Every one of us (whoever you are) has a body and mind. Mind is the chief and forerunner. Mind can be cultivated. The Buddha always said, "Avoid evil, do good and purify your mind." But Mind Cultivation is NOT EASY but it is IMPORTANT. It is self-training to be done regularly and daily. YOU yourself have to train yourself. No body can train your mind for you. The Buddha has made it very clear that 「You have to walk yourself, He can only show the way. He cannot walk the way for you.」 So in our own interest, we must walk the path.
任何人都有一個身與心。心是先行者（先軀），心是可以培育、發展的。佛陀經常教導說：「諸惡莫作，眾善奉行，自淨其意。」雖然心的培育十分重要，但此事並不容易；它是一種要每天定時地（循規蹈矩地）實踐的自我訓練。你要親自訓練自己，沒有人可替你訓練你的心，佛陀已說的一清二楚：「你要自己去行（實踐），如來（佛陀）只能給你指路，他是無法替你去行（實踐）的。」因此，為了我們的本身利益，我們一定要躬行實踐。
We need to practice because We are Not Perfect. If we are perfect, we won't be here! We all make mistakes, but just because we make mistakes at some points in life that we have to be condemned for ever! WE can improve! Parent, children, husbands, wives ... all make mistakes. We must understand, recognise and be forgiving. Don't associate the mistake with the person. Separate it from the person. Just look at the mistake and consider how to correct it. The mistake can be corrected. Don't condemn the person for ever and ever. Because he is a human being. Learn from the mistakes.
我們要修行（實踐佛法），因為我們並不完美；若是完美的話，我們就不會在此地了！我們都會犯錯，但只因在生命中的某些點上犯了錯，就要持續責難整個生命的做法，實有問題！我們可以改善！父母、兒童、丈夫、妻子、……等人皆會犯錯，我們必須明白、認識與包容。不要將錯誤與人聯繫在一起，應將錯誤與人分開，單看錯誤，並考慮如何去改正它；錯誤是可以被糾正的，持續不停地譴責那個人是不智的，因為他是一個（會犯錯的）人，應從錯誤中汲取教訓。
The 5 precepts are not Commandments imposed on us by some supernatural beings. They are there just for training us Not to hurt ourselves and others. Try to do as much as you can to benefit yourself and others, Avoid as much as possible things that will hurt yourself and others. (These include restraint and moderation. All the time throughout the day, be Mindful and Heedful.)
「五戒」不是一些超自然的神靈強加於我們、要我們遵守的敕令，它們的存在，只是為了訓練我們不去傷害自己和他人。你要試著做的，是要越做越多利益自己和他人的事，越做越多避免會傷害自己和他人的事。（那包括克制與適度，整天都要保持正念、謹慎與不放逸。）
An Ancient Indian(Sanskrit) Prayer
========================
May the evil man become good,
May the good man have peace.
May he who has peace become free, and
May he who is free make others free."
("man" refers to man or woman; "he" refers to he or she)
Some doubt may arise in the minds of Western men how they could be helped in their present problems by a doctrine of the far and foreign East. And others, even in the East, may ask how words spoken 2,500 years ago can have relevance to our ‘modern world’, except in a very general sense. Those who raise the objection of distance in space (meaning by it, properly, the difference of race), should ask themselves whether Benares is truly more foreign to a citizen of London than Nazareth from where a teaching has issued that to that very citizen has become a familiar and important part of his life and thought. They should further be willing to admit that mathematical laws, found out long ago in distant Greece, are of no less validity today, in Britain or elsewhere. But particularly these objectors should consider the numerous basic facts of life that are common to all humanity. It is about them that the Buddha preeminently speaks. Those who raise the objection of the distance in time, will certainly recall many golden words of long-dead sages and poets which strike such a deep and kindred chord in our own hearts that we very vividly feel a living and intimate contact with those great ones who have left this world long ago. Such experience contrasts with the "very much present" silly chatter of society, newspapers or radio, which, when compared with those ancient voices of wisdom and beauty, will appear to emanate from the mental level of stone-age man tricked out in modern trappings. True wisdom is always young, and always near to the grasp of an open mind.
