https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/YEdQ1iwjuZlb9QAic927aA
The Power of Truth 真理的力量
Thanissaro Bhikkhu, May 23, 2016
Bodhiwood 字幕组译制
中译仅供参考，如果发现字幕错误，请留言指出，以便我们不断提高，谢谢。
One of the Buddha's insights is that truths don't just represent the way things are.
佛陀的一个洞见就是真理并不只是表示事情的面貌。
In other words, they're not just an act of reporting: They also have a power.
换言之，它们不只是一种宣示行为，它们还有一种力量。
Certain truths will make you do things,
某些真理让你有所作为。
allow you to look at things in a certain way, which will then allow you or compel you to act.
让你以某种方式审视事情，从而让你甚至强迫你有所作为。
This is one of the reasons why the noble truths are noble, because they get you to act in a noble way.
这就是四圣谛之所以称之为”圣“，因为它们让你行为高贵。
The Buddha wasn't interested in saying simply things that were true.
佛陀并不热衷于仅仅宣说事情的真相。
As you may remember, his standard for the things he would say was that they be true, beneficial, and timely.
你们可能记得，他对事情的标准是：真实、有益、适时。
The beneficial part had to do not only with the meaning of the words, but also with what they would get you to do.
之所以说有益，就是它不仅关乎字面的意义，还涉及让你怎么去做。
This is one of the reasons why the two words, Dhamma and attha, go together so often in the Canon.
这就是为什么在巴利经藏里，“法”和“义”这两个字经常在一起。
Attha is not only the meaning
of the words, but it also means the goal.
“义”这个词不仅仅指文字的意义，还指“目标”。
What is this truth for? Where does it head? Where does it lead? Because truths have power. They do lead in a certain direction.
真理为何？指向何方？导向何方？真理的力量可以导你趋向某方。
There are lots of true things you can say.
你可以宣说许多真理。
Sometimes truths can actually be contradictory
—or at least they sound contradictory.
有时候真理甚至相互矛盾，至少听起来矛盾。
There are ways you can look at
the aggregates and say that they're stressful,
你用某些方法审视五蕴的时候，你可以说他们是苦迫。
and other cases the Buddha admitted there is pleasures in the aggregates.
但是在另外一下情况下，佛陀也承认，五蕴之中有愉悦。
You can't say they're 100% stress.
你不能说五蕴100%是苦迫。
So, the question is then,
which truth are you going to focus on?
现在问题是：这两个真理，你打算遵循哪个？
What's the result going to be?
What is it going to get you to do?
它们会导致什么后果？会怎样让你行动？
If you focus on how pleasant the aggregates are, you're going to hold onto them.
如果你遵循五蕴可以带来愉悦，你就去执取它们。
If you focus on their stressful side, then you're going to do what you can so as not to be trapped by them.
如果你遵循五蕴的苦迫这个性质，你就会竭力摆脱它们的桎梏。
The noble truths are noble because not only do they get you to do noble things, but also because they get you to a noble attainment.
圣谛之所以为圣，是因为它们不仅让你行为高贵，也让你获得高贵的东西。
The Buddha talked about two kinds of searches in life.
佛陀讲过人的两种追求。
There's the search for happiness in things that will change. He said that there's nothing noble about that.
有一种就是在无常之中寻求快乐，这种追求并不可贵。
And then there's the search for happiness in things that don't change—
在恒常不变的事物中追求快乐。
no aging, no illness, no death. That kind of search, he said, is noble.
这些事物无老也无死，这种追求，佛陀说很可贵。
To help with that search, we look at things in terms of the four noble truths. There are certain duties that go along with them,
为了获得这种追求，我们用四圣谛来审视事物，必须履行某些义务。
and when we fulfill those duties,
当我们履行了这些义务
they'll take us to something deathless, and that experience of the deathless is what guarantees that they really are true,
它们会将我们带至不死之道，体验到不死之道进一步保证四圣谛的真实。
and really are noble.
保证了四圣谛的“圣”。
We might look at the truths, and think about them, and decide that, Yes, they seem reasonable.
