《转变逆境的故事》——索达吉堪布《苦才是人生》英文版海外上架

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Tales for Transforming Adversity

A Buddhist Lama’s Advice for Life’s Ups and Downs

《转变逆境的故事》

One of the world's most popular Tibetan lamas shares accessible advice for working with adversity and living a spiritual life.

一位世界上极受欢迎的藏传佛教大德，与大家分享处理逆境和探寻心灵的心得。

Enjoy a variety of meditations on topics from flattery and jealousy to karma and compassion. In each brief chapter Khenpo Sodargye weaves in stories from ancient classics and modern headlines. Drawing on adages from the Buddha, Confucius, and even Mark Twain, he delivers simple and timeless insights about facing adversity and developing a good heart.

让我们一起来欣赏从奉承、嫉妒到业力、慈悲的一系列主题。每一段简洁的文字中，索达吉堪布穿行于古代经典到现代新闻，运用佛陀、孔子，甚至马克·吐温的格言，向读者传递简单易懂、永不过时的面对逆境和培养善心的智慧。

With this English-language edition, you can now join the tens of millions who have already benefitted from this ageless advice on money, relationships, mortality, and more.

有了这个英文版本，您也可以加入上百万已从对金钱、感情、道德等方面获得永不过时的建议，并由此改变人生的人群。

P    r    e    f    a    c    e

How often do we feel satisfied with our life? Ancient sages say that if we divide our life into ten equal parts, we are only happy for one or two of them. The Buddha, too, reminds us again and again that life is riddled with suffering. Even setting aside the suffering of birth, old age, sickness, and death, it’s impossible to avoid the suffering of being separated from loved ones, encountering enemies, and generally not getting what we want.

Some people might object, saying, “There’s obviously a lot of joy in life. Why does the Buddha emphasize suffering?” While Buddhism certainly recognizes suffering, it doesn’t deny that there is happiness in life, too. The problem with this happiness is that it’s fragile and fleeting. Happiness tints our life, but it’s not the primary hue. The only certainty in life is that everything changes. The powerful can become prisoners, devoted friends can become enemies, happy families can split, and even people who live for a long time will eventually die. Indeed, even the best circumstances change, and change causes suffering. This is what we mean when we say that life is full of suffering. If you refuse to recognize this, insisting that life is a joyride, blinding yourself to reality, and mistaking suffering for happiness, then you lose your chance to be truly free from suffering. Facing the truth of suffering is the first step toward real and lasting happiness. The Buddha became awakened only after first witnessing the suffering of old age, sickness, and death. So don’t try to avoid suffering, and don’t be afraid of it.

Some people only want comfort and are unwilling to face the suffering that lies in store for them. This is simply unrealistic. Life is full of rainstorms and bumpy rides, and besides, without the wind, frost, snow, and rain, there would be no blossoms in the spring or fruit in the fall. Also, a lot of people believe that altruism-seeking the happiness of others-brings no reward, not realizing that on the contrary, it’s the most rewarding thing there is. They think that accepting the truth of impermanence will reduce their drive and ambition, not realizing that living with the truth of change makes life more fascinating. Instead, they spend their time worrying about their possessions and their reputation. Unfortunately, none of these will ensure a peaceful death, let alone happiness in future lives. We need to become masters of our own mind. No matter how complicated the situation might be, or how unbearable life feels, the best medicine for living well is practicing what the Buddha taught.

When I wrote Tales for Transforming Adversity, my target readers were people in Han Chinese areas, because I have known and understood their lives and suffering quite well. To my surprise, the book was embraced widely; many people found approaches to tame their minds through these ancient and contemporary stories from both the East and West. Moreover, since simple stories can leave a deep impression, it is easy to recollect them in challenging or difficult times, so readers found the messages in this book useful in their everyday lives.

But the anxiety and questions addressed in this book are not Chinese problems or Tibetan problems. They are human problems, gnawing at people of all different colors, speaking different languages, in every corner of the world. I am delighted that through the efforts of many, this English version has finally come into being and may be able to bring ease and happiness to many more people in this turbulent age.

 Khenpo Sodargye 

 Larung Gar Buddhist Institute, 2017 

倘若将人的一生分成十份，不称心之时会占几份呢？古人说，占八九份。如古代先贤言：“人生不如意，十有八九。”

佛陀也常常提醒我们：人生皆苦。且不论生、老、病、死都是苦，单单在日常生活中，就难免爱别离苦、怨憎会苦、求不得苦。

或许有人不以为然：“明明人生还有很多乐趣可言，又何必夸大痛苦，紧盯着痛苦不放？”

其实，佛教中之所以说“苦”，并不是不承认生活中的一些快乐。但这些快乐往往稍纵即逝，只是偶尔的“点缀”，却不是人生的“底色”。

在我们的人生中，唯一不变的，就是什么都在变。位高权重的，会一落千丈；生死相许的，会势同水火；合家欢聚的，会曲终人散；寿比南山的，会撒手人寰。所以，一切的美好都难逃变化，变化就会带来痛苦，这才是“人生皆苦”的真谛。

懂得人生皆苦，实际上，对每个人来讲至关重要。假如你一直看不清这个世界的真相，认为它应该充满快乐，一味地蒙蔽自己，以“苦”为“乐”，那永远也离不开痛苦。而只有认识痛苦、正视痛苦，才是迈向快乐的第一步。

当年，释迦牟尼佛也正是看到了老、病、死之苦，才开始思考怎么样根除痛苦，并为此尝尽各种方法，最终找到了通往解脱的光明之路。所以，不要逃避痛苦，不要惧怕痛苦，没有大自然的风霜雨雪，就不会有万物的春华秋实。

有些人只喜欢追求一帆风顺，却不愿面对任何苦难，这样的期望不太现实。人生在世，风风雨雨总是难免，磕磕绊绊也是寻常。所以，人活着就是一场修行，不论世事多么复杂、生活多么难忍，都要学会为自己开个“药方”。

在我写《苦才是人生》时，所针对的读者群主要是汉族，因为对他们的痛苦比较熟悉和了解。但让我吃惊的是，这本书受到了广泛欢迎，很多人从中找到了调心方法。由于这些简单故事给他们留下了深刻印象，在遇到困难时很容易想得起来，所以，书中内容在日常生活中非常实用。

然而，焦虑、困惑等问题，不仅仅是汉族人或藏族人才有，而是人类可能要共同面对的，包括全球不同角落、不同肤色、不同语言的人。于是在很多人的共同努力下，这个英文版终于面世了，对此我也非常高兴，希望它能给这个时代的更多人，带来哪怕一丝的自在和快乐。

 索达吉堪布 

 喇荣，2017年 

Wisdom publications is the leading publisher of classic and contemporary Buddhist books and practical works on mindfulness from all Buddhist traditions. It was established in 1987, in Somerville, MA, the United  States.

智慧出版社于1987年建立于美国马赛诸塞州波斯顿西北部的萨默维尔市。过去30年一直是全世界以英文为主的语言出版经典和当代佛教书籍及正念修行著作的主要出版社。