英文自修154：圣人纳纳克与众生平等

本系列内容英文原文取自BBC Thought for the Day节目网站，朋友们也可以下载节目录音收听。

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转载、翻译、中文标题：武太白

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Thought for the Day 20141106 Lord Singh

Today, Sikhs celebrate the birthday of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith. The Guru was concerned at the way different religions in his day, seemed to be more intent on rubbishing the beliefs of sister faiths than in living the values taught by their own.
今天，锡克人庆祝圣人纳纳克的生日，他是锡克教的创建者。圣人对当时世界上的不同宗教间的相处方式感到关切，似乎各教派更关注的是如何消灭其他教派，而不是如何按照自己教派所传布的价值观更好地生活。

In his very first sermon he taught that in God’s eyes there was neither Hindu nor Muslim, and by today’s extension, neither Christian, Sikh nor Jew. That the one God of us all is not interested in our different religious labels, but in how we live and what we do for our fellow beings.
圣人的第一次布道就教导我们，在上帝的眼中没有什么印度教、穆斯林，——在今天就是没有什么基督徒、锡克人或犹太教徒。我们共同的唯一上帝对我们不同的宗教标签并不感兴趣，上帝关注的是我们怎样生活、为别人做了些什么。

With a Hindu and Muslim companion the Guru travelled the length and breadth of India, and to Sri Lanka, Tibet and to the Middle East preaching the importance of religious tolerance and a recognition of the equality of all human beings.
圣人和印度教徒、穆斯林各一人结伴而行，穿越印度、斯里兰卡、西藏、中东，宣讲宗教包容的重要性，要求承认所有人类的平等。

Guru Nanak was particularly concerned about the plight of women on the subcontinent who, as in much of the world, were treated as inferior beings. He taught that women should be given full equality with men, not simply as the wives or daughters of men, but as individuals in their own right, playing a full part in society.
圣人纳纳克对于南亚次大陆上女性的遭遇尤其关注。与世界上许多地区的女性一样，她们被当作次等生物来对待。圣人教导说，女性也应获得与男性一样的完全平等权利，并不仅仅是男人的妻女，而是独立的个体，在社会上扮演完整角色。




Unfortunately, as we are daily reminded in the news, deep rooted cultural practices often tend to blur or subvert the teachings of religion which challenge unthinking attitudes and behaviour. I was vividly reminded of this while working as a young mining engineer in a remote area of Bengal, I had just received news that my wife had given birth to our first child, a daughter. I was over the moon and excitedly rushed to the house next door, that of a Sikh and told him the wonderful news. Contrary to clear Sikh teachings, his culturally conditioned response was ‘never mind, it will be boy next time! I was not then the gentle, easy going soul that I like to think I am today, and it took great restraint not to clock him one!
不幸的是，新闻每天都在提醒我们，对欠缺思考的态度和行为加以当头棒喝的宗教教义，经常会被顽固的文化实践所模糊、乃至颠覆。年轻时我是一名矿业工程师，在孟加拉偏远地区工作，当时我被生动形象地提醒了这一点：我得到消息，妻子生下了我们的第一个孩子，一个女儿。我欣喜若狂，兴奋地冲到隔壁锡克人家里，告诉他这个好消息。此人不是按照锡克教的教义，而是按照当地文化中常见的说法来回应：“没关系，下一个会是男孩的！”当时我可不是今天这样一个温柔的、与人为善的灵魂，当时我也努力自制，才维护了他在我心中这样的形象。

Today, as we celebrate the birthday of Guru Nanak, we should all resolve to do as he did and continually challenge all forms of unjust or oppressive which often masquerades as religion, and instead focus on true religious teachings of respect for and service to all members of our one human family.
今天，我们庆祝圣人纳纳克的诞辰，就应该下定决心按照他所做的那样去做，继续挑战所有形式的不公和压迫，这些东西经常以宗教的形式招摇过市。相反，我们应该专注那些真正的宗教教义，尊重我们人类大家庭的每一员，并为其服务。