断除欲望，别走极端。

We can ask ourselves: How do I find happiness? What is it that I would have to lose to be unhappy? If we contemplate in this way, we will find the answer — desire, if left unchecked, is boundless. Excessive desire ultimately drowns us and leads to a state of great suffering.

我们可以问自己：幸福是怎么来的？失去什么东西的时候，就会觉得不幸福？这样一一追寻，就可以得出一个肯定的答案：如果不适当地管理、控制欲望，它一定会无限膨胀。毫无节制、无限膨胀的欲望，只会给我们带来痛苦。

The happiness that material enjoyment brings is limited. Yet what we want is unlimited. How is it possible to fill an infinite space with something which has a limit? Certainly not in this lifetime! Our lifespan is no more than several decades, but even if we lived billions of years, we would still fall short of satisfying ever-growing greed. In fact, the longer we live, the greater our desire and the suffering that follows. Thus, the Buddha admonished us to keep our desire in check in order to gain true happiness; if we are always chasing after material things, we will never find real happiness.

凡是物质给我们带来的幸福感，都是有限的。而我们的需求、欲望，却可以是无限的。用一个有限的东西，来填充一个无限的空间，这有可能吗？一辈子都不可能！不要说人的生命只有短短的几十年，即使能活到亿万年，也无法满足无限上升的欲望。甚至活得越久，欲望膨胀得越巨大，引发的痛苦就越强烈。所以，佛告诉我们：要适当地控制自己的欲望，这样才能感觉到真正的幸福。如果让欲望无限膨胀，永远都追着它跑，就永远都感觉不到幸福。

To cut off desire completely, we have to rely on Buddhist practice. When we attain Buddhahood, there is no more desire. The Buddha’s compassion and infinite wisdom has already replaced all worldly desires. But before attaining Buddhahood, ordinary people still crave for things. In our practice, we must be sure to avoid the two extreme paths. One extreme is to cut off all material desires. A number of ancient religions in India place great emphasis on ascetic practice — denial of food for a long period of time, no clothing or speech, even cruel punishment to one's body. The Buddha did not approve of these practices and in fact considered the methods, to a certain extent, to be harmful to one's well-being. The other extreme is to give in to all our desires. We spend a lifetime working hard to fill our needs, but are still dissatisfied when it is time to leave the world. In the end, it is only resentment and anger that we bring with us. That would hardly be worth it.