释迦牟尼佛修道时，父系亲属有三人跟着他修行，母系亲属也有二人随佛修道，这几个人最后却离开佛了。什么原因呢？有三人说跟着佛修道太苦了，受不了这个苦，所以他们离佛而去，自己去修另外的法门；又有两个人看见佛喝奶粥，以为佛受不了苦，贪图享受，所以也离佛而去。你看看，众生的根性是没有法子满足的，所谓：

When Shakyamuni Buddha left home to practice the Way, he was accompanied by three relatives from his father's side and two from his mother's side. In the end, however, these five people all left the Buddha. Why? Three of them found the Buddha's ascetic lifestyle too bitter, so they left the Buddha and took up other methods of practice. The other two saw the Buddha drink some porridge with milk and left in disgust, thinking the Buddha was a wimp who couldn't take suffering. So, you see, beings can never be satisfied.

诸佛菩萨难满众生愿。

The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas find it difficult
To fulfill the wishes of beings.

众生所愿意的，有种种的不同。他所愿意的，就是他所贪的，他没有满足的时候。你这时满足他这种愿，但他又生出另一种欲，所以贪欲是无底洞，什么时候也不能满足。贪来贪去，从有生以来，就贪；从少而壮，壮而老，老而死，一生都在贪求。贪求名，就死在名上；贪求利，就死在利上。贪求名，就被火烧死；贪求利，就被水淹死，这是水火二灾。再贪求荣华富贵，就死到风里。众生都把世事看得那么重要，放不下。

Beings wish for different things. Their greed is insatiable. Once you fulfill a being's wish, he'll start craving something else. The greed of beings can be compared to a bottomless pit that can never be filled. We have been greedy ever since the time we were born. From youth through middle age to old age and death, our whole lives are driven by greed. If we are greedy for fame, we will die in the pursuit of fame. If we are greedy for profit, we will die in the pursuit of profit. Pursuing fame, we get burned to death; chasing after profit, we die by drowning. These are the disasters of water and fire. If we pursue wealth and honor, wind will cause our death. Living beings take worldly affairs extremely seriously and cannot put them down.

释迦牟尼佛修行时，忍苦耐劳，跟他一同修行的人都离他而去，转而修外道法。我们现在依照佛法来修行，也有很多人都不同意，都以为修道吃亏太大了。他们拿不出真心，发不出真愿。有些人出家之后，仍是混吃等死，也不理会自己的生死有没有了，就随随便便让一天空过去，等无常鬼来到时，一点把握都没有，生死俱不自由。所以这样子出家是空过光阴。我们不要以为在佛教中就可以随便造罪业，这样是佛教中的罪人！

When Shakyamuni Buddha was cultivating, he endured toil and suffering, but his fellow cultivators all abandoned him and went to follow other ways of practice. Now we are cultivating in accord with the Buddhadharma, and many people disapprove of what we are doing. They think they will lose out on too much if they cultivate. They cannot bring forth a sincere mind and make a true resolve. Even after leaving the home-life, some people care only about getting their meals and don't do any work. Unconcerned about ending birth and death, they idly while away their time. When the ghost of impermanence comes for them, they'll have no control over their own birth and death. If that is how we act after leaving the home-life, we are wasting our time. If we think we can casually commit offenses within Buddhism, we are criminals within Buddhism!

释迦牟尼佛修人所不能忍受的苦行，终于开悟成佛，他首先转四谛法轮──苦集灭道。苦有三苦、八苦、无量诸苦。三苦是：

While a prince, Shakyamuni Buddha cultivated extremely difficult ascetic practices and eventually became enlight-ened. After he became a Buddha, the first thing he did was to turn the Dharma Wheel of the Four Truths: suffering, accumulation, cessation, and the Way. As to suffering, there are the Three Sufferings, the Eight Sufferings, and limitless sufferings. The Three Sufferings are:

（一）苦苦
（二）坏苦
（三）行苦

1. the suffering within suffering,
2. the suffering of decay, and
3. the suffering of process.

略述如下：

They are briefly described as follows:

（一）苦苦。贫穷的人没有房子住，又没有御寒的衣服，也没有蔽热的衣服，而且又没有饭吃，你看这有多苦！这是苦上加苦，苦中加苦，万苦交煎。为什么会受到这样的苦呢？因为在往昔不好好修行，或欺师灭祖，或轻法慢教，或尽听自己伶俐虫、精细鬼的教唆，做种种恶事。因为不知道修行，就堕落而受这种的苦。受这种苦的人，大多数是畜生转来。因为前生毁谤大乘，欺师灭祖，所以堕落到地狱中，而后转变成饿鬼、畜生，最后做人了，也是诸根不具，五官不端正。

1. The suffering within suffering is experienced by those who are so poor they don't even have a place to live, clothes to keep out the cold or heat, or food to eat. They suffer such extreme misery because they failed to cultivate in past lives. Instead, they cheated their teachers, scorned the teachings, engaged in evil, and were too clever and cunning for their own good. Not knowing enough to cultivate the Way, they fell and had to undergo suffering. Most of these people have just come from the animal realm. Because they slandered the Great Vehicle and cheated their teachers, they fell into the hells, underwent rebirth in the realms of hungry ghosts and animals, and finally became humans. Yet even as humans, their faculties are imperfect.

