弄懂人生的坚忍和操守, 藉此修养自己的心性【文化释说 • 5.4上 • 连载英文有声书】
【文化释说 • 第五篇】
Appreciate life’s
resilience and resoluteness,
and to cultivate
one’s mind and spirit.
弄懂人生的坚忍和操守
藉此修养自己的心性
（ 5.4 上）
现世更需要自救
The present world needs self-deliverance even more
人生一辈子只有短短几十年啊, 人要替自己的生命负责, 爸爸妈妈养育我们是非常不容易的。我们不仅应当善待自己, 还应懂得, 无论何时何地, 现世社会更需要有勇气自救。善待自己最重要的是什么, 首先要善待自己的一颗心, 人心不良善, 命运多灾难。
A human life is brief and we need to be responsible for our own destiny. It has been extremely difficult for our parents to have raised us up. Not only do we need to treat ourselves kindly, we need also to realize that at any point in time and wherever one may be, present society needs the courage of self-deliverance even more. What is the most important thing about treating yourself kindly? The priority is for us to treat our mind kindly because without kindness, there will be many disasters and much misfortune in life.
2015年4月的腾讯新闻发了一则消息, 4月16号, 在天津施行了一个手术, 一个小孩患了肝病, 爸爸要把自己四分之一的肝移植他。这个小孩2009年出生到人间, 生下来不久就得了黄疸病, 妈妈就献出六分之一的肝, 移植给他。新闻中, 妈妈抱着这个孩子, 她的鱼尾纹很多, 脸庞跟老太太似的。妈妈的肝脏移植给他之后, 孩子没有好彻底, 现在又长了肝病。如果不做手术, 没有人移植给他肝, 他又要面对死亡。所以这一次, 爸爸再把肝割下来给他, 这就是父母为了子女所做的付出。在父母心中, 孩子如同他们的命啊。
There was a piece of news which was reported in Tencent Media in April of 2015. On the 16th of April, an operation was being carried out on a little boy who was suffering from liver disease. The father wanted to donate a quarter of his own liver to him. The boy who had been born in 2009 had suffered from jaundice not long after birth and his mother had transplanted a sixth of her liver to him then. In the report, the mother who was seen carrying this boy looked like an old lady with her wrinkled face. The boy did not recover fully after that transplant and his condition developed into liver disease. If he did not receive a second operation for another liver transplant, he would have to die. That was why the father was donating his liver that time. These are how parents would sacrifice for their children. In their mind, their children are the same as their lives.
我的妈妈也是今年(2015年)去世的, 87岁。到今天也没多长时间, 我一想起我妈妈跟我在一起吃饭的场景, 心里就不好受。因为我出家二十多年了, 没有回家跟妈妈吃过一次年夜饭, 没有过过一次节日。我家在上海, 经常出国要到上海国际机场去转机, 却很少有机会回家看妈妈。
My mother passed away sometime this year (2015) at the age of 87. It was not too long ago. It is especially unbearable for me whenever I think of the times I spent my time having a meal with her. This is because it has been more than 20 years since I renounced the household life. During that time, I have never been able to have a reunion dinner on the eve of Chinese New Year with her, or spend time with her on a holiday. Although my home was in Shanghai and I often had to get to the international airport there to board my flights to travel abroad, I had few opportunities to visit her at home.
我已经出家二十多年, 跟妈妈在一起生活的日子非常少, 所以我有时候会看看妈妈的照片。我刚出家时, 妈妈还很年轻呢, 六十多岁, 八十多岁的时候, 头发全部白了, 这么长的时间里, 我没有能跟妈妈在一起几天。
I have already renounced the household life for more than 20 years and the days I have spent living with my mother have been very few. So I would sometimes look at her photos. My mother who was then about 60 years old, was still very young when I first renounced the household life. Her hair had gotten all white by the time she was more than 80. During the long period of time, I was not able to even spend a few days with her.
所以我妈妈去世的时候, 我就跪在我妈妈的遗体边发誓, 我就是你血肉的延续, 我向你承诺:为了表达我爱你, 我不损害我自己。我只有这个誓言来承诺给我妈妈。
That was why when she had passed away, I knelt down beside her to tell her that since I was a perpetuation of her physical existence, I would promise that I would never harm myself as an expression of my love for her. I could only repay her with such a promise.
