Month: December 2023

七七　离题

那天的集会中，所有的问题都是针对死后的生命而发的。

大师却只笑而不答。

弟子们一再追问他拒答的原因。他说：「你们难道看不出，那些追求另一个永恒不朽生命的，都是那些不知道该如何度过此生的人？」

有个门徒仍然锲而不舍：「究竟死后有没有生命？」

「究竟死前有没有生命？这才是问题所在！」大师留下一个公案。

IRRELEVANCE

All questions at the public meeting that day were about life beyond the grave
The Master only laughed and did not give a single answer.

To his disciples who demanded to know the reason for his evasiveness, he later said.
“Have you observed that it is precisely those who do not know what to do with this life
who wants another that will last forever?”

“But is there life after death or is there not?” persisted a disciple.

“Is there life before death? — that is the question!” said the Master enigmatically.

七六　暴　戾

大师常开示：罪恶感就像恶魔一样，是一种邪恶的情绪，该尽量避免。

「可是，我们不该恨自己的罪过吗？」一位弟子问。

「当你犯罪，你恨的是自己，而非你的罪。」

VIOLENCE

The Master was always teaching that guilt is an evil emotion to be avoided like the
very devil — all guilt.

“But are we not to hate our sins?” a disciple said one day.

“When you are guilty, it is not your sins you hate but yourself.”

七五　自　重

「怎样才能成为一位伟人－－像您一样？」

「为什么要成为伟人？」大师说：「成为一个人，已经是很伟大的成就了。」

ACCEPTANCE

“How can I be a great man — like you?”

“Why be a great man?” said the Master. “Being a man is a great enough achievement.”

七四　扩　张

一位闻名的经济学家滔滔不绝地解释他的发展计画，大师出神地听着。

　

「在经济理论中，是否『成长』是唯一的考虑因素？」

「当然，所有的『成长』的本质都是好的。」

「那么癌细胞的成长呢？」大师问。

EXPANSION

The Master sat in rapt attention as the renowned economist explained his blueprint for
development.

“Should growth be the only consideration in an economic theory?” he asked.

“Yes. All grown is good in itself.”

“Isn’t that the thinking of the cancer cell?” said the Master.

七三　牵　绊

大师已在病床上弥留数周了。一日，他突然张开了眼睛，发现他心爱的弟子在身边。

「你从未离开我的床边，是吗？」他轻轻地说。

「没有，师父，我离不开你。」

「为什么？」

「因为你是我生命的光明。」

大师不禁长叹一声：「我的孩子，我竟然如此眩惑你的眼睛，使你至今仍然无法看到你心内的光明？」

REPRESSION

The Master had been on his deathbed in a coma for weeks. One day he suddenly
opened his eyes to find his favourite disciple there.

“You never leave my bedside, do you?” he said softly.

“No. Master. I cannot.” “Why?”

“Because you are the light of my life.”

The Master sighed. “Have I so dazzled you, my son that you still refuse to see the light
in you?”

七二　谦　逊

有位访客，自称为真理的追寻者。大师说：「如果你寻找的是真理，那么你在一切才能之上还须具备一种特质。」

「我知道，是追求真理的极端热忱。」

「不，是随时愿意承认自己可能犯错的坚忍内涵。」

HUMILITY

To a visitor who described himself as a seeker after Truth the Master said. “If what
you seek is Truth, there is one thing you must have above all else.”

“I know. An overwhelming passion for it.”

“No. An unremitting readiness to admit you may be wrong.”

七一　有色眼镜

「如果你把我塑成你心目中的权威人物」，大师向一个充满幻想的弟子说道：「你实在伤害了自己，因为你不再用自己的心目去看一切事物了。」

停了一会，他温煦地说：「你也伤害了我，因你不再认识我的真貌。」

BLINKERS

“If you make me your authority,” said the Master to a starry-eyed disciple,” you harm
yourself because you refuse to see things for yourself.”

And, after a pause, he added gently. “You harm me too because you refuse to see me
as I am.”

七０　孤　独　

有个弟子总缠着大师问东问西，大师对他说：「在你自己心内，就可以找到每一个问题的答案－－只要你知道寻找的途径。」

又有一天，他说：「在灵修的领域里，你不能依赖别人的灯光前进。你想要向我借光，我宁愿教你点燃自己的火炬。」

ALONENESS

To a disciple who was always seeking answers from him the Master said. “You have
within yourself the answer to every question you propose — if you only knew how to look
for it.”

And another day he said. “In the land of the spirit you cannot walk by the light of
someone else‘s lamp. You want to borrow mine. I’d rather teach you how to make your
own.”

六九　模　倣

大师开悟后，他活得十分简单－－因为他发现这种简单的生活正适合他的心境。

但当他看见弟子们想仿效他度一简单的生活时，忍俊不住。

他说：「没有我的愿心，只知模倣我的擧动，又有何用？即使你们承继我的愿心，却没有实相的光照，又有何用？」

他又说：「一只山羊是否因着一撮小胡须，就变成兔子了呢！」弟子们若有所省。

IMITATION

After the Master attained enlightenment he took to living simply — because he found
simple living to his taste.

He laughed at his disciples when they took to simple living in imitation of him.

“Of what use is it to copy my behaviour,” he would say, “without my motivation. Or
to adopt my motivation without the vision that produced it?”

They understood him better when he said. “Does a goat become a rabbi because he
grows a beard?”

六八　革　新

寺院中设定了不少规矩，但大师一再警告他们留意法律的独裁性

「服从保全了规矩。」大师说：「爱却知道何时应打破规矩。」

REVOLUTION

There were rules in the monastery but the Master always warned against the tyranny
of the law.

“Obedience keeps the rules,” he would say. “Love knows when to break them.”