Know Yourself-Know Others

　　知己知彼

Know your own mind and body, and you will know others' as well. One's facial expressions, speech, gestures, actions, all stem from one's state of mind. A Buddha, an enlightened being, can read these because he has experienced and seen with wisdom the states of mind that underlie them, just as wise older people, having passed through childhood, can understand the ways of children.

　　认识你自己的身和心，也就会了解他人。一个人的脸部表情──言语、手势、行为都源於他的心理状态。佛陀，一位觉者，因为他经历过，且以智慧看透心理状态和它们的基本因素，所以能了解它们。就如年长的智者，已经历过童年，所以能了解孩子们的种种。

This self-knowledge differs from memory. An old person can be clear inside but fuzzy in regard to external things. Book learning may be very difficult for him, he forgets names and faces, and so on. Maybe he knows very well that he wants a basin, but because of the weakness of his memory, he may ask for a glass instead.

　　这种自我的智慧不同於记忆。一位老人对外在事物可能很迷糊，但内心可能很清楚。书本上的学习对他可能很困难，会忘记不同的名字和面貌……等等。也许他很清楚他要一个盆子，但是因为他衰弱的记忆力，他可能会要一个玻璃杯。

If you see states rising and falling in the mind and do not cling to the process, letting go of both happiness and suffering, mental rebirths become shorter and shorter. Letting go, you can even fall into hell states without too much disturbance, because you know the impermanence of them. Through right practice, you allow your .old karma to wear itself out. Knowing how things arise and pass away, you can just be aware and let them run their course. It is like having two trees: if you fertilize and water one and do not take care of the other, there is no question which one will grow and which one will die.

　　如果你看到境界在内心中起伏，而不去执著其过程，放下苦与乐，那　精神上的再生将会渐渐缩短。放下吧!就算你陷入地狱的状态也不会不安，因为你了解它们的理常。透过正确的修行，让你的旧业自然地殆尽。了解事物是如何生起与逝去的，你就可以只保持觉醒:而让它们随其自然。犹如两棵树，如果你只施肥、灌溉其中一棵，而不照顾另一棵，哪一棵会长大，而哪一棵会枯死，是不用置疑的。