Chapter IV. The Third Noble Truth

Nirodha: The Cessation of Dukkha

第四章 第三圣谛：灭谛——苦的止息

The third Noble Truth is that there is emancipation, liberation, freedom from suffering, from the continuity of dukkha. This is called the Noble Truth of the Cessation of dukkha (Dukkhanirodha-ariyasacca), which is Nibbāna, more popularly known in its Sanskrit form of Nirvāna.

第三圣谛的要义是：人类可以从相续不断的苦得解脱、获解放、享自由。这圣谛名为苦灭圣谛，也就是涅槃。巴利文作Niana，但梵文的Nirvana更为人所广知。

To eliminate dukkha completely one has to eliminate the main root of dukkha, which is 'thirst' (tanhā), as we saw earlier. Therefore Nirvāna is known also by then term Tanhakkhaya 'Extinction of Thirst'.

要想彻底祛除苦的根本——渴(爱)。这在前面已经讲过，所以涅槃也叫做断爱。

Now you will ask: But what is Nirvāna? Volumes have been written in reply to this quite natural and simple question; they have, more and more, only confused the issue rather than clarified it. The only reasonable reply to give to the question is that it can never be answered completely and satisfactorily in words, because human language is too poor to express the real nature of the Absolute Truth or Ultimate Reality which is Nirvāna. Language is created and used by masses of human beings to express things and ideas experienced by their sense organs and their mind. A supramundane experience like that of the Absolute Truth is not of such a category. Therefore there cannot be words to express that experience, just as the fish had no words in his vocabulary to express the nature of the solid land. The tortoise told his friend the fish that he (the tortoise) just returned to the lake after a walk on the land. 'Of course' the fish said, 'You mean swimming.' The tortoise tried to explain that one couldn't swim on the land, that it was solid, and that one walked on it. But the fish insisted that there could be nothing like it, that is must be liquid like his lake, with waves, and that one must be able to dive and dive and swim there.

你要问：可是什么是涅槃呢？为了答覆这个十分简单而自然的问题，已有人写了好几部书了。可惜这些书不但没有把问题解释清楚，反而使它们愈趋复杂。惟一合理的答案是：这问题永远不能以语言文字充份而圆满地答覆。因为人类的语言太贫乏了，不足以表达涅槃这种绝对真理、最终实相。语言是人类所创造以表达他们由感官与心灵所经验到的事物与意象的。超越凡情的经验如绝对真理者，不属于这一范畴之内。因此，没有任何语文足以表达这种经验，就像鱼的字汇里没有形容陆地的字眼一样。乌龟和它的朋友鱼说，它刚到陆地上散步回湖。鱼说：‘当然你的意思是说游泳啰！’乌龟想对鱼解释陆地是坚实的，不能在上面游泳，只能在上面步行。可是鱼却坚持不可能有这么一样东西。陆地一定也是液体，和它住的湖一样；有波浪，可以在里面跳潜游泳。

Words are symbols representing things and ideas known to us; and these symbols do not and cannot convey the true nature of even ordinary things. Language is considered deceptive and misleading in the matter of understand of the Truth. So the Lankāvatāra-sūtta says that ignorant people get stuck in words like an elephant in the mud. [1]

语文是代表我们所熟知的事物和意念的符号。这些符号甚至不足以表显日常事物的真实性状。在了知真理方面，语文是不可靠而易致差错的。所以，《楞伽经》里就说愚人执著语言文字，如大象陷于泥淖。［注一］

Nevertheless we cannot do without language. But if Nirvāna is to be expressed and explained in positive terms, we are likely immediately to grasp an idea associated with those terms, which may be quite the contrary. Therefore it is generally expressed in negative term[2] -a less dangerous mode perhaps. So it is often referred to by such negative terms as Tanhakkhaya 'Extinction of Thirst', Asamkhata 'Unconditioned', Virāga 'Absence of desire', Nirodha 'Cessation', Nibbāna 'Blowing out' or ' Extinction'.

可是我们又不能没有语言文字。不过如果用正面的文词来表诠涅槃，我们立刻就会产生一项与这语词有关的意念而执著它，结果可能与原意适相违反。因此，说到涅槃，我们大都用反面的文词［注二］，如‘断爱’、‘无为’、‘止贪’、‘寂灭’等。因为这样做，似乎比较不易引起误解。

Let us consider a few definitions and descriptions of Nirvāna as found in the original Pali texts:
 
我们再看看巴利文原典里若干涅槃的定义及说明：

'It is the complete cessation of that very 'thirst' (tanhā), giving it up, renouncing it, emancipation from it, detachment from it.' [3]

‘涅槃是彻底断绝贪爱：放弃它、摒斥它、远离它、从它得解脱。’［注三］

'Calming of all conditioned things, giving up of all defilements, extinction of “thirst”, detachment, cessation, Nibbāna.' [4]

