我今天到李居士（李炎武將軍）家去，他寫了一首詩，寫的字畫，我拿起看了一遍，這麼閉上眼睛一背就背出來，我現在唸給大家聽一聽。他說：
黑水千年湧 白山萬世雄；
吾家居僻麓 耕鑿樂斯螽。
弱冠投班筆 衰顏寄旅蓬；
何時歸故里 再繞庭前桐？
「黑水千年湧」：因為他是東北的人，東北有黑龍江，這黑水千年湧，千年都是像湧泉那麼滔滔不斷，川流不息。
「白山萬世雄」：他住近於長白山的地方，長白山萬世在群山裏邊，都是一座大山，好像一個大英雄，所以說萬世雄；因為他是個武人，所以一講就講英雄，英雄主義。
「吾家居僻麓」：我的家在那一個偏僻的山頂上。
「耕鑿樂斯螽」：耕是耕田；鑿是鑿井。那是在帝堯的時候說的，「日出而作，日入而息；鑿井而飲，耕田而食。」他說，「耕鑿樂斯螽」，斯螽就是螽斯衍慶，這是從《詩經》上來的，就說他家裏人繁衍得很多。
「弱冠投班筆」：他說他年紀弱冠的時候，就投筆從戎去了，學班超；班超投筆從戎，這是漢朝的一個將領。本來他讀書的，但是他要為國家效力，投筆從戎，所以說「弱冠投班筆」。
「衰顏寄旅蓬」：他說現在年紀老了，顏色都衰退了。寄旅蓬，寄住在臺灣這兒，好像在一個旅遊的地方。
「何時歸故里」：什麼時候再回到老家鄉去，到長白山那兒看一看呢？
「再轉庭前桐」：因為這位李居士出生那一天，他母親夢見庭前有一棵梧桐樹，醒了就生李居士。他為了報母恩，所以念念不忘再轉這庭前桐，再到庭前那棵梧桐樹那兒轉來轉去。或者意思說再轉生，來生還要做他母親的兒子。你說，這個李居士做人的兒子，總也做不夠，來生還要做兒子去！
這首詩我唸了一遍，一閉上眼睛就記得，我唸給他聽。他說，「你記憶力這麼好！」「這已經壞了，我年輕時比這更好。」
那麼你若能忍辱，記憶力就會好。有的人告訴我他沒有記性，就因為你不能忍辱嘛！你若能忍辱，什麼事情都可以記得了，但是記一切事情也沒有用。你若能忍辱，就會得到禪那，也就會精進了。
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*舊金山金山寺留念
誰道群生性命微？一般骨肉一般皮。
勸君莫打枝頭鳥，子在巢中望母歸。
白居易戒殺詩甲寅夏（1974）於台北長白李炎武
*As a Keepsake for San Francisco's Gold Mountain Monastery
Dont say that the lives of tiny creatures are insignificant;
They, too, have bones and flesh; they too have skin.
I beg you, kind Sir, do not shoot the birds in the boughs,
For the babies there are waiting for their mother to return.
"Poem on the Prohibition against Taking Life" by Bai Ju-yi
Copied respectfully in the summer of Jia-yin (1974)
by Li Yanwu of Ch'ang-shan |
※編按：李將軍在皈依上人時見異象，大悲心生，欲念停止（見上期李將軍致上人信） ，可說是一種開悟，上人就給了他一首偈頌，心印法門，以為修行：
行住坐臥 不離這個，
離了這個 便是錯過。
李將軍也寫了一首詩和之（原中文詩缺，由英譯轉譯成中文）：
時時刻刻常警覺，
分分秒秒勤修行，
一時一刻不放逸，
一分一秒不離中道。
譯自本刊1976年3、4、5月份第60、61、62三期合訂本菩提臺文第57頁。 |
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I went to Upasaka Li's (General Li Yan-wu) home today. He wrote a verse in calligraphy, which I read once, closed my eyes, and memorized on the spot. I'm going to recite it for you now. He wrote:
The Black River flows for a thousand years.
The White Mountain towers for ten thousand ages.
My house was tucked away in the secluded foothills.
Plowing the fields, digging a well, we enjoyed simple pleasures.
In my youth, I threw away my writing brush to join the army;
In my old age, I sojourn on the Island of Peng (Taiwan).
When will I return to my hometown,
And run around the firmiana tree in the yard?
The Black River flows for a thousand years. He was from Manchuria, and in Manchuria there is the Black Dragon River (Heilongjiang), which has flowed ceaselessly for thousands of years without interruption.
The White Mountain towers for ten thousand ages. General Li lived near the Eternally White Mountain (Changbaishan), which has always been considered a colossal mountain among all the mountains, like a great hero. Being a military man, he liked to speak of heroes. He was into heroism.
My house was tucked away in the secluded foothills, on a solitary hilltop.
Plowing the fields, digging a well, we enjoyed simple pleasures. During the time of Emperor Yao, “People went to work when the sun rose and retired when the sun set. They dug wells in order to drink water, and planted the fields in order to eat.” “We enjoyed simple pleasures” literally comes from a phrase in the Book of Odes, “May your children be as numerous as grasshoppers.” That means his family was well-developed and happy.
In my youth, I threw away my writing brush to join the army. As a young man, General Li emulated the Han dynasty general Ban Chao, who was originally a scholar but who left his brush behind and went to join the army, feeling he could help the country more effectively that way.
In my old age, I sojourn on the Island of Peng (Taiwan). Now that he is old and his figure is decrepit, he sojourns in Taiwan. Taiwan is just a place to which he has traveled.
"When will I return to my old hometown? When can I return to Eternally White Mountain to take a look?
And run around the firmiana tree in the yard?" On the day of his birth, his mother dreamt of the firmiana tree in the yard. When she awoke, she gave birth to Upasaka Li. In order to repay his mother's kindness, he keeps thinking of going back to circle that firmiana tree. Or perhaps he means that he wants to come back in his next life to be his mother's son again. You see, he hasn't had enough of being her son, so he wants to do it again in his next life.
I read the verse once, closed my eyes, and recited it back to General Li. He exclaimed, "You have an excellent memory!" I said, "It's already declined. My memory was even better when I was young."
If you have patience, then you will have a good memory. Some people say they have bad memories, and it's because they have no forbearance. If you can endure disgrace, you'll be able to remember anything. However, remembering everything is still useless. If you can endure disgrace, you'll achieve dhyana and be vigorous.
※ Editor's Note: When General Li took refuge with the Venerable Abbot he saw a number of inconceivable things (see letter in last issue), and during the ceremony his heart of great compassion was born. With its birth, every thought of desire ceased and what he experienced was subtle and wonderful. At that time the Venerable Abbot gave him a method to cultivate the Way, the mind seal, for it can be said that he had already had an enlightenment. Then the Venerable Abbot taught him this verse:
Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down.
Don't separate from This.
Having left This.
You've made a mistake.
The General wrote a poem in reply (the original Chinese poem has been lost, and the Chinese is a translation back from the English):
Every minute, every second, one must be on guard,
Every second, every moment, one must cultivate the Way
Not drifting off for even for an instant,
Not even for a moment can one leave the Middle Way.
※ Excerpted from the combined volume of issues 60, 61, and 62
(March-May, 1976), page 57.
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