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chán zhè ge zì hěn nán jiěshì ，tā shì yīzhǒng zhìhuì ，érqiě yǒuzhe fēicháng shēn fēicháng guǎng de yìyì 。wǒ lái shuō yī gè xiǎo gùshi ba ，kàn nǐ néngbùnéng míngbai 。Dámó shì Zhōngguó chánzōng zǔshī ，yǒu yī tiān tā wèn zìjǐ de dìzǐ ：yī dī shuǐ zěnyàng cái néng bù gānhé ？dìzǐ men xiǎngláixiǎngqù a ，dōu huídá bù chū 。

This word is very difficult to explain. It's a kind of way of approaching things. It's both very deep and very broad. I'll tell you a story and see if you understand. Once there was a Chan master named Bodhidharma. One day he asked his pupils, 'How could a single drop of water never dry up'? His pupils thought about it long and hard, but none of them could come up with an answer.

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呵呵，那我再讲一个小故事吧。有一个青年人毕业后豪情万丈，给自己定了很多目标，但到最后却一事无成。他非常苦恼地去找一位禅师，寻求答案。

hēhē ，nà wǒ zài jiǎng yī gè xiǎo gùshi ba 。yǒu yī gè qīngniánrén bìyè hòu háoqíngwànzhàng ，gěi zìjǐ dìng le hěn duō mùbiāo ，dàn dào zuìhòu què yīshìwúchéng 。tā fēicháng kǔnǎo de qù zhǎo yī wèi chánshī ，xúnqiú dá àn 。

Heh-heh. Let me tell you another one. Once, there was a young man who had just graduated and was full of ambition. He had many goals, but in the end he hadn't completed any of them. He was vexed and looked to a Chan master for answers.

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而禅师在了解了他的来意之后，让他先去烧一壶水。

ér chánshī zài liǎojiě le tā de láiyì zhīhòu ，ràng tā xiān qù shāo yī hú shuǐ 。

Then, while the master was listening to why he had come, the master had the man go boil some water in a kettle.

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这个时候，禅师问青年人：“如果没有足够的柴，你应该怎样把水烧开？”青年人想了一会儿，摇了摇头。禅师接着说：“如果那样的话，就该把水壶里的水倒掉一些！”青年人若有所思地点了点头。

zhège shíhòu ，chánshī wèn qīngniánrén ：“rúguǒ méiyǒu zúgòu de chái ，nǐ yīnggāi zěnyàng bǎ shuǐ shāokāi ？”qīngniánrén xiǎng le yīhuǐr ，yáo le yáo tóu 。chánshī jiē zhe shuō ：“rúguǒ nàyàng dehuà ，jiù gāi bǎ shuǐhú lǐ de shuǐ dào diào yīxiē ！”qīngniánrén ruòyǒusuǒsī de diǎn le diǎn tóu 。

When this happened, the master said to the young man, 'If you don't have enough wood, how are you going to boil the water?' The young man thought for a while and shook his head. The master continued, 'In situations like this, just pour out some of the water!' Lost in thought, the young man nodded his head.

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禅师说：“你一开始踌躇满志，树立了太多的目标，就像这个大水壶装了太多水一样，而你又没有足够的柴，所以不能把水烧开。要想把水烧开，你或者倒出一些水，或者先去准备更多的柴。”

chánshī shuō ：“nǐ yīkāishǐ chóuchúmǎnzhì ，shùlì le tài duō de mùbiāo ，jiù xiàng zhè ge dà shuǐhú zhuāng le tài duō shuǐ yīyàng ，ér nǐ yòu méiyǒu zúgòu de chái ，suǒyǐ bùnéng bǎ shuǐ shāokāi 。yào xiǎng bǎ shuǐ shāokāi ，nǐ huò zhě dào chū yīxiē shuǐ ，huò zhě xiān qù zhǔnbèi gèngduō de chái 。”

The master said, 'At first, you were smug and you had too many goals. You were just like this kettle with too much water in it. Also, you didn't have enough firewood, so you couldn't bring your water to a boil. If you want to bring your water to a boil, you have to either pour out some of your water, or first prepare more firewood.'

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呵呵，像刚才我讲的两个小故事啊，其实就是表明了禅的意义。

hēhē ，xiàng gāngcái wǒ jiǎng de liǎng gè xiǎo gùshi a ，qíshí jiùshì biǎomíng le chán de yìyì 。

Heh-heh. Those two stories I just told - actually they point to the meaning of Chan.

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虽然我感觉对禅还是一知半解，不过爸爸你讲的故事真有意思，我还想听。

suīrán wǒ gǎnjué duì chán háishì yīzhībànjiě ，bùguò bàba nǐ jiǎng de gùshi zhēn yǒu yìsi ，wǒ hái xiǎng tīng 。

Even though I feel like I still don't totally get it, I think the stories you told are really fun, dad. I want to hear more.

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