美观

Good Looking

虚荣心很强的人一般对自己的外表都很重视，穿上华而不实的服装，打扮得珠光宝气，除了自我欣赏、自我陶醉以外，还梦想博得别人的青睐，却往往忽视了内心的完善。

Vain people usually place great importance on outward appearances. They will dress up in showy outfits and adorn themselves with jewels lavishly. Fully intoxicated with self-admiration and self-infatuation, they crave others’ attention and often leave no chance of appreciating inner beauty.

一位印度的修行人对此深有感触：我年轻时有种十分令人厌恶的恶习，特别爱穿价格昂贵的衣服。我时常花费大量的时间和金钱，到市场上去买回各种时髦的衣料，让裁缝做出款式新颖的衣服，然后打着领带，招摇过市，以讨得女人的欢心。

An Indian practitioner knows too well this sentiment: When I was young, I had an obnoxious bad habit of loving to wear very expensive clothes. I used to spend tremendous amounts of money and time shopping for fashionable fabrics and would have tailors make stylish outfits. I would then saunter through the streets flaunting my suits with matching ties in order to court women’s favor.

上师的弟子们对我满腹牢骚，上师表面上也似乎不闻不问，就这样过了五年。每当上师话中有话地评价说“你的眼光很低”时，我总是自以为是地反驳道：“这可是上等的衣料！”

The other students complained about me to our teacher who seemingly had turned a deaf ear to their criticism. This went on for five years. On occasion the teacher appeared to hint something by saying, “Your taste is not elegant enough.” I would object in all self-righteousness and answered: “But this is made from top-quality textiles!”

一天，当我没有打扮，穿着朴素的睡衣去见上师时，上师一反常态，不住地称赞道：“你很好看！”上师的话使我如梦初醒，终于明白了华丽昂贵的衣衫，并不意味着美。继而放弃了喜穿高档衣服的嗜好，开始致力于心灵的净化。

Until one day I did not deck myself out and went to see my teacher in plain pajamas. Contrary to his usual manner, he kept on praising my new appearance, “You look so wonderful!” His words woke me from my delusion, and I came to see that exquisite and expensive garments do not equate to beauty. From then on I dropped my craving for wearing only high-end outfits and I began concentrating on my mind’s purification.

上师正是通过这种方式，让我最终了解到：世间的装饰其实不名一文，最有价值、最永恒的装饰就是对心灵的美化。

My teacher, through such skillful means, made me eventually realize that worldly adornment is really worthless. The most valuable and lasting adornment is the beautification of the heart.

虎豹以搏噬为功，凤凰以和鸣为美，世间人对美的诠释也是因人而异的。但修行人最无可比拟的美，就是无伪的菩提心。

Lions and leopards are noted for their hunting prowess; the legendary phoenix is admired for its lovely and harmonious songs. In defining beauty, each person has his or her own likings. But for a spiritual seeker, the utmost beauty is the genuine, uncontrived bodhichitta.

俗话说：“人靠衣裳马靠鞍。”只重衣衫不重人的习惯，自古已然，于今犹然。然而，一旦以此为座右铭，自己首先就沦落为衣着的奴隶。作为修行人，要想自由无碍，就应打破这一陈规陋习，外表上的简朴是通往精神自由王国的必由之路。不要做“金玉其外，败絮其中”的人，应知足常乐，一箪食、一瓢饮、一身衣足矣。

A common saying goes, “Clothes make the man, and trappings make the horse.” Judging people by what they wear rather than by what they are has been a common habit, in ancient as well as modern times. But if a person mistakes this for a maxim, he will reduce himself to a slave of fashion and clothes. Spiritual practitioners should unsubscribe from this deep-rooted and irrational notion and, in plain and unadorned exteriors, advance on the road leading to the kingdom of liberation. Do not become an apple of Sodom that is fair on the outside but rotten on the inside. A contented mind is a perpetual feast; what we already have—simple food, simple drink, and simple clothes—are sufficient and good enough for us.

壬午年七月初三　　
2002年8月11日 　

3rd of July, Year of RenWu
August 11, 2002