Qiu's Rhetoric（75）
Ma Xiaoqiu:Perceive the"Merit and Virtue"
昨天下午五点，结束了禅道商学院第十八期＂精诚计划＂的课程。这期课程收获很大，其中在攀登好汉坡的途中给了我很大的启发。
The courses of the 18th“Jing Cheng Plan”of Zen Tao Business School were ended at 5:00 p.m.yesterday.I have benefited a lot from this course.In particular,I was greatly enlightened on the way to climbing Haohan Slope.
看见功德二字，我想大多数人都能明白其大概的意思，但要做更深入的理解可能就有些困难了。在此，我将自己所证悟的一点心得体会分享给大家。
Seeing the words of the merit and virtue,I think most people can understand the general meanings of them,but it may be difficult to have their deeper understanding.Hereby,I want to share a bit of my perception with you.
功德是成就我们一切美好愿望的能力。那什么是功，什么是德，两者之间有着什么样的关系？功就是人通过长期而不间断的努力之后所具备的技术才能，也就是我们的生存本领。那怎样能够实现技术才能的价值呢？在现实中，我们不乏看见有的人的确具备聪明才智，也的确有一身过人的技术，但终身怀才不遇、一事无成，什么原因呢？人所具备的聪明才智和技术本领是功，但如果只具备功而忽略了德的培养，这时的功是不具备力量的。
The merit and virtue are the ability to achieve all our good wishes.So what is merit and what is virtue?What is the relationship between the two?The“merit”is the technical ability that the people have gained after long-term and uninterrupted efforts,that is,our ability to survive.How can we realize the value of our technical ability?In reality,we do not lack to see that some people do have wisdom,intelligence and extraordinary technique,but their talents remain unrecognized and they achieve nothing in their whole life.What’s the reason?The people’s wisdom,intelligence and technical skill belong to merit which is powerless if they only have“merit”but neglect the cultivation of their“virtue”.
我打个比方：一个人或者是一个企业，在攀登山峰的路上，我们的目标一定是要到达顶峰。在此，我把人比喻成功，把山比喻成徳，如果在攀登的过程中，我们只顾攀爬，心中只想尽快到达山顶，当有一天我们终于到达山顶了，这时我们面临着什么？在我们脚下已无路可走，唯一的路就是下山，这就是功的结果。如果我们知道德的重要性，我们就不会是现在的遭遇了，我们可以一边修功（不停地攀登），一边修德（不间断地把山垒得更高再更高），于是我们攀登的高度才能是无限的。所以想要成就未来，功、德缺一不可。
Let me make an analogy:when a person or a company is climbing a mountain,their target is to reach the summit.Hereby I compare people to“merit”and mountain to“virtue”.If we only take care of climbing and think about reaching the summit ASAP,then what are we faced with after we finally reach the summit one day?We will have no other way to go under our feet but to go down the mountain.This is the result of“merit”.If we know the importance of virtue,our experience will be different.We can work on“merit”(climbing continuously)on the one hand and cultivate our“virtue”(piling up the mountain constantly)on the other hand,and then our climbing height will be unlimited.Therefore,both“merit”and“virtue”are indispensable to achieving success in the future.
看到这里，或许有人会想，我福报大，我不用修功徳。首先福报不是功德，功是我们的智慧才能，我们的禅定，我们的持戒，我们的读经等等，这都是无法给予别人的，功德一定是自己修自己得的。而福报是可以给予和被给予的，比如我们可以用财富去帮助别人，别人也可以用财富来帮助我们。
Seeing this,maybe someone will think,I am blessed,I don't have to cultivate merit and virtue.First of all,the blessing is not equal to merit.The“Merit”consists of wisdom and ability.it is our meditation,our precepts,our reading classics,and so on,which can not be given to others.The“Merit”must be self-cultivation,but the blessings can give and be given.For example,we can use wealth to help others,and others can use wealth to help us.
千万别忘了：功徳里面有褔报，而福报里面没有功德，功徳是长久的，福报是短暂的。
Don't forget:There are blessings in the merits and virtue,but there is no merit and virtue in the blessings.The merit and virtue are long-lasting,and the blessings are short-lived.
2018年6月3日马小秋分享
Ma Xiaoqiu shared on June 3,2018
