真賊

　　Real Burglar

　　一位尼姑愁眉苦臉地向我講述家中被盜的情況。看到她痛苦不堪的樣子，我一邊想法爲她解決生活上的暫時困難，一邊用輕松的話題安慰她。

　　A distraught nun reported to me that her place had been burglarized. Seeing her gloomy face, I tried to figure out a way to solve her immediate living problems and at the same time comfort her with lighter topics.

　　我告訴她，有一樣東西就有一樣東西的煩惱，家徒四壁，室無長物，並不一定是壞事。我這樣說並不是站著說話不嫌腰痛，而是有切身體會的。

　　I told her: To possess one thing is to invite one problem. To live in a bare house or to own nothing is not necessarily a bad thing. These I say from my personal experience, not because it”s always easy to say something when it”s another person”s headache.

　　記得有次，別人從國外給我帶來一節上等布料。之後很長一段時間，每當看到放在桌上包裝精美的布料，我就會浪費一些時間思考如何最佳地利用它，直到有一天它落入梁上君子之手。看到空空如也的桌子，反生如釋重負之感。

　　I remember once someone from abroad gave me a piece of exquisite fabric. Thereafter, whenever I saw this beautifully wrapped gift on the table, I would waste time thinking how to make the best use of it. This went on for a long time until the day it fell into the hand of a thief; oddly enough, I felt relieved when I saw the bare table.

　　前段時間，因爲不堪房間東西繁雜，尋找資料困難的重負，我將暫時不用的書籍和日用品瓜分與人。看到整潔而又條理有序的房間，我長長地舒了一口氣。

　　Not too long ago, my place was jammed up by all kinds of stuff and the clutter made it very difficult to search for information or look for items. I then gave away books and daily necessities that were not needed for the time being. Thereafter, my room became clean and tidy; I let out a deep sigh of relief.

　　如今，賊主動承擔了整理房間的義務，我們理當心存感激之情。

　　For now, the burglar has on his initiative assumed the responsibility of tidying up the house. We ought to feel grateful.

　　但是，對另外一種狡猾的賊，就要處處提防，不要給他一絲鑽空子的機會。那個可怕的賊，就是煩惱大賊。

　　Yet there is another very crafty burglar that we should really watch out for at all times; do not leave him any way to enter. This dangerous burglar is none other than the great thief of defiled emotions.

　　普通賊看重的只是蠅頭微利，只能暫時給我們的生活帶來不便。煩惱賊虎視眈眈的，卻是我們解脫的大安樂，它偷走了我們的智慧之劍，蒙蔽了我們的雙眼，使我們沈溺于輪回泥潭……煩惱賊的罪過可謂罄竹難書。

　　Ordinary thieves seize only petty items and bring us merely temporary inconveniences in daily living. The thief of afflictive emotions, on the other hand, has his avaricious and menacing eyes on our ultimate bliss of liberation. He will steal from us the wisdom sword; he will blindfold us and throw us into the pit of samsara…. His evils are just too numerous to count.

　　我們常常對偷走物品的小偷咬牙切齒，卻對煩惱大賊熟視無睹。當我們明白了二者的危害孰輕孰重後，就知道誰是我們更要瞪大眼睛防護的真賊了。

　　Normally, we feel so upset that we gnash our teeth at the burglars who have stolen our possessions, yet we neglect to see the thief of destructive emotions right under our nose. Which one of them brings the greater damage

　　 If we get the answer right, we will guard against the real thief alertly with eyes wide open.

　　壬午年七月二十一日　

　　2002年8月29日 　

　　21st of July, Year of RenWu

　　August 29, 2002