Look Within and Transcend with the Help of Love

Look Within and Transcend with the Help of Love

What is transcendence? Jumping out of your surroundings to perceive the world around you. In doing so, you will find that, although the world teems with eyesores, like a big filthy, muddy marsh, it can produce pure, holy lotus blooms. The prerequisite is that you question your own mind, examine yourself, discipline yourself, and improve yourself. Then, achieve a transcendence of the mind. That is a treasure hidden in everyone’s mind.

In the culture of West China, love is the reason for living. There are two types of love: great love and petty love. Whether great or petty, both of them are good. When shepherds in the western regions are shouting out their songs in the desert, there is no one listening. However, they enjoy their singing very much. Why? Because out of their songs flows out the love within their hearts. They don’t care who is listening or whether there are people who buy tickets and records. To sing is their purpose.

It’s the same with my writing. Although my classmates didn’t know who Xue Mo was, I didn’t feel depressed; rather, I was as confident as ever, and even seemed arrogant. Why was that? Because writing is the reason why I live. I don’t care at all how many people love my books. It doesn’t matter. It is good if they love my books; it is equally good if they don’t.

Why? Because I write out of love. To be honest, nothing in the world can make me happier than writing. There is a very powerful love surging in my heart. When I revel in that love and allow my fingers to dance over the keyboard, the whole world is wild with joy. My son has also experienced this. He said to me, “Dad, I don’t want to go to university. I want to be a writer.” I consented. Why? Because he knew it is a bliss to be able to do something he really loves in his lifetime.

I think that the greatest happiness in one’s life is to be able to bring good and beauty to this world while doing what he likes to do. It is out of love that one likes what he does. It is out of love, too, that one brings good and beauty to the world. My success is due to love.

Tell you what, it takes 27 hours to travel by train from Shanghai to Lanzhou. And it takes four hours to travel by high-speed bus from Lanzhou to Liangzhou. Then the bus bumps along a winding country road for hours before it reaches my hometown, a small village that can’t be found on the map. Over forty years ago, there was a kid in the village who was different from other kids, in that he was neat and clean, without a runny nose even when he was very small. Besides, he had a dream. Except for the dream, he had little that he could boast of. At that time, he didn’t know there was a Jiaotong University in Shanghai. He had no access to good books, but he wanted to be a writer. No one told him how to write a novel, no one told him what books he should read, and there were almost no books in that village. At that time, to realize his dream was as difficult as climbing up to heaven. I felt helpless, and I couldn’t see any hope. Even now, I still think it is incredible that I have taken up writing and become a writer. I was like Chenxiang in the story Splitting Open the Mountain to Save His Mother. A mortal child wishing to conquer the deity Erlang God, it was really hard. The Erlang God also appears in A Journey to the West, and he is more powerful than the Monkey. Later, Chenxiang’s mother tells him, “My boy, if you want to defeat the deity, you must possess two weapons: one is love, and the other is wisdom. By means of these two weapons I get where I am. In Mahamudra, the word for love is compassion. Mahamudra tells us that only by combining wisdom and compassion can we be really successful.

The genuine love and wisdom are inherent in one’s heart. You can’t find them anywhere outside of the heart. What you can find is utility and knowledge. I have two stories to share with you.

Once upon a time, there was a rich man who was very contented, for he had vast grasslands, on which there was a stream, and a happy family. One day, a friend came to visit him and he showed his wealth to his friend. His friend said, “Yes, you are rich, but all your riches added up does not equal to a single diamond.” “If you own a genuine diamond,” his friend continued. “You can make your son a king.” Then, the rich man began to look for diamonds. He went to as many places as he could, but he didn’t find one. He thought he could never find a diamond and therefore he jumped into the sea and drowned himself. After his death, his son inherited the grasslands. One day, he was playing in the stream when something glittering in the water caught his eye. He picked it up. It was a stone. He took it home. A few months later, that friend of his father’s came again. As soon as he stepped into the house, he saw that glittering stone. “Oh!” he exclaimed. “So your father has found diamond after all.” The rich man’s son said, “No, my father didn’t.” The man told him, “This is the best diamond in the world.” Then they went to the stream together and found there were lots and lots of diamonds in it. The rich man, who died out of despair, had looked hard for diamond outside, but he didn’t know that he was already on the world’s largest diamond mine. This is a true story. It happened on the world’s largest diamond mine, out of which many well-known diamonds were born. However, its former owner killed himself because he couldn’t find any diamond.

