佛陀是世界之光 Nature of the Buddha Light of the World
佛陀的本懷
Nature of the Buddha Light of the World
佛陀是世界之光。
’Understood are the things to be understood,
Cultivated are the things to be cultivated,
Eradicated are the things to be eradicated,
Therefore Brahmin, I am the Buddha.’(Sutta Nipata)
「應該了解的都已了解，應該做的都已完成，應該棄除的(煩惱)都已棄除，梵志啊！所以我被稱為佛陀。」《經集》
’As long, brethren, as the Moon and Sun have not arisen in the world, just as long is there no shining forth a great light of great radiance. There prevails gross darkness, the darkness of bewilderment. Night is not distinguishable from the day, nor the month, the half-moon and the seasons of the years from each other.
「兄弟們！如果這世界沒有太陽和月亮升起，就沒有光線，沒有了光輝的照耀，世界將變得極其黑暗，黑暗令人恐慌。沒有了白天和黑夜的分別，沒有滿月也沒有半月，更沒有一年四季之分。」
‘But, brethren, when the Moon and Sun arise in the world then a great light of great radiance shines forth. Gross darkness, the darkness of bewilderment, is no more. Then are months and the half-moon and the seasons of years.’
’Just so, brethren, as long as a Buddha, who is an Arahant, a Buddha Supreme, arises not, there is no shining forth a great light of great radiance. But gross darkness, the darkness of bewilderment, prevails. There is no proclaiming, no teaching, no showing forth, no setting up, no opening up, no analysis, no making clear of the Four Noble Truths.
「然而，兄弟們！如果這世界有太陽和月亮升起，就有光線，也有了光輝的照耀，令人恐慌的黑暗也不存在了。有了白天和黑夜也有滿月和半月，更有一年四季的存在。」「同樣的，兄弟們！如果佛陀不出世，這世間就沒有阿拉漢也沒有佛。這世界沒有光明，只有恐怖和黑暗。這世間如果沒有佛陀所宣教的佛法，就無法發現錯誤，不懂得分析問題，也看不清四聖諦的存在。」
’What Four? The Noble Truth of Suffering, the Arising of Suffering, the ceasing of Suffering, and the approach to the ceasing of Suffering.
’Wherefore, brethren, do you exert yourselves to realize ‘This is suffering; this is the arising of Suffering; this is the ceasing of Suffering; this is the approach to the ceasing of Suffering.’
「什麼是滅苦的四聖諦？那就是苦(苦)、集(苦之因)、滅(滅苦)、道(滅苦之道)。」「因此，兄弟們！你們應該清楚的了解：這是造成苦的苦，這是苦的起因，苦的熄滅，這是滅苦之道。」
The above words give us a clear picture of the great value of the arising of the Buddha to the world. The Buddha arose at a time when Western Philosophy as inaugurated by the Greeks, was led by Heraclites who gave a new turn to the early religions of the Olympian gods. It was a time when Jeremiah was giving a new message among the Jews in Babylon.
以幾句話，為佛陀來到世間，描述了一幅清晰的畫面。佛陀在世的時候，是希臘正在開創西方哲學的時候，由奧林匹亞山諸神的神話故事轉化為新的宗教。也是希伯來人的先知耶利米(Jeremah)為巴比倫的猶太人傳教的時候。
It was a time when Pythagoras was introducing a doctrine of reincarnation in Italy. It was a time when Confucius was establishing the national life of China by his ethics of conduct.
It was a time when India’s social fabric was heavily encrusted with priest craft, self-mortification, caste distinctions, corrupt feudalism, subjection of women and fear of Brahmancial dominance.
這時候，當畢達哥拉斯(Pythagoras)在意大利倡導輪迴學說，也是孔夫子在中國提倡儒家思想的時候。當時的印度社會崇尚神權、天啟和苦行的思想，階級森嚴，腐敗、封建、重男輕女。處于婆羅門階層支配一切的恐怖時代。
It was at such time that the Buddha, the most fragrant flower of the human race, appeared in the land where saints and sages dedicated their lives in the search for truth.
