On the morning of March 13, 2015, Ni Wenxuan, a senior high school student in the United States, delivered a keynote speech for 500 teachers and students. The speech moved all the teachers and students so deeply that one teacher even shed tears. Why did a speech on Buddhism cause such a strong response in the West? The following is an English speech and its Chinese translation, followed by some comments from teachers and students.

　　2015年3月13日晨，在美国就读高中的倪闻萱同学，为全校500教师生发表了一次主题演讲。这场演讲深深打动了全体师生，一位老师甚至落下了眼泪。为什么一场关于佛教的演说，会在西方引起如此强烈的反响?以下是英文演讲稿及其中文翻译，文后附部分老师和学生的感言。

　　The speech begins with a story:

　　演讲从一个故事开始：

　　A stormy nightin Hong Kong.

　　香港一个风雨交加的夜晚。

　　A young man who asked his girlfriend out on adate canceled the date and stayed at home because of the bad weather. Meanwhile, in the same apartment building, a pregnant lady who was lying in bed already, suddenly decided to drive out to grab some food. As she was driving back in the heavy rain, the lightning struck her building. And she saw the whole building collapsing in front of her in the storm.

　　公寓中的一名男孩，本已约了女友外出，出门时因风雨太大，就临时取消了约会而逗留家中。而公寓中另一位有孕在身、本已卧床休息的少妇，因想吃点东西而独自驾车外出。当她冒着风雨驾车返回时，发现整栋公寓竟然在风雨中倒塌了……

　　All the residents of that building, including the young man, lost their lives in that accident. Yet the pregnant lady survived.

　　包括那名男孩在内的公寓中其他居民都丧身在倒塌的公寓与山泥之中，而孕妇却幸免于难。

　　This is a story of fate by author, Kuang Ni from Hong Kong. Dead oralive, all depended on that one thought. Is this a made-up story, or a true reflection of our lives?

　　这是香港作家倪匡笔下一个耐人寻味的命运故事。一念之间，生死两重天。这到底只是作家的艺术创作，还是生活的真实写照?

　　You have probably also experienced how one decision potentially leads to adramatic and different result. So is it accidental, or inevitable? Does destiny exist? If so, how is it formed? Can it be changed? How do we change it?

　　你可能也经历过这种事情，因为一个决定而产生了截然不同的结果。那么，这是偶然还是必然?命运真的存在吗?如果存在，它又是怎样形成的?可以被改变吗?如何才能改变?

　　My dad published a book titled Enlightenment in 2012. It’s a book about Buddhism and its wisdom that may help you in life. I say “A life-changing book” here because first of all, it is what the Chinese characters on the cover mean; secondly it is my own father’s book and of course I want to sell it; but thirdly, it indeed is “Alife-changing book.”

　　我父亲于2012年出版了《觉悟》一书。这是一本关于用佛教智慧改变我们生命的书。我说“This is a life-changing book(一本足以改写你生命的书)”，因为首先，这本书的封面上的确写着这些中文字;其次，这是我父亲的书，我当然想推销它;(笑声)第三，这的确是一本足以改写你生命的书。

　　Ever since he published book, he has wanted me to translate his book when I grow more proficient in English. I doubt that I have the ability to translate his book yet, but I’d like to take this opportunity to share some bits and parts of his insights on Buddhism; especially those on Zen Buddhism that have helped me in my life. This speech will partially be a rough translation of the first chapter of his book, as he wishes, and partially my personal experience with Zen.

　　自从他出版这本书以后，我父亲就希望我能帮他翻译成英语。当然，我不觉得我现在的英语水平够去翻译这整本书，但是我希望借这个机会，能分享一些他对佛法的见解，尤其是在我成长的过程中对我有很大帮助的禅学。这次演讲的一部分内容会是《觉悟》一书部分章节的简单翻译(算是如我父亲所愿)，还有一部分是我自己的修心、修行经历。

　　Since the day we’re born, we’ve stepped into a huge maze with only one exit. The exit leads to the tranquil middle path that Buddhism is looking for. And only by finding the right road can we exit the maze that is full of suffering. Different thing shappen to different people in our lives, but you should know that every hardship or impasse you face comes from the seeds of your past ignorance and presumptuous acts. There’s nothing we could do with things that already happened, but that doesn’t mean we have to stop searching for the way out. In fact, according to Buddhist teaching, if we wake up from the ignorance, we can definitely leave the maze.

