Noodle Soup

　　面條

　　I met a very agreeable friend today and we had a great time chatting. We talked about Buddhism and human life, about the days we were together or separated, touching on almost every topic here and there. Totally engrossed, we did not realize it was time for lunch already. The waitress brought each of us a bowl of noodles. A look at the steaming soup was enough to make us drool, and one bite of it pleased the palate to no end. The saying goes: “When meeting heart to heart, a thousand toasts are far too few.” Little did I know that in the company of a good friend, even noodles would become tastier. The power of the mind is just inconceivable.

　　今天與一位十分投緣的朋友一起聊天，從佛法到人生，從分前別後到大江南北，可謂包羅萬象、無所不談。不知不覺，午飯的時間到了，服務員送來了面條。一看湯色，便令人垂涎欲滴，一品味道，更令人叫絕。世人說：“酒逢知己千杯少。”沒想到，遇到好朋友，連面條也變得可口起來。心的力量真是不可思議。

　　When I was a child, I went out once with my father to Luhuo County and on our way passed by Zindo village. We stopped at a debilitated tiny noodle stand in town and had a bowl of noodles there. Oh my, it was absolutely yummy!

　　記得在我幾歲時，一次父親帶我去爐霍，途經真都小鎮，在鎮上一間破爛不堪的小面館，吃了一碗面。哎呀！實在是太好吃了！

　　Scores of years have passed, and since then I have had many popular delicacies in the world. But somehow I have never savored again the exquisite taste of that bowl of noodles. I am well aware that a bowl of noodles in a tiny village is unlikely to carry any extraordinary flavor. Everything comes from the mind. Perhaps I was so excited about the trip since I seldom went places, or perhaps good foods were indeed rare during those years. Whatever, that bowl of noodles I had at a young age left an indelible impression on my mind, and the one I enjoyed today, I believe, will do likewise.

　　如今幾十年過去了，在那以後，我品嘗了許多人們所公認的世間美味，卻再也品不到那碗面的滋味了。其實我也清楚，一碗小鎮上的面，不可能有什麼與衆不同的味道。一切皆由心情所致。當時也許是因爲難得出門，興致很高，或者是因爲在那個年代實在沒有什麼美味可嘗。同小時候的那碗面一樣，今天的這碗面，也會成爲我終身難忘的記憶。

　　There was once a deposed emperor who chanced upon a dish of tofu during his exile and felt it rivaled the heavenly ambrosia. Upon his return to the palace at the end of his exile, he ordered court chefs to create the same tofu dish, but none was successful in duplicating it. Due to the emperor”s excessive craving for the tofu delicacy in his memory, many chefs were unjustly accused and decapitated. If the emperor had understood that circumstances are but the creation of the mind, the chefs” heads could have been spared. But alas, how many people in the secular world could have known this truth

　　記得古代的一位皇帝，在流亡途中，偶爾嘗得一種豆腐，感覺如天界甘露。流亡完畢回到皇宮，令禦廚仿製，卻怎麼也做不出當時的美味。僅僅因爲對豆腐美味的強烈貪執，便促使他令衆多廚師平白蒙冤、身首異處。如果那位皇帝知道境由心造的道理，也不至于屠殺無辜了。然而，世間又有幾人能明白此理呢？

　　壬午年五月初五　　

　　2002年6月15日 　

　　5th of May, Year of RenWu

　　June 15, 2002