北大钦哲佛学讲座 分类:佛法研討
宗萨蒋扬钦哲仁波切北大演讲实录-演讲时间:2007年3月15日

以下文字根据宗萨仁波切的弟子姚仁喜现场翻译整理
很荣幸今天能在这所世界知名的大学做演讲,在国外时我就已多次听说过。
学习终极真理是人类的一种激情。佛教仅仅是另外一个天使,或者说寻找真理的学习工具。佛教不是一个宗教,而是寻找真理,实践真理的工具和手段。



今天我们会讨论佛教的见地,在讲见地之前,我会先谈一下为什麽需要这个东西?理由很简单,因为每个人想要快乐,想要幸福,更重要的是,我们希望快乐能持续长久并且唾手可得。我们也希望一种非常方便的快乐。实际上科学技术也总是在寻求快乐。什麽是快乐?对於不同的人,不同的文化和年代,快乐是不同的。所以获取快乐的方法和工具也是多种多样的。

悉达多王子已经发现我们并没有得到我们想要的快乐,就因为一个原因:我们把假的,不可靠的,无常的东西当成绝对的真相。这是无明。这一发现不是宗教上的,它是科学。就像每个人都希望拥有正牌的义大利皮鞋,但你买的是冒牌的皮鞋,而你没有勇气面对它。但是悉达多王子有这样的勇气面对它。我们可以说悉达多王子对真理做了最大程度的探索——去解决生老病死的问题。而且他发现了真相——你必须接受事实,如果你接受了,你可能就不会再受煎熬。

有很多不同种类的方法可以帮你去了解真相。不幸的是佛教现已变成了一种宗教,而人们更感兴趣的是方法而非真相。为什麽要有工具/方法呢?比如说,对一个盛满了极为纯净的水的杯子来说,如果你想找水,你是看不到的,因为它是纯净透明的。水就好比真相。所以为了让你能够看见这个水,有人就在其中掺入(颜色),就像这个淡黄颜色的茶水,这帮助你看到了水。掺入是一种方法。方法是假的,并非真相本身。

再比如说,你在做一个恶梦,你梦到一头老虎,你吓坏了。你想要摆脱它。这里有几件事情可以做。第一你可以赶走那只老虎。第二你可以被浇一桶冷水。这些事情都会有帮助,但它们却不是真实的,冷水并不能赶走老虎。为什麽会有老虎?因为你在做梦。

现在让我们回到见地。见地就是观念。它是驱动我们的东西,就像我们做任何事情都会有个动力。比如说,我们对宝马的观念,或者觉得苗条是件很好的事情。这就是见地。然後我们有了动机。但是动机是受条件影响的。没有了杂志鼓吹它们是多好的东西,没有人会想要变苗条或者想要宝马。在这种条件下,我们就有了比如说想要变苗条的动机。然後我们就会阅读一些如何变苗条的方法,这就好比禅修。我们采取行动,比如不吃米饭,跑步等——也就是行为。所以见地是非常重要的,因为见地驱动着我们。
我现在要开始介绍四种根本见地。(四法印)

第一个地见是所有事物都是因缘和合而成的,暂时而非永久的。比如说,每次当你看你的手,这里会有三个最根本的错误认识,第一你觉得你的手是一个整体而非许多部分,例如骨头,脉管等组成了你的手。我们通常将事物视为整体,事实上,这里没有所谓的手,而是一大堆分子的组合。第二你觉得今天的手是昨天的手。这不是真相。你的手每天都在老化。今天的手和昨天不再是相同的手。第三,我们认为它是独立的。如果我有时间的话我会再谈第三点。

见地使我们遭受痛苦。为什麽?因为它让我们以为一样东西是持久永恒的,所以我们依附於它。我们不会想到有一天我们是会进棺材的。所以我们竭尽所能试图去保护它——这个永恒的东西。比如说,长寿,对於中国人来说很重要,就像冒牌的鞋子,因为它转移了你对真相的注意力。所以不论你做什麽,你总会痛苦,因为你的见地本身就是错的。这就是我们享受不到快乐的原因,因为我们一直在意暂时性的东西。

所有一切事物都是无常的,具有这个见地并不是坏事。无常是个好消息。今天的手不再是昨天的手,如果我们的手乾燥了,我们会用润肤乳。没有了无常,做润肤乳的公司都会没有生意了。另外一个例子,如果你现在很穷,因为无常,所以你在将来可能会变的富有。无常并不是一种宗教上的恐吓,它是事实。

