從此岸到彼岸 越瀑流生死 不住此不住彼 正念渡瀑流 智慧爲彼岸 精進爲此岸 信爲渡船筏 念爲彼岸守 以慧拔諸見 見盡達彼岸 斷除諸渴愛 不復還生死 如是修行者 名到彼岸人
cóng cǐ àn dào bǐ àn yuè bào liú shēng sǐ bù zhù cǐ bù zhù bǐ zhèng niàn dù bào liú zhì huì wèi bǐ àn jīng jìn wèi cǐ àn xìn wèi dù chuán fá niàn wèi bǐ àn shǒu yǐ huì bá zhū jiàn jiàn jìn dá bǐ àn duàn chú zhū kě ài bù fù huán shēng sǐ rú shì xiū xíng zhě míng dào bǐ àn rén
Key Message
The far shore — freedom from all bondage in this world — is not far away. The one who, right here and now, releases desire and clinging and crosses the flood of the mind with wisdom and right mindfulness has already arrived at the far shore.
▸The final chapter of the Sutta Nipāta, 'The Chapter on the Way to the Far Shore' (彼岸道品, Pārāyana-vagga), is composed, true to its name 'pārāyana' (far shore), of dialogues asking and answering questions about the path from the near shore of birth-and-death (生死) to the far shore of nirvāṇa (涅槃).
The final chapter of the Sutta Nipāta, 'The Chapter on the Way to the Far Shore' (彼岸道品, Pārāyana-vagga), is composed, true to its name 'pārāyana' (far shore), of dialogues asking and answering questions about the path from the near shore of birth-and-death (生死) to the far shore of nirvāṇa (涅槃). Sixteen disciples of an old brahmin named Bāvarī journey a long distance to find the Buddha, each posing a deep philosophical question, and the Buddha responds to each with concise and profound verses that penetrate to the essence. The names of the sixteen disciples include Ajita, Tissa Metteyya, Puṇṇaka, and others, and their questions represent the most fundamental questions of human existence, such as: 'What is the highest thing in the world?', 'What is bondage and what is liberation?', and 'How can one cross the flood?' The Buddha's answers converge consistently on: 'Abandon clinging, cultivate wisdom, and maintain right mindfulness.' The Chapter on the Way to the Far Shore encapsulates, in the most lucid and beautiful verse language, what the destination of Buddhist practice is and what the essential means of reaching that destination are.