After Master Ban Ji finished "Body and Spirits (Why I Practice Nidānas)," she told me that she's all finished. She felt that she had said everything she wanted to say about Buddhism and the Practice of Buddhism.
半寄師父寫完 『肉體與精神 (我為什麼修因緣法)』後，跟我說她寫完了。她覺得已經說了對佛教和修行所有想說的話。
For me, I am at a point on the path that it is no longer about theoretical understanding. It is now more about daily training to strengthen myself. Just like an athlete who needs to train daily to make himself stronger, faster, more precise and agile, Practice Buddhism is the same. So it is unlikely that I will have much to write about.
而我 ，在這條路上，不需要每天的探討理論的理解，而是訓練，以加強自己。就像一個運動選手需要每天訓練使自己更強，更快，更精確和敏捷，修行也是一樣。因此，我不太會有太多內容可以寫。
If there are any new articles, it will probably only be in the form of reader questions or contributions.
新的文章可能只會是讀者回饋或問題。
All of our articles can be categorized into four sections.
我們所有的文章，可以分為四部。
There is "A Guide to Buddhist Thoughts" that can be consider the background text for our Practice.
《佛法的思向》可以說是我們的法門的指南。
Our Method describes our method, and my personal experiences while Practicing the method.
修行法門說明我們的法門，和我個人的經驗。
Investigation into Practice are articles based on my observations of the Practice while on the Path, and Master Ban Ji's discussions on the subject of Practice.
修行探討的文章是我在修行中的觀察和半寄師父對修行的討論。
Finally, Buddhism Notes contains miscellaneous articles on topics that might interest Buddhists and not necessary relate to Practice.
最後! 佛教雜記有一些主題佛教徒可能會有興趣，但不一定跟修行有關。
We will continue to monitor our emails and blogs for any questions and comments.
我們會繼續留意我們的電子郵件和回答問題。
2012年3月12日 星期一
修行方向 An Approach for Practice
修行方法:
A method for Practice:
1. 先了解自己，從日常生活的應對中，觀察自己是用什麼態度及方法在處世，碰到事情是用什麼心情面對與處理的，從中看到自己的優點及缺失，才能知道自己需要什麼樣的修改。(我想不論你修哪一派的法門，不了解自己的人如何去修學與進步?! 我很懷疑。如果把上面的說法轉變成佛陀的說法，就是不知道自己究竟是怎麼造業? 與造福的?)
1. First, you need to understand yourself. You need to observe your attitudes and approaches in your daily encounters. You need to know how you face a situation, and what your feelings are. From these, you need to be able to see your strong and week points, so you know how to improve yourself. (I think regardless of schools or traditions, you will not be able to practice and improve if you don't understand yourself. If Buddha was going to make the same point, he would say that you would not know how you create good and bad karma if you don't understand yourself.)
2. 廣泛的閱讀或旅行是必要的，不讀書無法具備思考能力，不旅行不知人生命的不同，視野無法展開，歷代高僧達練者通常有旅行的經驗，唐朝的代表人物玄奘，到近代的虛雲，提出人間佛教的太虛，更遠及歐洲旅遊，讀書與旅行如無法兼具，又以讀書為第一條件。
2. An extensive reading and travel is necessary. If you don't read, you will not obtain ability to reason. If you don't travel, you will not know the differences in people's lives and you will not be able to expand your mind. Historically, many eminent monks had traveled extensively, from Tang Dynasty's Master Xuanzang to Master Hsu Yun of the 20th century. Even the originator of Humanistic Buddhism, Master Taixu, had traveled as far as Europe. If you cannot do both reading and traveling, reading should be a priority.
3. 建立常態性的思維能力，例如；你已選修因緣法，除看懂相關書籍外，還必須常常思考因緣法在跟自己說什麼? 自己懂得它的思考方向嗎? 努力以赴的奠下基礎後，在日常生活的應用上會漸漸熟悉，進而帶出修學因緣法的樂趣。
3. You need to establish a habit to think and reason constantly. For example, if you have chosen to practice Nidānas, other than studying related materials, you also need to think what Nidānas is saying to you. Do you know how to reason with it? If you make efforts in establishing a foundation, and used it in daily life, you will slowly see the joy of learning and practicing Nidānas.
這是我走過的路跟讀者分享。
These are my personal experience.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
A method for Practice:
1. 先了解自己，從日常生活的應對中，觀察自己是用什麼態度及方法在處世，碰到事情是用什麼心情面對與處理的，從中看到自己的優點及缺失，才能知道自己需要什麼樣的修改。(我想不論你修哪一派的法門，不了解自己的人如何去修學與進步?! 我很懷疑。如果把上面的說法轉變成佛陀的說法，就是不知道自己究竟是怎麼造業? 與造福的?)
1. First, you need to understand yourself. You need to observe your attitudes and approaches in your daily encounters. You need to know how you face a situation, and what your feelings are. From these, you need to be able to see your strong and week points, so you know how to improve yourself. (I think regardless of schools or traditions, you will not be able to practice and improve if you don't understand yourself. If Buddha was going to make the same point, he would say that you would not know how you create good and bad karma if you don't understand yourself.)
2. 廣泛的閱讀或旅行是必要的，不讀書無法具備思考能力，不旅行不知人生命的不同，視野無法展開，歷代高僧達練者通常有旅行的經驗，唐朝的代表人物玄奘，到近代的虛雲，提出人間佛教的太虛，更遠及歐洲旅遊，讀書與旅行如無法兼具，又以讀書為第一條件。
2. An extensive reading and travel is necessary. If you don't read, you will not obtain ability to reason. If you don't travel, you will not know the differences in people's lives and you will not be able to expand your mind. Historically, many eminent monks had traveled extensively, from Tang Dynasty's Master Xuanzang to Master Hsu Yun of the 20th century. Even the originator of Humanistic Buddhism, Master Taixu, had traveled as far as Europe. If you cannot do both reading and traveling, reading should be a priority.
3. 建立常態性的思維能力，例如；你已選修因緣法，除看懂相關書籍外，還必須常常思考因緣法在跟自己說什麼? 自己懂得它的思考方向嗎? 努力以赴的奠下基礎後，在日常生活的應用上會漸漸熟悉，進而帶出修學因緣法的樂趣。
3. You need to establish a habit to think and reason constantly. For example, if you have chosen to practice Nidānas, other than studying related materials, you also need to think what Nidānas is saying to you. Do you know how to reason with it? If you make efforts in establishing a foundation, and used it in daily life, you will slowly see the joy of learning and practicing Nidānas.
這是我走過的路跟讀者分享。
These are my personal experience.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
2012年3月11日 星期日
善念 Virtuous Thoughts
"Virtuous Thoughts" [Note] can constantly be found in every Buddhist books and teachings. I like to discuss this a bit.
「善念」這兩個字常常出現在佛教書籍和教誨裡。 我們討論看看。
Every Buddhist schools talk about "thoughts". I think many schools talked about be "mindful" of the rise and fall of your thoughts. Don't they ever wonder where it came from? They talk about letting your mind be empty of thoughts, so that you can experience Śūnyatā. If they don't know where the thoughts came from, how would they know they are completely empty of thoughts. They would only know they are no longer able to observe any thoughts, because they have trained their mind not to see them.
每個佛教宗派都談到「念頭」，大部分都要您去「觀」「念頭」的生滅。 但不知道他們有沒有想過它是從哪裡來的呢？ 他們要您的腦海裡沒有「念頭」，來體會「空」。 但如果不知道「念頭」來自何處，怎麼會知道完全沒有「念頭」。 只能知道觀察不到「念頭」，因為他們訓練頭腦不去看。
However, mindfulness of your thought is a good practice for people, because when a thought is raised and observed, you will get a chance to evaluate it before it becomes real. You are given a chance to accept and reject that thought, before "Yuan" is created.
但是，留心您的思想也不錯。 因為當一個想法發生，您會得到一個機會去評估它。 一個機會在緣起之前去接受或拒絕這個想法。
People came to this world equally, only differ in the accumulated Karma. This difference in Karma is reflected in their birth, their family and their encounters in their lives. But everyone is given a new chance in life to improve themselves and to become a great man.
人是平等的來到這個世間，僅差在各人所累積的因果報應。 這些因果報應可以從一個人的出生，家庭和生活經驗查覺。 但是每個人都有機會在生活中提高自己，成為大人相。
Life, is a test of human nature. People are tested every day with every encounter in their lives. Every choices that they made either increase their "good karma" or "bad karma." The problem is that it is hard to read the results, because some results reflect immediate actions, but others are caused by a long forgotten past. But a person only need to look at their encounters and surroundings, to know where they are on their karmic balance sheet. The acts of the past are only useful as a tool for reflection, for learning. It is the acts of this instant that counts.
生命，是人性的考驗。 每一件事都是一個測試。 在每一個測試，每一個選擇，一個人可以增加自 己的「善業」或「惡業」。 問題是，「果」很難了解。 因為有些「果」馬上發生，而有些是被人遺忘的「業」所造成。 一個人只需要看看自己的遭遇和周圍，就知道自己的「業報」的資產負債表。 忘記的「業」不是很重要，唯一有用的是用過去的行為作為自我反省的工具。 「當下」的行為是最重要的。
On the surface, an act either can be labeled virtuous or not on the surface. But while that act has its own karmic results, it is more important for people to understand the thoughts behind the act. A virtuous act can manifest from an un-virtuous thought, while an un-virtuous act can came from a virtuous thought.
表面上，一個行為可以分為「善行」或「惡行」。 雖然行為有其自身的「果」，更重要的是行為後面的「念頭」。 一件「善行」可以從「惡念」而生，一個「惡行」也可以來自「善念」。
Thoughts came from our human nature. Virtuous thoughts are the result of the matured human emotions, while un-virtuous thoughts are the results of weaknesses. Doing a virtuous act because of an un-virtuous thought will only reinforce the weakness. Why? Because virtuous acts are often applauded by the society, if un-virtuous thoughts are rewarded, would the weakness not be reinforced?
「念頭」來自於「人性」。 「善念」是成熟的情緒的果。 「惡念」來自於我們的弱點。 因為「惡念」來做「善行」只會加強的 一個人的弱點。 為什麼呢？ 因為「善行」會受到社會的歡迎。 如果「惡念」有獎勵，弱點不會更弱嗎？
For example, people love to do charity works. Everyone knows that doing charity works can bring them good karma. There is nothing wrong with this, because we all have to work for good karma, just like we all have to go to work to make money. But for some people, there are additional reasons deep within them, maybe its a need for "love and attention", "companionship" or "prestige". On the surface, it doesn't look like such a bad thing, but if this need represents a weakness, usually greed, "for love", "for attention" or "for flattery", than it needs to be discovered and eliminated. It requires self-reflection to do so. People know. They just don't want to see it.
例如，大家都喜歡做慈善工作。 大家都知道，做慈善工作，能夠為他們帶來好人緣跟「福報」。 這樣想沒有錯，因為我們都需要努力來得「福報」，就像我們都為了錢去工作。 但對某些人來說，還有其他原因，深在其中，也許他渴望「愛」，「伴」或「名譽」。 表面上看起來還好，但如果這個渴望是一個弱點，通常是貪，「貪愛」，「貪關注」或「貪奉承」，那這個弱點也需要被發現和消除。 一個 人需要自我反省來發現這種弱點。 大家自己心裡都有數，只不想看。
Here, virtuous and un-virtuous acts are what the recipient of the act or some member of society might think of as virtuous or un-virtuous. For example, when you punished a child for misdeeds, the child might think you have performed an un-virtuous act because the child does not understand why. Some people might think your punishment does not fit the misdeed, therefore un-virtuous. If you don't punish a child for misdeeds, other people might think you are un-virtuous for not educating your child. Another example is that a solider, in order to protect his people, might have do a lot of un-virtuous acts.
這裡，「善行」和「惡行」是某些社會或受者所認定的「善」與「惡」。 例如，懲罰一個小孩，小孩會認為您做了「惡行」，因為他不明白為什麼要被懲罰。 某些人會認為您懲罰不適當，所以也認定您做的是「惡行」。 如果不懲罰，某些人會認為這也是「惡行」，因為他們覺得您沒有在教小孩。 另一個例子， 一個軍人，為了保護家人，也許需要做很多「公認」的「惡行」。
Like school, the tests of life are not consists of just quiz. There are occasional major tests. These tests are easy to detect, because they are dramatic. You will know when they occur because of the emotional highs and lows. The result of this test could be a turning point. The biggest test of your life is when you have a need to perform an un-virtuous act for a virtuous reason. Because this is when all of your human characters are tested it. Can you sacrifice something dear to you (and not just your life) to do the right thing?
就像學校，生命的考驗不只是平常考而已。 有偶爾的重大考驗。 這些重大考驗很容易察覺，因為它們有聲有色。 你會知道它們來了，因為情感會有很大的起伏。 這個考驗可能是一個轉點。 您的人生最大的考驗是，當您需要為了「善念」來做一件「惡行」，因為所有的「人性」都會受到考驗。 能為了「善念」來犧牲自己所渴望的嗎 (不一定是生命。)？
But life is lenient, because even if you get it wrong, you given more chances to get it right. But to have a chance to get it right next time, you need to keep asking yourself "Why?", constantly self-reflect. Otherwise, the next time will be the same as this time, and you will only accumulate further negative karmic debt with no way out.
但是生命是寬容的，因為即使您這一次作錯，您還會有其他的機會。 但是，如果您想要在下一次做對的選擇，您需要不斷地問自己「為什麼？」，不斷地在平常考時自我反省。 否則，下一次將會有一樣的錯誤。 這樣下去，您只會一直累積「惡業」而沒有出路。
The simplest way to practice Buddhism is to simply constantly keep virtuous thoughts, constantly reflect on your actions and be the best person that you can be.
所以，最簡單的修行是不斷的保持善念，不斷的反思自己的行為，和好好做人。
[Note] 善念 Virtuous Thoughts are sometimes translated as "Skillful Thoughts" in English. But I think virtuous is better. Sometimes, "Thoughts" are translated as "Intentions."
「善念」這兩個字常常出現在佛教書籍和教誨裡。 我們討論看看。
Every Buddhist schools talk about "thoughts". I think many schools talked about be "mindful" of the rise and fall of your thoughts. Don't they ever wonder where it came from? They talk about letting your mind be empty of thoughts, so that you can experience Śūnyatā. If they don't know where the thoughts came from, how would they know they are completely empty of thoughts. They would only know they are no longer able to observe any thoughts, because they have trained their mind not to see them.
每個佛教宗派都談到「念頭」，大部分都要您去「觀」「念頭」的生滅。 但不知道他們有沒有想過它是從哪裡來的呢？ 他們要您的腦海裡沒有「念頭」，來體會「空」。 但如果不知道「念頭」來自何處，怎麼會知道完全沒有「念頭」。 只能知道觀察不到「念頭」，因為他們訓練頭腦不去看。
However, mindfulness of your thought is a good practice for people, because when a thought is raised and observed, you will get a chance to evaluate it before it becomes real. You are given a chance to accept and reject that thought, before "Yuan" is created.
但是，留心您的思想也不錯。 因為當一個想法發生，您會得到一個機會去評估它。 一個機會在緣起之前去接受或拒絕這個想法。
People came to this world equally, only differ in the accumulated Karma. This difference in Karma is reflected in their birth, their family and their encounters in their lives. But everyone is given a new chance in life to improve themselves and to become a great man.
人是平等的來到這個世間，僅差在各人所累積的因果報應。 這些因果報應可以從一個人的出生，家庭和生活經驗查覺。 但是每個人都有機會在生活中提高自己，成為大人相。
Life, is a test of human nature. People are tested every day with every encounter in their lives. Every choices that they made either increase their "good karma" or "bad karma." The problem is that it is hard to read the results, because some results reflect immediate actions, but others are caused by a long forgotten past. But a person only need to look at their encounters and surroundings, to know where they are on their karmic balance sheet. The acts of the past are only useful as a tool for reflection, for learning. It is the acts of this instant that counts.
生命，是人性的考驗。 每一件事都是一個測試。 在每一個測試，每一個選擇，一個人可以增加自 己的「善業」或「惡業」。 問題是，「果」很難了解。 因為有些「果」馬上發生，而有些是被人遺忘的「業」所造成。 一個人只需要看看自己的遭遇和周圍，就知道自己的「業報」的資產負債表。 忘記的「業」不是很重要，唯一有用的是用過去的行為作為自我反省的工具。 「當下」的行為是最重要的。
On the surface, an act either can be labeled virtuous or not on the surface. But while that act has its own karmic results, it is more important for people to understand the thoughts behind the act. A virtuous act can manifest from an un-virtuous thought, while an un-virtuous act can came from a virtuous thought.
表面上，一個行為可以分為「善行」或「惡行」。 雖然行為有其自身的「果」，更重要的是行為後面的「念頭」。 一件「善行」可以從「惡念」而生，一個「惡行」也可以來自「善念」。
Thoughts came from our human nature. Virtuous thoughts are the result of the matured human emotions, while un-virtuous thoughts are the results of weaknesses. Doing a virtuous act because of an un-virtuous thought will only reinforce the weakness. Why? Because virtuous acts are often applauded by the society, if un-virtuous thoughts are rewarded, would the weakness not be reinforced?
「念頭」來自於「人性」。 「善念」是成熟的情緒的果。 「惡念」來自於我們的弱點。 因為「惡念」來做「善行」只會加強的 一個人的弱點。 為什麼呢？ 因為「善行」會受到社會的歡迎。 如果「惡念」有獎勵，弱點不會更弱嗎？
For example, people love to do charity works. Everyone knows that doing charity works can bring them good karma. There is nothing wrong with this, because we all have to work for good karma, just like we all have to go to work to make money. But for some people, there are additional reasons deep within them, maybe its a need for "love and attention", "companionship" or "prestige". On the surface, it doesn't look like such a bad thing, but if this need represents a weakness, usually greed, "for love", "for attention" or "for flattery", than it needs to be discovered and eliminated. It requires self-reflection to do so. People know. They just don't want to see it.
例如，大家都喜歡做慈善工作。 大家都知道，做慈善工作，能夠為他們帶來好人緣跟「福報」。 這樣想沒有錯，因為我們都需要努力來得「福報」，就像我們都為了錢去工作。 但對某些人來說，還有其他原因，深在其中，也許他渴望「愛」，「伴」或「名譽」。 表面上看起來還好，但如果這個渴望是一個弱點，通常是貪，「貪愛」，「貪關注」或「貪奉承」，那這個弱點也需要被發現和消除。 一個 人需要自我反省來發現這種弱點。 大家自己心裡都有數，只不想看。
Here, virtuous and un-virtuous acts are what the recipient of the act or some member of society might think of as virtuous or un-virtuous. For example, when you punished a child for misdeeds, the child might think you have performed an un-virtuous act because the child does not understand why. Some people might think your punishment does not fit the misdeed, therefore un-virtuous. If you don't punish a child for misdeeds, other people might think you are un-virtuous for not educating your child. Another example is that a solider, in order to protect his people, might have do a lot of un-virtuous acts.
這裡，「善行」和「惡行」是某些社會或受者所認定的「善」與「惡」。 例如，懲罰一個小孩，小孩會認為您做了「惡行」，因為他不明白為什麼要被懲罰。 某些人會認為您懲罰不適當，所以也認定您做的是「惡行」。 如果不懲罰，某些人會認為這也是「惡行」，因為他們覺得您沒有在教小孩。 另一個例子， 一個軍人，為了保護家人，也許需要做很多「公認」的「惡行」。
Like school, the tests of life are not consists of just quiz. There are occasional major tests. These tests are easy to detect, because they are dramatic. You will know when they occur because of the emotional highs and lows. The result of this test could be a turning point. The biggest test of your life is when you have a need to perform an un-virtuous act for a virtuous reason. Because this is when all of your human characters are tested it. Can you sacrifice something dear to you (and not just your life) to do the right thing?
就像學校，生命的考驗不只是平常考而已。 有偶爾的重大考驗。 這些重大考驗很容易察覺，因為它們有聲有色。 你會知道它們來了，因為情感會有很大的起伏。 這個考驗可能是一個轉點。 您的人生最大的考驗是，當您需要為了「善念」來做一件「惡行」，因為所有的「人性」都會受到考驗。 能為了「善念」來犧牲自己所渴望的嗎 (不一定是生命。)？
But life is lenient, because even if you get it wrong, you given more chances to get it right. But to have a chance to get it right next time, you need to keep asking yourself "Why?", constantly self-reflect. Otherwise, the next time will be the same as this time, and you will only accumulate further negative karmic debt with no way out.
但是生命是寬容的，因為即使您這一次作錯，您還會有其他的機會。 但是，如果您想要在下一次做對的選擇，您需要不斷地問自己「為什麼？」，不斷地在平常考時自我反省。 否則，下一次將會有一樣的錯誤。 這樣下去，您只會一直累積「惡業」而沒有出路。
The simplest way to practice Buddhism is to simply constantly keep virtuous thoughts, constantly reflect on your actions and be the best person that you can be.
所以，最簡單的修行是不斷的保持善念，不斷的反思自己的行為，和好好做人。
[Note] 善念 Virtuous Thoughts are sometimes translated as "Skillful Thoughts" in English. But I think virtuous is better. Sometimes, "Thoughts" are translated as "Intentions."
2012年3月10日 星期六
修行與輪迴 Practice and Samsara
Practice is a very difficult and sometimes very cruel experience.
修行是一個非常困難，有時很殘酷的經驗。
It is about discovering your weaknesses and remove them, one at the time. While doing so, the bad karmic debts that were the result of your weaknesses will demand payment. The karmic debts associated with this particular weakness will come due, because you are attempting to remove the weakness. If you don't make the payment, you will not be able to improve. But the payment is hard, because it requires you to do things contrary to your weaknesses.
修行是發現自己的弱點，並一個個的去刪除它們。 當您發現了一個弱點，這個弱點所造成的「業障」會爆發。 有關這個弱點的「業債」將到期，因為您正在試圖刪除這個弱點。 如果您不還「業債」，您無法進步。 但自動還「業債」是很難的，因為您需要做違背自己的弱點的事。
Words do not convey the difficulties, because people always associate payment with material possessions.
字不能表達這樣的困難，因為大家總是覺得還「業債」跟物質財富有關。
But people forget that payment sometimes must be with emotions. The hardest emotions to repaid is love. The news is full of stories of people cheating on their spouses or women who entice married men to leave their wives. But if you caused another family to disintegrate, you must paid with the disintegration of your family. If you caused the disintegration of a happy family, the karmic debt will wait for you to have a happy family, no matter how many lifetimes.
