神通 Miraculous Power

Miraculous Power

神通

If a wicked man can become a pure religious man, this according to Buddhism, is a practical miracle.

將一個不道德的人，轉變成正信的教徒，只有佛教能做到，這真是不可思議的神通。

In every religion we hear of miracles being performed by either the founders of these religious or by some of their disciples. In the case of the Buddha, miracles occurred from the day of His birth until His passing away into Nibbana. Many of the psychic powers (so-called miraculous powers in other religions) of the Buddha were attained through His long and intense training in meditation. The Buddha meditated and passed through all the highest stages of contemplation that culminated in pure self-possession and wisdom. Such attainments through meditation are considered nothing miraculous but fall within the power of any trained ascetic.

Using meditation on the night of His Enlightenment, there arose within the Buddha a vision of His previous births, the many existences with all their details, He remembered His previous births and how He had made use of these births to gain His Enlightenment. Then the Buddha had a second and wider vision in which He saw the whole universe as a system of Kamma and Rebirth. He saw the universe made up of beings that were noble and wicked, happy and unhappy. He saw them all continually ‘passing away according to their deed’, leaving one form of existence and taking shape in another. Finally, He understood the nature of Suffering, the cessation of Suffering and the Path that leads to the cessation of Suffering. Then a third vision arose within the Buddha. He realized that He was completely free from all bondages, human or divine. He realized that He had done what had to be done. He realized He had no more re-birth to go through because He was living with His final body. This knowledge destroyed all ignorance, all darkness, and light arose within Him. Such is the psychic power and the wisdom that arose within the Buddha as He sat meditating under the Bodhi tree.

The Buddha had a natural birth; He lived in a normal way. But He was an extraordinary man, as far as His Enlightenment was concerned. Those who have not learnt to appreciate His Supreme Wisdom try to explain His greatness by peeping into His life and looking for miracles. However, the Buddha’s Supreme Enlightenment is more than enough for us to understand His greatness. There is no need to show His greatness by introducing any miraculous power.

The Buddha knew of the power that could be developed by training the human mind. He also knew that His disciples could acquire such powers through mental development. Thus the Buddha advised them not to exercise such psychic power in order to convert less intelligent people. He was referring to the ‘miraculous’ power to walk on water, to exorcise spirits, raise the dead and perform the so-called supernormal practices. He was also referring to the ‘miracles of prophesy’ such as thought-reading, soothe-saying, fortune-telling, and so on. When the uneducated believers see the performance of such powers, their faith deepens. But the nominal converts who are attracted to a religion because of these powers embrace a faith, not because they realize the truth, but because they harbor hallucinations. Besides, some people may pass remarks that these miracles are due to certain charms. In drawing people to listen to the Dhamma, the Buddha appealed to their reasoning power.

The following story illustrates the Buddha’s attitude towards miraculous powers. One day the Buddha met an ascetic who sat by the bank of a river. This ascetic had practised austerities for 25 years. The Buddha asked him what he had received for all his labour. The ascetic proudly replied that, now at last, he could cross the river by walking on the water. The Buddha pointed out that this gain was insignificant for all the years of labour, since he could cross the river using a ferry for one penny!

In certain religions, a man’s miraculous performance can help him to become a saint. But in Buddhism, miracles can be a hindrance for a person to attain sainthood, which is a gradual personal attainment and individual concern. Each person himself must work for his sainthood through self-purification and no one else can make another person a saint.

The Buddha says that a person can gain miraculous power without gaining spiritual power. He teaches us that if we first gain spiritual power, then we automatically receive the miraculous or psychic powers too. But if we develop miraculous powers without spiritual development, then we are in danger. We can misuse this power for worldly gain(Pataligama-Udana). There are many who have deviated from the right path by using their miraculous powers without having any spiritual development. Many people who are supposed to have obtained some miraculous powers succumbed to the vain glory of obtaining some worldly gain.

Many so-called miracles talked about by people are merely imaginations and hallucinations created by their own minds due to a lack of understanding of things as they truly are. All these miracles remain as miracles as long as people fail to know what these powers really are.

The Buddha also expressly forbade His disciples to use miracles to prove the superiority of His teachings. On one occasion He said that the use of miracles to gain converts was like using dancing girls to tempt people to do something. Anyone with the proper mental training can perform miracles because they are simply an expression of mind over matter.

According to the Buddha, the miracle of realization is a real miracle. When a murderer, thief, terrorist, drunkard, or adulterer is made to realize that what he had been doing is wrong and gives up his bad, immoral and harmful way of life, this change can be regarded as a miracle. The change for the better arising from an understanding of Dhamma is the highest miracle that any man can perform.