‘一切有为法的止息，放弃一切污染，断绝贪爱，离欲，寂灭，涅槃。’［注四］

'O bhikkhus, what is the Absolute (Asamkhata, Unconditioned)? It is, O bhikkhus, the extinction of desire (rāgakkhayo) the extinction of hatred (dosakkhayo), the extinction of illusion (mohakkhayo). This O bhikkhus, is called the Absolute.' [5]

‘比丘们啊！什么是绝对(无为)？它就是贪的熄灭、嗔的熄灭、痴的熄灭。这个，比丘们啊！就叫做绝对。’［注五］

'O Rādha, the extinction of “thirst” (Tanhakkhayo) is Nibbāna.' [6]

‘罗陀啊！熄灭贪爱，就是涅槃。’［注六］

'O bhikkhus, whatever there may be things conditioned or unconditioned, among them detachment (virāga) is the highest. That is to say, freedom from conceit, destruction of thirst, [7] the uprooting of attachment, the cutting off of continuity, the extinction of “thirst”, detachment, cessation, Nibbāna.' [8]

‘比丘们啊！一切有为无为法中，无贪最上。就是说：远离憍慢，断绝渴想［注七］，根除执著，续者令断，熄灭贪爱，离欲，寂灭，涅槃。’［注八］

The reply Sāriputta, the chief disciple of the Buddha, to a direct question 'What is Nibbāna?' posed by a Parivrājaka, is identical with the definition of Asamkhata given by the Buddha (above): 'The extinction of desire, the extinction of hatred, the extinction of illusion.' [9]

佛的大弟子舍利弗回答一个游行者‘什么是涅槃’的问题时，他的答覆与佛所作无为法的界说(见上)一般无二：‘贪的熄灭、嗔的熄灭、痴的熄灭。’［注九］

'The abandoning and destruction of desire and craving for these Five Aggregates of Attachment” that is the cessation of dukkha.' [10]

‘放弃、消灭爱欲与对此五蕴之身的贪求，就是苦的止息。’［注十］

'The cessation of Continuity and becoming (Bhavanirodha) is Nirvāna.' [11]

‘生死相续的止息，就是涅槃。’［注十一］

And further, referring to Nirvāna the Buddha says:

此外，对于涅槃，佛又曾说：

'O bhikkhus, there is the unborn, ungrown, and unconditioned. Were there not the unborn, ungrown, and unconditioned, there would be no escape for the born, grown, and conditioned. Since there is the unborn, ungrown, and unconditioned, so there is escape for the born, grown, and conditioned.' [12]

‘比丘们啊！有不生、不长的非缘生法(无为法)。如果没有这不生、不长的非缘生法，则一切生的、长的、因缘和合的，即无从得解脱。因为有这不生、不长、非缘生法故，生的、长的、因缘和合的，才能得到解脱。’［注十二］

'Here the four elements of solidity, fluidity, heat and motion have no place; the notions of length and breadth, the subtle and the gross, good and evil, name and form are altogether destroyed; neither this world nor the other, nor coming, going or standing, neither death nor birth, nor sense-objects are to be found.' [13]

‘此中没有地水火风四大种。长宽、粗细、善恶、名色等等观念也一律摧破无遗。无此世间亦无他世间，无来无去亦无停留，不死不生亦无根尘。’［注十三］

Because Nirvana is this expressed in negative terms, there are many who have got a wrong notion that it is negative, and expresses self-annihilation. Nirvāna is definitely no annihilation of self, because there is no self no annihilate. If at all, it is the annihilation of the illusion, of the false idea of self.

因为涅槃是用反面文词所表达的，因此有许多人得到一种错误观念，以为它是消极的、表现自我毁灭的。但涅槃绝不是自我的销毁，因为根本无‘我’可毁。只能说它(涅槃)所销毁的是‘我’的幻觉、‘我’的错误意念。

It is incorrect to say that Nirvāna is negative or positive. The ideas of 'negative' and 'positive' are relative, and are within the realm of duality. These terms cannot be applied to Nirvāna, Absolute Truth, which is beyond duality and relativity.

把涅槃说成积极或消极，都是不对的。‘消极’与‘积极’本是相对的观念，只存在于‘两立’的境界之内。这些形容词不能应用于涅槃(绝对真理)上，因为涅槃超越两立与相对的境界。

A negative word need not necessarily indicate a negative state. The Pali of Sanskrit word for health is ārogya, a negative term, which literally means 'absence or illness'. But ārogya (health) does not represent a negative state. The word 'Immortal' (or its Sanskrit equivalent Amrta or Pali Amata), which also is a synonym for Nirvāna, is negative, but it does not denote a negative state. The negation of negative values is not negative. One of the well-known synonyms for Nirvāna is 'Freedom' (Pali Mutti, Skt. Mukti). Nobody would say that freedom is negative. But even freedom has a negative side: freedom is always a liberation from something which is obstructive, which is evil, which is negative. But freedom is not negative. So Nirvāna, Mutti or Vimutti, the Absilute Freedom, is freedom from all evil, freedom from craving, hatred and ignorance, freedom from all terms of duality, relativity, time and space.