但是，大家忘記「業債」有時與情緒有關。 最難的是「愛」。 新聞上常常有外遇而導致家庭分裂的故事。 如果您造成一個家庭的分裂，您必須用自己的家庭的分裂來還。 如果這是一個幸福的家庭，「業障」會等您有一個幸福的家庭，不管多少世。
If a person in this situation was not Practicing, the payment comes due naturally, and he will find his family disintegrate in front of him. You can imagine the grief this person will face. This person can do nothing but ask "Why? Why does this happen to me? I am such a good person, never done anything wrong, never hurt anyone." He asked because he does not know the bad karmic deed that he had performed in one of his past life.
如果一個人在這種情況下沒有在修行，到時，他會發現他的家庭突然在他面前瓦解。您應該可以想像，這個人所面臨的悲痛。 他只能問：「為什麼？為什麼會這樣對我，我這麼好的人，從來沒有做錯事，從來沒有傷害任何人，為什麼？」因為他不知道他前世所做的事。
But if this person is a practitioner, he will have some understanding of the bad karmic deed in his previous life. Then, the question becomes if he has the courage to do the right thing. The right thing might be to volunteering leave and dissolve this family and hurt everyone in the process. Because the alternative can be even worse. But the right thing will seem cruel, not only to him, but to everyone in the world. The family friends and relatives will not understand and accept his choice. His family members bear the sorrow of the separation. He must bear not only the sorrow, and the consequence of making the choice and find himself all alone in the world, with everyone accusing him of doing the wrong thing. And he will have no defense, he can only accept the accusation.
但如果這個人有在修，他將對他前世所做的事有些瞭解。 問題就變成，他有沒有勇氣，去做正確的事。 正確的事可能是自願離開和解散這個家庭，也傷害在這個過程中的每一個人。 因為其他的選擇更糟。 但是正確的事會顯得很殘忍。 家庭的朋友和親戚不會理解和接受他的選擇。 他的家人承受「生離」的苦。 他必須承擔「生離」苦，也必須承擔選擇的後果，每個人都會指責他做了錯事，害了人家，但他也無法回應，只能在世界上獨自接受社會的眼光。
This is not to say that his choices are binary: to separate or not to separate. There are other possible decisions that he could make and paths that he can take. The crux for the practitioner is: in this time of ultimate distress, can he keep Buddha's teachings in his heart and mind and to practice Buddha's teachings in real life.
這並不是說，他的選擇只有「生離」或「不生離」。 他還有其他選擇，其他的路。 但重點是，在這個最堅苦的時刻，他能不能心存佛法，也在現實生活中運用佛法。
Life is samsara, because we all hurt each other, emotionally, one time or another. I hurt her, she hurt him, and he hurt me. There is no beginning and the end to this chain of Nidānas , not at this point.
生命是輪迴，因為我們都互相傷害，在情感上。 我傷害了她，她傷害了他，他也傷害了我。 這樣的因缘沒有開始也沒有結束。
Sometimes, the only way out is to do the cruelest thing a person can do to himself. Because it is the best terrible choice that is available. Because if you can advance to the point that other people cannot hurt you emotionally, then you will have no need to hurt other people. This is how to be liberated. You need to be liberated first, before you can save others.
有時，唯一的出路是做對自己最殘酷的事情。 因為這是所有可怕的選擇中最好的。 因為如果您能修到不被傷害，您就不需要傷害別人。 這樣才能解脫。 自己要先解脫，才能救別人。
We Practice, so that in the most distressing and confusing times of our lives, we can remember Buddha's teaching and apply Dharma in the most difficult situation.
修行的目的是讓我們在最堅苦、最痛心混亂的時刻，記得跟運用佛法來幫我們面對考驗。
修行是一個非常困難，有時很殘酷的經驗。
It is about discovering your weaknesses and remove them, one at the time. While doing so, the bad karmic debts that were the result of your weaknesses will demand payment. The karmic debts associated with this particular weakness will come due, because you are attempting to remove the weakness. If you don't make the payment, you will not be able to improve. But the payment is hard, because it requires you to do things contrary to your weaknesses.
修行是發現自己的弱點，並一個個的去刪除它們。 當您發現了一個弱點，這個弱點所造成的「業障」會爆發。 有關這個弱點的「業債」將到期，因為您正在試圖刪除這個弱點。 如果您不還「業債」，您無法進步。 但自動還「業債」是很難的，因為您需要做違背自己的弱點的事。
Words do not convey the difficulties, because people always associate payment with material possessions.
字不能表達這樣的困難，因為大家總是覺得還「業債」跟物質財富有關。
But people forget that payment sometimes must be with emotions. The hardest emotions to repaid is love. The news is full of stories of people cheating on their spouses or women who entice married men to leave their wives. But if you caused another family to disintegrate, you must paid with the disintegration of your family. If you caused the disintegration of a happy family, the karmic debt will wait for you to have a happy family, no matter how many lifetimes.
但是，大家忘記「業債」有時與情緒有關。 最難的是「愛」。 新聞上常常有外遇而導致家庭分裂的故事。 如果您造成一個家庭的分裂，您必須用自己的家庭的分裂來還。 如果這是一個幸福的家庭，「業障」會等您有一個幸福的家庭，不管多少世。
If a person in this situation was not Practicing, the payment comes due naturally, and he will find his family disintegrate in front of him. You can imagine the grief this person will face. This person can do nothing but ask "Why? Why does this happen to me? I am such a good person, never done anything wrong, never hurt anyone." He asked because he does not know the bad karmic deed that he had performed in one of his past life.
如果一個人在這種情況下沒有在修行，到時，他會發現他的家庭突然在他面前瓦解。您應該可以想像，這個人所面臨的悲痛。 他只能問：「為什麼？為什麼會這樣對我，我這麼好的人，從來沒有做錯事，從來沒有傷害任何人，為什麼？」因為他不知道他前世所做的事。
But if this person is a practitioner, he will have some understanding of the bad karmic deed in his previous life. Then, the question becomes if he has the courage to do the right thing. The right thing might be to volunteering leave and dissolve this family and hurt everyone in the process. Because the alternative can be even worse. But the right thing will seem cruel, not only to him, but to everyone in the world. The family friends and relatives will not understand and accept his choice. His family members bear the sorrow of the separation. He must bear not only the sorrow, and the consequence of making the choice and find himself all alone in the world, with everyone accusing him of doing the wrong thing. And he will have no defense, he can only accept the accusation.
但如果這個人有在修，他將對他前世所做的事有些瞭解。 問題就變成，他有沒有勇氣，去做正確的事。 正確的事可能是自願離開和解散這個家庭，也傷害在這個過程中的每一個人。 因為其他的選擇更糟。 但是正確的事會顯得很殘忍。 家庭的朋友和親戚不會理解和接受他的選擇。 他的家人承受「生離」的苦。 他必須承擔「生離」苦，也必須承擔選擇的後果，每個人都會指責他做了錯事，害了人家，但他也無法回應，只能在世界上獨自接受社會的眼光。
This is not to say that his choices are binary: to separate or not to separate. There are other possible decisions that he could make and paths that he can take. The crux for the practitioner is: in this time of ultimate distress, can he keep Buddha's teachings in his heart and mind and to practice Buddha's teachings in real life.
這並不是說，他的選擇只有「生離」或「不生離」。 他還有其他選擇，其他的路。 但重點是，在這個最堅苦的時刻，他能不能心存佛法，也在現實生活中運用佛法。
Life is samsara, because we all hurt each other, emotionally, one time or another. I hurt her, she hurt him, and he hurt me. There is no beginning and the end to this chain of Nidānas , not at this point.
生命是輪迴，因為我們都互相傷害，在情感上。 我傷害了她，她傷害了他，他也傷害了我。 這樣的因缘沒有開始也沒有結束。
Sometimes, the only way out is to do the cruelest thing a person can do to himself. Because it is the best terrible choice that is available. Because if you can advance to the point that other people cannot hurt you emotionally, then you will have no need to hurt other people. This is how to be liberated. You need to be liberated first, before you can save others.
有時，唯一的出路是做對自己最殘酷的事情。 因為這是所有可怕的選擇中最好的。 因為如果您能修到不被傷害，您就不需要傷害別人。 這樣才能解脫。 自己要先解脫，才能救別人。
We Practice, so that in the most distressing and confusing times of our lives, we can remember Buddha's teaching and apply Dharma in the most difficult situation.
修行的目的是讓我們在最堅苦、最痛心混亂的時刻，記得跟運用佛法來幫我們面對考驗。
2012年3月9日 星期五
肉體與精神 5 (我為什麼修因緣法) Body and Spirits 5 (Why I Practice Nidānas )
用因緣詮釋一下心經 : 觀自在菩薩，行深般若波羅蜜多時，照見五蘊皆空。
I would like to use Nidānas to interpret the Heart Sutra.
When Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara was practicing the profound Prajna Paramita, he illuminated the Five Skandhas and saw that they are Śūnyatā.
通過因緣法解釋； 【觀自在菩薩，體悟深沉的因緣法，進入甚深的因緣法，看見五蘊在因緣法下，呈現空寂。】
If I use Nidānas to explain this, it would become:
When Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara was experiencing deep Nidānas, and penetrating even deeper into Nidānas, he saw that Five Skandhas exhibit Kōngjì[Note].
這是大乘佛學的精義，卻可以從身體觀照起來，進入，回頭看看自己的身體，呈現什麼? 不是當下，不是借給你用的，是因緣所生法，我說即是空 (中觀論)。
This is the essence of Mahayana Buddhism. But it can be illuminated, see, penetrated from the body. When I turned around to see my own body, what did I see? Not "This Instant" and not a loan. It is "The law of creation by nidānas, I said is Śūnyatā" (Mūlamadhyamakakārikā).
半寄 Master Ban Ji
[Note] 空寂: I choose to translate this phonetically because I don't think I can do it correctly in English.
上一篇 Previous Part
I would like to use Nidānas to interpret the Heart Sutra.
When Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara was practicing the profound Prajna Paramita, he illuminated the Five Skandhas and saw that they are Śūnyatā.
通過因緣法解釋； 【觀自在菩薩，體悟深沉的因緣法，進入甚深的因緣法，看見五蘊在因緣法下，呈現空寂。】
If I use Nidānas to explain this, it would become:
When Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara was experiencing deep Nidānas, and penetrating even deeper into Nidānas, he saw that Five Skandhas exhibit Kōngjì[Note].
這是大乘佛學的精義，卻可以從身體觀照起來，進入，回頭看看自己的身體，呈現什麼? 不是當下，不是借給你用的，是因緣所生法，我說即是空 (中觀論)。
This is the essence of Mahayana Buddhism. But it can be illuminated, see, penetrated from the body. When I turned around to see my own body, what did I see? Not "This Instant" and not a loan. It is "The law of creation by nidānas, I said is Śūnyatā" (Mūlamadhyamakakārikā).
半寄 Master Ban Ji
[Note] 空寂: I choose to translate this phonetically because I don't think I can do it correctly in English.
上一篇 Previous Part
2012年3月8日 星期四
肉體與精神 4 (我為什麼修因緣法) Body and Spirits 4 (Why I Practice Nidānas )
中國有位趙州禪師(778年至897年) ，【學者問他什麼是禪! 他回答說: 我要去小便】，去小便也是禪嗎? 當然! 若不是!? 哪一件事比這一件事重要? 人真的可以祇要精神，而不顧肉體? 肉體給予自己的真都是髒的，或者真相是精神無肉體支撐，根本無法動彈，而肉體無有精神存在也祇剩下行屍走肉的軀殼。
There is a story about a Chinese Zen Master, Zhàozhōu Cōngshěn (778 AD to 897 AD). A person ask him what is Chan (Zen). He answered: I am going to urinate. Is urinating Zen? Of course! If it is not, what is more important? Can people really only need the "spirit/mind" and ignore the "body?" Is it really true that the body only give you what is dirty? Or is the truth that without the body, the spirit/mind is totally helpless, and body without the spirit is just a walking zombie?
真有形而上跟形而下的差別? 人可能這般的被切割成兩個層面? 還是很多學說自欺也欺人? 人可以站在高峰又低頭對自己說你很髒? 讀通禪宗公案後，會發覺一件事，證悟的禪師們，是歷代(華人)最面對真相世界的修學者，如果中國佛學史少了禪宗，將遜色不少，影響所及恐怕連基本生活，都乏味許多。
Is there really a differences between body and spirit/mind? Can a human being really be split in two like this? Or is it that many theories deceive themselves and others. How can a person stand at the top and then look at yourself, and tell yourself that you are dirty? After reading the koans from Chinese Zen, I found that the enlightened Zen Masters are practitioners that truly faced the world of truth. If Chinese Buddhism did not have Chinese Zen, it would be inferior. Without it, life would probably be a little bit boring.
現在的我可以很輕鬆生活，不見得是物質條件足夠而已! 在穿透因緣法後，不用給自己要求什麼? 也不須要時時刻刻提醒自己，必須記住那個法門，我自己就在因緣裡面生存。
Now I have an easy living. This is not because I have enough things. It is because after penetrating Nidānas, I don't have to ask anything of myself. I also don't have to remind myself all the time to remember this or that practices. I just live and survive in Nidānas.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
There is a story about a Chinese Zen Master, Zhàozhōu Cōngshěn (778 AD to 897 AD). A person ask him what is Chan (Zen). He answered: I am going to urinate. Is urinating Zen? Of course! If it is not, what is more important? Can people really only need the "spirit/mind" and ignore the "body?" Is it really true that the body only give you what is dirty? Or is the truth that without the body, the spirit/mind is totally helpless, and body without the spirit is just a walking zombie?
真有形而上跟形而下的差別? 人可能這般的被切割成兩個層面? 還是很多學說自欺也欺人? 人可以站在高峰又低頭對自己說你很髒? 讀通禪宗公案後，會發覺一件事，證悟的禪師們，是歷代(華人)最面對真相世界的修學者，如果中國佛學史少了禪宗，將遜色不少，影響所及恐怕連基本生活，都乏味許多。
Is there really a differences between body and spirit/mind? Can a human being really be split in two like this? Or is it that many theories deceive themselves and others. How can a person stand at the top and then look at yourself, and tell yourself that you are dirty? After reading the koans from Chinese Zen, I found that the enlightened Zen Masters are practitioners that truly faced the world of truth. If Chinese Buddhism did not have Chinese Zen, it would be inferior. Without it, life would probably be a little bit boring.
現在的我可以很輕鬆生活，不見得是物質條件足夠而已! 在穿透因緣法後，不用給自己要求什麼? 也不須要時時刻刻提醒自己，必須記住那個法門，我自己就在因緣裡面生存。
Now I have an easy living. This is not because I have enough things. It is because after penetrating Nidānas, I don't have to ask anything of myself. I also don't have to remind myself all the time to remember this or that practices. I just live and survive in Nidānas.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
2012年3月7日 星期三
肉體與精神 3 (我為什麼修因緣法) Body and Spirits 3 (Why I Practice Nidānas )
清楚的接收來自身體的訊息，近距離看見它以後，反倒可以觀想起因緣法來，第一次很親切的知道因緣法才是對的思想，身體因緣(條件)起變化不同了，當然無法再隨心所欲，想做什麼就做什麼!? 這不是心與心所的問題，人自己不能因為學理的灌輸，或宗教的教育，就可以硬扣一頂帽子，要求自己戴著，而完全不管事實呈現是什麼狀態，這好比是求救無援一般，對自己身體的求助視若無睹，有時候救援別人都比救自己積極。
Once I have clearly accepted the information from my body, and looked at it closely, I was able to see Nidānas. That was the first time I know that Nidānas is the right path. The body changed because its Nidānas has changed, so it can no longer do what it wants. This is not about Idealism. People should not put labels on themselves because of a theory or a religion, and ignore the reality. Ignoring the body's plea for help is to be helplessness,. Sometime, people are more eager to help others than to help themselves.
在因緣法的架構下，比較有勇氣跟眼睛，真正面對自己身體的不適，第一次看自己的時候，才驚覺自己像盲人一樣，眼睛是看不見的，甚至是不敢看的，好可怕! 人竟然是這樣在對待自己，假如不是自己回了頭，回應它的求救，我會知道原來所謂要修行的自己，是這麼不堪嗎?
Under the framework of Nidānas, I had the courage and eyes to look at the discomforts of my own body. The first time that I looked at myself, I was surprised that I was blind. My eyes could not see, and I was even afraid to look. I was horrified to know that this is how people treat themselves. If I didn't turn around to answer it's plea, would I know that I was so helpless and useless?
愈面對自己愈清楚因緣組合下的自己，會因為因緣條件的喪失，也跟著沒了! 很真實的思維，路變得豁然開朗。
The more I faced myself, and clearly understand the self that was composed by Nidānas, and I know that this self will disappear with the loss of Nidānas. After I started to reason truthfully and clearly, the path seems brighter and wider.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
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Once I have clearly accepted the information from my body, and looked at it closely, I was able to see Nidānas. That was the first time I know that Nidānas is the right path. The body changed because its Nidānas has changed, so it can no longer do what it wants. This is not about Idealism. People should not put labels on themselves because of a theory or a religion, and ignore the reality. Ignoring the body's plea for help is to be helplessness,. Sometime, people are more eager to help others than to help themselves.
在因緣法的架構下，比較有勇氣跟眼睛，真正面對自己身體的不適，第一次看自己的時候，才驚覺自己像盲人一樣，眼睛是看不見的，甚至是不敢看的，好可怕! 人竟然是這樣在對待自己，假如不是自己回了頭，回應它的求救，我會知道原來所謂要修行的自己，是這麼不堪嗎?
Under the framework of Nidānas, I had the courage and eyes to look at the discomforts of my own body. The first time that I looked at myself, I was surprised that I was blind. My eyes could not see, and I was even afraid to look. I was horrified to know that this is how people treat themselves. If I didn't turn around to answer it's plea, would I know that I was so helpless and useless?
愈面對自己愈清楚因緣組合下的自己，會因為因緣條件的喪失，也跟著沒了! 很真實的思維，路變得豁然開朗。
The more I faced myself, and clearly understand the self that was composed by Nidānas, and I know that this self will disappear with the loss of Nidānas. After I started to reason truthfully and clearly, the path seems brighter and wider.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
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2012年3月6日 星期二
肉體與精神 2 (我為什麼修因緣法) Body and Spirits 2 (Why I Practice Nidānas )
病痛在折磨的時候，形而上學起不了作用，唯心論也不知跑去哪裡? ( 唯心論者的教法是心想事成，一切外面事物的呈現，唯心所現，是心與心所(對待)產生)，努力的自我振作精神，卻怎麼也無法拿學的思想，去擊敗病痛 ! 逼得自己回頭正視身體感官的存在，而它確實也真真實實的存在，不是心跟心所而已，也無法是借用的態度帶過，我清楚的知道，它就是自己的自己，不是別人借給你的，更不是唯心所現的，而這些為什麼這麼被佛教界忽視、漠視 !?
When I was been tortured by ailments, metaphysics was useless to me. Philosophical Idealism was no place to be found either. The teaching of Idealism is that an idea can become reality. Everything that we see are all created by the mind, and appeared for the mind. But no matter how I tried, I could not take an idea to defeat pain and illness. So I needed to look at the existences of my body and senses. And it really exists as well. Your body is not created by your mind, and you could not treat it as a borrowed vessel. I clearly know that it is the self of myself, not a loan from other people, and not created by my mind. But why does the Buddhist world ignore this?
現實的感觸像教人打開眼睛一樣，在生病中思索佛法，自己的身體像老師一般帶我去看佛學沒教的東西，我看見身體不是臭皮囊，也不是明代理學家講的有浩然正氣的充滿，就是一個身體，有感情、有感官、會自己觸摸身體的痛、愉快、失落.......，然後回報給自己它的感受，假使你讓它自己自由，不強迫它用學理回答自己，也不灌輸它該怎麼想?! 怎麼感受?! 那它會真實回答你自己，它是什麼感覺。
A touch of reality taught me to open my eyes. While thinking about teaching of Buddha in ailments, I found that my body is like a teacher and taught me what Buddhism did not teach. I found that body is not simply a bag of flesh and skin. It is also not what the philosophers' from the Ming dynasty called "Full of awe-inspiring righteousness." A body is a body, with feelings, with senses. It will tell you how it feels, pain, happiness, confusion... If you let your body be free, and if you don't force it to use theory to answer you, and if you don't tell it what to think. What would happen? It will tell you truthfully how it feels.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
When I was been tortured by ailments, metaphysics was useless to me. Philosophical Idealism was no place to be found either. The teaching of Idealism is that an idea can become reality. Everything that we see are all created by the mind, and appeared for the mind. But no matter how I tried, I could not take an idea to defeat pain and illness. So I needed to look at the existences of my body and senses. And it really exists as well. Your body is not created by your mind, and you could not treat it as a borrowed vessel. I clearly know that it is the self of myself, not a loan from other people, and not created by my mind. But why does the Buddhist world ignore this?
現實的感觸像教人打開眼睛一樣，在生病中思索佛法，自己的身體像老師一般帶我去看佛學沒教的東西，我看見身體不是臭皮囊，也不是明代理學家講的有浩然正氣的充滿，就是一個身體，有感情、有感官、會自己觸摸身體的痛、愉快、失落.......，然後回報給自己它的感受，假使你讓它自己自由，不強迫它用學理回答自己，也不灌輸它該怎麼想?! 怎麼感受?! 那它會真實回答你自己，它是什麼感覺。
A touch of reality taught me to open my eyes. While thinking about teaching of Buddha in ailments, I found that my body is like a teacher and taught me what Buddhism did not teach. I found that body is not simply a bag of flesh and skin. It is also not what the philosophers' from the Ming dynasty called "Full of awe-inspiring righteousness." A body is a body, with feelings, with senses. It will tell you how it feels, pain, happiness, confusion... If you let your body be free, and if you don't force it to use theory to answer you, and if you don't tell it what to think. What would happen? It will tell you truthfully how it feels.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
2012年3月5日 星期一
肉體與精神 1 (我為什麼修因緣法) Body and Spirits 1 (Why I Practice Nidānas )
記得我成長的年代，當時流行的思想是形而上學與形而下學，還引發廣泛的爭論，那時看只當有趣，大概年輕只覺得這種問題也須要爭論的那麼仔細 !? 後來出家，才更知道，這個問題困擾很多人，連自己也被攪得頭暈，原因在於不能確認到底是形而上(聖潔的)的思想對? 或是形而下(屬汙濁方面)也是對的? 尤其是僧團的環境，說形而下也是對的，可能有如登天的困難。
When I was growing up, the fashionable philosophical ideas and debates at the time were metaphysics and materialism[Note]. At the time, I thought it was interesting. Maybe it was because I was young, and felt that this topic needed this kind of detailed attention. After I became a bhikkhuni, I found out that this question cause a lot of people a lot of problems. Even I was confused by it. The reason is that no one can say if the "spirit/mind" (The saintly aspect) is correct. Or the "body" (The dirty aspect) is also correct. Especially in the environment of sangha, to say that the idea of materialism is correct is almost impossible.
