解脫心 A Heart Released 三、根本的財產，自我訓練開始的本錢

§3. The root inheritance, the starting capital for self-training.

三、根本的財產，自我訓練開始的本錢

Why is it that wise people — before chanting, receiving the precepts, or performing any other act of merit — always take up namo as their starting point? Why is it that namo is never omitted or discarded? This suggests that namo must be significant. If we take it up for consideration, we find that na stands for the water element, and mo for the earth element — and with this, a line from the scriptures comes to mind:

　　為什麼聰明的人們，在誦念、受戒或做任何其它功德之前，總是 na mo『南無』(中譯注：以唐音、閩南音讀之)做為他們的起點？為什麼 na mo『南無』從未被省略或被拋棄？這暗示著 na mo’南無』一定是有意義的。如果我們把它加以思考，我們發現 na’南』代表水元素，而 mo’無』代表地元素—于此，心里記起一行經文：

mata-petika-sambhavo odana-kummasa-paccayo:

　　『父母所生，粥飯所養。』

‘When the generative elements of the mother and father are combined, the body comes into being. When it is born from the mother’s womb, it is nourished with rice and bread, and so is able to develop and grow.’ Na is the mother’s element; mo, the father’s element. When these two elements are combined, the mother’s fire element then heats the combination until it becomes what is called a kalala, a droplet of oil. This is the point where the connecting cognizance (patisandhi-viññana) can make its connection, so that the mind becomes joined to the namo element. Once the mind has taken up residence, the droplet of oil develops until it is an ambuja, a glob of blood. From a glob of blood it becomes a ghana, a rod, and then a pesi, a piece of flesh. Then it expands itself into a lizard-like shape, with five extensions: two arms, two legs, and a head.

　　『當母親和父親的生殖元素結合時，身體成為生命。當他從母親的子宮生出來後，用米飯和面食來餵養他，因此才能發育和長大。』 na’南』是母親的元素； mo’無』是父親的元素。當這兩個元素結合時，母親的火元素于是熱暖結合物，直到它成為所謂的『哥拉拉』，一個微小的油滴。這就是接著的識能夠進行連結的地方，所以心意就與 na mo’南無』元素結合。一旦心意住止了，油滴就蘊育成一個血球。從一個血球成為一個桿狀體，然後是一片肉。然後它擴張成一只蜥蜴的形狀，有五個延伸處：雙臂、雙腿和頭。

(As for the elements ba, breath, and dha, fire, these take up residence later, because they are not what the mind holds onto. If the mind lets the droplet of oil drop, the droplet of oil vanishes or is discarded as useless. It has no breath or fire, just as when a person dies and the breath and fire vanish from the body. This is why we say they are secondary elements. The important factors are the two original elements, namo.)

　　(至于元素風和火，它們後來才住止，因為它們不是心意所執著的。如果心意不執持小油滴，油滴就消失了或像無用之物般的被拋棄了。它沒有風或火，就像當一個人死亡，而風和火從身體消失的時候一樣。這就是為什麼我們說它們是次要元素。重要的因素是兩個原始的元素 na mo’南無』。)

After the child is born, it has to depend on na, its mother, and mo, its father, to care for it, nurturing it and nourishing it with such foods as rice and bread, at the same time teaching and training it in every form of goodness. The mother and father are thus called the child’s first and foremost teachers. The love and benevolence the mother and father feel for their children cannot be measured or calculated. The legacy they give us — this body — is our primal inheritance. External wealth, silver or gold, come from this body. If we didn’t have this body, we wouldn’t be able to do anything, which means that we wouldn’t have anything at all. For this reason, our body is the root of our entire inheritance from our mother and father, which is why we say that the good they have done us cannot be measured or calculated. Wise people thus never neglect or forget them.

　　小孩子生下以後，他必須依賴 na ’南』－他的母親，和 mo ’無』－他的父親，來照顧他，用米面一類的食物來哺育他，同時教導和訓練他各種美德。因此母親和父親被稱為孩子最初的啟蒙師。母親和父親對于他們孩子的慈愛是無法衡量或計算的。他們給我們的遺產—身體—是我們最基本的財產。外在的財富，銀或金，都從這個身體而來，如果我們沒有這個身體，我們就不能做任何事，也就是說我們將會一無所有，因此，我們的身體是我們承繼父母所有遺產的根本，那也就是為什麼我們說他們給予我們的恩惠是無法衡量的，聰明的人們因此決不會忽略或遺忘他們。

We first have to take up this body, this namo, and only then do we perform the act of bowing it down in homage. To translate namo as homage is to translate only the act, not the source of the act.

　　我們首先必須要擁有這個身體，這個 na mo’南無』，然後我們才能頂禮膜拜。把 na mo’南無』翻譯為恭敬皈依只是詮釋了這個動作而已，並未說明動作的來源。

This same root inheritance is the starting capital we use in training ourselves, so we needn’t feel lacking or poor when it comes to the resources needed for the practice.

　　同樣這個根本的財產，就是我們用以訓練自己，開始時的資本，所以當論及修習所需要的資財時，我們不須感到欠缺或貧乏。