..续本文上一页truly wise and compassionate friend is one who, with understanding and sympathy of heart, is ready to criticize and admonish, to point out one”s faults, to exhort and encourage, perceiving that the final end of such friendship is growth in the Dhamma. The Buddha succinctly expresses the proper response of a disciple to such a good friend in a verse of the Dhammapada: "If one finds a person who points out one”s faults and who reproves one, one should follow such a wise and sagacious counselor as one would a guide to hidden treasure" (Dhp 76). 佛教意义上的善友，其内涵远甚于结交意气相投或与之有共同兴趣者。实际上它意味着寻找能够引导与指点自己的智侣。圣友的任务不仅是行道的同伴; 真正的智慧、慈悲之友，乃是一位心怀理解与同情，愿意批评、责备、指错、敦促、鼓励、视佛法中成长为友谊之终极目标者。佛陀在《法句经》中简明扼要地表达了一位弟子对此等善友的态度:“如果找到一位愿意指错、批评者，他应当追随这位智慧、贤明之士，如紧跟一位宝藏的向导。” (Dhp76)

　　Association with the wise becomes so crucial to spiritual development because the example and advice of a noble-minded counselor is often the decisive factor that awakens and nurtures the unfolding of our own untapped spiritual potential. The uncultivated mind harbors a vast persity of unrealized possibilities, ranging from the depths of selfishness, egotism and aggressivity to the heights of wisdom, self-sacrifice and compassion. The task confronting us, as followers of the Dhamma, is to keep the unwholesome tendencies in check and to foster the growth of the wholesome tendencies, the qualities that lead to awakening, to freedom and purification. However, our internal tendencies do not mature and decline in a vacuum. They are subject to the constant impact of the broader environment, and among the most powerful of these influences is the company we keep, the people we look upon as teachers, advisors and friends. Such people silently speak to the hidden potentials of our own being, potentials that will either unfold or wither under their influence. 亲近智者对灵性进步之所以如此重要，是因为圣者的指点常常是唤醒与培育我们的灵性潜力使之开启的决定性因素。未修之心具有广泛多样的潜在可能性，低至自私、自我中心、侵略性，高至智慧、奉献与慈悲。作为法的追随者，我们面临的任务，是抑制非善巧的心性，培育善巧的心性，长养那些趋向觉醒、自由、清净的素质。然而，我们的内在心性并非在真空中成熟或衰退。它们不断地受着环境的影响，其中最有力者乃是我们的同伴，我们尊为导师、顾问、朋友者。这些人潜移默化着我们自身隐藏的潜力，使之或者开启、或者枯败。

　　In our pursuit of the Dhamma it therefore becomes essential for us to choose as our guides and companions those who represent, at least in part, the noble qualities we seek to internalize by the practice of the Dhamma. This is especially necessary in the early stages of our spiritual development, when our virtuous aspirations are still fresh and tender, vulnerable to being undermined by inward irresolution or by discouragement from acquaintances who do not share our ideals. In this early phase our mind resembles a chameleon, which alters its color according to its background. Just as this remarkable lizard turns green when in the grass and brown when on the ground, so we become fools when we associate with fools and sages when we associate with sages. Internal changes do not generally occur suddenly; but slowly, by increments so slight that we ourselves may not be aware of them, our characters undergo a metamorphosis that in the end may prove to be dramatically significant. 因此在佛法修行之中，选择那些起码部分地体现我们希望藉修法而自摄之尊贵素质者作为向导与同伴，就成为一个关键的问题。这一点在我们灵性发展的早期阶段特别有必要，那时我们的求善志向尚为新生、柔弱，易受内在的不决感与非同道之损友的破坏。在这个早期阶段，我们的心如同变色龙，随着不同的背景变换色彩。正如这只奇异的蜥蜴入草而身绿，着地而色棕，我们在亲近愚人时亦会转愚，亲近智者时也将得智。内在的转化通常非是骤然达成，而是逐渐地以可能不为自身觉察的微小幅度递增，我们的品格经历着一场最终有可能极其显著的形变。

　　If we associate closely with those who are addicted to the pursuit of sense pleasures, power, riches and fame, we should not imagine that we will remain immune from those addictions: in time our own minds will gradually incline to these same ends. If we associate closely with those who, while not given up to moral recklessness, live their lives comfortably adjusted to mundane routines, we too will remain stuck in the ruts of the commonplace. If we aspire for the highest — for the peaks …

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