天葬

Sky Burial

古印度有八大天葬台，藏地也有难以计数的大小天葬台。喇荣西山也有一座远近闻名的天葬台。方圆几百里甚至远至拉萨、昌都的信徒，死亡之后都会被亲人用车、马、牦牛将尸体运至此处天葬，这也反映了他们对上师如意宝的信心。

In ancient India, there were eight great sky burial sites. In Tibet, there are numerous such places, large and small; a famous one is located at West Larung Mountain. The corpses of Buddhist followers from hundreds of miles around, even as far as from Lhasa or Chamdo, are often brought over by relatives in cars, by horse or yak, to be sky buried here, a practice reflecting the faith people have in our precious Guru, H.H. Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche.

每天少则五、六具，多则十几具尸体，先被运至大经堂门口，由学院僧众超度后，再送往天葬台。

Each day, five or six or up to a dozen corpses arrive at the academy. They are first placed in front of the Great Shrine Room for Sangha members to perform the ritual of blessing, and later are sent to the sky burial site.

今天下午，虽然身体略有不适，但为了让自己能再上一堂无常课，我还是与众人一起去到了久违的天葬台。

In order to refresh my mind with the lesson of impermanence, I went to the sky burial ground with others this afternoon, even though I wasn’t feeling quite well. It’s been a while since my last visit there.

好一幅壮美的风景图！山风猎猎，吹拂着各色经幡；清清溪水，穿越着茵茵草地；雁阵悠悠，装点着无云苍天。但这一切诗情画意并不能掩盖时而飘来的腐烂气息。

What grand and beautiful scenery to behold! The bleak mountain wind fluttered different kinds of prayer flags; clear streams ran through the verdant grassland; a flock of wild geese flew in formation, adorning the vast sky. Such idyllic scenery, however, was incapable of covering up the rotten odors wafting up now and then from the other end.

尸体被纷纷运到，散乱地排列在一起。他们中有年老病逝的，也有英年早衰的，有男人，也有女人，甚至夭折的婴儿。从服饰可以看出，他们分属于贫富不同的家庭，但此时都平等地还原为初来人世赤身裸体的样子。

Corpses were transported here in succession and lined up loosely. Some were old people who died from illness; others perished in their prime; there were men, women, and even babies. They had been wearing clothes and ornaments of rich or poor families, but presently all of them were equally dressed up in their birthday suits.

在天葬师的操作和鹰鹫的配合下，几天前还是一个活蹦乱跳的生命，几分钟就被分食殆尽。

The sky burial master began his operation and with the cooperation of the vultures, the body of someone who had been animatedly living a few days ago was soon completely devoured with little remaining.

生命，虽然有极其惊人的求生能力，却无法抗御无常的降临。无论富贵贫贱，无论年迈少壮。这是不以人的意志为转移的法则。

Every life is endowed with an incredible drive for survival, yet every life is powerless to stop the arrival of its final end. No human’s willpower, whether of the rich or poor, noble or humble, old or young, can ever bend the principle of impermanence.

有人惧怕尸体，不敢到尸陀林(天葬台)。米拉日巴云：“最可怕的身体就是活着的身体。”看看弱肉强食的社会，难道不比这里更可怕吗？

Some people are fearful of corpses and dare not go to the charnel ground. Yet Jetsun Mila says: “The scariest body is the living body.” Just take a look at society governed by the law of the jungle nowadays; don’t you think that is scarier than what is here at the charnel ground?

失去亲人的人们默默地擦拭着眼泪，仍不能唤醒九泉之下的亡灵。

The bereaved wiped their tears silently, but they had no way to call back the souls of the departed.

鹰鹫们展开翅膀，很快从视线中消失了。给我留下久散不去的怅然。

The vultures spread their wings and soon vanished from sight. I was left with a profound sadness that refused to go away for a long while.

壬午年七月十五日 　
2002年8月22日

15th of July, Year of RenWu
August 22, 2002