Author: voice

一七九　人性弱点

大师教给那些争吵不休的夫妻一个无争之道。

他说：「你只能向对方要求他施予恩惠，不能视此为你应有的权益。」

纷争立即中止。

一七八　有　省

有囘，弟子们聚在一起讨论读书的利益，有些人认为这是浪费时间，有些人则难以苟同。

于是他们请教大师，他说：「你曾否读过一本书，列在正文下面的小字注解，有时也如正文一般激发读者不少灵感？」

弟子们颔首同意。

大师接着说：「生活就好比那正文。」

DISCLOSURE

The discussion among the disciples once centred on the usefulness of reading. Some
thought it was a waste of time, others disagreed.

When the Master was appealed to, he said. “Have you ever read one of those texts in
which the notes scrawled in the margin by a reader prove to be as illuminating as the text
itself?”

The disciples nodded in agreement.

“Life.” said the Master, “is one such text,”

一七七　名　相

大师对时髦的新发明，童心未泯地好奇不已。当他看到一个可以放入口袋的迷你计算机，情不自禁地赞叹一番。

过后，他说出相当中肯的一句话：「好像许多人的口袋里都有这个迷你计算机，可是口袋里却没有多少钱值得计算。」

一周之后，有位访客来请教授徒之道。他说：「让他们分清本末。最好是先攒足够的钱，然后才计数它；最好是先有具体的经验，再去设立名相解说。」

DEFINITIONS

The Master had a childlike fascination for modern inventions. He could not get over
his amazement at the pocket calculator when he saw one.

Later he said, good-naturedly. “A lot of people seem to have those little pocket
calculators, but nothing in their pockets worth calculating!”

Weeks later when a visitor asked him what he taught his disciples, he said, “To get
their priorities right: better have the money than calculate it: better have the experience
than define it.”

一七六　欲振乏力

当大师收纳某些人为弟子而拒绝其他人时，弟子们始终不能明白他那几近专横的态度。

直到有一天，他们听见大师说：「不要企图教一只猪唱歌，这不仅是浪费时间，还会激怒了那只猪。」弟子们才若有所悟。

FRUSTRATION

The disciples could not understand the seemingly arbitrary manner in which some
people were accepted for discipleship and others were rejected.

They got a clue one day when they heard the Master say. “Don‘t attempt to teach a pig
to sing. It wastes your time. And irritates the pig-”

一七五　压　力

大师常是随着个人成长的步调，任其自然发展，他从不在旁催迫。他曾说过这样的比喻：

有个人看见一只蝴蝶正在破茧而出，他捺不住性子，所以轻轻地向茧吹气，这股暖气确实加速了出茧的过程，可是出来的不是蝴蝶，而是有一双零乱翅膀的怪蛾。」

大师总结一句：「我们不应为别人催生，否则我们会造成流产的悲剧。」

OPPRESSION

The Master always left you to grow at your own pace. He was never known to “push”.
He explained this with the following parable:

A man once saw a butterfly struggling to emerge from its cocoon, too slowly for his
taste, so he began to blow on it gently. The warmth of his breath speeded up the process
all right. But what emerged was not a butterfly but a creature with mangled wings.

“In growth.” the Master concluded, “you cannot speed the process up. All you can do
is abort it.”

一七四　致命伤

大师以他的德高望重，对宗教却抱着隐隐的敌意。这常使弟子们困惑不已，他们一向把宗教及灵修视为一事。

「当前的宗教所强调的，不外是惩罚与赏报，令人滋生起畏惧与贪欲之心。而这两样东西正是灵修的致命伤。」

他接着感伤地说：「这简直是火上加油，为虎作伥。」

DESTRUCTION

For all his holiness, the Master seemed vaguely opposed to religion. This never ceased
to puzzle the disciples who unlike the Master, equated religion with spirituality.

“Religion as practised today deals in punishments and rewards. In other words, it
breeds fear and greed — the two things most destructive of spirituality.”

Later he added ruefully. “It is like tackling a flood with water: or a burning barn with
fire.”

一七三　老　化

「天哪，你变得这么老了！」大师和他少年时的朋友聊了一阵后，禁不住如此叹息。

「谁也无法避免变老啊，不是吗？」他的朋友自嘲一番。

「是的，谁也避免不了。」大师同意他的话：「但人必须避免老化！」

INFLEXIBILITY

“Heavens, how you’ve aged!” exclaimed the Master after speaking with a boyhood
friend.

“One cannot help growing old can one?” said the friend.

“No, one cannot,” agreed the Master, “but one must avoid becoming aged.”

一七二　无字天书

大师声称他有一本书，记载着人们想要知道有关天主的一切。

从没有人见过这书，直到有位学者来访，禁不住他的苦苦哀求，终于从大师那儿挣得此书。他带囘去迫不及待地翻开，却发现每一页都是空白的。

「这书根本没说什么嘛！」学者极其失望。

「我知道，」大师心平气和地说：「仔细看看它所暗示的何等丰富！」

INSINUATION

The Master claimed he had a book that contained everything one could conceivably
know about God.

No one had ever seen the book till a visiting scholar, by dint of persistent entreaty,
wrested it from the Master. He took it home and eagerly opened it — only to find that
every one of its pages was blank.

“But the book says nothing.” wailed the scholar.

“I know,” said the Master contentedly. “But see how much it indicates!”

一七一　天　职

大师虽乐于看到科技的进步，却也清楚意识到它的限度。

当一位企业家问起他的职业，他答道：「我从事人类企业。」

「那算什么企业？」企业家问。

「就以你为例，」大师说：「你致力于制造优良产品，我致力于生产优良人类。」

后来大师告诉弟子：「生活的意义就是造就人类。可是现代人好像只关心改良产品。」

PRECEDENCE

The Master welcomed the advances of technology but was keenly aware of its
limitations.

When an industrialist asked him what his occupation was, he replied, “I’m in the
people industry.”

“And what, pray, would that be?” said the industrialist.

“Take yourself,” said the Master. “Your efforts produce better things; mine better
people.”

To his disciples he later said. “The aim of life is the flowering of persons. Nowadays
people seem concerned mostly with the perfection of things.”

一七０　揭　示

有天，大师问弟子：「天主存在吗？」
「存在。」弟子异口同声答道。
「错！」大师说。
「不存在。」弟子立刻改口。
「也错。」大师说。
「什么才是正确答案？」弟子问。
「没有答案。」
「为什么？」
「因为没有问题。」大师说。

事后，大师解释：「如果超越言词及槪念的那位，根本「不可说」，你如何能够提出任何问题？」

DEMONSTRATION

“Does God exist?” said the Master one day. “Yes.” said the disciples in chorus.
“Wrong.” said the Master. “No,” said the disciples. “Wrong again.” said the Master.
“What’s the answer?” asked the disciples. “There is no answer. “ “Why ever not?”

“Because there is no question.” said the Master.

Later he explained: “If you cannot say anything about Him who is beyond thoughts
and words, how can you ask anything about him?”