Four Noble Truths

　　四聖谛

　　Why are we here

　　 Why are we not happy with our lives

　　 What is the cause of our unsatisfactoriness

　　 How can we see the end of unsatisfactoriness and experience eternal peace

　　 The Buddha”s Teaching is based on the Four Noble Truths. To realize these Truths is to realize and penetrate into the true nature of existence, including the full knowledge of oneself. When we recognize that all phenomenal things are transitory, are subject to suffering and are void of any essential reality, we will be convinced that true and enduring happiness cannot be found in material possessions and worldly achievement, that true happiness must be sought only through mental purity and the cultivation of wisdom.

　　我們在這裏做什麼？我們對生命感到快樂嗎？什麼是苦的根源？我們如何 結束苦並達到永恒的甯靜？

　　四聖谛是佛陀教義的主導。是讓我們理解世間真相的知識和真理。當我們知道世間一切現象都是短暫的和苦的時候，了解到在這物質世界裏，根本沒有快樂可言。唯有通過心靈的淨化和智慧的發展，才能得到永恒的甯靜和快樂。

　　The Four Noble Truths are a very important aspect of the teaching of the Buddha. The Buddha has said that it is because we fail to understand the Four Noble Truths that we have continued to go round in the cycle of birth and death. In the very first sermons of the Buddha, the Dhammachakka Sutta, which He gave to the five monks at the Deer park in Sarnath was on the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. What are the Four Noble Truths

　　四聖谛是佛陀教義中最重要的一環。佛陀宣說四聖谛是爲了讓我們脫離生死輪回的苦海。根據《轉*輪經》(Dhammachaa Sutta)的記載：佛陀證悟後，于鹿野苑首次爲五比庫開示時，所宣說的就是四聖谛和八聖道。

　　什麼是四聖谛？

　　They are as follows: The Noble Truth of Dukkha The Noble Truth of the Cause of Dukkha The Noble Truth of the End of Dukkha The Noble Truth of the path leading to the End of Dukkha There are many ways of understanding the Pali word ”Dukkha”. It has generally been translated as ”suffering” or ”unsatisfactoriness”, but this term as used in the Four Noble Truths has a deeper and wider meaning. Dukkha contains not only the ordinary meaning of suffering, but also includes deeper ideas such as imperfection, pain, impermanence, disharmony, discomfort, irritation, or awareness of incompleteness and insufficiency. By all means, Dukkha includes physical and mental suffering: birth, decay, disease, death, to be united with the unpleasant, to be separated from the pleasant, not to get what one desires.

　　四聖谛是：

　　一、造成諸苦的苦，苦聖谛。

　　二、苦的起因，集聖谛。

　　叁、苦的熄滅，滅聖谛。

　　四、滅苦之道，道聖谛。

　　在巴利文中苦(Duha)有多重含義，如：困擾、不滿足、疼痛、不和諧等意思，在四聖谛中，我們采用了意義更深入和廣泛的「苦」爲它下定義。「苦」包括肉體和精神的「苦」，如：生、老、病、死。「苦」與舒適界限分明，永遠站在不舒適的那一邊。但是，很多人不理解當歡愉和快樂的時候，那也是「苦」，因爲歡愉、快樂是不永恒的，一旦失去時就轉化成「苦」了。因此，「苦」占據了整個生存的空間。我們的快樂或悲傷，甚至我們的整個生命都是「苦」，只要我們活著一天，就要接受生命就是「苦」的真相。

　　However, many people do not realize that even during the moments of joy and happiness, there is Dukkha because these moments are all impermanent states and will pass away when conditions change.

　　Therefore, the truth of Dukkha encompasses the whole of existence, in our happiness and sorrow, in every aspect of our lives. As long as we live, we are very profoundly subjected to this truth. Some people may have the impression that viewing life in terms of Dukkha is a rather pessimistic way of looking at life. This is not a pessimistic but a realistic way of looking at life. If one is suffering from a disease and refuses to recognize the fact that one is ill, and as a result of which refuses to seek for treatment, we will not consider such a mental attitude as being optimistic, but merely as being foolish. Therefore, by being both optimistic or pessimistic, one does not really understand the nature of life, and is therefore unable to tackle life”s problems in the right perspective.

　　The Four Noble Truths begin with the recognition of Dukkha and then proceed to analyse its cause and find its cure. Had the Buddha stopped at the Truth of Dukkha, then one may say Buddhism has identified the problem but has not given the cure; if such is the case, th…

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