Subject: The 4 truths that Buddha discovered - 佛陀所發現的四個真理
When Buddha got enlightened on that full moon day in the month of May, it is said that he maintained silence for the whole week. He did not say a word.. Mythology says that all the angels in the heaven were frightened. They knew that it was only once in a millennium that someone blossoms like Buddha. Now he was silent! The angels then requested him to say something. He said, “Those who know, they know even without my saying and those who do not know, will not know even if I say something. Any description of light to a blind man is of no use. There is no point in talking to those who have not tasted the ambrosia of life, and therefore I am silent.
當佛陀在五月的滿月啟明證道時，祂說祂維持了一整週的禁言。祂一個字也沒有說，神話故事說天上的天使們都嚇壞了。他們知道千年才會有一人如同佛陀般綻放。而現在祂居然禁言！天使們要求祂說點什麼，祂說”那些已經明白的，他們甚至不需要我說什麼而那些不明白的，就算我說什麼也不會明白。對一個盲人描述光明是沒有用的。對那些沒有嚐過生命甜美的人說什麼是沒有意義的。因此我禁言。
How can you convey something so intimate and personal? Words cannot. And as many scriptures in the past have declared words end where truth begins.”
你要如何傳達如此熟悉且私人的事？文字做不到。如同過去許多經文所講述的”文字終結於真理開始之處”。
The angels said, “What you say is right. But consider those who are on the borderline, who are neither fully enlightened nor totally ignorant.( Refer The way to get rid of the obstacles - SriSri ) For them, a few words will give a push, for their sake you speak and every word of yours will create that silence.”
天使問道，”祢說的都對。但是想想那些曖昧不明的地帶，誰既不是全然明智亦非全然無知(關於掃除障礙的方法—古儒吉補充)對他們而言，一點文字能給予助力，祢為了他們的利益而說而祢將造就寧靜。”
The purpose of words is to create silence. If words create more noise, then they have not reached their goal. Buddha's words would definitely create silence, because Buddha is the manifestation of silence. Silence is the source of life and is the cure for diseases. When people are angry, they maintain silence. First they shout and then comes the silence. When one is sad, they ask to be left alone and retreat into silence. Similarly, silence is the recourse one takes to if ashamed. If one is wise too, there’s silence.
文字的目的在於創造寧靜。如果文字製造更多的干擾，那它們就沒有達成目標。佛陀的話語必然創造寧靜。因為佛陀是寧靜的一種示現。寧靜是生命之源也是疾病的療瘱。當人們生氣時，他們保持沈默。一開始他們會叫囂接著陷入沈默。而一個人傷心時，他們要求獨處同時躲進沈默裡。相同的，當一個人感到羞愧時也會依賴沈默。而一個有智慧的人，也是寡言的。
When Jesus was asked, “Are you the son of God?” he kept silent; it was the wisest thing to do. When you are telling someone you have a pain in the leg and they want you to prove it, how is that possible?
當耶穌被問道，”祢是神之子嗎？”祂保持沈默；那是很有智慧的做法。當你告訴某人你腳痛而他們卻要你證明腿痛這回事，那怎麼可能呢？
When you cannot prove something as deep as pain how can you prove something like enlightenment or divinity? Joy and fulfillment bring silence while desire brings noise.
當你無法證明某些如深沈的痛苦時，你如何能去證明某些如開悟或是神性的事呢？喜悅與實踐帶來寧靜而慾望帶來干擾。
Look at the noise in your mind. What is it about? More money? More fame? More recognition? Fulfillment? Relationship? The noise is about something; silence is about nothing. Silence is the basis; noise is the surface.
看看你心裡的雜音。是哪些事情？更多的錢？更多的名氣？更多的認同？盡忠職守？人際關係?關於某些事的雜音；寧靜則是什麼也沒有。寧靜是基礎；雜音是表象。
From the very beginning Buddha lived a very satisfied life. Any pleasure was at his feet the moment he wanted it. One day he said, “I would like to go and see what the world is.”
從一開始佛陀就擁有非常富足的生活。祂想要體驗什麼樂趣就有什麼。有一天祂說，”我想去看看世界的樣子。”
He started thinking when he saw someone who was sick, someone who was old and someone who was dying. These three instances were good enough to bring in him the knowledge that there is misery. When he saw someone sick, he said, “enough! I have experienced it.” Just one glimpse of an old man and a corpse was enough Buddha said, “there is no joy in life; I am dead already! There is no meaning in life. Let me go back.”
當祂看到有人生病、衰老及垂死時祂開始思考，這三個悲慘的實例便足以將祂引進入知識裡。當祂看到有人生病時，祂說，”夠了！我已經體驗過了！”只是對一位老人及屍骸驚鴻一瞥便已足夠。佛陀說，”生命沒有喜悅；我跟死了沒兩樣！生命沒有意義，讓我回去！”
Buddha set out in quest of truth, all by himself, leaving his palace, wife and son.
Stronger the silence, powerful will be the questions that arise from such a silence.
佛陀開始追尋真理，隻身一人，祂離開皇宮、老婆及孩子。
更堅決的禁言，從這些禁言裡昇起更強而有力的疑問。
Nothing could stop him. He knew he wouldn’t be able to get away during day, so he quietly escaped at night and his search continued for several years. He did all that people told him to do, he went from place to place, fasted, and he walked many paths, before discovering four truths.
沒有什麼事能阻止祂。祂知道祂無法在白天離開。所以祂在夜晚靜靜地逃走同時持續尋求了許多年。在發現這四條真理之前，祂做了每件人們告訴祂的事，走遍天涯海角、禁食，同時走過許多道路。
1 : “There is misery (Dukha) in the world.”
