Inspriration from all walks of life
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.”
九一 改 变
一位历史学家来访，他存心来找大师辩论。
「我们的努力将改变人类的历史，不是吗？」他如此质询。
「是的。」大师说。
「人为的努力已改变了我们的地球，不是吗？」
「不错！」大师说。
「那么你为什么还说：人为的努力无法挽囘大局？」
大师说：「因为，风纵然停止了，树叶还是照常落下。」
CHANGE
The visiting historian was disposed to be argumentative.
“Do not our efforts change the course of human history?” he demanded.
“Oh yes, they do.” said the Master.
“And have not our human labours changed the earth?”
“They certainly have.” said the Master.
“Then why do you teach that human effort is of little consequence?”
Said the Master, “Because when the wind subsides, the leaves still fall.”
九０ 分 离
大师的言论常常不得政府的欢心，终于他被驱逐出境了。
弟子们问他是否会染上乡愁。大师说：「不会。」
「一个人如果不知怀鄕，是违反人性的。」他们如此反驳。 于是大师说：「如果你真能以天下为家，你就永远不会沦落到放逐的厄运
SEPARATION
The Master’s teachings did not find favour with the Government that had him
banished from his country.
To disciples who asked if he never felt nostalgia the Master said. “No.”
“But it is inhuman not to miss one’s home,” they protested.
To which the Master said. “You cease to be an exile when you discover that creation is
your home.”
八九 透 视
大师心境总是欢欣愉悦，弟子们不禁怀疑：难道他从未失意过？于是他们问。
是的，他也有失意的时候。
可是弟子们深信大师确实常处于一种永恒的快乐中。
这也是真的。
他们想要知道其中的秘诀。
大师说：「这就是秘诀：事情的好坏全凭你对它的看法。」
PERSPECTIVE
The Master was in a mellow mood and the disciples were inquisitive. Did he ever feel
depressed, they asked.
He did.
Wasn’t it also true that he was in a continual state of happiness, they persisted.
It was.
What was the secret, they wanted to know.
Said the Master, “This: everything is as good or as bad as one ‘ s opinion makes it. “
八八 造化之工
大师常被人们视为改革派，避免引起政府的敌视。
有人问他，为什么不干脆积极参加社会革命，他以一首诗的格言答复：
「静坐无所事，
春来草自青。」
CREATION
The Master was known to side with the revolutionaries even at the risk of incurring the
displeasure of the government.
When someone asked him why he himself did not actively plunge into social
revolution he replied with this enigmatic proverb:
“Sitting quietly doing nothing. Spring comes and the grass grows.”
八七 分 别
大师与他的一羣弟子在河边散步。
他说：「看，这些鱼儿随心所欲地游来游去，这才是真正的快乐。」
一旁的路人听到这话便反唇相激：「你又不是鱼，你怎知鱼快乐与否？」
弟子们惊异地瞪着这鲁莽的家伙。大师却含笑注视这一无所惧地追根究柢的人。
他亲切答复：「我的朋友，你又不是我，你怎么知道我不是鱼？」
弟子们不禁笑了，认为他罪有应得，这位路人却怔在那儿沉思话中深意。
他整天反复咀嚼此言。然后登门造访：「也许你并非如我所想的，与鱼截然不同，而我与你，也非相异过甚。」
DISTINCTION
The Master was strolling with some of his disciples along the bank of a river.
He said. “See how the fish keep darting about when they please. That’s what they
really enjoy.”
A stranger overhearing that remark said. “How do you know what fish enjoy — you‘re
not a fish?”
The disciples gasped at what they took for impudence. The Master smiled at what he
recognized as a fearless spirit of enquiry.
He replied affably. “And you my friend, how do you know I am not a fish — you are
not I?”
The disciples laughed, taking this to be a well-deserved rebuff. Only the stranger was
struck by its depth.
All day he pondered it then came to the monastery to say. “Maybe you are not as
different from the fish as I thought. Or I from you.”
八六 无 执
大师本身的生活极其纯朴，却从不鄙视他的豪富弟子，门徒们感到有趣。
「成为一个既富又圣的人，虽寥寥可数，并非不可能。」有一天，大师如是说。
「如何才能达到此境？」
「当金钱对你心灵的影响力，一如竹荫拂过天井。」
弟子们转身向庭院望去，竹荫拂过，却未激起一丝尘埃。
DETACHMENT
It intrigued the disciples that the Master who lived so simply would not condemn his
wealthy followers.
“It is rare but not impossible for someone to be rich and holy.” he said one day.
“How?”
“When money has the effect on his heart that the shadow of that bamboo has on the
courtyard.”
The disciples turned to watch the bamboo’s shadow sweep the courtyard without
stirring a single particle of dust.
八五 大梦初醒
大师洒脱自在的风范，令他的弟子们不禁鼓起勇气问：「你能否告诉我们，您开悟后有何所得。您变得更神圣了吗？」
「没有。」
「您变成一位圣人了？」
「没有。」
「那么究竟有何改变？」
「只是醒了。」
SLEEP-WALKING
The Master’s expansive mood emboldened his disciples to say. “Tell us what you got
from Enlightenment. Did you become divine?”
‘No.’
“Did you become a saint?”
No.”
“Then what did you become?”
“Awake.”
八四 觉 醒
「救恩应由行动获得，还是由祈祷？」
「都不是。救恩来自于正见。」
「见什么？」
「看见你所盼望的项链正挂在颈项上；看见你所畏惧的蛇，不过是地上的一根绳子而已。」
AWARENESS
“Is salvation obtained through action or through meditation?”
“Through neither. Salvation comes from seeing.
“Seeing what?”
“That the gold necklace you wish to acquire is hanging round your neck. That the
snake you are so frightened of is only a rope on the ground.”