英文原文
There’s a lot of anxiety, fear, and sadness going around this year. It is arguably leading to people feeling fragile and on a shorter fuse, more upset and angry than usual with each other and with everything that seems to be going on in our world. If we check where a lot of this is coming from, it comes because deep down most people are scared not just of losing the way of life they’ve known but of dying. For this reason, to get rid of the underlying fear, it is really important that we don’t shy away from contemplating what is inevitable for all of us. That we come to terms with it, come to accept it, and even come to welcome it! After all, there is no getting around it. As Buddha says in Sutra Addressed to a King: Ageing is like an immovable mountain. Decay is like an immoveable mountain. Sickness is like an immoveable mountain. Death is like an immoveable mountain. Many people hold off thinking about things like serious illness, ageing, and death for as long as possible because they don’t know how to deal with them — they just seem catastrophic, terrifying. Like when the Doctor tells you or a loved one some test results, “I’m afraid it is not good news,” and our heart sinks — we just want to run away, even though there is nowhere to run to. However, we can face whatever happens not alone and scared but within the context of refuge – feeling safe, protected, okay. Also, if we can accept death, we find we can far more easily accept all the other things that go wrong with our lives. We are all mortals made of flesh and bone, and the purpose of contemplating the mortal facts of sickness, ageing, death, and rebirth every day is not to paralyze us but to give rise to deep refuge in what will actually help us – and not just when these things happen, but now, straightaway. This includes, as we’ll see more in the next article, tuning into the blessings or protection of countless enlightened beings that are always on tap, and making an effort to apply the Dharma teachings that enable us to stay peaceful regardless of what is going on. With these we can stay happy in the present, and we are also ready for the illness and death when they come. We become fearless. There is nothing to fear but fear itself, as the saying goes. And it turns out that our fear and anxiety, along with all our other unpeaceful thoughts, are delusions arising from grasping at something that is not there, such as a real body, or a real self, or a self that is more important than everyone else. Our fears are directly proportional to how tightly we are grasping. Luckily we can all learn to let go of these thoughts, to stop grasping. And it is helpful to remember that our mind is naturally peaceful, we are just shaking it up with our own inappropriate thoughts. Getting started We can start to relax straightaway through a few minutes breathing exercize or clarity of mind or turning the mind to wood. As Geshe Kelsang says: So much of the stress and tension we normally experience comes from our mind, and many of the problems we experience, including ill health, are caused or aggravated by this stress. Just by doing breathing meditation for ten or fifteen minutes each day, we will be able to reduce this stress. A lot of our ill health is enormously exacerbated – sometimes even brought on — by anxiety and tension in the mind. Therefore it would be great to start practicing these simple strategies now on a daily basis because they will be very healing. Then, through using wisdom and compassion to get rid of our grasping once and for all, we will become free from all sickness permanently. Inner and outer problems With our world in turmoil and anxiety, we have to learn how to keep our mind peaceful and calm. If we are peaceful, we are happy. We are also strong, which means we can help others stay strong too. If we understand the difference between inner and outer problems we can understand why being able to keep a peaceful mind is the actual solution when things are going wrong. A quick reminder: if our car breaks down, that is an outer problem belonging to the car. It can be fixed (or not) depending on outer means, such as taking it to the garage, and it can be fixed by other people. If we get upset that the car has broken down, that is an inner problem, an unpleasant feeling in our own mind. This is what makes us unhappy and is therefore our actual problem. It can ONLY be fixed by internal means, and by ourself. It is never too late to start controlling our own mind – on one level it is not hard, it just takes a decision to get started, to make it a priority. Dharma solves inner problems, that is its actual function. And on one level the solution to these problems is so very simple. If we let go of self-cherishing (believing we are more important than others) and self-grasping (believing everything is real, existing from its own side), the whole house of cards will come tumbling down. If we do not, then even if we manage to get over one fear or upset, this is a temporary relief – another is already on its way. It’s endless, life after life. Being trapped in so-called samsara, the cycle of impure life, is not being trapped in an external prison – it simply means that we still have self-cherishing and self-grasping. If we learn how we are creating this prison, we can dismantle it. It is useful to let our daily problems remind us not that we are doomed, but instead: Man, this health/financial/political/relationship problem is really showing me how much self-cherishing and self-grasping suck! Luckily they are just ignorant thoughts, bubbles arising from the ocean of my root mind. Therefore, I’m going to learn to stop thinking them and get used to not thinking them. And then help others to do the same. Rinse and