- The Heart of Buddhist Meditation (1965) by Nyanaponika Thera, pages 20-21
在西方人的心中可能有些疑惑，他們現今的問題怎麼可以用外來的（foreign）東方古代教義來解決。即使在東方，有些人也會問：二千五百多年前的人所說的話，除了一般性的意義外，與我們的“現代世界”有何相關？那些以空間距離為理由而提出反對的人士（正當地說，是指種族的差異），應該問問自己，對（英國）倫敦某位市民來說，若從（以色列的）拿撒勒（Nazareth）流出的教義，已成為他生命與思想的一個熟悉與重要部分，究竟（印度的）貝拿勒斯（Benares），是否真的比（以色列的）拿撒勒（Nazareth）較為外來的（foreign）？他們應進一步願意承認，在遠古希臘所發現的數學規律，至今在英國（Britain）或其它地方，其確實性依然無減。然而，特別是這些反對者，他們應考慮全人類所共有的眾多生命基本事實，佛陀不凡之說就是與它們有關的。那些以時間距離為理由而提出反對的人士，一定會記得許多古代聖賢與詩人曾說過的金句，它們至今仍能深深地打動著我們人類共有的心弦，令我們非常生動地覺得，與那些早已逝世的偉人們仍是保持著親密之接觸的。那樣的經驗與現今社會、報紙或電台“甚為當下的”、愚昧的、沒完沒了的嘮叨，形成了鮮明的對比；與古代美妙的智慧相比，那些嘮叨，就好像散發自穿上現代服飾的石器時代人類之心智水平。真智慧永遠是年輕的，而且永遠可被開放的心靈所掌握。
Blessed are those
who believe in Kamma (the law of cause and effects)
And follow the Buddha's advice :
Not to do evil deeds, do good and purify one's own mind.
相信（信受奉行）下述兩個道理的人有福了：
(1) 業報因果律。
(2) 諸佛所教之「諸惡莫作，眾善奉行，自淨其意。」
"Buddhist or not Buddhist, I have examined every one of the great religious systems of the world, and in none of them have I found anything to surpass, in beauty and comprehensiveness, the Noble Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths of the Buddha. I am content to shape my life according to that path."
- by Thomas William Rhys Davids
'Suppose a monk were to say: "Friends, I heard and received this from the Lord's own lips: this is the Dhamma, this is the discipline, this is the Master's teaching", then, monks, you should neither approve nor disapprove his words. Then, without approving or disapproving, his words and expressions should be carefully noted and compared with the Suttas and reviewed in the light of the discipline. If they, on such comparison and review, are found not to conform to the Suttas or the discipline, the conclusion must be: "Assuredly this is not the word of the Buddha, it has been wrongly understood by this monk", and the matter is to be rejected. But where on such comparison and review they are found to conform to the Suttas or the discipline, the conclusion must be: "Assuredly this is the word of the Buddha, it has been rightly understood by this monk."......'
- DN16 Mahāparinibbāna Sutta
「諸比丘，若有比丘作如是語：『此是法，此是律，此是導師之教言，我從佛親口聞受。』諸比丘對該比丘所言，不應稱讚，也不應藐視，應了解其每字與音節，而與經律相比較、相對照；既較對以後，若其不與經律相符，則其結論應為：『誠然，此非佛陀之教言，而是該比丘之誤會。』因此，諸比丘，汝等應拒絕之。若與經律相比較、相對照以後，彼能與之相符，則其結論應為：『誠然，此是佛陀之教言，該比丘善了解之。』……」
-《南傳大般涅槃經》_巴宙譯
“If you don't get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don't want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can't hold on to it forever. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change, free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is a law, and no amount of pretending will alter that reality.”
― Dan Millman
◆ 「得不到想要的、或得到不想要的，都會令人苦惱；就算得到理想之物，一樣會令人苦惱，因為不能持久。原來心是困境，它想自由自在，不要受轉變、痛苦、生死等約束；但轉變是定律，現實是無法以偽裝掩飾的。」
- 丹．米爾曼
There are NO BEST practices. There are ONLY BETTER practices, everyday.
沒有最佳的做法，只有一天比一天更好的做法。
A wise old owl sat in an oak.
The more he saw the less he spoke.
The less he spoke the more he heard.
Why can't we all be like that wise old bird?
- An English language nursery rhyme Called "A Wise Old Owl"
You are free to choose, but you are not free from the consequence of your choice.
“We are all accountable for our actions; their affect and influence on our lives and the lives of others. Understanding the true meaning of accountability makes us strong and enables us to learn”“我們都要對自己的行為負責；它們對自己與他人的生活都會有感染和影響。理解問責的真諦（真正含義）使我們變得強大（堅強），並使我們能夠學習” ― Sameh Elsayed
We are all accountable for our actions and inactions... You are free to choose, but you are not free from the consequence of your choice.
"Smart people believe weird things because they are skilled at defending beliefs they arrived at for non-smart reasons." - Michael Shermer
"The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function." - F. Scott Fitzgerald
"It is not enough to be industrious; so are the ants. What are you industrious about?" - Henry David Thoreau