我们可以审视四圣谛，考察它们，然后知道它们看起来很合理。
But as the Buddha said, just because something is reasonable doesn't mean that it really is true.
但是如佛陀所说，仅仅因为合理并不能保证它是真理。
The fact that they're reasonable simply aids in giving us confidence or conviction in their truth.
它们合理，这有助于我们对他们的真实产生信心。
That's one of his observations that goes against a lot of our understanding in the West
佛陀的这种看法和西方的很多理解是不同的。
that things like conviction or faith
例如对于信仰的确信
are opposed to reason, that's because there's a major religion in our society that
西方人认为信仰和理性相悖，因为在西方社会的最大宗教
extols things that you have to take on faith even though they go contrary to reason.
吹捧信心，甚至不惜与理性相悖。
So we think that reason and faith are two radically different things.
因为西方人认为理性和信仰是两个截然不同的事情。
But, as the Buddha said, just because the four noble truths seem reasonable, doesn't necessarily mean that they're true. There has to be a further test.
但是，如佛陀所讲，并不能因为四圣谛看起来合理，
就说它们是真理，我们需要进一步检验它。
But their reasonableness is what gives you the faith and conviction that they're worth the test.
但是四圣谛的合理性让你升起信心，确信它们值得我们去检测。
If something doesn't make sense, if it contradicts itself, it doesn't really invite you to test whether it's true.
如果某件事很荒唐，自相矛盾，所以不愿意别人去检测它。
But if something seems reasonable,
it seems worthy of the test.
但是如果某件事看起来很合理，看起来值得去检验。
So you put it to the test, and you put yourself to the test, too, because these truths demand a lot of you.
这样你就去检测，把自己去做试验，因为这真理迫切要求你去试验。
They demand that you look at your thoughts, your words, and your deeds—and particularly your thoughts—
要求你审视自己的身、口、意，特别是你的“意”。
in a way that often will require you to let go of the ones you really like.
常常要求你放下你喜欢的东西。
That's because you learn how to look at the thoughts as part of a causal process. When you think in this particular way, where does it lead?
因为你学者如何去审视你的思想，这是因果法则的一部分。
当你这样去审视的时候，它将引领你到何方？
This is what's special about the noble truths: They focus on this process of what the mind is doing with the truth.
这就是四圣谛特别的地方：他们侧重于真理对你的心的影响。
They contain the seeds
for their own transcendence in this way.
这样它们包含着自我升华的种子。
There's a passage where Anathapindika is talking to a group of wanderers.
在佛经里记载了给孤独长者与一群游方僧交谈。
He wanted to see the Buddha,
but it was too early in the morning—the Buddha and the monks were out on their alms rounds—
他想见佛陀，但是太早了，佛陀和其他比丘去托钵乞食了。
so he went to talk to some wanderers and ask what their views were,
他去和游方僧交谈，想知道他们的观点。
but they comes to see him first, excuse me, he comes to see them.
游方僧来见给孤独长者，不好意思，是给孤独长者去见游方僧。
They ask him first “What does the Buddha believe? What are his views?”
他们问给孤独长者：“佛陀相信什么，佛陀的观点是什么？”
And it's interesting. Here's Anathapindika, who is a stream enterer by that time, he's already seen the deathless,
有趣的是，给孤独长者他已经是圣者了，已经见到了不死之道。
and yet he says, “I don't really know the full extent of the Buddha's views”
给孤独长者说：佛陀所证之境，我也不能全知。
—remembering, of course, that what the Buddha taught was just that handful of leaves,
记住，佛陀所教的，只不过如同掌中之叶，
as opposed to the leaves of the forest, which were all the various types of knowledge he got in his awakening.
而他所证得而没有宣讲的东西，如同森林中的树叶那么多。
So the wanderers ask him, “In that case, what do you believe? What are your views?”
于是游方僧问：“这样的话，你相信什么？你的观点是什么？”
And he replies, “I'll be happy to tell you my views, but first you tell me yours.”
