一切妙欲如盐水，愈享受之愈增贪。
中英文
THE RIGHT VIEW (182)
Money is not omnipotent. This the Buddha had said long ago. But now it has been proven so more and more clearly. The data above evidently show that our sense of happiness did not come from material prosperity.
佛陀早就说过，金钱不是万能的！现在这句话已经被越来越多证实了。上述的数据很明确地显示，人类幸福感的来源不是物质生活。
Everyone is seeking a happy life, yet all seem to be experiencing unhappiness of one kind or another. More and more people realize that having more money and possessions is no guaranty for more happiness. This truth has been well elucidated in the Buddhist texts, which the economists and psychologists in the West only found out now.
每个人都在追求幸福生活，但又似乎都在经历不幸。今天，越来越多的人发现，即使拥有更多的物质与金钱，并不能保证会因此而获得更多的幸福。这些道理在佛经里讲得非常清楚，但西方的经济学家和心理学家现在才发现。
Nagarjuna used the following analogy to describe man’s desire in the treatise entitled Letter to a Friend (Suhrlekha). People who suffered leprosy, a disease caused by bacteria, would feel extremely itchy and painful when the symptoms flared up. In order to alleviate the pain, many lepers would go very close to the fire. The bacteria being stimulated by the heat then became much more active and made the patients suffer even more. This analogy actually hints at man’s desire. We have always thought that money can buy us happiness and so we strive all the time to make more money. But the truth is that being rich often makes us even more miserable.
龙树菩萨在《亲友书》里面讲过一个比喻：“如麻风病虫蠕动，为得乐受皆依火，非但不息苦更增，当知贪欲与彼同。”麻风病人的皮肤下面有一种小虫，病发作的时候奇痒无比而且也很痛，很多病人为了减轻痛苦就去烤火，不料小虫在受到刺激后反应非常强烈，结果使病人更加痛苦。这个比喻，就是暗指人的贪欲。我们一直都认为，金钱会给我们带来幸福，然后拼命去挣钱，结果有了钱反而更不幸福。
There is also another saying in the same treatise as well as other texts that desire for and indulgence in material possessions is like salty water. The more one drinks, the thirstier one gets. If one cannot see the point of being content with fewer desires in life, the ever-expanding desire will only result in more unhappiness.
另外，《亲友书》及其他论典当中也讲：“一切妙欲如盐水，愈享受之愈增贪。”物欲及物质享受就像盐水一样，人越喝口越渴，如果不懂得少欲知足，无限膨胀的欲望就会使人越来越痛苦。
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