“将自己看成一束光”

"Make of yourself a light"

佛死之前，

said the Buddha,

如是说。

before he died.

每天早晨，我都会想起这句话

I think of this every morning

东边的天空正褪去

as the east begins

黑色的

to tear off its many clouds

云层，发出第一个

of darkness, to send up the first

信号——一柄白色的扇子

signal-a white fan

布满粉红，紫色，

streaked with pink and violet,

以及绿色的条纹。

even green.

一位老人躺在

An old man, he lay down

两棵菩提树之间，

between two sala trees,

他或许已说了许多，

and he might have said anything,

明白这是他最后的时间。

knowing it was his final hour.

光向上延伸，

The light burns upward,

变得更亮，笼罩在田野上空。

it thickens and settles over the fields.

村民们围绕在他周围

Around him, the villagers gathered

身体向前倾，专注地听着。

and stretched forward to listen.

当太阳尚未升起，尚未高悬于

Even before the sun itself

蓝色的天空时，

hangs, disattached, in the blue air,

我已被它黄色的波浪之海

I am touched everywhere

触及全身。

by its ocean of yellow waves.

无疑，他想到了

No doubt he thought of everything

自己艰难一生所经历的一切。

that had happened in his difficult life.

于是，我感受到太阳

And then I feel the sun itself

它在山头燃烧，

as it blazes over the hills,

仿佛千万朵火焰之花——

like a million flowers on fire-

显然，我无足轻重，

clearly I"m not needed,

但我觉得自己

yet I feel myself turning

变成了某种难以言说的有用之物。

into something of inexplicable value.

在树枝下，他慢慢地

Slowly, beneath the branches,

抬起头。

he raised his head.

他注视着人们惊恐的脸。

He looked into the faces of that frightened crowd.