其實每一個人的心裡頭，應該都是認為形而上的思想才是對的，包含高貴的情操，潔淨的心靈，哪個人不愛! 假使不是被某些事觸動! 我想我會認同形而上的想法才是對的到底 ，把這些轉成白話來說 : 就變成肉體與精神哪個比較高貴、重要，有修過佛法的行者，多少都曾經在肉體與精神上徘徊過，程度深淺不同而已。
In the heart and mind of every one, we like to think that idea of the "spirit/mind" is correct. Who does not want noble sentiments and clean hearts and minds. If I was not touched by a certain encounter, I would probably agree with the idea of the "spirit/mind" as well. To say this in a different way, the debate about the "spirit/mind" and the "body" is a debate to determine which is more important and more noble. Many practitioners of Buddhism should all have lingered over this issue, only differ by degrees.
佛教本身很多教育，傾向身體是暫時借用，所以不能太執著，無庸置疑佛教一定是以精神為上的，肉體能不管它就不要管，原本這樣的說法，不太有問題的，也或許是自己的阻礙較深，那時年輕的自己經常有病痛，病久了! 發覺肉體的影響力很強，人在生病時好的想法會不見了，取而代之的是灰色，消極的世界。
There are many teachings in Buddhism that view the body as a temporary accommodation, and that we should not be too attach to it. The implication of this is that Buddhism is more focused on the spirit/mind, and if we can ignore the body, we should. Originally, I thought this line of reasoning is fine. But perhaps it is because I have more obstacles, I often have many ailments in my youth. After a while, these ailments let me know the influences and effects of a human body. When a person is sick, many positive thoughts will disappear, only to be replaced by a grey and negative world.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
[Note] 形而上學,形而下學: 形而上學's standard translation is metaphysics and there does not seem to be a standard translation for 形而下. These two terms came from I-Ching. 形而上 in this context is referring to the mind or the spirit. 形而下 is referring to the body, and I have translated it as materialism here.
When I was growing up, the fashionable philosophical ideas and debates at the time were metaphysics and materialism[Note]. At the time, I thought it was interesting. Maybe it was because I was young, and felt that this topic needed this kind of detailed attention. After I became a bhikkhuni, I found out that this question cause a lot of people a lot of problems. Even I was confused by it. The reason is that no one can say if the "spirit/mind" (The saintly aspect) is correct. Or the "body" (The dirty aspect) is also correct. Especially in the environment of sangha, to say that the idea of materialism is correct is almost impossible.
其實每一個人的心裡頭，應該都是認為形而上的思想才是對的，包含高貴的情操，潔淨的心靈，哪個人不愛! 假使不是被某些事觸動! 我想我會認同形而上的想法才是對的到底 ，把這些轉成白話來說 : 就變成肉體與精神哪個比較高貴、重要，有修過佛法的行者，多少都曾經在肉體與精神上徘徊過，程度深淺不同而已。
In the heart and mind of every one, we like to think that idea of the "spirit/mind" is correct. Who does not want noble sentiments and clean hearts and minds. If I was not touched by a certain encounter, I would probably agree with the idea of the "spirit/mind" as well. To say this in a different way, the debate about the "spirit/mind" and the "body" is a debate to determine which is more important and more noble. Many practitioners of Buddhism should all have lingered over this issue, only differ by degrees.
佛教本身很多教育，傾向身體是暫時借用，所以不能太執著，無庸置疑佛教一定是以精神為上的，肉體能不管它就不要管，原本這樣的說法，不太有問題的，也或許是自己的阻礙較深，那時年輕的自己經常有病痛，病久了! 發覺肉體的影響力很強，人在生病時好的想法會不見了，取而代之的是灰色，消極的世界。
There are many teachings in Buddhism that view the body as a temporary accommodation, and that we should not be too attach to it. The implication of this is that Buddhism is more focused on the spirit/mind, and if we can ignore the body, we should. Originally, I thought this line of reasoning is fine. But perhaps it is because I have more obstacles, I often have many ailments in my youth. After a while, these ailments let me know the influences and effects of a human body. When a person is sick, many positive thoughts will disappear, only to be replaced by a grey and negative world.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
[Note] 形而上學,形而下學: 形而上學's standard translation is metaphysics and there does not seem to be a standard translation for 形而下. These two terms came from I-Ching. 形而上 in this context is referring to the mind or the spirit. 形而下 is referring to the body, and I have translated it as materialism here.
2012年3月4日 星期日
印度人的苦文化 4 Indian's Culture of Dukkha 4
苦是人世間的存在事實，去說明它是有必要的，但這也無法否認，印度人講苦的確講到了極端，不但把它變成一種普遍的消極，還相當的給予合理化，前面說過地理孕育人文，也許這也是原因之一，苦的導向結果就是他們自己的國家，至今仍然窮困，也間接促使佛學起了重大變化，還原歷史的腳步，去看它演化的過程，讓讀者自己明白，在原始教典與大乘佛學間，不需要舉棋不定，不知該選擇那一個才好，我很了解許多的修學者，面對龐大的佛學，經常是徬徨無助的，然而每一個思想從生起到成熟，中間的演變，不可能不起變化，會流傳下來的學問，在歷經時代的考驗後，會顯現屬於它自己的光澤。
Suffering is part of life, and it is necessary to explain it. But it is also true that Indians had discussed suffering to the extreme. Not only did they made concept of suffering a common passivity and negativity, they also made it reasonable and legitimate. I have previously said that geography breeds humanity and culture. Maybe this is part of the reason that the focus of suffering make their country the way it is today, still full of poverty. But it also became a catalyst for Buddhism to change. If we go back in time and follow the footsteps of history, we can see the evolution of Buddhism, and the readers will be able to understand how to choose between Early Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism. I understand that many practitioners, when faced with the tremendous volumes of Buddhist Texts, often felt helpless. But every idea, from birth to maturity, must undergo changes. Whatever remains are tested by time and will show its own brightness.
而後來的修學者，更應有能力去吸收它的精華，至少演變大致已告一個段落、過程也清晰的反應出來，剩下的是吸取，或者純粹欣賞光芒而已!
The practitioners that came after the maturity of an idea should have more ability to absorb the essence of these teachings. Because the evolution of the idea has come to a stopping point and all that remain is to absorb or simply enjoying the light.
明白苦的歷史，讓修學者可以更坦然去修四聖諦，苦、集、滅、道，從容的從苦諦 (道)邁開步伐，往前方走去。
Once you have understand the history of dukkha, you will be able to practice the 4 Noble Truths undisturbed, and leisurely use dukkha as a starting point and walk forward.
註一 : 佛陀最初說的法
苦諦（迷的果．即苦果）
集諦（迷的因．即苦因）
滅諦（悟的果．即樂果）
道諦（悟的因．即樂因）
Note 1: Buddha's original teaching:
Suffering, dukkha (Result of confusion, also result of suffering.)
Origin of Suffering, Dukkha Samudaya (Cause of confusion, also cause of suffering.)
Cessation of Suffering, Dukkha Nirodha (Result of awakening, also result of happiness.)
The Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering, Dukkha Nirodha Gamini Patipada Magga (Cause of awakening, also cause of happiness.)
半寄 Master Ban Ji
上一篇 Previous Part
Suffering is part of life, and it is necessary to explain it. But it is also true that Indians had discussed suffering to the extreme. Not only did they made concept of suffering a common passivity and negativity, they also made it reasonable and legitimate. I have previously said that geography breeds humanity and culture. Maybe this is part of the reason that the focus of suffering make their country the way it is today, still full of poverty. But it also became a catalyst for Buddhism to change. If we go back in time and follow the footsteps of history, we can see the evolution of Buddhism, and the readers will be able to understand how to choose between Early Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism. I understand that many practitioners, when faced with the tremendous volumes of Buddhist Texts, often felt helpless. But every idea, from birth to maturity, must undergo changes. Whatever remains are tested by time and will show its own brightness.
而後來的修學者，更應有能力去吸收它的精華，至少演變大致已告一個段落、過程也清晰的反應出來，剩下的是吸取，或者純粹欣賞光芒而已!
The practitioners that came after the maturity of an idea should have more ability to absorb the essence of these teachings. Because the evolution of the idea has come to a stopping point and all that remain is to absorb or simply enjoying the light.
明白苦的歷史，讓修學者可以更坦然去修四聖諦，苦、集、滅、道，從容的從苦諦 (道)邁開步伐，往前方走去。
Once you have understand the history of dukkha, you will be able to practice the 4 Noble Truths undisturbed, and leisurely use dukkha as a starting point and walk forward.
註一 : 佛陀最初說的法
苦諦（迷的果．即苦果）
集諦（迷的因．即苦因）
滅諦（悟的果．即樂果）
道諦（悟的因．即樂因）
Note 1: Buddha's original teaching:
Suffering, dukkha (Result of confusion, also result of suffering.)
Origin of Suffering, Dukkha Samudaya (Cause of confusion, also cause of suffering.)
Cessation of Suffering, Dukkha Nirodha (Result of awakening, also result of happiness.)
The Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering, Dukkha Nirodha Gamini Patipada Magga (Cause of awakening, also cause of happiness.)
半寄 Master Ban Ji
上一篇 Previous Part
2012年3月3日 星期六
印度人的苦文化 3 Indian's Culture of Dukkha 3
在阿含經的內容記載裡，可以看到佛陀的教學方法 (雖然很苦悶)，日常生活、及與弟子間的互動情形，真實的感受佛陀血肉之驅的存在，
We can see Buddha's teaching (although gloomy), daily lives, and the interaction between his followers in the Agama. But we can also feel the existence of Buddha's physical body.
在後來衍生的大乘經典裡，思想的內容，及思考方向，已全然朝不同的層次在演進，佛陀已遠，佛教正式進入論師與論典的時代，那蘭陀大學的興建 ，除了是世界上第一間大學外， 那蘭陀大學蘊育無數的人才，其中也包括中國著名的玄奘法師，如同現今的綜合大學研究所，教師與學生，不斷演進著印度本身及佛陀留下的思想，還學習醫藥，語言。
In the development of later Mahayana Buddhist Texts, the contents, ideas and the directions were all evolving toward a different level. Time of Buddha had long passed, and Buddhism is entering into an era of theoreticians and theories. The establishment of Nalanda college, other than the fact that it was the world's first college, developed many talents, one of which is the famous Dharma Master Xuanzang. Like today's research labs in a university, teachers and students are continuing improve Indians' and Buddha's ideas, but they also learned medicines and language.
婆羅門教加佛教，再加民間信仰的需求 ( 含醫藥、消災解厄，當時修道者知識份子居多，也就兼負醫療責任)，大乘佛教以全新的面貌，展現在世人眼前，不僅苦的論述減低，新的論文內容不斷出爐，除思想、修法外、也有像小說情節的內容加入，極俱幻想性，華嚴經這部大經典更是為個中翹楚 ! 可以想見在這麼豐富的文化、思想交集下。於是乎 ! 大乘佛學如萬馬奔騰般，全力往中國、西藏、日本，韓國傳開，跟苦悶的原始教典比較，它不僅開花結果，還成了當地主要的信仰。
Combined Brahaminism, Buddhism and the beliefs and needs of the populace (Including medicine, exorcism, many practitioners at the time are intellectuals, so they also took on the responsibilities of medicine.), Mahayana were presented to the world with a whole new face. Not only were there less discussion of suffering, new contents also appeared constantly. Other than theories, ideas and practices, they also included contents that are like fictional novels, full of imagination. Avataṃsaka Sūtra was the pinnacle. It is easy to see why Mahayana was able to spread to China, Tibet, Japan and Korea. Compare to the gloomy Agama, not only was it able to spread, it also became the main religion of those countries.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
We can see Buddha's teaching (although gloomy), daily lives, and the interaction between his followers in the Agama. But we can also feel the existence of Buddha's physical body.
在後來衍生的大乘經典裡，思想的內容，及思考方向，已全然朝不同的層次在演進，佛陀已遠，佛教正式進入論師與論典的時代，那蘭陀大學的興建 ，除了是世界上第一間大學外， 那蘭陀大學蘊育無數的人才，其中也包括中國著名的玄奘法師，如同現今的綜合大學研究所，教師與學生，不斷演進著印度本身及佛陀留下的思想，還學習醫藥，語言。
In the development of later Mahayana Buddhist Texts, the contents, ideas and the directions were all evolving toward a different level. Time of Buddha had long passed, and Buddhism is entering into an era of theoreticians and theories. The establishment of Nalanda college, other than the fact that it was the world's first college, developed many talents, one of which is the famous Dharma Master Xuanzang. Like today's research labs in a university, teachers and students are continuing improve Indians' and Buddha's ideas, but they also learned medicines and language.
婆羅門教加佛教，再加民間信仰的需求 ( 含醫藥、消災解厄，當時修道者知識份子居多，也就兼負醫療責任)，大乘佛教以全新的面貌，展現在世人眼前，不僅苦的論述減低，新的論文內容不斷出爐，除思想、修法外、也有像小說情節的內容加入，極俱幻想性，華嚴經這部大經典更是為個中翹楚 ! 可以想見在這麼豐富的文化、思想交集下。於是乎 ! 大乘佛學如萬馬奔騰般，全力往中國、西藏、日本，韓國傳開，跟苦悶的原始教典比較，它不僅開花結果，還成了當地主要的信仰。
Combined Brahaminism, Buddhism and the beliefs and needs of the populace (Including medicine, exorcism, many practitioners at the time are intellectuals, so they also took on the responsibilities of medicine.), Mahayana were presented to the world with a whole new face. Not only were there less discussion of suffering, new contents also appeared constantly. Other than theories, ideas and practices, they also included contents that are like fictional novels, full of imagination. Avataṃsaka Sūtra was the pinnacle. It is easy to see why Mahayana was able to spread to China, Tibet, Japan and Korea. Compare to the gloomy Agama, not only was it able to spread, it also became the main religion of those countries.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
2012年3月2日 星期五
印度人的苦文化 2 Indian's Culture of Dukkha 2
拿中國人跟印度人的戰爭比較一下，會出現天壤之別，印度人軍隊戰爭時，老百姓是可以在旁邊圍觀的，依據大藏經文獻的記載會看到一個有趣畫面，兩軍在交戰時，不打戰的人們，竟然可以站在旁邊指指點點，比手畫腳評論一番，不知道這世上除了印度人的戰爭外，還有哪個國家是這樣 打戰的?
If we compare the wars of Chinese and Indians, we will see a huge differences. When Indians' armies were fighting, civilians could stand on the side and watch. Historical texts from Dàzàngjīng (Great Treasury of Sūtras) recorded an interesting scene. When two armies were fighting, the people who were not fighting stood at the side and opinionated about the battle to each other. Is there any other country fight wars this way?
反觀中國人的戰爭，在春秋戰國時代，為了國家生存、個人的功名(相當於近代的軍事學者)所催化出來的戰爭手段，其殘酷、冷血、至今依然令人髮指，在大環境相同的戰亂裡，竟有著這麼多不同的手法，似乎說明了為什麼對苦的詮釋，兩個國家接受程度有這麼大的不同。
On the other hand, if we look at the wars in China, in the Spring-Autumn period, many cruel and cold blooded tactics, strategies and methods were conducted in the name of the survival of the country and fame and fortune of the military advisers. The drastic differences in the wars and battles conducted under the similar context, seem to explain why these two cultures have different acceptance of the interpretation of suffering.
阿含經(原始教典) 在整個華人區域幾乎是消失的，一直到最近幾年，國際間掀起原始教典熱烈的討論，才又讓華人區域重新去看到它的價值，然而除了修學者會迫切想知道不同的修法外，一般信眾的焦點、目光還是不太可能放在阿含經身上，這是文化的距離造成的，也沒有所謂對與錯的問題。
Agama (Early Buddhist Texts) also disappear from Chinese Buddhism. It is not until recently that it received any attention. But this is due to the enthusiastic discussion of Agamas internationally. But other than practitioners who are interested in knowing about different Practices, most Chinese Buddhists' focus are not on Agama. This is due to cultural differences, and not a question of right and wrong.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
上一篇 Previous Part Next Part 下一篇
If we compare the wars of Chinese and Indians, we will see a huge differences. When Indians' armies were fighting, civilians could stand on the side and watch. Historical texts from Dàzàngjīng (Great Treasury of Sūtras) recorded an interesting scene. When two armies were fighting, the people who were not fighting stood at the side and opinionated about the battle to each other. Is there any other country fight wars this way?
反觀中國人的戰爭，在春秋戰國時代，為了國家生存、個人的功名(相當於近代的軍事學者)所催化出來的戰爭手段，其殘酷、冷血、至今依然令人髮指，在大環境相同的戰亂裡，竟有著這麼多不同的手法，似乎說明了為什麼對苦的詮釋，兩個國家接受程度有這麼大的不同。
On the other hand, if we look at the wars in China, in the Spring-Autumn period, many cruel and cold blooded tactics, strategies and methods were conducted in the name of the survival of the country and fame and fortune of the military advisers. The drastic differences in the wars and battles conducted under the similar context, seem to explain why these two cultures have different acceptance of the interpretation of suffering.
阿含經(原始教典) 在整個華人區域幾乎是消失的，一直到最近幾年，國際間掀起原始教典熱烈的討論，才又讓華人區域重新去看到它的價值，然而除了修學者會迫切想知道不同的修法外，一般信眾的焦點、目光還是不太可能放在阿含經身上，這是文化的距離造成的，也沒有所謂對與錯的問題。
Agama (Early Buddhist Texts) also disappear from Chinese Buddhism. It is not until recently that it received any attention. But this is due to the enthusiastic discussion of Agamas internationally. But other than practitioners who are interested in knowing about different Practices, most Chinese Buddhists' focus are not on Agama. This is due to cultural differences, and not a question of right and wrong.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
上一篇 Previous Part Next Part 下一篇
2012年3月1日 星期四
印度人的苦文化 1 Indian's Culture of Dukkha 1
看過幾本佛經(尤其是原始教典阿含經)的讀者，印象最深的應該是[苦]這個字，苦這個名詞在佛經，處處可見，人生一定是有痛苦，可是印度人講的特別多，隨便翻開一本印度人的書籍，都可以看到苦的身影，或許你會說那是因為大部份印度人，生活現在過的還不怎樣，當然特別講苦，那如果說苦是每個國家都有，而它卻是印度人的講學文化之一，會不會有點驚訝!
Most readers, having read a few Buddhist Texts (Especially the Early Buddhist Texts Agama), should have dukkha this word burned into their mind. "Dukkha" is prevalent in Buddhist Texts. Of course there are pain and suffering in life, but Indians discussed it more than anyone else. If you open any Indian books, you would see the shadow of dukkha everywhere. You might think that it is because the quality of life is not great for most Indians today, of course they are going to talk about dukkha. But if every country has suffering, would you be surprised that it is one of cultural lecture theme for Indians?
把苦當作是一種文化，並且視它為理所當然，怎不會是匪夷所思!? 沒錯! 很多思想的促成都跟當地文化的走向，認同有著絕大關連，個人就一向認同地理孕育人文的觀點，既然地理的特質對文化的產生有這麼大的緊密互動，看一個思想時，去了解它背後的孕育過程，應該是不錯的。
It is incredible that a culture would treat suffering as a cultural theme, and consider it to be the norm. But the catalyst of many ideas and concepts are related to the local culture. I have always thought that geography breed humanity. So the characteristic of the geography would be closely tied to the birth of a culture. When you look at an idea, you need to understand how it was developed.
原始教典處處可以看到苦，苦講到極點時，連修行的比丘也受不了，進而產生自殺行為，讓佛陀自己傷感之餘，立下不能自殺的戒律，這也是大乘佛學興起的主因，苦的思想流傳到中國以後，幾乎無立足之地，華人自己幾經戰亂的摧殘，已不堪再負荷苦的傳播，阿含經在華人世界的傳遞，只停留在翻譯出來的階段而已。
Dukkha is everything in the Early Buddhist Texts. When it was discussed to the extreme, even the bikkunis cannot the thought of suffering and choose to suicide. Not only was Buddha sadden, he also declared the precept against suicide. This is another reason for the rise of Mahayana Buddhism. The concept of dukkha was not well accepted in China. Chinese people were no longer able to stand the broadcast of suffering, because they had experience the savages and suffering of wars many many times in their history. The spread of Agama in China only went as far as getting translated.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
Most readers, having read a few Buddhist Texts (Especially the Early Buddhist Texts Agama), should have dukkha this word burned into their mind. "Dukkha" is prevalent in Buddhist Texts. Of course there are pain and suffering in life, but Indians discussed it more than anyone else. If you open any Indian books, you would see the shadow of dukkha everywhere. You might think that it is because the quality of life is not great for most Indians today, of course they are going to talk about dukkha. But if every country has suffering, would you be surprised that it is one of cultural lecture theme for Indians?
把苦當作是一種文化，並且視它為理所當然，怎不會是匪夷所思!? 沒錯! 很多思想的促成都跟當地文化的走向，認同有著絕大關連，個人就一向認同地理孕育人文的觀點，既然地理的特質對文化的產生有這麼大的緊密互動，看一個思想時，去了解它背後的孕育過程，應該是不錯的。
It is incredible that a culture would treat suffering as a cultural theme, and consider it to be the norm. But the catalyst of many ideas and concepts are related to the local culture. I have always thought that geography breed humanity. So the characteristic of the geography would be closely tied to the birth of a culture. When you look at an idea, you need to understand how it was developed.
原始教典處處可以看到苦，苦講到極點時，連修行的比丘也受不了，進而產生自殺行為，讓佛陀自己傷感之餘，立下不能自殺的戒律，這也是大乘佛學興起的主因，苦的思想流傳到中國以後，幾乎無立足之地，華人自己幾經戰亂的摧殘，已不堪再負荷苦的傳播，阿含經在華人世界的傳遞，只停留在翻譯出來的階段而已。
Dukkha is everything in the Early Buddhist Texts. When it was discussed to the extreme, even the bikkunis cannot the thought of suffering and choose to suicide. Not only was Buddha sadden, he also declared the precept against suicide. This is another reason for the rise of Mahayana Buddhism. The concept of dukkha was not well accepted in China. Chinese people were no longer able to stand the broadcast of suffering, because they had experience the savages and suffering of wars many many times in their history. The spread of Agama in China only went as far as getting translated.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
2012年2月29日 星期三
佛陀是人 3 Buddha is Human 3
中國禪宗第二代祖師慧可，問他師父達摩一個問題，很有名! 問題是我心不安!? 沒錯! 【我心不安】，所以我來找尋安心良方，有什麼問題比這個問題更急迫? 是人，才會不安不是嗎? 理所當然修道要解決的是人性的困難點，唯有修過這一切或通過這些人性考驗的修行者，才能教導別人該如何通過! 甚至是取得戰勝人性病態的勝利!
