作者：纪雅云
编者按：本文作者（美国）Ms.PiaGiammasi，中文名：纪雅云，1964年出生于意大利，成长于美国，在美国麻省大学法律系毕业后，前往亚洲寻觅东方智能，寻道之旅遍历亚洲内外，其中包括中国、印度、尼泊尔、斯里兰卡、越南、德国等，现长期住在台湾地区。在过往三十余年，雅云深研佛学及投入佛法修证，并同时致力于多项工作包括教育、翻译、项目管理等。她在厦门大学中医系获取中医专业本科及针灸专业本科文凭，在斯里兰卡的凯拉尼亚大学的巴利语与佛学研究院获硕士学位。她是南怀瑾先生著述《金刚经说什么》《孔子和他的弟子们》的英文版译者，《论语别裁》英文版译者之一。她亦是至善社会福利基金会的创办人之一及长期参与工作者。她同时研究茶道、瑜伽、八卦掌、太极、古琴。雅云认为，人活在世上应当对人类有所贡献。雅云希望继续翻译南怀瑾老师的部分著作及若干佛学经典。
本文源自南怀瑾学术研究会、南怀瑾文教基金会，英文版附后，作者授权发表，转载请注明出处。
文/（美国）Ms.PiaGiammasi中文名：纪雅云
中文版译者：GraceChan润稿：张慧如，朱育贤
穆穆清风至，吹我罗裳裾。
青袍似春草，草长条风舒。
（汉，佚名，穆穆清风至）
我于1989年遇上南师（南怀瑾先生），命运安排我和他住在香港同一街道上。我在佛教图书馆认识宏忍法师，一位比丘尼。她安排我和南师见面。
我是一个从西方来到东方寻觅智能的人，当时并无预期除了遇到一个老师，更会遇见一个无边无量的宝库。
我那时的中文水平很差，但对南师的说法心领神会。第一次见南师时，他问我是否在静坐修习中遇上困难。我告诉他，妄想会影响我的禅境。南师便问我：妄想从那里来?我寻找它的根，并观照到妄想没有来处。我于是告诉南师。南师继续问我：妄想离开后去了那里?我再次寻找并观照到，妄想消失后没有去处。我告诉南师我的体会。他直视我双目，然后说:「对，那就没事了。」
由于我的住处靠近南师，他吩咐我每天晚上一起用餐。我非常幸运一天又一天都和他同桌吃饭，并聆听他将他的智慧布施予各阶层来拜访他的客人。其他同学尽力帮助我了解他的教晦，而我的中文亦渐渐进步。
时间经年累月的溜走，南师慢慢打破我对佛法、修行及得道的旧观念，破除我固有成见的局限，他教导我不要执着妄想，并应观照妄想的背后是甚么。
南师是一位卓越翩翩的君子，他个子小但有很深的轮廓，他通常穿着深蓝色的中国传统长衫，及一双功夫鞋。在他椅旁的枱上，总会有一杯热的乌龙茶、花生米及一条小小折迭整齐用来抹手的湿毛巾。他的椅子只有南师坐，南师有非常独特的音声。他的音声表现不同的情绪——有时候如湖水的平静安稳，有时候像潺潺的泉水，有时候仿如涛涛的汪洋。但不管在甚么情况下，他的音声深沉而洪亮。
我在南师身上所学到的，很难用言语形容。他灌输的智慧不停在我生命中化现。例如，他教导我穿透文化包装的外衣，放下先入为主的概念及成见，看所有事物的本质。最重要的是，他教导我从「体、相、用」三大角度认清事物。
在日常生活中，南师强调要认清自已扮演的角色及随之而来的责任的重要性。很多问题之所以产生是因为人没有认清自己应担当的角色。假若是一位在家修行人，他必须平衡他对工作、家庭的责任及他修行的本分。他必须学习如何把他的工作及家庭融入他的修行。另一方面，如果一位行者有出家的使命，他必须身心投入修证佛法。由于我本身扮演了许多角色，南师这个开示对我尤为重要，并启发我将我的精力如何按照轻重缓急，配合我每一角色的不同责任。
当我的中文渐渐进步，我可以协助西方来的客人的翻译工作。1997年，彼得·圣吉（PeterM.Senge）及其他外国的行者在香港太古广场一周的禅修活动，便是由我来担当翻译工作。在禅修活动前一年，我在进行《金刚经说甚么》的翻译工作。当时我不时请教南师那本书的不同段落，以确实我正确无误了解相关的内容。《金刚经说甚么》的英文翻译在2005年出版。
（1997年摄于香港太古广场）
最近我在进行《论语别裁》的翻译修订工作，在这过程中，我更深入赞叹孔子及他欲为当时社会所做的事。孔子和南怀瑾老师的一生有很多相同之处。他们两人都活在动荡的时代，而且都要离乡别井飘泊，到晚年才重回故国。他们是老师，在很多领域，文学及生活上都有卓越的见解。但他们不是一般的传统学者，而且他们对在象牙塔内做学术研究的学者没有很高的评价。他们把世法及出世法融会结合，他们的学生有各阶层的人，不同领域的领导人向他们征询意见，而他们身边总是被忠心耿耿的追随者围绕着。当然，亦不乏在其间攀缘附会之人。
他们两位最担心的是人类的道德沦亡，文化及社会秩序的退化。我相信正因如此，南师更深入古书，入圣贤心、穿梭古今，去解析他们对当世以及后世产生的巨大影响。南师追索二千几百年前孔子、老子、孟子的思想，而这些圣哲本身亦追索远古的尧、舜等。圣哲一位接一位，在时代变异的巨轮不停转动时，在动乱的年代，继承以往先贤的绝学，务使文化的宝藏可传于后世的人类，而不被湮没。
