If There Were No After Life

If There Were No After Life

作者：北外英語基地校長宋遠利

翻譯：北京外國語大學(xué)北戴河外語培訓(xùn)基地副校長 張寶丹

Whether there’s afterlife, the answer has never been the same. The atheists deny after life, believing that our life is no more than from the cradle to the grave. They may care about their illustrious names after death; they may feel attached to the affection of their offspring, but they never lay their hopes on their afterlife. They may also say that good will be rewarded with good, and evil with evil, but they don’t really believe any retribution in their after life.

However, in the religious world or among the superstitious people, the belief in afterlife is very popular. They do not only believe in afterlife, but thousands of reincarnations as well. In the mysterious world, there are the paradise and the hell, the celestial beings and the gods, the Buddha and the Bodhisattvas.

Maybe they really believed it, or maybe they just wanted to make use of people’s veneration, the ancient emperors always declared that they were the real dragons, the sons of God, while the royal ministers claimed to be the reincarnations of various constellations. But can the stars reincarnate?

Many people burn incense and kowtow, do good deeds and strive for virtues, not just for the present, but mainly to let God see their sincerity so as to be reborn into a better afterlife, or to achieve the highest enlightenment after several lives of practice. They do believe in afterlife. But I can’t help asking: Suppose there were no afterlife, would you still do good deeds and strive for virtues? And If God does not see what you are doing, would you still be so upright and selfless? If you work, not for serving the public and liberating the others, but just for a better afterlife of your own, isn’t it a little too selfish? Comparing with this kind of believers, those who don’t believe in afterlife, but still keep doing good deeds, are the most sincere and honest philanthropists, because they do them not for themselves but for other.

You may wonder if I believe in afterlife. My answer is: I know nothing about my previous life, so I dare not make improper comments on afterlife. But I do hope there’s afterlife! Because our present life is so short that so many things slip away before our proper understanding. I have so many dreams, so many wishes, so many ambitions, as well as so many regrets and concerns. If there were no afterlife, all of them will remain unrealized!

I’m not contented with the present commonplace life, I’m very much attached to the affections that should have been mine but have been washed away by the hurrying time, and I yearn for the perfection and maturity if I could start all over again. So believe it or not, I’d rather there were afterlife.

Translated by Zhang Baodan (Diana)

May 1, 2004

假如沒有來世

有沒有來世，眾說紛紜。無神論者，不相信來世。他們認為從生到死，僅此而已。他們可能在意身后的英名，他們可能留戀后代的親情，但他們不寄希望于來世。他們也會說善有善報，惡有惡報，但并不相信下輩子報應(yīng)什么。

在宗教領(lǐng)域、或在一些迷信的人群，來世之說比較盛行。不僅是來世，甚至?xí)J為有千百次的輪回。在那未知而飄渺的世界，有天堂，有地獄，有神族，有仙界，有菩薩、有佛祖。

也許真的相信、也許是為了利用人們的敬畏心里，古代的帝王們總是宣稱自己是真龍?zhí)熳?，大臣們則標(biāo)榜為天上的什么文曲星、武曲星或太白金星轉(zhuǎn)世。星星能轉(zhuǎn)世嗎?

許多人燒香、磕頭，行善、修德，并不都是為了眼前，而是為了讓上天看見自己的真誠，以便下輩子有個好的托生，或者幾世之后能修成正果。這些人自然是相信來世的。但我不禁要問：如果沒有來世，你們會不會一樣行善、修德呢?如果神靈看不見，你們是否也會公正無私呢?如果不是為了解脫他人和服務(wù)大眾才去修行，如果僅僅是為了自己將來托生好才去行善，是否有些自私呢?比較起來，那些不相信來世而又堅持行善的人，則應(yīng)該是最真、最誠的大善。因為他們不是為自身，而是為公理。

也許有人會問作者，你相信來世嗎?我的回答是：我不知道前生，因而也不敢妄談后世。但我真的希望能有來世!因為這輩子時間太短，許多事情都是在還沒弄明白的時候，就已經(jīng)匆匆過去了。我有那么多的理想，我有那么多的心愿，我有那么多的奢望，我有那么多的遺憾，我有那么多的牽掛，我有那么多的雄心壯志，如果沒有來世，那就一切皆空了。

我不甘心眼前的碌碌無為，我留戀被歲月沖走的本應(yīng)屬于我的親情，更向往從頭再來的完美和成熟。為此，信也好，不信也好，我寧愿有來世。