少眠

Sleep Sparingly

我们不能睡得太多，不能过分懒惰。否则世间出世间之事均不能成功。

We should not sleep too much, nor should we be too lazy. Otherwise, nothing can be accomplished, worldly or spiritual.

其实睡觉也是一种习惯，有些人就从不睡觉：

In fact, sleep is just a habit. There are some people who never sleep.

佛在因地时转世为德光王子，为了供养佛陀，多年以来一直远离睡眠，除了吃饭和大小便，从不休息。

In one of his previous lives, Buddha Shakyamuni was reborn as Prince De Kuang. In order to make offerings to the Buddhas, for many years he did not sleep and took breaks only for eating and going to the bathroom.

金厄瓦格西也从不睡眠，唯一修持善法。上师仲敦巴说：“弟子啊，应当祛除身体的疲劳，否则四大不调，会生病的。”金厄瓦格西说：“身体健康固然好，但一想到暇满难得，就觉得没有空闲休息。”他在一生中念了九亿遍不动佛心咒。

Geshe Chengawa devoted all his time to Dharma practice; he never slept either. His master Dromtonpa said to him: “You better rest, my son. You’ll make yourself ill if the four elements become imbalanced.” “Yes, it’s nice to be healthy,” Geshe Chengawa replied. “But when I think how difficult it is to find the freedom and advantages that we have, I have no time to rest.” In his life, he recited the mantra of Akshobhya Buddha 900 million times.

世间的很多成功者，他们也不愿将大好的光阴用于卧榻之上的酣睡。

Many successful people in the world also choose not to waste their priceless time snoozing in bed.

法国文学家巴尔扎克，每天只睡4小时，即晚上8点到12点，起床后立即利用夜深人静的机会奋力写作。他一生中能写出《人间喜剧》等96部脍炙人口的作品，无不得益于他的勤奋。

The French author Balzac slept only four hours a day, from 8 pm to midnight. After he got up, he would write zealously, to make the best use of the quiet hours of the night. With such ongoing diligence, it’s no wonder that he authored 96 masterpieces of universal acclaim, such as Human Comedy.

萨迦班智达在《格言宝藏论》中云：“诸人寿短其一半，夜间入眠如死亡，又遭病老等众苦，余半亦无享乐际。”《入菩萨行论》中也云：“依此人身筏，能渡大苦海，此筏难复得，愚者勿贪眠！”

In Treasury of Good Advice Sakya Pandita says: “The human’s life span is short; half of it is spent on death-like sleep at night. The remaining half, plagued by miseries such as sickness and old age, is no time to enjoy either.” In A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life it says:

Take advantage of this human boat,
Cross over the mighty river of suffering.
This vessel will be hard to find again,
Don’t be so foolish as to sleep it away!

作为一名修行人应时刻提醒自己，不要忘记这些前辈们留下的宝贵财富，不应将时间荒废在昏睡痴眠当中。

As spiritual practitioners, we should remember these rich legacies left by our predecessors and squander no time in drowsiness and sleep.

壬午年正月初七　　
2002年2月19日

7th of January, Year of RenWu
February 19, 2002