Inspriration from all walks of life
弟子迫不及待地想把市集上聽來的傳言禀告師父。
大師說：「稍等！你所要告訴我的是真有其事？」
「我不這麼想。」
「它很有用？」
「並沒有什麼用。」
「它很有趣？」
「不！」
「那我們為什麼要聽它呢？」
SPEECH
The disciple couldn’t wait to tell the Master the rumour he had heard in the
marketplace.
“Wait a minute,” said the Master, “What you plan to-tell us is it true?”
“I don’t think it is.”
“Is it useful?”
“No. it isn’t.”
“Is it funny?”
“No.”
“Then why should we be hearing it?”
有囘，一位賭徒向大師說：「昨天我玩牌時，作了手腳，被發現了，牌友揍了我一頓，還把我攆出窗外。你認為我該怎麼辦？」
大師深深望了此人一眼，答道：「如果我是你，從現在起，我會盡量在樓下打牌。」
弟子們聽之一怔：「你為什麼不乾脆勸他戒賭？」
大師簡單而睿智的答覆是：「因為我知道他辦不到。」
REALISM
A gambler once said to the Master. “I was caught cheating at cards yesterday so my
partners beat me up and threw me out of the window. What would you advise me to do?”
The Master looked straight through the man and said, “If I were you, from now on I
would play on the ground floor.”
This startled the disciples. “Why didn’t you tell him to stop gambling?” they
demanded.
“Because I knew he wouldn’t.” was the Master’s simple and sagacious explanation.
「我如何才能獲得永生？」
「永生卽在眼前，只需囘到現在。」
「我目前不正在現在嗎？」
「不！」
「為什麼？」
「因為你尚未捨離過去。」
「我的過去並沒有什麼不好，為什麼要捨離？」
「過去的事應該捨離，不是因為它有什麼不好，而是因為它已經過去了。」
ILLUSION
“How shall I attain Eternal Life?”
“Eternal Life is now. Come into the present.”
“But I am in the present now, am I not?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because you haven’t dropped your past.”
“Why should I drop my past? Not all of it is bad.”
“The past is to be dropped not because it is bad but because it is dead.”
弟子請示智慧之言。
大師說：「囘去，安坐在你的密室內，它會啟示你智慧。」
「我又不是僧侶，那來的密室。」
「你當然有一座密室，往內瞧！」
INTERIORITY
The disciple asked for a word of wisdom.
Said the Master, “Go sit within your cell and your cell will teach you wisdom.”
‘But I have no cell. I am no monk .”
‘Of course you have a cell. Look within.”
大師告訴一位商人：「魚兒無法在乾旱的陸地上生存，你也無法在世界的纏縛中生活；正如魚兒必須囘歸大海，你也必須囘歸寂靜。」
商人聞之一怔：「難道我必須放棄事業，加入隱修會？」
「不！不！你可以繼續你的事業，同時，囘歸你的心靈深處。」
DEPTH
Said the Master to the businessman; “As the fish perishes on dry land, so you perish
when you get entangled in the world. The fish must return to the water — you must
return to solitude.”
The businessman was aghast. “Must I give up my business and go into a monastery?”
“No. no. Hold on to your business and go into your heart.”
「我由何處纔能覓得悟境？」
「這裏。」
「它什麼時候才會來臨？」
「現在。」
「那麼為什麼我體驗不到？」
「因為你根本沒有看。」
「我應注意什麼？」
「什麼也別注意，只是看。」
「看什麼？」
「你眼光所落之處。」
「我是否應以特殊的方法看？」
「不必，平常心卽可。」
「但我平常不都是這樣看嗎？」
「你並沒有。」
「為什麼？」
「因為你必須『在』才能看，而你大部分時間都心不在焉。」
PRESENCE
“Where shall I look for Enlightenment?”
“Here.”
“When will it happen?”
“It is happening right now.”
“Then why don’t I experience it?”
“Because you do not look.”
“What should I look for?”
“Nothing. Just look.”
“At what?”
“Anything your eyes alight upon.”
“Must I look in a special kind of way?”
“No. The ordinary way will do.”
“But don‘t I always look the ordinary way?”
“No.”
“Why ever not?”
“Because to look you must be here.
You ‘re mostly somewhere else.”
「我該怎麼做，才能明心見性？」
「就如同你無法使旭日東昇，對於至高的悟境，你也一無所能。」
「那您所教導的修持方法又有何用？」
「只是讓你在旭日東昇的那一刻，別睡着了。」
VIGILANCE
“Is there anything I can do to make myself Enlightened?”
“As little as you can do to make the sun rise in the morning.”
“Then of what use are the spiritual exercises you prescribe?”
“To make sure you are not asleep when the sun begins to rise.”
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?”