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[English]
馬克瑞 (John McRae) 教授於公曆二零一一年十月二十二日逝世，享年六十四歲。
馬克瑞教授的研究領域是以漢傳、禪宗佛教為主，並在 Stanley Weinstein 教授指導之下，取得耶魯大學 (Yale University) 博士學位。他曾任教於康乃爾大學 (Cornell University)、印地安那大學 (Indiana University)、夏威夷大學 (University of Hawaii)、東京駒澤大學 (Komazawa University)、史丹佛大學 (Stanford University) 以及國立政治大學。
馬克瑞教授發表過《維摩詰所說經》、《六祖壇經》的英文翻譯。
馬克瑞教授也曾擔任過 BDK 藏經翻譯計畫中翻譯編審委員會主委。
早在中華電子佛典協會草創時期，馬克瑞教授就非常熱心慷慨的襄助協會事務發展。他的熱情、專心與從不把自己利益放在第一位的態度，值得我們永誌懷念。
馬克瑞教授在台灣參與過許多學術活動，也與台灣學者建立了良好互動關係。
馬克瑞教授喜愛使用蘋果電腦 (Mac) 勝過個人電腦 (PC)，也熱愛使用開放原始碼與自由軟體。他經常與大眾分享他新發現的數位資源與典藏資料，並以此為樂。
馬克瑞教授的主要研究興趣是早期禪宗文獻，尤其是荷澤神會的作品，他也留下了一份尚未公開的神會手稿。馬克瑞教授也因此參與了一個以收集禪宗經典、公開著作、手稿與碑文為主的資料庫和數位化作業的初步規劃與設計。
馬克瑞教授於今年十月初，在 H-Buddhism 發表了一篇有關中華電子佛典協會的文章 (
)。當中，他提到 CBETA 近期研發完成的 java 版線上跨平台 jCBReader，可以順利運行於 Windows 與 Macintosh 作業系統之上。而這篇文章，也成為他在公開社群的最後一段訊息。
中華電子佛典協會團隊對於馬克瑞教授多年來的支持與鼓勵，在此表達無限的感激。
為感謝馬克瑞教授對於中華電子佛典協會的貢獻，我們特別製作了供 Mac 平台使用的 jCBReader 離線版本。
馬克瑞教授曾經表示，他等了很久的時間，才盼到 Mac 平台的 jCBReader 問世。而我們也很欣慰能在馬克瑞教授離開之前，我們得以研發完成這特殊的 Mac 版本，並讓他看到最後一眼。
馬克瑞教授喜歡鳥類，在他最後一次造訪法鼓山時，正好有一群稀有的迷途嬌客——丹頂鶴在金山鄉短暫佇留。
我們滿懷著感激的心，希望馬克瑞教授能在此身心轉換期間，得到平和與寧靜。也願他自由自在，如同空中的野鳥一般。
ngag pa mtsho la chags nas /
ra zhig sdad dgos bsam kyang /
mtsho mo dar kha ’grigs nas /
rang sems kho thag chod song //
大雁戀湖欲久留
可惜湖面冰霜落
鴻雁飛離清霜湖
不帶一絲遺憾走
[Tsangyang Gyatso, the Sixth Dalai Lama of Tibet (1682–1706), transl. by K. Dhondup (Dharamsala, 1981, p. 63)].
中華電子佛典協會 法鼓佛教學院 杜正民
John primarily studied Chinese Chan/Zen Buddhism, did his Ph.D. under Stanley Weinstein at Yale and he taught at Cornell University, Indiana University, the University of Hawaii (as Numata Visiting Professor), at Komazawa University in Tokyo, as Shinnyo-en Visiting Professor at Stanford, and most recently at the National Chengchi University in Taiwan.
John published translations of the Vimalakīrti Sūtra and Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch and others from Chinese, and was part of the Sōtō Zen Translation Project with shared responsibility for the Japanese text Transmitting the Light.
John also served as Chair of the Publications Committee of the BDK Tripiṭaka Translation Project.
Since the early years of CBETA, John offered his generous and light-hearted support to the development of CBETA, with his very dedicated, passionate yet not-taking-oneself-too-seriously presence.
John participated in numerous events in Taiwan, establishing many close connections with Taiwanese scholars.
John always loved Macs more than PCs, and in general he always loved and campaigned for open and free software, actively sharing newly found digital resources and archives with his colleagues and friends.
Because of his interest in Early Chan and particularly in the works of Shenhui – on which he left a complete unpublished manuscript – John was especially involved with the preliminary envisioning and planning of a comprehensive database and digitisation of Chan texts, including canonical and published texts, manuscripts and inscriptions.
Probably his message posted to H-Buddhism at the beginning of October of this year, announcing to the list a recently developed java-based online version of the CBETA-reader (jCBReader) that can be used on either Windows or Macintosh was John's last public communication:
URL:
The CBETA team appreciates John's support and encouragement for CBETA over all these years. He has been with us for several CBETA anniversaries, too.
We have made an off-line version of the jCBReader for MAC platform available to the public, in appreciation of John's efforts and support.
John commented that he had been waiting for so long for this to become available, and we are happy that our jCBReader "M[a]c version" for Mc(Rae), produced in his honour, could be seen by John before left us.
John was very fond of birds. On one of his last stays on Dharma Drum mountain, he saw the red-crowned crane, a very auspicious and much revered bird in Taiwan.
With gratitude, we wish John great peace at this time of transition. May his path be not traced, like that of birds in the air.
ngang pa mtsho la chags nas /
ra zhig sdad dgos bsam kyang /
mtsho mo dar kha 'grigs nas /
rang sems kho thag chod song //
In love with the lake
The swan longs to stay longer
But the ice covers the lake
And the swan flies
With no regrets.
[Tsangyang Gyatso, the Sixth Dalai Lama of Tibet (1682–1706), transl. by K. Dhondup (Dharamsala, 1981, p. 63)].
Aming Tu on behalf of CBETA and Dharma Drum Buddhist College
