以不貪為寶

2014-09-29

宋國有個人得了一塊玉石，把它獻給齊國大夫子罕，子罕不肯收。獻玉石的人說：「我給玉匠看了，玉匠說這是塊寶石，所以我才敢把它獻給您。」子罕說：「我把不貪當作寶，你把玉石當作寶。如果你把玉石給了我，我們都失掉了自己的寶。還不如各自都保留自己的寶。」子罕最終也沒有要那塊寶玉。

《左傳》中的這個「以不貪為寶」的故事，讀來令人深思，但願人人皆以「以不貪為寶」，事事不貪，時時不貪，因為只有「知足」才能「常樂」。君不見「貪」字是由「今」和「貝」而成嗎？眼裏只有眼前的貴重，這怎能長久？想必這也是造字先聖的良苦用心，讓人見字望義，時時得到提醒。

古往今來，大至國家小至個人的衰亡，大多源自一個「貪」字。人對錢財、虛名、情慾等的慾望就像是永遠也不會填滿的無底洞，如果慾望和貪婪之心不加以節制，會反過來徹底「奴役」這個人，讓人完全為金錢名利或美色所俘獲，為其生為其死，會肆無忌憚的甚麼壞事都敢做，會讓人拋棄做人應有的道德規範，做人的尊嚴，以至於賠上身家性命，乃至社稷天下也在所不惜。
Not Being Greedy Is Something to be Treasured

During the Spring and Autumn period (771 to 476 BC) in the nation of Song, a man obtained a gem and presented it as a gift to the Prime Minster of the nation of Qi, Zihan. Zihan refused to accept it. The man said, "I had the jade cutter examine the stone and he said it was genuine. I would like to present it to you." Zihan replied, "I consider not being greedy as something to be treasured, whereas you treat the gem as a treasure. If you gave me your gem, both of us would lose our treasures. Wouldn't it be better if we both keep our treasures?" With these words, Zihan refused the gem.

The story is written in the book Zuo Zhuan and it is cause for reflection. I hope that everyone agrees that not being greedy is indeed a virtue. Only when you learn how to be content with what you have can you be innately happy. The Chinese character for "Greed" (Tan1) is composed of two characters, "Today" (Jin1) and "Treasure" (Bei4). If you can only see the treasure that's right before your eyes, how can it be of lasting value? The sage who created this character must have thought really deeply to come up with something so profound. The character reminds us about the true meaning of greed.

Through the ages, the decline of countries and individuals is often due to what the character for Greed (Tan1) symbolizes. The desire for wealth, fame and lust is like a black hole that can never be filled. If a person's desires and greed are not controlled, they will enslave and drive him. They will make him live and die for greed, do all kinds of unscrupulous, bad deeds, and give up all human moral standards and dignity. People have even died and betrayed their countries for the sake of greed.