Chapter Five: LEARNING TO BE TRUSTWORTHY

凡出言，信为先，诈与妄，奚可焉。
话说多，不如少，惟其是，勿佞巧。
苛薄语，秽污词，市井气，切戒之。
见未真，勿轻言，知未的，勿轻传。
事非宜，勿轻诺，苟轻诺，进退错。
见人善，即思齐，纵去远，以渐跻。
见人恶，即内省，有则改，无加警。
凡道字，重且舒，勿急疾，勿模糊。
彼说长，此说短，不关己，莫闲管。
惟德学，惟才艺，不如人，常自励。
若衣服，若饮食，不如人，勿生戚。
闻过怒，闻誉喜，损友来，益友却。
闻誉恐，闻过欣，直谅士，渐相亲。
无心非，名为错，有心非，名为恶。
过能改，归于无，倘掩饰，增一辜。

曾有学生这么问﹕「在不杀、不盗、不邪淫、不妄语和不饮酒这五戒里头，哪个戒最难守得住？」大多数人认为不杀最难，也很多人以为不盗最难；其实不妄语更难！为什么呢？因为生活在世俗社会的一般人，总是对杀盗淫等大恶较有戒心，对饮酒吸毒也很警惕，唯独轻忽了妄语的要紧性，以为既不致损身害命，更无伤大雅，于是乎信口一句话或一个玩笑，就已经破妄语戒了！不过讲话虽然要诚实，为了顾全大局或大信用，有时却也不得不说小谎。总之，是否信实，以初发心那一念为凭；医生为怕病人失去求生意志而说他得的不是癌症，不算破戒。

Students have asked, "Among the five precepts of no killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no lying, and no taking intoxicants, which precept is the hardest to uphold?" The great majority of people think not killing is the hardest; many people also think not stealing is the hardest. Actually, not lying is even more difficult! Why? Because while most people who live in this society are relatively careful about avoiding major evils such as killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct, and they are also pretty cautious about drugs and alcohol, they overlook the importance of not lying. Thinking that lying doesn’t endanger anyone or cause any harm, they carelessly blurt something out or crack a joke--and end up breaking the precept against lying. However, while we should generally tell the truth, sometimes the overall situation or the real meaning of honesty requires us to tell a white lie. Honesty is judged by one’s underlying motivation. If a doctor, to keep a patient from losing the will to live, tells him that what he has is not cancer, that is not considered a violation of the precepts.

古希腊有个大政治家撤士德塔儿。一天，他正在花园散步，忽然自外头跳进一个满身血污的青年。起先他还以为是小偷，可是那青年却「扑通」一声跪倒，急切地哀求他﹕「我因为和人打架，失手把对方打死，别人追着要我偿命；不得已，我才跳进墙来躲，请您务必救我的命。」青年一边说，一边哭着连连磕头。撤士德塔儿看他太可怜，就答应救他这一次，把他带到地窖藏起来。

One day, a great political leader in ancient Greece was strolling in the garden, when suddenly a lad covered with blood jumped in from outside. At first he thought it was a burglar , but the lad knelt down before him and beseeched him, "I accidentally killed someone in a fight. Now people are demanding my life. I jumped over the wall to hide from them. Please save me." Crying as he spoke, the lad bowed down to the ground. Seeing what a pitiful sight he was, the man promised to save him and hid him in the cellar.

不料，过了一会儿，许多人抬了具死尸来，死者正是撤士德塔儿的儿子，他救的青年正是凶手。撤士德塔儿想了一下，表示不知情，就叫人把儿子尸体抬出去料理。到了夜晚，撤士德塔儿把青年自地窖带出，交给他一匹黑马，说﹕「我本该把你交给那些人，因为你打死的正是我的儿子，但我已答应救你，不能不守信用。你赶快骑这匹马逃罢 ！」

A little later, some people carried in a corpse-it was the man’s son. He had saved his son’ s murderer. After thinking about it, he indicated that he didn’t know where the killer was and told the people to take his son’s corpse to be buried. When night fell, he took the lad out of the cellar, gave him a black horse, and said, "I should have turned you over to those people, because the one you killed was my son. But because I’d promised to save you, I couldn’t break my promise. Mount this horse and flee quickly!"

