为何轮回？如何涅槃？

The Four Noble Truths explain the nature, the origin, the cessation and the path leading to the cessation of suffering. Why are there not three or five truths? It is because all that is known or existent can be assigned to either samsara or nirvana; there is no other kind of existence in between. Samsara has its cause and effect; so does nirvana. Two sets of cause and effect make the Four Noble Truths. To explain nirvana and samsara by way of cause and effect is essentially what the Four Noble Truths are all about.

何为四谛？就是苦、集、道、灭。为何不是五谛或三谛呢？因为一切所知，或所有存在的东西可以分为两种：涅槃和轮回，在这之间没有第三种存在可言。轮回有它的因果，涅槃也有因果，两对因果加起来就是四谛，佛教的四谛就是以因果来解释轮涅。

Why we ordinary beings keep drifting in samsara is century- old question to which only the Buddha can fully answer. Others, even being adept in all the disciplines of the world, will still draw a blank when confronted with this question. The Buddha, with transcendent wisdom, gave the answer in a nutshell: It is not by accident or God’s will that one is born a human or an animal. There is always a cause. Such cause is the origin of suffering, and suffering itself is the effect of samsara.

凡夫为什么流转于轮回，这是一个非常古老的问题，这个不朽问题的答案，只有佛才能阐释，即使其他人精通了世间的所有学科，在面对该问题时，脑海中都只能是一片茫然。佛陀以其无碍的智慧，将这个问题的答案向我们一语道破：不论是做人或做畜生，都有各自存在的因，既不是偶然，也不是造物主的安排，这个因叫做集谛。而苦谛，就是轮回的果。

What does the word “truth” represent，as in the Four Noble Truths? It means reality. Does it mean that samsara is a reality? No, it doesn’t. Here, “truth” represents the condition as perceived by the sages. The difference between what ordinary people perceive and that of the sages is as wide apart as earth and heaven. Ordinary people obscured by ignorance see only the illusions of reality while the sages perceive the true reality. Therefore, the word “truth” is never meant to define the view of ordinary people.

为什么取“谛”字呢？“谛”就是真实的意思。这是否意味着轮回是真实的呢？并非如此。之所以称之为真实，是从圣者的角度而言的。因为凡夫的所见与圣者的所见有云泥之别，凡夫因被种种无明所遮障，所看到的只是虚假的幻觉，而圣者看到的则是真实的，所以，“谛”字并不是依凡夫而取的名称。

So then how many realities are there? There are four: That which causes samsara is the origin of suffering; the effect of samsara is suffering. That which causes nirvana is the path leading to the cessation of suffering; the cessation of suffering is the effect of nirvana. Cessation of suffering means eradication of all karmic hindrances and afflictions, and detachment from the defiled phenomena of samsara through the path of Dharma practice.

那么，究竟有多少真实的东西呢？有四个。轮回的因是集谛，果是苦谛；涅槃的因是道谛，果是灭谛。灭就是通过修行之道而消灭所有的业障、痛苦，远离轮回一切不清净的现象。