Category: 慧眼禪心

　　

在大師的禁語日，一位過客來訪，央求大師賜予智慧之言，作為他人生旅程的座右銘。

大師溫煦地點點頭，拿出一張紙，寫上一個字：「覺。」

訪客感到困惑。「這未免太簡短了吧！能否請您再申述一下？」

大師取囘那張紙，再加上二字：「覺，覺，覺。」

「這些字究竟什麼意思？」訪客困窘地問。

大師再度俯身加上幾個字：「覺，覺，覺，意思就是覺。」
SPIRITUALITY

Even though it was the Master’s Day of Silence a traveller begged for a word of
wisdom that would guide him through life’s journey.

The Master nodded affably, took a sheet of paper and wrote a single word on it:
“Awareness.

The visitor was perplexed. “That’s too brief. Would you please expand on it a bit?”

The Master took the paper back and wrote: “Awareness, awareness, awareness.”

“But what do these words mean?” said the stranger helplessly.

The Master reached out for the paper and wrote: “Awareness, awareness, awareness
means AWARENESS.”

　　　

一位足經此地的政府首長，前來向大師致敬。

「我政事繁忙，無暇聽受長篇大論的開示。」他說：「你能為我這類忙人，把宗教的精髓濃縮成一句話嗎？」

「為了滿全大人的願望，我將它濃縮成一個詞。」

「不可思議！這玄妙的詞是什麼？」

「靜默。」

「如何達到靜默。」

「靜觀。」

「我能再問：什麼是靜觀？」

「靜默。」
RELIGION

The Governor on his travels stepped in to pay homage to the Master.

“Affairs of State leave me no time for lengthy dissertations,” he said. “Could you put
the essence of religion into a paragraph or two for a busy man like me?”

“I shall put it into a single word for the benefit of Your Highness.”

“Incredible! What is that unusual word?”

“Silence.”

“And what is the way to Silence?”

“Meditation.”

“And what, may I ask, is meditation?”

“Silence.”

當一位弟子正在靜坐祈禱，大師拿着一塊磚，死勁地在地上磨。

起初，這位弟子把它當作考驗自己專心的試煉，而欣慰地接受。然而，噪音愈來愈尖銳，他終於耐不住性子，大吼：「老天，你究竟在幹什麼？難道你沒看見我正在祈禱靜坐嗎？」

大師靜靜地說：「我想把這塊磚磨成一面鏡子。」

「你瘋了！磚裏怎能磨得出鏡子來？」

「彼此彼此，在自我內心又怎能生出真正的靜觀者？」

ABSURDITY

The Master kept scraping a brick against the floor of the room where his disciple sat in
meditation.

At first the disciple was content, taking this to be a test of his powers of concentration.
But when the sound became unbearable he burst out, “What on earth are you doing?
Can’t you see I am in meditation?”

“I’m polishing this brick to make a mirror out of it,” said the Master.

“You’re crazy! How can you make a mirror out of a brick?”

“No crazier than you! How can you make a mediator out of the self?”

「如何才能經驗到我與萬物本是一體？」

「聆聽。」大師道。

「我該如何聆聽？」

「把自己化作一隻耳朶，留神於一事一物中宇宙所通傳的玄音。若你所聽到的是你內心的獨白，應立卽中止它的喋喋不休。」

SENSITIVITY

“How shah I experience my oneness with creation?”

“By listening,” said the Master.

“And how am I to listen?”

“Become an ear that gives heed to every single thing the universe is saying. The
moment you hear something you yourself are saying, stop.”

　　　　

有個弟子終日沉浸在祈禱中。大師對他說：「什麼時候你才會自立，而不處處黏着天主不放？」

弟子聞之愕然：「您不常教導我們應仰賴天主如父一般？」

「你什麼時候才會懂得：『父親』並不是讓你倚賴的一樣東西，他只是幫助你驅除內心倚賴他物的習性而已。」

ADULTHOOD

To a disciple who was always at his prayers the Master said, “When will you stop
leaning on God and stand on your own two feet?”

The disciple was astonished. “But you are the one who taught us to look on God as
Father!”

“When will you learn that a father isn’t someone you can lean on but someone who
rids you of your tendency to lean?”

　　　

有一人，不惜翻山越嶺，前來查證大師的顯赫事蹟。

「你的師父曾行過什麼奇蹟？」他像大師的一位弟子查詢。

「嗯……世上有各式各樣的奇蹟。只是在你的家鄉，把天主滿全某人的心願視為奇蹟；在我們這裏，當人們承行天主的旨意時，我們視為奇蹟。」

MIRACLES

A man traversed land and sea to check for himself the Master’s extraordinary fame.
“What miracles has your Master worked?” he said to a disciple.

“Well, there are miracles and miracles. In your land it is regarded as a miracle if God
does someone’s will. In our country it is regarded as a miracle if someone does the will of
God.”

大師常用比喻或故事來啟發弟子，他們聽得津津有味。有時却感到不滿，因他們渴望更深的真理。
大師對他們的不滿，充耳不聞，僅提醒他們：「孩子們，你們還不了解：人類與真理間最短的距離就是故事。」
他又曾說過：「不要低估了故事的作用。俗語說得好：『一分錢的蠟燭可以找到一個遺失的金幣』；一個簡單的故事常會道出最深的真理。」
MYTHS
The Master gave his teaching in parables and stories which his disciples listened to
with pleasure — and occasional frustration, for they longed for something deeper.
The Master was unmoved. To all their objections he would say, “You have yet to
understand, my dears, that the shortest distance between a human being and Truth is a
story.”
Another time he said. “Do not despise the story. A lost gold coin is found by means of
a penny candle; the deepest truth is found by means of a simple story.”