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一四一　自　缚

一位惴惴不安的宗教家来访，大师说：「你为什么这么紧张？」

「我怕失去救恩。」

「救恩到底是什么？」

「是超脱，是自由。」

大师禁不住大笑道：「那么你是被迫自由？不能不超脱？」

自那一刻起，这位宗教信徒顿时轻松下来，永不畏惧。

BONDAGE

To a fearful religious visitor the Master said, “Why are you so anxious?”

“Lest I fail to attain Salvation.” “And what is Salvation?” “Moksha. Liberation.
Freedom.”

The Master roared with laughter and said, “So you are forced to be free? You are
bound to be liberated?”

At that minute the visitor relaxed and lost his fear forever.

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一四０　开　放

一对夫妇焦虑不已，因为他们的孩子已经背离了家族的宗教传统，并且自称为自由主义者。

大师说：「不必担心，如果这小伙子真能忠于自己的思考，天地之正气必然升起，护送他至向往之境。」

OPENNESS

An anxious couple complained to the Master that their son had abandoned the
religious traditions of the family and proclaimed himself a freethi nk er.

Said the Master, “Not to worry If the lad is really thinking for himself, the Mighty
Wind is bound to arise that will carry him to the place where he belongs.”

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一三九　升　华

一位妇人遭丧子之痛，前来大师前寻求宽慰。

大师耐心地聆听她倾诉丧子的经过及内心的悲痛。

然后，他和蔼地说：「孩子，我无法为你逝去眼泪，我只能教你如何圣化这些眼泪。」

AFFIRMATION

A woman in great distress over the death of her son came to the Master for comfort.

He listened to her patiently while she poured out her tale of woe.

Then he said softly. “I cannot wipe away your tears, my dear. I can only teach you
how to make them holy.”

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一三八　友　善

「我该如何学习『爱邻人』？」

「不再恨自己。」

这位弟子反复认真的囘味此话，然后囘来禀告大师：「但是我发觉我过于爱护自己，因为我相当自私，且自我意识甚强。我该如何除去这些缺点？」

「对自己友善一点。当自我感到舒畅时，你就能自在地去『爱邻人』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.”

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一三七　神　圣

有位传道人一再强调：「我们应当把天主放在我们的生活里。」

大师却说：「祂早就在那儿了，我们的责任只是认出这真相而已。」

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.”

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一三六　表　象

大师对任何新奇譁众之事都不屑一顾。他一再声明：真正的圣德常隐在平常心中。

听说大师曾向一位苦修近乎怪异的孩子说过这番话：「神圣是件奥秘，它愈伟大，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.”

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一三四　根　器


「我该如何才能成圣？」一位访客前来探问。
「顺从你的心灵。」大师说。

访客听了满心喜悦。

但是在他离开前，大师却悄悄对他说：「要顺从心灵以前，你先得有一副健康硬朗的体质。」

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 ”

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一三三　服　务

大家都知道大师一向偏爱行动甚于退隐。但大师所强调的却是「悟境中」的行动。

弟子们探问「悟境」是何意，它是否即指「动机纯正」？


「绝不是。」大师道：「试想，当一只猴子把一尾鱼从溪流中救出来时，牠的动机何等纯正。」

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.”

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一三二　虚　静


寺院里访客络绎不绝，难免人声喧扰，破坏了寺院的宁静。

弟子们为此闷闷不乐，大师仍然自得其乐，似无视于宁静或喧哗。

有一天，他告诉那羣满腹牢骚的弟子：「宁静并不是寂静无声，而是无我之境。」

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.”