在泰国,和尚都要剃头。剃头是用来提醒你无常这件事情。这是一种宗教仪式。仪式是带领你走向真相,但是我们总被仪式所吸引而忘掉了无常。就像我刚才说的,为什麽是佛教的见地?这是因为我们想要快乐。但为了变快乐,我们需要认识到所有的因缘和合都是无常。没有这个认识,即便你可以活一万年,你都不会快乐。悉达多王子知道如何真正地去寻找真相——他是非常实践性的。在他的禅修过程中,他可以通过观察知道很多的事情,比如一头鹿吃什麽。但那不重要。他想要深入所有问题的根源。其中之一便是无常。

第二个问题也就是第二个见地:痛苦从哪里来?痛苦不仅仅是头痛或诸如此类。人的痛苦来自於我们得不到我们想要的,以及不得不一直生活在无常中。我们有自己爱的人,但我们是否下一次还能够见到我们爱的人呢?什麽导致了这个?这里没有什麽邪恶的力量。没有外境会制造痛苦。一切都是由我们对自我的执着而引起。我们有很多情绪:爱,恨,嫉妒,等等。所有的情绪都来自於我执。这是一个很大的发现。为什麽?因为我们总是把自己的痛苦归咎於他人,但现在我们没有任何人可以责怪——我们唯一可以责怪的只有我执。这是个很大的课题。例如我们被教育要无我。但是佛陀并没有说自我是错的,或者说我执是恶魔。这不是宗教,只是思维无我的工具变成了宗教性的。

但我想要跟大家说一个事情,并不是因为佛陀发现自我是邪恶的,因此说执着自我是错的,完全不是那样。所以再度要说的是,第二个见地也完全非宗教性的,可是不幸的是,这种反思无我的方法又变得非常宗教性。悉达多并不是说发现了邪恶的自我,他也从来没有说过,执着自我会带你到痛苦。事实上,他发现没有自我,因此执着於自我是错的,这就是我们为什麽会受苦,这个非常重要。因为我们佛教徒经常说,哦,我很自我,我很自私,所以我们经常批判自己,而且以一种非常伦理或宗教性的态度来批判自己.

我执的无明来自於我们总看到暂时由因缘和合所成的事物。比如,我们看这个桌子,它有脚,有木板等等。但是桌子只是那些部分组合而成的。事物组合在一起,成为了某样东西。比如我在12和14当中写了个13在纸上,你会说这是13。而如果我写在A和C之间,你会说这是B (展示纸)。所有的一切都是由一些事物组合而成的。如果你加入另外一个成分,那它就会变成另外一样东西。比如如果我们把枕头、床单放到这个桌子上,它就变成一张床,如果我们把它砍成一片片的,它又会变成木柴。所以说自我就好比这个13和B。我们一直寻求将成分拼合在一起。心经中说,空中无色,无受想行识等等。一样东西只是由许多成分组合在一起形成的。这个自我并不存在,所以执着於自我是很荒谬的。

和我执做斗争是很艰难的,因为我执是一个长久的习惯。要戒烟都是件非常难的事情,但它还算是一个新的习惯——毕竟你刚出生的时候你是不抽烟的。但是我执是一个相当久远的习惯。自我总是在寻找一个隐匿之处,一个舒适、安全而有力量的所在,例如金钱,权力,地位,以及友谊等等。如果没有自我,便会没有经济。如果人们一直在实践无我,市场会崩溃。如果没有不安全感,就不会有生意。我想这是生意的精华所在。我们总是在寻找我们没有,但我们认为我们应该拥有的东西。为了让原本不存在的自我感到更舒服,我们,从大范围来讲,正在毁灭我们的世界,比如环境。从小范围来讲,为了我们的亲人朋友,我们说我们爱他们,但其实那是因为我们爱我们自己。我们把他们放到了自我的上面,每次你需要他们的时候,你便可以利用他们。

在金刚经中,佛陀说凡所有相,皆是虚妄。当所有的办法都用尽时,我们总喜欢有个救世主,或者说有某个人可以去责怪或者祈祷。有绘成金色的佛像,或者我们说金色的佛陀,那是因为我们喜欢金色。外相只是一种善巧方便。真理才是佛陀。除了真理之外没有别的佛陀。真理是没有颜色,没有形状的,它不是铜制的佛像。为了吸引人们了解真相,所以我们才把佛像涂成金色。

