光阴

Fleeting Time

世人喜欢以光阴比喻时间，而我更喜欢把它想象成一条一去不复返的河流。

People like to think of time in terms of day and night. For me, I prefer to imagine it as a river of no return.

孔子走到河边说：“逝者如斯。”

At the bank of a river, Confucius says: “The passage of time is just like that.”

哲学家赫拉克利特说：“你不能两次踏入同一条河流。”

The philosopher Heraclitus says: “No man ever steps in the same river twice.”

奥修说：“生命在流动，它是一条河流。”

Another wise man says: “Life is on the move; it is a river.”

先哲们都以此强调时光的珍贵。的确，曾经如同河流般消失了的时光，永远不复回归。无论它是辉煌还是暗淡，幸福还是忧伤。人的生命在即生中只有一次，以什么样的方式度过这段光阴，值得我们深深地思索。

The sages all emphasize the preciousness of time. Indeed, as a rushing river, time will never return once it’s gone, no matter whether it has been splendid or obscure, happy or sad. In this life, we humans can live only once; thus it is important to ponder deeply how to spend the time we have.

今天一位骄傲的知识分子问我：“您老是强调要我们背诵经论。但我总觉得修行人应以发菩提心、调服烦恼、观修禅定为主。理论上的东西，了解其大概就行了，何必一一背诵？浪费很多时间呢？”他说得有道理，但我知道他每天“节约”的时光，并不是用来做他所说的重大要事，而是用于散乱、闲聊、痴睡等无义之事。我回答他说：“你说得有道理。如果你的时间真用于发菩提心、修禅定，我当然随喜。但你是否整天都修禅定而没有时间背诵呢？不是吧。”一句话仿佛使他恍然大悟。他说：“我明白了。其实我嘴上说的好听，实际上并没有好好珍惜时间。从今天起，我要从散乱中至少抽出半个小时背诵。”听了他的告白，我很感欣慰。不仅仅是他，如果所有的修行人每天哪怕抽出十分钟，背诵一个偈子，记下一段公案，一定会有所裨益的。

A pompous intellect said to me today: “You always emphasize that we should memorize the sutras and shastras. Yet I think a Dharma practitioner’s main concerns should be cultivating bodhichitta, overcoming confused emotions, as well as practicing concentration and meditation. As to the theoretical aspects, a rough understanding should suffice. Why waste time memorizing them line by line?” He had some points there. But I knew the time he so “saved” had not been used properly on the crucial tasks he mentioned, but rather on worthless activities such as distractions, gossiping, and slumber. I replied: “What you said makes sense. I would rejoice for sure if you were to really use your time in cultivating bodhichitta or sitting in meditation. But is it because you are sitting in meditation all day long that you have no time for recitation and memorization? Not quite so, correct?” Hearing this, he seemed to see the light at once and said: “I understand now. I am just a big talker; in fact, I have not devoted my time to practice. From now on I will save time from distractions to memorize stanzas for at least 30 minutes.” Hearing his confession, I was quite pleased. This case applies not only to him, but also to all practitioners; it is definitely beneficial to find time every day, even if it’s only 10 minutes, to memorize one stanza or note down a koan.

鲁迅先生也说：“我不是什么天才，只不过是把别人喝咖啡的时间用来看书和写作了而已。”世间的名人懂得对光阴的珍惜，却不知道用于修行；修行的人懂得修行，却往往不知道珍惜时间。

Mr. Lu Xun said once: “I am no genius; I only make full use of time. When people are having coffee, I’d rather be reading or writing.” Famous people in the world value time highly but know not to use it on spiritual growth; spiritual seekers know Dharma practices but usually do not cherish time.

既然我们无法使时光倒流，如何使人生过得完美，不致临死之时为虚度年华而悔恨，就应当如海绵挤水一样挤出每一分、每一秒，做有意义的事，而不应散乱度日。

So long as we are unable to turn time backward, we should try to live our lives perfectly. Otherwise on our deathbed we will be overcome with remorse for having wasted our precious time. Let us make use of every minute, every second, like squeezing out water from a wet sponge, on meaningful activities; let us not squander our time on distractions.

壬午年二月初六　　
2002年3月20日

6th of February, Year of RenWu
March 20, 2002