Thursday, March 08, 2007

明白了
人生的真相是
苦、
无常、
无我

并从
贪嗔痴
入手,
破解不快乐

通过“短”而“恒”的
定时冥想
从根部开始
由本及末
由里及表
清理每日的污染

无需很多仪式
亦无需大声忏悔
只要自己对自己
真正负起责任

不奢望、追求奇迹
以沙门瞿昙终身精进为榜样
凡事认真
不取巧
表里如一
不自欺
终日乾乾
不怠惰

疾病自然远离
烦恼自然剥落
快乐自然降临

这,就是我的修佛观
Two notes on “impress” or “impressive”:

举世瞩目:… has impressed the rest of the world

让我眼前一亮:I find… very impressive
A very good equivalent of “following” (as in “the pop star has a cult following”) is zhui1 peng3. “He has a large following” can be rendered as “zhui1 peng3 ta1 de ren2 hen3 duo1”. It’s a perfect match in such a context… zhui1 and peng3. I suspect that this Chinese phrase was originally coined as a quasi-equivalent of the English word “following”. But this doesn’t apply to “mei2 ti3 de zhui1 peng3” – “media following”? Sounds awkward. “He is very popular with the media”… “he is the darling of the media”.
情不自禁鼓起掌来
Could not contain their feelings any more, so they started clapping their hands/applauding.
Could not help but start applauding.
Etc.

But this version is the shortest and probably the best:
They broke into spontaneous applause.
"My nephew wore a blue jean sunhat that day. When the General Secretary noticed the peak of his hat turned to one side, he asked in passing why he was wearing it askew. I answered on behalf of the child: 'That is to get a clearer view of you.' (是为了把您看得清楚一些) The General Secretary and everyone else laughed knowingly, as if by prior agreement."

When I came to “that is to get a clearer view of you”, I was very tempted to say “that is only to see you better with” (from Little Red Riding Hood), but I resisted the temptation. I hope the person who said it wasn’t referring to the Little Red Riding Hood story.

奶奶,你的耳朵怎么这样大呀?”小红帽说。“为了更好地听你说话呀,乖乖。”“可是奶奶,你的眼睛怎么这样大呀?”小红帽又问。“为了更清楚地看你呀,乖乖。”“奶奶,你的手怎么这样大呀?”“可以更好地抱着你呀。”“奶奶,你的嘴巴怎么大得很吓人呀?”“可以一口把你吃掉呀!”狼刚把话说完,就从床上跳起来,把小红帽吞进了肚子,狼满足了食欲之后便重新躺到床上睡觉,而且鼾声震天。