（二）坏苦。这不是贫穷人所受的苦，而是富贵人所受的苦。富人衣食住行俱全，有飞机、轮船、洋房，但突然遭到大火，把一切都烧尽，结果什么都没有了。或者飞机突然失事，丧失生命了；或者轮船在大洋中撞翻了，人就淹死在海中，这都是坏苦。本来很好的，可是一下子意外发生，就什么也没有了。这“坏”，不是坏苦，而是坏福。

2. The suffering of decay. This type of suffering is undergone by those who are rich and honored. A person may have all he needs in terms of clothing, food, shelter, and transportation. He may own his own plane, boat, and mansion. But then a sudden fire burns up all his property, leaving him destitute. Or maybe he dies in a plane crash or a shipwreck. These belong to the suffering of decay. Everything had been going well, but then he loses everything, perhaps even his life. This is the suffering caused by the decay of blessings.

（三）行苦。既没有贫穷的苦苦，也没有富贵的坏苦，而是平平常常的。由少而壮，由壮而老，由老而死，念念迁流，自己做不得主。老迈时眼花耳聋，甚至手脚也不灵活了，这就是一生的行苦。

3. The suffering of process. Perhaps you are neither rich nor poor, and so you do not experience the previous two sufferings. You just lead a very ordinary life. From childhood, you enter the prime of life, grow old, and die. Your thoughts flow on in a continuous succession, and you cannot control them. When you grow old, your eyes get blurry, your ears become deaf, and your hands and feet are no longer nimble. This is the suffering of process.

在世界人类中，三苦有很大的势力。什么样的英雄豪杰，有时就被苦给苦倒了，甚至苦死了，你说可怜不可怜！所谓：

The Three Sufferings hold tremendous sway over our lives. Even the greatest hero is sometimes overwhelmed by these sufferings, even to the point of dying. Isn't that pathetic?

善有善报，
恶有恶报。

Good deeds bring a good reward;
Evil deeds bring an evil retribution.

报应有早晚，祸福是丝毫不爽的，我们不要任一时之性，而造无穷之罪业。所谓：

The retribution may come early or late, but we never fail to receive the blessings or calamities we deserve. We should take care not to commit limitless offenses in a moment of indulgence.

一失足成千古恨，
再回头已百年身。

A single mistake brings everlasting regret;
By the time we recover, we will have
reached a ripe old age.

我们在世间无论如何要做一个正气者，出家要护持正法，行持正法，时时刻刻循规蹈矩，不能有丝毫违犯戒律的地方。你如果一不小心，就很容易造业，所谓地狱门前僧道多。

出家人若不守规矩，一定会堕地狱的，这是一点也不客气的，因为明知故犯，所以罪加三等，不是很好玩的。不可以想佛菩萨都见不到我，就可以胡作非为了。要知道，你肚里想什么，天都知道，更何况佛菩萨呢！不要以为佛菩萨不睁眼，你就可以乱来。这是掩耳盗铃，自己骗自己，以后到受果报时，后悔也来不及了。

No matter what happens, we have to maintain a righteous and proper spirit. After leaving the home-life, we should protect and practice the Proper Dharma. We must abide by the rules in every moment and not commit even the slightest transgression of the precepts. It is easy to create bad karma in a moment of carelessness. That's why there are said to be many Buddhist monks and Taoist priests at the gates of hell. Left-home people who don't follow the rules are headed for the hells. No mercy is shown to those who deliberately commit offenses. In fact, their punishment is tripled. It's not a lot of fun. Don't act recklessly, thinking that the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas cannot see you. Even the gods and spirits can read your mind, how much more the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas! Don't think you can do evil things because the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have their eyes closed. You're just fooling yourself-it's like covering your ears and stealing a bell, hoping that others won't hear it. When it's time to suffer the consequences, it'll be too late to regret what you've done.

