解脫心 A Heart Released 七、殊勝的地位：道、果和涅槃的基礎

§7. The supreme position: the foundation for the paths, fruitions, and nibbana.

　七、殊勝的地位：道、果和涅槃的基礎

aggam thanam manussesu maggam satta-visuddhiya:

　　『淨化有情之道中，人類為殊勝。』

‘The supreme position is to be found among human beings: the path to the purification of living beings.’ This can be explained as follows: We have received our legacy from namo, our parents — i.e., this body, which has taken a human birth, the highest birth there is. We are supreme beings, well-placed in a supreme position, complete with the treasures of thought, word, and deed. If we want to amass external treasures, such as material wealth, money, and gold, we can. If we want to amass internal treasures, such as the extraordinary qualities of the paths, their fruitions, and nibbana, we also can. The Buddha formulated the Dhamma and Vinaya for us human beings, and not at all for cows, horses, elephants, and so on. We human beings are a race that can practice to reach purity. So we shouldn’t be discouraged or self-deprecating, thinking that we are lacking in worth or potential, because as human beings we are capable. What we don’t have, we can give rise to. What we already have, we can make greater. This is in keeping with the teaching found in the Vessantara Jataka:

　　『在人類之中可以找到殊勝的地位：淨化眾生之道。』這可以解釋如下：我們已經從 mano －我們的雙親接受了遺產—也就是這個身體，生得人身，這是最高的誕生，我們是殊勝的眾生，被妥善地放置于殊勝的地位，具備了思想、語言、行為的寶藏，如果我們想要積聚外在的寶藏，例如物質的財富，我們可以做得到，如果我們想要積聚內在的寶藏，例如道、果和涅槃的不平凡特質，我們也可以做得到，佛陀為我們人類明確解說正法律，而絕對不是為了牛、馬、象‥‥等，我們人類才是能夠修習達到純淨的族群，所以我們不應沮喪或自卑，認為我們沒什麼價值或缺少能力，因為生為人類，我們是有能力的，我們所沒有的，我們可以長養它；我們已經擁有的，我們可以使它增長，這和本生經的教導是一致的。

danam deti, silam rakkhati, bhavanam bhavetva, ekacco saggam gacchati, ekacco mokkham gacchati, nissansayam:

　　『布施、持戒、修習，力行必生天，力行至殊勝。』

’Having worked at amassing wisdom through being charitable, observing the precepts, and developing the mind in line with the teachings of the Lord Buddha, those who work only a little will have to go to heaven, while those who are determined and really do the work — and at the same time having the help of the potential and perfections they have developed in the past — will reach nibbana without a doubt. ’

　　『根據佛陀的教導，透過慈善布施，持戒和開發心意，努力于積聚智慧者，他們只要稍作努力就必定可以生于天上，至于那些堅決而真正努力的人—同時得到他們過去曾經開發的能力和功德之助—無疑地將會達到涅槃。』

Common animals are said not to be supreme because they can’t act as human beings can. So it is rightly said that human beings are well-placed in a supreme position, able to lead themselves to the paths, their fruitions, and to pure nibbana.

　　一般動物並無所謂殊勝，因為它不能像人類那樣的有所作為。所以說人類是被放置在一個殊勝的地位是正確的，能夠引導他們自己走入道、果和純淨的涅槃。