A young Buddhist monk cultivated with his Master and frequently asked him the question, “What is the value of life?” One day the Master gave the monk a stone. He told the monk to take the stone to the market and let people bid for it.
某甲出價兩元，某乙看見說可做秤錘，出價十元；翌日比丘再到市集，多人圍觀讚歎石頭很美，當場有人出一千元高價，旁邊的人馬上出更高價錢競爭 …最後，竟然喊到十萬元！
The first person that came along offered $2 and second person offered $10 because he thought the stone can be used as a weight. The next day the monk went back to the market. Many people came to see the stone and praised how beautiful it was. From the crowd, a person offered $1000 for the stone and another offered a higher price to bid for it. By the end of the bidding, someone had offered $100,000 for the stone!
比丘不解，回去向師父報告。師父藉此機緣開示：「任何東西都有價值，包括石頭在內，端看如何運用。人生價值的高低，也不在於外在眼光，而在於我們給自己的評價—要具備珠寶商的眼光，發現自身寶藏，創造人生價值。」
The monk was unsure, so he reported back to his Master. The Master used this chance to enlighten the monk, “Everything has its own value, including the stone, and the value depends on how you use it. The value of ones life does not depend on others judgments but how one appraises oneself. We must have the jeweler’s eyesight, discover the treasures that are within ourselves and create our own value of life.”
多年前，一位居士送一顆方形的蛇紋石來花蓮；因精舍簡陋無處置放，就擱在大殿外的草坪。一位泰國法師來到精舍參訪，看到這塊「軟玉」，讚歎好美！遂以此致贈法師，他十分歡喜，說要帶回泰國雕成一尊玉佛。Many years ago, a scholar gave a square shaped serpentine to Hualien Abode. The Abode was very simple so there was no place to put the stone, therefore it was placed on the grass outside the Abode. When a Master from Thailand came to the Abode to visit, he saw this serpentine and immediately recognized it as a beautiful “jade”. The serpentine was therefore given to the Master as a gift. He was very delighted and said he was going to take it back to Thailand to carve it into a jade Buddha.
人生的價值在於自我創造，這塊「軟玉」若一直閒置，永遠只是一塊石頭；雕成佛像讓人敬奉，價值就能發揮。
The value of life depends on how we create it. If this “jade” was left on the grass, it will always just be a stone. If it is carved into a Buddha statue, people can worship it and the worth of the stone is then amplified.
若根塵和意識糾纏、貪戀，模糊了判斷，會糟蹋自己內在最有價值的佛性。生命的價值可以擴大、可以加深，端看自我能否時時多用心！
If senses and consciousness entangle and reluctance blurred our ability to make decisions, it will destroy the most valuable inner quality we have, the Buddha nature. The value of life can be widened and deepened, and depends on whether or not we can take care to be constantly mindful.