菩薩的探索 The Bodhisattas Search

The Bodhisatta’s Search

9．菩薩的探索

Alara and Uddaha were renowed as teachers among the Brahmans, and there was no one in those days who surpassed them in learning and philosophical knowledge. [1]

阿羅藍和烏陀迦是婆羅門中很有名氣的老師，那時，在學問和哲學知識方面沒有其他人可以超越他們。 1 The Bodhisatta went to them and sat at their feet. He listened to their doctrines of the atman or self, which is the ego of the mind and the doer of all doings. He learned their views of the transmigration of souls and the law of karma; how the souls of bad men had to suffer by being reborn in men of low caste, in animals, or in hell, while those who purified themselves by libations, by sacrifices, and by self-mortification would become kings, or Brahmans, or devas, so as to rise higher in the grades of existence. He studied their incantations and offerings and the methods by which they attained deliverance of the ego from material existence in states of ecstacy. [2]

菩薩去他們那里坐到他們腳下。他聆聽他們關于靈魂或自己，即心靈的自我和一切行為之施行者的教義。他了解了他們關于靈魂輪迴的觀點和因果報應的理論；壞人的靈魂如何不得不轉生在社會地位低下之人、動物、地獄之人身上，而那些靠祭酒、供奉、禁欲來潔淨自身的人將成為國王、婆羅門或者提婆，以至在存在的等級中越來越高。他還研究了他們的咒語和祭品，以及他們在出神狀態中將自我從肉體中解脫出來的途徑。 2

Alara said: “What is that self which perceives the actions of the five roots of mind, touch, smell, taste, sight and hearing? What is that which is active in the two ways of motion, in the hands and in the feet? The problem of the soul appears in the expressions ‘I say,’ ‘I know and perceive,’ ‘I come,’ and ‘I go’ or ‘I will stay here.’ The soul is not thy body; it is not thy eye, not thy ear, not thy nose, not thy tongue, nor is it thy mind. The I is the one who feels the touch in thy body. The I is the smeller in the nose, the taster in the tongue, the seer in the eye, the hearer in the ear, and the thinker in the mind. The I moves thy hands and thy feet. The I is thy soul. Doubt in the existence of the soul is irreligious, and without discerning this truth there is no way of salvation. Deep speculation will easily involve the mind; it leads to confusion and unbelief; but a purification of the soul leads to the way of escape. True deliverance is reached by removing from the croud and leading a hermit’s life, depending entirely on alms for food. Putting away all desire and clearly recognizing the non-existence of matter, we reach a state of perfect emptiness. Here we find the condition of immaterial life. As the munja grass when freed from its horny case, as a sword when drawn from its scabbard, or as the wild bird escaped from its prison, so the ego, liberating itself from all limitations, finds perfect release. This is true deliverance, but those only who will have deep faith will learn.” [3]

阿羅藍說：「自我感受到了心智五根，即觸覺、嗅覺、味覺、視覺和聽覺的所為，那自我又是什麼？在運動的兩種方式中、在手和腳中起作用的是什麼？靈魂問題是以表達『我說』，『我知道我感覺』，『我來』，『我去』，或者『我將待在這里』的方式顯現的。靈魂不是你的身體，它不是你的眼睛，不是你的耳朵，不是你的鼻子，不是你的舌頭，也不是你的思想。能感覺你身體觸覺的就是我。我是鼻子中的嗅者，舌頭中的嘗者，眼睛中的視者，耳朵中的聽者，思想中的思者。我移動了你的手和腳。我就是你的靈魂。懷疑靈魂的存在是無宗教信仰的，不辨別這一真理便找不到拯救之道。深思很容易使思想變得複雜，導致困惑和不信，但是靈魂的潔淨則通向解脫之道。遠離人群，過隱士生活，完全依賴施舍為生，才能得到真正的解脫。拋開所有的欲望，清楚地認識到物質的非存在，我們便達到一種完美的空虛狀態。這里我們可以發現精神生活的條件。就像慕林雅草從它的硬殼中破殼而出，寶劍從劍鞘中被拔出來，或者像野鳥從籠中展翅飛出，自我從所有的限制中解放它自己，得到了完美的解脫。這是真正的解脫，但只有那些有深厚信仰的人才會知曉這一真理。」 3

