光陰
Fleeting Time
世人喜歡以光陰比喻時間，而我更喜歡把它想象成一條一去不複返的河流。
People like to think of time in terms of day and night. For me, I prefer to imagine it as a river of no return.
孔子走到河邊說：“逝者如斯。”
At the bank of a river, Confucius says: “The passage of time is just like that.”
哲學家赫拉克利特說：“你不能兩次踏入同一條河流。”
The philosopher Heraclitus says: “No man ever steps in the same river twice.”
奧修說：“生命在流動，它是一條河流。”
Another wise man says: “Life is on the move; it is a river.”
先哲們都以此強調時光的珍貴。的確，曾經如同河流般消失了的時光，永遠不複回歸。無論它是輝煌還是暗淡，幸福還是憂傷。人的生命在即生中只有一次，以什麼樣的方式度過這段光陰，值得我們深深地思索。
The sages all emphasize the preciousness of time. Indeed, as a rushing river, time will never return once it”s gone, no matter whether it has been splendid or obscure, happy or sad. In this life, we humans can live only once; thus it is important to ponder deeply how to spend the time we have.
今天一位驕傲的知識分子問我：“您老是強調要我們背誦經論。但我總覺得修行人應以發菩提心、調服煩惱、觀修禅定爲主。理論上的東西，了解其大概就行了，何必一一背誦？浪費很多時間呢？”他說得有道理，但我知道他每天“節約”的時光，並不是用來做他所說的重大要事，而是用于散亂、閑聊、癡睡等無義之事。我回答他說：“你說得有道理。如果你的時間真用于發菩提心、修禅定，我當然隨喜。但你是否整天都修禅定而沒有時間背誦呢？不是吧。”一句話仿佛使他恍然大悟。他說：“我明白了。其實我嘴上說的好聽，實際上並沒有好好珍惜時間。從今天起，我要從散亂中至少抽出半個小時背誦。”聽了他的告白，我很感欣慰。不僅僅是他，如果所有的修行人每天哪怕抽出十分鍾，背誦一個偈子，記下一段公案，一定會有所裨益的。
A pompous intellect said to me today: “You always emphasize that we should memorize the sutras and shastras. Yet I think a Dharma practitioner”s main concerns should be cultivating bodhichitta, overcoming confused emotions, as well as practicing concentration and meditation. As to the theoretical aspects, a rough understanding should suffice. Why waste time memorizing them line by line
” He had some points there. But I knew the time he so “saved” had not been used properly on the crucial tasks he mentioned, but rather on worthless activities such as distractions, gossiping, and slumber. I replied: “What you said makes sense. I would rejoice for sure if you were to really use your time in cultivating bodhichitta or sitting in meditation. But is it because you are sitting in meditation all day long that you have no time for recitation and memorization
Not quite so, correct
” Hearing this, he seemed to see the light at once and said: “I understand now. I am just a big talker; in fact, I have not devoted my time to practice. From now on I will save time from distractions to memorize stanzas for at least 30 minutes.” Hearing his confession, I was quite pleased. This case applies not only to him, but also to all practitioners; it is definitely beneficial to find time every day, even if it”s only 10 minutes, to memorize one stanza or note down a koan.
魯迅先生也說：“我不是什麼天才，只不過是把別人喝咖啡的時間用來看書和寫作了而已。”世間的名人懂得對光陰的珍惜，卻不知道用于修行；修行的人懂得修行，卻往往不知道珍惜時間。
Mr. Lu Xun said once: “I am no genius; I only make full use of time. When people are having coffee, I”d rather be reading or writing.” Famous people in the world value time highly but know not to use it on spiritual growth; spiritual seekers know Dharma practices but usually do not cherish time.
既然我們無法使時光倒流，如何使人生過得完美，不致臨死之時爲虛度年華而悔恨，就應當如海綿擠水一樣擠出每一分、每一秒，做有意義的事，而不應散亂度日。
So long as we are unable to turn time backward, we should try to live our lives perfectly. Otherwise on our deathbed we will be overcome with remorse for having wasted our precious time. Let us make use of every minute, every second, like squeezing out water from a wet sponge, on meaningful activities; let us not squander our time on distractions.
壬午年二月初六
2002年3月20日
6th of February, Year of RenWu
March 20, 2002