From inside to outside, there is no way we can find an unchanging “me.” Since there is no unchanging “me,” how could there be “my” family, “my” house, “my” car, and all the rest of it?
我们说，生命的真相是一个巨大的梦境，那么人呢，什么才是“人”的真相？
We have said that the true characteristic of life is that it is a giant dream. So then, what about people? What is the true characteristic of “people”?
人的真相，也是一场幻觉，一种元素组合的游戏，就像孩子们玩积木一样。某个时刻，孩子们用一些积木堆砌出一座小小的城堡，这座“城堡”在某段相对时间内是存在的，但是他们很快就会把它推翻，再堆出其他的东西。所以说，“城堡”的存在是一场幻觉，它会随着组成元素的解体而随时分崩离析，人的生命及人本身也是一样。我们的想法、情绪、健康状况、身体内部环境、外貌、命运等等，都会随着因缘的不断流转而时刻改变，没有一个固定不变的状态，没有一个不会历经生再走向死的独立个体。所以，从终极意义上来说，并没有确实存在的“积木城堡”，也没有确实存在的“人”，一切都是被冠以某个名称以示细微区别、实则本质相同的“现象”。如果说我们和积木之间还有什么较大的区别，那就是我们有“灵魂”——我指的是非“神我”的灵魂——具有且能够认知真心、了悟生命的真相。
The true characteristic of “people” is also that they are an illusion, a kind of play of elements coming together, like children building with blocks. At a certain moment, the children use the blocks to build a little castle. This “castle” is something that exists within a certain relative period of time, but the children will soon knock it down, and build something else. So we say that the existence of the “castle” is an illusion. When the elements which are put together to form it come apart, then it will crumble. Human life and the human body are also this way. Our ways of thinking, our emotions, our health, our internal physical environment, our outward appearance, our course in life – all these will change every minute following the ceaselessly changing flow of causal conditions. There is no fixed, unchanging situation; no independent essence that does not pass through birth and go toward death. Thus, speaking from the level of ultimate meaning, there is no “castle built of blocks” that really exists, and there is no “person” that truly exists. Everything is covered with a term to show the subtle distinctions, the “apparent forms” that are really the same as the real basic substance. If we say that there is some great distinction between ourselves and the building made of wooden blocks, it is that we have a “soul” – what I mean is not a soul as in “spiritual self” – which we are equipped with and with which we can recognize the true mind, and fully awaken to the true characteristic of life.
如果你的心灵被欲望所蒙昧，你就无法认知真心，也无法了悟生命的真相。你会以为这世上真的存在一个“我”，他在不断拥有着和失去着。其实这个所谓的“我”只不过是另一种因缘聚合之物：我们的肉体并不是本有的，它的诞生、健康、成长需要依赖于很多外部的条件，比如父母的结合、良好的伙食、充足的营养、安全的成长环境等等，而且我们的细胞不断生生灭灭，我们的生命机能与外表不断改变；我们的知识、观念、习惯、行为准则甚至个性，也都不是本有的，它们也是因缘聚合之物，并不断在外境的作用下发生各种变化。那么，由内至外，我们都无法找到一个不变的“我”。既然没有不变的“我”，又何来“我的”家、“我的”房子、“我的”车等等一切呢?
If your mind and spirit is covered over by desires, then you will have no way to recognize the true self, and no way to fully awaken to the true characteristic of life. You may think that in the world a “self” genuinely exists, and it continuously possesses things and loses things. In reality, this so-called “self” is no more than another thing that arises from the coming together of causal conditions. Our physical bodies are not inherent: their birth, health, and growth requires that they depend on many external conditions, like the union of the father and mother, good food, ample nutrition, a secure environment to grow up in, and so on. Moreover, the cells in our bodies are constantly being born and dying off, and our vital functions and our external appearances are constantly changing. Our intellects, our viewpoints, our habits, our standards of conduct are very individual, but none of them are inherent; they too are things resulting from the coming together of causal conditions, and they are constantly undergoing changes due to the operation of external objects. So then, from internal to external, there is no way we can find any unchanging “self.” Since there is no unchanging “self,” how could there be “my” family, “my” house, “my” car, and all the rest of it?
