Inspriration from all walks of life
二一三 仁者無懼
「什麼是愛？」
「一無所懼。」大師說。
「人們通常畏懼什麼？」
「愛。」大師道。
FEARLESSNESS
“What is love?”
“The total absence of fear,” said the Master.
‘What is it we fear?”
And he concluded: “If the withered tree had survived, nothing would have induced the
bird to give up its security and fly.”
‘Love.” said the Master.
二一二 逆 境
「磨難能促人成長，甚至開悟。」大師道。
他作了如下解說：
有隻鳥兒每天棲息在荒原中的一株枯樹上。一天，一陣狂風颳倒這株枯樹，可憐的鳥兒只能飛到百里之外，另覓棲身之處－－終於牠來到了一座森林，林中結滿了纍纍果實。
大師做了簡要的結論：「這棵枯樹存在一天，這隻鳥兒就不肯放棄牠棲身之處而高飛遠翔。」
TRIBULATION
“Calamities can bring growth and enlightenment.” said the Master.
And he explained it thus:
Each day a bird would shelter in the withered branches of a tree that stood in the
middle of a vast deserted plain. One day a whirlwind uprooted the tree forcing the poor
bird to fly a hundred miles in search of shelter — till it finally came to a forest of fruit-
laden trees.
二一一 教 育
大師對於神聖的宗教知識及教育一向抱着存疑態度，常常鼓勵科學、藝術或其他方面的研究，所以他順理成章地接受國立大學的邀請，前去演講。
他提早一小時抵達學校，瀏覽校園，觀摩教學設備，對那些向所未聞的現代化設備，讚嘆有加。
而他的演講一如慣例，還不到一分鐘就結束了。他說：
「如果靈心慧眼不在其中，所有的實驗室、圖書館、廳堂、迴廊、拱門以及豐富的講學都形同虛設。」
EDUCATION
Suspicious as the Master was of knowledge and learning in matters divine, he never
missed a chance to encourage the arts and sciences and every other form of learning. So it
was no surprise that he readily accepted an invitation to address the University
Convocation.
He arrived an hour ahead of time to wander about the Campus and marvel at the
facilities for learning that were quite non-existent in his own day.
Typically, his Convocation speech lasted less than a minute. He said:
“Laboratories and libraries, halls and porch and arch and learned lectures — all shall
be of no avail if the wise heart and the Seeing Eye are absent.”
二一０ 虛 榮
大師時常提醒弟子，人的聖德，如同美貌一般，是渾然天成而不自覺的。他喜歡引用下面的詩句：
玫瑰，它適時綻放。
無緣無由；
也無意妝扮，
為贏得我的誇讚。
他又引用諺語：「當人認清自己不過爾爾，方堪稱為聖。」
VANITY
The Master frequently reminded his disciples that holiness, like beauty, is only
genuine when unselfconscious. He loved to quote the verse:
She blooms because she blooms,
the Rose:
Does not ask why.
nor does she preen herself
to catch my eye.
And the saying, “A saint is a saint until he knows that he is one.”
二０九 灑脫自在
大師為了保持輕鬆自然的家風，不願弟子們過度認真，包括對他的教導在內，他喜歡講他自己的故事：
「我的第一個弟子為了修行，心力憔悴不堪；第二個弟子勇猛精進練習我傳授的方法，差點把自己逼瘋了；第三個弟子終日沉浸於靜坐默觀中，變得呆若木雞；只有第四個弟子保持了自己的身心平衡。」
「他怎麼做到的？」在座的人都異口同聲地問。
「大槪是因為，他是唯一拒絕遵照我的方法去做的人。」大師一語驚座。
LIGHT-HEARTEDNESS
In keeping with his doctrine that nothing be taken too seriously, not even his own
teachings, the Master loved to tell this story on himself:
“My very first disciple was so weak that the exercises killed him. My second disciple
drove himself crazy from his earnest practice of the exercises I gave him. My third
disciple dulled his intellect through too much contemplation. But the fourth managed to
keep his sanity.”
