天葬

　　Sky Burial

　　古印度有八大天葬臺，藏地也有難以計數的大小天葬臺。喇榮西山也有一座遠近聞名的天葬臺。方圓幾百裏甚至遠至拉薩、昌都的信徒，死亡之後都會被親人用車、馬、牦牛將屍體運至此處天葬，這也反映了他們對上師如意寶的信心。

　　In ancient India, there were eight great sky burial sites. In Tibet, there are numerous such places, large and small; a famous one is located at West Larung Mountain. The corpses of Buddhist followers from hundreds of miles around, even as far as from Lhasa or Chamdo, are often brought over by relatives in cars, by horse or yak, to be sky buried here, a practice reflecting the faith people have in our precious Guru, H.H. Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche.

　　每天少則五、六具，多則十幾具屍體，先被運至大經堂門口，由學院僧衆超度後，再送往天葬臺。

　　Each day, five or six or up to a dozen corpses arrive at the academy. They are first placed in front of the Great Shrine Room for Sangha members to perform the ritual of blessing, and later are sent to the sky burial site.

　　今天下午，雖然身體略有不適，但爲了讓自己能再上一堂無常課，我還是與衆人一起去到了久違的天葬臺。

　　In order to refresh my mind with the lesson of impermanence, I went to the sky burial ground with others this afternoon, even though I wasn”t feeling quite well. It”s been a while since my last visit there.

　　好一幅壯美的風景圖！山風獵獵，吹拂著各色經幡；清清溪水，穿越著茵茵草地；雁陣悠悠，裝點著無雲蒼天。但這一切詩情畫意並不能掩蓋時而飄來的腐爛氣息。

　　What grand and beautiful scenery to behold! The bleak mountain wind fluttered different kinds of prayer flags; clear streams ran through the verdant grassland; a flock of wild geese flew in formation, adorning the vast sky. Such idyllic scenery, however, was incapable of covering up the rotten odors wafting up now and then from the other end.

　　屍體被紛紛運到，散亂地排列在一起。他們中有年老病逝的，也有英年早衰的，有男人，也有女人，甚至夭折的嬰兒。從服飾可以看出，他們分屬于貧富不同的家庭，但此時都平等地還原爲初來人世赤身裸體的樣子。

　　Corpses were transported here in succession and lined up loosely. Some were old people who died from illness; others perished in their prime; there were men, women, and even babies. They had been wearing clothes and ornaments of rich or poor families, but presently all of them were equally dressed up in their birthday suits.

　　在天葬師的操作和鷹鹫的配合下，幾天前還是一個活蹦亂跳的生命，幾分鍾就被分食殆盡。

　　The sky burial master began his operation and with the cooperation of the vultures, the body of someone who had been animatedly living a few days ago was soon completely devoured with little remaining.

　　生命，雖然有極其驚人的求生能力，卻無法抗禦無常的降臨。無論富貴貧賤，無論年邁少壯。這是不以人的意志爲轉移的法則。

　　Every life is endowed with an incredible drive for survival, yet every life is powerless to stop the arrival of its final end. No human”s willpower, whether of the rich or poor, noble or humble, old or young, can ever bend the principle of impermanence.

　　有人懼怕屍體，不敢到屍陀林(天葬臺)。米拉日巴雲：“最可怕的身體就是活著的身體。”看看弱肉強食的社會，難道不比這裏更可怕嗎？

　　Some people are fearful of corpses and dare not go to the charnel ground. Yet Jetsun Mila says: “The scariest body is the living body.” Just take a look at society governed by the law of the jungle nowadays; don”t you think that is scarier than what is here at the charnel ground

　　失去親人的人們默默地擦拭著眼淚，仍不能喚醒九泉之下的亡靈。

　　The bereaved wiped their tears silently, but they had no way to call back the souls of the departed.

　　鷹鹫們展開翅膀，很快從視線中消失了。給我留下久散不去的怅然。

　　The vultures spread their wings and soon vanished from sight. I was left with a profound sadness that refused to go away for a long while.

　　壬午年七月十五日 　

　　2002年8月22日

　　15th of July, Year of RenWu

　　August 22, 2002