反面的文词，并不一定就代表消极的状态。在巴利文和梵文中，‘健康’一词教做arogya，其字义就是‘无疾’，也是一个反面的名词。但无疾并不代表消极的状态。英文里的不死immortal(相当于梵文的Amrta或巴利文的Amata)，涅槃的同义字，也是个反面名词，但也不代表一种消极的状态。消极价值的反面，就不消极了。涅槃另一个同义字就是解脱(巴利文作Mutti梵文作Mukti)。没有人会说解脱是消极的。但是甚至解脱一词也有其反面的意义：解脱者乃从某种障碍得自由的意思。障碍是恶法、是反派的，而解脱却不是反派的。因此，涅槃、解脱、绝对自在，是从一切恶得自在，从贪、嗔、痴得自在，从一切两立的相对时、空等得自在。

We may get some idea of Nirvāna as Absolute Truth from the Dhātuvibhanga-sutta (No. 140) of the Majjhima-nikāya. This extremely important discourse was delivered by the Buddha to Pukkusāti (already mentioned), whom the Master found to be intelligent and earnest, in the quiet of the night in a potter's shed. The essence of the relevant portions of the sutta is as follows:

涅槃即是绝对的真理，从《分别六界经》(巴利藏《中部经》第一四零经)里可以略窥其端倪。这部极为重要的经，是佛住在一个陶工家里的时候，在一个安静的晚上，发现弗加沙有智慧而诚恳，因而对他所说的(前文曾提到过)。这部经里有关部份的要义如次：

A man is composed of six elements: solidity, fluidity, heat, motion, space and consciousness. He analyses them and finds that none of them is 'mine', or 'my self'. He understands how consciousness appears and disappears, how pleasant, unpleasant and neutral sensations appear and disappear. Through this knowledge his mind becomes detached. Then he finds within him a pure equanimity (upekhā), which he can direct towards the attainment of any high spiritual state, and he knows that thus this pure equanimity will last for a long period. But then he thinks:

人由六种元素组成：坚性、湿性、暖性、动性、空与识。佛将六者予以分析，结论是六者中没有一样是‘我的’、‘我’或‘我自己’。它彻底明了识如何来？如何去？愉快的、不愉快的、以及既非愉快亦非不愉快的感觉如何来？如何去？由于这种了解，他即心无所著。心无所著，就成为一纯粹、平等的舍心。他可将这舍心随意升到任何高层的心灵境界，而长时间的维持此一状态。但是他又想：

'If I focus this purified and cleansed equanimity on the Sphere of Infinite Space and develop a mind conforming thereto, that is a mental creation (samkhatam). [14] If I focus this purified and cleansed equanimity on the Sphere of Infinite Consciousness… on the Sphere of Nothingness … or on the Sphere of Neither-perception nor Non-perception and develop a mind conforming thereto, that is a mental creation.' Then he neither mentally creates nor wills continuity and becoming (bhava) or annihilation (vibbava). [15] As he does not construct or does not will continuity and becoming or annihilation, he does not cling to anything in the world; as he does not cling, he is not anxious; as he is not anxious, he is completely calmed within (fully blown out within paccattam yeva parinibbāyati). And he knows: 'Finished is birth, lived is pure life, what should be done is done, nothing more is left to be done.' [16]

‘如果我将这纯净的舍心集中于空无边处，而生一心与彼相应，是知该处乃心所造，是有为法。［注十四］如果我将此纯净舍心集中于识无边处......于无所有处......于非有想非无想处，而生一心与彼相应，是知该等处皆是心造。’于是，他不再以心造作，亦不以意志求生存相续，亦不求灭。［注十五］因为他不造作，不求生存相续，亦不求断灭故，他对世间心无执取。心无执取，则无所挂碍。无所挂碍故，心得澈底完全的平静(内心的寂灭)。于是他自知：‘受生已尽，清净的生活已过完了，该做的事都已做了，已没有余事可办。’［注十六］
 
Now, when he experiences a pleasant, unpleasant or neutral sensation, he knows that it is impermanent, that it does not bind him, that it is not experienced with passion. Whatever may be the sensation, he experiences it would being bound to it (visamyutto). He knows that all those sensations will be pacified with the dissolution of the body, just as the flame of a lamp goes out when oil and wick give out.

