But you can’t stop doing such wrong actions yet. After you have done wrong bodily and verbal actions, you feel guilty as a consequence. You know you shouldn’t do what is wrong, but you can’t refrain from doing it because you have no skill in reading the habits of your own mind. In the past you have done a lot of things which make you feel guilty, but you are going to do many such things again, and you are doing so in the present too, because you have no skill in reading the habits of your own mind. 但是，你还不能停止做出如此的不善行。在犯下不善的身业和语业之后，你会感到内疚，你知道自己不应该犯错，但却无法克制自己不再犯错，因为你不善于觉察自己心的习性。过去，你已经做了许多令你内疚的事；可是，你将会再次做出许多这样的事情；还有，你目前也正在如此做，因为你不善于觉察你心的习性。
Moreover, lacking skill in the habits of your mind, you don’t know your weak points or your strong points. For this reason, people pretend that they are very good. Do you agree with me? If you don’t know your mind, if you are not skillful in the habits of your own mind, you can’t develop “honesty”. If you yourself are dishonest, how can you make real progress in your life? 此外，由于对于自己心的习性缺乏善巧，你不知道自己的弱点或者优点。人们都在假装自己是个很好的人。大家认同吗？如果你不了解自己的心，如果你不善巧于自己心的习性，你无法培育起“诚实”的素质。如果你对自己不诚实，你怎么能够在自己的生活中真正有所提升？
Almost everyone in the world expends much effort to make other people understand them.
They expect to be understood by others. Is it true or not? Yes. You try so many ways to get others to understand you, but you don’t try to know yourself at all. You adopt all sorts of pretences to gain the respect of other people, but you should ask yourself one question: Do I respect myself? Even though people gain the respect of others, they can’t respect themselves. This is because they spend their lives obeying the instructions of the defilements of their minds. Which is more important, self-respect or the respect of others? 几乎世界上每个人都消耗许多精力让别人了解他们；他们期望得到他人的了解。你想别人了解你自己吗？是的，你尝试用很多方法让别人了解你，但你却完全没有尝试去了解自己。你采取各式各样的包装来得到他人尊重，但是应该自问，我是否尊重我自己？虽然人们能够得到他人的尊重，却不能尊重自己。因为他们耗费自己生命服从心中烦恼的指令。哪一个比较重要？自我尊重或者他人的尊重？
They expect to be understood by others. Is it true or not? Yes. You try so many ways to get others to understand you, but you don’t try to know yourself at all. You adopt all sorts of pretences to gain the respect of other people, but you should ask yourself one question: Do I respect myself? Even though people gain the respect of others, they can’t respect themselves. This is because they spend their lives obeying the instructions of the defilements of their minds. Which is more important, self-respect or the respect of others? 几乎世界上每个人都消耗许多精力让别人了解他们；他们期望得到他人的了解。你想别人了解你自己吗？是的，你尝试用很多方法让别人了解你，但你却完全没有尝试去了解自己。你采取各式各样的包装来得到他人尊重，但是应该自问，我是否尊重我自己？虽然人们能够得到他人的尊重，却不能尊重自己。因为他们耗费自己生命服从心中烦恼的指令。哪一个比较重要？自我尊重或者他人的尊重？
Yes, it is very important to have self-respect. Only when you become skillful in the habits of your own mind will you avoid doing things that prevent you from respecting yourself, and in- stead you will do what is really necessary. 是的，自我尊重是非常重要的。只有当你变得善巧于自己心的习性时，将会避免做出阻碍尊重自己的事，反而会去做真正有必要的事。甚至只是今天，从早上开始直至你来这里之前，已经做出多少阻碍尊重自己的行为？