我們經常聽到每一宗教的創始人或門徒展示神通或神蹟。佛陀從降世到入滅就是一種神蹟。佛陀擁有多種的神通(超能力)，這些神通是從長期、密集、不間斷的禪定中鍛鍊出來的。佛陀的禪定達到了最高的境界，他從禪定中獲得心靈的淨化和智慧。這種禪定的修行並沒有什麼神秘，只要肯努力，每個人都能獲得同樣的成就。通過禪定，佛陀見到了自己的前生，以及許多詳細的經歷。他記起他的前生，和他如何花一生的精力去完成他的覺悟。他以慧眼看到這世間的一切都是「業力」和「輪迴」在作用。他看到這世間的眾生有神聖的也有邪惡的，有快樂的也有痛苦的。他看到眾生根據自己的「業力」，從一個生命形態轉到另一個生命形態(輪迴)。最後他發現了解脫苦的真理──四聖諦，苦的本質，苦的起因，苦的熄滅和滅苦的道路。最後，佛陀覺悟到他已經完全解脫了，解脫于生死，解脫于天人及人的所有束縛。他清楚的知道他該做的已經做完了，他不再輪迴了，這已是他最後的一生了。覺悟的大智慧沖破了無明和所有的黑暗，光明在他身上生起。這種心靈的力量和智慧，是佛陀在菩提樹下所證悟的。

佛陀和常人一樣都從母胎誕生。雖然他生活在神聖的境界，可是他還是一個正常的人。但就佛陀的覺悟來說，他是一位特殊的人。一般人不去研究及欣賞佛陀那超然的智慧，反而想透過佛陀而獲得神通。然而，佛陀的大智慧已經足夠讓我們了解佛陀的偉大了。因此，不須要特別在意于佛陀的神通。

佛陀知道神通這種超自然的力量，可以透過心智的訓練和發展而得到。他也覺察到他的弟子，能透過訓練自己的心智而開發這種力量。因此，佛陀告誡弟子不可以展示神通，去教化資質魯鈍的人。佛陀擁有神通，能在水面行走、能驅趕精靈、能起死回生，佛陀能知一切過去未來的事。當那些沒受過教育的信徒，看到佛陀的神通後，加強了對佛陀的崇敬，但是，這些人只是攝服于佛陀的神通，對佛教存有幻覺，在名義上皈依佛教，其實並沒有真的了解佛教。因此，佛陀要人們根據自己的理性力量追隨他的教義，努力學習和鍛鍊。

以下的故事可以勾畫出佛陀對神通的看法：

有一天，佛陀在河邊遇到一位苦行者，這位苦行者修行了二十五年，佛陀問他：「這二十五年來，你學會了什麼？」苦行者傲慢的回答道：「我能從水面步行到河對岸。」佛陀說道：「只要花一分錢，船夫便可以將你送到對岸，何必花二十五年的時間呢？」

某些宗教認為展示神通，有助于令他被確認為聖人。佛陀卻認為神通是圓成佛道的障礙。圓成佛道是個人漸次努力的成果，需要經過自我不斷努力和淨化自己來完成。沒有人可以使他人變成聖人。

佛陀說，一個人可以透過心智的鍛鍊而獲得神通。佛陀教導我們，如果努力的發展自己的心智，就能獲得神通。如果我們沈迷于追求神通，那將是危險的。我們會濫用神通而取得世間的利益。很多人被排除在正道之外，就是因為缺乏心智的發展而濫用神通。很多人因為屈服于虛榮的讚譽里而自己濫用神通。

有些人自稱擁有神通，其實是自己的想像，或不了解事物的真相而產生的幻覺。很多人視神通為不可思議的秘密，不想去了解真相。

佛陀嚴格的禁止信徒展示神通來證明他優越的教導。在一次開示會佛陀說，如果以神通來獲得認同，就好像是在利用美麗的舞女誘惑人們做某些違反道德的事。任何人遵循佛陀的教誨進行學習和鍛鍊，開發自己的心智，都能簡單而快捷的獲得神通。

佛陀說：對神秘的心法現象有了真的了解就是獲得神通。當一個殺人犯、小偷、恐怖份子、強姦犯能真的了解他所犯的過錯，決心向善，不再犯錯時，這時他們擁有超乎一般的力量，這才是真的獲得神通。這種轉變是因為真的了解佛陀的教義，這是至高無上的神通，人人都能獲得的神通。