..续本文上一页”；施、戒、皈依、定、慧、道、果与涅槃——全部都可归结为“空”。
The whole essence of the teaching can be summed up as freedom from suffering through non-attachment. Hence this non-grasping and non-clinging, this absence of any idea of self or of anything belonging to a self, is the most important teaching. So please, every one of you, bear well in mind one word, the one single word that reveals the entire Dhamma, the single syllable waang (empty, void, free), which in Pali is su..atā — the core and essence of Buddhism. People break the moral precepts because they lack cit waang (mind free of the self-idea). People lack concentration because they do not have cit waang. People have no insight because they do not have cit waang. The Buddha had cit waang. Cit waang is just what Buddhahood is. The Dhamma is simply the teaching of cit waang, the practice that leads to cit waang, and the fruit of that practice, which is cit waang and ultimately nibbāna. The Sangha consists of people following the Buddha”s system of practice in order to attain cit waang. Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha are summed up in the word waang (free, void, empty). One succeeds in keeping the moral precepts through abstaining from grasping and clinging, and through being free of the mental defilements, free of grasping and clinging. When cit waang has been attained, the defilements are absent and concentration is at its best. When one has come to see things (the world) as empty, one doesn”t grasp or cling to any of them and one has full insight. The Path and Fruit of Nibbāna consist in knowing emptiness and in successively gaining the fruits of emptiness right up to the very culmination. Charity, morality, taking refuge (in Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha), concentration, insight, Path and Fruit, and nibbāna — all these are summed up in the single word waang (empty).
这说明佛陀为何这么说：““空”是我所教，没有谈及“空”是他人的教导，是后期弟子为音韵和谐所凑成的非正轨教导。任何的素旦答(suttanta)是如来所说，与“空”相应，义理奥妙深远，超越世间。”这是如来所说的法。相反地，“任何(自称的)素旦答(suttanta)，纵使辞藻华丽、音韵和谐，若脱离“空”的轨道，就与“空”不相应，这是弟子的说法。”有这两种素旦答(suttanta)的说法，与“空”相应的是如来的说法，与“空”不相应的是后期弟子的说法。
This is why the Buddha said, “Emptiness is what I teach. A teaching that does not treat of emptiness is someone else”s teaching, an unorthodox teaching composed by some later disciple. All discourses which are utterances of the Accomplished One are profound, have deep significance, are the means of transcending the world, and deal primarily with emptiness (su..atā). “This was spoken by the Tathāgata. On the other hand, “A discourse of any kind, though produced by a poet or a learned man, versified, poetical, splendid, melodious in sound and syllable, is not in keeping with the teaching if not connected with su..atā. “There are these two kinds of discourses. Those dealing with su..atā are utterances of the Buddha; those not dealing with su..atā are utterances of later followers.
佛陀认为“空”和“空相应法”为佛教真正的本质。因此他说：“当“空”的教义失落，人们不再关心“空”时，佛法的精髓就会消失。”(泰本巴利藏第１６册，３１１页)。
So the Buddha considered su..atā and discourses dealing with su..atā to be real essence of Buddhism. This is why he said, “When the teaching of su..atā had died out and no-one is interested in it any longer, then the real essence of the Dhamma will have been lost.”
这很像古代陀舍罗诃(Dasaraha)国王代代相传的鼓，当它渐渐磨损、毁坏，长期一次次被补缀整修，直到最后全由新的材料组成，它真正的实质就消失殆尽了！
It is like the drum owned by the Dasāraha kings in ancient times, which was handed down from generation to generation. As it became worn out and dilapidated, it was patched and mended time and time again, over a long period, until eventually consisted of nothing but new materials. The real substance of it had completely disappeared.
当比丘不再重视那原是他们应该去解、去行的“空相应法”时，原始佛教的本质就可说已经完全消失，除了后代弟子所说的新的内容，没有留下什么，那就像鼓的遭遇一样。请去读读看！想一想！佛陀叮咛我们要宣扬“无执无著”的微妙法，而且“初、中、后时，法味一如”；
但是，现在佛教所呈显的是什么风貌？
它像原本的老鼓，或只是由新材料补缀而成的新鼓？
我们只要观察人是否关心“空”和修习“空”，自己就可找到答案了。这些是佛陀的遗教，精勤修行，宣扬这教法(空相应法)，并藉着学习“空”，修复已毁坏的材料，让它重现生机。大家一定要自己去挖掘，去研讨，去学习，直到重新明白(空相应法)，这才可以说已经恢复它的实质了。
When the time comes that bhikkhus no longer are concerned with studying and listening to topics relating to su..atā, which is the subject that they ought to be studying and practising, at that time it can be said that the original substance of Buddhism has been lost completely and that nothing remains but new material, utterances of later disciples, just as happened with the drum. Think it over! The Buddha urged us to teach the Dhamma, splendid in its beginning, middle, and end, in terms of non-grasping and non-clinging. But what is the condition of Buddhism at the present time
Is it like the original old drum or does it consist of just new material, just patches
We can find this out for ourselves by simply examining it to see whether or not people are interested in su..atā and practise su..atā.
These were the Buddha”s last instructions to his disciples: to practice heedfulness of this teaching, to proclaim this teaching and to restore the decayed material to fresh and good condition by studying su..atā. This is to be done by digging, probing about, studying, and discussing until such time as the understanding of this teaching has been revived and it can be said that the genuine material has been restored to its original condition.
《佛陀的遗教是什么？What were the Buddha’s last instruction to us
》全文阅读结束。