Even just today, since this morning, before you came here, how many actions have you done that don’t allow you to respect yourself? So to make sure, I want to repeat my question: Do you really want to know who you are? Are you really acting for your own true benefit? If you really want to benefit yourself, there is no other way than to train yourself to be skillful in the habits of your own mind. If this is true, then how should one go about doing so? Now I am going to explain this to all of you. For those of you who really want to strive for your own good, who want to develop self-respect, and who want to know who you are, I would like to explain how to train yourself to be skillful in the habits of your own mind. 为了确定这一点，我想要重复我的问题，你真的想要知道你是谁吗？你真的在为自己的利益做事么？如果你真的要给自己带来利益，除了训练自己以善巧于自己心的习性之外，没有其他方法。那应该怎么做呢？现在将会讲解这一点，对于你们之中，那些想要真正为自己利益努力奋斗，想要培养自我尊重，想要知道自己是谁的人，我想讲解如何训练自己以善巧自己心的习性。
Before explaining, I want to share a little bit more about success. Many people set out on a journey to success. Is success very important in your life? Suppose you become a very successful person; what will you do then? Success is a journey, not a destination. Why? If you are successful in something you want, something you expect, there is still no end to the desire and expectation for even more success. Your defilement will demand that you take another journey to success. If your goal is fame and gain related to sensuality, it is just a journey, not a destination, because fame and gain and sensuality are endless. 在讲解之前，我想再多分享一点关于成功的问题。许多人踏上走向成功之道，在你的生命中，成功很重要吗？假设你已经成为一位非常成功的人士，接下来你将会怎么做？成功它只是一个旅程，并非终点，并非目的地。认同吗？为什么？如果想要在你期盼的事情上获得成就，可还是不能终止想要更多成就的欲望和期盼，你的烦恼将会要求你再去走向另一个朝向成功之旅。如果你的目标是和欲乐相关的名闻利养，那只是一个旅程，不是终点，不是目的地，因为名闻利养和欲乐是永无止境的。
The Buddha said, ‘The beginning of saṃsāra is unknown and unknowable.’ Because you are pursuing sensuality, because sensuality is your goal, and because the attainment of sensual pleasure is what you consider success, you never arrive at an end and can’t even see an end, because sensuality has no end. 佛陀说：生死轮回的起点不可知，也无法能知。无始轮回中，因为你正在追求欲乐，因为欲乐是你的目标，因为得到欲乐享受是你所认为的成功，你永远不会走到尽头，你甚至看不到尽头，因为欲乐是没完没了的。
What is the driving force behind such a journey to success?
You, or your impure defilements?
Do you get the answer? I know the answer.
I used to be a person on just such a journey to success. I came to know that the driving force was not me, it was the defilements that drove me along that journey to success. Do you see? I don’t think you understand. Do you see that the defilements drive you on your journey to success? Wanting, desiring, and craving are never satisfied with what they get and are always demanding more things, new things, over and over again. So the defilements are the driving force and the cause of a journey to success, and there will be no end if you just follow what your defilements tell you to do. We therefore have to serve the body in terms of what it needs, since we have been born as humans and possess bodies. I want you all to do what is very important, so I need to explain to you what is really not important. That is why I am explaining so much. 如此的朝向成功之旅，其背后的推动力是什么？
是你？还是不清静的烦恼？知道答案是什么？我知道答案是什么。
我过去曾经是一个这样走在朝向成功之旅的人，我发现推动力不在于我，是烦恼在那朝向成功之旅上推着我。你能见到吗？我不认为你们可以理解。你见到烦恼在推动你走向成功之旅吗？想要、欲求和渴爱，永远不会满足于它们所得到的，并且一直地一而再再而三地要求更多更多的东西，更加新鲜的事物。因此烦恼是朝向成功之旅的推动力和原因。如果你只是跟着烦恼的指令，那将是没完没了的。由于我们已经出生为人类，并且拥有这个身体，我们必须提供身体所需。我想要你们做很重要的事，所以我必须向你们讲解什么是不重要的事。这就是我为什么要做这么多解释的原因。
You, or your impure defilements?
Do you get the answer? I know the answer.
