纪录片《佛教世界的七大奇观》 美国洛杉矶西来寺（5）

The temple then offers American Buddhists¹ lots of reasons to visit.

西来寺为美国佛教徒提供了许多来参拜的理由。

But if you're a devotee of Buddhism², then one of your main motivations for coming here is to seek enlightenment...Nirvana.

如果你真的是一位虔诚佛教徒的话那你来这里的主要动机之一一定是为了寻求悟道…涅槃。

I'd love to be able to tell you that I've got a textbook definition for what Nirvana is, but considering the Buddha³ himself said it was beyond words, beyond logic⁴,

我很乐意告诉你我在教科书上找到的“涅槃”的定义。但是考虑到佛陀曾宣说“涅槃”是超越文字，超越逻辑的。

I suspect it is going to be quite a tricky⁵ concept to pin down.

我猜它是个难有定论的棘手概念。

Nirvana certainly is a state of mind, and it's a state of mind in which you have abolished strong emotions of very much wanting things or very much hating things or being confused.

涅槃肯定是一种心识的状态。这是一种摒弃了对贪执之事物、憎恨之事物及愚痴等强烈情感的精神状态。

It's a state of mind which you attain⁶, and, at that moment, and the reafter, you will enjoy a kind of blissful calm.

一旦达到这种精神状态，在这一瞬间及之后，你会享受到充满快乐的平静感觉。

And that path, is the end of that path, Nirvana, is that your goal?

这条路是通往终点涅槃的路吗？这是您的目标吗？

Yes, Nirvana, enlightenment, full understanding, awakening⁷.

是的，涅槃、开悟、全知、觉醒。

Those are all terms that are very similar.

这些词汇的意思很接近。

And, to me, it's understanding the truth, understanding what this is, what it really is.

对我来说，就是认识真理认识事物的本质。

How confident are you that Nirvana is a goal you are going to attain?

对达到涅槃这个目标，您有多大信心？

I am cautiously optimistic - how about that?

我保持谨慎的乐观—可以这么说吧？

There are people that say that it's very possible,

有人说这是完全有可能的。

and these are people that are very smart people and I'm following their advice.

这些都是有大智慧的人，而且我听从他们的建议。

and I think it can be done, I think it can be done.

我想我能做到，一定能做到。

1 Buddhists   

n.佛教徒( Buddhist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Jesuits in a phase of ascendancy, persecuted and insulted the Buddhists with great acrimony. 处于地位上升阶段的耶稣会修士迫害佛教徒，用尖刻的语言辱骂他们。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• The return of Saivite rule to central Java had brought no antagonism between Buddhists and Hindus. 湿婆教在中爪哇恢复统治后，并没有导致佛教徒与印度教徒之间的对立。 来自辞典例句

2 Buddhism   

n.佛教（教义）

参考例句：

• Buddhism was introduced into China about 67 AD.佛教是在公元67年左右传入中国的。
• Many people willingly converted to Buddhism.很多人情愿皈依佛教。

3 Buddha   

n.佛；佛像；佛陀

参考例句：

• Several women knelt down before the statue of Buddha and prayed.几个妇女跪在佛像前祈祷。
• He has kept the figure of Buddha for luck.为了图吉利他一直保存着这尊佛像。

4 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

5 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

6 attain   

vt.达到，获得，完成

参考例句：

• I used the scientific method to attain this end. 我用科学的方法来达到这一目的。
• His painstaking to attain his goal in life is praiseworthy. 他为实现人生目标所下的苦功是值得称赞的。

7 awakening   

n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的

参考例句：

• the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
• People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。