尊老重贤，这是孔孟教。

Respecting elders and honoring worthy people is what Confucius and Mencius taught.

我现在再讲多一点废话，要讲什么？我要讲一讲尊老重贤这个道理，因为在旧历十一月二十七这一天，我举行一个尊老重贤敬德餐会。这个餐会多数是请了一些老教授、老学者啊！这些个长者，有的年龄到一百零四岁的，是一个出家人；有的年龄九十二、三岁的；有的是八十几岁的；有的是七十几岁的，我请的老人是从七十二岁开始。我请他们大家聚会到一起，来论论文、说说话，互相认识一下。

I'll say some more irrelevant things. What do I want to say? I want to talk about the idea of respecting the elderly and worthy. On the twenty-seventh of the eleventh lunar month, I organized a banquet for Venerating the Elderly, Honoring the Worthy, and Respecting the Virtuous. We invited mostly elderly professors and elderly scholars. These elders included a monk who was a hundred and four years old. Some were ninety-two or ninety-three, some were in their eighties, and others were in their seventies. The minimum age was seventy-two. I invited them to get together just to get acquainted, and to have a chat.

那么其中有一个杨富森教授，他每一年有个“十老还童会”。这十老有九十多岁、有八十多岁的、有七十多岁的。这些个老人也不怕辛苦，都来参加这个餐会，其中就有在台湾教育部做过次长的老教授、老学问家，是吴俊生教授。其余有在台湾当过大学校长的，有当过教务主任的，不少都是老资格啦！其中大约六十多岁的也有来参加的，不过不在请列，那么他们也随喜这个餐会。

One of these people is Professor Richard Yang, who attends an annual gathering of Ten Seniors Returning to Youth. These ten seniors include those in their nineties, eighties, and seventies. Not fearing the trouble, these seniors also attended the banquet. Among them, the elder professor and scholar Wu Junsheng used to be the Vice Minister of Taiwan's Education Department. Others had served as presidents of universities in Taiwan or as deans of academic affairs, and most of them had a lot of professional experience. People in their sixties also attended the banquet, although they were not on the honored guest list.

当时举行这个餐会，我给写了一副对联，这副对联横批是“松柏长青”，这表示这老年人永远也都是像小孩子似的，那么年轻。松柏长青，因为松柏它是不怕寒冷的，冬、夏都长青，所以把这些老人比喻成松柏。你们各位如果愿意记，可以用笔记一记。

On the occasion of the banquet, I wrote a matched couplet entitled "Evergreen like the pines and cedars," meaning that our elders should always be youthful and childlike. The pines and cedars do not fear cold, and they are green in winter as well as summer, so I'm comparing the elders to them. If you wish, you may take notes.

尊老重贤耆年寿考福慧双圆
学佛习圣耄耋龄高道德齐臻

Respect elders and honor the worthy
     for their seniority and longevity, and your blessings
     and wisdom will be complete.
Learn from the Buddhas and study with the sages,
     and at the age of seventy or eighty,
     you will attain both the Tao and virtue.

这个上联本来是“尊老重贤，耆年寿考，福慧双圆”，下联是“学佛习圣，耄耋龄高，道德齐臻”，这是十二字对十二字的对联。我本来也不懂什么叫对联，可是就这么不揣冒昧地来写这么一副对联。那么我又把这一副对联变成四副对联。

First I made this couplet. It is a matched couplet with twelve characters per line in Chinese. Actually, I don't understand how to match couplets. I just recklessly wrote this matched couplet without much consideration. Then from this couplet, I made four other matched couplets, which I shall explain below.

第一副对联上联是

尊老重贤孔孟训

这是说孔子给我们留下训诲人的一种方法，要尊老重贤，这是孔孟教。下联是

学佛习圣释子传

这释家就教化人，令人学佛那种思想和行为，都希望要习圣习贤。释子传，这个释子就是释迦牟尼佛的弟子，代代相传，以这个道理来教化人。

The first half of the first couplet says,

To respect elders and honor the worthy is the teaching of Confucius and Mencius.

Confucius left behind this method for people to follow. Respecting old folks and honoring worthy people is what Confucius and Mencius taught. The second half says,

To learn from the Buddhas and study with the sages is the teaching transmitted by Shakyamuni's disciples.

Shakyamuni Buddha taught people to study the thinking and conduct of the Buddhas and to learn from the sages and worthies. That is the principle the disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha have passed down through the generations and used to teach people.