孔老夫子说, 身体发肤受之父母, 身为子女没有权利损害自己的身体啊。所以抽烟、喝酒, 摧残你自己, 你是没有这个资格摧残自己的身体的。身体是爸爸妈妈给你的, 如果不做光宗耀祖的事情,那就太不懂事了。
Confucius said that since our physical selves have been gifted to us by our parents, we do not have the right to harm ourselves. Therefore, you do not have the right to engage in smoking and drinking since such acts harm your body. You are really too ignorant if you do not use your physical selves which have been gifted to you by your parents to do things which will make your clan and ancestors proud.
天下有那么多的好事我们可以去做, 我们要认真想想怎么报答父母的恩德。人生几十年难道就没有事可做? 我做个和尚还天天忙得吃不好饭、睡不好觉呢。
There are so many good things in the world that we can do. We should seriously think about how we can repay the benefaction of our parents. Is there nothing that we can do in the few scores of our life? Even as a monastic, I always become so busy that I am not able to get proper meals and enough sleep.
昨天来参加研讨的有一千多人, 企业家协会来了很多人, 不少都是真正的社会精英, 包括总裁、董事长。今天来到这里, 又是社会精英。咱们齐鲁大地, 也是到处出圣贤, 我到这里来讲传统文化, 是不是班门弄斧啊? 你们想想看, 我压力多重啊, 吃不好饭、睡不好觉。
There were about a thousand people who came to the discussion yesterday, many from associations of entrepreneurs, some of which are the cream of society – CEOs and directors. It is also the cream of society who have come here today as well. This great land of Qi and Lu of ours have also produced many sagely and virtuous persons. Am I not showing off to come here to talk on traditional culture? So you see there is a lot of pressure on me, such that I could not eat and sleep well.
昨天晚上两点钟我还没有睡呢, 就想今天应该带什么礼物给大家。我们好不容易见一面啊, 我十分珍惜这次机会, 心里有许多话想对你们说。我怕你们会感到孤独, 你们虽然是很多人聚在一起, 但我怕的是你们的心感到孤独, 我想来给你们送些希望, 哪怕是小小的一点点希望。我想带给你们光亮, 好让大家的心通向光明。老实说, 就算到寺庙里, 也不一定见得到我。所以见一面不容易的, 我要拿什么礼物呢? 我也没法给每人带一万块人民币, 而且钱是没有用的, 就算给一座金山, 也会吃空。
I was still awake at about two in the morning yesterday, as I was wondering what gift I should be bringing for you today. I cherish this opportunity very much as it has not been easy for us to meet up. I have too many things to say to you. I am afraid you will feel lonely although so many of you get together. However, I am worried that you might feel lonely at heart. I wish to come and give you hope, even though it might be a small one. I wish to bring you illumination so that everyone of you can have your mind directed towards the light. Frankly speaking, you might not get to see me even if you visit my monastery. As such, it has not been easy for us to meet. So what is it that I shall gift you? I am not able to give RMB10,00 to every one here. Besides, money is useless. Even a gold mine will become empty one day.
人要有一个正确的人生方向, 这才是受用不尽的。一个正确的人生理念, 会光宗耀祖, 会造福子孙。我是佛弟子, 是佛的儿子, 佛教三千零四十五年了, 佛教一代一代传承着, 没有中断。
It is only when we have a correct direction in life that we are able to be continuously benefitted by it. A proper life philosophy will bring honour to one’s clan and ancestors, as well as blessings to one’s descendants. I am the Buddha’s disciple, and his child. It has been 3,045 years and the Buddhist lineage has continued uninterrupted one generation after another.
我的师父坐牢坐了二十多年, 用命把佛保下来的。你别觉得我们今天见面好像很轻松啊, 佛教这么庞大的体系, 在人间传了三千多年了, 多少王朝覆灭, 大刀、长矛、枪、炮都保不住, 可是佛教竟然能在人间延续。
My master was imprisoned for more than 20 years during which he sacrificed his life to ensure that Buddhism would not be lost. Do not take for granted that it is with much that ease we have met today. Buddhism is a huge system which has been transmitted in the world for more than 3,000 years. Many empires have collapsed despite the possession of mighty swords, long spears, guns and canons. However, Buddhism is able to be perpetuated for so long.
