(３４)“在家人不能成为阿罗汉，是吗？”

34) “Lay people cannot be arahants, can they?”

　　对这问题也不要给予“能”或“不能”的绝对答案，而必须这么回答：“阿罗汉是超越僧俗的”。然而一般人都说在家人一证悟成为阿罗汉，就得在七天内赶快出家，否则将会死亡，这是后期的人在论、疏或其他作品中，过分自大、武断的说法。

DON’T GO GIVING an unqualified answer to this question either, saying they can or cannot. It must be answered by saying that an arahant has transcended laity and monkhood alike. Please note that the belief that one who becomes an arahant must hurry off and be ordained within seven days or else die was made by over- confident, assertive teachers of later ages, and appears only in commentaries, sub-commentaries, and other such post-canonical works. An arahant must always transcend laity and monkhood. No one can make an arahant into a lay person (i.e. a worldly person), but he lives above and beyond the state of monkhood too.

　　阿罗汉一定都是超越僧俗的，没有人能够把阿罗汉变成俗人。因此，不要去宣称阿罗汉会不会在俗，纵使抓了个阿罗汉，强迫他过在家生活，使阿罗汉成为居士，这是不可能的，因为他已经超越僧俗了。

Therefore, don’t go making statements as to whether an arahant can live at home or not. Even though they might take an arahant and force him to live at home, they could never make him into a householder. He has transcended both laity and monkhood.