第二副对联是

耆年寿考祖师教
耄耋龄高天地宽

“耆年寿考祖师教”，耆就是年老而有耆德的这个“耆”。“耄耋龄高天地宽”，就像那个“野鹤无粮天地宽”似的，因为老年人他自由自在，无拘无束，无挂无碍，这是有天地那么宽。

The second couplet:

Seniority and longevity are reached through the Patriarch's teachings.

To those who are seventy or eighty, the world is vast.

This is from the quote, "Wild cranes have no food, but their world is vast." Old folks are carefree and at ease, with no restrictions or obstructions. Their freedom is as vast as heaven and earth.

第三副对联是

福慧双圆黎民庆

这个有福有慧了，福慧双圆了，老百姓都是很欢喜的，黎民都庆祝这个寿星公、寿星婆，这是这个意思。

道德齐臻草木欢

草木都欢喜，你因为有道有德啊！所以都是鬼神恭敬、草木开颜的，这是草木欢。

The third couplet:

With blessings and wisdom both complete, all the people rejoice.

When blessings and wisdom are both perfected, the common people gather to rejoice with the elderly, who are the stars of longevity.

With the Tao and virtue both attained, even the grass and trees are delighted.

Because you elders have the Tao and virtue, the ghosts and spirits respect you, and the grass and trees smile in delight.

第四副对联是

梅竹冰雪愧愚志

我愿意比这个梅花，冬天冷才开；愿意比竹子，再冻它也冻不死。这是我愿意受苦、受难、受冻的一个愚痴的志愿，愿意这样子。

松柏长青祝君安

我说松柏长青，希望这些个老年的童子啊！都身体健康、精神愉快，一切一切都如意吉祥、平安快乐，这是这个意思。

The fourth couplet:

The plum and bamboo endure the ice and snow, and I am ashamed of my naive resolve to imitate them.

I want to be like the plum blossom, which opens in the cold of winter, and like the bamboo, which does not die in the freezing cold. I want to endure the suffering, the hardship, and the cold. It is my foolish resolve to be like this.

The pine and cedar are evergreen, and I wish that you will be as healthy as they are.

I say, "Just as the pine and cedar are eternally green, I hope you 'elderly youths' are healthy in body and happy in spirit, and that everything turns out as you wish, with peace and joy." That's my intention.

本来我在这个餐会上提出这个对联，想要这些老教授啊！老学问家啊！大家也都写一首东西来纪念。可是当时这些教授，也不知道他们是不愿意献丑啊？是怎么样子？都说这个很难对的，你这一副对联，变化成四副对联，这简直地从来没有这种的对联。我说从来没有，从今天就有了嘛！这不能说是空前，也不能说是绝后，当时大家就这么尽欢而散。

At the banquet, I told them about this couplet, hoping that all of those old professors, old scholars, and everyone would also write a matching couplet to commemorate the occasion. The elderly professors, perhaps because they didn't want to embarrass themselves by showing their poor skill, all said it was very difficult to match it. They said, "You have made four couplets from the original couplet. We've never seen any matched couplet like that before." I replied, "You may never have seen one like it before, but today you have." One cannot say that this was unprecedented, nor that it will not happen again. Everyone enjoyed themselves fully before they departed.

这些老教授说：“我这一辈参加过不知多少次宴会，都是在那儿逢场作戏，没有像今天这么样子有意思，有纪念性的，有历史性的一种餐会。”我说那以后我们每年可以举行一次尊老重贤敬德餐会，希望大家聚会到一起。

The elderly professors said, "I've been to countless gatherings in my life, but they were just for fun, never something as meaningful, memorable, and historic as today's banquet." I said, "From now on, we can hold a Banquet to Venerate the Elderly, Honor the Worthy, and Respect the Virtuous every year, and we hope everyone can get together."

这是我在美国洛杉矶举行的。我所以今天不妨向你们大家来说一说，你们大家有什么感想，这我都不管。有的人说你这是腐儒之见。腐儒我也不够格，那腐儒还有个“儒”呢，我这连个“儒”字也没有。我这四副对联是包括儒、释、道、天、地、人，还有我们个人的志愿，就包括这么多。可是这些老教授说是等着我回美国的时候，他们再来交卷子，我不知道他们有什么高谈阔论。

That was the banquet I held in Los Angeles, in the United States, so I thought I would tell all of you about it. I don't care what you think of it. Some people might call me a pedantic Confucian scholar, but I'm not even up to that, because I can't be considered a Confucian scholar. My four matched couplets include the principles of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Heaven, Earth, and Man, as well as each individual's wishes. That is the scope. The elderly professors told me they would turn in their homework when I got back to the United States. I don't know what kind of lofty words they have.

