平常心 Normality - 果報：當下的天堂與涅槃 The Fruit : Heaven And Nibbana In The Present
1-3-3. THE FRUIT : HEAVEN AND NIBBANA IN THE PRESENT果報：當下的天堂與涅槃
When talking about fruits and results, we tend to think about heaven and Nibbana. We tend to think that someone who does good, must go to heaven and someone who does bad, falls into hell. You shouldn’t think of that kind of heaven and hell in the future, but you should know hell in the present first. Heaven in the sky, the same; leave it for now, have a look at heaven in the present first. Where is heaven in the present ? It’s inside us ! It is in the individual, that is, it is in the person who acts, speaks and thinks good. But when we act, speak and think bad, we’ll meet and associate with bad people, this is what hell is about. Please, Just simply reflect - we all probably see it already, for example that those who do bad and wrong things, who cheat and rob, must be hunted down and avenged. They’ll have to be caught by the police, they have to keep in hiding and suffer continuously. This shows clearly that they have fallen in hell. As for us, who haven’t done anything wrong, we don’t have to worry about anything, we don’t have. to go in hiding, even when we meet a policeman, we feel safe, which is the same as being in heaven. Maybe we have thought like this already but I want to emphasize it so that we understand heaven and Nibbana in the present clearly. When we understand this matter properly, happiness, development and prosperity will arise by themselves, in us and our society.
一談到果報，我們一般都會想到天堂和涅槃，並且認為做好事的人一定會上天堂，而做壞事的就會下地獄。你們不應該去想那種未來的地獄，而應該要先知道當下的地獄；天上的天堂也一樣先別管它，先瞧瞧當下的天堂。當下的天堂在哪兒呢？就在我們里面！在每一個人里面，也就是在身、口、意能行善的人里面。反過來，當我們身、口、意造惡的時候，我們會遇到或結交一些壞人，而這就是所謂的地獄了。請回想一下這些景象，我們可能都看見過了，比如說，那些做壞事或做錯事的人以及偷拐搶騙的人，他們一定會被逮捕或報復，也一定會被警察追捕，他們必須不斷躲藏乃至受苦，這樣就清楚地顯示出他們已經掉入地獄了。至于我們，我們沒做什麼壞事，也就不須擔心什麼了，遇到警察，我們不須躲藏，反而覺得很安全，這樣就等于在天堂了。或許你們和我一樣也是這麼想的，但是我要再強調它，以便大家能更清楚地了解當下的天堂和涅槃。當我們正確地了解這些，幸福、發展和繁榮就會在我們內在及社會中自然生起。
Our duties are connected with sick people, who are suffering, so the thing we should remember is, to have a heart of kindness and understand the real condition of the world and life, according to the teaching of the Buddha that says : SABBE SATTA….. , All beings are friends in suffering, birth, old age, sickness and death. If we recollect like this continuously, our mind will be clean and gentle. This is the verse for happiness, development and prosperity in life, and for working and earning a livilihood together in human society. When we think about the suffering in ourselves and how to practice with it, we should see the suffering in others and how to behave towards them, also. Namely, to be friends in suffering. If we can do that, we will encounter happiness.
我們的責任是和受苦的病人有關，所以我們必須記得的是：要懷著一顆慈愛的心以及要了解這個世界及生命的真實本質。佛陀教導說：「Sabbe Satta…」，意思是說所有眾生都是在生、老、病、死中受苦難的朋友。假若我們這樣不斷地觀想，我們的心就會清淨與柔和。這是個人生命中幸福、發展與繁榮以及人類社會中共同工作與生活的美麗詩篇。當我們想到自己的苦以及我們是如何經歷它們，就應該要了解別人的苦並知道該如何對待他們，意即同病成知己、患難見真情。如果我們能那麼做，處處體會別人的苦，就能夠得到幸福。
For doctors or nurses, I suggest to take doctor Jivaka as a model, as a hero. If we can do this, the world will have happiness and peace, and this is the fruit that we should grab hold of and have faith in, or establish a framework from, for spiritual life. The Buddha used to teach that being a doctor is better than being wealthy. This is something to feel joyful and proud about because being a doctor helps many people to survive. Thinking in terms of results, it is invaluable, it can’t be expressed in money, not even millions of baht. The thing which is the heart of advancing towards this confidence, is to diligently develop awareness and always make the mind clean, bright and peaceful.
就你們醫生或護士而言，我建議你們把齊瓦哥醫生當做自己的模范和英雄。如果我們做到那樣，這個世界就能夠快樂與和平，而這也才是我們必須抓取的的真正果實，以及必須要有信心並依之建立一個心靈生活的架構。佛陀曾教導：當醫生比當有錢人好，這是真正值得高興和驕傲的事，因為當醫生可以幫助許多人存活下來。就所謂的果報來說，這是無價的！是不能用金錢來衡量的！就算是幾百萬元也不能相提並論。深化這種信念的核心要務就是精進培養覺性以及時時保持心地清淨、光明及安祥。
Heaven and hell exist in us, it’s not like the scriptures say that heaven and Nibbana are at this and that level. That’s the texts, but I don’t attest to it. But I do affirm the old saying that heaven is in the heart, hell is in the mind and so is Nibbana.
天堂和地獄就在我們自己里面，而不是如經典上所說的：天堂與涅槃在這一層或那一層天。沒錯！那是經典上的文字記載，不過我無法證實它。但是，我絕對肯定一句古諺：「天堂在心中，地獄在心中，涅槃也一樣。」
When talking about right view in practising the duties of doctors and nurses, I’d like to take the opportunity to talk a bit about our life because it’s not easy to get a chance to talk here. Why talk about life? Because I’ve talked at many places, like the Rama and Siriraja hospital and discovered that some doctors suffer while carrying out their duties, they do it because they have to, not out of symphathy or with their minds at ease. Those people have asked me ‘How can we do it feeling at ease, how can we practice our duties without suffering?’. I told them : ‘Actually, our minds don’t have suffering, it is still in itself and indifferent’. This is what the Buddha calls Nibbana : the mind that is equanimous. The word equanimity means to set one’s heart at ease, and work, following one’s duties. The mind that is neutral, is comparable to a weight, an anchor or the brakes of a car, that hold back our state of mind to be balanced, all the time. Not letting it incline or flow with the stream of happy and unhappy feelings. And this kind of mind is the mind that is beyond happiness and suffering. it’s not stuck in goodness or badness. This is called neutrality or Nibbana. So Nibbana exists at people’s minds !
既然談到醫生和護士履行職務時的正確觀念，我願意再藉此機會談談我們的生命，因為能來在這兒和各位談話機會很難得。為何要談生命呢？因為我在許多地方都談過，比如拉瑪和斯里拉迦醫院，而且我發現一些醫生在履行職務時感覺很痛苦，他們是因為不得不做才去做的，而不是出于同情或一種自在無礙的心。他們曾問我：「我們怎樣才能在工作中感到自在無礙呢？又怎樣才能在履行職務時不感到痛苦呢？」我告訴他們：「事實上，我們的心本來沒有苦，它還是它自己本來那個樣子並沒有什麼改變或不同。」這才是佛陀所謂的涅槃——亦即寂靜的心。所謂的「寂靜」是指心能自在無礙而且盡責地工作，這種中道的心可比喻為砝碼、船錨或車子的煞車，能夠時時保持我們的心在平衡的狀態，不會讓心隨著高興和不高興的感覺而流轉，這樣的心是超越苦樂的，不會泥執于善惡好壞，而稱之為中道或涅槃，所以涅槃是存在于人們心中！