The reflection of a person in a mirror and
the moon reflected in the water(鏡像水月)
There was a famous monk in the Tang Dynasty
of China. His name was Xiqian. There is a story about him recorded in history
books.
He was born in Guangdong Province, China,
and he showed a different temperament from other children since he was a child.
He is very mature and loves animals. The
villagers in his hometown often kill cows for sacrifice. When he sees the cows
about to be killed, he feels very sorry for them and tries to find ways to save
them.
As he grew up, he came into contact with
Buddhism. He liked some of its ideas and concepts, so he decided to become a
monk.
His first teacher was a famous Zen master
called Huineng.
His second teacher was called Xingsi. From
these two teachers he learnt a lot about Buddhism.
In 742 AD he left his teacher and went
alone to Hengshan Mountain in Hunan Province.
He built a small house on a large rock to
the east of a temple on the south side of Hengshan Mountain, and lived there
alone to practise.
One day some young men came to see him.
The young men asked him.
You have a wealth of knowledge about
Buddhism, and you can understand many Buddhist principles that we don't
understand. We want to learn from you.
He said to them.
The essence of Buddhism is very simple. You
don't have to be very clever or spend a lot of time practising to understand
it.
I am using simple words to tell you these
secrets of Buddhism.
Each of us can become a Buddha. Everything
that each of us encounters every day may seem different, but in reality it all
comes from the same source.
We must understand that death and eternity
are unreal, there is no difference between the dirt and the cleanliness we see,
each of us has a different appearance and identity, but we are the same in
essence, everything we encounter and the world we experience is empty, our
whole material world is like the reflection of a person in a mirror and the
reflection of the moon in the water, they don't exist at all.
If you can understand what I have said,
then you can understand the essence of Buddhism and its core wisdom. Only then
will you feel that everything in the present moment is the best state, and you
can live in perfection.
The direct translation of this saying is
the reflection of a person in a mirror and the reflection of the moon in water.
It is used to describe something illusory
and unreal.
Dear friends, what inspiration or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
Do you believe that the world we live in is
real? Are you happy with your present life?
I hope this story can give you some new
insights.
鏡像水月(The reflection of a person in a
mirror and the moon reflected in the water)
中國的唐王朝有一個著名的和尚，他的名字叫做希遷。歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
他出生在中國的廣東省，他從小就表現出跟其他小孩不一樣的氣質。
他非常的成熟而且愛護動物，他的故鄉中的村民常常會有殺牛祭祀的活動，他看到那些即將被殺的牛的時候他覺得很不忍心，所以他就會想辦法利用各種方式去解救這些牛。
他長大後對接觸了佛教，他很喜歡佛教的一些想法與理念，他便立志要出家成為一個和尚。
他的第一個老師是禪宗著名的大師，這個大師的名字叫做慧能。
他的第二個老師的的名字叫做行思，他從這兩個老師的身上學習到很多有關於佛教的知識。
西元742年，他離開他的老師，他自己一個人到了湖南省的衡山。
他在衡山的南邊的一座寺廟的東邊的一塊大石頭上蓋了一間小房子，他一個人獨自居住在這間房子內修行。
有一天，有幾個年輕人來找他。
這幾個年輕人問他。
你對於佛教的知識很豐富，你可以理解到很多我們所不理解的佛教的道理，我們想要跟你學習。
他對這些年輕人說。
有關於佛教的本質其實非常簡單，你們不需要很聰明也不用花很多時間修行就可以理解。
我用簡單的言語告訴你們這些有關於佛教的奧秘。
我們每個人都可以成為佛，我們每個人每天所遭遇到的一切事情看起來都不相同、但其實都來同一個本源。
我們要理解死亡與永恆都是不真實的，我們所看到的污穢與乾淨也都是沒有差別的，我們每個人的外貌與身分都不同但是我們的本質上都是一樣的，我們所遭遇的一切與我們所經歷的這個世界都是虛空的，我們整個物質世界就好像是鏡子中的反射的人像與水中反射的月亮一樣都是根本不存在的。
你們如果可以理解到我所說的這些話，你們才可以理解佛教的本質與佛教最核心的智慧，你們才會覺得當下所有的一切都是最好的狀態，你們才可以生活在圓滿中。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是鏡子中的反射的人像與水中反射的月亮。
這句成語被用來形容一些虛幻與不真實的東西。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或有怎樣的想法呢。
你認為我們生活的世界是真實存在的嗎?你滿意你當下的生活狀態嗎?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為景德傳燈錄-卷14-石頭希遷大師