The only thing that does not change is your true mind. It is the “observer” in the world of your inner mind that knows when you are cold, knows you are getting old, knows when afflictions arise. It is something that exists that is pure and lucid like a bright mirror, and unshakeable as a diamond. It will not change, nor will it be damaged. It is like a clear bright sky and a still quiet ocean. It alone can really be there with you always.
我们知道，变化是这个世界的真相，这个世界上的一切都是不断改变的，包括看起来永恒的日月星辰。一些人意识到这一点，觉得人生来就是受苦的，因为他拥有的一切都不会永恒，他的爱情、他苦心经营的一切、他的好名声、他的车子、他的楼房、他的父母妻儿，甚至包括他的生命。他很想知道，到底有没有一个不会改变的东西？
We know that change is the true characteristic of this world. Everything is this world is constantly changing, including the seemingly eternal sun, moon, and stars. Some people are aware of this, and feel that when humans are alive they endure suffering, because nothing they have can last forever: their feelings of love, everything they have worked at so hard, their reputations, their cars, their apartments, their parents and spouses and children, even their own lives. They very much want to know whether or not there is anything that will not change.
有，但也没有。说有，因为佛家认为有一种状态是恒常的，这种状态叫做“金刚心”；说没有，因为金刚心并不是具体的实物，即使你寻遍世界的每一个角落，也找不到一个叫做“金刚心”的东西。金刚心，就是坏不了的真心，它是无始无终、不生不灭的。
There is, but there also is not. We say there is, because Buddhism recognizes that there is one state that is eternal – this state is called “the diamond mind.” We say there is not, because the diamond mind is not a concrete material object, and even if you look in every corner of the whole world, you will not find a thing called “the diamond mind.” The diamond mind is the indestructible true mind; it has no beginning and no end, and is neither born nor extinguished.
佛家智慧认为，虽然这个世界上的一切是幻化不实的、无常的，但能觉察无常规律的那种智慧，它不是“顽空”的，它就是众生本具的真心、本元心。变是不变的真理，世上一切都在发生变化，都在无时无刻地变化着，但“变”这个真理不变，你证得的那个真理的觉性也不变。什么是觉性？觉性就是我们对真理的认知。这个真理本身，就是大自然本有的一种规律，是无常。
Buddhist wisdom recognizes that although everything in this world is illusory transformation and unreal and impermanent, nevertheless, the wisdom that can perceive the law of impermanence is not “inert emptiness” – it is the inherent true mind of living beings, the fundamental original mind. Change is the immutable truth. Everything in the world is undergoing changes, and is all changing every moment – but this truth of “change” does not change, and the awareness that lets you experience this truth does not change either. What is this awareness is our recognition of the truth. This truth itself is a kind of law inherent in nature – it is impermanence.
能够认知无常真理的那个真心，一直陪伴着所有的生灵，无论生命个体经历多少次生死轮回，经历多少个从诞生到坏灭的过程，如何从这个身份转换为另一个身份，它都没有离开过我们。即使我们不明白它，它也仍然在那里。你看不见它，但它确实存在。它没有开始，也无所谓终结；它不会被妄念的灰尘染污，也无所谓干不干净；它不会增加，也无所谓减少。它是深藏于你内心深处的灵性，是你超越生活，甚至超越生死、实现解脱的基点。当你认知了它，也就自然接受了世界的无常。你会发现，变化虽然是苦，但也是你能够自在生活的原因。因为，所有看似真实的东西，包括你眼睛看到的、耳朵听到的、鼻子闻到的、身体触摸到的、脑海中的所有想法等等一切，都是万物因缘聚合之后，示现出的许多现象，不能说它们从来都没有存在过，但它们是归于空性、虚幻无常的，旧因缘一旦消散，它们就会立刻改变。
The true mind that can recognize the truth of impermanence always accompanies all living spirits. No matter how many times our living bodies experience the cycle of birth and death, and how many times we go through the process from being born to being destroyed, or how we are transformed from this embodiment into another embodiment, this true mind never leaves us. Even if we do not understand it clearly, it is always there. You cannot see it, but it really exists. It has no beginning, and it has no so-called end. It cannot be defiled by the ashes and dust of false thoughts, and it has no so-called clean or unclean. It cannot be increased, and it cannot be reduced. It is the spiritual nature hidden in the depths of your inner mind. It is the basis for you to transcend life, and even transcend birth and death, and realize liberation. When you have recognized it, then you spontaneously accept the impermanence of the world. You discover that although change is painful, it is also the causal basis for you to be able to live independently. This is because everything that seems real, including what your eyes see, what your ears hear, what your nose smells, what your body touches, and all the thoughts in your brain – all of these things are the many apparent forms that appear after the myriad material causes and conditions come together. We cannot say that they never existed, but they return to empty inherent nature, empty and illusory and impermanent. When the previous causal conditions disperse, they immediately change.
