Inspriration from all walks of life
一三八 友 善
「我該如何學習『愛鄰人』？」
「不再恨自己。」
這位弟子反覆認真的囘味此話，然後囘來稟告大師：「但是我發覺我過於愛護自己，因為我相當自私，且自我意識甚強。我該如何除去這些缺點？」
「對自己友善一點。當自我感到舒暢時，你就能自在地去『愛鄰人』了。」
FRIENDLINESS
“What shall I do to love my neighbour?” “Stop hating yourself.”
The disciple pondered those words long and seriously and came back to say, “But I
love myself too much, for I am selfish and self-centred. How do I get rid of that?”
“Be friendly to yourself and your self will be contented and it will set you free to love
your neighbour.”
一三七 神 聖
有位傳道人一再強調：「我們應當把天主放在我們的生活裏。」
大師却說：「祂早就在那兒了，我們的責任只是認出這真相而已。」
HOLINESS
To a preacher who kept saying, “We must put God in our lives,” the Master said. “He
is already there. Our business is to recognize this.”
一三六 表 象
大師對任何新奇譁衆之事都不屑一顧。他一再聲明：真正的聖德常隱在平常心中。
聽說大師曾向一位苦修近乎怪異的孩子說過這番話：「神聖是件奧秘，它愈偉大，却愈少受到人的注意。」
APPEARANCES
The Master always frowned on anything that seemed sensational. The divine, he
claimed, is only found in the ordinary.
To a disciple who was attempting forms of asceticism that bordered on the bizarre the
Master was heard to say, “Holiness is a mysterious thing: the greater it is the less it is
noticed.”
一三五 陶然自樂
「靈修能帶給我什麼好處？」一位酗酒者請教大師。
答覆是：「不需醉酒，卽能飄飄似神仙。」
CELEBRATION
“What would spirituality give me?” said an alcoholic to the Master
“Non-alcoholic intoxication.” was the answer.
一三四 根 器
「我該如何才能成聖？」一位訪客前來探問。
「順從你的心靈。」大師說。
訪客聽了滿心喜悅。
但是在他離開前，大師却悄悄對他說：「要順從心靈以前，你先得有一副健康硬朗的體質。」
BEING
“What must I do to attain holiness?” said a traveller.
“Follow your heart,” said the Master.
That seemed to please the traveller.
Before he left, however, the Master said to him in a whisper. “To follow your heart
you are going to need a strong constitution. 1 ”
一三三 服 務
大家都知道大師一向偏愛行動甚於退隱。但大師所強調的却是「悟境中」的行動。
弟子們探問「悟境」是何意，它是否卽指「動機純正」？
「絕不是。」大師道：「試想，當一隻猴子把一尾魚從溪流中救出來時，牠的動機何等純正。」
SERVICE
The Master was known to favour action over withdrawal. But he always insisted on
“enlightened” action.
The disciples wanted to kn ow what “enlightened” meant. Did it mean “right-
intentioned”?
“Oh no.” said the Master, “Think how right-intentioned the monkey is when he lifts a
fish from the river to save it from a watery grave.”
一三二 虛 靜
寺院裏訪客絡繹不絕，難免人聲喧擾，破壞了寺院的寧靜。
弟子們為此悶悶不樂，大師仍然自得其樂，似無視於寧靜或喧嘩。
有一天，他告訴那羣滿腹牢騷的弟子：「寧靜並不是寂靜無聲，而是無我之境。」
EMPTINESS
Sometimes there would be a rush of noisy visitors and the silence of the monastery
would be shattered.
This would upset the disciples; not the Master who seemed just as content with the
noise as with the silence.
To his protesting disciples he said one day, “Silence is not the absence of sound, but
the absence of self.”
一三一 真 諦
一位雲游者向弟子說：「我跋涉千里來聽大師的訓誨，可是我發覺他的言論相當稀鬆尋常嘛！」
「不要死盯着他的言詞，注意他的言外之意。」
「怎樣才能做到這點？」
「把他所說的，仔細用篩子篩去所有的字，所剩下的那一點，卽足以點燃你的心靈。」
MEANING
Said a traveller to one of the disciples, “I have travelled a great distance to listen to the
Master but I find his words quite ordinary.”
“Don’t listen to his words. Listen to his message.”
‘How does one do that?”
“Take hold of a sentence that he says. Shake it well till all the words drop off. What is
left will set your heart on fire.”
一三０ 言語道斷
「我們用來描述天主的每一個字或每幅圖像，常扭曲了真相。」
「那麼我們該如何談論天主？」
「藉沉默來表達。」
「那你為什麼還用言語？」
大師聞此，開懷大笑地說：「我說話時，千萬不能注意我的言詞。孩子，應注意聆聽那無言的寂靜啊！」
COMPREHENSION
“Every word, every image used for God is a distortion more than a description.”
“Then how does one speak of God?”
“Through silence.”
“Why then do you speak in words?”
At that the Master laughed uproariously. He said. “When I speak, you mustn’t listen to
the words, my dear. Listen to the silence.”
一二九 「我是」
「我希望看見天主。」
「你現在就在看祂了。」大師說。
「可是我為什麼看不見？」
「你的眼睛可曾看見它自己？」大師問。
事後，大師解釋道：「當我們要求天主顯示自己，就好比要求一把刀子切開割自身，或要求一顆牙齒咬住自己一樣。」
IDENTIFICATION
“I wish to see God.”
“You are looking at him right now,” said the Master.
“Then why do I not see him?”
“Why does the eye not see itself?” said the Master.
Later the Master explained: “As well ask a knife to cut itself or a tooth to bite itself as
ask that God reveal himself-”