People need to be encouraged

“人是須要鼓勵的！” 這句話是出自聖嚴法師，當我在TLing的中心幫她做圖書館的工作時，她放了聖嚴法師講座的CD。法師說，“如果我說得好，請给我鼓掌鼓掌，並不是因為我虛榮，我是須要你們的鼓勵。” 這句話又勾起我一段回憶…

你最早的記憶是在你幾歲時？你相信你的記憶都會儲存在你身體的任何部份嗎？當你的心沈澱時，記憶突顯時，一幕一幕的有如影片般，它會播現在你的腦海，有些很輕易的出現，但有些如沈浸在深海讓你無法尋覓。

幾年前，我不知道在什麼情况下，突然記憶庫出現這樣的一幕，那是我剛學走路的階段… 我被支持的站在大人的腳邊，我上面好像是一張桌子（過后我分析那應是飯桌），黃色的燈光（以前是用舊式燈泡的那种）被桌面遮去一些光亮，我慢慢放手离開支持物，跨步行走，一、两步后，突然整個人不穩即向后仰，四腳朝天並發出聲音，大人看看我，然后我聽到媽媽的潮州話笑着說（可能是對我哥姐們說），“你們看，她很聰明，每次跌倒都會挺她的頭起來，不會撞到頭。” 我那時真的是感覺我用力在挺着頭，然后有人抱起我… 我當時可能還不會說話，但卻聽得懂，而且是知道媽媽在稱讚！所以這一段场景收攝在我身體的某處，過了多年后，它浮現出來了。一些其它被讚賞的场景，如我在學校時的優秀項目被人稱讚的，它們保存在記憶庫里，可能也是令我感覺自信的其中因素！

所以請你不要吝嗇给於稱讚鼓勵身邊的人。如果你覺得我寫得好，也請给我回應在comment鼓勵鼓勵。

有聲望的聖嚴法師姑且須要豉勵，更何況是我。人是須要鼓勵的！

“People need to be encouraged!” said by Master Sheng-Yen. When I was in TLing’s center to help her library works, she played a CD of a public talk by Master Sheng-Yen. Master said, “Please give me some applause if you think my talk is good; not because I am vain, but because I need your encouragement” (I translated from Chinese). His words reminded me of a memory again…

Do you remember how old you were in your earliest memory? Do you believe that memories are stored in any part of your body? When your mind is still and the memories manifest around, they are like the scenes of a movie shown in your mind. Some just appear easily, but some you couldn’t find anymore, like they were immersed into a deep ocean.

Several years ago, I didn’t remember in what situation, a scene from my memories came suddenly. It was the stage when I was learning to walk…. I was standing, supported by something, and beside an adult’s legs. Above me it looked like there was a table (later I figured out it was a dining table), and the yellowish light from a bulb (an old type one), with some parts shadowed by the table, I slowly moved away from the support and walked for one or two steps. Suddenly, I was unstable and fell backwards with hands and legs in the air. It was noisy so the adults looked at me and I heard my mom say in Teochew dialect (she might have been talking to my brothers and sisters), “You see, she is so smart, knowing to tuck her head, so that she doesn’t hit it.” At that time, I really realized I was using energy to tuck my head. Then someone held me up…. Perhaps I wasn’t able to speak, but I just understood what my mom said and it was praise! So, this scene was captured in some part of my body. Several years later, it just popped up. Some scenes are still kept in my memory store when I had been praised by others for my excellence in a few subjects during school. Maybe all this praise is also one of the things that gave me self-confidence!

Thus, please don’t hesitate to encourage people around you. If you think my writing was good, please comment and give me your encouragement.

If even a renowned Master needs encouragement, then I need it too. People need to be encouraged!