Tzu Chi: A Bridge of Compassion 慈济搭起爱的桥梁
- 详细资料
- 创建于 2003年7月25日
- 最后更新于 2024年5月25日
- 发布于 2011年6月02日
- 作者：Mike Lee
- 点击数：353
课文朗读
课文讲解
Although Taiwan is a small island, an unassuming Buddhist nun named Cheng Yen has been busy constructing a bridge of compassion stretching from Taiwan to the rest of the world. This bridge is the Tzu Chi foundation, and its mission is to shelter all suffering beings under the sky with a network of love.
台湾虽然只是个小岛，但谦逊的佛教证严法师，戮力搭建连接台湾和世界各地的慈悲之桥，这座桥梁就是慈济基金会，它的目标是用绵密的爱庇护普天下所有受苦受难的民众。
Founded in Hualien by Master Cheng Yen in 1966, the Tzu Chi Foundation promotes universal compassion by soothing pain and suffering. Key to Tzu Chi’s mission is the notion that force is not the solution to suffering on our Earth. To maintain the purity of its mission, the Tzu Chi foundation is funded only through public donations and volunteers carry out over ninety percent of its work. The Tzu Chi Foundation concentrates on four missions; charity, medicine, education, and culture.
证严法师1966年在台湾花莲成立了慈济基金会，慈济基金会平抚人间所有苦难藉以推广无远弗届的宽容大爱。慈济的救助义行，筑基于深刻体会出暴力怨怼绝对无法解决人间的悲情。慈济经费来自于公众的捐助，而志工执行了超过百分之九十以上的工作。慈济基金会的四大目标志业是：慈善工作、医疗、教育、和文化。
Since 1991’s typhoon disaster in Bangladesh, Tzu Chi has extended its compassionate efforts to international relief work. People in over forty countries across five continents have benefited from its help. Transcending political and ethnic boundaries, Master Cheng Yen and the volunteers of Tzu Chi are living testaments to the Great Vow Bodhisattva: “Attain Nirvana only after all living beings have been enlightened and saved from the misery of the world.”
自从1991年孟加拉国国遭逢飓风灾难后，慈济赈灾行动的触角就延伸到了世界各地。全球受惠的民众分布于四十余国，遍及五大洲。超越了政治种族的藩篱，证严法师及慈济志工们是至高无上菩萨道的活见证：「众生渡尽，方证菩提」。
Vocabulary
单词发音
unassuming [͵ʌnəˋsjumɪŋ] adj. 谦虚的；不出风头的；不装腔作势的；保守的
compassion [kəmˋpæʃən] n. 怜悯；同情
suffering [ˋsʌfərɪŋ] adj. 受苦的，受难的; n.〔肉体或精神上的〕痛苦﹐困难（的经历）
charity [ˋtʃærətɪ] n. 慈善事业; 施舍
Bangladesh [ˋbæŋglə͵deʃ] n. 孟加拉国共和国
compassionate [kəmˋpæʃənet] adj. 有同情心的；怜悯的；慈悲的
transcend [trænˋsɛnd] v. 超越
testament [ˋtɛstəmənt] n. 证明，证据
vow [vaʊ] n. 誓，誓言，誓约
Bodhisattva [͵bodɪˋsʌtvə] n.（佛教用语）菩萨
nirvana [nɪrˋvænə] n.（亦作N-）（佛教）涅盘；解脱；极乐世界
enlighten [ɪnˋlaɪtn] v.【正式】指导﹐教导; 启迪
Sentence of the Day
A friend in need is a friend indeed.
患难见真情。
课文讲解
Two classmates, Neil and Carrina, meet after a holiday break: 假日后，两位同班同学尼尔和卡琳娜碰面了：
N: How was your trip to Hualien?
妳去花莲的旅行还好吗？
C: Great. The mountains around Hualien are beautiful, but my visit to Tzu Chi Foundation was even more inspiring!
很好，花莲的山风景很美，不过我去花莲慈济基金会的访问才更令人振奋！
N: How so? What did you learn about the organization?
怎么说？妳晓得有关慈济的哪些事情？
C: First of all, the Tzu Chi Foundation isn’t one of those religious organizations that hides its head in the sand when it comes to face the problems of the world.
慈济基金会不像有些宗教机构，只顾自己把头埋在沙堆里，不顾世上的问题。
N: Well, helping all beings that suffer is a central Buddhist goal. I suppose they take that goal seriously.
济弱扶倾是佛教徒的中心目标，而我认为慈济人有真正地在实践。
C: Very! In January, they finished an eleven-day relief trip to Afghanistan.
的确！一月的时候，他们完成了历时十一天的阿富汗赈灾之旅。
N: What was involved in their relief effort?
他们赈灾做些什么事情？
C: The foundation prioritized areas not receiving aid from the World Food Program. They distributed food, cooking oil, medical supplies, and, most importantly, blankets to protect refugees from the freezing Afghan winter.
慈济基金会把没有得到联合国粮食组织援助的地区，列为优先协助对象。他们分发粮食、食物油、医疗用品和尤其重要的保暖毛毯，帮助阿富汗难民渡过寒冬。
N: It seems ironic for a Buddhist foundation to go to Afghanistan. After all, didn’t the Taliban regime destroy those monumental fifth century Buddhist statues several years ago?
好像有点反讽嘛，一个佛教机构跑去阿富汗赈灾。毕竟，几年前塔力班政权不是才肆意摧毁了兴建于公元五世纪的重要佛教雕像？
C: Yes, but for Tzu Chi, anyone suffering is worthy of compassion.
是没错，不过对慈济人而言，任何人受苦受难都值得怜悯。
N: They’re certainly exemplars of their own values, but it sounds like they’re involving themselves in dangerous situations.
慈济人的价值观代表了一种典范，不过这样好像他们把自己置于险地！
C: Right you are. Next, they’re organizing a relief mission to Iraq!
你说的对，下一回他们还要组一团赈灾队伍去伊拉克呢！
－by Michael Loncar
Vocabulary
单词发音
inspiring [ɪnˋspaɪrɪŋ] adj. 鼓舞人心的; 启发灵感的
hide one’s head in the sand （把头扎进沙堆的）驼鸟政策，回避现实 to refuse to think about an unpleasant situation
when it comes to 谈到...时
relief [rɪˋlif] n. 帮助；援助
prioritize [praɪˋɔrə͵taɪz] v. 按优先级处理
refugee [͵rɛfjʊˋdʒi] n. 难民；流亡者
regime [rɪˋʒim] n. 政体；政权
monumental [͵mɑnjəˋmɛnt!] adj. 巨大的；重要的；留存于历史上的；不朽的
exemplar [ɪgˋzɛmplɚ] n.【正式】模范; 典型
Sentence of the Day
They offer a helping hand.
他们伸出援手。
helping hand 帮助, 援助, 援手