圓成佛道 Attainment of Buddhahood
Attainment of Buddhahood
圓成佛道
The attainment of Buddhahood is the most difficult task that a person can pursue in this world.
The Buddhahood is not reserved only for chosen people or for supernatural beings. Anyone can become a Buddha. No founder of any other religion ever said that his followers can have the opportunity or potentiality to attain the same position as the founder.
However, attaining , Buddhahood is the most difficult task a person can pursue in this world. One must work hard by sacrificing one’s worldly pleasures. One has to develop and purify one’s mind from all evil thoughts in order to obtain this Enlightenment. It will take innumerable births for a person to purify himself and to develop his mind in order to become a Buddha. Long periods of great effort are necessary in order to complete the high qualification of this self-training. The course of this self-training which culminates in Buddhahood, includes self-discipline, self-restraint, superhuman effort, firm determination, and willingness to undergo any kind of suffering for the sake of other living beings who are suffering in this world.
This clearly shows that the Buddha did not obtain this supreme Enlightenment by simply praying, worshipping, or making offerings to some supernatural beings. He attained Buddhahood by the purification of His mind and heart. He gained Supreme Enlightenment without the influence of any external, supernatural forces but by the development of His own insight. Thus only a man who has firm determination and courage to overcome all hindrance, weaknesses and selfish desires can attain Buddhahood.
Prince Siddhartha did not attain Buddhahood overnight simply by sitting under the Bodhi tree. No supernatural being appeared and revealed anything by whispering into His ear while He was in deep meditation under the Bodhi tree. Behind His Supreme Enlightenment there was a long history of previous births. Many of the Jataka stories tell us how He worked hard by sacrificing His life in many previous births to attain His Supreme Buddhahood. No one can attain Buddhahood without devoting many lifetimes practising the ten perfections explains why a Supreme Buddha appears only at every long intervals of time.
Therefore, the Buddha’s advice to His followers is that in order to find their salvation it is not necessary for each and every person to wait until he gains his Buddhahood. Aspirants can also find their salvation by becoming Pacceka Buddha (Silent Buddha) or Arahantas - (saints). Pacceka Buddhas appear in this world during the period when there is no other Enlightened Buddha. They are also Enlightened. Although their degree of perfection is not similar to that of the Supreme Buddha, they experience the same Nibbanic bliss. Unlike the Supreme Buddha, they do not preach to the masses. They lead a life of solitude.
Arahantas can also experience the same Nibbanic bliss as the Buddhas do. There is no discrimination or status in Nibbana. The only difference is that Arahantas do not have the Supreme Enlightenment to be able to enlighten others in the same way as the Buddhas do. Arahantas have overcome all their desires and other human weaknesses. They can appreciate the Dhamma which was discovered and taught by the Buddha. They can also show others the correct Buddhist way of life and the Path to salvation.
‘kiccho Buddhanan Uppado’ Rare is the appearance of the Buddhas.(Dhammapada 182).
圓成佛道是人世間最艱巨的工作。
佛道不是為特選或超級的人類而設定的。任何人都可以圓成佛道。沒有一位其他宗教的創始者說過，他的信徒也可以和他一樣，達到他的境界。圓成佛道是人間最艱巨的工作。一個人必須勤奮努力，犧牲自己的世俗享受，發展覺悟而淨化自己的心、棄除邪見而達到覺悟，這要經過無數次的生死輪迴，淨化自己、發展自己的靈性而證悟成佛。為了達到這崇高的任務，自我鍛鍊、不懈的精進努力是必然的事。在這自我鍛鍊的過程中，要以自律、自修、超然的毅力、堅韌不拔的決心和意志，去承擔世間任何的痛苦和解救世間受苦的眾生。這顯示佛陀成就正自覺，並不是通過簡單的膜拜、禱告或祭祀高等的生類而獲得的。佛陀以純淨的心，自我覺悟而圓成佛道。這只有當一個人以堅強的意志和勇氣去克服所有的障礙、弱點、自私心後，才能達到覺悟的境界。
悉達多太子不是在菩提樹下一夜就成佛的。當他在菩提樹下進入禪定時，也沒有超自然的生靈出現，指點他成佛的奧秘。在他覺悟前，有一段漫長的經歷和過程，這些都記錄在《本生經》里。《本生經》里很多故事告訴我們，他在過去世時，如何犧牲他的生命來達到成佛的理想。一個人如果要想成佛，必須實踐十種巴拉密(parami)──布施、持戒、出離、智慧、精進、忍辱、堅定、真實、慈悲、平等。實踐十巴拉密須要花很長的時間，甚至要在無數次生死中不斷的學習、鍛鍊。這說明了崇高的佛陀在這世間的出現，須要經歷久遠時代磨練的歷程。所以佛陀告誡弟子要度化眾生，不一定要圓成佛道。他們一樣可以通過成就獨覺佛或阿拉漢而進入聖道。
獨覺佛出生在沒有正自覺佛降生的時代，他們通過緣起法──緣生、緣滅而證悟宇宙的真理，雖然他們也一樣證悟涅槃，可是他們沒有正自覺佛的智慧，不能對眾生弘法，只是自己孤獨的生活。
阿拉漢(arahant)證悟涅槃的境界和佛陀一樣。阿拉漢克服了所有的欲望和人性的弱點，阿拉漢接收佛陀的教誨和認識真理。他們也向世人宣告宇宙間的確存在著解脫生死的真理。所以說能降生在佛陀出世的時代是件非常殊勝的事。《法句經》
Trikaya - The Three Bodies of the Buddha
The three bodies of the Buddha consist of Dharma-kaya (Truth body), Sambhoga-kaya (Enjoyment body), and Nirmana-kaya(Manifestation body).