repeat. This way, it’s like our run of the mill outer and inner problems are giving us practice in getting rid of all of our problems once and for all! Can we be ill and happy at the same time?! But surely being ill is an inner problem? you may be thinking. No. It is our body’s problem, not our mind’s problem. We can include bodily ailments within outer problems. We believe our feelings of pain are coming from our body, but our body is inanimate and doesn’t feel anything. The pain is our bodily awareness, which pervades our body, but which is part of our mind. And the painful bodily feelings arise only because we have self-grasping ignorance, believing our body is inherently existent. If we get a direct realization of emptiness, we never feel any physical (or mental) pain again. Meantime, we can also have unpleasant bodily feelings while at the same time having peaceful mental feelings, such as compassion or renunciation. Soooo... if we make a point of stopping self-cherishing and self-grasping with respect to our body, we will be able to stay increasingly pain-free and happy even when we’re getting older, sicker, and deader. And how important is that!! I’ve had some practice with this of late — for example my lungs got a bit infected by all the wildfire smoke and I had to have laser surgery for a torn retina – and this fear (aargh, I have lung cancer and I’m going blind!) and loathing (why did this happen to me!? I was so happy before! I don’t like it!) has given me ample incentive to contemplate that my body is not my mind, and nor is it me. It is just a possession I use, like my car or my carrot peeler. It is inanimate. Plus it is not inherently existent. (Despite numerous contemplations on the subject over the years, I think I was still kinda hoping I might get away with not having to go through all that aging and sickness stuff, just drop dead one day and go to the Pure Land. Been having to rethink my strategy 😂). At times when things go wrong with my body, I naturally turn to think of practitioners who are really good at transforming sickness and creeping fears; and there is actually no shortage of inspiration. Lhatse Geshe visited us at Madhyamaka Centre many years ago, possibly the happiest most fun-loving person in the world. He came for a week and stayed 3 months, and we never knew till after he’d left that he’d had migraines almost every day. (He and I stayed in touch for years, and a long time later he also had an awesome death — I’ll tell you that story another day.) One senior Kadampa nun I know has experienced painful and debilitating arthritis for years, but she is always genuinely smiling and kind. The other day someone asked her how she was and she replied: I am fine. I am not a sick person. I just have a body that is problematical. I find this really helpful to contemplate. Another 40-something Kadampa has recently come through cancer but she told me that she’d happily do it all again if it meant COVID would go away for everyone else. Shows how much authentic compassion she developed in the course of her illness and treatment. A good friend with a degenerative illness replied to me the other day: My physical health is getting worse. My spiritual practice is getting better. Another friend told me that if he hadn’t suffered from so much ill health, he would never have turned so much to Dharma or led such a good and basically happy life, so he doesn’t regret any of it (even the operations where there was no anaesthesia ....) What about Harriet Tubman, still running the equivalent of five marathons to save people from slavery despite the horrendous headaches that would have floored less inspired people? And something for the Tantric practitioners amongst you ... You know those car stickers you see on old bangers, “My other car is a Mercedes?” I remember conversations with my ancient friend Eileen, who suffered sickness and old age for years, when she would say, This meaty body is not my real body. My other body is a Deity body. Which brings me to my Mom, too. She’s had a lot of serious health challenges in her life, but manages most all of the time to stay peaceful and keep enjoying life. If she isn’t happy she isn’t one to complain, she generally just waits patiently for it to pass. This is because she can be rather wise. The other day she was saying that our body is a thing, it is not us. It is a tool or an instrument that we use. Our mind is more important. She told me she makes an effort to think about things that are “important”, not to worry about small things. The main thing is to keep our mind peaceful and happy, not to worry about all the external things that we can do nothing about, which is pointless because we can do nothing about them. That includes all the things that can go wrong with our problematical body and, as she said, hers has been that. There is literally no point following the inappropriate attention of anxiety or fear when it comes to our body. We don’t freak out (much) when the car is dented, we just take it to the garage. In a similar way, we can learn to patiently accept whatever is coming up with the body while taking it to the doctor. Kadampa Geshes would pray to have a mind like a blacksmith’s anvil, undaunted however hard it is hit. Sounds good to me! Shortly after Venerable Geshe Kelsang came over to the West to help us, in the early 1980s, he developed tuberculosis and almost passed away. After he had recovered, I remember his doctor telling us that he saw absolutely no difference in Geshe-la’s way of being when he was well and when he was gravely ill. He said you couldn’t tell he was ill. Over to you! In particular, do you have any helpful experiences to share on transforming bodily ailments or physical pain in particular?
