Disclaimer: The translations are not official nor endorsed by 2OR, so please just treat it as a ‘fan-based’ translation. The Buddha-Dharma is profound. No matter how you convey it, it won’t be completely perfect. Because the Buddha-Dharma is an experience, it’s an awakening 【佛法深奥无比，怎么写，都不会是究竟圆满。佛法是一种悟】. Please enjoy, and I hope it serves as a good filler until the official English version comes out.
涅槃真正的意思就是佛教讲的不生不死、不生不灭。所以，和尚死的时候大家都不哭，因为这个和尚走了，比方说某某和尚走了，他是上天了，他犹如回到了自己的家。很多出家人，离开了庙，为什么他们喜欢经常背一个自己的布袋到处去挂单？他自己知道，他今天离开这里到那里，到那里又离开这里，实际上这就是人的一生啊，来来去去一切皆空，就像人走的时候最后上天一样，没有什么可以哭泣的。他离开了我们，走掉了，他到另外一个庙里去了；他离开了我们，他到天上去了：他到那个地方去结缘了。所以他就不会把这种生死看得太重。走的时候，连被子都留下，都不是他的，一生什么都没有，背一个小布袋走了，挂单去了，就是这个道理。
The true meaning of nirvana in Buddhism is the state of no birth and no death, no birth and no cessation. That’s why when a monk have passed away, the other monks around him or her won’t cry. That’s because the monk is going to heaven, and it’s as if they are returning back home. Why do many monks like to carry a small cloth bag that contains all their belongings with them wherever they go when they leave the monastery? It’s because the monk knows that when they leave a place and go to a new place, and leave again and go to another new place, it is the same with life. Everything is empty when one come and go. When they pass away, there’s nothing to cry for; they are just going to a new place and will meet new people and develop new affinities there. That’s why monks won’t take life and death too seriously. When they leave, they can’t even carry their blanket with them. It’s not theirs. They have nothing in this life. So they only take a cloth bag with them and go to whether they go. That’s the principle.
人根本不会死，死的是躯壳，身体的灭度，实际上灭度的是身体，死的是一个身体，但精神永远不会灭度。你们看佛陀，你们说佛陀走了吗？没有，直到今天，佛陀依然给我们留下来这么多的佛经，我们还学不完呢。两千五百多年过去了，佛陀根本没走，他还在指导着我们，他的精神永远在人间。走掉的是什么？只是他的一个肉身。师父跟大家讲，因为人靠精神活着，如果一个人没有精神，他就是一个活死人。现在的年轻人就是因为精神死亡了，所以他看一切都是灰飞烟灭，觉得绝望了，他自杀了。人活着一定要有精神。
Humans never actually die. What dies and ceased is their physical body. But their spirit will never cease. Look at Gautama Buddha. Did he really leave? No. Up until the present day, he had still left many of his legacies in the form of the Buddhist scriptures. We have still not learnt all of it. Two thousand five hundred years ago, Gautama Buddha didn’t leave. He is still guiding us now; his spirit is eternal in the Human Realm. So what has left? His physical body. Do you know that people depend on their mental vigour to live? If a person loses it, then they are living soullessly. Many young people nowadays commit suicide because they don’t have any more mental vigour, and so they see everything as hopeless. To live, one must have mental vigour.
师父告诉大家，涅槃有八大意味，实际上古时候的经文当中叫“涅槃八昧”，就是说涅槃有八种法味，师父今天只能跟大家简单地讲一讲。涅槃实际上意味着你常住法、寂灭法、不老、不死、清净、圆通、不动、快乐，八昧。第一，常住，结束了，在这个世界上涅槃，就是你常住在人间，死掉了你的肉身骨头，你的精神还是常住在人间。第二，寂灭，涅槃就是代表着你的身体的结束。第三，涅槃代表着你不会再老。第四，涅槃代表你没有死，因为你的精神永远活着。第五，涅槃代表着你清净了、安静了，身体很干净，因为你不会用身体再造业。第六，涅槃代表着你圆通，你把人间的一切事情都做好了。第七，涅槃不动，心不动了，手也不动。第八，涅槃代表你抛开了人间的烦恼，达到正等正觉，让精神活在快乐中。这叫“涅槃八昧”。
Nirvana has eight great impressions. In the Buddhist scriptures, it’s referred to as the ‘Eight Impressions of Nirvana’. Constant existence, solitary cessation, non-ageing, non-death, pure, complete, unmoving and constant bliss. The first impression refers to the constant existence of one’s spirit even after one’s human body has died. The second impression refers to one’s body when it has reached its lifespan. The third impression means that you will never age. The fourth impression is that you haven’t died as your spirit lives on. The fifth impression is that you are now pure as your body will no longer create karma. The sixth impression is that you have completed your calling in the Human Realm. The seventh impression is that you have become an unmoving existence. The eighth impression is that you have abandoned all afflictions of the Human Realm and have attained complete and perfect enlightenment. So your spirit lives in happiness. These are the eight impressions of nirvana.
