Translating Classical Buddhism to Modern English

The Related Discourses

4. Truth

(三八四)四聖諦 6 (384). The Four Noble Truths (5)
如是我聞: 一時,佛住波羅㮈、仙人住處、鹿野苑中。 1. Thus I have heard:1 One time, the Buddha was staying at the Residence of Sages in the Deer Preserve of Bārāṇasī.
爾時,世尊告諸比丘: 「有四聖諦。 何等為四? 謂苦聖諦、苦集聖諦、苦滅聖諦、苦滅道跡聖諦。 2. It was then that the Bhagavān addressed the monks, “There are four noble truths. What are the four? They are the noble truth of suffering, the noble truth of suffering’s formation, the noble truth of suffering’s cessation, and the noble truth of the path to suffering’s cessation.
「若比丘於苦聖諦已知,已解⋯ 於苦集聖諦已知,已斷⋯ 於苦滅聖諦已知,已證⋯ 於苦滅道跡聖諦已知,已修。 如是比丘名阿羅漢。 諸漏已盡,所作已作,離諸重擔,逮得己利。 盡諸有結,正智善解脫。」 3. “If a monk has known the noble truth of suffering, then he has understood [suffering] … has known the noble truth of suffering’s formation, then he has ended [its formation] … has known the noble truth of suffering’s cessation, then he has realized [its cessation] … has known the noble truth of the path to suffering’s cessation, then he has cultivated [that path]. In this way, that monk is called an arhat. His contaminants have ended, his task has been accomplished, he’s free of the heavy burdens, and he has won his own reward. Having ended the bonds of existence, he’s well liberated with right knowledge.”
佛說此經已,諸比丘聞佛所說歡喜,奉行。 4. After the Buddha spoke this sūtra, the monks who heard what the Buddha taught rejoiced and approved.

Notes

  1. This is sūtra no. 384 in the Taisho edition and no. 547 in Yinshun (T99.2.104b29-c8). [back]

Translator: Charles Patton

Last Revised: 27 May 2024