无常

It’s Impermanent

此刻，才华横溢的孙先生坐在我旁边，看着手里自己年轻时的照片，泪水像断线的水晶念珠般洒落下来。

At this moment, the talented and brilliant Mr. Sun is sitting next to me, holding photos of his youthful self. As he looks at them, tears stream down his cheeks like crystal beads falling from a broken mala string.

我知道他是在感慨韶华易失、青春不再，年轻时的美好时光已如长流之水向东而去，再也无法追寻。

I understand he is feeling sad that he has lost his glorious prime and will never be young again. All his jubilant youthful years, like a river rushing forward, were gone beyond recall.

见此情景，不禁想起《红楼梦》中林黛玉的《葬花词》：“试看春残花渐落，便是红颜老死时，一朝春尽红颜老，花落人亡两不知。”我想这也是他此刻心灵的真实写照吧。
　　
Seeing this, the poem “Burying Flowers” by Lin Daiyu in The Story of the Stone (A Dream of Red Mansions) comes to my mind:

Spring is ending and the flowers wilting one by one,
It is also the time when beauty must grow old and die.
Once spring is gone and the beauty meets her doom,
Who will care for the fallen bloom and buried lady?

This poem, I sense, must be a close portrayal of Mr. Sun’s mood at this moment.

只可惜他不信佛教，无法用佛教的智慧之剑来斩断这些痛苦，而使这种悲观情绪如汹涌之波涛，一浪高过一浪。真是可悲可叹！

Too bad he does not believe in Buddhism and is unable to use the sword of Dharma wisdom to cut off suffering. He can only give rein to gloomy emotions, which like turbulent tidal waves, surge higher and higher. How lamentable!

世间的一切，包括青春、财富、感情甚至生命都是瞬息即逝的，白居易有诗言：“勿叹韶华子，俄成皤叟仙。”虽然想留住青春年华，然而生死的脚步却一刻也不会停留。若不利用青春年少的大好时期好好修法，真是令人叹息。麦彭仁波切说：“韶华瞬逝财富动，生命如住阎罗齿，然诸世人不修法，呜呼人行真希奇！”

Everything in the world—youth, wealth, and relationships, even life—is ephemeral. Bai Juyi says in a poem: “No need to envy young fellows, Hoary old gents soon they become.”

Try as we may to hold onto youth, yet the paces of life and death never pause for an instant. Should we fail to take advantage of youthful years to study the Dharma, it’s quite regrettable. Mipham Rinpoche says:

Youth is momentary and wealth is fickle; life is like being in the jaws of the Lord of Death. Yet many people still ignore Dharma practice. Alas, how disconcerting their behavior is!

也许试着给他讲讲这些道理，聪明的他会想通的。我决定合上书本，好好和他谈谈。

Perhaps I should try to explain this logic to him; he is a smart guy, he will get it. Closing my book, I decide to have a good talk with him.

壬午年二月初二　　
2002年3月15日

2nd of February, Year of RenWu
March 15, 2002