Now, the second story. It is a novel, titled The Alchemist. There is a boy living near a cathedral in Spain. He has had the same dream twice. In the dream, God tells him that there is a treasure trove under a pyramid in Egypt, in which there are countless treasures, and asks him to find it. The boy wakes up and finds it strange that he has the same dream twice. Therefore, he goes up to a wise man, who tells him, “My child, when you have dreams like this in your childhood, it is God telling you your destiny. What is destiny, then? Destiny is something you are destined to do.” “Go, child,” the wise man says. “Go and find your dream!” The boy leaves Spain, undergoes the scorching sun and bitter cold, walks across the desert, and arrives at the pyramid. While he is digging somewhere under the pyramid, there comes a gang of bandits, who asks him what he is looking for. “Are you burying gold?” they ask. The boy tells them, “I had a dream in which God told me there are treasures here.” A bandit laughs and says, “What a stupid child! I had the same dream twice too. I dreamed that God told me there is a cathedral on a Spanish plain. There is a tree in the backyard of the cathedral, and under the tree buries a treasure trove.” Judging from what the bandit says, the boy knows he is referring to his hometown. He usually grazes sheep near the cathedral. Then, he goes back home and indeed, he finds treasures under a tree behind the cathedral.

What do these two stories tell us? Why hasn’t the rich man in the first story find diamonds? Because no one tells him that treasure lies right by him. In the second story, the boy finds the treasure because someone tells him so. In other words, there is no transcendence in the first story, while there is transcendence in the second. What is transcendence? Jumping out of your surroundings to perceive the world around you. In doing so, you will find that, although the world teems with eyesores, like a big filthy, muddy marsh, it can produce pure, holy lotus blooms. The prerequisite is that you question your own mind, examine yourself, discipline yourself, and improve yourself. Then, achieve a transcendence of the mind. That is a treasure hidden in everyone’s mind.

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附录：聆听智慧的声音

向内看，因爱实现超越

什么是超越？跳出自己的生存环境来观照身边的世界。当你跳出自己的生存环境来观照身边世界时，就会发现，世界上虽然有好多你看不顺眼的东西，像个污浊的大泥潭，但它却能孕育出圣洁的莲花来。其前提，就是你要叩问自心，自省、自律、自强，然后实现一种心灵的超越，这就是每个人内心的宝藏。

在西部文化中，爱是活着的理由。爱有两种：一种是大爱，一种是小爱。无论是大爱还是小爱都很好。西部的许多牧羊人，在沙漠里吼出歌声的时候，没有任何人在听。但他们仍然唱得很陶醉。为什么？因为歌声流淌出的，是心中的爱。他根本不去管谁在听，是不是有人买门票、买唱片，他的唱就是目的。

我的写作也是这样。同学们虽然不知道雪漠是谁，但我根本不沮丧，我仍然那样自信，甚至显得狂妄。为什么呢？因为写作是我活着的理由。我根本不去管有多少人爱我的书。这并不要紧。爱我的书很好，不爱也很好。

为什么？因为我写东西是因为爱。告诉大家，世界没有什么事比写作更叫我快乐了。我的心中涌动着一种巨大的爱的力量，在这种爱的陶醉中，让指头在键盘上跳舞的时候，整个世界都在狂欢。我的儿子也尝到了这种滋味，说，爸爸我不要上大学，我要当作家。我说好。为什么？他知道一个人活着能够做自己喜欢的事，是一种幸福。

我认为，人最大的幸福，是做自己喜欢的事的同时，还能为这个世界带来善美。喜欢做自己的事，是因为爱。能为世界带来善美的，仍然是爱。我的成功就是因为爱。

我告诉大家，从上海坐火车走上二十七个小时后，可以到西部的兰州。从兰州坐上高速汽车，走上大约四个多小时，就可以到达凉州。汽车再沿着凉州的一条乡间小路，扭呀扭呀，扭上个把小时，才会到达我的家乡。我的家乡，是地图上找不到的一个小村庄。四十多年前，这个小村庄里有一个毛头孩子。跟一般毛头孩子不一样的地方是，他很小的时候就没有鼻涕，他非常干净，再有就是，他有梦想。除了梦想之外，他没有很多值得炫耀的东西。那时，他根本不知道上海还有个什么交通大学，他连一本好书都看不到，但他想成为一个作家。没人告诉他如何写小说，没有人告诉他应该读什么样的书，那个村子里几乎没有书。那个时候，要想实现自己的梦想，真的有点难如登天呀！我那时觉得“举目无亲”，看不到一点儿光明。回想起来，自己能走上文坛，成为一个作家，真是不可思议的事情。我曾经就像《劈山救母》里的那个沉香。一个凡人的孩子，要想战胜天神二郎神，真的是太难了。这个二郎神就是《西游记》的那个二郎神，比孙悟空还要厉害。后来，沉香的母亲告诉他，孩子，你如果想战胜天神，你必须拥有两个武器：一个武器是爱，另一个武器是智慧。我也是靠着这两件武器走到今天的。

