Four Noble Truths

　　四圣谛

　　Why are we here

　　 Why are we not happy with our lives

　　 What is the cause of our unsatisfactoriness

　　 How can we see the end of unsatisfactoriness and experience eternal peace

　　 The Buddha”s Teaching is based on the Four Noble Truths. To realize these Truths is to realize and penetrate into the true nature of existence, including the full knowledge of oneself. When we recognize that all phenomenal things are transitory, are subject to suffering and are void of any essential reality, we will be convinced that true and enduring happiness cannot be found in material possessions and worldly achievement, that true happiness must be sought only through mental purity and the cultivation of wisdom.

　　我们在这里做什么？我们对生命感到快乐吗？什么是苦的根源？我们如何 结束苦并达到永恒的宁静？

　　四圣谛是佛陀教义的主导。是让我们理解世间真相的知识和真理。当我们知道世间一切现象都是短暂的和苦的时候，了解到在这物质世界里，根本没有快乐可言。唯有通过心灵的净化和智慧的发展，才能得到永恒的宁静和快乐。

　　The Four Noble Truths are a very important aspect of the teaching of the Buddha. The Buddha has said that it is because we fail to understand the Four Noble Truths that we have continued to go round in the cycle of birth and death. In the very first sermons of the Buddha, the Dhammachakka Sutta, which He gave to the five monks at the Deer park in Sarnath was on the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. What are the Four Noble Truths

　　四圣谛是佛陀教义中最重要的一环。佛陀宣说四圣谛是为了让我们脱离生死轮回的苦海。根据《转*轮经》(Dhammachaa Sutta)的记载：佛陀证悟后，于鹿野苑首次为五比库开示时，所宣说的就是四圣谛和八圣道。

　　什么是四圣谛？

　　They are as follows: The Noble Truth of Dukkha The Noble Truth of the Cause of Dukkha The Noble Truth of the End of Dukkha The Noble Truth of the path leading to the End of Dukkha There are many ways of understanding the Pali word ”Dukkha”. It has generally been translated as ”suffering” or ”unsatisfactoriness”, but this term as used in the Four Noble Truths has a deeper and wider meaning. Dukkha contains not only the ordinary meaning of suffering, but also includes deeper ideas such as imperfection, pain, impermanence, disharmony, discomfort, irritation, or awareness of incompleteness and insufficiency. By all means, Dukkha includes physical and mental suffering: birth, decay, disease, death, to be united with the unpleasant, to be separated from the pleasant, not to get what one desires.

　　四圣谛是：

　　一、造成诸苦的苦，苦圣谛。

　　二、苦的起因，集圣谛。

　　三、苦的熄灭，灭圣谛。

　　四、灭苦之道，道圣谛。

　　在巴利文中苦(Duha)有多重含义，如：困扰、不满足、疼痛、不和谐等意思，在四圣谛中，我们采用了意义更深入和广泛的「苦」为它下定义。「苦」包括肉体和精神的「苦」，如：生、老、病、死。「苦」与舒适界限分明，永远站在不舒适的那一边。但是，很多人不理解当欢愉和快乐的时候，那也是「苦」，因为欢愉、快乐是不永恒的，一旦失去时就转化成「苦」了。因此，「苦」占据了整个生存的空间。我们的快乐或悲伤，甚至我们的整个生命都是「苦」，只要我们活着一天，就要接受生命就是「苦」的真相。

　　However, many people do not realize that even during the moments of joy and happiness, there is Dukkha because these moments are all impermanent states and will pass away when conditions change.

　　Therefore, the truth of Dukkha encompasses the whole of existence, in our happiness and sorrow, in every aspect of our lives. As long as we live, we are very profoundly subjected to this truth. Some people may have the impression that viewing life in terms of Dukkha is a rather pessimistic way of looking at life. This is not a pessimistic but a realistic way of looking at life. If one is suffering from a disease and refuses to recognize the fact that one is ill, and as a result of which refuses to seek for treatment, we will not consider such a mental attitude as being optimistic, but merely as being foolish. Therefore, by being both optimistic or pessimistic, one does not really understand the nature of life, and is therefore unable to tackle life”s problems in the right perspective.

　　The Four Noble Truths begin with the recognition of Dukkha and then proceed to analyse its cause and find its cure. Had the Buddha stopped at the Truth of Dukkha, then one may say Buddhism has identified the problem but has not given the cure; if such is the case, th…

《四圣谛 Four Noble Truths》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…