(７)假设我们补充问：
“在家人应该学习什么？”

7) This Dhamma, which is said to resemble a raft, is just as applicable for lay people as it is for bhikkhus (monks). Suppose, then, that we are asked,

7) “What should a lay person study?”

　　我们不必浪费时间自己去想答案。若有人要有自己的想法也可以，没人会阻止他。但如果依据佛陀所教的回答，我们必须说：“在家人应该学习所有如来(Tathagate)宣说有关‘空’(Sunnata)的教示(suttantas)”。“素旦答”(suttanta)是佛陀所有教诲的核心，是经系统化且完整、妥善地结集而成，这就称为“素旦答”。

WE SHOULD NOT waste time thinking out our own answer. If anyone wants to have his own ideas, well and good, there is nothing to stop him. But if we are to answer in accordance with what the Buddha taught, then we must say, “Lay people should study all the suttantas, that is, the discourses of the Tathāgata about su..atā (emptiness).”

　　sutta指的是经典，anta的意思是究竟，因此“素旦答”(suttanta)是完整又系统化，将最精华的部分结集而成的经典。它就像“吠檀多”(vedanta)这个字，“吠陀”(Veda)的意思是知识，“吠檀多”是知识中的精华，是将知识作最完整而有系统化的结集。

These suttantas are a well-organized exposition of the teaching. They constitute a good system forming the pithy substance or heart of the teaching. This is why they are called suttanta. A sutta is a “discourse” and anta means “end”. Hence, a suttanta is a discourse that is well set out, well ordered, and the sound kernel of the subject. It is like the word vedanta. Veda is “knowledge”; vedanta is knowledge that is the pure substance of the matter, well set out and systematically arranged.

　　请记住“素旦答”这个字！所有“素旦答”都是如来所说，是如来所教，而且都与“空”相应。关于这点，有人问佛陀要如何修法，才能获得永恒安乐的利益，佛陀回答：“所有‘素旦答’是如来所说，与‘空’相应，义理奥妙深远，超越世间。”这句话的重点在于“与空相应”。

Remember this word suttanta. All the suttantas are utterances of the Tathāgata. They are what the Buddha taught and they all refer to su..atā (emptiness). In this connection, lay people ask how they are to practise Dhamma in order to achieve the most enduring benefits and happiness. The Buddha said, “The suttantas are utterances of the Tathāgata, are of great profundity, have deep significance, are the means of transcending the world, and refer to su..atā.”

　　“空”(sunnata)这个字，你听起来也许会觉得有些奇怪，但先不要退缩[译注一]，因为它正是佛教最重要的字眼。请注意听：“空”字或可译为“空无一物”，它有好几个用法与意义，佛陀所说的“空”，不是指什么东西都没有的“物质空”。这里的“空”，是指智慧的“空”，因为所有事物仍然存在，也许会多到充塞整个世界，但佛陀说它们是“空”或“空性”，因为所有的一切都不是“我”、“我所有”。我再说一次，这些都是为了教我们不要去执取任何事物。

This word su..atā may seem strange to you, but don’t lose heart just yet, because it happens to be the most important word in Buddhism. Please listen carefully. The word su..atā may be translated as “emptiness”. But the word “empty” has several usages and meanings. The su..atā of the Buddha does not mean physical emptiness, it is not a physical vacuum devoid of material substance. No! Here it is a case of emptiness in the sense of essential nature, because all sorts of things are still present. There can be as many objects as would fill up the whole world, but the Buddha taught that they are empty, or have the property of emptiness, because there is nothing in any of them that either is a self or belongs to a self. The aim of this is, once again, non-clinging to any thing at all.

　　在家人尤其应该学习佛陀所说“空”的教示。一般说来，普通的人都误解“空”，以为它对在家人而言是太过高远的理论，究其原因，是因他们没有听闻过佛陀对“空”的教示。所以请好好记在心里，不只是出家人，即使是在家人也必须学习“空”、理解“空”、践行“空”[译注二]。

Lay people should study in particular those sayings of the Buddha that deal with su..atā. Generally, this subject has been misunderstood as too lofty for lay people. The reason for this is simply that too few people wish to practise according to these sayings of the Buddha. So please keep clearly in mind that even a lay person must study about, practise, and then discover su..atā. It is not only for bhikkhus.

　　佛陀开示过这句话：“在家人应该学习与‘空’相应的事”(泰本巴利藏１９册，５１２页)，期望你们不要再害怕“空”或与“空”关的事。
　　请跨出你的脚步，多去了解“空”。若要深入、详尽地解释“空”，那会花相当多的时间，在此，我们只讨论它的核心及实质，也就是空掉“我”及“我所有”的感觉——空性，这样就足够了。心若没有任何“我”、“我所有”的感觉，这心就是“空”的，“世间空”就是这个意思。

I hope, then, that you lay people will no longer be afraid of the word “su..atā” or of the subject of su..atā. Take steps to increase your knowledge and understanding of it. Su..atā is a subject requiring intricate and delicate explanation; it takes a long time. For the reason, we have discussed only the actual core of the matter, just the real essence of it and that is enough, namely, emptiness of the idea of being a self or belonging to a self. If the mind realizes that there is nothing that is a self and that there is nothing that belongs to a self, the mind is “empty” and free. “This world is empty” means just this.

　　[译注二]泰国在家人以为“空”高深莫测，是根本做不到的事，甚至说：“‘空’是出家人的事。”