老子说：“吾所以有大患者，为吾有身；及吾无身，吾有何患？”就是说我们人有种种执著，放不下，就因为被关到五蕴的笼子里，不能出去，生出种种 执著，种种分别，种种妄想，所以就不能了生脱死。

Lao Zi said, "I suffer great troubles because I have a body. Without a body, what troubles would I have?" People cannot relinquish their various attachments because they are locked in the cage of the five skandhas. Since they entertain various attachments, discriminations, and discursive thoughts, they cannot put an end to birth and death.

又有八苦，总括来说有八种，其实何止八种，实际上有无量无边的苦。八苦是：

We also speak of the Eight Sufferings, although there are in fact infinite kinds of sufferings. The Eight Sufferings are:

（一）生苦
（二）老苦
（三）病苦
（四）死苦
（五）爱别离苦
（六）怨憎会苦
（七）求不得苦
（八）五阴炽盛苦

1. the suffering of birth
2. the suffering of old age
3. the suffering of sickness
4. the suffering of death
5. the suffering of being apart from those you love
6. the suffering of being together with those you hate
7. the suffering of not obtaining what you want
8. the suffering of the raging blaze of the five skandhas

这八种苦是世界上害人最甚的。

These Eight Sufferings are the most harmful things in the world. They are briefly explained below.

（一）生苦。人还未出生，就已经受很多苦难了，在母亲肚子里，母亲吃冷的东西，孩子就像住在冰山中；母亲吃热的东西，孩子就像住在火山里。到出生时，就犹如被两座大山夹住，所以小孩子一出生就哇哇叫，只会说：“苦啊！苦啊！苦啊！”想说苦，可是不会说话，只会哇哇叫。

人若是没有身体，就不会有苦痛的感觉；有了身体，就有种种的苦痛。出生时的苦，犹如生龟脱壳，痛苦难忍！

1. The suffering of birth. People have already suffered many hardships by the time they are born. When a mother eats cold food, the baby in her womb feels as if it's in the freezing mountains. When she eats hot food, the baby feels as if it's in a volcano. Being in the womb is an unpleasant experience. During birth, the baby cries because it feels as if it's being squeezed between two great mountains. The baby cries, "Ku! Ku! Ku!" ["Ku" means "Suffering" in Chinese.] The baby is trying to say that it is in terrible pain, but it can't talk. If we didn't have bodies, we wouldn't feel pain and suffering. We experience all sorts of physical suffering through our bodies. Right at the time of birth, the baby's agony is like that of a live turtle whose shell is ripped off.

（二）死苦。有生就有死，到死的时候，四大分张，被业风所牵，也是痛楚难言。

2. The suffering of death. Birth leads inevitably to death. When a person dies, the four elements disperse and his spirit is dragged off by the karmic wind. Death entails unspeakable suffering.

（三）病苦。人的身体是由地、水、火、风四大假合而成。若火多了，水就少了；或风多了，土就少了；或水多了，火就少。四大不调合、不均匀，身体就会有病，有病就有痛苦。有的人头痛，或脚痛，或胳臂痛，或腰痛；或有心脏病，或有脾病、肾病，各从其类，各有各的来源。

若好色，肾就会有病；贪财多了，就会有心病；脾气大，肝就会有病；生恼怒，肺就会有病；尽怨人，脾就会有病。

心、肝、脾、肺、肾的病，就是由恨、怨、恼、怒、烦所起的。恨人就伤心，怨人就伤脾，恼人就伤肺，怒人就伤肝，烦人就伤肾。这四大不调，是因为恨、怨、恼、怒、烦，和七情在作怪。

或者喜太多，或恨太多，或哀痛太多，或恐惧太多，或欲太多，都能令四大不调，生出种种的病。有病苦就容易老，所以接下来有老苦。

3. The suffering of sickness. The human body is a false combination of the four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Perhaps there is more fire than water, or more air than earth, or more water than fire. In general, if the four elements are not in balance, we become sick. We may suffer headaches, footaches, sore arms, backaches, heart pain, sickness in the spleen or kidneys, and so on.

Each individual's sicknesses are different, and each sickness has its own cause. Lustful people tend to suffer kidney ailments. Greed for money can cause heart disease. A big temper makes the liver sick. Vexation and distress harm the lungs. Resentment causes spleen disease. Diseases of the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys have their origin in hatred, resentment, affliction, anger, and vexation. Hating people harms the heart. Resenting people hurts the spleen. Getting afflicted at others hurts the lungs. Getting angry at others harms the liver. Feeling vexed by people harms the kidneys. When hatred, resent-ment, affliction, anger, and vexation act up, the four elements become unbalanced. An excess of joy, hate, sorrow, fear, or desire throws the four elements out of balance and causes various sicknesses. Sickness speeds up the aging process and brings on the suffering of old age.