本质上来说，整个世界都是如此，它与我们是平等的，是没有任何分别的，因此也就不存在什么立场与角度的对立。好多人的烦恼在于他们不明白这一点，非要把自己与外部世界对立起来，什么都要分个“你我”，将大量脑力与时间花费在计较和算计上面，便出现了许多的执著。于是，处于顺境的人忙着追求更高的欲望，处于逆境中的人则忙着怨恨，甚至报复不能满足自己欲望的外部世界。
Speaking at the level of basic substance, the whole world is like this. It is equivalent to us, there is no distinction at all. For this reason there exists no opposition of standpoint or viewpoint. The afflictions of many people lie in their not understanding this point. They either put themselves in opposition to the world, or make a distinction between “you” and “me,” and they waste a lot of brain power and time calculating and comparing, and produce many forms of clinging and attachment. Thus, people who are in favorable circumstances busy themselves seeking even higher desires, and those who are in adverse circumstances busy themselves with anger and resentment, and even taking vengeance on an external world which cannot satisfy their desires.
所谓的外部世界是什么呢？实际上，它只是各种现象在我们内心的投射，当我们还没开悟的时候，就只能自以为是地解读世界，这种解读不能代表世界的真相。比如，你听到有人骂你，觉得自己受到了侮辱，所以感到非常气愤。但事实上，侮辱也好，气愤也好，是你的耳朵和心灵相互作用的产物。要是你没听见，或者你不在乎的话，别人的骂能伤得了你的心吗？所以说惩罚自己的还是自己的心。
What is the so-called external world? In reality, it is the projection of various kinds of apparent forms on our inner minds. When we still have not yet been enlightened, all we can do is interpret the world assuming we are right, but this kind of interpretation cannot represent the true characteristic of the world. For example, when you hear someone rebuking you, you feel that you have suffered an insult, and so you feel very angry. But in fact, both the sense of being insulted and the anger are products of your ears and your mind functioning together. If you had not heard them, or you did not care about them, could someone else’s insults hurt your mind? This is why we say that what punishes you is your own mind.
我经常直言不讳地在文章中说出自己的观点，所以很难让所有人都喜欢我，时常有朋友说某人又在骂我，我通常一笑置之，反而在朋友们把我捧上天的时候，我才写下“雪漠是个驴”之类的偈子来表白自己。为什么？因为我知道这个世界是幻化的，一切都是记忆。随着因缘的流转，曾经谩骂过你的人，可能会变成你最忠实的朋友；曾经称赞过你的人，也许会千方百计地想把你打入谷底。世上的一切都不是固定不变的。所以我不在乎它，也没时间在乎它，我只管珍惜宝贵的生命时光，以合适的方法多做些对世界有益的事情。至于世界是否会接纳我、迎合我，那是世界的事，我已做好我该做的便足够了。
In my writings, I often express my own point of view forthrightly, so it is very difficult to make everyone like me. Sometimes friends tell me that someone is insulting me again, and I always laugh it off. On the other hand, when friends praise me highly, I will write verse along the lines of “Xue Mo is adonkey” to express myself. Why is this? It is because I know that this world is illusory transformation, and everything is memory. As causal conditions flow and change, the people who criticized you may become your most loyal friends, and the people who praised you may think of all kinds of schemes to bury you. Nothing in the world is fixed and immutable. Therefore I do not concern myself with it, and I do not have time to care about it. All I can do is value and hold precious the time I am alive, and use appropriate methods to do a lot of things of benefit to the world. As for whether or not the world will accept me, or welcome me, that is the world’s business – it will be enough if I have done properly what I had to do.
