(２３)“为什么会认为一切皆空？这个世界、每个世界都是‘空’的吗？”

23) “Why is it held that all things are empty, that this world, that every world, is an empty world?”

　　其他宗教的信徒将会问你这个问题：“为什么你要说这个充满着心、物及各种产品的世界是‘空’的呢？”

FOLLOWERS OF OTHER religions will ask you these questions: “Why do you say the world is empty when it contains all these things? Isn’t there matter? Isn’t there mind? Isn’t the world just full up with things?”

因为它们不是“我”、也非“我所有”，亦即心、物及各种产品都没有实体可被执着为“我”、“我所有”。

The point is that it is empty of any self or of anything belonging to a self. There is nothing that can be taken as being a self or belonging to a self. Self cannot be found in anything, not in mind, nor in matter, nor in the various products that arise out of mind and matter.

佛陀强调一切皆空，除了指空掉“我”及“我所有”的感觉之外，没有其他意思。

The Buddha said that the assertion that all things are empty refers to nothing other than the awareness that they are empty of selfhood.

为什么称有这种知觉的心为“空心”呢？

“Now, why is a mind in this state of awareness described as an empty or free mind (Thai, cit waang)?”

　　有段经文说：“贪、瞋、痴空就是真实的空，心空掉贪、瞋、痴，便是‘空心’(无窒碍、无拘束、解脱自在)”(泰本巴利藏第３０册，５５１页)。

THERE IS A verse in the Texts which says, “That is truly empty which is empty of lust, hatred, and delusion.” A mind is empty (unencumbered, disengaged, or free) when it is free of lust, hatred, and delusion.

　　不论用什么方法或手段，心空掉贪、瞋、痴时，就可以说是“空心”。这里所指的不是什么都不做的“空心”，例如人熟睡时，心也是“空”的，那情况像是一种真空状态，但若不去行动、不用心作事，就不是在修行佛法的“空”。“空心”并不属于这类“空”。
　　假如我们用功修行某种法门，直到心空掉贪、瞋、痴，即使只是一刹那，就可称为“空心”，这种“空心”可以渐次增进，直到“毕竟空”。阿罗汉(arahant)完全处于“空”，次等圣人常常处于“空”，而凡夫偶尔也能处于“空”。

When, by whatever method or means, a mind has been rendered free of all traces of lust, hatred, and delusion, it can be said to be an empty or free mind (cit waang). But we are referring here only to what is done actively. When one is asleep, the mind is also empty! That state is likewise one of true emptiness, but we have not actively produced the state, we have not brought it about intentionally. This is not practising Dhamma; it doesn’t belong in that category. But if we have made an effort in some way so that the mind becomes emptied of lust, hatred, and delusion, even if only for a moment, then the mind if said to be free, void, empty. This freedom and emptiness can be increased in degree until it becomes complete — absolute freedom and emptiness. An arahant (fully perfected individual) is absolutely free. Ariyans at lower stages of development are largely free. An ordinary worldling can be free and empty occasionally.

　　不论何时，只要心空掉贪、瞋、痴，当下就没有“自我”的感觉，这就是所谓的“空心”。

If at any moment there is freedom from lust, hatred, and delusion, then in that moment there is no idea of self. This is known as empty or free mind (cit waang).