The Bodhisatta found no satisfaction in these teachings. He replied: “People are in bondage, because they have not yet removed the idea of the ego. [4]

菩薩不滿意這些教義。他回答說：「人們在束縛之中，因為他們還沒有從自我的觀念中走出來。 4

“The thing and its quality are different in our thought, but not in reality. Heat is different from fire in our thought, but you cannot remove heat from fire in reality. You say that you can remove the qualities and leave the thing, but if you think your theory to the end, you will find that this is not so. [5]

「在我們的思想中，事物與其性質是不同的，但在現實中並非如此。在我們的思想中熱與火不同，但在現實中你不能把熱從火中分離開。你說你能將性質分離出而將事物留下，但是如果你將你的理論思考到底，你將發現實際並不如此。 5

“Is not man an organism of many aggregates? Are we not composed of various attributes? Man consists of the material form, of sensation, of thought, of dispositions, and, lastly, of understanding. That which men call the ego when they say ‘I am’ is not an entity behind the attributes; it originates by their co-operation. There is mind; there is sensation and thought, and there is truth; and truth is mind when it walks in the path of righteousness. But there is no separate ego-soul outside of behind the thought of man. He who believes that the ego is a distinct being has no correct conception of things. The very search for the atman is wrong; it is a wrong start and it will lead you in a false direction. [6]

「人不是許多聚合物的有機體嗎？我們不是由不同的屬性構成的嗎？人是由物質的外形、感覺、思想、性情，最後，還有理解力構成的。當人們說『我是』的時候，他們所稱的自我並不是指這些屬性之後的一個實體，它源自于這些屬性的聯合。有思想，有感覺和想法，就有了真理，當思想走上正義之路時，真理就是思想。但是在人的思想之外或之後，沒有單獨的自我—靈魂。凡相信自我是獨特之物的人，他對事物沒有正確的概念。對自我的特別探究是錯誤的，它是錯誤的開始，而且將把你引到錯誤的方向。 6

“How much confusion of thought comes from our interest in self, and from our vanity when thinking ‘I am so great,’ or ‘I have done this wonderful deed?’ The thought of thine ego stands between thy rational nature and truth; banish it, and then wilt thou see things as they are. He who thinks correctly will rid himself of ignorance and acquire wisdom. The ideas ‘I am’ and ‘I shall be’ or ‘I shall not be’ do not occur to a clear thinker. [7]

「當人們想到『我是如此偉大』或者『我做了這美妙的事情』時，我們那來自對自我的興趣和虛榮心的思想有多少混亂？你的自我之思想位于你的推理本性和真理之間，拋開這種思想，那麼你就會看到事物的真實面貌。正確思想的人將會擺脫愚昧並獲得智慧。一個明智的思考者不會有「我是」和「我將是」或者「我將不是」的概念。 7

“Moreover, if our ego remains, how can we attain true deliverance? If the ego is to be reborn in any of the three worlds, be it in hell, upon earth, or be it in heaven, we shall meet again and again the same inevitable doom of sorrow. We shall remain chained to the wheel of individuality and shall be implicated in egotism and wrong. [8]

「而且，如果我們的自我仍在，我們怎麼能得到真正的解脫？如果自我能在三個世界中的任何一個中得到轉生，它可以在地獄中，在塵世上甚至在天堂里轉生，我們將一次又一次地遭遇這同樣不可避免的悲傷厄運。我們仍將束縛在個體的車輪中，仍將糾結在自我中心和錯誤之中。 8

“All combinations is subject to separation, and we cannot escape birth, disease, old age, and death. Is this a final escape?” [9]

