..续本文上一页pproach and win people”s hearts for us as educators is to start very low and take the threat away from anything we say.
说到这里，我想你们有没有问题，或一些立场；有的请上来，我们一起讨论。或许关于教育你也有一些好东西可以说，或者关于我现所讲的话有问题，都可以上来。
At this point I would ask any of you who have any questions to come forth and we can discuss some of your questions and your attitudes and your problems or some good things that you have to say about education. Or any questions you want to ask me about my talk right now.
请不必怕。你知道在佛殿讲法应是我们每个人都应参与的，不是光我一个人唱独脚戏——尤其在「超现代」社会里，更不是「我」在此发号施令而「你们」在台下听号听命。这种做法不好，这样我成不了一个好老师的。
Don”t be shy. You know a Dharma talk in the Buddha Hall should be something we can all participate in, and not just be me—the authority—in this postmodern world, telling you what to do. This is not a good practice. It won”t make me a good teacher.
在「后现代」社会里我们人人都是老师，对每个人的权益我们都要尊重，现在人是具这种眼光的。也许到这里来的许多人有这种思想，我们应该注意这一点。所以着手处可以从鼓励他人发表意见开始；表达思想，提出问题，甚至如果不提问题，说说他们的所见也可以。
In the postmodern world we are all teachers and we all have to respect each other”s authority. That”s how people see themselves. Probably many of the people who come here have that attitude, and we have to be aware of that. One of the ways to start is to have the courage to speak up, to say what you think, and to ask the questions that are going through your mind, or not even ask questions, but just if you have an observation, say it.
问：世界各地不同文化的学生您都教过，您可不可以说说您的经验并作一些比较？
Question: You have taught extensively in different parts of the world to people of different cultures. Can you speak a little bit about your experience
答：可以，但是这是很难讲的。因为我认为人都是一样的，无论你走到哪；衣着、眼睛、肤色会有不同，但其本质却都是一样的，甚至在对待宗教的角色的态度上人都基本上是一致的：人人都说自己的好，这是一种防御心理。
我可以跟你们讲讲一个经历，那是我在沙地阿拉伯一所妇女大学教书的时候。沙地阿拉伯是一个意识形态保守的国家，从那个角度上讲，它是一个「现代」国家，因为它固守一种形态。它自有一套体系，而且还蛮灵光的，它也不想变化那体系。我不是在这儿对那个体系评头论足的，那个体系有其善，亦有其不善，不管怎样那个体系却能使沙地人民凝和团结。我在那儿从事教授外语的工作。那里大部份的老师都是信基督教的，有一些学生也是基督徒；阿拉伯人一般是信基督教、回教、犹太教，这是那儿的三大宗教，但是最大的还是回教。
Answer: Well, it”s hard to say, because I firmly believe that people are all the same wherever you go. They might wear different kinds of clothes and have different color eyes and hair, but in essence they are all the same, and even in how they approach the role of religion they are the same: They are defensive of it, and they think theirs is the best.I can tell you of an experience that was very touching and that happened to me when I was teaching at a women”s college in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is one of the conservative countries that stick to a form. In that sense we could say it is a modern country, because it sticks to its own form. It has a proven system that works, and they do not want that system to progress in any way. I”m not here to judge the system. It has its good and bad aspects, but somehow it does keep the people together. I was running a program for learning foreign languages there, and most of the teachers employed there were Christian. Some of the students were also Christian. Arabs are either Christian, Muslim, or Jewish. These are the three religions there, but the biggest one is definitely Islam. It was approaching Christmas, and a new law came down from the King that everyone has to come to school on Christmas Day—teachers and students. If you look at the principle of that law, it wasn”t all that bad. It was their country, and they are for the most part not Christian, so why should they observe a holiday that is not their own, that is imposed on them by the Christians
After all, when they go out into the Christian world, the Christian world forces them to accept Christian holidays and the Muslim holidays are put on the backburner. So the government”s policy was: This is a Muslim country, and Christmas is going to be a working day.
那次，快到耶诞节的时候，从国王那儿下了一道圣旨，设了一条新法律：耶诞节那天所有的人——老师和学生，都得来学上课。这条立法的精神，倒还不是那么坏，这是他们的国家，他们大都不信基督教，为什么要去庆祝一个不是他们…
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