【中英文连载】《Are You Ready for Happiness?》(68) 简单但是行之有效

✪ Methods of Relative Truth - 世俗谛的方法 ✪ 

When contemplating, it is best to do so when sitting in meditation, not while working or walking.

思维时，最好是通过打坐的方式静心思维，而不是一边工作、一边走路、一边想。 

Take as an example, when we lose a person or an object that we are attached to, and feel unbearable pain, we should meditate and reflect: can I get back what I lost? If so, there is nothing to worry or feel sad about, I just need to get it back; if I can never get back what I lost, I can only face and accept the reality.

举例来说，当自己失去某个心爱之人或物，感到痛不欲生的时候，就去打坐思维：失去的东西能不能恢复呢？如果能恢复，那就不需要像现在这样伤心欲绝，只需恢复、还原就可以；如果永远都不可能恢复如初，那我就只能面对、接受这个现实。 

This meditation may not be effective at the beginning; we may prefer to suffer than contemplate in this way. However, if we persist, we will gradually be able to think through the problem. In samsara, losing a person or thing we love is a natural law we cannot ignore. Without exception, all of us will come upon that day; it is only a matter of when. Suffering afflicts us and has a strong negative impact on our life, work, and practice. With repetitive contemplation, we will gain certainty in this view. Although this method appears to be relatively simple, we will benefit greatly if it is truly applied to real life. Everyone should try it!

也许刚开始没有效果，甚至宁可痛苦、难受，也不愿意这样去想，但只要坚持，慢慢就会想通这个问题。失去心爱的人或物，是轮回中必定面临的自然规律，不仅我一个，所有人都将会有这样的一天，只是时间的早晚而已。痛苦只能折磨自己，对自己的生活、工作、修行各方面都有很大的负面影响。通过反反复复地思维，就能说服自己。虽然这些方法比较简单，但若能真正运用到生活当中，是非常有帮助的，大家都应该去试试。 

If we can rely on this simple method to face suffering, we can overcome one problem after another. In time, we will find we can handle any problem however difficult, and that suffering is no longer suffering. Actually, there are advantages in suffering; the positive side far outweighs the negative side in its usefulness. Just as certain treatments are difficult for patients to bear, they are surprisingly effective in curing the illness. Hence, we should not make a habit of resisting suffering; we should learn to face it.

若能依靠这个简单的方法去面对痛苦，就能闯过一个个难关，之后就会发现，不但再大的痛苦自己也能挺得住，同时痛苦也可以不再是痛苦。其实，痛苦自身也有很多优点，它的正面作用远比负面作用多得多。就像有些治疗手段虽然让病人难以忍受，但治疗结果却出奇地有效一样。所以，不能习惯于抗拒痛苦，而要学会面对痛苦。