中文翻译
今年有很多焦虑、恐惧和悲伤在蔓延。这可以说导致人们感到脆弱、易怒，比平时更容易对彼此和世界上发生的一切感到不安和愤怒。如果我们探究这些情绪的根源，会发现深层原因是大多数人不仅害怕失去已知的生活方式，更害怕死亡。 因此，为了消除这种潜在的恐惧，我们真的不能回避思考对我们所有人来说不可避免的事情。我们要接受它，甚至欢迎它！毕竟，这是无法回避的。正如佛陀在《对国王说经》中所说： 衰老像一座不可移动的山。衰败像一座不可移动的山。疾病像一座不可移动的山。死亡像一座不可移动的山。 许多人尽可能长时间地不去思考重病、衰老和死亡等问题，因为他们不知道如何处理——这些问题似乎只是灾难性的、可怕的。就像医生告诉你或亲人检查结果时说“恐怕不是好消息”，我们的心沉了下去——我们只想逃跑，尽管无处可逃。然而，我们可以面对任何发生的事情，不是独自害怕，而是在皈依的背景下——感到安全、受保护、没事。而且，如果我们能接受死亡，我们会发现更容易接受生活中所有其他出错的事情。 我们都是血肉之躯的凡人，每天思考疾病、衰老、死亡和重生的凡俗事实，目的不是让我们瘫痪，而是让我们对真正能帮助我们的东西产生深刻的皈依——不仅在这些事情发生时，而且是现在，立刻。这包括，正如我们将在下一篇文章中看到的，接通无数觉者的加持或保护，这些觉者总是随时可用，并努力应用佛法教义，使我们无论发生什么都能保持平静。有了这些，我们可以在当下保持快乐，也为疾病和死亡到来时做好准备。我们变得无畏。 俗话说，除了恐惧本身，没有什么可恐惧的。事实证明，我们的恐惧和焦虑，以及所有其他不平静的念头，都是源于执着于不存在的东西而产生的错觉，比如一个真实的身体，或一个真实的自我，或一个比所有人都重要的自我。我们的恐惧与我们执着的程度成正比。幸运的是，我们都可以学会放下这些念头，停止执着。记住我们的心本质上是平静的，我们只是用自己不恰当的念头搅乱了它，这是有帮助的。 开始 我们可以通过几分钟的呼吸练习、心念清晰或转心向木来立即开始放松。正如格西凯尔桑所说： 我们通常经历的压力和紧张大多来自我们的心，我们经历的许多问题，包括健康不佳，都是由这种压力引起或加重的。只要每天做十到十五分钟的呼吸冥想，我们就能减轻这种压力。 我们的许多健康问题被极大地加剧——有时甚至是由心中的焦虑和紧张引起的。因此，现在开始每天练习这些简单的策略会很好，因为它们会非常有治愈力。然后，通过用智慧和慈悲彻底消除我们的执着，我们将永久摆脱所有疾病。 内外问题 随着世界动荡和焦虑，我们必须学会如何保持心念平静和安宁。如果我们平静，我们就快乐。我们也强大，这意味着我们也能帮助他人保持强大。 如果我们理解内外问题的区别，我们就能理解为什么当事情出错时，能够保持平静的心是实际的解决方案。快速提醒：如果我们的车坏了，那是属于车的外在问题。它可以通过外在手段修复（或不修复），比如送到修理厂，也可以由他人修复。 如果我们因为车坏了而心烦，那是内在问题，是我们自己心中的不愉快感受。这让我们不快乐，因此是我们的实际问题。它只能通过内在手段，由我们自己修复。 开始控制我们自己的心永远不会太晚——在某种程度上这并不难，只需要决定开始，把它作为优先事项。 佛法解决内在问题，这是它的实际功能。在某种程度上，这些问题的解决方案非常简单。如果我们放下自爱（相信自己比他人更重要）和自执（相信一切都是真实的，自性存在），整个纸牌屋就会倒塌。如果我们不这样做，那么即使我们设法克服一种恐惧或不安，这也只是暂时的缓解——另一种已经在路上了。这是无尽的，生生世世。 被困在所谓的轮回中，不纯净生命的循环，不是被困在外在的监狱里——它只是意味着我们仍然有自爱和自执。如果我们学会我们是如何创造这个监狱的，我们就可以拆除它。