修女
Missionary Nun
看到这个题目，也许有些人会感到不解。作为一名佛教徒，怎么忽然间对外道感起兴趣来了呢？但今天我要赞美的这位修女，决不能用单纯的宗教来界定她的信仰。在我的心目中，她就是活生生的佛菩萨。她，就是驰名全球的修女——特蕾萨。
Upon seeing this title, some of you may wonder: As a Buddhist, why am I suddenly interested in affairs of non-Buddhists? But the object of my admiration and respect today, a Catholic nun, is beyond the simple definition of religious faith. In my heart, she is the living Buddha or a Bodhisattva. This person, incidentally, is none other than the renowned missionary nun—Mother Teresa.
她出身于一个具有良好教养的南斯拉夫家庭，从小受到天主教的教育，18岁前往印度的加尔各答，在一所拥有漂亮花园的修道院内，过着安定而舒适的欧洲式生活。
Mother Teresa was born into a well-educated family from Yugoslavia and had attended Catholic schools since childhood. At the age of 18, she went to Calcutta, India, where she initially enjoyed an easy and comfortable European lifestyle in a monastery complete with beautiful gardens.
当她有一天发现修道院高墙之外人们的凄惨遭遇时，她再也不愿安于往日平静的生活，面对一双双渴望关怀的眼睛却熟视无睹了。一种强烈的使命感驱使着她，使她不顾周围人的极力反对，单枪匹马地走入贫民窟，勇敢地将世人的悲惨背在自己身上。用一双柔弱的双肩，挑起了拯救贫民的重任。
One day, she discovered the utter misery of people living outside the tall walls of the monastery, and she could no longer live her peaceful daily life. When faced with scores of eyes desperately in want of care, she could no longer shut her own eyes. Driven by a strong sense of purpose and against the strong opposition of people around her, she ventured into the slum all alone. Bravely, she carried on her back the pains and sorrows of beings in the world; with her frail shoulders, she assumed the heavy burden of rescuing the destitute from the slums.
当一个从没有人关心过，没有人知道他死活的老人，孤寂地躺在床上等待着死神造访的时候，特蕾萨走进了他的房间；当一个被人殴伤的酗酒者醉卧街头、无人问津的时候，特蕾萨挺身而出将他救起，并送到她所创办的怜悯之家；当浑身蛆虫的伤者遭到路人的厌恶和唾弃的时候，特蕾萨精心地为他包扎伤口，并用温暖的怀抱去迎接那颗濒临绝望的心……她的足迹穿越了大半个地球，加尔各答、也门、伦敦、墨尔本、纽约，甚至包括中国。她先后成立了一百多个替穷人服务的处所，在仅仅6年的时间里，就收留了61273个弃婴。
An utterly lonely old man was lying on a bed. No one had ever cared for him, nor did anyone ever heed whether he was still breathing. When the only visitor he could ever expect was the Lord of Death, Mother Teresa walked into his room. A drunk stretched out on the street, brutally beaten, and severely injured. When he could await nothing but indifference, Mother Teresa appeared and helped him up, escorting him to the “House of the Pure Heart” she had established. A tramp curved up on the roadside, his body covered with oozing sores and maggots. When he was receiving nothing but spiteful looks and revulsion from passersby, Mother Teresa came and bound up his wounds tenderly; she embraced his heart of total despair and gave it warmth…. Her footprints covered more than half of the earth—Calcutta, Yemen, London, Melbourne, New York, even China. She founded more than a hundred charity agencies to serve the lowly poor. She took in 61,273 abandoned babies in a period of merely six years.
她的不懈努力终于得到了世人的认同。1979年，她获得了举世瞩目的“诺贝尔和平奖”，也使她在一夜之间成为了家喻户晓的人物。她除了将所有的奖金都用于慈善事业以外，还特别请求诺贝尔委员会，取消例行的授奖宴会。委员会为她的精神所感动，将准备用于开支宴席费用的7100美元，赠送给了她所创办的“仁爱传教修女会”。
Her untiring efforts finally gained the recognition of the world. In 1979, she was awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize. Overnight she became a household name. But she donated all her prize money to charity. In addition, she specifically requested the Nobel Committee to forgo the traditional banquet in honor of the Peace Prize winner. The committee was impressed by her spirit and contributed the $7,100 that would otherwise have been spent on the banquet to the Missionary of Charity that she founded.