给孤独长者说：“我很乐意告诉你，但是你得先告诉我你们的观点？”
And so the different groups have their different positions. Some say that the world is eternal. Some say it's not eternal.
所以不同团体，会持有不同的观点，有些说世界是永恒的，有些说不是。
Some say it's finite; some say it's infinite.
有些说世界是有限，有些说是无限。
The body is the same thing as the soul, the body is different from the soul.
身体和灵魂是一回事，身体和灵魂不是一回事。
After the death of a Tathagata you can say either that he exists, or he doesn't exist, or both, or neither.
佛陀死后，你可能说他继续存在，或者不存在，同时存在不存在……
And as Anathapindika then points out, each particular view is stressful.
给孤独长者指出，每个特定的知见都是苦迫。
It's inconstant, it's put together, and everything that's inconstant and put together is going to lead to stress if you hold onto it. So as you cling to that view, you cling to stress.
是无常，聚合在一起，万物都是无常，你执着于它们，会导向苦迫。
所以你执着知见，就是执着苦迫。
After that, they say, “Okay, what's your view?” And so he says, “Whatever is inconstant and put together is stressful.”
游方僧讲完自己的观点之后，问给孤独长者：“你的观点是什么？”
给孤独长者说：“无常的东西，聚合在一起，就是苦迫。”
They say, “Well, you're holding to that. You're clinging to that. You're going to suffer from that, too.” He says, “No,
他们说：“你持有你的观点，执着于它，
你同样会因此受苦。”给孤独长者说：“不会，
following this view, I see the escape from it.”
我这样的观点，会导致离苦。“
That's because it focuses you back on the process of how you relate to truths, and how you relate to your views,
因为这让你返回到与真理相关的过程，也联系着你的知见。
so it enables you to let go.
它让你放下。
And in the letting go,
that's when it leads to the deathless.
在放下之中，导向不死之道。
So these are special views,
所以这是一种特别的知见，
and they're special because of their power.
它们之所以特别，是因为它们有力量。
They lead you to a certain kind of action. They lead you to look at your own mind carefully.
它们引领你有所行动。引领你仔细审视自己的心。
What are you doing? How do you relate to your thoughts, and words, and deeds? How do you relate to your beliefs?
你在干什么？跟你的身口意有何关系？跟你的信念有何关系？
How do you relate to your practices and all the things that we tend to cling to? How can you learn how not to cling to them?
跟你的修行有何关系，还有你想执着的各种事情？怎样才能不执着？
We need certain views, and we need certain habits and practices, and even certain assumptions about ourselves, in order to practice.
我们需要特定的知见，需要特定的习惯、行为，
甚至对于自己的特定假说，以利于修行。
But how do you use these things so they don't just keep you trapped?
但是如何利用这些事情，而不被其所束缚呢？
When they've done their work,
how can you learn to let go?
当它们完成任务之后，我们如何放下它们？
In the beginning you learn, as the Buddha said, not to pride yourself over your views or your habits.
当你开始的时候，佛陀说，学会不要为自己的知见和习性而骄傲。
You don't brag about them, and you don't get into needless arguments with people about them—
不要炫耀自己的知见，不要与别人发生不必要的辩论
because when you get into arguments, there's always the question of who wins the arguments,
因为只要你陷入辩论，就会想赢得辩论，
and that leads to a certain amount of pride, and that pride will cause a problem.
这样会导致我慢，这种我慢会导致问题。
that's how you begin to use these parts of the practice without being tied down to them, and without using them to create needless trouble for yourself.
在利用这些修行的手段时，不要被他们束缚，
不要用它们给自己制造不必要的麻烦。
Remember that image of the snake. As the Buddha said, you try to grasp a snake, and if you grasp it wrongly—in other words, you grasp it by the tail—it's going to bite you.
佛陀说，当你捉蛇的时候，如果抓错了位置
—换句话说，你抓住它的尾巴—他会咬你。
If you grasp it rightly,
then it's not going to cause any trouble.