The second patriarch of Chinese Zen Huike asked his teacher, Bodhidharma, a famous question. The question is: My mind/heart is troubled. That's right, my heart/mind is troubled, so I come to find a cure for it. Is there a question more urgent than this? Only people can be troubled, so it is obvious that the whole point of Practice is to take care of the difficulties of human nature. Only practitioners who have conquer all the challenges of human natures can teach other people how to get through it. Even to claim victory in the war again the human sickness.
人因脆弱的性格無法克服，會期待救世主的降臨，但是人們忽略了一點，重重黑暗的人性加在一起祈求，其結果會呈現什麼狀態? 假如把這些祈求，轉變成實際上的行為努力，佛、菩薩、想拉群眾往前走，也會變得輕鬆許多。
People are hoping for a savior to arrive because they cannot conquer their human weakness. But people forget one thing. When you have a group of people praying, what kind of situation would their collective dark side create? If we took these prayers, and turn them into actual efforts to change our behaviors, Buddha and Bodhisattva will have an easier time pushing everyone forward.
站在神與人之間讓我選擇，個人寧願追隨一個真正有著肉體的修行者，去領略什麼叫做人走出來的路!? 我從來清楚人性的光明面，要顯現出來有多麼的困難，悉達多的偉大在於他是人，試著對付自己的人性看看，爾後你會知道那個高峰長相怎樣!? 攀越上去的修行者，值不值得頂禮。
Standing between God and Human, I rather follow a practitioners who has a real physical body, and to understand the path walked by a human being. I have always know how difficult it is to show the brightness of human nature. Siddhartha is great because he was human. If you try to take care of your human nature, you will know what the summit looks like when you get there, and you will know whether you should to respect the practitioners who can climbed to the top.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
上一篇 Previous Part
The second patriarch of Chinese Zen Huike asked his teacher, Bodhidharma, a famous question. The question is: My mind/heart is troubled. That's right, my heart/mind is troubled, so I come to find a cure for it. Is there a question more urgent than this? Only people can be troubled, so it is obvious that the whole point of Practice is to take care of the difficulties of human nature. Only practitioners who have conquer all the challenges of human natures can teach other people how to get through it. Even to claim victory in the war again the human sickness.
人因脆弱的性格無法克服，會期待救世主的降臨，但是人們忽略了一點，重重黑暗的人性加在一起祈求，其結果會呈現什麼狀態? 假如把這些祈求，轉變成實際上的行為努力，佛、菩薩、想拉群眾往前走，也會變得輕鬆許多。
People are hoping for a savior to arrive because they cannot conquer their human weakness. But people forget one thing. When you have a group of people praying, what kind of situation would their collective dark side create? If we took these prayers, and turn them into actual efforts to change our behaviors, Buddha and Bodhisattva will have an easier time pushing everyone forward.
站在神與人之間讓我選擇，個人寧願追隨一個真正有著肉體的修行者，去領略什麼叫做人走出來的路!? 我從來清楚人性的光明面，要顯現出來有多麼的困難，悉達多的偉大在於他是人，試著對付自己的人性看看，爾後你會知道那個高峰長相怎樣!? 攀越上去的修行者，值不值得頂禮。
Standing between God and Human, I rather follow a practitioners who has a real physical body, and to understand the path walked by a human being. I have always know how difficult it is to show the brightness of human nature. Siddhartha is great because he was human. If you try to take care of your human nature, you will know what the summit looks like when you get there, and you will know whether you should to respect the practitioners who can climbed to the top.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
上一篇 Previous Part
2012年2月28日 星期二
佛陀是人 2 Buddha is Human 2
第一次我對修行燃起了絕大的信心，在一個封閉的教育體制下，個人一直不知道該如何看待自己? 自己這個凡人身軀，有著七情六慾，卻想修行，那神聖的殿堂裡怎容得下我? 我只能服侍佛 (神)嗎? 可我是佛教徒，是修行者，不是服侍者，這些存在個人心中激盪的想法，被木村泰賢教授給解救出來!
That was the first time I gain tremendous confidence about Practice of Buddhism. In a closed educational system, I never knew how to view myself. I am an ordinary human, full of emotions, but intended to Practice. How can a saintly palace allow me to stay? I can only be in servitude to Buddha (God)? But I am a Buddhist, a practitioner, not a servant. These conflicting thoughts were answered by professor Kimura Taiken.
往後的歲月裡，個人致力一件事，很會修理自己，懦弱的、虛偽的、各種人性的病態，都在承受的起的範圍盡量去試鍊 自己，慢慢的，隨著時間的過去，驚訝的發現，人性的病態有轉移，昇華的跡象出現，雖然不多! 但已足夠支撐自己在人世間，活的從容，過得像人。
For the years that followed, I worked on one thing, and that is to fix myself. All the sicknesses of human nature, the weak and the fake, I tried to overcome. Slowly, with the passage of time, I was surprised to find that my sicknesses had changed, and had a sense of becoming sublime. Not a lot, but enough to support myself, enough for me to live leisurely, like a human being.
就因為個人很努力在修理自己，才發覺這件事好難 ! 好難 !
It is because I am trying to fix myself, that I found that this is very hard.
佛陀是人! 這個論點有這麼可怕嗎? 他是人卻可以克服那麼多人性的通病，去達到一種理想的人格，就是這樣的人格值得頂禮! 足以供奉在廟堂裡膜拜，佛陀是人! 並無損於他的光華，假使他從頭開始就是神的存在，不僅佛學觀點有問題? 更教千千萬萬的追隨者，何去何從 ?
Buddha is human. Is this idea so horrifying? He was a human being, but he was able to conquer many weakness of human nature, to achieve an ideal. This is what deserve our respect. This is why we pay respect to him in the temples, because he is human. This does not reduce his accomplishments and glory. If he was a god from the beginning, then not only does Buddhism become problematic. The millions of followers, what happens to them? Where would they go?
半寄 Master Ban Ji
That was the first time I gain tremendous confidence about Practice of Buddhism. In a closed educational system, I never knew how to view myself. I am an ordinary human, full of emotions, but intended to Practice. How can a saintly palace allow me to stay? I can only be in servitude to Buddha (God)? But I am a Buddhist, a practitioner, not a servant. These conflicting thoughts were answered by professor Kimura Taiken.
往後的歲月裡，個人致力一件事，很會修理自己，懦弱的、虛偽的、各種人性的病態，都在承受的起的範圍盡量去試鍊 自己，慢慢的，隨著時間的過去，驚訝的發現，人性的病態有轉移，昇華的跡象出現，雖然不多! 但已足夠支撐自己在人世間，活的從容，過得像人。
For the years that followed, I worked on one thing, and that is to fix myself. All the sicknesses of human nature, the weak and the fake, I tried to overcome. Slowly, with the passage of time, I was surprised to find that my sicknesses had changed, and had a sense of becoming sublime. Not a lot, but enough to support myself, enough for me to live leisurely, like a human being.
就因為個人很努力在修理自己，才發覺這件事好難 ! 好難 !
It is because I am trying to fix myself, that I found that this is very hard.
佛陀是人! 這個論點有這麼可怕嗎? 他是人卻可以克服那麼多人性的通病，去達到一種理想的人格，就是這樣的人格值得頂禮! 足以供奉在廟堂裡膜拜，佛陀是人! 並無損於他的光華，假使他從頭開始就是神的存在，不僅佛學觀點有問題? 更教千千萬萬的追隨者，何去何從 ?
Buddha is human. Is this idea so horrifying? He was a human being, but he was able to conquer many weakness of human nature, to achieve an ideal. This is what deserve our respect. This is why we pay respect to him in the temples, because he is human. This does not reduce his accomplishments and glory. If he was a god from the beginning, then not only does Buddhism become problematic. The millions of followers, what happens to them? Where would they go?
半寄 Master Ban Ji
2012年2月27日 星期一
佛陀是人 1 Buddha is Human 1
佛教雖然號稱是無神論者，但是在歷經流傳的過程後，悉達多 (佛陀的名字)這個年輕的修道者，在流傳過程中變成早已是成佛的人，他只是來人間示範如何成佛而已!? 所以不能當他是由凡人修成佛的立場來看待，要認定祂早已成佛，已是神聖體的身軀，就連後期發展出來的大乘佛教，裡面所提到的諸佛、菩薩、也是早就修道成就很久的聖人! 這些話在傳播佛教的場合聽起來名正言順，沒什麼好懷疑的，離開傳教的場所，想一下! 佛法是用來修的，如果! 悉達多早就不是一般人，祂跟我不一樣，我學習他的修法，究竟要修到何年何日才能有點影子?
Although Buddhism is suppose to be atheistic, during the spread of Buddhism, Siddhartha (name of the Buddha), the young practitioner, had achieved God like status. People thought of him as a God that came to the human realm to show us how to become Buddha. Because of this attitude, people think that we cannot look at his experience as those of an ordinary human being. People think that we should think of him as a Buddha at birth, with the body accord a deity. Even the Mahayana Buddhism consider the various Buddhas and Bodhisattva as accomplished saints from a long time ago. All these talks seem normal in most Buddhist gatherings, and no body found that there is anything to be suspicious about. But let's think about it, away from Buddhist gatherings. We are trying to practice Buddhism. If Siddhartha was not an ordinary person, if he is different than me, how would I get anywhere with his method?
一個提出生死看法，及解脫之道那麼多見解的宗教，教主與凡夫有著這麼遠的距離，著實令人恐慌 !
It should make people panic if they realize that a founder of a religion that talked about how to view life and death and how to be liberated is so much different than ordinary people.
日本佛教學者木村泰賢 先生，所著的書裡 : 原始佛教思想論，提出一個看法，悉達多當初決定入森林修道時，應該是恐慌的，森林裡伸手不見五指，他又自己一個人 ......... 看到這一段時，大腦頓時像被打了一下，(是腦被打，不是頭 ) 對啊! 怎麼都沒假設這種情況的可能，許多該有的正確想法都被聖人論吞沒了。
Japanese Buddhist scholar, Kimura Taiken, mentioned a view point in his book: "Genshi Bukkyō shisōron"[Note]. He wrote that when Siddhartha went into the jungle to practice, he should be panicking. The jungle was so dark that he could not see his own hand, and he was by himself.....When I saw this part, I felt my brain was struck (The brain that was struck, not the head). Of course, why didn't we assume that this was a possibility? Many correct ideas were all swallowed by the view that Buddha is a saint.
悉達多會恐慌 ，這個意義太大了! 那代表他走過的路，我也可以走，假使他是聖人，那他走過的路，我是無法到達的，他有恐慌需要克服，我也有恐慌，如果我可以克服，那修道的路就會現出來，不是嗎?
Siddhartha was panicking. This means a lot. It means that the path he had walked is accessible to me. If he is a saint, then I will not be able to walk his path. But he has panic attacks that he needed to overcome, so do I. So if I can overcome my feeling of panic, then the path will appear as well. Isn't that so?
半寄 Master Ban Ji
[Note]原始佛教思想論 "Genshi Bukkyō shisōron": I don't think there is an English translation for this book. It meant "Ideas of the Original Buddhism"
Although Buddhism is suppose to be atheistic, during the spread of Buddhism, Siddhartha (name of the Buddha), the young practitioner, had achieved God like status. People thought of him as a God that came to the human realm to show us how to become Buddha. Because of this attitude, people think that we cannot look at his experience as those of an ordinary human being. People think that we should think of him as a Buddha at birth, with the body accord a deity. Even the Mahayana Buddhism consider the various Buddhas and Bodhisattva as accomplished saints from a long time ago. All these talks seem normal in most Buddhist gatherings, and no body found that there is anything to be suspicious about. But let's think about it, away from Buddhist gatherings. We are trying to practice Buddhism. If Siddhartha was not an ordinary person, if he is different than me, how would I get anywhere with his method?
一個提出生死看法，及解脫之道那麼多見解的宗教，教主與凡夫有著這麼遠的距離，著實令人恐慌 !
It should make people panic if they realize that a founder of a religion that talked about how to view life and death and how to be liberated is so much different than ordinary people.
日本佛教學者木村泰賢 先生，所著的書裡 : 原始佛教思想論，提出一個看法，悉達多當初決定入森林修道時，應該是恐慌的，森林裡伸手不見五指，他又自己一個人 ......... 看到這一段時，大腦頓時像被打了一下，(是腦被打，不是頭 ) 對啊! 怎麼都沒假設這種情況的可能，許多該有的正確想法都被聖人論吞沒了。
Japanese Buddhist scholar, Kimura Taiken, mentioned a view point in his book: "Genshi Bukkyō shisōron"[Note]. He wrote that when Siddhartha went into the jungle to practice, he should be panicking. The jungle was so dark that he could not see his own hand, and he was by himself.....When I saw this part, I felt my brain was struck (The brain that was struck, not the head). Of course, why didn't we assume that this was a possibility? Many correct ideas were all swallowed by the view that Buddha is a saint.
悉達多會恐慌 ，這個意義太大了! 那代表他走過的路，我也可以走，假使他是聖人，那他走過的路，我是無法到達的，他有恐慌需要克服，我也有恐慌，如果我可以克服，那修道的路就會現出來，不是嗎?
Siddhartha was panicking. This means a lot. It means that the path he had walked is accessible to me. If he is a saint, then I will not be able to walk his path. But he has panic attacks that he needed to overcome, so do I. So if I can overcome my feeling of panic, then the path will appear as well. Isn't that so?
半寄 Master Ban Ji
[Note]原始佛教思想論 "Genshi Bukkyō shisōron": I don't think there is an English translation for this book. It meant "Ideas of the Original Buddhism"
2012年2月26日 星期日
地獄在哪裡? 2 Where is Hell? 2
看到非洲某些國家狀況的人們，不必再問地獄到底在哪裡? 答案很明顯，在有些人生存的環境裡，那裡的人們像似被綁著一樣，想為自己爭取一點什麼? 那怕只是一小口水，一小口麵包，都像被詛咒一般，求也求不來，還有兇惡的獄卒把守，百般被摧殘，可見只要條件符合，就會出現地獄的現象。
When we see the living conditions of certain countries in Africa, we don't need to ask where hell is. The answer is obvious. It is in some people's living conditions. People there cannot even get a drink of water or a bite of bread even when they beg and pray. It is like they are tied up in jail. They also have mean jailers, who abuse them in every possible ways. It is clear that if the conditions are satisfied, the appearance of hell will appear.
按佛經的脈絡，人們只要在某個行為達到一定的能量，便會爆發屬於那個能量，所引起的命運，有些人在一夕之間破產，也像似從天堂掉到地獄，而一夕致富的人，該是直升天堂的暢快。
According to Buddhist teachings, if a person's certain behavior achieved a specific level of energy, the fate that belongs to this energy based on the person's behavior will be manifest itself. So some people go bankrupt over night, like falling from heaven to hell. Other people who become wealthy over night should feel the bliss of ascending to heaven.
懂得這些理論就知道，真該畏懼的是自己的創作力，其餘圍繞在自己身邊的，不過是隨著自己已開拓的路線在產生罷了! 有修行經驗的學者，會去看到【自己行為還沒出現前的想法】，假如是不好的，而你自己這個時候有能力，在還沒引發成行動前就自己摧毀它，那才是真正要關心的重點。
If you understand this theory, then you would know that you should fear your own actions. Everything else surrounding you just follows the road that you have paved. An experienced practitioner will see "the thought that precede the behavior." If the thought is not good, and you have the ability, you will destroy the thought before it becomes a behavior. This is what you need to worry about.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
上一篇 Previous Part
When we see the living conditions of certain countries in Africa, we don't need to ask where hell is. The answer is obvious. It is in some people's living conditions. People there cannot even get a drink of water or a bite of bread even when they beg and pray. It is like they are tied up in jail. They also have mean jailers, who abuse them in every possible ways. It is clear that if the conditions are satisfied, the appearance of hell will appear.
按佛經的脈絡，人們只要在某個行為達到一定的能量，便會爆發屬於那個能量，所引起的命運，有些人在一夕之間破產，也像似從天堂掉到地獄，而一夕致富的人，該是直升天堂的暢快。
According to Buddhist teachings, if a person's certain behavior achieved a specific level of energy, the fate that belongs to this energy based on the person's behavior will be manifest itself. So some people go bankrupt over night, like falling from heaven to hell. Other people who become wealthy over night should feel the bliss of ascending to heaven.
懂得這些理論就知道，真該畏懼的是自己的創作力，其餘圍繞在自己身邊的，不過是隨著自己已開拓的路線在產生罷了! 有修行經驗的學者，會去看到【自己行為還沒出現前的想法】，假如是不好的，而你自己這個時候有能力，在還沒引發成行動前就自己摧毀它，那才是真正要關心的重點。
If you understand this theory, then you would know that you should fear your own actions. Everything else surrounding you just follows the road that you have paved. An experienced practitioner will see "the thought that precede the behavior." If the thought is not good, and you have the ability, you will destroy the thought before it becomes a behavior. This is what you need to worry about.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
上一篇 Previous Part
2012年2月25日 星期六
地獄在哪裡? 1 Where is Hell? 1
地獄! 所有的宗教都會提到的地方，有很多人好奇的想知道，究竟在哪裡? 有人認為地球中心是熱的，地獄應該在那裡，很多借現象界有的情形，去說明地獄的所在，以佛教觀點來看地獄不見得在特定的地方，畢竟地獄講的已是最惡劣的苦果，尤其佛教不講神的審判，當然也無需設制地獄的牢籠，來懲罰有罪的人。
Hell, a place mentioned by all religions. Many people are curious about its actual location. Some people think that center of the earth is hot, so hell must be there. Others used the phenomenons of the worlds to explain location of hell. From the point of view of Buddhism, hell does not have to be someplace in particular. Because hell is about the worst possible karmic result that one could get. Since Buddhism is not about the judgement of gods, there is no need to create a jail, like hell, to punish people who made mistakes.
一個佛教徒首先一定要清楚，佛陀看見的世界很多部份是別人給祂的想法，例如: 看見一個有福報的人，用祂的觀察去知道他的福是怎麼形成的，看見一個受苦的人們為什麼這麼痛苦? 也是動用觀察的結果，這裡面有的是現象已存在，借現象去說明它背後的原因而已，所以說佛教是無神論者，除了自己的行為產生的限制外，大時代產生的戰亂，歸類於惡業的共業，大時代的繁榮，是福報聚集的共業，沒有神可以審判誰?!
A Buddhist must understand that most of the world that Buddha saw are result of watching other people's lives and behaviors. For example, when he looked at a person with good karma, his observation would showed how good karma formed. He also observed why people suffered. The phenomenons already exist, and he used his observations to explain the reason for the phenomenons. So Buddhism is atheistic. Other than the restrictions caused by one's own behaviors, the time of wars and conflicts are the collective bad karmic result of the people. But the prosperous era is also the collective good karmic result as well. There is no god to judge.
根據這樣的理論，地獄如果存在，可能是如影隨形的跟著有這種業力的人身上，進而演化成個人的遭遇，成為看得見的苦難，以非洲的苦難情況而言，就算有那麼多的善心人士伸出援手，食物還是送不進去，一定要送就得冒著生命的危險，不是地獄是什麼? 連被救濟都顯得困難!
According to this type of theory, if hell does exist, it should be following the person with bad karmic results. The bad karmic results further manifest itself as personal encounters and become visible sufferings. If we use the suffering of the African continent as an example. Many charitable people and organizations are trying to help, but they must risk their lives to just to sent food to the needed. If this is not hell? What is? Even helping them is difficult.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
Hell, a place mentioned by all religions. Many people are curious about its actual location. Some people think that center of the earth is hot, so hell must be there. Others used the phenomenons of the worlds to explain location of hell. From the point of view of Buddhism, hell does not have to be someplace in particular. Because hell is about the worst possible karmic result that one could get. Since Buddhism is not about the judgement of gods, there is no need to create a jail, like hell, to punish people who made mistakes.
一個佛教徒首先一定要清楚，佛陀看見的世界很多部份是別人給祂的想法，例如: 看見一個有福報的人，用祂的觀察去知道他的福是怎麼形成的，看見一個受苦的人們為什麼這麼痛苦? 也是動用觀察的結果，這裡面有的是現象已存在，借現象去說明它背後的原因而已，所以說佛教是無神論者，除了自己的行為產生的限制外，大時代產生的戰亂，歸類於惡業的共業，大時代的繁榮，是福報聚集的共業，沒有神可以審判誰?!
A Buddhist must understand that most of the world that Buddha saw are result of watching other people's lives and behaviors. For example, when he looked at a person with good karma, his observation would showed how good karma formed. He also observed why people suffered. The phenomenons already exist, and he used his observations to explain the reason for the phenomenons. So Buddhism is atheistic. Other than the restrictions caused by one's own behaviors, the time of wars and conflicts are the collective bad karmic result of the people. But the prosperous era is also the collective good karmic result as well. There is no god to judge.
根據這樣的理論，地獄如果存在，可能是如影隨形的跟著有這種業力的人身上，進而演化成個人的遭遇，成為看得見的苦難，以非洲的苦難情況而言，就算有那麼多的善心人士伸出援手，食物還是送不進去，一定要送就得冒著生命的危險，不是地獄是什麼? 連被救濟都顯得困難!
According to this type of theory, if hell does exist, it should be following the person with bad karmic results. The bad karmic results further manifest itself as personal encounters and become visible sufferings. If we use the suffering of the African continent as an example. Many charitable people and organizations are trying to help, but they must risk their lives to just to sent food to the needed. If this is not hell? What is? Even helping them is difficult.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
2012年2月24日 星期五
梁武帝的功德 3 The Merits of Emperor Wu of Liang 3
一則故事含有許多層面的背景，華人有句話說；無心插柳柳成蔭，沒想到後來的佛教徒從這個故事開始認真的計較起來，自己所做的布施是否是真正的功德? 也就是無相布施，其實人們去做很多的善行為，都屬於勞心勞力的，有付出有果實，也是必然的結果，真心付出的自己，為什麼不能自我肯定? 非得冠上是所謂最高等級的布施，才會心安?
A story has many layers of complex backgrounds and contexts. There is a saying in Chinese, "unintentionally planting willow, and soon willows become shade."(unintended consequences.) It is surprising that Buddhists took this story and began to seriously discuss whether their generosities have real merits or not. And what is the considerations for non-attached generosity? In reality, people's very real charitable behaviors are all results of real labors and efforts. It is obvious that if you give, you will receive the fruit of giving. If you can be sincere about your generosity, why can't you affirm yourself? Why do you need to derive comfort from the label of the highest level of generosity?
