【文化释说英文有声书】第二篇 圣人出而黄河清（五）

五、圣人出而黄河清

Five – Water of the Yellow River turning clear – a sign of the coming of sages

《中庸》第二章,仲尼曰:“君子中庸,小人反中庸。”明白“中庸之道”的人是君子,不明白“中庸之道”的是小人。这里的“反”不是反对,是指不明白;对于明白的人来说,也没有什么伟大,没有得到什么,那是真理的本相。《心经》里说“无智亦无得”, 对不明白的人来说,并没有什么缺失,因为“在佛不增,在生不减”。

The second chapter of The Doctrine of the Mean says: ‘The noble man actualizes the mean; the inferior man goes against it.’ The one who understands the way of the Doctrine of the Mean is a noble man; and the one who does not is an inferior man. Here, to ‘go against’ does not mean ‘to oppose’. It means ‘not being able to understand’. For one who understands, there is nothing great in it and there is nothing to be gained. That is the true nature of reality. The Heart Sutra says: ‘There is neither wisdom nor wisdom to be had.’ For the one who does not understand, there is nothing amiss because ‘the Buddha is not more, and the sentient being not less’.

但是明白的人,“君子之中庸也,君子而时中”。明白“道”的人, 可以安住于“道”中过 24 小时,今天、明天永远这么过。安住于“道”, 与“道”相“和”的人,是吉祥的。“小人反中庸”,“小人而无忌惮也”。一个不懂天“道”的人,就被现象转,见境起心。一个人, 心随境转,迷失自我,不知道有所依止,就随境而流,故称流浪生死; 虽在流浪生死,亦不知遵循“道”,无所顾忌,我们称其为可怜悯者, 但他不是可恶者。这就是“仁”。懂“道”的人对不懂“道”的人, 怀着一颗仁慈之心,所以懂“道”的人为圣人。儒家说“内圣外王”, 是指一个圣人对不懂“道”的人,天生有一种“仁爱之心”,所以不懂“道”的人跟着懂“道”的人,就幸福了。因为他比你还懂你,他知道你缺什么,你追求的那些,尽是些鸡毛蒜皮的琐事。而他教你的, 却是求索人生的终极目标,出离苦海,解脱轮回,往生西方极乐世界, 那是宇宙里高级文明的世界。他教你走这条“道”。

However, for one who understands, ‘the noble man actualizes the mean because he is with it at all times’. One who understands the Dao is able to abide in it 24 hours – today, tomorrow, and forever. Peace and good fortune accrues to the person who abides in the Dao and is in harmony with it. ‘The inferior man goes against the mean.’ ‘The inferior man has nothing to fear and is foolhardy.’ One who does not understand the way of heaven will be transformed by events happening around him, with ideation arising as he comes into contact with different realms of experience. When one’s mind is being led on by different realms of experience, he loses himself, not knowing that he could seek reliance on the Dao. He flows with events and that is why this is known as ‘wandering in the cycle of rebirth and death’. Even as he wanders in the cycle of rebirth and death, he does not follow the Dao and is heedless and foolhardy. We call someone like that a pathetic person, although he is not to be loathed. Such is benevolence. The person who knows the Dao bears a benevolent and compassionate mind towards those who do not. That is why one who knows the Dao is a saintly person. Confucianism talks about ‘being saintly within and acting outwardly like a king’.  This refers to how one who knows the Dao treats one who does not – the former is naturally benevolent and loving towards the latter. So one who does not know the Dao will be blessed once he follows the one who knows. This is because he knows you better than you know yourself. He knows what you lack and what you chase after, even though these may be petty things. However, what he teaches you is the pursuit of the final objective in one’s life – to get out of the ocean of suffering and to escape from the cycle of birth and death. That is the world of the advanced civilizations of the universe. He teaches you to get on this ‘path’.

再回头来看《论语》:“学而时习之,不亦悦乎?”再看这幅画面: 一批学生与一个圣人、一个懂“道”的人生活在一起,从理论到实践, 这样的人是天地间最幸福的人啊!所以“王天下”不是我要“王天下”, 而是百姓自然追随他,一个内圣的人,自然彰显其慈悲的磁场,就会吸引没有依怙的人、不懂“大道”的人去追随他。

Let us go back again to The Analects which says: ‘To study and practice what one has studied, is this not a pleasure’, and re-imagine this: a group of students living together with a sage who has understood both the doctrine and the practice of the Dao. People like them are the most fortunate in the world. Therefore, it is not that one desires to be ‘a king under heaven’; rather, the ordinary folk naturally follow him. A person who is wholesome within naturally exudes an aura of compassion and loving-kindness, and as such attracts those who have nothing to rely on and those who do not know the great Dao to follow him.

