金钱与幸福，哪个更重要？

III. Money is not omnipotent

三、金钱不是万能的

If we do as the Buddha advised, neither money nor everyday life can pose any trouble for our practice. Otherwise, when the conflict between pursuing liberation and managing daily life cannot be resolved, many people will end up being confused and upset. Therefore, it is critical to be able to strike a balance between the two.

按照佛说的去做，生活、金钱都不会给我们的修行带来违缘，否则，假如不会协调解脱和生活之间的冲突，很多人就会迷惑困扰，掌控好这一点是很重要的。

Once a question was raised in Newsweek: Money or happiness, which one is more important?

美国《新闻周刊》曾经提出过一个问题：“金钱与幸福，哪个更重要？”

How would we answer if we were asked the question?

大家想想，如果让我们回答这个问题，我们会怎么回答。

Shakyamuni Buddha answered this question 2500 years ago. That is, happiness is the most important. Money alone cannot make people satisfied, nor can one obtain happiness and freedom from it. Nonetheless, most people still think that there can be no happiness without money. To them, money is the key to happiness.

释迦牟尼佛早在两千五百多年前就回答了：幸福才是最重要的，金钱并不重要，仅靠金钱是不可能让人类满足并从中获得幸福和自由的。但大多数人却认为，没有金钱，就不会有幸福，金钱是决定幸福的关键所在。

Of course, other than barely a few exceptions, people who are destitute generally do not feel much happiness. But does it mean that wealthy people must be very happy? No, it certainly does not. Money really cannot buy everything!

当然，除了极少数人以外，一文不名的人当然不会觉得幸福，但是否很有钱就很幸福了呢？不是，金钱绝对不是万能的！

In some poor regions, people lacking basic subsistence are far removed from life of material prosperity elsewhere. And everyone there wants desperately to escape from poverty, thinking that everything will be taken care of once they have money. Although we all know that we cannot take anything with us when we die, we still try very hard to get closer to the kind of life that money can buy, just so that we may have a happier life before we go.

在一些贫困地区，物质极端匮乏，贫穷的人们与发达的物质生活之间有着很大的距离，人人都想摆脱穷光蛋的生活，都认为如果有钱，就可以解决一切。虽然每个人都知道人死的时候什么都带不走，但只是为了在走之前自己过得幸福一点，大家都会拼命地为之奋斗不息，力图拉近自己与优裕的物质生活之间的距离。

未完待续