各位善知识！撒士德塔儿为守信用，不惜说小谎，救了杀子凶手；您或许认为他是个傻瓜，一点也不值得这样做吧？但是，话说回来，死者既已无法复生，何必再赔上第二条命呢？能挽救一个悔过人的命，岂不等于是延续了自己儿子的生命？这样于私情难舍能舍，于公信难守能守，不是有非凡魄力的人，是做不到的。他之所以能成为一个非凡的政治家，不正因为他有这种不自私和坚守信用的非凡美德吗？真正有德之士，做任何事都发乎肺腑至诚，根本是连「值不值得」的那一念都没有的。

Good and wise advisors! In order to keep his word, that Greek leader lied to save the killer of his own son. You may consider him a fool for having acted that way. However, since his son could not have been brought back to life, what would have been the point of taking another life? Saving the life of a repentant lad-isn’t that equivalent to prolonging his own son’s life? Being able to relinquish personal affections and maintain trustworthiness with a stranger is not something an ordinary man would be able to do. He was such an extraordinary political leader precisely because of his unselfishness and firm integrity. A truly virtuous person acts out of wholehearted sincerity and never asks whether his deeds will bring him any advantage or not.

因此中国古圣人以「仁义礼智信」为五常──五种必须奉行于日常的不变真理。曾子每日都拿三事做自我的反省检讨﹕为人谋而忠，与人交而信，学而时习之。孔子也说﹕人而无信，就像两个车轮间没了锁住车辕的关键，车子还可以带得动吗？可见诚信对人的重要。

Therefore the ancient sages of China considered humaneness, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness to be five constants- five invariable truths that must be upheld in daily life. Zeng Zi examined himself on three points every day: whether he faithfully conducted his business with others, whether he was trustworthy in his friendships, and whether he reviewed what he had learned. Confucius also said that an untrustworthy person is like two wheels without the axle to lock them in place-how could they support the cart? This shows the importance of honesty.

记得世俗通语有言﹕「害人之心不可有，防人之心不可无。」又说﹕「逢人但说三分话，不可全掏一片心。」其实，这只是一种老于世故的说辞罢了！说谎就像吸鸦片，是会上瘾的。人起初只以不实的言语来保护自己，以为反正不伤害他人；殊不知习惯成自然，谎言越说越顺溜；到后来无法自圆其说时，为掩饰，便开始恶意欺诈了。就像携带枪械刃棒，虽说原是用来防身的，但最后总归是把自己也伤害了。君不见死于刀枪下的人，都是挟带武器的人？「善泳者溺」，也正是这个道理。须知人心真能不设防，才是大防。

I remember a worldly proverb: "Never have a thought of harming others, but always be on guard against being harmed by others. " Another saying goes, "When you meet someone, speak just a little. Don’t pour out your heart to him." Actually, these are just words of worldly experience. Lying is like smoking opium-it’s addictive. People initially use dishonest words to protect themselves, thinking it won’t hurt anyone; they never expect that it will turn into a habit and they will become so good at telling lies, till finally, to cover up for themselves, they start deceiving people maliciously. It’s like when people carry weapons for self-defense, they end up getting hurt themselves. Haven’t you noticed that people whose death is caused by weapons are usually weapon- carriers themselves? The same principle is found in the saying, "Good swimmers often drown." We ought to realize that having a totally unsuspecting mind is the greatest defense.

《菜根谭》上有言﹕「信人，示己之诚；疑人，显己之诈。」何况事情都有其因果本末，今生被骗，就因前生骗人；要认错要忏悔，而不是在那儿怨天尤人，甚至图谋报复，徒然累增加罪业。只要一心一意持诚守信，旧业既消，福德自来；你再怎样天真直率，也不会被骗的。这说起来很妙，也很不可思议；但是你若信根具足，不但不去怀疑这道理，还能拳拳服膺，你自然会逐渐体会受用到这妙处的。所谓至德之人，自然而遵行；中根之人，如利而勉行；下愚之人，疑善而不行。我们纵非至德，也不要做个下愚之人吧？

The Vegetable Roots Discourse says, "When you trust others, it shows your own sincerity, When you doubt others, it reveals your own deceptiveness." How much more is this the case when things are viewed in terms of causes and effects. If you are cheated in this life, it’s because you cheated others in a previous life. You should bear it and be repentant, instead of complaining, blaming others, or seeking revenge, for that would only increase your offenses. As long as you single-mindedly maintain your honesty, your old karma will be eradicated and blessings will naturally come. No matter how naive and straightforward you are, no one will be able to cheat you. This sounds pretty mysterious and inconceivable, but if you have faith, not only will you not doubt it, you will fully accept it and naturally and gradually come to understand and fathom the mystery .The most virtuous people naturally follow this principle. Average people know the benefit and try to follow it. Foolish people doubt what is good and don’t practice it. While we are not the most virtuous people, we don’t want to be fools either, do we?