在大手印文化中，那爱是另一个词：慈悲。大手印文化告诉我们，只有做到智慧与慈悲和合时，才能实现真正的成功。

真正的爱与智慧，是一个人内心的东西，你从任何一个心外的地方，都找不一种叫做爱与智慧的东西，找得到的，叫功利与知识。我给大家说两个故事。

很久以前，有一个富翁，他非常知足。因为，他有辽阔的草原，草原上有河流，他的家人也非常幸福。但是有一天，来了一个朋友，当他把自己的财富展示给这位朋友看的时候。朋友告诉他，你虽然非常富有，但是你所有的财富加起来，还不如一粒钻石。朋友告诉他，要是你能拥有一粒真正的钻石，就可以让你的儿子当上国王。于是，这个富翁开始寻找钻石。他跑遍了自己能到达的所有地方，结果，还是没有找到钻石。觉得自己不可能找到钻石的时候，他就跳入大海自杀了。他死后，他的儿子继承了那块草原。有一天，儿子在草原上的河流中玩耍时，突然发现河水中有个光芒闪烁的东西，他捡起来一看，是块石头。于是，他就把这块石头捡了回家。几个月后，父亲的那个朋友又来了。他一进家中，便发现了那块光芒闪烁的石头。他说，哎呀！原来你的父亲已经找到了钻石。富翁的儿子告诉他，不，我的父亲没有找到钻石。朋友说这就是世界上最好最好的钻石。然后，他们一块儿到那个小河中，结果发现，小河里到处都是钻石。那个因绝望而死去的富翁苦苦地在外界寻找钻石，却不知道其实自己正待在一座世界上最大的钻石矿上。这是个真实的故事，这个故事就发生在世界最大的钻石矿上。那里诞生了许多举世闻名的钻石，但它曾经的主人却因为找不到钻石，而痛苦地自杀了。

另外一个故事是啥呢？有一本小说，叫《牧羊少年奇幻之旅》，里面有一个在西班牙大教堂附近生活的孩子，两次做了同一个梦。他梦到上帝告诉他，在埃及金字塔下，有一个宝藏，里面藏着无数的珍宝，要他去寻找。孩子醒来之后，觉得两次做了同样的梦是很奇怪的。于是，他就去询问一个智者。智者告诉他，孩子，当你的童年时出现这种梦兆的时候，等于上帝在告诉你，你的天命是啥。什么是天命呢？天命就是你命运中注定该做的事情。智者告诉他，孩子，去吧，寻找你的梦想。于是，这个孩子走出了西班牙，经历了酷暑、烈日、严寒，越过了沙漠，到了金字塔下。当他正在金字塔下的某个地方挖掘财宝的时候，来了一群强盗。强盗问他，你在寻找什么东西，是不是在埋金子？这个孩子告诉强盗说，我做过一个梦，梦到上帝告诉我，这个地方有财宝。这个强盗哈哈大笑说，你真是个愚蠢的孩子，我也两次做过同样一个梦，梦到上帝告诉我，在西班牙原野上有一个大教堂，大教堂后院里有一棵树，树下埋着宝藏。孩子从强盗的话中听出，这地方正是他的家乡。平时，他经常在这个教堂边上放羊。于是，他回到家乡，果然在那个大教堂后面的一棵树下找到了宝藏。

这两个故事是什么意思呢？第一个故事中的那个富翁，为什么没有找到宝藏？因为，没有人告诉他宝藏就在自己身边。第二个故事里的孩子之所以能够找到宝藏，正是在于有人告诉他这个宝藏就在自己身边。换句话说，第一个故事没有完成超越，第二个故事完成了一种超越。什么是超越？跳出自己的生存环境来观照身边的世界。当你跳出自己的生存环境来观照身边世界时，就会发现，世界上虽然有好多你看不顺眼的东西，像个污浊的大泥潭，但它却能孕育出圣洁的莲花来。其前提，就是你要叩问自心，自省、自律、自强，然后实现一种心灵的超越，这就是每个人内心的宝藏。

声明：本文系文化志愿者试译，非专业人才翻译，错误定然不少，如出现疏漏及错误，敬请读者见谅。如有任何翻译上的建议及修正意见，欢迎及时与我们取得联系，我们会加以校对、修改，并希望有专业才能的朋友也能加入我们志愿者群体中来。

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