凡

出

言

，

信

為

先

fan

chu

yan

xin

wei

xian

無論什麼

說出口

話

信實

是

首要的

whatever

come out

words

credibility

is

first

無論說什麼話，應該以信實為重。
Whatever it is that we say, we should speak so that others can trust us.

詐

與

妄

，

奚

可

焉

zha

yu

wang

xi

ke

yan

欺騙

和

虛妄不實

哪裡

容許

呢

cheating or trickiness

and

lying

how

to be acceptable

this

欺詐和虛妄的言辭，怎能容它存在？
If we lie or try to fool others, how can we be accepted by them?

曾有學生這麼問﹕「在不殺、不盜、不邪淫、不妄語和不飲酒這五戒裡頭，哪個戒最難守得住？」大多數人認為不殺最難，也很多人以為不盜最難；其實不妄語更難！為什麼呢？因為生活在世俗社會的一般人，總是對殺盜淫等大惡較有戒心，對飲酒吸毒也很警惕，唯獨輕忽了妄語的要緊性，以為既不致損身害命，更無傷大雅，於是乎信口一句話或一個玩笑，就已經破妄語戒了！不過講話雖然要誠實，為了顧全大局或大信用，有時卻也不得不說小謊。總之，是否信實，以初發心那一念為憑；醫生為怕病人失去求生意志而說他得的不是癌症，不算破戒。

Students have asked, "Among the five precepts of no killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no lying, and no taking intoxicants, which precept is the hardest to uphold?" The great majority of people think not killing is the hardest; many people also think not stealing is the hardest. Actually, not lying is even more difficult! Why? Because while most people who live in this society are relatively careful about avoiding major evils such as killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct, and they are also pretty cautious about drugs and alcohol, they overlook the importance of not lying. Thinking that lying doesn't endanger anyone or cause any harm, they carelessly blurt something out or crack a joke--and end up breaking the precept against lying. However, while we should generally tell the truth, sometimes the overall situation or the real meaning of honesty requires us to tell a white lie. Honesty is judged by one's underlying motivation. If a doctor, to keep a patient from losing the will to live, tells him that what he has is not cancer, that is not considered a violation of the precepts.

古希臘有個大政治家撤士德塔兒。一天，他正在花園散步，忽然自外頭跳進一個滿身血污的青年。起先他還以為是小偷，可是那青年卻「撲通」一聲跪倒，急切地哀求他﹕「我因為和人打架，失手把對方打死，別人追著要我償命；不得已，我才跳進牆來躲，請您務必救我的命。」青年一邊說，一邊哭著連連磕頭。撤士德塔兒看他太可憐，就答應救他這一次，把他帶到地窖藏起來。

One day, a great political leader in ancient Greece was strolling in the garden, when suddenly a lad covered with blood jumped in from outside. At first he thought it was a burglar , but the lad knelt down before him and beseeched him, "I accidentally killed someone in a fight. Now people are demanding my life. I jumped over the wall to hide from them. Please save me." Crying as he spoke, the lad bowed down to the ground. Seeing what a pitiful sight he was, the man promised to save him and hid him in the cellar. 

不料，過了一會兒，許多人抬了具死尸來，死者正是撤士德塔兒的兒子，他救的青年正是兇手。撤士德塔兒想了一下，表示不知情，就叫人把兒子尸體抬出去料理。到了夜晚，撤士德塔兒把青年自地窖帶出，交給他一匹黑馬，說﹕「我本該把你交給那些人，因為你打死的正是我的兒子，但我已答應救你，不能不守信用。你趕快騎這匹馬逃罷 ！」

A little later, some people carried in a corpse-it was the man's son. He had saved his son' s murderer. After thinking about it, he indicated that he didn't know where the killer was and told the people to take his son's corpse to be buried. When night fell, he took the lad out of the cellar, gave him a black horse, and said, "I should have turned you over to those people, because the one you killed was my son. But because I'd promised to save you, I couldn't break my promise. Mount this horse and flee quickly!"