佛在经历一种愉快、不愉快、或既非愉快亦非不愉快的感觉的时候，他知道这种感觉是不久长的。它即没有缠缚他的力量。经历这些感觉，不能使他情感激动。不论是什么样的感受，他都能经历而不受它的拘缚。他知道一旦躯壳朽败，这些感觉终将归于平静，就像油尽灯枯一样。

'Therefore, O bhikkhus, a person so endowed is endowed with the absolute wisdom, for the knowledge of the extinction of all dukkha is the absolute noble wisdom.

‘因此，比丘们啊！有这样赋禀的人，才是赋有绝对的智慧。因为具有灭一切苦的智识，才是绝对的圣智。

'This his deliverance, founded on Truth, is unshakable. O bhikkhus, that which is unreality (mosadhamma) is false; that which is reality (amosadhamma), Nibbāna, is Truth (Sacca). Therefore, O bhikkhu, a person so endowed is endowed with this Absolute Truth. For, the Absolute Noble Truth (paramam ariyasaccam) is Nibbāna, which is Reality.'

‘他这筑在真理上的解脱，是不可动摇的。比丘啊！凡是虚妄不实的，都是假法。凡是真实的、涅槃的，才是真理。因此，比丘啊！有这种赋禀的人，才是赋有绝对的真理。因为绝对的圣谛就是涅槃，也是实相。’

Elsewhere the Buddha unequivocally uses the word Truth in place of Nibbāna: 'I will teach you the Truth and the Path leading to the Truth.' [17] Here Truth definitely means Nirvāna.

在另一部经里，佛毫不含糊地用真理一词代替涅槃：‘我将教你们真理，以及走向真理的道路。’［注十七］在这里，真理的意义，很明确的就是代表涅槃。

Now, what is Absolute Truth? According to Buddhism, the Absolute Truth is that there is nothing absolute in the world, that everything is relative, conditioned and impermanent, and that there is no unchanging, everlasting, absolute substance like Self, Soul, or Ātman within or without. This is the Absolute Truth. Truth is never negative, though there is a popular expression as negative truth. The realization of this Truth, i.e., to see things as they are (yathābhūtam) without illusion or ignorance (avijjā), [18] is the extinction of craving 'thirst' (Nirodha) of dukkha, which is Nirvāna. It is interesting and useful to remember here Mahāyāna view of Nirvāna as not being different from Samsāra. [19] The same thing is Samsāra or Nirvāna according to the way you look at it – subjectively or objectively. This Mahāyāna view was probably developed out of the ideas found in the original Theravāda Pali texts, to which we have just referred in our brief discussion.

什么是绝对的真理？依佛教说，绝对的真理就是：世间没有绝对的事物。凡所有法都是相对的、缘起的、无常不永恒的；而没有恒常不变、亘古永存的绝对的实体，诸如‘自我’、‘灵魂’或‘神我’等，无论在身内或身外。这就是绝对的真理。虽然，在通俗言词里，也有‘反面的真理’一词，真理却决不是反面的。体证这真理，就是对事物的如实知见，无有无明妄想［注十八］；也就是断绝贪爱、灭苦、涅槃。在此值得记住的，就是大乘佛教‘生死即涅槃’的见解。同一事物可以是生死，也可以是涅槃，全在你的看法如何——主观或客观。这种大乘观点，大抵是从上座部巴利文原典中的观念演变而来。这些观念在我们方才短短的讨论中已经提到过。［注十九］

It is incorrect to think that Nirvāna is the natural result of the extinction of craving. Nirvāna is not the result of anything. If it would be a result, then it would be an effect produced by a cause. It would be samkhata 'produced' and 'conditioned'. Nirvāna is neither cause nor effect. It is beyond cause and effect. Truth is not a result nor an effect. It is not produced like a mystic, spiritual, mental state, such as dhyāna or samādhi. TRUTH IS. NIRVĀNA IS. The only thing you can do is to see it, to realize it. There is a path leading to the realization of Nirvāna. But Nirvāna is not the result of this path. [20] You may get to the mountain along a path, but the mountain is not the result, not an effect of the path. You may see a light, but the light not the result of your eyesight.

