50陰魔The 50 Māras of the Aggregates

50陰魔

 

大家好！

 

國外讀者熟悉的《楞嚴經》50陰魔，

有人想知道那也是假的嗎？

 

研究佛教史就知道從佛陀以後的部派佛教到中國的佛教，

動輒上萬、上千的僧團，這裡面的生、老、病、死，還有修行所發生的問題，其實都是被掩飾沒有寫的，

 

這些沒有寫出來的事實，可能全部歸到《楞嚴經》，前幾篇文章有寫過台北松山寺的道安法師日記才有寫幾篇！

 

佛陀本身帶的僧團生、老、病、死《阿含經》記載的清清楚楚，佛陀以後就全部不寫了，

如果有寫都會冠上神秘色彩，

譬如說；生病是示現，種種的⋯⋯。

 

我去大陸旅行的時候，看到青海塔爾寺的僧侶養老院，門口還掛著的門牌，

上面竟然寫著台灣人捐贈！

 

我當時就很感慨，我們台灣的佛教道場誰敢掛這個-僧侶的養老院，

彷彿僧侶的生老病死都是必須藏到看不見的地方，養老院這個點，密教的做法很人性。

 

我之前的文章已經點過《楞嚴經》可以存在這麼久，有它的原因，

因為這部經也背負了僧團不願意記載的事實，

往這個方向去想就可以知道50陰魔在說什麼！

半寄

 

The 50 Māras of the Aggregates

 

Greetings, friends of NanZen!

 

International readers are familiar with the "The 50 Māras of the Aggregates" in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, and some ask whether that section, too, is fabricated.

 

Historical research reveals that from post-Buddha sectarian Buddhism to Chinese Buddhism, monastic institutions—sometimes numbering in the tens of thousands—consistently concealed and omitted the realities of birth, aging, illness, death, and the challenges of practice.

 

Such suppressed realities may have been projected onto the Śūraṅgama Sūtra. As discussed in earlier essays, only the diary of Master Dao’an of Songshan Temple in Taipei contains a few rare references to them.

 

The Āgamas document with precision the birth, aging, illness, and death within the Buddha’s own community. After his passing, however, such realities ceased to be recorded, and when mentioned at all, they were enveloped in mystique—illness, for example, being described as a mere “manifestation”

 

While traveling in China, I encountered a monks’ retirement facility at Kumbum Monastery in Qinghai, with a plaque at the entrance stating it was donated by people from Taiwan.

 

The sight stirred me. In Taiwan, no Buddhist monastery would openly post a sign for a “monks’ retirement home,” as though the birth, aging, and death of monks must remain concealed. On this matter, the tantric tradition seems more humane.

 

As argued previously, the Śūraṅgama Sūtra has endured precisely because it embodies truths that the sangha was unwilling to record. Approached from this angle, the significance of The 50 Māras of the Aggregates reveals itself.

 

Master Banji