纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 041无量寿佛坐像(7)

In the sculpture Buddha's fingers stand in for the spokes¹ of the wheel, and he's setting in motion the Wheel of Law to his followers², who will eventually be able to renounce³ the material states of illusion, suffering and individuality for the immaterial state of the highest happiness: nirvana. Here's an old Buddhist⁴ teaching:

佛陀的手指代表法轮，他为听众转动法轮，让他们能放下虚幻的现实，脱离苦难与自我，进人极乐的涅槃状态。佛陀教导：

"It is only the fool who is deceived by the outward show of beauty; for where is the beauty when the decorations of the person are taken away, the jewels removed, the gaudy⁵ dress laid aside, the flowers and chaplets withered⁶ and dead? The wise man, seeing the vanity of all such fictitious⁷ charms, regards them as a dream, a mirage⁸, a fantasy."

外饰粉脂。璎珞衣服。华髮钗钏。假庄严身。痴人不知。横被诳惑。于色境界。妄生欲心。若有智人。正念观察妇人身体体性如是空无有主。犹如梦幻。

All Buddhist art aims to detach the faithful from the physical world, even if it uses a physical image like our statue to do so.

佛教的所有艺术都教导人们不要眷恋虚幻的物质世界，即使它所依赖的是佛像这种物质实体。

1 spokes   

n.（车轮的）辐条( spoke的名词复数 )；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动

参考例句：

• Her baby caught his fingers in the spokes of the pram wheel. 她宝宝的手指被婴儿车轮的辐条卡住了。 来自辞典例句
• The new edges are called the spokes of the wheel. 新的边称为轮的辐。 来自辞典例句

2 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

3 renounce   

v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系

参考例句：

• She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
• It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。

4 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

5 gaudy   

adj.华而不实的；俗丽的

参考例句：

• She was tricked out in gaudy dress.她穿得华丽而俗气。
• The gaudy butterfly is sure that the flowers owe thanks to him.浮华的蝴蝶却相信花是应该向它道谢的。

6 withered   

adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The grass had withered in the warm sun. 这些草在温暖的阳光下枯死了。
• The leaves of this tree have become dry and withered. 这棵树下的叶子干枯了。

7 fictitious   

adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的

参考例句：

• She invented a fictitious boyfriend to put him off.她虚构出一个男朋友来拒绝他。
• The story my mother told me when I was young is fictitious.小时候妈妈对我讲的那个故事是虚构的。

8 mirage   

n.海市蜃楼，幻景

参考例句：

• Perhaps we are all just chasing a mirage.也许我们都只是在追逐一个幻想。
• Western liberalism was always a mirage.西方自由主义永远是一座海市蜃楼。