故乡

Sweet Hometown

人人都眷恋、赞美自己的故乡。漂泊海外的游子盼望叶落归根；学有所成的成功者期待衣锦还乡；即使毫无建树的普通凡人，无颜见江东父老的失败者，也会痴心不改地对故乡吟唱着：“只有风儿，捎去我的一片深情。”无论与故乡间隔千山万水，蛰伏的乡恋情结，始终挥之不去。

People tend to praise and have sentimental attachments to their hometowns. A person drifting abroad for many years would like to return to his native land; those who have succeeded in a special field look forward to a glorious homecoming. Even commoners with nothing to show or losers who feel shameful about facing folks back home still declare an infatuation for their homeland, saying, “Gentle breezes, only you can deliver my deep love.” The hidden nostalgic feeling toward one’s native place will always linger on, no matter how far one is separated from it.

一想起生养我的宗塔草原，我的心中就会泛起阵阵涟漪。故乡的山山水水，恰似“遮不住的青山隐隐，流不断的碧水悠悠”，总会将我带向悠远、缥缈、无法言传的世界。

For me, the mere thought of the Zong Ta prairie that had given me life and nourishment is enough to cause my heart to ripple. Its running streams and green mountains—just like the poem “blue as the water in ever-flowing rivers, blue as the distant hills shrouded in mist”—never fail to invoke in me a subtle and indescribable reverie.

对于修行人而言，这种情结恰恰是必须斩断的。无垢光尊者提醒后人：“故乡是最究竟的监狱，要断除对它的执著。”对故乡的贪执就是永处轮回的因，一切痛苦的源泉。“人生要识本来面，莫把他乡作故乡。”此生的故乡，只不过是寄居肉体的客栈，轮回长路的驿站。具有远见卓识的人，决不会被故乡的山水，挡住寻求解脱的双眼。

For people on the spiritual path, however, it is exactly such sentiment that has to be cut off. Longchepa once reminded future generations: “The hometown is the holding prison; you must sever attachments to it.” Clinging to one’s hometown propels the perpetual cycling in samsara and brings about all sufferings. The adage says: “In our lifetime, we should recognize our true nature; do not take an alien land as our hometown.” Our hometown of this life is only a temporary lodging for our body, a stopover on our long journey in samsara. For a man with foresight and sagacity, his vision in search of ultimate liberation will not be blocked by the landscape of his hometown.

“月是故乡明”，但对修行人而言，这个“故乡”不是指地理版图上的故乡，而是究竟的故乡、家园——心的本来归宿，本来面目。

“The moon is the brightest in one’s hometown,” so it says in a poem. But to a practitioner, this “hometown” refers not to the geographic one located on the map; rather, it means the absolute hearth and home—our mind’s true destiny, our mind as it is.

我们已找到回乡的路，何时才能回到真正的故乡呢？

Now that we have found the path to this ultimate hometown, when will we get there?

壬午年七月二十日 　
2002年8月28日 　

20th of July, Year of RenWu
August 28, 2002