梁武帝用了近似強迫的手法，讓大臣們捐款，除了是不樂之捐，也說明了古代帝皇專權時，貴為皇帝還是不能為了他的信仰，專制的要別人拿出錢來，這也是身為佛教徒的驕傲，古代國外，含印度本身有多少的信仰是權威的可怕，不容懷疑，宗教的紛爭及戰鬥，奪去了多少人的自由與生命，連人才被冠上妖魔鬼怪的帽子，也是一個個的追殺，而這些痛苦在佛教徒身上，少之又少! 佛教徒從不為別人或與自己不合的教內思想，發動過戰爭，大規模的排除異己，佛教徒大概也不能理解為什麼要為信仰殺人? 因為佛法不是信仰而已! 還要修練的，如果說這世界上有真正的自由，那佛教的精神，該名列第一位。
Emperor Wu of Liang used coercion to make his ministers to donate. Other than the fact that it was done with reluctance, it also illustrated that even in the authoritarian world of ancient empires, an emperor did not choose to directly force other people to give money based on the emperor's belief. This is a pride of Buddhists. In other countries of ancient time, many faiths and beliefs, including India itself, have horrifying authoritarian regimes. Conflicts and wars due to religion took away the freedom and lives of many people. People are even labeled as ghosts and demons and pursued and killed one at a time. But very few of these incidents applied to Buddhists. Buddhists never started war to remove oppositions due to different ideologies. Buddhists cannot also understand why people want to kill in the name of a belief. This is because Buddhism is not a belief, it is also a practice. It there is real freedom in the world, then the spirit of Buddhism should be listed first.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
上一篇 Previous Part
A story has many layers of complex backgrounds and contexts. There is a saying in Chinese, "unintentionally planting willow, and soon willows become shade."(unintended consequences.) It is surprising that Buddhists took this story and began to seriously discuss whether their generosities have real merits or not. And what is the considerations for non-attached generosity? In reality, people's very real charitable behaviors are all results of real labors and efforts. It is obvious that if you give, you will receive the fruit of giving. If you can be sincere about your generosity, why can't you affirm yourself? Why do you need to derive comfort from the label of the highest level of generosity?
梁武帝用了近似強迫的手法，讓大臣們捐款，除了是不樂之捐，也說明了古代帝皇專權時，貴為皇帝還是不能為了他的信仰，專制的要別人拿出錢來，這也是身為佛教徒的驕傲，古代國外，含印度本身有多少的信仰是權威的可怕，不容懷疑，宗教的紛爭及戰鬥，奪去了多少人的自由與生命，連人才被冠上妖魔鬼怪的帽子，也是一個個的追殺，而這些痛苦在佛教徒身上，少之又少! 佛教徒從不為別人或與自己不合的教內思想，發動過戰爭，大規模的排除異己，佛教徒大概也不能理解為什麼要為信仰殺人? 因為佛法不是信仰而已! 還要修練的，如果說這世界上有真正的自由，那佛教的精神，該名列第一位。
Emperor Wu of Liang used coercion to make his ministers to donate. Other than the fact that it was done with reluctance, it also illustrated that even in the authoritarian world of ancient empires, an emperor did not choose to directly force other people to give money based on the emperor's belief. This is a pride of Buddhists. In other countries of ancient time, many faiths and beliefs, including India itself, have horrifying authoritarian regimes. Conflicts and wars due to religion took away the freedom and lives of many people. People are even labeled as ghosts and demons and pursued and killed one at a time. But very few of these incidents applied to Buddhists. Buddhists never started war to remove oppositions due to different ideologies. Buddhists cannot also understand why people want to kill in the name of a belief. This is because Buddhism is not a belief, it is also a practice. It there is real freedom in the world, then the spirit of Buddhism should be listed first.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
上一篇 Previous Part
2012年2月23日 星期四
梁武帝的功德 2 The Merits of Emperor Wu of Liang 2
歷史上沒有說明，達摩是否知道這些事? 假設一、達摩知道他的作為，認為那是強迫性的捐款，所以不加以肯定，假設二 、達摩認為他已非常好，希望他更上一層樓故意講的話，菩提達摩這個修行者，從印度來中國傳大乘佛法，成績斐然，後來被列入中國禪宗第一代祖師，他在跟梁武帝意見不合後，就去了嵩山少林寺面壁，也用一種世人不解的型態，來訴說他想表達的思想，大乘佛學相當重視無上法的修學 (無上法； 是離相不被眼前可看見的一切、牽制 、阻礙的意思)，般若心經是其中最好的一部代表著作，色不異空、空不異色、到不增不減 ............. 短短的經文卻是大乘佛學想要述說的空法精華。
Historically, it is not clear if Bodhidharma knew any of these. If Bodhidharma knew about it and felt that it was forced charity, he obviously would not affirm this behavior. However, if Bodhidharma thought he did very well as a Buddhist, he might say what he did as a way to encourage Emperor Wu of Liang to further height. Bodhidharma came to China from India to spread Mahayana Buddhism with impressive results. He was considered the father of Chinese Zen. After his disagreement with the Emperor, he went to the Shaolin Temple on Mount Song to face a wall. He used a behavior that cannot be understand by people to express his thoughts. Mahayana Buddhism consider "non-attachment" to be an important part of Buddhism. (Non-attachment method: means that practitioner should not let what he can see become an obstacle.) Heart Sutra represents Mahayana Buddhism the best. From form does not differ from Śūnyatā; Śūnyatā does not differ from form, ... to and they neither increase nor diminish.... This short Buddhist Texts is the essence of Śūnyatā that Mahayana Buddhism wants to express.
一個具有空法思想的僧侶，來對待一個想跟他炫耀豐功偉業的帝王，交織的結果，當然是不歡而散，或許達摩剛到中國，知道有這麼一位虔誠信佛的皇帝，一心想對他傳播他學的大乘空法，下猛藥的結果是離題更遠，弄得大家都不了解他，面壁似乎成了不錯的選擇!
The result of an encounter between a monk with knowledge of Śūnyatā, and an emperor that wanted to brag about his works had no choice but to result in the displeasure of both participants. Maybe when Bodhidharma learned of a such devoted emperor when he arrived in China, he was fully prepared to teach him the knowledge of Śūnyatā from Mahayana. The result of such a strong medicine was that people totally misunderstood his intentions, so maybe facing a wall is not such a bad choice.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
Historically, it is not clear if Bodhidharma knew any of these. If Bodhidharma knew about it and felt that it was forced charity, he obviously would not affirm this behavior. However, if Bodhidharma thought he did very well as a Buddhist, he might say what he did as a way to encourage Emperor Wu of Liang to further height. Bodhidharma came to China from India to spread Mahayana Buddhism with impressive results. He was considered the father of Chinese Zen. After his disagreement with the Emperor, he went to the Shaolin Temple on Mount Song to face a wall. He used a behavior that cannot be understand by people to express his thoughts. Mahayana Buddhism consider "non-attachment" to be an important part of Buddhism. (Non-attachment method: means that practitioner should not let what he can see become an obstacle.) Heart Sutra represents Mahayana Buddhism the best. From form does not differ from Śūnyatā; Śūnyatā does not differ from form, ... to and they neither increase nor diminish.... This short Buddhist Texts is the essence of Śūnyatā that Mahayana Buddhism wants to express.
一個具有空法思想的僧侶，來對待一個想跟他炫耀豐功偉業的帝王，交織的結果，當然是不歡而散，或許達摩剛到中國，知道有這麼一位虔誠信佛的皇帝，一心想對他傳播他學的大乘空法，下猛藥的結果是離題更遠，弄得大家都不了解他，面壁似乎成了不錯的選擇!
The result of an encounter between a monk with knowledge of Śūnyatā, and an emperor that wanted to brag about his works had no choice but to result in the displeasure of both participants. Maybe when Bodhidharma learned of a such devoted emperor when he arrived in China, he was fully prepared to teach him the knowledge of Śūnyatā from Mahayana. The result of such a strong medicine was that people totally misunderstood his intentions, so maybe facing a wall is not such a bad choice.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
2012年2月22日 星期三
梁武帝的功德 1 The Merits of Emperor Wu of Liang 1
梁武帝魏晉南北朝時期中國的一個帝王，是一個虔誠的佛教徒，他跟印度來的高僧菩提達摩一場的辯論，掀起中國古代最具爭論的話題，梁武帝有一天問達摩，我一生修造無數的廟宇，渡無數人出家修道，佛教裡能做的都做了，我累積了多少功德? 達摩回答他說並無功德，達摩認為梁武帝做的都是著相的有為法，要修無為法才是最高級的，這場問答為後人留下很大的想像空間， 華人佛教徒都在問，什麼才是無為法?
Emperor Wu of Liang was an emperor during The Period of Disunity in China. He was a devoted Buddhist and his debate with Bodhidharma became one of the most discussed topics of ancient China. The story goes: one day, Emperor Wu of Liang asked Bodhidharma: I constructed and fixed numerous temples, and enabled countless number of people to join sanghas. I did everything that can be done in Buddhism. How much merits (good karmas) did I accumulate? Bodhidharma told him that he had accumulated no merit. Bodhidharma considered all of Emperor Wu of Liang actions was "attached," and non-attachment is the peak of all methods. This story left people with a lot of rooms for imagination. Every Chinese Buddhists asked, how to be non-attached?
這裡的無為法，不是中國老莊的思想，是佛教的空法在中國的另一個翻譯，依照現實的布施行為來看，做了這麼多事情，竟然被評擊到一無是處，還真是心灰意懶，不過梁武帝相當有帝王風度，沒有對達摩做出忤逆者的任何裁決，而這個公案卻為後代華人留下心病，大家都在想著怎樣才可以達到無相布施?
The non-attachment we are discussing here is not Lao-Zhuang's idea of "No Action." It is another explanation of Śūnyatā in China. If we look at the reality of donation, after you did all these and was criticized as doing nothing, wouldn't you be totally dispirited? But Emperor Wu of Liang had some sense of imperial grace, and did not treat Bodhidharma harshly. But this koan left a problem for Chinese. Every one wants to know how to accomplish non-attached generosity.
攤開中國歷史，梁武帝曾經三次捨身同泰寺出家，在皇朝中沒有皇帝的情形下，大臣們只好捐錢給寺廟讓皇帝還俗，這麼奇怪的做法高達四次，每次都是用億元為單位去贖回皇帝的，沒錯! 那些錢都是捐給了寺廟 去做事，可是這樣的做法，該說是梁武帝捐的錢，還是大臣們的不樂之捐。
If we look at Chinese history, Emperor Wu of Liang went to Tong Tai Temple three times to become a monk. When the empire was without its emperor, the ministers and chancellors of the empire had no choice but to donate money to the temple, so the Emperor can return to laity. He did this four times, and every time, it cost these ministers billions of dollars to redeem the emperor. Sure, these money all went to the temples, but did the Emperor donated his own money, or did the ministers donated with reluctance?
半寄 Master Ban Ji
Emperor Wu of Liang was an emperor during The Period of Disunity in China. He was a devoted Buddhist and his debate with Bodhidharma became one of the most discussed topics of ancient China. The story goes: one day, Emperor Wu of Liang asked Bodhidharma: I constructed and fixed numerous temples, and enabled countless number of people to join sanghas. I did everything that can be done in Buddhism. How much merits (good karmas) did I accumulate? Bodhidharma told him that he had accumulated no merit. Bodhidharma considered all of Emperor Wu of Liang actions was "attached," and non-attachment is the peak of all methods. This story left people with a lot of rooms for imagination. Every Chinese Buddhists asked, how to be non-attached?
這裡的無為法，不是中國老莊的思想，是佛教的空法在中國的另一個翻譯，依照現實的布施行為來看，做了這麼多事情，竟然被評擊到一無是處，還真是心灰意懶，不過梁武帝相當有帝王風度，沒有對達摩做出忤逆者的任何裁決，而這個公案卻為後代華人留下心病，大家都在想著怎樣才可以達到無相布施?
The non-attachment we are discussing here is not Lao-Zhuang's idea of "No Action." It is another explanation of Śūnyatā in China. If we look at the reality of donation, after you did all these and was criticized as doing nothing, wouldn't you be totally dispirited? But Emperor Wu of Liang had some sense of imperial grace, and did not treat Bodhidharma harshly. But this koan left a problem for Chinese. Every one wants to know how to accomplish non-attached generosity.
攤開中國歷史，梁武帝曾經三次捨身同泰寺出家，在皇朝中沒有皇帝的情形下，大臣們只好捐錢給寺廟讓皇帝還俗，這麼奇怪的做法高達四次，每次都是用億元為單位去贖回皇帝的，沒錯! 那些錢都是捐給了寺廟 去做事，可是這樣的做法，該說是梁武帝捐的錢，還是大臣們的不樂之捐。
If we look at Chinese history, Emperor Wu of Liang went to Tong Tai Temple three times to become a monk. When the empire was without its emperor, the ministers and chancellors of the empire had no choice but to donate money to the temple, so the Emperor can return to laity. He did this four times, and every time, it cost these ministers billions of dollars to redeem the emperor. Sure, these money all went to the temples, but did the Emperor donated his own money, or did the ministers donated with reluctance?
半寄 Master Ban Ji
2012年2月21日 星期二
咒語 5 Mantra 5
純粹從修行角度來看，既然修行要成就也得累積不可數的資糧，一大群人真心向上集結而成的福報共業，一樣具有抵制黑暗力量的效果，這個方法比咒語、手印、更見陽光、積極、只是人群大都有盲點，不能認識自己生而為人所努力產生的一切善行為，同樣具有威力。
If we look at it purely from the angle of Practice, the amount of capital that is required to have any accomplishment in Practice is uncountable. The collected good karma from a group of people who are truly focused to improve also create powers to defend against the power of darkness. This method is even better than mantras and mudras. It is positive. The problem is that people all have a blind spot. People cannot see the virtuous efforts put forth by a person, have the same power as mantras.
就藏傳密宗而言，達賴喇嘛一直想廢除密宗存在的一些無形世界，他也坦言那是民族性不容易做到，如果佛學的教育， 能讓普羅大眾清楚人性光明面的價值，那才算是成功，佛經裡的一大教育，就是強調人身的尊貴，其他動物都無法有邏輯思考，唯有人可以完全被教育，再憑藉思維攀登精神世界的高峰，人的角色不該消失不見，反而被一大堆儀式取代，沒錯! 人也是很脆弱的，需要儀式的幫助，但人也可以從依賴裡再次重生，重新看待自我的價值。
For Tibetan Buddhism, Dalai Lama has always tried to eliminate the existences of invisible worlds of Tibetan Buddhism. But he was clear that it is difficult to do based on culture. The success of a teaching of Buddhism can only be judged on its effects to let people understand the value of the "Light Side". The biggest teaching of Buddhism is the importance of 'being human'. We have logical reasoning facilities that other animals do not have. Only human beings can be educated, and then use reasons to summit the peak of the world of human spirits. The role of people should not disappear to be replaced by rituals and ceremonies. Sure, people are weak, and need the support of rituals. But people can also be reborn from dependencies, and revisit the value of themselves.
從多種層面探討咒語的面相，讀者想從那個角度切入?
I have discussed many aspects of mantra from different angle. Which angle would you like to think of mantra?
半寄 Master Ban Ji
上一篇 Previous Part
If we look at it purely from the angle of Practice, the amount of capital that is required to have any accomplishment in Practice is uncountable. The collected good karma from a group of people who are truly focused to improve also create powers to defend against the power of darkness. This method is even better than mantras and mudras. It is positive. The problem is that people all have a blind spot. People cannot see the virtuous efforts put forth by a person, have the same power as mantras.
就藏傳密宗而言，達賴喇嘛一直想廢除密宗存在的一些無形世界，他也坦言那是民族性不容易做到，如果佛學的教育， 能讓普羅大眾清楚人性光明面的價值，那才算是成功，佛經裡的一大教育，就是強調人身的尊貴，其他動物都無法有邏輯思考，唯有人可以完全被教育，再憑藉思維攀登精神世界的高峰，人的角色不該消失不見，反而被一大堆儀式取代，沒錯! 人也是很脆弱的，需要儀式的幫助，但人也可以從依賴裡再次重生，重新看待自我的價值。
For Tibetan Buddhism, Dalai Lama has always tried to eliminate the existences of invisible worlds of Tibetan Buddhism. But he was clear that it is difficult to do based on culture. The success of a teaching of Buddhism can only be judged on its effects to let people understand the value of the "Light Side". The biggest teaching of Buddhism is the importance of 'being human'. We have logical reasoning facilities that other animals do not have. Only human beings can be educated, and then use reasons to summit the peak of the world of human spirits. The role of people should not disappear to be replaced by rituals and ceremonies. Sure, people are weak, and need the support of rituals. But people can also be reborn from dependencies, and revisit the value of themselves.
從多種層面探討咒語的面相，讀者想從那個角度切入?
I have discussed many aspects of mantra from different angle. Which angle would you like to think of mantra?
半寄 Master Ban Ji
上一篇 Previous Part
2012年2月20日 星期一
咒語 4 Mantra 4
常跟咒語一起運用的是密宗的手印，手印有加強咒語能力的效果，在很多佛教法會的儀式，尤其是以超度法會為主的儀式，顯教的(大方向是指漢傳佛教) 、密宗的、都可以看到咒語跟手印一起的運用，大概是想借雙重效果，達到超薦、伏魔的目的。
Vajrayāna Buddhism's mudra are often used with mantras. Mudra can amplify the effects of mantra. In many rituals of Buddhist services, especially the services that focused on salvation of the dead, whether it is Chinese Buddhisms or Vajrayāna Buddhism, it is common to see mantras and mudras used together. I guess the idea is to double the effects to reach the goal of salvation or exorcism.
密宗由印度傳入西藏，再結合當地的笨教成為密宗，笨教首重咒語、巫術、而密宗儀軌的前身來自印度婆羅門教，印度釋迦牟尼佛時代，以辯論哲學、八正道、十二因緣，四果的證悟為基礎 (參考阿含經，現今國際的稱呼為原始教典)，這些教法完全看不見咒語的出現，純粹是針對人的修行及可達到的境界做討論與說明，法會的儀式出現是後來，大乘佛法開始的時期，似乎說明佛教從修道與教學的殿堂，走下來遁入人間，開始重視人世間生活的需求，生、離、死、別、的歡樂與哀愁，都須要儀式的慶祝、超度，以達到人性的要求，佛法流傳中，隨著地方性的傳播，也納入當地的習俗。
Indian Vajrayāna Buddhism was spread to Tibet from India, and combined with the local religion, Bon, to become Tibetan Vajrayāna Buddhism. Bon's main focus is mantra and sorcery. The rituals of Indian Vajrayāna's predecessor is Brahmanism from India. At the time of Sakyamuni Buddha's India, Buddhism uses philosophical debates, Noble Eightfold Path, Twelve Niadana and the Four stages of Enlightenment as foundations. (Consult Agama for reference.) These teachings did not show any existence of mantras. At that time, the teaching of Buddhism was simply focused on Practice, and the discussion and clarification on the stages that practitioners can achieve. The rituals and services appeared later, with the start of Mahayana Buddhism. Its appearance seems to imply that Buddhism left the palace of Practice and academic surroundings, to the human world, and started to focus on the need of the people. The joy and sorrows of birth, separation and death, celebration and salvation all needed a ritual. Therefore, the spread of Buddhism also incorporated many local traditions.
古代所有民間的資訊大都是遲緩、黑暗的較多，應運民間需求的宗教，儀軌與儀式一定是佔大部份，甚至是超越佛學本身的。
In ancient time, information that reach the populace tended to be slow, late and dark. To meet the need of the populace, rituals and ceremonies are needed. Sometime, these rituals even exceed the teaching of Buddhism itself.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
Vajrayāna Buddhism's mudra are often used with mantras. Mudra can amplify the effects of mantra. In many rituals of Buddhist services, especially the services that focused on salvation of the dead, whether it is Chinese Buddhisms or Vajrayāna Buddhism, it is common to see mantras and mudras used together. I guess the idea is to double the effects to reach the goal of salvation or exorcism.
密宗由印度傳入西藏，再結合當地的笨教成為密宗，笨教首重咒語、巫術、而密宗儀軌的前身來自印度婆羅門教，印度釋迦牟尼佛時代，以辯論哲學、八正道、十二因緣，四果的證悟為基礎 (參考阿含經，現今國際的稱呼為原始教典)，這些教法完全看不見咒語的出現，純粹是針對人的修行及可達到的境界做討論與說明，法會的儀式出現是後來，大乘佛法開始的時期，似乎說明佛教從修道與教學的殿堂，走下來遁入人間，開始重視人世間生活的需求，生、離、死、別、的歡樂與哀愁，都須要儀式的慶祝、超度，以達到人性的要求，佛法流傳中，隨著地方性的傳播，也納入當地的習俗。
Indian Vajrayāna Buddhism was spread to Tibet from India, and combined with the local religion, Bon, to become Tibetan Vajrayāna Buddhism. Bon's main focus is mantra and sorcery. The rituals of Indian Vajrayāna's predecessor is Brahmanism from India. At the time of Sakyamuni Buddha's India, Buddhism uses philosophical debates, Noble Eightfold Path, Twelve Niadana and the Four stages of Enlightenment as foundations. (Consult Agama for reference.) These teachings did not show any existence of mantras. At that time, the teaching of Buddhism was simply focused on Practice, and the discussion and clarification on the stages that practitioners can achieve. The rituals and services appeared later, with the start of Mahayana Buddhism. Its appearance seems to imply that Buddhism left the palace of Practice and academic surroundings, to the human world, and started to focus on the need of the people. The joy and sorrows of birth, separation and death, celebration and salvation all needed a ritual. Therefore, the spread of Buddhism also incorporated many local traditions.
古代所有民間的資訊大都是遲緩、黑暗的較多，應運民間需求的宗教，儀軌與儀式一定是佔大部份，甚至是超越佛學本身的。
In ancient time, information that reach the populace tended to be slow, late and dark. To meet the need of the populace, rituals and ceremonies are needed. Sometime, these rituals even exceed the teaching of Buddhism itself.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
2012年2月19日 星期日
咒語 3 Mantra 3
每個佛、菩薩、都有自己的跟隨者，既然有侵犯的力量出現，保護自己的追隨者，也是必然要做的，咒語就是這種情況下出現的，由修學有成就的諸佛、菩薩、匯集自己修成的福德或智慧能量、演化為保護力量，加持自己的跟隨者。
Every Buddha and Bodhisattva have their own followers. So if there are attackers, they will of course protect their followers. So Buddhas and Bodhisattva used their own good karma or the power of their own Prajñā, and create mantra as a protective force to support their followers.
我在敬鬼神而遠之裡，有提到鬼神如果有機會，使它們自己的力量得到增強，會變成精魅，所謂妖怪，鬼魅之類，它們的力量都已遠勝鬼神，如果無法出現制衡力量，情形就跟現實世界一樣充斥著黑道，想修正道的行者是不可能得到寧靜的，現實世界需要維持正常運作的法則，修道世界也一樣，失去維持正常運作的軌道時，誰都是無法做事情的。
In "Respectfully staying away from gods and ghosts", I mentioned that if ghosts and gods have a chance, they will increase their own power and become demons and devils. The power of these demons and devils are superior than that of ghosts. So if there is no counter force, the world of practitioners will become the same as the real world. There would be full of crimes and gangs, and the practitioner on the right path will never have a moment of quiet. Real world requires laws to be operated normally, the world of practitioners are the same. Once it is off balance, no one can get anything done.
