..续本文上一页人恩惠的报答，要绵延久长。

　　Let grudges be quickly forgotten, let kindness be cherished forever.

　　从前曾子用一贯之理，总括他老师孔子的学说教化，说是﹕「夫子之道，忠恕而已矣！」只是「忠」和「恕」两个字，就包括一切待人处事的道理了？好像太简单了！可是这却是「三岁小儿道得，九十老翁行不得」的日常戒律。那么什么是忠恕？「尽己之谓忠；己所不欲，勿施于人之谓恕」。

　　Zeng Zi once summarized the doctrines of his teacher Confucius by saying, "The Master”s teaching does not go beyond loyalty and reciprocity ." How could loyalty and reciprocity encompass all the principles of dealing with people and handling affairs

　　 It seems too simple! Actually, this is a common truth which a three-year-old child knows, but a ninety-year-old man finds difficult to practice. How do we define loyalty and reciprocity

　　 Loyalty means doing your best. Reciprocity means not doing to others what you wouldn”t want done to yourself.

　　怎样才是尽己？我们且用造字的原则来分析。忠，是「中」、「心」二字合起来的；凡事处中，不偏不倚，无党无私，这就是忠。做任何事既不偏任何一方，也不私己，就是「尽己」--尽自己做人的本份。」

　　What does it mean to do your best

　　 Let us look at the structure of the characters. "Loyalty" is composed of the characters for "middle" and "heart/center." To stay in the middle in what we do, without being biased or partial, is loyalty .If we do not favor any side, including our own, then we are doing our best to fulfill our basic human duties.

　　恕呢？是「如」、「心」二字合起来的；常常为人设想，爱人如己，存着「人溺己溺，人饥己饥」的心肠。恕道虽是儒家提出来的，但是对恕道的实践，却以佛家最为广大彻底。佛家不但是要平等待一切人，更进一步要平等待一切众生；不但「己所不欲，勿施于人」，更进一步要「众生所不欲，为众生除之；众生之所欲，必施于生」。这就是「无缘大慈，同体大悲」，对一切众生所厌恶的疾苦，皆感同身受，一律平等为其拔除；对一切众生所企盼的喜乐，不分缘深缘浅，一律平等爱护给予。我们若愿为众生拔一切苦，予一切乐，便是生起求智慧的心，能够觉今是而昨非了，这叫发菩提心。

　　The character for "reciprocity" is composed of the characters for "like/as" and "mind/heart." It means to always think on behalf of others, love others as oneself, and maintain the attitude that, "When others are drowning, it is as if I am drowning; when others are starving, it is as if I am starving." Although reciprocity is a Confucian concept, it is fully realized only in Buddhism. Buddhism teaches us not only to regard all people as equal, but to regard all living beings as equal. Not only must we refrain from doing to others what we wouldn”t want done to ourselves, we must do whatever we can to give living beings what they want. This is "great kindness for those with whom we have no affinities, and great compassion of being one with all." When we see living beings undergoing suffering which they loathe, we feel as if we are suffering with them, and we try to alleviate their suffering in an egalitarian manner. Regardless of how close to or far from living beings we are we bestow upon them equally the things that bring happiness. When we resolve to eliminate the sufferings of living beings and give them every sort of joy, we are in effect resolving to seek wisdom, acknowledging our past mistakes and starting anew. We are making the aspiration for Bodhi.

　　「菩提」就是梵语「觉悟、智慧」之意，这是菩萨的发心，种的是佛菩萨的圣因，可以说已经是个因地的菩萨；再要成为果地的菩萨，那就必须从发这个菩提心的当下，每日每时每分都不要忘失了这个菩提心；每日每时每分都脚踏实地去做这种菩提行。

　　(Bodhi is a Sanskrit word meaning enlightenment or wisdom.) This is the aspiration of a Bodhisattva, and it plants the holy cause for Buddha- and Bodhisattvahood. We could be considered Bodhisattvas in the causal stage. To become Bodhisattvas in the stage of fruition, we must never for a moment forget our Bodhi resolve, and we must at all times practice the Bodhisattva conduct in a down-to-earth manner .

　　人生世间，就有了接触；有了接触，就产生取与；在取、与之间又不免爱恶纠葛；有爱恶纠葛，于是乎恩恩怨怨缠绕，结果是苦苦恼恼不休：这都是源于智慧泯没不觉之故。要想放得下种种恩怨的情缘，先要提得起。

　　Once we are born into the world, we come into contact with others, and giving and taking naturally take place. In the process, there are inevitable feelings of like and dislike. People get entangled in the bonds of love and hate, and there is endless affliction and suffering. This is because wisdom has been buried and cannot manifest. If we wish to renounce the conditions of love and hate, we must first…

《弟子规浅释 Standards for Students 第六章﹕泛爱众 Chapter Six: ON CHERISHING ALL LIVING BEINGS - 7》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…