Finding The Miracles In Life's Struggles
Translated article
Bring Happiness to Others
06 months
A disciple asked Bodhidharma:
How can I become a happy person and bring happiness to others?
Bodhidharma said:
There are four states that you need to be in to do this.
Start by thinking of yourself as someone else, and this will make you “selfless.”
Next, think of others instead of yourself, this will make you “compassionate.”
Then, treat others as separate people, this will make you “wise.”
Finally, think of yourself as yourself, and this will make you “at ease.”
Bodhidharma was a Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th or 6th century. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Chan Buddhism to China, and regarded as its first Chinese patriarch.
According to Chinese legend, he also began the physical training of the monks of Shaolin Monastery that led to the creation of Shaolin kungfu. In Japan, he is known as Daruma.
Bodhidharma’s teachings and practice centered on meditation and the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra. The Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall (952) identifies Bodhidharma as the 28th Patriarch of Buddhism in an uninterrupted line that extends all the way back to the Gautama Buddha himself.[16] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhidharma)
The following is Bodhidharma’s teaching in Chinese:
弟子問達摩祖師：
如何才能變成一個自己愉快，也帶給別人快樂的人?
達摩祖師笑答：
四種境界，你可領會其中的妙趣
首先把自己當成別人，此是”無我”:再之，要把別人當成自己，這是”慈悲”;而後，要把別人當成別人，此是”智慧”;最後，要把自己當成自己，這是”自在”。”selfless.”
Next, think of others instead of yourself, this will make you “compassionate.”
Then, treat others as separate people, this will make you “wise.”
Finally, think of yourself as yourself, and this will make you “at ease.”
The Trilogy of Life in the Eyes of the Famous
07 months
The German poet Goethe wrote a poem summarizing the experience of life toward maturity and perfection: “The young, I love your beauty; the middle age, I love your speech; the old age, I love your virtue.”
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The image is fromhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Wolfgang_von_Goethe.
The Chinese poet Liu Dabai once wrote a poetry praising the trilogy of life: “Young people are artists and create piece by piece; middle-aged people are engineers, and build one building at a time; the elderly are historians, and you can read their works page by page. ”
Image of Liu Dabai from中国梦文学网.
The poetry veteran Zang Kejia posted a poem to reflect the poor and tragic lives of the old farmers: “Son, bathe in the soil; Father, sweat in the soil; Grandpa, buried in the earth.”
The image of Zang kejia from https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E8%87%A7%E5%85%8B%E5%AE%B6/152684?fr=aladdin.
Female writer You Jin writes that the drink preferences of different generations of people reflect modern life: “My son likes soft drinks, he only tastes sweet; my father loves coffee, which is bitter but also sweet; my grandfather drinks boiled water because it is very light. ”
Image of You Jin from http://www.baike.com/wiki/%E5%B0%A4%E4%BB%8A.
Wang Dingjun, a scholar, has a special understanding of the Trilogy of Life: “God gives us, the small and young to our parents, the strong and energic to the national society. Only by old age, He returns us to ourselves.”
The image of Wang Dingjun is from http://www.baike.com/wiki/%E7%8E%8B%E9%BC%8E%E9%92%A7.
Note:
For the Chines text, please click the link
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人生三部曲/The Trilogy of Life | |
The Value of a Stone
07 months
by Alice Lin
in Translated article
A man went to visit the Zen Master and asked him what the value of life is. The master gave him a stone, and told him to take the stone to the vegetable market for evaluation, but do not sell it. The person did so, and most people just ignored the rock. Finally, one person offered to pay five dollars for it. He said he would use it to press vegetables to make pickles. The man took the stone back to the master told him that someone wanted to buy it for five dollars.
mage is from https://kknews.cc/zh-hk/agriculture/jm4j39q.html
The Master said to take it to the quarry for evaluation, but do not sell it. He took the stone to the quarry, and people gathered to check its quality and the shape. Finally, someone was willing to pay 50 dollars for it to use it for bonsai. The man found it kind of interesting and went back to tell the master that someone wanted to buy it for 50 dollars.
Image is from http://www.sohu.com/a/148094875_215808
The Master smiled and said: “Tomorrow you take it to the diamond market for valuation, and find out how much it is worth.” The man brought the stone to the diamond market. Many people wanted to look at the stone, and one person offered him fifty thousand dollars. The man happily ran back to tell the master; others said that this stone is a diamond and worth 50,000 dollars!
