如是我闻：一时，佛在舍卫国祇树给孤独园，与大比丘众千二百五十人俱。尔时，世尊食时，著衣持钵，入舍卫大城乞食。于其城中，次第乞已，还至本处。饭食讫，收衣钵，洗足已，敷座而坐。
逐句解释
如是我闻
「如是我闻」是佛经的传统开场白，意思是「我是这样亲耳听到的」。这句话出自阿难尊者——佛陀最亲近的弟子，专责记忆佛陀的一切教法。他用这句话表明：这不是自己编造的，而是真实听闻的。
Thus have I heard
This phrase opens virtually every Buddhist sutra. It is the words of Ananda, the Buddha's closest attendant, who was renowned for his extraordinary memory. After the Buddha passed away, Ananda recited the teachings aloud so they could be preserved. By saying "thus have I heard" rather than "the Buddha said," Ananda is being scrupulously honest: he is reporting what he personally witnessed, not claiming authority of his own. It is a marker of authenticity and humility that has been preserved across every sutra for 2,500 years.
佛在舍卫国祇树给孤独园，与大比丘众千二百五十人俱
这段交代了场景：佛陀在印度舍卫城的祇园精舍，身边有一千二百五十位比丘。祇园是当时佛陀最常居住的地方，由一位富商布施土地建成。比丘就是出家修行的僧人。
The Buddha was staying at Anathapindika's Park in the Jeta Grove near Shravasti, together with a community of 1,250 monks
Shravasti (舍卫国) was a major city in ancient India, and the Jeta Grove (祇树给孤独园) was one of the most famous of all Buddhist monasteries. It was donated by a wealthy merchant named Anathapindika, who reportedly paid for the land by covering it with gold coins. The 1,250 monks represent the core community of early disciples. This kind of scene-setting is not just formality — it grounds the teaching in a specific time, place, and community, reminding us that these were real conversations between real people.
尔时，世尊食时，著衣持钵，入舍卫大城乞食
吃饭时间到了，佛陀整理好袈裟，拿起钵，走进城里托钵乞食。托钵是出家人的修行方式——不积存粮食，每天接受施主的供养，既训练谦卑，也与在家众结缘。
At mealtime, the Blessed One put on his robe, took his bowl, and went into the city of Shravasti to collect alms
This is a remarkable image: the greatest teacher in the Buddhist tradition — someone who had attained full enlightenment — quietly putting on his robe and walking through the city with a begging bowl like any ordinary monk. The alms round (托钵) is one of the oldest practices in Buddhism. Monks do not cook, store food, or earn money. Each day they walk silently through the community, and lay people offer food into their bowls. It cultivates humility in the monk and generosity in the donor. The fact that the sutra begins here — not with a grand sermon, but with the Buddha doing something utterly ordinary — is itself a teaching.
于其城中，次第乞已，还至本处。饭食讫，收衣钵，洗足已，敷座而坐
佛陀挨家挨户托钵，回来吃饭，然后收好衣钵，洗脚，铺好座位，静静地坐下。整个过程平静、有序、毫不做作。就在这个普通的下午，一段改变人类思想史的对话即将展开。
Having collected alms in order through the city, he returned, ate his meal, put away his robe and bowl, washed his feet, arranged his seat, and sat down
The deliberateness of this description is striking. Every action is noted: collecting alms in order (not picking favourites), eating, putting things away, washing his feet, then sitting. Nothing is skipped, nothing is rushed. Zen teachers have long pointed to this passage as a teaching in itself — the Buddha's entire path is expressed through how he does the simplest things. There is no separation between "practice" and "daily life." When he finally sits, the scene is set for one of the most profound philosophical dialogues ever recorded. The stillness that follows the last ordinary act is the stillness out of which wisdom speaks.
总结 · Summary
第一章没有教义，只有一个普通的早晨：佛陀穿上袈裟，进城托钵，回来吃饭，洗脚，然后静静地坐下。这种简朴本身就是教法——觉悟不在于做什么特别的事，而在于如何做每一件平凡的事。这个平静的开场，为接下来的深刻对话铺垫了空间。
Chapter 1 contains no doctrine — only an ordinary morning. The Buddha dresses, walks into town, collects food door to door, returns, eats, puts away his bowl, washes his feet, and sits. Zen masters have always regarded this passage as teaching by example: enlightenment is not found in spectacular events, but in how one inhabits each unremarkable moment. The profound dialogue that will follow grows out of this unhurried simplicity. The setting of the scene is the scene.