例如,如果我们爱某个人,我们会试图让他高兴,所以我们会做任何的事情让他高兴——这好象慈悲。因为慈悲,我们必须用尽所有的方法去让他们了解真相。但是真相是没有颜色,没有形状的。更重要的是,真相是痛苦的。比如我前几个月在印度被人邀请去参加婚礼。对那对新人,你不可能说“你们总有天会死的”,或者说“你们总会在将来的某一天吵架的,因为你们都是人。”为了教授真理,你必须让它具有吸引力。这就是为什麽我们把佛像涂成金色的。我们甚至还有很多别的精致的颜色,比如红的蓝的等等,为了不同的目的。这是带领你走向真理的可靠方法。对於金色的或者耳朵很大垂到肩膀的佛来说,他们会变成你男朋友或者你会和他们约会麽?不。你不会和他们约会,尽管他们有着完美的外相。所以佛教的一些象徵是吸引你的可信的方法,从而引领你认识真相。因为人总被外形、颜色这些组合的现象所束缚。

Q:我是学物理专业的。我读了一些佛法的书觉得被深深吸引了。我感觉我甚至可以放弃一切来追寻真理。但是我实际该怎麽做呢。
A: 这是一个大问题。你在要我帮你计画你整个的人生。你需要以评判性的态度入手,去学习,去研读,去思考。不要试图变成一个佛教徒——而是要变的更具分析性。
Q: 我读了你很多的书很崇拜你,但同时也产生一些困惑,读了你的书後我觉得生命是个很大的幻象。什麽才是生命真正的目的呢?
A: 我很抱歉我的书让你感到困惑——我不是有意的。生命的目的是我们应该快乐。幻象不是一个坏事情。我们需要知道怎麽和幻相做游戏。就象我刚说到的老虎,如果你不知道这是个梦,这就是一个问题。如果你知道它只是一个梦,那就和它游戏吧。你可以骑在它身上,抚摸它,揪它的胡须,这都取决於你,这就是目的——与老虎共眠。

原文如下

北大钦哲佛学讲座
四法印(一,二)
宗萨仁波切

It is my great honor to make a speech today in this world famous university, which I have heard about for many times when I am abroad.

Learning of ultimate truth is a passion of human beings. Buddhism is just another angle/tool of leaning/finding truth. Buddhism is not a religion, but a means/tool to find/actualize the truth.

We will discuss on Buddhist Views (见地). View is what drives us. Before discussing the Views, l will talk about why Buddhism; like we discuss anything else, we must ask why this thing is needed at first. The reason is simple, because everyone wants fun, to be happy; then we think it is absolute truth. This is ignorance(无明). This finding is not religious-it is science. It is like everyone wants genuine Italian leather shoes(义大利真皮皮鞋), but you bought fake leather shoes, and you just don’t have the courage to face it; but Prince Siddhartha has the courage to face it. We may say that Prince Siddhartha made the biggest request for truth-to solve the problem of sickness and death. And he found the truth-you must accept the truth; if you accept, you won’t suffer.

There are many methods of different categories to get to the truth. Unfortunately, Buddhism has now become a religion, and people are attracted to the methods (修行的方法)rather than the truth. Why should there be tools/methods? For example, for a glass filled with absolutely pure water full to the brim, if you are looking for the water, you can’t see water because it is pure. The water is like the truth. Then to make you see the water, someone dilutes it, just like this yellowish color (指桌上的茶水), which helps you see the water. Dilution (着色)is the method. Methods are fake, not the real truth. Do they help? Very much. Without them, you don’t see the truth/water. However, we get attracted to the color. Why did Prince Siddhartha teach so many schools (教派)? It is just like if you are forced to say that sky is red or green under gun threat, you have to agree sky is red or green, although inside you know it is not. The same way, it is because Buddha has no choice but to teach so many schools-although without gun threat, he still has no choice; because he has great compassion (慈悲). For example, you are dreaming; you are having a nightmare. You dream about a tiger, you are frantic; you want to get out of it. There are several things can be done. The first one is to chase away the tiger. The second, you get a bucket of cold water. These things help, but they are wrong. The cold water can’t chase away the tiger. Why is there tiger? It is because you are dreaming.

Now let’s go back to the Views. Views are ideas. They are what drive us, just like in everything, we have a driving force. For example, we have the idea that BMW(宝马车), or a slim body (苗条的身材)is a good thing. This is a view. Then we have motivation, but the motivation is conditional. Without the magazines saying that they are good things, nobody wants to be slim, or want a BMW. Under this condition, we have the motivation, for example, of being slim. Then we read about how to being slim-this is like mediation(冥想,静修). We do things, like cutting rice(节食), or running-these are like action(修行). Therefore, views are very important, because they are what drive us.

I am going to introduce the Four Fundamental Views(四法印).