「所有的聚合之物都必要消散，我們不能逃脫生、病、老和死。這是最後的逃脫嗎？」 9

Said Uddaka: “Consider the unity of things. Things are not their parts, yet they exist. The members and organs of thy body are not thine ego, but thine ego possesses all these parts. What, for instance, is the Ganges? Is the sand the Ganges? Is the water the Ganges? Is the hither bank the Ganges? Is the farther bank the Ganges? The Ganges is a mighty river and it possesses all these several qualities. Exactly so is our ego.” [10]

烏陀迦說：「要看到事物的整體。事物不是它們的部分，然而它們都存在。你身體的部分和器官都不是你的自我，但是你的自我擁有所有這些部分。例如，恆河是什麼？恆河是沙子嗎？恆河是水嗎？恆河是這里的堤岸嗎？恆河是遠處的堤岸嗎？恆河是巨大的河流，它擁有這幾種性質的全部。我們的自我也正如此。」 10

But the Bodhisatta replied: “Not so, sir! If we except the water, the sand, the hither bank and the farther bank, where can we find any Ganges? In the same way I observe the activities of man in their harmonious union, but there is no ground for an ego outside it parts.” [11]

然而菩薩回答說：「先生，不是這樣。假如我們把沙子、水、這里的堤岸和遠處的堤岸除外，我們在哪里能找到恆河？我以同樣的方式觀察人們在和諧的身體內所做的行為，但是在身體的部分之外，沒有一個自我存在的基礎。」 11

The Brahman sage, however, insisted on the existence of the ego, saying: “The ego is the doer of our deeds. How can there be karma without a self as its performer? Do we not see around us the effects of karma? What makes men different in character, station, possessions, and fate? It is their karma, and karma includes merit and demerit. The transmigration of the soul is subject to its karma. We inherit from former existences the evil effects of our evil deeds and the good effects of our good deeds. If that were not so, how could we be different?” [12]

但是婆羅門的哲人堅持自我的存在，他說：「自我是我們行為的做出者。沒有自我去作執行者，怎麼會有因果報應呢？難道我們沒有看到周圍因果報應的後果嗎？什麼使得人們在性格、地位、財產和命運上有所不同呢？是因果報應，因果報應包括了他們的優點和缺點。靈魂的輪迴受它的因果報應支配。我們從前世存在者那里繼承了我們惡行為的惡後果，也繼承了善行為的善後果。如果不是那樣，我們怎麼能有不同呢?」 12

The Tathagata meditated deeply on the problems of transmigration and karma, and found the truth that lies in them. [13]

如來在輪迴和因果問題上陷入了沉思，接著他發現了其中的真理。 13

“The doctrine of karma,” he said, “is undeniable, but thy theory of the ego has no foundation. [14]

他說：「因果報應的學說是不能否認的，但是你關于自我的理論沒有根據。 14

“Like everything else in nature, the life of man is subject to the law of cause and effect. The present reaps what the past has sown, and the future is the product of the present. But there is no evidence of the existence of an immutable ego-being, of a self which remains the same and migrates from body to body. There is rebirth but no transmigration. [15]

「人的生命像自然界里的其他所有事物一樣受因果法則支配。現在的果是過去的因所致，未來則是現在的因引起的。但是沒有證據能證明一個永恆的自我的存在，也沒有證據能表明一個自我能保持不變並從一個身體轉移到另一個身體。有轉生但沒有輪迴。 15

“Is not this individuality of mine a combination, material as well as mental? Is it not made up of qualities that sprang into being by a gradual evolution? The five roots of sense-perception in this organism have come from ancestors who performed these functions. The ideas which I think, came to me partly from others who thought them, and partly they rise from combinations of the ideas in my mind. Those who have used the same sense-organs, and have thought the same ideas before I was composed into this individuality of mine are my previous existences; they are my ancestors as much as the I of yesterday is the father of the I of to-day, and the karma of my past deeds conditions the fate of my present existence. [16]

