..續本文上一頁efore scholarship and skills. When sages teach and transform people, they also hope that each person can become a sage and a virtuous person.

　　所謂：“衆生皆有佛性，皆堪作佛”、“人皆可以爲堯舜”，佛是大智慧的人所成的，而這個大智慧是衆生本具的，只是自己不知道，被無明障蔽了；現在我們只要能依教奉行，按照佛智慧的教導，就能夠開發本有的智慧，也變得像佛一樣有智慧，那就是成佛了！而堯和舜，是古代兩個有名的聖王，仁慈又孝順，我們只要按照他們的標准去學習，去實行，我們也可以和他們一樣有道德，這不就是成了聖人了嗎？所以孔子把這一套道德的標准流傳下來。好讓我們根據它來學習。

　　There is a saying in Buddhism: "All living beings have the Buddha-nature and can become Buddhas." There is another saying in Chinese: "All men can become like Yao and Shun." The Buddha was a person of great wisdom who realized Buddhahood. This great wisdom is inherent in all living beings, but we don”t realize this because we are covered by ignorance. If we can put the Buddha”s teachings of wisdom into practice now, we will develop our inherent wisdom, and when that wisdom becomes the same as the Buddha”s wisdom, we will have realized Buddhahood. Yao and Shun were two famous sage-kings in ancient China who were known for being humane, kind, and filial. If we could learn from them and follow their standards, we can also become as virtuous as they were--and won”t that make us sages as well

　　 And so Confucius handed down the standards of virtue, giving us the chance to learn from them.

　　孔子又是誰呢？在中國他可真是無人不知、無人不曉的聖人，也是一個最偉大的教育家。他出身貧困．父親又早逝，自小跟著母親做工，因此也學會了很多技能。他又十分好學，不管是生活上的或書本上的知識，他都十分勤勉地去學習實行，所以才能成就他偉大的人格，和無所不知、無所不能的豐富學識和技術。

　　Who was Confucius

　　 He was a sage whom everyone in China knows; he was also the greatest educator. Since he was born in a poor family and his father died when he was very young, he always helped his mother with the chores and learned various skills in the process. Moreover, Confucius pursued knowledge with great diligence. Whether it was practical knowledge from daily life or knowledge found in books, he would actively study and seek to practice what he learned. In this way he developed his extraordinary character and attained the wealth of knowledge and skills that enabled him to accomplish and be familiar with just about everything.

　　他又不單自己好就好了，還願意成就別人，所以他收了很多的學生，“有教無類”，一點也不去分別學生們的家庭背景、本身智力或能力，凡是願意來學習的，只要按照禮節，准備一個小小的見師禮．他沒有不收的。

　　Confucius was not only concerned with self-cultivation, he also wished to help others cultivate their character. That was why he accepted a great many students based on the principle that "in education there should be no distinctions of class." He never indulged in the slightest discrimination based on the backgrounds, intelligence, or abilities of his students. Anyone who wished to study with him, as long as he prepared a token gift for the teacher according lo etiquette, would be accepted.

　　他教化學生是“因材施教”，按照每個人根性的利鈍，心量的大小及境遇的不同，而做深入淺出的不同教導；“誨人不倦”，從來也不感到厭倦、不耐煩，也不知道要休息。所以他的學生成材的很多，代代傳衍下來，他的儒家思想，就成爲中國文明的主流，因此後代的中國人就尊稱他爲“至聖先師”，說他是過去最偉大，最有品德的一位老師。

　　He taught students according to their dispositions. Based on the sharpness of their faculties and the measure of their minds, as well as on their various backgrounds and situations, he would give them inpidualized teachings that were easy to understand but contained deep meaning. He taught without weariness. Confucius never felt tired, never became impatient, and never thought about taking a rest. Therefore, many of his students became capable and productive people, and the Confucian school of thought has been handed down through the generations, becoming the mainstream of Chinese civilization. Later generations have honored Confucius as "the greatest sage and teacher," meaning that he was the greatest and most virtuous teacher of the past.

　　我們現在能讀到《弟子規》，接受他的這種教育思想，也等于是他的學生一樣的。所以我們要珍惜這種的機緣，好好地向這位老師學習怎麼樣成爲一個聖人；而首先，我們要學習怎麼樣來鍛煉自己的品德，充實自己的學識和技能。所以這一章叫“開宗明義”章，就是把所要強調的宗旨提示出來，把所需明白的道理講明了它。

　　Now we have the chance to study The Rules for Being a Student and to absorb his educational ideals--this is equivalent to being students of Confucius. Therefore, we should cherish this opportunity to learn from him how to become a sage. First of all, we should learn how to develop our virtue and how to enrich our knowledge and skills. That is why the first chapter is called "Revealing the Principle and Explaining the Meaning"; it brings out the principle that we need to emphasize and explains the reason why we need to understand it.

《弟子規淺釋 Standards for Students 第一章：開宗明義章 Chapter 0ne - 1》全文閱讀結束。