Views drive us to suffer. Why? It is because they make us to think that a thing lasts forever, and therefore we get attached to it. We won’t think that one day we will go to the coffin. Therefore we go around the world trying to protect it-the thing lasting forever. For example, to live long, which is very important to Chinese, is like the fake shoes, because it diverts you from the truth. Therefore no matter what you do, you will suffer because you are wrong in the view. This is the reason that we don’t have fun, because we are caring for the impermanent. The view that everything is impermanent is not bad. Impermanence is good news. Today’s hand is not yesterday’s hand, if we get our hands dry, we use moisturizer. Without impermanence, moisturizer companies will have no business. Another example, if you are poor now, because of impermanence, you can get rich in the future. It is not a religious threat. In Thailand, monks have their head shaved. The shaving is to remind you of impermanence. It is ritual. Rituals are to take you to the truth, but we are caught by the rituals and forget impermanence. Like what I just said, why is there Buddhism? It is because we want to have fun. But to have fun, we need the understanding that all compounded are impermanent(一切因缘和合皆是无常). Without this understanding, even if you can live for ten thousand years, you won’t have fun. Prince Siddhartha knows how to really seek for truth-he was very practical. During his mediation, he could know many things by observing, for example, what a deer eats; but it doesn’t help. He wants to get to the bottom of all problems(从根本上解决所有的问题). Problem one is impermanence.

all the emotions come from clinging to the self. This is a big discovery. Why? This is because we tend to blame some one else for our pains, but now we have no one to blame-we should only blame clinging to the self. This is a big subject. For example, we have the teaching of selflessness. However, Buddha didn’t find that the self is wrong, or clinging to the self is evil. This is not religious; this is only because the tools to contemplate selflessness have become religious.

He didn’t discover an evil self, and cling to it is wrong. He found there is no self; therefore clinging to self is wrong. Egoistic is wrong, because everything is conditional. The ignorance(无明) of clinging to the self comes from that we are looking at something only temporarily compounded. For example, we look at this table-it has legs, plank, etc; but the table is only those parts put together. Things put together, then it becomes something. For example, if I write 13 between 12 and 14 on a paper, you will say it is 13; if I write it between A and C, you will say it is B (展示纸). Everything is some things put together. If put another component, then it will become another thing. For example, if we put pillows, sheets on this table, it becomes a bed; if we cut it into pieces, it becomes firewood. Therefore the self is like 13 and B. We are seeking components put together. The Heart Sutra says “in emptiness there is no form, feeling, etc”(心经:空中无色、受...) . A thing is only several components put together. The self doesn’t exist; therefore clinging to it is ridiculous.

In The Diamond Sutra, it says “Buddha’s mark (相) is not truth.”(金刚经:不可以身相得见如来). We like to have a savior(救世主), or some one to blame or pray to when all the options are run out(无计可施的时候). There are Buddhas painted gold(金身佛). We talk about gold Buddha, because we like gold. The marks are skillful means (善巧方便). Truth is Buddha. There is no other Buddha than the truth. Truth has no color, no shape; it is not blond, nor male or female. (真理无色,无形,不是金发碧眼的,不是男性,也不是女性).We need to get people attracted to the truth, so we paint Buddha gold. For example, if we love somebody, we would try to make him happy; so we would do everything to lead him to happiness-this is like compassion. Because of compassion, we have to try every means to make them understand the truth. However truth has no color, no shape. Furthermore, truth is bitter. For example, I was invited to a wedding several months ago when I was in India. To the couple, you can’t say “you will die finally” or “you will fight with each other some day in the future because you are human beings”. In order to deliver the truth, you must make it attractive. That is why we paint Buddha gold. We even have other elaborate colors, such as blue or red, etc, for different purposes. This is the authentic method to bring you to the truth. For Buddhas of golden color or having long ears touching the shoulders(金身或长耳垂肩的佛像), will they become your boyfriends and will you date with them? No, you won’t date with them although they have good marks. Therefore Buddhist symbols are authentic methods to make you attracted, then lead you to the truth; because people are bound by shape, color-they are bound by compounded phenomenon (因为人被色、形,和因缘和合的表像所限制).

问答:

1. Q: I am a physical major. I read some books on Buddhism and I got deeply attracted. I feel that I would even give up everything to search for truth, but what should I do practically?

A: This is a big question. You are asking me to plan your whole life (众笑). You need to begin with a critical mind. To study, to read, and to contemplate. Don’t try to become a Buddhist-try to be analytical(众笑).

2. Q:I read your books and I admire you so much. After reading your book, I feel life is a big illusion. What is the real goal of life?

A: I am sorry that my book confounded you-I didn’t mean it to be(众笑). The goal of life is we should have fun. Illusion is not a bad thing. We need to know how to play with the illusion. Just as the tiger I just talked about, if you don’t know it is a dream, it is a problem. If you know it is just a dream, then play with it: you can caress it, pluck it-it’s up to you. To sleep with the tiger.
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