..续本文上一页her traditions try to deny.

　　早期佛教毫不讳言，困境就在于轮回于生、老、死的毫无意义。其教导并不试图否认这个事实，因此不要求我们欺骗自己，或者装着视而不见。如一位导师所说，佛教对现实之苦的确认──并且郑重其事地尊之为第一圣谛──是一件赠礼。它印证了我们对世事最敏感、最直接的体验，而这种体验是许多其它宗教传统试图否认的。

　　From there, the early teachings ask us to become even more sensitive, to the point where we see that the true cause of suffering is not out there — in society or some outside being — but in here, in the craving present in each inpidual mind. They then confirm that there is an end to suffering, a release from the cycle. And they show the way to that release, through developing noble qualities already latent in the mind to the point where they cast craving aside and open onto Deathlessness. Thus the predicament has a practical solution, a solution within the powers of every human being.

　　从那里出发，早期佛教要求我们进一步提高敏感度，直到看见，造苦的真正原因不在那里──不在外界社会，不在他人──而在这里，在每个人内心的渴求。接著，它确认苦是可以止息的，轮回是可以脱离的。同时它指出了解脱之道──藉由长养内心潜在的尊贵素质，直到止息渴求、趋向涅槃。因此，困境有一条人人得以实践的解脱之道。

　　It”s also a solution open to critical scrutiny and testing — an indication of how confident the Buddha was in the solution he found to the problem of samvega. This is one of the aspects of authentic Buddhism that most attracts people who are tired of being told that they should try to deny the insights that inspired their sense of samvega in the first place.

　　这条道之具有开放性，接受人们严格的审查与检验，也说明佛陀本人对于解决厌离感的难题何等有把握。对那些倦于受人劝解、拒绝否认引生厌离感的原初领悟的人来说，这也是真正的佛教最吸引他们的原因。

　　In fact, Buddhism is not only confident that it can handle feelings of samvega but it”s also one of the few religions that actively cultivates them to a radical extent. Its solution to the problems of life demand so much dedicated effort that only strong samvega will keep the practicing Buddhist from slipping back into his or her old ways. Hence the recommendation that all Buddhists, both men and women, lay or ordained, should reflect daily on the facts of aging, illness, separation, and death — to develop feelings of samvega — and on the power of one”s own actions, to take samvega one step further, to pasada.

　　实际上，佛教不仅对解决厌离感的问题足有把握，也是少数几个鼓励从根本上长养此心的宗教之一。对于人生困境的解决之道要求如此专注的修持，只有具备了强烈的厌离感，才能够确保行者不至松懈退步、回复旧习。故有此番教诫: 无分男女、在家出家，每日籍省思老病离死，长养厌离之感，下一步，藉由个人自身行动之力，将厌离升华为清净。

　　For people whose sense of samvega is so strong that they want to abandon any social ties that prevent them from following the path to the end of suffering, Buddhism offers both a long-proven body of wisdom for them to draw from, as well as a safety net: the monastic sangha, an institution that enables them to leave lay society without having to waste time worrying about basic survival. For those who can”t leave their social ties, Buddhist teaching offers a way to live in the world without being overcome by the world, following a life of generosity, virtue, and meditation to strengthen the noble qualities of the mind that will lead to the end of suffering. The close, symbiotic relationship maintained between these two branches of the Buddhist parisa, or following, guarantees that the monastics don”t turn into misfits and misanthropes, and that the laity don”t lose touch with the values that will keep their practice alive.

　　对于厌离心强，有志于离开世俗纠葛、减少解脱道上的障碍者，佛教既提供了一套久经考验的智慧体系，也提供了僧伽的安全网，这个机构使他们得以离开居家社会，基本生存条件无虞。对于离不开世俗关系者，佛教提供了一套居世而不受其染的生活方式，以布施、持戒与禅定，增强心智中趋向解脱的的尊贵品质。佛教僧俗(parisa)这两个分支的紧密共生关系，保证了僧侣们免于成为边缘人与厌世者，居士们得以继续接触保持其修行活力的根本价值。

　　So the Buddhist attitude toward life cultivates samvega — a strong sense of the meaninglessness of the cycle of birth, aging, and death — and develops it into pasada: a confident path to the Deathless. That path includes not only time-proven guidance, but also a social institution that nurtures it and keeps it alive. These are all things that our society desperately needs. In our current efforts at mainstreaming Buddhism, we should remember that one source of Buddhism”s strength is its ability to keep one foot out of the mainstream, and that the traditional metaphor for the practice is that it crosses over the stream to the further shore.

《印证心灵真谛——佛教的“厌离”与“清净”》全文阅读结束。