早在自己还很小的时候，就已深刻地体会到这个世界充斥着各种苦难。读幼稚园时，因为手臂乃至腿部，布满了严重的湿疹，又痒又痛，我觉得自己既丑陋又异于常人；当时有一个男孩甚至对其他同学说我得了痲疯病，要大家小心，不要跟我一起玩。

　　成年之后，我更加确信人生是由一连串随机、却又充满着苦痛的事件所组成，没有人可以改变；即便是快乐的情境，当中往往也掺杂著苦。这种感觉跟着自己大半辈子：像是举行派对或家庭聚会时，虽然欢乐，但结束后，每个人终究会离开。又如身旁的亲友，不是搬家就是逝世；连疼爱的女儿也带着我最宝贝的孙子，一起搬走了。

　　正式开始学佛时，我已经六十多岁了。四圣谛的道理，让我终于了解一切事物都有其因缘果报；人生的苦，并非如我所想，是随机而无法解释的事件。借由佛法，我们不但可以认清原因，并且可以扭转结果！

　　一切的苦，皆源自于错误的知见与无明烦恼。一直以来，我希望所爱的人能一直留在身边；希望每一个幸福时刻，都能永久地封存起来而不会改变。过度的贪爱与执着，让自己这一生深受其害。幸而，四圣谛教会了我：只要放下执着，不但能体会到心灵的平静，更能与挚爱的家人建立更好、更紧密的关系。

　　而这帖让我们得以离苦得乐的处方笺就是——八正道。透过薰修佛法，让我们有了正知见，了解到生死的本质是无常、是空性。因此，依循着佛法的道理，学习减少欲望并无惧地敞开心胸关怀他人。相信只要始终坚定地依正道而行，一定能够去除妄想执着，契悟人人本具、本自清净的心性。最终，可以得到真正的自在！

　　（When I was a very young child, I can remember being keenly aware that the world was full of suffering. When I was very young, I had horrible eczema which covered my arms and sometimes legs. It itched and burned and made me feel that I was ugly and different. I remember a little boy who told the other kids in my kindergarten class that I had leprosy and that it was not safe to play with me.

　　By the time I became an adult, I was convinced that life was a series of random, sometimes painful, events that we could do nothing about. I spent most of my adult life feeling that even the wonderful things that I experienced were laced with hardship and suffering. After the party or the family reunion, everyone went home. People moved or died. My dear daughter grew up and moved away and my heart of hearts, my dear grandson, went with her.

　　I had my first formal introduction to Buddhist practice when I was more than sixty years of age. I learned through the Four Noble Truths that the suffering in life isn’t just a series of cruel, random, and unexplainable acts. There are causes to our suffering and we can learn what they are. Not only can we learn about the causes, we have the power to change the results.

　　The causes of suffering are our false views, ignorance and affliction. It was excessive desire and attachment that caused my suffering. I had done this all of my life. I wanted everyone I loved to be within an arm’s reach. I wanted every happy moment to be held eternally in a state of suspended animation. But the Four Noble Truth taught me that I could know peace and have a better, more loving relationship with my dear family if I just loosened my grip.

　　We are given a prescription that allows us to liberate from suffering and attain joy—the Eightfold Path. Following the Path, we learn to understand the temporal, empty nature of birth and death; we learn to desire less, to love fearlessly with an open heart. Through persistent practice, we will be able to let go of the ignorance and attachments that cause us to suffer and realize our true self that is open and unencumbered by attachments, and finally be utterly free! ）