「謀生」與「謀死」

　　“Preparing for Life” and “Preparing for Death”

　　他們都在謀生，但死了要怎麼樣死呢？

　　沒有人想到這個問題，所以說沒有人「謀死」。

　　People in all walks of life are preparing to make their own living, but how are we going to die

　　No one thinks about this question. So I say nobody is “preparing for death.”

　　各位青年的老朋友，各位老年的小朋友，大家今天聚會在一起，就算沒有大緣，也有小緣，我說這個道理，你們誰也不能否認的。

　　All young old friends and old young friends, if we don”t have great affinities, then we must have small affinities in order to gather here today. No one can deny this.

　　爲什麼我稱呼你們爲青年的老朋友？因爲我看你們青年人都像很有志氣的樣子，老成持重，態度謹慎，所以把你們稱爲青年的老朋友。爲什麼又叫老年的小朋友呢？在這裏有幾位老年人，看上去很活潑天真，不用心機計謀，也沒有什麼妒忌心、障礙心、人我是非心，所以把你們叫做老年的小朋友。去年你們有些人來過，今年不知是否仍是那班人繼續來？或者有新的，或者有舊的，所以可以說是新朋友，也可以說是舊朋友。

　　Why do I call you “young old friends”

　　 I call you that because you all seem to have great resolve, and you look mature and sensible. Why did I also call you “old young friends”

　　 It”s because there are a few older people here who look very lively yet mild, who are not scheming, jealous, obstructive, or inclined to discriminate about people”s rights and wrongs.

　　A group came from your school last year, but I don”t know if you are the same group. There probably are some new people and some who have been here before, so we can say you are both new friends and old friends.

　　在萬佛聖城，我們的宗旨是想要改變教育的風氣。世界上叁教九流，五行八座，有形形色色的行業，他們各自都在謀生，而不是在「謀死」。從來誰也沒有想一想將來怎樣死法？活著是活了，但死了要怎麼樣死呢？沒有人想到這個問題，所以說沒有人「謀死」。但是在萬佛聖城的人，有的人就在謀死，有的人也在這兒謀生。

　　Here at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas our mission is to reform the atmosphere of education. In this world, people in all walks of life are preparing to make their own living, not preparing for their death. No one thinks at all about how we are going to die in the future. Indeed, we are living, but how are we going to die

　　 No one thinks about this question. So I say that nobody is “preparing for death.” But at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, there are some people who are preparing for their deaths, and others who are preparing for life here.

　　我們一般人謀生的方式有做生意的，有種田的，有做官的，或做工，或讀書……等等。士農工商官這五大行，人人都願意選擇其中一行來做，于是有人就選擇辦教育，可是就在學生身上打算盤：「我開個學校，有人來讀書，我能賺多少錢，那我就可以謀生了。」于是用種種方法把學校的名氣吹捧成「最高學府」。可是得到了最高學府的頭銜，反而又墮落了，怎麼墮落呢？這種事說出來，我都覺得很醜陋，就在很多學校裏公然販毒、吸毒，你說這可憐不可憐？又在學校裏邊有很多公開的秘密不合法的活動。萬佛聖城鑒于這種情形，所以也成立學校，創辦小學，教人怎樣去盡孝道；成立中學，教人怎樣去忠心愛國；也設大學，教人忠孝仁義──孝順父母，忠于國家，對社會人士要用仁義來相待，這是萬佛聖城的宗旨。還有萬佛聖城的小學、中學、大學完全是免費的，爲什麼免費呢？因爲我不想在學生的身上打算盤，不想在學生身上謀利，這是萬佛聖城的教育作風。在萬佛聖城，無論是小、中、大學的學生、出家人或在家人，最通行的就是遵守六大宗旨：第一、不爭：我不與人爭，人也就不與我爭；人與我爭，我也不與人爭，能夠如此，就可以將世界的爭端化爲烏有。第二、不貪：對于一切一切都不貪。第叁、不求。第四、不自私。第五、不自利。第六不妄語。這是在萬佛聖城大家必修的六大宗旨。諸位來到萬佛聖城，我不是向你們宣傳，但我要向你們介紹萬佛聖城的宗旨，希望青年人特別努力，幫助你的國家，令國家人民得到幸福快樂。盼共勉之！

　　Ordinary people make their living by doing business, by farming, by doing manual labor, by studying, by being government officials, and so forth. People choose to follow a career in one of the five major types of occupations—scholar, farmer, laborer, businessman, and official authority. Some people choose education. They, however, are making a business out of their students—“If I establish a school, how much money will I make from the students

　　 I can make a living!” And they use any means possible to make the school well known, turning it into a “top school.” But after getting a "top school" rating, the school is demoralized. How does this happen

　　 It”s a very embarrassing situation to talk about. In many schools, people are openly selling and using drugs. Isn”t this pathetic

　　 Many illegal activities occur openly on the campuses.

　　Seeing this situation, we at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas decided to establish schools: a primary school to teach students how to be filial; a secondary school to teach students how to be loyal to their country; and a university to teach students the principles of loyalty, filiality, humaneness, and righteousness. This means being filial to one”s parents, being loyal to one”s country, and treating people humanely and righteously. These are the principles of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. Also, the primary school, secondary school, and university at the City are tuition-free. I don”t want to make money off the students; I don”t want to make a profit out of them. This is the City”s educational style. At the City, all the students at the primary school, secondary school, and university, as well as all the left-home people and laypeople, are expected to abide by the six great principles. The first principle is no fighting: if I don”t fight with people, then people won”t fight with me. And even if people do fight with me, I still won”t fight with them. If we can be like this, then the disputes in this world will disappear. The second is not to be greedy, not to be greedy for anything. The third is no seeking. The fourth is not being selfish. The fifth is not pursuing self-benefit. And the sixth is no lying. These are the six great principles that people at the City must cultivate.

　　You are now visiting the City. I”m not advertising; rather I”m introducing the principles of the City to you. I hope you young people will be especially diligent in helping your country, so that the people of this nation will attain happiness. I hope we can mutually encourage each other to do this!

　　一九八叁年五月廿一日中午開示于萬佛聖城

　　(爲紅木大學學生訪問團開示)

　　A talk given at noon on May 21, 1983,

　　at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas,

　　to students from the University of the Redwoods

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