精神食粮 -- 佛使比丘著
溺在世俗中的人,只知道物质世界及欲望,这就是我们所说的物质或世俗的食粮。当你只知道这个层面时,就像鱼拒绝相信有陆地一样,拒绝相信有出世间的存在。Those who become immersed in the world and drown in it only realize the material would and its desires, which we have called physical or mundane sustenance. When you only know this one dimension, you refuse to believe that the land or the transmundane exists-just like a fish.
要登上陆地,就需吃有我们已谈过的精神食粮。时下很少人对这精神食粮感兴趣,因为很少人知道有「陆地」的存在,甚至也很少人想登上「陆地」。
Getting up on land involves eating the spiritual food we have been talking about. These days, there are very few people who are interested in this spiritual food, because few know that there is "land" or even think of climbing up on "land."
想像我们现在正置身海边:当有些人上下浮动以保持头在水面上时,有些人已从沉溺中走出,试著找寻岸边。假如我们将这些人看得更清楚些,可以发现有些人在找寻岸边,有些人可以看到岸边,有些人正向岸边游来,有些人已经接近岸边了,有些已经站在浅海,而有些人则已顺利上岸走上沙滩,安适地坐著。你是属于当中的那一种呢?没有人比你自己更能回答这个问题!
Let us imagine that we are at the seaside: Some people are out there drowning, while some people's heads bob up and down managing to stay above water as they search for the shore. If we expand our view of people in this way, we can see that some are looking for the shore, others can see the shore, others are swimming towards land, some are very close to the beach, others are standing in shallow water, and some have made it ashore and are able to walk on the beach and sit comfortably. What group are you in? No one can answer this better than yourself!
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