　　从出生之日起，我们就像步入了一个只有唯一出口的巨大迷宫。佛教正是要帮助你找到这个给你带来解脱的唯一出口。唯有找到这个出口，我们才能从满是痛苦的迷宫中走出来。每个人在生命中都经历着不同的事情。但不管在你的生命中发生了什么，要知道，现在你所遇到的每一个障碍或绝境，都来自过去的无知和妄行埋下的种子。已经发生的结果，我们无力改变，但并不意味着我们必须停下探索的脚步。事实上，佛教认为，只要我们从无知中醒来，就一定能走出迷宫。

　　There is a kind of dandelion in Canada that cangrow out of the ground again even if it’s been pulled out by its roots. Some specialists latter found out that this kind of dandelion has roots that are eight meters down into the earth, and at the end of the roots, there’s a seed. Even if the roots are taken out, the dandelion can grow out again because of its seed.

　　加拿大有一种生命力特别旺盛的蒲公英，即便你将它连根拔起，不久它还会从地下长出新的来。后来，经过专家的深入研究发现，它的根须特别长，竟然顽强地扎入地下八米的深处，并且须根的尽头有一粒种子，就算须根断了，蒲公英也照样会因这粒种子而再次破土重生。

　　Deep down in our hearts, there’s aseed as well. Without us noticing, the seed has been developing roots, blooming flowers, and even bearing bitter fruits. Although we hate these bitter fruits, we have no idea where they come from. So after trying and failing every time,the fruits remain. They remain because we have only tried to solve the problems on the surface, like taking out the roots of the dandelion but not the seed.

　　在我们内心深处，也深埋着一颗种子。不知不觉间，这颗潜伏着的种子在不断地发芽开花，并结满了各式各样苦涩的果子。虽然我们讨厌那些苦涩的果子，但由于并不知道它们究竟来自何方，所以就算用尽了各种方法，却总是失望地发现无法根除它。因为，我们总是治标而不治本。就像人们只是铲除地上的蒲公英，或者虽然拔出了蒲公英的根须，却将那颗种子留在了地下一样。

　　The seed that is deep down in our hearts is called “ego,” – the source of all ofour troubles and pain. Our hearts should be spacious and open, capable of taking in anything. We are the universe, and the universe is us. We are allone. But when the “ego” starts to develop, we start to separate ourselves from the whole.

　　深埋于我们内心深处的那颗种子叫“自我”，它是我们人生一切烦恼和痛苦的源头。我们的心，本来应该像虚空一样，可以容纳一切。一切和我们没有对立，一切就是我们，我们就是一切。我们和整体没有分割。当我们有了自我，我们就开始分割和比较，“我”从整体中独立了出来。

　　Then based on our preferences and experience, our hearts start to have limited capacity. Our hearts are no longer big enough to accommodate everything.The more specific preferences we develop, the smaller our hearts become. After a certain time, we start to hang on to the ego and develop different feelings because of it. We experience love and happiness, but also pain and suffering.The ego is a doubled-edged-sword. Is there a way to use it only for good without any bad effects?

　　接着，因着我们的喜好、经验，心的大小容量就显露出来了，我们的心不再可以容纳一切了。随着我们分割的东西越来越多，心的容量也就随之变得越来越小。自我变成了一道过滤外界事物的屏障，将我们和整体分割了开来。 接着，我们就慢慢执著于这个自我，经过一定阶段的熏习和积累，因“我”而产生了爱和幸福，但也带来了相应的痛苦和烦恼。它是一把双刃剑。那么有没有办法把这把双刃剑用好，只使其发挥有益的作用而不产生负面作用呢?