Author: voice

五五　无神论者

为了让弟子高兴，大师要求一件新衬衫做为他的生日礼物。弟子们立刻买进上好布料。村里的裁缝也前来为大师量身，并且一再呼上主之名，保证一周之内一定做好。

一周期限已至。大师高兴地等着他的新衣，弟子快马加鞭地冲到裁缝店取衣。裁缝说：「事情受到一点延误，但是，因天主之名，明天保证做好。」

第二天，裁缝又说：「真抱歉，还没有赶好。明天你再来看看，如果天主愿意，明天一定会做好。」

次日，大师说：「你去问问他，如果天主不管这档子事，他需要多久才做得好？」

ATHEISM

To the disciples’ delight the Master said he wanted a new shirt for his birthday. The
finest cloth was bought. The village tailor came in to have the Master measured, and
promised, by the will of God to make the shirt within a week.

A week went by and a disciple was dispatched to the tailor while the Master excitedly
waited for his shirt, Said the tailor. “There has been a slight delay. But, by the will of
God, it will be ready by tomorrow.”

Next day the tailor said, “I’m sorry it isn’t done. Try again tomorrow and. if God so
wills, it will certainly be ready.”

The following day the Master said. “Ask him how long it will take if he keeps God out
of it.”

五四　责　任

大师与一位弟子外出，在村郊邂逅了执政官。他误以为他们是来迎请他入村的。便说：「你们实在大可不必千里迢迢地迎接我的。」
「您误会了，大人。」弟子说：「我们正要出外旅行，但是如果我们知道您会来，冒再大的风霜，我们也会前来迎接您的。」
大师不发一言。直到傍晚时分，他才说：「为什么你一定要让他知道我们不是来欢迎他的呢？你可瞧见他的一副尴尬相？」
「我们应该告诉他实情，否则我们不是有意欺骗他吗？」
「我们一点也没有欺骗他。」大师说：「是他在欺骗自己。」

RESPONSIBILITY

The Master set out on a journey with one of his disciples. At the outskirts of the
village they ran into the Governor who, mistakenly thinking they had come to welcome
him to the village, said, “You really didn’t have to go to all this trouble to welcome me.”

“You are mistaken, Your Highness,” said the disciple. “We’re on a journey but had we
known you were coming we would have gone to even greater pains to welcome you.”

The Master did not say a word. Towards evening he said, “Did you have to tell him
that we had not come to welcome him? Did you see how foolish he felt?”

“But had we not told him the truth, would we not have been guilty of deceiving him?”

“We would not have deceived him at all.” said the Master. “He would have deceived
himself.”

五三　无　明

「何处才能觅得天主？」
「祂就在你面前啊！」

「我为什么看不到祂？」
「为什么一个醉汉看不到自己的家？」
大师接着说：「该找出你迷糊的原因。想看到祂，先得清醒过来。」

UNCONSCIOUSNESS
“Where can I find God?”

“He’s right in front of you.”

“Then why do I fail to see him?”

“Why does the drunkard fail to see his home?”

Later the Master said, “Find out what it is that makes you drunk. To see you must be sober.”

五一　进　步

次日，大师说：「在外奔波要比知止无为容易得多了。」

弟子问其因。
「因为你心神奔驰时，至少还有一个梦想可系；一旦息止下来，就得面对真相。」
「如果我们连个目标或梦想都没有，又如何能进步？」某个喜弄玄虚的弟子问。
「真正的进步常不是出于自己的期待。当你面对真相时，意想不到的进步就在不知不觉中完成了。」

EVOLUTION

The following day the Master said, “It is, alas, easier to travel than to stop.”

The disciples demanded to know why.

“Because as long as you travel to a goal you can hold on to a dream. When you stop,
you face reality.”

“How shall we ever change if we have no goals or dreams?” asked the mystified
disciples.

“Change that is real is change that is not willed. Face reality and unwilled change will
happen.”

　　　　五一　上　岸

「开悟之道是难是易？」
「非难非易。」
「为什么？」

「因为它与难易无关。」
「那么人该当如何，才能迈向彼岸？」
「人永远无法迈向彼岸，因这是一段『非时空』的旅程。只要你中止游荡，你就已安坐家中了。」

ARRIVAL

“Is the path to enlightenment difficult or easy?”

