(２３)“爲什麼會認爲一切皆空？這個世界、每個世界都是“空”的嗎？”
23) “Why is it held that all things are empty, that this world, that every world, is an empty world
”
其他宗教的信徒將會問你這個問題：“爲什麼你要說這個充滿著心、物及各種産品的世界是“空”的呢？”
FOLLOWERS OF OTHER religions will ask you these questions: “Why do you say the world is empty when it contains all these things
Isn”t there matter
Isn”t there mind
Isn”t the world just full up with things
”
因爲它們不是“我”、也非“我所有”，亦即心、物及各種産品都沒有實體可被執著爲“我”、“我所有”。
The point is that it is empty of any self or of anything belonging to a self. There is nothing that can be taken as being a self or belonging to a self. Self cannot be found in anything, not in mind, nor in matter, nor in the various products that arise out of mind and matter.
佛陀強調一切皆空，除了指空掉“我”及“我所有”的感覺之外，沒有其他意思。
The Buddha said that the assertion that all things are empty refers to nothing other than the awareness that they are empty of selfhood.
爲什麼稱有這種知覺的心爲“空心”呢？
“Now, why is a mind in this state of awareness described as an empty or free mind (Thai, cit waang)
”
有段經文說：“貪、瞋、癡空就是真實的空，心空掉貪、瞋、癡，便是“空心”(無窒礙、無拘束、解脫自在)”(泰本巴利藏第３０冊，５５１頁)。
THERE IS A verse in the Texts which says, “That is truly empty which is empty of lust, hatred, and delusion.” A mind is empty (unencumbered, disengaged, or free) when it is free of lust, hatred, and delusion.
不論用什麼方法或手段，心空掉貪、瞋、癡時，就可以說是“空心”。這裏所指的不是什麼都不做的“空心”，例如人熟睡時，心也是“空”的，那情況像是一種真空狀態，但若不去行動、不用心作事，就不是在修行佛法的“空”。“空心”並不屬于這類“空”。
假如我們用功修行某種法門，直到心空掉貪、瞋、癡，即使只是一刹那，就可稱爲“空心”，這種“空心”可以漸次增進，直到“畢竟空”。阿羅漢(arahant)完全處于“空”，次等聖人常常處于“空”，而凡夫偶爾也能處于“空”。
When, by whatever method or means, a mind has been rendered free of all traces of lust, hatred, and delusion, it can be said to be an empty or free mind (cit waang). But we are referring here only to what is done actively. When one is asleep, the mind is also empty! That state is likewise one of true emptiness, but we have not actively produced the state, we have not brought it about intentionally. This is not practising Dhamma; it doesn”t belong in that category. But if we have made an effort in some way so that the mind becomes emptied of lust, hatred, and delusion, even if only for a moment, then the mind if said to be free, void, empty. This freedom and emptiness can be increased in degree until it becomes complete — absolute freedom and emptiness. An arahant (fully perfected inpidual) is absolutely free. Ariyans at lower stages of development are largely free. An ordinary worldling can be free and empty occasionally.
不論何時，只要心空掉貪、瞋、癡，當下就沒有“自我”的感覺，這就是所謂的“空心”。
If at any moment there is freedom from lust, hatred, and delusion, then in that moment there is no idea of self. This is known as empty or free mind (cit waang).