(２７)这里必定要提出一个问题：
“涅槃是在死后才能证得，或在今生此地就能证得？”

27) Here is a question that definitely should be brought up:

“Is nibbāna attained after death or here is this life?”

　　寺院讲堂的教师或讲者只谈到死后才得涅槃，然而在三藏教典里，我们并没有发现这种说法。涅槃另外有如下的说法：一是“现证涅槃”(行者亲自体证的涅槃sanditthika-nibbana)，一是“现法涅槃(此时此地的涅槃)。在四色界定(rupa-jhana)和四无色界定(arupa-jhana)中，所经验到充满喜悦的意识状态，就是“现证涅槃”或“现法涅槃”。但现在我们必须了解，这些情况是获得涅槃前的体验，它们拥有涅槃的滋味，但是仍不同于真正的涅槃。因为那种状况是不圆满、不究竟的，它们被称为“现证涅槃”和“现法涅槃”(泰本巴利藏第２３册，４７５页)。

TEACHERS WHO LECTURE in the fancy preaching halls only talk about nibbāna after death. In the Tipi.aka, however, we don’t find this. There are expressions such as sandi..hika-nibbāna (nibbāna which a practitioner sees personally) and di..hadhamma- nibbāna (nibbāna here and now). We are told that the blissful states of consciousness experienced in the four rūpa-jhānas and the four arūpa-jhānas (eight degrees of deep concentration) are sandi..hika- nibbāna or di..hadhamma-nibbāna. But for the present purpose, we may understand these states to be a foretaste of nibbāna. They have the flavour of, but are not identical with, real nibbāna. Because these states are not perfect and absolute, they have been called sandi..hika-nibbāna or di..hadhamma-nibbāna.

　　还有比这些更好的说法，在一次场合里，佛陀描述了贪、瞋、痴的止息，那就是“直接体证(sanditthikam)，当下可以得到成果(akalikam)，请大家一起来看(ehipassikam)，向内观照(opanayikam)，智者亲自体证，”这些措辞意味着一个活生生的人，他能明了、感觉、体味到涅槃，而且可以呼朋唤友同来欣赏。如此清楚地显示他还没有死，而他的内心却已知道涅槃的滋味。

Yet there are still better words than these. On one occasion the Buddha described the cessation of lust, hatred, and delusion as “sandi..hika.. akalika., ehipassikam opanayika., paccatta. veditabba. vinnūhi”, that is, “directly visible, giving immediate results, inviting all to see, leading inward, and to be individually experienced by the wise”. These terms imply a living person who has realized, felt, and tasted nibbāna, and who can call his friends to come and see what he has found. This shows clearly that he has not died, and he knows the taste of nibbāna in his heart.

　　这也可以用其他方式表达——“无取着般涅槃”(anupada-parinibbana),它是现生自证的，“般涅槃”是根除痛苦和烦恼(泰本巴利藏第３２册，７５页)，而五蕴不会消失或崩散，也就是说肉体不需要死亡。

There are other expressions as well. Anupādā-parinibbāna is something attained while life still remains. Parinibbāyati refers to the eradication of suffering and defilements without any need for the extinction or disintegration of the five aggregates (the body-mind complex), that is to say, without one’s needing to die physically.

　　现在把“涅槃”定义成“清凉”，也就是没有热恼、痛苦。因此我想请各位思惟我们泰国祖先的智慧，他们说：“涅槃是死亡前的死亡(Nibbana is dying before death)”你可能从来没有听过这句格言，但它是乡下农民常说的一句话，他们说：

Now this word “nibbāna” in ordinary everyday language simply means “coolness, absence of heat, absence of suffering”. Thus, I should like you to consider the wisdom of our Thai forefathers who had a saying “Nibbāna is in dying before death.” You probably have never heard this saying, but it is very common among rural people. They say:

　　死尸中见美色

Beauty is to be found in the dead body.

　　施舍中见善行

Goodness is to be found in relinquishment.

　　真诚中见天神

The monk is to be found, in earnestness.

　　死亡前的死亡见涅槃

Nibbāna is to be found in dying before death.

　　身为子孙我们，比祖先更聪明或更愚笨呢？请慎重思惟这句格言：“涅槃是(肉体)死亡前的(我执)死亡”，肉体不必死，但是我执必定要消除，这称为“涅槃”。能了解它的人，就能得到无上及不可言喻的悦乐，这是另一种乐，而他依然继续活着。

Are we their descendents, more clever or more foolish than our fore fathers? Do ponder over this saying “Nibbāna is in dying (to selfhood) before death (of the body).” The body doesn’t have to die. But attachment to the self-idea must. This is nibbāna. The person who realizes it has obtained supreme bliss, yet continues to live.