Lesson from the Moon 月亮的启示

By Vicki Baum

When the moon is fullest it begins to wane, When it is darkest it begins to grow.

月亮带给我的启示----「月盈则亏，晦则明」

-Chinese Proverb-中国谚语

THERE is a calm wisdom in this old saying that impressed me when I heard it first form a monk of a Buddhist monastery in China. It has often, helped me to retain a good measure of equanimity under stress and hardship as well as when some unexpected success or good luck might have made me to exuberant. There is hope and consolation in the sure knowledge that even the darkest hours of pains and troubles won’t last: but also a warning against overrating the passing glories of wealth, power and great fortune. A warning and a hope, not only for the individual, but for government, nations and their leaders, a brief summing up of all that history and human experience can tell us. And beyond all that we might hear in it an echo of the law and order that holds our universe in safe balance.

这句中国的古话，最初是由佛教寺院中的一位和尚告诉我的，当时给我的印象很深。这实在是一句至理名词，蕴含着冷静的慧智。从那时起，每当我遭逢坎坷困苦，或者遇到可能使我过于兴奋的成功或好运的时候，这句话都曾帮助我保持镇定，泰然处之。这句话提示我们，不论痛苦和忧患的时刻多么黑暗，也不会长久持续下去，因而使我们感到希望和安慰;同时也警告我们，财富、权力、和鸿运当头的荣耀，都只是过眼烟云，不可过于重视。个人如此，国家和政府领袖亦然，这句话箴言所提供的希望和警告，实在是整个历史和人类经验的结晶。除此之外，我们还可以从这句话里面，聆听到使宇宙保持平衡状态的法律与秩序的回声。