「我的個體不是一個肉體和精神的聚合體嗎？它不是由各種屬性構成，逐漸發展演化成存在物的嗎？在這個有機體中，感觀—知覺的五根來自體驗過這些功能的前人。我思考的這些觀念，部分來自于思考過它們的他人那里，部分源自于我自己思想中各種觀念的聚合物。在我被構成我的個體之前，那些利用過同樣感覺器官並思考過同樣觀念的人是我之前的存在。他們是我的前人，如同昨日之我是今日之我的前輩，我過去所做之行為的因果報應決定了我現在生存的命運。 16

“Supposing that were an atman that performs the actions of the senses, then if the door of sight were torn down and the eye plucked out, that atman would be able to peep through the larger aperture and see the forms of its surroundings better and more clearly than before. it would be able to hear sounds better if the ears were torn away; smell better if the nose were cut off; taste better if the tongue were pulled out; and feel better if the body were destroyed. [17]

「假定有一個自我能履行感覺的功能，那麼，如果視覺之門被毀、眼睛被摘除，和過去相比，自我應該能夠通過更大的縫隙更好地、更清楚地看清它周圍的各種形態；如果耳朵被撕去，它應該能更好地聽到響聲；如果鼻子被割走，它能更好地聞到氣味；如果舌頭被拔出，它能更好地品嘗食物；如果身體被傷害，它能更好地感受觸覺。 17

“I observe the preservation and transmission of character; I perceive the truth of karma, but see no atman whom your doctrine makes the doer of your deeds. There is rebirth without the transmigration of a self. For this atman, this self, this ego in the ‘I say’ and in the ‘I will’ is an illusion. If this self were a reality, how could there be an escape from selfhood? The terror of hell would be infinite, and no release could be granted. The evils of existence would not be due to our ignorance and wrong-doing, but would constitute the very nature of our being.” [18]

「我觀察到事物性質的持續和轉移，我認識到因果報應的真理，但沒有看到你教義中行為的實施者自我。有轉生，但無需自我的輪迴。因為在「我說」和「我將」中的這一自我、自己、我是一種幻相。如果這個自我是一種現實，怎樣才能從自我狀態中逃脫呢？地獄的恐怖將是無盡的，人們得不到解脫。存在的諸種罪惡不是因我們的無知和錯誤行為造成的，但卻構成了我們人的特殊本性。」 18

And the Bodhisatta went to the priests officiating in the temples. But the gentle mind of the Sakyamuni was offended at the unnecessary cruelty performed on the altars of the gods. He said: [19]

接著菩薩去往主持廟宇的祭祀處。但是當看到祭獻諸神的祭壇上不必要的殘忍作法，釋迦牟尼的溫和情緒被激怒了。他說： 19

“Ignorance only can make these men prepare festivals and hold vast meetings for sacrifices. Far better to revere the truth than try to appease the gods by shedding blood. [20]

「無知只能使這些人為祭品準備歡宴並舉行盛大的集會。尊重真理遠比靠流血取悅諸神好得多。 20

“What love can a man possess who believes that the destruction of life will atone for evil deeds? Can a new wrong expiate old wrongs? And can the slaughter of an innocent victim blot out the evil deeds of mankind? This is practising religion by the neglect of moral conduct. [21]

「相信毀滅生命能彌補罪惡行為的人能有什麼愛？一個新錯誤能贖掉舊的錯誤嗎？屠殺一個無辜的犧牲品能遮掩住人類的罪惡行徑嗎？這是忽略道德行為的實踐性宗教。 21

“Purify your hearts and cease to kill, that is true religion. [22]

「潔淨你們的心靈，停止殺戮，才是真正的宗教。 22

“Rituals have no efficacy; prayers are vain repetitions; and incantations have no saving power. But to abandon covetousness and lust, to become free from evil passions, and to give up all hatred and ill-will, that is the right sacrifice and the true worship.” [23]

「儀式是無效的，祈禱是徒勞無益的重複，咒語沒有拯救的力量。拋棄貪婪和欲望，消除對罪的熱情，舍去所有仇恨和惡意，才是正確的獻祭和真正的崇拜。」 23