《上人法雨》

VENERABLE MASTER'S DHARMA RAIN

 

上人规矩集锦：讲法的规矩

A Collection of the Venerable Master's Rules: On Giving Dharma Talks

 

宣公上人讲 心香 英译 A talk by the Venerable Master Hua English translation by Heart Incense

 

讲法的方法

 

我们说法的人，也应该要说的法要送到每一个人耳朵里，流到心里去，把它记住。说法的声音一定要洪亮，青年人讲法，要一字一句的，讲出来话必须要清清楚楚，不能在语言之中混合不清，令听众来不及听，好像放鞭炮似的，这样子，就不要出来讲法。讲法的人要郑重其事，不是那么随随便便，嘻嘻哈哈的，自己的威仪也没有，态度也很草率，令人听得来不及听。不要说旁人，我就听不清楚。我这也是一个笨人，所以你讲话讲得不清楚，我就听不清楚；听不清楚，我就不知道他在讲什么。

 

每一个人出来讲，就是学习的期间，所以时间也不太多。譬如有翻译只可以讲三分钟，翻译三分钟，不可以讲得不清楚，还愿意讲。每一天，一个人六分钟，连讲带翻译六分钟，有四个人出来讲就可以了。这四个人必须要会讲话，因为面对这么多的观众，你讲出来的话什么也没有，令人听得是干燥无味，也令人坐在那个地方，坐也坐不住了，站起来又不好意思。所以这一点，各位讲的人要特别注意。

 

在这儿你就讲一句话，你把它讲得送到人的心里去，不可以只有你自己懂，旁人听不懂，这是老鞑子看戏，白搭功了！这一点很要紧的。能讲的，固然要讲；不能讲的，是慢慢听人家讲，来学习。我到什么地方，带的人都是学校，在这儿训练能以说法的人才，在庙上要训练，到外边也要训练，一天不必多了。 

 

The Way to Speak Dharma

 

When we speak the Dharma, we should deliver the Dharma  into each listener's ear and heart, so that he or she will  remember it. The Dharma must be spoken with a clear, resonant voice. When young people speak the Dharma, they  should enunciate each word and phrase clearly. They  shouldn't talk so fast that everything runs together and  sounds like popping firecrackers, because then the audience won't be able to catch what they are saying. People  who talk like that shouldn't come up to speak the Dharma.  Those who speak the Dharma should be serious and solemn,  not sloppy and giggling and with no sense of proper  deportment. If you speak in such a sloppy manner, people  cannot understand what you are saying. Not to mention other  people, even I couldn't hear clearly. Since I am a stupid  person, if someone does not speak clearly, then I cannot  hear clearly and I won't know what he is saying.

 

The people who come up to speak are just practicing, so  they should not talk too long. If their talk is to be translated,  they should talk for three minutes and leave three minutes  for translation. If you don't know how to speak clearly,  then you shouldn't insist on speaking. Each person's talk  and translation should take a total of six minutes. Four  speakers are enough for one day. The four should know  how to speak well, because if they say something meaningless in front of such a large audience, people will get bored.  They won't want to sit there, but they are too polite to get  up and leave. Every speaker should pay close attention to this.  Every single sentence you say up here has to penetrate  into people's hearts. It shouldn't be that you are the only  one who understands, and no one else knows what you are  talking about. That's like "the Mongolian who goes to the  opera and listens in vain (because he can't understand)."  This is important.

 

Those who know how to speak should speak. Those who don't  know how can learn gradually by listening to others speak. No  matter where I go, the people I bring along with me are in school,  and this school trains people to speak the Dharma. They get to  practice both in the monastery and also on trips, so we don't  need to have too many speakers on one day. Venerable Master's Dharma Words Using a combination of exhorting and consoling while maintaining an equal regard for all beings is compassion that will save the world.