（四）老苦。到老的时候，眼花、耳聋、牙掉，腿不听使唤，身也做不得主了。这是生、老、病、死，这四种苦都是令人不自在，令人生很多的烦恼。

4. The suffering of old age. In old age, our eyes grow blurry, our ears become deaf, our teeth fall out, and our legs can't walk very well. We no longer have much control over our body. People can never truly feel at ease because of the tremendous afflictions caused by the first four sufferings of birth, old age, sickness and death.

（五）爱别离苦。人为什么做人？就因为有爱，才生到这五浊恶世来。若爱减轻了，就会生到其它世界，譬如极乐世界或琉璃世界。古人说：

5. The suffering of being apart from those you love. We are born as people in this evil world of the five turbidities because of love. If our emotional love were not so strong, we could be reborn in other worlds, such as the Land of Ultimate Bliss or the Lapis Lazuli Land. The ancients said,

爱不重不生娑婆，
业不空不生极乐。

If you didn't have such strong emotions,
you wouldn't be born in the Saha World.
If your karma is not emptied, you cannot
be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

业尽情空就是佛，业重情迷是凡夫，世人被情爱所迷，打不破关头，还以为男女爱情是无上的，是最有价值的。其实爱越重，情越重，就被缠迷得越重。有人明明知道这样是不对的，但是却越要往里头钻。男女一长成，就想赶快结婚，走这条老路。

With karma ended and emotions emptied, one is a Buddha. With heavy karma and confused emotions, one is a common mortal. Worldly people are deluded by emotional love and cannot get beyond it. They think it's the best thing around. In reality, the stronger our passions, the more confused we become. Some people know very well that it's wrong, yet they want to get more deeply involved. As soon as boys and girls grow up, they are eager to get married and race down the same old road.

爱是一种情牵物累，人之所以精神痛苦不自在，受了打击，都是因为这个爱。本来两人相爱，如胶似漆，如鱼得水，但是一种特别的境界来了，迫不得已要分开，这就有了爱别离苦，这种极度难分难舍的场面，非常痛苦；这种精神上的折磨，是不容易受的。

Love is a kind of emotional attachment that weighs us down. People experience psychological suffering and trauma because of love. When two people are in love, they are as if stuck together with glue; they need each other as much as fish need water. But if circumstances force them to separate, they experience the suffering of being apart from those they love; such partings are unbearably painful. These psychological ordeals are very hard to cope with.

（六）怨憎会苦。人若有缘，一见面谈话就很融洽，做事也不冲突。但有的人，一见面就无缘，就讨厌对方，所以要远离对方到别处去，但到了别处，又碰到对方。越怨憎他，却越碰到他，这也是精神上的苦。

6. The suffering of being together with those you hate. People who get along well can work together without conflict. But sometimes we may detest a person and want to get away from him. Yet no matter where we go, we keep meeting up with him. The more we hate him, the more we run into him. This is also a form of psychological suffering.

（七）求不得苦。有所求就有所贪，贪不到就生出种种烦恼，这也是苦。求名、求利、求财、求色，求不得皆是苦，不能遂心满愿，随心如意。纵使求到了，也不是乐。譬如钱，未得之，就患得之；已得之，又患失之，昼夜提心吊胆，怕失去了。所以求得也是苦，求不得更是苦。那么其它的东西，也是如此类推，未得之，患得之；已得之，又患失之，心中总是不平安、不快乐，总觉得不自在。

7. The suffering of not obtaining what you want. If you seek something, you are greedy for it. If you cannot obtain the object of your greed, you'll experience all sorts of afflictions. That's also a kind of suffering. Whether you desire fame, profit, wealth, or sex, if you cannot obtain it, you suffer. Even if you do obtain what you want, you won't be happy. Before obtaining it, you are anxious to get it. Once you've got it, you constantly worry about losing it. Your mind is never peaceful or happy. You always feel uneasy.

（八）五阴炽盛苦。五蕴：色、受、想、行、识，又叫五阴，都是不容易降 伏，很不容易看空的。这五蕴炽然而盛，如火一般，烧得人精神痛苦万分。 这八苦令人烦恼万分，可是你若有安心法，有安身法，这八苦就与你漠不相关了，所以说：

8. The suffering of the raging blaze of the five skandhas. The five skandhas [aggregates which make up the illusory self] are form, feeling, thinking, formations, and consciousness. It is very difficult for us to overcome them and see them as empty. The five skandhas burn us up and keep us in a state of agonizing pain.

The Eight Sufferings cause great vexation to human beings. But if you understand the way to mental and physical peace, these sufferings won't affect you.

老僧自有安身法，
八苦交煎也无妨。

The Eight Sufferings cannot disturb
The old monk who knows how to set
himself at ease.

一九八二年五月一日开示于万佛圣城