少眠

　　Sleep Sparingly

　　我們不能睡得太多，不能過分懶惰。否則世間出世間之事均不能成功。

　　We should not sleep too much, nor should we be too lazy. Otherwise, nothing can be accomplished, worldly or spiritual.

　　其實睡覺也是一種習慣，有些人就從不睡覺：

　　In fact, sleep is just a habit. There are some people who never sleep.

　　佛在因地時轉世爲德光王子，爲了供養佛陀，多年以來一直遠離睡眠，除了吃飯和大小便，從不休息。

　　In one of his previous lives, Buddha Shakyamuni was reborn as Prince De Kuang. In order to make offerings to the Buddhas, for many years he did not sleep and took breaks only for eating and going to the bathroom.

　　金厄瓦格西也從不睡眠，唯一修持善法。上師仲敦巴說：“弟子啊，應當祛除身體的疲勞，否則四大不調，會生病的。”金厄瓦格西說：“身體健康固然好，但一想到暇滿難得，就覺得沒有空閑休息。”他在一生中念了九億遍不動佛心咒。

　　Geshe Chengawa devoted all his time to Dharma practice; he never slept either. His master Dromtonpa said to him: “You better rest, my son. You”ll make yourself ill if the four elements become imbalanced.” “Yes, it”s nice to be healthy,” Geshe Chengawa replied. “But when I think how difficult it is to find the freedom and advantages that we have, I have no time to rest.” In his life, he recited the mantra of Akshobhya Buddha 900 million times.

　　世間的很多成功者，他們也不願將大好的光陰用于臥榻之上的酣睡。

　　Many successful people in the world also choose not to waste their priceless time snoozing in bed.

　　法國文學家巴爾紮克，每天只睡4小時，即晚上8點到12點，起床後立即利用夜深人靜的機會奮力寫作。他一生中能寫出《人間喜劇》等96部脍炙人口的作品，無不得益于他的勤奮。

　　The French author Balzac slept only four hours a day, from 8 pm to midnight. After he got up, he would write zealously, to make the best use of the quiet hours of the night. With such ongoing diligence, it”s no wonder that he authored 96 masterpieces of universal acclaim, such as Human Comedy.

　　薩迦班智達在《格言寶藏論》中雲：“諸人壽短其一半，夜間入眠如死亡，又遭病老等衆苦，余半亦無享樂際。”《入菩薩行論》中也雲：“依此人身筏，能渡大苦海，此筏難複得，愚者勿貪眠！”

　　In Treasury of Good Advice Sakya Pandita says: “The human”s life span is short; half of it is spent on death-like sleep at night. The remaining half, plagued by miseries such as sickness and old age, is no time to enjoy either.” In A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life it says:

　　Take advantage of this human boat,

　　Cross over the mighty river of suffering.

　　This vessel will be hard to find again,

　　Don”t be so foolish as to sleep it away!

　　作爲一名修行人應時刻提醒自己，不要忘記這些前輩們留下的寶貴財富，不應將時間荒廢在昏睡癡眠當中。

　　As spiritual practitioners, we should remember these rich legacies left by our predecessors and squander no time in drowsiness and sleep.

　　壬午年正月初七　　

　　2002年2月19日

　　7th of January, Year of RenWu

　　February 19, 2002