閉口

　　Tight-Lipped

　　作爲修行人平時應常觀己過，時刻保持沈默。嘴應用于念誦、贊頌功德等有意義的事，否則會對來世造成很大危害。

　　As spiritual practitioners, we should always check up on our own faults and keep silent all the time. The mouth is to be used in meaningful activities such as recitation or extolling virtues; otherwise it may cause grave harm to future lives.

　　蓮花生大師離開藏地時教育弟子：經常胡言亂語者容易被別人了知其心，其嬉戲之語有時被理解爲真實，其真實語有時又會被誤認爲玩笑，容易之事也因此而難以成辦，諸弟子應閉口寡言爲妙。藏地大德常用此語教育弟子，使其免造口業。

　　Master Padmasambhava, when departing Tibet, taught his disciples:

　　Loquacious people easily betray their thoughts to others. Their jokes sometimes are interpreted as the real thing while true statements are misunderstood as jokes, making even simple tasks difficult to accomplish. Thus all disciples had better keep their mouths shut and say very few words.

　　偉大的修行者勒索巴格西說：“現在的人喜歡追求大法。整天求此法、求那法，但將所求之法真正進行實修者卻十分罕見。那些人從不想所求之法是否修成。許多人自诩爲叁寶弟子，口裏常說：“我是叁寶弟子。”背地裏卻經常誹謗上師、僧衆等。所以我時常在想，我們的口實在是深墮地獄的因。世上如果有人肯聽我的話，就應當將嘴鎖上，把鑰匙交與他人，直到迫不得已必須吃飯的時候才打開，平時都一直緊鎖著。如果能這樣，那該多好啊！”

　　Great Tibetan masters often cite this instruction to caution students, lest they commit verbal non-virtues.

　　The great practitioner Geshe LeSogpa says:

　　People nowadays like to chase after high teachings; they spend days on end requesting this or that instruction. Yet rarely do they put the requested teachings into actual practice, nor do they care about accomplishing them. Bragging that they are disciples of the Three Jewels, they always babble, “I am a follower of the Three Jewels,” yet they slander their teachers or Sangha members behind them. I always think the mouth can really drag us to the hell realm. If people were to listen to me, they should lock up their mouths and hand the keys to others. The mouth would stay locked all the time, opening only for the necessity of eating. How wonderful if this would actually happen!

　　宋朝的石門慧開禅師也自稱爲“默翁”，他在詩裏寫道：

　　“飽谙世事慵開口，會盡人間只點頭。莫道老來無伎倆，更嫌何處不風流。”從該詩的字裏行間中，也不經意地流露出禅師早已谙熟世事，進入真正風流、自在、逍遙之境界，既不在乎他人的贊毀，也懶于談論他人是非短長的博大胸懷。

　　Zen master Shimen Huikai called himself “the silent old fellow.” He wrote this poem:

　　Been there, done that, I am now too lazy to talk.

　　Seen it, known all, I care only to nod to people.

　　Declare not that this old guy knows nothing,

　　Charming and unconventional is everything but him.

　　世間也有“沈默是金”、“滿罐水，搖不響；半罐水，響叮當”的說法。由此可見，閉口是多麼的重要啊！

　　It”s clear between the lines that this Zen master has seen it all in this world; he is unconventional, carefree, and unfettered. Being broad-minded, he is unaffected by others” praise or insult, nor does he care to discuss others” personal affairs.

　　Other adages also say: “Silence is golden,” and “Full of water, a jar makes no sound; half full of water, lots of clattering noise.” It is obvious, then, how important it is to be tight-lipped!

　　壬午年正月二十四日　

　　2002年3月7日　

　　24th of January, Year of RenWu

　　March 7, 2002