Inspriration from all walks of life
一０七 逝者如斯
大师即将圆寂的迹象愈来愈明显。弟子们十分忧伤。
大师微笑地说：「你看见没有，死亡带给生命孤独？」
「不！我们宁愿你永远不死。」
「凡是真实活过的东西都会死亡，看那些花朶，只有塑胶花永远不死。」
FLOW
When it became clear that the Master was going to die the disciples were depressed.
Said the Master smilingly. “Don‘t you see that death gives loveliness to life?”
“No. We’d much rather you never died.”
“Whatever is truly alive must die. Look at the flowers: only plastic flowers never die.”
一０六 何处无芳草
大师常常劝阻那些打算住进寺院的人。
他会说：「即使你想由书本获益，也不用住在图书馆里啊！」
他甚至说：「即使你从未踏入图书馆，仍然可以读得到书；同样的，想要修行的人，也不必走进寺庙。」
UNIVERSALITY
The Master ordinarily dissuaded people from living in a monastery.
“To profit from books you don‘t have to live in a library,” he would say.
Or, even more forcefully. “You can read books without ever stepping into a library;
and practise spirituality without ever going to a temple.”
一０五 真 福
一位失意的股票经纪人，又一次赔本以后，来到寺院，寻求内心的宁静，然而他却心烦意乱，无法祈祷。
他离开后，大师简短地投下一句警语：「安心睡在地板上的人，从无由床上摔下来的痛苦。」
BEATITUDE
The disconsolate stockbroker lost a fortune and came to the monastery in search of
inner peace. But he was too distraught to meditate.
After he had gone the Master had a single sentence by way of wry comment: “Those
who sleep on the floor never fall from their beds.”
一０四 富 裕
「对我这类俗人，灵修有何助益？」一位商人道。
「它会助你更加富裕。」大师答。
「助从何来？」
「它教你减少欲望。」
RICHES
“How would spirituality help a man of the world like me?” said the businessman.
“It will help you to have more.” said the Master.
“How?”
“By teaching you to desire less.”
一０三 爱 情
一对新婚夫妇问：「我们该如何维系这份爱情？」
大师说：「共同去爱其他事物。」
LOVE
A newly married couple said. “What shall we do to make our love endure?”
Said the Master, “Love other things together.”
一０二 智 慧
大师最感欣慰之事，即是人们体验到自己的无知。
「智慧的成长与人们对自己的无知的自觉能力常成正比。」大师说。
弟子请求解说。大师说：「如果今日的你觉得自己并非如昨日想像中那般聪明，你今日确是聪明一点了。」
WISDOM
It always pleased the Master to hear people recognize their ignorance.
“Wisdom tends to grow in proportion to one’s awareness of one’s ignorance,” he
claimed.
When asked for an explanation, he said, “When you come to see you are not as wise
today as you thought you were yesterday, you are wiser today.”
一０一 无 我
一位富裕的企业家问大师：「你会如何发展一门企业？」
「无为。」大师说。
企业家轻蔑地笑了：「那岂不是懒惰？」
「绝非如此。对一个积极的人而言，懒惰是最大的罪过。」
后来，大师向弟子说：「若人真能无为，则一切事均能因此而成就。要费尽多少心思，才能达到无为之境啊！你们不妨试一试。」
SELFLESSNESS
An affluent industrialist said to the Master, “What do you do for a profession?”
“Nothing.” said the Master.
The industrialist laughed scornfully. “Isn’t that laziness?”
“Heavens, no. Laziness is mostly the vice of very active people.”
Later the Master said to his disciples. “Do nothing and all things will be done through
you. Doing nothing really takes a lot of doing — try it!”
一００ 极 权
有囘，大师竟向一位主教说：「宗教人士常不知不觉地变得很残忍。」弟子们觉得此话很失礼。
主教囘去后，弟子们追问其因。
「因为他们为了完成某种目的，轻而易擧地就把别人牺牲掉了。」大师道。
TOTALITARIANISM
To the disciples ‘ embarrassment the Master once told a bishop that religious people
have a natural bent for cruelty.
“Why?” the disciples demanded after the bishop had gone.
“Because they all too easily sacrifice persons for the advancement of a purpose.” said
the Master.
九九 热 忱
有个妇人发现财富并不能带给她快乐，而满腹牢骚。大师说：「由你的话中，好似肯定豪富与舒适是构成快乐的因素。事实上，朋友，如果你想快乐，只需找件事让自己热忱地献身就够了。」
ENTHUSIASM
To the woman who complained that riches hadn’t made her happy the Master said.
“You speak as if luxury and comfort were ingredients of happiness: whereas all you need
to be really happy, my dear, is something to be enthusiastic about.”
九八 自以为义
大师喜欢与普通老百姓在一起，对圣德彰显的人他总是敬而远之。
有一囘，弟子向他请益终身大事。大师说：「只需记住一点，千万不要嫁给一个圣人。」
「为什么？」
「因为你迟早会被引上殉道之路。」大师笑着说。
SELF - RIGHTEOUSNESS
The Master loved ordinary people and was suspicious of those who stood out for their
holiness.
To a disciple who consulted him on marriage he said. “Be sure you don’t marry a
saint.”
“Why ever not?”
“Because it is the surest way to make yourself a martyr.” was the Master’s merry
reply.