各位善知識！撒士德塔兒為守信用，不惜說小謊，救了殺子兇手；您或許認為他是個傻瓜，一點也不值得這樣做吧？但是，話說回來，死者既已無法復生，何必再賠上第二條命呢？能挽救一個悔過人的命，豈不等於是延續了自己兒子的生命？這樣於私情難捨能捨，於公信難守能守，不是有非凡魄力的人，是做不到的。他之所以能成為一個非凡的政治家，不正因為他有這種不自私和堅守信用的非凡美德嗎？真正有德之士，做任何事都發乎肺腑至誠，根本是連「值不值得」的那一念都沒有的。

Good and wise advisors! In order to keep his word, that Greek leader lied to save the killer of his own son. You may consider him a fool for having acted that way. However, since his son could not have been brought back to life, what would have been the point of taking another life? Saving the life of a repentant lad-isn't that equivalent to prolonging his own son's life? Being able to relinquish personal affections and maintain trustworthiness with a stranger is not something an ordinary man would be able to do. He was such an extraordinary political leader precisely because of his unselfishness and firm integrity. A truly virtuous person acts out of wholehearted sincerity and never asks whether his deeds will bring him any advantage or not.

因此中國古聖人以「仁義禮智信」為五常──五種必須奉行於日常的不變真理。曾子每日都拿三事做自我的反省檢討﹕為人謀而忠，與人交而信，學而時習之。孔子也說﹕人而無信，就像兩個車輪間沒了鎖住車轅的關鍵，車子還可以帶得動嗎？可見誠信對人的重要。

Therefore the ancient sages of China considered humaneness, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness to be five constants- five invariable truths that must be upheld in daily life. Zeng Zi examined himself on three points every day: whether he faithfully conducted his business with others, whether he was trustworthy in his friendships, and whether he reviewed what he had learned. Confucius also said that an untrustworthy person is like two wheels without the axle to lock them in place-how could they support the cart? This shows the importance of honesty. 

記得世俗通語有言﹕「害人之心不可有，防人之心不可無。」又說﹕「逢人但說三分話，不可全掏一片心。」其實，這只是一種老於世故的說辭罷了！說謊就像吸鴉片，是會上癮的。人起初只以不實的言語來保護自己，以為反正不傷害他人；殊不知習慣成自然，謊言越說越順溜；到後來無法自圓其說時，為掩飾，便開始惡意欺詐了。就像攜帶槍械刃棒，雖說原是用來防身的，但最後總歸是把自己也傷害了。君不見死於刀槍下的人，都是挾帶武器的人？「善泳者溺」，也正是這個道理。須知人心真能不設防，才是大防。

I remember a worldly proverb: "Never have a thought of harming others, but always be on guard against being harmed by others. " Another saying goes, "When you meet someone, speak just a little. Don't pour out your heart to him." Actually, these are just words of worldly experience. Lying is like smoking opium-it's addictive. People initially use dishonest words to protect themselves, thinking it won't hurt anyone; they never expect that it will turn into a habit and they will become so good at telling lies, till finally, to cover up for themselves, they start deceiving people maliciously. It's like when people carry weapons for self-defense, they end up getting hurt themselves. Haven't you noticed that people whose death is caused by weapons are usually weapon- carriers themselves? The same principle is found in the saying, "Good swimmers often drown." We ought to realize that having a totally unsuspecting mind is the greatest defense.

《菜根譚》上有言﹕「信人，示己之誠；疑人，顯己之詐。」何況事情都有其因果本末，今生被騙，就因前生騙人；要認錯要懺悔，而不是在那兒怨天尤人，甚至圖謀報復，徒然累增加罪業。只要一心一意持誠守信，舊業既消，福德自來；你再怎樣天真直率，也不會被騙的。這說起來很妙，也很不可思議；但是你若信根具足，不但不去懷疑這道理，還能拳拳服膺，你自然會逐漸體會受用到這妙處的。所謂至德之人，自然而遵行；中根之人，如利而勉行；下愚之人，疑善而不行。我們縱非至德，也不要做個下愚之人吧？

The Vegetable Roots Discourse says, "When you trust others, it shows your own sincerity, When you doubt others, it reveals your own deceptiveness." How much more is this the case when things are viewed in terms of causes and effects. If you are cheated in this life, it's because you cheated others in a previous life. You should bear it and be repentant, instead of complaining, blaming others, or seeking revenge, for that would only increase your offenses. As long as you single-mindedly maintain your honesty, your old karma will be eradicated and blessings will naturally come. No matter how naive and straightforward you are, no one will be able to cheat you. This sounds pretty mysterious and inconceivable, but if you have faith, not only will you not doubt it, you will fully accept it and naturally and gradually come to understand and fathom the mystery .The most virtuous people naturally follow this principle. Average people know the benefit and try to follow it. Foolish people doubt what is good and don't practice it. While we are not the most virtuous people, we don't want to be fools either, do we?