7月2日

生機
佛光星雲 ( 1927~ )

樹木，沒有經過日曬雨淋，
不能長高；
人才，沒有經過千鎚百鍊，
不能健全。

污泥可以長出蓮花，
寒門可以培養孝子；
洪爐可以鍛鍊鋼鐵，
困境可以成就偉人；
苦澀可以醞釀甘甜，
煩惱可以轉為菩提。

喜捨好比播種，
懂得播種，必然有所收成；
貪婪彷彿掘根，
根本不固，難望果實纍樹。

忙，像一把鋒利的慧劍，
能斷妄想的葛藤；
忙，是點石成金的手指，
能化腐朽為神奇；
忙,是營養調身的補品，
使人生充滿生機。

──選自《佛光菜根譚》

July 2

Vitality
Venerable Master Hsing Yun (1927 - , Fo Guang Shan)
English translation: Man Ho and Zhi Yue

Trees cannot grow unless bathed in heat and rain.
People cannot be pure without strict training.*

Just as lotuses can grow out of mud,
    filial children can be raised by a humble family.
Just as steel can be forged in a furnace,
    greatness can be produced by adversity.
Just as sweet taste can be brewed from bitterness,
    defilements can be transformed into Bodhi.

Joyful giving, like sowing seeds,
    produces a rich harvest.
Greed, like pulling rice out by the root,
    deprives us of a decent harvest.*

Keeping busy is
    like taking hold of the sharp sword of wisdom;
It can cut off the entanglements of delusion.

Keeping busy is
    like having a finger that turns stone into gold;
It can turn trash to treasure.

Keeping busy is
    like taking nutrients for the body;
It gives life endless vitality.

── from Fo Guang Cai Gen Tan (Roots of Wisdom; *The Everlasting Light)