長久

　　Sustained Effort

　　修行是一項曠日持久的艱苦過程。無垢光尊者說：“修行不能僅靠幾天的努力，需要長期的奮鬥。”如果能長期堅持不懈地精勤，既可磨煉意志，又可積攢資糧。

　　Spiritual practice is a challenging process that takes time and endurance. Longchen Rabjam says: “Spiritual practice is not a few days” effort only; it is a long struggle.” By practicing diligently and persistently for a long period, not only we can sharpen our willpower but also accumulate vast merit.

　　記得小時候有一位叫紮拉的阿姨，不僅年輕美麗，而且誠信佛法。她曾跟隨村裏人一起到拉薩朝聖。30年前，她曾在上師前發願，每天磕頭100個，念誦極樂願文1遍，金剛薩埵心咒10000遍。當時尚處于宗教受到嚴重摧毀的恐怖時期，念經誦咒尚可默默完成，但磕頭就有很大困難。除了在家裏，她常在放牧時偷偷到一山洞裏磕頭，並叮囑我爲其放哨。常常趁沒人之時，我就提醒她：“你該磕頭了！”

　　I remember when I was a child, there was a beautiful young aunt called Drala. As a devout Buddhist, she made a pilgrimage to Lhasa with local villagers and pledged to her teacher that every day, she would perform 100 prostrations, read once the Aspiration Prayer to Be Born in the Pure Land of Great Bliss, and recite 10,000 times the Vajrasattva mantra. That was 30 years ago when religions were being destroyed ruthlessly. In that horrific period, one might manage to recite mantras or read sutras silently without getting caught; but prostrations presented a bigger problem. Besides doing it at home, she also tried the accumulation in mountain caves when herding, and would always ask me to stand guard for her. When no one was around, I would always remind her: “It”s time for you to do prostrations!”

　　時光荏苒，30年時光匆匆流逝。其間我經曆了讀書、出家等一系列變故。去年7月，我在老家碰見她，她的臉上已刻滿了曆經滄桑的痕迹。想起當年磕頭的經曆，連忙問她：“您還在繼續磕頭念咒嗎？”她回答我：“從來沒間斷過，即使生了大病，病後仍然補上。現在時間更多了，可以念更多的咒子。”“那這麼多年您一共磕了多少頭？念了多少咒？”“沒統計過，我想只要好好修持就行了，沒有去統計什麼數量。”

　　Time elapsed quickly; 30 years had slipped by before I met her in my hometown last July. During this period I had gone through stages of schooling and become a monk. For her, the experience of life”s ups and downs had chiseled her face. Reminiscing about the old days, I quickly asked her: “Are you still continuing prostrations and recitations

　　” She answered: “Certainly. I”ve never stopped. Even if I missed them during my episodes of severe illness, I always managed to make them up after recovery. Now, with more free time on hand, I can recite even more mantras.” I asked, “Then, through all these years, how many prostrations and mantra recitations have you done in total

　　” She replied, “I have not really kept track of them. I feel practicing alone is good enough and have never cared to count the numbers.”

　　我在心裏爲其保守地算了一下。這30年她至少磕頭1,095,000個，念誦極樂願文10950遍，金剛薩埵心咒109,500,000遍。這對于很多人來說不著啻爲天文數字。紮拉是藏族中極其普通的一位教徒，既沒有名聲，也不算最精進。但她能30年如一日地以磨杵成針的毅力锲而不舍地修行。實爲難能可貴。

　　I made a mental calculation. Conservatively, in the past 30 years, she could have done at least 1,095,000 prostrations, read the Aspiration Prayer to Be Born in the Pure Land of Great Bliss 10,950 times, and recited the Vajrasattva mantra 109,500,000 times. For many people, these figures may seem astronomical. Drala is all but an average practitioner commonly seen among Tibetans, little known, nor extraordinarily diligent. Nonetheless, that she has kept her practice throughout 30 years with the perseverance of “grinding an iron pestle down to a needle” is truly praiseworthy.

　　現在有的人修完一遍50萬加行，就四處炫耀，唯恐他人不知。紮拉卻能默默無聞，從不間斷，的確令人歎服。反觀自己，雖然在上師前發了願，卻沒有如法行持，雖然被別人稱爲法師，卻不如一個普通人，真令我汗顔。古人雲：“骐骥一躍，不能千裏；驽馬十駕，功在不舍。”

　　These days there are practitioners who can”t wait to flaunt around their completion of one cycle of 500,000 preliminaries, lest someone would miss their accomplishment. Drala, on the other hand, cares not for recognition but only to practice persistently; she is indeed admirable. Checking my own progress, I had made pledges before my master, but I have not practiced authentically; I have been addressed as a spiritual teacher, but I am no better than common people. Shouldn”t I blush with shame

　　The ancient saying goes:

　　One gallop of a noble steed remains one gallop of distance, not 10 gallops.

　　Ten days of effort of pulling a cart by an inferior horse, on the other hand, would cover 10 days” distance.

　　Success comes from doing the task persistently.

　　如果每個修行人都能有此精神，有一分付出，就一定會有一分收獲的。

　　Every practitioner should embrace such an enduring spirit. With every ounce of effort put in, there is bound to be an ounce of reward.

　　壬午年二月十二日 　

　　2002年3月26日

　　12th of February, Year of RenWu

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