认为涅槃是绝灭贪爱的自然结果，那是错误的。涅槃不是任何东西的结果。如果它是一个结果，它就是由某种因缘所得的效应。那它就是缘生的，而为有条件的存在。但是涅槃既非因亦非果，他是超越因果的。真理不是一个结果，也不是一个效应。它不是一种神秘的心灵或思想的状态，犹如禅定一般。真理就是真理。涅槃就是涅槃。你惟一想知道它的方法就是亲见亲证。有路可通涅槃，但是涅槃并不是这条路的结果。［注二十］你可以沿一条小径到达一座山，但那山却不是那条路的结果或效应。你可以看见一道光明，但是光明并不是你目力的结果。

People often ask: What is there after Nirvāna? This question cannot arise, because Nirvāna is the Ultimate Truth. If it is Ultimate, there can be nothing effect it. If there is anything after Nirvāna, then that will be the Ultimate Truth and not Nirvāna. A monk named Rādha put this question to the Buddha in a different form: 'For what purpose (or end) is Nirvāna?' This question presupposes something after Nirvāna, when it postulates some purpose or end for it. So the Buddha answered: 'O Rādha, this question could not catch its limit (i.e., it is beside the point). One lives the holy life with Nirvāna as its final plunge (into the Absolute Truth), as its goal, as its ultimate end.' [21]
 
常有人问：涅槃之后又如何？这问题是不能成立的，因为涅槃是最终的真理。它既是最终，它之后就不能再有别的。如果涅槃之后仍有什么，那末那东西才是最终的真理，涅槃就不是了。一个名叫罗陀的比丘，曾用另一方式将这问题问佛：‘涅槃的作用是什么？’这问题先假定涅槃之后仍有余事，所以要求涅槃须有作用。因此佛答称：罗陀啊！这问题是不得要领的。修习梵行即以涅槃为其最终目的，沉潜于绝对真理之中。［注二十一］

Some popular inaccurately phrased expressions like 'The Buddha entered into Nirvāna or Parinirvāna after his death' have given rise to many imaginary speculations about Nirvāna. [22] The moment you hear the phrase that 'the Buddha entered into Nirvāna or Parinirvāna', you take Nirvāna to be a state, or a realm, or a position in which there is some sort of existence, and try to imagine it in terms of the senses of the word 'existence' as it is known to you. This popular expression 'entered into Nirvāna' has no equivalent in the original texts. There is no such thing as 'entering into Nirvāna after death'. There is a word parinibbuto used to denote the death of the Buddha or an Arahant who has realized Nirvāna, but it does not mean 'entering into Nirvāna'. Parinibbuto simply mean 'fully blown out' or 'fully extinct', because the Buddha or an Arahant has no re-existence after his death.

若干通俗而不正确的语句，如‘佛于死后入于涅槃或般涅槃’，曾引起许多对涅槃的幻想与揣测。［注二十二］一听说‘佛入涅槃或般涅槃’，即以为涅槃是一种境界、一种领域或一个位置，其间仍有某种的存在，而以所熟知的‘存在’一词的涵义来臆测涅槃是何等样子。这通俗的说法‘佛入涅槃’在巴利文原典中，并无与它相当的词句。所谓‘佛于死后入于涅槃’，根本没有这一说。巴利文中有 Pariniuto一词用以代表佛或阿罗汉等亲证涅槃者的逝去，但这字的意思并非‘入于涅槃’。这字简单的意义，只是‘完全谢世’、‘完全熄灭’或‘圆寂’而已。因为佛或阿罗汉死后即不再受生。

Now another question arises: What happens to the Buddha or an Arahant after his death, parinirvāna? This comes under the category of unanswered questions (avyākata). [23] Even when the Buddha spoke about this, he indicated that no words in our vocabulary could express what happens to an Arahant after his death. In reply to a Parivrājaka named Vaccha, the Buddha said that terms like 'born' or 'not born' do not apply in the case of an Arahant, because those things-matter, sensation, perception, mental activities, consciousness- with which the terms like 'born' and 'not born' are associated, are completely destroyed and up-rooted, never to rise again after his death. [24]

另外一个问题是：佛或阿罗汉死(般涅槃)后如何？这问题是属于不可答的问题之类(无记)。［注二十三］佛谈到这问题时，也表示在人类的辞汇里，没有字眼可以表达阿罗汉死后的情状。在答覆一个名叫婆磋的游方者所发的同样问题的时候，佛说‘生’、‘不生’等名词不能适用于阿罗汉。因凡与‘生’、‘不生’有所关联的色、受、想、行、识等，以阿罗汉言，俱已澈底根除无遗，死后不再生起。［注二十四］

An Arahant after his death is often compared to a fire gone out when the supply of wood is over, or to the flame of a lamp gone out when the wick and oil are finished. [25] Here it should be clearly and distinctly understood, without any confusion, that what is compared to a flame or a fire gone out is not Nirvāna, but the 'being' composed of the Five Aggregates who realized Nirvāna. This point has to be emphasized because many people, even some great scholars, have misunderstood and misinterpreted this smile as referring to Nirvāna. Nirvāna is never compared to a fire or a lamp gone out.

