence in the present? Can we really know? If we do not know, we are as blind as a bat, unable to distinguish between the lengths of long and short, the shapes of square and circle, or the colors of green, yellow, red, and white. If we do not know what we need to do, how can we exert effort? How do we know what the meaning of life is and what we wish for? How do we enrich the deeper meaning of our lives? How do we cultivate merit to achieve the Buddhist path? How do we believe in the principle of cause and effect? How do we awaken our will to take refuge?

盲人沒有看到外在境界的能力，這樣的話，在走路的時候就會有危險，沒有辦法去做事。我們如果對這些問題認識不清，就是盲修瞎練。所謂「盲修瞎練」，在佛堂裡頭，僅僅是一些宗教儀式。大家念的時候跟著念，跪拜的時候也跟著跪拜，合掌的時候也跟著合掌，來的時候也跟著來，走的時候也跟著走，就僅僅是儀式、一些程序而已，離真正對治自己的煩惱還有很長的距離。

Because blind people cannot see the external world, they face danger when they walk and they lack the ability to do certain things. Likewise, when we do not have a good grasp of the issues on hand, we will end up cultivating in the dark. By 「cultivating in the dark」, I mean that we merely perform some religious rituals in the Buddha hall. We replicate others mindlessly in chanting, bowing, or pressing hands together, and we come and go as others come and go, as if we are performing some rituals or routines. We are in fact far from the real cure for our afflictions.

對於生命存在的命題，不僅僅可以從空間上面來決定，還可以、也應該從時間方面來看待。我們的生命經驗、生命體會、生命過程都可以證明這一點，也可以找到這方面的契入點、下手處。雖然我們從某個角度來講，自己的生命每一刻、每一分、每一秒都在死亡，也就是前一刻、前一念自己的軀體已經不存在了，但是不等於說我們的知識、我們的精神、我們的經驗、我們的能力也死亡了，也過去了。這些恰恰是可以持續下來，可以延續下來的。

As we postulate the existence of life, not only can we examine it through the spatial dimension, but we should also view it through the temporal dimension. Our experiences, realizations, and life journeys can prove this theory and provide a contact point or starting point for this theory. From a certain perspective, our lives are dying with the passing of every instant, every second, and every minute, or alternatively speaking, the body in the previous moment, in the previous minute, and in the previous thought no longer exists, but it does not mean that our knowledge, our spirits, our experiences, and our abilities have died and passed away. These are things that can be sustained and perpetuated.

過去的只是說我們在過去的時間裡我的這種身體，已經推移到現在，所謂「前面一念、前面一秒、前面一刻的那個有形有相的血肉之軀」已不存在。因為昨天的我、過去的我已經跑到現在，已經跑到今天來了，所以那個看得到、摸得著的我的血肉之軀、五蘊和合之身不存在了。但是不等於說我們精神領域的那些內涵不存在，不等於說我們的煩惱不存在，不等於說我們的業力不存在。

What has passed is the body in the past moment, which has transmigrated to the body at present; and the so-called 「body of flesh and blood with form and shape that existed in the previous thought, in the previous second, and in the previous moment」 has ceased to exist. This is because the 「I」 of yesterday or in the past has transmigrated to the 「I」 of today or to the 「I」 of the present; and that visible and palpable body of the old 「I」, which consisted of flesh and blood and represented a combination of the five aggregates, no longer exists. However, this does not mean that the spiritual inner meaning ceases to exist, or that our afflictions cease to exist, or that our karma ceases to exist.

來源：學誠大和尚開示《感悟人生》

Source: Understanding Life, 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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