如果你用正确的方法抓蛇，它就不会给你造成任何麻烦。
You take a forked stick and
you pin it down right behind its head.
你用一个叉子叉住它的头。
And no matter how much it may writhe around the stick, or even around your arm, it can't do you any harm.
这样，即便它缠住了叉子，或者甚至缠住你的手臂，也不会伤害你。
But notice: In both cases, you're holding the snake,
注意：这两种方法都是捉蛇。
but in one case you're holding it in a way that doesn't cause you any harm.
但是有一种方式不会给你造成伤害。
The views are things that you have to hold to, but you have to learn how to hold onto them properly.
你需要抓取各种知见，但是你要学习如何正确地持有这些知见。
You hold to these truths in a proper way
你要正确地持有这些知见，
because they lead you to something beyond them—if you're holding them properly.
如果你正确地持有它们，它们会引领你去超越它们。
Some people would say, “Why not just avoid having any views at all?” Well, that would be like not holding the snake at all.
有些人会说：“不持有任何知见行不行？”这样，就等于不去捉蛇。
And if you don't hold the snake, how are you going to get the advantage that you can get from snakes? I mean, you can get their venom, and you can use their venom to create anti-venom;
如果你不抓蛇，你如何从蛇那里获益？
我的意思是，获取蛇毒，用蛇毒制造抗毒药品。
there are lots of uses for the snake venom.
蛇毒有很多用处。
If you don't hold onto the snake at all, you're not going to get any benefit from it. So you do have to hold on.
如果你不抓蛇，你就不能获得任何利益，所以要去抓蛇。
It's simply a question of how you hold on.
只是要注意抓取的方式。
You have to remember that you're holding on for the purpose of getting past suffering.
你要记住，你抓取，是为了离苦。
That's what the four noble truths
all keep pointing to, simply laying things out: There's suffering, and there is it's cause. There's a cessation of suffering, and there is a path to its cessation.
这就是四圣谛的指向，一下子就揭示出真理：苦、集、灭、道。
The cessation is obviously where you want to go.
苦之灭就是我们想要的。
In that way, the truths give you a goal, they give you an attha, a purpose.
这样，真理给你目标，给你“义”，意义。
And they get you to act toward that purpose. That's the power of these truths.
它们让你朝着这个目标行动，这就是真理的力量。
And then they reveal their power in genuinely being true and noble when they lead to a real experience of the deathless.
当真理导向不死的真正体验，就展示出它的力量：真实而高贵。
When that comes, you naturally put them aside, because you realize that talking about the deathless is one thing, but actually experiencing it is something else.
当你体验到的时候，就放下了它们，
以你为谈论涅槃是一回事，体验到它是另外一回事。
And the experience is what you're going for.
这种体验是你要追求的。
So when you consider the various
truths in the world, you'll notice that some have a lot of power, and some have very little power.
所以当你考察这个世界的各种真理，
你会注意到有些具有很大的力量，有些没有什么力量。
Certain facts you can learn, and they don't have any impact on your behavior at all.
有些事实你可以去了解，但是它们不会给你的行为造成任何影响。
Those are things that are true,
but not necessarily beneficial.
这些事实也是真理，但是并不一定对你有益。
Then there are certain truths that, if you act on them, are going to actually cause trouble.
还有一些真理，你如果真的照着去做，会给你带来麻烦。
Those are not truths
you want to get involved with either.
这些都不是真理，你不想牵涉到其中。
What you want are truths that are true, and beneficial, and right for you at this time.
你们想要的真理不仅要真实，而且要有益，并且适时。
And the noble truths, as the Buddha said,
are categorically true. In other words, they are always true. They always apply to every situation.
如同佛陀所言，四圣谛是绝对的真理。
换句话说，它们在任何情况下都是正确的，适用于任何情况。
So learn how to apply them in the right way so that they can really reveal their power, the power that makes them noble.
所以，学习如何正确地利用四圣谛，让他们展示自己的力量，
正是这种力量让它们高贵，称之为“圣”。
