Author: voice

 

一七六　欲振乏力

當大師收納某些人為弟子而拒絕其他人時，弟子們始終不能明白他那幾近專橫的態度。

直到有一天，他們聽見大師說：「不要企圖教一隻豬唱歌，這不僅是浪費時間，還會激怒了那隻豬。」弟子們才若有所悟。

FRUSTRATION

The disciples could not understand the seemingly arbitrary manner in which some
people were accepted for discipleship and others were rejected.

They got a clue one day when they heard the Master say. “Don‘t attempt to teach a pig
to sing. It wastes your time. And irritates the pig-”

一七五　壓　力

大師常是隨着個人成長的步調，任其自然發展，他從不在旁催迫。他曾說過這樣的比喻：

有個人看見一隻蝴蝶正在破繭而出，他捺不住性子，所以輕輕地向繭吹氣，這股暖氣確實加速了出繭的過程，可是出來的不是蝴蝶，而是有一雙零亂翅膀的怪蛾。」

大師總結一句：「我們不應為別人催生，否則我們會造成流產的悲劇。」

OPPRESSION

The Master always left you to grow at your own pace. He was never known to “push”.
He explained this with the following parable:

A man once saw a butterfly struggling to emerge from its cocoon, too slowly for his
taste, so he began to blow on it gently. The warmth of his breath speeded up the process
all right. But what emerged was not a butterfly but a creature with mangled wings.

“In growth.” the Master concluded, “you cannot speed the process up. All you can do
is abort it.”

一七四　致命傷

大師以他的德高望重，對宗教却抱着隱隱的敵意。這常使弟子們困惑不已，他們一向把宗教及靈修視為一事。

「當前的宗教所強調的，不外是懲罰與賞報，令人滋生起畏懼與貪慾之心。而這兩樣東西正是靈修的致命傷。」

他接着感傷地說：「這簡直是火上加油，為虎作倀。」

DESTRUCTION

For all his holiness, the Master seemed vaguely opposed to religion. This never ceased
to puzzle the disciples who unlike the Master, equated religion with spirituality.

“Religion as practised today deals in punishments and rewards. In other words, it
breeds fear and greed — the two things most destructive of spirituality.”

Later he added ruefully. “It is like tackling a flood with water: or a burning barn with
fire.”

一七三　老　化

「天哪，你變得這麼老了！」大師和他少年時的朋友聊了一陣後，禁不住如此嘆息。

「誰也無法避免變老啊，不是嗎？」他的朋友自嘲一番。

「是的，誰也避免不了。」大師同意他的話：「但人必須避免老化！」

INFLEXIBILITY

“Heavens, how you’ve aged!” exclaimed the Master after speaking with a boyhood
friend.

“One cannot help growing old can one?” said the friend.

“No, one cannot,” agreed the Master, “but one must avoid becoming aged.”

一七二　無字天書

大師聲稱他有一本書，記載着人們想要知道有關天主的一切。

從沒有人見過這書，直到有位學者來訪，禁不住他的苦苦哀求，終於從大師那兒掙得此書。他帶囘去迫不及待地翻開，却發現每一頁都是空白的。

「這書根本沒說什麼嘛！」學者極其失望。

「我知道，」大師心平氣和地說：「仔細看看它所暗示的何等豐富！」

INSINUATION

The Master claimed he had a book that contained everything one could conceivably
know about God.

No one had ever seen the book till a visiting scholar, by dint of persistent entreaty,
wrested it from the Master. He took it home and eagerly opened it — only to find that
every one of its pages was blank.

“But the book says nothing.” wailed the scholar.

“I know,” said the Master contentedly. “But see how much it indicates!”

一七一　天　職

大師雖樂於看到科技的進步，却也清楚意識到它的限度。

當一位企業家問起他的職業，他答道：「我從事人類企業。」

「那算什麼企業？」企業家問。

「就以你為例，」大師說：「你致力於製造優良產品，我致力於生產優良人類。」

後來大師告訴弟子：「生活的意義就是造就人類。可是現代人好像只關心改良產品。」

PRECEDENCE

The Master welcomed the advances of technology but was keenly aware of its
limitations.

When an industrialist asked him what his occupation was, he replied, “I’m in the
people industry.”

“And what, pray, would that be?” said the industrialist.

“Take yourself,” said the Master. “Your efforts produce better things; mine better
people.”

To his disciples he later said. “The aim of life is the flowering of persons. Nowadays
people seem concerned mostly with the perfection of things.”

一七０　揭　示

有天，大師問弟子：「天主存在嗎？」
「存在。」弟子異口同聲答道。
「錯！」大師說。
「不存在。」弟子立刻改口。
「也錯。」大師說。
「什麼才是正確答案？」弟子問。
「沒有答案。」
「為什麼？」
「因為沒有問題。」大師說。

事後，大師解釋：「如果超越言詞及槪念的那位，根本「不可說」，你如何能夠提出任何問題？」

DEMONSTRATION

“Does God exist?” said the Master one day. “Yes.” said the disciples in chorus.
“Wrong.” said the Master. “No,” said the disciples. “Wrong again.” said the Master.
“What’s the answer?” asked the disciples. “There is no answer. “ “Why ever not?”

“Because there is no question.” said the Master.

Later he explained: “If you cannot say anything about Him who is beyond thoughts
and words, how can you ask anything about him?”

一六八　差　距

一座「趣味公園」的園主向大師敘述他矛盾的處境：當孩子們在他的公園內開懷作樂時，他常感到憂悶不堪。
「你寧願擁有公園呢，還是擁有樂趣？」大師問。
「兩樣都要。」

大師無言以對。
事後有人問起此事，大師引用一位浪子對地主所講的一番話：「你擁有土地所有權，他人却享有大地。」

The owner of a "fun park" described his contradictory feelings to the master: whenever children laughed and played joyfully in his park, he often felt deeply troubled.
"Would you rather have the park or the joy?" the master asked.
"I want both," the owner replied.

The master was left speechless.
Later, when someone asked the master about this, he quoted a wanderer's words to a landowner:
"You hold the deed to the land, but others enjoy the earth."

一六七　活於真實

大師似乎非常珍惜自己的生命，活得極其充實；同時，當他責斥政府的暴虐，或率領弟子照顧蔓延傳染病的村民時，人人都看得出，他是在玩命。

「真正的智者對死亡一無所懼。」他曾說。

有囘，弟子問他：「一個人怎能如此輕易地交付自己的生命呢？」

「當天色已經破曉，有誰會躭心燭光將逝呢？」

REALITY

While the Master seemed to relish life and live it to the full he was also known to take
great risks, as when he condemned the tyranny of the government, thereby courting arrest
and death; and when he led a group of his disciples to serve a plague-stricken village.

“The wise have no fear of death.” he would say.

“Why would a man risk his life so easily?” he was once asked.

“Why would a person care so little about a candle being extinguished when day has
dawned?”

一六六　自我空虛

有個弟子為明心見性鍥而不捨，終致病倒床榻。大師說：「光明可以捕捉，但不是用手；見性也可以獲得，但不是用你的蠻力。」

弟子大惑不解：「你不是教我們應專致於自我空虛之道嗎？我正是照你的指示做啊！」

「所以你就拚着老命地空虛自己？！」大師大笑不止。

DISAPPEARANCE

To a disciple who strained after enlightenment till he became physically weak, the
Master said, “A ray of light can be grasped — but not with your hands. Enlightenment can
be attained — but not by your efforts.”

The puzzled disciple said. “But did you not tell me to strive to become empty? That is
what I am attempting to do.”

“So now you are full of effort to be empty!” said the Master through his laughter.