一般常将阿罗汉之死与薪尽火灭、油竭灯枯相比拟。［注二十五］于此有一事必须明白了解，不容含混。这就是：以‘火焰的熄灭’作比的，不是涅槃，而是由五蕴和合而生、而亲证涅槃的‘人’(换言之：熄灭的是‘人’，而不是涅槃——澄基注)。这一点必须特别强调，因为许多人，甚至若干大学者，都常误会或误解这涅槃的譬喻。涅槃从来不能与火或灯的熄灭相比。

There is another popular question: If there is no Self, no Ātman, who realizes Nirvāna? Before we go on to Nirvāna, let us ask the question: Who thinks now, if there id no Self? We have seen earlier that it is the though that thinks, that there is no thinker behind the thought. In the same way, it is wisdom (paňňa), realization, that realizes. There is no other self behind the realization. In the discussion of the orgin of dukkha we saw that whatever it may be- whether being, or thing, or system- if it is of the nature of arising, it has within itself the nature, the germ, of its cessation, its destruction. Now dukkha, samsāra, the cycle of continuity, is of the nature of arising; it must also be of the nature of cessation. Dukkha arises because of 'thirst' (tamhā), and it ceases because of wisdom (paňňa). 'Thirst' and wisdom are both within the Five Aggregates, as we saw earlier. [26]

另外，还有一个很普通的问题：如果没有‘我’，没有‘神我’，那末谁来亲证涅槃呢？在没有谈到涅槃之前，先让我们自问：如果没有‘我’，现在想者是谁？在前面的文章里，我们已经弄明白：思想的乃是念头，在念头的后面，再没有其他的思想者。同样的，能证涅槃的就是智慧(般若)。在证的幕后，别无证者。在讨论苦的来源(集谛)时，我们已经明了，不论什么——众生、事、物、制度只要是缘起的，在它自身内即含有灭、坏的种子。苦与轮回，相续不断的生死，都是缘起的，所以也一定是缘灭的。苦因贪爱(渴)生，由般若(智慧)而灭。贪爱与般若都在五蕴之内，前文已经讲过。

Thus, the germ of their arising as well as that of their cessation are both within the Five Aggregates. This is real meaning of the Buddha's well-known statement: 'Within this fathom-long sentient body itself, I postulate the world, the arising of the world, the cessation of the world, and the path leading to the cessation of the world.' [27] This means that all the Four Noble Truths are found within the Five Aggregates, i.e., within ourselves. (Here he word 'world' (loka) is used in place of dukkha). This also means that there is no external power that produces the arising and the cessation of dukkha.

由是可知，它们生起与熄灭的种子，都在五蕴之内。这才是佛的名言：‘在这众生六尺之躯内，我说即是世界，世界的生起与寂灭，以及走向世界寂灭之道’［注二十六］的真实意义。这意思就是说，所有的四圣谛也都在这五蕴之中；也就是说，都在我身中(这里‘世界’二字代替了苦字)。这意思也是说：苦的生起与熄灭，并非有赖于外力。

When wisdom is developed and cultivated according to the Fourth Noble Truth (the next to be taken up), it sees the secret is discovered, when the Truth is seen, all the forces which feverishly produce the continuity of samsāra in illusion become calm and incapable of producing any more karma-formations, because there is no more illusion, no more 'thirst' for continuity. It is like a mental disease which is cured when the cause or the secret of the malady is discovered and seen by the patient.

遵照第四圣谛的方法，去发展及培养智慧(般若)(见下章)时，即能澈见生命的奥秘，如实地见到事物的真相。这秘密发现后，真理见到后，所有一切狂热地制造著轮回相续的妄见的力量，一时俱归平静，不能再产生任何业果。因为妄执已破，对继续生存的渴爱已断。就像精神病患在自觉到他疾病的原因和秘密时，他的病就霍然而愈一样。

In almost all religions the summmum bonum can be attained only after death. But Nirvāna can be realized in this very life; it is not necessary to wait till you die to 'attain' it.

在几乎所有的宗教中，至善之境只有在死后方能达到。涅槃却可以当生成就，不必等到死方能‘获得’。 

He who has realizes the Truth, Nirvana, is the happiest being in the world. He is free from all 'complexes' and obsessions, the worries and troubles that torment others. His mental health is perfect. He does not repent the past, nor does he brood over the future. He lives fully in the present. [28] Therefore he appreciated and enjoys things in the purest sense without self-projections. He is joyful, exultant, enjoying the pure life, his faculties pleased, free from anxiety, serene and peaceful. [29] As he is free from selfish, desire, hatred, ignorance, conceit, and all such 'defilements', he is pure and gentle, full of universal love, compassion, kindness, sympathy, understanding and tolerance. His service to others is of the purest, for he has no thought of self. He gains nothing, accumulates, nothing, not even anything spiritual, because he is free from the illusion of Self, and the 'thirst' for becoming.