就在這時候，一朵屬于人類芬芳的花朵綻開了。佛陀出現在印度，出現在聖賢們奉獻生命追求宇宙真理的國土。
He was a great man who wielded an extraordinary influences on others even during His lifetime. His personal magnetism, moral prestige and radiant confidence in His discovery, made Him a popular success. During His active life as a Teacher, the Buddha enlightened many who listened to Him. He attracted the high and low, rich and poor, educated and illiterate, men and women, householders and ascetics, nobles and peasants. He went in search for the vicious to teach, while the pure and virtuous came in search of Him to learn. To all, He gave the gift of the Truth that He had discovered. His disciples were kings and soldiers, merchants and millionaires, beggars and courtesans, religious as well as deluded people. When people were deluded, He enlightened them. When they were inflamed with rage and lust, He gave them the cooling water of Truth. When they were forsaken and wretched. He extended to them the infinite love of His compassionate heart.
他是一個偉大的人物，在他的一生中發揮了不尋常的影響力。他個人的魅力、道德、威望、自信以及他所證悟的真理，使他眾望所歸。他身為一位導師，很多人因為得到他的教誨而覺悟。他吸引了貴、賤、貧、富、知識份子、文盲，男或女、僧或俗、貴族或平民。在他尋找邪惡的根源時，純淨和德行也找他了。他將所發現的真理無私的奉獻給所有的人。他的追隨者中有國王、貴族、軍人、商人、富翁、乞丐和娼妓，也有不少的宗教人士和迷惑者。當人們發生爭執時，他出面為他們調解，當人們愚昧的時候，他為他們開導，當人們憤怒、欲火在燃燒時，他以真理的淨水澆息他們的無明火。當他們悲傷和痛苦時，他以大慈悲心給予他們無限的愛和關懷。
He did not set out to remold the world. He was ‘Lokavidu’? ‘The knower of the world.’ He knew the world too well to have any illusions about its nature, or to believe that its laws could be completely refashioned to suit the desires of man. He knew that the world does not exist for the pleasure of the man, He knew about the nature of worldly conditions. He realized the vicissitude of worldly life. He knew the futility of human imagination or day dreaming about the world.
He did not encourage wishful-thinking in terms of establishing a worldly Utopia. Rather, He told each one of the Way by which one could later conquer one’s own world? the inner subjective world that is everyone’s private domain. In simple languages, He told us that the whole world is within us and the world is led by the mind and that mind must be trained and cleansed properly.
佛陀無意再塑造另一個世界，他擁有「一切知智」，他對這世界太了解了，他不再對世間的本質有所幻想，他不相信人類的欲望可以獲得滿足，他了解這世間不是為了人類的喜樂而存在，他了解這世間的因果，他了解生命的無常，他了解人類對世間的理想或幻想是不實際的，他不鼓勵烏托邦式的思想。他告訴所有的人，人類可以改變自己的世界──內在的世界，那是每一個人的私有領域。簡要的說，佛陀告訴我們，世界就存在于我們的內心里，世界是以心為主導，而心需要經過適當的訓練與淨化。
His teaching was basically simple and meaningful: ‘To put an end to evil; to fulfill all good; to purify the mind. This is the advice of all the Buddhas.’ (Dhammapada, 183).
佛陀的教義簡短但是意義深長。
「一切惡都不要做，一切善都應該趕快去執行，自我調整和淨化自己的心意，這是所有佛陀所教導的。」《法句經》
He taught the people how to eradicate ignorance. He encouraged them to maintain freedom in the mind to think freely. Rigid rituals, rigid dogmas, blind faith and the caste system, all had no place in His way of life. All people were one in the eyes of the Buddha.
佛陀教導人們如何根除愚痴，他鼓勵人們自由思想和自由思考。僵化的儀式、呆板的教條、盲目的信仰和種姓、階級制度，在他的生命中不占有任何地位。在佛陀眼中，所有的人甚至一切眾生都是平等的。
By every test of what He said, did and was, He demonstrated Himself to be the preeminent man in His day. He declared a faith of service, a ministry of sacrifice and achievement. He advised us to start our life from today onwards as if it is the beginning of our life, and to fulfill our endless responsibilities and duties of daily existence here and now without depending on others to do it for us.
