"When we understand that we cannot be destroyed, we are liberated from fear."

No Death, No Fear by Thich Nhat Hanh,
《你可以不怕死》（一行禅师著，胡因梦译） Part 2

Becoming Nothing
害怕死亡时一切将化为乌有

Our greatest fear is that when we die we will become nothing. Many of us believe that our entire existence is only a life span beginning the moment we are born or conceived and ending the moment we die. We believe that we are born from nothing and when we die we become nothing. And so we are filled with fear of annihilation.

我们最怕死亡来临时一切将化为乌有。许多人都相信我们的整个生命只有一世：诞生的那一刻是开始，死亡的那一刻便是结尾。我们认为自己是无中生有的，而死亡来临时我们也将化为乌有。因此我们对灭绝充满了畏怖。

The Buddha has a very different understanding of our existence. It is the understanding that birth and death are notions. They are not real. The fact that we think they are true makes a powerful illusion that causes our suffering. The Buddha taught that there is no birth; there is no death; there is no coming; there is no going; there is no same; there is no different; there is no permanent self; there is no annihilation. We only think there is. When we understand that we cannot be destroyed, we are liberated from fear. It is a great relief. We can enjoy life and appreciate it in a new way.

佛陀对我们的存在却有着截然不同的体认。他认为生与死都只是一种概念，它们并不是真实的。就因为我们当真了，所以才制造出强而有力的幻觉，进而导致了我们的苦难。佛陀的真理是不生，不灭；无来，无去；无同，无异；无永恒不灭的自我，亦无自我的灭绝。灭绝只是我们的一种概念罢了。一旦体认到自己是无法被摧毁的，我们就从恐惧之中解脱了。那是一份巨大的解放感。我们终于能焕然一新地享受和欣赏人生了。

Finding a Lost Loved One
找到失去的至爱

The same thing happens when we lost any of our beloved ones. When conditions are not right to support life, they withdraw. When I lost my mother I suffered a lot. When we are only seven or eight years old it is difficult to think that one day we will lose our mother. Eventually we grow up and we all lose our mothers, but if you know how to practice, when the time comes for the separation you will not suffer too much. You will very quickly realize that your mother is always alive within you.

失去任何一个心爱的人，也是同样的情况。如果维持生命的条件不合，他们就会隐退。母亲过世的时候，我非常痛苦。一个七八岁的孩子是很难想象有一天会失去母亲的。成年之后我们都会面临丧母这件事，但是如果你懂得修行，别离的日子来临时，你就不会那么痛苦了。你很快会体认到，母亲是永远活在你体内的。

The day my mother died, I wrote in my journal, "A serious misfortune of my life has arrived." I suffered for more than one year after the passing away of my mother. But one night, in the highlands of Vietnam, I was sleeping in the hut in my hermitage. I dreamed of my mother. I saw myself sitting with her, and we were having a wonderful talk. She looked young and beautiful, her hair flowing down. It was so pleasant to sit there and talk to her as if she had never died. When I woke up it was about two in the morning, and I felt very strongly that I had never lost my mother. The impression that my mother was still with me was very clear. I understood then that the idea of having lost my mother was just an idea. It was obvious in that moment that my mother is always alive in me.

母亲过世的那一天，我在日记里写道：“一件非常不幸的事已经来到我的生命里。”母亲过世之后，我痛苦了一年多，但是某一天的深夜我梦见了她。当时我睡在越南高地上的一间小茅屋里，那是我隐居的地方。梦里我看见自己和母亲坐在一块儿，我们谈得很开心。她看起来既年轻，又漂亮，长发是垂下来的。坐在她身边和她说话是多么快活的一件事，就像她从未亡故一般。醒来时约莫凌晨两点，我强烈地感觉到我从未失去过母亲。母亲仍然与我同在，这份感觉十分清晰。我突然领悟到，丧母只是我的一种概念罢了。那一刻我才明白，母亲是永远活在我体内的。