Inspriration from all walks of life
八一 错 觉
「开悟的最大阻碍是什么？」
「畏惧。」
「畏惧由何而起？」
「错觉。」
「什么是错觉？」
「把身边的花朶想成毒蛇。」
「我怎能获得悟境？」
「张开眼睛看清楚。」
「看什么？」
「身边一只蛇也没有。」
FANTASY
What is the greatest enemy of enlightenment?
“Fear.”
“And where does fear come from?”
“Delusion.”
“And what is delusion?”
“To think that the flowers around you are poisonous snakes.”
“How shall I attain to enlightenment?” “Open your eyes and see.” “What?”
“That there isn’t a single snake around.”
八０ 伦 理
弟子们常常热中探讨对与错的问题。有时答案很明显，有时却擧棋不定。
如果大师凑巧在场，他通常都不表明立场。
一次，大师面对这样的挑战：「如果我杀了一个正想谋害我的人，是对还是错？」
他说：「我怎么知道？」
弟子诧异不已：「那么我们怎能分辨对或错？」
大师说：「当你生时，能死于自我，且彻底地死去。然后随心所欲地去做，一定是对的。」
MORALITY
The disciples would frequently be absorbed in questions of right and wrong.
Sometimes the answer would be evident enough. Sometimes it was elusive.
The Master, if he happened to be present at such discussions, would take no part in
them.
Once he was confronted with this question: “Is it right to kill someone who seeks to
kill me? Or is it wrong?”
He said. “How should I know?”
The shocked disciples answered, “Then how would we tell right from wrong?”
The Master said, “While alive, be dead to yourself, be totally dead-Then act as you
will and your action will be right.”
七九 意识型态
一批活跃的政客，想向大师显示，他们的观念足以改变世界。
大师仔细地听着。
第二天，他说：「一种意识型态的好坏，端赖于它的制造者。难道一百万只狐狸组织起来，推行公义，狐狸尾巴就不见了吗？」
IDEOLOGY
A group of political activists were attempting to show the Master how their ideology
would change the world.
The Master listened carefully.
The following day he said, “An ideology is as good or bad as the people who make
use of it. If a million wolves were to organise for justice would they cease to be a million
wolves?”
七八 激 将
有个一向惬意度日的门徒开始抱怨：他从未经验过大师常论及的宁静。
大师说：「这种宁静常发生在奋发进取的人身上。」
CHALLENGE
An easy-going disciple complained that he had never experienced the silence that the
Master frequently -commended.
Said the Master, “Silence only comes to active people.”
七七 离题
那天的集会中，所有的问题都是针对死后的生命而发的。
大师却只笑而不答。
弟子们一再追问他拒答的原因。他说：「你们难道看不出，那些追求另一个永恒不朽生命的，都是那些不知道该如何度过此生的人？」
有个门徒仍然锲而不舍：「究竟死后有没有生命？」
「究竟死前有没有生命？这才是问题所在！」大师留下一个公案。
IRRELEVANCE
All questions at the public meeting that day were about life beyond the grave
The Master only laughed and did not give a single answer.
To his disciples who demanded to know the reason for his evasiveness, he later said.
“Have you observed that it is precisely those who do not know what to do with this life
who wants another that will last forever?”
“But is there life after death or is there not?” persisted a disciple.
“Is there life before death? — that is the question!” said the Master enigmatically.
七六 暴 戾
大师常开示：罪恶感就像恶魔一样，是一种邪恶的情绪，该尽量避免。
「可是，我们不该恨自己的罪过吗？」一位弟子问。
「当你犯罪，你恨的是自己，而非你的罪。」
VIOLENCE
The Master was always teaching that guilt is an evil emotion to be avoided like the
very devil — all guilt.
“But are we not to hate our sins?” a disciple said one day.
“When you are guilty, it is not your sins you hate but yourself.”
七五 自 重
「怎样才能成为一位伟人－－像您一样？」
「为什么要成为伟人？」大师说：「成为一个人，已经是很伟大的成就了。」
ACCEPTANCE
“How can I be a great man — like you?”
“Why be a great man?” said the Master. “Being a man is a great enough achievement.”
七四 扩 张
一位闻名的经济学家滔滔不绝地解释他的发展计画，大师出神地听着。
「在经济理论中，是否『成长』是唯一的考虑因素？」
「当然，所有的『成长』的本质都是好的。」
「那么癌细胞的成长呢？」大师问。
EXPANSION
The Master sat in rapt attention as the renowned economist explained his blueprint for
development.
“Should growth be the only consideration in an economic theory?” he asked.
“Yes. All grown is good in itself.”
“Isn’t that the thinking of the cancer cell?” said the Master.
七三 牵 绊
大师已在病床上弥留数周了。一日，他突然张开了眼睛，发现他心爱的弟子在身边。
「你从未离开我的床边，是吗？」他轻轻地说。
「没有，师父，我离不开你。」
「为什么？」
「因为你是我生命的光明。」
大师不禁长叹一声：「我的孩子，我竟然如此眩惑你的眼睛，使你至今仍然无法看到你心内的光明？」
REPRESSION
The Master had been on his deathbed in a coma for weeks. One day he suddenly
opened his eyes to find his favourite disciple there.
“You never leave my bedside, do you?” he said softly.
“No. Master. I cannot.” “Why?”
“Because you are the light of my life.”
The Master sighed. “Have I so dazzled you, my son that you still refuse to see the light
in you?”
七二 谦 逊
有位访客，自称为真理的追寻者。大师说：「如果你寻找的是真理，那么你在一切才能之上还须具备一种特质。」
「我知道，是追求真理的极端热忱。」
「不，是随时愿意承认自己可能犯错的坚忍内涵。」
HUMILITY
To a visitor who described himself as a seeker after Truth the Master said. “If what
you seek is Truth, there is one thing you must have above all else.”
“I know. An overwhelming passion for it.”
“No. An unremitting readiness to admit you may be wrong.”