..續本文上一頁人恩惠的報答，要綿延久長。

　　Let grudges be quickly forgotten, let kindness be cherished forever.

　　從前曾子用一貫之理，總括他老師孔子的學說教化，說是﹕「夫子之道，忠恕而已矣！」只是「忠」和「恕」兩個字，就包括一切待人處事的道理了？好像太簡單了！可是這卻是「叁歲小兒道得，九十老翁行不得」的日常戒律。那麼什麼是忠恕？「盡己之謂忠；己所不欲，勿施于人之謂恕」。

　　Zeng Zi once summarized the doctrines of his teacher Confucius by saying, "The Master”s teaching does not go beyond loyalty and reciprocity ." How could loyalty and reciprocity encompass all the principles of dealing with people and handling affairs

　　 It seems too simple! Actually, this is a common truth which a three-year-old child knows, but a ninety-year-old man finds difficult to practice. How do we define loyalty and reciprocity

　　 Loyalty means doing your best. Reciprocity means not doing to others what you wouldn”t want done to yourself.

　　怎樣才是盡己？我們且用造字的原則來分析。忠，是「中」、「心」二字合起來的；凡事處中，不偏不倚，無黨無私，這就是忠。做任何事既不偏任何一方，也不私己，就是「盡己」--盡自己做人的本份。」

　　What does it mean to do your best

　　 Let us look at the structure of the characters. "Loyalty" is composed of the characters for "middle" and "heart/center." To stay in the middle in what we do, without being biased or partial, is loyalty .If we do not favor any side, including our own, then we are doing our best to fulfill our basic human duties.

　　恕呢？是「如」、「心」二字合起來的；常常爲人設想，愛人如己，存著「人溺己溺，人饑己饑」的心腸。恕道雖是儒家提出來的，但是對恕道的實踐，卻以佛家最爲廣大徹底。佛家不但是要平等待一切人，更進一步要平等待一切衆生；不但「己所不欲，勿施于人」，更進一步要「衆生所不欲，爲衆生除之；衆生之所欲，必施于生」。這就是「無緣大慈，同體大悲」，對一切衆生所厭惡的疾苦，皆感同身受，一律平等爲其拔除；對一切衆生所企盼的喜樂，不分緣深緣淺，一律平等愛護給予。我們若願爲衆生拔一切苦，予一切樂，便是生起求智慧的心，能夠覺今是而昨非了，這叫發菩提心。

　　The character for "reciprocity" is composed of the characters for "like/as" and "mind/heart." It means to always think on behalf of others, love others as oneself, and maintain the attitude that, "When others are drowning, it is as if I am drowning; when others are starving, it is as if I am starving." Although reciprocity is a Confucian concept, it is fully realized only in Buddhism. Buddhism teaches us not only to regard all people as equal, but to regard all living beings as equal. Not only must we refrain from doing to others what we wouldn”t want done to ourselves, we must do whatever we can to give living beings what they want. This is "great kindness for those with whom we have no affinities, and great compassion of being one with all." When we see living beings undergoing suffering which they loathe, we feel as if we are suffering with them, and we try to alleviate their suffering in an egalitarian manner. Regardless of how close to or far from living beings we are we bestow upon them equally the things that bring happiness. When we resolve to eliminate the sufferings of living beings and give them every sort of joy, we are in effect resolving to seek wisdom, acknowledging our past mistakes and starting anew. We are making the aspiration for Bodhi.

　　「菩提」就是梵語「覺悟、智慧」之意，這是菩薩的發心，種的是佛菩薩的聖因，可以說已經是個因地的菩薩；再要成爲果地的菩薩，那就必須從發這個菩提心的當下，每日每時每分都不要忘失了這個菩提心；每日每時每分都腳踏實地去做這種菩提行。

　　(Bodhi is a Sanskrit word meaning enlightenment or wisdom.) This is the aspiration of a Bodhisattva, and it plants the holy cause for Buddha- and Bodhisattvahood. We could be considered Bodhisattvas in the causal stage. To become Bodhisattvas in the stage of fruition, we must never for a moment forget our Bodhi resolve, and we must at all times practice the Bodhisattva conduct in a down-to-earth manner .

　　人生世間，就有了接觸；有了接觸，就産生取與；在取、與之間又不免愛惡糾葛；有愛惡糾葛，于是乎恩恩怨怨纏繞，結果是苦苦惱惱不休：這都是源于智慧泯沒不覺之故。要想放得下種種恩怨的情緣，先要提得起。

　　Once we are born into the world, we come into contact with others, and giving and taking naturally take place. In the process, there are inevitable feelings of like and dislike. People get entangled in the bonds of love and hate, and there is endless affliction and suffering. This is because wisdom has been buried and cannot manifest. If we wish to renounce the conditions of love and hate, we must first…

《弟子規淺釋 Standards for Students 第六章﹕泛愛衆 Chapter Six: ON CHERISHING ALL LIVING BEINGS - 7》全文未完，請進入下頁繼續閱讀…