举个简单的例子，梦中的野兽存在吗？在现实中，它们是不存在的；但是在梦里，它又确实存在过，你还被它吓得六神无主、四处逃逸呢；在你的记忆里，它也的确存在过，梦醒之后你仍然知道自己梦见了可怕的东西。但是，随着梦境和记忆的消失，它也就消失了。换句话说，旧因缘一旦离散，梦中的野兽就会立刻消失。
Let’s take a simple example. Did the wild animal you saw in a dream exist? In actual fact, it does not exist, but in the dream, it did really exist, and you were mangled and mauled by it, and could not get away. In your memory, it also really existed, and after you woke up, you still knew that you had dreamed of something frightening. But when the dreams and the memories dissolve away, it too dissolves away. In other world, when the previous causal conditions disperse, the wild animal in the dream will immediately dissolve away.
其实，所谓的现实世界，也是这样，跟梦境没有什么本质的区别，它们都是因缘聚合之物，随着旧因缘的消散而消失，随着新因缘的聚合而转化为另一种形式。比如，你在十字路口向左转时，见到一个背着书包的女学生，你跟她擦肩而过，那么，她曾经在你的世界里存在过，但是马上就变成了记忆，你也许很快就会忘记她。一旦你忘记了她，在你的世界里，她也就永远消失了。了其实质，她的存在仅仅是一种梦幻般的东西。再比如，你谈过一次刻骨铭心的恋爱，但对方有一天却不爱你了，若干年后你终于释怀了，这时你发现，过去的甜蜜就像一场梦。连你爱过的女孩，也像是梦里的人物，她的想法变了，对你的态度也变了，她再也不是你爱过的那个女孩了，当然，你自己也早就变了。又比如，你看见一个非常美丽的女孩，对她很有好感，于是你凝视着她，等待着一个与她相识的机会，你甚至幻想着许多美妙的故事会发生在你俩的身上，就像托尔斯泰在《安娜•卡列尼娜》中所说的，“整个宇宙都在等待信号的发出”，但是她却突然往地下吐了口痰，你顿时倒了胃口，所有的幻想都破灭了，对她的好感也像烈日下的露珠一样，马上就蒸发得一干二净。可见，世上一切都在不断变化着，就像一个又一个梦，又像哗哗流动的水。改变，从来没有停止过。
In fact, the so-called real world is also this way. It is not substantially different from a dream. These are all things formed by the coming together of causal conditions, and when the causal conditions disperse, they dissolve away, and when new causal conditions come together, they are transformed into another shape. For example, when you turn left at a crossroads, you see a female student carrying a book bag on her back. You brush by her, and then she exists in your world. But she immediately becomes a memory, and you may soon forget her. Once you have forgotten her, in your world she has disappeared forever. If you understand its real substance, her existence was only something like a dream or illusion. Take another example. You speak of a deep love that you will remember all your life, but one day your partner no longer loves you, and after a few years you end up not caring anymore, and then you discover that that past sweet tenderness was like a dream. Even the girl you loved seems like someone in a dream. The way she thinks has changed, and her attitude toward you has changed, and she is no longer that girl you loved, and of course, you yourself have changed. Another example. You see a very pretty girl and you have a good feeling toward her, and so you focus your attention on her. You wait for an opportunity to get to know her, and you even fantasize many beautiful things that will take place between you. As Tolstoy said in Anna Karenina, “The whole universe is waiting for the signal to be sent.” But she suddenly spits out a mouthful of phlegm on the ground. You are abruptly turned off, and all your fantasies are destroyed, and the good feelings you had for her immediately evaporate like dewdrops in the hot sun, and nothing remains. Obviously, everything in the world is constantly changing, so it’s like one dream after another, like a stream of water whooshing by. It goes on changing, and has never stopped.
