Nibbana

涅槃

Nibbana is the highest bliss, a supramundane state of eternal happiness. The happiness of Nibbana cannot be experienced by indulging the senses but calming them.

涅槃是最高的境界，它是远离尘世的永恒幸福，涅槃的幸福，不是那些沉迷于感官欲乐的人所能体验得到的，涅槃是由宁静中获得。

Nibbana is the final goal of Buddhism. What is Nibbana then? It is not easy to know what Nibbana really is; it is easier to know what Nibbana is not.

涅槃是佛教徒的终极目标。什么是涅槃？要知道涅槃是什么并不容易，要知道涅槃不是什么反而容易得多了。

Nibbana is not nothingness or extinction. Would the Buddha leave his family and kingdom and preach for 45 years, all for nothingness?

涅槃不是空洞的寂灭，否则佛陀离开家庭、王国以及四十五年的弘法生涯──整个都是空洞的。

Nibbana is not a paradise. Several centuries after the Buddha, some of the Buddhist sects began to introduce Nibbana as a paradise. Their purpose of equating Nibbana with a heavenly world was to convince the less-intellectually-gifted and to attract them to the teachings of the sect. Striving for Nibbana came to mean looking for a nice place where everything is beautiful and where everyone is eternally happy. This might be a very comfortable folktale, but it is not the Nibbana that the Buddha experienced and introduced. During His time the Buddha did not deny the idea of paradise as it was presented in the early Indian religions. But the Buddha knew that this paradise was within Samsara and the final liberation was beyond it. The Buddha could see that the Path to Nibbana led beyond the heavens.

涅槃不是极乐世界，佛陀入灭后的几个世纪，有些佛教徒把涅槃形容成极乐世界。他们将涅槃与外道的天堂划等号，是为了吸引资质较差的信徒和坚定他们的信仰。结果，涅槃变成一个很美的地方，在那里每一件事都是美好的，每一个人都获得永恒的幸福，这种论调非常动听也非常吸引人，可是这并非佛陀原本所介绍的涅槃。

佛陀住世时，并没有否定早期婆罗门教所向往的天堂观，但是，佛陀知道重生于天界，还是一样免除不了轮回，要获得解脱必须超越它。佛陀证悟的涅槃是超越天界的。

If Nibbana is not a place, where is Nibbana then? Nibbana exists just as fire exists. However, there is no storage place for fire or for Nibbana. But when you rub pieces of wood together, then the friction and heat are the proper conditions for fire to arise. Likewise, when the nature in man's mind is such that he is free from all defilements, then Nibbanic bliss will appear.

如果涅槃不是一个地方？那么涅槃到底是什么？涅槃和火一样的存在，但是和火一样没有贮存的地方。当你用两块木头摩擦时，摩擦和热是火生起的因缘，同样的，当人涤除了心中本质的所有污秽，那么涅槃的喜悦将会出现。

You can experience Nibbana. Until you experience the supreme state of Nibbanic bliss, you can only, speculate as to what it really is. For those who insist on the theory, the texts offer some help. The texts suggest that Nibbana is a supra-mundane state of unalloyed happiness.

你能体会到涅槃，在你体会到涅槃的超越和真正的喜悦之前，你能推断涅槃到底是什么吗？如果有人坚持要从理论探索涅槃的真相，经典中也提供了线索，根据经典的记载，涅槃是超越尘世、真正幸福的状态。

By itself, Nibbana is quite unexplainable and quite undefinable. As darkness can be explained only by its opposite, light, and as calm can only be explained by its opposite, motion, so likewise Nibbana, as a state equated to the extinction of all suffering can be explained by its opposite? the suffering that is being endured in Samsara. As darkness prevails wherever there is no light, as calm prevails wherever there is no motion, so likewise Nibbana is everywhere where suffering and change and impurity do not prevail.

就涅槃本身来说，它是非常难以理解和难以说明的。就如黑暗，只能以其反面──光明来加以说明，静，也只能以动加以说明。同样的，涅槃等于消灭了所有的「苦」，这是一种反面说明，「苦」是众生在轮回中所必须忍受的。被黑暗占据的地方，就没有光明，在静的地方，就没有动。因此，涅槃是「苦」、「无常」和「不净」所不能存在的地方。

A sufferer who scratches his sores can experience a temporary relief. This temporary relief will aggravate the wounds and cause the disease to be enhanced. The joy of the final cure can hardly be compared to the fleeting relief obtained from the scratching. Likewise, satisfying the craving for sense-desires brings only temporary gratification or happiness which prolongs the stay in Samsara. The cure for the samsaric disease is Nibbana. Nibbana is an end of the cravings which cause all the sufferings of birth, old age, disease, death, grief, lamentation and despair. The joy of Nibbanic cure can hardly be compared to the temporary Samsaric pleasure gained through fulfilling the sense desires.

一个受苦者，在抚摸伤口时，会觉得痛苦暂时得到舒缓，这种暂时的舒缓现象很快被伤口的痛苦所抵消，并导致病情加重，因抚摸伤口而得到的短暂舒缓现象和病情痊愈的舒畅现象，是完全无法相比的。同样的，满足于感官的欲求，也只能带来短暂的喜悦或幸福，无法脱离轮回。只有涅槃能根治轮回，涅槃是贪欲的结束，贪欲导致生、老、病、死、悲伤和苦恼，涅槃所带来的快乐，不是在短暂的轮回中，充满感官所带来的欲乐，所能相提并论的。

It is dangerous to speculate on what Nibbana is; it is better to know how to prepare the conditions necessary for Nibbana, how to attain the inner peace and clarity of vision that leads to Nibbana. Follow the Buddha's advice: put His Teachings into practice. Get rid of all your defilements which are rooted in greed, hatred, and delusion. Purify yourself of all desires and realize absolute selflessness. Lead a life of right moral conduct and from all selfishness and illusion. Then, Nibbana is gained and experienced.

揣测涅槃是什么？是一件危险的事。我们必须先要理解，达到涅槃所需要的因缘和条件，如何获得内在的平和？如何以清楚的思维导向涅槃？跟随佛陀的告诫，修学佛陀的教义，消除贪、嗔、痴等污染，过着道德持戒的生活，进行禅定的锻练，致力去弃除所有的私心和妄想。这样，你就能达到涅槃，达到涅槃后，你就能体会到涅槃到底是什么了。