佛教一边叫别人放下, 不要执着, 但是佛却这么执着地救度众生, 为什么? 佛教有一句话, 叫做不忍众生苦啊。我们佛教里有一首“教歌”——《三宝歌》。第一句是“人天长夜、宇宙暗暗、谁启以光明”, 人生有了光明, 找到了心灵的光明才好。佛就是来打开我们的心灵之门, 为我们插上心灵的翅膀的。
Although Buddhism teaches one to let go and to not cling on, the Buddha was preoccupied with the deliverance of myriad beings. Why? There is a Buddhist saying that the Buddha cannot bear to see myriad beings suffer. There is also a Buddhist ‘anthem’ known as The Song of the Three Jewels. The first line goes, ‘When the night is long for the human and heavenly beings and the universe is all dark, who will it be who brings illumination?’ All will be well only when there is bright light in our life and our mind is being illuminated. It is precisely the Buddha who has come to open the door of our spiritual selves, and gift our spirit wings so that it can take flight.
一个人真正获得了这种智慧, 有了这种志向, 人就能够自己悟道了。人是自己做出来的。此时, 只要肯修心归正, 你的人生就已经走上正途了。什么时候出那扇大门, 只是时间的长短。一时的落魄, 一时的低谷, 不代表未来都是这样, 要把错念改为正念, 直面人生。你应当先在心灵中自救 , 才能超越自我。
When a person has truly attained such wisdom, and has set himself such a goal in life, he will be able to realize the Dao himself. We are all self-made. During this time, you are already treading on the right path once you have decided you would train your mind such that it would not go astray. It is only a matter of time when you will walk out of that door. A moment’s despair and despondence does not mean that it will remain the same in the future. One needs to correct one’s wrongful thinking and face life honestly. You need to save your inner-being first in order to transcend your own self.
南非前总统曼德拉坐牢坐了27年, 他是一位和平主义者, 获得过诺贝尔和平奖, 全世界不同国家、不同种族的人都尊敬他; 印度的圣雄甘地被称为现代印度的国父, 他也坐了很多年牢, 提倡非暴力不合作，反对英国人的压迫。“圣雄”这一尊称是印度大诗人泰戈尔赠与甘地的, 爱因斯坦评价他 :“不是通过暴力达到我们的目的, 而是不与你认为邪恶的势力结盟。”人要文明地活着。
Nelson Mandela who was the former president of South Africa, was put in jail for 27 years. A pacifist, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and is respected by people from different countries and of different races. Mahatma Gandhi who is known as the Father of India and who advocated non-violence resistance in defiance of British oppression, was also imprisoned for many years. The honorific ‘Mahatma’ was bestowed upon him by the great poet Leo Tolstoy. Einstein appraised that Gandhi did not achieve his aim through violence, but through not aligning himself with a power that he felt was evil. Humans need to live in a civil manner.
曼德拉提倡非暴力, 成为非洲的圣雄甘地。所以, 我们的这段生活，虽然有物理空间上的不自由, 但是要从好处去想呢? 我们有饭吃, 有地方睡, 有这么多人保护我们的安全。你可以转化一下认识, 把身处的这种境地当作磨炼、救赎的机会, 弄懂人生的坚忍和操守, 藉此修养自己的心性。当你逐渐明白一些道理,安乐之门会一扇扇为你打开,你的翅膀将有一片广阔的天空。心中有了翅膀, 苦不为苦, 时间也不 漫长。
By advocating non-violence, Mandela became the Mahatma Gandhi of Africa. Hence, one should have an optimistic mind-set when one’s freedom is being curtailed physically and spatially. There is food for one to eat, a place for one to sleep, and there are so many guards offering protection. Through just the transformation of the perception, one is able to treat such a predicament as a form of training to fortify oneself and as a chance to redeem oneself, such that one is able to appreciate life’s resilience and resoluteness, and use such a predicament to cultivate one’s mind and spirit. As you gradually understand some of these truths, the doors of tranquillity and bliss will open one by one for you, and you can take flight in the expansiveness of the sky. Suffering is no longer suffering and time no longer slow to pass when there are wings in one’s heart.