In the Mahayana philosophy, the personality of the Buddha is given an elaborate treatment. According to this philosophy, the Buddhas have three bodies (trikaya), or three aspects of personality: the Dharmakaya, the Sambhoga-kaya, and the Nirmana-kaya.
After a Buddha has attained Enlightenment, He is the living embodiment of wisdom, compassion, happiness and freedom. At the beginning, there was only one Buddha in the Buddhist tradition. He is the historical Sakyamuni the Buddha. However, even during His lifetime, He made the distinction between Himself as the enlightened, historical individual, on one hand, and Himself as the Embodiment of Truth, on the other. The enlightened personality was known as the ‘Rupakaya’ (Form-body) or ‘Nirmana-kaya’
(Manifestation-body). This was the physical body of the Buddha who was born among men, attained Enlightenment, preached the Dhamma and attained Maha Parinibbana. The Manifestation-body or physical body of Buddhas are many and differ from one another.
On the other hand, the principle of Enlightenment which is embodied in Him is known as Dharma-kaya or Truth-body. This is the essence of the Buddha and is independent of the person realizing it. ‘Dhamma’ in this expression means ‘Truth’, and does not refer to the verbal teachings which were recorded down in scriptures. The teaching of the Buddha also emanates from the ‘Essence’ or ‘Truth’. So the real, essential Buddha is Truth or the principle of Enlightenment. This idea is clearly stated in the original Pali texts of the Theravada. The Buddha told Vasettha that the Tathagata (the Buddha) was Dharma-kaya, the ‘Truth-body’ or the ‘Embodiment of Truth’, as well as Dharmabhuta, ‘Truth-become’, that is, ‘One who has become Truth’ (Digha Nikaya). On another occasion, the Buddha told Vakkali:‘He who sees the Dhamma (Truth) sees the Tathagata, he who sees the Tathagata sees the Dhamma (Samyutta Nikaya). That is to say, the Buddha is equal to Truth, and all Buddhas are one and the same, being no different from one another in the Dharma-kaya, because Truth is one.’
In the Buddha’s lifetime, both the Nirmana-kaya and the Dharma-kaya were united in His. However, after His Parinibbana, the distinction became more pronounced, especially in the Mahayana philosophy. His Manifestation-body was dead and enshrined in the form of relics in stupas: His Dhamma-body is eternally present.
Later, the Mahayana philosophy developed the ‘Sambhoga-kaya’, the Enjoyment-body. The Sambhoga-kaya can be considered as the body or aspect through which the Buddha enjoyed Himself in the Dhamma, in teaching the Truth, in leading others to the realization of the Truth, and in enjoying the company of good, noble people. This is a selfless, pure, spiritual enjoyment, not to be confused with sensual pleasure. This ‘Enjoyment-body’ is not categorically mentioned in Theravada texts although it can be appreciated without contradiction if understood in this context. In Mahayana, the Enjoyment-body of the Buddha, unlike the impersonal, abstract principle of the Dharma-kaya, is also considered as a person, though not a human, historical person.
Although the terms Sambhoga-kaya and Dharma-kaya found in the later Pali works come from Mahayana and semi-Mahayana works, scholars from other traditions did not show hostility towards them. Ven Buddhaghosa in his Visuddhi Magga referred thus to the bodies of the Buddha.
‘The Buddha is possessed of a beautiful Rupakaya adorned with eighty minor and thirty-two major signs of a great man, and possessed of a Dharmakaya purified in every way and glorified by Sila, Samadhi°‚, full of splendor and virtue, incomparable and fully enlightened.’
Though Buddhaghosa’s conception was realistic, he was not immune from the religious bias of attributing superhuman power to the Buddha. In the Atthasallini, he said that during the three months’ absence of the Buddha, when He was engaged in preaching the Abhidamma to His mother in the Tusita heaven, He created some Nimmita-buddhas as exact replicas of Himself. These Nimmita-buddhas could not be distinguished from the Buddha in voice, words and even the rays of light that issued only by the gods of the higher realms of existence and not by ordinary gods or men. From this description, it is clear that the early Theravadins conceived Buddha’s Rupakaya or Sambhoga-kaya as that of a human being, and His Dharma-kaya as the collection of His Dhamma, that is, doctrines and disciplinary rules, collectively.