这也是老子“无为之治”的道理。“无为”就是“我不要做王”。就像二十四孝里的第一孝,出生在潍坊诸城的舜帝,就是这样一位代表人物。“孔孟之道”一直推崇三皇五帝,五帝中又以尧舜为楷模。尤其舜,出身贫寒,早年丧母, 甚至其父还是盲人,父又续弦,生了弟弟,后母苛刻,百般刁难,有时当面就诬陷他。但舜从不反抗,依然尊母爱弟,甚至后母和弟弟挖井要致他于死地,他从土里逃出来,依然孝顺后母。这就叫难行能行, 这样的品德,感动天地鬼神。

This is also the principle behind Lao-zi’s ‘to govern with non-action’.  ‘Non-action’ means ‘to have no desires to be king’. It is like the first of the Twenty-Four Pieties. Emperor Shun who was born in the city of Zhucheng in Weifang was such a representative figure. Confucius and Mencius had always looked up to the Three Sovereigns and the Five Emperors, among whom Yao and Shun were the role models, especially Shun who was born poor, lost his mother at an early age, and whose father was even blind. His father remarried and his step-mother gave birth to a younger brother. His step-mother was harsh on him. She made things difficult for him, and sometimes maligned him directly. However, Shun had never retaliated; he obeyed his step-mother and adored his brother nevertheless. Even when his step-mother and his brother dug up a well to murder him in it, he managed to escape from it and still continued to be filial to his step-mother. This is ‘doing that which is difficult to do’. The deities and ghosts of the heaven and earth are moved by such character and virtue.

所以,舜走到哪都“彩云覆顶”。现在 21 世纪的人觉得这只是神话传说。一个人保持着一种孝心,孝心的正能量就能感天动地,所以舜所在之处,“彩云覆顶”。舜到哪里都自然而然有人追随,哪怕一个人躲着,慢慢的也有人靠近他,成为聚落、村庄、城镇,舜当时的自发追随者就有几千人。舜的美德就传到了尧的耳朵里。有人禀报:有位叫舜的人 , 难行能行,感天动地,老百姓都追随他,他在哪里,哪里就风调雨顺。古文记载有“尧天舜日”,意思是指,圣贤在的地方, 五风十雨。

That was why ‘brilliant clouds gathered above him’ wherever he went. People of the 21st Century think that is only a myth. When one maintains a filial heart, the positive energy that comes from it will move the heaven and the earth. That was why wherever Shun was, ‘brilliant clouds gathered above him’. There would be people who followed after him wherever he went. Even when he was hiding by himself, people would slowly gather around him such that a hamlet would form to become a village, which in turn would become a town. There were several thousand people who followed after Shun. Tales of his virtues reached Yao when someone reported, ‘There is a man called Shun who did the difficult-to-do, and who moved the heaven and the earth; the ordinary folk followed after him and the weather was favourable wherever he went.’ The meaning of ‘Yao sky and Shun sun’ recorded in ancient times refers to the occurrence of favourable winds and rains whenever there were sages around.

我们现在认为“风雨”完全是自然现象、物理现象,难道“风雨” 没有人格化吗?“水”在宇宙间就没有人格化的神吗?现代社会有管气象的、有管水文的,中国古代认为:河有河神,桥有桥神,树有树神,花有花神。古人总是感觉到了什么,还是认识到了什么?这很有些意思包含其中。

Now, we view the winds and rains as completely natural physical phenomena. Can the water, the winds and the rains never be personified? Is there not a personified deity for water in the universe? There are people who manage the weather and the waterworks in modern society; whereas in ancient China, it was believed that rivers, bridges, trees, and flowers had their own deities each. The ancients could always feel or recognize something which we do not. There is much which is meaningful to be found within.

