生死

Life & Death

生命，在音乐家的乐章里，是远处高楼上飘来的渺茫笛声；在文学家的笔下，是荒漠中的一缕甘甜清泉；在社会学家的眼里，是奔驰着的欲望列车……生命，是那么的充满了诗情画意，却又那么的深不可测。随着地球的转动，人类创造了绚烂多姿的物质文明。然而，关于生命的问题，却如同古埃及文明留下的千古之谜一样，一直成为西方人难以逾越的天堑。

Life, in the music of composers, is the faint melody of flutes drifting from a remote tower; as penned by writers, it is a refreshing spring in the desert; as seen by sociologists, it is a charging train of desires…. Life, filled with poetic charm as it may be, remains unfathomable. Humans have made great strides in material civilization as time passes; yet life’s enigma, like the eternal riddle from Egypt’s ancient culture, remains an impassable chasm for most Westerners.

直到温慈将藏传佛教揭示生死之谜的典籍《西藏度亡经》翻译成文，昭然示众，才填补了西方关于人类灵魂奥秘之空白。该书引起了西方社会的极大关注，被翻译成了多种文字。从而使藏传佛教在西方名声大振。也使人们在茶余饭后，开始考虑生存和死亡的问题。但这并不像莎士比亚笔下《哈姆雷特》中的王子，每天思索生存和死亡，却以悲剧而告终。现代的人们将如何面临死亡作为课题，各种临终关怀机构应运而生。

The Westerners’ comprehension of human consciousness remained a void until Evans-Wentz first translated The Tibetan Book of the Dead into English. This book, a classic of Tibetan Buddhism and now published in many languages, reveals the mystery of living and dying and has attracted great attention in the West. Tibetan Buddhism became well-known in the world and people started to ponder the topics of living and dying. But this kind of musing is different from that of the prince in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, who died a tragic death after mulling over life and death every day. Instead, people nowadays try to deal with the issue of how to face death, and institutions devoted to terminal care have thus come into existence.

那木达司于73年创办了临终关怀机构，为癌症、艾滋病晚期患者提供服务。他们视病人如亲人，了解他们的痛苦，帮助他们在绝望中求得希望。他亲自到旧金山为即将死去的布鲁斯传授他从《西藏度亡经》中获得的教言：“不要逃避痛苦，坦诚你的过错，学会宁静和安详，慢慢地认知心的本来光明……”在那木达司的引导下，布鲁斯因痛苦而扭曲的脸逐渐缓和下来，在安详中缓缓而去。

In 1973 Ram Dass founded a hospice center to provide services for terminal cancer and AIDS patients. Caring for patients and trying to understand their pains, hospice staffs help patients to find hope in a hopeless situation. Ram Dass visited a dying patient named Bruce in San Francisco; he shared with him the teachings in The Tibetan Book of the Dead: “Escape not from the pains and confess your mistakes; learn to be calm and at peace. Slowly you will recognize the innate luminosity of your mind….” Guided by Ram Dass, Bruce’s twisted, agonized face gradually relaxed, and he made a tranquil and graceful exit.

令西方人大跌眼镜的是，几乎每一个老一点的西藏人，都是临终关怀方面的专家。他们从小就被训练如何面对死亡，很多修行人依照前辈大德的言教实修，早已将死亡作为脱离肉身、跃往解脱的一种契机。其他人也是将死亡作为生命的一种转化过程。与西方人临终之时，手足无措，只能求助于医生的境况相比，不能不说是一种幸运。

What baffles Westerners most is that nearly every elderly Tibetan can be termed an expert in hospice care. They have been taught since a very young age how to squarely face death, and many practitioners have long followed the teachings of great masters. Their practices make them see death as a turning point, one that leaves the corporeal body behind and allows them to spring into liberation. As death approaches, Tibetan folks regard it as a transformative process of life, while Westerners feel completely lost and can only plead to medical doctors. Comparing these two attitudes, we must say the Tibetans are lucky.

感谢莲花生大师给西藏人在精神上留下的这笔生死秘诀的宝贵财富！

The teaching on the secret of life and death is the most precious, we are forever grateful to Guru Rinpoche for leaving Tibetans such a rich spiritual legacy!

壬午年正月十七日 　
2002年3月1日

17th of January, Year of RenWu
March 1, 2002