咒語無法解釋，已包含這一層看不見的原因，咒語大有跟看不見的無形世界對話的意思，對話內容為何? 只有擁有咒語能量的修行者清楚，這是我對咒語了解的程度，當然不是所有佛教咒語都是這種情形，但有一點可以肯定，它們代表著有成就的修行者一種專屬的符號。
Mantra was not explained, because it has this layer of reason that is invisible to us. But it is generally a speech to the invisible world. What's the content of the speech? Only a practitioner who possessed the power of the mantra know. This is what I know about mantras. Of course not all Buddhist mantras are like this. But one thing is certain, it is a unique symbol for an accomplished practitioner.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
Every Buddha and Bodhisattva have their own followers. So if there are attackers, they will of course protect their followers. So Buddhas and Bodhisattva used their own good karma or the power of their own Prajñā, and create mantra as a protective force to support their followers.
我在敬鬼神而遠之裡，有提到鬼神如果有機會，使它們自己的力量得到增強，會變成精魅，所謂妖怪，鬼魅之類，它們的力量都已遠勝鬼神，如果無法出現制衡力量，情形就跟現實世界一樣充斥著黑道，想修正道的行者是不可能得到寧靜的，現實世界需要維持正常運作的法則，修道世界也一樣，失去維持正常運作的軌道時，誰都是無法做事情的。
In "Respectfully staying away from gods and ghosts", I mentioned that if ghosts and gods have a chance, they will increase their own power and become demons and devils. The power of these demons and devils are superior than that of ghosts. So if there is no counter force, the world of practitioners will become the same as the real world. There would be full of crimes and gangs, and the practitioner on the right path will never have a moment of quiet. Real world requires laws to be operated normally, the world of practitioners are the same. Once it is off balance, no one can get anything done.
咒語無法解釋，已包含這一層看不見的原因，咒語大有跟看不見的無形世界對話的意思，對話內容為何? 只有擁有咒語能量的修行者清楚，這是我對咒語了解的程度，當然不是所有佛教咒語都是這種情形，但有一點可以肯定，它們代表著有成就的修行者一種專屬的符號。
Mantra was not explained, because it has this layer of reason that is invisible to us. But it is generally a speech to the invisible world. What's the content of the speech? Only a practitioner who possessed the power of the mantra know. This is what I know about mantras. Of course not all Buddhist mantras are like this. But one thing is certain, it is a unique symbol for an accomplished practitioner.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
2012年2月18日 星期六
咒語 2 Mantra 2
依據佛經的說法每一位，佛、菩薩、歷經種種考驗，成就祂們的世界以後，會產生一定的庇蔭能力，而咒語只是其中的一種，為什麼可以這樣?
According to Buddhist Texts, every Buddha and Bodhisattva, created their worlds after many trials, will have some protective powers. Mantra is only one of them. Why does this happen?
可以這麼說成佛是很困難的一件事，修練時期必須具備六波羅蜜(布施、持戒、忍辱、精進、禪定、智慧 ) ，在生命漫長過程中，甚至於是生生世世的去做這些事，佛教承認輪迴的存在，人死後會再一次的投胎轉世，所以可以延續去做上輩子沒完成的事，不過不是每個人 都可以這樣，想做什麼都可以去做，至少是有福報的力量在背後支持的結果，而福報的意義是上輩子有累積存款的代表，今世做的善行為也是。
It is suffice to say that it is very difficult to become a Buddha. On the path, a practitioner must possesses the 6 Pāramitā (Dāna, Sīla, Kṣānti, Viriya, Paññā, Dhyāna) during his lifetime, or even during many many life times. Buddhism recognizes the existence of rebirth. When people die, they will come back to the world so that they can continue with the tasks they did not finish in the previous life time. But not everyone is able to choose. Only people with enough good karma can have a choice. Good karma means that he has accumulated some savings in the previous life, and the virtuous deeds in this life can do the same as well.
想想一種生生世世都造福於人群的舉動，會為修行者累積下多少的福報 ?這恐怕是算不清的 ! 佛經上說諸佛、菩薩、用祂們建立的福報，去成就屬於每個成就者的國度，有國度就有侵犯者 ，咒語便在這種情形下產生。
Let us consider that if a practitioners is doing everything he can to benefit mankind, for many many life times, what kind of good karma would this person possesses? Probably uncountable. Buddhist Texts said that Buddhas and Bodhisattva use their good karma to create their world. But if there is a world, there will be invaders. So mantra was created.
有些諸佛、菩薩、的國度不見得有入侵者，不過現在不是這裡討論範圍。
Some Buddhas and Bodhisattvas' worlds do not have invaders, but that is out of the scope of this discussion.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
According to Buddhist Texts, every Buddha and Bodhisattva, created their worlds after many trials, will have some protective powers. Mantra is only one of them. Why does this happen?
可以這麼說成佛是很困難的一件事，修練時期必須具備六波羅蜜(布施、持戒、忍辱、精進、禪定、智慧 ) ，在生命漫長過程中，甚至於是生生世世的去做這些事，佛教承認輪迴的存在，人死後會再一次的投胎轉世，所以可以延續去做上輩子沒完成的事，不過不是每個人 都可以這樣，想做什麼都可以去做，至少是有福報的力量在背後支持的結果，而福報的意義是上輩子有累積存款的代表，今世做的善行為也是。
It is suffice to say that it is very difficult to become a Buddha. On the path, a practitioner must possesses the 6 Pāramitā (Dāna, Sīla, Kṣānti, Viriya, Paññā, Dhyāna) during his lifetime, or even during many many life times. Buddhism recognizes the existence of rebirth. When people die, they will come back to the world so that they can continue with the tasks they did not finish in the previous life time. But not everyone is able to choose. Only people with enough good karma can have a choice. Good karma means that he has accumulated some savings in the previous life, and the virtuous deeds in this life can do the same as well.
想想一種生生世世都造福於人群的舉動，會為修行者累積下多少的福報 ?這恐怕是算不清的 ! 佛經上說諸佛、菩薩、用祂們建立的福報，去成就屬於每個成就者的國度，有國度就有侵犯者 ，咒語便在這種情形下產生。
Let us consider that if a practitioners is doing everything he can to benefit mankind, for many many life times, what kind of good karma would this person possesses? Probably uncountable. Buddhist Texts said that Buddhas and Bodhisattva use their good karma to create their world. But if there is a world, there will be invaders. So mantra was created.
有些諸佛、菩薩、的國度不見得有入侵者，不過現在不是這裡討論範圍。
Some Buddhas and Bodhisattvas' worlds do not have invaders, but that is out of the scope of this discussion.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
2012年2月17日 星期五
咒語 1 Mantra 1
咒語對佛教徒來說應該都不陌生，可是也說不上來它是什麼? 對初看佛經的人而言，更會被一大串聽都聽不懂的語言，弄得一頭霧水! 不管新進者或久入佛門的信眾，相信對咒語都是有聽沒有懂，為什麼有這麼多不同的咒語? 又為什麼需要這麼多咒語? 稍微來談一下。
Mantras should be something that Buddhists are familiar with. But I think that most Buddhists cannot explain it. Someone who looked at Buddhist Texts for the first time must be confused with a string of incomprehensible sounds. I am sure that most new comers to Buddhism only hear the sounds of mantra and do not understand any of it. Why are there so many mantras, and why are they necessary? Let's discuss.
佛教界最為信眾所知的咒語，莫過於六字大明咒，大悲咒、這兩個咒語都跟觀世音菩薩有關連， 咒語在華人世界一直都是採取音調，字義直接寫上來，也就是翻譯經文，不翻譯咒語， 因為咒語被列入佛、菩薩、心語，屬於神秘世界的語言，每一位佛、菩薩，都擁有自己的心語，所以可以看見每一部佛經，都有屬於那部經典咒語的出現，但意思是什麼自古以來就無解!
The most popular mantras in the world of Buddhism probably are "Om mani padme hum" and the "Mahā Karuṇā Dhāranī ". These two mantras are related to Avalokiteśvarā. In the Chinese culture, mantra are never translated, and only the sound of the mantra is maintained. Mantras are considered to be a mystical language and are part of Buddha, Bodhisattva, and Bodhisattva's own languages. Every Buddha and Bodhisattva have their own languages, so if you read a Buddhist Text, you will see the mantra related to that Buddhist Text. But the meanings of these mantra are never explained.
用神秘的語言來形容咒語，往往讓它更進一步的蒙上神話色彩，如果想要說明它，這方面的資料可說是零，很傷腦筋的，無論如何說一些，總比全然不知好。
Use mysterious languages to explain mantra will let it become even more mystical. Since there are very little information available to explain it, some knowledge of it is better than no knowledge.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
Mantras should be something that Buddhists are familiar with. But I think that most Buddhists cannot explain it. Someone who looked at Buddhist Texts for the first time must be confused with a string of incomprehensible sounds. I am sure that most new comers to Buddhism only hear the sounds of mantra and do not understand any of it. Why are there so many mantras, and why are they necessary? Let's discuss.
佛教界最為信眾所知的咒語，莫過於六字大明咒，大悲咒、這兩個咒語都跟觀世音菩薩有關連， 咒語在華人世界一直都是採取音調，字義直接寫上來，也就是翻譯經文，不翻譯咒語， 因為咒語被列入佛、菩薩、心語，屬於神秘世界的語言，每一位佛、菩薩，都擁有自己的心語，所以可以看見每一部佛經，都有屬於那部經典咒語的出現，但意思是什麼自古以來就無解!
The most popular mantras in the world of Buddhism probably are "Om mani padme hum" and the "Mahā Karuṇā Dhāranī ". These two mantras are related to Avalokiteśvarā. In the Chinese culture, mantra are never translated, and only the sound of the mantra is maintained. Mantras are considered to be a mystical language and are part of Buddha, Bodhisattva, and Bodhisattva's own languages. Every Buddha and Bodhisattva have their own languages, so if you read a Buddhist Text, you will see the mantra related to that Buddhist Text. But the meanings of these mantra are never explained.
用神秘的語言來形容咒語，往往讓它更進一步的蒙上神話色彩，如果想要說明它，這方面的資料可說是零，很傷腦筋的，無論如何說一些，總比全然不知好。
Use mysterious languages to explain mantra will let it become even more mystical. Since there are very little information available to explain it, some knowledge of it is better than no knowledge.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
2012年2月16日 星期四
網路世界 Internet
In the old days, there is the visible realm, the one where people resided, and the invisible ones occupied by ghosts and gods. In those times, people have a tendency to attribute every phenomenons that they could not directly understand to ghosts and gods of the invisible realms.
在古代，有人的有形世界，也有鬼神的無形世界。那時，當人們無法了解一個現象時，他們會用無形的鬼神來解釋。
Today, thanks to our more advance understanding of the physical realms, we can explain many of the phenomenons that were previously attributed to ghosts and gods. But in the process, another realm is created, and that is the Internet.
今天，因為科學的進步，我們可以用物理知識來解釋很多以往被歸於鬼神的現象。但在這過程中，卻創造了另一種世界，那就是網路世界。
Internet shares the properties of the realm of the ghosts and gods, but also properties of the physical world, and is a good analogy of the realm of the ghosts and gods that Master Ban Ji had written about.
網路世界跟鬼神世界很相似，但也有一些有形世界的性質，可以用來比喻半寄師父寫的鬼神世界。
All that you see on your computer are projections of people's will. Some websites are created by a single person, some are by a group of people. But every website's strength is derived by their visitors. Every time you visit a site, you gave your "energy" to the website. The more power a website have, the bigger it is. So every website competes for your "energy." Some does it by trying to offer good products, good services and good contents. While others will use subterfuges to gain your attention, such as spams. Some websites attempts to provide you with valuable services, while some with disinformation, or even attempt to compromise your computer, and take it over as their own. Some websites even release automatons, that are like willpower without a physical body, doing the bidding of their original creators.
您在電腦上看到的網站都是意志的投影。有些網站是由一個人創建的，有些是由一群人。但是，每個網站的力量都是來自他們的訪客，每次您進一個網站，便給它您的「能量」，一個網站的大小端看它的「能量」來決定。 因此，每個網站都在為了您的「能量」而競爭。有些提供好的產品、好的服務，和好的內容來吸引您；但有些會用詭計來吸引您的關注，如：垃圾郵件。某些網站試圖提供有價值的服務，而另一些給您假的信息，甚至企圖侵入您的電腦，想把您的電腦變成它的。甚至有些網站會發布的「機器人」，像沒有身體的意志力來做事 。
Some websites, are so big and powerful, like Google or Facebook, they can almost be consider as gods on the Internet. But they are jealous gods, they compete with each other for your attentions. Many wars are fought between these giants or their subsidiaries out of our views. Because like all websites, they exist only because people want them to exist. Without support of people, even the likes of Google will disappear without a trace, like many gods of old, to become legends and stories for future generations.
一些網站， 像Google或Facebook很強大，幾乎是網路世界的神，但他們是有嫉妒心的神。
為了您的「能量」，他們互相競爭，打很多我們看不見的戰爭。 因為像所有的網站一樣，人的「能量」讓它們存在。沒有人的支持，甚至 Google也會消失，像許多古老的神，成為後代的傳說和故事一般。
We, in the physical realm, use our creativity, our actions, our intellect and our emotions to create contents on the Internet. But these contents can also impact the physical realms. While these contents cannot directly affect physical things, but they can influence people to do so.
我們在有形世界，用創造力、智慧和情緒，來建立網路世界的內容。但是，這些內容也可以影響有形世界，雖然這些內容不能直接牽動有形的東西，卻可以影響人去達成想要的目標。
The world of ghosts and gods is no different than what I have just described about the Internet. Like websites, these ghosts and gods are just trying to survive and grow. Ghosts and gods and websites do not care if you are "good" or "bad", they just want your support and your energy. Some does it above board, while others will lie, beg, steal and rob. Some are aggressive in their approaches, while others are passive. Some will even attempt to eliminate their competitions or their competitions' supports in an aggressive manner.
鬼神世界跟我所寫的網路世界沒有甚麼不同。鬼神跟網站一樣，都只想生存和發展。鬼神和網站都不在乎您是「好人」或「壞人」，祂們只要您的支持和能量。 有些用光明磊落的方法；有些會用乞討、偷竊和搶劫的方式。 有些是積極的，而有些被動的，有些甚至企圖消除祂們的競爭者或支持競爭者的人。
If what I have just written seems like the real world, well, because it is. All three worlds are all projections of human nature; they are all projection of us. To be able to live free in one of this world will allow you to live free in all three. Because they are all intertwined.
我所寫的好像跟現實世界很像，那是當然的。三個世界都是人性的投影，也都是我們的投影。一個人如果能在其中一個世界自在的生活，他也可以很自在的在這三個世界裡。因為他們都是交織在一起的。
There is only one way to live free, and that is to be enlightened. Going into the wilderness to escape from the realm of Internet, or to spent all your time in samadhi, is only locking yourself up in the prison of your own making. It is not what people should do. People should live in the world of people, free and unfettered.
只有一條路能讓您有自由的生活，那就是成為覺者。進深山去避免網路，或時常在定中，只把自身鎖在自己製造的監獄裡，這不是人應該做的。 人應該自在的生活在人群中。
在古代，有人的有形世界，也有鬼神的無形世界。那時，當人們無法了解一個現象時，他們會用無形的鬼神來解釋。
Today, thanks to our more advance understanding of the physical realms, we can explain many of the phenomenons that were previously attributed to ghosts and gods. But in the process, another realm is created, and that is the Internet.
今天，因為科學的進步，我們可以用物理知識來解釋很多以往被歸於鬼神的現象。但在這過程中，卻創造了另一種世界，那就是網路世界。
Internet shares the properties of the realm of the ghosts and gods, but also properties of the physical world, and is a good analogy of the realm of the ghosts and gods that Master Ban Ji had written about.
網路世界跟鬼神世界很相似，但也有一些有形世界的性質，可以用來比喻半寄師父寫的鬼神世界。
All that you see on your computer are projections of people's will. Some websites are created by a single person, some are by a group of people. But every website's strength is derived by their visitors. Every time you visit a site, you gave your "energy" to the website. The more power a website have, the bigger it is. So every website competes for your "energy." Some does it by trying to offer good products, good services and good contents. While others will use subterfuges to gain your attention, such as spams. Some websites attempts to provide you with valuable services, while some with disinformation, or even attempt to compromise your computer, and take it over as their own. Some websites even release automatons, that are like willpower without a physical body, doing the bidding of their original creators.
您在電腦上看到的網站都是意志的投影。有些網站是由一個人創建的，有些是由一群人。但是，每個網站的力量都是來自他們的訪客，每次您進一個網站，便給它您的「能量」，一個網站的大小端看它的「能量」來決定。 因此，每個網站都在為了您的「能量」而競爭。有些提供好的產品、好的服務，和好的內容來吸引您；但有些會用詭計來吸引您的關注，如：垃圾郵件。某些網站試圖提供有價值的服務，而另一些給您假的信息，甚至企圖侵入您的電腦，想把您的電腦變成它的。甚至有些網站會發布的「機器人」，像沒有身體的意志力來做事 。
Some websites, are so big and powerful, like Google or Facebook, they can almost be consider as gods on the Internet. But they are jealous gods, they compete with each other for your attentions. Many wars are fought between these giants or their subsidiaries out of our views. Because like all websites, they exist only because people want them to exist. Without support of people, even the likes of Google will disappear without a trace, like many gods of old, to become legends and stories for future generations.
一些網站， 像Google或Facebook很強大，幾乎是網路世界的神，但他們是有嫉妒心的神。
為了您的「能量」，他們互相競爭，打很多我們看不見的戰爭。 因為像所有的網站一樣，人的「能量」讓它們存在。沒有人的支持，甚至 Google也會消失，像許多古老的神，成為後代的傳說和故事一般。
We, in the physical realm, use our creativity, our actions, our intellect and our emotions to create contents on the Internet. But these contents can also impact the physical realms. While these contents cannot directly affect physical things, but they can influence people to do so.
我們在有形世界，用創造力、智慧和情緒，來建立網路世界的內容。但是，這些內容也可以影響有形世界，雖然這些內容不能直接牽動有形的東西，卻可以影響人去達成想要的目標。
The world of ghosts and gods is no different than what I have just described about the Internet. Like websites, these ghosts and gods are just trying to survive and grow. Ghosts and gods and websites do not care if you are "good" or "bad", they just want your support and your energy. Some does it above board, while others will lie, beg, steal and rob. Some are aggressive in their approaches, while others are passive. Some will even attempt to eliminate their competitions or their competitions' supports in an aggressive manner.
鬼神世界跟我所寫的網路世界沒有甚麼不同。鬼神跟網站一樣，都只想生存和發展。鬼神和網站都不在乎您是「好人」或「壞人」，祂們只要您的支持和能量。 有些用光明磊落的方法；有些會用乞討、偷竊和搶劫的方式。 有些是積極的，而有些被動的，有些甚至企圖消除祂們的競爭者或支持競爭者的人。
If what I have just written seems like the real world, well, because it is. All three worlds are all projections of human nature; they are all projection of us. To be able to live free in one of this world will allow you to live free in all three. Because they are all intertwined.
我所寫的好像跟現實世界很像，那是當然的。三個世界都是人性的投影，也都是我們的投影。一個人如果能在其中一個世界自在的生活，他也可以很自在的在這三個世界裡。因為他們都是交織在一起的。
There is only one way to live free, and that is to be enlightened. Going into the wilderness to escape from the realm of Internet, or to spent all your time in samadhi, is only locking yourself up in the prison of your own making. It is not what people should do. People should live in the world of people, free and unfettered.
只有一條路能讓您有自由的生活，那就是成為覺者。進深山去避免網路，或時常在定中，只把自身鎖在自己製造的監獄裡，這不是人應該做的。 人應該自在的生活在人群中。
2012年2月15日 星期三
第三個變化 Third Change
Today, we observed the third round of our on-going saga of husband vs. wife match.
今天，我們又有了夫妻戰，第三輪。
The background of our fight was not important. But it was kitchen-scraps that caused the fight.
吵架的背景不是很重要，只能說是「廚餘」所引發的。
I was making dinner, and generated some kitchen-scrap. In Taiwan, kitchen-scraps must be placed into a different container in the trash collection area, and I find it a pain and annoyance to do so. It was not one of my favorite things to do.
當時，我正在煮飯，產生一些廚餘。在台灣，有專用容器在我們住的大樓回收廚餘。我覺得倒廚餘很煩，不是我喜愛做的事。
I found the mess in the kitchen annoying, so I asked my wife to take the kitchen-scrap to the trash area. She did not want to do so, because I had not finish making dinner, and if I generated more kitchen-scrap, she might need to go one more time. She obviously does not like to visit the trash area either.
我覺得廚房很亂，所以問我太太能不能幫我先下樓倒掉廚餘。當時她不想，因為我還沒煮完飯，可能會產生更多廚餘，所以她也許要再跑一 趟。她顯然也不喜歡倒廚餘。
She said something. Then I said something. She said something more. I raised my voice and said something more. This continued for a while, until I got angry and threw the sponge in the sink. At that point, we stopped. I said we are done arguing because I got angry. She took the trash out and I finished making dinner.
她說了一些話，我回她；她說更多，我更大聲的回，說比她多。這種情況持續了一段時間，直到我生氣了，把手上洗碗盤的海綿丟進水槽裡。那時，我們停下來，我說不可以吵了，因為我生氣了！最後，她去倒廚餘，我完成晚餐。
This might seem like a typical fight between couples. But what you did not see was the important aspect of the fight. Between the time we started the fight, and by the time that I threw the sponge, neither one of us had anger in our heart. We raised our voices not because we were angry. We raised our voices because we strengthened our will. I thought that I was right, and she thought that she was right, and neither of us were willing to back down. It was really a battle of will, more than fighting. When I threw down the sponge, I was angry, so we stopped.
這看起來像是一個典型的吵架。但您看不到的是：在吵架過程中，我們都沒有生氣。我們提高說話的聲音，不是因為生氣，而是去強化意志力。我認為我對，她認為她對，我們都不認輸。這是意志的戰鬥，不是吵架。當我丟下海綿時，我真的生氣了！所以停止戰鬥。
The anger that I expressed lasted about a second, and it was gone. Because I was able to immediately reflect on the fight, and made the observation that I just wrote. When she came back, I told her my observations and a few jokes later, it was like the fight never existed.
我的憤怒1秒內就不見了，因為我能夠立即反省剛寫的這個過程。我太太回來時，我告訴她自己的觀察，大笑幾聲後，這場吵架似乎從沒發生過。
Furthermore, she told me that when she was taking out the trash, she thought she should cry, because I yelled at her. But she told me that she could not cry because she didn't have sorrow within her. She did not cry because she could not think of a reason to cry.