中国传统文化更接近于现在的“全息宇宙理论”。现在是信息化时代,近两年“大数据时代”又越来越多地被普及。大数据时代是要获取各方数据,不能忽略某些数据,否则你的云计算得出的结论是有偏差的。我们祖先的认知,更像是一个大数据时代,因为他们承认所有数据的存在。

Traditional Chinese culture is more accordant with the theory of the holographic universe of modern times. This is the Information Age, and the idea of ‘big data’ is becoming more and more common within these couple of years. Data has to be gathered from everywhere in the era of big data. You cannot overlook certain data; or else, the results of your cloud computing could be biased. Our ancestors’ cognition and knowledge were more like the era of ‘big data’ because they accepted the existence of all sorts of data.

孔老夫子有位弟子,公冶长,他位列七十二贤人,他会听鸟语, 也算特异功能吧。当时齐王问他罪,关他监狱。后来放出来,孔老夫子不但相信他,还把女儿嫁给他。是他对天地宇宙的认知,要比一般人的频道宽,对真理的认知多,所以孔夫子才尊重他。

Confucius had a disciple, Gong Ye-chang, who ranked 72nd among the Virtuous Ones. He was able to understand the language of the birds. This could also be considered a supernatural ability. At that time, the emperor of Qi had him investigated for criminal conduct and had him imprisoned. After Gong’s release from prison, not only did Confucius believe in him, he also had his daughter marry Gong. This was because the breadth of the knowledge Gong had of the universe was much broader than the average person – he knew much more about the truth; that was why Confucius respected him.

鸟类专家告诉我们,鸟不单单有语言,对方向、对地球磁场的识别更是超过人类。候鸟几千里路迁徙,不会迷失方向,小燕子今年住你家,明年来还住你家,它要飞几千公里,也不需要卫星定位仪。若把一个人丢在几千里外,肯定没有鸽子飞回来得快。

Ornithologists tell us that not only do birds possess language, their ability to distinguish between directions and the magnetic fields of the earth is far more superior than that of humans. Migratory birds fly thousands of miles and do not lose their direction. The little sparrow that nests in your house this year will still be back the next. It has to fly thousands of miles without the need for positioning via satellite. If one is left thousands of miles away, one certainly will not be able to find one’s way back as quickly as a pigeon.

央视放过一部短片《农夫与蛇》,一位老农夫养了八条蛇,一条无毒,七条有毒,他决定把蛇放归自然,结果放了几次,蛇又回来了。后来就请教专家:放蛇要在 5 公里之外,5 公里之内,它的嗅觉都可以嗅到。另外,蛇有强烈的复仇意识,所以民间发生了很多伤害蛇后, 被蛇报复的事例。

There was a short film which was shown on CCTV – The Farmer and the Snake. There was a farmer who had been keeping eight snakes, seven of which were poisonous and one not. He decided to release them one day but the snakes kept coming back despite having been let free a few times. It was only after he consulted an expert that he was told that snakes should be released further than five kilometres away. This was because if they were less than five kilometres away, they could still detect the scent of where they had been kept. Furthermore, snakes have a strong sense of vengeance; that is why there are many folklores about snakes taking revenge on the people who have harmed them.

还有一个现象能体现动物比人本事大,那就是地震时候许多的动物的反应。由于误传,地震信息会造成社会恐慌,所以,国家曾发文:人类至今还没有任何一个国家能够预测地震。我们现在观测地震现象, 还要参考动物的生活规律,要去观察动物的反常现象。

There is also another phenomenon to illustrate that animals are more capable than humans. It is the response of many animals whenever there is an earthquake. As a false earthquake alarm will create panic in society, the government had once issued advisory to inform that until the present day, no one from any country has ever been able to predict an earthquake. Presently, when we make observations in seismology, we still need to rely as a reference the routine of animals so as to look for abnormal phenomena.

我们曾去过普吉岛,几年前发生在那里的大海啸,造成五千多人遇难。后来导游说:“很奇怪,遇难的全是旅客,原住民一个没有。” 后来科学家进行采访,原住民说:“老祖先有言,住在海边的人要观海, 当海水退得很远的时候就赶快跑。”祖先的一句话,让他们保住了性命。

所以,《中庸》里讲“君子”“小人”,其实没有褒贬义,不是说: 君子伟大,小人渺小。而是讲理,“君子”是指明白大道的人,“小人” 是不懂大道的人。

We have been to Phuket Island a few years after the tsunami which killed over five thousand people. The tour guide told us, ‘It is strange that all those who perished were tourists, with none of the victims being indigenous.’ Later, when the scientists were carrying out interviews, one of the indigenous people said, ‘We have been told by our ancestors that if we live by the sea, we should be observant so that when we see the waves retreating too far into the sea, we should start to take flight immediately.’ Due to this single piece of advice from the ancestors, they managed to save their own lives.

