A journey of learning and insight聖嚴法師學思歷程

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

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。

Series Foreword
Acknowledgements
Author’s Preface

Chapter 1 Childhood and Youth 1
Chapter 2 Life in the Army 21
Chapter 3 Becoming a Monk and Returning to the Life of a Monk　47
Chapter 4 The Vinaya and the Agamas 57
Chapter 5 Religion and History 69
Chapter 6 Life Studying Abroad 85
Chapter 7 Views from Every Aspect of Japanese Buddhism 95
Chapter 8 My Doctor’s Thesis 117
Chapter 9 East and West 137
Chapter 10 Traveling and Writing 155
Chapter 11 Standing at the Crossroads Looking at the Street Scenes　175　
The Chronicle 190
Also By Master Sheng Yen 192