Nibbana
涅槃
Nibbana is the highest bliss, a supramundane state of eternal happiness. The happiness of Nibbana cannot be experienced by indulging the senses but calming them.
涅槃是最高的境界，它是遠離塵世的永恒幸福，涅槃的幸福，不是那些沈迷于感官欲樂的人所能體驗得到的，涅槃是由甯靜中獲得。
Nibbana is the final goal of Buddhism. What is Nibbana then
It is not easy to know what Nibbana really is; it is easier to know what Nibbana is not.
涅槃是佛教徒的終極目標。什麼是涅槃？要知道涅槃是什麼並不容易，要知道涅槃不是什麼反而容易得多了。
Nibbana is not nothingness or extinction. Would the Buddha leave his family and kingdom and preach for 45 years, all for nothingness
涅槃不是空洞的寂滅，否則佛陀離開家庭、王國以及四十五年的弘法生涯──整個都是空洞的。
Nibbana is not a paradise. Several centuries after the Buddha, some of the Buddhist sects began to introduce Nibbana as a paradise. Their purpose of equating Nibbana with a heavenly world was to convince the less-intellectually-gifted and to attract them to the teachings of the sect. Striving for Nibbana came to mean looking for a nice place where everything is beautiful and where everyone is eternally happy. This might be a very comfortable folktale, but it is not the Nibbana that the Buddha experienced and introduced. During His time the Buddha did not deny the idea of paradise as it was presented in the early Indian religions. But the Buddha knew that this paradise was within Samsara and the final liberation was beyond it. The Buddha could see that the Path to Nibbana led beyond the heavens.
涅槃不是極樂世界，佛陀入滅後的幾個世紀，有些佛教徒把涅槃形容成極樂世界。他們將涅槃與外道的天堂劃等號，是爲了吸引資質較差的信徒和堅定他們的信仰。結果，涅槃變成一個很美的地方，在那裏每一件事都是美好的，每一個人都獲得永恒的幸福，這種論調非常動聽也非常吸引人，可是這並非佛陀原本所介紹的涅槃。
佛陀住世時，並沒有否定早期婆羅門教所向往的天堂觀，但是，佛陀知道重生于天界，還是一樣免除不了輪回，要獲得解脫必須超越它。佛陀證悟的涅槃是超越天界的。
If Nibbana is not a place, where is Nibbana then
Nibbana exists just as fire exists. However, there is no storage place for fire or for Nibbana. But when you rub pieces of wood together, then the friction and heat are the proper conditions for fire to arise. Likewise, when the nature in man”s mind is such that he is free from all defilements, then Nibbanic bliss will appear.
如果涅槃不是一個地方？那麼涅槃到底是什麼？涅槃和火一樣的存在，但是和火一樣沒有貯存的地方。當你用兩塊木頭摩擦時，摩擦和熱是火生起的因緣，同樣的，當人滌除了心中本質的所有汙穢，那麼涅槃的喜悅將會出現。
You can experience Nibbana. Until you experience the supreme state of Nibbanic bliss, you can only, speculate as to what it really is. For those who insist on the theory, the texts offer some help. The texts suggest that Nibbana is a supra-mundane state of unalloyed happiness.
你能體會到涅槃，在你體會到涅槃的超越和真正的喜悅之前，你能推斷涅槃到底是什麼嗎？如果有人堅持要從理論探索涅槃的真相，經典中也提供了線索，根據經典的記載，涅槃是超越塵世、真正幸福的狀態。
By itself, Nibbana is quite unexplainable and quite undefinable. As darkness can be explained only by its opposite, light, and as calm can only be explained by its opposite, motion, so likewise Nibbana, as a state equated to the extinction of all suffering can be explained by its opposite
the suffering that is being endured in Samsara. As darkness prevails wherever there is no light, as calm prevails wherever there is no motion, so likewise Nibbana is everywhere where suffering and change and impurity do not prevail.
就涅槃本身來說，它是非常難以理解和難以說明的。就如黑暗，只能以其反面──光明來加以說明，靜，也只能以動加以說明。同樣的，涅槃等于消滅了所有的「苦」，這是一種反面說明，「苦」是衆生在輪回中所必須忍受的。被黑暗占據的地方，就沒有光明，在靜的地方，就沒有動。因此，涅槃是「苦」、「無常」和「不淨」所不能存在的地方。
A sufferer who scratches his sores can experience a temporary relief. This temporary relief will aggravate the wounds and cause the disease to be enhanced. The joy of the final cure can hardly be compared to the fleeting relief obtained from the scratching. Likewise, satisfying the craving for sense-desires brings only temporary gratification or happiness which prolongs the stay in Samsara. The cure for the samsaric disease is Nibbana. Nibbana is an end of the cravings which cause all the sufferings of birth, old age, disease, death, grief, lamentation and despair. The joy of Nibbanic cure can hardly be compared to the temporary Samsaric pleasure gained through fulfilling the sense desires.
一個受苦者，在撫摸傷口時，會覺得痛苦暫時得到舒緩，這種暫時的舒緩現象很快被傷口的痛苦所抵消，並導致病情加重，因撫摸傷口而得到的短暫舒緩現象和病情痊愈的舒暢現象，是完全無法相比的。同樣的，滿足于感官的欲求，也只能帶來短暫的喜悅或幸福，無法脫離輪回。只有涅槃能根治輪回，涅槃是貪欲的結束，貪欲導致生、老、病、死、悲傷和苦惱，涅槃所帶來的快樂，不是在短暫的輪回中，充滿感官所帶來的欲樂，所能相提並論的。
It is dangerous to speculate on what Nibbana is; it is better to know how to prepare the conditions necessary for Nibbana, how to attain the inner peace and clarity of vision that leads to Nibbana. Follow the Buddha”s advice: put His Teachings into practice. Get rid of all your defilements which are rooted in greed, hatred, and delusion. Purify yourself of all desires and realize absolute selflessness. Lead a life of right moral conduct and from all selfishness and illusion. Then, Nibbana is gained and experienced.
揣測涅槃是什麼？是一件危險的事。我們必須先要理解，達到涅槃所需要的因緣和條件，如何獲得內在的平和？如何以清楚的思維導向涅槃？跟隨佛陀的告誡，修學佛陀的教義，消除貪、嗔、癡等汙染，過著道德持戒的生活，進行禅定的鍛練，致力去棄除所有的私心和妄想。這樣，你就能達到涅槃，達到涅槃後，你就能體會到涅槃到底是什麼了。
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