尽管她已成为名人，却仍然过着拮据寒碜的生活。她只有三套衣服，不穿袜子，只穿凉鞋。在电脑等先进电器极为普遍的时代，她的住处除了电灯以外，唯一的电器用具就是一部电话。她将教皇赠送给她的一部林肯轿车拍卖，并用所得款项开办了一家麻风病院。
Although she had become a celebrity, she still maintained an extremely frugal and sparing life. She owned only three sets of clothes; she wore no socks, only sandals. In an age of advanced electronics pervaded with computers and so forth, the only electrical equipment’s in her place were a few lamps and a telephone. She sold a Lincoln Continental limousine, a gift from the Pope, at an auction and used the money to open a leprosy hospital.
虽然特蕾萨修女是天主教修女，却绝对尊重别人的宗教，每一位病人去世以后，都会遵照他的宗教信仰举行安葬仪式。
Although she was a Catholic nun, Mother Teresa had absolute respect for others’ religion. Every patient’s funeral is held according to that person’s religious faith.
她用平易近人的语气，向世人娓娓道来：“人活着，除了需要口粮外，也渴求人的爱、仁慈和体恤。今天，就是因为缺乏相爱、仁慈和体恤的心，所以人们的内心才会极度痛苦。”
She touched the hearts of world with her friendly words in an easygoing and simple manner: “There is hunger for ordinary bread, and there is hunger for love, for kindness, for thoughtfulness; and this is the great poverty that makes people suffer so much.”
“饥饿的人所渴求的，不单是食物；赤身的人所要求的，不单是衣服；露宿者所渴望的，不单是牢固的房子。就算是那些物质丰裕的人，都在切求爱、关心、接纳及认同。”
“Hungry not only for bread —but hungry for love. Naked not only for lack of clothing—but naked for lack of human dignity and respect. Homeless not only for want of a room of bricks—but homeless because of rejection. Even the rich are hungry for love, for being cared for, for being wanted, for having someone to call their own.”
“在今天的世界中，肺结核或麻风病不是可怕的疾病，心灵上的贫乏才是最严重的病症。”
“The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted.”
“我上天堂不为别的，我是为了大众而上天堂，因为大众净化了我的心。”
“I don’t go to heaven for anything else, I will be going to heaven for all the traveling with all the publicity, because it has purified me and sacrificed me and made me really ready to go to heaven.”
“从细微的小事中体现博大的爱。我们要以挪威为中心，将爱传播到整个世界，让战争远离我们。如此，那些待出生的婴儿就会欢叫着来到人间。我们把自己变成传播世界和平的火种，挪威的诺贝尔和平奖将会真正是献给和平的厚礼。”
“We have an opportunity to love others as he loves us, not in big things, but in small things with great love, so Norway becomes a nest of love. And how beautiful it will be that from here a center for peace from war has been given. That from here the joy of life of the unborn child comes out. If you become a burning light of peace in the world, then really the Nobel Peace Prize is a gift of the Norwegian people.”
“我们感到所作的只不过是汪洋中的一滴水，但若欠缺了那一滴水，这汪洋总是少了一滴水。我不赞同做大事，在我看来，从个人做起才是重要的。”
“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that one missing drop. I do not agree with the big way of doing things. To us what matters is an individual effort.”
一滴水虽然微不足道，但只有若干个一滴水，才能汇成一股涓涓细流，给干渴的人送去一丝湿润；
Although a tiny water droplet may not be worth mentioning, the gathering of a few droplets becomes a trickling rivulet, bringing some relief to those parched with thirst.
一支纱虽然微不足道，但只有若干个一支纱，才能织成一片布，给身处寒冷的人送去一份温暖；
Although a single yarn is insignificant, the combination of several yarns can be used to weave cloth, bringing warmth to those shivering in the cold.
一粒米虽然微不足道，但只有若干个一粒米，才能煮成一碗薄粥，给饱受饥饿的人增加一些能量。
Although one grain of rice is hardly worth noticing, it is only by combining many grains of rice that there may be a bowl of porridge, bringing strength to those suffering from harsh starvation.
让我们像特蕾萨修女一样，放弃那些惊天动地的伟大创举，以“俯首甘为孺子牛”的精神，从一点一滴开始做起吧！
Let us follow Mother Teresa’s example. With a humble and willing spirit, we will give up the ambition of doing earthshaking undertakings, but start serving mankind bit by bit.
壬午年二月二十七日
2002年4月9日
27th of February, Year of RenWu
April 9, 2002