在这个虚拟经历、超级连接及信息超负荷的年代，新世代对于传统文化的接触及了解已是迅速退减。我们现今正处于与人类历史的断层，当故有的文化、习俗及社会结构逐渐裂解，家庭及感情的联系苍白无力，通过实际经验所吸收的知识在这计算机时代已渐行渐远。对这些时代的弊病，南师曾十分忧虑的说：未来世界面临最大的疾病将是精神病。
当人类为自已制造的虚拟现实变为幻网重重的烟幕镜子游戏，古人的教晦为我们提供个人及社会评估的准则，亦使我们有明辨的睿智。哲人已远，道业仍长，智慧的火炬将在我们这一代人的肩上继续传承。没有足够的智慧，悲天悯人的行者很难有所作为。在儒释道中存有我们需要的智慧、工具、蓝图、指引等，可使我们在未来时代航向彼岸。
我们必须坚定目标，追随南师的步履，为新一代种下先贤的种子，并培养已被种下的种子萌芽、茁壮。
附：英文版
Tucked in the Billowing Sleeve of a Sage
I met Master Nan in 1989 when destiny brought me to live on the same on the same street as he in Hong Kong. A Buddhist nun, Ven. Hong Ren, whom I had met at the Buddhist Library arranged for me to meet him. As a Westerner seeking the wisdom of the East, little did I know that I did not just find a teacher, but rather, an immeasurable treasure trove!
At that time my Chinese was very poor, but somehow he was able to communicate much to me. In my first conversation with Master Nan, he asked me if I was having any difficulty in my meditation practice. I told him that thoughts would often disturb my mental quiet. Master Nan then asked me where the thoughts came from and I looked and saw that thoughts come out of nowhere. I told this to Master Nan and he asked me where the thoughts went after they left. Again I looked inside and saw that they simply disappeared back into nowhere. After reporting this finding, Master Nan looked me straight in the eye and said, “Right, so don’t worry about them.”
Being just a short walk away, Master Nan bidded me to come for dinner every night. I had the great fortune of being able to sit at the dinner table night after night and listen as Master Nan imparted his wisdom to guests from all walks of life. The other students did their best to help me understand his teachings as my Chinese slowly improved. Over the weeks and months, Master Nan gently poked holes into my ideas of what Buddhism, spiritual cultivation and enlightenment were all about, and pushed open my mental walls of limitations. He taught me to stop grasping at thoughts and observe what is beyond them.