I used to be a person on just such a journey to success. I came to know that the driving force was not me, it was the defilements that drove me along that journey to success. Do you see? I don’t think you understand. Do you see that the defilements drive you on your journey to success? Wanting, desiring, and craving are never satisfied with what they get and are always demanding more things, new things, over and over again. So the defilements are the driving force and the cause of a journey to success, and there will be no end if you just follow what your defilements tell you to do. We therefore have to serve the body in terms of what it needs, since we have been born as humans and possess bodies. I want you all to do what is very important, so I need to explain to you what is really not important. That is why I am explaining so much. 如此的朝向成功之旅，其背后的推动力是什么？
是你？还是不清静的烦恼？知道答案是什么？我知道答案是什么。
我过去曾经是一个这样走在朝向成功之旅的人，我发现推动力不在于我，是烦恼在那朝向成功之旅上推着我。你能见到吗？我不认为你们可以理解。你见到烦恼在推动你走向成功之旅吗？想要、欲求和渴爱，永远不会满足于它们所得到的，并且一直地一而再再而三地要求更多更多的东西，更加新鲜的事物。因此烦恼是朝向成功之旅的推动力和原因。如果你只是跟着烦恼的指令，那将是没完没了的。由于我们已经出生为人类，并且拥有这个身体，我们必须提供身体所需。我想要你们做很重要的事，所以我必须向你们讲解什么是不重要的事。这就是我为什么要做这么多解释的原因。
You know that you need clothes, you know that you need shelter, you know that you need food, and you know that you need medicine. Is it really you that needs these things? What is your understanding? 你知道你需要衣服，你知道你需要住所，你需要Kuti，你知道你需要食物，每天都要吃，你知道你需要药物，因为会生病。真的是你在需要这一切？你怎么去理解这一点？
Many people say, ‘I need food, I need clothes, I need shelter, and I need medicine.’ Are these really their needs? Are these really your needs? If you didn’t have a body, would you need food? 很多人说，我需要食物，我需要衣服，我需要住所，我需要药物。这一些真的是他们的需要吗？这一些真的是你的需要吗？如果没有身体，你需要食物吗？
If you didn’t have this body, would you need clothes? If you didn’t have a body, would you need shelter? If you didn’t have this body, would you need medicine? If not, are you striving to acquire these things for the sake of your life or for the sake of your body? 如果没有这个身体，你需要衣服吗？如果没有这个身体，你需要住所吗？如果没有这个身体，你需要药物吗？你正在努力获取的这些，是为了你自己的生命还是为了你的身体？
Along the way to serve the body with food, clothes, shelter, and medicine, how many wrong actions have you done, all the while thinking that it is your needs that you are fulfilling? These needs are not yours; they are the needs of the body. If it is so, have you all been busy over many things for you or for your body? You know that it is not for you, it’s just for your body. If this is so, are you the master of your body or a slave to it? You are your body’s slave! Indeed you are slaves – slaves of the body. 在提供食物、衣服、住所和药物给这个身体的过程当中，并且一直认为你正在满足你自己的需要，你曾经造下多少的不善业？这些并不是你的需要，它们只是身体的需要。你曾经劳碌奔波于许多事情，是为了你自己还是为了你的身体？你知道那并不是为了你自己，那只是为了你的身体。如果是这样的话，你是自己身体的主人还是奴隶？你是你身体的奴隶，你的确是你身体的奴隶。
If it is so, we can say that you are not spending your lifetime meaningfully. Your efforts amount to just being a slave to your body, doing this and that, wasting a lot of time, right up until you die. Almost everyone in the world is acting in this way, and so they die without having done what is really important and beneficial for their lives. Is this life? Is this the meaning of life? Is there something more we can do with our lives besides living just for food, clothing, shelter, and medicine? 如果是这样，我们可以说，你是在毫无意义地度过这一生。你再多的努力也只不过是成为你身体的奴隶；做这样，做那样，浪费很多时间一直到死亡。几乎世界上每一个人都是这样活着。他们不曾做出真正重要，对生命有意义的事就去世了。这就是生命吗？这是生命的意义吗？除了只是为了食物、衣服、住所和药物而活之外，有没有更多我们可以做的事？
I don’t mean you should stop doing everything; what I mean is that you can live with the right understanding that you are not working to acquire these things for yourself, but rather your actions are at the service of your body. Since you have body, you need to serve it and take care of it, but not as though you were its slave, living merely to fulfil its needs. There are more important things to do with your life in the time that remains to you. 我不是指你们应当停止做一些事情，我指的是你可以用正确的知见来生活。为获取这些东西而做的并不是为了你自己，而是为了你的身体服务而已。由于你拥有身体，你需要伺候和照顾它，但不要做它的奴隶，只是纯粹满足它的需要。在你生活中所剩余的时间还有更加重要的事情要做。
