小朋友！你们要知道万丈高楼，是从平地一点一点建筑起来的；百丈的大树，是一寸一寸长高的；人，也是一天一天长成的。在小的时候，先要立志愿，本着目标，向前迈进。如果没有目标、没有宗旨，好像“盲人骑瞎马，夜半临深渊。”你说危险不危险？

Young friends! You know that skyscrapers are built little by little from the ground up. Hundred-foot-tall trees grew inch by inch before reaching such a height. People also grow day by day. In our youth, we should set our goals and then advance to fulfill them. Without goals or principles, we are like a blind man riding a blind horse coming upon an abyss at midnight. Wouldn’t you say that is dangerous?

儿童好像洁白的布，“染于苍则苍，染于黄则黄。”随着教育环境而转变。所谓“近朱者赤，近墨者黑。”受环境的熏染而改变。在《三字经》上说：“人之初，性本善。性相近，习相远。苟不教，性乃迁。”就是这个道理。

Children are like a piece of pure white cloth that becomes blue if dyed blue and yellow if dyed yellow. Children are transformed according to their educational environment. As it’s said, “If you get near rouge, you’ll turn red. If you touch ink, you’ll turn black.” Likewise children are influenced by their surroundings. The Three Character Classic says: “People at birth are by nature good. Their natures are similar, but their habits set them apart. If not taught properly, their natures will change.” That’s the principle here.

你们在万佛圣城受教育，能不争、不贪、不求、不自私、不自利、不妄语，将来对于社会、国家，一定有所贡献。我们万佛圣城成立的法界佛教大学、培德中学、育良小学都以此六大宗旨作为校训。

You are now being educated at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. If you can learn not to fight, not to be greedy, not to seek, not to be selfish, not to pursue personal advantage, and not to lie, in the future you will surely make a contribution to your society and country. These Six Guidelines are the motto for the schools at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas: Dharma Realm Buddhist University, Developing Virtue Secondary School, and Instilling Goodness Elementary School.

大、中、小学各位老师！你们要念兹在兹教育第二代，这是神圣的工作，要教育学生做到尽善尽美的人格，实实在在的学问，将来就不会作嬉皮、流氓，不会作无赖、强盗，而作规规矩矩的好公民。现在教育失败，为什么？因为功利主义在作怪，一般人办学校以赚钱为目的，以为学生越多越好，却丧失教育崇高的宗旨。

Teachers at the university and the secondary and elementary schools! Sincerely devote yourself to educating the next generation. It’s a sacred calling. If you can educate students so that they have perfect characters and solid knowledge, they won’t turn into hippies, vagrants, bums, or robbers, but into good citizens. At present, the educational system has failed. Why? Because a utilitarian outlook has taken over. People open schools for the purpose of making money, so their attitude is: The more students the better. But what happens is that the noble purpose of education is lost.

各位老师！要用“幼吾幼以及人之幼”的精神来教育学生。儿童是国家的能源，国家的基础；国家的能源不足基础不坚，焉能强国？愿共勉之！

All of you teachers should teach the students as if they were your own children. Children are the resources of the nation, the foundation of the country. If a nation’s resources are inadequate and its foundation is weak, how can the nation become a strong one? Let’s urge one another on!