無論從那一個角度來驗證佛陀所言、所行，他確實是那個時代表現最傑出的人。他宣示了為信念服務、為弘法犧牲的觀念。他告誡人們，生命從現在開始就要向前邁進，在人類生命的開始，就肩負無盡的責任和義務，而這一切都不能靠他人來替我們執行或完成。
He gave the world a new explanation of the universe. He gave a new vision of eternal Happiness, the achievement of perfection in Buddhahood. He pointed out the way to the permanent state beyond all impermanence, the Way to Nibbana, the final deliverance from the misery of existence.
佛陀給宇宙一個新的詮釋，他提出了一個得到永恆的幸福，圓滿成就佛道的新概念。他指出一條從有限而達到無限的道路──涅槃，從無邊無際的痛苦世界達到最後的解脫。
His time was 2,500 years ago. Yet, even today this great Teacher is honored not only by the religious-minded people, He is also honored by atheists, historians, rationalists and intellectuals all over the world who have acknowledged Him as the Enlightened, most liberal minded and compassionate Teacher.
‘Sukho Buddhanam Uppado.’
Happy is the birth of the Buddha. (Dhammapada 194).
佛陀生于二千五百多年以前，然而，直到今天，他那深廣的教義，和他身為一個無神論者、歷史學家和理性論者，不但受到佛教徒的敬重，也受到所有知識份子的稱頌。他們都承認佛陀是一位覺悟者，是解脫心靈和具有大慈悲心的偉大導師。
「佛陀的出現令我們得到快樂。」《法句經》
Was Buddha an Incarnation of God?
Never had the Buddha claimed that He was the son or a messenger of God.
佛陀從來未曾宣稱過他是神的化身，或是神的使者。
The Buddha was a unique human being who was self-Enlightened. He had no one whom He could regard as His teacher. Through His own efforts, He practised to perfection the ten supreme qualities of generosity, discipline, renunciation, wisdom, energy, endurance, truthfulness, determination, goodwill and equanimity. Through His mental purification, He opened the doors to all knowledge. He knew all things to be known, cultivated all things to be cultivated, and destroyed all things to be destroyed. Indeed, no other religious teacher was comparable to Him in terms of cultivation and attainment.
So special was He and so electrifying His message, that many people asked Him ‘What(not so much as Who) He was’. Questions on ‘Who He was’ would be with respect to His name, origin, ancestry, etc., while ‘What He was’ referred to the order of beings to which He belonged. So ’godly and inspiring was He that even during His time, there were numerous attempts of others to turn Him into a god or a reincarnation of god. Never did He agree to be regarded as such. In the Anguttara Nikaya, He said: ‘I am not indeed a deva, nor a gandharva, nor a yaksa, nor a manusya. Know ye that I am the Buddha.’ After Enlightenment, the Buddha could no longer be classified even as a ‘manusya’ or an ordinary human being. He belonged to the Buddha Wangsa, special race or species of enlightened beings, all of whom are Buddhas.
佛陀是一個普通人，他透過自己的覺悟而證得正自覺大智慧，沒有人可以宣稱他是佛陀的導師。經過他自己不懈的努力，和獲得十種殊勝的德行──布施、持戒、出離、智慧、精進、忍辱、堅定、真實、慈悲和平等。透過自身的淨化，他敞開了知識的大門，他擁有通曉世間一切的智慧，他教化一切可以被教化的，銷毀一切應該被銷毀的。這一點，其他的宗教導師是無法和他相比擬的。佛陀的教義像閃電一樣 的驚醒了大家，開始有人不屑的問道：「他是什麼東西？」尊重他的教義的人，也開始在尋思道：「他是誰？」。佛陀是多麼的神聖和超脫，佛陀從來未曾宣稱過他是神或是神的使者，他不須要代表神。佛陀說過：「我不是天人、不是甘塔拔、不是亞卡(yakkha)，也不是人類(manusya)，我是佛陀。」 《增支部》
覺悟後的佛陀，確實不能將他歸類于普通的人，他是佛陀，一位擁有正自覺大智慧的殊勝生類──佛陀。
Buddhas appear in this world from time to time. But some people have the mistaken idea that it is the same Buddha who is reincarnated or appears in the world over and over again. Actually, they are not the same person, otherwise there is no scope for others to attain Buddhahood. Buddhists believe that anyone can become a Buddha if he develops his qualities to perfection and is able to remove his ignorance completely through his own efforts. After Enlightenment, all Buddhas are similar in their attainment and experience of Nibbana.
