什麼是佛教 What is Buddhism?
What is Buddhism?
什麼是佛教
Buddhism is nothing but the NOBLE TRUTH.
佛教就是神聖的真理。
What is Buddhism? This question has puzzled many people who often inquire if Buddhism is a philosophy, a religion, or a way of life. The simple answer is that Buddhism is too vast and too profound to be neatly placed in any single category. Of course, Buddhism includes philosophy and religion and a way of life. But Buddhism goes beyond these categories.
什麼是佛教？這個問題使人混淆和困擾。因此，人們經常提出這樣的問題：佛教是哲學？宗教？還是一個人生活方式？簡單的說：佛教博大精深，再巧妙的人也無法把它規劃到固定的、狹窄的范疇內。當然，佛教包含了哲學、宗教和生活方式，可是，佛教並不限囿于以上的范疇。
The categories or labels given to Buddhism are like signboards to let the people know what is being presented. If we compare Buddhism to a medicine shop, it will be clear that the signboard on the medicine shop will not cure a person of his sickness. If the medicine is effective, then you can use it to heal yourself without being concerned as to the signboard that merely gives a label for the medicine. Likewise, if the Teaching of the Buddha is effective, then use it and do not be concerned about the label or signboard. Do not try to slip Buddhism into any single category or limit it under any signboard.
以固有的范疇或標籤來規劃佛教，就好像在張貼海報，告訴大家，他們現在在傳什麼法。如果以藥房比喻佛教，我們將會更清楚。藥房的告示牌不能治療人們的病，而藥品確實是有治療作用，我們以藥品來治病，從來都不去理會告示牌說的是什麼。同樣的，如果認為佛教是有效的，就利用它，不要理會它的標籤和范疇。不要把佛教硬塞進一個簡單和固定的范疇內或任何廣告形式的框框內。
Different people live at different times and in different places have given different labels and interpretations to Buddhism. To some people, Buddhism might appear to be only a mass of superstitious practices. To another group of people, Buddhism might be a convenient label to be used for temporal gains. To another group, it is old fashioned. To yet another group, Buddhism will have significance as a system of thought for intellectuals only. To some others, it is a scientific discovery. To the pious and devout Buddhist, Buddhism means his entire life, the fulfillment of all he holds near and dear to him.
不同的人，生活在不同的時代和環境里。對佛教必然有不同的看法和解釋。對某些人來說，佛教可能只是一大堆迷信和儀式。對另外一些人來說，佛教可能是獲得短期利益的方便工具。有些人認為佛教是古時候流行的時髦玩意。而有些人認為佛教僅僅是對知識份子有意義的思想體系。有些人把它看成是科學的發明。而虔誠的佛教徒，卻把佛教看做是他整個的生命，是值得他犧牲一切來完成的人生大事。
Some intellectuals see Buddhism as a product of its Indian environment or as an outgrowth of another kind of Indian religious teaching. Buddhism is nothing but the Noble Truth. It is an intellectual approach to reality. The Buddha’s realization of universal problems did not come through a purely intellectual or rational process but through mental development and purification. The intellectual stance reminiscent of the scientific attitude, surely makes the Buddha absolutely unique among religious teachers of all time. Of course, the high standard of intellectual inquiry and ethical endeavor prevailing at the time in India were prime conditions for the re-emergence of the light of the Dhamma from the darkness of oblivion.
某些知識份子把佛教當作是古印度環境的產物，或認為是印度宗教的另一類產品。事實，佛教卻不是這樣的，佛教是神聖的真理。佛教是獲得覺悟、智慧的途徑。佛陀覺悟世間的煩惱與困苦，並不純粹來自知識或理性的過程，而是來自心智的發展和淨化。以知識性為立足點，使人聯想到科學態度，因此，終于使佛陀成為有史以來獨一無二的宗教導師。當然，佛法的曙光在印度出現，是有其智慧探索和倫理建設的社會背景與條件。
Thousands of years of religious and philosophical development had left on the intellectual soil of India a rich and fertile deposit of ideas and ideals which formed the best possible environment into which the seed of the Dhamma could fall. Greece, China, Egypt and Babylonia, for all their loftiness of thought, had not attained the same quality of vision as the forest and mountain-dwelling sages of India. The germ of Enlightenment which had been borne, like a winged seed from distant fields, from worlds in space and time infinitely remote from ours _ this very germ of Enlightenment found growth and development in the north-eastern corner of India. This very germ of Enlightenment found its full expression in the experience of the man, Gautama Buddha.
The fountainhead of all Buddhism is this experience which is called ‘Enlightenment’. With this experience of Enlightenment, the Buddha began His Teaching not with any dogmatic beliefs or mysteries, but with a valid, universal experience, which He gave to the world as universal truth. Therefore, the real definition of Buddhism is NOBLE TRUTH. Remember that the Buddha did not teach from theories. He always taught from a practical standpoint based on His understanding, His Enlightenment, and His realization of the Truth.
數百年來的宗教和哲學的發展，孕育了印度本土富饒的土壤，在這種肥沃的條件下，佛法的種子才得以萌芽。在同時代的希臘、中國、埃及及巴比倫，雖然都有其富饒的思想寶藏，但卻無法和當時的印度相比。思想啟蒙的種子，好像長了翅膀一樣，從世界各地，數不清的遙遠時空，一齊飛到印度的東北角來，這獨特的種子，在佛陀身上獲得完整的發育和成長。
佛陀透過覺悟于正自覺的經驗。他不以教條或神秘性來獲得信徒的追隨。他采取了一種有效的，你我都可以證實的經驗來闡明佛法。他用最正確的字眼來給予佛法下了一個 實實在在的定義，那就是神聖的真理(聖諦)。我們要知道佛陀不是透過學術理論來教導我們，而是從他的覺悟，他的理解以及他所證實的真理的成就，來教誨我們。
Buddhism began with the Truth embodied over 2500 years ago in the person of Gautama, the Buddha. When the Buddha introduced His teachings, His intention was not to develop the concept of self in man’s mind and create more ambition for eternal life and sense pleasure. Rather, His intention was to point out the futility of the worldly life and to show the correct, practical Path to salvation that He discovered.
