Skip to content

Published on

　　　111　閉　塞

一羣大學院士來訪，大師極度慇懃地招待他們，却從不正面答覆他們的問題，也不加入他們的神學研討。

弟子們知道大師內具深意。他說：「你怎能向井底之蛙談論浩瀚的大海？你怎能向被困鎖在自己的槪念中的人談論超凡之境？」

RESTRICTION

The Master was exceedingly gracious to University dons who visited him but he
would never reply to their questions or be drawn into their theological speculations.

To his disciples who marvelled at this, he said, “Can one talk about the ocean to a frog
in a well — or about the divine to people who are restricted by their concepts?

Published on

一一０　解　脫

「我如何才能得到解脫？」

「先去找出誰束縛了你。」大師說。

一週後，弟子返囘覆命：「沒有人束縛我。」

「那麼有什麼好解脫的？」

弟子頓然醒悟，自此卽變得自在灑脫了。

LIBERATION

“How shall I get liberation?”

“Find out who has bound you,” said the Master.

The disciple returned after a week and said, “No one has bound me.”

“Then why ask to be liberated?”

That was a moment of enlightenment for the disciple who suddenly became free.

Published on

一０九　幻　滅

一位弟子懇求大師指示智慧之道。大師說：「不妨試試這個方法：閉起你的眼睛，觀想自己和一切生物都從懸崖的邊緣被拋出去；每當你想攀住一樣東西，阻止自己下墜時，心裏明白那東西本身也正向下墜落……。」

這弟子嘗試這個方法，立刻身心蕩然，脫胎換骨。

MORTALITY

To a disciple who begged for wisdom the Master said, “Try this out: close your eyes
and see yourself and every living being thrown off the top of a precipice. Each time you
cling to something to stop yourself from falling, understand that it is falling too...”

The disciple tried it out and never was the same again.

Published on

一０八　賭　注

大師談論的主題是「生命」。

一天，他提到一位飛行員的經歷。這位飛行員在第二次世界大戰期間專門載運工人由中國到緬甸的叢林中修路。這段航行漫長又單調，所以工人就聚在一起賭牌，由於他們都是一貧如洗，無錢可賭，於是就用自己的生命做賭注－－輸家應不帶降落傘，跳出飛機外。

「多麼可怕的事！」弟子聽了驚嚇萬分。

「確實可怕。」大師說：「但這種賭法才過癮。」

當這一天卽將消逝，大師說：「當你用自己的生命做賭注時，你才是道道地地的活過。」

ADVENTURE

The theme of the Master’s talk was Life.

One day he told of meeting a pilot who flew labourers from China into Burma during
World War II to work on jungle roads. The flight was long and boring so the labourers
would take to gambling. Since they had no money to gamble with, they gambled with
their lives — the loser jumped out of the plane without a parachute!

“How terrible!” said the horrified disciple?

“True.” said the Master.” But it made the game exciting.”

Later in the day he said. “You never live so fully as when you gamble with your
lives.”

Published on

一０七　逝者如斯

大師卽將圓寂的跡象愈來愈明顯。弟子們十分憂傷。

大師微笑地說：「你看見沒有，死亡帶給生命孤獨？」

「不！我們寧願你永遠不死。」

「凡是真實活過的東西都會死亡，看那些花朶，只有塑膠花永遠不死。」

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.”

Published on

一０六　何處無芳草

大師常常勸阻那些打算住進寺院的人。

他會說：「卽使你想由書本獲益，也不用住在圖書館裏啊！」

他甚至說：「卽使你從未踏入圖書館，仍然可以讀得到書；同樣的，想要修行的人，也不必走進寺廟。」

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.”

Published on

一０五　真　福

一位失意的股票經紀人，又一次賠本以後，來到寺院，尋求內心的寧靜，然而他却心煩意亂，無法祈禱。

他離開後，大師簡短地投下一句警語：「安心睡在地板上的人，從無由床上摔下來的痛苦。」

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.”

Published on

一０四　富　裕

「對我這類俗人，靈修有何助益？」一位商人道。

「它會助你更加富裕。」大師答。

「助從何來？」

「它教你減少慾望。」

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.”

Published on

　　　　一０二　智　慧

大師最感欣慰之事，卽是人們體驗到自己的無知。

「智慧的成長與人們對自己的無知的自覺能力常成正比。」大師說。

弟子請求解說。大師說：「如果今日的你覺得自己並非如昨日想像中那般聰明，你今日確是聰明一點了。」

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.”