Master Nan can be described as a distinguished looking gentleman with a petite frame and strong features. He usually wore a dark blue, traditional long Chinese long gown or “chang pao" for men, and on his feet were a pair of cloth kung fu slippers. There was always a cup of hot Oolong tea, bowl of salted peanuts and a tiny folded wet towel for finger wiping on the table next to his chair – the chair in which only Master Nan sat! As to the quality of Master Nan’s voice, it was something very special. It had many moods - sometimes calm and smooth like a lake, sometimes like a babbling stream and sometimes like the roaring ocean. In any case, the sound of his voice was always deep and sonorous.
It is difficult to put into words all that I have learned from Master Nan. The wisdom of his teachings continually unfolds within my life. For example, he taught me to see things for what they are - to unwrap things from their cultural packaging or from my preconceived notions and prejudices and most importantly, to distinguish the appearance of something [相] from its function [用] and its essence [体].
In relation to everyday life, Master Nan stressed the importance of being clear about the role that one is playing and the responsibilities that come with it. Many problems occur because people are not clear about the role that they ought to be playing. For example, if one wants to be a lay practitioner, then one must balance one's responsibility to work and family with one’s commitment to practice. One must learn how to include one’s work and family in one’s spiritual practice. On the other hand, if one has a calling to live a monastic life, then one should put all their effort into living the true spirit of a monastic. Since I have played many roles, this teaching has been important and helpful in aligning my energy in relation to the priorities each role demands.
As my Chinese improved, I was able to help with the translation for the western guests and in 1997, I did the oral translation for the week long retreat in Pacific Place for Peter Senge and other foreign participants. In the year leading up to the retreat, I had been working on the translation of the book, The Diamond Sutra Explained, and would consult with Master Nan regularly to make sure that I understood the meaning of certain passages correctly. Eventually the translation was published in 2005.
Recently, having been working the translation of the commentary on the Confucian Analects, I have gained a deep appreciation of who Confucius was and what he was trying to do for the society of his time. The lives of Confucius and Master Nan, in many ways, parallel each other. Both lived through tumultuous times, both had to leave their home state and wander only to return in old age to their homeplace. They were teachers, learned in many fields and arts and life itself, but not scholars in the traditional sense, nor did either have too high an opinion of bookish, ivory tower scholars. They both wove together the worldly and the spiritual. They had students from all walks of life, were advisors of statesmen of all ranks, were flanked by loyal followers, or so it seemed, as many were there for the social connections. And both were most concerned about the deterioration of people’s virtue, of the culture, and of the general order of society.
I believe this is why Master Nan could go beyond the words of the ancient texts to see the men who spoke them, the events of those ancient times, and the significance of their lives’ work. Master Nan stretched his reach across 2500 years to grasp the hands of Confucius, Laozi, Mencius who in turn were reaching further back into antiquity to hold the hands of King Wen and so forth. A chain of sages, each one stretching their arms as wide as possible, sleeves aflutter in the winds of change, holding tight to the treasures of the culture during chaotic times in order to pass them forward so they would be available to later generations and not disappear.
In this age of virtual experience, hyper-connectivity and information overload, the younger generation’s understanding of and connection to their cultural heritage is diminishing rapidly. We are in the midst of making a break from the history of humanity as old world culture, custom and societal structure crumbles. Family and emotional connections suffer, as does knowledge through personal experience, in the computer age. Master Nan lamented that mental illness will be the next greatest health challenge the world will face.
As the external “reality” created by humans becomes an ever more complex game of smoke and mirrors, these ancient teachings provide us with standards for personal and societal assessment, and the means to gain powerful clarity and wisdom, without which it would be extremely difficult for the caring compassionate person to effectively take action in the world. Within Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism are the wisdom, the tools, the blueprints, the guidance and so forth which we need to navigate the times to come. These great sages are no longer with us, and so it falls upon us to carry forth the torch. Let us now make it our mission to continue in Master Nan’s footsteps, planting new sagely seeds and nurturing those which have started to grow.