此外，她告訴我，當她在倒廚餘時，覺得應該要哭，因為我對她大吼。但其實她並沒有哭，因為心裡沒有受傷。 她無法哭，因為她想不出需要哭的理由。（以前，她超愛哭的）
I think this is another measure of our progress on the Path.
我想，這應該是另一個進步的表示。
今天，我們又有了夫妻戰，第三輪。
The background of our fight was not important. But it was kitchen-scraps that caused the fight.
吵架的背景不是很重要，只能說是「廚餘」所引發的。
I was making dinner, and generated some kitchen-scrap. In Taiwan, kitchen-scraps must be placed into a different container in the trash collection area, and I find it a pain and annoyance to do so. It was not one of my favorite things to do.
當時，我正在煮飯，產生一些廚餘。在台灣，有專用容器在我們住的大樓回收廚餘。我覺得倒廚餘很煩，不是我喜愛做的事。
I found the mess in the kitchen annoying, so I asked my wife to take the kitchen-scrap to the trash area. She did not want to do so, because I had not finish making dinner, and if I generated more kitchen-scrap, she might need to go one more time. She obviously does not like to visit the trash area either.
我覺得廚房很亂，所以問我太太能不能幫我先下樓倒掉廚餘。當時她不想，因為我還沒煮完飯，可能會產生更多廚餘，所以她也許要再跑一 趟。她顯然也不喜歡倒廚餘。
She said something. Then I said something. She said something more. I raised my voice and said something more. This continued for a while, until I got angry and threw the sponge in the sink. At that point, we stopped. I said we are done arguing because I got angry. She took the trash out and I finished making dinner.
她說了一些話，我回她；她說更多，我更大聲的回，說比她多。這種情況持續了一段時間，直到我生氣了，把手上洗碗盤的海綿丟進水槽裡。那時，我們停下來，我說不可以吵了，因為我生氣了！最後，她去倒廚餘，我完成晚餐。
This might seem like a typical fight between couples. But what you did not see was the important aspect of the fight. Between the time we started the fight, and by the time that I threw the sponge, neither one of us had anger in our heart. We raised our voices not because we were angry. We raised our voices because we strengthened our will. I thought that I was right, and she thought that she was right, and neither of us were willing to back down. It was really a battle of will, more than fighting. When I threw down the sponge, I was angry, so we stopped.
這看起來像是一個典型的吵架。但您看不到的是：在吵架過程中，我們都沒有生氣。我們提高說話的聲音，不是因為生氣，而是去強化意志力。我認為我對，她認為她對，我們都不認輸。這是意志的戰鬥，不是吵架。當我丟下海綿時，我真的生氣了！所以停止戰鬥。
The anger that I expressed lasted about a second, and it was gone. Because I was able to immediately reflect on the fight, and made the observation that I just wrote. When she came back, I told her my observations and a few jokes later, it was like the fight never existed.
我的憤怒1秒內就不見了，因為我能夠立即反省剛寫的這個過程。我太太回來時，我告訴她自己的觀察，大笑幾聲後，這場吵架似乎從沒發生過。
Furthermore, she told me that when she was taking out the trash, she thought she should cry, because I yelled at her. But she told me that she could not cry because she didn't have sorrow within her. She did not cry because she could not think of a reason to cry.
此外，她告訴我，當她在倒廚餘時，覺得應該要哭，因為我對她大吼。但其實她並沒有哭，因為心裡沒有受傷。 她無法哭，因為她想不出需要哭的理由。（以前，她超愛哭的）
I think this is another measure of our progress on the Path.
我想，這應該是另一個進步的表示。
2012年2月14日 星期二
三十三天 5 Trayastriṃśa 5
時間轉至今日，跟現今科學做個相互比較，依然不能懂? 印度人連微塵土都討論過，相當於最小單位的探討， 為什麼那時沒有印度人有興趣把它用實驗表現出來?
Indians had discussed the concepts of "microscopic dusts" back in the time of Buddha, which is the investigation of the smallest units. This concept is comparable with what the scientists are doing today with investigation into quantum particles and beyond. So why were there no Indians at that time even interested in the discovery of these "microscopic dusts"?
三十三天看過資料的讀者，一定會覺得我寫的好少，沒錯! 是寫得很少，關於三十三天的記載內容是非常豐富的，也許是這樣的緣故讓它顯得龐雜難懂，看不懂的讀者會把它當神話來對待，神話世界是虛構的，可是印度人的宇宙觀有很大部份是觀察得來的，所以我選擇從三十三天形成的路徑，概念去說明，有興趣的讀者可以自己找來看看，把我的說法當索引就好。
Readers who had read about Trayastriṃśa must think I have not written much on the topic. They are right. There are a lot of materials written on Trayastriṃśa already, and maybe why Trayastriṃśa seems complex and hard to understand. So people tend to treat it as a mythology. Mythologies are fictional stories, but the cosmology of Indians were observed. So I choose to use Trayastriṃśa as an example to explain how it came about. People who are interested in Trayastriṃśa can find out more about it on their own, but they can use this article as a guide.
再有印度人發現的人體功能問題，跟少林拳一樣， 有一套一定的修練程序，只是內容得加上理論配合，這些我想我們在文章裡都介紹過，沒什麼好奇怪的?!
Furthermore, the human abilities that Indians discovered are like Shaolin martial art, they both have a well defined set of trainings. But the contents of the trainings are complemented with theories. I think we have explained these trainings in previous articles, so there is nothing strange about it.
只要你變成這方面的專家，鑽研以後也會懂，
If you become an expert in this area, you will understand all these after some research.
補充一點 ，三十三天為印度古老年代就形成的一套宇宙看法，不是佛陀創造的，佛陀本身是當時的貴族兼知識份子，除了承襲印度哲學外，又加上自己的開創，閱讀世界上所有的學問一定要看到背後支持的文化架構，才能了解整個過程，也容易清楚為什麼這個學問會這麼說。
One more point, Trayastriṃśa was an established cosmological view of Indian prior to Buddha. It was not created by Buddha. Buddha was a royalty and an intellectual at the time, other than inherited the philosophy of India, he added his own creations. So when you read the knowledge of the world, you need to see the cultural framework in the background in order to be able to understand how the knowledge came to be. So you can also understand why knowledge is the way it is.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
上一篇 Previous Part
Indians had discussed the concepts of "microscopic dusts" back in the time of Buddha, which is the investigation of the smallest units. This concept is comparable with what the scientists are doing today with investigation into quantum particles and beyond. So why were there no Indians at that time even interested in the discovery of these "microscopic dusts"?
三十三天看過資料的讀者，一定會覺得我寫的好少，沒錯! 是寫得很少，關於三十三天的記載內容是非常豐富的，也許是這樣的緣故讓它顯得龐雜難懂，看不懂的讀者會把它當神話來對待，神話世界是虛構的，可是印度人的宇宙觀有很大部份是觀察得來的，所以我選擇從三十三天形成的路徑，概念去說明，有興趣的讀者可以自己找來看看，把我的說法當索引就好。
Readers who had read about Trayastriṃśa must think I have not written much on the topic. They are right. There are a lot of materials written on Trayastriṃśa already, and maybe why Trayastriṃśa seems complex and hard to understand. So people tend to treat it as a mythology. Mythologies are fictional stories, but the cosmology of Indians were observed. So I choose to use Trayastriṃśa as an example to explain how it came about. People who are interested in Trayastriṃśa can find out more about it on their own, but they can use this article as a guide.
再有印度人發現的人體功能問題，跟少林拳一樣， 有一套一定的修練程序，只是內容得加上理論配合，這些我想我們在文章裡都介紹過，沒什麼好奇怪的?!
Furthermore, the human abilities that Indians discovered are like Shaolin martial art, they both have a well defined set of trainings. But the contents of the trainings are complemented with theories. I think we have explained these trainings in previous articles, so there is nothing strange about it.
只要你變成這方面的專家，鑽研以後也會懂，
If you become an expert in this area, you will understand all these after some research.
補充一點 ，三十三天為印度古老年代就形成的一套宇宙看法，不是佛陀創造的，佛陀本身是當時的貴族兼知識份子，除了承襲印度哲學外，又加上自己的開創，閱讀世界上所有的學問一定要看到背後支持的文化架構，才能了解整個過程，也容易清楚為什麼這個學問會這麼說。
One more point, Trayastriṃśa was an established cosmological view of Indian prior to Buddha. It was not created by Buddha. Buddha was a royalty and an intellectual at the time, other than inherited the philosophy of India, he added his own creations. So when you read the knowledge of the world, you need to see the cultural framework in the background in order to be able to understand how the knowledge came to be. So you can also understand why knowledge is the way it is.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
上一篇 Previous Part
2012年2月13日 星期一
三十三天 4 Trayastriṃśa 4
用眼睛去觀察世界，也會是一種具體的見解，以福報來說一件事能付出多少， 造就的福份也不同，付出20%得到的是20%， 同理30%、 50%、90%、都是不同的回報，這些不一樣的條件造就每一層天的世界，印度人觀察到人群的行為有非常多不同的形態，所以用了那麼多天來當界定說明。
The worlds that are observed by eyes are a concrete point of view to some degrees. If we discuss this in term of good karma (merit), how much you receive in term of good karma depends on how much you paid. If you paid 20%, you will received 20%. Similarly, 30%, 50%, 90% are all different returns. Every level of "heaven" are created with these different type of conditions. Indians observed that people have many different type of behaviors, so they used these many heavens to explain them.
我們從現今資訊的發達更知道，人群的所有行為的確是人人不同! 一群人有一群人的特色，及個人堅持的看法、做法， 用這些相互交叉比較， 就知道很多修行者入定後， 所看到的世界應該不是天方夜譚! 跟科學一樣，修行者的看法是否正確 ? 雖然不具實體， 卻仍然可以檢視。
Today, we know everyone behaves differently. Each group of people have their own uniqueness, in additional to individual views and methods. If you use these to cross reference and compare, you should understand that the world that practitioners of jhana see is not hallucinations. Like science, what the practitioners of jhana say about what they saw, might not be concrete, but still can be checked.
印度人可能是耗費最多精神、體力、從事人體實驗，及修練的國家，中國同樣也發展拳術武功，中醫，道家養生，也都把人體使用到極端，但還是不及印度人的投入，人體所能發揮的異能極限，像一道密碼，一、一被印度人瓦解，哲學在東方世界變成無止無盡的人體探討! 還不見得是為了醫學的治療，對西方人來說應該是不可思議的。
In all the cultures, Indians might spent more efforts and energies on the experimentation of human body and training, that all other cultures. Chinese also developed martial arts, Chinese medicines, Taoist's methods of health and medicine and used human body to the limits. But Chinese is not as involved as Indians. All the extra-normal abilities that human body can create are like secrete codes that were decodes by Indians one at a time. In Eastern world, philosophy was about unlimited investigation of human body, and not necessary for medicine. This point of view Westerners will probably find very inconceivable.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
The worlds that are observed by eyes are a concrete point of view to some degrees. If we discuss this in term of good karma (merit), how much you receive in term of good karma depends on how much you paid. If you paid 20%, you will received 20%. Similarly, 30%, 50%, 90% are all different returns. Every level of "heaven" are created with these different type of conditions. Indians observed that people have many different type of behaviors, so they used these many heavens to explain them.
我們從現今資訊的發達更知道，人群的所有行為的確是人人不同! 一群人有一群人的特色，及個人堅持的看法、做法， 用這些相互交叉比較， 就知道很多修行者入定後， 所看到的世界應該不是天方夜譚! 跟科學一樣，修行者的看法是否正確 ? 雖然不具實體， 卻仍然可以檢視。
Today, we know everyone behaves differently. Each group of people have their own uniqueness, in additional to individual views and methods. If you use these to cross reference and compare, you should understand that the world that practitioners of jhana see is not hallucinations. Like science, what the practitioners of jhana say about what they saw, might not be concrete, but still can be checked.
印度人可能是耗費最多精神、體力、從事人體實驗，及修練的國家，中國同樣也發展拳術武功，中醫，道家養生，也都把人體使用到極端，但還是不及印度人的投入，人體所能發揮的異能極限，像一道密碼，一、一被印度人瓦解，哲學在東方世界變成無止無盡的人體探討! 還不見得是為了醫學的治療，對西方人來說應該是不可思議的。
In all the cultures, Indians might spent more efforts and energies on the experimentation of human body and training, that all other cultures. Chinese also developed martial arts, Chinese medicines, Taoist's methods of health and medicine and used human body to the limits. But Chinese is not as involved as Indians. All the extra-normal abilities that human body can create are like secrete codes that were decodes by Indians one at a time. In Eastern world, philosophy was about unlimited investigation of human body, and not necessary for medicine. This point of view Westerners will probably find very inconceivable.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
2012年2月12日 星期日
三十三天 3 Trayastriṃśa 3
讀者不要誤會看見一次人群就冠上一層天的稱呼，天的稱呼，畢竟是有福報的代表，要被列入一層天，必得是那一群人有著同樣的一種福份，才能集合在一起，所以可以聚集在一起，並不是一件容 易的事，印度人把沒有在現實發展的行動，都拿去觀察這些世界，不是透過方程式，也沒有去做假設、實驗、直接就訓練人體達到某種異能狀態，去看大千世 界。
Please do not think that they named any group of people a "heaven" without reason. They used the term "heaven" because it represented good karma (merit). To be included into a level of "heaven", these people need to share the same type of good karma. So to be grouped together is not an easy matter. Indian took all the energies that they did not spent in reality to observe these worlds. They did not do so through equations, nor did they try scientific methods. They simply trained human body to a have a certain abnormal ability to see at these worlds.
在今日的文獻裡，可以發現佛陀當時就已經親眼看見其他世界的存在 ! (四大洲的說法) 那個時候還是西洋數學家、哲學家、在推論地球長什麼樣子的年代，很少人從科學的角度去研究佛陀看見的世界，是如何開拓的? 那不是一種神秘經驗，反而是人群透過另一層次的方法，去過他們想要過的日子。 也許你可以說 : 沉默是另一種聲音。
In today's writings, you can see that Buddha was able to see the existences of other worlds (The talk of four continents.) At that time, western mathematicians and philosophers are still debating about the shape of the earth. So very few people will investigate the worlds that Buddha saw and how he did it through scientific inquiries. This is not a mystical experience, but people used different methods to live the lives that they want to live. May be you can say that silence is another voice.
註一:佛陀修的入定方法，不只是單一的定力，祂突破印度人的傳統修法，所成就的世界更寬、更廣、而且更具有條理方法，旁人依據這些理論方法，一樣可以走到。 這是佛教相當不同的論點。
Note: The jhana that Buddha practiced was not simply one type of jhana. He made a break through in Indian's traditional methods, and is able to see bigger, wider worlds. His method is also more coherent. Other people can arrive at the same place following his methods and theories. This is where Buddhism differs.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
上一篇 Previous Part Next Part 下一篇
Please do not think that they named any group of people a "heaven" without reason. They used the term "heaven" because it represented good karma (merit). To be included into a level of "heaven", these people need to share the same type of good karma. So to be grouped together is not an easy matter. Indian took all the energies that they did not spent in reality to observe these worlds. They did not do so through equations, nor did they try scientific methods. They simply trained human body to a have a certain abnormal ability to see at these worlds.
在今日的文獻裡，可以發現佛陀當時就已經親眼看見其他世界的存在 ! (四大洲的說法) 那個時候還是西洋數學家、哲學家、在推論地球長什麼樣子的年代，很少人從科學的角度去研究佛陀看見的世界，是如何開拓的? 那不是一種神秘經驗，反而是人群透過另一層次的方法，去過他們想要過的日子。 也許你可以說 : 沉默是另一種聲音。
In today's writings, you can see that Buddha was able to see the existences of other worlds (The talk of four continents.) At that time, western mathematicians and philosophers are still debating about the shape of the earth. So very few people will investigate the worlds that Buddha saw and how he did it through scientific inquiries. This is not a mystical experience, but people used different methods to live the lives that they want to live. May be you can say that silence is another voice.
註一:佛陀修的入定方法，不只是單一的定力，祂突破印度人的傳統修法，所成就的世界更寬、更廣、而且更具有條理方法，旁人依據這些理論方法，一樣可以走到。 這是佛教相當不同的論點。
Note: The jhana that Buddha practiced was not simply one type of jhana. He made a break through in Indian's traditional methods, and is able to see bigger, wider worlds. His method is also more coherent. Other people can arrive at the same place following his methods and theories. This is where Buddhism differs.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
上一篇 Previous Part Next Part 下一篇
2012年2月11日 星期六
三十三天 2 Trayastriṃśa 2
在很多佛教的文獻裡(大藏經)類似的討論不勝枚舉，不僅是罔顧現實而已，重點是應該在討論內容中佔第一位的人不見了! 這些需要人去遵循 實踐的、方法、戒律、竟然不需要考慮人體能承受的範疇，彷彿人已成仙了，人世間要有的飲食、醫藥、都可以非常非常簡單、可是諷刺的很它又是針對人所做的規範，既然生活已被降到最冰點，還有熱量可燃燒嗎? 沒有熱量的結果，再好的理論都自然凍結!
There are many similar discussions about this topic in many Buddhist Texts (Dàzàngjīng, Great Treasury of Sūtras). Not only does these discussions ignore reality, it also made the most important thing in the discussion irrelevant, and that is the people. These methods and precepts that wanted people to practice and perform did not consider the tolerance of human body. They seem to consider people as gods. It is ironic that these rules are focused on people, because people need food, water and medicine, even thought these needs can be very simple. If life is reduced to absolute zero, is there still any energy left? The result of no energy is that all theories will freeze as well.
發展食物理念，比較容易產生的修法是入定，入定以後肉體消耗的熱量很低，因為強力的定力讓身體處於不動狀態，所有肉體的需要就不是問題，常處於入定的人某些能力會轉強，但不是去思考，所以大腦不須要用力，只需要眼睛去看就行。眼睛能看到的也是很多，坐著不動卻可以看見這群人在幹什麼 ! 那群人又是在幹什麼! 一群一群的人所組成的世界，一個群體是一層天的代表，一直往上疊。
This type of treatment of food is the result of the practice of jhana (meditation.) Once a person is in jhana, his body will use less energy. Because strong jhana let body be stationary, and all the needs of the body will no longer be a problem. Also, a person who spent most of his time in jhana will increase his ability in certain area. But that area is not reasoning or thinking, so it requires no efforts from the brain. He just has to look with his eyes and see a lot of things. He can sit there, without moving, and see what these group of people are doing, and what that other group of people are doing. He will see the worlds created by groups of people. One group represent a "heaven" (world), and pile on top of another.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
There are many similar discussions about this topic in many Buddhist Texts (Dàzàngjīng, Great Treasury of Sūtras). Not only does these discussions ignore reality, it also made the most important thing in the discussion irrelevant, and that is the people. These methods and precepts that wanted people to practice and perform did not consider the tolerance of human body. They seem to consider people as gods. It is ironic that these rules are focused on people, because people need food, water and medicine, even thought these needs can be very simple. If life is reduced to absolute zero, is there still any energy left? The result of no energy is that all theories will freeze as well.
發展食物理念，比較容易產生的修法是入定，入定以後肉體消耗的熱量很低，因為強力的定力讓身體處於不動狀態，所有肉體的需要就不是問題，常處於入定的人某些能力會轉強，但不是去思考，所以大腦不須要用力，只需要眼睛去看就行。眼睛能看到的也是很多，坐著不動卻可以看見這群人在幹什麼 ! 那群人又是在幹什麼! 一群一群的人所組成的世界，一個群體是一層天的代表，一直往上疊。
This type of treatment of food is the result of the practice of jhana (meditation.) Once a person is in jhana, his body will use less energy. Because strong jhana let body be stationary, and all the needs of the body will no longer be a problem. Also, a person who spent most of his time in jhana will increase his ability in certain area. But that area is not reasoning or thinking, so it requires no efforts from the brain. He just has to look with his eyes and see a lot of things. He can sit there, without moving, and see what these group of people are doing, and what that other group of people are doing. He will see the worlds created by groups of people. One group represent a "heaven" (world), and pile on top of another.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
2012年2月10日 星期五
三十三天 1 Trayastriṃśa 1
世界上很少有國家像印度人一樣，有著嚴格的種族階級，加上他們對數字的天份，演化出多到令人眼花撩亂一層層屬於他們的世界觀。三十三天只是其中一個數據代表，剛看佛經的那幾年，經常被一大堆的數字搞得昏頭轉向，原以為那只是印度人的文化問題，一直不當一回事，這幾年有點發現那些數字，並不是完全沒有根據，就我的理解範圍來談一下。
India, unlike most other countries, had a very strict caste system. In addition, their natural talent with numbers produced confusing layers upon layers of their world view. Trayastriṃśa (Thirty-Three Worlds) are only one representation out of many. When I started reading Buddhist Texts, I was often bewildered by a large amount of numerical values used in these Texts the first few years. Originally, I thought it was only an idiosyncrasy of the Indian culture. But these few years, I found that these numbers are not without reason. I'll discuss them based on my understandings.
在古老的國家裡，許多國家在人文方面有著自己的成就，哲學的、數學、醫藥、宗教、印度也一樣有著這方面的成就，以他們對數字的能力，按常理應該會發展出更好的科學才對，可是卻很相反，不但沒有先進的科學，連日常生活都貧瘠的可以，那他們的能力都跑去哪裡了?
In many ancient cultures, many countries have accomplishment in humanities, philosophy, mathematics, medical and religion. India is the same, they have the same type of accomplishment as well. Plus, given their ability with numbers, they should have created better science than their history indicated. Furthermore, instead of advance science, they lived a barren lives, so where did all their abilities went?
從宗教來說，印度教本身就是多神教，不但多神還把每個問題討論到無法喘息的地步，光以食物去探討什麼可吃跟不可吃? 就從動物到植物一件件的算起，動物不能吃的討論大致還好，植物也從大小的量去研究能不能吃，大的還有感覺、小的比較沒有，看到這裡差不多就要窒息! 難不成印度人都不是人，不用吃飯也不用消耗體力，所以不需要任何的熱量。
From the standpoint of religion, Hindu is a polytheism. Not only does it have many gods, it also discussed every problem to death. On food alone, not only do they investigate what should and should not be eaten, they do so from animals to vegetation, one at a time. Discussion about not eating animals might be understandable, but they did the same with vegetation as well. From large vegetation to small, they argued that large vegetation might have feelings, but smaller ones might not. I about fainted when I got to this point. Are Indians all non-human? Don't they need to eat? Don't they spent any energy, so they don't need calories?
半寄 Master Ban Ji
[Note]For some explanation of Trayastriṃśa , please see Buddhist cosmology.