Hence, when The Doctrine of the Mean mentions the ‘noble man’ and the ‘inferior man’, it is neither to flatter nor to belittle; but to reason that the noble man is one who understands the Great Dao, while the inferior man is one who does not.

比如,伏羲大帝因觉了大道,画出先天八卦;其后周文王落狱八年, 研习先天大道之后,他又推演出后天八卦。众生无明,无从知晓大道,非但不懂得良性循环,遵循“道”的规律,还自取恶性循环,沿着“小人”的命运轨迹流转。后天八卦由八个卦位推演成六十四卦,可以预测天文地理以至未来。现代人学《周易》,求道的人少之又少,更多的是出于功利目的,为了算命或者猎奇。

Take for instance the Primordial Eight Trigrams with which Great Emperor Fu-xi had come up after he had been enlightened on the Great Dao. Emperor Wen of Zhou Dynasty formulated them into the Manifested Eight Trigrams after having studied them subsequently during the eight years he was imprisoned. Ignorant myriad beings are unable to know the Great Dao. Not only are they unable to understand ‘the wholesome cycle’ and obey the workings of the Dao, they choose vicious cycling instead by continuously transmigrating through the path of life of the inferior man. From the positioning of the trigrams of the Manifested Eight Trigrams, the 64 Trigrams which could be used to make astrological, geographical and future predictions were developed. Among the people who study the I-Ching nowadays, extremely rare are those who pursue the Dao; most do it for fame and earthly gains, fortune-telling or out of exoticism.

道教里说:逆者成仙,顺者成人。逆就能成仙,你顺着后天八卦就是凡人,凡人就摆脱不了凡人的局限与苦难。包括“中庸”,其实“中” 是“道”,“庸”是遵循于“道”。这样子的人,也可以是秉持了“中庸之道”的人。

It is said in Taoism that ‘by going against [the Manifested Eight Trigrams], one becomes divine; by obeying [the Manifested Eight Trigrams], one becomes human.’ When you follow the Manifested Eight Trigrams, you are an ordinary worldling who cannot shrug off the limitations, sufferings and misfortunes that come along with being an ordinary worldling. This includes the ‘Mean’(中庸). In fact, 中 refers to the Dao (or the Path) and庸 to the following of the Dao. Such a person can be said to be one who upholds the Doctrine of the Mean.

佛,阿耨多罗三 藐三菩提 ,中国话叫无上正等正觉,是指脑细胞百分之百开发了,已经百分之百通达大道。就是说,佛来救度众生, 他要告诉你,为什么你是众生,会轮回、深陷苦海,他把道理讲得很清楚。比如,四天王天、忉利天、夜摩天、兜率天、化乐天和他化自在天,叫欲界六天。现在弥勒菩萨就住在兜率天。兜率天一天,是人间 400 年,然后还有色界天、无色界天等。除了佛家之外,没有人给你讲得这么清楚。

‘Buddha’ and ‘anuttara-samyak-sambodhi’ which are known as ‘ultimate unsurpassed perfect enlightenment in Chinese, refer to the complete development of the brain cells such that they have already fully penetrated into the Great Dao. That is to say, by coming to convey myriad beings to emancipation, the Buddha is explaining to you why you are one of the myriad beings, telling you that you will go through the cycle of birth and death, and that you will be mired in the ocean of suffering. He has laid the reasons out very clearly. Let us mention for instance, the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings, Trayastrimsa Heaven, Yama Heaven, Tusita Heaven, Nimmanarati Heaven and Paranimmita-vasavatti Heaven which are known as the Six Heavens of the Sensuous Realm. Buddha Maitreya is presently staying in Tusita Heaven in which a day there is 400 years in the human world. Then, there is the Fine Material Realm and the Immaterial Realm…except for the Buddhists, no other people will explain it to you in such details.

