我喝我的清茶

他饮他的花酒，我喝我的清茶。人生需要一种境界：自我安定。

面对别人的成功与荣耀，我喝我的清茶，我明白那掌声已有所属，匆匆忙忙赶过去，不会有成功等着你，还是自己再创业绩吧，跟着别人永远只能摸着成功的尾巴。

凡事不逃避，我喝我的清茶。荷花居污泥而不染，若为怕水污而种在旱地上，它早就枯死了。人生也一样，避恶、避丑、避邪，只能说明自己心灵脆弱。一个自我安定的人是不怕环境污染自己的，而有力量影响他人。古代孟母三迁是为了怕孩子受坏影响，要为自己就没必要逃避了，后来孟子长大成人后也没听说孟母再搬家。

自我安定可不是找一个安定的所在，而恰恰是在紊乱的环境中保持安定的心境，“定”是一种境界，是居于多变之中的不动摇。只有达到这一境界才能掌握自己的方向，才能做到“他饮他的花酒，我喝我的清茶。”

Contenting Myself with Plain Tea

Human life, it seems to me, needs a placidity of mind.

While others may be winning and dining, I am content with my plain tea. Not dazzled by other people’s aura of success and glamour, I will indulge in my simple pleasure. Clearly aware where the credit goes, I will not join in the rush in the vain hope of accepting the prize to be handed to me on a plate. The best a blind follower can do is tailing after the winners. The only alternative is to create wonders of one’s own.

I stick to the pureness of my pleasure, never escaping from reality. The lotus grows in the mud without being tainted. If, to avoid the dirt, one plants it on dry clean ground, it simply will not grow. The same holds true for human beings. Shrinking from what is ugly, vile and evil only proves the frailty of one’s character. A person in full possession of mental serenity never stands in fear of being mentally contaminated by the filthy environment. On the contrary, he can exercise positive influences all around. Mencius’s mother made three removals during his childhood to keep him away from bad influences, which did not pose any problem for her. History does not record any more of such removals after he grew up.

Enjoying the tranquility of mind does not mean hiding oneself in a haven. What is meant is the maintenance of such a mental state in the midst of chaos, i.e. moral immovability amidst kaleidoscopic changes. Only a person who has attained his plane can be a real master of his destiny, contenting himself with the purest and simplest pleasure.

 

居祖纯 译

I am Content to Drink my Plain Tea

By Wang Shuchun

 

Let others make merry with the best wines; I am content to drink my plain tea. In life we need to keep a tranquil mood.
While others revel in their success and glory, I drink my plain tea in contentment. Knowing that the applause has gone to whom it belongs, I won’t rush over in the hope of tumbling on success also. Instead, I will make a solid effort to accomplish my own goal. Those who follow others will always fall short of success.
I always confront the reality over a cup of plain tea. The lotus, though growing in mud, emerges unsullied from the filth. If, for fear that it should get soiled, one had planted it on dry land, it would have long withered away. The same is true with life. Only a weak mind is afraid of encountering ugliness, vices and evils. A person with a tranquil frame of mind will not fear the adverse influence from people around him. Instead he is strong enough to exert a positive influence on them. In ancient times, Mencius’ mother moved three times to shun the bad influence from the neighborhood on her son’s upbringing. She did not do that for her own sake, for there was no need to. After Mencius had grown up, she did not move even once.

Maintaining internal peace does not mean finding a peaceful place to live in. On the contrary, it means remaining peaceful within, no matter how chotic the environment is. Inner peace is a state of one's mind, it means being unperturbed in a changing world.

Only those who have attained this state of mind can hold to the orientation in life they have chosen for themselves. There people alone can be content to drink their plain tea while others make merry with the best wine.

广外一教授译