Karma is one of the main concepts of Buddhism.
因果报应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.
是认为所有有意的行为，无论是思想还是行动，都会在未来以某种相似方式反映到我们身上。
So, if you harm someone, someone will harm you.
所以如果你伤害别人，你也会受到别人的伤害。
This principle of cause and effect can bring consequences that are either good or bad depending on what it is you've done.
因果报应的原则，就是无论善报恶报，皆是由你曾经的所作所为决定的。
Because Buddhists believe we have many lives, this good and bad karma can generate consequences both throughout this life and long into the next.
因为佛教徒相信我们有很多世的生命，善业与恶业所产生的后果不仅会应验到此生，甚至会延续到来世。
Karma is what you do.
“Karma”指的是你的所作所为。
The word literally means deed or action.
字面上的意思是行为和活动。
But the Buddha said that all Karma that matters is what is morally good or morally bad, and you decide what to do.
但佛陀说“业”，最要紧的就是道德上的善与恶，以及你决定如何去做。
Now, we must remember that for Buddhists, your life goes on beyond what we normally think of as this life.
我们必须记住，对于佛教徒来说，生命是超越我们平常认为“这辈子”的。
In fact, you are reborn an infinite number of times until you manage to bring that to an end.
实际上，在设法跳出轮回之前，你都将无限次地重生。
Buddhists use a metaphor to help explain what karma is.
佛教徒用一个比喻来解释什么是“业”。
They say that if you sow thistle seed, then you can't expect apple trees to grow, and that is very clear.
他们说，如果你种下的是蓟草的种子，那你就不能指望长出来的是苹果树。
It's a basic principle of cause and effect.
解释得非常清楚，这就是因果的基本原理。
And as a historian, I know that that principle has real validity.
作为历史学者，我知道这个原则是非常正确的。
We are all affected by our past and our past and our present together informs our future.
我们全部都被我们的过去所影响，而过去和现在又一起决定我们的未来。
So when the Buddha said that we should be mindful of our intentional actions,
所以，当佛陀说我们应当注意自己的行为举止和“业”，
of our karma and that our highest authority is our conscience, then he was making real sense.
我们的最高权威是自己的良心时，他的话真的很有道理。
And he was also clarifying something about what it is to be human.
同时，他也道出了人之所以为人的意义所在。
Of course, the issue is that karma can be both good and bad.
当然，“业”有善业与恶业。
And in Sri Lanka, the fallout of action and reaction, of cause and effect, has been brutally tested in recent years.
在斯里兰卡，作用与反作用，因与果的关系最近几年以一种野蛮的方式得以验证。
For nearly three decades, the country has been locked in a violent civil war, in which close on 100,000 people have been killed.
近三十年来，这个国家陷入一场暴力内战之中，有将近10万人丧生。
Sri Lanka is only now emerging from this debilitating conflict between the Hindu Tamil minority and a Buddhist Singhalese majority.
斯里兰卡刚刚从这场武装冲突中缓过劲来。冲突是在少数的信仰印度教的泰米尔族，与多数的信仰佛教的僧伽罗族间爆发的。
The Temple of the Tooth was badly hit and partially destroyed during the war.
佛牙寺被严重损坏，甚至有部分在战时被摧毁。
It has now been fully restored.
现在已经被完全修复了。
Buddhists believe this cycle of death and destruction can be broken.
佛教徒相信死亡与毁灭的循环是可以被打破的。
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.
他们坚持相信，通过特定的途径，可以打破生——死——重生的无限循环。佛教有个专有名词称呼这种循环：“轮回”。
And Samsara is the concept I am going to investigate now as I move to the next wonder of the Buddhist world.
现在我要动身前往下一处佛界圣地，研究“轮回”的概念。
