京城寺院初體驗(yàn)

老外在中國 A Foreigner in China

My Beijing Temple Experiences

I am an English teacher in China， which is not really that special. There are now thousands of people doing exactly what I do， and the numbers are increasing all the time. However， I feel lucky to have my job because I work with the Beijing Olympic Committee to help administrators and National Technical Officials prepare for next year's Summer Games. My work can be exhausting， but I am both inspired and humbled by my students' dedication and the Olympic Movement's universal ideals of peace and competition.

我是在中國教書的英語老師，這一點(diǎn)并無特別之處。如今有成千上萬的人在做著和我一樣的工作，而且這個(gè)數(shù)量還在持續(xù)增長。然而使我慶幸的是，我同北京奧組委一起幫助行政官員和國家的技術(shù)官員為明年的奧運(yùn)做準(zhǔn)備。我常會(huì)覺得筋疲力盡，但同時(shí)被學(xué)生們?yōu)閵W運(yùn)所做的貢獻(xiàn)以及和平與競爭的奧運(yùn)理念所激勵(lì)。與他們相比，我所做的顯得如此的微不足道。

That inspiration also extends to both Jie Tai and Tan Zhe Si. On a cloudy but hot summer day， one of my excellent students was kind enough to take me to Jie Tai \"Si\"， or \"temple\"， and one of the neighboring temples: Tan Zhe Si. In those places， I felt both inspired and humbled by the ancient structures and enduring calm of the temples.

到了戒臺(tái)寺和潭柘寺，我再次體驗(yàn)到了這種感覺。夏日的一天，有點(diǎn)悶熱，我其中一個(gè)學(xué)生帶我去參觀戒臺(tái)寺以及與其相隔不遠(yuǎn)的潭柘寺。置身其中，我為這些年代久遠(yuǎn)的古建筑群和古剎的清靜所動(dòng)容，同時(shí)也感受到了自身的卑微。

Our first stop was Jie Tai Si - an \"AAAA National Tourist Attraction\" nestled in the hills in the west side of Beijing. We parked our car and I took pictures from the parking lot. The view was fantastic. Several vendors were sitting or standing around the parking lot， selling incense and beads and little Buddhist statues. As we walked toward the temple's main gate， one of the vendors was quite determined to sell us his incense and followed us for several meters.

我們的第一站是位于北京西郊馬鞍山麓的4A級(jí)景區(qū)——戒臺(tái)寺。這里風(fēng)景怡人。停罷了車，我在停車場拍了些照片。停車場旁有些小攤販，或坐或站地在賣佛香、佛珠和一些小型的菩薩造像。我們朝寺門走去，其中一個(gè)攤主跟了我們好幾米想讓我們買些香火。

Out of respect for traditional customs， pictures are not encouraged in the temples. That they would restrict photographs wasn't surprising to me， since I have visited other temples in Asia before and because in the United States， people usually don't take pictures inside churches either. However， unlike the US， we had to buy tickets to enter the temple. In the United States， churches and places of worship are free to enter.

寺內(nèi)禁止拍照，出于對(duì)傳統(tǒng)習(xí)慣的尊重，我們也不敢“破戒”。我也參觀過其它一些亞洲的寺院，因此我對(duì)此“禁拍令”并不意外，再說在美國人們也通常不在教堂里面拍照。然而和美國不同，我們買了票才能進(jìn)寺。在美國諸如教堂等供人參拜的場所都是免費(fèi)進(jìn)入的。

The inside of Jie Tai Si was very clean. We walked around the temple grounds and noticed some new white prayer stones under construction. The stones were about 3 meters tall and framed with traditional Chinese symbols of good luck like clouds and dragons. We saw an artist carving characters into one of the stones and he said that it could take a couple of hours to finish carving 1 character. It was interesting to see how carefully each stroke of the characters was carved. After carving， the characters are painted gold and red.

戒臺(tái)寺內(nèi)非常整潔。我們繞著寺內(nèi)走了一遭，看見幾塊還未完成的漢白玉石刻，石碑約有三米高，邊上飾有中國傳統(tǒng)的龍紋和祥云圖案。一名工匠正在上面雕刻人物，他說刻一個(gè)人物大概要花上兩個(gè)小時(shí)。一刀一刀刻出的人物在我看來是如此的有趣。刻完之后那些人物都被漆上金色和紅色。

Another memorable moment came as we were leaving Jie Tai Si because I saw a good example of why Beijing is known as a city of contrasts. Walking back to our car， I noticed the other cars parked in the temple parking lot. There were many new and colorful imported cars， which were sharp contrasts to the old， red colored brick walls of the temple. The cars were modern engineering wonders parked outside a simple and very old building. China is an ancient civilization with modern cities and Jie Tai Si is an old place that new generations of people like to visit.

