半寄新作品，《悉達多的流浪故事》一書，已先在高雄瑞成書局上架。臺中瑞成、唐山、博客來,會陸續上架。

被制約的佛法1 Buddhism being conditioned1

被制約的佛法1

      讀書會上，有讀者拿出我寫的《修行的探討》，質疑我所寫的內容，都沒有佛法裡面有關戒、定、慧的說明。

自從，面對問我佛法的修學者以來，碰到的最大問題就是，質疑我為什麼沒有說佛法?剛聽到這樣的質疑時，我自己也一頭霧水!「我一直都是在說佛法啊!」

    後來，弄清楚要說佛法的意思，是指把特定的佛學名詞掛在嘴邊。也就是我要常說:「佛說，戒、定、慧.......。又或者說這件事是業障、這件事是功德無量無邊!」

    我始終不能明白!佛教徒在害怕什麼?為什麼一定要聽到佛的專有名詞才能心安?

一本書的名稱，明明白白寫著，《修行的探討》，名叫探討就是分析佛學的思想，思想對了!路才走得下去。但我不懂為什麼探討佛法一定不能脫離「專有名詞」的運用?如果，「專有名詞」得背著，應該是佛教徒只拿經典到處背誦就好，何必要別人說所謂的佛法，而且還要是有智慧的?

我常被佛教徒弄糊塗!一方面要求我，來問我佛法，希望能得到智慧。但是，又要求我，妳得照本宣科，不能說沒有專有名詞的內容。

       例如:「解釋佛法的戒律一詞，不能用「自我管理」的說法，「自我管理」無法聽懂。一定得說戒律是五戒，問佛法的人才會聽得懂，也才會認為我有說佛法。」

      到底!是誰在害怕?害怕對佛法產生思維、害怕沒聽到誦經的聲音?

      我清楚寫著:「修行的探討。」沒說我要解釋:「戒、定、慧。」

半寄

Buddhism being conditioned

On the monthly meeting of our study club, a reader questioned me that I mentioned nothing about Precept, Meditation or Wisdom in my book ‘An Investigation into Practice of Buddhism’

        I have been questioned mainly about not preaching Buddhism since I was consulted by Buddhist practitioners. I got confused the first few times when I heard this kind of complaint. Why? But ‘I have actually been preaching Buddhism all the time.’

Later on, I figure out that preaching Buddhism means keeping speaking of some Buddhist terms over and over again to them. That is, I need to speak of ‘Buddha said “precept, meditation and wisdom” or ‘This is a kind of negative karma, and that results in enormous good karma’ more often.

What some Buddhists are fearing? It keeps confusing me along the way. Why are they comfortable only when they hear of Buddhist terms?

My book is clearly titled as ‘An Investigation into Practice of Buddhism’, which aims to investigate and analyze Buddhist concepts. Only when people have correct concepts and directions can they proceed on the right path of Buddhist Practice. I feel  confused about why we just can’t surpass the use of technical terms when investigating Buddhism. If ‘technical terms’ are aimed to be kept in mind, it would be easy for all Buddhists to practice Buddhism as long as they memorize Sutras everywhere. Why do they bother to consult for Buddhist teachings and wisdom?

More often than not, I get confused by Buddhists. On the one hand, they consult me for Buddhist teachings and wisdom. However, they demand me to explain Sutra as it is scripted. Moreover, they deny contents beyond Buddhist terms during my preaching.

For example, I can’t use ‘self-management’ to explain the term ‘Buddhist discipline’ because it confuses people consulting me. Only when I use ‘Five Precepts’ to explain can they comprehend clearly and consider me preaching Buddhism.

Who, on earth, really feels scared? Scared when they think critically on Buddhist teachings and when they don’t hear the sound of chanting Sutra?

I have clearly titled my book as ‘An Investigation into Practice of Buddhism’. I don’t intend to explain Precept, Meditation or Wisdom

Master Ban Ji

Translated by Grace Tsai
Proofread by Sophiea Kuo

 

 

                                                   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

悉達多的流浪故事

《悉達多的流浪故事》，內容分享。
從看德國哲學家尼采到赫曼.赫塞的《流浪者之歌》，《我思故我在》，相信跟我同年代的人，沒看過那些書，也會知道《少年維特的煩惱》。
如同《流浪者之歌》說的，「生命的出路」，沒錯！「生命的出路是心靈流浪者一生所追求的」，我在佛門過了參訪時期，便展開孤獨的歲月，人們都說出家之人理當慈悲眾生，我卻說不出口，我還很薄弱，想探索的修行還渺無蹤跡，因而我無法面對群眾，於是孤獨便成為最好的夥伴。

時代在進步，佛教被弘揚的很好，讓群體意識更加堅強，慈悲喜捨成為唯一圭臬，個人的生命是否得到救贖、解脫？已無人關懷。
我年已半百，回首舊日，想起那麼多優秀的德國人，都無法走出的生命之路，再看看自己，慶幸的，得佛學助力， 至少對自己還有跟我一起研究的支持者，有了交代。
想或許自己能提供一些線索，給走不出生命之路的人們參考。
『個人生命得到解脫，才能給予人們另外一隻手』，重新讓慈悲喜捨注入佛學生命，開展出屬於佛學的昇華，如同醍醐灌頂般清新有力。

半寄

《悉達多的流浪故事》，籌備出版中，感謝睿歐廣告社,畫家張逸芬小姐，及南禪修學羣的鼎力協助。