我每一天到这儿，我这个打鬼的杖，都先打打人，然后再打鬼；不过你们都不知道，我也不希望你们知道了。你们知道都会怕的：“噢！还有这么多鬼来呀！”所以我每一天都会加持你们。来的、不来的，你与这法会有缘的，都会得到加持，也不一定就来到这儿才得到。我若说你们到这儿才得到加持，这是诱惑你们呢，这里边是有一点跑江湖的话，所以我不愿意讲清楚了给你们听。至于明年我来不来？这不一定的。为什么呢？我也不知道我还活到明年，活不到明年？所以这个我不能预先来讲。可是我若活着，就会来；若死了，就不会来。

Every day I use my ghost-beating cane first to beat people and then to beat ghosts. You don't know, and I don't want you to know. If you knew, you would get scared, thinking, "Oh, I didn't know so many ghosts came here, too!" So every day I give aid and support to all of you. Whether or not you come, if you have affinities with this Dharma Assembly, you will receive aid. You don't necessarily have to come here to receive it. If I were to say that you have to come in order to receive aid, I would be trying to trick you. That would be like the words of a fraud. I don't want to tell you too explicitly. As for the question of whether I will come next year, it is not certain, because I don't know whether I'll live until next year. I can't tell you in advance, except to say I'll come if I'm alive, and I won't come if I'm dead.

（游居士：各位你们听到了，活着就会来，我们希望把这法会的活动，功德回向给老和尚，法体康泰，最起码活到一百二十岁。）

[Upasaka You: "You all heard it; he will come if he's alive. Now we would like to transfer the merit and virtue from this Dharma Assembly to Venerable Master, wishing him health and hoping that he will live to at least one hundred and twenty."]

我也不要你们给我回向，我若等着你们回向啊，可能早就没有了。这个请求是办不到的事情，因为我有愿力，我如果到一百岁，我就要自焚了，要把自己烧了来供佛。我绝对不愿意活到一百二十岁，这是很抱歉，不能遵命。

I don't want your transference. If I depended on your transference, I would probably be long gone. I can't grant your request, because I made a vow that if I lived to be one hundred, I would cremate myself as an offering to the Buddhas. I absolutely do not want to live to be a hundred and twenty. I'm very sorry, but I am not able to obey your wishes.

如果有人愿意供养呢，我在这儿我不愿意接受；我走了，你们愿意供养不供养，我都不管的。所以我在这儿我不愿意受红包，受红包是佛教的一种不良风气。你一给红包，令这个受供养者心里就打妄想了！他想什么呢？他说：“噢！这红包多少钱哪？十块？二十块？一百块？一千块？一万块？十万块？”他这个贪心哪！不期而然就会生出来了。“宁动千江水，不动道人心”，你这个供养令修道的人这么打妄想，这都是在造罪业的。所以我也不愿意打妄想，我定力还不够；那么我若不看见，我就不会打这个妄想了，你们大家懂不懂啊？（大众：懂。）

If there are people who want to make offerings, I don't want to accept them when I'm here. After I leave, it doesn't matter to me if you make offerings or not. While I'm here, I don't want to accept red envelopes. Taking red envelopes is an unwholesome custom in Buddhism. When you make an offering in a red envelope, you cause the person who accepts it to have an idle thought. What does he think? He thinks, "Oh, I wonder how much money is in that red envelope? Ten dollars? Twenty dollars? A hundred dollars? A thousand, ten thousand, or a hundred thousand dollars?" He can't help but become greedy. It's said, "You would rather disturb the waters of a thousand rivers, than to disturb the mind of a cultivator." If by making that offering you cause a cultivator to have idle thoughts, you are creating offenses. I don't want to have idle thoughts, because I don't have enough samadhi power. If I don't see the offerings, then I won't have idle thoughts. Do you all understand? [Everyone: "Yes."]

一九九三年一月十三日
开示于台湾板桥台北县立体育馆

A talk by the Venerable Master Hua on January 13, 1993,
at the Taipei County Stadium in Banqiao, Taiwan