众生总觉得在自己生命中，有一个恒常不变的自我为主宰。所以时时为我着想，处处以自我为中心，一言一行都反映出强烈的自我：我喜欢，我讨厌；我爱，我恨……如果作个统计，我们一天不知要说多少个“我”字？

Sentient beings always feel that in their lives, there is a constant, unchanging self that dominates. As a result, they always think of themselves, place the self at the core of everything, and their every word and every action reflect a strong sense of ego: “I” like, “I” dislike, “I” love, “I” hate. If we were to count, how many times do we unknowingly say “I” in a single day?

通常，我们会执名字为“我”。但凡听到自己的名字，总会引起特别关注，觉得因为有了“我”，进而就会产生我执。这个名字就是我，赞叹它就是赞叹我，毁谤它就是毁谤我。其实，名字只是父母取的代号而已，并不能代表真正的“我”。

Because there is an “I,” attachment to the self thus arises. Usually, we tend to be attached to our name, thinking of it as “I.” Every time our name is mentioned, it will attract our attention. We feel our name is “I,” and believe that praising our name equals praising “I” or defaming our name equals defaming “I.” In reality, our name is no more than a mark given by our parents, which cannot represent the true self.

否则，我们只需换个名字，就能将自己变成另一个人，而那些有别名、笔名等不同名字的人，又以什么作为“我”的象征？所以说，执名字为“我”，为之忧为之喜，实在是毫无意义的。

Otherwise, if we changed our name, we would become someone else. Besides, those with nicknames, pen names, and other names alike can hardly distinguish which names can represent themselves. From that perspective, it makes no sense to take our name as “I” and feel worried or delighted about it.

我们也会执身体为“我”。色身乃四大假合，其中何尝有“我”的存在？所以禅宗祖师会让人去参：“父母未生前本来面目是什么？”在这个身体中，究竟什么代表了真正的“我”？

Also, we always take our body as “I.” In fact, according to Buddhism, a body is just a provisional aggregate of the four primary elements, namely, earth, water, fire, and wind, and none of them bears the mark of “I.” For this reason, the ancient Chan masters raised the question: “What was your original face before your birth?” As for our bodies, which part of it can really stand as “I”?

在医学发达的今天，组成色身的许多部件都可以移植、再造，如果其中任何一部分是“我”的话，“我”的概念早已被现代医学所挑战：经历了整容手术的“我”是谁？经历了心脏移植的“我”是谁？

With today’s advanced medical technology, many parts of our body can even be transplanted or recreated. If there had been an organ called “I,” the concept of self would have been challenged earlier by modern medicine: Who am “I” after cosmetic surgery? Who am “I” after a heart transplant?

可凡夫由于无知，将当下这个虚假的色身妄执为我，就会为了容貌的美丽或丑陋，为了身材的魁梧或矮小，为了身体的健康或衰弱而百般思量，徒寻烦恼。

However, due to ignorance, we falsely cling to this illusory physical body as “I” and worry over its beauty or ugliness, its stature being tall or short, and its health or weakness, thus endlessly seeking trouble.

所老子说：“吾所以有大患者，为吾有身；及吾无身，吾有何患？”这也从一个侧面反映了佛法所说的“身为苦本”的原理。

Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism in ancient China, once said, “The reason I have great trouble is that I have a body. When I no longer have a body, what trouble do I have?” This echoes with the Buddhist principle that “the body is the root of suffering.”

摘自《生命的痛苦及其解脱》

版权所有：济群法师

Excerpted from:

Life’s Suffering and Its Liberation

By Master Jiqun