The other day I shared a story about my 12 year old daughter stopped me from smashing roaches by saying that “they’ve been our neighbors no matter what”.
前些天我分享了一個小故事，名爲「好歹鄰居一場」，裏面談到我12歲的女兒阻止我打蟑螂，理由是大家「好歹鄰居一場」。
A friend left a comment and said that she could hardly regard roaches as “neighbors”, as she felt they were dirty.
一個朋友看後留言說：「但是我還是會覺得這個鄰居有點髒呀。」我當時就答應，要寫篇文章來論一論這個「髒」的問題。所以今天算是兌現諾言。
Well, in the real world, it is perfectly reasonable to think that roaches are dirty and to even try to get rid of them one way or the other.
當然，在現實的世界裏，覺得蟑螂髒，並想辦法除掉它，都再正常不過了。
However, as someone whose thoughts often drift out of this world, I do have some “alternative” insights and even real-world experiences to share.
不過呢，對於我這個思想常常跑到現實世界之外的「書呆子」，對於髒與淨的相對論，忍不住做了一點「哲學思考」。
First of all, if we put a roach in front of a newborn baby, will the baby feel anything about this roach? Probably not. He or she might just curiously stare at it without any fixed notions.
首先呢，如果我們把一個蟑螂放到新生嬰兒面前，他（她）會做何反應？他（她）可能什麼想法都沒有，而只會好奇地盯著蟑螂看。
However, when we grow older and start to “learn” things, we begin to form various notions. As time goes by, when we gain more and more “knowledge”, or become more and more experienced in this world, we accumulate so many notions that gradually our true nature and wisdom are buried by those postnatally acquired notions. When our notions become too strong, we might become totally controlled by them, and live for our notions instead of for ourselves.
But most of the time, we may not know this.
也就是說，從我們開始「學習」並認識這個世界開始，我們就在慢慢的形成各種觀念。觀念越積越多，慢慢地就埋沒了我們的本性和先天的智慧。到最後，觀念變得過分強盛時，許多人事實上是被後天觀念支配著在活，而真正的自己，可能並沒有活。只是不仔細去想的話，人們可能意識不到這點，而會把觀念當作自己。
So, when we think roaches are dirty, we certain would feel it is difficult to regard them as our “neighbors”. However, if we can change our notion and regard them as our “neighbors” first, we may no long feel that they are dirty. That’s why I said that my daughter’s one sentence had changed my perspectives forever.
所以呢，當你覺得蟑螂髒的時候，你當然很難把它當「鄰居」；可反過來，如果你能轉變觀念，先把它看作「鄰居」，也許就不會覺得它髒了。這就是爲什麼我會說，我女兒的一句話，永遠地改變了我的看法。
Secondly, “dirtiness” and “cleanness” are actually relative concepts. Many different ethnicities share a same legend: God (It was a Goddess, Nüwa, for Chinese people) created man from clay. So in the eyes of God, man lives in a world of “clay”. We can also understand it as the space between the stars and the molecules. For lives at higher realms, for example, for those who live at more microscopic, and therefore “cleaner” worlds, everything and everywhere in this human world is dirty. If this really is the case, what is the point for us to compare who is a little bit “cleaner”?
其實，髒與淨，是個相對的概念。世界上許多民族都流傳著上帝用泥土造人的故事（中國人是講女媧用泥土造人）。那麼在上帝眼裏，人就生活在泥土的世界裏，我們也可將之理解爲介於星球與分子之間的這層空間。對於生活在更高境界、更微觀、因而也就更「乾淨」的世界裏的生命來說，人的空間當中，一切都是髒的，哪兒哪兒都是髒的。
如果真是這樣，我們在這個泥土組成的骯髒世界中，再去比誰比誰乾淨一點還有什麼意義呢，對吧？真嫌髒的話，其實應該想辦法離開這裏。這是另一個大話題了，這裏先不談。
Thirdly, sometimes we are afraid of or dislike dirty things because we think that they will cause illnesses. If we are not afraid of getting ill, we may stop fearing the dirtiness.
And here is my true story.
第三層意思呢，就是說，我們人怕髒，有時其實不是怕髒的本身，而是覺得髒東西會讓我們生病。如果我們不怕生病，也許就不怕髒了。
以下就是我的真實經歷和故事（赤裸裸的現實，不再是「不著邊際」的「哲學思考」而已）。
I began to practice Falun Gong in 1997 in Beijing; and recovered from all my diseases very soon. More importantly, I gained a very deep understanding of the root cause of people’s illnesses and bad fortunes, as well as how to get rid of them. And a “side effect” of this was, that I no longer feared dirtiness.
我是1997年在北京開始修煉法輪功的，很快就百病全消。更重要的是，我懂得了人爲什麼生病、爲什麼會在生活中遭遇不幸的深層原因，以及怎樣擺脫這些的方法。而這一切的「副產品」就是，我不再怕髒了。
For example, Beijing’s tap water was not drinkable, and bottled water or water dispensers were still no where to be seen in 1997. So people usually stored boiled water with thermoses.
