Inspriration from all walks of life
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-”
一二八 本來面目
一天，大師問：「你們認為，什麼是最重要的宗教課題？」
他得到不少答案：
「天主存在嗎？」
「天主是誰？」
「與天主溝通的途徑？」
「人死後真得有永恆的生命嗎？」
大師卻說：「都不是，最重要的問題是：『我是誰？』」
直到有一天，弟子們在座聽見大師與一位傳道者的對話，才恍然了悟那番言論的深義：
大師：「那麼，據你所說：你死後，你的靈魂會升天？」
傳道者：「是的。」
大師：「你的身體葬在墳墓裏？」
傳道者：「是的。」
大師：「朋友，容我問一聲：那麼你在那裏？」
EXPOSURE
One day the Master asked, “What, in your opinion, is the most important of all
religious questions?”
He got many answers: “Does God exist?” “Who is God?” “What is the path to God?”
“Is there a life after death?”
“No,” said the Master, “The most important question is: “Who am I?”
The disciples got some idea of what he was hinting at when they overheard him
talking to a preacher:
Master: “So then, according to you, when you die your soul will be in heaven?”
Preacher: “Yes.”
Master: “And your body will be in the grave?”
Preacher: “Yes.”
Master: “And where, may I ask, will you be?”
一二七 方生方死
今天是一位弟子的生日。
「你想要什麼做為生日禮物？」大師說。
「能促成我開悟的任何東西。」她說。
大師莞爾一笑：「想想看，我的孩子，當你誕生於世時，你好比穹蒼的一顆星子翩然降臨，還是如一片葉子由樹梢萎落？」
弟子冥思終日這奇怪的問題。終於，她豁然開朗而明心見性了。
ORIGINS
It was the disciple’s birthday.
“What do you want for a birthday gift?” said the Master.
“Something that would bring me enlightenment,” she said.
The Master smiled. “Tell me, my dear.” he said, “when you were born, did you come
into the world like a star from the sky or out of it like a leaf from a tree?”
All day long she pondered that strange question of the Master. Then she suddenly saw
the answer and fell into Enlightenment.
一二六 無言之教
「你的師父傳授你們什麼？」一位訪客前來探問。
「什麼也沒傳。」
「那麼他為什麼還給這許多開示？」
「他只點出方向，卻不傳什麼。」
這位訪客聽了，百思莫解。於是此徒為他解析一番：「如果大師傳授我們某事，則我們就應努力去信解這些內容。但大師根本不在意我們信什麼－－他只關心我們真正認識了多少。」
NON - INSTRUCTION
“What does your Master teach?” asked a visitor.
“Nothing,” said the disciple.
“Then why does he give discourses?”
“He only points the way he teaches nothing.”
The visitor couldn’t make sense out of this, so the disciple made it clearer. “If the
Master were to teach we would make beliefs out of his teachings. The Master is not
concerned with what we believe — only with what we see.”
一二五 信 仰
大師引用亞里斯多德的名句訓誨弟子：「在追尋真理的途中，首要之務卽是捨棄自己所熟悉的一切。」他把「真理」二字改為「天主」。
不久，一位弟子稟告大師：「為追尋天主，我已決心放棄一切：財富、朋友、家人、國家，甚至犧牲生命，也在所不惜。除此之外，一個人還能捨棄什麼？」
大師平靜地答道：「他對天主的信念。」
這位弟子悲傷地離去。因他需要信念，他害怕無知甚於死亡。
BELIEF
The Master had quoted Aristotle; “in the quest of truth it would seem better and indeed
necessary to give up what is dearest to us.” And he substituted the word “God” for
“truth.”
Later a disciple said to him, “I am ready, in the quest for God, to give up anything:
wealth, friends, family, country, life itself. What else can a person give up?”
The Master calmly replied, “One’s beliefs about God.”
The disciple went away sad for he clung to his convictions. He feared “ignorance”
more than death.
一二四 信 理
有位訪客自稱，他已無庸追尋真理，因為他在自己的宗教信條裏已經找到了真理。大師說：
「從前有個學生，一直無法如願成為數學家，只因他一味相信數學課本後面所附的標準答案－－氣人的是，那些標準答案，竟然都正確無誤。」
DOCTRINE
To a visitor who claimed he had no need to search for Truth because he found it in the
beliefs of his religion, the Master said;
“There was once a student who never became a mathematician because he blindly
believed the answers he found at the back of his maths text book — and, ironically, the
answers were correct.”
一二三 痊 癒
有位失意的人前來大師處求助。大師問他：「你真的願意康復？」
「當然，要不然我怎會來找您？」
「你知道，大多數的人都不是真心求癒。」
「為什麼？」
「因為那要付出相當痛苦的代價。他們並不想康復，只想暫時解脫一下而已。」
大師藉此告訴弟子：「人們只想要一個由天而降，無須受苦的痊癒，就好像一般人只期待進步，卻絲毫不願改變自己一樣。」
HEALING
To a distressed person who came to him for help, the Master said. “Do you really want
a cure?”
“If I did not would I bother to come to you?”
“Oh yes. Most people do.” “What for?”
“Not for a cure. That’s painful. For relief.”
To his disciples the Master said, “People who want a cure provided they can have it
without pain are like those who favour progress provided they can have it without
change.”
一二二 罪
大師的教誨中，最令人不安卻又寬慰的一條，莫甚於此言了：天主離罪人遠比聖人要近得多。
他的解釋如下：高居天廷的天主以一條線與每個人聯繫。當你犯罪時，自斬此線，於是天主得打一個結，重新把線接好。如此，你自然被拖近祂一些。你每次犯罪，斬斷一次線，天主就需要多打一個結，使你愈來愈靠近祂。
SIN
One of the disconcerting — and delightful — teachings of the Master was: God is
closer to sinners than to saints.
This is how he explained it: God in heaven holds each person by a string. When you
sin you cut the string. Then God ties it up again, making a knot — and thereby bringing
you a little closer to him. Again and again your sins cut the string — and with each further
knot God keeps drawing you closer and closer.