(３１)下一个问题是：
“证阿罗汉容易吗？”

31) The next question asks,

31) “Is it difficult or easy to be an arahant?”

　　对这个问题，几乎每个人都会回答“极端困难”，没有人敢想或敢说“容易”！在此，我们再度保持不给绝对答案的原则，任何人给予绝对答案，如说“有”或“没有”、“容易”或“困难”，他就不是追随佛陀的人。

ALMOST EVERYONE ANSWERS that it is extremely difficult. No one dares to think or speak of it as being easy. Here again, let us keep to the principle of not giving unqualified answers. Anyone who gives unqualified answers, saying, for example, “there is” or “there is not”, “it is easy” or “it is difficult”, is not a follower of the Buddha.

　　佛陀的原则是“缘起法则”，如果我们正确地遵行缘起法则，成为阿罗汉(arahant)是容易的，如果我们违反了缘起法则，想成为阿罗汉就会极端困难。
　　只因为我们已习惯安住于烦恼中，于是想成为阿罗汉就显得异常困难。在此，我们应回想佛陀所说的话：“只要过正道的生活，世上就不会缺少阿罗汉。”过正道的生活并不难，是我们能办得到的。怎么说呢？只要我们能封锁住烦恼，不让它得到滋养，就像我们想杀死老虎，只要把它关起来，不给它食物，它就会自然死亡，不必进到笼里去面对它，而让它有机会咬我们、撕裂我们。这是一种我们可以做得到的技术，就是前面所说，我们能力所及的意思。

The Buddha’s principle is that of causality. If we act rightly through understanding the principle of causality, being an arahant is easy. If we go against the principle of causality, it is extremely difficult. Only because we are accustomed to the defilements does it appear difficult to become an arahant. Here we ought to bear in mind that saying of the Buddha, “If we live rightly, the world will not be empty of arahants.” This living rightly is not difficult, it is not beyond our capacity. Blockade the defilements to prevent their obtaining nourishment. If we want to kill a tiger, we could pen him in with nothing to eat, and he would die of his own accord. It would not be necessary for us to go in, confront the tiger, and let him bite and claw us. This is what is meant by saying it is not beyond our capacity. This is the technique, and it lies within our abilities.

　　因此，成为阿罗汉究竟是难、是易，全看所用的方法是对或错而定，如果我们遵循佛陀的教导——“过正道的生活，世上就不会缺少阿罗汉”，那么，想要成为阿罗汉就不困难了。

Therefore, being an arahant will be easy or not depending on whether we use the right or the wrong methods. If we follow what the Buddha said, it is not difficult. “Live rightly and the world will not be empty of arahants.”