..續本文上一頁，它能把我們一直帶到徹底脫離老、病、死之不安穩的自由境界。

　　The Buddha, on the external level, refers to Siddhattha Gotama, the Indian prince who renounced his royal titles and went into the forest, meditating until he ultimately gained Awakening. To take refuge in the Buddha means, not taking refuge in him as a person, but taking refuge in the fact of his Awakening: placing trust in the belief that he did awaken to the truth, that he did so by developing qualities that we too can develop, and that the truths to which he awoke provide the best perspective for the conduct of our life. 佛陀，在外在層次上，指的是悉達多-喬達摩，那位舍棄了王族頭銜，進入叢林禅修，最終證得覺醒的印度王子。歸依佛陀，並非意味著把他作爲個人而歸依，而是對他的覺醒的歸依，也就是置信于: 他的確覺悟真相、他的覺醒是借著培育我們亦可培育的諸種素質、他所悟得的真谛爲我們的人生行動提供了最佳視野。

　　The Dhamma, on the external level, refers to the path of practice the Buddha taught to this followers. This, in turn, is pided into three levels: the words of his teachings, the act of putting those teachings into practice, and the attainment of Awakening as the result of that practice. This three-way pision of the word "Dhamma" acts as a map showing how to take the external refuges and make them internal: learning about the teachings, using them to develop the qualities that the Buddha himself used to attain Awakening, and then realizing the same release from danger that he found in the quality of Deathlessness that we can touch within. 法， 在外在層次上，指的是佛陀傳給弟子們的修證之道。它又分爲叁層: 他的教言、依此教言的實修、修成的覺醒體證。對“法”一詞作此叁部區分[1]，如一幅地圖，指明了從外在歸依出發，將其內在化的轉變方式: 即，學習教言，把它們應用于培育佛陀本人藉之證悟的諸種素質，接下來，在由他發現的、我們亦能從內心觸及的不死素質之中，同樣地實現解脫，遠離危險。

　　The word Sangha, on the external level, has two senses: conventional and ideal. In its ideal sense, the Sangha consists of all people, lay or ordained, who have practiced the Dhamma to the point of gaining at least a glimpse of the Deathless. In a conventional sense, Sangha denotes the communities of ordained monks and nuns. The two meanings overlap but are not necessarily identical. Some members of the ideal Sangha are not ordained; some monks and nuns have yet to touch the Deathless. All those who take refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha become members of the Buddha”s four-fold assembly (parisa) of followers: monks, nuns, male lay devotees, and female lay devotees. Although there”s a widespread belief that all Buddhist followers are members of the Sangha, this is not the case. Only those who are ordained are members of the conventional Sangha; only those who have glimpsed the Deathless are members of the ideal Sangha. Nevertheless, any followers who don”t belong to the Sangha in either sense of the word still count as genuine Buddhists in that they are members of the Buddha”s parisa. 僧伽一詞，在外在層次上有常規與理想兩種意義。在理想意義上，僧伽由所有修練到至少瞥見不死之法者構成，不論在家、出家。在常規意義上，僧伽指出家的比丘與比丘尼組成的團體。這兩種意義有重疊，但不一定等同。有的理想僧伽的成員並未出家; 有的比丘與比丘尼尚未觸及不死。所有歸依佛、法、僧者，皆屬于佛教四衆弟子(parisa)的成員: 比丘、比丘尼、優婆塞(男居士)、優婆夷(女居士)。盡管有一種流行說法認爲所有佛教徒都是僧伽的一分子，其實不然。只有出家者，才是常規僧伽的成員; 只有已瞥見不死者，才是理想僧伽的成員。不過，上述兩種僧伽以外的信衆，作爲佛陀的四衆成員，仍都是真正的佛弟子。

　　When taking refuge in the external Sangha, one takes refuge in both senses of the Sangha, but the two senses provide different levels of refuge. The conventional Sangha has helped keep the teaching alive for more than 2,500 years. Without them, we would never have learned what the Buddha taught. However, not all members of the conventional Sangha are reliable models of behavior. So when looking for guidance in the conduct of our lives, we must look to the living and recorded examples provided by the ideal Sangha. Without their example, we would not know (1) that Awakening is available to all, and not just to the Buddha; and (2) how Awakening expresses itself in real life. 當一個人歸依外在的僧伽時，他歸依的是兩種意義上的僧伽，但這兩種意義提供了不同層次的歸依。常規僧伽協助延續著教言的生命力，長達兩千五百多年。沒有他們，我們不可能了解佛陀教導的是什麼。然而，並非常規僧伽的所有成員都是可靠的行爲楷模。因此，當我們尋找人生的操行指南時，必須以在世的和記載中的理想僧伽作爲楷模。沒有他們作出的典範，我們不會了解(1)覺醒不僅只有佛陀才能成就，而是對人人開放; (2)覺醒在真實生活中如何體現。

　　On the internal level, the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha are the skillful qualities we develop in our own minds in imitation of our external models. For instance, the Buddha was a person of wisdom, purity, and compassion. When we develop wisdom, purity, and compassion in our own minds, they form our refuge on an internal level. The Buddha tasted Awakening by developing conviction, persistence, mindfulness, concentration, and discernment. When we develop these same qualities to the point of attaining Awakening too, that Awakening is our ultimate refuge. This is the point where the three aspects of the Triple Gem become one: beyond the reach of greed, anger, and delusion, and thus totally secure. 在內在層次上，佛、法、僧是我們效仿外在的榜樣，在自己的內心培育起來的善巧素質。譬如，佛陀是一位智慧、清淨、慈悲者。當我們在自己的內心培育起智慧、清淨、慈悲時，它們就構成了我們在內在層次上的歸依。佛陀借著培育信念，精進、念住、定力、明辨，嘗得覺悟之果。當我們培育同樣這些素質、達到同樣的覺醒時，該覺醒就是我們的終極歸依。就在此處叁寶的叁側面合而爲一: 超越了貪、嗔、癡之所及，故此徹底安穩。

　　(本文來自原作者解說叁歸依的文集《歸依》首篇。)

　　[1]中譯注:“法”一詞的叁部區分,指pariyatti,patipatti,pativedha,即,教理、實踐、證得; 或學法、修法、證法。

　　http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/refuge.html

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