The Need for Tolerance Today

　　容忍

　　”If a person foolishly does me wrong, I will return to him the protection of my boundless love. The more evil that comes from him the more good will go from me. I will always give off only the fragrance of goodness.” (Buddha).

　　假如一個愚癡的人冒犯了我，我以無限的愛回報他，他越是冒犯我，我越是以愛回報他，我永遠的散發出善的芳香。 ─佛陀─

　　People today are restless, weary filled with fear and discontentment. They are intoxicated with the desire to gain fame, wealth and power. They crave for gratification of the senses. People are passing their days in fear, suspicion and insecurity. In this time of turmoil and crisis, it becomes difficult for people to coexist peacefully with their fellowmen. There is therefore, a great need for tolerance in the world today so that peaceful co-existence among the people of the world can be possible.

　　今天，世間的人太忙碌和太疲倦了，他們充滿了恐懼和不滿足。他們沈迷于權力、名譽、財富、地位的追求。他們追求感官的滿足，生活在恐怖和猜疑中。在這動蕩和充滿危機的時代裏，每一個國家和民族都有責任促進彼此間的和平共處。今天的世界，對容忍的需求是迫切的。

　　The world has bled and suffered from the disease of dogmatism and of intolerance. The land of many countries today are soaked with the blood spilled on the altar of various political struggles, as the skies of earlier millennia were covered with the smoke of burning martyrs of various faiths. Whether in religion or politics people have been conscious of a mission to bring humanity to their way of life and have been aggressive towards other ways of life. Indeed, the intolerance of the crusading spirit has spoiled the records of religions.

　　今天，世間的流血和苦難，來自于教條主義和不能容忍。今天，很多國家的山河，布滿了各種不同的社會問題，宗教祭壇流滿了衆生的鮮血。有如同數千年前，天空布滿了殉教者焚燒自己的煙霧。今天，人類已經覺察到有責任把人性帶到他們的生活中，進一步的尋求另一種生活方式。的確，十字軍的不能容忍，破壞了宗教的紀律。

　　Let us look back on this present century of highly publicized ”Progress”----a century of gadgets and inventions. The array of new scientific and technical inventions is dazzling _telephones, electric motors, airplanes, radios, television, computers, space ships, satellites and electronic devices°‚. Yet in this same century the children of the earth who have developed all these inventions as the ultimate in progress, are the same people who have butchered millions of others by bayonets or bullets or gas. Amidst all the great ”progress”, where does the spirit of tolerance stand

　　讓我們回顧一下，現代高度公認的所謂「進步」，我們生活在一個機械和發明的時代，一系列高新科技的玩意令人頭暈目眩──電話、電報、發電機、收音機、電視機、太空船、人造衛星等等。在同一個世紀，發明這些新玩意兒的人，也同時是那些以武力、炮彈、毒瓦斯屠殺千千萬萬同胞的人。雖然說科技是進步了，可是容忍的精神在哪裏？

　　Today man is interested in exploring outer space. But he is totally unable to live as man-to-man in peace and harmony. Man will eventually desecrate the moon and other planets.

　　今天，人類的科技已經在發展外太空了，可是卻無法促進人與人之間協調、和平的共同生活。人類將把這些荒誕的事情帶到月球或其它星球。

　　For the sake of material gain, modern man violates nature. His mental activities are so preoccupied with his pleasure that he is unable to discover the purpose of life. This unnatural behavior of present mankind is the result of his wrong conception of human life and its ultimate aim. It is the cause of the frustration, fear, insecurity and intolerance of our present time.

　　爲了物質的利益，人類聽不見大自然的聲音。他們只想到滿足欲樂而忽略了身心的發展。這種現代人類不自然的行爲，是人類對生活的終極目標産生錯誤觀念的結果，這也是導致現代人恐懼、焦慮、不安與不能容忍的主要原因。

　　In fact, today intolerance is still practised in the name of religion. People merely talk of religion and promise to provide short cuts to paradise, they are not interested in practising it. If Christianity live by the Sermon on the Mount, if Buddhists follow the Noble Eightfold path, if Muslims really follow the concept of Brotherhood and if the Hindus shape their life in oneness, definitely there will be peace and harmony in this world. Inspite of these invaluable Teachings of the great religious teachers, people have still not realized the value of tolerance. The intolerance that is practised in the name of religion is most disgraceful and deplorable.

　　今天，不能容忍仍然存在于宗教中。人們僅僅有興趣談論宗教的教義，卻沒有興趣去實踐和修持宗教的教義。假如基督教徒依據《新約》的《登山寶訓》而生活，佛教徒依「八聖道」而生活，回教徒依《古蘭經》而生活，印度教徒依他們聖者的教誨而生活，那麼，這世界將到處是和平、協調和幸福。雖然，有這些偉大宗教導師的教義，在指引人類的生活，可是，人類依然無法了解容忍的價值，以宗教名譽做出不能容忍的事，是可恥和可悲的。

　　The Buddha”s advice is ”Let us live happily, not hating those who hate us. Among those who hate us, let us live free from hatred. Let us live happily and free from ailment. Let us live happily and be free from greed; among those who are greedy.” (Dhammapada 197,200)

　　佛陀告誡我們：

　　「生活在怨恨中，而沒有怨恨，是真正快樂的生活，在怨恨的人群中，我們住在無怨恨中。」《法句經》V.197

　　「生活在貪欲中，而沒有貪欲，是真正快樂的生活，在貪欲的人群中，我們住在無貪欲中。」《法句經》V.199

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