幸福只是对痛苦的一种缓解 Happiness: A Temporary Relief from Suffering

What exactly is happiness? My definition is this: happiness is an unstable feeling.幸福究竟是什么呢？我的定义是：幸福只是一种不稳定的感觉。This unstable feeling is related to material conditions, but more importantly, it lies in our mindset and how we define our needs. Without a healthy mind, happiness remains an unreachable mirage. Thus, happiness is not just material; it is spiritual.这种不稳定的感觉，固然和物质条件有一定关系，但更重要的，是在于自身心态，在于我们对自身需求的定位。所以说，幸福不仅是唯物的，更是唯心的。From a Buddhist perspective, "Life is suffering." Many misunderstand this, labeling Buddhism as pessimistic. In our experience, life is a mix of joy and sorrow. So why did the Buddha conclude this?从佛教观点来看，人生是苦。许多人对这一定义不理解，并以此推断，佛教必是消极悲观的。因为在我们的感觉中，并非一味的苦，而是苦乐参半。Buddhism categorizes feelings into five types: suffering, happiness, worry, joy, and equanimity. While we instinctively seek pleasure and avoid pain, has five thousand years of human civilization truly solved our suffering? We have abundance, but do our afflictions vanish?佛教将感觉分为五种：苦、乐、忧、喜、舍。虽然本能让我们趋乐避苦，但五千年文明帮助我们摆脱痛苦了吗？我们有了丰裕的生活，但烦恼就此消失了吗？When Buddhism says life is suffering, it is an essential judgment: Suffering is the essence of life, while happiness is merely a relief from that suffering.佛教所说的人生是苦，是透过现象所作的本质判断——苦是人生本质，而快乐只是对痛苦的一种缓解。In reality, no happiness possesses an absolute, unchanging essence. Can we find a joy that remains a joy no matter when or for how long we experience it?现实中，没有哪种快乐是具有本质性的。我们能找到这样一种绝对、不变的快乐吗？In truth, every kind of happiness corresponds to a certain type of pain. When we are tortured by hunger, eating becomes a joy. When we are pained by longing, meeting a loved one becomes a joy. When we are exhausted by insomnia, falling asleep becomes a joy.事实上，任何一种快乐都有某种痛苦与之对应。当我们被饥渴之苦折磨时，吃饭会成为快乐；当我们被思念之苦缠绕时，亲人相见会成为快乐；当我们夜不成寐时，安然入睡会成为快乐。If you remove the premises of hunger or insomnia, do eating and sleeping remain joys? If you are forced to eat when full or sleep when awake, these same acts turn into suffering.如果去掉饥渴、失眠这些前提，吃饭和睡觉会成为快乐吗？当我们不想吃却不得不吃，不想睡却不得不睡的时候，同样的事立刻就转为痛苦了。Only when we need to eat or sleep and suffer from the lack of them, do we feel joy through the relief of that pain. In this sense, the amount of happiness we feel is exactly proportional to the amount of suffering being relieved.只有当我们需要吃饭、睡觉并为之所苦时，才会因为这种痛苦得到缓解而产生快乐。从这个层面来说，痛苦有多少，由缓解痛苦所带来的快乐就有多少。