凡是亲证真理、涅槃的人，就是世间最快乐的人。他不受任何‘错综 (complex)’、迷执、忧、悲、苦恼等苛虐他人的心理状态所拘缚。他的心理健康是完美的。他不追悔过去，不冥索未来，只是扎扎实实地生活在现在里。［注二十七］因此，他能以最纯净的心情欣赏与享受一切，而不掺杂丝毫自我的成分在内。(译者按：即陶然与万物合一，浑然忘我之意。)他是喜悦的、雀跃的、享受著纯净的生活。他的感官愉悦，无所忧烦，心灵宁静而安详。［注二十八］他既无自私之欲求、憎恚、愚痴、憍慢、狂傲以及一切染著，就只有清净、温柔，充满了博爱、慈悲、和善、同情、了解与宽容。他的服务精神是最纯正的，因为他不为自己设想。他不求得、不积储、甚至不积贮精神的资粮；因为他没有‘我’的错觉，而不渴求重生。

Nirvāna is beyond all terms of duality and relativity. It is therefore beyond our conceptions of good and evil, right and wrong, existence and non-existence. Even the word 'happiness' (sukha) which is used to describe Nirvana has an entirely different sense here. Sāriputta once said: 'O friend, Nirvāna is happiness! Nirvāna is happiness!' Then Udāvi asked: 'But, friend Sāriputta, what happiness can it be if there is no sensation?' Sāriputta's reply was highly philosophical and beyond ordinary comprehension: 'That there is no sensation itself is happiness.'

涅槃超越一切两立与相对的概念，因此它不是一般善恶、是非、存在不存在等观念所能概括。甚至用以形容涅槃的‘快乐’一词，其意义也迥乎不同。舍利弗有一次说：‘同修啊！涅槃真是快乐！涅槃真是快乐！’优陀夷问他：‘可是，舍利弗，我的朋友，如果连感觉都没有了，怎么会有快乐呢？’舍利弗的答案具有高度的哲学意味，而不是一般所能了解的。他说：‘没有感觉本身就是快乐。’

Nirvāna is beyond logic and reasoning (atakkāvacara). However much we may engage, often as a vain intellectual pastime, in highly speculative discussions regarding Nirvāna or Ultimate Truth or Reality, we shall never understand it that way. A child in the kindergarten should not quarrel about the theory of relativity. Instead, if he allows hiss studies patiently and diligently, one day he may understand it. Nirvāna is 'to be realized by the wise within themselves' (paccattam veditabbo viňňūhi). If we follow the Path patiently and with diligence, train and purify ourselves earnestly, and attain the necessary spiritual development, we may one day realize it within ourselves- without taxing ourselves with puzzling and high- sounding words.

涅槃是超越逻辑与理性的。不论我们怎样埋头精研高深的理论，以臆测涅槃或最终真理与实相，都只能算是一种无作用的、绞尽脑汁的游戏而已。我们终不能循此途径而对它有所了解。在幼稚园的小娃娃，不可与人争辩相对论。如果他耐心而勤奋的钻研他的学问，有一天也许他会了解它。涅槃是要由智者内证的。如果我们耐心而勤奋的循著「大道’前进，至诚恳切的训练净化自己，获得必要的心灵方面的成长，也许有一天我们可以内证到它，而毋须乎殚精竭虑于钻研谜样艰深的文字。
 
Let us therefore now turn to the Path which leads to the realization of Nirvāna.

现在让我们回头面对趋向内证涅槃的大道吧！

[1] Lanka. p. 113

[2] Sometimes positive terms like Siva 'Auspicious', 'Good', Khema 'Safety', Suddhi 'Purity', Dipa 'Island', Sarama 'Refuge', Tāna 'Protection', Pāra 'Opposite shore'. 'Other side', Santi 'Peace', 'Tranquillity' are used to denote Nirvāna. There are 32 synonyms for Nibbāna in the Asamkhata-samyutta of the Samyutta-nikāya. They are mostly metaphorical.

[3] Mhvg. (Alutgama,1922), p. 10; S. V p. 421. It is interesting to note that this definition of Nirodha 'Cessation of Dukkha', which is found in the first sermon of the Buddha at Sarnath, does not contain the word Nibbāna, though the definition means it.

[4] S I, p. 136

[5] Ibid. IV, p. 359.

[6] Ibid. III, p. 190.

[7] Here the word pipāsa which lit. means thirst

[8] A (PTS) II, p. 34.

[9] S (PTS) IV, p. 251

[10] Sāriputta's words. M I, (PTS), p. 191

[11] Words of Musila, another disciple of the Buddha. S II (PTS), p. 117

[12] Ud. (Colombo, 1929), p. 129

[13] Ibid. p. 128; D I (Colombo, 1929), p. 172.

