再舉例，佛說人的墮落性，分貪、瞋、痴，以「貪」來說，也可稱擁有、貪著不屬於自己的固然不對，但擁有呢？擁有通常屬個人努力後的產物，全部捨去，「個人」決定活不下來。此時該從那個觀點來看待「貪」字，人性的複雜成分，就算加入世界各宗各派的思考，到現在也還說不清。
Using another example, Buddha said that the weaknesses of human nature can be categorized into "Greed", "Anger" and "Ignorance". Let us talk about "Greed", Greed can be equate to possession. It is not right to be greedy about what does not belong to us, but what about things that we already possess. Often, our possessions represent the fruits of our own efforts, if we let them all go, how do we continue to live? Which point of view should we use to look at "Greed"? This is a questions that continues today. Even among all the religious and philosophical debates of the world, it still cannot be resolved, due to the complexity of human nature.
這之中也點出「空」的好處，如說貪就是貪，捨去不貪，既便了事，那人性屬於這部分的情感，是否也隨之灰飛煙滅？ 無貪，當既也無歡喜，不就陷入槁木死灰的窘境！
Here, the benefits of Śūnyatā becomes apparent. If we said all forms of desire are Greed [Translator's Note 5], and if we let go, and we no longer have desire, then what happens to the human emotions that are associated with desire? Do they disappear as well? If we do not desire, then we probably do not have joy as well and wouldn't that result in a life of zombie? What a dilemma!
前面說「空」無實體，隨緣而起，倘使在此注入空性思想，又當毫釐有差，天地懸隔，如何說呢？運用的方法，也該是不能一開始就定義了貪的負面性。 如被定論，迴旋空間便鎖死，如此方法會機械式的劃定人的情感，一旦拿這種方法批判一切，則生機泯滅！當然後代的大乘經典發現這一毛病，所以提出毒藥變醍醐的說法；而以空性思想看待，貪也無其絕對性，因不是絕對，才能升起生機。
Previously, we mentioned that Śūnyatā implies all things do not have a definite body. They are created due to Yuan (緣) [Translator's Note 6]. If in the discussion of Greed, we can incorporate some concepts of Śūnyatā, our conclusions will be so different. How so? First of all, we will not be able to presuppose that greed is negative. If we did so, then there will be no room to discuss greed, and human emotions can be systematically delineated. If we use this approach to criticize everything, then all vitality of human nature are gone. Later Mahayana scriptures found this problem, so they came up with the argument of "poison becoming butter". But from Śūnyatā's point of view, greed is not an absolute, and because it is not absolute, that we have a chance at elevating ourselves.
再有古代交通工具的貧瘠，人與人交流不致於像現代的頻繁，許多對人的想法，應該會被簡單化，當時的因緣，匯歸成當時的想法，也沒錯。
Furthermore, due to lack of the convenient transportation and communications that we have today, people in the ancient times do not have as many chances to exchange ideas like us. So their thoughts are simplified. If we consider the Nidānas [Translator's Note 7] of the era, we might consider the traditional understanding of Greed to be valid for that era.
但既然「緣起」已變化，說法、想法亦當另有其思考性；如果一直緊捏千年之繩不加以延伸，亦不過就是一條繩子！不致於摔死罷了！
But since Pratītyasamutpāda [Translator's Note 8] has already changed, we should have room to re-think and re-discuss the arguments and concepts that was presented in the ancient era. If we keep holding on to a thousand year rope, and does nothing to enhance or extend, it will only be a rope, and we will eventually fall to our death.
緣起決定了一切，善握因緣者，當為時代先驅。 捨去繩索，讓空性取代，佛教的慧命才得以續存！
Pratītyasamutpāda decides everything. A person who is familiar with the way Nidānas works should be the vanguard of the new era. Throw away the rope, and let Śūnyatā take over. Only this way, can we extend the wisdom of Buddhism.
[Translator's Note 5] 貪 I am using the word 'Greed' to denote greed that is part of the 3 poisons defined by Buddhism. 貪 can also mean your normal day to day greed. However, it can also mean desire. I have taken some liberties in the use of these three different translations: Greed, greed and desire to make the text a bit clearer. Basically, the difference between greed and desire is a fine line.
[Translator's Note 6] 緣 Yuán : Yuan is part of Nidānas. Yuan are the conditions that must be satisfied before a phenomenon can occur.
[Translator's Note 7] 因緣 Nidānas : In English, it can be simply defined as “causation.” However, in Chinese's interpretation, there are two components to the “causation”, Yin (因) and Yuán (緣). Yin is a “possibility” of a phenomenon and Yuán is the per-requisites (elements and conditions) that are necessary for a phenomenon to occur. If both the possibility and the per-requisites for a phenomenon come together, then this phenomenon will occur. For example, in order to create a dish, we need a “motivation to make the dish” (Yin), the “ingredient for the dish” (Yuán, elements) and “some one to make the dish” (Yuán, conditions).
[Translator's Note 8] 緣起 Pratītyasamutpāda: Pratītyasamutpāda means dependent origination. A phenomenon's origination has all the dependencies fulfilled.
沒有留言:
張貼留言