我们寺庙里装了40多个监控探头, 还要装那个防盗门、防盗窗, 晚上还要派人巡逻, 你们不用操这个心吧, 多安全啊。外面做不到夜不闭户、路不拾遗, 在这里面夜不闭户、路不拾遗是可以做到的。
On top of the installation of more than 40 closed-circuit cameras in our monastery, there are also anti-theft doors and windows, and patrols are being conducted at night. You need not worry about these when you are in prison as it is very safe. Outside of the prison, doors need to be locked and things lost will never be returned to their rightful owners; whereas the opposite is possible inside the prison.
这是我们的人生经历, 多么宝贵呀, 无论何时何地, 一旦醒悟, 就是人生新的开始。我为什么这样跟你们说, 我还闭关三年多呢。在那么小的环境里, 我就发现人要自我反省、自我管理。
How precious are these life experiences! Whenever it is and wherever one may be, it will be a new beginning in life as soon as one has gained awakening. It is because I have also been through three year’s retreat that I am saying this to you. In that small a setting, I realized the need for humans to reflect on and manage one’s self.
佛教里有一位菩萨叫文殊菩萨, 手拿宝剑, 拿宝剑干嘛? 拿宝剑不是砍别人的, 是斩断自己的烦恼的。下面我们再看一个短片, 题目是《最后的编织》。
There is a Bodhisattva known as Manjusri who holds a sword in his hand. What is the sword for? Not to hurt others but to cut off one’s mental afflictions. Let us now watch a short film the title of which is The Last Weave.
先是什么? 先是一个人有成就感。有了成就感之后, 希望成就感更多, 甚至把自己所有的精力都搭在里面。不仅仅这样, 甚至自己要坠入深渊了, 还不能够及时反省。不仅仅编毛线, 甚至把自己的生命都编在里面, 孤注一掷, 最后让自己坠向入了深渊。
Which comes first? A person first has a sense of achievement. Once there is a sense of achievement, there comes a desire to have more of it to the extent that one directs all of one’s energy towards that. Not only this, but one is unable to reflect on oneself in time even when one is at the brink of an abyss. One is not just using thread to knit, but one is also using one’s life to knit, until finally like a gambler throwing all that he has got onto a single bet, one ends up falling into the abyss.
但是每一个生命都有求解脱的本能, 在这个时候咬断了自己的头发,爬上来头发都是乱乱的, 是用剪刀剪的。只有自己坚定决心, 自我反省, 自我拯救, 才能拿剪刀。那个剪刀拿起来, 就是文殊菩萨的宝剑,割断烦恼、断除烦恼, 我们不能被烦恼所困。
However, there is in every life the instinct to seek deliverance. At this time, one bites off one’s hair, and crawls out dishevelled. The hair needs to be cut with a pair of scissors. One is able to pick up the scissors only when one has made up one’s mind to seek deliverance for oneself after some self-reflection. The pair of scissors is like Bodhisattva Manjusri’s sword – to cut away our mental afflictions and to remove them for we cannot be bound by them.
