序言
The teaching must not bestock words or stale stories but must be always kept fresh. That is real teaching.
教学不应该是一些习惯性的话语或陈旧的故事，而是始终保持鲜活性。那才是真正的教学。(序言全文的核心要点)
One night in February of 1968, I sat among fifty black-robed fellow students, mostly young Americans, at Zen Mountain Center, Tassajara Springs, ten miles inland from Big Sur, California, deep in the mountain wilderness.
1968年2月的某个晚上，在美国加州、位于荒野深处的、距离大瑟尔十英里的内陆地区塔撒加拉禅修中心，我坐在50位身穿黑袍的学生中，其中大部分是年轻的美国人。
The kerosene lamplight illuminated our breath in the winter air of the unheated room.
在没有暖气的房间，冬天的空气里，煤油灯光照亮了我们的呼吸。
Before usthe founder of the first Zen Buddhist monastery in the Western Hemisphere,Shunryu Suzuki-roshi, had concluded a lecture from hisseat on the altar platform.
在我们前面的这位，西半球第一个禅宗寺院的创始人，铃木俊隆禅师，刚刚在讲台上结束了他的一个演讲。
“Thank you very much,” he said softly, with a genuine feeling of gratitude.
“谢谢你们”，他轻柔的说着，带有一种真诚的谢意。
He took a sip of water, cleared his throat, and looked around at his students.
他喝了一口水，清清他的喉咙，环顾四周看了看他的学生们。
“Is there some question?” he asked, just loud enough to be heard above the sound of the creek gushing by in the darkness outside.
“有任何的问题吗？”他问到，声音盖过了外面黑夜中滔滔不绝的小溪流水声，足够大到能被大家听到。
I bowed,hands together, and caught his eye.
我双手合十，向老师鞠躬，扑捉到他的眼精。
“Hai?” hesaid, meaning yes.
“嗨？”他回答道，表示许可。
“Suzuki-roshi,I’ve been listening to your lectures for years,” I said, “and I really lovethem, and they’re very inspiring, and I know that what you’re talking about isactually very clear and simple.
“铃木俊隆禅师，我听你的课已经有些年头了”，我继续说道，“我也真的非常喜欢这样的课，它们非常令人启发，你所说的也的确非常简单清晰。
But I must admit I just don’t understand. I love it, but I feel like I could listen to you for a thousand years and still not get it. Could you just please put it in a nutshell? Can you reduce Buddhism to one phrase?”
但我也必须承认我并不明白。我喜欢听这样的课，但是我觉得我可以听你的教诲一千年，仍然无法明白它。你能不能简单概括的说？是否可以把佛法精简到一个短语？
Everyone laughed. He laughed. What a ludicrous question. I don’t think any of us expected him to to answer it. He was not a man you could pin down, and he didn’t like to give his students something definite to cling to. He had often said not to have “some idea” of what Buddhism was.
大家都笑了，他(铃木俊隆禅师)也笑了，多么可笑的问题，我并不认为大家对他回答这个问题有所期望。他不是一个你可以定义的男人，他不喜欢给他的学生一些明确的东西去执着。
他经常说不要对“何为佛法”有某种观点。
But Suzuki did answer. He looked at me and said, “Everything changes.” Then he asked for another question.
但铃木俊隆禅师这次回答了，他看着我，说：“一切事物都会变化”。接着他问弟子有没有其他问题。