Not everyone becomes a doctor. In the same way, not everyone can be rich or successful. I want to share with all of you the Buddha’s teaching on this matter. 不是每一个人都能成为医生，对吗？同样地，不是每个人都能发达或者有所成就。有关于此，我想跟大家分享佛陀的教法。
To be rich, we need two supports; one is from the past and the other is in the present. If there is enough accumulated wholesome kamma such as offerings in the past, you can be a rich man in this very life if you make an effort. If there is a lack of such kamma in the past, it is impossible to be a rich man in this very life no matter how hard you try. When past kamma gives its results, it is the main cause of what you experience in this life;
present kamma is only the supporting cause. As I have told you, I don’t mean you should stop everything. Try your best in your life to do what you can in a righteous way, and acquire and develop good habits. If you then become successful, it will be beneficial for you, provided you know how to make use of all your wealth. In other words, I want all of you to work towards what you really want to do in life while always trying your best to develop good habits that will follow you in your future existences. 想要富裕，我们需要两方面的资助，一是来自过去世，一是来自现在。如果在过去你曾经累积足够的善业，例如布施，你可以在这一生成为富裕的人，假如你做出努力的话。如果欠缺了过去的业，无论你在这一生做出多大的努力，也不可能在这一生成为富裕的人。明白吗？当过去的业产生果报时，这就是你在这一生所体验到事情的主因。
我们体验到某一些果报的时候，它主要的原因是来自过去的业，现在的业只是助缘而已。正如我刚才告诉大家的，我不是让你们停止做一切事情，是尽可能地以正当如法方式做你可以做的事。学习和培养良好的习惯，如果你因此获得成就，那将是对你有益的。要懂得如何善用你的财富。换句话说，我希望你们从事生命中真正要做的事；同时，尽可能培养能够跟随到未来世的良好习惯。
present kamma is only the supporting cause. As I have told you, I don’t mean you should stop everything. Try your best in your life to do what you can in a righteous way, and acquire and develop good habits. If you then become successful, it will be beneficial for you, provided you know how to make use of all your wealth. In other words, I want all of you to work towards what you really want to do in life while always trying your best to develop good habits that will follow you in your future existences. 想要富裕，我们需要两方面的资助，一是来自过去世，一是来自现在。如果在过去你曾经累积足够的善业，例如布施，你可以在这一生成为富裕的人，假如你做出努力的话。如果欠缺了过去的业，无论你在这一生做出多大的努力，也不可能在这一生成为富裕的人。明白吗？当过去的业产生果报时，这就是你在这一生所体验到事情的主因。
我们体验到某一些果报的时候，它主要的原因是来自过去的业，现在的业只是助缘而已。正如我刚才告诉大家的，我不是让你们停止做一切事情，是尽可能地以正当如法方式做你可以做的事。学习和培养良好的习惯，如果你因此获得成就，那将是对你有益的。要懂得如何善用你的财富。换句话说，我希望你们从事生命中真正要做的事；同时，尽可能培养能够跟随到未来世的良好习惯。
Students must make every effort to do their best in school.
As adults, they need to work hard to do their best in whatever they do, too. This is the way to develop good habits that will continue into the future.
Our efforts should be made with the understanding that we are not serving our own needs but rather the needs of the body. Now you know what you are living for. So the meaning of life is not just serving the needs of the body. 学生一定要在学校竭尽所能做出努力。生为成年人，也必须在任何事情上尽自己最大能力去做，这是培养在未来继续拥有良好习惯的方式。我们的努力应该抱着这样的见解。
我们并不是在满足自己的需要，而只是在满足身体的需要而已。现在大家知道自己是为了什么而活了。生命的意义并不是满足身体的需要。
As adults, they need to work hard to do their best in whatever they do, too. This is the way to develop good habits that will continue into the future.
Our efforts should be made with the understanding that we are not serving our own needs but rather the needs of the body. Now you know what you are living for. So the meaning of life is not just serving the needs of the body. 学生一定要在学校竭尽所能做出努力。生为成年人，也必须在任何事情上尽自己最大能力去做，这是培养在未来继续拥有良好习惯的方式。我们的努力应该抱着这样的见解。
我们并不是在满足自己的需要，而只是在满足身体的需要而已。现在大家知道自己是为了什么而活了。生命的意义并不是满足身体的需要。
Source:
A Journey of Self-Discovery(p62-66)
Bhikkhu Revata
悲住 尼师 翻译
刘小鹏整理
A Journey of Self-Discovery(p62-66)
Bhikkhu Revata
悲住 尼师 翻译
刘小鹏整理
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