對畢生追求智慧的修行者來說:
In the depths of winter,
I finally learned that within me
there lay an invincible summer.
( Albert Camus )
年輕時大部份人都不能避免結婚生子、成家立業,
然後努力工作養家活口,這條一般人都會走的人生軌道。
年輕時無論如何風華絕代、風姿綽約、風華正茂,
當年的流金歲月畢竟已成陳跡,當年學到的知識可能已經落伍,
當年掌握的技藝不一定還可以倚靠,可以期望能夠食老本。
Young men have a passion for regarding
their elders as senile.
( Henry Adams )
如今已經退休,滿面風霜,頭髮早禿或者變得斑白,
人生中經歷過了那些起起伏伏,患得患失,
不知如何自處,不知如何應付的苦澀歲月。
閱歷多了之後,看透了萬變不離其宗的「人、事、物」。
雖然已經退休,心態平穩,不需要再為五斗米折腰,
不需要再為升職加薪而奮力拚搏或者擦上司的鞋。
除此之外,子女們亦已經大學畢業,出來社會工作,
會有自己的家庭,有自己的生活。
那些一早有培養嗜好的退休長者開始有時間閑下來,
雖然走路未必如年輕時健步如飛,但亦未到走不動的地步,
而且有時間做自己喜歡的事情,對生活滿意度緩步上升。
Old age has a great sense of calm and freedom.
( Plato )
The old man has docked in the harbor,
having safeguarded his true happiness.
( Epicurus )
但人退休之後真的可以退憂嗎?
身體還健康嗎?心靈還健康嗎?有足夠的退休金嗎?
金錢和財產當然重要,因為難免需要看醫生,吃藥,
需要住醫院,除此之外,金錢還有一些剩餘價值,
就是和貧困的親朋好友分享,及遺愛給下一代。
與其羡慕別人的快樂,不如努力建設自己的幸福!
Envying another man’s happiness
is madness; you wouldn’t know
what to do with it if you had it.
( Andre Gide, The Immoralist )
除此之外,我們還需要問:
自己在年輕拼搏時會否已經埋下將來會纏身的疾病?
薑不一定是老的辣,只有部份具備思考能力的長者,
終於明白只有自強不息,苟日新,日日新,又日新,
努力不斷地追求智慧,才有希望成為全面的老辣薑,
因為除了金錢之外,智慧才是老年可以依靠的老本,
不但能夠令他在處理普通生活難題方面,經驗豐富,
而且令他在複雜和眾多影響因素的問題上遊刃有餘。
All that is gold does not glitter;
not all those who wander are lost;
the old that is strong does not wither;
deep roots are not reached by the frost.
( J. R. R. Tolkien )
即使身體日漸衰退,記憶力開始退化,
但只要沒有懶於思考,思考能力和智慧絲毫不會減少。
回歸心靈,晝夜思想的修行者,智慧更會隨著歲月而增長,
樂天知命,澹泊明志,不怨天,不尤人,知足,感恩,
更加不會用輩份來壓迫晚輩,保持平常心,死前沒有遺憾!
As for old age, embrace and love it. It abounds
with pleasure if you know how to use it.
The gradually declining years are among the
sweetest in a man’s life, and I maintain that,
even when they have reached the extreme limit,
they have their pleasure still.
( Lucius Annaeus Seneca )
By the time you’ve reached your sixties,
you do know that one day you will die, and
knowing that is at least the beginning of wisdom.
( Terry Pratchett )
其實人生怎可能沒有遺憾?
越是智慧高的人就越多遺憾,
因為他們想做和能做的事情實在太多,
而一天二十四小時實在不夠他們用!
They are now in the twilight years of their life.
但至少年紀老邁代表了沒有夭折,沒有英年早逝,
克服了青少年期生命的無常,值得安慰,而且應該要感恩!
Growing old beats the alternative──dying young.
( Regina Brett )
Don’t complain about growing old──
many people don’t have that privilege.
