【證嚴法師開示】
時間過得真快, 飛秒, 極秒, 微秒, 重重疊疊的, 這樣地循環著, 這樣地轉著, 真的時間快, 真快, 所以時間這麼快, 我們更要把握時間. 記得小時候也看到了日本時代的故事.
Time truly flies by very quickly, second after second. It goes on and on without ever stopping. This is how quickly time passes us by. As time goes by so fast, we should all the more make good use of it. Let me share with you a Japanese legend I read as a child.
太郎遊龍宮“The Fishermen’s Trip to the Sea Palace”
有一位太郎, 他在海邊, 看到了一群孩子抓著一隻龜, 在那裡玩耍, 太郎看了很不忍心, 他就去勸說要把牠(龜)放了, 可是孩子們不肯, 太郎悲心重, 就用錢買了, 買了把牠放生了, 這一隻龜還是在水中不斷地回頭, 好像是在感恩. 經過了兩三天後, 太郎又在海邊撿水漂流木, 他又看到這一隻龜又來了, 因為牠回到海龍宮, 有說, 牠被人頪一群孩子抓了, 有這樣一個人救牠. 海龍王感恩, 所以就要牠有恩要報恩, 請這一位恩人到海龍宮去.
到了海龍宮, 在那裡開了眼界, 裡面非常的輝煌, 而且裡面的寶物可多著, 海龍王說: 你要什麼, 任憑你挑選., 他就說: 這裡滿滿皆是, 都是好東西, 都是寶, 我要哪一個都是感覺到取一個就是感覺不捨一個, 這樣很麻煩, 我欣賞欣賞就很感恩了. 就在那裡到處瀏覽, 而且吃得好. 住得也好, 經過了兩三天以後, 他就說, 在這裡吃得再好, 住得再好, 還昃要回到家裡看看. 海龍王也不敢再留他了, 太郎還是坐在龜的背上, 又把他送回到陸地.
到了陸地, 好像很陌生, 山丘, 還有海灘, 周圍的環境都不一樣了, 他感覺到很迷惑, 往前走啊走碰到了一位老婆婆, 看到他就一眼認出他: 哎呀! 你不是太郎嗎? 你跑到哪裡? 怎麼失蹤了幾十年?
太郎就說: 妳是誰? 我不認識妳.
她就說起了她的名字.
奇怪! 我的太太哪有這麼老.
她就說: 明明你是我的先生.
哪裡會這樣. 我在龍王宮三天而已. 為什麼? 為什麼這樣呢? 妳到底是幾歲了?
她就說: 我將近九十歲了
我才二十多歲呀! 妳將近九十歲?
你已經失蹤六十多年了.
他真的嚇了一跳.
來來來! 又看到一位中年人, 這個老婆婆就跟他說: 你出生的那一年, 你爸爸就失蹤了, 就是他.
看到他. 哪有這樣! 這麼年輕, 怎麼會是我的爸爸?
他就說: 這麼老, 怎麼是我的兒子? 遠遠看去也有他的孫子.
was once a fisherman named Urashima Taro. One day, he saw three children torturing a turtle on the beach. Taro’s heart went out to the turtle, so he asked the children to set it free. But they didn’t want to. So, Taro bought the turtle from the children and released it. As the turtle was swimming away, it kept looking back at Taro as if to thank him. A few days later, when Taro went to the beach again, he saw the very same turtle there. The turtle told Taro that it came from the sea palace, and when it returned and told the Dragon king of the sea how Taro had rescued it, the Dragon King was very grateful and asked the turtle to invite Taro to the palace.
Upon arriving at the sea palace, Taro was amazed by what he saw. It was ful of splendor and filled with many treasures. The Dragon King said to him: “You can take whatever you like.”
Taro said: “There are so many things here and all of them are such fine treasures. No matter which one I choose, I’ll find the next one better. So, I’m happy to just look at them.”
Taro stayed in the sea palace looking around and enjoying fine food and luxurious accommodation. Three days had passed. Taro said to the Dragon King: “I enjoy my stay here, but I need to go home.”
The Dragon King also agreed.
Riding on the turtle’s back, Taro returned to the land. When he came ashore, everything looked unfamiliar to him. The surroundings were all different from before. Taro felt very puzzled. He kept walking and then he came across an elderly lady, who looked at him and exclaimed, “Aren’t you Taro? Where have you been? You disappeared for decades.”
