缘起还灭只能依靠证悟空性

If we do not wish to continue like this, we will need to stop the chain effect of the Twelve Nidanas. How can we do that? Can burning incense, performing prostrations and reciting mantras stop the interlinking effect? They can perhaps serve as one of the causes and conditions leading to that outcome, but not the key solution. What then is the most effective? Is it to cultivate compassion or to contemplate the impurities of the human body? Unfortunately, neither provides the solution to the task at hand which ultimately can only be dealt with via realization of emptiness. If such realization can be attained, all distant and proximate causes will cease, so will all distant and proximate effects. For example，if the foundation of a high-rise is shaky, the whole building will collapse. Likewise, once ignorance is eradicated, the building of ignorance-based samsara will also collapse.

如果不愿意这样下去，就要将十二缘起还灭。该怎样去还灭呢？烧香、拜佛、念咒可以做到吗？它们也可以成为还灭十二缘起支的一种因缘，但并不是主要的，主要的是什么呢？是修慈悲心，还是修不净观呢？它们也无法解决根本的问题。根本的问题最后只有依靠证悟空性才能解决。若能证悟空性，则远因、近因都会停下来；若远因和近因都停下来了，则远果和近果也都会停下来。譬如，一栋高楼若地基有问题，则整栋大楼都会倒塌。同样的，首先我们要去破坏无明，把无明消灭之后，整个以无明为基础的轮回大厦也都会垮下来。

There is only the Buddha who knows the truth unlocking the secrets of cyclic existence. Not only that the non-Buddhist practitioners of ancient times could not grasp the truth of life and death, of samsara, karma and the nature of consciousness, modern scientists and philosophers are also at a loss. They are not the ones with definitive knowledge in this field. So, how can they give a credible criticism under the circumstances?

这个道理只有佛才知道。生死、轮回、因果、意识的本性等等这一切的真相，不仅两三千年前的那些外道修行人没有掌握，包括现代的科学家和哲学家也不可能了解。所以，他们在这个领域里不是权威，既然他们完全不了解真相，那么，他们又能批判什么呢？

It is practically impossible to verify or fathom the inner world of humans with modem instruments. A video camera can capture the sound and the tears of a crying person for all to see, but it cannot record that person’s mental activity: whether the crying is out of joy or sadness. This cannot be discerned from the image alone. Thus, the inner feelings or the mental aspect of a person is not observable directly through any devices. Sometimes, a more advanced scanner can pinpoint the location in a brain where irregular brain waves are detected when a person feels happy or distressed. But there is no way to know why the waves appear unless the person says, “I was very happy at that moment.” Then we will know that the irregular brain waves are the reaction of a happy mood, and confirm thence the appearance in the brain of such phenomenon when people are happy. If no one ever tells how he or she feels，can any device know the moods of a person by itself? No. That means the most essential part of human life, its mental aspect, is not to be captured or scanned by instruments. Some people may think they have expertise in this field, but they don’t. Even psychologists today are forced to admit that this area is where they still know very little about.

依靠现代的仪器，是没有办法来证明和推导人的内心世界的。譬如，一个人在哭的时候，用摄影机可以拍到他正在流泪，发出哭声，外在的表情是可以拍下来的，影片里也看得出来。但拍不下来的，是他在想什么，他是高兴激动地哭，还是伤心地哭，这在影片里是看不出来的。所以，内在的感受、精神，是无法透过仪器直接了解的。同样的，虽然透过仪器的扫描可以看出，人在痛苦或快乐的时候，大脑中的某些部位会有异常的脑波产生，但是，我们却无从了知这些脑波产生的缘由。除非这人说“我当时很高兴”，我们才会知道某种异常的脑波是高兴的反应，并由此确定人在高兴的时候脑部会有这种现象发生。如果任何人从未说起他当时的情感，光靠仪器能够知道吗？不能。所以说，人生命中的这些最关键的精神层面的感受，是没法透过仪器拍下来、扫描出来的。所以，这些人自以为了解这个领域，其实根本就不了解，连心理学家们也不得不承认，他们对这个领域的认知是十分有限的。

With regard to the mental aspect of human life，we can only rely on the teachings of the Buddha because only he knows the truth completely. How do we know this? The fact that many practitioners have gained extraordinary accomplishment by following the Buddha’s instructions validates the teachings being the right view and the right path.

因此，在这一领域中，我们唯一可信的就是佛陀的教言。因为其中的真谛唯佛了知。这从何而知呢？我们经常看到，很多修行人就是按照这些方法修行成就的。由此可见，这确实是正知正见，是一条正确的道路。