Inspriration from all walks of life
四九 荒 原
大師一向輕視學術論著，却稱它們為「智慧之珠」。
「旣然它們堪稱為珍珠，為什麼您還藐視它們？」弟子問。
答覆是：「你可曾看過任何珍珠，種在土裏，還能繼續成長的？」
STERILITY
The Master had no use at all for scholarly discourses. He called them “pearls of
wisdom.”
“But if they are pearls why do you scorn them?” said the disciples.
“Have you ever known pearls to grow when planted in a field?” was the reply.
四八 反璞歸真
「人的靈修生活可分三個階段。」大師說：「物質的、精神的和神聖的。」
「什麼是物質的階段？」弟子們切切地問。
「這是看山是山，看水是水的階段。」
「精神階段呢？」
「當人觀察事務鞭辟入裏時，看山非山，看水非水。」
「神聖的階段呢？」
「那是澈悟之境。」大師吃吃一笑：「當看山又是山，看水又是水之時。」
HOMECOMING
“There are three stages in one’s spiritual development,” said the Master. “The carnal,
the spiritual and the divine.”
“What is the carnal stage?” asked the eager disciples.”
“That’s the stage when trees are seen as trees and mountains as mountains.”
“And the spiritual?”
“That’s when one looks more deeply into things — then trees are no longer trees and
mountains no longer mountains.”
“And the divine?”
“Ah, that’s Enlightenment,” said the Master with a chuckle, “when trees become trees
again and mountains, mountains.”
四七 蒙 昧
弟子們正為何者是最難的事而激起熱烈辯論：
是記錄天主的啟示（聖經）？
還是了解天主在聖經中的啟示？
還是當人了解後，向他人解釋聖經的啟示？
他們問大師的意見。大師說：「我知道有比上述三件更難的事。」
「什麼事？」
「想讓一個死腦筋看出一件事的本來真相。」
DISTRACTION
A debate raged among the disciples as to which was the most difficult task of all: To
write down what God revealed as Scripture, to understand what God had revealed in
Scripture or to explain Scripture to others after One had understood it.
Said the Master, when asked his opinion, “I kn ow of a more difficult task than any of
those three.”
“What is it?”
“Trying to get you blockheads to see reality as it is.”
四六 和平手段
村裏有條蛇，傷害了不少村民，以致村民都不敢下田。便到大師座前去祈求。聽說大師馴服了這條蛇，還勸牠遵守和平規範。
沒過多久，村民就發現這條蛇變溫馴多了。他們拿石頭丟牠，還抓着牠的尾巴到處跑。
有天晚上，蛇遍體鱗傷地爬到大師門口前怨嘆不已。大師說：「朋友，你已經罩不住人類了－－那真遭！」
「那是你教我謹守和平規範的緣故啊！」
「我只是禁止你傷害人類，並沒有禁止你張牙吐舌地嚇唬他們啊！」
NON-VIOLENCE
A snake in the village had bitten so many people that few dared go into the fields.
Such was the Master’s holiness that he was said to have tamed the snake and persuaded it
to practise the discipline of non-violence.
It did not take long for the villagers to discover that the snake had become harmless.
They took to hurling stones at it and dragging it about by its tail.
The badly battered snake crawled into the Master’s house one night to complain. Said
the Master, “Friend, you’ve stopped frightening people — that’s bad!”
“But it was you who taught me to practise the discipline of non-violence!”
“I told you to stop hurting — not to stop hissing!”
四五 逃 避
大師生前卽已成為傳奇性人物。據說連天主都向他移樽就教：「我想和人類玩個躲迷藏的遊戲。我問天使們：該藏在何處最為隱蔽？有些答說大海的深溝，有些則認為某個山頂，甚至還有建議我躲到其他星球上去的。你認為呢？」
大師說：「不必跑那麼遠了，就藏在人們的心裏好了，那是他們最後才會想到的地方。」
ESCAPE
The Master became a legend in his lifetime. It was said that God once sought his
advice: “I want to play a game of hide-and-seek with humankind. I’ve asked my angels
what the best place is to hide in. Some say the depth of the ocean. Others the top of the
highest mountain. Others still the far side of the moon or a distant star. What do you
suggest?”
Said the Master, “Hide in the human heart. That’s the last place they will think of!”
四四 倚 賴
有個弟子過於信賴書本。大師告訴他：
「有個人到市場買菜，却把菜單掉了。後來又找到了，他欣喜若狂地讀着菜單，直到買完菜前，他始終緊緊握着它－－然後就該像廢紙一般把它丟到字紙簍去。」
DEPENDENCE
To a disciple who depended overmuch on books the Master said:
“A man came to the market with a shopping-list and lost it. When to his great joy he
found it again, he read it eagerly, held on to it till he had done his shopping — then threw
it away as a useless scrap of paper.”
四三 生死關頭
有個弟子每天問同樣的問題：「我怎樣才能找到天主？」
每天他所得到的答覆都是：「通過人的願心。」
「我不是全心全意地渴望天主了嗎？為什麼我還沒有找到？」
有天，大師正好和這位弟子在河裏沐浴。他突然把弟子的頭按進水裏不放，任由這可憐的傢伙在水裏死命掙扎。
第二天，大師主動找他談話：「當我把你的頭按進水裏，你為什麼掙扎那麼厲害？」
「因為我需要空氣。」
「如果你渴求天主一如你尋找空氣那般，你就會找到祂。」
SURVIVAL
Each day the disciple would ask the same question, “How shall I find God?”
And each day he would get the same mysterious answer, “Through desire.”
“But I desire God with all my heart, don’t I? Then why have I not found him?”
One day the Master happened to be bathing in the river with the disciple. He pushed
the man’s head under water and held it there while the poor fellow struggled desperately
to break loose
Next day it was the Master who began the conversation. “Why did you struggle so
when I held your head under water?”
“Because I was gasping for air.”
“When you are given the grace to gasp for God the way you gasped for air you will
have found him.”
四一 媒介
有人問一位弟子：「你為什麼需要拜師？」
答覆是：「如果水需要加溫，在它與火之間總需要一個容器做為媒介吧！」
MEDIATION
“Why do you need a Master?” asked a visitor of one of the disciples.
“If water must be heated it needs a vessel as an intermediary between the fire and
itself,” was the answer.
四一 盲 從
「我能拜你為師嗎？」
「若你閉着眼睛，永遠只能當作別人的徒弟。直到有天你張開了眼睛，就會發覺，你不可能從我或任何人處學到任何東西。」
「那麼師父又有何用？」
「只是讓你明瞭：有個師父也無濟於事。」
BLINDNESS
“May I become your disciple?”
“You are only a disciple because your eyes are closed. The day you open them you
will see there is nothing you can learn from me or anyone.”
“What then is a Master for?’
“To make you see the uselessness of having one.”
四０ 門 徒
有人前來拜師，大師說：「你不妨隨我住下，但不要變成我的門徒。」
「那麼我該跟隨誰呢？」
「誰也別跟。一旦你跟隨某人，就不再跟隨那超然的真理了。」
DISCIPLESH1P
To a visitor who asked to become his disciple the Master said, “You may live with me
but don’t become my follower.”
‘Whom then shall I follow?”
“No one. The day you follow someone you cease to follow Truth.”