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一０一　无　我

一位富裕的企业家问大师：「你会如何发展一门企业？」

「无为。」大师说。

企业家轻蔑地笑了：「那岂不是懒惰？」

「绝非如此。对一个积极的人而言，懒惰是最大的罪过。」

后来，大师向弟子说：「若人真能无为，则一切事均能因此而成就。要费尽多少心思，才能达到无为之境啊！你们不妨试一试。」

SELFLESSNESS

An affluent industrialist said to the Master, “What do you do for a profession?”
“Nothing.” said the Master.

The industrialist laughed scornfully. “Isn’t that laziness?”

“Heavens, no. Laziness is mostly the vice of very active people.”

Later the Master said to his disciples. “Do nothing and all things will be done through
you. Doing nothing really takes a lot of doing — try it!”

一００　极　权

有囘，大师竟向一位主教说：「宗教人士常不知不觉地变得很残忍。」弟子们觉得此话很失礼。

主教囘去后，弟子们追问其因。

「因为他们为了完成某种目的，轻而易擧地就把别人牺牲掉了。」大师道。

TOTALITARIANISM

To the disciples ‘ embarrassment the Master once told a bishop that religious people
have a natural bent for cruelty.

“Why?” the disciples demanded after the bishop had gone.

“Because they all too easily sacrifice persons for the advancement of a purpose.” said
the Master.

九九　热　忱

有个妇人发现财富并不能带给她快乐，而满腹牢骚。大师说：「由你的话中，好似肯定豪富与舒适是构成快乐的因素。事实上，朋友，如果你想快乐，只需找件事让自己热忱地献身就够了。」

ENTHUSIASM

To the woman who complained that riches hadn’t made her happy the Master said.
“You speak as if luxury and comfort were ingredients of happiness: whereas all you need
to be really happy, my dear, is something to be enthusiastic about.”

九八　自以为义

大师喜欢与普通老百姓在一起，对圣德彰显的人他总是敬而远之。
有一囘，弟子向他请益终身大事。大师说：「只需记住一点，千万不要嫁给一个圣人。」

「为什么？」

「因为你迟早会被引上殉道之路。」大师笑着说。

SELF - RIGHTEOUSNESS

The Master loved ordinary people and was suspicious of those who stood out for their
holiness.

To a disciple who consulted him on marriage he said. “Be sure you don’t marry a
saint.”

“Why ever not?”

“Because it is the surest way to make yourself a martyr.” was the Master’s merry
reply.

九七　妄　见

「世事本无好坏，是我们的思想作此分别。」大师说。

弟子们要求进一步的解释。大师说：「一个人可以虔诚喜悦地守斋七天；若换了他的邻人吃同样的食物，就会饿得半死。」

PREJUDICE

“Nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it so.” the Master said.

When asked to explain he said. “A man cheerfully observed a religious fast seven days
a week. His neighbour starved to death on the same diet.”

九六　真　实

大师从不重视证书跟文凭，他对人，只是审视，却不评断。

他曾说过：「只要你有耳朶，就可以听见鸟儿的歌唱，用不着去检定鸟儿的资格问题。」

AUTHENTICITY

The Master was never impressed by diplomas or degrees. He scrutinized the person,
not the certificate.

He was once heard to say, “When you have ears to hear a bird in song, you don’t need
to look at its credentials.”

九五　免　疫

许多人感到奇怪，大师似乎并不太热中于培育青年的宗教素养。

他们探问其因，大师说：「当人还年轻时，你就为他们注射各种抗生素免疫，使得他们在成长过程中体验不到真实的世界。」

IMMUNIZATION

To everyone’s surprise the Master seemed unenthusiastic about religious education for
the young.

When asked why he said, “inoculated them when they are young and you prevent
them from catching the real thing when they grow up.”

九四　自　立

大师似乎从不在意别人对他的看法。弟子想要知道获得这种内心自由的方法。大师大笑地说：「二十岁以前，我从不在乎别人怎么看我；二十岁以后，我总是忧虑我的亲朋好友会作何想；五十多岁以后，有一天我突然发现，他们根本很少想到我。」

AUTONOMY

The Master seemed quite impervious to what people thought of him. When the
disciples asked how he had attained this stage of inner freedom, he laughed aloud and
said. “Till I was twenty I did not care what people thought of me. After twenty I worried
endlessly about what my neighbours thought. Then one day after fifty I suddenly saw that
they hardly ever thought of meat all!”

九三　慧　见

弟子们都在热烈讨论人类痛苦的原因。

有些人主张痛苦来自私欲，有些则主张来自妄念，另一部分人认为它是由于人类无法分辨真实与虚妄。

他们来到大师跟前请益。大师说：「所有的痛苦都是因为人没有办法静静地独自坐在那里。」

INSIGHT

The disciples were involved in a heated discussion on the cause of human suffering.

Some said it came from selfishness. Others, from delusion. Yet others, from the
inability to distinguish the real from the unreal.

When the Master was consulted he said, “All suffering comes from a person's
inability to sit still and be alone.”

九二　领　悟

大师愈来愈衰老了，弟子们恳求他不要舍弃他们。大师说：「如果我不走，你们怎能看得见？」

「当您同我们在一起时，什么因素遮住了我们的眼睛？」他们问。

然而大师一言不发。

当他的死期近了。他们又问：「你走了以后，我们会看见什么？」

大师眼中闪烁着光辉：「我以前都是坐在河边为你们汲水；我走后，你们才会看到那条河本身。」

RECOGNITION

As the Master grew old and infirm the disciples begged him not to die. Said the
Master, “If I did not go how you would ever see?”

“What is it we fail to see when you are with us?” they asked.

But the Master would not say.

When the moment of his death was near they said, “What is it we will see when you
are gone?”

With a twinkle in his eye the Master said, “All I did was sit on the river bank handing
out river water. After I’m gone I trust you will notice the river.”