( Earl Warren )
人生下半場最重要的事情有四:
1. 換過一批朋友,因為發現自己的智慧繼續增長,
而一向懶於思考的舊朋友卻變得越來越愚昧。
If you’re the smartest person in the room,
you’re in the wrong room.
( Confucious )
2. 在死亡之前向自己交代。
3. 如何因應個人的天賦安享晚年。
讓心靈主持大局的人,追求的是愛和智慧;
愛和智慧就是值得堅持、可以安身立命的信仰。
所以有部份讓心靈主持大局的人選擇終身學習,
有部份則選擇終身服務。
學習和服務就是生活,生活就是學習和服務;
學習和服務其樂無窮,所以追求愛和智慧的人,
往往呈現「不知老之將至」的心態。
4. 保持童真,保持真和誠,保持探索和不斷學習的精神。
「其為人也,發憤忘食,樂以忘憂,不知老之將至云爾。」
《論語。述而》
When a man is old,
he may be young in good things,
through the pleasing recollection of the past.
( Epicurus )
It is not the young man
who should be considered fortunate,
but the old man who has lived well.
( Epicurus )
Clouds come floating into my life,
no longer to carry rain or usher storm,
but to add color to my sunset sky.
( Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds )
選擇終身學習的人,必然信奉「苟日新、日日新、又日新!」
必然擁抱「鍥而不捨、尋根究底」的批判精神,
persevering, unflinching and critical inquiry。
一旦有信心在自己所知的範疇內不至於誤導別人的時候,
亦必然樂於將學習的心得和別人分享。
Education is the best provision for old age.
( Aristotle )
You are never too old to set another goal
or to dream a new dream.
( C. S. Lewis )
Older and wiser voices can help you find the
right path, if you are only willing to listen.
( Jimmy Buffett )
There is a fountain of youth; it is your mind,
your talents, the creativity you bring to your
life and the lives of the people you love.
When you will learn to tap this source,
you will have truly defeated age.
( Sophia Loren )
每一個人總會有死亡的一天,
所以畢生追求智慧的長者明白:「夕陽無限好,不怕近黃昏」,
而且每一年都離死亡越來越近,不能夠再蹉跎歲月。
所謂老騏伏櫪,就是在人生中任何階段,都不會讓自己停下來。
老騏伏櫪,不一定志在千里,可以志在不再犯年輕時犯的錯誤,
更可以志在一言一行無愧於心。
無愧於心所需要的條件就是回歸心靈,努力追求智慧,
保守對真理謙卑的心,堅持真和誠,堅持人格,拒絕出售良知。
人只有堅持追求真理,勇猛精進,自強不息,拒絕隨波逐流,
才能夠維持對心靈的優秀服務,在死亡之前繼續發熱發光!
老騏如此忙碌,當然不會介意是否需要慶祝生日這種小事。
老騏伏櫪,只需要在自己身體慢慢衰老的過程中,
不斷修正自己對個人身體狀況的看法和判斷。
I speak the truth not so much as I would,
but as much as I dare, and I dare a little
more as I grow older.
( Michel de Montaigne )
I care not so much what I am to others
as what I am to myself. I will be rich
by myself, and not by borrowing.
( Michel de Montaigne )
錢財是身外物,但智慧和愚蠢都是身內物!
有一些人只懂得重視身體的健康,重視飲食,
而不努力學習和汲取先哲前賢免費提供的智慧,
那麼他們也會是「愚樂圈」中的愚蠢人!
精神的財富,從來都應該是讓有緣人一起分享的。
為甚麼必須是有緣人呢?
因為沒有緣的人喜歡的,往往是矇矓、含糊、曖昧、
讓無知者似懂非懂、似是而非、似非而是的道理,
用一堆有欠清晰的詞彙支撐另一堆有欠清晰的詞彙的道理,
因為這些道理看起來好像比較高級!
只有重視「真和誠」的人才懂得欣賞真正的精神財富,
擁抱「真和誠」的宗教,「真和誠」的哲學!