唯一不变的是你的真心，是你内心世界里那个知道你冷了、老了、生起烦恼了的“旁观者”。它是明镜般清醒、金刚般无可动摇的存在。它不会改变，更不会损毁。它像是明朗的天空和寂静的大海。只有它，才能真正与你常在。
The only thing that does not change is your true mind. It is the “observer” in the world of your inner mind that knows when you are cold, knows you are getting old, knows when afflictions arise. It is something that exists that is pure and lucid like a bright mirror, and unshakeable as a diamond. It will not change, nor will it be damaged. It is like a clear bright sky and a still quiet ocean. It alone can really be there with you always.
然而，并不是每个人都能发现它的存在，就像我们看不见自己头顶上的白头发一样。如果这时有人告诉你：“你头顶上长了根白头发。”你就会低头照镜子，尝试从镜子里找到它，这时你才有可能会看见它。那个告诉你长了白发的人（老师）、镜子（方法）和恰当的姿势（实践）就是让你认知真心的因缘。当所有因缘凑到一起发生作用的时候，你就会开悟，发现自己本有的真心。所以说，认知真心也是一个因缘和合的现象，不明白真心的人，只能通过一些方法，尽量为明心见性创造助缘，但机缘不到的话，强求也只能增加烦恼。
Nevertheless, it is not that everyone can discover its existence. It is like us being unable to see a white hair appearing on the top of our heads. If at this time someone tells you, “You have a white hair on the top of your head,” you will lower your head and look in the mirror, and try to find it in the mirror, and only then might you be able to see it. The person who told you that you have grown a white hair (the teacher), the mirror (the teaching), and the appropriate physical position (real practice) – these are the causal conditions that allow you to recognize true mind. When all the causal conditions come together and start to function together, then you will open to enlightenment, and discover your own inherent true mind. Thus it is said that recognizing true mind is also a phenomena brought about by the coming together of causal conditions. People who do not clearly understand the true mind can only go through the teachings, and do all they can to build up favorable conditions for illuminating mind and seeing its true nature. But if opportune conditions do not come, trying to force it can only add to a person’s afflictions.
比如，在看到这本书或者认识我之前，也许你并不了解佛家智慧，也不知道自己有究竟解脱的可能。但是有一天，你的朋友推荐你看这本书，我在书里描述了一种绝对的自由与快乐，你相信我，而且心中生起一种巨大的向往。你在这种向往当中如法地实践了我所说的话，那么或许有一天，你就会亲身体验到我说的那种觉受。
For example, before you read this book or knew me, maybe you did not understand Buddhist wisdom, and you did not recognize the possibility that you would have ultimate liberation. But one day, your friend recommended that you read this book. In this book I have described a kind of absolute freedom and happiness, and you believe me, and a great yearning arises in your mind. In this state of great yearning, you faithfully put into practice what I am explaining here, and then maybe one day you will personally experience the kind of feeling I am talking about.
所以说，虽然真心不生不灭，生生世世与我们同在，但是否能够发现它，何时发现它，如何发现它，却必须随缘。“随缘行”也是佛家修行方法之一，它讲究的是不强求、任运自然、随顺因缘、不生喜恶、不随现象的生灭而改变心的状态。它既是借事修炼心灵的妙法，也是智慧在生活中发挥了作用。
Thus we say, although the true mind is neither born nor destroyed, and is with us lifetime after lifetime, still, whether or not we can discover it, and when we discover it, and how we discover it, must depend on causal conditions. “Practicing according to causal conditions” is one of the Buddhist methods of cultivating practice. What it emphasizes is not forcibly seeking, but rather adapting spontaneously, going along with causal conditions, not giving rise to arbitrary notions of good and evil, not altering your mental state following the birth and demise of apparent phenomena. It is a wondrous teaching of using things and events to cultivate and refine the mind and spirit, and it is also wisdom exercising its function in the midst of life.