“Why was that?” someone would invariably ask.
“Possibly because he was the only one who refused to do the exercises.” The Master’s
words would be drowned in howls of laughter.
二０八 虛 心
一位頗具聲望的靈修指導者向大師吐露：「我無法祈禱，也無法了解聖經，更無法做到我教別人的靈修方法……」
「何不把這一切都拋掉？」大師欣慰地說。
「這怎麼可能？我一向被視為有聖德者，又有一大堆徒衆跟隨在後。」
事後，大師嘆息道：「當今所謂之聖德，已經有名無實了；唯有天才，可稱得上是有實却無名。」
UNOBTRUSIVENESS
A man of spiritual repute came to the Master and said, “I cannot pray, I cannot
understand the scriptures. I cannot do the exercises that I prescribe to others...”
“Then give it all up.” said the Master cheerfully.
“But how can I? I am supposed to be a holy man and have a following in these parts.”
Later the Master said with a sigh: “Holiness today is a name without a reality. It is
only genuine when it is a reality without a name.”
二０七 食 譜
「你在尋找什麼？」大師問那前來請益的學者。
「生命。」學者答道。
大師說：「如果你要生命，就得先死於文字。」
學者央求他進一步的解釋。他說：「你已經陷入了困境、迷失了方向。因為你所渴望的是實質的生命，却心滿意足地仰賴文字維生。要知道，菜單不能餵飽你，食譜也不能解你饑渴。」
FORMULATIONS
“What is it you seek?” asked the Master of a scholar who came to him for guidance.
“Life.” was the reply.
Said the Master, “If you are to live, words must die.”
When asked later what he meant, he said. “You are lost and forlorn because you dwell
in a world of words. You feed on words you are satisfied with words when what you need
is substance. A menu wilt not satisfy your hunger. A formula will not slake your thirst. “
二０六 拳打太極
大師常告訴新入門的弟子：「敲，門就會為你而開。」
不久，他又狡黠地對其中幾位說：「如果這門從未關上，你又怎能期待它的開啟？」
SHADOW BOXING
To newcomers the Master would say, “Knock and the door will be opened to you.”
To some of them he would later say conspiratorially, “How would you expect the door
to be opened when it has never been shut?”
二０五 共 融
大師卽將圓寂，這是無法挽囘的事實了。弟子們希望為他預備一場隆重的葬禮。大師聽到了，就說：「以天地為棺，以日月星辰為冕，整個宇宙為我護行入墓－－我還能奢求比這更莊嚴的儀式嗎？」
大師要求「天葬」，但弟子們無法接受他的遺命，耽心他會被飛禽野獸吞噬。
「那麼，記得把我的手杖擱在身邊，我好能及時驅走野獸。」大師笑着說。
「這怎麼可能，你已經沒有知覺了。」
「旣然如此，鳥獸來吃我，又有什麼關係！」
COMMUNION
When it was certain that the Master was going to die, his disciples wished to give him
a worthy funeral. The Master heard of this and said, “With the sky and the earth for my
coffin; the sun and moon and stars for my burial regalia; and all creation to escort me to
the grave — could I desire anything more ceremonious and impressive?”
He asked to be left unburied but the disciples wouldn’t hear of it, protesting that he
would be eaten by the animals and birds.
“Then make sure you place my staff near me that I might drive them away.” said the
Master with a smile,
“How would you manage that? You will be unconscious,”
“In which case it will not matter, will it that I be devoured by the birds and beasts.”
二０四 工 具
一位弟卽將辭別大師，重返他的家業。臨行前，他請求大師贈言。
大師說：
「好好體會下面的話：
火無冷熱，是你感覺冷熱。
眼睛看不見，是你看見。
畫圈的不是圓規，而是那製圖的人。」
INSTRUMENTALITY
When a disciple came to take leave of the Master so that he could return to his family
and business, he asked for something to carry away with him.
Said the Master, “Ponder on these things: It is not the fire that is hot, but you who feel
it so.
It is not the eye that sees but you.
It is not the compass that makes the circle but the draughtsman.”