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Karma is one of the main concepts of Buddhism.
因果報應是佛教的最重要的概念之一。
It is the belief that any of our intentional actions, both thought and deed, will be mirrored by something similar happening to us in future.
是認為所有有意的行為，無論是思想還是行動，都會在未來以某種相似方式反映到我們身上。
So, if you harm someone, someone will harm you.
所以如果你傷害別人，你也會受到別人的傷害。
This principle of cause and effect can bring consequences that are either good or bad depending on what it is you've done.
因果報應的原則，就是無論善報惡報，皆是由你曾經的所作所為決定的。
Because Buddhists believe we have many lives, this good and bad karma can generate consequences both throughout this life and long into the next.
因為佛教徒相信我們有很多世的生命，善業與惡業所產生的后果不僅會應驗到此生，甚至會延續到來世。
Karma is what you do.
“Karma”指的是你的所作所為。
The word literally means deed or action.
字面上的意思是行為和活動。
But the Buddha said that all Karma that matters is what is morally good or morally bad, and you decide what to do.
但佛陀說“業”，最要緊的就是道德上的善與惡，以及你決定如何去做。
Now, we must remember that for Buddhists, your life goes on beyond what we normally think of as this life.
我們必須記住，對于佛教徒來說，生命是超越我們平常認為“這輩子”的。
In fact, you are reborn an infinite number of times until you manage to bring that to an end.
實際上，在設法跳出輪回之前，你都將無限次地重生。
Buddhists use a metaphor to help explain what karma is.
佛教徒用一個比喻來解釋什么是“業”。
They say that if you sow thistle seed, then you can't expect apple trees to grow, and that is very clear.
他們說，如果你種下的是薊草的種子，那你就不能指望長出來的是蘋果樹。
It's a basic principle of cause and effect.
解釋得非常清楚，這就是因果的基本原理。
And as a historian, I know that that principle has real validity.
作為歷史學者，我知道這個原則是非常正確的。
We are all affected by our past and our past and our present together informs our future.
我們全部都被我們的過去所影響，而過去和現在又一起決定我們的未來。
So when the Buddha said that we should be mindful of our intentional actions,
所以，當佛陀說我們應當注意自己的行為舉止和“業”，
of our karma and that our highest authority is our conscience, then he was making real sense.
我們的最高權威是自己的良心時，他的話真的很有道理。
And he was also clarifying something about what it is to be human.
同時，他也道出了人之所以為人的意義所在。
Of course, the issue is that karma can be both good and bad.
當然，“業”有善業與惡業。
And in Sri Lanka, the fallout of action and reaction, of cause and effect, has been brutally tested in recent years.
在斯里蘭卡，作用與反作用，因與果的關系最近幾年以一種野蠻的方式得以驗證。
For nearly three decades, the country has been locked in a violent civil war, in which close on 100,000 people have been killed.
近三十年來，這個國家陷入一場暴力內戰之中，有將近10萬人喪生。
Sri Lanka is only now emerging from this debilitating conflict between the Hindu Tamil minority and a Buddhist Singhalese majority.
斯里蘭卡剛剛從這場武裝沖突中緩過勁來。沖突是在少數的信仰印度教的泰米爾族，與多數的信仰佛教的僧伽羅族間爆發的。
The Temple of the Tooth was badly hit and partially destroyed during the war.
佛牙寺被嚴重損壞，甚至有部分在戰時被摧毀。
It has now been fully restored.
現在已經被完全修復了。
Buddhists believe this cycle of death and destruction can be broken.
佛教徒相信死亡與毀滅的循環是可以被打破的。
They assert that by following a certain path, it is possible to break out of a continuous round of life and death and rebirth, which in Buddhism has a name. Samsara.
他們堅持相信，通過特定的途徑，可以打破生——死——重生的無限循環。佛教有個專有名詞稱呼這種循環：“輪回”。
And Samsara is the concept I am going to investigate now as I move to the next wonder of the Buddhist world.
現在我要動身前往下一處佛界圣地，研究“輪回”的概念。