India, unlike most other countries, had a very strict caste system. In addition, their natural talent with numbers produced confusing layers upon layers of their world view. Trayastriṃśa (Thirty-Three Worlds) are only one representation out of many. When I started reading Buddhist Texts, I was often bewildered by a large amount of numerical values used in these Texts the first few years. Originally, I thought it was only an idiosyncrasy of the Indian culture. But these few years, I found that these numbers are not without reason. I'll discuss them based on my understandings.
在古老的國家裡，許多國家在人文方面有著自己的成就，哲學的、數學、醫藥、宗教、印度也一樣有著這方面的成就，以他們對數字的能力，按常理應該會發展出更好的科學才對，可是卻很相反，不但沒有先進的科學，連日常生活都貧瘠的可以，那他們的能力都跑去哪裡了?
In many ancient cultures, many countries have accomplishment in humanities, philosophy, mathematics, medical and religion. India is the same, they have the same type of accomplishment as well. Plus, given their ability with numbers, they should have created better science than their history indicated. Furthermore, instead of advance science, they lived a barren lives, so where did all their abilities went?
從宗教來說，印度教本身就是多神教，不但多神還把每個問題討論到無法喘息的地步，光以食物去探討什麼可吃跟不可吃? 就從動物到植物一件件的算起，動物不能吃的討論大致還好，植物也從大小的量去研究能不能吃，大的還有感覺、小的比較沒有，看到這裡差不多就要窒息! 難不成印度人都不是人，不用吃飯也不用消耗體力，所以不需要任何的熱量。
From the standpoint of religion, Hindu is a polytheism. Not only does it have many gods, it also discussed every problem to death. On food alone, not only do they investigate what should and should not be eaten, they do so from animals to vegetation, one at a time. Discussion about not eating animals might be understandable, but they did the same with vegetation as well. From large vegetation to small, they argued that large vegetation might have feelings, but smaller ones might not. I about fainted when I got to this point. Are Indians all non-human? Don't they need to eat? Don't they spent any energy, so they don't need calories?
半寄 Master Ban Ji
[Note]For some explanation of Trayastriṃśa , please see Buddhist cosmology.
2012年2月9日 星期四
敬鬼神而遠之? 6 Respectfully Staying Away from gods and ghosts 6
看不見的世界，有時候是一種集體的意識圖騰，類似每一個民族的代表物，這樣說似乎很難理解，舉個例子； 上帝算不算是大部份西洋人的圖騰? 就像龍是華人的圖騰一樣，一種集體意識認同的存在，這種認同也不需要具體的人物，但是被質疑的成分不多，同樣是通過意識而有的無形世界，一個廣受歡迎，一個被列入異端邪說。
Sometimes, invisible world is a group's symbol of collective consciousness, like a representation of a culture. Let me try to say it differently, with an example. Is Christian God a symbol of most westerners? Just like dragon is the symbol of Chinese? The existence of a group conscious' symbolic representation does not have to be a concrete person or things, but the existence of these symbols are not usually disputed. These are all manifestation of conscious in invisible worlds, but one (group symbol) is accepted while the others (ghosts and gods) are considered to be heresy.
當然人都喜歡冠冕堂皇的事，我也無意要引導別人去注意無形的世界，只是我一向願意把事情盡量講清楚，如果可以的範圍，鬼與神也一樣，就算祇是幽暗人口，知道它的來龍去脈，總比無知或強力排斥來得好，對鬼神存在的問題，個人也是從不相信到了解，進而願意談談它，這其中促成我清楚它的，反而是由於對人性的理解所觸發，人性深入愈多，愈能明白人群由意志、願力、所交織的世界有多麼的錯綜複雜，所以什麼事會是不可能的? 要下評斷前，得想想自己的經歷夠嗎?
Of course people all like grandiose things, and it is not my intention to lead people to pay attention to the world of unseen. I only want to explain issues as clearly as possible. Topic of ghosts and gods is the same. Even if they are the unseen population, knowing their causes is better than ignorance and strong rejection. Regarding the existence of ghosts and gods, I evolved from unbelieving to understanding to willing to discuss them. What made me understand them are due to my understanding of human nature. The more I understood human nature, the more I understand the complexity of the world that people create using willpower and wishes. If you want to judge whether something is possible or not, please consider whether you have enough experiences first.
華人世界有一句話這麼說； 未經漫漫長夜者不可與之云云，意思是沒遭受過痛苦的人，不要跟他說話，因為沒有經歷過人事的人，說了也不懂 什麼叫做痛苦! 人世間許多事大約都是這樣，人與人的鴻溝會這麼的深，是太輕易指責別人的後果!
There is a saying in Chinese culture, " Don't talk with someone who has never experienced a long night." What this mean is that you shouldn't talk with someone who has never experienced suffering. Because someone who has not experienced life will never understand what suffering means. Many things are like this in the world. The gaps between people are the result of our willingness to accuse others.
我個人至今仍然保有對事情持探討的態度。
I still maintain an attitude toward investigation of all matters.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
上一篇 Previous Part
Sometimes, invisible world is a group's symbol of collective consciousness, like a representation of a culture. Let me try to say it differently, with an example. Is Christian God a symbol of most westerners? Just like dragon is the symbol of Chinese? The existence of a group conscious' symbolic representation does not have to be a concrete person or things, but the existence of these symbols are not usually disputed. These are all manifestation of conscious in invisible worlds, but one (group symbol) is accepted while the others (ghosts and gods) are considered to be heresy.
當然人都喜歡冠冕堂皇的事，我也無意要引導別人去注意無形的世界，只是我一向願意把事情盡量講清楚，如果可以的範圍，鬼與神也一樣，就算祇是幽暗人口，知道它的來龍去脈，總比無知或強力排斥來得好，對鬼神存在的問題，個人也是從不相信到了解，進而願意談談它，這其中促成我清楚它的，反而是由於對人性的理解所觸發，人性深入愈多，愈能明白人群由意志、願力、所交織的世界有多麼的錯綜複雜，所以什麼事會是不可能的? 要下評斷前，得想想自己的經歷夠嗎?
Of course people all like grandiose things, and it is not my intention to lead people to pay attention to the world of unseen. I only want to explain issues as clearly as possible. Topic of ghosts and gods is the same. Even if they are the unseen population, knowing their causes is better than ignorance and strong rejection. Regarding the existence of ghosts and gods, I evolved from unbelieving to understanding to willing to discuss them. What made me understand them are due to my understanding of human nature. The more I understood human nature, the more I understand the complexity of the world that people create using willpower and wishes. If you want to judge whether something is possible or not, please consider whether you have enough experiences first.
華人世界有一句話這麼說； 未經漫漫長夜者不可與之云云，意思是沒遭受過痛苦的人，不要跟他說話，因為沒有經歷過人事的人，說了也不懂 什麼叫做痛苦! 人世間許多事大約都是這樣，人與人的鴻溝會這麼的深，是太輕易指責別人的後果!
There is a saying in Chinese culture, " Don't talk with someone who has never experienced a long night." What this mean is that you shouldn't talk with someone who has never experienced suffering. Because someone who has not experienced life will never understand what suffering means. Many things are like this in the world. The gaps between people are the result of our willingness to accuse others.
我個人至今仍然保有對事情持探討的態度。
I still maintain an attitude toward investigation of all matters.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
上一篇 Previous Part
2012年2月8日 星期三
敬鬼神而遠之? 5 Respectfully Staying Away from gods and ghosts 5
有句話說太陽底下無新鮮事，是很貼切的形容，再奇怪的事一旦了解它的脈絡，反而清楚該怎麼面對它，現實世界用鬼來形容一個人，都已代表那個人不是窮死了的窮鬼，就是懂得壓榨別人的吸血鬼，鬼有凡事已到盡頭的不堪，看不見的靈魂也一樣，一旦無所依附 ! 也是窮其所有的想延續自己，可是已經盡了力在延盪，無法如願時，一樣會窮兇惡極。
"There is nothing new under the sun" is a very apt illustration of the world. No matter how strange a phenomenon is, once you understand its context, you will know how to face it. If people use ghost to describe a person in real life, the person is either a poor soul, or a vampire who knows how to extract from other people. Ghosts and invisible souls have the same unbearable pain regarding their potential end. When they have nothing left to loss, they will do anything to continue their existences, and can become very aggressive.
許多意外事故的場合，戰亂過後的悲痛，除了生者的無法釋懷，情感需要撫平，已逝者的安魂也是一項重要任務， 死者何堪! 在肉體尚沒反應過來時，( 意識到自己的死亡 )靈魂已無所依靠，驚懼魂散! 不足以形容其痛苦於萬一， 是靈魂也好，是鬼也罷 ! 此時恐怕只剩下伏惟尚饗了。
Accident, wars and chaos can create pain and suffering for many people. The survivors need to be consoled, but the dead also need to comforted. Before their body had a chance to react, the soul (once it noticed its death) will have nothing to rely on, and will be frightened. There is no words that can explain the pain of a soul or ghost when it realized all that it has left is the offerings left on the altar.
對失去至親的人而言，親人就算是鬼，也依戀難捨，那種想念不是旁人可以理解的。鬼神到底有沒有? ! 不是很重要， 重要的是人生活圈交集的情感，在有形與無形之間相互激盪，有形是肉體，無形是情感，而後者的份量所佔亦不在少數，以致於無形世界所延伸的範圍，超乎想像的多與大，鬼神論一直難登大雅之堂，上面的引述還會讓所謂知識界，敬鬼神而遠之? 知識再豐富也是人，總有一天，誰都得面臨生離死別。
For people who lost a love one, they will still not be able to let their love ones go, even if they are ghosts. This type of longings cannot be comprehended by people from the outside. It is not important if ghosts or gods really exist. What is important in the emotions of human that goes back and forth between the visible and invisible worlds. Body is visible, emotion is invisible, and the latter is a large components of our world. So the boundary of the invisible world is bigger than we can imagine. Formal discussion of ghosts and gods have never been possible. After reading this article, would the intellectuals still "respectfully staying away from gods and ghosts?" No matter how much knowledge an intellect has, he is still human, and will one day faces the separation of life.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
上一篇 Previous Part Next Part 下一篇
"There is nothing new under the sun" is a very apt illustration of the world. No matter how strange a phenomenon is, once you understand its context, you will know how to face it. If people use ghost to describe a person in real life, the person is either a poor soul, or a vampire who knows how to extract from other people. Ghosts and invisible souls have the same unbearable pain regarding their potential end. When they have nothing left to loss, they will do anything to continue their existences, and can become very aggressive.
許多意外事故的場合，戰亂過後的悲痛，除了生者的無法釋懷，情感需要撫平，已逝者的安魂也是一項重要任務， 死者何堪! 在肉體尚沒反應過來時，( 意識到自己的死亡 )靈魂已無所依靠，驚懼魂散! 不足以形容其痛苦於萬一， 是靈魂也好，是鬼也罷 ! 此時恐怕只剩下伏惟尚饗了。
Accident, wars and chaos can create pain and suffering for many people. The survivors need to be consoled, but the dead also need to comforted. Before their body had a chance to react, the soul (once it noticed its death) will have nothing to rely on, and will be frightened. There is no words that can explain the pain of a soul or ghost when it realized all that it has left is the offerings left on the altar.
對失去至親的人而言，親人就算是鬼，也依戀難捨，那種想念不是旁人可以理解的。鬼神到底有沒有? ! 不是很重要， 重要的是人生活圈交集的情感，在有形與無形之間相互激盪，有形是肉體，無形是情感，而後者的份量所佔亦不在少數，以致於無形世界所延伸的範圍，超乎想像的多與大，鬼神論一直難登大雅之堂，上面的引述還會讓所謂知識界，敬鬼神而遠之? 知識再豐富也是人，總有一天，誰都得面臨生離死別。
For people who lost a love one, they will still not be able to let their love ones go, even if they are ghosts. This type of longings cannot be comprehended by people from the outside. It is not important if ghosts or gods really exist. What is important in the emotions of human that goes back and forth between the visible and invisible worlds. Body is visible, emotion is invisible, and the latter is a large components of our world. So the boundary of the invisible world is bigger than we can imagine. Formal discussion of ghosts and gods have never been possible. After reading this article, would the intellectuals still "respectfully staying away from gods and ghosts?" No matter how much knowledge an intellect has, he is still human, and will one day faces the separation of life.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
上一篇 Previous Part Next Part 下一篇
2012年2月7日 星期二
敬鬼神而遠之? 4 Respectfully Staying Away from gods and ghosts 4
前面幾篇說的都是在正常範圍的靈魂，有家族可以依靠、祭祀、縱使有所執念，也不至於太離譜，
The souls that I talked about in the previous parts are all typical souls. These souls have families that they can rely on. Families worship them, so even if these souls still have obsessions, these souls will not do anything too outrageous.
然而人群中有一大塊區域，處於流離失所的狀態，這些人往生的靈魂也會彼此互相取暖，好一點的變成乞丐，四處搜求，不好的跟地痞流氓沒兩樣，到處打劫，佛經稱它們是精魅，比鬼更有力氣，也具有腦力，可以在人旁邊說話，也可以讓人產生幻覺! 它們為了食物[人的力氣]使盡本領讓人甘心為它提供食物，人氣愈多養出的它力量愈強，反而可以回頭操控人的生死。
But there is a large parts of humanity that are the displaced and the lost.When they depart, these people's souls will help each other. The good ones become beggars, the bad ones become gangs, robbing and attacking everywhere. Buddhist Texts call these devils, and they are more powerful than ghosts.[Note] Devils also have ability to think, and can speak to people and cause people to hallucinate. For food (which is the energy of human beings), they do everything they can so that people will provide food for them willingly. The more energy it acquires, the more powerful these devils will become. If they are strong enough, they can even dictate the life and death of men.
無形的世界有這麼強大的力量，真教人難以相信，但是許多時候我們可以看見，有些人確實被無形的世界掌控，以致於刀劍入侵都不覺得痛，更可怕的有一轉眼一個人變成另外一個人，他們一樣有神經系統、肉體，為什麼會不覺得痛? 為什麼可以轉變得這麼快? 答案在於看不見的那雙手，被一大群力量入侵的身體，神經系統被把持，不痛了! 一大群力量擠進人體，人體對它們而言不過是一張道具，想怎麼擺動隨心所欲，令看得見的眼睛目不暇給，想多精彩都沒問題，因為是一大群人在表演。
It is hard to believe that the invisible world wields such a strength. But we can clearly see that a lot of people are controlled by the invisible world, such that they don't even feel the pain of being impaled by knifes and swords. Some are even more terrifying, they can change a person to another with a blink of an eye. These people still have nervous system and physical body, why don't they feel pain? Why can they changed so fast? The answer is the invisible pair of hands. A body that is invaded by a powerful force and the nervous system of the body has been controlled, it will feel no pain. Human body is nothing but a prop to these forces, it can be easily manipulated. It can be as exciting and outrageous as one can imagine, because there are a lot of people involved.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
[Note] 精魅: I translate this as devils, but I am not sure if they are the same types of devils that the west is normally familiar with.There are a lot of specific names for invisible beings in Chinese culture, while there are very few words for these beings in English. So there might be some translation mismatch here.
上一篇 Previous Part Next Part 下一篇
The souls that I talked about in the previous parts are all typical souls. These souls have families that they can rely on. Families worship them, so even if these souls still have obsessions, these souls will not do anything too outrageous.
然而人群中有一大塊區域，處於流離失所的狀態，這些人往生的靈魂也會彼此互相取暖，好一點的變成乞丐，四處搜求，不好的跟地痞流氓沒兩樣，到處打劫，佛經稱它們是精魅，比鬼更有力氣，也具有腦力，可以在人旁邊說話，也可以讓人產生幻覺! 它們為了食物[人的力氣]使盡本領讓人甘心為它提供食物，人氣愈多養出的它力量愈強，反而可以回頭操控人的生死。
But there is a large parts of humanity that are the displaced and the lost.When they depart, these people's souls will help each other. The good ones become beggars, the bad ones become gangs, robbing and attacking everywhere. Buddhist Texts call these devils, and they are more powerful than ghosts.[Note] Devils also have ability to think, and can speak to people and cause people to hallucinate. For food (which is the energy of human beings), they do everything they can so that people will provide food for them willingly. The more energy it acquires, the more powerful these devils will become. If they are strong enough, they can even dictate the life and death of men.
無形的世界有這麼強大的力量，真教人難以相信，但是許多時候我們可以看見，有些人確實被無形的世界掌控，以致於刀劍入侵都不覺得痛，更可怕的有一轉眼一個人變成另外一個人，他們一樣有神經系統、肉體，為什麼會不覺得痛? 為什麼可以轉變得這麼快? 答案在於看不見的那雙手，被一大群力量入侵的身體，神經系統被把持，不痛了! 一大群力量擠進人體，人體對它們而言不過是一張道具，想怎麼擺動隨心所欲，令看得見的眼睛目不暇給，想多精彩都沒問題，因為是一大群人在表演。
It is hard to believe that the invisible world wields such a strength. But we can clearly see that a lot of people are controlled by the invisible world, such that they don't even feel the pain of being impaled by knifes and swords. Some are even more terrifying, they can change a person to another with a blink of an eye. These people still have nervous system and physical body, why don't they feel pain? Why can they changed so fast? The answer is the invisible pair of hands. A body that is invaded by a powerful force and the nervous system of the body has been controlled, it will feel no pain. Human body is nothing but a prop to these forces, it can be easily manipulated. It can be as exciting and outrageous as one can imagine, because there are a lot of people involved.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
[Note] 精魅: I translate this as devils, but I am not sure if they are the same types of devils that the west is normally familiar with.There are a lot of specific names for invisible beings in Chinese culture, while there are very few words for these beings in English. So there might be some translation mismatch here.
上一篇 Previous Part Next Part 下一篇
2012年2月6日 星期一
敬鬼神而遠之? 3 Respectfully Staying Away from gods and ghosts 3
前2篇介紹沒有肉體的生命是如何可以脫離肉體的! 再來看脫離以後如何生存著，按常理來說，靈魂脫離肉體只能獨立一陣子，想長久維持沒肉體的日子，不太可能，它跟人一樣會有生活需求，不過這種需求是假性的層面居多，因為沒有肉體了消耗也少，維持它們還在的主因，反而是活著的親屬或有緣的人，提供人的力氣讓它們有供給。
In the previous two parts, I described how life with out physical body can separate from the body. Let's now look at how it survives after it separated from the body. Normally, soul can only be independent for a brief period after it separates from the body, it cannot continue an existence without a body for long. Like human beings, it has certain requirements of survival. However, their requirements are mostly spurious in nature. Because it doesn't have a body, it consumes little. But the main reason that they are able to survive is because the living relatives or other related people continue to provide the souls with the energy of human beings.
說到這裡順道談談祖墳風水，有經驗的人從墳墓或骨灰罈便可看出別人的家族變化，或者是認為此處風水極佳，又補充說擁有者如果沒有福報，地理風水的地氣會跑，( 民間看風水地理的說法 )
Here, I will talk about feng shui of the ancestral graves. [Note] Based on normal understand of feng shui, people with experience can see how a family's fortune will change from the grave or the location of the cinerary urn. Or these people will say the feng shui is very good here, and if the family that owns this place does not have good karma, how the energy of feng shui will travel. (These are all how traditional people who practice feng shui talk about it.)
造成這些現象的原因 ，其實是血緣的關聯，一個腐朽的肉體再怎麼說 ，都已不可能有能力照應一大堆人，哪怕人還活著時是貢獻人群很多的造福者，往生了還能有庇蔭的作用，
The reason for these phenomenons is the relationship of the bloodline. A decayed body does not have the ability to take care of a lot of people, not even the ability to protect. Even if that person contributed to many people's well beings.
它的原理在於，一、是生前積的福，二、是其子孫延續他的行為而保有福份，在生者與過往者的血緣脈絡裡，交織出一切乍看像似地理風水的世界。而隱藏這一切的背後真正主導者 ，是血緣交織出的密碼，也是個人行為的禍福，從墳墓知道家族興衰，其實是血緣的顯現(示)，家族血緣是一道密碼軌跡。
It's principle came from: 1. the good karma accumulated before birth, 2. His offspring are continuing his actions and is able to keep this fortune. In the bloodlines between the dead and the living weaved a world that seems like feng shui. But hidden behind this is the secret codes weaved by the blood relationships. In other words, the personal good and bad fortunes, the rise and fall of a family's fortunes are all a manifestation of blood relationships. Family blood lines is the track of this secret code.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
[Note] Chinese are very concern about the Feng Shui of their ancestors' graves. They feel that good Feng Shui can provide them and their offspring with lasting good fortune.
In the previous two parts, I described how life with out physical body can separate from the body. Let's now look at how it survives after it separated from the body. Normally, soul can only be independent for a brief period after it separates from the body, it cannot continue an existence without a body for long. Like human beings, it has certain requirements of survival. However, their requirements are mostly spurious in nature. Because it doesn't have a body, it consumes little. But the main reason that they are able to survive is because the living relatives or other related people continue to provide the souls with the energy of human beings.
說到這裡順道談談祖墳風水，有經驗的人從墳墓或骨灰罈便可看出別人的家族變化，或者是認為此處風水極佳，又補充說擁有者如果沒有福報，地理風水的地氣會跑，( 民間看風水地理的說法 )
Here, I will talk about feng shui of the ancestral graves. [Note] Based on normal understand of feng shui, people with experience can see how a family's fortune will change from the grave or the location of the cinerary urn. Or these people will say the feng shui is very good here, and if the family that owns this place does not have good karma, how the energy of feng shui will travel. (These are all how traditional people who practice feng shui talk about it.)
造成這些現象的原因 ，其實是血緣的關聯，一個腐朽的肉體再怎麼說 ，都已不可能有能力照應一大堆人，哪怕人還活著時是貢獻人群很多的造福者，往生了還能有庇蔭的作用，
The reason for these phenomenons is the relationship of the bloodline. A decayed body does not have the ability to take care of a lot of people, not even the ability to protect. Even if that person contributed to many people's well beings.
它的原理在於，一、是生前積的福，二、是其子孫延續他的行為而保有福份，在生者與過往者的血緣脈絡裡，交織出一切乍看像似地理風水的世界。而隱藏這一切的背後真正主導者 ，是血緣交織出的密碼，也是個人行為的禍福，從墳墓知道家族興衰，其實是血緣的顯現(示)，家族血緣是一道密碼軌跡。
It's principle came from: 1. the good karma accumulated before birth, 2. His offspring are continuing his actions and is able to keep this fortune. In the bloodlines between the dead and the living weaved a world that seems like feng shui. But hidden behind this is the secret codes weaved by the blood relationships. In other words, the personal good and bad fortunes, the rise and fall of a family's fortunes are all a manifestation of blood relationships. Family blood lines is the track of this secret code.
半寄 Master Ban Ji
[Note] Chinese are very concern about the Feng Shui of their ancestors' graves. They feel that good Feng Shui can provide them and their offspring with lasting good fortune.
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