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早安，首先我要感激辦公室的朱居士，每年都非常熱心地安排嚮導帶引我在曼都仙諾學院教授世界宗教課的學生參觀萬佛城；同時我也要感謝法師在過去數年的訪問中給予我們親切的指導，他們總是善巧方便的鼓勵我們瞭解佛法。我知道萬佛城一向都是非常支持附近的教育機構，同時也提供了此地居民非常有價值的文化交流。
我很榮幸，能有機會在敬老節這一天和大家講話。我覺得這個節日非常有意義而且對我們社區的互助上非常有貢獻。在談到敬老節的感想時，首先我要回憶我的長輩，特別是家父母。我的母親是一位非常顧家，熱愛孩子及嚮往大自然的婦女；我的父親在今年過94歲生日之前過世了，他生前非常活躍於社區工作，他擔任過數年瑜伽市老人中心的主任。他對國際交流也很有興趣，常到各處旅遊。他在1930年代曾到過中國，我對亞洲文化一直很有興趣，相信與父親有關。
當我想到年老的人，我想到的是那些跟我們在一起很久，對孩子、家庭、朋友，及社區長年付出的人，他們為關愛的人和自己的信仰服務奉獻，我想到自己的父母、祖父母及追本溯源到我們的老祖先，是他們長久以來不斷地發揚、維護我們的傳統，無形中塑成今日的美國文化。甚至我也想到大自然裡的生靈，因為它們的存在，我們得以生存和有舒適的人生，因為山河大地使我們享有種種美麗的生態環境。我看待它們如同長者，感恩之心油然而生。
但是當我想起這些長者時，對於他們所受到的冷落而感到遺憾。每年我們慶祝許多的節日，如感恩節、國慶日、萬聖節、復活節，耶誕節等等，但是沒有一個節日禮敬感恩長者。我認為社會之所以如此輕易地忽略尊敬長者是因為美國還是一個年輕、文化尚未成熟的國家。今天我們的主流文化是強調年輕的魅力與步調，奪目的財富以及科技的力量。我相信很不幸地我們常常表現出一付自大而眼光短淺的姿態。威爾柏肯恩寫道：「到處威脅著真、善、美的不是黑暗的勢力而是短見；它竟然還自稱有深度。就是這有精力又無畏的短視充斥而造成現代危機、現代威脅，而世人還叫我們救世者。
我們可能失去了光明與高峰，但更恐怖的是，我們失去了神秘與深度，真空與黑洞，迷失在一個只注重膚淺的外表，虛幻不實的世界裡，這些只顧外在的先知樂於勸告我們一頭栽進那沒有深度的池子中！」所以我相信美國文化還不成熟，它還停留在充滿夢幻的青少年時期，雖然它強有力，但智慧不足。
現在應該積極努力的目標是如何使我們的文化變得有深度而成熟。要做到這一點，我們必須認知我們周遭的人，和生活中各層面與我們都是息息相關的。不珍惜這些關係，自然不能彼此尊重，尤其是對長輩。假使無法尊敬長者，這就意味他們過去所做的一切對我們毫不重要，這是不是也意味著我們辛苦所造的每一天，在孩子的眼中也毫不重要？我們等於是在教育他們目前所有的成就與價值觀只現在重要並不值得保存，那等到我們老時怎能期望子女敬重我們和我們的成就？在敬老時我們感激他們所賜，尊敬他們以其人生孕育出我們的價值觀。敬老也是教導孩子服務家庭與社區這個重要的理念。所以在慶祝敬老節的今天，讓我們一同歡喜愉快地對長者貴賓，孩子，以及每一個人說：「這是我對您的祝福─在完整健全的社區裡有一個長久而有意義的人生。」謝謝。
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Good Morning. To begin with I would like to express my appreciation to John [Chu] at the Reception Office for being so helpful year after year in arranging tours for my Mendocino College Religions of the World classes. He is always very helpful in finding us tour guides for the day. And I would like to thank the Dharma Masters for being such gracious guides during our visits in the past several years. They are always very informative and encouraging to myself and my students in our efforts to understand Buddhism. I know that the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas has always been very supportive of its neighboring educational institutions in this area and I believe that this support provides a valuable cultural exchange for the citizens of the area.
I am grateful for this opportunity to speak to you at this ceremony honoring elders as I believe that this event is a wonderful and much needed contribution to our community. I want to begin by remembering my own elders, specifically my parents. I remember my mother Barbara, for being a woman who deeply cared for her family, for her love of children, and for her reverent connection to nature. I remember my father Bill, who passed away this year just before his ninety-fourth birthday, as a man of active involvement in community work. He was, in fact, the Director of the Ukiah Senior Center for a few years. He was interested in international exchange and traveled extensively as part of this activity, even traveling in China in the 1930s. It is probably from him that I get my long-standing interest in Asian culture.
When I think of elders I think of those who have been with us a long time; of those who have given much to their children, families, friends, and communities. I think of those who have given years of service to those they love and principles they believe in. I think of parents, grandparents, and I think of our ancestors going back to antiquity who have helped develop and preserve the traditions which shape the life of our culture. And furthermore, I think of those members of the natural world who likewise have been here a long time, and who also provide support and comfort for our lives. I think of the earth, the water and rocks, and of the great, aged trees that give so much beauty to our region. I experience all of these as elders, and I am grateful to them.
But as I remember these elders, I cannot help being struck by how poorly we in the United States honor them. We have many celebrations in the year – Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, Halloween, Easter, Christmas, etc – but none which specifically focuses upon the senior members of our community. I believe that we too easily forget to honor our elders because the United States is still a young and immature culture. The dominant culture in this country today emphasizes youthful glamour and speed, flashy wealth, and technological power. It is unfortunate but I believe true that we often display a regional and global arrogance and shortsightedness. Ken Wilber, a Buddhist-oriented philosopher, writes:
It is not the forces of darkness but of shallowness that everywhere threaten the true, and the good, and the beautiful, and that ironically announce themselves as deep and profound. It is an exuberant and fearless shallowness that everywhere is the modern danger, the modern threat, and that everywhere nonetheless calls to us as savior.
We might have lost the Light and the Height; but more frightening, we have Lost the Mystery and the Deep, the Emptiness and the Abyss, and lost it in a World dedicated to surfaces and shadows, exteriors and shells, whose prophets lovingly exhort us to dive into the shallow end of the pool head first.
So I believe that the culture of the United States is immature. It is still absorbed in the fascinations of the teenage years. Our culture in the United States is very powerful, but it is not yet wise.
It is urgent that we begin to move on, to deepen and mature our culture. To do this I believe we need to see that all people and all stages of life are deeply interconnected. If we fail to appreciate these interconnections we will automatically fail to honor one another, and especially our elders. If we fail to honor our elders we imply that what they did is not important to us. Do we also thereby imply that what we are working so hard to create each day need not be seen as important by our children? We imply and teach them that accomplishments and values are only important in the present and not worth preserving. So why should we expect our children to honor us or our accomplishments in our own future elder years? In honoring our elders we express appreciation for all they have given for our benefit, and we express respect for the values their lives have instilled in us. In honoring our elders we teach our children the fundamental importance of service to our families and communities. So in honoring our elders today let us all rejoice in saying to them, our children and to each other: “This is what I wish for you – a long and meaningful life in a whole and healthy community.” Thank you!
Statement by Ken Wilber is quoted from the Introduction, page xi, in his book
Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution. Shambhala, Boston and London. 1995
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