很多时候，多想想生命中的许多变化，就会对个人得失看得越来越淡。毕竟，连我们那相伴一生的身体，也不是永恒之物。
Many times, if we think a lot about all the many changes in life, then we will look upon individual gain and loss more and more indifferently. In the end, the bodies which accompany us through our lives are not permanent things.
最初我们只是一个受精卵，在各种条件的组合之下发育成形，然后诞生。我们从一个小猫大的婴儿，长成一个能够独立生活、承担责任、组建家庭的大人，其间的变化不可谓不大。但是，在我们欣然接受这些有趣变化的同时，也必须接受一些没那么有趣的改变，比如身体的衰老、体力的下降、美丽的销蚀等等。因为，我们的身体本质上跟房子、书桌一样，都是因缘聚合之物，难免会随着旧因缘的消散与新因缘的和合而发生改变。
At the outset we are just a fertilized ovum; when certain conditions come together we develop and take shape, and then we are born. From being a baby the size of a kitten, we grow up and mature into adults who can live independently, take on responsibilities, and form families. The changes involved in this cannot be called minor. But at the same time we happily accept these interesting changes, we also must accept those changes that are no so interesting, like the aging of the body, and the decline of physical strength, and the erosion of beauty, and so on. This is because in basic substance our bodies are like houses and furniture – they are all things formed by the coming together of causal conditions, and it is impossible for them to avoid undergoing changes as the old causal conditions dissolve and new causal conditions come together.
矛盾的是，我们在疯狂赚钱、抽烟、喝酒、狂欢的时候，完全没有意识到自己正在制造一些衰老的助缘，更没意识到这会减少我们的生命时间。我们总是觉得自己能够再多活个几十年，但谁知道呢？所以我说，肉体是个巨大的谎言。建立在肉体上的美丽更是一个巨大的谎言，是一个能取悦他人与自己，也能引起欲望、嗔恨与纷争的假象。
The contradiction is that when we are crazy about making money, smoking, drinking alcohol, indulging in mad revelry, we are totally unaware that we are creating the conditions that promote ageing, and even more unaware that this will reduce our lifespans. We always feel that we will be able to live for several more decades, but who knows? This is why I say, the physical body is a big lie, and beauty based on the physical body is an even bigger lie. It is a false form that can ingratiate itself with other people and with ourselves, and can induce desires and anger and strife.
有一部电影描述了一个可笑但也可悲的故事，征战十年，尸横遍野，不过是因为男人们想将女人的美丽据为己有。这是多么荒唐的事情！但历史上这样的事情却很多，古今中外都是如此。这是为了什么？因为欲望与妄想蒙蔽了人们的眼睛，让人看不清真相。
There is a movie that describes a funny yet also sad story: ten years of war, dead bodies everywhere, but a man wanted to take the beauty of a woman as his own. What an absurd state of affairs! But there are many events like this in history – ancient and modern, here and abroad, it is all like this. Why is this? It is because desire and false thoughts cover people’s eyes, and make people unable to see the true characteristic of the world clearly.
当你见到实相光明，消除了许多欲望与妄念之后，就会发现世上许许多多的概念，也不过是概念而已，是人为的标签。真相远比概念更加简单。当你明白这一点的时候，就会发现，所有的得失都只是一场梦。你还会发现，自己光顾着做梦，反而忘记去做一些真正有意义、真正能创造价值的事情。有的时候，它甚至会成为你这辈子无法弥补的遗憾。
After you see the light of the real characteristic, and this dissolves away the many desires and false thoughts, then you will discover that many of the world’s concepts are no more than concepts, that they are labels created by people. The true characteristic is much simpler than the concepts. When you clearly understand this point, then you will discover that all gains and losses are just a dream. You will also discover that you have been patronizing a dream, and on the other hand, forgetting to do all those things which have real meaning and genuine constructive value. Sometimes it may even become a regret that you have no way to remedy in this lifetime.
