同學們！人生最好的時候，就是二十歲以前的時期，即所謂的「黃金時代」。在這時期，本有的佛性還未失去，清淨的自性仍然存在。此時，若能跟著好人在一起，就會做個好人；若是跟著壞人在一起，就會做個壞人，很容易受環境的影響。所謂「近朱者赤，近墨者黑」就是這個道理。

All of you students! The best days in one's life is the time before age twenty, referred to as “the golden age.” In this period, you have yet to lose your pure inherent nature, your Buddha nature. You are also easily influenced by your environment during this time. If you were around wholesome people, you will become wholesome, if you were to associate with unwholesome people, you will turn unwholesome. This is the principle of “Those who draw near to vermilion will turn red, those who associate with ink will turn black.” 　

若是遇到良師益友，就能學到真正的學問，端正品行；反之，遇到不守規矩的師友，就會受他們的影響，成為不守規矩的人。小者，成為害群之馬；大者，則為社會的敗類。切記！你們的自性好像純潔的白布，染之於蒼則蒼，染之於黃則黃。你們在這樣優越的環境讀書，將來一定要做個有利益社會的人，改善社會的風氣，要有犧牲小我、完成大我的精神。

If you meet good teachers and helpful friends, you will attain genuine knowledge and develop proper behavior. In contrast, if you get to know teachers and friends who disobey rules, you will be influenced by them and become someone who also disobeys rules. In the short run, you may be a nuisance; in the long run, you may become the dregs of society. Be sure to remember your inherent nature is like a piece of pure white cloth, which will “turn gray if stained with gray, turn yellow if stained with yellow.” You are studying in an excellent environment now, and in the future, you should be able to benefit and improve the society. All of you should have the spirit of willing to sacrifice yourselves for the greater good.

最要緊是：女學生不要找男學生，男學生不要找女學生，互相都要守住崗位的。這不是不准你們交男朋友，但女孩子要等到二十歲以後，才交男朋友；男孩子要等到二十五歲以後，才交女朋友；這樣子，小孩子才不會受傷。小孩子生理還沒成熟就找對象，這都會受傷，都會吃虧的。所以，就算要結婚，也要等到二十、二十五歲以後才找。所以我要男女分校，你們不要偷偷摸摸找男孩子，如果我知道後，一定會革出校門的，這一點你們要注意的，不要找男朋友啊！

The most important thing is that female students should not seek boyfriends, and male students should not look for girlfriends. Each one of you needs to maintain your position on this. It is not that you are not permitted to have a boyfriend or a girlfriend; rather, girls should wait until they are twenty years old and boys should wait until they are twenty-five years old before doing so. In this way, you won't get hurt. If children seek members of the opposite sex before they are physically mature, they will end up getting hurt and suffer losses. Therefore, even if you want to get married, you should wait until you are twenty or twenty-five years old. For this reason, the boy school and the girl school are separated at the City of the Ten Thousand Buddhas. You must not sneakily seek boyfriends or girlfriends. If I find out that you are doing so, you will be expelled. You should pay attention to this.

我不是不讓你們交男女朋友，要是早交男女朋友，這都不是好學生，不是好人。你們大家都要做好人、好學生，好人將來才能做好事。你若太早有男女朋友，就受傷了。就像那小苗似的，還沒成長，你就把它割下來，那它根本什麼用也沒有，都變成稗子了。將來人情欲早開的時候，就一代不如一代。要選優良的種子，就必須要它成熟的，稗子不能做種子。沒有到年齡就男女交朋友，這都是不成熟啊！

I am not forbidding you from having a boyfriend or a girlfriend. The point is if you prematurely look for a boyfriend or a girlfriend, you won’t be a good student or a wholesome person. Every one of you should be a good student and a good person so you can do beneficial things in the future. If you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend when you are too young, you will end up getting hurt. It’s like cutting a little sprout before it is fully grown -- it will be useless and end up being a weed. If we let our sexual desires develop too early, our successive generations will worsen. To select an outstanding seed to cultivate, we have to wait until the plant matures; a weed would be useless. Similarly, if you date the opposite sex when you are too young, such actions would be premature!

你看這國家的小孩盡看電視，看得七、八歲就懂得男女交朋友，這真是害人太厲害了。這國家將來沒有人才了，為什麼不出人才呢？因為都糊塗了！

Children in this country watch TV all the time. They watch so much T.V. that they know how to find a boyfriend or a girlfriend when they are only seven or eight years old. This is extremely harmful. In the future, if this trend continues, there will be no talented individuals in this country. Why is that? Everyone would be totally mixed-up.