..續本文上一頁 It feels worst of all when the nurse washes its tender body with hot water.

　　(b) The suffering of old age such as grey hair, bad eyesight,

　　dull ears, tooth decay, weakness of the limbs, and various kinds of suffering come one after another.

　　(c) The suffering of sickness -- Our bodies are formed of solid, liquid, heat and air. If the four elements are quite balanced, then we are strong enough to do everything. On the contrary, we are getting sick for some time or for years.

　　(d) The suffering of death. -- No matter how careful we protect ourselves from being hungry, cold, hot or ill, we cannot escape the inevitable state of death. The suffer-ing, at the point of death, is like a crab which is thrown into a burning pan.

　　(e) The suffering of separation from beloved ones. -- Everybody loves the natural happiness, when husbands and wives, parents and children are assembled together joy-fully. Unfortunately, when unexpected things happen, we are forced to separate. Worst still when a sick person cannot be cured by any doctor or medicine, he has to die.

　　(f) The suffering of craving. -- The suffering which hurts us greatly can easily be seen, when we are unsuccessful in our expectations of money, reputation, benefit, children, clothing, food or lodging.

　　(g) The suffering of being in the company of our enemies. -- It is very sad to meet our enemies who have harmed us, or have put us to shame unreasonably. It is unspeakable suffering both physically and mentally when children are disobedient, brothers and sisters are unfriendly, husbands and wives are disagreeable, mothers-in-law, daughters-in law and sisters-in-law are quarrelsome.

　　(h) The suffering from the five aggregates of form, feeling, perception) tendencies and consciousness. -- When the light of our wisdom is obscured or enveloped by a combination of these five factors, we feel as if a fire is raging furiously in our hearts.

　　Annotation 18

　　Nibbana, in Pali or Nirvana, in Sanskrit, has different significations:

　　(a) It may mean the extinction of the fires of greed, hatred and illusion and other elements of depravity and defilement.

　　(b) It may imply that the extinction of rebirth, thus suppressing all suffering.

　　(c) It may be interpreted as the attainment of an absolute realm of permanence, easiness, true self and purity.

　　(d) It may also signify abstention from covering the fire of lust with more fagots in order to let it burn out by itself.

　　(e) It may also be regarded as a state of supreme bliss of Enlightenment, beyond the conception of the intellect.

　　Annotation 19

　　This is the conclusion of the eight precepts. It emphasizes, by putting them into practice, one can get the benefit of Enlightenment. Only reading by heart is just like a parrot that imitates a man”s speaking, without knowing the real meaning.

　　When a man is sick, he has to go to see a doctor. For curing the disease, he has to take medicine, according to the prescription given by the doctor. Only by taking medicine, can the sick he healed. It is the same way for the practice of Buddhism. It is said by the ancients: "Without biting cold, how can one get fragrant plum blossoms."

《佛說八大人覺經 The Enlightenment Sutra translated by Dr· Tetcheng Liao》全文閱讀結束。