让我们的日常问题提醒我们不是我们注定要失败，而是： 天哪，这个健康/财务/政治/关系问题真的让我看到自爱和自执有多糟糕！幸运的是，它们只是无明的念头，从我根本心的海洋中冒出的气泡。因此，我要学会停止思考它们，并习惯不思考它们。然后帮助他人做同样的事。 重复这个过程。这样，就像我们普通的内外问题在给我们练习，让我们一劳永逸地摆脱所有问题！ 我们能同时生病和快乐吗？！ 但你可能会想，生病肯定是内在问题吧？不。这是我们身体的问题，不是我们心的问题。我们可以把身体疾病归为外在问题。我们相信疼痛感来自我们的身体，但我们的身体是无生命的，感觉不到任何东西。疼痛是我们的身体意识，它遍布我们的身体，但它是我们心的一部分。而痛苦的身体感受之所以产生，只是因为我们有无明的自执，相信我们的身体是自性存在的。如果我们直接证悟空性，我们就再也不会感到任何身体（或心理）疼痛。同时，我们也可以有不愉快的身体感受，同时拥有平静的心理感受，比如慈悲或出离心。 所以……如果我们特别注意停止对身体的自爱和自执，我们将能够越来越无痛和快乐，即使我们变老、生病和死亡。这有多重要！！ 我最近在这方面有一些练习——例如我的肺部被野火烟雾感染了一点，我不得不为视网膜撕裂做激光手术——这种恐惧（啊，我得了肺癌，我要瞎了！）和厌恶（为什么这发生在我身上！？我以前那么快乐！我不喜欢它！）给了我充分的动力去思考我的身体不是我的心，也不是我。它只是我使用的一个财产，就像我的车或我的削皮器。它是无生命的。而且它不是自性存在的。（尽管多年来对这个主题进行了多次思考，我想我仍然有点希望我可能不用经历所有那些衰老和疾病的事情，只是某天突然死去，去净土。不得不重新思考我的策略😂）。 当我的身体出问题时，我自然会想到那些真正擅长转化疾病和潜藏恐惧的修行者；实际上不乏灵感。拉策格西多年前访问我们的中观中心，他可能是世界上最快乐、最热爱乐趣的人。他来了一个星期，待了三个月，直到他离开后我们才知道他几乎每天都有偏头痛。（他和我保持联系多年，很久以后他也有了一个很棒的死亡——我改天再告诉你那个故事。） 我认识的一位资深噶当派尼师多年来一直经历痛苦和使人衰弱的关节炎，但她总是真诚地微笑和善良。前几天有人问她怎么样，她回答说： 我很好。我不是一个病人。我只是有一个有问题的身体。 我觉得这真的很有帮助去思考。 另一位40多岁的噶当派修行者最近战胜了癌症，但她告诉我，如果这意味着COVID对其他人消失，她会很乐意再做一次。显示她在疾病和治疗过程中发展了多少真实的慈悲。 一位患有退行性疾病的好朋友前几天回复我： 我的身体健康越来越差。我的灵修实践越来越好。 另一位朋友告诉我，如果他没有遭受这么多健康问题，他永远不会如此转向佛法或过着如此美好和基本快乐的生活，所以他一点也不后悔（甚至在没有麻醉的手术中……）。哈丽特·塔布曼呢？尽管有可怕的头痛，足以让灵感不足的人倒下，她仍然跑了相当于五个马拉松来拯救人们脱离奴隶制？ 给你们中的密宗修行者一些东西……你们知道那些在旧车上看到的贴纸，“我的另一辆车是奔驰吗？”我记得和我的老朋友艾琳的对话，她多年来遭受疾病和衰老，她会说： 这个肉体的身体不是我真正的身体。我的另一个身体是佛身。 这也让我想起了我的妈妈。她一生中面临许多严重的健康挑战，但大多数时候都能保持平静并享受生活。如果她不快乐，她不会抱怨，她通常只是耐心等待它过去。这是因为她相当有智慧。前几天她说，我们的身体是一个东西，不是我们。它是我们使用的一个工具或仪器。我们的心更重要。她告诉我她努力思考“重要”的事情，不担心小事。主要是保持我们的心平静和快乐，不担心所有我们无能为力的外在事情，这是无意义的，因为我们无能为力。这包括所有可能出问题的有问题的身体，正如她所说，她的身体就是这样。 