失敗

　　On Failure

　　世間的人，不管是市井白丁還是朝廷命官，人人都希望爲一己之利而拼搏。凡事務求一帆風順，經不起半點挫折。其實，失敗也未必一無是處。有一句古訓說得好：“禍兮福所倚，福兮禍所伏”。

　　People in the world, be they illiterate hillbillies or government luminaries, all eagerly strive to fulfill their own interests. When doing anything, they want nothing but smooth sailing and cannot bear the tiniest setbacks. But in fact, failure is not necessarily without merit. There is this adage:

　　Misfortune, that is where happiness depends;

　　Happiness, that is where misfortune underlies.

　　漢地近代高僧弘一法師，是集詩、詞、書畫、篆刻、音樂、戲劇、文學于一身的才子，先後培養出了名畫家豐子恺、音樂家劉質平等一些文化名人。真可謂風流倜傥，才華蓋世。出家後苦心向佛，過午不食，精研律學，被佛門弟子奉爲律宗第十一代世祖。他爲世人留下了咀嚼不盡的精神財富，是中國絢麗至極而歸于平淡的典型人物。

　　The contemporary eminent Chinese Buddhist monk Hong Yi was extremely gifted in poetry, ci (verse), painting, calligraphy, seal cutting, music, drama, and literature. He has also mentored a number of celebrated artists such as Feng Zikai and the musician Liu Zhiping. Master Hong Yi had a carefree and elegant bearing and his achievement in arts and letters was unsurpassed in his time. After he chose to be ordained as a monk, he studied unremittingly Buddha”s teachings and abided the sparing fare of no food after midday. He dedicated himself particularly to Vinaya pitaka and is revered as the 11th lineage holder of the Vinaya School. He has left a rich spiritual legacy for future generations; in China, he stood out as a model figure whose life underwent a transformation from utter glory to utmost humbleness.

　　他在《閩南十年之夢影》中說道：“我的心情是很特別的，我只希望我的事情失敗。因爲事情失敗和不完滿，這才使我發大慚愧，能夠曉得自己的德行欠缺，自己的修養不足。那我才可努力用功，努力改過遷善。無論什麼事情，總希望它失敗。失敗才會發大慚愧。倘若因成功而得意，那就不得了啦。”我特別喜歡背誦這段文字，這種有悖常人的思維，正說明了法師的謙遜與大智大悟。

　　He wrote in Dreams of 10 Years in Minnan: “I have a rather peculiar mindset these days: I only wish for failure in the things I do. It is because failure and imperfection can make me feel humble and abashed. Only then will I see my own inadequacies and lack of qualities, and strive to correct myself for the better. Whatever I do, I invariably hope I will fail; failure teaches me humility. Should I become successful, I might be puffed up with arrogance, which would be disastrous!” This passage is my favorite to memorize, as the master”s unconventional way of thinking reveals his extraordinary realization and modesty.

　　無垢光尊者在《竅訣寶藏論》中的最深要訣之一即是：“滅除我執恒自取失敗。”朗日塘巴尊者也有“虧損失敗我取受，勝利利益奉獻他”的遺訓，與弘一法師的話相比，實有異曲同工之妙。不怕失敗，敢于失敗，真爲大丈夫之膽識。

　　One of the most profound teachings of the Omniscient Longchenpa in The Precious Treasury of Pith Instructions is: “One must cut off self-clinging and choose failure always.” Langri Tangpa also left the teaching:

　　May I take upon myself the defeat

　　And offer to others the victory.

　　These teachings are fortunate coincidences with what Master Hong Yi has to say. The prowess of a truly brave man, after all, lies in his capacity to be unafraid of failure and willingly embrace failure.

　　關于如何面對失敗，世間也積累了不少以辨證的眼光看問題的格言，如 “塞翁失馬，焉知非福。”“生于憂患，死于安樂。”而且，有不少的世間人，也懂得迂回的路必有其收獲。作家羅蘭曾說過：“在人生途中，你每走一步，就必定會得一步的經驗。不管這一步是對還是錯，“對”有對的收獲，“錯”有錯的教訓。繞遠路，走錯路的結果，你就恰如迷路走入深山，別人爲你的危險焦急惋惜之際，你卻采集了一些珍奇的花果，獲得了一些罕見的鳥獸。而且你多認了一段路，多鍛煉出一分堅強與膽量。”

　　There are many proverbs in the world on how to face failure squarely. Many are the fruition of valid analyses, such as: “When the old man lost his mare, who could have guessed it was a blessing in disguise

　　 A loss may well turn out to be a gain,” and, “In adversity, we thrive; in comfort, we perish.” Many people also appreciate that a convoluted path is bound to provide some kind of reward. Writer Ruo Lan once said: “In life, every step we take brings the experience of that one step. This has nothing to do with whether the step is right or wrong. The “right” one yields the right reward. The “wrong” one presents lessons from being wrong. Taking the longer route or walking on the wrong path is just like being lost in the deep mountains. While people are worrying and bemoaning your safety, you hit the opportunity to collect rare flowers and berries, and you spot exceptional birds and animals. In addition, having to cover the extra distance, you have cultivated extra courage and tenacity.”

　　若能勇敢地面對失敗，則將嘗到其中的甘甜滋味。

　　If we face failure bravely, we shall come to enjoy its sweet taste.

　　壬午年二月二十日 　

　　2002年4月2日

　　20th of February, Year of RenWu

　　April 2, 2002

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