敬畏生命

弘一法师在圆寂前，再三叮嘱弟子把他的遗体装龛时，在龛的四个角下各垫上一个碗，碗中装水，以免蚂蚁、虫子爬上遗体后在火化时被无辜烧死。好几次看弘一法师的传记，读到这个细节，总是为弘一法师对于生命深切的怜悯与敬畏之心所深深感动。

Before the death, master Hongyi repeatedly told his disciples to put his body in the niches, and put a bowl under the four corners of the niches, with water in the bowl, so as to prevent ants and insects from climbing on the body and being burned in the cremation. Seeing the biography of master Hongyi several times and reading this detail, master Hongyi is always deeply moved by his deep compassion and awe for life.

法国思想家史怀泽曾在《敬畏生命》一书中写道：他在非洲志愿行医时，有一天黄昏，看到几只河马在河里与他们所乘的船并排而游，突然感悟到了生命的可爱和神圣。于是，“敬畏生命”的思想在他的心中蓦然产生，并且成了他此后努力倡导和不懈追求的事业。

When he volunteered to practice medicine in Africa, one evening, he saw several hippos swimming side by side with their boats in the river, and suddenly realized the loveliness and sanctity of life. Therefore, the thought of "fearing life" suddenly came into being in his mind, and became the cause that he diligently advocated and pursued since then.

其实，也只有我们拥有对于生命的敬畏之心时，世界才会在我们面前呈现出它的无限生机，我们才会时时处处感受到生命的高贵与美丽。地上搬家的小蚂蚁，春天枝头鸣唱的鸟儿，高原雪山脚下奔跑的羚羊，大海中戏水的鲸鱼等等，无不丰富了生命世界的底蕴。我们也会时时处处在体验中获得“鸢飞鱼跃，道无不在”的生命的顿悟与喜悦。

In fact, only when we have the awe of life, the world will show its infinite vitality in front of us, and we will always feel the nobleness and beauty of life. The ants moving on the ground, the birds singing on the branches in spring, the antelopes running at the foot of the snow mountain on the plateau, the whales swimming in the sea and so on all enrich the world of life. We will also get the Epiphany and joy of "kite flying, fish leaping, and road everywhere" in our experience.

但自从人类文明时代诞生的那一天起，人类就再也没有用平等的眼光看待过其他的生命。可是这些生命却实实在在地存在于我们身旁。“万物平等”，是的，人们常常是这么说的，可是人类对那些和他们一样有生命的万物都做了些什么呢？

But since the birth of the era of human civilization, human beings have never looked at other lives with equal eyes. But these lives really exist beside us. "All things are equal", yes, people often say so, but what has man done to all things that have life like them?

我们拿起了斧子、弓箭开始向大自然进攻。最终我们在森林中建起了房子，在篝火上烤起了野味。除了人类，其他生灵都被我们视为低级的生命。我们站起来，走到高山上看着我们的杰作：火光冲天、浓烟滚滚中大片的森林被毁，无数的动物失去了赖以生存的家园，很多生物种群渐渐绝迹……我们忘记了，人类也是自然之子，我们也是在艰难的挣扎中走到了今天。

We picked up axes, bows and arrows and began to attack nature. At last we built a house in the forest and roasted game on the bonfire. Except for human beings, other creatures are regarded as low-level life by us. We stand up and walk up to the mountain to see our masterpiece: the vast forests are destroyed in the fire and smoke, countless animals have lost their homes, and many biological populations are disappearing We forget that human beings are also the children of nature, and we have come to this day in a difficult struggle.

如果有朝一日，地球上那些珍贵的物种被人类消灭净尽时，我们会怎样想？

What would we think if the precious species on earth were wiped out by human beings one day?

因此，每当读到那些关于生命的故事，我的心中总会深切地感受到生命无法承受之重，如撒哈拉沙漠中，母骆驼为了使即将渴死的小骆驼喝到够不着的水潭里的水而纵身跳进了水潭中；老羚羊们为了使小羚羊逃生而一个接着一个跳向悬崖，因而能够使小羚羊在它们即将下坠的刹那以它们为跳板跳到对面的山头上去；一条鳝鱼在油锅中被煎时却始终弓起身体的中间是为了保护腹中的鱼卵；一只母狼望着在猎人的陷阱中死去的小狼而在凄冷的月夜下呜咽嗥叫……其实，不是只有人类才拥有生命神圣的光辉。

Therefore, whenever I read the stories about life, I always felt the unbearable weight of life. For example, in the Sahara desert, the female camel jumped into the pool in order to make the thirsty little camel drink the water in the unreachable pool; the old antelopes jumped to the cliff one by one in order to make the little antelope escape, so they could make the little antelope in them They were used as springboards to jump to the opposite mountain when it was about to fall; an eel was frying in an oil pan, but it always arched its body in the middle to protect the eggs in its belly; a female wolf looked at the dead wolf in the hunter's trap and whimpered and howled in the cold moonlight night In fact, it's not only human beings that have the divine brilliance of life.

有时候，我们敬畏生命，也是为了更爱人类自己，丰子恺曾劝告小孩子不要肆意用脚踩蚂蚁，不要肆意用火或用水去残害蚂蚁。他认为自己那样做不仅仅出于怜悯之心，更是怕小孩子的那一点点残忍以后扩大开来，以至于驾着飞机装着炸弹去轰炸无辜的平民。

Sometimes, we fear life in order to love ourselves more. Feng Zikai once advised children not to trample on ants with their feet, or use fire or water to kill ants. He thought that he did it not only out of pity, but also because he was afraid that the little cruelty of children would be expanded, so that he would fly planes and bomb innocent civilians.

确实，我们敬畏地球上的一切生命，不仅仅是因为人类有怜悯之心，更因为它们的命运就是人类的命运：当它们被杀害殆尽时，人类就像最后的一块多米诺骨牌，接着倒下的也便是自己了。

Indeed, we revere all life on earth, not only because of human compassion, but also because their destiny is human destiny: when they are killed, human beings are like the last domino, and then they fall.