Taro asked, “Who are you? I don’t even know you?”
She then said she was his wife.
Taro said: “It can’t be! My wife can’t be this old.”
The elderly lady said: “But you are really my husband.”
Taro said, “It can’t be. I’d stayed in the sea palace for only three days. How old are you?”
The elderly lady replied, “I’m almost 90”.
Taro said, “I’m only in my twenties and you’re almost 90.”
His wife said, “You’d been away for over 60 years.”
Taro was truly shocked to hear that.
Then, a middle-aged man came by. Taro’s wife said to the man: “Your father went missing when you were born. Here he is.
The man said doubtfully: “Here’s so young. He can’t be my father.”
Taro also said: “My son can’t be this old. And, not far behind stood Taro’s grandchildren.”
雖然在日本時代的童話, 可是現在回顧起來, 的確我們的人世間, 實在是何其短, 不管是天上或者是海龍宮, 這樣的日子所過的多麼逍遙. 壽命之長. 所以我們都常常說: 烏龜壽命很長, 的確, 因為牠們都是在海龍宮裡, 所以我們人頪總是這樣的短暫, 其實不只是我們人頪生命短暫. 其實不只是我們人類生命短暫, 比人頪更短的牲畜, 同樣在這一片地球上, 同樣的是生物, 我們叫做人物, 牠們叫做動物, 同樣有生命的. 可是世界的生態不一樣, 這都是我們凡夫都不覺得, 唯有人頪, 可以修行成佛, 因為人類在這樣的生命界裡, 他最能接近佛陀所說法, 而且最能理解佛陀這樣的覺性. 佛陀就說, 在天無佛可成, 因為天人太快樂了, 壽命長, 他們聞不到佛法, 就是有佛法, 他們的享受, 他們的壽命長不能覺得無常. 所以唯有人類, 他能體會到佛陀所說的無常, 有無常觀我們才能覺醒. 無常就是在這樣的地球上, 我們能看到的太陽, 己經跟真正的陽光, 它發射出來的這刻, 是已經它的八分鐘前, 這種距離的遙遠, 就是在虛空裡, 宇宙間, 地球還是要依靠著日與月讓我們有日與夜, 晝夜的分別. 它的光真正的都是在極短極短, 很微細到眼睛看不到. 那樣的細, 重重疊疊的時間那麼樣的短暫, 我們說一句話也許飛秒已經在空中, 不知道幾千個轉過了, 所以這種的時間, 真的我們要好好地把握. 人間雖然就是無常, 可是我們要好好把握, 唯有我們的覺性. 覺悟的, 只要你一覺悟, 那就可以宇宙一切的一切都能體會到.
Although this is just a legend, as I think about it, I really feel that our life in this world is very short. In comparison, beings in heaven, or the sea palace in this legend, live a much longer life than us. We al know that some species of turtles have a long life. Compared to them , human life is very short. But, in this world, there are many other animals whose lifespan is even shorter than ours. So, be it humans or other animals, although we all live in the same world, different beings have different lives. Many people may not be aware, but only humans can practice spiritual cultivation and attain Buddhahood. This is because among all living beings, only humans can learn the Buddha’s teachings and awaken their true nature within.
The Buddha said that heavenly beings cannot attain Buddhahood, as they enjoy such a long and happy life that they cannot take in the Dharma. Even if they hear the Dharma, they cannot understand the impermanence of life as their lives are very long and comfortable. So, only human are able to understand the law of impermanence taught by the Buddha, and only with this understanding can we further realize that everything in this world is impermanent.
The sunlight that we see now was actually emitted form the sun about eight minutes ago. That’s how long sunlight takes to reach the Earth. Day and night on Earth are distinguished by the rising and setting of the sun and the moon. Light travels so fast that we cannot see how it travels with our naked eyes. Likewise, time goes by so fast without our noticing it. As we speak, seconds have ticked by. So, we truly should seize the time we have. Life is impermanent, so we need to make good use of our time. Only our pure, true nature is permanent. And when our true nature is awakened, we’ll be able to understand all truths in the universe.
(Source: Da Ai TV Television 2014/2/2 - 證嚴法師說故事–Stories Told by Dharma Master Cheng Yen)
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