佛陀所教導的是每一個人都能夠遵循的正道。他稱此為┌八聖道?，也就是由八個相互關聯的部分所構成的修持方法。這條道路之所以神聖，是在於任何走上這條正道的人，都一定會成為擁有高尚心靈的聖者，遠離痛苦煩惱。
這是一條洞察實相本質的大道、一條了悟真理的正道。為了要解決我們的問題，我們必須能如實地觀察。我們必須學會認清表面的、顯而易見的實相，並且穿透表層，覺察較細微的實相，再進一步了解最終的實相，最後終能體證到自痛苦中解脫的真理。無論我們如何稱呼這個解脫的真理---是涅槃(nibbana)、天堂、或其他名稱---這都不重要；重要的是去親身體驗。
唯一能夠直接體驗真理的方法，就是向內觀照，觀察自己。有生以來，我們早已習慣向外看。我們總是對外在的人與事深感興趣，卻很少檢驗自己，檢驗我們的身心結構、我們的行為、自身的實相。因此，我們對自己始終一無所知。我們不瞭解無明(avijja)對我們造成多大的傷害；也不知道，我們一直都被自己內在未覺知的力量所奴役。
要領悟真理，必須將這內在的黑暗驅走。我們必須洞察自身的本質，才能瞭解存在的本質。因此，佛陀所指出的，是一條向內觀照、自我覺察的道路。佛陀曾說：
就在這具有心識的六尺之軀，揭示了宇宙、宇宙的生起、寂滅、以及走向寂滅之道。
整個宇宙及其運作的自然法則，都必須在我們自身體驗。也唯有在自身內部，才能體驗。2005/3/7
THE SEARCH-5
What the Buddha taught was a way that each human being can follow. He called this path the Noble Eightfold Path, meaning a practice of eight interrelated parts. It is noble in the sense that anyone who walks on the path is bound to become a noble-hearted, saintly person, freed from suffering.
It is a path of insight into the nature of reality, a path of truth-realization. In order to solve our problems, we have to see our situation as it really is. We must learn to recognize superficial, apparent reality, and also to penetrate beyond appearances so as to perceive subtler truths, then ultimate truth, and finally to experience the truth of freedom from suffering. Whatever name we choose to give this truth of liberation, whether nibbana, “heaven,” or anything else, is unimportant. The important thing is to experience it.
The only way to experience truth directly is to look within, to observe oneself. All our lives we have been accustomed to look outward. We have always been interested in what is happening outside, what others are doing. We have rarely if ever tried to examine ourselves, our own mental and physical structure, our own actions, our own reality. Therefore we remain unknown to ourselves. We do not realize how harmful this ignorance is, how much we remain the slaves of forces within ourselves of which we are unaware.
This inner darkness must be dispelled to apprehend the truth. We must gain insight into our own nature in order to understand the nature of existence. Therefore the path that the Buddha showed is a path of introspection, of self-observation. He said,
“Within this very fathom-long body containing the mind with its perceptions, I make known the universe, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation.”
The entire universe and the laws of nature by which it works are to be experienced within one-self. They can only be experienced within one-self.2005/3/7
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