Inspriration from all walks of life
「與你的過去一刀兩斷，你就會大澈大悟。」大師說。
「我正在一步一步地努力。」
「成長是慢慢累積起來的，澈悟却是在剎那間成就的。」
他接着又說：「躍過去！三步兩蹦，是跨不過懸崖斷壁的。」
REBIRTH
“Make a clean break with your past and you will be enlightened.” .said the ‘Master.
“I am doing that by degrees.”
“Growth is achieved by degrees. Enlightenment is instantaneous.”
Later he said, “Take the leap! You cannot cross a chasm in little jumps.”
有個婦人常哀嘆自己的命運，大師對她說：「你是自己命運的主人。」
「然而，生為女性，却不是我自己能夠作主的。」
「生為女性，並非命，而是個人的運，人的命運如何，得看你如何接受自己的運道，而結出豐盛的果實。」
DESTINY
To a woman who complained about her destiny the Master said, “It is you who make
your destiny.”
“But surely I am not responsible for being born a woman?”
“Being born a woman isn’t destiny. That is fate. Destiny is how you accept your
womanhood and-what you make of it.”
一位遊客望着廟裏歷代大師的法相，問：「目前是否還有大師存留在這世上？」
「有一位。」導遊答道。遊客再三懇求拜謁這位大師。遊客一見大師便啟齒問道：「目前何處可以找到最偉大的師父？」
「旅者！」大師叫道。
「先生！」旅者恭敬地應聲。
「你在何處？」
AVOIDANCE
A tourist, looking at the portraits of former Masters in the temple said. “Are there any
Masters left on earth?”
“There is one.” said the guide. The tourist solicited an audience with the Master and
started with the question, “Where are the great Masters to be found today?”
“Traveller.” cried the Master.
“Sir!” the tourist answered reverently.
“Where are YOU?”
大師向一位過於謙恭慇懃的弟子說：「光明映照在牆上，為什麼只知讚美那座牆？而不專注於光明本身。」
WORSHIP
To the disciple who was overly respectful the Master said, “Light is reflected on a
wall. Why venerate the wall? Be attentive to the light.”
有囘，大師問他的弟子：智慧與行動，哪一個比較重要？
弟子們異口同聲答道：「當然是行動，如果智慧不透過行動，又有何用？」
大師却說：「如果行動不是出自一顆悟心，又有何用？」
MECHANICALNESS
The Master once asked his disciples which was more important, wisdom or action.
The disciples were unanimous: “Action, of course. Of what use is wisdom that does
not show itself in action?”
Said the Master, “And of what use is action that proceeds from an unenlightened
heart?”
一位遭人遺棄的戀者說：「我已有一次燃指之痛，我絕不再戀愛了。」
大師說：「你像坐在爐竈上的一隻貓，被燙過一次後，再也不敢坐上去了。」
DISCRIMINATION
Said the jilted lover, “I have burnt my lingers once. I shall never fall in love again.”
Said the Master, “You are like the cat who. having burnt itself from sitting on a stove,
refused to sit again.”
「人如何才能與天主合一？」
「你愈努力，便愈加深你與祂的鴻溝。」
「那麼人對天人之間的距離又該如何？」
「應了悟根本沒有距離存在。」
「這是否意味着天主與我為一？」
「非一非二。」
「這怎麼可能？」
「就如同太陽與光明，海洋與波浪，歌者與其歌－－非一非二。」
IDENTITY
“How does one seek union with God?”
“The harder you seek, the more distance you create between Him and you.”
“So what does one do about the distance?”
“Understand that it isn’t there.”
“Does that mean that God and I are one?”
“Not one. Not two.”
“How is that possible?”
“The sun and its light, the ocean and the wave, the singer and his song — not one. Not
two.”
大師向一位弟子說：「你很以自己的聰明智慧為豪，就好比一個囚犯向他人誇耀他的牢房是如何的寬敞。」
IMPRISONMENT
“You are so proud of your intelligence.” said the Master to a disciple. “You are like
the condemned man who is proud of the vastness of his prison cell.”
一位弟子承認他有傳佈流言的壞毛病。
大師毫不容情地說：「若只是傳佈，還不算太糟，恐怕你還免不了加油添醋吧！」
GOSSIP
A disciple confessed his bad habit of repeating gossip.
Said the Master wickedly. “Repeating it wouldn’t be so bad if you did not improve on
it.”
大師認為，只要運用得當，任何話本身都不是壞的。
當他獲悉，有位弟子很喜歡賭咒發誓，就說：「卽使是詛咒，有時也可帶來祈禱所無法獲得的精神解脫。」
SPIRITUAL RELIEF
The Master held that no words were bad if they were used in an appropriate context.
When he was told that one of his disciples was given to swearing, he remarked,
“Profanity has been known to offer spiritual relief denied to prayer.”