..續本文上一頁pproach and win people”s hearts for us as educators is to start very low and take the threat away from anything we say.
說到這裏，我想你們有沒有問題，或一些立場；有的請上來，我們一起討論。或許關于教育你也有一些好東西可以說，或者關于我現所講的話有問題，都可以上來。
At this point I would ask any of you who have any questions to come forth and we can discuss some of your questions and your attitudes and your problems or some good things that you have to say about education. Or any questions you want to ask me about my talk right now.
請不必怕。你知道在佛殿講法應是我們每個人都應參與的，不是光我一個人唱獨腳戲——尤其在「超現代」社會裏，更不是「我」在此發號施令而「你們」在臺下聽號聽命。這種做法不好，這樣我成不了一個好老師的。
Don”t be shy. You know a Dharma talk in the Buddha Hall should be something we can all participate in, and not just be me—the authority—in this postmodern world, telling you what to do. This is not a good practice. It won”t make me a good teacher.
在「後現代」社會裏我們人人都是老師，對每個人的權益我們都要尊重，現在人是具這種眼光的。也許到這裏來的許多人有這種思想，我們應該注意這一點。所以著手處可以從鼓勵他人發表意見開始；表達思想，提出問題，甚至如果不提問題，說說他們的所見也可以。
In the postmodern world we are all teachers and we all have to respect each other”s authority. That”s how people see themselves. Probably many of the people who come here have that attitude, and we have to be aware of that. One of the ways to start is to have the courage to speak up, to say what you think, and to ask the questions that are going through your mind, or not even ask questions, but just if you have an observation, say it.
問：世界各地不同文化的學生您都教過，您可不可以說說您的經驗並作一些比較？
Question: You have taught extensively in different parts of the world to people of different cultures. Can you speak a little bit about your experience
答：可以，但是這是很難講的。因爲我認爲人都是一樣的，無論你走到哪；衣著、眼睛、膚色會有不同，但其本質卻都是一樣的，甚至在對待宗教的角色的態度上人都基本上是一致的：人人都說自己的好，這是一種防禦心理。
我可以跟你們講講一個經曆，那是我在沙地阿拉伯一所婦女大學教書的時候。沙地阿拉伯是一個意識形態保守的國家，從那個角度上講，它是一個「現代」國家，因爲它固守一種形態。它自有一套體系，而且還蠻靈光的，它也不想變化那體系。我不是在這兒對那個體系評頭論足的，那個體系有其善，亦有其不善，不管怎樣那個體系卻能使沙地人民凝和團結。我在那兒從事教授外語的工作。那裏大部份的老師都是信基督教的，有一些學生也是基督徒；阿拉伯人一般是信基督教、回教、猶太教，這是那兒的叁大宗教，但是最大的還是回教。
Answer: Well, it”s hard to say, because I firmly believe that people are all the same wherever you go. They might wear different kinds of clothes and have different color eyes and hair, but in essence they are all the same, and even in how they approach the role of religion they are the same: They are defensive of it, and they think theirs is the best.I can tell you of an experience that was very touching and that happened to me when I was teaching at a women”s college in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is one of the conservative countries that stick to a form. In that sense we could say it is a modern country, because it sticks to its own form. It has a proven system that works, and they do not want that system to progress in any way. I”m not here to judge the system. It has its good and bad aspects, but somehow it does keep the people together. I was running a program for learning foreign languages there, and most of the teachers employed there were Christian. Some of the students were also Christian. Arabs are either Christian, Muslim, or Jewish. These are the three religions there, but the biggest one is definitely Islam. It was approaching Christmas, and a new law came down from the King that everyone has to come to school on Christmas Day—teachers and students. If you look at the principle of that law, it wasn”t all that bad. It was their country, and they are for the most part not Christian, so why should they observe a holiday that is not their own, that is imposed on them by the Christians
After all, when they go out into the Christian world, the Christian world forces them to accept Christian holidays and the Muslim holidays are put on the backburner. So the government”s policy was: This is a Muslim country, and Christmas is going to be a working day.
那次，快到耶誕節的時候，從國王那兒下了一道聖旨，設了一條新法律：耶誕節那天所有的人——老師和學生，都得來學上課。這條立法的精神，倒還不是那麼壞，這是他們的國家，他們大都不信基督教，爲什麼要去慶祝一個不是他們…
《透過教育弘揚佛法 Propagation Of Buddhism Through Education》全文未完，請進入下頁繼續閱讀…