2019 [夏令营] – 会长的话
President’s Message
By Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi
美国佛教会会长菩提比丘
中译：释长叡
In traditional Asian cultures, Buddhism has a long-standing and close connection with death. People perform rituals to ensure long life, ward off illness, and obtain a happy rebirth.
Monks conduct funeral rites and ceremonies to share merit with the departed.
Temples have memorial shrines to preserve the ashes of deceased loved ones long into the future.
长久以来，在传统亚洲文化中，佛教与死亡有密切关联。人们透过举行宗教仪式，确保长寿，祛病延年，以及得到快乐的来生。出家人主持丧葬法会，让亡者得到回向的功德。许多寺庙中也设有纳骨塔，让信徒长久保存往生亲人的骨灰。
However, the Buddha did not teach the Dharma for the sake of the dead; he taught it primarily for the living.
The Dharma is, above all, a guide to life, a way to make our lives richer in purpose and deeper in meaning, a path to the highest happiness and peace.
Just as we rely on a GPS to guide us along an unfamiliar road, so we rely on the Buddha’s teachings to guide us through the journey of life, from our childhood into our old age.
然而，佛陀教导佛法，并不是为了亡者；佛陀的教法，主要是为了活着的人。佛法，最重要的，是为了指引我们生活的方向，让我们活得更有价值，活得更有意义；佛法，是为了追求最高的宁静与喜悦。
就如同我们在不熟悉的道路上开车时，需要依赖导航系统GPS来指引方向一般，我们在人生旅途中，从小到老，一生都需要佛陀的教法来指引方向。
As a guide to life, the Dharma operates in three spheres: our understanding, our motivations, and our conduct.
The way we live our lives depends firstly on our views, on how we understand the nature and purpose of life.
To understand life correctly, in accordance with the Dharma, we need to be guided by right views.
If we think that the purpose of life is to enjoy worldly pleasures, or to become rich and famous, all our activities will be driven by the desire for pleasure, wealth, and fame.
If we think that the purpose of life is to become wiser, more compassionate, and more worthy human beings, our activities will be motivated by the quest for wisdom, by the effort to remove our faults and cultivate beautiful qualities of the heart.
作为指引人生方向的佛法，在三个层面起作用：我们的见解、我们的思惟/动机，以及我们的行为。
首先，我们是依着我们对「人生的本质与目标」的见解，来过生活。我们若要正确了解生命，根据佛法，必须要有「正见right views」的指引。
如果我们认为：人生的目的，就是享受世俗的快乐，或使自己得名誉、赚大钱，这样，我们的所做所为的驱动力，就是贪求享乐、财富与名誉。
如果我们认为：人生的目的，是成为更有智慧、更慈悲、品德更高尚的人，这样，我们的所做所为的驱动力，就是追求智慧、勇于改过，以及培养内心高贵美丽的特质。
Our understanding affects our motivation.
The Buddha expressly included right motivation as the second factor of the noble eightfold path. On the negative side are the motivations of sensual desire, ill will, and violence; on the positive side, the motivations of detachment, loving-kindness, and compassion.
When we look into ourselves, we can see how our minds are a battlefield where these opposed motivations constantly vie for supremacy.
To take the Dharma to heart is to keep in check the negative motivations, the unwholesome attitudes, and to strengthen the wholesome motivations, the beautiful attitudes, until they become habitual.
我们[对人生]的见解，将影响我们的思惟/动机。
佛陀明确地将「正思惟/正向的动机right motivation」做为八正道的第二项。
负面的思惟/动机，是感官之乐、恶意以及暴力。
正面的思惟/动机，是离垢、慈心以及悲心。
当我们检查自己的内心时，我们会发现，自己的内心是如何经常在这两种不同的动机/思惟中，交战争胜。
将佛法导入内心[修行]，就是要经常抑制负面的动机/邪思惟、不善的心态；另方面，要强化正思惟/正向的动机、善良的心态。要这样不断努力，一直到让「正思惟」成为我们的惯性心态。
Our attitudes in turn influence our conduct.
On the one side, the Buddha speaks of wrong speech, wrong deeds, and wrong occupation; on the other side, of right speech, right deeds, and right occupation.
The choice between these two types of conduct confronts us at every moment of our waking life.
We can choose to lead a life driven by selfish desire in which we act rashly, in ways that inflict harm and suffering on others, eventually inviting suffering to recoil upon ourselves; or, on the contrary, we can act in ways guided by ethical principles, guided by wisdom, in ways that truly lead to our own lasting benefit and bring benefits to others.
接着，我们[对人生]的思惟/动机，将影响我们的行为。
一方面，佛陀指出，人有错误的言词[邪语]、错误的行为[邪业]，以及错误的职业[邪命]；
另方面，佛陀指出，人有正确的言词[正语right speech]、正确的行为[正业right deeds]，以及正确的职业[正命right occupation]。
每天在我们觉醒的每一刻，都经常面临挑战，要在这两种行为中，做出选择。
我们可以选择所过的生活，是被自私贪欲所引导、轻率行事，以「带给他人伤害跟痛苦」的方式来过生活，最终，也给自己带来痛苦的果报；
或者，相反地，我们也可以选择：遵循道德守则、以智慧来引导行为，以能「长久自利利他」的方式，来过生活。
The theme of this year’s summer Dharma camp is “Everyday Life Is the Way.”
Together, we will be trying to learn how to use the Dharma as a map for living our everyday lives.
As we investigate the teachings, we will find that the practice of the Dharma and the living of our everyday lives are as inseparable as the heads and tails of a coin.
We’ll find that the Dharma can make our life brighter, more joyful, and more fulfilling than we’ve ever known before.
We’ll see that, by living in the light of the Dharma, we can become a source of blessings for ourselves, for our family and community, and even in our own little way for the world.
今年佛法夏令营的主题是「日常即是道 Everyday Life Is the Way」。我们将尝试在此学习，如何运用佛法，规划指引我们的日常生活。
当我们深入了解佛法，会发现，练习实践佛法，跟我们每天的生活，密不可分，其一体两面的关係，就好像铜板的正反两面。
我们将看到，若与「未曾学习佛法」之前相比，我们在学习佛法之后，可以让自己的生活更为光明，更为喜悦，人生更充实。
我们将看到，在「佛法之光」照射指引下，我们自己可以给自己带来幸福，给家人、社会带来幸福，甚至，以我们个人这小小的力量，给世界带来幸福。
May you all realize the fullest benefits of these five days we will be spending together and take home with you many precious lessons!
祝福大家，在这五天[夏令营]的共聚中，都能得到最大的利益，并且把在此所学的珍贵经验，带回家中[继续受用]。
Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi 尊者菩提比丘
President, BAUS
美国佛教会 会长
【禅世界赞叹支持】2019.06.24-RM