老來福　　　林鈺堂　　　　　　 簡繁轉換 - 繁體

 

 

能活到老　便是福氣
尤其現代　死法多端　災禍頻傳
更屬難得

古人說　人生七十古來稀
近代雖不乏人瑞
從我常去各地墳場的觀感而言
能活到七十就算不錯了
　　在人類中已屬幸運者

年輕人　點點滴滴　都忘不了
難免常陷煩惱中　無以自拔
老年人　陳年往事　也記不得
自然平居恆淡然　怡靜自安

往日精力旺盛　計較不停　勇於惹事生非
而今心身皆弱　無暇理會　甘於息事寧人

個人所體驗的實際　一如流水
　　不斷遷異而無從把捉
心中所執著的情意　恰似蛛網
　　老在糾纏却只留露珠
因此佛法教示無執以契入無常的實際

未老時　執此執彼　學佛又陷法執
總難從思慮與情意網中脫困
老來後　顧此忘彼　生活老犯迷糊
經常遠離精明焦慮的重壓　
即使一生修行缺進展
卻自然漸契無執的教示
頗堪欣慰　引以為福

「老來福」又可解讀為福緣綿延（老來）
似是刻印的好題材

 

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　二○一六年三月十一日
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　養和齋　　　　於加州

 

Blessing of Old Age

Yutang Lin

 

Living up to old age is in itself a blessing
Especially nowadays when there are many ways of death while incidents constantly occur
It is indeed precious and hard to come by

An ancient Chinese saying goes
Since old times it is rare to live up to seventy for human existence
In modern time it is not rare to find people living over a hundred years
And yet based on my impression from many visits to cemeteries in several countries
It is already not bad for one to live up to seventy in life
        Among human beings these are already the lucky ones

Young people couldn't forget bits and pieces
Unavoidably they are constantly trapped in sorrows without a way out by themselves
Old folks couldn't recall events and matters from the long past
Naturally in daily life they take things easy and settle with tranquil peace

In the past one was full of energy and incessantly compared and raised issues and troubles
Now that one is meager in mind and body
No more leisure to care much and is content with letting things be to reduce fuss

Reality as one personally experiences is like flowing water
        Constantly evolving and yet impossible to grasp onto
Intentions as grasped by one in mind is like spider web
        Incessantly entangling but can only catch dew drops
Hence Dharma teaches No Grasping for us to merge into the impermanent reality

Before one gets old
One grasps onto this or that, and even on the enlightenment path one still grasps to teachings
It is always difficult for one to escape from the net of thoughts and intentions
As one gets old
Minding this, one forgets about that, and in daily life confusions do recur often
Constantly one stays far away from the heavy pressures of alert-full anxieties
Even though a lifetime of Dharma practices did not accumulate in much progress
And yet naturally one gradually merges into accordance with the teaching on No Grasping
This is indeed quite worthwhile and delighting
So I count it as blessing of old age

(The last two lines of the Chinese original have significance only in Chinese language, and hence it is not translated here.)

 

Written in Chinese and translated into English on March 11, 2016
El Cerrito, California

---

[Home][Back to list][Related wokrs:Two Seals、拋磚引玉 ]