You Protect Yourself

自我保护

'Protecting oneself one protects others'

'Protecting others one protects oneself.'

保护自己就是在保护他人，保护了他人，也就是保护了自己。

Once the Blessed One told His monks the following story:

在一次开示会，佛陀对僧众讲述了以下的故事：

'There was once a pair of jugglers who did their acrobatic feats on a bamboo pole. One day the master said to his apprentice: 'Now get on my shoulders and climb up the bamboo pole.' When the apprentice had done so, the master said: 'Now protect me well and I shall protect you. By watching each other in that way, we shall be able to show our skill, we shall make a good profit and you can get down safely from the bamboo pole.' But the apprentice said: 'Not so, master. You! O Master, should protect yourself, and I too shall protect myself. Thus self-protected and self-guarded we shall safely do our feats."

「有一回，两位杂耍艺人在市集表演撑杆杂技。师傅对徒弟说：『站在我的肩膀，爬到竹竿顶端。』当徒弟爬去后，师傅又对徒弟说：『现在你要好好的保护我，我也会保护你，我们需要彼此保护，这样才能做好我们的表演，我们才会有好的收入，你也能够从竹竿平平安安的下来。』但是，徒弟对师傅说：『不！师傅！你要保护好自己，我也保护好我自己，只有自我保护、自我警惕，我们才能安全的表演我们的节目。』」 

'This is the right way,' said the Blessed One and spoke further as follows:

'It is just as the apprentice said: 'I shall protect myself,' in that way the Foundation of Mindfulness should be practised. 'I shall protect others,' in that way the Foundation of Mindfulness should be practised. Protecting oneself one protects others; protecting others one protects oneself.

「这时最正确的方法」佛陀接着说道：「就如徒弟所说的：『我要保护好自己』，保护自己就是保护他人，保护他人也就是保护自己。」

'And how does one, in protecting oneself, protect others? By the repeated and frequent practice of meditation.

「一个人要如何才能保护自己，又能保护他人呢？只要经常和反覆的修持禅定和内观就能做到。」

'and how does one, by protecting others, protect oneself? By patience and forbearance, by a non-violent and harmless life, by loving kindness and compassion.' (Satipatthana, Samyutta, No:19)

「一人要如何既保护自己又保护他人呢？以耐心和宽容过非暴戾和无害的慈悲生活，就能做到。」《相应部经.四念处经》No.19

'Protecting oneself one protects others'

'Protecting others one protects oneself'

These two sentences supplement each other and should not be taken (or quoted) separately.

「保护自己，就是保护他人，保护他人，就是保护自己。」这两句话是相辅相成，不能分开的。

Nowadays, when social service is so greatly stressed, people may for instance, be tempted to quote, in support of their ideas, only the second sentence. But any such one-sided quotation would misrepresent the Buddha's statement. It has to be remembered that, in our story the Buddha expressly approved the words of the apprentice, which is that one has first to carefully watch one's own steps if one wishes to protect others from harm. He who is sunk in the mire himself cannot help others out of it. In that sense, self-protection is not selfish protection. It is the cultivation of self-control, and ethical and spiritual self-development.

如今，当人们大力的强调社会服务时，只倾向于保护他人，这是片面的引用佛典，曲解佛陀的本意。别忘记，在故事中佛陀赞扬那个徒弟，假如一个人想要保护他人，首先他需要保护自己。试想，如果自己陷身于泥沼中，是否有能力帮助别人脱离泥沼呢？在这种前提下，保护自己并不是一种自私的行为，它是一种自我控制，和发展自我道德和精神领域的行为。

Protecting oneself one protects others - the truth of this statement begins at a very simple and practical level. At the material level, this truth is so self-evident that we need not say more than a few words about it. It is obvious that the protection of our own health will go far in protecting the health of our closer or wider environment, especially where contagious diseases are concerned. Caution and circumspection in all our doings and movements will protect others from harm that may come to them through our carelessness and negligence. By careful driving, abstention from alcohol, by self-restraint in situations that might lead to violence -in all these and many other ways we shall protect others by protecting ourselves.

「保护自己，就是保护他人。」这句话是多么的简单和实际，不需要多做诠释。很明显的，保护好自己的健康，就能保护自己周围的环境，尤其当传染病肆虐的时候。如果我们慎重和注意于我们的行动，就能避免他人因我们的疏忽而受到伤害。小心开车、不喝酒、制约自己暴戾的倾向，这样一来，我们不但保护了自己也同时保护了他人。

We come now to the ethical level of that truth. Moral self-protection will safeguard others, individual and society, against our own unrestrained passions and selfish impulses. If we permit the Three Roots of everything evil, Greed, Hate and Delusion, to take a firm hold in our hearts, then that which grows from those evil roots will spread around like the jungle creeper which suffocates and kills the healthy and noble growth. But if we protect ourselves against these Three Roots of Evil, fellow beings too will be safe from our reckless greed for possession and power, from our unrestrained lust and sensuality, from our envy and jealousy. They will be safe from the disruptive, or even destructive and murderous, consequences of our hate and enmity, from the outburst of our anger, from our spreading an atmosphere of antagonism and quarrelsomeness which may make life unbearable for those around us. But the harmful effects of our greed and hate on others are not limited to cases when they become the passive objects or victims of our hate, or their possession the object of our greed. Greed and hate have an infectious power, which can multiply the evil effects. If we ourselves think of nothing else than to crave and grasp, to acquire and possess, to hold and cling, then we may rouse or strengthen these possessive instincts in others too. Our bad example may become the standard of behavior of our environment for instance among our own children, our colleagues, and so on. Our own conduct may induce others to join us in the common satisfaction of rapacious desires; or we may arouse feelings of resentment and competitiveness in others who wish to beat us in the race. If we are full of sensuality we may kindle the fire of lust in others. Our own hate may cause the hate and vengeance of others. It may also happen that we ally ourselves with others or instigate them to common acts of hate and enmity.

现在我们来看看自我保护的道德层次是什么？道德性的自我保护，将安全的保护他人和社会，免于我们个人不受制约的感情冲动或自私的行为所伤害。假如，我们允许三种恶根──贪、嗔、痴存在于我们内心，这三种恶根无边无际的扩散，有如丛林中的蔓草，窒息了周围植物，令它们不能健康的成长。如果，我们为了保护自己而降伏这三种恶根，那么，我们周围的人或众生，将因此而获得安全，免于我们的鲁莽、占有欲和权力欲的伤害，免于我们无节制的贪婪和情欲的伤害，免于嫉妒和猜疑的伤害，免于我们的破坏性、分裂性和杀伤性所伤害。他们将会更安全。这些突发性的情绪，导致不协调和争执，使我们周围的生命都无法忍受。我们对别人的贪、嗔，不仅仅是贪和嗔这么简单，贪和嗔具有强大的感染力，所带来的业报无法估计。假如我们只想到贪取、把持或占有，这时，我们也唤醒了强加在他人身上的所有不良本能。我们的行为可能是周围环境的榜样，我们的孩子或同事可能学习我们，我们的行为诱导他人追求与我们相同的贪婪和欲望，我们的行为也可能激发他人的愤怒和争议，从而想挫败或打击我们。当我们充满色欲时，同时会点燃别人邪淫之火。当我们嗔恚心重时，会造就他人的报复心。我们也可能联合他人，或煽动、或鼓励他们一起产生嗔恚心或某些暴戾的行为。的确，贪和嗔就好像传染病一样，假如我们能保护好自己免于受到恶根的传染所影响，那么，我们在某种程度「保护了他人」。