这次观音七，有很多学生参加，你们要明白孝顺父母的道理。在家时，要听从父母的话，帮助母亲整理房间，收拾干净，帮助父亲剪草等，做些应该做的事。在学校时，要听老师的教诲，专心听讲，用功学习，不要把大好光阴错过。一天认识一个字，一天学会一句文法，这就是孝顺父母的表现。
There are many students attending this Guanyin recitation session, and you students should understand the principle of being filial to parents. At home, listen to your parents, help your mother clean the rooms and tidy the house, help your father mow the lawn, and do the chores that you are supposed to do. At school, listen to the teacher’s instructions, concentrate during classes, study hard, and don’t waste precious time. To learn a new word or a new grammar rule every day is also a way of being filial to your parents.
你们要记住！在学校做个好学生，回到家中，做个好儿女。不但要听父母的教诲，而且又要听年长的人教导。要孝顺父母，要恭敬年长的人，因为他的经验比你们多，他的学问比你丰富。你们必须向他学习，作为榜样，才会有光明的前途。否则，前途就黯淡无光，没有希望。
Remember to be a good student at school and a good child at home. You should listen not only to your parents’ instructions, but also to the guidance of your elders. Be filial to your parents and respectful toward your elders, since they have more experience and knowledge than you do. You should learn from them and take them as your models so that you can have a promising future. Otherwise your future will be dim and hopeless.
学生们要抱定目标，立定志愿，要有坚忍不拔、百折不回的精神，将来才能轰轰烈烈的做一番大事业。成为出乎其类，拔乎其萃的大豪杰。念书的时候，要用功读书，不可贪玩、不可调皮、不要虚度光阴，要认真学习一切技能。这样才对得起父母，对得起师长，对得起学校。
You students should set your goals, resolve your mind, and approach your studies with a persevering and unfaltering attitude so that in the future you’ll be able to achieve great things and become outstanding heroes. When it’s time for you to study, you should study diligently. Don’t goof off, get into mischief, or waste time; instead, be earnest in learning all skills. That way you won’t disappoint your parents, your teachers, or the school.
你们要知道，这是佛教学校，专门教育良才，将来成为世界上最有用的人。希望你们为世界人类谋幸福，不可把世界给弄坏了。这是本校的希望。你们在这里读书，一切要脚踏实地的学习，就是一分钟的光阴，也不可空过，所谓：
书山有路勤为径；
学海无涯苦作舟。
以此作你们的座右铭。
You should understand that this is a Buddhist school. It specializes in educating students to become good and productive citizens in the world. I hope that in the future you’ll try to work for the welfare of all of the people in the world, not mess things up in the world. That’s our hope at this school. You are studying here, and so you must truly apply yourself to your studies and not waste even a single minute. Your motto should be:
With diligence, one forges a path
Through the mountain of books;
By studying hard, one can cross
The boundless ocean of knowledge.
你们要有坚苦耐劳的心，不可躲懒偷安，要养成勤俭的习惯，对于一张纸、一支笔，也要爱惜，不可随便糟蹋。生活上要有规律，早睡早起，少看电视，多看益智良书。在学校学的功课，回到家中，一定要把它做完，时时温习，所谓“温故而知新”。看一遍有一遍的好处，不可看无益的连环图画小人书。
Be patient and persevering, never lazy. Learn to be frugal. Cherish even a sheet of paper or a pen. You should lead disciplined lives: Go to bed early and rise early, watch less television, read plenty of good books, finish your homework after you come home, and constantly review what you have learned. It is said, “Reviewing what you have learned will aid you in learning new knowledge.” You derive benefit every time you review. Don’t read useless comic books.
在中国东汉时，有个小孩子，名叫孔融，非常聪明，又知道孝道。有一天，朋友送来一筐梨。他的哥哥们选择大梨吃。他才四岁，就知道“礼让”的道理，于是他选择一个小梨吃。他父亲问他：“为什么不拿大梨呢？”孔融说：“因为我年纪小，可以吃小梨，把大梨留着父母长辈吃。”你们想一想，孔融才四岁，就知道谦让、友爱、孝顺。有这种的德行，非一般的小孩可比的。这种美名，流传千古，人人皆晓，所谓“融四岁，能让梨”。
During the Eastern Han dynasty [A.D. 25 - 219] in China, there was a child named Kong Rong. He was very bright and understood the principle of filiality. One day a friend brought over a basket of pears. His elder brothers picked the large ones to eat. Rong was four years old, yet he already knew the principle of yielding to others. So he took a small pear. His father asked him, “Why didn’t you choose a big one?” He replied, “Since I am younger, I should eat a small one. The big ones should be kept for parents and elders.” Think about this. Kong Rong was only four years old, but he already knew how to yield to others and be affectionate and filial. Endowed with such virtues, he was an extraordinary child. His good reputation has been passed down through the generations and become widely known. It is said, “Rong, at age four, could yield pears.”
在东汉时，又有一个儿童，名叫黄香，他九岁的时候，母亲死了，他对父亲非常孝顺。在冬天的时候，用自己的身体替父亲温暖被褥，深恐父亲着凉。在夏天的时候，用扇子来扇父亲的枕席，深恐父亲太热。这种孝心，在民间流传不朽，所谓“香九岁，能温席”。
During the Eastern Han dynasty, there was another child named Huang Xiang. His mother died when he was nine, and he was very filial to his father. In the winter, Xiang used his body heat to warm up his father’s quilt, so his father wouldn’t catch cold. In the summer he fanned his father’s bedding, so his father wouldn’t be too hot. That kind of filiality shall always be remembered. It is said, “Xiang, at age nine, warmed his father’s quilt.”
这两个小孩子的行为，乃是由真心流露出来，并不是戴假面具，来欺骗其它人。这种行为，可以效法。你们都是儿童，要学习这两个小孩子孝顺父母的行为，作为规范。
Those two children behaved that way spontaneously, out of sincerity; they weren’t putting on an act to try to fool other people. We ought to compare our own conduct to theirs. You children should emulate those two filial children and regard them as your models.
你们都是幸运者，生在这个富裕的国家，生活安定，物资丰富，在这种优越环境之下，要是不好好读书，就辜负了父母的期待、师长的希望。
You are all lucky to have been born in this affluent country where you can live in peace and safety and enjoy abundant resources. If you don’t study hard in this excellent environment, you will disappoint the hopes of your parents and fall short of your teachers’ expectations.
在这极乐的国家，需要良善的好人，需要明理的人。要知道怎样爱国家，怎样做优秀的公民。你们在佛教学校读书，将来作为社会的模范，领导世人向善的道路迈进。以万佛圣城六大宗旨为标准：(一)不争；(二)不贪；(三)不求；(四)不自私；(五)不自利；(六)不妄语。你们真能实行这六大宗旨，将来一定是世界上最优秀的人。我希望你们成为十全十美的好人，影响世人改恶向善；有大慈悲心，能给予众生快乐，能拔众生痛苦。人人能如此，则世界大同。
In this country of abundant happiness, we need good, kind, and reasonable people who know how to love their country and be good citizens. You now study in a Buddhist school, and in the future you should be role models in society, leading the people of this world to advance towards goodness. Use the Six Guidelines of the City as a standard: not fighting, not being greedy, not seeking, not being selfish, not pursuing personal advantage, and not lying. If you can truly practice these Six Guidelines, you will surely become excellent people. I hope you all become completely wholesome people who can influence others to change from evil to good. I hope you will have great mercy and compassion so you can make living beings happy and alleviate their sufferings. If everyone can do this, the world will be in total harmony.
