Why Are We Here

　　为何我们生于此？

　　by Ajahn Chah

　　阿姜 查 禅师

　　这次雨安居我不太有力，身体欠安，所以来山上呼吸点新鲜空气。人们来拜防，我也无法如往常般接待他们，因声音沙哑，气息奄奄。大家现在还能看见这身体坐在这里，也算是种福份，很快就会看不见了。气将尽，声将息，它们会如其他所有因缘和合的事物般，随著其他支撑的元素一起消逝，佛陀称此为「灭尽衰灭」(khaya vayam)。

　　This Rains Retreat I don”t have much strength, I”m not well, so I”ve come up to this mountain here to get some fresh air. People come to visit but I can”t really receive them like I used to because my voice is just about had it, my breath is just about gone. You can count it a blessing that there is still this body sitting here for you all to see now. This is a blessing in itself. Soon you won”t see it. The breath will be finished, the voice will be gone. They will fare in accordance with supporting factors, like all compounded things. The Lord Buddha called it khaya vayam, the decline and dissolution of all conditioned phenomena.

　　(根本没有任何人只有地、水、火、风)

　　它们如何坏灭

　　想像一块冰，它原来只是水，将它冷冻后就变成冰，但不久就融化了。取一大块冰放在太阳下，可以看见它如何消解，身体也差不多是如此。它会逐渐瓦解，不久就只剩下一滩水，这就称为「灭尽衰灭」。自古以来，它一直如此，当我们出生时，就带著这坏灭的本质来到世间，无从回避，从一出生，老、病、死就和我们结伴而来。

　　How do they decline

　　 Consider a lump of ice. Originally it was simply water...they freeze it and it becomes ice. But it doesn”t take long before it”s melted. Take a big lump of ice, say as big as this tape recorder here, and leave it out in the sun. You can see how it declines, much the same as the body. It will gradually disintegrate. In not many hours or minutes all that”s left is a puddle of water. This is called khaya vayam, the decline and dissolution of all compounded things. It”s been this way for a long time now, ever since the beginning of time. When we are born we bring this inherent nature into the world with us, we can”t avoid it. At birth we bring old age, sickness and death along with us.

　　所以，佛陀要说「灭尽衰灭」。现在，所有坐在讲堂里的人，无论比丘、沙弥或在家男女，无一例外，都是一堆会坏灭元素的组合。现在这堆东西就如冰块一样坚固，冰块从水开始，暂时变成冰，然后融化。你们能看见自己身体的这个败坏过程吗

　　看看这身体每天都在老化——头髪在变老，指甲在变老，每样东西都在变老。

　　So this is why the Buddha said khaya vayam, the decline and dissolution of all compounded things. All of us sitting here in this hall now, monks, novices, laymen and laywomen, are without exception "lumps of deterioration." Right now the lump is hard, just like the lump of ice. It starts out as water, becomes ice for a while and then melts again. Can you see this decline in yourself

　　 Look at this body. It”s aging every day ... hair is aging, nails are aging...everything is aging!

　　你们不会一直都像这样，会吗

　　过去的你们要比现在小很多，现在长大与成熟了。从现在起，你们将随顺自然的方式，慢慢衰老。身体就如冰块一样衰坏，很快就消失了。　　

　　一切的身体都是由地、水、火、风四大元素所组成，匪聚后称之为「人」。我们受它迷惑，说它是男人或女人，为它命名而称某某先生、女士等，如此一来，更容易相互辨认。但事实上，其中没有任何「人」，只有地、水、火、风。当它们聚合成形时，我们称这结果为「人」，但切莫高兴得太早，若真的深入观察它，其中根本没有任何「人」。

　　You weren”t like this before, were you

　　 You were probably much smaller than this. Now you”ve grown up and matured. From now on you will decline, following the way of nature. The body declines just like the lump of ice. Soon, just like the lump of ice, it”s all gone. All bodies are composed of the four elements of earth, water, wind and fire. A body is the confluence of earth, water, wind, and fire, which we proceed to call a person. Originally it”s hard to say what you could call it, but now we call it a "person." We get infatuated with it, saying it”s a male, a female, giving it names, Mr., Mrs., and so on, so that we can identify each other more easily. But actually there isn”t anybody there. There”s earth, water, wind and fire. When they come together in this known form we call the result a "person." Now don”t get excited over it. If you really look into it there isn”t anyone there.

　　身体坚硬的部分——肉、皮肤、骨头等，称为「地界」；身体液体的部分则是「水界」；身体温暖的机能是「火界」；在身体里流动的气体则是「风界」。

　　That which is solid in the body, the flesh, skin, bones and so on, are called the earth element. Those aspects of the body which are liquid are the water element. The faculty of warmth in the body is the fire element, w…

《为何我们生于此？Why Are We Here

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