The path towards love and wisdom is a
difficult but beautiful and fruitful path,
You have no need to ask where it leads.
Old age is winter only for humdrum people,
not for those who are wise and not afraid
of death. Old age sees a good old soul
becoming a better soul and so old age
is always happy harvest time for the wise.
( Jason Ling )
從臭皮囊的角度來看,We are what we eat,
從「我 ego」的角度來看,We are what we own,
從「心靈 soul」的角度來看,
We are shaped by our thoughts and so
we are what we think and what we choose.
知識和智慧在人生中同樣重要。
無知 ignorance 和 低思考能力 low thinking ability,
可以產生 迷信 superstition,偏見 prejudice,
愚昧 folly,謬見 delusion ……。
無知和低思考能力,更加是謠言的溫床!
如果我們的思想沒有具備「真」和「誠」的精神,
怎可能趕走無知?
如果我們沒有對「真」和「誠」的熱愛,
怎可能提升我們的思考能力?
如果我們不期望所有分享我們的思想的人,
在看我們的文字、片語、文章時能夠看得清楚明白,
怎可能對得起我們的心靈?
If you are a one-percenter and
you want to go fast, you usually go alone.
If you want the civilization to go far,
you must work with like-minded people and
have the patience to wait for the society
to go together.
( Jason Ling )
只要老騏的智慧和經驗不斷增添,
就不怕別人認為他們沉默寡言,
因為小李飛刀,例不虛發,而且必定發在重要的問題之上。
「喜怒哀樂之未發,謂之中;發而皆中節,謂之和。
中也者,天下之大本也;和也者,天下之達道也。」
《中庸。第一章》
The wise man knows how to run his life.
He is always chasing after wisdom
and is continuously transcending himself.
( Jason Ling )
A fool only see what he wants to see;
he only hears what he wants to hear.
His belief system is just like a mirror
that only shows him what he believes.
Some were just born foolish,
some did not receive proper training in
thinking when they were young,
and some were just too old to learn
how to think.
Forgive them, this was not all their fault,
but don’t let them lead your way.
( Jason Ling )
老騏伏櫪,一定是追求智慧,因為可以將智慧帶往下一生,
因為他屢世之前就已經退出了愚樂圈,提升了生活的品質。
然而「子非愚,焉知愚之樂」?
況且每個人總有自己獲得快樂的方法,
加入愚樂圈,有身分認同及參與的快樂。
愚樂圈不但是 Fool’s Paradise,
而且當愚蠢人看見比自己更愚蠢的人時,就會覺得非常快樂。
這種情況並不罕見,因為愚樂圈中一向人才輩出,
江山代有蠢人出,從來不用擔心薪火相傳的問題,
所以毋須慨嘆「智山難越,誰悲愚蠢之人」,
因為「萍水相逢,盡是愚樂圈內同道中人」。
愚樂圈中人會覺得蠢好爽,因為永遠有人比他更蠢,
唯一恐懼就是愚樂圈城門失火,殃及池愚!
A fool always finds one still more foolish
to admire him.
( Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux )
比上不足,比下有餘,
其實愚蠢人只需要看到那些建設信仰之後矢志移山的愚公,
和他們一比較,愚蠢人就已經覺得自己很了不起。
You may say I’m a fool,
but I’m not the only one, and furthermore,
there is always someone who exceeds me
in foolishness.
( Jason Ling )
畢生追求智慧的老騏,一生人一定不斷努力地去蕪存菁,
好好地保存艱苦得來的智慧和向後來者分享智慧,
並且將一切垃圾概念從腦袋裡清除及用作教材,
老騏不會再對生命中的「人、事、物」有太高的期望,
但必然對自己已經擁有的東西覺得知足和感恩。
When humor goes, there goes civilization.
( Erma Bombeck )
There is a thin line that separates
laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy,
humor and hurt.
( Erma Bombeck )
Jared Diamond
How societies can grow old better
當你老了靠誰養?
Less stuff, more happiness | Graham Hill