当涉及到我们的身体时，跟随焦虑或恐惧的不恰当关注是完全没有意义的。当车被撞凹时，我们不会（太）惊慌，我们只是把它送到修理厂。同样，我们可以学会耐心接受身体出现的任何问题，同时带它去看医生。 噶当派格西们会祈祷有一颗像铁匠铁砧一样的心，无论被打击多狠都不畏惧。听起来不错！尊敬的格西凯尔桑来到西方帮助我们后不久，在1980年代早期，他患了肺结核，几乎去世。他康复后，我记得他的医生告诉我们，他在格西拉健康时和病重时的行为方式上绝对没有看到任何差异。他说你无法看出他生病了。 轮到你了！特别是，你有什么有用的经验可以分享关于转化身体疾病或身体疼痛的吗？
文章概要
这篇文章探讨了如何运用佛教智慧克服晚年生活中的恐惧和焦虑。作者指出，恐惧源于对死亡和失去的深层担忧，而佛陀教导我们正视衰老、疾病和死亡的不可避免性。通过区分内在问题（如心烦）和外在问题（如身体疾病），文章强调保持内心平静是关键。修行方法包括呼吸冥想、放下自爱和自执，以及寻求佛法的庇护。文中分享了多位修行者的真实故事，展示他们如何在身体痛苦中保持快乐和慈悲，体现了佛教的转化力量。文章鼓励读者通过日常练习培养无畏的心态，从而在晚年生活中找到真正的平安和幸福。
高德明老师的评价
1. 用12岁初中生可以听懂的语音来重复翻译的内容 这篇文章就像在说，当我们老了或者生病时，有时候会觉得很害怕，就像害怕考试不及格一样。但佛教告诉我们，这些害怕其实是我们心里想太多啦！比如，身体生病了，就像玩具坏了，我们可以修它，但不用太难过。如果我们学会放松，每天做几分钟的深呼吸，就像给心里的小气球放气，就会感觉好多了。还有，记住我们的心本来就很平静，就像平静的湖水，只是我们扔了太多小石头（就是那些担心的想法）进去，才让它乱糟糟的。所以，别怕变老或生病，我们可以像超级英雄一样勇敢，保持快乐！ 2. 佛学的各个宗派视角评价，突出《显密圆通成佛心要集》的视角 从佛学宗派视角看，这篇文章体现了大乘佛教的慈悲与智慧核心。在显宗方面，它强调通过正念冥想和放下执着来克服恐惧，这与般若智慧相符。从密宗视角，文中提到的“佛身”概念和修行者的转化故事，展示了即身成佛的可能性。特别地，从《显密圆通成佛心要集》的视角，这篇文章完美融合了显密二宗：显教部分教导我们通过观修无常和空性来对治恐惧，密教部分则通过本尊修持和佛身观想来提升修行。准提法作为显密圆融的法门，在这里可以进一步应用，通过持诵准提咒和观想准提佛母，快速净化业障、增强信心，帮助修行者在面对晚年恐惧时获得即时的加持和庇护。这种圆通视角强调，恐惧的根源在于无明，而通过显教的理观和密教的事修，我们可以迅速证得菩提心，实现内在的平安。 3. 在修行实践上可以应用的和可以解决人们的十个问题。 在修行实践上，这篇文章提供了可应用的方法来解决人们的十个问题： （1）恐惧死亡：通过观修无常和接受不可避免性，培养对死亡的平静态度。 （2）焦虑未来：练习呼吸冥想，每天10-15分钟，减少心理压力。 （3）身体疼痛：区分身体问题（外在）和心烦（内在），专注于保持内心平静。 （4）自我执着：放下自爱和自执，认识到身体只是工具，不是真正的自我。 （5）缺乏慈悲：从修行者的故事中学习，在痛苦中发展对他人的同情心。 （6）孤独感：通过皈依三宝，感受到佛菩萨的陪伴和保护。 （7）生活失衡：优先灵修实践，让心灵成长超越身体衰退。 （8）负面情绪：用正念转化恐惧和愤怒，培养喜悦和满足。 （9）修行动力：从真实案例中获得灵感，坚持日常修行。 （10）终极目标：朝向证悟空性和成佛，实现永久的平安和快乐。 这些实践基于大乘佛教的显宗教导，突出准提法的优点，如简易持咒和快速见效，帮助人们在日常生活中即时应用，从而在晚年生活中找到持久的幸福和意义。