“It is neither.”

“Why not?”

“Because it isn’t there?”

“Then how does one travel to the goal?”

“One doesn’t. This is a journey without distance-Stop travelling and you arrive.”

　　　　五０　无　言

「你们的学识和虔诚有何用处？难道一只驴子住在图书馆内会变得聪明？一只耗子住在教堂里就会变得神圣些？」

「那么什么才有用？」

「心。」

「如何才能获得它？」

大师缄默不言。如果他们尚不知皈依自己的心性，又不会往心灵深处探寻，他还能说什么？

SPEECHLESSNESS

“Of what use is your learning and your devotions? Does a donkey become wise
through living in a library or a mouse acquires holiness from living in a church?”

“What is if then we need?”

“A heart.”

“How does one get that?”

The Master would not say. What could he say that they wouldn’t turn into a subject to
be learnt or an object of devotion?

四九　荒　原

大师一向轻视学术论著，却称它们为「智慧之珠」。

「既然它们堪称为珍珠，为什么您还藐视它们？」弟子问。

答复是：「你可曾看过任何珍珠，种在土里，还能继续成长的？」

STERILITY

The Master had no use at all for scholarly discourses. He called them “pearls of
wisdom.”

“But if they are pearls why do you scorn them?” said the disciples.

“Have you ever known pearls to grow when planted in a field?” was the reply.

四八　反璞归真

「人的灵修生活可分三个阶段。」大师说：「物质的、精神的和神圣的。」

「什么是物质的阶段？」弟子们切切地问。

「这是看山是山，看水是水的阶段。」

「精神阶段呢？」

「当人观察事务鞭辟入里时，看山非山，看水非水。」

「神圣的阶段呢？」

「那是澈悟之境。」大师吃吃一笑：「当看山又是山，看水又是水之时。」

HOMECOMING

“There are three stages in one’s spiritual development,” said the Master. “The carnal,
the spiritual and the divine.”

“What is the carnal stage?” asked the eager disciples.”

“That’s the stage when trees are seen as trees and mountains as mountains.”

“And the spiritual?”

“That’s when one looks more deeply into things — then trees are no longer trees and
mountains no longer mountains.”

“And the divine?”

“Ah, that’s Enlightenment,” said the Master with a chuckle, “when trees become trees
again and mountains, mountains.”

四七　蒙　昧

弟子们正为何者是最难的事而激起热烈辩论：

是记录天主的启示（圣经）？

还是了解天主在圣经中的启示？

还是当人了解后，向他人解释圣经的启示？

他们问大师的意见。大师说：「我知道有比上述三件更难的事。」

「什么事？」

「想让一个死脑筋看出一件事的本来真相。」

DISTRACTION

A debate raged among the disciples as to which was the most difficult task of all: To
write down what God revealed as Scripture, to understand what God had revealed in
Scripture or to explain Scripture to others after One had understood it.

Said the Master, when asked his opinion, “I kn ow of a more difficult task than any of
those three.”

“What is it?”

“Trying to get you blockheads to see reality as it is.”

四六　和平手段

村里有条蛇，伤害了不少村民，以致村民都不敢下田。便到大师座前去祈求。听说大师驯服了这条蛇，还劝牠遵守和平规范。

没过多久，村民就发现这条蛇变温驯多了。他们拿石头丢牠，还抓着牠的尾巴到处跑。

有天晚上，蛇遍体鳞伤地爬到大师门口前怨叹不已。大师说：「朋友，你已经罩不住人类了－－那真遭！」

「那是你教我谨守和平规范的缘故啊！」

「我只是禁止你伤害人类，并没有禁止你张牙吐舌地吓唬他们啊！」

NON-VIOLENCE

A snake in the village had bitten so many people that few dared go into the fields.
Such was the Master’s holiness that he was said to have tamed the snake and persuaded it
to practise the discipline of non-violence.

It did not take long for the villagers to discover that the snake had become harmless.
They took to hurling stones at it and dragging it about by its tail.

The badly battered snake crawled into the Master’s house one night to complain. Said
the Master, “Friend, you’ve stopped frightening people — that’s bad!”

“But it was you who taught me to practise the discipline of non-violence!”

“I told you to stop hurting — not to stop hissing!”