比如，北京的自來水是不能直接喝的，那時候人們也還沒開始喝瓶裝水，也沒有什麼飲水機。所以大家都是燒開了水再裝在暖水壺裏。
For me, boiled water was too hot to drink in summer; and it took too long to have it cool down naturally. So it was always a problem for me to get cool and drinkable water in summer.
對我來說，夏天喝開水太熱，放涼再喝又太慢，所以怎樣弄到夠涼的開水喝一直是個問題。
After I took up Falun Gong, I started to think: Since no illness can touch me now, why should I bother whether there are bacteria in the tap water? They cannot do me any harm any way.
修煉法輪功後，我開始想：既然現在根本不會生病，我爲什麼還要怕細菌？就喝自來水又能如何？
Therefore, from 1997, I started drinking tap water in summer; and felt quite good. I never encountered any problems because of this.
於是，從1997年夏天開始，我就直接喝自來水了（老人們叫它「生水」，意即沒被燒開過的水），感覺很好，終於不用等熱水變涼了。我也從來沒因此遇到任何問題。
In 2001, I ended up being incarcerated in Beijing Female Forced Labor Camp due the Chinese Communist Party’s overwhelming persecution of Falun Gong. Apart from all the other brutal torture, eating itself was also a problem: The food was too hot, too salty, and the meal time was too short. Therefore, for a very long period of time, eating was itself a torture.
2001年，在中共對法輪功的瘋狂迫害中，我也被送到北京女子勞教所。在勞教所，除了其他種種非人酷刑之外，吃飯本身也是一種折磨，菜總是又燙又鹹，吃飯時間又短到根本不容你有時間去等菜涼下來再吃。
One day when I was forced to remove the trash as a punishment for not giving up Falun Gong, I spotted a small used mineral water bottle buried in the stinky rubbish. I quickly picked it up and put it inside my pocket.
有一天，我因拒絕接受「轉化」，被罰去運垃圾。在臭氣熏天的小山般的垃圾堆中，我發現了一個小礦泉水瓶子，趕緊如獲至寶的撿起來，偷偷塞到衣兜裏。
In the labor camp, everything was strictly regulated, including when and how many times one was allowed to use the restroom. When it was the restroom time, all the inmates from the same cell went together, with everybody watching everybody else’s whole process of “doing the business”, as there was no closed space inside the restroom so that nobody had the chance to commit suicide.
在勞教所，一切都是嚴密管控的，包括上廁所的次數和時間。一天只能在規定的、有限的時間內上廁所，而且大家得排著隊一起去，名曰「放茅」，「放茅」完全是在眾目睽睽之下完成的，沒有任何隱私而言。
So, after we finished using the restroom (together with everybody else), I always filled my small bottle with tap water, and put it back into my pocket.
所以每天集體「放茅」後，我便在洗手时用撿來的小礦泉水瓶裝一瓶自來水，放到衣兜裏存著。
When the meal time came, and food was provided, I quickly took out the bottle and poured all the water into my bowl, stirred and mixed everything with my spoon, and then ate with all my might. In this way the food was immediately cooled down; and much less salty.
到了吃飯時間，飯菜發到碗裏、吃飯口令下達後，我會飛快地將一整瓶水倒入碗中，再飛快的用勺子攪拌，這樣馬上能讓飯菜涼下來，且能讓菜不再鹹得難以下嚥。
One day a police officer saw what I was doing, and exclaimed in alarm, “My Goodness! How dare you! Won’t you suffer from diarrheas by eating like this?”
有一天，一個警察無意間看見我的動作，驚呼道：「天哪，曾錚！你這麼吃！不拉肚子啊？」
I smiled back at her and calmly said, “No, I won’t.”
我對她笑笑，平靜地說：「不會。」
Surely enough, had I not practiced Falun Gong, had I not gained a better understanding of the root cause of illnesses, I would never have dared to eat that way. I could have ended up in trouble for many, many times.
當然，如果我沒修煉過法輪功，沒從法輪功的著作中獲得對疾病產生根源的深層理解，我是絕對不敢那樣吃的，因爲不知道會拉多少次肚子了。
Well, in conclusion, the practice of Falun Gong has really set me free. I am not only free from all diseases; but also free from many notions, including the notion of one will get sick if exposed to dirty things. Therefore, most of the time, I enjoy a fearless and very peaceful mind, knowing that I am “untouchable” to dirtiness and illnesses in this “dirty” world.
所以結論是，修煉法輪功，真的讓我獲得了大自在。我不僅不再生病，也不再固守包括吃了髒東西會生病等許許多多在人中形成的觀念。很多時候，我內心平和幸福，深深感恩自己在「十惡毒世」中，卻能做到「百毒不侵」。
And another important point to make is that I humbly gained all my above understandings and insights from the teachings of Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa). All the Falun Gong books, exercise instruction videos and musics can be freely downloaded from: http://falundafa.org
最後必須指出的是，以上我所有的觀點和理解，都直接或間接來源於法輪功創始人李洪志先生的著作，而不是我自己平白無故想出來的（我還沒那麼聰明）。法輪功所有書籍、李洪志大師教功錄像和功法音樂都可從以下網站免費下載：http://falundafa.org
4/3/2017