In life, there are only two possibilities: one is to observe the world around us and know from others’ suffering and futile exercises,
the second is experience it and find that it is misery.
There is no third possibility. If you are sensitive, you don’t need to go through all that yourself. You can look at those who are suffering and become wise.
1.”苦難(Dukha)存在於世”
在生命中，有兩種可能性：一種是觀察環繞我們的世界同時明白別人的苦痛並無用地擔憂，
第二種是親身經歷並且感到悲苦。
沒有第三種可能。如果你是敏感的，你並不需要全部去親身經歷。你能夠經由他人的苦痛而得到智慧。
2 : The second truth is, “There is a cause for misery.” You can be happy without a reason. Joy does not need a reason, laughter does not need a joke but misery has a cause.
2.第二個真理是，”痛苦有其源頭”。你能夠毫無原因的快樂。喜悅不需要理由，歡笑也不需要笑話但是痛苦有其源起。
3 : The third truth is, “It is possible to eliminate misery.”
3.第三個真理是，”痛苦能被消除。”
4 : The fourth truth is, “There is a path to be out of misery.”
4.第四個真理是，”脫離痛苦的途徑就在那”
Following the four truths, he gives the eight-fold path of right equanimity, right vision, right silence, right meditation etc. Buddha also said that the three things to do are Sheela, which means conduct, Samadhi, which means an equanimous meditative state, and Pragya, which means awareness.
跟隨這四條真理，祂給予八倍的道路通往正確的捨去、正確的視野、確實的寧靜、正確的靜心…等。佛陀同時也說有三件要做的事是Sheela，意思就是行動、三摩地，也就是靜心的冥想狀態，及以Pragya，亦是覺醒的意思。
Buddha was born at a very interesting time in India’s history, at a time when India was prosperous and had reached its height in philosophical thinking. In a highly intellectual society, people think they know it all, but in fact, they have not known at all. This was the case in India. So Buddha said, “Come, I have a simple technique for you. Keep your concepts to yourself, but just come and sit.” Then Buddha gave them four steps.
They are:
佛陀誕生於印度史上一個十分有趣的年代，那個時代的印度十分昌盛繁榮而且擁有高度哲學思維。在一個高智力發展的社會，人們認為自己無所不知，然而事實上，他們什麼也不知道。這就是印度的情況。所以佛陀說，”來吧，我有簡單的技法給你。保留你自己的觀念，但就是過來且坐下。”然後佛陀給了他們四個步驟。
那四個步驟是：
1 : Observe the body (Kayaanu Paschana)
1.觀察身體 (Kayaanu Paschana)
2 : Observe the sensations (Vedananu Paschana)
2.觀察覺知 (Vedananu Paschana)
3 : Observe the flow of mind (Chittanu Paschana)
3.觀察心智的流動(Chittanu Paschana)
4 : Observe your true nature (Dhammanu Paschana)
4.觀察你的真實本質 (Dhammanu Paschana)
So, Buddha spoke and taught for years. Thousands would sit still, observe and meditate and become free. Buddha would not indulge in any philosophic discussion.
所以，佛陀講學了許多年。成千群眾動也不動地坐著，觀察同時靜坐並變得自由。佛陀並不滿足於任何哲學思辯。
I think it is mandatory for every psychologist to study Buddha! . Buddha has propounded all that there is to know about the mind and its functions in such a methodical manner.
我想每一位哲學家都必須向佛陀學習！佛陀曾如此有條不紊地提出所有關於心智如何活動。
Mind is noise; the source of the mind is silence. That’s why Buddha said, “no mind”. He was referring to the chain of thoughts that simply wander in the mind all the time.
心智是干擾；心智的根源是寧靜。所以佛陀說，”無念”。祂曾指出連串的思維只是無時不刻地在心智裡遊盪著。
At a time when there was so much prosperity, Buddha gave a begging bowl to his main disciples and asked them to go and beg! He made kings take off their royal robes and take a bowl in their hand! Not that they were in need of food but he wanted to teach them the lesson of becoming ‘nobody’ from being ‘somebody’. You are nobody; you are insignificant in this Universe. When kings and geniuses of that time were asked to beg, they became embodiments of compassion.
在那一個如此昌盛的時代，佛陀給祂幾個主要弟子們一個乞食缽要他們出去乞討。祂讓國王們脫下尊貴的袍子在手上拿著缽！並不是因為他們需要食物而是要教導他們從”無名小卒”變成為一個”重要的人”的功課。你誰也不是；你在這個宇宙裡是微不足道的。當國王們與英才們在那個時代乞討時，他們變成熱忱的化身。
Observe your true nature. What is your true nature? It is peace, compassion, love, friendliness and joy and it is silence that gives birth to all this.. Silence swallows the sadness, guilt, and misery and gives birth to joy, compassion and love. Buddha came to take away the misery, the guilt, the fear, the arrogance, the ignorance, and bring back wisdom, strength, beauty, knowledge and peace.
觀察你天生的本質。什麼是你天生的本質？那是平靜、慈悲、愛、友善及喜悅以及產生這一切的寧靜…寧靜涵容悲傷、罪惡感及悲痛並產生喜悅、慈悲與愛。佛陀前來帶走這些悲苦、愧疚、恐懼以及傲慢，同時帶回智慧、力量、美感、知識及和平。
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
詩麗 詩麗 若威香卡
譯者:Eve.C
<<延申閱讀>>
1.2008.4聯經出版--新世紀意識的覺醒--第9章佛陀-靜默的化身
2.靜香老師,成信文化出版--DVD佛陀是靜默的化身
3.靜香老師的出版品
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