Image is from Amazon.com
The value of life depends on what perspective with which you look at yourself. If we look at ourselves as a stone to press pickled vegetables, then we are worth only a few dollars. If we consider we are a rock for the bonsai then we worth tens of dollars. If we think we are the priceless diamond, then we are the priceless diamond. So how you see yourself is the key.
How you look at yourself is how God will fulfill your life for you.
Lao Tzu and His Friend
07 months
Legend has it that Lao Tzu lived to be more than one hundred sixty years old. Neighbors and friends came to pay their condolences. Everyone was overcome with grief as they remembered Lao Tzu for his natural, non-combative, kind, and merciful personality.
Chin Shih came and cried out loud without kneeling and worshipping. He simply used his hand to salute; then he came out.
People stopped him and asked: “Are you not the Master’s friend?”
He replied: “Yes.”
“But is it not disrespectful for you to mourn him like that?”
He replied: “Yes.”
People were angry and questioned him, “What is your reason for acting so indifferent?”
He replied: “Lao Tzu told us that birth is not happy, and death is not sad. His birth is simply none becoming existence and following the flow of nature, so there is no reason to be happy. Whereas his death illustrates the beingness become nothingness again, so similarly there is no reason to be sad.”
He continued, “When I see those mourners, I see that there are the elderly who cry for him as if he was their son and younger people who cry for him as if he was their father. When they gather together like this, there must be those who don’t want to come but come anyhow and those who don’t want to cry but cry anyway. This is going against one’s feelings and forgetting one’s given nature. The ancients would call this the punishment for denying the true nature.
Image is from m.sohu.com/n/46265804
When it was suitable to come into the world, the Master came at the right time. When it was suitable to depart the world, the Master left naturally. If one can calmly wait for the right moment and go with the natural flow, sadness and joy cannot enter the heart. The ancients would call that being released by the Emperor from hanging upside down.”
After listening to his words, the neighbors seemed to understand more, and then asked: “Since you are not sad, why did you cry out three times?” He laughed: “I cry three times, not because of sadness, but instead to bid a farewell to my friend Lao Tzu. The first cry was to tell him his birth suited the natural time and the second cry is also telling him that his death is in line with the natural reason. The third is because he taught the natural inaction of the truth is also in line with the nature of the other.”
After listening to him, the neighbors and friends all agreed that he was a true friend of Lao Tzu, so they wanted him to in charge the burial.
Here is the eulogy he wrote:
“Lao Tze-a distinguish sage, practice Tao for heaven, focus on great harmony, his works is imperishable.”
Everyone Has A Reason
08 months
by Alice Lin
in Translated article
每一個在你的生命裡出現的人，都有原因，
Everyone who appears in your life has a reason.
喜歡你的人給了你溫暖和勇氣
People who like you give you warmth and courage.
你喜歡的人讓你學會了愛和自尊
People you like help you learn about love and self-esteem.
你不喜歡的人教會你寬容與尊重。
People you don’t like teach you to be tolerant and respectful.
不喜歡你的人，讓你自省與成長。
People who do not like you help you to see yourself and grow.
沒有人是無緣無故出現在你的生命裡的，每一個人的出現都有原因，都值得感激。
No one is present in your life for no reason, and the emergence of each person has a reason; they are worthy of gratitude.
Author:三毛
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因為看輕，所以快樂，因為看淡，所以幸福。
You are happy because you take it lightly. You are content because you are not bothered by anything.
我們都是天地的過客，世上很多事，我們都做不了主。
We are the guests of heaven and earth; there are many things in the world, and we cannot be their master.
譬如過去的時間，譬如走散的人。
For example, things of the past, and people who are separated from us.
“心” 字三個點，沒有一個點不在往外蹦。
The Chinese word for “Heart” has three dots; every dot wants to jump out.
你越想抓牢的，往往是離開你最快的。
The more you try to catch it, often the faster it will run away from you.
人生，看輕看淡多少，痛苦就離開你多少。
The lighter you treat life, the less pain you will feel.
人人都怕自己不清醒，希望自己心明如鏡。
Everyone is afraid of not being conscious, and hopes their mind is as clear as a mirror.