北京歷史的滄桑與現(xiàn)代的文明形成了鮮明的對(duì)比，即將離開戒臺(tái)寺之際我的所見所聞很好地印證了這個(gè)事實(shí)?；厝ト≤嚨穆飞希覀兛吹剿略和＼噲鐾Ａ撕枚嘬?，其中不乏搶眼的進(jìn)口名車，這和古剎中的紅色院墻真是鮮明的古今對(duì)比。古老的建筑外停泊著先進(jìn)的現(xiàn)代科技。古老的中國被賦予了現(xiàn)代文明的色彩。不少年輕人也喜歡去戒臺(tái)寺這樣古老的地方。

After leaving Jie Tai Si， we drove to Tan Zhe Si. There is a Chinese expression that says: \"first there was Tan Zhe Si， then there was Beijing，\" which means that Tan Zhe Si is older than the city of Beijing.As someone coming from a country with a history of a couple hundred years， I found this impressive. Similar to Jie Tai Si， the Tan Zhe Si temple sits at a high place in the mountains. There were also a lot of cars at Tan Zhe Si， but a car isn't the only convenient way to visit Tan Zhe Si. Bus number 931 from the PinGuoYuan subway station services Tan Zhe Si， which is very convenient for tourists and temple visitors who don't drive cars.

離開戒臺(tái)寺后，我們驅(qū)車趕往潭柘寺。自古就有“先建潭柘寺，后建燕京城”之說，也就是說潭柘寺的歷史比北京的建城史還要久遠(yuǎn)。我的國家只有幾百年的歷史，這些在我看來都是如此的震撼。與戒臺(tái)寺相似，潭柘寺坐落于巍峨的群山之中。潭柘寺旁也停了不少私家車，除自駕車之外，還可以乘931路公交車。這趟車從蘋果園地鐵站始發(fā)開往潭柘寺。這對(duì)于那些沒有車的游人和香客來說確實(shí)方便。

The long walk from the parking lot to the main temple was enjoyable. The environment was clean， green， and serene. Only a few small vehicles passed us on the road and most of the traffic was pedestrian traffic. At the main temple gate， 2 large stone lions guarded either side of the entrance， which was shrouded with pine trees. Going inside and over a small bridge brought us inside the temple.

徒步從停車場到寺院也是一種享受。沿途環(huán)境清幽、郁郁蔥蔥。從我們身旁路過的車屈指可數(shù)，絕大多數(shù)都是步行客。兩尊石獅守在松林深處的寺院主山門兩旁。穿過山門、越過小橋，我們就進(jìn)入了寺院內(nèi)部。

From there， the walk around the grounds was both relaxing and educational. The temple grounds were a pleasant balance of white stone paths， red walls， green plants and trees， and I found this simple environment revealing. The paths were symbols of human morality， the walls symbols of human discipline， and the trees were tall and dignified， straight and pure. The trees represented the natural world in which all humans live， but they were also symbols of human potential.

在那閑情信步即可放松心情也可感悟人生。寺院是白石小徑、紅磚和綠樹的完美組合。這樣簡單的環(huán)境卻會(huì)發(fā)人深思。通幽的小徑象征著人們的道德規(guī)范，圍墻則象征著森嚴(yán)的戒律，寺中的樹木高大挺拔、頗顯威嚴(yán)，象征著我們所居住的自然環(huán)境，同樣代表著人無限的潛力。

My next good opportunity for photographs was at the top of a stairway. From that point， I could see the many temple buildings sitting quietly among the dense pine and bamboo. There was so much pine and bamboo that only the roofs of the buildings could be seen. The trees blanketed the temple grounds and the surrounding mountains， and I felt as peaceful as a sleeping child.

站在臺(tái)階頂上是拍照的絕佳機(jī)會(huì)。從那可以看到一間間禪房靜靜地坐落在郁郁蔥蔥的蒼松翠竹之間。由于植被密度很高，我只能看到一間間的屋頂。山上和寺院的空地都被樹木覆蓋，平靜的就像個(gè)熟睡的孩子。

We walked down from the temple and then into a restaurant that served only vegetarian food. I was fascinated by the many tastes and textures of the tofu dishes. Each dish looked and tasted like pork， beef， fish， or chicken and it was all delicious! After lunch， we returned to the car and drove back down the mountain and into Beijing city.

順著寺廟往下走，我們到了一家只提供素食的飯店?？吹饺绱丝谖斗倍嗟亩垢穗日媸怯X得驚異。而且每道菜都似乎能嘗出各種肉的味道，美味可口。吃完一頓豐盛的午餐，我們就開車下山回到北京。

While Beijing is an ambitious， modern city and a center of power， the temples are older and slower， oases of calm and tranquility. As different as Jie Tai and Tan Zhe temples are from downtown Beijing， they are a part of Beijing and icons of Chinese history and culture. They are just 2 of the many cultural icons that can be found in this extraordinary city of contrasts.

生機(jī)勃勃的北京，一個(gè)現(xiàn)代的城市，一個(gè)權(quán)利的中心，而那些廟宇則像是城市里一片寧靜的綠洲，年代久遠(yuǎn)、節(jié)奏緩慢。戒臺(tái)寺和潭柘寺與喧鬧的北京城竟是如此的風(fēng)格迥異。那些廟宇是北京的一個(gè)部分也是中國歷史文化的縮影。在對(duì)比如此明顯的城市，戒臺(tái)、潭柘二寺只是眾多中國文化形象中的兩個(gè)代表。