如果我们的心灵能够保持一种觉悟, 才不会被诱惑。佛教每天吃饭的时候都要念的, 知道感恩, 我们出家人吃饭的地方有个特殊的名字, 叫“五观堂”, 吃饭的时候要有五种观想。第一, 观想这个饭是哪来的? “量彼来处,全缺应供”, 饭是从哪儿来的, 我有没有这个德行吃这个饭? 所以生惭愧心吃这个饭。吃饭的时候把碗端起来叫龙含珠,筷子拿起来凤点头, 然后吃饭时先左、右、中各吃三口, 吃三口还要念三句话: 愿断一切恶、愿修一切善、誓度一切众生。饭吃进去变成我生命的能量, 要做什么? 要断一切我生命当中的恶, 人非圣贤,没有一个人的心灵都是洁白的, 心灵里是有黑暗的。所以要去断恶修善, 愿断一切恶、愿修一切善、愿度一切众生,要把自己变成一个能够对别人有用的人。这就是出家人。
We will not be beguiled and confused if we are able to maintain some kind of enlightenment in our spiritual selves. There is something that we Buddhists chant when we eat everyday to make us be mindful of being grateful. The place in which we monastics take our meals has a special name – ‘Hall of the Five Contemplations’. We need to contemplate on five subjects when we eat. Firstly, we need to think of where is it that our meal comes from. ‘Being mindful of the source of one’s food, and accepting it after having reflected on one’s moral wholesomeness’ – from where has my food come, and have I been morally wholesome enough to accept this food that is being offered to me? As such, we eat with a sense of contriteness. The act of our lifting up our bowl of rice is known as ‘dragon
embracing the pearl’, and that of our holding our chopsticks ‘phoenix nodding its head’. We then take three mouthfuls of rice each to the left, to the right, and then at the centre; chanting these to ourselves each time we take the three mouthfuls: I make the aspiration to abandon all evil, do all that is wholesome, and bring deliverance to all sentient beings. How do we transform it into the energy of life when the food as entered our body? We must cut off all that is evil in our life, as no one is perfect and as such, our spiritual self is not untainted for there will still be some darkness within. Therefore, we need to abandon evil and do good; to eliminate everything that is evil, practise everything that is wholesome, and to bring all myriad beings to deliverance; and to transform ourselves into a person who benefits others. Such is one who has renounced the household life.
每个学佛的人吃饭的时候, 就要念这三句话, 要提醒自己。再说念珠, 为什么我一上来就说手上拿的是链子, 这念珠就是链子、是手铐、 是脚镣、是约束、是管理, 让你不要胡思乱想。念佛念什么?念光明, 愿修一切善、愿断一切恶, 我们叫断恶修善, 要自我提醒。你不自己提醒自己, 不打预防针, 哪一天不小心就糟糕了。
Every Buddhist practitioner has to be mindful of these three chants when eating. Next, we talk about prayer beads. Why do I mention as soon as I am up here that what I have in my hands is a chain. These beads are chains, handcuffs, leg shackles, restrictions, and management to keep your thoughts from wandering. What is it that we are mindful of when we practice mindfulness of the Buddha? It is light – to aspire to practice all that is good, and abandon all that is evil. This is known as the abandoning of evil and the practice of wholesomeness, of which we must remind ourselves. It is as if you are not being vaccinated when you do not remind yourself; it will be disastrous should you be not careful one day.
圣人是修出来的, 凡人也是人做的, 人生几十年到底要做凡人还是要做圣人? 好也是一辈子, 孬也是一辈子, 你为什么不做好的?而且算命大家知道吗? 相信算命的吗? 命是有命理的, 像天气预报一样, 天气有天气规律, 人的命运也是。但是佛教说今天的命是昨天决定的,未来的命是今天决定的:“ 欲问前世因, 今生受者是, 欲问未来命, 今生作者是。” 未来怎么样是今天做的, 我们每天都要保持心念在清醒的状态, 戒恶修善叫修行。自己天天炼自己, 把我们的心放在正念上。自己不管自己, 让别人管是很苦的。
The holy person is so because of practice; so is it the same with the ordinary worldling. Should one, in a lifetime scores of years long, be an ordinary worldling or a holy person? Why should you not be wholesome when it does not make any difference to your life whether you are wholesome or not? Do you know fortune telling?
Do you believe in it? There is destiny to life. It is like weather reporting. There are patterns to the weather, and so it is with one’s destiny. However, it is said in Buddhism that one’s destiny today has been decided yesterday, and one’s future destiny is being decided today. ‘Look at what you are now to find out what you have done in your previous existences, and look at what you are doing now to find out what will become of your future destiny.’ How is our future destiny being decided today? We must maintain our mind in an awakened state such that we practice the doing away of evil and the engagement in good deeds. We need to train ourselves everyday and abide ourselves in right mindfulness. It will be very unbearable if we should let other people control ourselves.
