尸骨

Carcass Remains

短暂的夏天匆匆而过，漫无边际的原野上已露出秋的痕迹。虽然夏末的花朵仍然顽强地挺立着，但却怎么也抹不去秋季来临的萧瑟。

The brief summer season went by swiftly; there are already telltale signs of autumn in the open field. Even with the season’s last flowers standing tall obstinately, the bleak and desolate feeling that comes with fall is unmistakably hanging in the air.

距离色达十几公里的亚龙寺旁，是盛夏季节鲜花最茂盛的区域。我和索顿一行兴致勃勃地赶去，妄想在这里找到一些夏日的尾声。也许是精诚所至吧，零零散散的花儿强打着精神，装点着气数将尽的翠绿原野，居然也显出了一点繁荣景象。

About 10 kilometers from Sertha and nearby Yalong Monastery, there is a place most famous for its lush summer flowers. Hoping to catch the last glory of summer there, Sodon, a few others, and I took off in high spirits. Sure enough, flowers here and there perhaps touched by our sincerity, stood with chins held high on the doomed green field and managed to bring about some sense of flourishing liveliness.

欢快的小溪似乎还没察觉到封冻的临近，哼着波尔卡般的曲调，沛然而下。流水声与远处牧民的歌声、马群的嘶鸣声相和，组成了一曲轻快的多声部迎宾曲，恭候着我们的光临。

The little brook, seemingly oblivious of the imminent freezing season, hummed polka-like music as it rushed on. The babbling stream together with the distant singing of shepherd boys and the neighing of horses struck up a lively welcoming music, waiting for our arrival.

同伴们开始生火烧茶，不便在一旁袖手旁观的我只得溯水而上。离这里不远是一个著名的尸陀林，据说与印度的清凉尸陀林无二无别，有不少的鹰鹫千里迢迢从印度飞来。竹钦堪布菩提金刚的母亲圆寂后，就是在此尸陀林天葬的。我想，这里一定是空行聚集的胜地。

My companions settled to start a fire for making tea. Feeling awkward to be a bystander, I took a stroll up along the stream. Not too far away from here is a well-known charnel ground, supposedly on par with the Cool Grove charnel ground of India, and vultures fly over thousands of miles from India to feed here. The mother of Khenpo Dzogchen Changchub Dorje was sky-buried in this charnel ground after she died. I imagined this site is a sacred place for dakinis to congregate.

一具腐烂的牦牛骨架吸引了我的视线，不知何时、也不知何因它被弃置于此。令人窒息的恶臭吸引了逐臭的小生物们，各种小虫附满了整个骨架，令人厌恶，也让我想起我的这付行将就木的臭皮囊。

A rotten yak carcass caught my eye and I wondered when and why it had been discarded here. Its suffocating stench attracted many cesspit-chasing creatures and they swarmed all over the skeleton; it looked disgusting and reminded me of my own sack of flesh and bones that would soon decay also.

虽然明知终有一天我也难逃此劫，自己却整日为这假合的身心劳碌奔波。这活生生的教材提醒了忘乎所以的我，如同花木飘零的秋季，如同奔流不止的溪水，如同身体强健的牦牛……世间的一切都是无常的老师，一种强烈的厌世心油然而生。我祈祷着十方诸佛及上空的空行们，祝愿眼前的这些生灵能早日解脱。

Even though I know perfectly well that one day I will inevitably meet the same fate as this yak, I still toil all day long to serve this conjunction of body and mind of mine. The yak’s corpse was a life lesson waking me up from oblivion and I saw that all things in the world—the autumn season of fading flowers, the ever-rushing brook, and the once strong-bodied yak—are teachers of impermanence. I was suddenly arrested by a strong sense of renunciation and I prayed earnestly to the Buddhas of the 10 directions, as well as the dakinis in the sky, that all beings resting here would soon find liberation.

时间不知不觉地过去了，远处传来了同伴们呼唤的声音，太阳已将它一半的脸藏到了地平线下，我不得不揣着沉甸甸的心回去了。

Time slipped away and my companions called me from the distance. Soon the sun sank halfway below the horizon; with a heavy heart, I walked back reluctantly.
　　
壬午年七月初十　　
2002年8月17日 　

10th of July, Year of RenWu
August 17, 2002