一个人如果能够达到正等正觉，如果什么都想得通，这个人就能够自主六根、六尘——自己就明白自己的六根、六尘。眼耳鼻舌身意，嘴巴不能乱讲，眼睛不能乱看，耳朵不能乱听……这个人如果能够控制住自己的六根，就会防范于人间的六尘，所以欲望就会灭绝，欲望就没了。所以，一个人如果能够控制住自己的六根，不接近六尘，然后欲望马上就没了，业力马上会消失，业力就没了，然后六道轮回在你这里也会消失，没了，因为你已经把什么都看空了，你不会轮回了，所以不生不灭的情景就出现了。
If a person could attain complete and perfect enlightenment and could be clear-minded about everything, then it indicates that they have complete control over their six sensory faculties and six defilements. They are the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind. If a person could control their six sensory faculties – they don’t look at what shouldn’t be looked at, they don’t listen to something that shouldn’t be heard, they don’t speak about something that shouldn’t be said, then they are on guard against the six defilements. That way, their desires would cease. That’s why if a person could control their six sensory faculties and don’t allow themselves to be affected by the six defilements, then their desires would cease, and the karmic force would also disappear. Afterwards, samsara would also disappear for you because you have already emptied everything from your mind. That’s how the state of non-birth and non-cessation appear.
用现代话讲，如果一个想得通的人，别人跟他讲：“你老啦，你把这个钱留给孩子，你要多积蓄一点给孩子啊。”他什么都想得通：“有什么生？有什么死？我什么都不要，我要它干吗？”人到人间，一切都是暂时的，都是借来的，自己一走，连自己的身体这个躯壳都不是自己的。你是谁啊？你来的时候名字都没有。彻悟了，这个时候业力没有了，六道轮回消失了，不生不灭的情景出现了。因为你想通了，你没有生，也不会有灭度。
To put in plain terms, if somebody said to a clear-minded person, “You’re old now. You should go and make more money for your children.” “Why? I don’t need anything.” When you arrive in the Human Realm, everything you have is temporary. You are just borrowing things. When you leave the world, even your body is no longer yours. Who are you? When you came, you didn’t have a name. Thoroughly comprehend it, then at that moment, your karmic force will cease, and samsara will vanish. Then the state of non-birth and non-cessation will appear. Because you are clear-minded, you have nothing developed, and so there will be nothing ceased.
所以，佛法的涅槃，实际上指的就是灭一切生死轮回。师父跟你们讲的东西很深啊。涅槃就是指灭一切生死轮回，达到无为安乐的境地。“无为”，就是我心里已经没有行为，在人间行为上也没行为，心理行为也没有。“安乐”的心态，我已经找到我最后最开心的时光和地方了。所以想得通的人一辈子开心，想不通的人永远活在地狱当中。所以人家说想得通的人走的时候也是笑嘻嘻的，开开心心，不痛苦，那就叫涅槃。
That’s why the definition of nirvana in Buddhist terms is that it’s the cessation of all life and death and samsara and the attainment of the state of non-conditioned bliss. ‘Unconditioned’ refers to the absence of all conscious mental activities. The attitude of bliss is where one has found their final place of happiness. That’s why those who are clear-minded are happy all their life. Those who are stubborn will also live as though they’re in hell. That’s why there’s a saying that clear-minded people pass away with a smile and under no pain. That’s nirvana.