生命路徑總在不期然之處轉彎，彷彿是為了讓我們看見更廣闊的風景……歷經大環境不斷變遷的聖嚴法師，本著最初的願心，面對人生中的高山深壑，以佛法為地圖，做為指引個人安頓身心之道；進而將他對佛法的踐行領悟，透過義理分明的文字，為現代人描繪出生命智慧的藏寶圖。

本書由聖嚴法師娓娓道來其一生的學習歷程，以及隨順因緣全力投入生命中不同角色的各種轉折，經過文字的闡述及解行並重的生命實踐，使現代人得以親近佛法善知識，領受佛法做為人生指引的妙用。

本書為英文版，為《法鼓全集》英譯計畫中的第一部英文出版品。期待能以此英譯系列向廣大的西方讀者推廣漢傳佛教與禪法。

I am an ordinary Buddhist monk born in 1930 at a village in Jiangsu Province, Nantong County. The second year after my birth, there was a great flooding of the Yangzi River, which washed away our home and everything we owned. We were impoverished. My family then moved to the south bank of the Yangzi River. I was always weak in physique and prone to illness since childhood. I entered school at the age of nine, and left school when I was thirteen. I became a monk when I was thirteen. The basic education I received was equivalent to that of a fourth grade primary school student. While the other teenagers were studying at high school and university, I was busy working as a younmonk and performing ritual services. Later, I served in the military for the country. Nevertheless, since I was young, I realized the importance of knowledge and education. Therefore, during my time in service, I would take hold of any opportunity for self-study, and read many books. After leaving the army and spending six years in solitary retreat, having met the educational requirements along with my published work, I was enrolled in Rissho University in Tokyo. There, within six years time, I completed both a master’s and a doctoral degree in Buddhist Literature. From the time I realized that the sutras are used to provide knowledge and methods to purify society and the human mind, I felt lament. I thought, “The Dharma is so good, yet so few people know about it, and so many people misunderstand it.” Ordinary people treat Buddhadharma as something secular or mystical; at best they treat it as an academic study. Actually, Buddhism is a religion that applies wisdom and compassion to purify the human world. Thus, I vowed to use contemporary ideas and language to introduce to others the true meaning of the Dharma that was forgotten, and to revive the spirit of Shakyamuni Buddha. — From the Author’s Preface

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作者簡介：

Master Sheng Yen 聖嚴法師（1930～2009年）

聖嚴法師1930年生於江蘇南通，1943年於狼山出家，後因戰亂投身軍旅，十年後再次披剃出家。曾於高雄美濃閉關六年，隨後留學日本，獲立正大學文學博士學位。1975年應邀赴美弘法。1989年創建法鼓山，並於2005年開創繼起漢傳禪佛教的「中華禪法鼓宗」。

聖嚴法師是一位思想家、作家暨國際知名禪師，曾獲臺灣《天下》雜誌遴選為「四百年來臺灣最具影響力的五十位人士」之一。著作豐富，中、英、日文著作達百餘種，先後獲頒中山文藝獎、中山學術獎、總統文化獎及社會各界的諸多獎項。

聖嚴法師提出「提昇人的品質，建設人間淨土」的理念，主張以大學院、大普化、大關懷三大教育推動全面教育，相繼創辦中華佛學研究所、法鼓佛教學院、僧伽大學、法鼓大學等院校，也以豐富的禪修經驗、正信的佛法觀念和方法指導東、西方人士修行。

法師著重以現代人的語言和觀點普傳佛法，陸續提出「心靈環保」、「四種環保」、「心五四運動」、「心六倫」等社會運動，近年來更致力於國際弘化工作，參與國際性會談，促進宗教交流，提倡建立全球性倫理，致力於世界的和平。其寬闊胸襟與國際化視野，深獲海內外肯定。

Contents

Series Foreword
Acknowledgements
Author’s Preface

Chapter 1 Childhood and Youth
Chapter 2 Life in the Army
Chapter 3 Becoming a Monk and Returning to the Life of a Monk
Chapter 4 The Vinaya and the Agamas
Chapter 5 Religion and History
Chapter 6 Life Studying Abroad
Chapter 7 Views from Every Aspect of Japanese Buddhism
Chapter 8 My Doctor’s Thesis
Chapter 9 East and West
Chapter 10 Traveling and Writing
Chapter 11 Standing at the Crossroads Looking at the Street Scenes

The Chronicle
Also By Master Sheng Yen