Why Are We Here

　　爲何我們生于此？

　　by Ajahn Chah

　　阿姜 查 禅師

　　這次雨安居我不太有力，身體欠安，所以來山上呼吸點新鮮空氣。人們來拜防，我也無法如往常般接待他們，因聲音沙啞，氣息奄奄。大家現在還能看見這身體坐在這裏，也算是種福份，很快就會看不見了。氣將盡，聲將息，它們會如其他所有因緣和合的事物般，隨著其他支撐的元素一起消逝，佛陀稱此爲「滅盡衰滅」(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.

　　(根本沒有任何人只有地、水、火、風)

　　它們如何壞滅

　　想像一塊冰，它原來只是水，將它冷凍後就變成冰，但不久就融化了。取一大塊冰放在太陽下，可以看見它如何消解，身體也差不多是如此。它會逐漸瓦解，不久就只剩下一灘水，這就稱爲「滅盡衰滅」。自古以來，它一直如此，當我們出生時，就帶著這壞滅的本質來到世間，無從回避，從一出生，老、病、死就和我們結伴而來。

　　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，佛陀要說「滅盡衰滅」。現在，所有坐在講堂裏的人，無論比丘、沙彌或在家男女，無一例外，都是一堆會壞滅元素的組合。現在這堆東西就如冰塊一樣堅固，冰塊從水開始，暫時變成冰，然後融化。你們能看見自己身體的這個敗壞過程嗎

　　看看這身體每天都在老化——頭髪在變老，指甲在變老，每樣東西都在變老。

　　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!

　　你們不會一直都像這樣，會嗎

　　過去的你們要比現在小很多，現在長大與成熟了。從現在起，你們將隨順自然的方式，慢慢衰老。身體就如冰塊一樣衰壞，很快就消失了。　　

　　一切的身體都是由地、水、火、風四大元素所組成，匪聚後稱之爲「人」。我們受它迷惑，說它是男人或女人，爲它命名而稱某某先生、女士等，如此一來，更容易相互辨認。但事實上，其中沒有任何「人」，只有地、水、火、風。當它們聚合成形時，我們稱這結果爲「人」，但切莫高興得太早，若真的深入觀察它，其中根本沒有任何「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.

　　身體堅硬的部分——肉、皮膚、骨頭等，稱爲「地界」；身體液體的部分則是「水界」；身體溫暖的機能是「火界」；在身體裏流動的氣體則是「風界」。

　　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, w…

《爲何我們生于此？Why Are We Here

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