所以,仰观三教,儒教充满了对众生苦的这种同理心、恻隐心和 仁爱心;道教充满了对众生苦的不忍心;但佛教对众生苦的了解是最彻底客观的,充满了周切的慈悲之心。

我们今天不是解释《中庸》的所有内容,而是依着《中庸》聊天, 把《大学》《中庸》《论语》《道德经》《金刚经》《心经》等,渐渐地聊明白。我们把华夏典籍的思想汇聚在一起,古圣先贤著典的情怀和精神如在眼前。在这种超时空的照耀下,“观”这个“澜”,“探” 这个“源”,然后明白了,你就是“大明湖”了。

As such, as we look at the three religions, we find that while Confucianism is full of empathy, sympathy and benevolent love for the suffering myriad beings; and the Taoists cannot bear to see myriad beings suffer; Buddhism’s understanding of the suffering of myriad beings is the most thorough and objective, and is full of felicitous compassion and loving-kindness.

Today, we do not aim to explain The Doctrine of the Mean in full; but to rely on it as the subject matter to talk about the Great Learning, the Dao De Jing, the Diamond Sutra, and the Heart Sutra so that we can gradually reach an understanding. As we gather in one place the thoughts of the classics of the Hua Xia civilization, it is as if the state of mind and the spirit of the ancient sages and the early virtuous ones are right before us. Under such illumination which has come to us beyond time and space, we should be able to observe the ‘ripples’ and explore the ‘origin’, and then reach the understanding that we are the Lake of Great Illumination.

为什么道的文化能在人间永继流布?这是因为圣人之仁的心怀使然。

Why is it that the culture of the Dao can be perpetuated in the human realm? This is surely due to the mind of benevolence that the sages possessed.

有人说佛在哪里,看不见摸不到的。其实看到佛教的智慧了,你就应当看到佛了,这就是佛在人间的体现。作为凡人,我们去探知“道”、 学习“道”、遵循“道”,然后自己跟“道”合一,靠什么入门呢? 一个字——“诚”! 佛门中靠什么求?唯“诚”“敬”二字。一分诚敬消一分业障,添一分福德;十分诚敬消十分业障,增十分福德。

Someone asks, ‘Where is the Buddha? He cannot be seen and felt.’ In fact, when you are able to see the wisdom in Buddhism, you would have already seen the Buddha. This is the Buddha’s manifestation in the human world. As an ordinary worldling, we explore what is the Dao, study it, and follow it; and then be one with it. How do we begin? One word – ‘sincerity’. Within Buddhism, what do we rely on in our search? It is ‘sincerity’ and ‘respect’. The more we are sincere and respectful, the weaker will be our karmic hindrances and the more blessed we will be.

我们这些生生世世不明白“道”的人,在无明的状态下,造作、 积累了很多恶业,“负能量爆棚”,这样的人给他们讲“道”也懂不了。佛教中讲业障,《地藏经》里说“业障”:能敌须弥,能深巨海, 能障圣道。

Those of us who have not understood the Dao throughout our past lives, commit and accumulate many unwholesome deeds in a state of ignorance, such that the negative energy amassed is bursting. People like these will also not understand the Dao if you tell them. Buddhism mentions karmic hindrance; in the Earth Store Sutra, it is said karmic hindrances may rival Mount Sumeru, are deeper than the great oceans, and obstruct the holy path.

一个有病的人,你想给他吃饭,他是吃不进去的,只能给他吃流食, 流食也不行了,就静脉注射,肌肉不吸收了,哪怕是神医,也只能治病不治命。一个人如果没有正能量,负能量已经很大的时候,是没有办法的。

Even when you try to give food to one who is ill, he will not be able to eat. You can only offer him fluids. If that will not do, you will have to give him an intravenous injection. When the body is unable to absorb nutrients, even a doctor who can work miracles will be unable to save one’s life. If one does not possess positive energy and when negative energy has become too great sometimes, there is nothing that can be done.

这就是“圣人之教”,依循次第,给你一点一点消业障、培福德, 减少负能量,增加正能量,增加到一定程度,当你成纯阳之人,就会见“道”了。

These are the ‘teachings of the sages’. Follow them in sequence and you will be able to eradicate your karmic hindrances little by little and your blessings will grow, such that your negative energy will decrease while your positive energy increase, until such a time that you have become a complete person at which juncture you will be able to see the Dao.

英文翻译&读诵：建成