[14] Notice that all the spiritual and music states, however pure and high they may be, are mental creations, mind-made, conditioned and compound (samkhata). They are not Reality, not Truth (sacca).

[15] This means that he does not produce new karma, because now he is free from 'thirst' will, volition.

[16] This expression means that now he is an Arahant.

[17] V (PTS), p. 369.

[18] Cf. Lamka. P. 200; 'O Mahāmati, Nirvāna means to see the state of things as they are.'

[19] Nāgārjuna clearly says that 'Samsāra has no difference whatever from Nirvāna and Nirvāna has no difference whatever from Samsāra.' (Madhya. Kari XXV, 19).

[20] It is useful to remember here that among nine supra-mundane dharmas (navalo-kuttara-dhamma) Nirvāna is beyond magga (path) and phala (fruition).

[21] S III (PTS), p. 189

[22] There are some who write 'after the Nirvāna of the Buddha' instead of 'after the Parinirvāna of the Buddha'. 'After the Nirvāna of the Buddha' has no meaning, and the expression id unknown in Buddhist literature. It is always 'after the Parinirvāna of the Buddha'.

[23] S IV (PTS), p. 375 f.

[24] M I (PTS), p. 468

[25] Ibid. I, p. 487; III, p. 245; Sn (PTS), v. 232 (p. 41).

[26] See Aggregates of Formations above pp. 22, 31.

[27] A (Colombo, 1929) p. 218.

[28] S I (PTS), p. 5.

[29] M II (PTS), p. 121.

注释：
 
一：见一九二三年京都出版社南条文雄编入《楞伽经》。
 
二：有时亦有以正面文字形容涅槃者，如吉祥、善、安全、清净、洲、皈依、护、彼岸、和平、宁静等。《杂部经》中之Asamkhata Samyutta经中列有涅槃之同义字卅二种，大多是譬喻性的。
 
三：见一九二二年阿陆葛玛出版萨达帝沙上座所编之律藏大品第十一页及《杂部经》第五集第四二一页。请注意此处灭(息苦)字的界说，佛在鹿野苑第一次说法时已讲过。但其中并无涅槃一词，虽然它的意思就是涅槃。
 
四：见《杂部经》第一集第一三六页。
 
五：见同经第四集第三五九页。
 
六：见同经第三集第一九零页。
 
七：此字原为pipasa，口渴义。
 
八：见巴利文学会版《增支部经》第二集第三十四页。
 
九：见巴利文学会版《杂部经》第四集第二五一页。
 
十：舍利弗语。见巴利文学会版《中部经》第一集第一九一页。
 
十一：佛陀另一弟子谟尸罗语。见巴利文学会版《杂部经》第二集第一一七页。
 
十二：见一九二九年哥仑坡版《小部经》感兴语(嗢陀南)第一二九页。
 
十三：见一九二九年哥仑坡版《小部经》感兴语第一二八页及一九二九年哥仑坡版《长部经》第一集第一七二页。
 
十四：请注意一切秘密的精神境界，不论如何崇高纯净，皆由心造，是缘生而有为的。它们都不是实相，不是真理。(译者注：关于这段文字，可在参阅汉译《中阿含》第一六二分别六界经，有更详尽的解释。)
 
十五：意思就是他不再制造新的业，因为他现在已不再有渴爱、决意、思。
 
十六：这句话的意思，就是他已成为阿罗汉。
 
十七：见巴利文学会版《杂部经》第五集第三六九页。
 
十八：参阅《入楞伽经》第二零零页‘摩诃摩帝啊！涅槃就是如实地知见一切事物。’
 
十九：龙树很明白地说过：‘生死不异涅槃，涅槃不异生死。’见蒲桑编中论释第廿五章第十九节。
 
二十：请记住在九无为法中，涅槃是超越道、果的。自性涅槃不是一种结果，不是什么东西生的，但是有余涅槃和无余涅槃则不能如是说。张澄基识。
 
二十一：见巴利文学会版《杂部经》第三集第一八九页。
 
二十二：有的作者常用‘佛涅槃后’而不说‘佛般涅槃后’。‘佛涅槃后’一语是没有意义的，在佛典中找不到这种说法。应该说‘佛般涅槃后’。
 
二十三：见巴利文学会版《杂部经》第四集第三七五页以次。
 
二十四：见巴利文学会版《中部经》第一集第四八六页。
 
二十五：见同经第一集第四八七页，第三集第二四五页，以及巴利文学会版《小部经集》第四十一页(u. 232)
 
二十六：见一九二九年哥仑坡版《增支部经》第二一八页。
 
二十七：见巴利文学会版《杂部经》第一集第五页。
 
二十八：见巴利文学会版《中部经》第二集第一二一页。