無常
It”s Impermanent
此刻，才華橫溢的孫先生坐在我旁邊，看著手裏自己年輕時的照片，淚水像斷線的水晶念珠般灑落下來。
At this moment, the talented and brilliant Mr. Sun is sitting next to me, holding photos of his youthful self. As he looks at them, tears stream down his cheeks like crystal beads falling from a broken mala string.
我知道他是在感慨韶華易失、青春不再，年輕時的美好時光已如長流之水向東而去，再也無法追尋。
I understand he is feeling sad that he has lost his glorious prime and will never be young again. All his jubilant youthful years, like a river rushing forward, were gone beyond recall.
見此情景，不禁想起《紅樓夢》中林黛玉的《葬花詞》：“試看春殘花漸落，便是紅顔老死時，一朝春盡紅顔老，花落人亡兩不知。”我想這也是他此刻心靈的真實寫照吧。
Seeing this, the poem “Burying Flowers” by Lin Daiyu in The Story of the Stone (A Dream of Red Mansions) comes to my mind:
Spring is ending and the flowers wilting one by one,
It is also the time when beauty must grow old and die.
Once spring is gone and the beauty meets her doom,
Who will care for the fallen bloom and buried lady
This poem, I sense, must be a close portrayal of Mr. Sun”s mood at this moment.
只可惜他不信佛教，無法用佛教的智慧之劍來斬斷這些痛苦，而使這種悲觀情緒如洶湧之波濤，一浪高過一浪。真是可悲可歎！
Too bad he does not believe in Buddhism and is unable to use the sword of Dharma wisdom to cut off suffering. He can only give rein to gloomy emotions, which like turbulent tidal waves, surge higher and higher. How lamentable!
世間的一切，包括青春、財富、感情甚至生命都是瞬息即逝的，白居易有詩言：“勿歎韶華子，俄成皤叟仙。”雖然想留住青春年華，然而生死的腳步卻一刻也不會停留。若不利用青春年少的大好時期好好修法，真是令人歎息。麥彭仁波切說：“韶華瞬逝財富動，生命如住閻羅齒，然諸世人不修法，嗚呼人行真希奇！”
Everything in the world—youth, wealth, and relationships, even life—is ephemeral. Bai Juyi says in a poem: “No need to envy young fellows, Hoary old gents soon they become.”
Try as we may to hold onto youth, yet the paces of life and death never pause for an instant. Should we fail to take advantage of youthful years to study the Dharma, it”s quite regrettable. Mipham Rinpoche says:
Youth is momentary and wealth is fickle; life is like being in the jaws of the Lord of Death. Yet many people still ignore Dharma practice. Alas, how disconcerting their behavior is!
也許試著給他講講這些道理，聰明的他會想通的。我決定合上書本，好好和他談談。
Perhaps I should try to explain this logic to him; he is a smart guy, he will get it. Closing my book, I decide to have a good talk with him.
壬午年二月初二
2002年3月15日
2nd of February, Year of RenWu
March 15, 2002