我虽然出家二十几年了, 但是今年我妈妈去世, 我还是深刻反省, 我怎么样把我人生做好, 能够向我妈妈承诺, 你放心地去极乐世界, 我会管好我自己。来, 请我们师父唱一首《烛光里的妈妈》好不好(智坛师父上台演唱)。
I have been seriously self-reflecting since the passing of my mother this year, although I have sought renunciation for more than 20 years. How can I better myself in life so that I will be able to keep the promise to my mother that she can proceed to the Pureland without any worries as I will manage myself properly? Now, let Master Zhi-Tan come up to the stage and sing a song for us – Mother in the Candlelight.
非常谢谢我们智坛师父, 去年在我们寺院里有一场夏令营, 那场夏令营是总裁班的学员。他们听了师父唱之后, 大家都热泪盈眶。第二天我叫他们总结, 讲讲来到寺院的体验和感想, 他们就说，他们认为出家人都是冷漠无情的, 没想到出家人有这样子的情感。
Thank you very much, Master Zhi-Tan. There was a summer camp last year in our monastery, the attendees of which were CEOs. They were all tearing up after they had heard the master’s singing. When I asked them for a debrief on the experiences and thoughts on visiting the monastery the next day, they said that they had never thought monastics to be so tender-hearted as they had used to think all monastics cold and unfeeling.
智坛师父学佛之后非常想出家, 就怕爸爸、妈妈不同意, 结果自己出家之后, 躲到四千多米的山上住了三年多。那不是我们现在这里生活能比的, 四千多米的山上会有高原反应, 烧火要用牛粪, 吃的是什么更不用说了。去年他才有勇气告诉他父母, 他爸爸妈妈到寺院里来了之后, 痛哭着说:“ 失联了之后想念你! 想念你! 现在我看到你安全了, 你安全了我就放心了, 学佛不要紧, 只要你活着就好了。”
Master Zhi-Tan had wanted very much to renounce the household life since he first started his Buddhist practice. His only worry was the question of his parents’ blessing. Due to that, he went to hide in the mountains, somewhere more than four thousand meters high up, for over three years. That is not some place which is comparable to where we are now. There is altitude sickness more than four thousand meters up in the mountains, and fire can only be raised with cow dung. We do not even have to go into what kind of food there is there. It was only last year that he was brave enough to inform his parents. When his parents came to the monastery, they cried painfully, ‘We missed you so much after having lost contact! We missed you! Now that we see you again, we know you are safe. We can rest our mind now knowing that you are safe. It does not matter that you are practising Buddhism. All is good as long as you are alive.’
我觉得父母太伟大了。所以他唱这首歌是非常有感觉的, 因为他也出家了。刚才讲我出家二十多年没有陪过爸爸妈妈, 没办法尽孝。我出家了, 我属于社会、属于大家。这一刻, 我和你们在一起, 我属于你们。我继承这个文化, 我要学习好, 要深入体验修证, 用我整个身心去体验佛教的智慧, 然后才能去传给别人,告诉别人, 让中华民族的儒、释、道中佛教的法脉不断延续在人间。
I feel that his parents have been extremely great. So it was with much sentiments that he was singing this song; because he has sought renunciation. Like what I said previously, I have not been able to be filial to spend time with my parents during the 20 odd years I have been a monk. I belong to society and to everyone once I have renounced the household life. At this moment, I belong to you as I gather with you. I need to study well this culture that has been inherited by me such that I can be deeply immersed in its practice and realization; and after having put the entirety of my body and mind through the experience of the wisdom of Buddhism, I will then share that experience with others so that the path and bloodline of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism can be perpetuated uninterrupted in this world.
未完待续...
Cooming Soon ...
什么！？
慧日国际佛学平台招募义工，
还不赶快报名！
我们用心选择图文，陪伴读者走过漫漫时光，如果您也怀揣信仰，擅长英语、法语、德语、意大利语、西班牙语、葡萄牙语、俄语、韩语、日语、瑞典、挪威语、荷兰语、泰国语等语种翻译，文字【慧日国际佛学微信平台】和图文海报设计，那就别犹豫啦,随喜转发～!
邮箱：
Huiriguoji_recruit@qq.com
【慧日国际佛学微信平台】
Find Me | 扫码就能找到我