【中英专栏】这样做就能“不痛苦”

当今这个时代，生活上跟以往相比，有了翻天覆地的变化，但人们内心的痛苦、压力、烦躁，却比过去增加了几十倍、甚至几百倍，真可谓“得”不偿“失”。

过去，不少人以为有钱就会带来快乐，但后来有了钱才发现，快乐并没有如期而至，痛苦却是层出不穷。

美国盖洛普调查证明：按100分为满分的话，中国消费者在1994年，幸福指数是69分；1997年最高，达到71分；十年后的2004年，却降到了67分。

这说明了什么？在过去的十年里，随着经济的发展，人们刚开始觉得很幸福，但没多久，幸福指数就日渐下挫。不说全世界，仅仅是中国，据统计，每年就有28.7万人死于自杀，200万人自杀未遂，相当于每两分钟就有一人自杀身亡。

实际上，人生本来就充满了痛苦，不管你有钱有势，还是家境贫寒，都注定要经历各种苦。但凡夫人以为生活本该充满快乐，并对此寄予了厚望，一旦遇到违缘，就会难以面对、接受，甚至可能万念俱灰，选择一条“不归路”。

Compared with centuries past, lifestyles in this modern age have witnessed dramatic improvements, yet people’s mental anguish, stressful feelings and anxieties have worsened many times over. It is a case of losses outweighing gains.

Previously, many folks thought that having more money would bring more happiness, but once they had more money, they found that more happiness did not result. Rather, what ensued were miseries, one after the other.

Gallup polls indicate that in 1994, the happiness index of Chinese consumers was 69 points out of the full 100-point scale. In 1997, the index reached its zenith at 71 points; yet, ten years later, in 2004, the index dropped to 67 points.

What is this telling us? In the past ten years, when economic development took off, people were happy in the beginning, but soon after that, the happiness index started to decline. In China alone, there have been 287,000 deaths by suicide and two million cases of attempted suicide in one year. This statistic says that one Chinese will die from suicide every two minutes.

In truth, life by itself is full of suffering. Everyone is destined to experience various pains in life, whether they are wealthy and powerful or poor and lowly. Most people, however, expect life to be filled with happiness and invest it with high hopes. Once they encounter difficulties, they don’t have the courage to face or accept the reality of their situation. Worse, feeling their world has fallen apart, they may choose to end their own lives.

(to be continued)

索达吉堪布《做，才是得到》

Khenpo Sodargye《Achieve by Doing》

中英双语系列04