佛陀在這世間一次又一次的出現，很多人誤解以為是同一位佛陀。其實，他們並不相同，要不然就沒有必要修學佛道了。佛教認為任何人都可以親證涅槃，只要開發自己的智慧，斷除邪見，精進努力，當證悟正自覺後，所有的佛陀都一樣能到達清淨的涅槃。
In India, the followers of many orthodox religious groups tried to condemn the Buddha because of His liberal teaching which revolutionized the Indian society. Many regarded Him as an enemy when increasing numbers of intellectuals as well as people from all ranks of society took up the religion. When they failed in their attempt to destroy Him, they adopted the reverse strategy of introducing Him as a reincarnation of one of their gods. This way they could absorb Buddhism into their religion. To a certain extent, this strategy worked in India since it had, through the centuries, contributed to the decay and the subsequent uprooting of Buddhism from the land of its origin.
在印度，有些外道責難佛陀，因為他那自由的教導改革了整個印度社會。很多人針對他，視他為敵，企圖摧毀他。可是當越來越多人皈依佛教後，他們失敗了。在他們失敗後，開始接收了佛教的思想，並認為佛陀是他們所崇敬的神的化身。
Even today there are certain religionists who try to absorb the Buddha into their beliefs as a way of gaining converts among Buddhists. Their basis for doing so is by claiming that the Buddha Himself had predicted that another Buddha would appear in this world, and that the latest Buddha will become even more popular. One group named a religious teacher who lived 600 years after Gautama the Buddha as the latest Buddha. Another group said that the next Buddha had already arrived in Japan in the 13th century. Yet another group believed that their founder came from the lineage of great teachers (like Gautama and Jesus) and that founder was the latest Buddha. These groups advised Buddhists to give up their old Buddha and follow the so-called new Buddha. While it is good to see them giving the Buddha the same status as their own religious teachers, we feel that these attempts to absorb Buddhists into another faith by misrepresenting the truth are in extreme bad taste.
Those who claim that the new Buddha had already arrived are obviously misrepresenting what the Buddha had said. Although the Buddha predicted the coming of the next Buddha, He mentioned some conditions which had to be met before this can be possible. It is the nature of Buddhahood that the next Buddha will not appear as the dispensation of the current Buddha still exits. He will appear only when the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path have been completely forgotten. The people living then must be properly guided in order to understand the same Truth taught by the previous Buddhas. We are still living within the dispensation of Gautama the Buddha. Although the moral conduct of the people has, with very few exceptions, deteriorated, the future Buddha would only appear at some incalculable period when the Path to Nibbana is completely lost to mankind and when people are ready to receive Him. 佛陀是不是神的化身
即使在今天，某些宗教為了擴展勢力，也將佛教歸納在他們宗教的范圍內。他們甚至鼓吹佛陀曾經預言，另一位佛陀即將出世，他將比佛陀更偉大。有一個外道教派聲稱他們的導師活了六百歲，是佛陀以後的真佛。日本一個教派說，佛陀于十三世紀已經在日本降世了。某一教派認為他們的創始人與佛陀、基督是同一時代的人，是現任的佛陀，要佛教徒放棄原有的信仰追隨他們。感謝他們將佛陀的身份給了他們的教主，汲取佛教教義為他們的信仰，可是這一切的背後都有不良的企圖。
那些聲稱佛陀即將降世的人，是完全不尊重佛陀的言教，雖然佛陀曾經預言在將來的世界有佛陀降世，可是他也敘述了未來佛陀降世的種種條件，那是無數大劫以後的事了。