如何才能获得究竟大安乐？
In Nagarjuna’s Letter to a Friend, it said that, according to the Buddha’s advice, being content with fewer desires is the greatest asset that one can have. Those who are able to maintain such disposition are truly rich people even if they do not own a single asset, because only they can attain the ultimate, perfect happiness.
《亲友书》中有个偈颂是这样说的：“佛说一切财产中，知足乃为最殊胜，是故应当常知足，知足无财真富翁。”佛陀谆谆告诫后人：在所有的财产中，知足少欲是最为殊胜的，所以应该恒常知足少欲。知足的人即使没有财产，也是真正的富翁，因为只有这种人才能获得究竟的大安乐。
An article entitled Why It’s So Hard to be Happy listed five points to be happier: 1. do not focus on goals; 2. make time to volunteer; 3. practice moderation; 4. strive for contentment; 5. practice living in the moment. Money, designer clothes, expensive cars, etc. were not on the list. Apparently, many of our old ideas about how to be happy are wrong.
《环球科学》杂志2007年第4期中有一篇文章，题目是《如何变得幸福》，文中指出：“①不要专注于目标；②抽空当当志愿者；③习惯适度；④争取满足；⑤练习活在当下。”其中也没有说要挣很多钱、穿名牌、开名车……可见我们以前的观念都陷入了误区。
The Buddha knew very well the relationship between material wealth and man’s desires—how people’s minds change with the rise and fall of their fortune. This is why the Buddha had specifically instructed this mode of life for the Buddhists.
释迦牟尼佛非常了解物质、金钱与人的欲望之间的关系，没有钱的时候，人是什么样；如果有了钱，人的心态会发生什么样的变化，所以他才给我们量身定制了这样的生活模式。
Ordinary folks like us do not really understand our own minds—how it would change or what direction it would take— trusting only that happiness will come with material prosperity. Although we might be wealthy in the previous life, whatever experience of that life has long been forgotten. Now in this life, because we have not had too much money and never been the super rich, there is certain difficulty for us to know the reality of living in luxury. When the going gets tough, most people just yearn for material wealth as the panacea for all their problems.
凡夫却不知道自己的心态会发生什么样的变化，它的趋势会向哪个方向发展，只认为物质生活会带来幸福，因为我们今生没有很多钱，没有当过超级富翁，虽然前世当过，但早就忘了，所以对物质没有一个真正确定的定义。当物质生活跟我们有一定距离的时候，多数人会向往物质财富，认为只有金钱才是消灭一切苦难的万能解药。
未完待续
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