佛法開始于二千五百年前苟答馬佛陀的身上。佛陀在闡釋他的教法時，並不僅僅要我們理解生命和世界，而是指出他所發現的真理是正確而實際的解脫之道。
The original Teachings of the Buddha disclosed the true nature of life and the world. However, a distinction must be made between the Buddha’s original Teaching (often called the Dhamma or the Buddha Word) and the religion that developed based on His Teachings.
佛陀原始的教義，包括了宇宙和人生的真諦。佛教的開創是扎根于佛陀的教義(佛法)。
The Teachings of the Buddha not only started a religion, but inspired the blossoming of a whole civilization. These Teachings became a great civilizing force that moved through the history of many a culture and nation. Indeed, Buddhism has become one of the greatest civilizations that the world has ever known. It has a wonderful history of achievement in the fields of literature, art, philosophy, psychology, ethics, architecture and culture. In the course of centuries, countless social educational institutions were established in the various nations that were dedicated to the Buddha’s Teaching. The history of Buddhism was written in golden letters of brotherhood and goodwill. The religious beliefs and practices turned into a rational, scientific and practical religious way of life for spiritual development from the day the Buddha preached His Teaching and realized the real purpose and meaning of a life and a religion.
佛陀的教義並非專門為佛教而編制，而是為了整個人類的文明。佛陀的教義成為文化的主流，走進歷史，成為許多國家的文化。他在文學、藝術、哲學、倫理和文明的建設都取得輝煌的成就。在過去的好幾個世紀，無數的國家、社會和教育都和佛教扯上關系。在這些國家的歷史中，都光榮的記載了佛教友善和友愛。佛教徒信仰和實踐佛陀的教義，他們遠離物質生活，享有實際和科學的宗教生活，他們的靈性獲得充份的發展。在佛法的指引下，過著有意義的生活。
佛教對文明的沖擊：
今天，佛教已形成了文明的主流。這股主流的文明喚醒了無數自大和自我的人們。以心靈的發展喚醒了人類對權力的執著，提升人類的素質，使他們獲得宗教的自 由，擁有銳利和純淨的思想，放棄了狹隘的國家和種族的觀點。佛教徒理解「我執」是一種自我欺騙，他們致力于發展自己的洞察力「觀禪」以求獲得最高的境界。二千多年來，佛教滿足了超過三分之一人口對心靈的需求。今天的佛教比以往還要來得強大。佛陀的教義使人類獲得心靈的慰藉和發展。佛陀的人生觀普遍的被接受，佛陀的人生觀也使人類獲得超凡脫俗的成果。
佛教也令人了解這世間和生命的真正意義。佛教不鼓勵人類生活在愚痴的天堂，指示他們遠離畏懼和幻覺。佛教告訴我們什麼是正確的宇宙觀，指引我們如何獲得真正的和平、平等和幸福的解脫之道。
人類的今天，依然從宗教中獲得道德標準。佛教是最有效的舟乘。佛教是屬于人類的宗教，人類從佛陀的教義中獲得生活的定律。當一個人成就于成功地控制物質領域時，他會回想他是如何的克服種種困難而獲得這一切，而最難克服的就是他自己。一個現代人，很容易的就能在佛法里找到各種問題的答案和解決自己所有疑慮的方法。
今天，佛教受到西方文明社會的歡迎，就是因為透明度高，充滿科學性和心靈性。他倡導放棄「我執」和一切不善的行為，符合了現代人的科學觀。佛教指出正確的人生，不在于自我造作和自我幻想的境界里。而脫離這一切，就是佛陀的本懷。佛陀那慈悲、關懷與和平的信息，引導著數以百萬計的愚痴人類，帶領他們走向宗教生活的康莊大道。
佛教對人類的貢獻：佛教給予人類美好的希望和鼓舞。他孕育了社會組織中最值得稱頌的生活方式，以及心靈的和平與滿足的社區精神。它為人類帶來最大的福祉。
即使在政治上，佛教也留下了許多有意義的突破。包括了平等的對待一切生命，民主程序和基本的道德價值觀等等。佛教賦予東方國家一種光輝的特色。佛教為人類提供精緻和道德性的基本人際概念。
事實上，對于那些只擷取部分佛教教義的人來說，佛教巨大的潛力一點也沒有體現出來。個人和一般的潛力已被佛教藝術和文學所隱蔽。佛教最大的潛力奠基于它對理性的實踐。理性卻經常被人們的嗔恚心所排除。理性是屬于人類的，理性可以為人類帶來文明。不管理性如何被人類的情緒所蒙蔽，理性還是最大的力量。如果佛教的價值觀要獲得重新的肯定和再發揮，也絕對不是透過世俗的權威或超自然的神祇啟示，佛教本身就具備了自我復興的種子。
佛陀對社會和人類精神領域的進步有著不可磨滅的貢獻。佛陀的信息傳遍了亞洲許多國家。贏得無數人的愛和感情的奉獻。佛陀的貢獻是史無前例的。